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WHAT THE HECK! Why Was Al Gore Meeting With The Trump Team Today? [Video]

Talk radio hosts went nuts with the news of Gore s visit to Trump Tower today. Michael Savage was very disappointed but Rush Limbaugh gave the best comment: I m gonna tell you something, said Limbaugh. If Trump goes south on climate change, that is just gonna be deeply disappointing and alarming because of what climate change is to the left. It s everything, it s everything they want and everything they believe and it s almost everything they can get to achieve it, to accomplish it. We couldn t agree more with Rush! It s just upsetting that they would even want to speak with the phony who claims global warming is real Yikes!

1real

Obama announces lifting of U.S. sanctions on Myanmar

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama formally announced the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Myanmar on Friday by terminating an emergency order that deemed the policies of the former military government a threat to U.S. national security. “I have determined that the situation that gave rise to the national emergency ... has been significantly altered by Burma’s (Myanmar’s) substantial advances to promote democracy, including historic elections in November 2015,” Obama said in a letter to the U.S. House and Senate speakers. A U.S. Treasury statement said that as a result of the termination of the emergency order the economic and financial sanctions administered by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control were no longer in effect. The move followed a meeting between Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Obama in Washington last month, when she called for the lifting of economic sanctions against her country, and he said he was willing to do this. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won a sweeping victory in the November elections. Obama’s letter pointed to the formation of a democratically elected, civilian-led government as a result of the election, the release of many political prisoners and improved human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression and freedom of association and peaceful assembly. “While Burma faces significant challenges, including the consolidation of its democracy, the United States can, and intends to, use other means to support the government and people of Burma in their efforts to address these challenges,” Obama’s letter said. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and democracy icon, helped persuade the West to impose sanctions on Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, during her years as a jailed opposition leader. She is now trying to strike a balance between showing her people the economic rewards of a democratic transition while keeping pressure on the country’s generals for further reforms. Some members of the U.S. Congress have expressed concerns about the extent and durability of change in Myanmar and introduced legislation seeking to give lawmakers some influence on the process of easing sanctions. Rights groups condemned last month’s announcement, saying it forfeited leverage on Myanmar’s military. Officials of the U.S. administration have said the removal of sanctions would not apply to military-to-military assistance, given the extent of the military’s involvement in politics and rights abuses. Suu Kyi herself has been criticized for doing too little to address the plight of Myanmar’s stateless Rohingya Muslim minority. The State Department said last month that several restrictions would remain in place, including barring visas for military leaders.

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FORBES LIST OF “The World’s Most Powerful People Of 2016” Is Out…And Obama’s Ranking Is Embarrassing

Hey Michelle Guess what? For the first time in 8 years, the entire country can be proud of their President again Forbes recently released its rankings of The World s Most Powerful People, and the results don t look good for President Barack Obama.There are nearly 7.4 billion humans on planet Earth, but these 74 men and women make the world turn. Forbes annual ranking of the World s Most Powerful People identifies one person out of every 100 million whose actions mean the most.To compile the list, we considered hundreds of candidates from various walks of life all around the globe, and measured their power along four dimensions. First, we asked whether the candidate has power over lots of people.Next we assessed the financial resources controlled by each person. Are they relatively large compared to their peers? For heads of state we used GDP, while for CEOs, we looked at measures like their company s assets and revenues.Then we determined if the candidate is powerful in multiple spheres. There are only 74 slots on our list one for approximately every 100 million people on the planet so being powerful in just one area is often not enough.Lastly, we made sure that the candidates actively used their power. ForbesIn 2015, Obama came in as the third most powerful person, which wasn t great, considering he is supposed to be the leader of the free world. But it was nevertheless much better than 2016 s list, which has him placed at an embarrassing number 48.Last year, Forbes explained why the U.S. president wasn t number one, or even number two. There s no doubt that the United States remains the world s greatest economic, cultural, diplomatic, technological and military power, the publication wrote in 2015. But as Obama enters the final year of his presidency, it s clear his influence is shrinking, and it s a bigger struggle than ever to get things done. His influence and ability to get things done must have hit rock bottom for him to fall a whopping 45 spots in just one year.What s even more embarrassing than the fact that Obama didn t make the top 10, much less the top 25, or even the top 40, were some of the people who outranked him.For example, North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un was five spots ahead of Obama.If a ridiculous, barbaric leader who imprisons, enslaves and executes political and religious dissenters and restricts the most basic of freedoms is ahead of the U.S. president, you know there is a real problem.Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the number one spot, again, while a new face appeared at number two President-elect Donald Trump. Donald Trump is trading in Trump Tower for the White House. The New York native will become the first billionaire president of the United States, after upsetting Hillary Clinton in a surprising election victory, when he takes over the Oval Office in 2017, Forbes said about the incoming president.Meanwhile, the publication issued a brutal but honest assessment of the outgoing president whose policies and legacy were rejected in November when voters chose Trump over what would have been essentially a third-term Obama in Democrat Hillary Clinton. America s outgoing president faces a legacy in jeopardy as his successor has threatened to unravel signature achievements, including health care reform and the Iranian nuclear accord, Forbes wrote about Obama. President Obama is leaving the Oval Office on anything but a good note, and his legacy will reflect his dismal performance as the nation s leader. Conservative Tribune h/t Truthfeed

1real

NZ Prime Minister heads to trade talks with foreign investment ban on her mind

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Thursday she will seek to renegotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement in Vietnam in two weeks time to allow the government to ban foreign speculators buying New Zealand existing homes. Ardern, who was sworn in on Thursday after negotiating a Labour-led coalition after a tight election result, said she had already started work on the restrictions. Whether it s TPP or any other agreement it s making sure we have the ability to ban foreign buyers from buying existing homes in New Zealand, Ardern told reporters in Wellington. The 11 TPP members had set a goal of reaching broad agreement on the pact in November at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting set to be held in Vietnam s Danang. New Zealand previously touted itself as a champion of free trade and was a key backer of the TPP since the United States withdrew in January, but Labour has expressed concern TPP would stop it from banning foreigners from buying existing homes. Foreign investors can still buy new houses and apartments. The policy is designed to combat a politically sensitive housing crunch that has priced many New Zealanders out of the market, with prices up more than 50 percent nationally in the last decade. In the city of Auckland, prices have almost doubled in that period. New Zealand was the sixth most popular market for Chinese investors, down from fifth last year, said Jane Lu, head of Australia and New Zealand for international property website Juwai.com. She said foreign buyers tended to fast-forward plans to purchase overseas when new restrictions or taxes loomed. While voters have taken to their charismatic 37-year-old leader, traders have been less impressed with the government s planned protectionist policies and coalition government. The currency had fallen to $0.6861 on Wednesday, its lowest level since May, having plummeted more than 6 percent since the Sept. 23 election. The Kiwi last stood at $0.6878. Veteran protectionist politician Winston Peters, the leader of New Zealand First which holds the balance of power, delivered a victory to Labour after the 23 Sept. election failed to result in a majority for Labour or National. Peters last year described a Chinese company taking a majority ownership in a small New Zealand dairy processor as lunacy , while he called dairy giant Fonterra s decision to send cows to China economic treason . His policies have consistently centered around tight controls on immigration and foreign investment. As well as renegotiating the TPP, Ardern said on Thursday that immigration numbers would be cut by up to 30,000 from record levels of over 70,000. Any trade and foreign ownership restrictions could hurt New Zealand s reputation as an open economy and antagonize the likes of China. Trade between the two countries has grown to more than NZ$20 billion ($14.4 billion) a year, and Chinese President Xi Jinping called the relationship unprecedented in its depth.

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Jeb Bush has 'grave doubts' about Donald Trump in WH

Bush also said he has little confidence in Trump's ability to appropriately handle America's nuclear weapons. "I have grave doubts, to be honest with you," Bush told CNN's Jake Tapper in an interview airing Sunday on "State of the Union." "He's not taking the responsibility, the possibility of being president of the United States really seriously. For him, it looks as though he's an actor playing a role of the candidate for president. Not boning up on the issues, not having a broad sense of the responsibilities of what it is to be a president," Bush said. "Across the spectrum of foreign policy, Mr. Trump talks about things as though he's still on 'The Apprentice.'" Bush said Trump's proposed plan of hoping ISIS removes Syrian President Bashar Assad from power and then Russia taking on ISIS is like "some kind of board game and not a serious approach." "This is just another example of the lack of seriousness. And this is a serious time. We're under grave threats again, and I think we need a president with a steady hand," Bush said. Bush again dismissed Trump's suggestion that George W. Bush was responsible for 9/11 because it occurred during his presidency. "My brother responded to a crisis, and he did it as you would hope a president would do. He united the country, he organized our country and he kept us safe. And there's no denying that. The great majority of Americans believe that," he said. "And I don't know why he keeps bringing this up. It doesn't show that he's a serious person as it relates to being commander in chief and being the architect of a foreign policy," Bush added. Bush said his defense of the 43rd president's response to the attacks isn't just because he's his brother. "I mean, so next week, Mr. Trump is probably going to say that FDR was around when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. It's what you do after that matters. And that's the sign of leadership," he said. "You don't have to have your last name named Bush to be able to understand that." Despite Trump leading the polls, Bush predicted that support for him will eventually fade. "I don't think Trump is going to win the nomination. I think we're going to have a nominee that will unite the party," Bush said. He also offered praise for Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton's debate performance, though he argued the policies she supports are bad for the country. "She did a good job in the debate, for sure," he said. "She's a smart person, no doubt about that. But every chance she had to lay out a different approach than the one we're on now, she actually doubled or tripled down on it: more taxes, more regulation, more creating barriers on people's ability to rise up."

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The Trump data card: Key to winning the White House

You can call Donald Trump a lot of things – and heaven knows almost everyone has – but you can’t call him stupid. He’s the lead story on every newscast, the hashtag of all hashtags on social media. And he’s gotten there by defying every convention. The bombastic billionaire has generated controversy and widespread contempt since he announced his candidacy for president in June, yet the latest New York Times/CBS News poll gives him 35 percent of the Republican vote – more than double the 16 percent of runner-up Ted Cruz. Trump has defied the experts for six months, so have no doubt about it: He is very, very smart. He knows exactly what he’s doing. The Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses and the Feb. 9 New Hampshire primary are right around the corner, but two months is an eternity in American politics. There’s nothing that can’t be turned upside down in a few short weeks. And that’s why every other candidate for president, whether Democrat or Republican, should be spending a lot less time right now condemning what Trump is saying. Instead, they should be devoting their time and effort to learning why he’s winning. All they need to do is look at the data. Politics is all about data now, and Trump is generating more of it every day than all the other candidates combined in a week. But every time he says something provocative – which is pretty much every time he speaks – he creates data that can be captured, analyzed and turned against him. We live in a world where data controls everything, and I spend all my time studying how and why. In my case, because I’m a physician, it’s health data. But the principles are the same, and they’re why whoever best corrals the data Trump is generating will be the next president of the United States. In an analysis of his strategy on Thursday, the Washington Post reported that “Trump uses his Instagram account, which has more than 650,000 followers, to deliver snarky messages and short videos of him scowling as he delivers pronouncements from his Trump Tower desk. On Twitter … Trump has posted more than 6,000 tweets since launching his campaign in June.” There’s your data. Trump – @realDonaldTrump – has 5.2 million followers on Twitter. Every tweet and retweet, every Facebook post and share, every Instagram blast, every newscast lead, every comment on everything … Everyone’s talking about Donald Trump, which means he’s generating a trove of data that his opponents should be mining to their advantage. Instead of climbing all over each other every day to condemn him, the other candidates should lean back, take a deep breath and learn from him – because the next president of the United States will be the man or woman who is smart enough to invest in the infrastructure that’s needed to organize and analyze the Trump data trove. And with Iowa and New Hampshire coming up fast, the time to make that investment is now. Does data analysis really work? Ask Barack Obama; it’s why he’s been living in the White House for the last seven years. He is the master of using data to win elections by analyzing and identifying undecided voters, learning everything he could about each and every one of them, and then persuading them to vote for him in the final days of the campaign. Jim Messina, who headed Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012, said recently that “Every night for 18 months, we did 66,000 computer simulations of the election, and that’s how we based our tactics…. [W]e based it all on big data.” Obama is the Big Data president, and Trump gets that. The other candidates think traditional rhetoric and campaign slogans appeal to voters, but Trump has tapped into something every TV producer and ad executive knows: Times have changed. To get the ratings or to make the sale, you need to know the audience and make it yours. When advertisers want you to buy something, they provoke you. They grab your attention and use the data on what you’re watching to understand your behavior and reel you in. The same applies in television. Nobody’s watching "Little House on the Prairie" anymore. The shows that get the ratings are the ones that are provocative, edgy, controversial. Trump gets that, and he’s brought it to the presidential race. He’s shaking up the electorate, forcing them to react. You may not like what he’s saying, but you can’t deny that it’s working. He’s been at the top of the polls for months. But that, oddly enough, opens a door for whoever is smart enough to walk through it. A savvy opponent, instead of jumping on what Trump is saying, should be jumping on how people are reacting to what he’s saying. Trump has opened up a gold mine of data that any of his opponents can analyze to understand what people like – or don’t like – and why. From Mexicans to McCain to Muslims, all the trash talk and all the responses to it create data that a tech-savvy opponent should pounce on. It’s there for anyone who knows how to use it. “We spent two years and about $400 million trying to build up a capacity to predict people’s behaviors and match that with social media,” Messina said, reflecting on Obama’s re-election. “The final 96 hours of the 2012 race, a majority of Americans, for the first time since 1972, went to the incumbent. And when you ask them why: 76 percent of those said because their friend or family member talked to them on social media and told them why they had to support Barack Obama.” Any candidate who wants to be standing when Trump falls should memorize those words. Use the data he’s generating to learn everything you can about his supporters, and then make them yours. Trump is smart. To beat him, an opponent has to be smart enough to move away from the chorus of critics and use the data he’s generating to defeat him. Keep your base, analyze the data, win over his supporters … and the White House will be yours. Dr. Sreedhar Potarazu is an acclaimed ophthalmologist and entrepreneur who has been recognized as an international visionary in the business of medicine and health information technology. He is the founder of VitalSpring Technologies Inc., a privately held enterprise software company focused on providing employers with applications to empower them to become more sophisticated purchasers of health care. Dr. Potarazu is the founder and chairman of WellZone, a social platform for driving consumer engagement in health.

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BREAKING : Mike Pence DEMANDS the FBI RELEASE ALL EMAILS BEFORE ELECTION DAY – TruthFeed

BREAKING : Mike Pence DEMANDS the FBI RELEASE ALL EMAILS BEFORE ELECTION DAY BREAKING : Mike Pence DEMANDS the FBI RELEASE ALL EMAILS BEFORE ELECTION DAY Breaking News By Amy Moreno October 28, 2016 On Friday the FBI announced they were reopening the email investigation into Hillary’s mishandling of classified information. In a statement, the FBI said that they discovered “new emails” pertinent to the earlier investigation on “several devices.” Reports indicate that one phone device belongs to Anthony Weiner and the other phone device belongs to his estranged wife Huma Abedin. Mike Pence tweeted out a demand, calling on FBI officials to release ALL EMAILS before election day. We call on the FBI to immediately release all emails pertinent to their investigation. Americans have the right to know before Election Day. — Mike Pence (@mike_pence) October 28, 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.

1real

Miss Islandia abandona concurso internacional de belleza porque le pidieron comer menos (Fotos) - RT

Miss Islandia abandona concurso internacional de belleza porque le pidieron comer menos (Fotos) Publicado: 26 oct 2016 23:23 GMT "Miss Grand International no merece mi rostro, mi cuerpo, mi personalidad o mi corazón", condenó la joven después de recibir denigrantes 'consejos' de los organizadores del evento. Instagram @arnayr Síguenos en Facebook La representante de Islandia ha decidido abandonar un prestigioso concurso internacional de belleza después de que sus organizadores le 'aconsejaran' comer menos porque tiene exceso de grasa en su cuerpo, informa ' The Washington Times '. Según la información disponible, Nawat Itsaragrisil, presidente de Miss Grand Internacional 2016, certamen que se celebra en Las Vegas (Nevada, EE.UU.), dio a conocer a Arna Yr Jonsdottir que tenía "un poco de grasa" y le recomendó tratar de perder algo de peso para competir mejor en la etapa final del evento. Instagram @arnayr Estos 'consejos' indignaron a Miss Islandia, quien decidió retirarse del concurso. "Soy una mujer fuerte, pero a veces esto no es suficiente. Su equipo me dijo que tenía que perder peso para la fase final porque tengo mucha grasa y mis hombros son muy grandes. Me dijeron que comiera menos para que le gustara más a usted", respondió la joven de 20 años en una carta divulgada a través de las redes sociales. Фото опубликовано Arna Ýr Jónsdóttir (@arnayr) Окт 14 2016 в 7:08 PDT "Me dicen que soy muy gorda para usted (…) Miss Grand International no merece mi rostro, mi cuerpo, mi personalidad o mi corazón", agregó la modelo islandesa, aclarando que se siente orgullosa de su cuerpo y que ha sido gimnasta desde los 10 años. "Mis hombros son un poco más anchos que los de otras chicas porque fui miembro de la Selección Islandesa de atletismo y estoy orgullosa de ello", sentenció. Instagram @arnayr

1real

Thailand says closely watching Myanmar crisis, ready to provide aid

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand s foreign ministry, in a rare statement on an ongoing crisis in neighboring Myanmar s Rakhine state, said late on Saturday that it was closely following the situation and would provide aid to the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh. Violence erupted in Rakhine last month when Rohingya militants attacked security posts, triggering a crackdown by the Myanmar army. More than half a million ethnic Rohingya - a mostly Muslim minority who are denied citizenship by Myanmar - have fled to Bangladesh since then. Those who fled accuse Myanmar s army, backed by Buddhist mobs, of a brutal killing campaign. The United Nations has described as ethnic cleansing a sweeping government offensive in the north of Rakhine State in response to those attacks. Thailand is closely following the situation in the Rakhine State with concern, the ministry said. The Royal Thai Government has always placed great importance to providing care and protection to Myanmar displaced persons, it added, pointing to some 100,000 refugees from Myanmar who live in nine camps along the Thai-Myanmar border. But many of those living in the camps are long-term residents who fled conflict decades ago. None are Rohingya, according to non-governmental organizations who work there. The Thai foreign ministry said its statement was in response to views raised by some human rights groups regarding Thailand s position on the unrest in Rakhine. Amnesty International last week said Thailand must not push back Rohingya fleeing violence and that it should provide refugees formal legal status and protection. Thailand does not recognize the status of any refugees or recognize the Rohingya as legitimate migrant workers. Thailand said it supported a statement on the issue by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a grouping of 10 nations. In the statement, ASEAN foreign ministers condemned the attacks on Myanmar s security forces and all acts of violence which resulted in loss of civilian lives . Malaysia, an ASEAN member, disassociated itself from the statement, saying it misrepresented issues relating to the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya. So far, none of the affected victims from the August unrest in Rakhine State have been found in Thailand, the Thai foreign ministry said.

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SYRIA: British and American Presence Directly Escalating Conflict Near Al-Tanf

US paratrooper on security duty during a mission to train Iraqi forces (Photo: US Department of Defense. Source: Wikicommons)21st Century Wire says In southeastern Syria, the region around al-Tanf has quickly become a focal point for the ongoing conflict in the region. Near to both the Iraqi and Jordanian borders, al-Tanf is currently the location of a contingent of US-led coalition forces, supposedly there for the purpose of providing training to anti-ISIS militias, but also anti-Assad militias too the fabled moderate rebels . Not surprisingly, the US-led coalition has unilaterally imposed a self-styled deconfliction zone around their camp in al-Tanf and claim to be defending their position from pro-Syrian forces , otherwise known as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and allied militias. It has been reported by mainstream media outlets that coalition members represented at al-Tanf include not only the United States but also the British SAS, and also possibly Norway too.Although coalition forces are also present in other parts of Syria, including the area around Raqqa, an ISIS stronghold, the last few weeks have seen coalition forces striking Syrian military targets on at least three occasions near the coalition training camp close to al-Tanf including incidents on May 18th, June 6th and June 8th. It is now being reported that the US is supplying truck-mounted long range missiles to its forces near al-Tanf, in a move that risks immediate escalation in the already-tense situation, and despite diplomatic efforts by Russia to calm the situation. All this comes as the US and its Kurdish proxy militia, the SDF, mount their attack on the ISIS stronghold Raqqa in Northeast Syria. The US has also seized the opportunity to invade more Syrian territory after an alleged sarin gas attack on April 4th that prompted President Trump to launch a missile strike on a Syrian airbase in retaliation.In the following segment filmed two weeks ago, 21WIRE editor Patrick Henningsen speaks to RT International about the recent US strike on Syrian forces near al-Tanf. Henningsen explains how the US are taking advantage of the tension to secure its own territory inside of Syria:. US and Britain: A Policy of DeceptionOne could easily be confused by the narrative that is being spun by the US, Britain, and compliant mainstream media in both countries. Less than two years ago, in 2015, then British Prime Minister David Cameron ruled out sending British ground troops into Syria. In mid-2016, however, it emerged that British special forces were engaged in combat in the country. Between 2013 and 2015, former US President Barack Obama said on at least 16 occasions that there would be no boots on the ground in Syria, but then changed his mind in late 2015 when US Special Forces were deployed into Syria.President Trump s statements are no less contradictory. On April 11th 2017, soon after his initial missile strikes on the Syrian airbase, Trump said that the US was not going into Syria ; the current situation at al-Tanf simply contradicts that statement.Since that time, both Britain and the US have been slowly ramping up their presence in Syria, ostensibly to fight ISIS. But by repeatedly striking at Syrian government forces the single most effective fighting force against ISIS the US and Britain are actually helping ISIS to achieve its objectives.Note the mismatch between the US-led coalition s presence in Syria and how it s presented to the public. Not only do they claim to be fighting ISIS while at the same time indirectly helping them, but they also call their attacks on Syrian army targets defensive even though the Syrian military has never attempted to attack any coalition forces. And it is similarly ironic that these strikes against the Syrian military have occurred in what the coalition calls a deconfliction zone , where supposedly no conflict is allowed. According to security analyst Charles Shoebridge: These are self-declared [US occupied] zones of deconfliction. What they really mean there is that they are not allowing other people to enter these zones, notwithstanding that this is part of a sovereign country, Syria What they mean is that actually conflict is allowed, and military forces, as long as they are American, British and their rebel allies. They are not agreed deconfliction zones. Syria doesn t agree to them. Russia, which of course has established de-escalation zones elsewhere in the country, hasn t agreed to this. Consequently they really are, as [Russian Foreign Minister] Lavrov or his spokesman said, effectively unilateral zones. And not only is the narrative confusing, it is also not given the highest priority among mainstream headlines, with many other prominent stories conveniently serving to occupy the public while the situation in al-Tanf escalates. In a week that saw Congressmen shot at and injured at a baseball practice, a massive tower block fire in London taking at least 17 lives, and the UK election aftermath continuing to be unresolved, one could easily remain unaware of the escalating situation around al-Tanf in Syria. With the US-led coalition now directly and deliberately attacking Syrian forces, what has been a proxy war is suddenly growing more dangerous, and the prospect of a direct conflict between nuclear-armed powers looms ever closer.As former British Ambassador to Syria Peter Ford remarked during a recent conversation with 21WIRE, the British military has neither Syrian approval to be in Syria, nor international approval from the UN, nor even legislative approval from its own Parliament. The same applies to the United States; although the US Constitution gives the power to declare war exclusively to Congress, the US now has quite a long history of entering wars or using deadly military force without Congressional approval under the flexible guise of an Authorization of Force. More on this story from Newsweek Two Syrian army tanks destroyed in a battle against moderate rebels , Azaz, Syria (Photo: Christiaan Triebert. Source: Wikicommons)Tom O Connor NewsweekRussia has demanded that the U.S. stop attacking forces that support the Syrian government as they overtake positions held by the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) on the country s border with Iraq.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reportedly made the comments Saturday on a phone call with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, responding to three U.S. air strikes in the past few weeks against forces battling ISIS and other insurgent groups on behalf of Russian-backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Pentagon has argued that the pro-Syrian government coalition, which it describes as Iran-backed militias, has breached a deconfliction zone declared by the U.S.-led international coalition in southern Syria but not recognized by Moscow or Damascus. Lavrov criticized the U.S. s moves, and the pair reportedly agreed to cooperate more closely in the future. Lavrov expressed his categorical disagreement with the U.S. strikes on pro-government forces and called on him to take concrete measures to prevent similar incidents in future, Russia s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, according to Reuters.While the Syrian army and its allies, which include Russia, Iran and various pro-government militias, advance toward the besieged eastern city of Deir Al-Zour, held by ISIS since 2014, the U.S. has deployed Special Forces to train anti-Assad rebels near the southern region of al-Tanf. Both factions are involved in the battle against ISIS but differ on Syria s political future, with the former insisting that Assad remains in power and the latter mostly advocating for his removal.Continue this story at NewsweekREAD MORE SYRIA NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire SYRIA FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV

1real

Obama On Baltimore: 'This Is Not New'

President Barack Obama on Tuesday addressed the eruption of protests and riots in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray, condemning the violent demonstrations while acknowledging that the underlying problems plaguing the city are "not new" and will require national "soul-searching" to solve. During a press conference with Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, Obama was asked by NBC News' Chris Jansing about the growing frustration that not enough is being done in communities like Baltimore. Obama said his thoughts are with Gray's family as well as the police injured in Monday's protests, and he criticized the violent approach taken by some demonstrators. "There's no excuse for the kind of violence we saw yesterday," he said. "It is counterproductive. When individuals get crowbars and start prying open doors to loot, they're not protesting. They're not making a statement. They're stealing. When they burn down a building they're committing arson, and they're destroying and undermining businesses and opportunities in their own communities that rob jobs and opportunities from people in that area." "They were constructive and they were thoughtful," he said of those demonstrations. "And frankly it didn't get much attention. And one burning building will be looped on television ... and the thousands of demonstrators who did it the right way have been lost in the discussion." He continued, "Since Ferguson and the task force that we put together, we have seen too many incidences of what appears to be police officers interacting with individuals -- primarily African-American, often poor -- in ways that raise troubling questions. It comes up, it seems like, once a week now. Or once every couple of weeks. So I think its pretty understandable why the leaders of civil rights organizations, but more importantly moms and dads, might start saying this is a crisis. What I'd say is this has been a slow rolling crisis." "We have to own up to the fact that occasionally there are going to be problems here," he said. "We can't just leave this to the police. I think there are police departments that have to do some soul-searching. I think there are some communities that have to do so some soul-searching. But I think we as a country have to do some soul-searching. This is not new. It's been going on for decades," he said. "If we are serious about solving this problem, then we're going to not only help the police, we're going to have to think about what we can do, the rest of us." "That's hard. That requires more than just the occasional news report or task force," he said. "If we really want to solve the problem, we could, it's just it would require everybody saying this is important, this is significant and that we just don't pay attention to these communities when a CVS burns. And we don't just pay attention when a man gets shot or has his spine snapped." Violent protests broke out in the Maryland city on Monday following the funeral for Gray, the 25-year-old who died last week after suffering a spinal injury while in police custody. At least 15 police officers were injured and 27 individuals were arrested during Monday's protests.

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Two-thirds of US Navy Strike Fighter Jets Grounded: Navy Claims No Money to Fix Them

21st Century Wire says Defense News said that sixty-two percent of the US Navy s F-18s are grounded and out of service and attributed this to be, mostly because there isn t enough money to fix them and noted they are awaiting planned maintenance and are held up waiting on spare parts. One must wonder if there is more to the story. Could this many of the US Navy s fighters be out of commission when the DoD budget in 2016 was almost 600 billion dollars? How can there not be enough money for spare parts? With RT breaking this story down further, we ll find that there are many other factors to consider than just not enough money for spare parts. Factors including shore facilities in disrepair, refurbish/retrofit issues for new equipment, the delays in development of a replacement platform such as the F-35 and compounded by over a decade of war RTSixty-two percent of the US Navy s F/A-18s are out of service, of which 27 percent are in major depot work and 35 percent are simply awaiting maintenance or parts, Defense News said, adding that 53 percent of all Navy aircraft some 1,700 combat aircraft, patrol, transport planes, and helicopters can t fly.Moreover, there isn t enough money to fix the fleet s ships, and the backlog of ships needing work continues to grow, the article says. Some subs have allegedly been out of service literally for years, as much as four years or more, Defense News reports.The Navy can t get money to move around service members and their families to change assignments, and about $440 million is needed to pay sailors, according to the publication. And the service claims 15 percent of its shore facilities are in failed condition awaiting repair, replacement or demolition, it added.According to John Venable, a senior research fellow for defense policy at the Heritage Foundation, the backlog is so huge it ll take them several years to refit, refurbish, and repair the F-18s that are in unserviceable condition. They can t catch up even if the Trump administration gave them all the money they need, he told the Washington Free Beacon. For a variety of reasons, our shipyards and aviation depots are struggling to get our ships and airplanes through maintenance periods on time, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Admiral William Moran told lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.READ MORE: Defense Secretary Mattis orders reviews of F-35 and Air Force One to cut costs It has become clear to me that the Navy s overall readiness has reached its lowest level in many years, he noted, adding that among the problems causing the situation are funding reductions and consistent uncertainty about when those reduced budgets will be approved. Between 2001 and 2015, the Navy was able to keep an average of 100 ships at sea each day, Moran said, adding that the Navy is smaller today than it s been in the last 99 years. The budget caps imposed on military and nonmilitary spending in the Budget Control Act have degraded our military readiness, Representative Adam Smith (D-Washington) told CNN, adding that among other factors, constraints have been compounded by over a decade of war Continue this report at RTSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV

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Rappoport: ‘CNN Already Deflecting From the Susan Rice Scandal’

By Jon RappoportCNN is already claiming the whole Susan Rice scandal is a tempest in a teapot, and the Trump team is exaggerating it to distract the public from something. Fill in the blank yourself.For example: Trump isn t actually the president, he cheated his way into the Oval Office, while acting as a secret agent for his handler, Vladimir Putin, who in turn was operating on behalf of aliens from Jupiter.The Susan Rice scandal is out in the open. She, Obama s national security advisor, led an effort to spy on legal phone calls the Trump team was making during the presidential campaign, in order to gain intelligence on the enemy. The Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) spoke with Col. (Ret.) James Waurishuk, an NSC [National Security Council] veteran and former deputy director for intelligence at the U.S. Central Command. Waurishuk said: many hands had to be involved throughout the Obama administration to launch such a political spying program It s unbelievable of [sic] the level and degree of the [Obama] administration to look for information on Donald Trump and his associates, his campaign team and his transition team. This is really, really serious stuff . Michael Doran, former NSC [National Security Council] senior director, told The DCNF Monday that somebody blew a hole in the wall between national security secrets and partisan politics . This was a stream of information that was supposed to be hermetically sealed from politics and the Obama administration found a way to blow a hole in that wall , he said. Yes, serious stuff. A felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.Obama, of course, will have plausible deniability if the Susan Rice scandal blows up into a Watergate. He didn t know. He didn t order the spying. He was playing golf that day. Or any day.And if a Congressional investigation of Rice and her antics reaches a fever pitch, somebody can play the race card. That s always an option. If Rice were white, this never would have happened to her. The Trump people are all over her like white on Rice. Meanwhile, CNN, in alternating segments, can say a) Rice and her people never spied on anybody, and b) everybody spies on everybody all the time, it s not a big deal and then some on-air goofball will add, In fact, we here at CNN are spying And the TV screen will go blank, then display colored stripes, then come back and the goofball will be gone, and an anchor will say, We had a technical problem for a moment. Continue this article at John Rappoport s websiteREAD MORE RUSSIAN HACK NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Russian Hack Files

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Project Veritas: Implicated Democratic Operatives Claim Credit for Romney 47% Video

We Are Change The Democratic operatives exposed by James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas claimed in a hidden camera video that they were also behind the video of the 47% comment that cost Mitt Romney the election — not a random bartender as previously believed. Breaking on @oreillyfactor tonight: Scott Foval reveals who was really behind the @MittRomney 47% video. #Veritas @PVeritas_Action pic.twitter.com/Zr5ANuzSdq — James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) October 27, 2016 At a private fundraiser in 2012, Romney made the mistake of stating that 47% of Americans are freeloaders — which was reported to have been caught on camera by a random bartender who was working the event. “There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it,” Romeny had stated. “That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.” In the newly released Veritas footage however, Scott Foval, the former field director of Americans United for Change, admits that they were actually behind the video which was released by David Corn of Mother Jones. . @oreillyfactor breaks new video showing @woodhouseb / Scott Foval was responsible for @DavidCornDC video, not "bartender" pic.twitter.com/IxpfHdqpB6 — James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) October 27, 2016 Foval explains that his group has been doing “insertions” to interrupt fundraisers and rallies as far back as 2000 and 2004, against George W. Bush — and that they were responsible for the one that ended Romney’s campaign. “They do it all over the country, yeah. And then I don’t know if you remember, well from, they are the ones who negotiated to get that lawyer in Florida who recorded the 47% video,” Foval states. “Wait, I thought that was a bartender,” the undercover reporter asks. “It was actually a lawyer at the event,” Foval explains. “It was not a bartender.” “The lawyer took his phone and had the bartender walk around with it and set it up,” Foval continues. “It was a whole coordinated operation to get the phone in because they had taken away all the cell phones from all the staff and so what they did was they set it up in the room.” Foval continued to explain that the organization has a team of approximately 25 people who conduct these operations. In previous video releases from Veritas, Foval reveals how his organization had been working to incite violence at Trump rallies, using a tactic called “bird-dogging.” The hidden camera videos have also revealed their step-by-step voter fraud strategy. Earlier in the day, the organization released their fourth undercover video, where Robert Creamer of Democracy Partners claimed that he was on daily calls with the Clinton campaign, and accepts a potentially-illegal foreign donation. “The more money that was promised to Creamer, the more access Project Veritas Action journalists seemed to get,” Project Veritas said in their release . O’Keefe has filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission against both Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee based upon the shocking revelations that his team has uncovered. During a rally in Gettysburg on Saturday, Trump promised that he would also be suing the DNC for inciting violence at his rallies, based on what he saw in the Project Veritas videos. The post Project Veritas: Implicated Democratic Operatives Claim Credit for Romney 47% Video appeared first on We Are Change .

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WATCH TUCKER CARLSON Scorch Sanctuary City Mayor: “Don’t you believe in laws?” [Video]

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Trump Whines That Diverse ‘Hamilton’ Cast And Audience Opposed Bigoted Mike Pence With Insane Twitter Rant

Donald Trump has a very thin skin. He has demonstrated this repeatedly; after all, he attacked the family of a fallen Muslim-American soldier for daring to criticize his disparaging comments about Muslims, and did the same to a beauty queen who had the guts to reveal how poorly he treated her when she was the reigning Miss Universe. He again did the same to a reporter with a disability by mocking him on national television via a rally, and has attacked countless other people who dared to speak out against him regarding negative experiences they have had by working with or for Trump. His latest target? The cast of the great Broadway musical Hamilton. Now, Trump has taken to Twitter to disparage the cast of the musical for the supposed harassment that his vice president-elect Mike Pence received when he decided to go to a showing of Hamilton in super liberal New York City. Pence, who has a long and disturbing record of anti-woman and anti-LGBTQ positions and legislation, was booed at the production, and Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays Aaron Burr in the musical, made an impassioned plea to Pence to have an administration with Trump that includes everyone. Of course, Trump could not let this perceived slight go, so he took to Twitter to disparage the cast, creators, and Dixon s statement to Pence, saying:Our wonderful future V.P. Mike Pence was harassed last night at the theater by the cast of Hamilton, cameras blazing.This should not happen! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016The Theater must always be a safe and special place.The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016It s called free speech, pal. You have a vice president-elect who is easily one of the most anti-LGBTQ political figures in the nation showing up at a New York City Broadway musical that has the most diverse cast imaginable, including a star who is openly gay and HIV-positive. What did you expect? Did you want the cast to kiss Pence s ass? Not happening. Pence is getting the same level of respect he has shown the LGBTQ community, which is absolutely none. Make no mistake you re both getting exactly what you deserve. Get used to it this will be your reception everywhere you go for the next four years, and it is definitely well deserved.Featured image via Scott Eisen/Getty Images

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Trump Celebrates Epic Press Conference Thanks Rush Limbaugh

President Donald Trump celebrated the results of his epic press conference at the White House, thanking those who said nice things about it. [“Thank you for all of the nice statements on the Press Conference yesterday,” he wrote on Twitter. “Rush Limbaugh said one of greatest ever. Fake media not happy!” Mainstream media appeared bewildered after Trump bantered with them for an hour and 17 minutes in the East Room of the White House, repeatedly criticizing reporters for their hateful tone towards his administration and their obsession with his campaign’s communication with Russia. Although many Washington D. C. Republicans were reportedly appalled by the press conference, talk radio’s Rush Limbaugh praised the press conference in which Trump engaged the media head on. “This was one of the most effective press conferences I have ever seen,” Limbaugh said on his show immediately after the event. “The press is going to hate him even more after this. ” Trump took questions from 17 different reporters, including many of the cable and network news organizations.

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Factbox: Countdown to Brexit breakthrough?

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May failed to secure a breakthrough in Brexit talks on Monday with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Here is a timeline of the coming 10 days that will determine whether Britain avoids further costly delays in giving business assurances of a smooth exit from the European Union and of free trade with its biggest market in the future: May wants the EU to open the second phase of Brexit negotiations concerning relations after Britain s withdrawal on March 30, 2019. The EU will only do that if there is sufficient progress in agreeing divorce terms, notably on three key issues: a financial settlement, guaranteed rights for EU citizens in Britain and a soft border with Ireland. A deal on money is effectively done, EU officials said last week. There are indications of agreement on citizens rights. But opposition from key allies in Northern Ireland to treating the province differently from the mainland in a bid to maintain on open EU land border with Ireland scuppered a deal on Monday. As part of the choreography for a political deal, the EU set May an absolute deadline of Monday to provide new offers in time for the other EU leaders to approve a move to Phase 2 at a summit of the EU-27 on Friday, Dec. 15. Now, however, that has been pushed back by a few days, EU officials have conceded. May is pushing for a simultaneous, reciprocal guarantee from the EU of a soft transition and future trade deal, which she may use to show Britons what her compromises have secured. The EU wants to have firm British offers which the 27 can discuss before leaders commit. The result is some complex dance steps: Tuesday, Dec. 5 EU summit chair Donald Tusk, having canceled a visit to Jerusalem, had expected to call around EU leaders to discuss common guidelines for launching trade negotiations with Britain. This and a series of other steps are now on hold. Monday, Dec. 11 EU-27 sherpas meet to prepare the summit. Tuesday, Dec. 12 EU affairs ministers of EU-27 meet to prepare summit. Thursday, Dec. 14 4 p.m. - May attends routine EU summit in Brussels. Defence, social affairs, foreign affairs and migration are on the agenda. Friday, Dec. 15 After May has left, EU-27 leaders hold Brexit summit. They could take one comprehensive decision on Phase 2 or break it down into separate ones on the transition and future ties. If May delays a divorce agreement until the summit, perhaps to show voters at home her resolve, this may delay opening trade talks. January - Outline of EU transition offer may be ready, under which Britain retains all rights except voting in the bloc, and meets all its obligations until the end of 2020. February - After agreeing their negotiating terms, EU-27 may be ready to open talks with London on a free trade pact that Brussels likens to one it has with Canada. The EU estimated at some 60 billion euros ($71 billion) what Britain should pay to cover outstanding obligations on leaving. EU officials say there is now agreement after Britain offered to pay an agreed share of most of the items Brussels wanted, especially for committed spending that will go on after 2020. Both sides say there is no precise figure as much depends on future developments. British newspaper reports that it would cost up to 55 billion euros sparked only muted criticism from May s hardline pro-Brexit allies who once rejected big payments. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Saturday that London would be paying the EU 60 billion euros on Brexit. Barnier is still seeking a commitment that the rights of 3 million EU citizens who stay on in Britain after Brexit will be guaranteed by the European Court of Justice, not just by British judges. May has said the ECJ should play no more role in Britain. But the issue could be vital to ensure ratification of the withdrawal treaty by the European Parliament. EU diplomats say a compromise may let British courts refer cases on citizens rights to the Luxembourg-based ECJ on a voluntary basis. Irish premier Leo Varadkar said London agreed on Monday that Northern Ireland would remain in regulatory alignment with the EU, and hence the Irish Republic, to ensure there was no hard border with police and customs checks that could disrupt peace. However, a hostile reaction from May s pro-Brexit and pro-London allies the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), on whom she depends for her slim parliamentary majority, caused May to hold off agreeing the package deal with Juncker. The DUP and many in May s own party fear that means separating the province from the British mainland - or forcing EU rules onto the whole of the UK. Leaders of mainland regions Scotland, Wales and London leapt on the deal to demand similar freedom to perhaps remain in the EU customs union or single market, giving May a new headache. Varadkar said he is willing to see changes in the text but not that would change its actual meaning.

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WATCH: THE 2006 CHILD MOLESTER AD Bernie Sanders Doesn’t Want Voters To See

We all know the defense of children comes dead last when it comes to the Left. It s interesting how Hillary helped to get a child rapist off (before she still had her law license taken away) and now nearly a decade later, this news about Bernie s support for child molesters and his non-support for the Amber Alert by way of his NO vote What s happened to Bernie- 2006 anti-Bernie by DailyPolitics Back in 2006, when Sanders was running for the Senate, Republican Richard Tarrant pointed out some things about the socialist s voting record he probably doesn t want his liberal flock to know.For example, Sanders voted AGAINST the Amber Alert system and refused to endorse a bill that would lock away child molesters for life.Via: DownTrend

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The Pope Just Took MAJOR Step In Abortion Rights; Conservatives LIVID

While the United States and a few European countries seem to be taking a major right-hand political turn, Pope Francis made a stunning announcement in an apostolic letter on Monday that is setting conservatives on fire. While he s far short of allowing full reproductive rights among Catholics, he s decreed that women who ve had abortions don t have to go to Hell.In the letter, Pope Francis granted a special dispensation to priests and bishops that would allow them to absolve the sins of abortion.While this dispensation might have thousands, if not more, Catholic women breathing sighs of relief, the church isn t inviting abortion. In fact, the Pope specifically wrote, I wish to restate as firmly as I can that abortion is a grave sin, since it puts an end to an innocent life. However, in perhaps the Church s first acknowledgement that women are people and not just birthing vessels, Pope Francis also said: In the same way, however, I can and must state that there is no sin that God s mercy cannot reach and wipe away when it finds a repentant heart seeking to be reconciled with the Father. The letter continues: May every priest, therefore, be a guide, support and comfort to penitents on this journey of special reconciliation. I henceforth grant to all priests, in virtue of their ministry, the faculty to absolve those who have committed the sin of procured abortion. This move is incremental. In 1983, Pope John Paul allowed bishops to lift excommunications to women who ve had abortions. Some bishops allowed priests to do the same, but this will be the first time that women around the world will be able to approach their priests, hoping they ll be granted forgiveness, with an actual chance of getting it.Still, conservatives want none of it:@FoxNews There has always been forgiveness it doesn t make the Sin of killing ones own Child less Atrocious They she be shunned from Society GodBlessAmerica ?? (@brianknewhouse) November 21, 2016@tmchand @FoxNews If you followed His Sacred Heart you would know better May his Spirit give you Understanding and Wisdom ?? pic.twitter.com/39RS3um2OJ GodBlessAmerica ?? (@brianknewhouse) November 21, 2016@FoxNews absolvement of murder. oh christianity, how far you have fallen. thevortexFxT (@thevortexFxT) November 21, 2016@DRUDGE_REPORT And people thought we were kidding when we said this pope is not a catholic but a communist in sheeps clothing. Brad (@Brad_D80) November 21, 2016@DRUDGE_REPORT #Eugenics AND the New World Order has more power over this so called Pope than God? Only God can forgive! PrepperAgenda (@PrepperAgenda) November 21, 2016@DRUDGE_REPORT This shit head is worse than a Borgia Pope. Comrade Strontium (@Mr_Strontium) November 21, 2016@DRUDGE_REPORT Oh you killed a baby? That s OK say 10 Hail Marys rub these beads and You ll be just fine @Pontifex Bobby Lee (@BobbyLeeTN) November 21, 2016@DRUDGE_REPORT Once again an activist Pope trying to undermine the Catholic Church with Progressive Liberal Socialist ideas. He is wrong! Hosscart (@rjnuff) November 21, 2016Even with this declaration, the Catholic Church is still in another century when it comes to a woman s right to choose, but, as conservatives reactions are showing, this declaration puts the church miles ahead of the American Republican party.Featured image via Franco Origlia/Getty Images

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Nestle seeks more groundwater to expand Michigan plant

Nestle seeks more groundwater to expand Michigan plant They're putting profits over people - and the environment - yet again By Julie Fidler - November 9, 2016 The state of Michigan has given a preliminary go-ahead for food and beverage maker Nestle to nearly triple the amount of groundwater it will pump from beneath the state, to be bottled and sold at its Ice Mountain plant, approximately 120 miles from Flint. Nestle Waters North America asked the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to allow the company to increase pumping from 150 to 400 gallons-per-minute at 1 of its production wells north of Evart. The company already increased the well’s pumping rate last year and earlier this year, but needs the DEQ’s approval to max out the withdrawal capacity under the Section 17 of the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The DEQ already issued a draft proposal for the request in January, and ended a public comment period on the subject on November 3. Carrie Monosmith, environmental health chief in the drinking water office, said the DEQ hadn’t received any comments. Many Michigan residents feel Nestle has a lot of nerve asking for the increase, in light of Flint’s years-long nightmare over lead contamination in their drinking water. Many people in Flint still rely on bottled water for cooking, cleaning, and bathing as the government continues to drag its feet in replacing the corroded pipes. Nestle representatives defended the company’s efforts to pump more groundwater, saying the “U.S. market for bottled water in general is driving the bid for more Michigan groundwater.” That’s right, America. Nestle says it’s your fault. If that’s not infuriating enough, Nestle gets to pump that water for free. Under state law, private property owners may withdraw from the aquifer under their property for free. The only cost is $200 in annual paperwork. The interstate Great Lakes compact prohibits water diversions outside of the Great Lakes basin, but a loophole in the law allows water to be sold outside the region, so long as it is shipped in bottles smaller than 5.7 gallons. Jeff Ostahowski, vice president of the Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC), asks: “The issue is the privatization of a critical resource. How much is too much?” For years, MCWC has battled against Nestle to prevent it from expanding in the state. According to Nestle and the DEQ, an environmental review shows the aquifer can withstand the proposed increase in pumping, and that it won’t hurt its flow, levels, or temperature of nearby surface waters.

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Why Referendums Aren’t as Democratic as They Seem - The New York Times

The voters of the world have had quite a year: They rejected Colombia’s peace deal split Britain from the European Union endorsed a Thai Constitution that curtails democracy and, in Hungary, backed the government’s plan to restrict refugees, but without the necessary turnout for a valid result. Each of these moves was determined by a national referendum. Though voters upended their governments’ plans, eroded their own rights and ignited political crises, they all accomplished one thing: They demonstrated why many political scientists consider referendums messy and dangerous. When asked whether referendums were a good idea, Michael Marsh, a political scientist at Trinity College Dublin, said, “The simple answer is almost never. ” “I’ve watched many of these in Ireland, and they really range from the pointless to the dangerous,” he added. Though such votes are portrayed as popular governance in its purest form, studies have found that they often subvert democracy rather than serve it. They tend to be volatile, turning not just on the merits of the decision but also on unrelated political swings or even, as may have happened in Colombia, on the weather. Voters must make their decisions with relatively little information, forcing them to rely on political messaging — which puts power in the hands of political elites rather than those of voters. “This is a tool that’s risky, but politicians keep using it because they think that they’ll win,” said Alexandra Cirone, a fellow at the London School of Economics. But often they do not win, and instead of resolving political problems, the referendums create new ones. Looking over the research on these votes, it becomes clear why many experts are skeptical. Voters face a problem in any referendum: They need to distill difficult policy choices down to a simple yes or no, and predict the outcome of decisions so complex that even experts might spend years struggling to understand them. Voters typically solve this problem by finding what the political scientists Arthur Lupia and Mathew D. McCubbins have termed “short cuts. ” The voters follow the guidance of trusted authority figures or fit the choice within a familiar narrative. When a referendum is put forward by the government, people often vote in support if they like the leadership and vote in opposition if they dislike it, according to research by Lawrence LeDuc, a political scientist and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. “A vote that is supposed to be about an important public issue ends up instead being about the popularity or unpopularity of a particular party or leader, the record of the government, or some set of issues or events that are not related to the subject of the referendum,” Professor LeDuc wrote in a 2015 paper. In Colombia, for example, most regions that voted for President Juan Manuel Santos in 2014 also voted for the peace deal, and vice versa. Voters may also cope with complex issues by shoehorning them into existing ideological beliefs. This dynamic plays out in virtually every referendum — especially those with higher stakes. Politicians or other powerful actors will often reframe the referendum into simplistic, straightforward narratives. The result is that votes become less about the actual policy question than about contests between abstract values, or between which narrative voters find more appealing. In Britain’s debate over whether to leave the European Union, or “Brexit,” neither side emphasized the specifics of membership in the bloc, instead framing the vote as a choice about which values to emphasize. The “Remain” campaign presented membership as a matter of economic stability. The “Leave” campaign emphasized immigration. It worked. People who voted to remain expressed great concern about the economy, but not much about immigrants. People who voted to leave said they were very concerned about immigration, and less so about the economy. In Colombia, Mr. Santos presented the referendum as a vote on peace, but the opposition presented it as a decision on whether the country’s largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, was entitled to leniency. Neither narrative fully portrayed the question of whether the peace deal would be worthwhile. Colombia, Ms. Cirone said, also highlighted that “in contexts where the referendum addresses a historical political issue, it may be hard for voters to separate past experiences with what is best for the country in the future. ” In Thailand, the government held a referendum in August to approve a new Constitution that would entrench its power and curtail elements of democracy. But the military also promised elections only after the Constitution passed, in effect selling an document as the choice. The measure passed. Though presented as putting power in the hands of the people, referendums are often intended to put a stamp of popular legitimacy on something leaders have already decided to do. “It doesn’t have a lot to do with whether this should be decided by the people,” Ms. Cirone said. “It has to do with whether a politician can gain an advantage from putting a question to the people. ” For example, David Cameron, until July the British prime minister, held the vote on whether to depart the European Union expecting that it would bolster his decision to stay in the bloc and would thus silence British politicians who wanted to leave. The Thai military restricted news coverage of the draft Constitution, ensuring that there was no counternarrative that might portray it as a threat to democracy. By giving the appearance of popular input, the military in fact dampened it. Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary most likely devised his country’s referendum — on whether to reject European Union requirements for accepting refugees — to inevitable objections in the bloc to his policies and to bolster his political standing at home. In both cases, it was about using the vote as an instrument to strengthen himself. This stamp of popular legitimacy, though, can sometimes be a good thing, settling contentious national disputes that might otherwise lead to political turmoil or even to armed conflict. But it is precisely because the stakes are so high that the risks are, as well. Northern Ireland’s Good Friday peace deal in 1998 was followed by two referendums, one in Northern Ireland and one in the Republic of Ireland. That gave communities a sense of having been included, and marginalized anyone who wanted to keep fighting, making a relapse into conflict less likely. This shows an important way referendums are different from regular elections: They succeed only when the nation perceives the vote as reflecting popular will. That works best if turnout is high and one side wins in a landslide, as happened in Northern Ireland’s 1998 vote. But in Colombia, turnout was just 38 percent, and the vote was split almost perfectly down the middle, meaning a few thousand people swung the outcome. Even if the referendum had passed, it would have failed to give the peace deal popular legitimacy. That problem can be solved by requiring high turnout and a landslide victory for a referendum to be binding, Ms. Cirone said. But in a puzzling decision, neither Colombia nor Britain required more than 50 percent of the vote for either side to win. A close result like Colombia’s can risk deepening political disputes rather than bridging them. Leaders have to choose whether to accept a result that does not demonstrably reflect popular will, or reject the result and risk a political backlash or a constitutional crisis. National referendums can also be extremely volatile, driven by factors unrelated to the issue’s merits and outside anyone’s control. Opinion polls are often misleading because people do not form their opinions until immediately before the vote. Tellingly, they often abandon those views just as quickly. Professor Marsh of Trinity College Dublin said he had found, in some cases, that “most people can’t remember any arguments for — this is about a week later — they can’t remember any arguments against, and they’re not really quite sure why they voted yes or no. ” He added, “That doesn’t inspire me, really, with referendums. ” The ambient noise of politics can also distort popular will: Whether one party is up or down in the polls, whether intraparty infighting over the vote spills into public, and how the news media portrays related issues all play a role. Votes are also subject to random factors, including the weather. In Colombia, turnout for the referendum may have been depressed by a hurricane that hit the day before, forcing evacuations in some areas. “The idea that somehow any decision reached anytime by majority rule is necessarily ‘democratic’ is a perversion of the term,” Kenneth Rogoff, an economics professor at Harvard, wrote after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. “This isn’t democracy it is Russian roulette for republics,” he added.

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China sales vroom in 2016 for global automakers; dull 2017 looms

BEIJING (Reuters) - Global automakers reported a surge in China sales last year as consumers rushed to take advantage of a tax cut on small-engine cars, but cautioned 2017 would be tougher for the industry as the incentive is rolled back and the broader economy slows. Toyota Motor Corp, Ford Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co Ltd on Friday each reported sales growth of 8 percent or better for 2016, although Honda Motor Co Ltd led the pack with a 24 percent growth. Toyota, which reported an 8.2 percent rise in China sales last year, sees growth slowing in 2017 as slightly higher taxes keep some buyers away from the world’s biggest auto market. It expects to sell at least 1.2 million vehicles, steady from 2016. “We are not being strictly volume focused. We would like to do so (increase volumes) while boosting car quality and keep our customer base satisfied with our products and service,” a Beijing-based Toyota spokesman told Reuters. While Honda expects to sell more vehicles in China this year, it forecast a significantly slower growth rate of 7.4 percent, roughly in line with a slowing economy. Demand for cars in China got a shot in the arm in 2016 ahead of a planned expiry of lower taxes at year-end. Sales will come under pressure this year, but not fall sharply, given a decision to slowly roll back the incentive instead of abruptly ending it. The purchase tax on cars with engines of 1.6 litres or smaller in China, at 5 percent now, will rise to 7.5 percent this year before returning to 10 percent in 2018. Overall passenger car sales in China could have dropped 2 percent this year had the tax cut expired on Dec. 31, but are now expected to grow by 3-5 percent, consultancy Automotive Foresight said. Analysts, however, cautioned that car sales could fall in the first quarter as consumers fearing the policy would end in 2016 moved ahead their purchases instead of waiting until 2017. “In late 2016 we definitely saw pull forward effects in engines below 1.6 liter. This will effect the Q1 negatively,” a sales executive at a major foreign automaker told Reuters. Honda posted the biggest growth in China sales last year among automakers reporting Friday, powered by a steady stream of new models, mainly in the hot sport-utility vehicle segment. Vehicle sales by Honda rose to 1.25 million in 2016, while Ford reported a growth of 11.9 percent to 1.24 million vehicles. But with premium Lincoln brand car sales, which are not consistently included in monthly data releases, Ford’s sales totaled 1.27 million, giving it an edge over Toyota and Honda. All three, however, continued to lag Nissan Motor Co Ltd in China sales. Nissan’s sales grew 8.4 percent to 1.35 million vehicles in the country last year. General Motors Co and Volkswagen continue to be the market leaders in China. On Thursday, GM and its joint venture partners reported sales of 3.87 million vehicles in China for 2016, up 7.1 percent. The full-year figures come in spite of sales slipping for several brands in the final month, with GM, Honda and Toyota all reporting a year-on-year drop for December with news China was not completely ending its tax incentive making its impact felt.

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Hardcore Conservative Republican Senator BLASTS Trump’s Decision To Kill DACA

Donald Trump s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) is so toxic that even one of his most hardcore conservative Republican supporters in the Senate opposes it.It s safe to say that Oklahoma Senator James Lankford is one of Trump s most ardent supporters. After all, Lankford votes with Trump s position nearly 96 percent of the time, and he backed Trump during the 2016 Election.But Lankford is breaking with Trump when it comes to killing DACA.DACA was put in place by President Obama to help children who were brought to the United States by their parents. America is where they grew up and it is the only home they have ever really known. DACA was created to give them a path to citizenship and over 800,000 have applied.Deporting these people is heartless, especially since they would be deported to countries they have never really lived in.Trump s decision to end DACA has been criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike, and has drawn outrage from the American people. Trump s racist supporters, of course, support his decision.But some Republicans, like Lankford, oppose it. It is right for there to be consequences for those who intentionally entered this country illegally, Lankford said in a statement. However, we as Americans do not hold children legally accountable for the actions of their parents. We must confront the nation s out-of-date immigration policy and finally resolve the issues of strong border enforcement and merit immigration, Lankford continued. Policy reform must come from the American people through Congress. The Legislative and Executive Branch should put aside passivity and partisanship and finally modernize our immigration laws. That s nice, but if Lankford really supports DACA he will put his money where his mouth is and introduce a bill to enshrine it in law. Anything less would reveal his statement to be a lie designed to save his own ass from the wrath of voters who oppose Trump s decision.Trump intends to make an official announcement on Tuesday. Let s hope the outrage and opposition are enough to make him change his mind.Featured image via Ron Sachs Pool/Getty Images

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TWO DEMOCRATS Announce Plan To Vote For Neil Gorsuch For Supreme Court [Video]

Senators have a constitutional obligation to advice and consent on a nominee to fill this Supreme Court vacancy and, simply put, we have a responsibility to do our jobs as elected officials, Manchin said in a statement Thursday. I will vote to confirm him to be the ninth justice on the Supreme Court. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csE04bREOAEHeitcamp of North Dakota also pledged her vote for Gorsuch and released a statement to confirm: After doing my due diligence by meeting with Judge Gorsuch and reviewing his record and testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I ve decided to vote in favor of his confirmation. He has a record as a balanced, meticulous, and well-respected jurist who understands the rule of law, .

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House speaker tells Trump healthcare bill lacks votes: CNN

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan told President Donald Trump on Friday that there are not enough votes to pass Republicans’ healthcare bill, CNN reported, citing a Republican source. Ryan, at a meeting with Trump at the White House, is seeking guidance from Trump about possible next steps, according to CNN. Republican leaders had been planning a vote later on Friday on the measure, which seeks to dismantle Obamacare.

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RADICAL ANTI-GUN MUSLIM State Senator Who Was Arrested While Drunk With Gun, Joins Kaepernick’s “Disrespect The American Flag” Movement [VIDEO]

On October 20, 2015, radical Muslim State senator Jamilah Rasheed was arrested while protesting with the manufactured hands up don t shoot movement in Ferguson. The vocal anti-gun legislator was also drunk and in possession of you guessed it a gun!You probably don t remember her arrest, or maybe you never even knew she was arrested. The media s kinda funny when it comes to covering law-breaking Democrats. So in case you missed it, the woman on her knees with her hands up pushing a false narrative that was proven in court to be a lie has decided to join Colin Kaepernick in his public disdain for America.In what she calls a show of solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, Missouri State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, chose to sit as her colleagues stood for the Pledge of Allegiance on the senate floor. Nasheed said that she wants to call attention to the issues that the 49ers player outlines and that she is not anti-American. Her seat taking was met with complete silence in the chamber.When the session ended however, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a former GOP candidate for governor who presided over the Senate Wednesday, released a statement calling Nasheed s protest an occasion for great sorrow. He said he worried about the example she is setting, particularly for our young people. It is indeed a sad day in this country when out NFL players, Soccer players, and now even members of our government are choosing to address their own beliefs and real issues in our country by completely disrespecting parts of what make us what we are AND they are doing it on the clock as we, the American people, are paying for it.How can it even be considered ethical for such protest to be acted out while on the job? I fully agree that each of these people do in fact have the right to protest how they see fit, but the issue here is that they are using platforms to get the attention they want that are literally funded by the very citizenship that they are showing such a huge disrespect for.Use your free time to protest, not the time in which I as an American citizen am paying for.H/T [ Fox ]

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

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

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Bundy Militia Fans Continue Threats To Kill Oregon Authorities

More than two months after Bundy Militia idiot Robert LaVoy Finicum was shot and killed during a standoff with federal and state police, authorities say officials are still receiving death threats.According to reports, the police have documented at least 80 threats against various officials okay including Governor Kate Brown. One Bundy fan club member left a message at the governor s office saying: You killed an unarmed rancher, so now one of you must die. The Seattle Times reports:The governor s office reported Friday that threats related to the standoff and Finicum shooting continue to come in against Brown.One email demanded the release of refuge occupiers jailed on federal charges. It also demanded indictments for the officers involved in Finicum s death. If that doesn t happen, the writer said, I am going to begin returning fire. Last month, the FBI released video of the shooting that left Finicum dead, and you can clearly see that he was reaching for his weapon when police opened fire. In spite of video evidence that exonerated the officers and proved that the imbecile known as Tarp Man was a violent thug, right-wingers insist the shooting was not justified. And to make things right, they want to murder police officers and the governor. That s insane.In addition to the continued death threats, authorities discovered that people hell-bent on retaliation are aggressively hunting the names of the officers who were involved in the shooting. This further highlights how important it is to keep those names from the public according to Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norris.Although the governor has said the officers names will eventually be released, it s definitely better that they are kept quiet right now. The people who are making the threats are missing some screws. It doesn t matter how much evidence is put forth that proves their outrage is completely unfounded, they ve made up their minds. Their actions are proof of what constant anti-government rhetoric does to people. And there is one party to blame for that: Republicans.For years, Tea Party Republicans have been spewing hate to their voters and telling them the government wants to hurt them. They do this knowing that the sovereign citizen movement that the Bundy Militia belonged to is one of the biggest threats to law enforcement. So, the next time you hear conservatives saying, Blue lives matter! Show them this and tell them .Featured image via Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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Norway, Germany to develop missile based on NSM technology

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway and Germany have agreed to develop a common missile for their navies based on Kongsberg Gruppen s Naval Strike Missile (NSM), the Norwegian defense ministry said on Friday. It did not say how long the development was expected to take.

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Senior Republicans signal issues in Congress for Obama Afghan plan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Representative Mac Thornberry, the Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said on Wednesday that the White House must submit a supplemental funding request immediately to support President Barack Obama’s plans to keep 8,400 troops in Afghanistan. Senator John McCain, who leads the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he welcomed Obama’s decision but added in a statement: “That said, when the President himself describes the security situation in Afghanistan as ‘precarious,’ it is difficult to discern any strategic rationale for withdrawing 1,400 U.S. troops by the end of the year.”

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U.S. appeals court hears arguments on Trump travel ban

SEATTLE/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday wrestled with a bid by President Donald Trump to show that his latest travel ban targeting people from six Muslim-majority countries is legal. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hearing in Seattle came two days after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Trump’s travel ban to take effect while litigation over its ultimate validity unfolds. The ban targets people from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen seeking to enter the United States. The Republican president has said the travel ban is needed to protect the United States from terrorism. The state of Hawaii, however, challenged it in court, and a Honolulu federal judge said it exceeded Trump’s powers under immigration law. Trump’s ban also covers people from North Korea and certain government officials from Venezuela, but the lower courts had already allowed those provisions to go into effect. The same three judge 9th Circuit panel which limited a previous version of Trump’s ban heard arguments on Wednesday. Some of the judges appeared more cautious toward the idea of blocking the president’s policy. Judge Michael Daly Hawkins asked Hawaii’s lawyers whether Trump’s latest proclamation is more sound than prior versions. The current one, he said, is based on specific findings that some foreign governments do not share enough information to properly vet immigrants. “You would trust Kim Jong Un to say this person is this person, you gotta let him in?” Hawkins said. Judge Ronald Gould said the court would issue a ruling “as soon as practicable.” Trump issued his first travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries in January, which caused chaos at airports and mass protests. He issued a revised one in March after the first was blocked by federal courts. That expired in September after a long court fight, and was replaced with the current version. The ban has some exceptions. Certain people from each targeted country can still apply for a visa for tourism, business or education purposes, and any applicant can ask for an individual waiver. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is set to hear a separate challenge to the ban on Friday, and the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to ultimately decide the issue in the coming months.

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Bernie Sanders shows strong momentum on social media

NEW YORK (Reuters) - It may be too close to call between Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in the Iowa caucuses on Monday, but the senator from Vermont was the clear winner on social media. Sanders maintained his strong social media presence during the caucuses, commanding the majority of the Twitter mentions over Clinton. Sanders was mentioned over 77,000 times on Twitter during the caucus, while Clinton was mentioned 52,000 times, according to social media sentiment analytics firm Brandwatch. Clinton, the Democratic front-runner and former secretary of state, was in a virtual tie with Sanders with more than 93 percent of Iowa precincts reporting. Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, amassed the largest number of new Facebook followers of any candidate in the race during Monday, the social network said, topping Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump by 15,695 to 10,704. Clinton had the third most new followers, with 6,210 liking her page in the past day. Among Republicans, Trump finished second in the caucuses to Ted Cruz, the U.S. senator from Texas. Sanders resonated with Millennial social media users as well. Social media platform Yik Yak, which is particularly popular among younger social media users, said Sanders was mentioned in 60 percent of all yaks that discussed a Democratic candidate during the caucuses. While social media buzz does not necessarily translate into votes, it is a good indication of the interest level surrounding a candidate. The Iowa contest was the first of the state-by-state battles to pick nominees for the Nov. 8 election to succeed President Barack Obama. Google trends data also showed strong interest in Sanders. In Iowa, Sanders was the top-searched-for Democratic candidate on the search engine, with 52 percent of queries relating to the Democratic candidates. Clinton commanded 42 percent of queries. Even so, Trump was the top most-searched for presidential candidate overall, according to the most recent Google search data available. (Reporting by Anjali Athavaley; Additional reporting by Amy Tennery; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Peter Cooney) SAP is the sponsor of this coverage which is independently produced by the staff of Reuters News Agency.

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Northern Ireland: Life inside The Fountain

LONDONDERRY, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - William Jackson remembers the exodus vividly, when over 10,000 Protestants fled the west bank of Londonderry s River Foyle for the city s suburbs as Northern Ireland s Troubles erupted. Almost 50 years on Jackson is among some 250 Protestants who stayed and carved out a tiny enclave known as The Fountain , a tight, fiercely pro-British community that is separated by high walls and fences from the surrounding Irish nationalist heartland. You are not talking one or two families, you are talking hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, Jackson said, recalling the flight which began in 1969 when British troops were sent to the city to quell unrest over a civil rights campaign launched by the Catholic minority. Three decades of bloodshed followed between Catholic Irish nationalists, seeking to unite with Ireland, and pro-British Protestant loyalists, who want to remain part of the United Kingdom. Around 3,600 people were killed before a 1998 peace agreement. Much of Northern Ireland has since been transformed, yet in many areas the two sides remain separated by so-called peace walls . The fences of up to 15 meters set up in the years after 1969 were supposed to be temporary but many still remain. In The Fountain, the metal gate in the wall between it and the nearby Bogside area - home to the late Irish nationalist hero Martin McGuinness - is locked at 9 p.m. each night and it remains one of the province s flashpoints when sporadic violence breaks out. We stayed here because we re hardcore, said Jackson. We managed to stay as a small community and it s always been that way. Nationalists wouldn t be welcome to live here, even today. Just the same as Protestants wouldn t be made welcome in the Bogside. It s just one of those things unfortunately. Social codes are so ingrained that it is virtually unheard for people to spend time in the opposing community s neighborhood but anyone who did could face threats or a beating from local hardliners. Outsiders , as locals refer to Protestants not originally from the area, have moved in but only last around five or six years, according to Jackson, who runs the local Heritage Tower museum, one the smallest galleries in Northern Ireland. You have families that come and spend a year and they go because of the way of life here, he said. Some of the police have actually referred to us as like rats living in a cage. The area remains blighted by poverty and many houses remain derelict. Some residents say they disconnect their electricity periodically to save money. At The Fountain s Cathedral Youth Club, Jeanette Warke has spent the last 45 years providing an education and recreational outlet to three generations of youngsters who went from dodging bullets to fighting unemployment. Warke has seen The Fountain change over that time and now concentrates on better integrating local Catholic and Protestant children. Last year she brought them to Dublin for the centenary of the Irish uprising that led to independence from Britain and to France for a commemoration of the World War One Battle of the Somme. We ve really opened up big avenues for these young people, Protestant and Catholic to look at their history, said Warke, who still works at the age of 73 and has been honored by Britain s Queen for her services to young people. You re not looking to change young people s mindsets and to take them away from their own culture, that s not what we are about. We re looking to create a better understanding and also respect for each other and that to me is very, very important. However Jackson, Warke and other locals think it s still too soon to tear down the walls between Protestants who call their city Londonderry and Catholics who refer to it simply as Derry. There s more work to do, Warke said. Until then, The Fountain community will remain as tight as ever. My mother says the only time she will leave the Fountain is in a box, said 38-year-old Daphne Atkinson, a fellow youth club worker. She s proud of where she s from which is a good thing so she ll not leave only when it s her time to go.

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WHOA! HEATHER NAUERT Gets Into Testy Exchange With Snarky Media At State Department Over Otto Warmbier’s Death [Video]

What in the world is wrong with these press people at the State Department! Is the guy asking the question really serious when he asks the most idiotic question about the timing of the announcements over the release and then death of Otto Warmbier. We wish we knew the name of the jackhole reporter who asked the question! Listen to this condescending jerk:THE STATE DEPARTMENT did release a statement when Warmbier was released and when he passed away. So the question is just the nasty press being nasty.UPON HIS RELEASE PRESS STATEMENT:Press Statement Rex W. Tillerson Secretary of State Washington, DC June 13, 2017At the direction of the President, the Department of State has secured the release of Otto Warmbier from North Korea. Mr. Warmbier is en route to the United States, where he will be reunited with his family. The Department of State continues to have discussions with the DPRK regarding three other U.S. citizens reported detained.Out of respect for the privacy of Mr. Warmbier and his family, we have no further comment on Mr. Warmbier.UPON HIS PASSING PRESS STATEMENT:Press Statement Rex W. Tillerson Secretary of State Washington, DC June 19, 2017Today we received with deep sadness the news that Otto Warmbier has passed away.On behalf of the entire State Department and the United States government, I extend my condolences to the Warmbier family, and offer my prayers as they enter a time of grief no parent should ever know.We hold North Korea accountable for Otto Warmbier s unjust imprisonment, and demand the release of three other Americans who have been illegally detained.WOULDN Y A BETTER QUESTION HAVE BEEN WHY OBAMA DID NOTHING TO HELP WITH THE RELEASE OF WARMBIER?

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WHATEVER HAPPENED To Trump’s Second Wife? [VIDEO]

It s a pretty safe bet that the press isn t able to reveal any bad blood between Donald and his second wife or we wouldn t even have to ask, Whatever happened to Trump s second wife?

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‘Bake shaming’ now a hate crime, say police

October 27, 2016 Incidents of “bake shaming” have increased by 600% since Wednesday evening’s Bake Off final, say police. Bake shaming, legally classified as abuse aimed at “those who haven’t seen, or don’t really care about, The Great British Bake Off” has become more of a problem since the announcement that the programme will be crossing channels next year. One victim, Kevin Dunsford, who has lived his whole life in this country was “bake shamed” at his local bus stop. He told our reporter: I was standing with my wife and we were talking about the weather and a woman walked up, looked at us in disbelief and said, “Why aren’t you talking about Bake Off?” She then started ranting on about British Values and called us an “unwelcome minority”. Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, said she was appalled by this situation and condemned these acts as “despicable”. She added, “Our cake crime laws are among the best in the world.” Share this story... Posted: Oct 27th, 2016 by dominic_mcg Click for more article by dominic_mcg .. More Stories about: News In Brief 0

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U.S. senators to issue legislation sanctioning Russia over election interference

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Senator John McCain and Democratic Senators Ben Cardin and Robert Menendez said on Monday they would introduce legislation to impose “comprehensive” sanctions on Russia over its attempts to influence the 2016 U.S. election.

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Taiwan City Planning a Makeover Says a Trump Agent Showed Interest - The New York Times

TAOYUAN, Taiwan — The fields are overgrown with weeds. Warehouses lie abandoned, their corrugated shells covered in rust. In the distance, an air base, where pilots once took off on reconnaissance missions over mainland China, is devoid of activity, its camouflaged hangars and guard towers symbols of a Cold War long over. This neglected area just south of Taiwan’s biggest airport could use a complete makeover. And that is exactly what the local government has in mind. Described as the biggest development project in Taiwan’s history, the Taoyuan Aerotropolis promises, in a video with a saccharine violin and harp soundtrack, a futuristic utopia of homes and thousands of technology jobs. Investors are welcome, and on Sept. 8, a woman named Chen Siting, or Charlyne Chen, arrived, claiming to represent a very prominent businessman: Donald J. Trump. She had been referred to the Taoyuan mayor by Annette Lu, a former vice president of Taiwan, the mayor’s office said in a statement on its website. “I told them: Isn’t Mr. Trump campaigning for president? Isn’t he very busy?” the mayor, Cheng said in a television interview that aired on Nov. 18, referring to Ms. Chen’s group. “They said she is a company representative. His company is still continuing to look for the world’s best real estate projects, and they very much understand Taiwan. ” “She had authorization documents issued by the Trump company,” he said, without specifying. The mayor’s office, in a Nov. 16 statement, said that although investment opportunities had been discussed, the meeting had not resulted in any agreement, and that the election had not been talked about. The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment for this article. On Friday, Amanda Miller, a spokeswoman for the Trump Organization, said that there were “no plans for expansion into Taiwan” and that there had been no “authorized visits” to Taiwan to push for a development project. Asked on Sunday for clarification about the company’s relationship with Ms. Chen and knowledge of her activity in Taiwan, Ms. Miller did not respond to specific questions. She instead repeated in a statement that there had been “no authorized visits to Taiwan on behalf of our brand for the purposes of development, nor are there any active conversations. ” The Sept. 8 meeting, and its confirmation in November, went largely unnoticed outside Taiwan until Friday, when Mr. Trump, the received a congratulatory phone call from the island’s president, Tsai . The call is believed to have been the first conversation between a Taiwanese leader and a United States president or in close to four decades, and it threatens to upend the delicate United relationship because Beijing views any communication with Taiwan’s leaders as an affront to its claim of sovereignty over the island. And even if it emerges that Ms. Chen was largely freelancing, and not acting on behalf of the Trump Organization, the perception of a possible business conflict in Taiwan further complicates the relationship. Potential conflicts of interest for Mr. Trump as president have been documented around the world, including in Scotland, India, Brazil, the Philippines, Argentina and Turkey. But perhaps nowhere are the stakes quite as high as in Taiwan, because it involves ties between the United States and China, the countries with the world’s biggest economies and most powerful militaries. “Even if the phone call had not happened, once these business dealings came to light, it would send a very confusing signal to Beijing,” said Marc Lanteigne, a senior research fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs who focuses on Chinese security issues. Any business ties could undermine the near certainty that world leaders have had for many decades about some of the basic foundations of United States foreign policy, which has included the primacy of maintaining ties with China in a “very narrow framework,” said Shelley Rigger, a professor of political science at Davidson College in North Carolina who studies States relations. “It is very worrisome not just for leaders in China but for leaders everywhere to think that there could be motivations driving U. S. foreign policy that they can’t, A, know about and, B, work out logically,” Professor Rigger said by telephone. “If the U. S. government is being influenced by some kind of parallel set of side deals and interests that are not the sort of mainstream U. S. foreign policy and national interest agenda, then no one is going to be able to predict anything. ” Adding to the complexity is the fact that the Taoyuan Aerotropolis is a development project, and Ms. Tsai’s administration must give final approval for the complex plan, which involves removing many people from their homes, before construction can begin. Taoyuan is the center of a metropolitan area with over two million residents. Ms. Chen — who, according to online biographies of her, was raised in Las Vegas — has been associated with the Trump Organization for several years, and with Ms. Lu, the former vice president, for much longer. In December 2012, a photograph of the two women was posted on the Facebook page of the condominium sales arm of Trump International Realty in Las Vegas, thanking them for visiting. Ms. Chen also accompanied Ms. Lu, who was then the vice president, during a trip to Las Vegas in 2004. “The Trump Organization said: ‘Hey, Ms. Chen, your business and politics connections seem great. Do you want to help us promote our Las Vegas properties? ’” Ms. Chen said in an interview with a Taiwanese television station in late October. Ms. Lu, reached on her mobile phone, did not comment. Ms. Chen could not be reached for comment. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Ms. Chen said she had a letter saying she was a “sales ambassador” for Mr. Trump’s company but was not an employee. Ms. Chen’s visit was followed in October by a visit to Taipei by a Trump Organization employee. The duties of the executive, Donoghue, include trying to find guests for the company’s hotels worldwide. Ms. Donoghue, who is not part of the company’s development team, did not respond to requests for comment. Ms. Miller of the Trump Organization would not specify with whom she had met during her visit to Taiwan. Ms. Chen, who once headed Nevada’s economic development office in Taiwan, has been outspoken about her admiration for Mr. Trump, though it is unclear how much is . “The election demonized Trump,” she said in the television interview. “But in my experience and close interactions with him, he is very nice, has great bearing, has a very good head for business and really respects women. ”

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UNITED AIRLINES KICKS TODDLER Out Of $969 Seat For Standby Passenger [VIDEO]

United Airlines should probably consider an extensive training program for their employees who are making such bad decisions, before the airline loses every last customer United Airlines requires children over the age of 2 to have their own tickets and occupy their own seats, but that didn t stop the airline from allowing a 27-month-old child from sitting in his mother s lap after they accidentally oversold his spot.Shirley Yamauchi says she and her son Taizo had boarded their flight from Houston to Boston on June 29 the final leg of an 18-hour flight from Hawaii when a standy passenger approached and claimed Taizo was in his seat. I told him that I bought both of these tickets and he tells me that he got the ticket on standby. Then he proceeds to sit in the center, Yamauchi told Hawaii News Now.Yamuachi says she tried to inform a flight attendant about Taizo s seat, but the woman claimed she couldn t do anything about it, seeing as the flight was full.Not wanting to cause a scene or worse, instigate an incident like the one that befell the elderly United passenger who refused to give up his seat on in April Yamuachi sat Taizo on her lap and kept her mouth shut until she reached Boston. I started remembering all those incidents with United on the news. The violence. Teeth getting knocked out. I m Asian. I m scared and I felt uncomfortable. I didn t want those things to happen to me, she told Hawaii News Now.Watch:Upon reaching Boston, Yamauchi was told to call a United hotline to explain the situation. But when she finally got through and asked for a refund, she was told that United would need to cancel her return trip to Hawaii in order to do so, reports KITV. Fox News

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US MEDIA THROWING OUT “Unmitigated Bullsh*t.” In Effort To Destroy TRUMP…Liberal Journalist Squeals

Like we didn t know this already BUT now we have a firm account of media efforts to bury Trump. The globalists and media are having a hissy fit because the people are rising up against another term for Obama on steroids. Yes, Hillary wants even more freebies for the masses. Who s gonna pay for it? You!Glenn Greenwald of the Intercept, formerly of The Guardian newspaper, laid out in an interview with Slate magazine that the media in the United States has decided to band together in a last-ditch effort to stop the rise of 2016 GOP presidential nominee Donald J. Trump.Greenwald, the progressive journalist who broke the Edward Snowden mass government surveillance storyline, was asked what he thought about Donald Trump s press conference recently in which Trump joked that Russia should release any emails it has from 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton s illicit private home-brew email server from her time as President Barack Obama s Secretary of State. What did you think of Trump s press conference? You ve gone after people who you thought were smearing those denying a Trump-Russia connection, and you ve used the word McCarthyite to describe them. But now Trump has encouraged the Russians to find or release more Hillary Clinton emails, Slate asked Greenwald. In his response, Greenwald detailed how the media in the United States has decided to bloc together against Trump s candidacy for the presidency:OK, so, I am glad you asked about that because this is the conflict that I am currently having: The U.S. media is essentially 100 percent united, vehemently, against Trump, and preventing him from being elected president. I don t have an actual problem with that because I share the premises on which it is based about why he poses such extreme dangers. But that doesn t mean that as a journalist, or even just as a citizen, that I am willing to go along with any claim, no matter how fact-free, no matter how irrational, no matter how dangerous it could be, in order to bring Trump down.Greenwald bashed the New York Times for pushing, in his words, unmitigated bullsh*t. Read more: Breitbart

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Cartel Human Smugglers Increase Fees in Trump’s Wake

President Donald Trump’s tougher border security and immigration enforcement plans have driven up human smuggling fees being charged by coyotes. [“We are seeing an increase in the fees charged by human smugglers along the U. S. southwest border,” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John F. Kelly said in a written statement obtained by Breitbart Texas. “Since Nov. 2016, ‘coyotes’ have hiked their fees in some areas by roughly 130 percent — from $3, 500 to $8, 000 in certain mountainous regions. ” Kelly attributed the increased fees charged to newly implemented changes in DHS policy regarding the detention of apprehended aliens. “As directed in my memoranda implementing the President’s executive orders, we remain committed to carrying out fair, impartial and humane enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws,” Kelly wrote. Coyotes have become dependent on human smuggling fees, often earning as much from smuggling people as drug runs. Breitbart Texas reported in the days before the November 2016 Election, smugglers were using the contest as a “marketing tool” to get people to travel in advance. “The cartel uses what happens in the U. S. as a marketing tool in Central America,” McAllen Mayor Jim Darling said during an exclusive interview with Breitbart Texas. “The need is there (in Central America) but what happens in Washington and the way the news media presents it, they (cartels) say you better get up here. So that causes the surges. We”ll see what happens after the election to see if it slows down. ” After the election, it did not slow down. The months of November, December, and January, all saw increases in apprehensions compared to the same months in the prior year. Following the release of December’s numbers showing a large increase in apprehensions, particularly in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Marlene Castro said, “We’re not a deterrent because they’re looking for us, so we can be standing there and [the smuggler will] still send them across,” during an interview with Fox News Channel’s William La Jeunesse. “It’s been a group, and then maybe five minutes later another group, and then half an hour later you’ll see another one. ” With the swearing in of President Trump in January, the numbers finally began to subside. While still higher than January 2016, the numbers were down from December. The first full month of the Trump Administration brought a dramatic drop in migrant apprehensions between ports of entry along the southwest border. Apprehensions not only dropped from January to February they dropped to the lowest level of any month in the past five years. “The drop in apprehensions shows a marked change in trends,” Secretary Kelly said. “Since the Administration’s implementation of Executive Orders to enforce immigration laws, apprehensions and inadmissible activity is trending toward the lowest monthly total in at least the last five years. ” “Since President Trump took office on January 20, we have seen a dramatic drop in numbers,” Kelly stated. “We will remain vigilant to respond to any changes in these trends, as numbers of illegal crossings typically increase between March and May. However, the early results show that enforcement matters, deterrence matters, and that comprehensive immigration enforcement can make an impact. ” “The decrease is also encouraging news because it means many fewer people are putting themselves and their families at risk of exploitation, assault, and injury by human traffickers and the physical dangers of the treacherous journey north,” the DHS secretary concluded. Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.

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Georgia says suspect in Istanbul airport bombing killed last week

TBILISI (Reuters) - A former Islamic State fighter suspected of masterminding a deadly attack on Istanbul airport in 2016 was killed during a special operation in ex-Soviet Georgia last week, a spokeswoman for Georgia s state security service said on Friday. Akhmed Chatayev was named by Turkish media and a U.S. congressman as the mastermind of the suicide bombing of Istanbul airport in 2016 which killed 45 people. His involvement has not been corroborated by Turkish officials. It s confirmed that one of those killed during the operation is Akhmed Chatayev, Nino Giorgobiani, a spokeswoman for Georgia s state security service, told a news briefing. Giorgobiani said that Chatayev blew himself up. One Georgian special forces serviceman and two other members of the armed group, which was suspected of terrorism, were killed in the same operation. Four police officers were wounded and one member of the group was also arrested. The 20-hour operation took place at an apartment block on the outskirts of the Georgian capital Tbilisi last week. Giorgobiani declined to name the two other armed men killed or disclose the identity of the member of the group who was arrested, the group s motives, or how they got to Georgia. The investigation is ongoing ... We continue to work with our international partners to identify the other two (armed men), Giorgobiani said. She said that experts from the United States had been participating in the investigation. A United Nations sanctions list describes Chatayev as a senior figure in Islamic State responsible for training Russian-speaking militants. A veteran of Chechnya s conflict with Moscow during which he lost an arm, he lived in Georgia s Pankisi Gorge, a remote area populated largely by people from the Kist community, ethnic Chechens whose ancestors came to mainly Christian Georgia in the 1800s. When, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Chechnya rose up in an armed rebellion against Moscow s rule, the Kist community were drawn to the fight. Thousands of refugees arrived from Chechnya, and some insurgents used the gorge to regroup and prepare new attacks. Chatayev was wounded and arrested in Georgia in August 2012 following a clash between the Georgian police and a group of militants, who were allegedly trying to cross the Georgian-Russian border and move to Dagestan.

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Qatar goes ahead with $6.7 billion Typhoon combat jets deal with UK's BAE Systems

LONDON (Reuters) - BAE Systems and Qatar have entered into a contract valued at around 5 billion pounds ($6.7 billion) for the country to buy 24 Typhoon combat aircraft, the British defense group said on Sunday. The company said delivery was expected in late 2022 and that the contract was subject to financing conditions and receipt by the company of first payment, which are expected to be fulfilled no later than mid-2018 . At a ceremony in Doha British Defence Minister Gavin Williamson and Qatari Minister of State for Defence Affairs Khalid bin Mohammed al Attiyah, oversaw the signing of a deal which the British minister called a massive vote of confidence, supporting thousands of British jobs and injecting billions into our economy . We are delighted to begin a new chapter in the development of a long-term relationship with the State of Qatar and the Qatar Armed Forces, and we look forward to working alongside our customer as they continue to develop their military capability, Charles Woodburn, BAE s chief executive, said in a statement. In September Qatar s defense minister was reported to have signed a letter of intent to buy the 24 Typhoon jets from BAE in a move that could anger other Gulf countries boycotting Doha. ($1 = 0.7472 pounds)

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Comment on The Clinton Crime Family. “Hillary is the Most Dangerous Presidential Aspirant in US History” by Toby

What Is At Stake In This Election — Paul Craig Roberts ‹ › Since 2011, VNN has operated as part of the Veterans Today Network ; a group that operates over 50 plus media, information and service online sites for U.S. Military Veterans. The Clinton Crime Family. “Hillary is the Most Dangerous Presidential Aspirant in US History” By VNN on October 30, 2016 Hillary is the most recklessly dangerous presidential aspirant in US history, by Stephen Lendman The Bill and Hillary crime family long ago should have been held accountable for high crimes against peace and numerous others. Hillary is the most recklessly dangerous presidential aspirant in US history, supporting endless imperial wars and state terror, once saying “(w)hat do we have NATO for if not to defend our way of life.” There was never a war Hillary did not support – Crimes against Humanity She endorses first-strike nuclear weapons use, calling them peacekeeping deterrents, mindless of their power to destroy life on earth. She’s militantly anti-Russia, earlier compared the nation to Nazi Germany, Putin to Hitler, claiming “he doesn’t have a soul,” has revanchist aims, wanting Russian greatness restored – all of the above a perversion of truth, not to mention a pretext to wage war on Russia. The so-called Clinton Foundation is a suspected criminal enterprise, masquerading as a charitable NGO. It promotes Big Lies about “improving global health, increasing opportunity for women and girls, reducing childhood obesity and preventable diseases, (as well as) creating economic opportunity and growth…” Film producer Frank Huguenard believes Hillary Clinton faces impending federal racketeering charges under the 1970 Racketeering Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Enacted to fight organized and white collar crime, racketeering is defined to include fraud, bribery, money laundering, embezzlement, drugs trafficking, murder, and various other offenses under the Federal criminal code (Title 18), even acts of terrorism. According to Huguenard, Obama-appointed FBI chief James Comey will recommend Attorney General Loretta Lynch treat “the Clinton Foundation (as) an ongoing criminal enterprise engaged in money laundering and soliciting bribes in exchange for political, policy and legislative favors to individuals, corporations and even governments both foreign and domestic.” Morning Joe Destroys Corrupt Clinton Foundation – “Total Corruption” Strong stuff if only partly true! Huguenard cites credible evidence, indicating the Clinton Foundation is largely a money laundering, influence peddling racket. Less than 10% of “tens of millions of dollars donated” went for charitable purposes, the rest for self-enrichment. “There is ample evidence already in the public record that the Clinton Foundation qualifies as a criminal enterprise and there’s no doubt that the FBI is privy to significantly more evidence than has already been made public,” said Huguenard. If Comey recommends Attorney General Lynch indict Hillary Clinton, it’s unlikely she’ll prosecute a woman she’s had close ties to for years. Bill Clinton appointed her US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York – serving from 1999 – 2001. From 2003 – 2005, she was a Wall Street controlled New York Federal Reserve Bank of New York board member – the mother bank most complicit with its member bank crooks. From 2002 – 2010, she was a Washington-headquartered Hogan & Hartson (H & H) law firm partner. Its New York-based partner Howard Topaz filed income tax returns for Bill and Hillary Clinton, beginning in 2004. In May 2004, H & H filed patent trademark documents for Denver-based MX Logic Inc., the computer software firm responsible for developing email encryption technology used to manage Hillary’s private email server, beginning in July 2013. Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton According to Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton, if H & H (now Hogan Lovells following a 2010 merger) “represented the Clintons on tax matters,” Lynch is responsible for disclosing any involvement she may have had, direct or indirect. In April 2008 during Hillary’s first presidential campaign, The American Lawyer called H & H one of her largest legal industry supporters. Partner Christine Varney was chief counsel to the Clinton/Gore 1992 campaign. The ties between H & H, Lynch and the Clintons are longstanding. In November 2014, Obama announced her appointment as attorney general, succeeding Eric Holder, effective April 27, 2015 after Senate confirmation. It’s hard imagining her biting a hand contributing greatly to her career advancement. Key for Clinton is how much more of her dark side becomes public knowledge besides what’s already known. If enough despite Lynch declining to indict and supportive media scoundrels downplaying or whitewashing her offenses, the Democratic (sic) National Committee (DNC) might be forced to jettison her as damaged goods. She’d be red meat for Trump to take full advantage of in the fall campaign. Would Bernie Sanders party bosses don’t want become Democrat standard bearer in July? Or will Joe Biden or another high-profile party member perhaps be chosen as a late-stage establishment nominee, a brokered convention manipulating things? America’s political system is too debauched to fix. Duopoly power eliminates governance of, by and for everyone equitably. Republicans and Democrats are two sides of the same coin – special interests served exclusively, ordinary people betrayed, the same outcome every electoral cycle. Whoever succeeds Obama, likely worse than ever governance will follow. The greatest concern is preventing possible WW III. Clinton’s rage for endless wars, along with her Sino/Russian hostility makes the unthinkable possible. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at . His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.” http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html . Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. A historical milestone need not come at the expense of America.

1real

WATCH: House Dem Has Had ENOUGH, Formally Starts Impeachment Proceedings Against Trump

Donald Trump is a clear and present threat to the United States of America. That fact is indisputable at this point; after all, a Senator in his own party just said so in strikingly blunt terms. However, the GOP-controlled House has been silent on Trump s dangerous antics, because they fear his lighting them up on Twitter, and they also fear retaliation by his crazy base at the ballot box. But it seems that Rep. Al Green (D- TX) has had enough.On Wednesday afternoon, Rep. Green took the floor of the House of Representatives and formally introduced Articles of Impeachment against Trump. Green began: I rise today on behalf of the many who have concluded that enough is enough. Green went on to say that Trump s being in the White House is is fueling an alt-right hate machine, which is currently causing immediate injury to American society. On top of that, Green introduced his Articles as privileged, meaning that the House needs to take them up within the next two days.Now, obviously this will go nowhere. Those craven Republicans don t care that Trump is destroying the country, just as long as they get every bigoted right-wing fever dream they ve had for the last eight years codified into law, with a few tax cuts for rich people thrown in, oh, just for fun.In short, these Republicans KNOW that Trump is unfit, and could even land us in a nuclear holocaust if he can t be kept away from the nuclear codes. In fact, at this point, any responsible person will do what was done to President Nixon in his final days, when he reportedly was drinking heavily and wandering the halls of the White House conversing with portraits of dead presidents. At that time, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and soon-to-be President Gerald Ford insisted that those responsible for launching nuclear weapons went through them rather than Nixon, because they knew Nixon to be dangerous.General John Kelly, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and other adults in the room had better be doing the same with Trump, who is MUCH more dangerous than Nixon ever dreamed of being.Please, someone show some courage in the Republican House and go along with Rep. Green. It s time to impeach Trump.Watch Rep. Green s remarks below:Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty images

1real

Poll: Clinton's Lead Over Trump Slips After Florida Shooting

The poll, conducted from Monday to Friday, showed Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, with a 10.7 point lead among likely voters over Trump, her likely Republican rival in the November presidential election. That's down from a lead of 14.3 points for Clinton on Sunday, the day an American-born shooter who declared allegiance to militant group Islamic State killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Trump seized on the attack to sharpen his security proposals, saying he would block immigration to the United States from any country with a "proven history of terrorism" against America and its allies if elected. The pledge fine-tuned an earlier vow, made after the attacks last year in Paris and California, to ban the entry of all Muslims into the United States. He also called for measures to make it more difficult for suspected terrorists to obtain firearms, veering from the Republican Party's general opposition to gun control. While Trump's comments on both Muslims and guns dismayed some Republican elites, they may have cheered some voters. Some 45 percent of Americans said they supported Trump's idea to suspend Muslim immigration, up from 41.9 percent at the start of the month, according to the poll. Meanwhile, about 70 percent of Americans, including a majority of Democrats and Republicans, said they wanted to see at least moderate regulations and restrictions on guns, up from 60 percent in similar polls in 2013 and 2014. Clinton focused her response to the Orlando attack on the need to boost intelligence gathering and defeat Islamic State and what she called "radical jihadist terrorism," while warning against demonizing Muslim-Americans. She also repeated her calls for tougher gun control measures, including a ban on assault weapons. As usual after a major attack, "terrorism" jumped to the top concern among all adults in the poll - rising above the economy, health care and other major issues. The poll's five-day average showed that 45.5 percent of likely American voters supported Clinton, while 34.8 percent supported Trump, and another 19.7 percent did not support either candidate. On Sunday, Clinton's support was at 46.6 percent, versus Trump's 32.3 percent. The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English with adults living in the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii. The political horserace poll included 1,133 likely voters and has a credibility interval, a measure of the poll's accuracy, of 3.4 percentage points.

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Trump Slams Media Criticism of Refugee, Visa Reforms - Breitbart

President Donald Trump debunked claims from the media, Muslim and critics who claim his new visitor safeguard policy and refugee reform is a blanket “Muslim ban. ”[“This is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting,” Trump said in the Sunday statement, as and Islamist groups decried his new visitor safeguards in airports around the nation, and protested his planned reduction in refugee inflow to 50, 000 per year. “This is not about religion — this is about terror and keeping our country safe. There are over 40 different countries worldwide that are majority Muslim that are not affected by this order,” Trump said. “My policy is similar to what President Obama did in 2011 when he banned visas for refugees from Iraq for six months,” said Trump. “The seven countries named in the Executive Order are the same countries previously identified by the Obama administration as sources of terror,” he added. The halt in 2011 was quietly imposed by Obama when two legal refugees in Bowling Green, Ky. were discovered to have been jihad attackers in Iraq. The two jihadis had slipped through lax vetting procedures when they were invited to take refuge in the United States. Trump continued: America is a proud nation of immigrants and we will continue to show compassion to those fleeing oppression, but we will do so while protecting our own citizens and border. America has always been the land of the free and home of the brave. We will keep it free and keep it safe, as the media knows, but refuses to say … We will again be issuing visas to all countries once we are sure we have reviewed and implemented the most secure policies over the next 90 days. I have tremendous feeling for the people involved in this horrific humanitarian crisis in Syria. My first priority will always be to protect and serve our country, but as President I will find ways to help all those who are suffering. The executive order, signed by Trump on Friday, will suspend visas for 90 days for “immigrants and ” from the Islamic countries of Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, Iran, and Iraq, pending the development of acceptable vetting methods. Many countries with large Muslim populations, such as Saudi Arabia, India, and Indonesia, will not be affected. The order also cuts the annual inflow of refugees back to 50, 000 per year, roughly level with the annual inflows in Obama’s first term. That reduction is strongly opposed by U. S. Islamic advocacy groups who favor Islamic migration into the United States. On Thursday, Trump said that his administration would look at creating safe zones in Syria as part of an effort to ease the country’s humanitarian crisis. You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart. com,

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House Republicans mull length of spending bill as vote looms

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives were in discussions on Tuesday about how long to fund the federal government in a short-term spending measure expected to come to a vote as early as Wednesday. “I feel like we’re going to have a majority... for passing the CR (spending measure) we have this week,” House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters after a closed-door meeting with fellow House Republican members. “We’re having a good conversation with our members about timing and date ... and all the rest,” he added. The conservative House Freedom Caucus, which has enough members to block legislation, has pressed Republican leaders to consider a spending measure that expires on Dec. 30, eight days later than the Dec. 22 deadline that House and Senate Republicans have been discussing up to now. Ryan said the end date of the measure, known officially as a continuing resolution, or CR, would become known when it reaches the House floor. But House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions told reporters his panel would consider a continuing resolution that expires on Dec. 22. The committee later rescheduled its hearing on the legislation for 3 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Wednesday. Several other House Republicans, however, said members were still debating whether the funding would expire on Dec. 22 or on Dec. 30, after the Dec. 25 Christmas holiday. “It’s still being negotiated,” said Representative Greg Walden. A Senate Republican leadership aide sidestepped a question on what Senate leaders thought about the CR date. “If the House makes any changes to their bill, I’m sure they will let everyone know,” the aide said.

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Serbian foreign minister rejects U.S. call to choose between Russia and the West

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia wants to maintain its delicate balancing act between Russia and the West, its foreign minister said on Thursday, dismissing U.S. calls for it to pick a side. The largest of the states to emerge from the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Orthodox Christian and Slavic Serbia has natural affinity with Moscow, but it is keen to join the European Union. This month, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Hoyt Brian Yee told Belgrade it cannot sit on two chairs at the same time . His remarks sparked sharp criticism in the Serbian capital. Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, who heads the co-ruling Socialists, once led by late strongman Slobodan Milosevic, said Belgrade would maintain balance with the West, Russia and China. What we do not want is that someone pulls our own chair from under us ... what is important is to see what is in our own best interest, Dacic told Reuters in an interview. Although the EU is Serbia s single largest trade partner and investor, Russia controls its oil and gas supplies. Moscow has also sought to bolster military ties with Belgrade with the donation of six MiG-29 fighter jets. At Serbia s request, Moscow blocked independent Kosovo from becoming a member of the United Nations. The ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 following a bloody 1998-1999 war. It has been recognized by 115 countries including the United States and most EU members, but not Serbia or Russia. Dacic likened Serbia s opposition to Kosovan independence to Spain s rejection of Catalonia s referendum on secession. If Spain can fight for its concept of Catalonia then we Serbs can fight for our country, he said. Serbia, which cherishes Kosovo as its historic birthplace, and the government in Pristina should seek a win-win solution and an international conference that would prevent future wars for a century, Dacic said. Earlier this year he suggested autonomy and delimitation for Serb areas in Kosovo. That would be the only possible, realistic and lasting ... solution of the problem, he said in the interview. There are around 120,000 Serbs in Kosovo and most of them, mainly in the north, just outside Serbia, oppose the Pristina authorities.

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Trump Budget Defunds Planned Parenthood - Breitbart

WASHINGTON, D. C. — The Trump Administration fiscal year 2018 budget set to be released on Tuesday factors in the defunding of Planned Parenthood, assuming the American Health Care Act passes into law. [Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney was asked at a Monday press briefing if the new budget defunds abortion provider Planned Parenthood. He replied, “yes,” but added that it does “because it assumes the American Health Care Act passes and the AHCA in its current form, which is the one we assumed — and that’s making a bunch of assumptions, here — that it assumes that passes and that defunds Planned Parenthood. ” The new budget entitled, “A New Foundation for American Greatness” will be posted to the OMB website at 11:00 a. m. on Tuesday morning. Mulvaney told reporters at the Monday briefing that the budget focuses in on more money for defense, border security, law enforcement, veterans, and school choice. The AHCA struggled to pass the House and faces an uphill battle to passage in the Senate. Asked during the Monday briefing about changes to Medicaid, Mulvaney said, “We assume the Affordable Health Care Act that passed out of the House passes. That has some Medicaid changes into it. We wrap that into our budget proposals. We go another half a step further and ratchet down some of the growth rates that are assumed in the AHCA. ” Defunding of Planned Parenthood was a provision of the AHCA that President Donald Trump used to put pressure on the conservative House Freedom Caucus to vote for passage of the bill. The Director said that the budget balances in 10 years and funds the President’s priorities. Mulvaney will deliver the budget to the Hill on Tuesday and will testify before the House Budget Committee on Wednesday and the Senate Budget Committee on Thursday. Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana

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Zika Is No Longer a Global Emergency, W.H.O. Says - The New York Times

The World Health Organization declared an end to its global health emergency over the spread of the Zika virus on Friday, prompting dismay from some public health experts confronting the epidemic. An agency advisory committee said it ended the emergency — formally known as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern — because Zika is now shown to be a dangerous disease, like malaria or yellow fever, and should be viewed as an ongoing threat met as other diseases are, sometimes with W. H. O. help. Committee members repeatedly emphasized that they did not consider the Zika crisis over. “We are not downgrading the importance of Zika,” said Dr. Peter Salama, executive director of the W. H. O. ’s health emergencies program. “We are sending the message that Zika is here to stay and the W. H. O. response is here to stay. ” Like all diseases, Zika is seasonal and may repeatedly return to countries with the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that carry it, Dr. Salama added. Individual countries facing serious new Zika outbreaks could still declare local emergencies, said Dr. David L. Heymann, chair of the advisory committee. But other experts worried that the W. H. O. ’s declaration might slow the international response to an epidemic that is still spreading, and lull people at risk into thinking they were safe. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is funding efforts to find a Zika vaccine, suggested that it was premature to lift the state of emergency since summer is just beginning in the Southern hemisphere. “Are we going to see a resurgence in Brazil, Colombia and elsewhere?” he asked. “If they pull back on the emergency, they’d better be able to reinstate it. Why not wait a couple of months to see what happens?” His agency would not slow down its vaccine efforts, he said. Since the W. H. O. first declared a state of emergency on Feb. 1, the Zika virus has spread to almost every country in the Western Hemisphere except Canada. Thousands of babies suffer deformities caused by the infection, and more are expected. Recent outbreaks and related birth defects have also been detected in Southeast Asia, although scientists believe the Zika virus has circulated there for decades. The most severe deformity is microcephaly, a tiny head with a severely underdeveloped brain but fetuses have also been killed by the virus, and infected infants have been born blind, deaf, with clubbed feet and permanent limb rigidity. Scientists also fear that many infected babies who appear normal now may suffer from intellectual deficits or mental illnesses later in their lives. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expressed no opinion about the W. H. O. ’s decision, but noted that it “did not change the urgent need to continue our work. ” The agency also reiterated the warning it issued in January that pregnant women should avoid traveling to areas where the virus was being transmitted. Other experts, like Dr. Fauci, were more critical. The W. H. O. decision is “unwise,” said Dr. Lawrence O. Gostin, director of Georgetown University’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. Although the virus is not killing or deforming as many babies as originally expected, “the international response has been lethargic,” Dr. Gostin said. “W. H. O. ’s action to call off the global emergency has provided reason for governments and donors to pull back even more,” he said. Even if the outbreak no longer meets the technical definition of an emergency under 2005 international health regulations, there is an important psychological component to declaring an emergency. Headlines suggesting the crisis is over may lead people to take fewer precautions against sexual and transmission, experts said. “We are still not out of the woods,” said Scott C. Weaver, a virologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston who was among the first to warn that the virus threatened the Americas. The disaster in northeast Brazil, where more than 2, 000 babies have been born with microcephaly, will probably not be repeated, Mr. Weaver said. And he “would not be surprised if the disease had run its course in Central America and the Caribbean. ” But, he added, “I think the worst is yet to come in southern Brazil — places like São Paulo. And some places in the Amazon haven’t seen the virus at all yet. ” When a large portion of a population has been infected with a virus and has recovered, rising “herd immunity” usually ends the transmission of a virus for several years, until enough susceptible victims are born. Dr. Albert I. Ko, a Yale epidemiologist who has worked in northeast Brazil for years, said he understood the W. H. O. ’s rationale but felt the agency had acted too soon. The full extent of the damage in Latin America is unknown, he said, because many infected babies are yet to be born. Also, Asian governments are just beginning to realize that they face a crisis, he added, and may now take fewer countermeasures. When the W. H. O. declared an emergency in February, it was intended in part to get scientists to explore the connection and to make countries cooperate in fighting the epidemic. At the time, it was unknown whether Brazil’s surge in microcephalic babies was caused by the Zika virus, which had been discovered in 1947 and was considered a mild disease. Later, W. H. O. officials declared themselves satisfied that Zika was the main cause of the microcephaly outbreak. In a later meeting, officials decided that the risk was not sufficient to justify canceling the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, but was high enough that pregnant women should avoid traveling to the area.

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Factbox: Key Republicans in U.S. Senate tax bill fight

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Six more U.S. senators signed on to support a sweeping Republican tax bill on Friday, leaving only one known Republican opponent - Bob Corker - and virtually assuring the measure would pass despite Democratic opposition. A vote was expected later Friday. Here are the Republican senators who have been pivotal to the bill’s fate. Corker, a deficit hawk from Tennessee, said on Friday he could not vote for the Senate legislation because of fiscal concerns. In a statement, he said he believed the tax overhaul “could deepen the debt burden on future generations.” Corker had stalled momentum on the tax bill on Thursday by demanding Republicans look for more ways to keep the bill from causing the U.S. deficit to balloon. He said Friday he felt it would have been fairly easy to alter the measure in a way that would have been more fiscally sound, but “unfortunately, it is clear that the (Republican) caucus is in a different place.” However, Corker said he had told President Donald Trump in a phone call Friday that he would take a close look at the final version of the bill, expected to be produced by a House-Senate conference, before deciding how to vote on it. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated on Thursday that the Republican bill would expand the national debt by $1 trillion over 10 years, far short of assertions by Republicans that the tax cuts would pay for themselves. The moderate senator from Maine announced Friday she will support the tax bill after securing several improvements in the text and getting assurances that other legislation would be advanced to help lower health insurance premiums. Collins dislikes a clause in the bill repealing a fee imposed on people who do not comply with Obamacare’s “individual mandate” to obtain health insurance. She said she worried that repealing this fee would drive up insurance premium costs, canceling out gains from tax cuts that many constituents might get from the bill. She said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had pledged to help mitigate the effect of the repeal by supporting passage of two other healthcare bills before the end of the year. One would help insurers cover expensive patients; the other would continue Obamacare subsidy payments for low-income people for two years. Collins also got three amendments included in the tax bill, including one to keep the state and local property tax deduction of up to $10,000 from federal income tax. This would mirror legislation already passed by the House of Representatives. The Montana Republican signed on to support the bill Friday after having voiced concerns about its treatment of “Main Street” businesses. He said he had won more tax relief for non-corporate pass-through businesses, which include partnerships, sole proprietorships and other non-corporate enterprises. The senator from Wisconsin endorsed the bill after demanding more for pass-throughs. The bill now features a 23 percent tax deduction for such business owners, up from the original 17.4 percent, said statements from Daines and Johnson. The Arizona conservative announced in a statement on Friday he would vote for the bill. He said he had succeeded in eliminating an $85 billion expensing “budget gimmick” and received a firm commitment from Senate leaders and the Trump administration to work on permanent protections for immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children. Oklahoma’s Lankford came aboard on Friday after having questioned whether tax revenues from economic growth would compensate for an expected increase in the national debt. He announced on Friday he was voting for the bill. Moran had earlier been wary of its impact on the debt.     The Arizona maverick and former presidential candidate announced on Thursday that he would back the tax bill. The senator from Alaska will vote for the tax bill, she wrote on Twitter on Wednesday evening.

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Hurricane Maria regains Category 5 hurricane strength: NHC

(Reuters) - Hurricane Maria has intensified and regained its Category 5 hurricane strength, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Tuesday. Maria, which made landfall in Dominica as a Category 5 storm on Monday night, is about 205 miles (325 km) southeast of St. Croix with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (260 km/h), it said. The hurricane is expected to move towards the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Tuesday night and Wednesday, the Miami-based weather forecaster added.

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Strange People Who Shifted to Other Dimensions

Mysterious Universe Do other realities brush up against our own? Are there parallel dimensions lying just beyond through some thin, untraceable veil separating us? The idea of parallel realities beyond our own is not new, yet what if this phenomenon were to come bursting forth from the realm of theory and speculation and come crashing down into the now? Are there perhaps some people who have stepped over that barrier into domains we have not yet to see and which we may indeed not even be meant to see? I have covered such alleged excursions into the horizon beyond our known reality here at Mysterious Universe before , and here I will revisit this topic with a selection of other cases that seem to imply the possibility that not only are parallel dimensions real, but that they are destinations to which we can be whisked away, whether intentional or not. In the September, 1956 issue of Fate Magazine there was the curious story of a woman who apparently shifted into another parallel universe in 1934. According to the report, in the fall of that year a woman by the name of Miriam Golding had a profoundly unusual experience while riding an elevator with her fiancee in Chicago. The elevator was crowded, and when Miriam made a mistake and got off at the wrong floor she found that she could not push her way back in past the throng of people and resigned herself to waiting for the next one. That was when she looked around and was startled to realize that she was no longer in the store at all, but rather an expansive train station. The enormous railway station she found herself in was allegedly bustling with fevered activity, with throngs of travelers rushing to their trains and booming announcements of arrivals and departures echoing through the air. There seemed to be no way this busy place could have any connection whatsoever to the music store she had been in moments before. The confused Miriam made her way to an information booth to ask where she was, but found that the woman working there completely ignored her, as if she weren’t there at all. Perplexed, Miriam followed a series of signs pointing the way to the street outside, and she emerged out into a mild, sunny afternoon that seemed to be in the midst of summer rather than fall, in a place that was most certainly not Chicago. She wandered about in confusion and noticed that everyone around her seemed to completely ignore her and walk on by as if they did not even see her. At some point she claims that she saw a confused looking boy standing in the sidewalk similarly being passed on by people who seemed to have no idea he was even there, and Miriam approached him wondering what was going on. The boy was able to actually see and respond to her, and looked in her direction, the first time anyone had acknowledged her presence in this strange, surreal place. As she approached, the boy seemed equally relieved that he was visible to Miriam, smiled slightly and purportedly saying: “I guess they let you off at the wrong stop, too.” The two lost people walked together down the street in confusion, the whole time completely ignored by those around them, and the boy told Miriam of what had happened to him. He claimed that he had been playing tennis in Lincoln, Nebraska, in the United States, and had gone to the locker room to change his shoes. When he had gone back to the courts to play some more he had found that the tennis courts that had been there moments before were now gone and in their place was a huge train terminal, which had turned out to be the exact same station into which Miriam had enigmatically entered from the elevator. The two allegedly kept on walking until they reached an open area that led to water, and over the waves they could apparently make out a sand bar with several women upon it chatting and seeming to act as if nothing was beyond the ordinary. To Miriam’s astonishment, one of the women was oddly her fiancee’s sister. The women out on the sandbar seemed to notice them and began waving and shouting to Miriam and her companion. This encouraged the boy to try and make a swim out to the sandbar, which did not seem so far and which he was confident he could reach. Yet even though he was a good swimmer it seemed that no matter how much he tried and pushed against the waves, he was unable to draw any closer to the mysterious sandbar and he returned to shore in frustration. It was then that the sandbar supposedly suddenly vanished into thin air. Miriam closed her eyes in exasperation, disappointment, and exhaustion, and then was overcome by the sensation of floating through space. After some time of this odd feeling of hovering in darkness she claimed that she suddenly opened her eyes to find herself sitting atop a stool in the music store in Chicago, which seemed to be in the process of closing for the night, suggesting that she had been there for at least several hours. Disoriented, Miriam looked around for her fiancee but could not find him and decided to head back to his home. When she arrived, her fiancee was noticeably relieved and explained that he had lost her in the store and had waited for her to come to the right floor for a few hours before deciding to go back home. Bizarrely, the fiancee’s sister, whom Miriam had seen on the mysterious sandbar earlier, claimed that she had seen Miriam in town and had even called out to her, but that she had been too absorbed in talking to a young boy to notice her. Where did Miriam go during that time? Why should she see her fiancee’s sister on a sandbar while the sister had seen her in town, all while they could not reach across to communicate? Were they separated by strange barriers we do not and may not ever understand? It is a mystery. Another strange article in the April, 1959 issue of Fate Magazine tells of the weird experience of a Frances E. Peterson of Keokuk, Iowa, who in 1935 was traveling home with her husband and four children from a weekend trip to Missouri. On the way they noticed what looked like a quaint, scenic detour in the area of St. Patrick and they whimsically took it, driving along the rustic, quiet scenery until they reached the rim of an expansive valley. In addition to the picturesque scenery was the rather odd sight of several women in old-fashioned sun bonnets and long skirts and aprons busily pulling water from a well into simple wooden buckets and carrying them off on wooden poles balanced across their shoulders. There were men here as well, who all had beards and wore similarly old-fashioned clothes such as smocks and large black hats, and who were tending flocks of sheep and goats or collecting firewood. Enamored with the quaint, charming scene, they later asked locals what the settlement was, yet were told that no such place had ever existed. Convinced that it did indeed exist, Peterson and her husband returned to the area several times afterwards, but could find no sign of the valley they had seen or its unusual inhabitants, suggesting that either the family or the place they had visited had been temporarily transported over some little understood thin spot between realities. In another similarly strange road story from 1962, a Mr. R. W. Balcom and his wife were driving to Lake Tahoe from their home in Live Oak, California. The couple stopped at a quaint restaurant nestled away off of Highway 50 a few miles from Placerville. They had never noticed the restaurant there before in all of their years of traveling along the same route, even though it seemed from its weathered, rustic look to have been there for years, and they decided to stop there for a bite to eat. The food was described as being surprisingly good and the service was cordial and friendly, so they decided that they would visit again. On their return trip from Lake Tahoe they attempted to seek out the charming little restaurant to eat there again, but when they arrived at the location it was reportedly gone as if it had never been there at all. Perplexed, the couple supposedly spent three more weekends traveling through the area in an effort to find the restaurant that they were convinced was there, but never found it again. Did Balcom and his wife travel to a parallel universe for lunch? No one knows. An intriguing case of a mysterious doorway to another dimension and perhaps even through time itself occurred in 1956, when a treasure hunter by the name of Ron Quinn ventured with his brother Chuck and some friends into the remote and rugged mountains of Southeastern Arizona looking for mysterious lost Spanish treasures and gold mines. The case begins with high strangeness and only gets more bizarre as it goes on. Three weeks into their adventure, the treasure hunters set up camp one night, and that evening they were surprised to see two large balls of bluish green light floating about in the darkened, starry sky. The bewildered campers determined that these were not flares of any kind, nor any sort of known aircraft. The weird balls of light hovered about for several minutes before vanishing behind some mountain peaks. The next evening, the same phenomenon was witnessed again. When they mentioned the strange lights to a local cowboy named Louie Romero, he informed them that the unexplained lights were a recurring phenomenon in the area, and had been seen as far back as 1939. The group would spot the strange lights several more times over the course of their excursion. Ron and Chuck Quinn At one point during their travels, the group passed by what looked like a stone archway, which stood out as something of an anomaly upon the landscape, looking decidedly out of place, yet they didn’t think much of it until later, when they spoke to a Native local named John, who claimed that the archway had long been surrounded by strange stories and rumors that anyone who entered the doorway never came out, and that objects thrown in would not emerge from the other side, earning the structure the name “Doorway of the Gods.” There were also stories of the archway shimmering, and of strange figures lurking around it dressed in old fashioned clothing that did not seem to be ghosts, as they disturbed the gravel where they stepped and cast shadows, yet they would suddenly vanish. There were also tales of camps near the archway that had been mysteriously abandoned and of prospectors who had never returned from the area. John relayed his own tale of strangeness concerning the archway, claiming that one dark and stormy day he had visited it and peered through it to see that, although the scenery was the same, the sky was oddly clear and blue on the other side. When he looked around the edge of the doorway, the clouds were once again dark and thick, hanging menacingly over the scene, and the bizarre sight with its contrasting views frightened him. Enthralled with these odd stories, Quinn and his group went back through the perilous rocky terrain to find the mysterious archway and investigate it. They managed to locate the strange looking structure once again, and upon closer inspection it proved to be surrounded with an unusually large deposit of geodes, some of which were broken open with their interiors glittering in the sun. The archway itself was measured as being around 7 feet high and 5 feet wide, with columns of andesite 15 inches diameter and it stood beside a steep, rocky slope. After checking it out, the team went to work testing out the weird stories by throwing various rocks through the opening, but the rocks all mundanely fell to the ground on the other side and there was no sign of anything remotely mysterious whatsoever. Increasingly skeptical, some of the members of the team boldly put their arms through without incident, although no one was willing to try stepping all the way through. After around an hour of this, they departed no closer to understanding the supposed mystery of this location. However, a weird series of events would unfold in the coming days that would make them think that something strange was going on. Chuck Quinn with some of the geodes from the site One day as they were checking out the portal yet again and collect some of the geodes, Roy and another member of the team, Walt, noticed that the stone portal seemed to be shimmering as if simmering in intense heat, even though it was a cold January day. The odd shimmering allegedly lasted a few minutes, during which time both men claimed that they could feel a building pressure within their ears, before the shimmering and the weird physical sensation slowly ebbed away. The inexplicable event spooked both of them, especially Roy, who vowed never to go anywhere near the archway again. On another occasion, the group came across another group of three treasure hunters who claimed that they had also camped out near the mysterious stone portal. The group claimed that that evening their camp had been hit by what sounded like rain hitting their tents, even though it was a clear night. Looking out of their tents, they were met with the sight of small, reddish brown pebbles around the size of a pea falling in great numbers from above. The pebbles were found to be warm to the touch and there was no explanation for where they came from. They had seemed to be made of some king of iron ore. All of these escalating odd occurrences would point to something decidedly strange going on at the archway, but the most bizarre incident would happen years after the expedition was over. Four years after that fateful treasure hunt, on October 14, 1973, Chuck Quinn was compelled to make a personal trip to the site of the stone portal that had eluded their understanding, and arrived at the canyon that led up to the slopes that would lead up to the site. Chuck went about climbing up the steep, rocky slopes towards the archway, stopping for a breather about halfway up the harrowing climb. It was here as he looked out west over the majestic scenery all around him that he noticed that there was a canyon that should not have been there. Baffled, he made his way back down the slope to enter from the east, and it was here that he realized that in fact he was in the same canyon he had been in before, only he had somehow been transported 250 yards down the canyon he had hiked along, and to another slope that was facing south rather than west. The strange event convinced him that indeed there was something strange going on here, and hastily left the scene. Was this some sort of doorway to another dimension or merely tall tales? One wonders if perhaps some of the more bizarre vanishings and reappearances of people also have some form of interdimensional shift at their core. At about 7:00 P.M. on August 15, 1960, 6-year-old Kathy Cramer, of Wood’s Hole, Massachusetts simply vanished from her room in her home. Her parents had checked on her when she was sleeping one minute, and the next she was gone without a trace. When authorities arrived the house was searched top to bottom, and no signs of forced entry or a struggle could be found. Cathy’s bed seemed to be in a peaceful state, with no sign of being disturbed in any kind of confrontation. The window to the room was also closed and showed no signs of anyone coming in or going out that way. An intensive search was immediately launched, composed of hundreds of people including police, firemen, volunteers, airmen from nearby Otis Air Force Base, and bloodhounds, as well as the Coast Guard scouring the nearby coast, yet absolutely no evidence of the missing girl could be found anywhere. She had simply vanished off the face of the earth. Then later, at 3AM on that same evening, Cathy’s very worried parents went into to her room to be startled by the sight of their missing daughter sleeping peacefully in her bed as if she had never been gone. When she was asked about where she had been, the girl gave the cryptic response of “I’m not telling.” What in the world happened to this little girl? How could a 6-year-old disappear from her bed, elude an intensive search by various professionals, and then reappear fast asleep exactly where she had vanished? Is this also perhaps an example of someone crossing through the veil between realities to pass temporarily into some parallel world or dimension? The only person who knows the answer to that is Cathy Cramer herself, and she’s not telling. So are any of these accounts somehow anchored in any way to reality as we know it? Are these the realm of the lost mind untethered, spinning fantastical tales either out of hallucination, insanity, or an irrational attempt to make sense of distorted perceptions? Can this all simply be explained away somehow or is there a genuine phenomenon hinting at forces of the universe we have yet to comprehend buried within these disparate accounts? Are we perhaps just one of many alternate realities stacked upon one another and which between slips, shifting and travel are possible? The answers are elusive, and we may continue to pour over and debate them forever. However as long as there is the probability and possibility of worlds beyond our own there will always be those who look out into our universe, or perhaps inward, to seek to try to grasp just what this all might mean. In the meantime, cases like this will remain a tantalizing peek into what just may be out there beyond our grasp to conceive of it.

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On Midterm Trail, Hillary Clinton Tests Themes for Possible 2016 Run

ROCHESTER, Mich.—Appearing in liberal Philadelphia, Hillary Clinton told a campaign crowd that corporations have too much clout. In conservative Kentucky, she lauded her husband’s record in office while avoiding any mention of the locally unpopular current White House resident, President Barack Obama. Mrs. Clinton is back on the campaign trail after a six-year hiatus, aiming to rouse Democratic voters who don’t typically show up for midterm elections. In the course of trying to help her party’s candidates, she is also...

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Melania Trump's RNC speech produces so-so TV audience

(Reuters) - Melania Trump’s big night at the Republican National Convention failed to draw bumper television audiences despite networks boosting their coverage of the gathering and husband Donald Trump promising a “showbiz” feel to the week. According to Nielsen ratings data on Tuesday from seven leading broadcast and cable networks, an estimated 23 million people watched Monday evening’s highlight during the 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. hour when Melania Trump, the wife of Republican White House contender Donald Trump, delivered her speech. The focus of the convention initially shifted on Tuesday from the formal anointing of Trump to accusations that sections of Melania Trump’s speech were strikingly similar to an address by Michelle Obama at the Democratic convention in 2008. The early viewing figures were similar to those for the first night of the Republican convention in 2012, which attracted an audience of 22.3 million, according to Nielsen. U.S. television networks have boosted coverage of the Republican convention this year after Trump, a New York businessman, drew huge audiences during the 2016 presidential debates during the state nominating contests. Trump, the former star of “The Apprentice” TV show, has promised to throw out traditional political convention scripts and “put some showbiz” into the mix. Media analysts predicted that viewership for Trump’s acceptance speech this week for the Republican presidential nomination could surpass the record 38 million who watched Barack Obama address the Democratic convention in 2008. In 2012, the Democratic convention generally drew more nightly TV viewers than the Republican gathering, when Mitt Romney was running for the White House. On Monday, the Fox News cable channel, as expected, got the most viewers for its convention coverage, averaging 6.4 million in the 10 p.m. hour. Among the mainstream networks, NBC led with 3.9 million. However, the biggest single program audience of Monday night was for reality show “The Bachelorette,” which was seen by some 6.6 million on ABC. About 3 million people turned off when ABC switched to the convention.

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Republican tax bill stumbles on deficit 'trigger,' new options weighed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican tax bill in the U.S. Senate stalled on a procedural problem late on Thursday, forcing lawmakers to weigh new options to an amendment sought by a leading fiscal hawk to address a projected large expansion of the federal deficit under the measure, senators said. Senator Bob Corker had wanted to add a provision to the bill that would trigger automatic tax increases in years ahead if the tax cuts in the bill failed to boost the economy and generate revenues sufficient to offset the deficit expansion. But the Senate parliamentarian barred Corker’s “trigger” proposal. “We just got the realization from the parliamentarian that that’s probably not going to work,” said Republican Senator David Perdue. In response, Republicans were considering building future tax increases into their bill. “It’s not a threshold anymore. It’s just a tax increase. ... The only thing that’s come off the table is the trigger concept,” Perdue said.

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GREAT NEWS! TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES It’s Drastically Cutting UN Budget

While we believe the UN headquarters would make a great condo building (please see Krauthammer video below), this is a start. The Trump administration just decided to significantly reduce the UN budget. Amabassador Nikki Haley released a statement:Ambassador Haley on the United States Negotiating a Significant Reduction in the UN BudgetFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEToday, the United Nations agreed on a budget for the 2018-2019 fiscal year. Among a host of other successes, the United States negotiated a reduction of over $285 million off the 2016-2017 final budget. In addition to these significant cost savings, we reduced the UN s bloated management and support functions, bolstered support for key U.S. priorities throughout the world, and instilled more discipline and accountability throughout the UN system. The inefficiency and overspending of the United Nations are well known. We will no longer let the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of or remain unchecked. This historic reduction in spending in addition to many other moves toward a more efficient and accountable UN is a big step in the right direction. While we are pleased with the results of this year s budget negotiations, you can be sure we ll continue to look at ways to increase the UN s efficiency while protecting our interests, said Ambassador Haley.THE UNITED STATES CARRIES THE BURDEN OF THE UN BUDGET:MAGA! Defund the UN!PRESIDENT TRUMP THREATENED TO CUT AID HE S FOLLOWING THROUGH ON HIS PROMISE:Reuters reported:U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that vote in favor of a draft United Nations resolution calling for the United States to withdraw its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital. They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us. Well, we re watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We ll save a lot. We don t care, Trump told reporters at the White House.CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: Trump should turn the United Nations building into condos :

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BREAKING: LEFTIST DEMOCRAT MAYOR ORDERED BALTIMORE POLICE TO STAND DOWN [Video]

A source involved in the enforcement efforts confirmed there was a direct order from the mayor to her police chief, as riots broke out on Monday night to stand down.Despite a firm denial by Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, a senior law enforcement source charges that she gave an order for police to stand down as riots broke out Monday night, raising more questions about whether some of the violence and looting could have been prevented.The source, who is involved in the enforcement efforts, confirmed to Fox News there was a direct order from the mayor to her police chief Monday night, effectively tying the hands of officers as they were pelted with rocks and bottles.Asked directly if the mayor was the one who gave that order, the source said: You are God damn right it was. The claim follows criticism of the mayor for, over the weekend, saying they were giving space to those who wished to destroy. By Tuesday night, despite the chaos a day earlier, Baltimore police along with the National Guard and other law enforcement contingents seemed to be restoring order in the city, which was under a curfew overnight.Rawlings-Blake has defended her handling of the unrest, which grew out of protests over the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody.The mayor, in an interview with Fox News Bill Hemmer on Tuesday, denied any order was issued to hold back on Monday. You have to understand, it is not holding back. It is responding appropriately, she said, saying there was no stand-down directive.She said her critics have a right to their opinion.Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Monday suggested the mayor also waited too long to request a state of emergency.That followed criticism over her remarks over the weekend, when she said it s important to give protesters the opportunity to exercise their right to free speech.She seemed to take that notion a step further: It s a very delicate balancing act, because, while we tried to make sure that they were protected from the cars and the other things that were going on, we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well. As her destroy remarks faced a buzzsaw of criticism amid the riots Monday, the mayor initially tried to deny she said them. I never said nor would I ever say that we are giving people space to destroy our city, so my words should not be twisted, the mayor said Monday.In a press conference, she accused critics of a blatant mischaracterization. But her office eventually released a written statement acknowledging she said those words while attempting to explain them.Via: FOX News

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AZ Pastor: ‘Perfect Christians’ Would Bathe In ‘F*ggot’ Blood While Singing Psalms (VIDEO)

Pastor Steven Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona, is a bigot in the truest sense of the word though you ll never hear him admit it. Anderson s hatred of the LGBT community, Muslims, Jews, women, and even President Obama, is so deeply rooted that he genuinely believes that he is simply following the Bible (you know, if you cut out all that stuff about loving thy neighbor).Recently, Anderson ignited international outrage when he called the Orlando massacre good news because lots of gay people died. In December 2014, he said that we could cure AIDS if we exterminated all the homos. This may seem like frightening rhetoric, but it pales in comparison to what he said Sunday night.Anderson told his congregation that they the hateful, anti-gay hate group have more love in our little finger than that f*ggoty church down the street that supports the LGBT community has in their whole body. Anderson says that he is, indeed, required to love his neighbor but his homosexual neighbor should be dead. Shortly before those remarks, Anderson said something truly horrifying about what perfect Christians should be doing. Anderson says that while most sinners can find God, the LGBT community is hopeless because it is impossible for them to love or accept Jesus. Here s the thing about those filthy reprobates, Anderson told his congregation. They re not going to turn from their wickedness because God has darkened their heart and blinded their eyes. Anderson continued, explaining that if God has done such things, you can t believe. Referencing Psalm 58:10, which states that the righteous (Anderson s flock in this case) will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked (the LGBT community).The pastor says that he doesn t understand why his praise of the Orlando shooter made people angry because he, nor the other pastors who have made headlines for their horrific Orlando remarks, didn t fly to Florida and bathe their feet in the blood of the victims of one of the worst mass shootings in our country s history. I don t think Pastor Romero hopped on a plane to Orlando so he could just go wash his feet in the blood of the wicked and praise God for their death, Anderson quipped as his congregation laughed at the super-funny awesome joke. But if he would have, it would have been OK. More laughter. Then he described his perfect world. If we were in a perfect world, if we were perfect Christians, if we were doing everything that God wanted us to do, Anderson said, then they would sing not only hymns but the Psalms. And what better way to sing them but while having a nice, reprobate blood foot bath: Why would God want us to sing about washing our feet in the blood of the wicked in the New Testament? Can someone explain that to me? Because it s valid today. Because it still stands. Because God is still the same God. Anderson said that other Christians the fake ones who accept others for who they are accuse him of saying that if a homo loves Jesus he still won t be saved. Banging his head against a tree prop, the pastor angrily explained that he didn t ever say that: Argh, I never said that. I m saying they don t believe in Jesus. Anybody who believes in Jesus will be saved. I m saying they don t believe in Jesus. But I met one who says he loves Jesus. THEY RE LYING. Get real folks. And yet they still come at you. Anderson s sermon then dissolved into a mini-rant about how normal people don t want to do the stuff that gay people do (like mowing the lawn, shopping, riding a bicycle, playing chess, watching television ). Who here struggles really hard to not be a homo, Anderson said with his hand raised. He was the only one who raised his hand. I mean it s really hard. Other men are just so appealing and it s a struggle No, you re like gross, it s disgusting. Look, the only way that a dude would lust after another dude is if God gave him over unto vile affections to do those things. Watch Anderson s latest horrific rant below:Featured image via screengrab

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Trump’s $45 Million Loan Is The Latest Way He’s Fleecing His Campaign For Money

Donald Trump s campaign might be close to broke, and he might be doing highly illegal things to try and keep it afloat, but evidence has also been mounting that he s using this election as a means of profit. The $45 million worth of debt the campaign has is apparently personal loans he made, and he can convert them to donations, effectively wiping out the campaign s debt.He d have to file paperwork with the FEC, though, and so far, that hasn t happened. NBC wasn t able to get much out of his campaign about this, with spokesperson Hope Hicks saying they re going to file it with the next scheduled FEC report. She had originally said that they were going to file it last week.Until that paperwork is filed, though, this is another way for him to line his pockets with pieces of silver. While that loan is still a loan, he can use new campaign donations to reimburse himself. The law gives him until August to do this, so he can milk this for all it s worth and nobody can do a thing about it.Trumplestiltskin is such an upstanding candidate.GOP donors are squirrelly about this because they want assurances that their money isn t going into Trump s personal coffers. The problem is, until he files that paperwork, there can t be any assurances, and His Royal Crookedness will find other ways of funneling those donations to his not-inconsiderable bank accounts anyway.Earlier this week, USA Today, which seems to have made it their mission to scrutinize every single thing Trump does, reported that just two percent of the GOP donors that supported Mitt Romney four years ago have contributed to Trump in any way. Some blame his late start in courting GOP donors, but the truth is, many of them are just too hesitant to give money to him.All he has to do is file a signed statement and reflect the change in accounting on his next filing. It s not like it s that hard. Trump s campaign said that this was a done deal and yet, it isn t. Why wouldn t they just tell the truth from the get-go, and say that they ll do it with the next monthly filing, instead of a special statement? The answer s pretty clear, given what Trump has been doing with his businesses and his campaign finances. He s in it for the profit, and he will profit in any way he can.Featured image by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

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Punk Targets Hurricane Victim’s Home, Flees When Surprised by Armed Owner

Elderly Woman Spots Drone Above Property… Her Next Move Leaves Operators STUNNED Hough recalled waking up to the sound of glass breaking and footsteps inside his home as the intruder used a rock to smash out a sliding glass door. “It was a strong guy, a big guy,” Hough said, referencing his broken door. “I wouldn’t have been able to kick that out.” Grabbing his revolver, Hough took up a defensive position at the top of the stairs and waited until he saw the man who had broken into his home. “I knew pretty much where he was,” he explained. “He came across my dining room and to the foot of my stairway. I had a revolver and fired at him twice.” Though he didn’t hit the burglar with his two shots, they were more than enough to send the punk scrambling back out the broken glass door and away from what turned out to be a well-defended home. “I missed, obviously, but I think I scared him,” Hough added, pointing to the bullet holes in his wall. “He certainly didn’t expect to see me.” The armed homeowner used his cellphone to call the police, who responded promptly despite the raging hurricane going on around them.

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TRUMP IS RIGHT AGAIN: ‘No, the Constitution Does Not Bar Religious Tests in Immigration Law’

Andrew C. McCarthy, former Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, writes in National Review that Donald Trump s proposed temporary ban on Muslim immigration is not unconstitutional. McCarthy notes that properly vetting would-be immigrants religious beliefs is not only legal it would be wise and prudent. Of all the ignorant pronouncements in the 2016 presidential campaign, the dumbest may be that the Constitution forbids a religious test in the vetting of immigrants. Monotonously repeated in political speeches and talking-head blather, this claim is heedless of the Islamic doctrinal roots on which foreign-born Islamists and the jihadists they breed base their anti-Americanism. It is also dead wrong.The clause said to be the source of this drivel is found in Article VI. As you ll no doubt be shocked to learn, it has utterly nothing to do with immigration. The clause states, no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States (emphasis added). On its face, the provision is not only inapplicable to immigrants at large, let alone aliens who would like to be immigrants; it does not even apply to the general public. It is strictly limited to public officials specifically to their fitness to serve in government positions.This is equally clear from the clause s context. Right before the no religious Test directive, Article VI decrees that elected and appointed officials shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution[.] An oath of office customarily requires the official to solemnly swear that he or she will support and defend the Constitution, so help me God. (See, e.g., the oath prescribed by federal law.) The Framers tacked on the no religious test clause to clarify that the mandate of a solemn oath before taking office did not mean fidelity to a particular religious creed was required. The same principle informs the First Amendment s prohibition on the establishment of a state religion.This is as it should be. The Constitution prescribes very few qualifications for even the highest offices because its purpose is to promote liberty, which vitally includes the freedom to elect whomever we choose, to vote our own private consciences. The principal check on public officials is the ballot box, not the law s minimalist requirements.As voters, we have the right to weigh a candidate s religious beliefs as a significant part of the total package. We have done so from the Republic s founding and to this day, virtually all candidates take pains to wear their faith, however nominal, on their sleeves. When the loathsome Jeremiah Wright fleetingly became an issue in the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama did not thunder, Under the Constitution, you must not inquire into my religious beliefs! He threw the Rev under the bus. When it comes to choosing those who will represent us, we do not limit ourselves by intrusive laws, but we reserve the right to bring to bear any consideration, including religion, that we deem relevant.Read more: National Review

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Rupert Murdoch Calls Special Meeting as Fox News Ratings Falter

Fox News executive chairman Rupert Murdoch will host a meeting Wednesday amid internal turmoil at the network and threats to its ratings dominance from MSNBC. [According to Deadline, Murdoch is set to host two meetings at the network’s new studio, Studio F, where he will discuss both the company’s plans for a new newsroom and its overall direction and future. The meetings will reportedly be held in two shifts to accommodate all staff. The meetings come as the network has been rocked by a series of sexual harassment and racial discrimination lawsuits in recent months, culminating in last month’s departure of star anchor and cable news ratings king Bill O’Reilly. Following O’Reilly’s departure, the network’s primetime schedule underwent perhaps its most significant reshuffling in years, with Tucker Carlson taking over O’Reilly’s 8 p. m. time slot and the panel show The Five moving to 9 p. m. But the network faces an early test of its new lineup from MSNBC, which has benefitted greatly from star anchor Rachel Maddow and its lineup’s breathless coverage of the Trump administration. Last week, MSNBC won the key demo ( ) during weeknights for the first time in seven years, with The Rachel Maddow Show, The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell and The 11th Hour with Brian Williams all finishing first in their respective time slots, according to Adweek. Fox News finished first in total viewership, with an average 2. 6 million viewers, but MSNBC was right on its heels with 2. 4 million. CNN lagged far behind with 1. 3 million. It was the 19th straight week that Fox News led all competitors in total viewers. But the network’s hold on total viewership could soon be in jeopardy as well. On Monday, MSNBC came within two thousand viewers of surpassing Fox News in that category, and Fox slipped to third in the news demo with 499, 000 viewers to CNN’s 608, 000 and MSNBC’s 662, 000. Murdoch’s Wednesdays meetings are reportedly meant to “rally the troops” in the face of the challenges. Meanwhile, the network’s former talent is moving on. On Monday, Bill O’Reilly announced he would be a guest on radio host and the Blaze founder Glenn Beck’s program on Fridays. Update: Fox News was the cable network in total day viewership for the 19th consecutive week, according to Nielsen data. “In primetime, FNC also ranked #1 in all of basic cable with P2+ including NBA TNT, with 2. 3 million viewers,” the network noted in a Tuesday email to reporters. Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum

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Trump Kicks Presstitutes’ Teeth Down Their Lying Throats

Trump Kicks Presstitutes’ Teeth Down Their Lying Throats And Presstitute David Remnick in true presstitute fashion tries to turn it against Trump. Only Trump sins, never the presstitutes. It is OK for the presstitutes to lie, but not OK to hold the media accountable. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article45898.htm The post Trump Kicks Presstitutes’ Teeth Down Their Lying Throats appeared first on PaulCraigRoberts.org .

1real

Dear America: We Tried To Warn You

We tried to warn you.From the summer of 2016 onward, Democrats tried to warn the American public that Russia found a useful idiot in Donald Trump. He was their puppet, their strongman, their way into the American political scene. No one wanted to believe it.When the DNC and DSCC (along with various lawmakers including Nancy Pelosi) were hacked, we said it was Russia. The intelligence agencies agreed. No one wanted to believe it, and the mainstream media brushed it aside.When the Podesta emails were hacked and dumped onto the internet for all to read, it was traced back to Russian thugs. No one wanted to believe it. They said WikiLeaks and their leader, Julian Assange, were doing their due diligence for a more transparent government.When Hillary Clinton, at the last presidential debate, told 66 million viewers that the Russian federation was working tooth and nail to help Donald Trump, we brushed it off, and accused the Democrats of being sore losers, conspiracy riddled, and scared of losing an election (which we did).Watch Clinton hit it home. If only we listened:Hillary dropped this exact same info about Russia in front of 66 million viewers in October. But I guess no one listened because emails pic.twitter.com/HCe7oqfknv Ess (@ScottyLiterati) December 10, 2016Now, the CIA agrees Russia played a major role in helping Donald Trump win the presidency. They meddled in our sacred, democratic elections to help a would-be, two-bit dictator wannabe rise to power.A report found:As the summer turned to fall, Russian hackers turned almost all their attention to the Democrats. Virtually all the emails they released publically were potentially damaging to Clinton and the Democrats, the official told Reuters. That was a major clue to their intent, the official said. If all they wanted to do was discredit our political system, why publicize the failings of just one party, especially when they have a target like Trump? Trump has nominated a Secretary of State candidate, Rex Tillerman, who is a friend to Russia and Vladimir Putin. This is not a coincidence, nor is it a surprise. He has nominated a would-be National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, an ally to Russia and spreader of fake news. This also is not a coincidence. This is the reality of the United States, post-Obama.No, this was not some 400 pound guy in his parent s basement, as Trump would suggest. This is a world power that has their hands in several world crises Syria, Ukraine and so forth.So while Republicans and indeed left-wing defectors from the Democratic Party hyper focused on the Clinton/Podesta emails, Trump was on the cusp of a victory thanks in part to Russian hackings which may even extend to voter hackings in November.The Russians may or may not have physically intervened on November 8th to help Donald Trump win. However, it has now been proven by 17 security agencies, both private and governmental that Russia played a key role in souring the public s perception about Clinton and the Democrats.It wasn t just because of hackings. The Kremlin paid and trained trolls to flood the internet with fake news and multiple Twitter/Facebook accounts to create a world of hate for Hillary Clinton, a world of praise for Donald Trump.Luckily, Republicans like John McCain and Lindsey Graham are starting to see the big picture, but its not enough. They, along with their conservative colleagues and liberal adversaries, were A-OK with smearing Clinton with Russian propagated lies if it meant having an R in the White House.When it comes to Donald Trump and Russia, we Democrats hate to say it, but, we told you so. American democracy has been sold to the highest bidder, and Russia paid the highest price.Featured image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

1real

Trump's concession on wall funding removes obstacle from spending talks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The threat of a U.S. government shutdown this weekend appeared to recede on Tuesday after President Donald Trump backed away from a demand that Congress include funding for his planned border wall with Mexico in a spending bill. Even if the fight over wall funding is over, Republicans and Democrats still have difficult issues to resolve as they face a Friday night deadline when existing money expires for many federal agencies. There was growing sentiment among lawmakers that they would need to pass a short-term extension of current spending, possibly of one week’s duration, in order to finish negotiating longer-term legislation for funding the government through the end of September. “Yeah, it looks like it,” said Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Appropriations Committee member, when asked about the likelihood of a short-term extension. But on Tuesday night, some leading Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate expressed optimism that Congress could pass the longer-term bill and avoid having to rely on another temporary extension of last year’s funding levels. “We’re really close,” said Republican Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee. He added that leadership would make the final decision on which course Congress takes this week. Trump removed a crucial sticking point when he said on Monday he may wait until Republicans begin drafting the budget blueprint for the fiscal year that starts on Oct. 1 to seek wall funding. The president’s fellow Republicans control both chambers of Congress, but the current spending bill will need 60 votes to clear the 100-member Senate, where Republicans hold only 52 seats. Democratic leaders had said they would not support a bill that included funds for the wall. The border wall was one of Trump’s signature election pledges last year, with the Republican touting it as best way to stop illegal immigrants and drugs from coming into the country. If no spending measure covering April 29 to Sept. 30 is in place before 12:01 a.m. (0401 GMT) on Saturday, government funds will halt and hundreds of thousands of the country’s several million federal employees will be temporarily laid off. Trump had run the risk of being blamed by Democrats for a shutdown, which would start on his 100th day in office. Representative Steny Hoyer, the second most powerful Democrat in the House, said he would advise colleagues to support a short-term funding proposal only if a longer-term fix was imminent. Short-term funding measures, known as continuing resolutions and covering periods of days or weeks, have been used to avert shutdowns in the past. But in 2013, conservative Republicans forced a 17-day shutdown in a failed attempt to repeal then-President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, the Affordable Care Act. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer welcomed Trump’s Monday night comments and noted there were Republican opponents of the wall too. “It’s really good news that the president seems to be taking the wall off the table,” Schumer said on the Senate floor on Tuesday. “It would remove the prospect of a needless fight over a poison pill proposal that members of both parties don’t support.” Late on Tuesday, however, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told CNN that Trump would not agree to other concessions that Democrats had sought - cost-sharing healthcare subsidies for 6 million Americans. The subsidies are part of the Affordable Care Act health insurance law, commonly called Obamacare. Mulvaney said the White House had offered Democrats to include the Obamacare subsidies in exchange for funding the wall. “But they said no to that and we agreed to put that off for another day,” he said. By dropping his call for immediate funding for the wall, Trump may clear a path to a spending bill. But he will lose an opportunity to display serious progress on accomplishing his agenda since taking office on Jan. 20. There is also no guarantee that Congress will want to fund the wall later on, given skepticism running through the Republican Party. Republican Senator Jeff Flake, who represents the border state of Arizona, told reporters on Tuesday there was a need for a wall in some border locations and alternative deterrents in others. “A lot of us have been pushing for additional border security funding for a while, but a solitary 2,000-mile wall has never been a must-have for anybody in a border state,” he said. Trump said he had not changed his stance, tweeting on Tuesday: “It will get built and help stop drugs, human trafficking etc.” Trump has said Mexico will eventually repay the United States for wall construction, but the Mexican government has been adamant it will not do so, and Trump has not laid out plans to compel repayment. Internal Department of Homeland Security estimates have put the cost at $21.6 billion. Republican Senator Roger Wicker said there was a “substantial figure” in the spending bill dedicated to border security. Such spending, not explicitly for a wall, would likely be acceptable to both parties.

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Barack Obama says memory of Hiroshima 'must never fade'

Barack Obama called on the world to choose a future where Hiroshima was considered “the start of our own moral awakening”, as he became the first sitting US president to visit the Japanese city, 71 years after its bombing ushered in the nuclear age he vowed to bring to an end. In a scene many survivors of the US bombing believed they would never live to see, Obama laid a floral wreath at a memorial to the dead of the world’s first atomic bombing, pausing in a moment of contemplation, his head slightly bowed. He then paid tribute to the people of Hiroshima, calling on humanity to learn the lessons of the past to make war less likely. “On a bright, cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed,” he said, adding that humankind had shown that day it had the means to destroy itself. “Why did we come to this place, to Hiroshima? We come to ponder a terrible force unleashed in the not so distant past. We come to mourn the dead,” he said. “Their souls speak to us, they ask us to look inward, take stock of who we are.” In a touching moment, Obama embraced Shigeaki Mori, a 79-year-old survivor who appeared overcome with emotion. “The president gestured as if he was going to give me a hug, so we hugged,” said Mori, who spent decades tracing the families of 12 American POWs who died in the attack and ensured their deaths were officially recognised. Obama also chatted to Sunao Tsuboi, the 91-year-old head of a survivors group, who thanked the president for his visit, but reminded him of his responsibility to act on his desire, first made in Prague in 2009, to bring about a world without nuclear weapons. Obama urged the world to “choose a future when Hiroshima and Nagasaki are not considered the dawn of atomic warfare but as the start of our own moral awakening.” He said: “Technological progress without equivalent progress in human institutions can doom us. The scientific revolution that led to the splitting of the atom requires a moral revolution as well. “This is why we come to this place, we stand here, in the middle of this city and force ourselves to imagine the moment the bomb fell. “We force ourselves to feel the dread of children confused by what they see. We listen to a silent cry. “Some day, the voices will no longer be with us to bear witness, but the memory must never fade. That memory fuels our imagination. It allows us to change.” His address included mention of the tens of thousands of Koreans – many of them forced labourers – who died in the attack, as well as the American dead. In the distance stood the burned-out shell of the Atomic Bomb Dome – a peace memorial that is the most potent physical symbol of Hiroshima’s tragic past and its recovery from the ashes of war. As expected, Obama did not offer an apology for the decision by his predecessor, Harry Truman, to unleash an atomic bomb over the city. The attack at the end of the second world war on 6 August 1945 killed an estimated 80,000 people soon after the blast. By the end of the year, the death toll had reached 140,000. Obama and Tsuboi laughed at one point, the president smiling broadly. But mostly he listened, holding the elderly man’s hand in his own, an interpreter standing nearby. Tsuboi stamped his cane emphatically while speaking. Obama was accompanied by the Japanese prime minister, Shinzō Abe, whose presence, Obama said ahead of the visit, would “highlight the extraordinary alliance” the US had created during the seven decades since the end of the war. After looking at some of the exhibits in the peace museum, Obama wrote in the visitors’ book: “We have known the agony of war. Let us now find the courage, together, to spread peace, and pursue a world without nuclear weapons” – a goal he conceded he may not see in his lifetime. Abe described Obama’s visit as “courageous”, saying: “An American president has come into contact with the reality of an atomic bombing and renewed his resolve toward realising a world without nuclear weapons. “I sincerely welcome this historic visit, which has long been awaited by not only the people of Hiroshima, but by all Japanese people.” Kaneko Izumi, a Hiroshima resident who was among the hundreds of people who filled the peace park in the evening to pay their respects to the victims, said Obama’s speech had offered hope to ageing survivors “who have been waiting most of their lives for an American president to come here”. Not all residents were satisfied with the president’s speech, however. “I’m afraid I did not hear anything concrete about how he plans to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons,” said Miki Tsukishita, who was five years old when the bomb was dropped. “Just cheering his visit is not enough. He is a serving US president ... I wish he had been more specific.” Obama had long held the desire to go to Hiroshima, despite the potential for the visit to cause controversy in the US. While many Japanese consider the attack a war crime – yet recognise the part their country’s militarist leaders played in bringing it about – the consensus in the US is that the attack hastened the end of the Pacific war, saving many more American and Japanese lives. Japan surrendered on 15 August, less than a week after the US dropped a second atomic bomb, on the western port city of Nagasaki, killing more than 70,000 people. Obama said during a visit to Japan in late 2009 that he would be honoured to go to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. “I certainly would be honoured – it would be meaningful for me to visit those two cities in the future,” he said. Before Friday, the only western leader to have visited Hiroshima while in office was Kevin Rudd, who laid a wreath at the peace park cenotaph in 2008 when he was Australian prime minister. Jimmy Carter visited the atomic bomb memorial in Hiroshima in 1984, after he had left office, but no sitting US president has ever visited the city. The highest-ranking US official to visit the site was Nancy Pelosi in 2008 when she was House speaker. The ambassador, Caroline Kennedy, attended the 70th anniversary commemorations last year. The White House reportedly decided to proceed with the visit after the largely positive reaction to John Kerry’s tribute to the victims of the Hiroshima bombing on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting last month. Ahead of Friday’s visit, Obama told US Marines and members of the Japanese military at the Iwakuni base in western Japan how it was “a testament to how even the most painful divides can be bridged. How two nations can become not just partners but the best of friends”. His trip, he said, was an “opportunity to honour the memory of all who were lost in world war two” but also had a message for today. “I do think that part of the reason I’m going is because I want to once again underscore the very real risks that are out there and the sense of urgency that we all should have,” Obama said. “So it’s not only a reminder of the terrible toll of world war two and the death of innocents across continents, but it’s also to remind ourselves that the job is not done in reducing conflict, building institutions of peace, and reducing the prospect of nuclear war in the future.” While polls showed most Japanese welcomed Obama’s gesture, other countries in the region warned against allowing the visit to reinforce a one-dimensional view of Japan’s role in the second world war. The Chinese foreign ministry said Japan should not forget the “grave suffering” it inflicted on its neighbours during the war. “We hope Japan can take a responsible attitude toward its own people and the international community, and earnestly take history as a mirror to avoid a recurrence of the tragedy of the war,” ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters. The state-run China Daily went much further, claiming the “atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were of Japan’s own making”. In an editorial on the eve of the visit, the paper accused Japan of “trying to portray Japan as the victim of world war two rather than one of its major perpetrators”. The bombing of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified, the China Daily said, as “a bid to bring an early end to the war and prevent protracted warfare from claiming even more lives”. It added: “It was the war of aggression the Japanese militarist government launched against its neighbours and its refusal to accept its failure that had led to US dropping the atomic bombs.”

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Egyptian court hands fresh life sentence to Muslim Brotherhood leader

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court sentenced top Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie to another life term in prison on Thursday in the latest example of a crackdown against Islamists since the army overthrew President Mohamed Mursi. The sentence relates to violence that broke out in 2013 after the army toppled Mursi in the wake of mass demonstrations against him. General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led the military at that time and was elected president the following year. Authorities outlawed the Brotherhood after Mursi was ousted and arrested thousands of its supporters. They also dissolved its Freedom and Justice Party, which Mursi led. Mass life and death sentences have been common since then in what rights groups call an unprecedented crackdown. Fifteen others were sentenced to life in prison in the same case on Thursday while 77 were given 15-year sentences with hard labor. Only 38 of those sentenced on Thursday were present at court while the rest were sentenced in absentia. The judgment can be appealed in a higher court within the next 60 days. Those sentenced were charged with inciting terrorism, leading an outlawed group, raiding and vandalizing government facilities among other crimes related to clashes in Beni Suef, south of Egypt in August 2013. The clashes took place the same day security forces dispersed two Islamist sit-ins in central Cairo and killed hundreds of Mursi s supporters. Those sentenced on Thursday included former members of parliament and members of the Freedom and Justice Party. Badie was sentenced to life in jail in 2014 after being convicted of murder and inciting violence during clashes that took place during the same period.

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Trump, now president, pledges to put 'America First' in nationalist speech

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump took power as the 45th president of the United States on Friday and pledged to end what he called an “American carnage” of rusted factories and crime in an inaugural address that was a populist and nationalist rallying cry. Striking a defiant tone, Trump said American workers have been devastated by the outsourcing of jobs abroad. “From this day forward it’s going to be only America First,” the Republican told thousands of people gathered on the National Mall to see him take over from Democrat Barack Obama. With Obama and three other former presidents sitting nearby, Trump accused previous U.S. administrations of enriching Washington at the expense of struggling American families. Underscoring the deep divisions in the country, protests against Trump turned ugly in downtown Washington. Black-clad activists smashed store windows, blocked traffic and fought with police in riot gear who responded with tear gas and stun grenades. Police said more than 200 people were arrested. Aerial pictures of the crowds of Trump supporters on the Mall showed a much smaller turnout at midday on Friday than that in comparable photos from Obama’s first inauguration in 2009. Estimates of Friday’s crowd size were not immediately available from police. The inaugural address was vintage Trump, with plenty of material gleaned from dozens of campaign rallies he staged last year on the road to victory on Nov. 8 over Democrat Hillary Clinton, who attended the ceremony with her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Trump said the United States has enriched foreign industry at the expense of American companies, subsidized the armies of other countries while letting the U.S. military become depleted, and spent trillions abroad while allowing infrastructure at home to crumble. “The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed across the entire world,” he said. Trump accused the Washington establishment of protecting itself but abandoning regular citizens who have suffered from poverty and crime. “This American carnage stops right here and stops right now,” he said. “Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families,” he said. Trump, 70, takes over a country divided after a savage election campaign. The grim vision of America he often paints is belied by statistics showing low levels of unemployment and crime nationally, although Trump won many votes in parts of the nation where manufacturing industry has been badly hit. While Trump positioned himself as a champion of working Americans, the Tax Policy Center non-partisan think tank estimates that his tax proposals would not only add $7.2 trillion in U.S. government debt over the first 10 years, but are skewed to help the wealthiest Americans. Hours after taking the oath of office, Trump, who repeatedly promised to repeal Obama’s signature health-care law, signed his first executive order, directing U.S. agencies to delay, waive or grant exemptions from any provisions of the Affordable Care Act deemed burdensome for states or individuals. Republicans in Congress hope to repeal the health care law, also known as Obamacare, and replace it. Sitting behind the presidential Resolute Desk, Trump signed the order in a hastily arranged ceremony. In the Oval Office, which Obama vacated Friday morning, gold drapes had already been hung in place of crimson ones. Trump’s election was greeted with concern by many countries around the world, in part because of the potential for an isolationist foreign policy. In an interview after Trump was sworn in, German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said, “What we heard today were high nationalistic tones.” “I think we have to prepare for a rough ride,” Gabriel told public broadcaster ZDF, adding that Europe should stand together to defend its interests. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto congratulated Trump on his inauguration, but cautioned that the sovereignty, national interest and protection of Mexicans would be paramount. Mexicans have been angered by Trump’s pledge to build a wall along the southern U.S. border to keep out illegal immigrants, and to make Mexico pay for it. Trump has also frequently criticized U.S. companies that have manufacturing operations in Mexico. U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday in a modest advance, marking the first time in more than 50 years that a new commander-in-chief has been welcomed by a rising equity market on his first day in office. Pope Francis urged Trump to be guided by ethical values, saying he must take care of the poor and the outcast. In Moscow, Russians hoping Trump will usher in a new era of detente celebrated his inauguration. Russian nationalists held an all-night party at what used to be the main Soviet-era post office in Moscow. In the city of Zlatoust, craftsmen released a limited series of silver and gold commemorative coins, engraved with “In Trump We Trust.” Trump signaled the possibility of a more aggressive approach to Islamic State militants. “We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones, and unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the earth,” he said. The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly voted on Friday to confirm retired General James Mattis as defense secretary and retired General John Kelly as homeland security secretary, making them the first Trump Cabinet nominees to be approved. New Vice President Mike Pence swore both in Friday night. After repeating the 35-word oath of office in the ceremony, Trump stretched his arms wide and hugged his wife, Melania, and other members of his family. Ceremonial cannon blasts fired. The Trumps rode in a heavily armored limousine to lead an inaugural parade to the White House. The couple and their 10-year-old-son, Barron, hopped out of the limo and walked part of the parade route, waving to cheering well wishers. Later, they watched some of the parade from a reviewing stand built on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House. Trump takes office with work to do to improve his image. An ABC News/Washington Post poll this week found only 40 percent of Americans viewed him favorably, the lowest rating for an incoming president since Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1977, and the same percentage approved of how he has handled the transition. Trump’s rise, while welcomed by Republicans tired of Obama’s eight years in office, raises a host of questions for the United States. Trump campaigned on a pledge to take the country on a more isolationist, protectionist path and he has vowed to impose a 35 percent tariff on imports from U.S. companies that went abroad. More than 60 Democratic lawmakers stayed away from the proceedings to protest Trump. Many demonstrators will participate in a “Women’s March on Washington” on Saturday. Protests are also planned in other cities in the United States and abroad. Trump’s to-do list has given Republicans hope that, since they also control the U.S. Congress, they can approve sweeping tax reform and roll back many federal regulations they say are stifling the U.S. economy, as well as repeal and replace Obamacare. “He’s going to inject a shock to the system here almost immediately,” Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway told Fox News. Democrats, in search of firm political footing after the unexpected defeat of Clinton, are planning to fight him at every turn. Trump’s critics have been emboldened to attack his legitimacy because his win came only in the Electoral College, which gives smaller states more clout in the outcome. He lost the popular vote to Clinton by about 2.9 million. Trump’s critics also point to the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia used hacking and other methods during the campaign to try to tilt the election in the Republican’s favor. Trump has acknowledged the finding - denied by Moscow - that Russia was behind the hacking but said it did not affect the outcome of the election.

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Swiss president wants a vote to clarify country's EU position

ZURICH (Reuters) - A referendum in Switzerland to clarify the country s relationship with the European Union would be helpful, Swiss President Doris Leuthard said on Sunday, after ties between the two sides cooled this week. Switzerland s frictions with the EU, of which it is not a member, arise as Britain negotiates its withdrawal from the bloc following a referendum in June last year and seeks a new trading relationship with its closest neighbors. Talks on securing a new framework treaty to govern the Swiss-EU relationship have been underway for some time, with Brussels wanting to replace the more than 100 bilateral accords which regulate its relationship with Bern. But relations soured this week when the EU granted Swiss stock exchanges only limited access to the bloc, prompting Swiss threats of retaliation for what it called discrimination. The bilateral path is important, Leuthard told Swiss newspapers Sonntags Blick. We therefore have to clarify our relationship with Europe. We have to know in which direction to go. Therefore a fundamental referendum would be helpful. Talks on the an all-encompassing agreement made headway last month after Switzerland agreed to increase its contribution to the EU s budget. Such a deal would ensure Switzerland adopts relevant EU laws in return for enhanced access to the bloc s single market, crucial for Swiss exports. But a deal would be opposed by the anti-EU Swiss People s Party (SVP), currently the biggest group in parliament. Leuthard, who steps down as president at the end of the year, said the latest row had not overshadowed her year in the rotating office. Of course, the differences with Brussels are now in focus. Here our attitude is clear - for the EU to link such a technical thing like stock exchange equivalency with a political question like the framework treaty, that is not possible, She said some countries were putting Switzerland in the same category as Britain, while others wanted to strengthen their own financial centers at Switzerland s expense. Others think we are cherry pickers who benefit too much from the single European market, they want to increase pressure for a framework agreement, Leuthard said. Pressure from outside would did not contribute to a beneficial climate in Switzerland over a potential agreement, she said. She said she understood Swiss scepticism towards the EU, but there was no alternative to finding an accommodation with the bloc which generates around two thirds of Swiss trade. We can strengthen the cooperation with India and China, but the EU remains central. We need a mechanism and regulated relationship with the EU, that would also prevent political games like we are having at the moment, Leuthard said.

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Russia tells North Korea, U.S. 'hot heads' to calm down

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia s foreign minister said on Friday the leaders of North Korea and the United States should tone down their bellicose rhetoric and warned that a collapse of a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers would only embolden Pyongyang. The exchange of threats is quite bad, unacceptable, Sergei Lavrov told reporters at a news conference. We have to calm down the hot heads, Lavrov said, adding that he was convinced a Russian-Chinese proposal could still pave the way for a diplomatic solution to the North Korea crisis. Lavrov added that a collapse of the Iran nuclear deal would give North Korea little incentive to drop its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

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SUNDAY SCREENING: PSYWAR (2010)

21st Century Wire says Our weekly documentary screening curated by our editorial team at 21WIRE.NOTE: Although this film focuses a lot on the Clinton and Bush presidencies, this same system has continued and taken to an even higher level of dark arts by the Obama Administration, and the both UK s Blair and Cameron governments. This film explores the evolution of propaganda and public relations in the United States, with an emphasis on the elitist theory of democracy and the relationship between war, propaganda and class. Includes original interviews with a number of dissident scholars including Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Michael Parenti, Peter Phillips ( Project Censored ), John Stauber ( PR Watch ), Christopher Simpson ( The Science of Coercion ) and others. SEE MORE SUNDAY SCREENING HERESupport our work and Become a Member @ 21WIRE.TV

1real

U.S. bill to regulate internet ads gains bipartisan support with McCain

(Reuters) - U.S. legislation that would impose new disclosure requirements on political ads that run on Facebook and other websites received support on Wednesday from Senator John McCain, giving a bipartisan boost to a bill already popular among Democrats. McCain, a longtime supporter of regulating campaign finances, and two Democratic senators, Amy Klobuchar and Mark Warner, plan to introduce the legislation on Thursday, according to a statement from their offices on Wednesday. Republicans control the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, so bills generally need Republican support to advance. Online political ads are much more loosely regulated in the United States than political ads on television, radio and satellite services. The lack of regulation was highlighted last month when Facebook Inc, Alphabet Inc’s Google and Twitter Inc said that they had found election-related ad buys on their services made by people in Russia in the run-up to last year’s U.S. presidential election. Non-Americans are generally not allowed to spend money to influence U.S. elections. The legislation from the three senators would put online ads under the same rules as television, radio and satellite, so that who paid for them and other information would need to be disclosed. Last month, after U.S. regulators and criminal investigators began looking at the Russia-linked ads, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said his company would take several voluntary steps to make political ads more transparent, such as allowing anyone to seem them no matter whom they target. Facebook and Twitter said on Wednesday that they are open to working with lawmakers on the matter. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. McCain’s office declined to comment.

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Paul Ryan Assaults Healthcare On Twitter And Gets BUTCHERED By The Public (TWEETS)

Republicans might have Congress and the White House, but they don t have the people or public opinion on their side, and it shows. When House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) tried to attack the Affordable Care Act on Twitter today, he learned that the hard way.Here s the tweet in question: Retweet to agree #Obamacare is failing. We need to reverse the damage that has been done. pic.twitter.com/s6B0UDSWKp Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) February 5, 2017 Things are only getting worse under Obamacare, he says. Huh. That s weird before Obamacare, there was less choice, no central marketplace, insurance companies could reject you for preexisting conditions or set a lifetime cap on coverage, tens of millions weren t insured at all, and insurance companies could take as much profit as they wanted instead of spending on healthcare.However, little things like facts don t get in the way of the bloviating of bullshit artists like Paul Ryan. Luckily, twitter users instantly tore his lies apart: @SpeakerRyan When is your retweet to agree democracy is failing tweet Dave Levitan (@davelevitan) February 5, 2017@SpeakerRyan Trump is failing. Get rid of him first. The Morch Files ?? (@WIrebelalliance) February 5, 2017@SpeakerRyan You mean damage by providing health care to those who otherwise couldn t afford it or get coverage? Kim D (@KimDHello) February 5, 2017@SpeakerRyan you should start by reversing the damage you caused. Not A. Snake (@SnakeInPants) February 5, 2017@SpeakerRyan re-fund the risk corridor subsidies that you defunded despite industry leaders telling you it would cause wild rate hikes. Not A. Snake (@SnakeInPants) February 5, 2017@SpeakerRyan Like to agree Paul Ryan should give a plan for replacement before repealing millions of people s insurance. PARKER ?? ? (@Parker9_) February 5, 2017@SpeakerRyan Why didn t you work to improve it years ago when the president asked for help? The problems were caused by your obstruction. Chris O Brien (@ChrisOB617) February 5, 2017@SpeakerRyan I need Obamacare. I m a small business person and rely on it for my health Amy Teegan (@amyteegan) February 5, 2017@SpeakerRyan Trump is a bigger threat. Please deal with him first. Kthx. Brian Podolsky (@brianpodolsky) February 5, 2017@SpeakerRyan Retweet to agree #PaulRyan is failing. We need to reverse the damage that Trump/Bannon administration has done killermuses (@killermuses) February 5, 2017Retweet to agree: Paul Ryan is a douche ?@SpeakerRyan pic.twitter.com/1Fx1TDYTQ8 No Filter Alexa ? (@realAlexaParker) February 5, 2017@SpeakerRyan why are you getting gold plus healthcare with no pre-existing condition options. We all deserve your gold standard healthcare Oh Juliet (@justdreamin91) February 5, 2017@SpeakerRyan How about you and your lying partners come up with an actual plan before pretending you have a #BetterWay? A. Lethe (@Axel_Lethe) February 5, 2017@SpeakerRyan #Obamacare is NOT failing. Stop your stinking lies. You are an enemy of the American people if you repeal ACA. Barbara Drake (@barbaradrake) February 5, 2017@SpeakerRyan 1. Repeating a lie won t make it true. 2. Shouldn t you be concentrating on making sure Trump doesn t start WW3? Maloofs (@MMVarney) February 5, 2017This one sums it up perhaps best of all:@SpeakerRyan pic.twitter.com/jVi92Thkt4 Oh Juliet (@justdreamin91) February 5, 2017@SpeakerRyan without replacement plan; pure recklessness. makes you look small minded, spiteful and uncaring #ACA CMKO (@hellocindy) February 5, 2017@SpeakerRyan still all talk and no plan and most of us know it is NOT failing so stop with the lying rhetoric Kathy Pruitt (@KathyPruitt54) February 5, 2017Is the ACA perfect? No. After all, insurance companies are still taking 20 percent of the money that could be spent entirely on healthcare. However, Republicans want to move in the opposite direction. They re not out to help people at all. That s why, instead of developing a reasonable alternative, they have spent years and millions of taxpayer dollars trying to repeal Obamacare with no replacement. And, now that they have power, they fully intend to do so and leave the American people stranded without a fallback.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

1real

U.S. lawmakers press Heritage Pharma on high prices for antibiotic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. lawmakers are questioning whether Heritage Pharmaceuticals misled them in response to a 2014 congressional inquiry about the rising price a common antibiotic, after 20 U.S. states this week accused the company of price fixing. In a Dec. 16 letter to Heritage seen by Reuters, Maryland Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings and Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders said they feared the company was “disingenuous at best” in October 2014 when it told them it had not seen any significant price increases for its doxycycline hyclate product. “We are very concerned that you made these assertions to Congress on behalf of Heritage during the exact time period that its executives were engaged in a price fixing scheme to prevent competition from driving down prices of doxycycline hyclate,” they wrote. In response to Friday’s letter, the company said it does not make the same version of doxycycline hyclate that the lawmakers asked about in 2014. Heritage makes a delayed release version, not the immediate release version that was the subject of the 2014 inquiry. Heritage said it explained this to the lawmakers in its 2014 response. The letter to Heritage comes after criminal and civil charges were filed by the Justice Department and 20 states in connection with an alleged price fixing scheme involving doxycycline hyclate and glyburide, a diabetes drug. On Wednesday, the Justice Department criminally charged Heritage’s former Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Glazer and former Heritage Vice President of Commercial Operations Jason Malek, accusing them of colluding with other generic manufacturers in schemes that entailed allocating market share and conspiring to raise prices. The next day, 20 states filed a parallel civil lawsuit against Heritage, along with Mylan NV, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Mayne Pharma Group, Citron Pharma and Aurobindo Pharma Ltd., saying they colluded to fix prices. The lawsuit characterized Heritage as the “ringleader,” with Glazer and Malek overseeing and running the scheme. Mylan and Teva have previously denied the states’ civil charges. Sanders and Cummings launched a congressional inquiry into rising generic drug prices on Oct. 2, 2014, including the price of doxycycline hyclate. As part of that, they sent a letter to Glazer while he was still CEO of Heritage to inquire about the prices. Gary Ruckelshaus, who was then Heritage’s outside counsel and now serves as vice president and general counsel, responded later that month and said Heritage “has not seen any significant price increases” for the drug.

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JUDGE JEANINE PIRRO Hammers Hillary’s Foreign Policy Hypocrisy In Her Opening Statement [Video]

Judge Jeanine: I wasn t even going to do an opening statement because it s the holidays and I m generally in the Christmas spirit. But when Hillary Clinton laid out her comprehensive plan to bolster homeland security, I couldn t help myself:// <![CDATA[ (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&#038;version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); // ]]>I wasn t even going to do an opening statement because it s the holidays and I m generally in the Christmas spirit. But when Hillary Clinton laid out her comprehensive plan to bolster homeland security, I couldn t help myself. #JudgeJeaninePosted by Judge Jeanine Pirro on Saturday, 19 December 2015

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Melania Trump's girl-on-girl photos from racy shoot revealed

Heres the nations would-be first lady and right beside her, a second lady. Three years before she met husband Donald Trump, Melania Trump was snapped in a nude frolic with another female model, bombshell photos obtained exclusively by The Post show. Modal Trigger The lesbian-themed pics are from a two-day photo shoot in Manhattan in 1995, when Melania Knauss, as she was called, was 25 years old and modeling under the name Melania K. (Photographer Al de Basseville later told The Post that he misspoke, and the photo session actually took place in 1996 in Manhattan, and appeared in a 1997 issue of the magazine.) Several were featured in Max Magazine, a now-defunct French mens monthly, more than 20 years ago. Others have never been in print until now. The raciest of the photos shows Melania lying nude in a bed as Scandinavian model Emma Eriksson, also naked, embraces her from behind, just below her breasts, which are fully exposed. In another photo, Eriksson wears sheer stockings, a low-cut bustier, high heels and a long robe all designed by John Galliano and raises a whip as if preparing to spank Melania, who pretends to recoil. Melania is more conservatively dressed in a skin-tight gown and high heels. I always loved women together, because I have been with a lot of women who desired the mnage trois, said Jarl Ale de Basseville, the French fashion photographer who snapped the pictures. Melania Trump (right) poses for the January 1997 issue of Max Magazine.Photo: Jarl Ale de Basseville This is beauty and not porn. I am always shocked by the porn industry because they are destroying the emotion and the essence of purity and simplicity. Part of the shoot, which de Basseville said was inspired by Renaissance art, took place on the buildings rooftop, said a fashion-industry insider who was present at one of the photo sessions. Melania behaved like a true professional during one of the nighttime shoots with Eriksson, the source said. She was charming throughout, said the source, adding that the pics lesbian theme didnt faze her. She was always smiling, with a very pleasant personality and was polite and very well educated. Al de BassevillePhoto: Al de Basseville Melania had recently arrived in the city from modeling stints in Paris and Milan at the time. In Gotham, she was booked for mostly commercial work and was later featured in an ad for Camel cigarettes, the source told The Post. Her sexy photo spread appeared in the January 1996 issue of Max Magazine, whose cover featured a photo of supermodel Cindy Crawford. In addition to the lesbian-themed shots, de Basseville took several nude pictures of Melania from different angles. In one of them, Melania pouts at the camera while clad only in stilettos. In another, her back is to the camera, and her arms are raised as if up against a wall. 0:00 / 1:10 I think it is important to show the beauty and freedom of the woman, and I am very proud of these pictures because they celebrate Melanias beauty, de Basseville said. Asked about the photos, Donald Trump said: Melania was one of the most successful models, and she did many photo shoots, including for covers and major magazines. This was a picture taken for a European magazine prior to my knowing Melania. In Europe, pictures like this are very fashionable and common. The Slovenian-born beauty, now 46, first met Trump at a Fashion Week party in 1998. They married in January 2005 and have one son, Baron, 10. She has modeled for Sports Illustrated and Vogue among other publications, posing for such top photographers as Helmut Newton and Mario Testino. Modal Trigger Melania Trump in the January 1997 issue of Max Magazine.

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Maine governor says he will not expand Medicaid despite vote

(Reuters) - Maine Governor Paul LePage said on Wednesday he would not carry out an expansion of the state’s Medicaid program under Obamacare that was approved by voters unless it was fully funded by the legislature, calling it “ruinous” for the state’s budget. About 60 percent of voters in Maine approved the ballot proposal in Tuesday’s election, according to the Bangor Daily News, making the state the first in the country to vote to expand Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor and disabled. LePage, a Republican, has staunchly opposed expansion of the program, vetoing legislation to do so on several occasions. In a statement, the governor said he would not implement the expansion until it was fully funded by the Maine legislature, where control is split between Republicans and Democrats. “Credit agencies are predicting that this fiscally irresponsible Medicaid expansion will be ruinous to Maine’s budget,” LePage said in a statement. “I will not support increasing taxes on Maine families, raiding the rainy day fund or reducing services to our elderly or disabled.” LePage said a previous Medicaid expansion in Maine in 2002 created $750 million in debt to hospitals and took resources away from vulnerable people. Maine Senate Democratic leader Troy Jackson said in a statement that the governor “has the power to put up roadblocks to prevent implementation of the voter-approved Medicaid expansion referendum, and I have no reason to believe he won’t continue to do as he has always done.” Jackson added that Democrats “are determined to use every tool at our disposal to ensure the will of the voters is upheld.” Maine voters were asked to approve or reject a plan to provide healthcare coverage under Medicaid for adults under age 65 with incomes at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level, which in 2017 is about $16,000 for a single person and about $22,000 for a family of two. If implemented, about 70,000 additional state residents would be eligible for the Medicaid program, local media reported, in addition to the roughly 268,000 people who are currently eligible. Maine has been prominent in the national healthcare debate. U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a moderate Republican from the state, helped block her party’s efforts to repeal Obamacare, enacted under former Democratic President Barack Obama and formally known as the Affordable Care Act. Collins said on Wednesday she never took a position on state referendum questions, but was surprised at LePage’s statement. “I’m not going to comment on what the governor should or should not do”, Collins told reporters. “I think it’s significant that healthcare was such a prominent issue and I believe when you look at the overwhelming vote in my state (on) the Medicaid expansion that it shows that Republicans need to put forth constructive legislation.”

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Liberalism Yet To Come: The Boundaries of the Thinkable

by Outis Philalithopoulos In yesterday’s episode of this series , Outis came up with an attractive synthesis about the trajectory of modern progressivism. He was then thrown into confusion by the arrival of a Phantom, and cryptic references to “neoliberalism’s intellectual and cultural border guard.” I felt like a snake, compelled to painfully tear away one skin after another. The outline of my conclusions was the same, but in the cold light of Reed’s words, things somehow appeared differently. Is it true that we have surpassed postmodernism? We still look negatively at right wingers and others who believe in non-trendy absolutes. We still pay lip service to the idea that other cultures are just as praiseworthy as upper middle class American liberal culture. But looking beneath the surface, it does seem like postmodernism has been consigned to the graveyard of history. But rather than post-postmodernists who have learned from the mistakes of postmodernism, we are neo-modernists who have successfully forgotten that postmodernism ever existed. Already in the 90s, parts of the left/liberal world were uncomfortable with postmodernism, and Wendy Brown argued that they had set up their own “reactionary foundationalism.” By that she meant that they had selected one aspect of their dogma, and then declared all attempts to interpret it critically to be subversive. Our newfound unity is based on two prongs. On the one hand, we have consolidated our alliance with key sectors of modern capitalism, and thereby cemented our branding as well-educated, intelligent people. It is working out wonderfully – but have we paid a price for it? Daniel Bell argued in 1976 ( The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism ) that conservatives supporting capitalism were thereby supporting a cultural engine that undermined the social values central to their conservatism. Have we, by letting the cultural arm of the economy fight our battles for us, clouded our ability to radically critique that economy? In the complex relationship between modern progressivism and the cultural sector of capitalism, who is using whom? On the other hand, we have fixed certain instances of suffering as foundational texts, and can now blast anyone who seems to doubt their centrality in understanding the world. Earlier attempts to create a liberal culture based on a consensus about oppression tended to produce a hodgepodge of groups that centrifugal forces could easily pull apart. What was different now? Maybe, as I had suggested to Foucault, the Internet had played a role. But 9/11 seemed relevant as well. As Osama bin Laden had hoped, the image of the planes striking the towers appeared on television as a dramatic flash of absolute reality. In the new rhetorical world thus created, “squishy” postmodernism came off as inane and decadent; meanwhile, neocon Republicans happily twitted liberals over their lack of moral clarity. The Right surged from one apparent victory to another, while liberals seethed with humiliation. Maybe there was no epistemological breakthrough that enabled us to answer the postmodernists’ gnawing doubts about objectivity. Maybe we changed the nature of liberalism, absorbed the stubborn moral clarity of Rush Limbaugh’s conservatism, and went on to forge a rough-and-ready consensus between unruly interest groups, simply because we believed we had to. Morality As stylized images of suffering inject us with potent shots of certainty, we become addicted to empathy with suffering, as an antidote for existential disorientation. This leads to a natural desire to expand our attention to micro-aggressions and hurtful ways of thinking. But then, if we commit to being on the side of people who experience micro-aggressions, almost everyone might be able to find something in their life that could qualify. And in fact, many groups for whom we feel little sympathy are not unwilling to talk about their pain and humiliation. We have dodged this trap by finding a principle that will disqualify unintended groups from empathy – that way we can classify their pain as notreal. The simple rule that does the trick is: “If a group has suffered something historical that we agree is really, unmistakably horrible , then it is also allowed to claim micro-aggressions as real.” We dress it up in academic language about what counts as “structural” oppression, but in simple words, the rule is, “if a group suffered, and we have canonized their suffering as a source of moral clarity for us , then they should be allowed to freely discover further incitements to suffering.” So in Judy’s movie, mocking older people, or rural people, or government employees, or overweight people, is all entirely acceptable , while carrying around fox repellent, thinking a sheep’s fur is fluffy, calling a bunny cute, or not supporting a baby fox who wants to be an elephant are all entirely unacceptable. T he principle isn’t that prejudice is wrong. The principle is that the latter examples are code for liberal flash points. I thought about something Brown said: In its emergence as a protest against marginalization or subordination, politicized identity […] instills its pain over its unredeemed history in the very foundation of its political claim […] Politicized identity enunciates itself, makes claims for itself, only by entrenching, restating, dramatizing, and inscribing its pain in politics; it can hold out no future – for itself or others – that triumphs over this pain. By “instilling” pain at the center of our epistemological universe, we condemn ourselves to endless efforts to shuttle around, direct, and amplify that pain. Brown emphasized revenge as a key technique in dealing with pain: […] a will that makes not only a psychological but a political practice of revenge, […] an identity whose present past is one of insistently unredeemable injury. Zootopia offers plenty of examples of hurting people the way they hurt others, so they can see what it feels like, and learn. The response to Nick tricking Judy and telling her “it’s a hustle, sweetheart” is for her to trick him and then announce, “it’s a hustle, sweetheart.” The same line is then used on the evil female sheep at the end of the movie. The movie sees cultural insensitivity as not only the primary evil in the world, but also the most appropriate punishment – the final prison episode also came to mind, when I had laughed at the evil sheep’s anger at her wool getting touched. The culmination of Judy’s apology is announcing that she really is “just a dumb bunny” – her guilt is so great that she knows she deserves the pain of stereotyping. Brown worried about the insatiable dead end of “insistently irredeemable injury.” Here, though, modern liberal culture proposesa way out of the cycle of suffering and revenge – Judy models it for us in her apology to Nick. If the oppressor voluntarily decides to submit to the worst tortures the oppressed can inflict, and to bind herself as an instrument of his revenge, then he may choose to forgive her, making possible a triumph over pain. I had always thought that when people do something wrong, they should just stop caring about their own feelings and, like Judy, really, deeply apologize. In the movie, Nick had forgiven her. But in real life, if someone apologized like that, say in a professional context, and the other person chose to be unmerciful – what then? Imagining the Future Wendy Brown said that right wing fundamentalists were trying to “foreclose democratic conversation about our collective condition and future.” Are we doing the same thing? Adolph Reed maybe thought so. What did he mean when he said we had become “border guards of neoliberalism,” policing “the boundaries of the thinkable”? Of course we work hard to stigmatize certain sorts of prejudices. Do we thereby successfully repress them? Foucault, in his History of Sexuality , recalled that it is often supposed that the Victorian era’s rules of manners and taboos on sexuality were aimed at making sex “driven out, denied, and reduced to silence.” He argued instead that those restrictions had the effect, and maybe the purpose, of inciting and intensifying the power of sexuality: a “complex deployment for compelling sex to speak, for fastening our attention and concern upon” it. If Foucault was right about sexuality, are our attempts at “repressing” prejudice and trauma serving to amplify them as a force in society, by “compelling prejudice and trauma to speak,” “fastening our attention” upon them? Is the result then to drown out attempts to speak in other ways, and so to police “the boundaries of the thinkable”? Is the neoliberal order safeguarded by the fact that certain conversations just don’t happen in mainstream progressive circles? Well, it does seem that Star Trek is better at imagining an economic system without money than modern progressives Maybe we see a radical stance on the economy as a quick way to brand oneself as edgy, while privately assuming that there is no alternative to modern capitalism. If so, why continue to be so moralistic about it? Is our compulsive focus on mental sin a way we cover up despair at our inability to change the deep structure of the world? A lot of ordinary people are convinced not that capitalism is perfect, but that any alternative to it is will necessarily involve the collapse of technological civilization or severe restrictions on freedom. If this isn’t true, are there some progressives trying to explain why? I struggled with what I had perceived. Were we, despite our idealistic vision of ourselves, simply agents of the system, tentacles that it uses to smash some people, complete with the pretext of defending others? Was it a labyrinthine, twisted joke? Hope At that point, I rebelled at the implications of my thought. Maybe modern progressives are much less self-critical than we imagined ourselves to be. Maybe we do indulge in some prejudices while criticizing and often tokenizing others. Maybe we have acquiesced in a long series of accommodations with power. But Polyphemus had spoken not just of wretchedness, but of idealism and grandeur. Maybe I didn’t agree with the postmodernists after all. Maybe there is something good, or at least potentially good, in the way we have tried to turn back to sincerity and moral conviction, to humility and introspection. Brown said that in the postmodern world, individuals are buffeted and controlled by global configuations of […] power of extraordinary proportions, and are at the same time nakedly individuated, stripped of reprieve […] Since she wrote, the way the world makes many feel precarious and lost has only gotten worse. Maybe she was right that when we feel this way, we try to rebuild a sense of something we can really believe in. But was she right in assuming that this was mainly a bad thing? When Judy apologizes to Nick, she treats herself as utterly insignificant, and her victim as omnipotent, exactly mimicking the relationship between the sinner and God in traditional Christian confession. This was extreme, but could it also be seen as the sign of a great and widely-shared loneliness? Of the longing we feel for more dramatically intimate relationships between people, or between a person and some sort of transcendence? Could we salvage what was hopeful in modern progressivism and disentangle it from what wasn’t? That sounds… hard, I thought to myself. Anyway, I’m dead. Maybe someone else will worry about it. Then I remembered Judy Hopps. She wouldn’t accept me being dead as a reason for me not to try to help people. What could I do? “Polyphemus,” I cried out. “You’re back.” He surveyed me. “WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED?” his voice boomed. I thought for a moment. Then I realized how to solve this problem. “Polyphemus,” I said. “I have learned that I have been ignorant and irresponsible and small-minded. When I hear criticism of liberals that I don’t want to think about, I deal with it by explaining how right-wingers caused the problem, or are worse than us, or are scary or horrible. Or I say the criticism is justified, but only as a criticism of not-real-progressives. Or I divert attention by accusing critics of ignoring the horrible things that have been done to marginalized people. I say I am against prejudice and trauma, but my attempts to repress certain forms of them have the predictable effect of intensifying their power throughout society. I say I am against prejudice, but I don’t mind making fun of old people, Millennials, hicks, wingnuts, adults who live with their parents, and a whole slew of other categories and stereotypes. I say I am against capitalism, but I’m completely fine with corporate action when it imposes antiracism, feminism, and other aspects of liberal culture. If someone raises an objection, I accuse them of opposing antiracism or feminism. I have the privilege of knowing that I can repel any attack on my basic understanding of reality. I really am a horrible hypocrite; some of the things I do hurt people, abet an atmosphere of shaming and guilt, and ultimately foreclose any possibility of positive change.” “How do you feel now?” Polyphemus inquired. “Great,” I responded. “I feel great.” “So will you honor the spirit of true progressivism in your heart, and try to keep it always?” he demanded. “Perhaps,” I said. “But not just now. A bootleg copy of the latest Game of Thrones season just made it past Charon. And anyway, I’ve faced my fears, I’ve recognized my progressive privilege, and I feel like I’ve really grown through this experience.” Polyphemus smirked at me. I smirked back. Epilogue: And so I thought no more about these matters, and have been able to return to my comfortable existence in the underworld. I no longer need this diary, and am casting it into a bottle so that it can dance along the eddies of fate, troubling whom it may. Outis Philalithopoulos

1real

The Gay Men Killed In Fl. Shooting Would Not Have Been Able To Donate Blood Today

Blood donations are urgently needed in the Orlando, Florida area following Saturday night s massacre. So far, 50 people have died in the massacre and at least 53 are hospitalized due to injuries. The shooting took place at Pulse, an LGBT nightclub.The current crisis reveals the incredibly homophobic rules put in place by the FDA regarding blood donations. The FDA s current rules stipulate that any man who has had sex with another man cannot donate blood until they have been celibate for one year. This bars nearly all gay and bisexual men from being able to donate blood.According to reports, One Blood, a blood donation center in Orlando, has temporarily lifted the ban on blood for their organization, allowing men who have had homosexual intercourse donate to their organization. One Blood reports that their blood donation center is currently at capacity. However, they will still need high numbers of donations over the next few days in order to keep replenishing their stock. A tremendous response by blood donors in light of the tragic mass shooting in Orlando. We are asking donors to donate over the next several days to help replenish the blood supply. We are asking people please make an appointment online or call 1.888.9.DONATE (1.888.936.6283). Thank you! As our nation collectively mourns the massive loss of life in Florida, it is a good time for us to look at the institutionalized homophobia that helps to create a culture that determines that LGBT lives and bodies are lesser than that of heteronormative individuals. Right now, the blood of gay and bisexual men, as well as so many others, stains the interior of the Pulse nightclub. Orlando s Mayor Buddy Dyer, described the scene by saying: There s blood everywhere. As far as the FDA is concerned, the blood of those who died on Saturday had no value to living.Blood is thoroughly screened by blood donation organizations no matter who donates to them. There is no need for this discriminatory policy. Nothing should prevent a healthy person from being able to give the gift of saving a life. The horror that occurred on Saturday night proved that gay, bisexual, straight, man, women, black, or white we all bleed and that all life is precious.Featured image from Photo by Tim Matsui/Getty Images

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After turbulent week, Trump revisits talk of 'rigged election'

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, fighting to overcome setbacks and polls showing a tough path to the White House, on Saturday doubled down on his claim that the U.S. election is rigged against him. Trump challenged accusations from several women that he made unwanted sexual advances toward them. Trump spokesman Jason Miller denied a new allegation that surfaced on Saturday, saying there was “no way” Trump had kissed a woman without permission 20 years ago at his Florida resort. Trump told an outdoor rally in New Hampshire on Saturday that the media was sharing the accusations against him to boost Democrat Hillary Clinton and damage his own White House hopes. Trump has presented no evidence for claims he has made for months that the election could be fixed to prevent him from reaching the Oval Office. Leaders on both sides of the political spectrum worry that this rhetoric, which supporters sometimes repeat in interviews, undermines the democratic process. “It looks to me like a rigged election,” Trump said in New Hampshire. “The election is being rigged by corrupt media pushing completely false allegations and outright lies in an effort to elect her president.” He started the day tweeting several times that the election was being swayed by a media conspiracy. “This election is being rigged by the media pushing false and unsubstantiated charges, and outright lies, in order to elect Crooked Hillary!” he said in one Twitter post. He reiterated similar claims at a later rally in Bangor, Maine. Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state, led Trump by seven percentage points in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos national opinion poll of voters. A new analysis found she was heavily favored to reach the 270 Electoral College votes needed to secure the presidency. Trump’s campaign said on Saturday it had raised a total of $100 million in September, mostly from small donors but also including a $2 million monthly contribution from Trump. At the same time, the campaign squabbled with the Republican party in Ohio, a key swing state in the Nov. 8 election, whose Republican leaders have not been shy about concerns with Trump. On Saturday, Trump’s Ohio state director released a letter saying that Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges “no longer has any affiliation” with the campaign. Borges responded that the state party had been actively helping Trump there. Trump’s speech in New Hampshire was intended to focus on a plan to end deaths caused by opioid overdoses, something he often mentions on the campaign trail. But he deviated from policy proposals to air his allegations of election-rigging and his response to new groping accusations, 24 days before the election. Trump has been fending off the accusations since the release of a 2005 video in which he was recorded bragging about making unwanted sexual advances toward women. Trump has said the boasts were merely words and he has denied each of the allegations. The latest woman to come forward, Cathy Heller, 63, of New York, told the Guardian newspaper that in or around 1997, Trump kissed her on the lips upon first meeting her during a Mother’s Day brunch at his Florida estate. She told the newspaper she leaned away, then turned her head, and he kissed the side of her mouth. Reuters could not confirm the allegations by Heller, who has contributed to Clinton’s campaign. The Guardian said it spoke to a relative who saw part of the interaction. “There is no way that something like this would have happened in a public place on Mother’s Day at Mr. Trump’s resort,” Miller, the Trump spokesman, said in a statement. “It would have been the talk of Palm Beach for the past two decades.” On Saturday, Trump deemed “crazy” another woman, Jessica Leeds, now 74, who said he groped her on an airplane in or around 1980. He also denied allegations of unwanted contact by Summer Zervos, a former contestant on Trump’s show “The Apprentice,” who said he kissed her during a meeting about a possible job. Trump said Zervos’ first cousin called her a “huge fan of Donald Trump,” referring to a letter the campaign released to media. Trump also told the New Hampshire crowd that he and Clinton were “like athletes” gearing up for the final presidential debate on Wednesday in Las Vegas, and he implied Clinton might have been on drugs during their last match-up. “I think we should take a drug test prior to the debate,” Trump said. “In the beginning of her last debate she was all pumped up at the beginning and at the end she was like uh, take me down.”

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WATCH: Arnold Schwarzenegger Just BURNED Trump Over ‘The Apprentice,’ And It Is GOLDEN

Back in February, Donald Trump decided he was going to use the White House prayer breakfast to slam Arnold Schwarzenegger and The Apprentice, because the show s ratings had tumbled and there can be only one reason for that His Trumpificence was no longer on the show. Trump asked everyone to pray for Schwarzenegger and his ratings, which he no doubt thought would get under the Terminator s skin.He couldn t have been more wrong. Van Jones just asked Schwarzenegger about this jab on his show, The Messy Truth. What Schwarzenegger had to say is absolute gold: It gave me an opportunity to go and shoot back and say, you know, that the show didn t do well because, you know, one-third of the audience left, because they boycotted the show because you re the executive producer, Donald Trump! He went on to say that, if Trump had just been open and honest and told everyone from the get-go that he was the executive producer, they d have had really great ratings!He also took the opportunity to poke Trump over his unconscionably thin skin, saying: I have thick skin. This doesn t bother me at all. Trump would have thrown a livid fit if their positions were reversed, but fortunately, they weren t. Watch below:Schwarzenegger on Trump s prayer breakfast speech: I have thick skin. This doesn t bother me at all #TheMessyTruth https://t.co/zRpz0CXdjU CNN (@CNN) April 6, 2017Featured image via screen capture from embedded video

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Civil War Historian: Election 2016 could lead bloody repeat

Civil War Historian: Election 2016 could lead bloody repeat October 27, 2016 Dr. WIlliam Forstchen & Pastor Carl Gallups emphasizing importance of Election 2016 on “The Jim Bakker Show”. Branson, MO, October 27, 2016. TRUNEWS/Edward Szall/YouTube Screenshot Montreat College professor William Forstchen says Election 2016 could lead to another bloody civil war. Professor Forstchen specializes in Civil War history. Forstchen gave warning on the October 25th edition of “The Jim Bakker Show” during their weeklong, “Ready Now Expo Oct. 2016.” Forstchen: “I’m a civil war historian.” The U.S. election of 1860 “is the closest I can parallel this to.” “And we all know what the price was. When we went to a civil war, they killed 660,000 young men because we became so divided.” Forstchen urged voters to turn out even if they disliked the candidates, because of other US congress races and the Supreme Court appointment. Forstchen: “I do believe we are at 1860. We are that close to the edge of the debacle.” Baptist pastor Carl Gallups then alluded to false Christian doctrine: “The prophecy clock started ticking” when the modern nation of Israel was established in 1948. In 1860: Four candidates received substantive amounts of votes in the U.S. presidential election. Abraham Lincoln (39.8 percent), Stephen Douglas (29.5 percent), John Breckinridge (18.1 percent) and John Bell (12.6 percent). On December 20, 1860 (44 days after Republican Lincoln was elected): Delegates to a convention in South Carolina unanimously voted to secede from the United States. Forstchen has co-authored books with Newt Gingrich. (WASHINGTON, DC) A professor who specializes in the Civil War appeared on a special edition of “The Jim Bakker Show” last week to warn America that the 2016 presidential election could lead to another secessionist melee. “I’m a civil war historian,” the Montreat College professor, William Forstchen , explained by way of introduction. The U.S. election of 1860 “is the closest I can parallel this to,” Forstchen said. “And we all know what the price was,” the professor then said. “When we went to a civil war, they killed 660,000 young men because we became so divided.” Next, Forstchen went on a lengthy diatribe about the U.S. Constitution and the importance of voting. He urged “those of you who feel ‘I can’t quite pull the lever for this person or that person'” in the presidential election to vote because U.S. senators and representatives are up for election, and because the Senate must confirm Supreme Court justices. Forstchen failed to explain how the results of the 2016 election will hasten — or prevent — a civil war. He also did not specifically mention or endorse any candidates for office. Nevertheless, the professor concluded with an adamant exhortation that a civil war is nigh. “I do believe we are at 1860,” Forstchen said, looking directly into the camera. “We are that close to the edge of the debacle.” From there, another guest, Baptist pastor Carl Gallups, declared that “the prophecy clock started ticking” when the modern nation of Israel was established in 1948. Gallups, who introduced Donald Trump at a Donald Trump rally in January 2016, is famous because he has used his radio show to give a platform to people who deny the reality of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, according to the Connecticut Post http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Trump-disavows-Sandy-Hook-truther-who-6880064.php. Gallups has also said he believes neither Marco Rubio nor Ted Cruz are eligible to be president because of the circumstances of their births. The segment featuring Forstchen and Gallups was part of The Jim Bakker Show’s weeklong “Ready Now Expo Oct. 2016”— featuring several survival products. Four candidates received any substantive amount of votes in the U.S. presidential election in 1860: Abraham Lincoln (39.8 percent), Stephen Douglas (29.5 percent), John Breckinridge (18.1 percent) and John Bell (12.6 percent). On December 20, 1860, delegates to a convention in South Carolina unanimously voted to secede from the United States — 44 days after Lincoln, a Republican, was elected. Montreat College, Forstchen’s employer, is a small Christian liberal arts college with a main campus located in rural North Carolina. Forstchen has written a couple dozen novels and several short stories. His co-author for some of the books is Newt Gingrich. This article was contributed by Daily Caller Please contact TRUNEWS correspondent Edward Szall with any news tips related to this story. Email: | Twitter: @EdwardSzall | Facebook: Ed Szall DOWNLOAD THE TRUNEWS MOBILE APP on Apple and Google Play ! Donate Today! Support TRUNEWS to help build a global news network that provides a credible source for world news We believe Christians need and deserve their own global news network to keep the worldwide Church informed, and to offer Christians a positive alternative to the anti-Christian bigotry of the mainstream news media Top Stories

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Illegal Immigrant Driver Intentionally Killed Bicyclist, Police Say

An illegal immigrant in a small North Carolina town intentionally hit and killed a bicyclist with his car, according to police. [Genaro an illegal immigrant, allegedly struck Jamica Williams with his vehicle after the two were involved in a previous altercation, according to the Johnston County Report. According to eyewitness reports, was upset with Williams after he allegedly made a comment to a woman living nearby. Williams took off on his bike shortly thereafter. was allegedly angered by the comment and followed Williams and confronted him. Eventually, police say, got into his car and intentionally struck Williams. First responders came to the scene and took Williams to a nearby hospital where he later died of his injuries. Williams had just recently moved back to the small town of Kenly to be closer with his family and was recently hired for a new job. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed to Breitbart Texas that was in the U. S. illegally and the agency currently has a detainer on him, where he may be deported if released from prison for any reason. is being charged with murder. John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.

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Turkey says doesn't want Greece to become 'safe haven' for coup plotters

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged Greece on Tuesday to not become a safe haven for plotters of last year s coup attempt, citing the 995 people who have applied for asylum since the failed putsch. Speaking at a joint news conference with his Greek counterpart, Nikos Kotzias, Cavusoglu said asylum seekers needed to be evaluated to determine those linked to the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Turkey for masterminding the putsch. We would not want our neighbor Greece, with whom we are improving our ties, to be a safe haven for Gulenists. We believe these applications will be evaluated meticulously and that traitors will not be given credit, Cavusoglu said. Responding to Cavusoglu s comments, Kotzias said the decisions on asylum seekers were made by the Greek judiciary and had to be respected even if it doesn t please some . Relations between Turkey and Greece were further strained in May after a Greek court ruled to not extradite eight Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece following last year s coup attempt. Turkey alleges the men, who fled to Greece in a military helicopter as the July coup unfolded, were involved in efforts to overthrow President Tayyip Erdogan and has repeatedly demanded they be sent back. Greek courts have blocked two extradition requests by Ankara, drawing an angry rebuke from Turkey and highlighting the tense relations between the NATO allies, who remain at odds over issues from territorial disputes to ethnically split Cyprus. Unfortunately, the Greek courts did not extradite (the eight soldiers), and this has greatly disappointed us, Cavusoglu said. He said two other soldiers, accused of trying to assassinate Erdogan on the night of the coup, had also fled to Greece, and that Turkey had demanded their extradition. In the aftermath of the coup, some 50,000 people have been jailed pending trial and more than 150,000 have been sacked or suspended from their jobs in the military, public and private sectors. Rights groups and Turkey s Western allies have said President Tayyip Erdogan is using the failed coup as a pretext to crush dissent, but the government says the measures are necessary to fight the threats it is facing.

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North Korea says U.S. bombers staged 'surprise' strike drill on Thursday: KCNA

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said U.S. B-1B bombers flew over the Korean Peninsula on Thursday and carried out bombing drills simulating attacks on major targets in the country, the North s official KCNA news agency said on Friday. The strategic bombers, escorted by U.S. and South Korean fighter jets, flew from the Anderson Air Force Base in Guam, to conduct a surprise strike drill, the KCNA said. There was no immediate confirmation from the U.S. and South Korean militaries.

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Senate Republican warns of bailout if Puerto Rico vote fails

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, speaking as lawmakers prepared to vote on a bill to address Puerto Rico’s financial crisis, warned on Wednesday that failure to pass the legislation by Friday could lead to a taxpayer funded bailout. “This is the best and possibly the only action we can take to help Puerto Rico,” McConnell said on the Senate floor amid uncertainty over whether the legislation would receive the support needed in a critical procedural vote due at 10:30 a.m. EDT. “Doing nothing now ... (is) the surest route to both a taxpayer funded bailout of Puerto Rico and a humanitarian crisis for its people,” he said.

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N.J. Governor Chris Christie accosts heckler in Milwaukee

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie confronted a baseball fan who heckled him during a Sunday night game in Milwaukee, according to a video posted by local media, making the unpopular governor the target of another round of online jokes. The second-term Republican can be seen clutching a bowl of nachos and leaning over a man identified as Brad Joseph, telling him “you’re a big shot,” before walking away down a flight of stairs, according to a video of the incident posted online by Milwaukee’s WISN television. Joseph told the station he yelled Christie’s name when the governor was going up the stairs and called him a “hypocrite” during the game between the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs. “(He) was yelling at me. First he told me, ‘Why don’t you have another beer?’ which I thought was a decent come back, and I thought that was kind of funny,” the station quoted Joseph as saying. “Then he started calling me a tough guy.” A representative from Christie’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. Many social media users took to Twitter to express their anger over Christie’s actions. Comedian Nick Jack Pappas tweeted on Sunday, “Chris Christie just proved it’s impossible to look tough with your pants pulled up to your chest.” “Dude shoulda smacked those nachos out of @ChrisChristie hands and told him to go back to the ‘closed’ public beach where it’s safe,” tweeted Zach Thurman on Monday. Christie made headlines earlier this month after getting slammed for relaxing at a New Jersey state beach amid a government shutdown that made the beach off limits to everyone else. Altered photos of Christie in a beach chair spread across the internet, depicting him a White House meeting, movie and television scenes and other unlikely settings. Christie is one of the most-disliked U.S. governors, with a Quinnipiac University poll in June finding that eight of 10 New Jersey voters disapproved of the job be was doing, which it said was the worst of any governor and the lowest job approval rating it had found for any governor in 20 years.

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Quandary in South Sudan: Should It Lose Its Hard-Won Independence? - The New York Times

NAIROBI, Kenya — Tens of thousands of civilians dead, countless children on the verge of starvation, millions of dollars stolen by officials, oil wells blown up, food aid hijacked and as many as 70 percent of women sheltering in camps raped — mostly by the nation’s soldiers and police officers. Just a few years ago, South Sudan accomplished what seemed impossible: independence. Of all the quixotic rebel armies fighting for freedom in Africa, the South Sudanese actually won. Global powers, including the United States, rallied to their side, helping to create the world’s newest country in 2011, a supposed solution to decades of conflict and suffering. Now, with millions of its people hungry or displaced by civil war, a radical question has emerged: Should South Sudan lose its independence? As international frustrations and worries grow, some momentum is growing for a proposal for outside powers to take over South Sudan and run it as a trusteeship until things calm down. Several academics and prominent opposition figures support the idea, citing East Timor, Kosovo and Bosnia as places where, they say, it has worked, though of course there are plenty of cautionary tales where outside intervention failed, like Somalia and Iraq. The Ugandan scholar Mahmood Mamdani recently floated a plan in which the African Union would take the lead in setting up a transitional government for South Sudan. Ideally, Mr. Mamdani said, none of the current South Sudanese politicians who have helped drag their nation into civil war would be able to participate, and the trusteeship would last around six years, requiring United Nations support. “The response to the crisis will need to be as extraordinary as the crisis,” he said. But there is one problem. Many South Sudanese might not go for it. According to James Solomon Padiet, a lecturer at Juba University, most members of the nation’s largest ethnic group — the Dinka, who include South Sudan’s embattled president, Salva Kiir — are adamantly set against an international takeover. While smaller ethnic groups would welcome it, he said, the powerful Dinka see it as an affront to their sovereignty. For that matter, so does Mr. Padiet, a scholar who is not a Dinka. He called trusteeship “offensive” because South Sudan has a potential crop of good leaders waiting in the wings who haven’t had a chance to rule. Still, Mr. Padiet conceded, the country desperately needs help. “As we speak now,” he said, “South Sudan is at crossroads of disintegration or total fragility. ” Clashes have spread to new areas of the country, and militias are mobilizing in the bush. It’s all a staggering plunge from the country’s birth. I, along with hundreds of other journalists, was standing in a crowd that felt like a million people on July 9, 2011, the insanely hot day when South Sudan broke off from Sudan. The sense of pride, sacrifice, hope and jubilation will be hard to forget. For decades, South Sudanese rebels had battled the central government of Sudan. They fought in malarial swamps and on sweltering savannas, incredibly hostile environments where it’s hard to survive, let alone wage a guerrilla war on a shoestring. The South Sudanese had absorbed bombings and massacres. The Arabs stole their children and turned them into slaves. As a result, many South Sudanese were scattered across the four corners of the earth — the famous Lost Boys, but also many Lost Girls, ripped from their families and forced to flee to cold foreign places that they had never envisioned. On independence day, South Sudan’s capital, Juba, partied until dawn. Lost Boys swigged White Bull (the local beer) next to hardened guerrillas bobbing their heads to reggae rap. All around us, there seemed to be a real appreciation of what had been achieved and what lay ahead. Most important, there was unity. That crumbled quickly, undermined by old political rivalries, ethnic tension and a greed for South Sudan’s one main export: oil. The fault line was the most predictable one, the Dinka versus the Nuer. The two biggest ethnic groups had alternated between allies and enemies throughout South Sudan’s liberation wars. Starting in December 2013, after a breakdown between their political leaders, who not so long ago had been hailed as heroes, Nuer and Dinka militias began killing each other and civilians across the country, especially in ethnically mixed areas. Women were raped. Children were burned to death. Some people were even forced at gunpoint to eat the flesh of their dead relatives. The horror has been meticulously documented. Still, it goes on. For years, the United Nations has stationed thousands of peacekeepers in the country, but often they have not intervened. In 2012, shortly after independence, I rushed to a remote town, Pibor, where hundreds had just been massacred by an ethnic militia. I saw one woman who was literally holding her arm together — she had been blasted by a Kalashnikov — as she sat in a medical tent that smelled of decaying flesh. She stared at the wall, not making a murmur. I interviewed peacekeepers who told me how they had watched civilians get shot right in front of them, yet the peacekeepers felt too scared to raise their rifles. United Nations officials in Juba have been excoriated for failing to spring into action and effectively step between Mr. Kiir and Riek Machar, the former vice president and the most influential Nuer, as their rivalry intensified and grew into nationwide bloodshed. This is a big reason some people think an international trusteeship will never work. “Having completely failed in the international project, now we’re going to move to an international takeover? With what army?” asked John Prendergast, who has been working on South Sudan for 30 years and the Enough Project, an group. “Would the same international bureaucrats that undertook massive experiments in Iraq and Afghanistan come to Juba to lead another failed political intervention?” he added. “It all seems fantastical, doomed and extremely unlikely. ” Other scholars take a middle view. Amir Idris, chairman of Fordham’s African and studies department and a frequent writer on South Sudan, said an international trusteeship should be considered — but only as a last resort. He says the most important issue is that a new government be built with new people, including academics and technocrats. “South Sudan has no chance of transitioning itself to a functioning state unless the edifice of the current leadership is brought down,” he said. Bronwyn Bruton, the deputy director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council, called South Sudan’s leaders “such a disaster. ” She said Mr. Kiir and Mr. Machar were “corrupt,” “ ” and “willing to stoke ethnic conflict and commit horrible violence in pursuit of power. ” “Genocide is beginning to look inevitable,” she said. “The situation could hardly be more hopeless. ” But she worries that no country has the appetite to spearhead a meaningful intervention. The Obama administration considered several ways to help usher in a political transition, a former administration official said, but eventually concluded it was not feasible. It’s not as if Mr. Kiir or Mr. Machar or their inner circles, who are widely believed to continue to profit from oil and conflict, are going to volunteer to step aside. Thousands of armed men are intensely loyal to them, and even a few friends left in Western capitals make the case that the South Sudanese government has stabilized Juba in recent months, has become more inclusive and should be allowed to stay. One glimmer of hope comes from across the continent. In the last few days, troops from several West African countries banded together to eject Gambia’s president, who tried to stay in power illegally. If such resolve was demonstrated in this part of Africa, then maybe, the interventionists argue, South Sudan’s leaders could be pushed aside and the country would be allowed to breathe.

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Hillary Is The Perfection of a Corrupt System

Leave a reply Charles Hugh Smith – Let’s set aside Hillary Clinton as an individual and consider her as the perfection of a corrupt political system. As I noted yesterday, Politics As Usual Is Dead , and Hillary Clinton is the ultimate product of the political system that is disintegrating before our eyes. The corruption of pay-to-play and the commingling of public and private influence is not the failing of an individual–it is the logical conclusion of a thoroughly corrupt political system. Given the incentives built into politics as usual, public/private pay-to-play doesn’t just make sense–it is the only possible maximization of the political system. Cobble together a multi-million dollar private foundation, millions of dollars in speaking fees from big-money contributors, conflicts of interest, the secrecy of private email servers, pay-to-play schemes and corrupted loyalists planted in the Department of Justice, and the inevitable result is a politics as usual money-harvesting machine that lays waste to the nation, supporters and critics alike. All the Clintons did is assemble the parts more effectively than anyone else.Now that the machine has scooped up hundreds of millions of dollars in “contributions” and other loot, vested interests and corrupted loyalists within the federal government will do anything to protect the machine and its vast flow of funds. The nation’s political system needs a thorough cleaning from top to bottom. Exposing the Clintons’ perfection of politics as usual won’t change the conditions and incentives that created the Clintons’ harvester of corruption. That will require rooting out the incentives that made the Clintons’ perfection of corruption both logical and inevitable. SF Source Of Two Minds Nov. 2016 Share this:

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Hillary Clinton tells host of show on Univision that Mexican food is her favorite

No doubt she prefers it doused liberally with hot sauce from the bottle she carries in her purse at all times . It’s one thing to kiss up to different voting blocs when you’re running for elective office: It’s the currency of politics. But when you do it in as transparently crass a manner as Hillary Clinton, you have to wonder why the other guy isn’t beating her by 50 points . Here she is, making a guest appearance on the Univision show “El Gordo y La Flaca.” The title translates to “The Fat Man & The Thin Lady,” as the abuela-in-chief could on doubt tell you. See for yourself by watching the portion of the video below beginning at 2:18. As the Thin Lady addresses her audience in rápida e spañol , Clinton nods along as though she has the first clue what the woman is saying. Before the panderfest is over, Clinton also adds that her granddaughter is already learning Spanish , which is frankly quite an achievement since the child turned two at the end of September. Clinton’s stomach-turning hijinks know no limits. The day after her appearance on Univision, she joined black radio host Charlamagne Tha God live on air where she claimed that rappers had influenced her fashion sense . Tha God was apparently too gracious to ask, “What sense?”

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American fascist really, really likes British fascist

Tuesday 22 November 2016 by Neil Tollfree American fascist really, really likes British fascist America’s top fascist and President Elect Donald Trump has announced that he really, really likes British fascist Nigel Farage. “I don’t think we should be surprised,” said Professor of History Simon Williams, with tears in his eyes. “We saw this in the 30s and 40s; German fascist Adolf Hitler really, really liked Mussolini, and then went on to really, really like other leading fascists in the world. “In much the same way that if, say, you support Chelsea, you will probably really, really like other Chelsea supporters, so will fascists really, really like other fascists. “Not that I’m suggesting that all Chelsea supporters are fascists, some of them definitely aren’t.” Donald Trump announced via Twitter that he would really, really like a fascist, in the form of Nigel Farage, to be British ambassador to the United States. It is believed that Mr Farage has been fully tumescent since meeting Donald Trump in a big gold lift several days ago, and the suggestion that he should be Britain’s first fascist ambassador is expected to continue this state of affairs for the foreseeable future. Although it is understood that what Mr Trump would really, really like is a fascist Prime Minister of Great Britain, he has stopped short of suggesting a fascist coup in the country because he isn’t President yet, as it could be considered a little rude.

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Mexico says Trump-Pena Nieto meet unlikely to lead to big deals

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A meeting between Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday at the G20 summit in Germany will last about 30 minutes and probably not lead to any major agreements, Mexico’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. The face-to-face talks will be the first between Pena Nieto and Trump as presidents. Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray warned not to expect too much. “We have to put it in context and not have expectations that are unjustified,” Videgaray said. Trump’s election and his early days in office strained relations between the two neighbors because of his threats to apply tariffs to Mexican-made goods and a plan to build a wall on the southern U.S. border and force Mexico to pay for it. Trump and Pena Nieto will discuss renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement scheduled for August, as well as cooperation in combating drug cartels and development in Central America, the Foreign Ministry said. Pena Nieto will also talk about the rights of Mexican migrants in the United States, the ministry said. Later on Wednesday, Pena Nieto and Videgaray met with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who was visiting Mexico ahead of the G20 summit along with CIA Director Mike Pompeo. According to a statement from Pena Nieto’s office, both sides agreed to work together on security and Pena Nieto praised the Trump administration’s decision to keep in place a program that allows some immigrants, brought into the country illegally by their parents, to stay. One topic not on the agenda at the encounter in Hamburg is Trump’s pledge to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, Videgaray said in an earlier television interview. In late January, a planned meeting between the two presidents was canceled following a Twitter dispute over Trump’s pledge to make Mexico pay for the wall, which the Mexican government has insisted it will not do. Trump has since said he will find a way for Mexico to repay the United States for construction of the wall but that Congress would need to fund it first. His administration also toned down threats to pull out of the NAFTA pact with Mexico and Canada. Last August, during Trump’s presidential campaign, he accepted an invitation to visit Mexico in what became a public relations disaster for Pena Nieto, who was widely condemned for inviting a man who has united Mexicans like few others in shared disdain.

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Looks like someone is trying to summon a janitor

Next Prev Swipe left/right Looks like someone is trying to summon a janitor OGnobody54 on Reddit spotted an unusual configuration of wet floor warnings that lead them to suspect supernatural goings on.

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U.S. Congress passes $618.7 billion annual defense bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed a compromise version of an annual defense policy bill on Thursday without controversial provisions such as requiring women to register for the draft or allowing contractors to make religion-based hiring decisions. Ninety-two senators backed the $618.7 billion National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, and seven opposed it. Because it passed the House of Representatives by a similarly large margin last week, the bill now goes to the White House for President Barack Obama to veto or sign into law. A White House spokesman told a briefing he did not yet have a position on the bill to report. The 2016 bill, the last of Obama’s presidency, includes some Republican-backed initiatives with which he has disagreed in the past. It includes a $3.2 billion increase in military spending, when there has been no similar increase in non-defense funding. The bill also bars closures of military bases, although top Pentagon officials say they have too much capacity, and it blocks planned reductions in active-duty troop numbers. And it continues policies that bar transfers of prisoners to U.S. soil from the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which Obama had hoped to close. While his administration has shipped most inmates from the controversial prison, the Democrat is not expected to accomplish his goal of shuttering it before he leaves office Jan. 20. Obama’s successor, Republican Donald Trump, wants to keep Guantanamo open, and expand it. The NDAA passed both chambers in the Republican-led Congress with margins large enough to overcome a veto, and the compromise legislation features many provisions such as a military pay raise and an expansion of a landmark human rights bill, that are extremely popular in Congress. [L1N1E316A] After months of negotiation, the Senate and House Armed Services committees unveiled a compromise version of the NDAA last month that left out the Russell Amendment, a “religious freedom” measure Democrats said would have let federal contractors discriminate against workers on the basis of gender or sexual orientation, overturning Obama’s executive order. Some House Republicans said they hoped to revisit that provision after Trump takes office, when they do not have to worry about a veto threat from a Democratic White House. The bill also excluded a provision that would have required women to register for the military draft, now that Pentagon leaders are moving to allow them into combat. A provision recommending that the U.S. conducts yearly high-level military exchanges with Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a breakaway province, made it into the final bill. China’s defense ministry said in a statement on its official microblog on Friday that it was “firmly opposed” to the move, which would “inevitably damage U.S. interests”.

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Desperate travelers crowd Puerto Rico airport in hopes of seat out

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - Hundreds of stranded tourists and Puerto Ricans seeking to leave filled the sweltering halls of San Juan International Airport on Monday anxious for a seat on one of the few flights operating after Hurricane Maria devastated power and communications across the island. Fearful of checking out of hotels in case they could not get on the few flights available, worried visitors waited in long lines at Puerto Rico s main airport, struggling to reach loved ones and airlines by phone. Everything is hearsay at the moment because there is no communication, said 31-year-old Rene Kessler, a medical student from Baltimore, Maryland, preparing to spend the night in the terminal ahead of what he hoped would be a flight home. A microcosm of the storm-battered island, San Juan airport is a top priority in efforts by Puerto Rico s cash-strapped government to rebuild after Maria. Experts say the work will take months and likely cost tens of billions of dollars. The screens above American Airlines desks were dark, while JetBlue s displays flowed with red rows of cancellations. Staff called out the names of passengers who won seats on the few departing planes. Everyone is in the same boat, trying to get out, said Leyla Colon, standing in line with her 4-year-old daughter at the JetBlue terminal. Without internet or cell service, she was unable to buy tickets before reaching the airport. At this point I ll buy a ticket on any flight to get out of here, Colon said. Carriers said downed infrastructure had caused operations to be scaled back sharply. In some cases, airlines used a nearby hospital to print flight manifests. And some customers were given handwritten boarding passes. Mike Henderson, a construction firm superintendent, was trying to return to his family in Detroit after his wife paid $2,000 dollars for a seat on a Delta flight. But airline staff were unable to tell him if he was on the passenger list, he said. I m drained, Henderson said with a sigh. Airlines on Sunday were restricted to one or two flights a day, and Transportation Security Administration workers manually inspected bags and patted down passengers. Outside the airport, rows of diesel generators roared in the heat. They have been life-savers but have had their side effects too. Miguel Gonzalez, 42, said he was at the airport to get his asthmatic mother a flight to Florida. He was hospitalized for two weeks due to fumes from neighbors generators that were fired up after Hurricane Irma hit the island early in September. Maria dealt an even heavier blow to local infrastructure, putting immense pressure on medical services. Jessica Negron, a resident of Orlando, Florida, said she had been in the airport since Friday waiting for a Frontier flight. They keep changing the story, she said. Nearby, eating canned peaches with a plastic knife, were Allyson and Marcus Singletary from Georgia. They said the storm and airport chaos had ruined their anniversary trip. This is the vacation from hell, said Allyson, 31. This is The Walking Dead without zombies.

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#GrammysSoWhite Came to Life. Will the Awards Face Its Race Problem? - The New York Times

Before the rapper of A Tribe Called Quest shouted “Resist! Resist! Resist!” at the top of his lungs at the Grammy Awards before Busta Rhymes called Donald J. Trump “President Agent Orange” and referenced his “unsuccessful attempt at the Muslim ban” before Tribe and Anderson . Paak kicked their way through an oversize wall and brought dozens of people of a wide range of nationalities onstage (along with a dance troupe that recalled Public Enemy’s S1Ws) introduced his group’s performance with some words of encouragement and defiance: “We’d like to say to all of those people around the world, all of those people who are pushing people who are in power to represent them: Tonight, we represent you. ” These were words for the disenfranchised from a stage that has long connoted power and influence. In the current political moment, in which membership in the American experiment is subject to greater and greater obstacles, this performance was a loud statement of pushback. That is especially true given that the Grammys find themselves in the throes of similar friction over belonging. Simply put, the Grammys, like America, have an inclusion problem — or more to the point, an exclusion problem. The 59th annual installment of the ceremony, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday night, was as noteworthy for who won as who didn’t, for who attended as for who opted to sit out. It was a show about borders — who is allowed to cross, who isn’t and who doesn’t even bother trying. Adele won all five Grammys she was nominated for, including album of the year (for “25”) record of the year and song of the year (for “Hello”) besting Beyoncé in all three categories. “25” is Adele’s least impressive album, but its soul belting is the sort of classicism likely to appeal to the Recording Academy voting members, who tend to skew older and more traditional. Beyoncé’s album “Lemonade” (and the song “Formation,” nominated in the other two categories) is musically provocative and wide ranging, and rife with commentary about the meaning of blackness in the United States. At the end of the night, when Adele won album of the year, she deferred to Beyoncé: “The way that you make me and my friends feel, the way you make my black friends feel, is empowering,” Adele told her from the stage, while behind her, a huge gaggle of predominantly white male songwriters and producers clapped enthusiastically. In that moment, just a few feet separated Adele and Beyoncé, but the chasm between their treatment by the Grammys was huge, and potentially unbridgeable. It was #GrammysSoWhite come to life. For years, Kanye West has complained about how black artists — himself, but also others — are mistreated in the main Grammy categories. This year, Frank Ocean, fatigued with the Grammys’ handling of black music, opted to not even submit his music for consideration. (The other big category, best new artist, was won by a black artist, Chance the Rapper.) The Grammys’ race problem is so pernicious that some white winners have chosen contrition over exuberance — Adele’s embrace of Beyoncé, Macklemore’s apology to Kendrick Lamar in 2014 (Macklemore reportedly did not submit his most recent album for consideration this year) — demonstrating a greater understanding of the fundamental imbalance of the Grammys system than the Grammys themselves. Despite minor rule changes and lip service to the idea of better representation, the Grammys remain on the defensive. In the days leading up to this year’s telecast, the show’s longtime producer, Ken Ehrlich, deflected Mr. Ocean’s criticisms in an interview with Rolling Stone, earning a rebuke from Mr. Ocean on Tumblr: “Use the old gramophone to actually listen bro, I’m one of the best alive. And if you’re up for a discussion about the cultural bias and general nerve damage the show you produce suffers from then I’m all for it. ” The Grammys’ consistent celebration of white acts feels like rule in an evenly divided nation, while the royalty from the other side — Beyoncé and Jay Z, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna — looks on politely from the front rows. (Or, in the case of Mr. West and Mr. Ocean, who did not attend the Grammys, not even looking on.) There was also frisson in the ceremony’s lumpy attempts to bridge the age gap: When the show tried to highlight the work of Neil Diamond, via a clumsily executed version of James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke” routine, it was clear that most of the assembled stars didn’t know the words to “Sweet Caroline. ” And in a country in which around 15 percent of the population — more than 50 million people — speaks Spanish, there were no or even bilingual, performances. The language was heard only during the segment, and in a Johnnie Walker ad that featured a pointed bilingual cover of “This Land Is Your Land” by the Los Angeles band Chicano Batman. Again, strictly controlled borders. It’s in these moments that the Grammys’ lack of imagination and tolerance contrasts with the general progressive political stances of the artists it celebrates. During the show, Ms. Lopez quoted Toni Morrison on the role of art in fraught political times. Katy Perry performed “Chained to the Rhythm,” her new single, with an armband that read “PERSIST” — a reference to Elizabeth Warren’s recent Senate silencing — and concluded in front of an image of the Constitution. Beyoncé performed in a gold crown that suggested a futuristic Lady Liberty, and during her acceptance speech for best urban contemporary album, preached about the power of inclusion: “It’s important to me to show images to my children that reflect their beauty, so they can grow up in a world where they look in the mirror, first through their own families — as well as the news, the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the White House and the Grammys — and see themselves, and have no doubt that they’re beautiful, intelligent and capable. ” Honoring Beyoncé in categories devoted to black music goes part of the way to fulfilling that vision, but it’s where she’s not honored that feels more pointed: She has won 22 times, but only four of those awards have been in categories. (She has lost album of the year three times, to Beck, Taylor Swift and Adele.) So long as the Grammys continue to strike a blow for the values of yesteryear over the energy of today, they will remain an agent of the status quo, not resistance or evolution. But when an institution stands still while its citizens are pressing for change, how long can the borders hold before everyone outside is let in, or everyone inside decides it’s not worth staying, and leaves?

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DNC Hack: A Cold War 2.0 False Flag

By Kurt Nimmo, Blacklisted News If elected this week Hillary Clinton will turn up the heat on brinkmanship with Russia. Democrats insist Russia is behind...

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