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CAIRO — In many ways, life is not so bad for Egypt’s deposed ruler, Hosni Mubarak. At the Cairo hospital he calls home, he enjoys regular deliveries of flowers, newspapers and takeout restaurant meals visits from his wife, two sons and grandchildren and a sweeping view over the Nile. To mark his 88th birthday recently, a throng of gathered at the hospital gates and sang, danced and waved his portrait. Mr. Mubarak pulled open a window and waved back. However, the one luxury Mr. Mubarak has not been afforded is the right to simply walk out of the hospital — which is something of a conundrum. In May 2015, a judge decreed that Mr. Mubarak had completed his prison sentence for corruption, in the only successful prosecution of the onetime strongman since his turbulent ouster in 2011. Technically, he was a free man. Yet Mr. Mubarak remains confined to the hospital room that has doubled as a jail cell for the past three years, with a guard posted outside his door. His legal limbo continues even as many of his former allies, men who grew fabulously rich during his three decades of rule, are quietly cutting deals with the government to overturn their own convictions. Mr. Mubarak’s longtime lawyer, Farid declined interview requests. But several of Mr. Mubarak’s friends, including those who visit him in the hospital, explain the situation as a delicate deal between him and Egypt’s powerful military. They say the military has been generally lenient toward figures since President Abdel Fattah took power in 2013, but wants to avoid the likely outcry that would accompany Mr. Mubarak’s release. So the two sides have reached a compromise: Mr. Mubarak agrees to stay in the hospital for now, and the government agrees that his two sons, Alaa, a businessman, and Gamal, once seen as his political heir, will remain free. Both were released from jail last year. “His weak point is his two sons,” said Yousri Abdelraziq, a volunteer lawyer for Mr. Mubarak. “And whenever he speaks in public, the authorities get upset. ” Mr. Abdelraziq said he had received Mr. Mubarak’s permission before speaking to a journalist and produced a cellphone picture of himself standing beside the former president, looking grumpy inside his hospital room. Security and his medical treatment are other factors in Mr. Mubarak’s hospital stay, friends say. A military spokesman declined to comment on the possibility of an arrangement with Mr. Mubarak. Mr. Mubarak’s legal limbo is a reflection of the curious place he occupies in Egyptian public life, five years after the heady protests that ended his long rule. Many Egyptians still despise him as the totemic symbol of the rampant cronyism and repression that plagued Egypt for decades. His incarceration is one of the last remaining victories for the leaders of the 2011 protests, many of whom are now languishing in Mr. Sisi’s jails. But others have started to look back on Mr. Mubarak’s rule with a twinge of bitter nostalgia, as a time of relative freedom compared with the harsh authoritarianism of Mr. Sisi’s rule. “Of course Mubarak was corrupt, but he knew how to take good advice,” said Osama Diab, an anticorruption researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a prominent rights group in Cairo. “Now it’s a disaster. Mubarak was a competent dictator Sisi is not. ” As hard feelings toward Mr. Mubarak seem to be receding, so do his legal woes. The humiliations of 2012 and 2013, when he was forced to sit in a courtroom cage, are largely over. He avoided prosecution on the most serious charges, like the deaths of protesters in 2011, and he now faces a retrial in one final case. There is little prospect of it coming to court anytime soon, lawyers say. Instead, Mr. Mubarak is whiling away his days at the Maadi Military Hospital, a towering complex overlooking the Nile. Staff members there say he lives under a permissive yet firm regimen. Security is tight, and all visitors are vetted by the Ministry of Defense, a security official said. He chats on his cellphone (he has an old Nokia model without Internet access) and occasionally receives a barber who dyes his hair. Nurses sometimes see him shuffling the halls as part of therapy for a fractured pelvis he suffered in a fall in the bathroom in 2013. Mr. Mubarak frequently receives flowers from admirers, and visits from his wife, Suzanne, his sons and his grandchildren, and a tight circle of ardent admirers. They say his mood veers from high spirits to embittered grumbling, describing a man who is scornful of the allies who abandoned him, dismissive of the young protesters who pushed him out, and largely unrepentant for his 29 years in power. “He feels betrayed,” said Hassan Ghandour, a former Republican Guard who befriended Mr. Mubarak. “When he sees critics on TV who used to suck up to him, it leaves him very irritated. ” Maadi Military Hospital has been the stage for other political dramas. In 1980, the shah of Iran died there, on the floor below Mr. Mubarak, having fled to Egypt from revolutionary Iran. The next year, Egypt’s own ruler, Anwar was rushed to the hospital after being shot by Islamist officers at a military parade. He died hours later, paving the way for Mr. Mubarak to take over. Mr. Mubarak is very conscious of his own legacy, said Mr. Abdelraziq, the lawyer, and was “very upset” to be convicted of corruption. He gently nudged his way back into the spotlight last year, giving a rare if unrevealing phone interview to a television talk show. Shortly afterward, security at his room was tightened. Since Mr. Sisi took power in 2013, the government and courts have shown great leniency toward the powerful figures of Mr. Mubarak’s era — business tycoons, ministers and cronies, now exonerated or released from jail — underscoring the sharp limits of change in Egypt since 2011. In the latest case, on May 4, an appeals court overturned a sentence for corruption against Ahmed Nazif, who served as prime minister under Mr. Mubarak from 2004 to 2011. Others are seeking to buy their freedom with cash payments. A lawyer for Hussein Salem, a billionaire businessman and Mubarak confidant who fled to Spain in 2011, has agreed to transfer 75 percent of his wealth — 5. 5 billion Egyptian pounds, or about $626 million at the official exchange rate — in exchange for the overturning of two convictions, carrying sentences of seven and 15 years. “The deal is done from our part,” said the lawyer, Mahmoud Kebaish. “Now we are waiting for the government. ” Adel of the Illicit Gains Authority, which handles such deals, said it had received more than 30 settlement requests from businessmen and former officials linked to Mr. Mubarak. Another Illicit Gains Authority official said Mr. Mubarak, too, was hoping to cut a deal, offering about $10 million in return for the quashing of his corruption conviction. That bid is unlikely to succeed soon, and few believe Mr. Mubarak will be heading to his villa in Sharm el Sheikh anytime soon. But short of a full release, he may have an eye on shaping his legacy and overturning his conviction so the state will restore his military honors and ensure a state funeral. “What matters now about Mubarak is how he goes down in history,” said Mr. Diab, the researcher. “When he dies, the fight will be over whether he was a thief or a military hero, whether he was responsible for the current chaos in Egypt, or whether he saved the country from it until he was kicked out. ”

Posted on October 30, 2016 by Sean Adl-Tabatabai in News , US // 0 Comments Huma Abedin is seeking an immunity deal with the FBI in the wake of James Comey’s announcement that the agency have reopened their investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. Abedin, who serves as vice chairwoman of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign for President, is allegedly seeking the immunity deal so that if she testifies against Clinton and Obama, she will not face prosecution herself. According to an FBI insider , Huma has indicated that she would be willing to talk to them as long as they guarantee her immunity. related content

The nicest thing I own is the first thing you see when you walk into my house: a red handmade rug bought in Tehran, haggled over in Farsi and delivered, in person, to the Brooklyn apartment of the man who would become my husband. Back then, James told me the woman who gave him the rug, a woman he had recently dated, was by then “just a friend. ” I didn’t believe men and women could be “just friends. ” At least not if they were single, with one or both actively seeking a romantic partner. Yet I also agreed to be “just friends” with James, at first. I was the one who contacted him. We had both joined a dating service called, pretentiously enough, The Right Stuff, after seeing an ad for it in The New Yorker. “I liked your profile,” he wrote in his first email, “but didn’t contact you because you have a child. ” At least he didn’t write, as several others had, “Thank you for being so honest. ” It’s a line that makes you ask yourself: How could a mother lie about being a mother? Not ethically, but logistically? Maybe a liar would wait until the man is smitten, then spring the child on him and shout, “Surprise!” But to what end? I had tried to meet other single parents. I met a man who about the $ child support his demanded for his daughters’ clothing allowance. I met another who asked how much I weighed, as if I were a chicken he was considering for a recipe. Then there was the man who told me about his summer plans to share a house with other singles on Fire Island. “Do you do that every year?” I asked. He let out of a puff of air. “Of course not. Next year I’ll be married. ” “Married to who?” I asked. “I don’t know yet. ” Meeting my eyes over his mojito, he said, “Maybe to you. ” I also met plenty of nice men with whom I had nothing in common except similar philosophies on effective potty training. So when I saw the Right Stuff ad, I thought: At least someone I meet through an ad in The New Yorker will be someone who reads The New Yorker, and we’d have that to talk about. Maybe I could find a man who reads the arts listings, and maybe even (if I could be this lucky) the poetry and fiction. I did. He was JamesNYC125. I was RedWeather. He responded to my first email: “A redheaded editor in Brooklyn — what could be better? But dating a woman with a child would be complicated, as I’m sure you know. ” I did. “Let’s not date,” he suggested. “Let’s just get together as friends. ” That summer we both had travel plans, so a whole month passed before our first date — or our first “playdate,” I guess. In the meantime, we emailed every day. I sent him poems. He sent me music. Even while discussing academic publishing, from my side as an editor and his as a researcher, we couldn’t help flirting. An economist, he would answer a question with: “Probability of 1. ” “I love it when you talk math talk,” I’d say. And he would reply, “I can do it any time you want. ” Our first meeting was on Smith Street. We talked books, then strolled to BookCourt, slid a novel off the shelf and read passages aloud. His timing was perfect, his voice what I’d hoped it would be from the emails. “I’d love to walk with you on the promenade,” he said, and then sneezed. “But I should nurse my cold. ” I wanted to nurse his cold, too. I wanted to boil him a pot of tea and kiss him. Later I did, leaning against a car parked at a meter outside an elementary school. We both pretended I hadn’t. The next morning, he called to ask me to a modern dance performance in two weeks. We both lived in Brooklyn but met, for the second time, in Manhattan. His hand grazed my thigh in the dark, a moment I would replay over and over in my head. For our third I suggested attending a concert on a barge docked near the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. Our knees touched in our cozy seats two rows from the string quartet. Next we hiked Bear Mountain. “I didn’t think a skinny girl like you could outpace me,” he said. Then later: “I’m only letting you walk ahead so I can get a good view from back here. ” So I vamped my hips. When we removed our hiking boots and socks in the car, we stared at each other’s naked feet. No. 5 was dinner at my place. Back then, the nicest thing I owned was also the first thing you saw when you entered: a red futon couch. I chose the cover from the remnants section of a fabric store on the Lower East Side. It was something I could unzip and clean whenever a child spit up, spilled Cheerios or wiped peanut butter on it. When I pulled a book off the shelf to show James, the Pokémon cards I used for bookmarks fell out. Later, we found ourselves in bed. Finally. And that’s when he confessed, “I’m dating someone else. ” She was a fellow economist he had met at a conference around the same time he met me, an who lived in Washington, D. C. “Now you tell me?” “You knew we could only be friends. ” “You have sex with all your friends?” I removed his hand from my belly. “I bet she doesn’t even know about me. ” I told him we had to either date or not see each other again. We were both traveling for Thanksgiving, so we decided not to email or phone until we returned home. Then he would call and tell me which woman he chose. Somehow I had turned myself into a contestant, a version of one of those “Bachelor” shows my friends watch. I flew to Austin, Tex. to share the holiday with my brother. “I’ve met the one,” I said. “Just because it sounds corny doesn’t mean it isn’t true. ” “Does he feel the same way?” my brother asked. I asked myself that question from the time I woke up until the time I went to bed, and sometimes in the middle of the night, too. James and I had emailed every day for months, long letters detailing our whole lives. I kept checking my inbox in Austin, though I knew it would come up empty. On the flight home, I tried to imagine my competitor. She grew up in the center of an ancient civilization. I grew up in Detroit. Her furniture probably smelled like an exotic perfume, not peanut butter. She was not a single mother. He had already informed me about how complicated dating a single mother could be. Did I even have a chance? Trying to think like a statistician, I put my odds at . Or, as an economist would say: probability 0. 5. Minutes after I arrived home, James called. “I choose you,” he said. I dropped the phone and fell onto the bare floor. Weeks later, he buzzed me up to his apartment. The door opened to reveal the most beautiful rug I had ever seen, so finely woven it was more like a tapestry. The kind of precious object that could be ruined by a few stray Cheerios crumbs. “It’s a gift from a friend,” he said. “She bought it when she visited her family in Iran. ” “She’s trying to get you back,” I said. “What? She’s just being kind. Don’t you love it?” “Sure. ” I loved imagining what I would do to it after it collected enough dust. I’d take it outside, hang it and beat it with a stick. But James turned out to be right. Sometimes a rug is just a rug. And sometimes men and women can be friends, even after they have been romantically involved. Rug Woman never tried to win him back. Time passed, and I asked James if he ever wished he had chosen her. “No,” he said. “You’re perfect for me. ” Right. I wasn’t the kind of person who would fantasize about walloping a beautiful rug. At least I wasn’t anymore. Months later, James met my son, Jonah. I cooked Jonah’s favorite, “chicken with crumbs,” and after our dessert of apple crisp, we played Clue. The next day, Jonah asked, “Can I have another playdate with my new friend?” “Which one?” “James. ” Now we share the rug. It holds a place of honor in the house James and I bought together. We wipe our feet on the porch before crossing the threshold, food is banned from the entryway, and I vacuum it with care. I treat the rug as we all deserve to be treated. Like a friend.

In preparation for the scheduled 2018 launch of their Starliner spacecraft, Boeing has unveiled an innovative redesign of the traditional astronaut’s space suit.[ In the service of crawling out from beneath Russia’s current monopoly on spaceflight, NASA contractors Boeing and SpaceX continue to push toward the completion of American craft. And while both are working hard on their respective rocket designs, Boeing was eager to demonstrate another vital element of the mission: The next generation of space suit. The “Boeing Blue” suit is leaner, lighter, more mobile, and sports quality of life improvements across the board. Crew and Mission Systems Director Chris Ferguson explained, “Astronauts had formerly had these relatively bulky, heavy suits with thick neck rings. And we learned throughout the years that maybe we didn’t need that. ” The new suit has been “simplified,” replacing the sealed with a heavy zipper, and adding breathable mesh beneath the surface to maximize comfort, mobility, and airflow. They are offering “pressurized mobility, while still preserving unpressurized comfort. ” Its gloves have been enhanced with special material on the palms and two of the fingers to allow for “capacitative” touch screen interaction. That means that astronauts can now interact with their capsule’s advanced touch interfaces, without leaving the protection of the suit. It’s also much lighter. While current space suits come in at a hefty 33 lbs, the Boeing design is barely 12. Ferguson claims that you can lie in the cockpit without any real need for external cooling, and it is comfortable enough to stand around in without developing an uncomfortable “heat load. ” The boots are “breathable and slip resistant,” and zippers on the torso have been designed to make it easier for a suited individual to “comfortably transition between sitting and standing. ” And, of course, the head provides communications built right in, and significant improvements to peripheral vision. Despite the current — and somewhat convoluted — challenge of getting our intrepid men and women into space right now, we’re finally getting on track for a return to the forefront of tech. And we’re doing it in style. Follow Nate Church @Get2Church on Twitter for the latest news in gaming and technology, and snarky opinions on both.

Donald J. Trump overhauled his transition team from top to bottom on Friday, expanded his outreach to more establishment Republicans, and even offered an olive branch to President Obama — albeit a narrow one. On the other side, Democrats signaled they would move left in the wake of Hillary Clinton’s defeat, and the ’s legal antagonist, Gloria Allred, made it clear that neither she nor many of the women who have accused him of sexual assault are going anywhere. Join us again on Monday for continuing live updates on the transition to the 45th presidency of the United States. Mr. Trump said Friday that, after talking with President Obama this week, he might be willing to leave in place parts of the Affordable Care Act once he’s in office. Mr. Trump made the comments to The Wall Street Journal in his first interview since winning the election. The newspaper said Mr. Obama had urged the to reconsider repealing his signature health care law, which Mr. Trump said had become “unworkable. ” But in the interview, Mr. Trump said he told the president that he would consider keeping two provisions of the law: the prohibition against insurers denying coverage because of a patient’s condition and the one that allows parents to keep their children on their insurance plans until they turn 26. The problem: Without a mandate for everyone to buy health insurance, the popular condition provision could send insurance companies into a tailspin, because their costs would rise with sicker customers, and that would not be offset by healthy consumers forced to buy insurance. Mr. Trump said in an interview to be shown on “60 Minutes” Sunday that Mrs. Clinton “couldn’t have been nicer” in a congratulatory call she made to concede the election, and that Bill Clinton had complimented him on “one of the most amazing” presidential runs he had ever seen. “It was a lovely call, and it was a tough call for her — I mean, I can imagine, tougher for her than it would have been for me,” Mr. Trump said. “She couldn’t have been nicer. She just said, ‘Congratulations, Donald, well done. ’” Mr. Trump, who on Thursday said he would seek Mr. Obama’s counsel about the presidency, said he would consider asking for Mr. Clinton’s as well. Mr. Trump also promised that there would be no lapse in health insurance for millions of Americans covered under the Affordable Care Act when he repeals and replaces the law. “We’re going to do it simultaneously — it’ll be just fine,” Mr. Trump said. “That’s what I do. I do a good job. You know, I mean, I know how to do this stuff. We’re going to repeal it and replace it. And we’re not going to have, like, a period and we’re not going to have a period where there’s nothing. ” Mr. Trump has quietly reached out to Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee who took an impassioned stand against Mr. Trump during the campaign. The call came after Mr. Trump’s surprise victory on Tuesday night, according to two people briefed on it, although it was unclear how it went and what was said. Aides to Mr. Trump and Mr. Romney did not respond to requests for comment. With her eye on the right’s Paula Jones legal crusade of the 1990s, Gloria Allred, the civil rights lawyer representing women who have accused Mr. Trump of sexual assault, is trying to lure the into a legal battle before he takes office. Ms. Allred challenged Mr. Trump on Friday to retract his threat to sue his accusers for defaming him and suggested that she might bring a case against him if he refused. She also said that she was prepared to countersue if Mr. Trump made good on the threat. “ Trump now has the opportunity to act presidential,” Ms. Allred said at a news conference with Summer Zervos, the former contestant on “The Apprentice” who said last month that Mr. Trump tried to seduce her and grabbed her breasts in 2007. Ms. Allred cited a precedent for suing a sitting president: Ms. Jones. “Obviously the lawsuit against President Clinton by Paula Jones did proceed while he was in office for actions that were alleged to take place prior to his becoming president,” she said. The Jones case forced Mr. Clinton into a deposition that resulted in his impeachment on charges of lying under oath about an affair with an intern. A sobbing Ms. Zervos sat next to Ms. Allred and offered her own solution: “What happened to a good, I’m sorry?” Vice Mike Pence will take the lead on the ’s transition. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who is under a cloud after two aides were convicted of conspiring to shut down traffic on the George Washington Bridge in the Bridgegate scandal, moves aside. Mr. Trump told advisers that he wanted Mr. Pence’s Washington experience and contacts. An executive committee, which will include members of Congress, will advise Mr. Pence as the process moves forward. See the full story. Corey Lewandowski, who was fired as Mr. Trump’s campaign manager and then went to work for CNN, even as he continued to consult with the campaign, resigned Friday from his political commentator role, the network confirmed. Mr. Lewandowski is expected to take a position in the Trump administration. He was seen in Trump Tower on Wednesday immediately after Mr. Trump’s victory, chatting with senior aides and attending meetings. Mr. Lewandowski did not return calls for comment. Mr. Lewandowski was viewed as a controversial appointment by the network he had signed a nondisclosure agreement with Mr. Trump that prevented him from criticizing the candidate publicly, and he was still being paid by the campaign while working for CNN. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the incoming Democratic leader, threw his weight behind Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota on Friday to be the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee, the clearest sign yet that, in defeat, the party will move to the left. After losing the Rust Belt to Mr. Trump, Democrats could have recruited an populist like Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio, who represents the Youngstown area. But Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont quickly backed Mr. Ellison, who is black, Muslim and an ardent progressive. Two former governors, Howard Dean of Vermont and Martin O’Malley of Maryland, also expressed interest Friday in being the party’s new committee chairman. So much for a warm welcome to Washington. Groups on social media are trying to coordinate a Million Woman March the day after Mr. Trump’s inauguration in protest of the new president. The march will go from the Lincoln Memorial to the White House on Jan. 21 to show “strength, power and courage. ” Men are also encouraged to attend. “No woman is free unless all women are free,” the organizers of the march wrote on the Facebook page where it is being organized. State groups for the march have already been formed for people to coordinate travel to the capital. However, some fear that the idea could become a logistical nightmare coming so close to Inauguration Day because of the lack of hotel rooms and the potential for clashes with Trump supporters Among the ’s most pressing questions as he prepares to take office is where he should live. Mr. Trump, a provincial homebody who divides his time among golf courses in Florida and New Jersey and his townhouse apartment in Manhattan, is weighing how much time to spend in Washington, according to two people familiar with his deliberations. One option is spending weekends in New York and most of the week in Washington. Mr. Trump’s wife, Melania, is ultimately planning to move to Washington, according to one person briefed on the discussions, but their son, Barron, is still in school. Mr. Trump may be triumphant, but Gloria Allred isn’t done with him yet. More than 10 women accused Mr. Trump of sexual assault after a video bragging about his groping habits emerged last month. Ms. Allred, the lawyer who has been working with many of the women, does not appear to be letting the off the hook. At 2:30 p. m. Eastern time on Friday, she said that she was going to issue a challenge to Mr. Trump at a news conference with one of his accusers who has already come out publicly to tell her story. Ms. Allred would not reveal the name of the woman before the event or share any details of the challenge. Before the election, Mr. Trump said that the accusers were all lying and that he might sue them. Ms. Allred told ABC News on Thursday that her clients had no plans to sue Mr. Trump at this point, but that they would countersue if he did so. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the departing Democratic leader, added his voice to the postelection statements on the . Unlike most Democrats, he gave no quarter: Some of the protesters who have taken to the streets this week are supporters of Mr. Sanders, and on Friday the former Democratic presidential candidate reminded them that creating chaos and disorder should not be their goal. Trump Tower, the skyscraper on Fifth Avenue and the home base of the has become a fortress in the wake of the election. The lobby, designated a public space by the City of New York, was closed off on Friday morning as Mr. Trump met with advisers. A large police presence surrounded the building. The tower was built with a special permit more than 30 years ago. The city granted Mr. Trump extra space in exchange for maintaining public access to the lobby. Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley libertarian who secretly financed a lawsuit against the website Gawker, was named a member of the Presidential Transition Team Executive Committee on Friday afternoon.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Jasmine Mateen was standing outside her home here on Tuesday afternoon when her cellphone went off: Two of her daughters, who were injured when their school bus crashed on Monday, were being discharged from the hospital. The news pulled her briefly from her grief. Moments before, Ms. Mateen had been talking about her daughter Zyaira, the girl with the new coat, who died in the same bus crash that injured two of Ms. Mateen’s other daughters. “My baby’s coming home, but her sister’s dead,” Ms. Mateen said as a single tear rolled down her left cheek. “Even though she was the one who told me my baby was dead, I just didn’t want to believe it,” she said of her other Zasmyn. The third daughter on board, Zacauree’A Brown, is 10. “I couldn’t believe it. You know how you try to hold on to hope?” This city, just north of Tennessee’s border with Georgia, reeled on Tuesday as it coped with the grim toll of the deadly school bus crash. The authorities said that at least five Woodmore Elementary School students — four girls and a boy — had died, and that 12 others were still hospitalized. Six of the children were in intensive care. Elsewhere in Chattanooga, the bus driver, Johnthony K. Walker, 24, was jailed and charged with vehicular homicide after the authorities said he had recklessly sped and swerved during his afternoon route. “We are heartbroken for all of our students and their families,” said Kirk Kelly, the interim schools superintendent in Hamilton County. “Yesterday was the worst day that we have had for Woodmore and for Hamilton County Schools that I can recall in my life as an educator and as a parent and as a member of this community. ” Three of the students who died were in the fourth grade. The other children who were killed were in kindergarten and first grade, Dr. Kelly said, but he did not identify the students. “They will always be with us throughout our lives,” he said. “This is something that we will never forget here as a community. ” The bus was removed from the scene on Tuesday, and crews worked along the blocked street to restore the utility pole that the police said Mr. Walker had struck. A small memorial of stuffed animals and flowers took shape, and investigators reviewed the crash site. The National Transportation Safety Board opened an investigation, and it will be months before federal officials reach any conclusions. But the Chattanooga authorities moved quickly to assign blame, and in an arrest affidavit issued on Tuesday, a police officer wrote that Mr. Walker had been driving “at a high rate of speed, well above the posted speed limit of 30 m. p. h. ” Eventually, the police said, Mr. Walker “lost control of the bus” and swerved off the narrow roadway. The bus, which ultimately landed on its side, struck a mailbox, an elevated driveway, a tree and a telephone pole. The officer, explaining the decision to charge Mr. Walker with vehicular homicide and other crimes, cited “the reckless nature” of his driving, as well as “his very high speed and weaving within his lane. ” Tests for drugs and alcohol are pending, Chief Fred Fletcher of the Chattanooga Police Department said in an interview on Tuesday. Federal investigators say they expect to interview Mr. Walker, who received his commercial driver’s license in April and was involved in a minor bus crash in September. Mr. Walker’s employer, Durham School Services, which holds a contract to bus thousands of Hamilton County students each day, said in a statement that it was “devastated by the accident. ” The statement did not address questions about the company’s hiring practices, nor did it respond to reports that parents, including Ms. Mateen, had complained about Mr. Walker. A criminal history report from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation indicated that Mr. Walker had no arrests before the crash on Monday, but State Department of Safety and Homeland Security records showed that his license was suspended briefly in 2014 for an insurance violation. No one answered the door at Mr. Walker’s apartment on Tuesday morning, when a woman who said she was a tried to slip a note under his door. The safety record of Durham, which is based near Chicago and says it transports more than a million schoolchildren in communities around the country each day, was also under scrutiny on Tuesday. A federal regulator, in statistics published late last month, said the company had received 10 “driver fitness violations” over the course of two years — a figure better than only a fraction of other similarly sized transportation companies. The federal Department of Transportation said Durham’s drivers had been involved in 346 accidents in two years, but the statistics did not distinguish whether the company’s employees were to blame for the wrecks. And although federal officials had flagged Durham for its record on driver fitness, the company had not drawn special attention for a history of unsafe driving. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said the company had a “satisfactory” safety rating. A company spokeswoman did not respond to emailed questions, but the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, Christopher A. Hart, said the panel would look into the company during its investigation. Student fatalities aboard school buses are rare in the United States, where an estimated 25 million children use them daily. In a May report that examined crash data between 2005 and 2014, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that 53 children had died in accidents while they were riding in what the government classified as “school transportation vehicles. ” Emotions were raw on Tuesday outside Woodmore, where Demetrius Jenkins stood around daybreak and thought about how he had not yet told his son about the crash. “I don’t know how to explain it,” Mr. Jenkins said while students ran, walked and skipped toward the school for their final day of classes before Thanksgiving break. The school district said that about 100 of Woodmore’s approximately 315 students were in their classrooms on Tuesday. The crash occurred about 16 months after a gunman opened fire at two military sites in Chattanooga, killing five servicemen. “Five is a cursed number in our city right now, and so we are again dealing with unimaginable loss,” Mayor Andy Berke said. “The most unnatural thing in the world is for a parent to mourn the loss of a child. There are no words that can bring comfort to a mother or a father. ”

Share on Facebook Doctors had given Anita Moorjani just hours to live when she arrived at the hospital in a coma on the morning of February 2nd, 2006... Unable to move as a result of the cancer that had ravaged her body for almost four years, Anita entered another dimension, where she experienced great clarity and understanding of her life and purpose here on earth. She was given a choice of whether to return to life or not, and chose to return to life when she realized that “heaven” is a state and not a place. This subsequently resulted in a remarkable and complete recovery of her health. Anita's riveting talk will inspire you to transform your life by living more authentically, discovering your greatest passions, transcending your deepest fears, and living from a place of pure joy! Her true story will radically alter your current beliefs about yourself, your purpose on earth, your health, your relationships, and your life! In this new Ted Talk Anita shares her unbelievable story. Related:

(Reuters) The father of the attacker who killed 22 people in a suicide bombing in Manchester has been arrested in the Libyan capital Tripoli, according to a force spokesman and a witness. [The force detained Ramadan Abedi outside his home in the Tripoli suburb of Ayn Zara on Wednesday afternoon. An eyewitness said he was handcuffed by armed men who drove him away in two unmarked vehicles. (Writing by Aidan Lewis editing by Patrick Markey) Read more from Reuters here.

Waking Times You can only get so far with orders, and the misuse of power. The same goes with the restriction of human action. The war on drugs has been an abject failure , as has been the American ‘democracy.’ It is the same with a corporatized prison system, and so too, will be the attempted overtaking of the American people by a corrupt cabal. If the 2016 elections have taught us nothing else, it is that we should be very careful who we make into our political martyrs. Despots and tyrants can rule effectively for a time, but in the end, they always perish – their civilizations and accomplishments with them. The fall of Rome ring any bells? It doesn’t matter if you voted for Hillary Clinton with her ties to the Rothschilds and Rockefellers, or for Trump who has alienated women, minorities, gays, and educated leftists alike with his misogynistic comments, and brash unpredictable actions. This election is a call to find our inner hero . We need her/him, as never before. This election has caused monumental stress because it has exposed our deep, perhaps subconscious desire to shirk responsibility and off-load it onto a public figure. We want an external hero. What happens when someone truly leads , is a different, and positively inspiring story altogether. 1.) What a Leader Isn’t “When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness.” ~ Joseph Campbell A true hero, or heroin — the quintessential leader of our time is not a politician. The etymology of the word leader comes from the root word ‘lead’, which means, to guide and inspire. The word hero is derived from both Greek and Latin words meaning to watch over and to protect. It doesn’t mean to lord over. It has nothing to do with warnings and chastisements, nor the use of force, either legislatively, financially, socially, or politically to get people to do what you want them to do. A true leader doesn’t divide and conquer. They gather masses without trying in a unified cause by being in service, by acting, as Anthony Robbins once said, ‘as a slave’ to a purpose higher than protecting themselves. This could be family. It could be community. A leader might inspire a few, or several thousand but their work endures, even after they perish because its intent was pure. Many leaders are quiet. Others are bold, but they are never self-serving. A tell-tale sign of a true leader, is one who needs no ‘credit’ for what they have given to society, and who simply thrives on the action of their own internally driven inspiration. They don’t check the poles and they don’t need your ‘vote.’ As Lao Tzu has said, “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” Hitler wasn’t a true leader, nor was Stalin. Their rise to fame and power was brief. Add to that list, George Soros, Bill Gates, The Clinton’s, the Trumps, the Rothschilds, the Rockefellers, et al. Instead, look to individuals like Edward Leedskalnin , the Latvian emigrant who built one of the most impressive structures on the planet, not for fame, but to honor a lost love. People still can’t surmise how coral castle was created. Look to Nikola Tesla whose work is used in every conceivable manner still today (some of his inventions known and others still hidden by those who seek false power.) As another true leader, R. Buckminster Fuller would say , “ You never change things by fighting existing reality . To change something you create a new model which makes the old one obsolete.” The self-appointed ‘leaders’ of our time fight against the masses. They fight against Mother Nature , and they torment themselves trying to accumulate more power to wield over the world. What could they be reflecting in us is the question we should really be asking. 2.) A True Leader Often Won’t Fit in with ‘Regular’ Society “Men do not accept their prophets and slay them, but they love their martyrs and worship those whom they have tortured to death.” ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky Between the years 325 and 787 A.D., many people were treated poorly by society at large because of the different conflicts that were going on. One of the main conflicts in this era surrounded religion. If you were not like the Roman Catholics, and decided to believe in freedom of religion, you were “excluded” from the Roman Catholic Church and thereby, society. Those seeking religious freedom were deemed sinners, and lawless hooligans. This is just one of many incidents in history that we can look back on and observe that the societal conscience always changes. It isn’t absolute. A leader is never swayed by the ‘popular’ or the ‘common.’ They think only about what is best for society in that time and space. There have been numerous outcasts of various degree who were true leaders. Malcolm X, Bob Marley, Indira Gandhi, Hatshepsut, Aung San Suu Kyi, etc. 3.) A True Leader Can’t Solve All of Your Problems Number three is a big one. A true leader will never solve all your problems, and they don’t even try. Their sole purpose is to help you find the strength to display heroic acts of your own. They inspire. They exemplify, but they realize that by solving your problems they would actually be taking away your opportunity to learn, and grow. You’ve earned whatever lessons you currently face, but you will also receive the gifts hidden in a challenge, only when you take full responsibility and face your shadowed projections. The wicked will shout for you to change your ways. The divine will whisper, and wait for you to heed the encouragement of grace. 4.) A True Leader Will Never Ask You to Follow Them Saints and yogis are notorious for sending aspiring followers away. They’ll ignore them, cajole, them, and even ridicule their seemingly fervent desire to learn from a master. That’s because they want you to do your work first. If you are expecting some miraculous cure or salvation from anyone, even a saint, you’ll be waiting a good long while. This doesn’t mean that divine intervention doesn’t happen, or that we shouldn’t look to others for help or advice, but ultimately, a leader shows the way simply by doing his own work. The one thing we can learn from this example is to do ours, too. A final note — A true leader is ‘God’ in action. As Joseph Campbell has said, “What is a god? A god is a personification of a motivating power of a value system that functions in human life and in the universe.” No credentials or filibusters needed. About the Author Christina Sarich is a freelance writer, musician, yogi, and humanitarian. Her insights appear in magazines as diverse as Weston A. Price, Nexus, Atlantis Rising, and the Cuyamungue Institute, among others. She was recently a featured author in the Journal, “Wise Traditions in Food, Farming, and Healing Arts,” and her commentary on healing, ascension, and human potential inform a large body of the alternative news lexicon. She is also a staff writer for Waking Times . Like Waking Times on Facebook . Follow Waking Times on Twitter . This article ( 4 Secrets About True Leaders ) was originally created and published by Waking Times and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Nathaniel Mauka and WakingTimes.com . It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution and author bio. ~~ Help Waking Times to raise the vibration by sharing this article with friends and family…

Getty - Justin Sullivan The Wildfire is an opinion platform and any opinions or information put forth by contributors are exclusive to them and do not represent the views of IJR. Earlier this week, Americans learned that Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe's Super PAC, Common Good VA, donated $500K to Jill McCabe's senate run. Jill just so happens to be the wife of Andrew McCabe — the current Deputy Director of the FBI — who oversaw the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server. If that wasn't enough to give you trust issues, it turns out that Hillary Clinton herself headlined a fundraiser for Common Good VA. The event took place in June of 2015, just one month before the FBI officially launched its investigation into Clinton's email server. According to The Daily Mail , the fundraiser that Clinton helped spearhead raised over a million dollars. Clinton returned to Common Good in October of 2015 for another speech. That speech conveniently took place just one week before Jill McCabe received two donations, one on October 25th in the sum of $175,000 and the other on October 27th for $125,000. In addition, one of Common Good's biggest donors, James Bernard , gave the PAC $100,000 just three days before McCabe got her October donations. There's more. Bernard is a big Hillary supporter, too. In fact, he's listed on her site as a “Hillblazer,” someone recognized for raising or contributing $100K or more to the campaign. Yet, he's the not the only Hillblazer who donated to Common Good before McCabe was given her biggest campaign contribution. Independent Journal Review discovered that Louisa Cohlan also donated $100k to Common Good. Her $100k donation took place on Sept 30th of 2015, which was one day before McCabe received a $150,000 from the PAC. Cohlan has an interesting tie to the Clintons. In 2014 , Louisa and her husband Johnathan purchased a 4.1 million dollar vacation home that the Clinton family used while Bill was still president. 'Auction planned for home where Clinton family stayed during Skaneateles vacations' http://t.co/dsPxh4qkws #PLANY pic.twitter.com/8tkSMPVl9w Other donors who contributed $100K to the PAC include: Samuel Nappi, who is also a major Clinton Campaign donor and supporter. The late Mark Weiner , a good friend of Bill Clinton and major fundraiser for the Democrat Party. And Robert L. Johnson, America's first African American billionaire who also donated $100K to the Clinton Campaign However, the deep ties Hillary's campaign has to Common Good go even deeper than that. The Daily Mail's investigation revealed the ties Clinton's staff have to the PAC: Zuzenak, who oversaw the donations to Jill McCabe, left Common Good VA last May to join the Clinton campaign as its Virginia field director. He isn't alone in the move. Common Good VA's executive director Michael Halle also joined the Clinton campaign as battleground analytics director in the spring of 2015. The group's former fundraiser, Amanda McTyre, is now a finance director for Clinton, and staffer Marissa Astor left to become an assistant Clinton campaign manager. And the cake-topper, Clinton's current campaign manager, Robby Mook, also worked for the PAC prior to the campaign role he has now. One thing is for certain: Such revelations will raise new questions about possible foul play and major conflict-of-interest surrounding Hillary's candidacy. Because with it all staring you in the face, everything seems all too convenient to just be a mere coincidence.

OK, theoretically, everything will go according to plan, and Donald Trump will be the next president. But technically, the (s)election hasn’t really taken place yet. Presidential electors of the mystified electoral college must still actually vote for the president, and there isn’t anything to keep them from ‘voting their conscience’ and choosing someone other than Donald Trump. Moreover, it appears that there is an active effort to flip the electoral college to deny Trump the presidency, and toss the White House to either Hillary or a GOP loyalist. The #NeverTrump crowd and plenty of bitter Hillary supporters are still hoping for a coup, though even they admit it is a long shot – completely unprecedented and anything but likely. According to the Blaze : Donald Trump may have won the electoral votes necessary to win the White House, but he he’s likely going to lose the popular vote to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. And now two electors have launched a last-minute effort to convince their colleagues to abandon the president-elect. “This is a long shot. It’s a hail Mary,” Bret Chiafolo, a Washington state elector who previously pledged not to vote for Clinton, told Politico Monday. “However, I do see situations where — when we’ve already had two or three [Republican] electors state publicly they didn’t want to vote for Trump. How many of them have real issues with Donald Trump in private?” Chiafolo along with Colorado elector Micheal Baca have launched what they call a “moral electors” movement in hopes of convincing 37 of their Republican colleagues to deny Trump their votes. Should they succeed in their radical effort, the presidential decision would be thrown to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. […] The Electoral College consists of 538 members who are expected to convene in their respective state capitals on Dec. 19 to formally vote for the next president… Baca said he hopes the move launches a serious national discussion about abolishing the Electoral College , which would require either a constitutional amendment or legislation in several states. The speculation is that if this maneuver were to be successful, the GOP-led Congress could be persuaded not to choose Hillary, but to write-in a selection for a party loyalist – like Mitt Romney or John Kasich… maybe even a Bush. Of course, there have also been reports that Team Hillary has been hard at work attempting to persuade electors to switch their votes in the hope, however desperate, that they can still flip the election and take the White House: On December 19, the Electors of the Electoral College will cast their ballots. If they all vote the way their states voted, Donald Trump will win. However, they can vote for Hillary Clinton if they choose. Even in states where that is not allowed, their vote would still be counted, they would simply pay a small fine – which we can be sure Clinton supporters will be glad to pay! We are calling on the Electors to ignore their states’ votes and cast their ballots for Secretary Clinton. Why? Mr. Trump is unfit to serve. The larger issue here is that the system is badly broken, the people are harshly divided along demographic and political lines, and the future is gambling on extreme versions of itself – larger than life candidates, and bizarre back-door maneuvers in attempt to hack the system and bend it in one direction or another. Trump has taken his place on the stage in a thunderous revolt of the people, but his legacy will be tested out the gates by the heavy pressures of Washington lobbyists, intrigue on the part of political insiders and the cults of opposition that are springing up in response to his controversial journey to the White House. The entire political establishment have been knocked off their perch, though their hold on power has not necessarily been loosened. A whole new era is born, and it remains to be seen how it will play out. Read more: It’s Not Over Yet: “They Are Probably Still Trying To Steal The Election” | Calls For Electoral College To Ignore Will Of People Clinton Insider Confesses: Trump Protests Are Just More Pre-Paid “Soros Riots” to Stir Unrest “Beware of the Shadow Government”: Ron Paul Advises President-Elect Trump Surrounded By Bankers, Wall St. Insiders Banging on the Door to Get In: “Draining the Swamp?” “Violent Revolution If Trump Lets Them Down”: People Remain Poised for Angry Revolt – Roberts

Reverend Al Sharpton thinks that in order to win elections, Democrats must stop trying to get the “Archie Bunker” vote and instead focus on maximizing the party’s minority vote. During a Friday afternoon MSNBC appearance, Sharpton railed against elected officials and consultants who want Democrats to “try and become elephants with donkey skin on,” emphasizing that it was pointless to appeal to “Archie Bunker” voters who support President Donald Trump. Sharpton insisted that these “Archie Bunker” voters will never cast their ballots for Democrats. He made his remarks a day after Republican Greg Gianforte won his special election for Montana’s open House seat by six points even after he allegedly a reporter the day before the election. In a recent interview with BuzzFeed, Sharpton said Hillary Clinton’s biggest mistake in 2016 “was that she did not mobilize in the black community. ” “You lost Michigan, by what, 15, 000, 20, 000 votes? You could’ve got that if you mobilized two housing projects or three churches,” he told the outlet. “Never touched them. So in many ways I think that the whole question of, ‘Oh we gotta reach out to the Appalachian and the blue collar workers and stop the identity politics’ — well, that’s one strategy. But what I’m saying is that you never worked your own base. You took your base for granted, so it’s not that you need to go another way, you didn’t identify with those in identity politics, that’s why you had the lowest turnout you had around blacks in a long time. ” Sharpton said though Clinton came to his National Action Network convention, her campaign “never engaged us in the campaign. ” “And I think that’s where they did the wrong math in the Clinton campaign. They assumed that we’ll go get all of this because everybody will stay here: young voters, black voters, Latino voters, like Obama, and it didn’t happen,” he said. As Democrats plot their electoral strategies for 2018 and 2020, the party is split between those who want to double down on identity politics and those who think Democrats need to appeal more to white voters.

“After lying under oath to Congress about his own communications with the Russians, the Attorney General must resign,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi ( .) said in a statement released Wednesday night. [“Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country,” Pelosi said in the statement, according to the Boston Globe. The Boston Globe also reported that Sen. Elizabeth Warren ( .) has called for Sessions’ resignation. “We need Attorney General Jeff Sessions … to resign,” Warren said. “We need it now. ” The Associated Press tweeted on Thursday that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ( . Y.) has joined he ranks of Democrats calling for Sessions to resign. “Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer calls on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign,” AP tweeted. Despite their claims that Sessions’ contact with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak when he was a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee is grounds for resignation, the press secretary for the Russian Embassy in Washington, D. C. said that, while they don’t release the names of lawmakers and other visitors who have had contact with Russian officials, diplomatic contact with members of Congress and others “occur on a daily basis. ” “The embassy doesn’t comment on numerous contacts with local partners, which occur on a daily basis in line with diplomatic practice,” the press secretary told Breitbart News.

Alt-Right Architect Glenn Beck Opens Fire On Alt-Right: ‘Grave Threat To The Republic’ (AUDIO, TWEET) By Darrell Lucus Glenn Beck was, by all accounts, the primary architect of the tea party. Yet, he has become an unrelenting critic of one of its loudest descendants, the alt-right. He issued his sharpest critique to date on Friday’s edition of “The Glenn Beck Program,” saying that this white supremacist and Islamophobic movement represents a clear and present danger to this country’s very existence. During the first hour of Friday’s show, Beck, a charter member of the “NeverTrump” movement, declared that the alt-right represented nothing less than a “grave threat to the republic.” The alt-right, as many of you know, has rallied behind Donald Trump, and effectively took control of the Trump campaign when Breitbart chairman Stephen Bannon became campaign CEO. Breitbart is widely reckoned as the main mouthpiece of the alt-right, and Bannon is the main architect of the effort to give the alt-right a place at the table on the wingnut fringe. has a very clear design for where he wants to take the alt-right after the campaign. Apparently it includes building closer ties between the alt-right and the rest of the wingnut fringe. He plans to speak at David Horowitz’“Restoration Weekend” two days after the election. This gathering is a known hotspot for right-wing bile of the worst type. However, Beck claimed, the alt-right would have likely blossomed without Trump. . @glennbeck : This has nothing to do with @realDonaldTrump or @HillaryClinton … it would be happening with someone like @tedcruz in as well. — TheBlaze Radio (@TheBlazeRadio) October 28, 2016 How’s that, you ask? Well, Beck argued, the American alt-right seems to be taking its cue from the European far right. Listen here. Beck said that Bannon and the rest of the American alt-right think along the same lines as the far right in Europe–“burn the entire thing down, and out of the chaos, we will rise.” He’s apparently referring to an email exchange between Bannon and Breitbart reporter Matt Doyle from 2014, in which they discussed plans to “turn on the hate” in order to make it easier to “burn this bitch down.” He claimed that neither Trump nor even his most ardent supporters know this. Beck was actually building on a Facebook post from Thursday night, in which he shared an article in the New York Observer–ironically, owned by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner–detailing the links between Russia and far-right elements in Europe. In a lengthy commentary on Facebook, Beck claimed that there are disturbing parallels between far-right tactics in Europe and the alt-right’s tactics here in this country. Just like the European far right, the alt-right in this country is extremely fixated on “cultural preservation and homogenity.” He also argued that the Kremlin may already be funding “dangerous people” in the United States. For that reason, Beck claimed, the alt-right is “a great danger to the republic,” and must be rooted out by true conservatives. He promised to do chalkboards on these links after the election, but was reluctant to do so now because “right now it would be viewed as pro or anti C or T.” I never thought I’d see the day that I would find myself agreeing with Beck. After all, as we’ve seen already, Trump has more or less twiddled his thumbs while alt-right trolls acting on his behalf have brutally attacked and threatened anyone who dares speak out against him. Moreover, the alt-right has made no secret of its vicious anti-Semitism; they were the bottom-feeders behind “ echoes ,” an attempt to flag Jewish-sounding names online. But if these people are “a great danger to the republic,” Glenn, why wait until after the election to tell us more? I suspect that Beck is afraid that he’ll have to admit that he was the architect of most of the bile we saw from the tea party–including its resistance to any form of compromise. That mentality seems to have passed on to the alt-right. Perhaps Beck himself hasn’t seen it yet–or doesn’t want to see it. Still, when the architect of the tea party sounds like a voice of sanity, there can no longer any doubt–the GOP civil war is well under way. ( featured image courtesy Gage Skidmore, available under a Creative Commons BY-SA license) About Darrell Lucus Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC . Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook . Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello. Connect

More Politicized Justice to Protect Hillary More Politicized Justice to Protect Hillary October 27, 2016, 9:04 am by Roger Aronoff Leave a Comment 0 By: Roger Aronoff | Accuracy in Media A recently revealed connection between Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, a local Virginia politician and the FBI exposes, at the very least, another deceptive conflict of interest that was likely intended to help protect the viability of Hillary Clinton’s presidential ambitions. These politicians believe they can get away with such actions because they trust that they can count on a complicit mainstream media to cover for their corruption. A case in point is the funding McAuliffe arranged for Dr. Jill McCabe, the wife of the future deputy director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe. McAuliffe steered nearly $500,000 from his political action committee, Common Good VA, and another approximately $200,000 from the Virginia Democratic Party to Mrs. McCabe for her state senate campaign in 2015. Her campaign had a total budget of $1.8 million, and according to The Washington Post, in 2015 the state allowed candidates to use campaign funds for personal expenses so long as the campaign was operating. “No, it’s not at all a normal amount [of money],” said State Senator Dick Black, the incumbent who defeated McCabe in 2015 and kept the seat, on the Steve Batton Show . “In fact, the amount that was involved is comparable to what you would have in a full congressional, a hotly contested congressional race.” Black, who served as a pilot for the Marines during the Vietnam War, was later the head of the Criminal Law Division at the Pentagon. “The amount of money that was put in was astounding,” Black continued. “It was four times as much as the Democrats had put into the former race when this was an open seat.” At the time that Jill McCabe announced her campaign, her husband Andrew was running the Washington, D.C. field office of the FBI. He was later promoted to the number three position, and then promoted to deputy director. His wife’s campaign failed, and, according to The Washington Post, Andrew McCabe avoided handling Virginia public corruption cases during her campaign and didn’t “participate in” campaign events. Yet, given that the main funder of his wife’s campaign, Governor McAuliffe, is a long-time Clinton ally who chaired Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign and chaired the Democratic National Committee, Andrew McCabe should have recused himself from the Hillary Clinton investigation—no matter at what level he was serving. According to a cutting Wall Street Journal editorial , “All of this asks voters to believe that Mr. McCabe as the No. 3 official at the FBI had nothing to do with the biggest, most sensitive case at that agency. This strains credulity.” It was the Journal that broke the story this week about McAuliffe steering money to McCabe. The editorial continues, “Before he became No. 3 at the FBI Mr. McCabe ran the bureau’s Washington, D.C. field office that provided resources to the Clinton probe. Campaign-finance records show that 98% of the McAuliffe donations to Mrs. McCabe came after the FBI launched its Clinton probe.” Three months after McCabe’s defeat, her husband became the FBI deputy director helping to oversee the Clinton email case. Not only does this have the appearance of impropriety—it doesn’t pass the smell test. “So the Democratic Party actually suspected that this woman was a Republican because she hadn’t been active in any politics,” said Black. “She came out of the blue, which was quite mysterious. Why this woman, why was she chosen?” Black described how another Democratic Party operative had already filed to run for the state senate seat, but the party decided that Jill McCabe would be the candidate—without holding a primary. As we have reported, the whole FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of classified email and private server stinks—and the fix was clearly in . Not only did the FBI grant immunity to five people deeply involved in the case, it also made a deal to destroy evidence on two witnesses’ computers once it finished reviewing material found on them. “Sources said the arrangement with former Clinton chief of staff Cheryl Mills and ex-campaign staffer Heather Samuelson also limited the search to no later than Jan. 31, 2015,” reported Fox News. “This meant investigators could not review documents for the period after the email server became public—in turn preventing the bureau from discovering if there was any evidence of obstruction of justice, sources said.” In addition, the FBI failed to empanel a grand jury to look into the case, instead relying on non-aggressive interviews which were not recorded. We have long maintained that EmailGate is not just about hiding information from the public, but is also a national security scandal. The Obama administration is clearly using political considerations to determine who receives punishment for mishandling the nation’s secrets. Among the latest WikiLeaks revelations is further proof that President Obama was well aware that Mrs. Clinton was doing government business from a private, unsecured server, though he denied it, and that staff members were scrambling to figure out how to contain the fallout. The Washington Post reports that another government official who mishandled classified information, leaking it to the press, failed to escape judgment. Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman General James E. Cartwright’s “greatest mistake was not talking to reporters or lying about it; he failed to play the Washington game skillfully enough to avoid becoming a scapegoat for a system in which senior officials skirt the rules and then fall back on their political power to save them,” writes Josh Rogin for the Post. He describes how Cartwright “was a pariah to many of the Very Important People in Washington’s national security elite.” Cartwright “pleaded guilty to the felony charge of lying to the FBI during its investigation into the leaking of classified information about covert operations against Iran to two journalists” and could face up to five years in jail and a $250,000 fine, writes Rogin. Before that, Cartwright was known as “ Obama’s favorite general .” But clearly that is no longer the case, or presumably he would have gotten off scot-free, just like Hillary, from the highly politicized Obama Justice Department. Hillary’s mishandling of classified material was part of her daily routine for years—far more egregious than anything that Cartwright did. As Rogin pointed out in the Post article, Cartwright spoke to The New York Times’ David Sanger about the Stuxnet program designed to slow down Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons. Sanger had previously “had meetings on Iran with several other high-profile administration officials, including National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns and even Clinton herself. There’s no evidence of any other Stuxnet leak investigations of high-level officials.” But only Cartwright is taking the fall. “In his statement taking responsibility for lying to the FBI,” writes Rogin, “Cartwright asserted his motivations were patriotic. ‘My only goal in talking to the reporters was to protect American interests and lives; I love my country and continue to this day to do everything I can to defend it.’” We may have to wait for Cartwright’s memoir to find out the rest of this story. In 2013, the Times’ Sanger said that the Obama administration was the “most closed, control-freak administration” he’d ever covered. But Hillary got a pass, in order to run for the White House to succeed President Obama. We have reported on how this administration has systematically and to an unprecedented level targeted leakers and journalists . But the whitewash of an FBI investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s email practices is looking more and more like a cover-up. That the McCabes felt indebted to Clinton associate McAuliffe cannot be definitively proven, but it defies common sense to assume that they both were purely impartial about the investigation into Hillary. If only the mainstream media would do their job and report on the facts of this case, instead of simply lambasting Donald Trump and his supporters for his inartful comments. If only. Roger Aronoff Roger Aronoff is the Editor of Accuracy in Media, and a member of the Citizens’ Commission on Benghazi . He can be contacted at roger.aronoff@aim.org . View the complete archives from Roger Aronoff . 0

LUMBERTON, N. C. — Brittany Graham had been confident that Hurricane Matthew would bring no more than a few inches of rain to this inland city. But by Sunday afternoon, her grandfather’s small farm was underwater. A grazing field was submerged. No one knew where most of the cows were. Floodwaters, perhaps three or four feet deep in some places, had covered the wheels of two trucks and flowed into a supply barn. Relatives squealed as they watched fish from the family’s pond swim across the road. “My grandpa’s still in shock,” Ms. Graham, 29, said. “He didn’t prepare anything because from what we heard, we were just going to get a little bit of rain. Basically, all his stuff is ruined. ” “This,” she added, “is completely devastating. ” Here in Lumberton, and in much of eastern North Carolina on Sunday, residents were taking stock after Hurricane Matthew pounded the state over the weekend with a furor that seemed improbable days earlier. North Carolina officials reported eight deaths, a figure that accounted for nearly half of the hurricane’s death toll in the United States, and Gov. Pat McCrory warned that the casualty count was “expected to increase. ” “I wouldn’t assume that there aren’t people clinging for life right now in houses that are underwater that we have yet to reach, especially in lower populated areas,” Mr. McCrory said. “That’s what my major concern is. ” Still, dozens of boat and aircrews rescued more than 1, 000 people, more than 700 of them in Cumberland County, which includes Fayetteville and Fort Bragg. The state also had countless informal evacuations and rescues, strung together by residents and visitors who sometimes acted with little warning. Melissa Fineman, the general manager of a Comfort Suites hotel in coastal Brunswick County, had retreated to her room on Saturday night when she heard creaking in the building, which was filled with evacuees and linemen from a local utility company. “The pressure and the gusts just started cracking the walls,” she said. “With each gust of wind, it just got wider and wider. ” Ms. Fineman decided to empty the hotel. After a effort that she said took just minutes, the property’s 123 guests, and their 45 animals, had escaped through a back stairwell, ultimately fleeing to a nearby high school and escaping the wrath of a storm that once seemed poised to spare this state. But the havoc in North Carolina was an unwelcome reminder of both the inherently deceiving nature of the Hurricane Wind Scale — the storm was barely classified as a Category 1 hurricane when its bands hit North Carolina — and the behavior of a tropical cyclone. As recently as Thursday, when forecasters were predicting that Hurricane Matthew would leave North Carolina mostly unscathed, Mr. McCrory said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the storm. Then the hurricane shifted, losing power but maintaining moisture and taking aggressive aim at much of North Carolina’s coastline and the state’s inland counties. Some areas recorded more than a foot of rain, and by Sunday morning, Mr. McCrory and his constituents were lamenting an increasingly dire landscape of devastation. “When you go from a Category 4 hurricane to a Category 1, the danger of harm is still there,” Mr. McCrory said. “What those categories don’t include is how water can kill. ” In North Carolina on Sunday, more than 3, 000 people were in shelters, and some 770, 000 homes and businesses were without electricity. Parts of Interstate 40 and Interstate 95 were closed, and the authorities warned that more trouble was to come as rain poured into rivers and raced toward the coast. Some local governments ordered evacuations and curfews. The National Weather Service, which said that many of its river gauges in eastern North Carolina showed major flooding, predicted that the Lumber River would remain above record levels until at least Friday. In Rocky Mount, the Tar River was expected to surpass its record height by nearly three feet. And near Goldsboro, the Neuse River was forecast to reach 29. 6 feet on Monday, nearly a foot above its record. “That’s always the trouble in eastern North Carolina — because the saturation tables are so low, the water doesn’t have anywhere to go,” said the Rev. William J. Barber II, the president of the North Carolina chapter of the N. A. A. C. P. and a pastor of a church in Goldsboro. “We’re downstream. If a storm drops a lot of rain in the Raleigh area, it comes down like a wall this way. ” In Florida, Georgia and South Carolina on Sunday, residents turned much of their attention to recovery as people removed trees, cleared roadways and increasingly found their electricity restored. People in coastal communities who had heeded orders to evacuate returned to their homes to survey the damage, often trading text messages and pictures with one another to share what they had found. Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina, citing requests from local officials, maintained evacuation orders in two counties, but she allowed people to return to Charleston, the state’s city, and its surrounding area. “The weather looks good next week, which is a great sign as we want to try and do the recovery, so that’s the one blessing that we do have,” Ms. Haley said. And here in North Carolina, residents were girding for a hard recovery in places like Hope Mills, where Marie Pelkey, 42, stared through the trees at her younger sister’s waterlogged home. “She’s probably lost everything,” Ms. Pelkey said, her face flushing as tears rolled past her thick black sunglasses. A neighbor, Cathy Swain, walked over to wrap Ms. Pelkey in her arms. She, too, knew the extent of the devastation and how it rivaled the destruction of previous storms. “Major roads are washed out,” she said. “Bridges are gone. I’ve been here 53 years. I was here through Fran, Floyd — never seen anything like this. It’s going to take a long time. ” She added, “I’ve never seen the Walmart closed. ”

As part of the magazine’s annual The Lives They Lived issue, we invite readers to contribute a photograph and a story of someone close to them who died this year. A number of submissions will be chosen to be published on The New York Times website. All entries must be submitted by Dec. 31, 2016, to be eligible for consideration.

During last week’s Berlin InnoTrans trade show, French company Alstom unveiled the world’s first zero-emissions hydrogen-powered train. According to The Local, the Coradia iLint hydrogen train...

You’re at the checkout counter. Your items have been bagged. Your credit card is in your hand. Do you swipe it or insert it? The question has become vexing enough in the United States that a plea from one Twitter user for the country to “get on the same page” has become the unofficial, albeit vulgar, mantra of the nation’s consumers, with tens of thousands of retweets and likes. Ten months into the transition to chip cards, it’s clear there’s no going back. But as the national frustration grows, here are answers to some burning questions. There is reason to hope. About 75 percent of credit cards are . If all businesses upgraded their terminals — which they are not required to do by law — at least the confusion over whether to swipe or insert would be settled. So far, about of the nation’s merchants have made the transition, said Jason Oxman, chief executive of Electronic Transactions Association, a trade group for companies that deal with payment products and services. But while many of them have the terminals, they are waiting to get them certified for use, said Jared Drieling, the business intelligence manager for the Strawhecker Group, a consulting company for the industry. Technological improvements generally make things easier, but that’s not what this change is about. The longer wait times at checkout occur because of all these steps in the process: • The chip creates a code. • The payment terminal sends it to the bank. • The bank matches it to an identical code. • The bank then sends back verification. Voilà! The good news: New software is being developed to allow chip cards to be inserted and quickly removed, speeding up the process, Mr. Drieling said. Security. “You can’t counterfeit a chip card,” Mr. Oxman said. “You can very easily counterfeit a strip card. ” Financial institutions changed the rules attached to their terminals last year. Now, if a counterfeit card is used because a merchant doesn’t have the technology to process cards, the merchant is responsible for paying the fraudulent charges. Businesses that sell goods, like electronics, that can be easily resold on the black market are often targeted by people with fraudulent cards. Because of that, they have a lot of motivation to upgrade. If they don’t, they must pay the bill for all those purchases. “But the local coffee shop might not be getting a lot of fraud activity,” Mr. Oxman said, so there’s less motivation to get the new terminals. There is a chance, then, that at the onset of a purchase, you’ll never really know whether to swipe or dip. Get used to it. “The loud, annoying beep that you’re referring to is to remind you to take the card out,” Mr. Oxman said. “The goal of the noise is to get your attention, and it sounds like it’s working. ” But as Kathleen Dunn, 27, of Nashville pointed out, the sound rings of rejection. “I hate the noise. It makes me feel like my card got declined, and I panic every time,” Ms. Dunn said via a message on Twitter. Dieter Bohn, the executive editor of The Verge, a technology site, characterized the situation as a “checkout dance” in an article. That dance is caused in part by the fact that many places that have the new terminals can’t use the chip reader technology yet. They’re not broken — they’re just waiting to be certified, and that process can sometimes take months. Until then, retailers are responsible for any fraudulent charges, and they’re not happy about it. It’s likely, but their transition is long in the past now. “We’re really one of the last G20 nations to adopt E. M. V. ,” said Mr. Drieling, referring to the chip technology by an acronym for Europay, MasterCard and Visa, the technology’s early advocates. The chips work a little differently in the 150 other countries using them: The cardholder also enters a PIN at the terminal, which lets the verification process happen offline, Mr. Oxman said. Banks and retailers are at odds over why the United States isn’t adopting the PIN system. Why it has taken so long to adopt the chip technology in the United States has a lot to do with its bigger and more complex market. “Changing it is a huge undertaking,” Mr. Oxman said. Probably not much longer. Most of the new terminals that accept the cards are also equipped with the technology to accept contactless payments, like Apple Pay or Android Pay. And while there is disagreement about whether mobile wallets are faster than chip cards, mobile payment makes it feel as if the transaction is moving more quickly. “There is a perfect storm brewing for mobile wallets,” Mr. Drieling said. Until then, perhaps you can use that extra time at the checkout counter to commiserate with the cashier. “I always bring it up during the awkward silence caused by the amount of time the chip takes to read,” Ross Schickler, 19, of Springfield, N. J. said in a Twitter message. “They always laugh and agree. ”

Wed, 26 Oct 2016 15:47 UTC © Getty A total of 800 troops, drones and tanks are moving to Estonia as part of the biggest military build up on Russia's borders since the Cold War. Britain is sending hundreds of soldiers and hardware to Russia's borders as part of a huge military deployment. A total of 800 troops, drones and tanks are moving to Estonia next spring, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said. The move is part of the biggest military build up of NATO troops on Russia's borders since the Cold War . © REX Mr Fallon said the deployment of the battalion, supported by French and Danish troops, will start from May 2017. "Although we are leaving the European Union, we will be doing more to help secure the eastern and southern flanks of NATO," Mr Fallon said. London is also sending Typhoon fighter aircraft to Romania to patrol around the Black Sea, partly in support of Turkey. It comes after an increase in tensions between the West and Russia in recent months. Earlier this month, 40 million Russians reportedly carried out nuclear evacuation tests after officials warned that the West wanted to launch strikes on the country. NATO is now pressing allies including the US and Britain to contribute to the military presence as the alliance prepares for a long quarrel with Moscow. Last week, a Russian aircraft carrier passed through the English Channel as it traveled to Syria in a show of force along Europe's shores. Alliance defense ministers aim to make good on a July promise by NATO leaders to send forces to the Baltic states and eastern Poland from early next year. The United States hopes for binding commitments from Europe to fill four battle groups of some 4,000 troops, part of NATO's response to Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and concern it could try a similar tactic in Europe's ex-Soviet states. Comment: This propaganda still lives despite Russia showing no interest invading any country. France, Denmark, Italy and other allies are expected to join the four battle groups led by the United States, Germany, Britain and Canada to go to Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, with forces ranging from armored infantry to drones. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the commitments would be "a clear demonstration of our transatlantic bond." Diplomats said it would also send a message to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has complained that European allies do not pay their way in the alliance. The battle groups will be backed by NATO's 40,000-strong rapid-reaction force, and if need be, further follow-on forces, for any potential conflict, which could move into Baltic states and Poland on rotation. The strategy is part of an emerging new deterrent that could eventually be combined with missile defenses, air patrols and defenses against cyber attacks. However, the alliance is still struggling for a similar strategy in the Black Sea region, which Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said is becoming a "Russian lake" because of Moscow's military presence there. Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey are expected to soon come forward with a plan to increase naval and air patrols in the area, as well as a multinational NATO brigade in Romania. For the Kremlin, the U.S.-led alliance's plans are already too much given Russia's grievances at NATO's expansion eastwards. Stoltenberg denied going too far. "This is a credible deterrence, not to provoke a conflict but to prevent conflict." Comment: Stoltenberg's thinking is flawed since moving troops to a country's border based on no threats is an act of aggression that promotes conflict. Next year's deployments have taken on greater symbolism since Russia pulled out of several nuclear disarmament agreements in the past two months while moving nuclear-capable missiles into its Baltic exclave in Kaliningrad. The so-called Iskander-M cruise missiles can hit targets across Poland and the Baltics, although NATO officials declined to say if Russia had moved nuclear warheads to Kaliningrad. "This deployment, if it becomes permanent, if the presence of nuclear weapons were confirmed, would be a change in (Russia's) security posture," the United States' envoy to NATO, Douglas Lute, said. Tensions have been building since Crimea and the West's decision to impose retaliatory sanctions, but the breakdown of a U.S-Russia brokered ceasefire in Syria on October 3, followed by U.S. accusations that Russia has used cyber attacks to disrupt the presidential election, have signaled a sharp worsening of East-West relations. EU leaders met last week to consider fresh sanctions over Russian bombing of civilian areas in Aleppo and NATO's Stoltenberg said he fears the Russian warships heading to the Mediterranean could launch new attacks on the Syrian city. Even before the break down of the Syrian ceasefire, Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended a treaty with Washington on cleaning up weapons-grade plutonium, signalling he was willing to use nuclear disarmament as a new bargaining chip in disputes with the United States over Ukraine and Syria.

On Friday’s broadcast of “PBS NewsHour,” New York Times columnist David Brooks argued that especially with Israel and Russia Donald Trump is “siding with a foreign leader against the US president. ” Brooks said, “What’s sort of remarkable is that, especially in the Israel and the Russia cases, you’ve got a US citizen, Donald Trump, siding with a foreign leader against the US president. There is a reason why have tried to remain mute during their transitional periods, relatively, because you just don’t want to be for somebody — some other country against your own government, and especially when you’re about to take the helm of that government. And there will be a lot of permanent people who are just going to be stuck there, who’s — who are now in a war between the and the guy they’re currently serving. ” Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

Did you know that poor air quality in the home can cause a condition called “Sick Building Syndrome”? This is caused by an accumulation of toxic gases known as Volatile Organic Compounds ( VOCs ) which are released from common household goods , including everything from your cleaners to appliances and even the food you eat. In addition to being carcinogenic and neurotoxic, long-term exposure to VOCs can lead to other serious health implications including, respiratory dysfunction, genetic abnormalities, and dermatitis. It begs the question, what are we subjecting ourselves to, doesn’t it? NASA’s Clean Air Study reports how certain houseplants help to filter and remove toxins from the air. Houseplants have long been known to clean the air in small spaces, but some of these plants are more beneficial—and prettier to look at—than others. For those of you who prefer the bright colors of flowering plants, the following list shows the best beauties for filtering the air in your home. 5 Indoor Plants That Will Improve Air Quality Succulents Everyone loves the ease in caring for succulents and some of these create delicate flowers too. Here’s a quick fact: when photosynthesis stops at night, most plants absorb oxygen and release carbon dioxide? But, there are a few plants – like orchids, succulents and epiphytic bromeliads that will take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen at night time. Meaning, these would be ideal plants to have in bedrooms to keep the oxygen flowing at night. Flamingo Lilly AKA Flamingo Flowers, these are durable and fairly easy to grow in low light, low water situations. They can thrive for many years under ideal conditions but are hearty enough to maintain growth for up to two years in even the most adverse situations (i.e., this is a perfect flowering plant for those lacking a green thumb!) . They have large, deep green, heart-shaped leaves and produce long lasting, bright red or hot pink flowers. The Flamingo Lilly is great at removing the toxins formaldehyde (found in many paper products), xylene (found in tobacco smoke and vehicle exhaust), and ammonia (found in cleaning products) from the air. *Beware that the Flamingo Lilly (like a lot of flowering plants) is toxic to dogs and cats, so be sure to keep them away from your family pets. Barberton Daisy The Barberton daisy is available in many colors ranging from white to bright red. The hybrids sold in garden centers typically produce two or more single stemmed stalks with a single flower sprouting from each one. These flowers are up to four inches wide and are quite impressive to look at. The Barberton Daisy can be grown indoors in medium-levels of sunlight, with moist soil. They can flower at any time of the year and each flower blooms for approximately six weeks. Barberton Daisies filter out trichloroethylene (found in ink, paint, rubber products, lacquers and varnishes), formaldehyde, and xylene. Peace Lilly The Peace Lilly is easy to care for and gives a telltale droop when it is in need of water. They flourish in shade and low light and you can expect your Peace Lilly to bloom with dozens of striking white flowers in the springtime. Peace Lillies are extremely effective at filtering multiple toxins from the air. They work on trichloroethylene, formaldehyde, xylene, benzene (used in plastics, detergents, dyes, and glue), and carbon monoxide. If you can only have one flowering plant in your home, the Peace Lilly might be a good bet. *Like the Flamingo Lilly, this one is toxic to pets as well, so beware. Florist Chrysanthemum The Florist Chrysanthemum requires bright light and moist, high-quality soil, so it needs a bit more care and upkeep than the other flowers listed here so far. But with the proper maintenance and right kind of soil, the Florist Chrysanthemum will produce lots of big, beautiful blooms (typically in the red and pink color family, though occasionally you will see bright purples and yellows) that will last for up to 8 weeks. Like the Peace Lilly, the Florist Chrysnthemum filters out multiple toxins including trichloroethylene, formaldehyde, xylene, and benzene (used in plastics, detergents, dyes, and glue). *This plant is also mildly poisonous to dogs and cats (if the stems are ingested they will cause stomach upset and disorientation) so again, use caution. If you feel that your home suffers from poor air quality or quite possibly sick building syndrome, start adding some indoor plants to frequented rooms and see if your health improves. Pamela Bofferding is a native Texan who now lives with her husband and sons in New York City. She enjoys hiking, traveling, and playing with her dogs. This information has been made available by Ready Nutrition Originally published October 29th, 2016 How To Grow Pineapples Like a Pro! How to Select the Best Grow Light for Your Indoor Garden Strong Correlation Seen Between Flowers and Emotional Health The Most Poisonous Plants and How to Recognize Them Infographic: Composting 101

RIO DE JANEIRO — The lives of the world’s top golfers revolve around a village much smaller than the facilities in and around Olympic Park, where they received a warm reception in the sport’s return to the Olympic program after a absence. In a typical week on the PGA Tour, the players are handed the keys to luxury vehicles. In Rio de Janeiro, they rode in shuttle buses or were driven around in armored cars by members of a security detail. On Sunday, a week after Bubba Watson finished in a tie for 25th at the PGA Tour stop in Connecticut and collected a $47, 226. 66 check, he earned nothing for finishing tied for eighth at the Rio Games, which he described as “one of the greatest golf trips I’ve ever been on. ” The biosphere that the golfers normally inhabit was broadened immeasurably during the weeklong competition that culminated with the coronation of Britain’s Justin Rose, who closed with a 67 to win the first gold medal awarded in golf since 1904. Rose, the 2013 United States Open champion, finished at 16 under par, two strokes ahead of the reigning British Open champion, Henrik Stenson of Sweden. Rose and Stenson arrived at the 18th hole tied at 15 under. Rose hit his third shot about three feet from the hole and then watched as Stenson for bogey. Rose made his birdie putt to claim the gold. Matt Kuchar of the United States carded the day’s lowest round, a 63, to claim the bronze at 13 under. As he came off the 18th green, Kuchar pulled his wife, Sybi, into a lingering embrace. When they separated, he told her, “I’ve never been so happy with a finish in my life. ” Despite not winning a medal, Watson, a Masters champion, said: “This is the greatest sporting event I’ve ever been a part of. I get to go to the Masters for the rest of my life, but it’s just golf. ” The sport’s return to the Olympics got off to an inauspicious start, with many of the best players, including the top four in the rankings, opting out because of health concerns, security fears and scheduling issues. Those who came appeared prepared to leave with lasting memories and no apparent regrets. “Once we got down here, we realized what a great experience it was,” said Rose, who was inspired to win a medal for his wife, Kate, a former member of the British acrobatic gymnastics team. She was a European champion who rose to fourth in the world before retiring at age 17 without having had a chance to compete in the Olympics because her sport was not included in the Summer Games. “I was very excited about golf in the Olympics,” Kate Rose said. “At least one of us will get to the Olympics. So from the beginning, he really embraced it. ” While golf’s Big Four — Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy — stayed home, Rose and his wife ventured out to watch gymnastics. Watson turned up at diving, swimming, women’s field hockey and men’s basketball sessions. Stenson checked in at handball matches. When golfers talk about their team, they typically mean their caddies. At the Olympics, Rose’s support group included all the athletes competing for Britain and every fan on the course waving the Union Jack. A sellout crowd of 12, 000 flocked to the course Sunday. The spectators’ support for their countrymen dispelled the notion that golf is an individual sport. “With the flags and everything, it’s as emotional as I’ve ever felt about a win,” said Rose’s caddie, Mark Fulcher. “Honestly, bless athletics,” he added, referring to track and field. “It looked great, but it was a stadium. There was nothing about this place today. It was an amazing atmosphere. ” At the start of the week, Rose and Fulcher added an app to their phones to receive alerts whenever a British athlete wins a gold medal. “It’s going to be pretty amazing seeing the gold flip up with Rosie,” Fulcher said. During his down time, Kuchar attended a bronze medal tennis match featuring the American doubles team of Jack Sock and Steve Johnson. He watched the Americans finish off their Canadian opponents and run toward the players’ box, shouting giddily about getting to wear their “podium jackets. ” The scene stuck with Kuchar, who said he got to thinking about how nice it would be to wear the United States jacket that was reserved for the medals ceremony. On Sunday, his eyes welled up as he talked about his podium jacket moment. “It was just an overwhelming feeling of pride,” he said. Kuchar’s caddie, John Wood, stood by his man all day only to be separated from him for the medals ceremony. Wood did not care that the caddies do not get medals. He choked up and took several seconds to compose himself. “Being a part of this,” Wood said, “I don’t need anything else. ”

On a frigid February day in Reykjavik, I stood chested and dripping wet just inside the dressing room at the Vesturbaejar pool, facing a long, cold walk to the outdoor hot tubs. My host was stoic, strong, a Viking. I was whining. “I just don’t want to go out there,” I said. “How do you make yourself do it?” “You must, to swim in the pool,” Valdimar Hafstein said with a shrug. He is a folklorist at the University of Iceland who studies the country’s pools. “Kids hate it, too. I have to haul my kids kicking and screaming. ” I took a deep breath and tried to think of warm things. Wearing only a Speedo bathing suit — I had packed three, in honor of the island’s reputation as one of the company’s most avid markets — I stepped onto the deck. It was a few degrees below freezing. Imagine the feeling you get when you hold an ice cube tight, that combination of sting and ache, except imagine it all over your nearly nude body. Battling my ingrained instincts never to run at a swimming pool, I fell into a kind of brisk aiming for the large set of interconnected hot tubs in the center of the complex. I’m sure I looked ridiculous. The good news: I’d never been less concerned about my appearance while wearing almost nothing in public. Small snowflakes glittered in the sky, which at 4 p. m. was already darkening toward dusk. I reached the largest hot tub and sank to my chin. For one glorious moment, I felt my mind go blank: There was just my body, my big, stupid body in its stupid bathing suit, enveloped in warmth, the cold wind on my ears only heightening my delight. Behind me, Valdimar ambled across the deck, saying hello to a neighbor in another hot pot. Every Icelandic town, no matter how small, has its own pool. There are ramshackle cement rectangles squatting under rain clouds in the boonies. There are fancy aquatic complexes with multilevel hot tubs and awesomely dangerous water slides of the sort that litigious American culture would never allow. All told, there are more than 120 public pools — usually geothermally heated, mostly outdoors, open all year long — in Iceland, a country with a population just slightly larger than that of Lexington, Ky. “If you don’t have a swimming pool, it seems you may as well not even be a town,” the mayor of Reykjavik, Dagur Eggertsson, told me. I interviewed him, of course, as we relaxed together in a downtown hot tub. These public pools, or sundlaugs, serve as the communal heart of Iceland, sacred places whose affordability and ubiquity are viewed as a kind of civil right. Families and teenagers and older people lounge and chat in sundlaugs every day, summer or winter. Despite Iceland’s cruel climate, its remoteness and its winters of 19 hours of darkness per day, the people there are among the most contented in the world. The more local swimming pools I visited, the more convinced I became that Icelanders’ remarkable satisfaction is tied inextricably to the experience of escaping the fierce, freezing air and sinking into warm water among their countrymen. The pools are more than a humble municipal investment, more than just a civic perquisite that emerged from an accident of Iceland’s volcanic geology. They seem to be, in fact, a key to Icelandic being. This past winter, I visited Iceland and swam in 14 pools all over the country. I found them full of Icelanders eager to discuss what role these underwater village greens played in their lives. I met recent immigrants to the Westfjords town Bolungarvik as they mingled with their new neighbors, their toddler carrying fresh handfuls of snow into the hot tub and delightedly watching them melt. I saw Icelandic parents splash with their kids to calm them before bedtime I talked to adults who remembered that ritual from childhood and could summon the memory of slipping their bodies between cool sheets. I heard stories of divorcing couples splitting their local pools along with their possessions and retired couples bonding by swimming together every day. I watched four steaming septuagenarians swim laps in a northern Iceland pool while the sunrise lit up the mountains behind them and an attendant brought out foam cups of coffee balanced on a kickboard. “I think the swimming pools are what make it possible to live here,” the young artist Ragnheidur Harpa Leifsdottir said. “You have storms, you have darkness, but the swimming pool is a place for you to find yourself again. ” For centuries, Iceland was a nation of seamen who regularly drowned within sight of shore. One local newspaper reported in 1887 that more than 100 Icelanders had drowned that winter alone. In 1931, a boat carrying four farmers capsized while they tried to row a panicking cow across Kollafjordur fjord. Three of the men died one, who had studied swimming, survived. Incidents like this fostered an enthusiasm for swimming education. At the time, the only place to learn was a muddy ditch downstream from the hot spring where the women of Reykjavik did laundry. Inspired by that hot spring, and using a heavily mortgaged drill that had been brought to Iceland to search fruitlessly for gold, the city soon tapped the underground hot water generated by Iceland’s volcanic underbelly. Iceland’s first geothermal heat flowed into 70 homes and three civic buildings: a school, a hospital and a swimming pool. The national energy authority offered loans to villages across the country to encourage geothermal drilling, and within a generation, the ancient turf house had nearly disappeared from Iceland, replaced by modern apartment buildings and homes, all of them so toasty warm that even on winter nights most Icelanders leave a window open. With hot water flowing through the country and a populace eager to take a dip — swimming education was made mandatory in all Icelandic schools in 1943 — pools soon popped up in every town. “Because of the weather, we don’t have proper plazas in the Italian or French style,” the writer Magnus Sveinn Helgason explained to me. “Beer was banned in Iceland until 1989, so we don’t have the pub tradition of England or Ireland. ” The pool is Iceland’s social space: where families meet neighbors, where newcomers first receive welcome, where rivals can’t avoid one another. It can be hard for reserved Icelanders, who “don’t typically talk to their neighbors in the store or in the street,” to forge connections, Mayor Dagur told me. (Icelanders generally use patronymic and matronymic last names and refer to everyone, even the mayor, by first name.) “In the hot tub, you must interact,” Mayor Dagur continued. “There’s nothing else to do. ” Not only must you interact you must do so in a state of quite literal exposure. Most Icelanders have a story about taking visitors, often American, to the pools and then seeing them balk in horror at the strict requirement to strip naked, shower and scrub their bodies with soap from head to toe. Men’s and women’s locker rooms feature posters highlighting all the regions you must lather assiduously: head, armpits, undercarriage, feet. Icelanders are very serious about these rules, which are necessary because the pools are only lightly chlorinated tourists and shy teenagers are often scolded by pool wardens for insufficient showering. The practice was even the subject of a popular sketch on the comedy show “Fostbraedur,” in which a zealous warden scrubs down a reluctant pool visitor himself. That one of the naked bystanders in that viral video, Jon Gnarr, was later elected mayor of Reykjavik demonstrates that Icelanders are quite conscious about nudity in the service of pool cleanliness. This was made most clear to me, perhaps, in a dressing room in the town Isafjordur, where a chatty store manager named Snorri Grimsson told me a long story about the time a beautiful Australian girl asked him to go to the pool but then revealed that she doesn’t shower before swimming. He mugged a look of comic horror, then brought home the kicker: “It was a very difficult decision. Thankfully, the pool was closed!” I could tell this bit killed with his fellow Icelanders, but my own appreciation of it was somewhat impeded by Snorri’s delivery of it in the nude, his left foot on the sink, stretching like a ballet dancer at the barre. “It’s wonderful,” an actress named Salome Gunnarsdottir told me in the pool one evening. “Growing up here, we see all kinds of real women’s bodies. olds, aged, pregnant women. Not just people in magazines or on TV. ” Her friends, all in their 20s and pregaming for a Saturday night out in the bars, nodded enthusiastically. “Especially pregnant women,” Helga Gunnhildursdottir agreed. “You can see: Oh yes, she really got quite big. ” “It’s so important,” Salome said earnestly. “You get used to breasts and vaginas!” As a journalist, I will never forget the uniquely Icelandic experience of shaking hands with handsome Mayor Dagur and then, just minutes later, interviewing him as we each bared all. (In the tradition of politician interviews everywhere, an aide lurked nearby, in a manner I would call unobtrusive but for the fact that he was also naked.) I admit I found this disconcerting at first, but eventually there was something comforting about seeing all those other chests and butts and guts — which for the most part belonged to normal being bodies, not sculpted masterpieces. And that comfort extends out into the pool proper, where you might be covered — only a little, in my case — but are still on display. But nudity, by encouraging a slight remove from others, also allows the visitor to focus, in a profound and unfamiliar way, on his own body, on its responses and needs. Despite its being a social hub, the pool also cultivates inwardness. Results of a questionnaire distributed by Valdimar’s research team suggested that women in particular go to the pool to seek solitude. According to women I talked to, most everyone respects the posture of aquatic reverie — head tilted back against the pool wall, eyes closed, mouth smiling a tiny smile of satisfaction — that you adopt when you come to the pool wanting to be left alone. Sigurlaug Dagsdottir, a graduate student researching the pools, speculated that the sundlaugs’ social utility in Icelandic communities derives in part from the intimacy of the physical experience: In the pool, she said, you can “take off the five layers of clothing that usually separate you from everyone else. ” As such, the pools are a great leveler: Council members in Reykjavik make a point to circulate among the city’s sundlaugs, where they often take natured grief from their constituents. The filmmaker Jon Karl Helgason, who is shooting a documentary about Iceland’s pools, said, “When people are in the swimming pool, it doesn’t matter if you are a doctor or a taxi driver. ” His girlfriend, Fridgerdur Gudmundsdottir, added, “Everyone is dressed the same. ” On the way from Reykjavik to Keflavik airport is the Blue Lagoon, a luxurious water spa that is one of Iceland’s most popular tourist destinations. There, for 40 euros, you can shower in private stalls and float in rich water — discharge from the nearby Svartsengi power plant, which uses turbines twice as tall as a man to generate 75 megawatts of electricity and 150 thermal megawatts of heat for the surrounding towns. My final day in Iceland, I turned off the highway just after the Blue Lagoon and instead drove into one of those towns, the port Rekjanesbaer. The lobby of the town’s pool is dotted, fittingly, by a series of like windows. The woman working at the desk charged me nine bucks and asked, “Is this your first time in an Iceland swimming pool?” “Nope,” I said with some pleasure. The familiar signs in the showers were supplemented by notices in Polish, targeting the new wave of immigrants who have found work in Rekjanesbaer. I snapped on my Speedo, steeled my courage and exited the warm lodge into the chill. The Celsius hot pot was full of enormous men with type physiques and also a small girl in a pink ruffled bathing suit. The largest of the Blutos rose from the water, picked up the girl and carried her, giggling, to the family pool. His biceps sported a tattoo of a roaring bear consumed by flames. This time I didn’t approach anyone, didn’t ask any questions. I didn’t speak at all. I concentrated on what I could feel: the water pressing lightly on my skin, the wind prickling my beard. All around me was the soft white noise of a community. The conversation the connection the freedom, within that flurry of sociability, to withdraw and simply be within yourself. It called to mind something a Ph. D. student named Katrin Gudmundsdottir told me on my first day in Iceland. She was describing a certain ineffable emotional state to me, a native Icelander’s sense of comfort while immersed in her neighborhood sundlaug. When I thought of what she said, a perfect G chord strummed inside me. “It’s not exactly like you’re happy,” she had mused. “It’s that you know how to be in the swimming pool. ” The sun was low on the horizon, bright but evanescent. The only other thing in the blue sky was the contrail of a jet, pointed to the west. I closed my eyes. I was in the pool.

US to Hold Off on Cyberwar With Russia Until After Election Obama wants to do it together with Clinton Antiwar.com While the Obama Administration has made much of its intention to start a full-scale cyberwar against Russia at a “time of their choosing,” the most recent reports suggest that the war is effectively on hold at least until the presidential election in two weeks. From President Obama’s standpoint, the hope is to work with Hillary Clinton, if she becomes president-elect, to launch a cyber war that they both can get behind. Indeed, both have appeared very hawkish against Russia, and Obama apparently doesn’t want to deny Clinton a chance to participate in the early days of a war she’d inherit. Starting a cyberwar ahead of a Trump win would be even less wise, as Trump has opposed the idea of picking fights with Russia, and expressed strong doubts about Democratic Party “certainty” that Russia is behind hacks against them. Rep. Adam Schiff (D – CA), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, says that another factor is concern about provoking Russian retaliation for such a US attack before the vote, with many Democrats concerned Russia could release “forged” documents to embarrass the Clinton campaign. Earlier this month, Vice President Joe Biden reported that he has informed Russia of an imminent retaliatory hack, and says the Obama Administration will pick a time which will “have the greatest impact.” Russia has denied any involvement in the hacks.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority had good news on Monday for subway riders worried about the shutdown of the L train: The closing will be shorter than expected. The authority’s board voted to approve a $477 million contract to close the L train tunnel between Brooklyn and Manhattan for 15 months to repair damage caused by Hurricane Sandy — instead of 18 months as originally planned. The work is set to begin in April 2019. After several board members raised concerns about a company that was awarded the contract, Judlau Contracting, officials assured the board that the company was the best choice for the project and would finish the work on time. “I expect this project to be completed in 15 months,” said Lawrence S. Schwartz, an authority board member. “I want to make sure that Judlau and everybody else who is going to be involved on this project understands that it will not be tolerated or accepted to be 15 months and one day. ” Brooklyn residents who rely on the L line have grown increasingly anxious over how they will commute during the closing. Officials at the authority have discussed several alternatives using nearby subway lines and buses, but they have not outlined a specific plan yet. About 250, 000 people take the line under the East River each day. The L train tunnel, officially known as the Canarsie Tube, was one of several subway tunnels inundated by floodwaters during the hurricane in 2012. Workers must demolish and replace thousands of feet of crumbling walls, tracks and cables. The agency awarded the contract to two companies, Judlau Contracting and TC Electric. Judlau Contracting had been criticized for delays on the Second Avenue subway and in rebuilding the Cortlandt Street subway station, which was damaged on Sept. 11. One authority board member, Charles G. Moerdler, said the company had done a “dreadful job” on the Second Avenue subway. “I am reluctant in the extreme to vote to give Judlau yet another chance,” Mr. Moerdler said at a board committee meeting last month. Stephen Plochochi, an official at the authority who oversees subway and bus procurements, said officials had looked at the company’s “full body of work,” including the rehabilitation of the Montague Tube, which was also damaged during the hurricane. If it takes longer than 15 months to fix the Canarsie Tube, the company will be fined $410, 000 per day, Mr. Plochochi said. Cesar Pereira, a vice president at Judlau Contracting, said in a statement that the company had a “long and successful history” of working with the authority. “With the help of its employees and subcontractors and the M. T. A. ’s very capable staff and designers, Judlau and TC will once again deliver a successful project to the M. T. A. and the riding public,” Mr. Pereira said. Transit advocates have urged the authority to provide robust bus service during the closing, including dedicated bus lanes on the Williamsburg Bridge, 14th Street in Manhattan and Grand Street in Brooklyn. A proposal for a “PeopleWay” on 14th Street would prioritize buses, bike lanes and wider sidewalks over cars. If people use Uber and other car services or private shuttles during the L train shutdown, street congestion will become even worse, said Paul Steely White, the executive director of Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group for pedestrians and cyclists that is campaigning for the PeopleWay. The authority should announce its plans for alternative service by this summer so that commuters can plan their lives, he said. “It’s going to completely gum up the streets unless some aggressive bus prioritization measures are instituted,” Mr. White said. “It will lead to catastrophic traffic congestion. ”

The top aid official at the United Nations gave a gloomy assessment of the Syria relief effort on Monday, saying no convoy deliveries had been made to besieged areas this month and that the suffering in Aleppo, once Syria’s commercial epicenter, was the “apex of horror. ” In a briefing to the Security Council, the official, Stephen O’Brien, the under secretary general for humanitarian affairs, said that while he welcomed Russia’s support last week for a in Aleppo — as he had proposed earlier in the month — there had been no assurances from other combatants. “This cannot be a offer,” Mr. O’Brien said. “Plans are in place, but we need the agreement of all parties to let us do our job. ” United Nations officials have said that the fighting in Aleppo — pitting Syrian government forces and their Russian backers against an array of insurgents, including Islamist militants — has left 275, 000 people in eastern Aleppo completely cut off from food, water and medicine, and has severely limited aid deliveries to 1. 5 million people in western Aleppo. Humanitarian access to hundreds of thousands of Syrians in other combat zones has been blocked by fighting, security concerns and the Syrian bureaucracy, Mr. O’Brien said, despite an international agreement reached in May to permit truck convoy deliveries. As a result, Mr. O’Brien said, no convoys were dispatched in August, despite some successful, if limited, deliveries in July. “We unfortunately appear to be, once again, in reverse gear,” Mr. O’Brien said. He described the crisis in Aleppo, portrayed in images of dead and wounded children like that of a boy pulled from the rubble last week, as “the apex of horror at its most horrific extent of the suffering of people. ” While he said efforts were still underway to secure the proposed in Aleppo, Mr. O’Brien expressed little hope of avoiding “a humanitarian catastrophe unparalleled in the over five years of bloodshed and carnage in the Syrian conflict. ”

The violence that stopped Breitbart tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking at the University of California, Berkeley this week happened after some incredibly irresponsible statements by university administrators and local politicians. [Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin tweeted that Milo’s “hate speech” was not “welcome in our community. ” UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks said that the university not only opposed Milo’s views, but also his ostensibly harmful presence on campus. Yet most of the blame must lie squarely with the rioters, who include Black Bloc anarchists and “Antifa” ( ) activists, who exemplify the very fascism they supposedly want to resist. These groups openly and explicitly declare their intention to disrupt public gatherings where conservatives — or, really, anyone they do not like for whatever reason — are scheduled to appear. They not only celebrate violence, but they come armed, masked, and prepared to fight and vandalize. Were these groups merely showing up at events to protest — to express their views without silencing others — they would be perfectly entitled to do so. But lately, they have taken advantage of the timidity of the police — which they helped engineer, through their participation in the Black Lives Matter movement — to run amok, breaking up events and assaulting innocent people in full view of law enforcement officers and even the media. They are almost never pursued and never punished. Consider this, from the Berkeley campus newspaper, the Daily Californian: while there were three arrests made Wednesday — two in connection with violence earlier in the day — only one of them was made by campus police at the protest itself, despite the violence. As for the city police, “[a]ccording to Berkeley Police Department spokesperson Officer Byron White, the city of Berkeley did not make any arrests in connection with the protests Wednesday night,” the Daily Californian reported. The groups that showed up Wednesday seem to exist to prevent others from exercising their civil and constitutional rights of free speech and assembly. It is time to treat them the way that the Southern Poverty Law Center — before it busied itself with suppressing conservative opinion — took on the Ku Klux Klan. It filed a civil suit against the KKK under a theory of agency, wherein the organization was held collectively responsible for any and all of the crimes and civil rights violations its members committed in furtherance of its aims. In this case, that would mean holding radical groups collectively accountable for damage and civil rights violations by individuals at any particular protest — whether of Milo in Berkeley or Gavin McInnes in New York. An objection might be raised: these groups are . That is, they are just a bunch of kids with Twitter accounts. Unlike the KKK, which had a national headquarters that it was forced to hand over to a black woman because of a $7 million civil judgment over the murder of her son, there are no assets to seize, no institutions to shut down, no one financially liable. Well, maybe. In at least some cases, there is a paper trail connecting disruptive protests to large, organizations. In October 2016, Breitbart News reported that the George Democracy Alliance had funded groups with “materials, food, supplies, stipends and bail funds to sustain and escalate their disruption of business as usual. ” A document obtained by Breitbart News showed the Democracy Alliance taking credit for participating in the “uprising in Baltimore. ” It is well past time for the government, or conservative legal foundations, to pursue the donors behind groups that proudly and deliberately prevent others from exercising their civil rights. And it is time to shame them: the black masks of the Black Bloc and “Antifa” activists should be regarded like the white hoods of the Klan — as the uniforms of extremist hatred. Joel B. Pollak is Senior at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. His new book, How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

October 31, 2016 - Fort Russ - Aleksandr Khrolenko, R IA Analytics - translated by J. Arnoldski - Hardly a day goes by without foreign media circulating the false accusations that the leadership of the Syrian Arab Republic is guilty of the deaths of hundreds of thousands and even millions of Syrians. Even authoritative international organizations are cited as the sources of the dissemination of such information. In July 2013, according to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, the death toll in Syria exceeded 100 thousand. In October 2014, the Jordanian prince and UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, determined the number of people killed in Syria to be 200,000. By October 2015, according to UN figures, the number of killed in Syria was more than 240,000. In September 2016, the UN officially presented the figure of 300,000 Syrians killed and more than half of the Syrian population as refugees. According to the Dubai news channel “Al-Arabiya,” in October 2015, the number of killed had already surpassed 250,000. The New York Times produced similar figures. After the beginning of the Russian air force’s operation in Syria, the figures of casualties presented by Western sources did not change for the better. Of course, the countries participating in the conflict “correct” the data in favor of their interests and many media outlets operate with unverified information from the Supervisory Board on Human Rights of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights created by the opposition. How objective are these disseminated figures? The Russian Institute of Oriental Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences has conducted its own study using data from the Central Statistical Bureau of Syria. This was reported at a press conference entitled “Syria: The Thorny Path to Reconciliation” at the Russia Today media agency by the UN’s senior advisor and representative on Syria, Russian Academy of Science correspondent Vitaliy Naumkin. In 2011, the population of Syria amounted to 22.51 million people. According to the figures of the Syrian Central Statistical Bureau, the Syrian Arab Republic’s population has declined to 17.87 million. Given the average growth rate of the population excluding refugees, the total number for today was supposed to be 24.64 million people. As of October 20th, 2016, the number of Syrian citizens (including emigrants) is 24.54 million. Given correct calculations, the number of Syrians killed over five years of war has been determined, taking into consideration that around 7 million people have left Syria as refugees. According to the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the total number of Syrians killed is 105,000. The losses of the government army and militia amount to 45,000. 24,000 militants of terrorist organizations from among the local population have been killed, and 35,000 civilians have been killed. The largest number of civilians have been killed at the hands of jihadists and the so-called “moderate opposition.” Around 18,000 in Syria have been killed by foreign mercenaries of terrorist groups including citizens from 80 countries. Earlier, the ex-head of the Israeli secret services Nativ, Yaakov Kedmi, presented almost identical figures of Syrian losses (around 40,000 civilians). American assessments, as a rule, range from several hundred thousand to millions killed, which is beyond the boundaries of reality. But the point is not even in the statistics. The death of people in principle should not become an object of political speculation or an instrument of information war. American lies on the number of people killed in Syria is doubly disgusting because it is the US that developed and attempted to realize regime-change projects against unfavorable leaders in a number of Middle Eastern and African “rouge states” by means of terrorists from “moderate oppositions” and fomenting civil wars... The American coalition does not want to publicize the civilian losses resultant of their air strikes on ISIS in Iraq. And yet the coalition has repeatedly hurled accusations against others for losses among the civilian population. During the Iraq War (2003-2011), 460,000 Iraqis were killed. The assault on Mosul is also resulting in many victims among the civilian population. Palestinian political analyst Azzam Abu Saud remarked in the Norwegian newspaper Dagsavisen: “The US has made a mass of mistakes in Syria. The war in Syria never would have been so bloody if the US had not supplied weapons to rebels. The US, in addition, created the Islamic State, which has now spun out of their control.” Another Norwegian publication, ABC Nyheter , adds: “The US claims that only 55 civilians and 45,000 militants from ISIS and other militant Islamists have been killed as a result of more than 11,000 coalition airstrikes on ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria since 2014…Even when the American leadership is presented with the lists of civilians killed in Syria and Iraq and their photographs, they refuse to acknowledge their deaths.” The Russian approach to resolving the Syrian and other Middle Eastern conflicts remains the same: there is no military solution. Success is possible only through dialogue and national reconciliation. Follow us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! Donate!

It was around 10 a. m. on a summer morning, and James Altucher, perhaps the world’s least likely success guru, was packing his worldly possessions, about 15 items, into a small canvas bag. “If I were to die, my kids get this bag,” Mr. Altucher said sardonically as he packed away his laptop, iPad, three sets of chinos, three and a Ziploc bag filled with $4, 000 worth of $2 bills (“People always remember you if you tip with $2 bills,” he said) and departed a friend’s loft on East 20th Street. A few months ago, the boyish let the lease expire on his Cold Spring, N. Y. apartment, and dumped or donated virtually everything he owned, more than 40 garbage bags of sheets, dishes, clothes, books, his college diploma, even childhood photo albums. Since then, he’s been bouncing among friends’ apartments and Airbnb rentals. It is not that he is down on his luck. Several of the 16 books he has written, including his 2013 manifesto, “Choose Yourself,” continue to sell briskly. His weekly podcasts, “The James Altucher Show,” featuring interviews with notables as diverse as Ron Paul and Luther Campbell of 2 Live Crew, and “Question of the Day,” with Stephen Dubner, are downloaded about two million times a month. Mr. Altucher is simply practicing what he preaches. Over the last this former tech entrepreneur, venture capitalist and financial pundit has reinvented himself as a guru, preaching survival in an era when the American Dream — the college diploma, the corner office, the home — seems like a sham. So one by one, he has shed all of them. “I have ambition,” he said, “to have no ambition. ” “In the past 25 years, income has gone down for the student loan debt is at an high,” Mr. Altucher said over a lunch of zucchini pancakes at a Russian restaurant in the Flatiron district. “We had $3 trillion in bailout money, and income inequality got higher than ever. People feel like they were scammed. ” Mr. Altucher’s diagnosis will come as no surprise to the anxious middle class, the downsized and the dispossessed who have propelled the angry populism of Bernie Sanders and Donald J. Trump. But while there is no shortage of anger and confusion about the supposed waning of the American Dream, what makes Mr. Altucher stand out are his conclusions. College, he says, is a waste of money. Although he graduated from Cornell, Mr. Altucher argues that the college degree has become a costly luxury in a world where millennials feel like debt serfs and professional jobs are scarce. In a 2012 book, “40 Alternatives to College,” he argued that young adults could travel the world, educate themselves online and start a business with the same $200, 000 they may spend on college. Investing the money with even a 5 percent return would offer greater financial benefit over the course of a lifetime, he wrote in a blog post. Similarly, he believes homeownership is a foisted upon unwitting citizens by a $14 trillion mortgage industry. “It’s a total scam,” he said in an online interview. “Nobody should put more than 5 to 10 percent of their portfolio, their assets, in any one investment. But when people buy a home, they go crazy. They put like 50, 60, 70 percent of their net worth into this one investment. It’s illiquid, so when times are hard, you can’t sell it. ” And he think stocks are a racket. It’s a fierce worldview that is rooted in Mr. Altucher’s own life. In the 1990s, as a young Silicon Alley whiz, Mr. Altucher made millions with a company, Reset Inc. that counted Sony and Miramax as clients. Soon, he and his wife at the time, Anne (they divorced in 2010) were living in a loft in TriBeCa that he bought for $1. 8 million and spent another $1 million renovating. He felt flush enough to take a helicopter to Atlantic City on weekends to play poker. The lavish lifestyle did not fill his emotional void. “Nobody should feel sorry for me,” he said. “I was really stupid, but I thought I was dirt poor. I felt like I needed $100 million to be happy. So I just started investing in all these other companies, and they were just stupid companies. Zero of these investments worked out. ” As his fortunes collapsed, he was forced to sell his apartment for a $1 million loss (it was after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001). To reclaim his wealth, he set his sights on the stock market. He read more than a hundred books on investing, and eventually wrangled a job writing for James Cramer’s site, TheStreet, and later The Financial Times. Before long, his trademark hairdo, which looks like carnival cotton candy spun from steel wool, was a familiar sight on CNBC. But his fortunes crumbled once again during the financial crisis that began in 2008. The hedge fund he started ran out of gas, various withered, writing gigs dried up. With few options open, he decided to chronicle his failures on a personal blog, which he named Altucher Confidential. “I just said, ‘I’ve made every mistake in the book: Here’s what they are,’” Mr. Altucher said. To Wall Street friends, he seemed like Howard Beale, the anchorman in “Network” who had a meltdown . Instead of touting the latest hot mutual fund, he wrote posts like “10 Reasons You Should Never Own Stocks Again. ” (Reason No. 1: You’re not that good at it.) He confessed thoughts of suicide. “Financial people were like watching a train wreck in real time,” Mr. Altucher said. “I had friends I hadn’t talked to since high school call me and say, ‘Hey, are you O. K.?’” He soon discovered a sizable audience of people whose own dreams had just gone down the sinkhole. They, too, were looking to claw their way out. “The No. 1 search phrase on Google that takes people to my blog is ‘I want to die,’” Mr. Altucher said. But Mr. Altucher seems like an unlikely person to look to for solace. Bookish, contrarian and given to speaking in staccato bursts, this skinny computer geek from North Brunswick, N. J. is like the Robbins, the strapping star. His appearance turned out to be a plus, as he developed a following blogging about his “life hacker” experiments. There was “the 5 p. m. diet,” in which he eats nothing after that time (“Your face gets more angular. I’ve seen it happen. Not just with me. With everyone on this diet”). There was “the alien trick” to beat anxiety, in which he pretends to be an alien and wake up every day on another planet with a new body (“I have no worries because tomorrow I will be in a new body. No envies. No worries. Only new things to explore”). There was his zombie email gimmick, when he would respond to unread emails from seven years ago: “Sure! I’ll have coffee today” (“People laugh and all is forgiven,” he said). By writing candidly about his own triumphs and flameouts, Mr. Altucher “shows readers how they can succeed despite their flaws, not because of a lack of flaws,” said Tim Ferriss, author of the “ ” series. “This is hugely refreshing in a world of gurus who are all forced smiles and . ” It helped that Mr. Altucher, despite his biting views on topics like college, maintained a positive tone. “I am an optimist,” he said. “There’s a great novel from the ‘60s by Richard Fariña called ‘Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me.’ Basically, I’ve been down on the floor so many times, I know now that I can always bounce back, and it gets faster each time. ” His philosophy is perhaps most clearly articulated in “Choose Yourself,” which he summarized over lunch like this: “If you don’t choose the life you want to live, chances are, someone else is going to choose it for you. And the results are probably not going to be pretty. ” Chapters include “How to Be Less Stupid” (“I lose at least 20 percent of my intelligence when I am resentful”) and “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Mediocre People” (procrastination, he writes, “is your body telling you that you need to back off a bit and think more about what you are doing”). A key tenet of the book is the Daily Practice, a wellness regimen that comprises the physical (eat well, try to go to sleep by 9 p. m. and rise by 5 a. m. break a sweat for at least 10 minutes a day) emotional (be around people you love, who love you) mental (write a list of 10 ideas each day to exercise the “idea muscle” before it atrophies) and spiritual (feel gratitude every day). He calls them the four pillars of happiness. “A chair needs four legs to be stable,” he said. And there has never been a better time to choose yourself, he said. You do not have to be Mark Zuckerberg, he said, to be an entrepreneur. “You can learn basic web development,” he said. “You can go to Codecademy. com, learn the basic skills in three months, then sell them on Freelancer. com, where there are millions of jobs. I know who are making a few thousand dollars a month. ” Thanks to you don’t have to be Deepak Chopra to write books. “Everybody is or can be an expert on something,” he said. “Take me: I haven’t been in the kitchen in 20 years. I hate eating vegan. But how hard would it be to read every book on veganism, buy some ingredients, write up a little book: ‘The ’s Vegan Cookbook’?” He would know. “Choose Yourself,” which Mr. Altucher on Amazon, sold more than a copies, he said, and made The Wall Street Journal’s list. His fans swear by him. One reader, Beck Power, recently wrote an essay on Medium about how he inspired her to ditch a frustrating job to start her own online travel business. “I dance in my underwear,” she wrote. “I don’t have panic attacks anymore. ” A talk he gave at a London church last year drew about 1, 000 people, and fans have organized “Choose Yourself” meetups in cities around the world. On LinkedIn, where he publishes original free essays, Mr. Altucher has more than 485, 000 followers and is ranked the No. 4 “influencer,” after Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Mohamed A. the financier and author. “He’s the Oprah of the internet,” said Kamal Ravikant, a tech entrepreneur who wrote the Amazon best seller “Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It. ” Unlike most gurus, “James is on a very personal journey, allowing his readers and listeners to experience it in real time,” said Brian Koppelman, a creator of Showtime’s “Billions,” who also moderates “The Moment,” a podcast on Slate. “He’s telling you the story on Saturday, on Sunday he’s talking about how it failed, and on Monday he’s talking about doing it a different way. ” Mr. Altucher, in fact, disputes that he is a guru in the first place. “I am not a guy at all,” he said. “Advice is autobiography,” he added. “I only say what has worked for me, and then others can choose to try it or not. ” Besides, what worked yesterday may not work tomorrow. “It’s like Mike Tyson says,” Mr. Altucher said. “‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. ’”

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday reiterating the administration’s commitment to religious liberty and authorizing Attorney General Jeff Sessions to issue guidance for all federal agencies. [The expected order did not go as far as some news outlets had earlier reported it might. The Nation reported a leaked February draft that would have “create[d] wholesale exemptions for people and organizations who claim religious objections to marriage, premarital sex, abortion, and trans identity. ” The text of the actual order hands authority to issue guidance on federal religious liberty law for all federal agencies to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The protection of religious freedom has been seen as a priority for the new leadership at the Department of Justice. Due to the broad interpretive power of federal agencies, this guidance authorization could yield major changes in federal policy as it relates to the exercise of religious beliefs. For example, the Justice Department, through existing authority, has already been able to halt the implementation of the previous administration’s transgender policy for schools. The order also specifies that the Department of the Treasury and other federal agencies should not pursue adverse action, most prominently revocation of status, based on the speech of religious individuals and organizations in relation to moral and political issues not “ordinarily … treated as participation … in a political campaign. ” This language may give religious leaders more leeway in speech on articles of faith, like biblical positions on homosexuality, marriage, and transsexualism, that have entered the public discourse as political issues, without fear of losing their tax status. The order also directs the Secretaries of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services to revisit regulations issued by their agencies relating to “ ” mandates under Obamacare. The specific section referenced in the order has been used by these agencies to require religious employers to provide contraceptives and other types of services in contravention of their beliefs.

Páginas Libres ¡Demoledor amparo contra Salgado, Keiko y 72 congresistas más! Socios | 5 de noviembre de 2016 Caso 3 directores BCRP: Exp. N° Juzgado Constitucional de Turno de Lima Escrito N° 01 Amparo por sensible violación de los derechos constitucionales: 1.- a contar con funcionarios públicos elegidos legítimamente; 2.- al voto congresal válido, con apego a la Constitución Política, ley respectiva y al Reglamento del Congreso; y 3.- a la transparencia de los actos de los diversos órganos del Estado que garantice el acceso a la información pública. SEÑOR JUEZ CONSTITUCIONAL DE TURNO: GUILLERMO OLIVERA DÍAZ, DNI 08365472; con domicilio real y ad líttem en Avenida San Borja Sur 520-201, SAN BORJA, en la demanda que promuevo, por propia iniciativa y convicción, en defensa de la constitucionalidad y legalidad de los actos del Estado, así como la acrisolada moral y ética política que el país reclama, a su Despacho digo: Que, siendo todo acto del Estado, y de personas particulares, pasibles de control constitucional, cuando se violan o amenazan derechos fundamentales, interpongo demanda de amparo contra: a.- la Presidenta del Congreso, Luz Salgado Rubianes; b.- la ciudadana Keiko Sofía Fujimori Higuchi; c.- y todos los congresistas, cuya relación adjunto en hoja oficial aparte, que, en la sesión del Pleno del Congreso, del 27-10-2016, votaron por la elección inconstitucional, ilegal, antirreglamentaria, con fraude procesal, de 1.- José Chlimper Ackerman; 2.- Rafael Rey Rey; y 3.- Elmer Rafael Cuba Bustinza, como miembros del Directorio del Banco Central de Reserva, según aparece en la Resolución Legislativa del Congreso N° 008-2016-2017-CR, del 27-10-2016, publicada en El Peruano al día siguiente, cuya nulidad debe ser declarada, porque se dictó en violación de los Artículos 86°, 94° y 102°, inciso 2, de la Constitución Política; del Artículo 11° de la Ley Orgánica del Banco Central de Reserva del Perú; y del Artículo 64°, 1ª. parte e inciso c del Reglamento del Congreso. Extraña proponente, con fraude procesal.- A prima facie, la aludida elección fue hecha ante pedido, con claro dolo de fraude procesal, misterioso, nada transparente, sospechoso y asaz temerario, planteado por la ciudadana Keiko Sofía Fujimori Higuchi, quien es una persona particular, lideresa máxima del partido político Fuerza Popular y no ejerce función alguna en el Congreso. Que ella propuso a Chlimper y Cuba lo confesó el congresista fujimorista Miguel Ángel Torres Morales, al declarar sin ambages al periódico Perú 21, el 2 de noviembre del año en curso. ¡Keiko pidió ayer y tuvo efecto al día siguiente, por una suerte de arte congresal de birlibirloque, manumitido, porque así opera con eficacia y velocidad el fraude procesal (Art. 416, Código Penal) que ella sigilosamente puso en marcha! No dijo Torres Morales si tal proposición de Keiko Fujimori fue oralmente, por escrito, por fax o tuit, ni ante qué autoridad u órgano del Congreso lo hizo, aunque se sabe que fue puesta en conocimiento de la Junta de Portavoces del Congreso, que preside Luz Salgado, recién ese mismo día, 2-11-2016, a las 4 de la tarde, y la meteórica y espasmódica elección fue al día siguiente, 3-11-2016, en horas de la mañana, en menos de 24 horas, sin debate alguno en el Pleno, sin que los congresistas votantes tengan entre manos el Currículum Vitae, o siquiera algunos documentos, que permitieran apreciar o escudriñar sobre si los candidatos propuestos tenían o no los requisitos que la Ley Orgánica del Banco Central de Reserva exige, como son “reconocida solvencia moral” y una “amplia competencia y experiencia en economía y finanzas”, y que “no representen a entidad o interés particular alguno”. Obviamente, estos requisitos deben acreditarse con documentos, no deducirse, y no inferirse del aire, por tratarse de hechos macizos, sostenidos en el tiempo, tampoco supeditarse el voto a consignas partidarias, amén de la subida trascendencia del elegido. PETITORIO Que, en estricta aplicación del Artículo 40° del Código Procesal Constitucional que permite interponer demanda de amparo, a “cualquier persona”, por violaciones a los “derechos difusos que gocen de reconocimiento constitucional” (como al aire, al agua, al medio ambiente, al patrimonio cultural e histórico, al legítimo ejercicio de la función pública, a la institucionalidad con cabal asidero constitucional, legal y reglamentario, si acaso alguien los ha logrado contaminar o averiar), interpongo esta demanda de amparo por la afectación o lesión, que agravia al Estado o a la sociedad en general, de los siguientes derechos constitucionales: 1.- a contar con funcionarios públicos elegidos legítimamente; 2.- al voto congresal válido, con apego a Constitución Política, Ley Orgánica del Banco Central de Reserva y al Reglamento del Congreso; y 3.- a la transparencia de los actos del Estado que garantice el acceso a la información pública. En consecuencia, solicito que, reponiéndose las cosas al estado anterior a la violación de los derechos denunciada, se declare la NULIDAD (dejar sin efecto) de la Resolución Legislativa N° 008-2016-2017-CR, de 27-10-2016, publicada en El Peruano, el 28-10-2016 y del Procedimiento Especial Parlamentario que le sirve de antecedente, de la misma fecha, donde se ¡omitió adrede el debate! y se adoptó ¡acuerdos, vía votación ilegítima, sin previo debate!, que el Reglamento del Congreso exige (Artículo 64°), pasos procedimentales que son de obligatorio cumplimiento, por estar previstos en normas especiales, atinentes precisamente a la elección de los miembros del Directorio del Banco Central de Reserva que le compete al Congreso, tal como lo prevé el Artículo 86° de nuestra Carta Política. FUNDAMENTOS DE HECHO y JURÍDICOS 1.- Derecho a contar con funcionarios públicos elegidos legítimamente El Artículo 86° de la Constitución Política se ocupa expresamente de la elección, por el Congreso, de tres (3) miembros del Directorio del Banco Central de Reserva. Por lo tanto, los ciudadanos tenemos el derecho que esta selección o elección sea minuciosa, ponderada, responsable y legítima, contando con los elementos de juicio del caso. No se elige a ciegas, por consignas inalámbricas, sin verle la cara al elegido, sin escucharlo y sin examinar quién es, como en realidad se hizo. ¡Se violó, pues, con suma torpeza esta norma constitucional! Como quiera que la propia Constitución Política no consigna otros ingredientes de tal elección, ella misma se remite a que sea el Reglamento del Congreso el que la desarrolle. De eso se ocupa el Artículo 94° de la misma Carta Política, cuando establece: “El Congreso elabora y aprueba su Reglamento, que tiene fuerza de ley”. Con este Reglamento el Congreso opera, actúa o funciona y no a discreción de la presidenta, o pero aún de una persona particular como Keiko Fujimori. Con tal sentido y propósito el aludido y vigente Reglamento del Congreso trata expresamente de la elección de esos tres directores, en un llamado “procedimiento parlamentario especial”, el mismo que ha sido burlado, transgredido o violado, pese a su asidero constitucional y su indiscutido rango legal. Veamos lo que establece su Artículo 64°, inciso c, del “procedimiento especial”, como uno de los 3 “procedimientos parlamentarios”: “Los procedimientos parlamentarios son el conjunto de actos sucesivos e integrados que se realizan para promover el debate y los acuerdos del Congreso destinados a producir leyes y resoluciones legislativas, actos de control político y designaciones y nombramientos. Pueden ser: a.- Procedimiento Legislativo; que comprende el debate y aprobación de leyes ordinarias, leyes orgánicas, leyes autoritativas para ejercer la legislación delegada, leyes presupuestales y financieras, leyes de demarcación territorial, leyes de reforma de la Constitución Política, del Reglamento del Congreso y de resoluciones legislativas. b.- Procedimientos del Control Político; que comprende la investidura del Consejo de Ministros, la interpelación a los Ministros, la invitación a los Ministros para que informen, las preguntas a los Ministros, la solicitud de información a los Ministros y a la administración en general, la censura y la extensión de confianza a los Ministros, la investigación sobre cualquier asunto de interés público, la dación de cuenta y el antejuicio político. c.- Procedimientos Especiales; que comprende la designación del Contralor, la elección del Defensor del Pueblo, de los miembros del Tribunal Constitucional y de 3 miembros del Directorio del Banco Central de Reserva, así como la ratificación del Presidente de dicho Banco y del Superintendente de Banca y Seguros”. (Artículo modificado aprobado por el Pleno del Congreso de fecha 6 de marzo de 1998). En consecuencia, el “procedimiento especial”, donde resultaron elegidos los 03 directores en cuestión, vulneró o violó lo que dispone la parte general e introductoria de este Artículo 64° del Reglamento del Congreso, aplicable a aquél, respecto de todo “procedimiento parlamentario”, que es definido como el “conjunto de actos sucesivos e integrados que se realizan para promover el debate y los acuerdos del Congreso destinados a producir...resoluciones legislativas, actos de control político y designaciones y nombramientos”. Lo real y apodíctico fue que en aquella sesión donde se produjo la elección ¡no hubo debate alguno!, por lo que no se examinó nada que permita colegir que se eligieron o escogieron a quienes tenían una “reconocida solvencia moral” o quizá “amplia competencia y experiencia en economía y finanzas”. ¡Todo fue un remedo! Como se podrá fácilmente advertir la elección del jueves 27-10-2016 ¡no se hizo en un procedimiento especial reglamentario!, sino en uno trucado, ¡sin promover el debate!, y, además, ¡sin adoptar los acuerdos como producto de dicho debate! Por lo tanto, no solo se transgredió el Artículo 86° de la Constitución Política, sino también la primera parte y además el inciso c del Artículo 64 del Reglamento del Congreso, de expreso fundamento constitucional, con lo cual la ciudadanía peruana toda, de la que formo parte, resultó agraviada en su derecho a contar con funcionarios del Banco Central de Reserva constitucional, legal y reglamentariamente elegidos. ¡Por ende, los 3 ciudadanos que de este modo vedado resultaron electos: José Chlimper Ackerman, Rafael Rey Rey y Elmer Rafael Cuba Bustinza, frente a una proposición de Keiko Fujimori con fraude procesal, son ilegítimos! 2.- Derecho al voto congresal válido, con apego a Constitución Política, Ley Orgánica del Banco Central de Reserva y Reglamento del Congreso Como se sabe la elección de los 3 miembros del Directorio del Banco Central de Reserva fue por 84 votos, la de Elmer Cuba; por 72, la de José Chlimper; y por 71, la de Rafael Rey. Ningún guarismo de esa votación puede considerarse válido, legítimo, porque ninguno de los votantes tenía la información documental que oficialmente se debería haber presentado, distribuido a cada uno de los parlamentarios y examinada como fundamento de su voto. La propia misteriosa proposición de dos candidaturas por Keiko Fujimori sabemos que no apareja ningún documento de los candidatos, pese a que la Ley Orgánica del Banco Central de Reserva, en su Artículo 11°, exige como requisitos, de los que aspiren a ser miembros del Directorio del Banco, tener “reconocida solvencia moral” y una “amplia competencia y experiencia en economía y finanzas”. Se trata de elementos reales, de hechos que deben probarse con documentos indubitables que el votante tiene que tener ante sí, para analizar, contrastar, evaluar y decidir su voto con apego a derecho, sin falsear su decisión a través del voto no informado o por intereses vitandos que agreden al país. Reza el violado y desacatado, al votar inválidamente, Artículo 11° de la citada Ley Orgánica: “ Los Directores deben ser peruanos, tener reconocida solvencia moral y poseer amplia competencia y experiencia en economía y finanzas. No representan a entidad o interés particular alguno y su voto debe tener en cuenta únicamente el cumplimiento de la finalidad y las funciones del Banco”. Si todos los congresistas votantes nunca vieron, dentro del llevado a cabo “procedimiento especial parlamentario”, al que hemos antes glosado, ningún documento de los 3 propuestos, 2 por Keiko y otro dizque por el APRA, ni hubo debate alguno –el cual se obvió adrede- respecto de sus calidades personales y profesionales, el voto que emitieron fue ciego, inducido por el mentado fraude, sin deliberación mental alguna, al carecer de elementos de juicio objetivos reales sobre esa “reconocida solvencia moral”, la necesaria “amplia competencia” y además la “amplia experiencia” que deben favorecer a cada uno de los propuestos para un voto aprobatorio, válidamente emitido. ¡Si los hechos-requisitos y su prueba concomitante no están ante sí del congresista votante, su voto resulta viciado, por ende ilegítimo y nulo! 3.- Derecho a la transparencia de los actos del Estado que garantice el acceso a la información pública. Todo indica que nada en este procedimiento parlamentario de elección de estos 3 directores del BCRP fue transparente; todo fue turbio, de principio a fin, con un clarísimo fraude procesal iniciado por la demandada Keiko Fujimori. Tanto la repentina proposición fraudulenta hecha por Keiko Fujimori, el día 26-10-2016, un día antes de la elección, sin que se sepa hasta hoy cómo fue, ante una Junta de Portavoces que no recibió ni vio los Currículum Vitae de los propuestos; así como la aluvional votación llevada a cabo el día siguiente, el jueves 27-10-2016, sin examinar ningún documento acerca de los requisitos que la ley exige a los candidatos y sin el debate que el Artículo 64° del Reglamento del Congreso requiere para esta elección específica, en un procedimiento parlamentario especial, en relación a las calidades personales y profesionales, de los 3 futuros miembros del Directorio del Banco Central de Reserva, no reviste la obligatoria transparencia que deben adornar a los actos del Estado, como éste del Congreso, que prevé y regula la Ley 27806, o Ley de Transparencia, a fin de garantizar el derecho fundamental del acceso a la información que consagra el numeral 5 del Artículo 2 de la Constitución Política. Cuando los actos estatales realizados en todo el procedimiento especializado parlamentario en cuestión no son transparentes, como en efecto no lo han sido, el derecho fundamental a la información pública resulta vulnerado, lo cual debe ser reparado. ¿Fue la bravura de una bravísima KEIKO, su audacia o un interés nefando que la llevó a proponer con fraude a miembros del BCRP? ¡Por lo menos, se sabe que fue Keiko Fujimori quien propuso, ¿oralmente o por escrito?, a su secretario general de su partido político, José Chlimper y a su ocasional asesor Elmer Cuba, como directores del BCRP, ambos activistas de su campaña electoral presidencial última, y ninguno de los 72 congresistas suyos chistó, rechistó, ni hizo amago de mueca alguna, todos doblegaron la cerviz y designaron, de un día a otro, mediante su voto, a los propuestos, sin trámite ni debate alguno, ciegamente, sin examen de requisitos legales y sin tener a la vista a semejantes candidatos, ni siquiera oírlos porque tenían una premura inusitada! ¿Tiene una persona particular, como Keiko Fujimori, lideresa de una agrupación partidaria, el derecho de proponer, con efectos legales e inmediatos, en un procedimiento especial parlamentario, sin ser congresista, a directores del citado Banco, nada menos que al Secretario General de su partido Fuerza Popular y a otro activista de su reciente campaña electoral presidencial? ¿Serán los propuestos, de contundente actuación político partidaria, las personas independientes que contribuyan a la autonomía que requiere el BCRP sin poner en riesgo la confidencialidad de una sana política bancaria y monetaria en particular? ¡Lo confiesa alegremente que ella fue la que propuso a estos 2 candidatos, su atento y comedido lugarteniente congresista Miguel Torres Morales, hijo de un antiguo fujimorista, ultramontano, Carlos Torres y Torres Lara, ya fallecido; pero que dejó a su heredero universal en el Congreso y precisamente al lado o detrás de Keiko. ¡Su padre estuvo detrás de don Alberto, hoy preso! Si esta proposición fraudulenta, silenciosa y nada transparente fue suficiente para que 72 votaran por ella, significa que Keiko Fujimori ¡maneja a su antojo a los 72 congresistas de su partido Fuerza Popular, ora directamente o por interpósita persona, como lo hacía antes Vladimiro Montesinos Torres (hoy también preso), en los años 90! Además, la proposición y decisión adoptada viola el texto expreso del Artículo 11° de la Ley Orgánica del Banco Central de Reserva del Perú. INCONSTITUCIONAL, ILEGALIDAD, DELITO y PRODUCTO ILEGÍTIMO La conducta es la pluralidad de actos realizados que exteriorizan una voluntad; y el producto es el resultado conseguido con esa conducta. Los congresistas, mayormente fujimoristas, que designaron a José Chlimper, Rafael Rey y Elmer Cuba, para integrar el directorio del Banco Central de Reserva del Perú (BCRP), violaron la Constitución Política, las leyes Orgánica de dicho Banco, de Transparencia y el Reglamento del Congreso de la República, en la forma antes anotada. Cuando tales parlamentarios producen actos administrativos, como es designar miembros del directorio del BCRP, o integrantes de otros organismos, están obligados a respetar las normas constitucionales y las legales de todo tipo y no zurrarse en ellas sin incurrir en responsabilidad. Su designio es respetar las normas preexistentes. La Ley Orgánica del Banco Central de Reserva del Perú, en su artículo 11°, obliga que se designe como miembros del directorio del Banco a quienes tienen "reconocida solvencia moral" y además "amplia competencia y experiencia en economía y finanzas", requisitos que son hechos macizos, que deben ser reales y acreditados con los documentos respectivos. El congresista que vota por alguien propuesto no puede crear estos hechos en su cabeza, deducirlos de meros dichos o inferirlos por consigna partidaria. Viola la ley si desoye este mandato legal; comete, pues, una ilegalidad, una arbitrariedad. Del mismo modo, todo parlamentario debe "velar por el respeto de la Constitución y de las leyes", porque así lo establece el Artículo 102°, inciso 2, de la Constitución Política. Hasta podríamos aseverar que deben dar el ejemplo en acatar la Constitución y lo que dispone toda norma legal. Este precepto constitucional fue desacatado por todos aquellos congresistas que designaron con su voto a Chlimper, Rey y Cuba, como miembros del BCRP, sin que estén acreditadas las situaciones de hecho que la citada Ley Orgánica ha previsto. Violaron, por ende, esa norma constitucional que les obliga a respetar las leyes en general y la del BCRP en particular. ¡Produjeron una infracción constitucional! Esta acción judicial (proceso de amparo) debe anular el ilegal acto administrativo que surgió sobre la base de dicha ilegalidad e inconstitucionalidad y el quehacer delictivo fraudulento antes reseñado y hacer efectiva la responsabilidad de los infractores si no está cubierta por la inviolabilidad de votos y opiniones. El delito de fraude procesal que se ha cometido está previsto en el Artículo 416° del Código Penal, que sanciona el uso de cualquier medio fraudulento para obtener resolución contraria a la ley. En efecto, se violó el Artículo 11° de la Ley Orgánica del Banco Central de Reserva, sin que se conozcan si los propuestos por Keiko reunían los requisitos exigidos. MEDIOS PROBATORIOS Ofrezco como medio de prueba puntual, lo siguiente: a.- Copia de la Resolución Legislativa N° 008-2016-2017-CR; b.- Copia de la nota periodística de Perú 21, del 2 de noviembre del 2016. c.- 3 copias de la relación de congresistas demandados que votaron aquel 27-10-2016. ANEXOS a.- Copia del DNI del demandante, Anexo 1; b.- Copia de la Resolución Legislativa, Anexo 2; c.- Copia del periódico Perú 21 del 2-11-2016, Anexo 3; d.- 3 copias de la relación de los congresistas demandados y que votaron aquel 27-10-2016. POR TANTO: Solicito, a vuestro juzgado constitucional, admitir la presente Demanda de Amparo contra Luz Salgado Rubianes, Presidenta del Congreso, Keiko Sofía Fujimori Higuchi y otros más, tramitarla conforme a ley y declararla FUNDADA, en su oportunidad. OTROSÍ DIGO.- Pido al juzgado que se sirva requerir oficialmente la relación de los congresistas que votaron por la elección de los señores José Chlimper Ackerman, Rafael Rey Rey y Elmer Rafael Cuba Bustinza, a quienes también los estoy demandando y el juzgado los considerará como tales, al haber cumplido sumisamente con el sentido de la proposición fraudulenta que les formuló su codemandada Keiko Sofía Fujimori Higuchi. Lo hago de este modo ya que en la web del Congreso no aparece esta relación de los congresistas que votaron del modo cuestionado. Ni siquiera es posible agenciarse del acta de la indicada sesión del Pleno de aquel aciago 27-10-2016. Aunque unos colaboradores me han proporcionado el documento respectivo que acompaño. Lima, 04 de noviembre del 2016. Tomado de http://senaldealerta.pe/noticias/%C...

DAVOS, Switzerland — In a world troubled by grave uncertainties over the basics governing trade, security and the mission to limit climate change, President Xi Jinping of China on Tuesday portrayed his nation as a responsible global citizen dedicated to furthering international integration. That a leader of the People’s Republic of China can stake a claim to the mantle of leadership in the realm of free trade speaks to the unforeseen, even surreal alteration of the global order in recent months. His message, delivered here in the Swiss Alps at the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum, appeared meticulously timed to the tumultuous moment at hand. He was speaking three days before Donald J. Trump was to be inaugurated president of the United States, raising the prospect of a trade war with China, and on the same day that Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain outlined plans to pursue her country’s departure from the European Union. The Chinese leader used his moment to make an expansive case for globalization as a source of prosperity. He never mentioned Mr. Trump by name, nor did he even make reference to the fact that the White House is about to gain a new occupant. Yet his speech resonated as a rebuke of the trajectory that the has promised — not least, his repeated threat of steep tariffs on Chinese goods as a response to what he portrays as predatory trade practices. In myriad ways, Mr. Xi is a strikingly steward of openness and connectivity. Under his direction, China’s Communist Party has clamped down severely on civil society, tightening restrictions on the internet and jailing scores of lawyers focused on using the country’s own laws to defend the rights of aggrieved people. He has projected China’s navy into contested waters in the South China and East China Seas. Throughout his speech, Mr. Xi carefully used the phrase “economic globalization,” while avoiding unqualified “globalization,” reflecting China’s spurning of an open internet, universal human rights and free elections. Indeed, the metaphor he used to reject protectionism — “like locking oneself in a dark room” — could just as well have been used to describe China’s political path under his leadership, with the Communist Party overtly guiding a campaign to restrict the influence of what it labels Western notions such as democracy. This month, China’s top judge delivered a speech sharply criticizing the idea of an independent judiciary, which he said must be “resolutely rejected. ” Not for nothing, China carries a reputation as a country willing to bend the norms of global commerce when such a course suits its interests. Steel producers around the globe complain that Beijing dumps its steel on world markets at prices lower than the cost of raw materials, costing jobs at mills from Italy to Indiana. But the populist ferment refashioning the global order has made previously unthinkable roles possible. In the United States, the supposed citadel of free market enterprise, a wealthy real estate magnate has captured the White House on the strength of his appeal as a supposed champion of workers. Here in Davos, where technology executives fret about the plight of Africa while drinking champagne paid for by investment banks, the chairman of the Communist Party of China — an institution that rules in the name of revolution — draped himself in the banner of globalization. None of these details were featured in Mr. Xi’s highly choreographed appearance at the gathering that has become a rite of passage into the ranks of the global elite. For Klaus Schwab, executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, the participation of China’s president amounted to a public relations coup because it was the first time a Chinese head of state had attended. Mr. Schwab obliged with his trademark soft treatment. He asked no questions, solicited none from the audience, and delivered an introductory address so laudatory that it provoked winces among some in the audience. “In a world marked by great uncertainty and volatility, the international community is looking to China to continue its responsive and responsible leadership in providing all of us with confidence and stability,” Mr. Schwab said. That Mr. Xi chose this year to make his debut underscores China’s attempt to improve its international standing just as much of the world appears in turmoil. The United States is about to inaugurate as president someone who has questioned the relevance of powerful institutions that have anchored the world order for decades, from NATO to the World Trade Organization. Britain is pursuing a fraught divorce from the European Union, dealing a blow to those who have advanced regional integration as a solution to economic and security problems. The growing electoral strength of populist, Union parties in France, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany has intensified fears that the union may not endure. These developments have yielded a gnawing sense that a complex world is suddenly short of adult supervision. Mr. Xi devoted his speech to trying to fill that vacuum, casting China as a trustworthy power in which people are taking considered action to address consequential challenges — from climate change to a weak global economy. “This appears to be a time of uncertainty in the United States, in the U. K.,” said Lee, a prominent venture capitalist in Beijing who invests in emerging Chinese companies. “The world needs strong leaders to give the world confidence. ” In keeping with the traditions of speeches delivered by senior Chinese officials, Mr. Xi’s address was long on platitudes, tortured metaphors and literary references, while nearly bereft of policy pronouncements. Yet, in totality, it delivered a striking message: In an era in which the United States and Britain are consumed with recriminations over the strains of globalization, China will continue to tether its fortunes to world trade. Mr. Trump has picked as a key trade adviser the economist Peter Navarro, who has long portrayed China as a mortal threat to American prosperity. Mr. Trump has threatened to brand the country a currency manipulator, opening the door to punitive tariffs. Though Beijing has in years past maintained its currency, the renminbi, at artificially low levels to make its goods cheap on world markets, it has in recent months intervened aggressively in the other direction, propping up its value against the dollar. “China has no intention to boost its trade competitiveness by devaluing the RMB,” Mr. Xi said. In another implicit rebuke of Mr. Trump, the Chinese president argued forcefully for on the 2015 Paris climate accord. Mr. Trump has threatened to renounce the deal while naming to his cabinet several people who question the basic scientific consensus on climate change. “The Paris agreement was hard won,“ Mr. Xi said. “All signatories should stick to it instead of walking away from it, as this is a responsibility we must assume for future generations. ” Mr. Xi was accompanied by an enormous delegation of Chinese officials and business executives who reveled in a moment on the world stage, posing for photos as they awaited the president’s arrival. In conversations on the sidelines, many expressed concerns about the threats of tariffs from the incoming Trump administration, fearing the consequences of a potential trade war between the world’s two largest economies. But most assumed tough rhetoric would eventually give way to the realities of shared commercial interests. China relies on access to the United States, the largest consumer market on earth, as the landing place for its exports. The United States depends upon China for a vast range of finished goods. Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group, the Chinese giant, said he assumed cooler heads would find a way to avoid trade hostilities. “I don’t think it will happen,” he said of the hostilities. “It’s going to be a disaster if it does. ” More than a decade has passed since the United States Congress effectively prevented CNOOC, a Chinese oil company, from buying the American energy company Unocal, branding the merger a threat to national security. Fu Chengyu, CNOOC’s chief executive at that time, pointed to the treatment of the merger as an indication of American hypocrisy on free trade. But on Tuesday, as he waited for the Chinese president to deliver his address, Mr. Fu, who recently retired from another major Chinese energy company but retains a party post, expressed confidence that Mr. Xi and Mr. Trump would forge common ground. “Eventually, they will cooperate to get more benefits,” Mr. Fu said. “At the beginning, Trump will say something very harsh. He will try to do something punishing. But this is a sword. Once he’s in the White House, he will see things differently. ”

Dueling court rulings left the fate of a presidential vote recount in Michigan uncertain on Tuesday night, and elections officials in the state said they were “seeking clarity about the next steps. ” A recount of last month’s election had already begun in parts of Michigan, one of three closely contested states where Jill Stein, the Green Party’s presidential nominee, had called for new counts, when the seemingly conflicting legal decisions emerged late Tuesday from state and federal courts in Michigan. Ms. Stein has cited concerns about computer hacking and the reliability of voting machines, setting off legal fights with lawyers for Donald J. Trump, his campaign and his allies, who view the recounts as a needless and expensive tactic. A panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals found that Ms. Stein, who finished a distant fourth to Mr. Trump in the election, had not met the state’s requirements for a recount because she had no chance of winning. The panel concluded that the Michigan Board of State Canvassers ought not to have permitted a recount to go forward because Ms. Stein, given the size of the vote for her, could not be deemed “aggrieved,” as required for a recount under state election law. Yet in a separate decision, also announced late Tuesday, a federal appeals court turned down requests from the state’s Republican Party and from Bill Schuette, the state’s attorney general, to block a federal court ruling that had cleared the way for the recount to proceed more swiftly than expected. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit found that Mark A. Goldsmith, a Federal District Court judge, had not violated his discretion when he ordered the recount to go forward on Monday in order to get it done by Electoral College deadlines in . Even as the recount has proceeded in conference halls and fairgrounds around the state, the legal fight has been fierce. By late Tuesday, even some officials leading the recounts seemed puzzled about what the latest court rulings would mean for counting the rest of the ballots. In at least one county, Ingham, Barb Byrum, the county clerk, said her workers were finished with their count. In Pennsylvania, another of the states where Ms. Stein has pressed for a recount, lawyers for Ms. Stein went to federal court on Monday to ask a judge to order a recount on constitutional grounds. Republicans are countering the petition, and a decision is pending. And in Wisconsin, a recount was in its sixth day and proceeding as scheduled, with little change in the statewide results as they were reported on election night. A lawsuit seeking to halt the recount, filed late last week by two “super PACs” supporting Mr. Trump and by a private citizen, is still pending a judge has scheduled a hearing for Friday.

Doubling down on his feud with the Democratic Party leadership, Senator Bernie Sanders said that if elected president, he will not reappoint Democratic National Committee chairwoman, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida. He made the comments during an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper that is set to air on Sunday. Mr. Sanders also said he was supporting Tim Canova, a law professor who has begun an insurgent campaign against Ms. Wasserman Schultz for her South Florida congressional seat. They will face off in a primary this summer. “Well, clearly, I favor her opponent,” Mr. Sanders told Mr. Tapper. “His views are much closer to mine. ” For months, Mr. Sanders has accused the party of favoring Hillary Clinton, often calling her the “anointed candidate. ” He has criticized the party for a debate schedule that his campaign says favors Mrs. Clinton an arrangement under which Mrs. Clinton raises money for the party and the appointment of Clinton supporters as leaders of important convention committees. Most recently, he and the party have sparred over what happened at the Nevada Democratic convention a week ago. There, Sanders supporters disrupted the proceedings in a fight over delegates and the state party chairwoman was later threatened. After the party rebuked Mr. Sanders for not clearly condemning what had occurred, his campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, accused Ms. Wasserman Schultz of “throwing shade on the Sanders campaign from the very beginning. ” This week, Ms. Wasserman Schultz pushed back against the Sanders campaign in an interview with CNN. “We’ve had the same rules in place that elected Barack Obama,” she told the network. “These rules were adopted for state parties all across the country in 2014. ” In a statement on Saturday, she said that “even though Senator Sanders has endorsed my opponent, I remain, as I have been from the beginning, neutral in the presidential Democratic primary. ” As president, Mr. Sanders would have the ability to appoint the committee chair, though it is not likely he will get that chance, as Mrs. Clinton is close to clinching the nomination. Nevertheless, he can try to draw a little blood from Ms. Wasserman Schultz with his endorsement of her primary opponent, Mr. Canova, the underdog in the race. Mr. Canova, a Nova Southeastern University law professor, has echoed Mr. Sanders’s messages about the need to combat economic inequalities and reform campaign finance. He has also mirrored, on a small scale, Mr. Sanders’s model by raising more than $1 million through small donations that have averaged about $19 each. “I’m so proud to know that Bernie Sanders favors our progressive campaign,” Mr. Canova said in a statement on Saturday. “Like Senator Sanders, I’m running a campaign that’s truly backed by the people, not big corporations — one that stands up to Wall Street interests instead of cozying up to them. ” Mr. Sanders spent Saturday campaigning across the Western states. At a rally in Vado, N. M. he offered a series of familiar attacks against Mrs. Clinton, criticizing her use of “super PACs,” her stances on trade agreements and her support of fracking. He also talked about the need to improve the poverty and high school graduation rates in the state. Mr. Sanders then went to California, where he planned to hold an evening rally in National City and where he visited International Friendship Park, an area on the United States border with Mexico. There, he walked along two large walls separating the countries with an immigration activist and Maria Puga, a woman whose husband was killed by border patrol agents as he attempted a crossing from Mexico. Mr. Sanders vowed that if elected, he will push for comprehensive immigration reform. He called a proposal by the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald J. Trump, to build a wall along the entire border both “immoral” and “impractical. ”

Zach Cartwright | November 11, 2016 The Democrats’ staggeringly piss-poor performance Tuesday night resulting in Donald Trump’s victory can be summed up in one word: Turnout. Hillary Clinton would have won had she focused her message more on appealing to white, working-class voters in rust belt states like Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. As this New York Times map of the 2012 election shows, President Obama won all of those states in 2012. Obama also won roughly 2.6 million more votes than Hillary Clinton won in 2016. Donald Trump’s narrow margin of victory in the Electoral College was only possible by winning all of the aforementioned rust belt states . There was hardly any enthusiasm behind Hillary Clinton when examining exit poll results. In an analysis of Reuters/Ipsos exit polling, Times writer Sarah Jaffe found several revealing trends showing why Clinton was a poor choice for the Democrats in terms of motivating voters to get to the polls and cast their ballots for their party’s nominee: 75 percent of respondents agreed “America needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful.” Only slightly fewer agreed that “the American economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful,” and — perhaps the kicker — 68 percent believed that “traditional parties and politicians don’t care about people like me.” The numbers bear out that argument — Clinton’s turnout was lower than Obama’s turnout in both 2008 and 2012, even though she still won the popular vote this year. No matter how you slice it, Clinton wasn’t enough of a draw to make the difference, particularly in key states like Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — states Obama won in 2012. As the Washington Post reported, three traditionally blue states Trump won in 2016 that Obama won in 2012 — Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — Clinton got between 5 and 15 percent fewer votes than Obama. The Democratic primaries were a harbinger of things to come in a general election matchup featuring Clinton and Trump. As US Uncut reported in March, Hillary Clinton’s victories in the March 1 Super Tuesday primaries all depended on voter turnout numbers lower than 2008 figures — the last time there was a contested Democratic primary. In all seven states Clinton won that day, each state had turnout anywhere between 4 percent and 50 percent lower than in 2008 . The data makes the argument all by itself. No amount of scapegoating heaped on Jill Stein supporters can explain Hillary Clinton losing traditional Democratic strongholds that Obama won not only once, but twice . In Detroit, Michigan, for example, Hillary Clinton got roughly 120,000 fewer votes than President Obama in 2012. Those votes made the difference in securing Trump’s victory, as Clinton lost Michigan by roughly half that number. Former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell — one of the most senior officials within the Democratic Party apparatus — argued in a radio interview that even though Hillary Clinton was beloved by Democratic Party leadership, Bernie Sanders would have likely prevailed among the white, working-class rust belt constituency specifically due to his anti-establishment message. “It would be interesting to think of how Bernie Sanders would’ve done. Bernie Sanders would’ve lost a few Republicans who voted for Hillary because of some of his economic views but he would’ve fought Donald pretty hard for those disaffected, angry, and frustrated workers,” Rendell said on 1210 WPHT in Philadelphia. Had the Democratic Party nominated a candidate more attuned to the mood of voters in one of the most anti-establishment elections in generations, turnout could have been much higher, and America would have averted Trump’s victory. Zach Cartwright is an activist and author from Richmond, Virginia. He enjoys writing about politics, government, and the media. Send him an email at [email protected]

WASHINGTON — When President Trump told an audience of religious leaders on Thursday that he would ‘destroy’ the Johnson Amendment, he declared his intention to sign a bill that would fundamentally alter a major aspect of the divide that has been a constant in American politics for generations. But what exactly is the Johnson Amendment? It is one of the brightest lines in the legal separation between religion and politics. Under the provision, which was made in 1954, entities like churches and charitable organizations are unable to directly or indirectly participate in any political campaign on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate. Specifically, ministers are restricted from endorsing or opposing candidates from the pulpit. If they do, they risk losing their status. Considered uncontroversial at the time, it was passed by a Republican Congress and signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican. Today, however, many Republicans want to repeal it. Back when Lyndon B. Johnson was a senator from Texas, he introduced the measure as an amendment to the tax code in 1954. Like many things Johnson did, the goal was to bludgeon a political opponent, in this case a rival in a primary who had the backing of nonprofit groups that were campaigning against him by suggesting he was a communist. Though there was no church involved, according to PolitiFact, churches were covered by the bill as well. Mr. Trump promised he would work to repeal the Johnson Amendment as part of his extensive outreach efforts to religious conservatives, a group that took a long time to warm to his candidacy. Eliminating the measure has been a goal of the right. Conservatives have argued that it violates the protections of free speech and free exercise that the First Amendment extends to houses of worship. Courts have not agreed. Speaking of the implications of a repeal last year, Jerry Falwell Jr. the prominent evangelical leader and Trump supporter, said it would “create a huge revolution for conservative Christians and for free speech. ”

President Donald Trump signaled his support for activists attending the March for Life on Friday. [“The #MarchForLife is so important,” he wrote on Twitter. “To all of you marching — you have my full support!” The President confirmed that Vice President Mike Pence will speak at the event. According to organizers, Pence is speaking around noon. Trump set big expectations for the March for Life during an interview with ABC’s David Muir when asked to compare possible crowd size to that of last week’s Women’s March on Washington: “You will have a large crowd on Friday, too, which is mostly people, too, and I didn’t realize this, but I was told. You will have a very large crowd of people — as large or larger, Trump said. Some people said it will be larger — people, and they say the press doesn’t cover them.

A New York City police official was found dead on Friday in a car on Long Island, where he is believed to have shot himself, the authorities said. The official, Inspector Michael Ameri, the commanding officer of the Police Department’s Highway District, was found in Suffolk County with what appeared to be a gunshot wound, Stephen P. Davis, the department’s top spokesman, said in a statement. The authorities in Suffolk County said detectives were investigating a death that was reported shortly before 1 p. m. in Babylon. Inspector Ameri, 44, was a friend of Deputy Inspector James Grant, the commander of the 19th Precinct on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, who had been reassigned as part of a wave of discipline amid a sprawling federal inquiry into municipal corruption in New York. Inspector Grant was placed on modified duty last month. There has been no indication that Inspector Ameri was under investigation. It was unclear whether investigators were seeking Inspector Ameri’s cooperation with their inquiry focused on Inspector Grant. Mr. Davis declined to comment on the investigation. “We’ve consistently said this is an ongoing investigation and we would not comment whatsoever,” he said. A law enforcement official said that as of Friday, Inspector Ameri’s duty status had not changed. On Friday evening, police cars were parked in front of Inspector Ameri’s home in West Babylon. Inspector Ameri was the commanding officer of the 78th Precinct in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, from 2011 to July 2014, when he left to lead the Highway District. “We are saddened to learn of the passing of Inspector Michael Ameri,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time. ” City Hall officials said that Mr. de Blasio knew Inspector Ameri in passing from the time when the inspector was commander of the 78th Precinct. Roy T. Richter, the president of the union that represents police captains, inspectors and deputy chiefs, said the group was “heartbroken” by Inspector Ameri’s death and asked “that you keep his family in your prayers during this traumatic time. ” “Inspector Ameri is known as a dedicated police officer who excelled in all of his command assignments,” he said.

Email If you can’t get enough enamel pins, then it’s time to start freaking out, because this Etsy shop is all about them. With hundreds of unique designs for you to mix and match, it’s easy to get lost in this enamel fan’s wonderland. Check it out: Or maybe enamel isn’t for you. Not a problem. Forget about the pins, in that case, and get ready to explode the moment you see this little guy: A ! He’s a bulldog puppy, he’s 2 months old—oh, and did we mention he has the most adorable face anyone has ever seen? Bulldog isn’t doing the trick? Hey, that’s totally okay! Let’s move on. Here’s an incredible pizza. And here’s a grilled cheese you need in your belly ASAP. We have collected it for you. It is here to annihilate your mind. How’s that? Are you now slobbering uncontrollably from the food? Has the food melted you to a quivering puddle of yes? If not, keep scrolling, because we’re just getting started. We will find just the thing. What about this diabolical optical illusion that is going to destroy your mind. Total brain collapse in three…two…one… Did that work? Surely you have lost it and you can’t even handle it and you love it so much it is so you. No? Fine…What else…Perhaps this is the thing that will wreck you at last: a badass vintage car. Go ahead and flip out: Still nothing? You are not yet blowing up with joy? Okay. Don’t worry. The GIF of the dog who is trapped in the toilet will now transform your body into rubble: Jesus. Let’s go back to the enamel store for a sec, maybe we scooted off it too quickly. It really is a great store. Hard enamel. Soft enamel. Lapel pins. Regular old pin-pins. If you like enamel AT ALL then it should only take one look at this set of OMG-worthy pins and you’ll be out of control with joy: What?? What do you want from us? What do you need? We will collect it here. You crave Bill Murray in public? Here is Bill Murray in public: Beautiful pic of biggest waterfall? There. It is done. Look. Look at these things. There must be

Nevada: Rep. Election Workers Intimidated November 08, 2016 Myla Gibson, 3, waits as her father Ken Gibson fills out a ballot for the presidential election at the James Weldon Johnson school in East Harlem, Republican volunteers called 911 claiming Clinton supporters were Harassing them. Volunteers canvassing and dropping off literature at houses Monday for Nevada Republican senate candidate Rep. Joe Heck were followed by supporters of Hillary Clinton, who then subsequently pulled down the literature, a source within the Nevada Republican Party told The Daily Caller in an exclusive report. The staffers following them were wearing HRC buttons and HRC stickers. Beyond following them, the HRC workers began going up to houses and illegally removing Heck literature from the doors,” the Nevada GOP source said. “When the Heck volunteers noticed this going on, they stopped to take pictures of the illegal action.” The source said that, “Within a few minutes, more HRC campaign workers showed up. At this point, the Heck volunteers began to feel threatened and called 911 to report HRC workers illegally removing campaign literature and harassing the Heck volunteers.” Reports like the case in Nevada may seem minor to some, but those that have been called to pray over this election know that it only confirms the need for prayer. The kind of anger and even violence that can manifest during and after elections is something to be taken seriously. We have seen violence erupt during elections in other countries, and it certainly isn't something we want to see in the United States. The call is to pray without ceasing Church! Article by The Daily Caller / TRUNEWS analysis. Article by , Correspondent for TRUNEWS Got a news tip? Email us at Help support the ministry of TRUNEWS with your one-time or monthly gift of financial support. DONATE NOW ! DOWNLOAD THE TRUNEWS MOBILE APP! CLICK HERE! Donate Today! Support TRUNEWS to help build a global news network that provides a credible source for world news We believe Christians need and deserve their own global news network to keep the worldwide Church informed, and to offer Christians a positive alternative to the anti-Christian bigotry of the mainstream news media Top Stories

79 GOLD , KWN King World News On the heels of continued chaos in key markets, radical changes are in store for the world and global markets. Radical Changes Are Coming On the heels of the release of his KWN audio interview covering the gold smash and urging investors to remain strong, KWN did a follow-up interview with Dr. Leeb because of the intensity of the recent takedown in gold, silver, and the mining shares: “If you’re worried that gold’s post-election drop means the bull market in the metal that we’ve been predicting is a mirage, relax. The current dip in gold, while it could last a month or two longer, is merely a slight head fake in a bull market more on course than ever to be of momentous proportions… IMPORTANT: To hear which legend just spoke with KWN about $8,000 gold and the coming mania in the gold, silver, and mining shares markets CLICK HERE OR ON THE IMAGE BELOW. If we had to sum it up in a single (albeit long) sentence, here it is: Trump’s victory and the market’s subsequent turbulence signals a seismic shift in market leadership to commodity-led growth; U.S. imports of increasingly scarce and ever more costly commodities will rise drastically and so will inflation that a behind-the-curve Fed will be helpless to curb; the eventual, inevitable upshot will be that commodity producers will become increasingly reluctant to take paper money for their ever scarcer resources and will want some more durable asset like, you guessed it, gold. That’s the case for gold in broad outline. Now for the supporting evidence. Let’s start with the reality that the U.S. has been blindly complacent about commodities, which will be required in massive amounts for the big infrastructure push Trump has promised. The U.S. Geological Survey tracks around 65 vital commodities and minerals. For over 40 of them we import more than half our needs; for 25 (about 40 percent), we import at least 90 percent of our needs. We used to be far less dependent on other nations. At the beginning of this century we imported 90 percent or more of our needs for only a quarter of important commodities and imported 50 percent or more for about half. If you wonder why that’s a big deal, the problem is that those resources will be increasingly difficult and costly to obtain as they become scarcer. And scarcities are inevitable – in fact, they’ve begun. The chart of the index of raw industrials, the prices businesses pay in real time for the commodities they use (as opposed to futures trading) is revealing. Remarkably, it shows that even at the nadir of the Great Recession, when capitalism’s very existence seemed precarious, the index stood 20 percent higher than its average during the 1990s. There is no way to explain this other than by realizing that commodities had become scarcer than in the previous decade. Since the 2008 crash, global growth has been strong only in 2010 and the first half of 2011. In this period, the index far surpassed its 2008 high. After 2011, world growth retreated to recessionary levels until mid-2016, when just a hint of growth sent commodities almost to their pre-Great Recession peak. Now with commodity-intensive infrastructure a worldwide imperative, they are destined to go well past their all-time highs. But What About Gold? So why hasn’t gold gotten the message yet? One reason is that with gold rightfully seen more as a currency than a commodity, and with inflation still low, the market has some illusions that perhaps we’re going back to the 1990s Goldilocks era of strong growth and low inflation. But the emergence of commodity scarcities will nix that possibility. The only reason the markets haven’t already caught on is one recalcitrant commodity: oil. With oil prices lagging, headline inflation has remained low and the Fed still behaves as if it will remain low forever. But once oil gets into the act, headline inflation will jump and everything that requires oil – including virtually every other commodity – will jump as well. Here is a look at a few key reasons why oil will rise. Right now, with virtually every producer producing at full throttle, oil is about 750,000 barrels a day in oversupply. That will change either because OPEC at its meeting later this month acts to cut production or because increased demand overtakes the world’s ability to produce. Above is a sign from the 1970s warning consumers about gas shortages OPEC Will Move To Raise Oil Prices We think OPEC will act, and it won’t have to cut by much to reverse the current situation of oversupply. OPEC currently produces about 34 million barrels a day, a record amount, and is estimated to have no more than about 1 million barrels of excess supply – and even that could be overstating it. Over the past five years the cartel’s production has averaged about 31 million barrels a day. At its peak in 2015 it was producing less than 33 million barrels. Even returning to that previous peak would easily turn a glut into a deficit. And with the IEA estimating demand in 2017 will grow by 1.2 million barrels a day – likely an underestimate in light of the push for infrastructure – it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that we’re headed for an oil deficit. That means big-time gains in oil prices and in inflation. If you think fracking will fill the gap, it won’t. Even with three-digit oil, frackers will find it tough to add even half a million barrels of oil to current production. Remember, fracking is resource-intensive, so its costs rise when commodity prices go up – and much of the recent gains in fracking productivity come from vast increases in the amount of sand and water used to frack the wells. Gold Liftoff! Once oil joins the party, all the commodity pieces will be in place for gold to take off. Remember, gold was far stronger than industrial commodities during the 2001 to 2008 boom and again during the second commodity upleg between 2009 and 2011. As for the Fed, we don’t expect it to take a strong stand against inflation, not with a Trump administration that has little fear of debt and that will likely view even high inflation as better for business than slow or even negative growth. Protracted slow growth has fractured America and the world, and the 1970’s high inflation harmed Wall Street. Not much of a choice for a populist administration. Bottom line: the world has taken another giant leap to a future with little place for paper currencies and in which gold will become the monetary center. So stop worrying about gold’s current weakness and buy gold, which will be by far your best protection in a tumultuous future. While commodities and commodity-levered stocks will lead the market for the foreseeable future, gold (and other precious metals) will end up winning the race…As mentioned in the opener, KWN also released a completely separate audio interview today with Dr. Leeb covering the takedown in the gold and silver markets. T o listen to the extraordinarily powerful audio interview where Dr. Leeb urged investors to stay strong ahead of what he predicted “is going to be the greatest bull market of anybody’s lifetime that’s alive today ” CLICK HERE OR ON THE IMAGE BELOW. ***ALSO JUST RELEASED: Did This Just Signal A Major Bottom In Gold & Silver? CLCK HERE. © 2015 by King World News®. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. However, linking directly to the articles is permitted and encouraged. About author

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Tuesday nominated Judge Neil M. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, elevating a conservative in the mold of Justice Antonin Scalia to succeed the late jurist and touching off a brutal, partisan showdown at the start of his presidency over the ideological bent of the nation’s highest court. Mr. Trump announced his selection during a evening ceremony that unfolded in prime time at the White House. He described Judge Gorsuch, a federal appeals court judge based in Denver, as “a man who our country really needs, and needs badly, to ensure the rule of law and the rule of justice. ” “Judge Gorsuch has outstanding legal skills, a brilliant mind, tremendous discipline and has earned bipartisan support,” Mr. Trump said, standing beside the judge and his wife, Louise, as White House officials and Republican lawmakers looked on. “It is an extraordinary résumé — as good as it gets. ” But Democrats — embittered by Republican refusals for nearly a year to consider President Barack Obama’s choice to succeed Justice Scalia, and inflamed by Mr. Trump’s aggressive moves at the start of his tenure — promised a showdown over Judge Gorsuch’s confirmation. Joined by liberal groups that plotted for weeks to fight Mr. Trump’s eventual nominee, leading Democrats signaled they would work to turn the Supreme Court dispute into a referendum on the president, and what they contend is his disregard for legal norms and the Constitution. Conservatives and business groups cheered Judge Gorsuch, calling his record distinguished and his qualifications unparalleled. The announcement came at a particularly tumultuous moment in an extraordinarily chaotic beginning to Mr. Trump’s presidency. Just a day earlier, he dismissed the acting attorney general for refusing to defend his immigration order that started a furor across the United States over what critics condemned as a visa ban against Muslims. “Now, more than ever, we need a Supreme Court justice who is independent, eschews ideology, who will preserve our democracy, protect fundamental rights and will stand up to a president who has already shown a willingness to bend the Constitution,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said in a statement. “The burden is on Judge Neil Gorsuch to prove himself to be within the legal mainstream and, in this new era, willing to vigorously defend the Constitution from abuses of the executive branch and protect the constitutionally enshrined rights of all Americans,” Mr. Schumer said. He said he would insist that Judge Gorsuch meet the threshold needed in the Senate to overcome a filibuster for his confirmation to move forward. That would either require eight Democrats to join the Senate’s 52 Republicans to advance the nomination, or force Republicans to escalate a parliamentary showdown — as Mr. Trump has already urged them to do — to change longstanding rules and push through his nominee on a simple majority vote. Republicans and conservative groups signaled they relished a war over Judge Gorsuch’s confirmation. “I hope members of the Senate will again show him fair consideration and respect the result of the recent election with an vote on his nomination, just like the Senate treated the four nominees of Presidents Clinton and Obama,” said Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader. He noted that the Senate confirmed Judge Gorsuch without opposition in 2006 to his current seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. Carrie Severino, the chief counsel for the Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative group that immediately started a $10 million campaign to defend Mr. Trump’s nominee, said the coalition would mount intensive campaigns in crucial states to “force vulnerable senators to choose between obstructing and keeping their Senate seats. ” If confirmed, Judge Gorsuch would become the 113th justice and take a seat held not only by Justice Scalia, but also by Justice Robert H. Jackson, perhaps the finest writer to have served on the court. As an Episcopalian, Judge Gorsuch would be the only Protestant seated among five Catholics and three Jewish jurists. He would restore the split between conservatives and liberals on the court, returning the swing vote to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, whose rulings have fallen on both sides of the political spectrum. At 49, Judge Gorsuch (pronounced ) is the youngest nominee to the Supreme Court in 25 years, underscoring his potential to shape major decisions for decades to come. In choosing him, Mr. Trump reached for a reliably conservative figure in Justice Scalia’s mold, but not someone known to be divisive. Mr. Trump, who recognized Justice Scalia’s wife, Maureen, in the audience as he announced his choice, heaped praise on the “late, great” jurist, saying his “image and genius was in my mind throughout the process. ” Judge Gorsuch said he was humbled by his “most solemn assignment. ” “I will do all my powers permit to be a faithful servant of the Constitution and laws of this great country,” he said. He also praised Justice Scalia as “a lion of the law. ” The announcement reopened the bitter wounds that dominated the political battle last year over Mr. Obama’s nominee for the seat, Judge Merrick B. Garland. Republicans refused to even consider — much less support — his nomination in the thick of a presidential campaign. A Colorado native who was in the same class at Harvard Law School as Mr. Obama, Judge Gorsuch is known for his measured opinions that are normally, though not exclusively, conservative. He holds a doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar, and was a Supreme Court law clerk to Justices Byron R. White and Kennedy. That Judge Gorsuch has a personal connection to Justice Kennedy is no accident. By choosing a familiar figure, several officials said, the White House is sending a reassuring signal to Justice Kennedy, 80, who has been mulling retirement. Choosing a more ideologically extreme candidate, the officials said, could have tempted Justice Kennedy to hang on to his seat for several more years, depriving Mr. Trump of another seat to fill. Still, Judge Gorsuch’s conservative credentials are not in doubt. He has voted in favor of employers, including Hobby Lobby, who invoked religious objections for refusing to provide some forms of contraception coverage to their female workers. And he has criticized liberals for turning to the courts rather than the legislature to achieve policy goals. “It is the role of judges to apply, not alter, the work of the people’s representatives,” he said on Tuesday. “A judge who likes every outcome he reaches is very likely a bad judge, stretching for results he prefers rather than those the law demands. ” Judge Gorsuch is the son of Anne Gorsuch Burford, who became the first female head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Ronald Reagan. He attended Georgetown Preparatory School, outside Washington, before going to Columbia University. There had been some speculation that Mr. Trump would choose someone with a less elite background for the court. The other finalist for the post, Judge Thomas M. Hardiman, was the first person in his family to graduate from college, and helped pay for his education by driving a taxi. The White House stoked suspense over Mr. Trump’s court choice in the hours before announcing it. A senior Trump administration official said both Judge Gorsuch and Judge Hardiman were summoned to Washington for the nomination ceremony. But only Judge Gorsuch appeared at the White House gathering shortly after 8 p. m. In an allusion to the intense foreshadowing he and his team did to encourage interest and speculation over the pick, Mr. Trump interrupted his own announcement to marvel at his showmanship: “So was that a surprise?” the president said after announcing Judge Gorsuch’s name. “Was it?” As he looked out into an audience that Democrats had refused to join — several senior lawmakers declined his invitation to attend the East Room ceremony — the president expressed hope that he could avoid a partisan battle. “I only hope that both Democrats and Republicans can come together for once, for the good of the country,” Mr. Trump said. But progressive groups had already gathered at the steps of the Supreme Court to protest a nominee they predicted would be extreme. Nan Aron of the Alliance for Justice called Judge Gorsuch “a disastrous choice,” adding that his record showed “no sign that he would offer an independent check on the dangerous impulses of this administration. ” Conservatives were as ardent in their support. Tom Fitton, the president of the group Judicial Watch, called Mr. Trump’s nomination “a major step in the right direction in defining his presidency and moving the Supreme Court away from dangerous and destructive judicial activism. ”

Home / News / Sparks Fly as Bikers for Trump Meet Protesters Sparks Fly as Bikers for Trump Meet Protesters fisher 5 mins ago News , USA , World Comments Off on Sparks Fly as Bikers for Trump Meet Protesters Sparks Fly as Bikers for Trump Meet Protesters Millie Weaver interviews a flag hater disgracing the American flag. All of a sudden, a member of Bikers for Trump intervenes picking the flag up off the ground setting off commotion. This is what I’m talking about! Bikers for Trump dont mess around! These protesters have been causing all sorts of havoc over the past week since Trumps election! Its like watching a child throw a temper tantrum! Watch This video of a Patriot Biker confronting a flag hater! What do you think? Should burning or disgracing the flag be made a crime? Let us know in the comments below! In any case, I’m sure most would agree these stuck up loosers need to be stood up to, and I’m glad Bikers for Trump has stepped up to do so.

Companies have expressed numerous concerns over the proposed border walls. With the lack of funding in the 2017 budget, those concerns are growing. [Construction of President Trump’s proposed border wall along the U. S. Border is slated to kick off in June when 20 selected bidders will be asked to build prototypes based on the proposals they submitted, Breitbart Texas previously reported. However, The Arizona Republic reports that some bidders are starting to have serious doubts with some already giving up on the project due to how poorly the government is managing details. Michael Hari, the founder of Crisis Resolution Security Services in Illinois, submitted a proposal but is now one of its skeptics. “From the beginning it’s not a serious process, it’s not going to get the wall built,” Hari said. “Right from the there were conflicts, there was not enough time given to it, to develop a reasonable process that would result in a wall getting built. ” Hari, a former sheriff’s deputy, described to the Chicago Tribune in April his vision and reasons for wanting to work on the border wall, which is about more than money. “We would look at the wall as not just a physical barrier to immigration but also as a symbol of the American determination to defend our culture, our language, our heritage, from any outsiders,” Hari said. M3 Federal, a consulting firm for contractors that has over 40 years of experience working on government contracts, warned that Washington not have a specific concept in mind for what exactly they seeking, as evidenced by multiple changes made to the requests for proposals. “The fact that things are being delayed and the fact that there are seven amendments out there just verifies the fact that the government does not have a confirmed concept about what they want to put in place,” said Patrick Malyszek, owner of M3 Federal. “The way the government is handling this is actually going to create a very high risk in terms of the overall project. ” Among those bidders who have already given up on the border wall project is Christopher Dillon, owner of a construction management company based in Alaska. “From the outset of the project, I have been tracking it and it’s a political stunt,” Dillon said. “It’s burning a lot of money. It’s really jerking the contracting community around. ” Building a wall on the U. S. Border was a hallmark for Donald Trump’s campaign. During the campaign launch at Trump Tower, he said, “I would build a great wall on our southern border and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words. ” Despite this promise, President Trump said that he was “very happy” with the $1. 2 trillion spending bill that he signed on May 5 which included $0 for a border wall. President Trump has reassured supporters that the wall is going to get built despite the setbacks in the 2017 budget in which he blamed Democrats for being “obstructionists. ” “Look, the Democrats are obstructionists that’s all they can do is obstruct. They have no leadership. And we have to agree, and I think both — both sides agree, we have to keep government going, we don’t want to shut government,” he said. Ryan Saavedra is a contributor for Breitbart Texas and can be found on Twitter at @RealSaavedra.

United States By ORIENTAL REVIEW The outcome of the 2016 presidential election will show that the American political system – as we have known it – will apparently cease to exist. Trump is nothing like those Republican pawns who, along with the puppets of the Democratic party, have spent the last 40 years erecting the facade of American democracy. It really looks like he is ready to make good on the threat he made even prior to the Republican National Convention – to send millions of his supporters into the streets. Today Trump represents an entirely new party made up of half of the American electorate, and they are ready for action. And whatever the eventual political structure of this new model, this is what is shaping America’s present reality. Moreover, this does not seem like such a unique situation. It rather appears to be the final chapter of some ancient story, in which the convoluted plotlines finally take shape and find resolution. The circumstances are increasingly reminiscent of 1860, when Lincoln’s election so enraged the South that those states began agitating for secession. Trump is today symbolic of a very real American tradition that during the Civil War (1860-1865) ran headlong into American revolutionary liberalism for the first time. Right up until World War I traditional American conservatism wore the guise of “isolationism.” Prior to WWII it was known as “non-interventionism.” Afterward, that movement attempted to use Sen. Joseph McCarthy to battle the left-liberal stranglehold. And in the 1960s it became the primary target of the “counter-cultural revolution.” Richard Nixon Its last bastion was Richard Nixon , whose fall was the result of an unprecedented attack from the left-liberal press in 1974. And this is perhaps the example against which we should compare the present-day Trump and his current fight. And by the way, the crimes of Hillary Clinton, who has failed to protect state secrets and has repeatedly been caught lying under oath, clearly outweigh the notorious Watergate scandal that led to Nixon’s forced resignation under threat of impeachment. But the liberal American media remains silent, as if nothing has happened. By all indications it is clear that we are standing before a truly epochal moment. But before turning to the future that might await us, let’s take a quick glance at the history of conflict between revolutionary liberalism and traditional white conservatism in the US. *** Immediately after WWII, an attack on two fronts was launched by the party of “expansionism” (we’ll call it that). The Soviet Union and Communism were designated the number one enemy. Enemy number two (with less hype) was traditional American conservatism. The war against traditional “Americanism” was waged by several intellectual fringe groups simultaneously. The country’s cultural and intellectual life was under the absolute control of a group known as the “ New York Intellectuals .” Literary criticism as well as all other aspects of the nation’s literary life was in the hands of this small group of literary curators who had emerged from the milieu of a Trotskyist-communist magazine known as the Partisan Review ( PR ). No one could become a professional writer in the America of the 1950s and 1960s without being carefully screened by this sect. The foundational tenets of American political philosophy and sociology were composed by militants from the Frankfurt School , which had been established during the interwar period in Weimar Germany and which moved to the US after the National Socialists took power. Here, retraining their sights from communist to liberal, they set out to design a “theory of totalitarianism” in addition to their concept of an “authoritarian personality” – both hostile to “democracy.” Max Shachtman The “New York Intellectuals” and representatives of the Frankfurt School became friends, and Hannah Arendt , for example, was an authoritative representative of both sects. This is where future neocons (Norman Podhoretz, Eliot A. Cohen, and Irving Kristol) gained their experience. The former leader of the Trotskyist Fourth International and godfather of the neocons, Max Shachtman , held a place of honor in the “family of intellectuals.” The anthropological school of Franz Boas and Freudianism reigned over the worlds of psychology and sociology at that time. The Boasian approach in psychology argued that genetic, national, and racial differences between individuals were of no importance (thus the concepts of “national culture” and “national community” were meaningless). Psychoanalysis also became fashionable, which primarily aimed to supplant traditional church institutions and become a type of quasi-religion for the middle class. The common denominator linking all these movements was anti-fascism . Did something look fishy in this? But the problem was that the traditional values of the nation, state, and family were all labeled “fascist.” From this standpoint, any white Christian man aware of his cultural and national identity was potentially a “fascist.” Kevin MacDonald, a professor of psychology at California State University, analyzed in detail the seizure of America’s cultural, political, and mental landscape by these “liberal sects” in his brilliant book The Culture of Critique , writing: “The New York Intellectuals, for example, developed ties with elite universities, particularly Harvard, Columbia, the University of Chicago, and the University of California-Berkeley, while psychoanalysis and anthropology became well entrenched throughout academia. “The moral and intellectual elite established by these movements dominated intellectual discourse during a critical period after World War II and leading into the countercultural revolution of the 1960s.” It was precisely this intellectual milieu that spawned the countercultural revolution of the 1960s. Riding the wave of these sentiments, the new Immigration and Nationality Act was passed in 1965, encouraging this phenomenon and facilitating the integration of immigrants into US society. The architects of the law wanted to use the celebrated melting pot to “dilute” the “potentially fascist” descendants of European immigrants by making use of new ethno-cultural elements. The 60s revolution opened the door to the American political establishment to representatives from both wings of the expansionist “party” – the neo-liberals and the neo-conservatives. Besieged by the left-liberal press in 1974, Richard Nixon resigned under threat of impeachment. In the same year the US Congress passed the Jackson-Vanik Amendment (drafted by Richard Perle ), which emerged as a symbol of the country’s “new political agenda” – economic war against the Soviet Union using sanctions and boycotts. At that same time the “hippie generation” was joining the Democratic Party on the coattails of Senator George McGovern’s campaign . And that was when Bill Clinton’s smiling countenance first emerged on the US political horizon. And the future neo-conservatives (at that time still disciples of the Democratic hawk Henry “Scoop” Jackson) began to slowly edge in the direction of the Republicans. «If there is any doubt about the power of your ideas, just look at the number of members of the Center that have been appointed to posts in this administration -especially in the Department of Defense- to dispel that doubt». Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, September 5, 2002 In 1976, Mr. Rumsfeld and his fellow neo-conservatives resurrected the Committee on the Present Danger , an inter-party club for political hawks whose goal became the launch of an all-out propaganda war against the USSR. Former Trotskyists and followers of Max Shachtman (Kristol, Podhoretz, and Jeane Kirkpatrick) and advisers to Sen. Henry Jackson (Paul Wolfowitz, Perle, Elliott Abrams, Charles Horner, and Douglas Feith) joined Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, and other “Christian” politicians with the intention of launching a “campaign to transform the world.” This is where the neocons’ “nonpartisan ideology” originated. And eventually today’s “inalterable US government” hatched from this egg. American politics began to acquire its current shape during the Reagan era. In economics this was seen in the policy of neoliberalism (politics waged in the interests of big financial capital) and in foreign policy – in a strategy consisting of “holy war against the forces of evil.” The Nixon-Kissinger tradition of foreign policy (which viewed the Soviet Union and China as a normal countries with which is essential to find common ground) was entirely abandoned. The collapse of the USSR was a sign of the onset of the final phase of the “neocon revolution.” At that point their protégé, Francis Fukuyama, announced the “end of history.” *** As the years passed, the influence of the neo-conservatives (in politics) and neoliberals (in economics) only expanded. Through all manner of committees, foundations, “think tanks,” etc., the students of Milton Friedman and Leo Strauss (from the departments of economics and political science at the University of Chicago) penetrated ever more deeply into the inner workings of the Washington power machine. The apotheosis of this expansion was the presidency of George W. Bush, during which the neocons, having seized the primary instruments of power in the White House, were able to plunge the country into the folly of a war in the Middle East. By the end of the Bush presidency this clique was the object of universal hatred throughout the US. That’s why the middle-ground, innocuous figure of Barack Obama, a Democrat, was able to move into the White House for the next eight years. The neocons stepped down from their central rostrums of power and returned to their “influential committees.” It is likely that this election was intended to facilitate the triumphant return of the neoconservative-neoliberal paradigm all wrapped up in “new packaging.” For various reasons, the decision was made to assign this role to Hillary Clinton. But it seems that at the most critical moment the flimsy packaging ripped open … What happened? Why is this clique’s triumphant return to power erupting in massive scandal this time around? Probably because we are living in an era during which much that was mysterious is suddenly becoming clear. Probably because Trump’s “silent majority” suddenly saw before them someone they had been waiting for for a long time – a man ready to defend their interests. Perhaps also it is because the middle class is choking on its growing exasperation with the “elite caste” occupying its native country. And it finally became clear to the sober-minded American patriots in law enforcement that the return to power of the people responsible for the current global chaos could be a big threat to the US and rest of the world. Because, in the end, everyone has children and no one wants a new world war. How will this new conservative revolt against the elite end? Will Trump manage to “drain the swamp of Washington, DC” as he has promised, or he will end up as the system’s next victim? Very soon we can finally get an answer to these questions. RELATED POSTS

On Newsmax TV’s “The Steve Malzberg Show,” Gov. Greg Abbott ( ) said he will confront the issue of cities that refuse to comply with immigration law by signing legislation that could jail sheriffs of sanctuary cities. Abbott said, “We have been pushing a piece of legislation in Texas that is going to pass that I will be signing into law that imposes even sterner penalties on counties. It will include things such as further defunding them. It will impose fines. And it could impose jail time for these sheriffs to enforce the laws. Oddly enough these sheriffs could wind up behind the very bars they are releasing these criminals from. ” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

Donald J. Trump thanked supporters at a rally in Cincinnati on Thursday, and announced that he intends to nominate James N. Mattis as defense secretary. Watch the video below. After claiming credit for saving jobs in Indiana, Mr. Trump held a rally in Cincinnati to say thank you to Ohio, which he carried and where no recount is being demanded. Mr. Trump exulted in rallies during the campaign and seems to be itching to return to the adulation of the crowds. Other states are expected to be added to the tour in the days and weeks ahead. Mr. Trump revealed at the rally that he had chosen James N. Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general who led a division to Baghdad during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, to serve as his secretary of defense. Read more. The decision by Gov. Jerry Brown of California to name Representative Xavier Becerra to be the state’s attorney general has set off another round of among Democrats — and opened a crucial post in the Trump era. Mr. Becerra, like Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland before him and former Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois (now the mayor of Chicago) before them, had risen as far as he could in the House leadership. Mr. Becerra faced a blockade of older members of Congress, like Representatives Nancy Pelosi, Steny H. Hoyer, and James E. Clyburn, in the top ranks. Unlike Mr. Van Hollen, who was elected to the Senate last month, Mr. Becerra opted against running for his state’s open Senate seat, but he has found his own way to statewide office. Mr. Becerra was in line for a huge consolation prize in the House, however. The veteran Representative Sander M. Levin of Michigan had just stepped aside as the ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee — and he recommended the telegenic Californian for the post. That would have put Mr. Becerra on the front lines as Mr. Trump tries to repeal the Affordable Care Act, cut taxes, overhaul the tax code and possibly convert Medicare into a system that offers fixed sums to seniors to buy private health plans. Instead, it looks as if that role will go to Representative Richard E. Neal of Massachusetts, who may be less camera ready but is actually better versed on the intricacies of tax policy. So far Representative Keith Ellison’s drive to be the next Democratic National Committee chairman has gone swimmingly, with no strong competition in sight. But CNN went where other outlets have feared to tread, printing old writings of Mr. Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, in defense of the Nation of Islam and other contentious black activists. As a law student at the University of Minnesota, Mr. Ellison, writing under the name Keith E. Hakim in the student newspaper, said: “Whether one supports or opposes the establishment of Israel in Palestine and Israel’s present policies, Zionism, the ideological undergirding of Israel, is a debatable political philosophy. Anyone, including black people, has the right to hear and voice alternative views on the subject — notwithstanding our nominal citizenship. ” He continued: Mr. Ellison long ago renounced his associations with the Nation of Islam, and has had Jewish groups defend him. But the report could prove troublesome, to say the least. The League, which has been mildly supportive, reacted strongly. Senator Heidi Heitkamp, Democrat of North Dakota, is paying a visit to Trump Tower on Friday, and Senator Chuck E. Schumer of New York, the incoming minority leader, is having heart palpitations. To Democrats, that last line can mean two things, neither of them good. If she is in line for an administration job, her Senate seat would turn Republican. If not, she seems to be indicating she is a possible vote for the Trump agenda. And no matter what, her seat is up in 2018 — in a state that went to Mr. Trump with 62 percent of the vote. The great chronicler of this year’s presidential vote, Dave Wasserman of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, declared it official on Thursday: Jill Stein is the Ralph Nader of 2016. Her vote tallies in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania now exceed Mr. Trump’s margins in the three Rust Belt states that gave him the presidency. Another point: In the end, the difference between a Trump presidency and another Clinton administration came down to 79, 646 votes — fewer than a sellout for a Wisconsin Badgers football game. For the record, Mrs. Clinton’s overall lead in the popular vote stands at 2, 544, 817. Trump took phone calls Wednesday from Pakistan’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, and President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan. The results were instructive. According to Kazakhstan, Mr. Trump said “that under the leadership of Nursultan Nazarbayev our country over the years of Independence had achieved fantastic success that can be called a ‘miracle’. ” Through some rather circuitous paths, Mr. Trump’s real estate empire has been tied to Kazakhstan in ways a Financial Times investigation labeled “dirty. ” Mr. Nazarbayev has run Kazakhstan since it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1989. Last year, he won a fifth consecutive term with 97. 7 percent of the vote. The Pakistani government released its own account of the telephone conversation between and Mr. Trump and Mr. Sharif that sounded, well, Trumpian. While not exactly confirming the content, the Trump transition team did acknowledge both calls. The White House has been trying its best not to criticize Mr. Trump, but after those two phone calls, a top administration official suggested that Mr. Trump get some expert help. Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, noted that the relationship between Pakistan and the United States was “quite complicated” and got more so after the American raid into Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden. And then Mr. Earnest mentioned where Mr. Trump could get some assistance. “I’m just making the observation that there are dedicated experts, public servants at the State Department that have years of experience that they have amassed that they’re prepared to use to advise the incoming president,” Mr. Earnest said. Ten Democratic senators have sent a strongly worded letter to Mr. Trump criticizing the number of “lobbyists and others with extensive ties to the fossil fuel industry” in his transition team and among potential nominees for the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy and the Department of the Interior. Citing advisers like Myron Ebell of the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute and the former fossil fuel lobbyist Thomas Pyle, the senators argued that “you have raised serious questions about your desire to ‘drain the swamp’ with respect to energy and environmental issues. ” The letter, signed by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Ron Wyden of Oregon and others, quoted a 2009 advertisement signed by Mr. Trump calling climate change “scientifically irrefutable,” with “catastrophic and irreversible consequences for humanity and our planet. ” Chalk up another tradition broken in the Trump era: the practice of cabinet picks going mum once they are named, shunning the news media until confirmed by the Senate. Steven Mnuchin, the newly named choice for Treasury secretary, made that break most evident on Wednesday, appearing on CNBC and before reporters at Trump Tower, musing at length on tax policy. Others including Wilbur L. Ross, tapped for commerce secretary, have been similarly voluble. This has surprised people in both parties familiar with the tortuous Senate confirmation process — and with what they see as the good reasons to stay silent. Talking to the press is “an opportunity to fail — it can only kind of cause you more headaches and questions,” said Dean Zerbe, a former adviser to Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, on the Senate Finance Committee. Mr. Mnuchin, for example, said the Trump tax plan would give a big tax cut to the middle class but not to the wealthy, though a range of nonpartisan analyses have concluded the opposite. “As soon as I saw that,” Mr. Zerbe said, “my immediate thought was, ‘O. K. you’ve just now given about a dozen questions to senators to ask about. ’” Not that the 1, 000 workers whose jobs were saved will care, but the deal to keep that Carrier plant in the United States, which included a multiyear, $7 million incentive package from Indiana, is starting to take flack from the right and the left. To conservatives, government intervention at such a microlevel is just bad economics. The Representative Justin Amash, Republican of Michigan, weighed in early: Now it’s coming from more intellectual circles. “This is all terrible for a nation’s economic vitality if businesses make decisions to please politicians rather than customers and shareholders. Yet America’s private sector has just been sent a strong signal that playing ball with Trump might be part of what it now means to run an American company,” wrote James Pethokoukis, the DeWitt Wallace Fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. Liberals have latched onto the tax breaks and incentives offered to Carrier’s parent company, United Technologies, by Gov. Pence of Indiana just before he leaves for Washington. Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, put it this way in The Washington Post: If companies can extract tax concessions by threatening to move to Mexico, they may have found a partner willing to play ball with the new president, the critics say. Economists call that “moral hazard. ”

WASHINGTON — The sudden death of legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act has created an opening for voices from both parties to press for fixes to the acknowledged problems in President Barack Obama’s signature health law, as lawmakers and some senior White House officials appealed for bipartisanship. But the White House, still smarting from a disastrous defeat on Friday, appeared uncertain on the path forward. President Trump predicted that “Obamacare will explode” and offered no plan to stop it, but his was not the only voice from the White House. The president “wants to make sure that people don’t get left behind” in the search for affordable, quality health care, Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, said on “Fox News Sunday. ” “I think it’s time for our folks to come together,” Mr. Priebus said, adding that it is time to “potentially get a few moderate Democrats on board, as well” as they try to bring down premiums and stabilize insurance markets. That appeal was echoed by Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a moderate Republican who opposed the House Republicans’ health bill and has also worked with Democrats to explore changes to the Affordable Care Act without repealing it. “With the demise of the House bill, there’s a real window of opportunity for a bipartisan approach to health care,” she said. In the wake of the Republican failure to make good on the promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Mr. Trump and congressional leaders find themselves at a political crossroads. They could sabotage the Affordable Care Act’s insurance markets, betting that Democrats would be blamed for collapsing coverage choices and spikes in insurance premiums and would then come to the negotiating table ready to toss the law and start fresh. Or they could work with Democratic lawmakers and moderate Republicans, who for years have discussed improvements to the Affordable Care Act, which, unlike many social welfare programs, has not been significantly updated or revised. Speaker Paul D. Ryan has said he wants to move on to other issues, and indicated that Democrats would have to come to him if they want to cooperate on health care. After insisting that the health law had to be eradicated “root and branch,” Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, has been remarkably quiet since Friday’s debacle. The messages from the White House, so far, have been mixed. “You cannot fix a broken system,” the White House budget director, Mick Mulvaney, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press. ” “You are never going to fix that. This system must be removed. ” Mr. Trump appeared to endorse the strategy on Saturday morning, saying on Twitter: “ObamaCare will explode and we will all get together and piece together a great health care plan for THE PEOPLE. Do not worry!” But Mr. Priebus’s softer vision gave some in Congress hope that a bipartisan approach could be found — possibly to alleviate the health law’s burdens on small business, repeal some of its more unpopular taxes, give employers more leeway on which employees they have to offer insurance to, and foster more competition among insurance companies. “I believe that there is a group of centrist Democrats who recognize that the Affordable Care Act has flaws that must be fixed,” Ms. Collins said. “Until there was a repudiation of the House bill, they felt constrained from negotiating. Now that the House bill has died, I hope they will feel free to come to the table. ” Representative Don Young, Republican of Alaska, also called for bipartisanship. His state has benefited from its expansion of Medicaid under the health law, and would have been punished under the House Republican bill because its high premium costs would not have been offset by larger tax credits, as they are under current law. “The reason why Obamacare failed was because it wasn’t a bipartisan bill,” Mr. Young said. Republicans, he said, made the same mistake, writing their bill without Democrats. “We were very frankly guilty of that,” he said. Democrats also sounded more conciliatory. “Until now, we haven’t talked at all about compromise on the Affordable Care Act,” said Representative Diana DeGette, Democrat of Colorado. “From the moment it passed, Republicans started their mantra of ‘repeal and replace.’ Now that repeal seems to be off the table, I think it’s in everybody’s interest to make the law work better for our constituents. ” Representative Jim Cooper, a centrist Democrat from Tennessee who has often worked with Republicans, said: “We need to fix the flaws in Obamacare. I hope Republicans are willing to do that, instead of just destroying Obamacare. ” But, he added, “before we can work with them, the Republicans have to bargain in good faith and stop sabotaging Obamacare. ” Mr. Obama’s health care law may not be imploding, as President Trump says. But in states as diverse as Alaska, Arizona, Minnesota, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, the public insurance marketplaces — a central innovation of the Affordable Care Act — are in trouble. Consumers have seen big premium increases for health plans sold by a shrinking number of insurers. “People will have to come to the bargaining table sooner rather than later,” said Chris Jacobs, a health policy analyst. Within a few weeks, insurers must decide whether they will participate in the marketplaces in 2018. Insurance markets could quickly unravel if the House wins a court case challenging the legality of subsidies paid by the government to insurers on behalf of people. “The comments by President Trump and Speaker Ryan predicting the collapse of the A. C. A. and health insurance exchanges could become a prophecy,” said Kevin J. Counihan, who was the chief executive of the federal insurance marketplace, HealthCare. gov, under Mr. Obama. Mr. Counihan said he saw a risk that some counties might not have any insurers on the exchange next year as major insurers like Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealth pull back from the program. Republicans in Congress, especially those from rural areas, share that concern. The Obama administration worked hard to keep insurers in the market, and to promote during open enrollment season. Whether the Trump administration will do so is unclear. Mr. Counihan suggested several areas where Republicans and Democrats in Congress could work together. They could, he said, give insurers more discretion to charge higher premiums for older adults, reflecting their medical costs. Under the Affordable Care Act, insurers can charge older adults no more than three times the rates for young adults. The House Republican bill would have allowed them to charge five times as much, or more if states wanted. A ceiling somewhere between those numbers might be appropriate, Mr. Counihan said. In addition, he said, Congress could shorten the length of “grace periods” during which insurers must provide coverage to consumers who fail to pay their premiums. Lawmakers from both parties have also expressed a desire to give states more freedom to pursue their own ideas for expanding coverage, controlling health costs, reducing premiums and stabilizing insurance markets. Giving states more flexibility is consistent with Republicans’ federalism philosophy. It also has potential appeal to Democrats because many states, including some with Republican governors, are to the left of the Trump administration on health policy. One section of the Affordable Care Act, added at the behest of Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, already allows waivers for innovations in state health policy. But states say the requirements are so stringent that the waivers are of limited use. “As Republicans, we know that works for no one and certainly did not work for the individual markets,” said Representative Michael C. Burgess of Texas, the chairman of the Energy and Commerce subcommittee on health. Lawmakers of both parties also support legislation to help small businesses get insurance. As a possible model for bipartisan cooperation, they point to a bill signed by Mr. Obama in 2015 that changed the definition of “small employer” to protect such companies against increases in health insurance premiums. The possibility of bipartisan cooperation may not last long. Some conservative Republicans like Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and Representative Sean P. Duffy of Wisconsin said they would redouble their efforts to undo the Affordable Care Act. “Rip it all out by the roots!” Representative Steve King of Iowa said Friday in a Twitter post. But other Republicans said that Democrats should be involved in efforts to rewrite the law. Representative Mark Sanford, Republican of South Carolina, opposed the House bill and said its demise could “prove to be a catalyst” for forging a consensus. “Seeming stopping points can ultimately prove to be beginning points in life,” he said.

Taking advantage of almost a decade of political victories in state legislatures across the country, conservative advocacy groups are quietly marshaling support for an event unprecedented in the nation’s history: a convention of the 50 states, summoned to consider amending the Constitution. The groups are an amalgam of and proponents, often funded by corporations and deeply conservative supporters like the billionaire Koch brothers and Donors Trust, whose contributors are mostly anonymous. They want an amendment to require a balanced federal budget, an idea many conservatives have embraced, many economists disdain and Congress has failed to endorse for decades. But as the groups near their goal, critics and some skeptical constitutional scholars are warning that holding an meeting with no historical parallel and no written rules could open a Pandora’s box of constitutional mischief. The process, which is playing out largely beyond public notice, rests on a clause in Article 5 of the Constitution that allows the states to sidestep Congress and draft their own constitutional amendments whenever of their legislatures demand it. That will by no means be easy. Even if the threshold were reached, a convention would probably face a court battle over whether the legislatures’ calls for a convention were sufficiently similar. And as with any amendment that Congress proposes, amendments would need approval by of the states — either by their legislatures or by state conventions — to take effect. But as Republicans have surged to control of state legislatures and moved sharply rightward during the Obama years, what was once a pet project of the party’s fringe has become a proposal with a plausible chance of success. Some of the former Republican presidential candidates, including comparative moderates like John Kasich and Jeb Bush, have endorsed a state amendment convention. So far, 28 states have adopted resolutions calling for a convention on a amendment, including 10 in the past three years, and two, Oklahoma and West Virginia, this spring. That is just six states short of the 34 needed to invoke the Article 5 clause. “I think the prospect is very good in 2017,” said Gary Banz, a Republican who is the majority whip in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. “You can look at any number of states that are not on board yet, and they’re controlled by very conservative elements. ’’ Including nominally nonpartisan Nebraska, Republicans now control 31 state assemblies — more than double the number in 2010. Of the 11 states advocacy groups have targeted for lobbying next year, Republicans control both houses of the Legislature in seven. Representative Banz is among those leading the charge. In addition to his statehouse job, he is the national secretary of the American Legislative Exchange Council, known as ALEC, a nonprofit financed by corporate and private donors, including the Kochs, that is at the center of the convention effort. At ALEC’s annual meeting, in Indianapolis last month, another leading advocacy group, the Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force, staged a seminar for legislators on an amendment convention. Citizens for a group with Tea Party roots, has ALEC backing for a more sweeping goal: an amendment that would “impose fiscal restraints” on the federal government, reduce its authority and limit the terms of federal elected officials. The juggernaut nature of the convention movement has almost overshadowed the longstanding debate about its motivation: to imbue the Constitution with a binding limit on federal spending. Supporters say the philosophy that state governments and ordinary people usually adhere to — that it is wrong and destructive to spend beyond one’s income — should apply to the federal government as well. In that view, the $19. 4 trillion national debt threatens to destroy Americans’ future prosperity. “It’s immoral for one generation to borrow and spend beyond its means and leave the bill to the next generation,” said Scott Rogers, the director of the Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force. But opponents say an amendment, not the deficit, is the threat. A government that could not run deficits, they argue, would not be able to stimulate the economy during recessions, when spending is most needed. And it would not be able to elude budget ceilings for benefits like Social Security, or for projects like highways that are financed with debt. In truth, they say, debt is a fact of life for both states and ordinary households — in bond issues that finance revenue generators like convention centers and bridges, and for ordinary necessities like cars, kitchen remodelings and homes. Banning deficit spending, they say, would bring the economy to a halt. But the basic argument for federal frugality has broad appeal. Polls generally indicate strong support for a amendment, and advocates persuaded 32 state legislatures to back an amendment convention during the Reagan administration. Congress defused the movement by passing the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, which pledged — toothlessly, it turned out — to eliminate annual federal deficits within six years. Over the next three decades, many legislatures rescinded their convention calls. Only recently has the movement seen a revival. Amendment conventions are not exclusively a conservative cause. With liberals’ backing, four states have passed resolutions advocating a convention to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling on campaign finance. Yet debate over an amendment’s merits has taken a back seat to a more fundamental question: whether delegates to a convention could be trusted not to tinker with other parts of the Constitution. Article 5 places no limits on a convention’s power. Some experts note that the Constitution itself arose from a convention called to amend its predecessor, the Articles of Confederation — and tore up the document and started from scratch. That convention even scrapped the Articles’ terms of ratification — unanimous approval by the states — and substituted a lower barrier, of states. (Some conservatives argue that the delegates to Philadelphia did not go rogue, but always planned to rewrite the Articles.) So what rules would an amendments convention follow? “The answer to almost every question you could ask is ‘We don’t know,’” said Michael J. Klarman, a constitutional law expert at Harvard whose book on that convention, “The Framers’ Coup: The Making of the United States Constitution,” will be published in October. “I think a convention can do anything they want — slavery, establish a national church. I just don’t think there’s any limit. ” Michael J. Gerhardt, a University of North Carolina law professor and scholar in residence at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, said Article 5’s reticence gave states leeway to improvise. “Once you have a convention, then in some respects it becomes a ” he said. “All bets are off. ” History suggests at least one Founding Father had similar qualms. During the drafting of the Constitution, James Madison did not oppose the Article 5 clause, but worried “that difficulties might arise as to the form, the quorum. ” Advocates scoff at the . Conventions of states, they say, are nothing new: About three dozen met from the 1700s to 1922 — most before the Constitution was drafted — considering everything from trade to slavery to divvying up the Colorado River’s water. Most did not include every state, but each generally followed a preset agenda. A convention to draft amendments, they say, would be no different. “There’s never been a convention where the delegates went wild,” said Rob Natelson, a former University of Montana constitutional scholar who wrote an amendment convention handbook for ALEC and is now a fellow at the conservative Independence Institute in Denver. “They all negotiated a deal, came to an agreement or didn’t, and went home,” he said. There is, though, one signal difference: None of those meetings bore the Constitution’s blessing. One, in 1861, did propose an amendment to avert an impending civil war, but it was an ad hoc affair, not an Article 5 meeting. At least one contrarian liberal agrees with Mr. Natelson. Lawrence Lessig, the Harvard Law School professor and recent, if brief, Democratic presidential candidate, said he doubted that an amendments convention would run amok, rewriting the nation’s seminal rules. But even if it did, he said, he would not be especially concerned: After all, a convention only proposes amendments. “The very terms of Article 5 state that proposals aren’t valid unless they’re ratified by of the states,” he said. “There’s no controversial idea on the left or the right that won’t have 13 states against it. ”

Sixty mayors from around the country on Tuesday held press conferences and other events to show their support for immigrants both legal and illegal. [The U. S. Conference of Mayors helped organize the effort dubbed “Cities Day of Immigration Action. ” The organization collected the names of the mayors and cities participating in the event and the actions they would be taking, including pledges to: The mayor of Austin, Texas, Steve Adler, Tweeted an article entitled “Mayors Celebrate Immigrants While Facing ICE’s New ‘ ’ City List” using the hashtag “MayorsStand4All. ” . @routefifty: Mayors Celebrate Immigrants While Facing ICE’s New ‘ ’ City List #MayorsStand4All https: . — Mayor Adler (@MayorAdler) March 22, 2017, Breitbart Texas reported that ICE, under the Trump Administration, is now publishing a weekly Declined Detainer Outcome Reports, demonstrating the crimes for which aliens have been accused. The maiden report revealed that sanctuary jurisdictions released 206 criminal aliens from their jails. Texas leads the nation with more than 70 percent of cases. While there were 149 criminal aliens released from Texas jails, 142 were released in Travis County. One day before the #MayorsStand4All events, Jessica Vaughan with the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) told Breitbart Texas, “The report from DHS is commendable, but also alarming. Now the public can understand exactly who is benefiting from the sanctuary policies — the released criminal aliens. ” Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings used the #MayorsStand4All hashtag to welcome the director of the new “Office of Welcoming Communities and Immigrant Affairs. ” Pleased to welcome Liz director of our new Office of Welcoming Communities and Immigrant Affairs. #MayorsStand4All pic. twitter. — Mayor Mike Rawlings (@Mike_Rawlings) March 21, 2017, The Dallas mayor has been outspoken for the rights of Syrian refugees and illegal aliens, and has stood against Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s efforts to stop the flow of refugees into the Lone Star State. Mayor de Blasio held a press conference outside of the Tweed Courthouse in Manhattan and said absent a court order, he will ICE agents from the city’s schools. “We will not allow ICE agents to threaten that protection, disrupt classes or take any action that would be detrimental to our students,” de Blasio said, reported Breitbart News. When questioned, the NYC mayor admitted that ICE agents have not gone into the schools but ominously added, “we’re seeing things that we have not seen before and there’s a tremendous amount of fear out there. We have to be ready for anything. ” Our schools will not become part of the president’s deportation machine. #MayorsStand4All pic. twitter. — Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) March 21, 2017, The New York Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs issued a letter to students and families the same day stating that ICE agents would not be permitted in the schools. It also declared that the NYC Department of Education (NYC DoE) would not be releasing information about students and would be “expanding Know Your Rights workshops for students, parents and community members. ” City officials in Washington, D. C. Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, and Kansas City Mayor Sly James participated in the Cities’ Day of Immigration Action along with 57 other mayors and cities. DC joins 59 cities across the US today for Cities’ Day of Immigration Action! @usmayors @MayorBowser #MayorsStand4all #SomosWashingtonDC, — Tomás Talamante (@TalamanteDC) March 21, 2017, Mayors across the country are joined together in our support of the New Americans who strengthen our cities and economy. #MayorsStand4All pic. twitter. — Megan Barry (@MayorMeganBarry) March 21, 2017, Mayors know first hand the economic and moral imperatives that make it necessary to fix our broken immigration system. #MayorsStand4All pic. twitter. — Mayor Sly James (@MayorSlyJames) March 21, 2017, Not everyone who used the hashtag “MayorsStand4All” was supportive of the mayors. This individual may have been noting the recent rape and sodomization of a girl at Rockville High School in Maryland. #MayorsStand4All is a nifty way of saying ”your daughters are less important to us than illegal aliens (aka:future Democrat voters).” — Ben Crystal (@Bennettruth) March 22, 2017, Others were clear in their reference to the alleged sexual assault. One of the males charged, Sanchez Milian, had a deportation order pending at the time of the alleged assault. The Guatemalan was allowed to enroll as a freshman, reported Breitbart News. Jose O. Montano, the other student charged, is from El Salvador. Sean Spicer criticized sanctuary jurisdictions saying the tragic crime was why President Trump is so “passionate” about buckling down on illegal immigration. Rockville High School is located in Montgomery County, Maryland, a county that is listed as a sanctuary jurisdiction, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. Illegal immigrants get more passes in US than Americans because of this we get horrific crimes like #RockvilleRape sick! #MayorsStand4All, — TrumpStrong (@TrumpStrong45) March 21, 2017, Still waiting for #MayorsStand4All folks to tell me how many #RockvilleRape cases they are willing to accept for ideology. Pick a number. — CassiusK (@UWRockBuster) March 21, 2017, One of those Tweeting under #MayorsStand4All said it was ironic that the hashtag was trending at the same time as “#rockvillerape” and added, “Mayors should stand for citizens first. PERIOD. ” #rockvillerape #MayorsStand4All How ironic these two trending. Mayors should stand for citizens first. PERIOD. — T (@MADDdawg99) March 21, 2017, Lana Shadwick is a writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as a prosecutor and associate judge in Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2.

Trump’s campaign for celebrity Like junk food, will Trump leave us empty and wanting more? By Neal Gabler Posted on November 1, 2016 by Neal Gabler It is a cliché by now that Donald Trump has run a reality show campaign—a series of gaffes, surprises, outrages, weirdnesses, explosions, revelations, and just every other ingredient that comprise the popular TV genre of faux authenticity. On reality TV, the subjects are seldom artists or entertainers or high achievers in any field. They are personalities. Their roles are their lives, which creates a Möbius strip. What do the Kardashians actually do besides being on their show, which has, of course, generated all sorts of commercial opportunities that almost make it seem as if they are doing something? What is their talent, other than the talent for self-promotion? All of this was anticipated 54 years ago by historian Daniel Boorstin in The Image , in which he defined a celebrity as someone who is known for being well-known. In a previous post , I discussed how this applied to Trump, who seems a hollow man except for his fame. But I am not sure that Boorstin’s tautology, clever as it is, is really accurate. I would submit that celebrity isn’t a status, nor is it a media anointment. I think celebrity is actually a narrative form played out in the medium of life and then broadcast by the traditional and now social media. One earns celebrity—to the extent that you can call it earned—by keeping one’s narrative going. You lose your celebrity not when you lose fame or attention, your well-known-ness, but when you lose your narrative, which is what got you the attention in the first place. Donald Trump is the first celebrity candidate in both Boorstin’s sense and mine—Boorstin’s because Trump is less a builder of edifices than a slapper-of-his-name-on-other-people’s edifices. He is literally known for being well-known. And in mine because Trump has spent the better part of his life providing narratives to the press to feed its insatiable appetite for gossip and his desire for attention. There are many ways in which Trump is a unique presidential aspirant, but chief among them may be this: He is the first candidate who ran for president to feed his celebrity. The entire campaign is a plot point—a means to a larger end, which is not the presidency, but keeping his celebrity afloat. Relevance is an issue for all of us, but especially for a 70-year-old man who is accustomed to the spotlight. I thought of this when The New York Times ran two pieces this week. One was the first of a series based on interviews with Trump conducted by biographer Michael D’Antonio and given to The Times by him. What the interviews reveal is that Trump’s primary obsession is a fear of losing his fame. In the interviews Trump reviles Arsenio Hall , a former talk show host and one-time Celebrity Apprentice contestant . “Dead as a doornail. Dead as dog meat,” Trump eulogized. The other article that struck me was one about how Trump used appearances on TV shows and in films As the Times piece about Trump’s Hollywood connections tells it, he began talking about running for president as early as 1988. Why? Trump didn’t have any overriding sense of national mission. He doesn’t have one even now. Clearly, his ongoing, three-decades-long flirtation with the presidency was just a plot twist—a way of juicing the narrative when it was flagging. In that sense, it was no different than his affair with Marla Maples, his feud with Rosie O’Donnell, his nonstop lawsuits and everything else. The presidency was a publicity stunt. It still is. Viewed that way, nearly everything Trump does, Politics, as I have written many times, has long been integrated with entertainment. The devices of the latter serve the ends of the former, and this has especially served conservatives: The X-Files fed conservative paranoia, 24 This post was first published on BillMoyers.com Neal Gabler is an author of five books and the recipient of two LA Times Book Prizes, Time magazine’s non-fiction book of the year, USA Today’

Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats forced debate on the confirmation of Jeff Sessions for the position of Attorney General into Wednesday with belabored speeches over Sessions’ qualifications and President Donald Trump’s firing of Obama Administration holdover, acting Attorney General Sally Yates, the night before. [As Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley ( ) opened the hearing, he stated that there would be a vote on confirmation of Sessions for the position of Attorney General, but as the lengthy meeting progressed, Democrats forced the meeting on that vote into Wednesday on a technicality. Grassley noted in his opening comments that proceedings would commence as did those in the confirmation of former Obama Administration Attorney General Loretta Lynch, adding that it was his understanding that each Democrat on the committee, except two, intended to oppose Sessions’ nomination. Grassley referred to the more than 10 hours of questioning that Sessions endured in a prior committee hearing regarding his confirmation. The senator further noted Democrat opposition that began before those Senators even submitted questions to Sessions, insinuating the partisan political nature of their opposition. Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California rebuked Sessions, accusing him of involvement with the President’s executive action to temporarily restrict travel from seven nations identified as exceptional security risks. It was the Department of Homeland Security under the Obama Administration which identified the seven countries in the Terrorist Prevention Act of 2015 and its 2016 extension. Feinstein heavily referenced and quoted an article from the Washington Post in her lambasting of Sessions, accusing him of guiding the Presidents’ policy agenda. Grassley made clear that Sessions was not involved in the drafting of the executive order based on a statement from Sessions on the matter. Feinstein declared “no confidence” that Sessions would “uphold our laws and civil liberties as attorney general. ” She went on to praise Salley Yates in her function as acting Attorney General before stating, with no ambiguity, that she would vote no on confirmation of Sessions. In the course of Tuesday’s hearing, Grassley remarked how much longer Democrats were speaking than Republicans. Late on Monday, Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she instructed members of the Department of Justice not to defend the President’s executive action, an action which instituted a temporary travel restriction on seven countries. Yates was a holdover from the Obama Administration, operating in the position of acting AG as the Senate considers the confirmation of Sessions. Sen. Patrick Leahy is leading the effort to block confirmation of Sessions as Attorney General, according to NBC News. During Tuesday’s hearing, Leahy launched into a drawn out condemnation of the President’s firing of Yates. Sen. Ted Cruz specifically cited legal guidance relating to Trump’s executive order and its legality. He rebuked Yates for allowing an act of “brazen partisan lawlessness” and policy disagreement to dictate her duties. As Tuesday’s session neared a close, Grassley set aside 22 minutes for Sen. Al Franken to speak at Wednesday’s hearing, while Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse ( ) was told he would be granted 20 min. The committee was then scheduled to meet at 10:30 a. m. ET on Wednesday morning with a vote to commence between 11 and 12 a. m. Democrats on two other committees moved to obstruct confirmation of President Trump’s nominees with their refusal to even appear at those hearings. Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana

Tweet Widget by Hugh Esco The author, a reader and colleague of BAR, offers a corrective to our use of the word “jihad,” a term that, in “an Islamic conception, has nothing to do with ‘holy war.’” In this “appeal,” Mr. Esco warns: “When we fail to interrupt this abuse of human language, We lend support to registration programs and internment camps, to islamaphobic attacks and imperial wars of aggression.” Confusing Jihad with Hirabah Won't Build a More Peaceful World by Hugh Esco “No one seems to use of phrases like ‘Christian Terrorists,’ although there is plenty of evidence in our history and contemporary experience to support the use of such a phrase.” Black Agenda Report led the way by banning the perjorative use of “illegal” to describe workers in this country without documentation. This publication did so in an article years ago comparing its use to that of the n-word. Many other media outlets including those in the mainstream have since followed suit, so that these days the word is only heard in those venues intent on expressing their contempt for our fellow workers in this divisive way. This is my appeal that Black Agenda Report and the readers who look to this publication for thought-leadership decide for ourselves that FOX news does not need our help creating a hostile world for our Muslim neighbors who respect a messenger who in his final sermon instructed the faithful, "Treat others justly so that no one will be unjust to you." Fringe white supremacist groups have long shown a willingness to use violence to advance their political agenda and to justify their tactics by misquoting the Bible and claiming a Christian Identity. Still no one seems to paint all Christians as equally heinous, to treat their claims of Christian faith with any seriousness or to adopt the widespeard use of phrases like “Christian Terrorists,” although there is plenty of evidence in our history and contemporary experience to support the use of such a phrase. Yet it serves the monied interests who profit from war to create fear by conflating the actions and strategies of small sectarian militias who misquote the Quran to advance their secular agenda with the beliefs of 1.6 billion Muslims who actually seek to practice its precepts. “The Arabic word ‘jihad’ most often translates as ‘struggle.’” For Muslims around the world an Islamic conception of jihad has nothing to do with “holy war,” a concept put forward in 1095 by the Catholic Pope Urban II to justify the crusades against Muslims. The Arabic word most often translates as “struggle,” and is used forty-one times in the Quran, thirty-one times to speak of what the context reveals is a “jihad al-nafs,” or an inner struggle in the path of the Divine, what Islamic scholars have called “the greater jihad.” It is the sort of lifetime commitment to personal integrity that supports being good partners to spouses, good parents to children, good neighbors, to be civically engaged to create a better world for our communities. The Quran includes ten references to “jihad al-qital,” referred to as the “lesser jihad” by the scholars and theologians. Jihad al-qital is an external militant struggle, ordained by legitimate civil authorities and constrained by rules-of-engagement respecting the distinctions between combatants and others. It includes an expectation that the lives of captured combatants will be spared. Jihad al-qital bears more in common with the Christian concept of just-war, than with the scorched earth policies of the crusades which burned the libraries of Byzantium, or the Jewish tribes annihilation of all the indigenous peoples of Canaan, along with their livestock and shrines. We create a communications disconnect when we turn jihad into a pejorative, one where Muslims and non-Muslims wind up talking past each other. “We'd never let Timothy McVeigh define Christianity for us. ” We also empower Al-Qaida and ISIS and similar organizations and their allies among the elites of the United States, when we let them appropriate this key Islamic concept to describe their terrorist activities. We'd never let Timothy McVeigh define Christianity for us. When we fail to interrupt this abuse of human language, this hate speech, this disrespect for the faith of 1% of our fellow US citizens and roughly a quarter of our global neighbors, we first show our ignorance but worse share responsibility for creating an atmosphere which lends support to the attacks being suffered on a regular basis by our Muslim neighbors, both here at home and abroad. We lend support to registration programs and internment camps, to islamaphobic attacks and imperial wars of aggression. If we need an Arabic word to describe terrorism, that word would be hirabah, which translates as “unlawful warfare.” Nuclear blackmail is hirabah. Drone strikes are hirabah. Cluster munitions are hirabah. White phosphorous is hirabah. Wars of imperialism, aggression and occupation are hirabah. Wars for oil are hirabah. And distorting language to tell people that words mean the opposite of what they mean is also a form of cultural warfare, and ought to be unlawful, but is perpetrated daily by elected officials, agencies of our own government, the war industry funded think tanks, FOX-News and other Islamophobes in the media. Sectarian militias and FOX news ought not be given the power to redefine the 'sixth' pillar of Islam for the non-Muslim world. “Wars of imperialism, aggression and occupation are ‘hirabah.’” And they certainly do not need our help doing it. In that final sermon referenced above, the Muslim Prophet also prohibited usurious loans and instructed those with accumulated wealth to give every year to the state specified percentages for distribution to the needy. No wonder the disaster capitalists want us to be afraid of our Muslim neighbors. If fearing our neighbors serves the interests of disaster capitalists, it is highly unlikely to do us any good. Jihad, even in its lower form, shows its practitioners to be more civilized that the imperial purposes to which our tax dollars are put in imperial wars of aggression and occupation. Jihad al-nafs is an islamic principle to which all the worlds' people, with or without faith, should aspire. So-called 'jihadist terrorist' is an oxymoron, one which creates a disconnect for those who understand Arabic and Islamic teachings. We ought to say 'sectarian militia' when that is what we mean. Doing so is as essential to our learning to respect our immigrant neighbors as was our rejection of the pejorative use of 'illegal'. Getting the language right is a key early step to creating peace with our Muslim neighbors in the global community. It will help us take the next step of ending our imperial occupations. FOX news is not a legitimate source for a vocabulary useful to our struggle, our jihad for a just future. But respect for the faiths of others can move us in the right direction. Hugh Esco is a founding officer of the Georgia Green Party who works by day in IT, and on nights and weekends for a world worthy of passing on to the next generation. He can be contacted at [email protected]

Lazy Liberal Journalists Smear Bannon Lazy Liberal Journalists Smear Bannon November 16, 2016, 1:37 pm by Cliff Kincaid Leave a Comment 0 Accuracy in Media Media bias won’t let up just because the liberal media were humiliated on November 8. The bias is now being directed at the President-elect’s conservative appointments. On Monday night’s CBS Evening News, anchor Scott Pelley proclaimed that the Southern Poverty Law Center had declared that Donald J. Trump’s campaign CEO Stephen Bannon “has no business being in the White House.” Bannon was named as chief strategist and counselor. In fact, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has no business being cited as a credible source by any responsible news organization. It smears conservatives for profit, diverting attention from real domestic threats, such as the Marxist extremists currently demonstrating against Trump in the streets and threatening to disrupt his inauguration. Many of the demonstrators are from the ANSWER Coalition , an outgrowth of the pro-North Korea Marxist-Leninist Workers World Party. But don’t expect to get any information about the ANSWER Coalition from the SPLC. In fact, the SPLC is in bed with communists of all kinds, having participated in the notorious Left Forum held in New York City earlier this year. We noted at the time that the event featured “an assortment of communists, 9/11 truthers, pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel activists, and other extremists.” Even more troubling, SPLC President and CEO Richard Cohen was a member of the “ Countering Violent Extremism Working Group ” of the Department of Homeland Security in 2010. It is possible that Cohen, in this capacity, was able to get access to classified information, and that the SPLC, in turn, shared its erroneous data on conservative opponents of the Obama administration with federal law enforcement agencies. The attacks on Bannon stem from his leadership of the news site, Breitbart News , a popular source of alternative news and information which was strongly pro-Trump during the campaign. On occasion, the site features some unorthodox conservative views that Bannon’s critics have tried to pin on him. The site was named for Andrew Breitbart, who pioneered new and effective ways to undermine the left. One of his disciples, Jeremy Segal, did a video exposing Democratic Rep. Danny K. Davis (IL) being honored at the Communist Party U.S.A.’s headquarters in Chicago for a lifetime of “inspiring leadership.” Lazy liberal journalists would rather cite the SPLC as authoritative without having to bother to investigate how the group has been exposed by such investigative reporters on the left as Ken Silverstein. At one time, notes Silverstein , the group did some good work against racist hate groups. But later, in order to expand its business model and make more money, it expanded the “hate” label to mainstream conservative organizations. It has accumulated $300 million in a reserve fund and has become “one of the most profitable charities in the country,” with its top officials getting membership in the so-called financial elite one percent. This journalist was named a member of the “radical right,” a designation then transformed into a charge of “Islamophobia” by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). The accusations are designed to silence First Amendment rights and discourage the media from going to conservative sources for news, information and commentary. Before Pelley uncritically cited the SPLC, Kate Snow was on MSNBC talking about how Trump’s stand against illegal immigration was similar to that of the secretary of state of Kansas, Kris Kobach. She said Kobach had given “support” to the Social Contract Press, which she described as a “hate group” designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Social Contract Press rebuts all of the accusations, while noting that the SPLC’s $300 million cash hoard “rivals that of [the] Clinton Foundation.” It was the Social Contract Press which published one of Silverstein’s articles exposing the SPLC. Indeed, Silverstein’s exposé was just one section of a major report the Social Contract Press published in 2010 that examined the SPLC’s strategy and tactics. Yet, it’s Bannon who is being accused of being an extremist. The Washington Post admits there’s no real evidence behind the allegation, making it just another smear picked up by most of the media without adequate checking or verification. What we are witnessing in the faux outrage against Bannon is a fear that the Trump administration and the new Republican Congress will get back to the business of monitoring real domestic threats. For example, Trump adviser Walid Phares has already indicated that the President-elect will back a bill, the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act, which could lead to an investigation of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Trevor Loudon, the producer of the new film, “ Enemies Within ,” says the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act could be supplemented by the House and Senate bringing back committees or subcommittees devoted to exposing internal security problems, also known as un-American activities. A member of Congress exposed in the film for his ties to the Muslim Brotherhood is Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) , who is running for chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

SYDNEY, Australia — A detention center in Papua New Guinea where Australia has sent hundreds of asylum seekers will be closed, the governments of both countries said Wednesday. But neither side said when it would be shut down or what would be done with the people held there. The center, on Manus Island, a rugged, volcanic outcrop, is one of two such detention centers that Australia maintains in the Pacific to house migrants it has intercepted on the way to its shores, a policy that rights groups and the United Nations have criticized. In April, Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court declared the center illegal, and the governments have held discussions since then about how to proceed. But few details about the future of the 960 asylum seekers being held there were disclosed Wednesday. “A series of options are being advanced,” Papua New Guinea’s prime minister, Peter O’Neill, said in a statement announcing that both governments had agreed to close the center. Australia’s minister for immigration and border protection, Peter Dutton, said the move would not change his country’s refusal to accept asylum seekers who try to reach its shores by boat. “No one from Manus Island Regional Processing Center will ever be settled in Australia,” Mr. Dutton said in a statement. He has said in the past that asylum seekers granted refugee status could resettle in Papua New Guinea, though few have been allowed to do so, and that those denied asylum should be sent back to their home countries. Australia’s government, which has maintained a policy toward asylum seekers to discourage migrants from trying the dangerous sea voyage, has said it is for Papua New Guinea to decide what to do with the asylum seekers at the Manus detention center. A senator in the Australian Greens Party, Sarah said Wednesday that the asylum seekers should be resettled in Australia. “The government must ensure that these people are given a chance to rebuild their lives in safety in Australia,” Ms. said in a statement. The conditions at the center, and at another on Nauru, a tiny island nation, have come under scrutiny. The United Nations has said that Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers at the offshore centers is cruel, inhuman and degrading, and that it violates international law. Detainees on Manus Island have contracted malaria and typhoid, and there have been reports of a lack of toilet paper and running water. Guards there have also been accused of brutality and of failing to protect detainees. Conditions at the detention center on Nauru have also been described as harsh and dispiriting. The Guardian released documents this month from the Nauru center that detailed reports of child sexual abuse, assault and among asylum seekers. About 1, 000 asylum seekers are living on Nauru. “Australia’s international reputation has been enormously damaged by the establishment of offshore camps,” said Tim O’Connor, acting chief executive of the Refugee Council of Australia, which represents 200 groups that support asylum seekers. “It has done enormous damage to the thousands of individuals who have been trapped in this system. The refugees should immediately be brought to Australia. ” Leaders of Australia’s governing parties and the main opposition Labor Party have said the country’s policy has led to a steady decrease in the number of asylum seekers attempting to reach their shores, and the officials have shown few signs of wanting to change the policy.

Matt Latimer, a former Bush speechwriter and contributing editor to Politico Magazine, predicts that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2020. [From Politico Magazine: Hillary Clinton will run for president. Again. No inside information informs this prediction. No argument is advanced as to whether her run is a good or a bad idea — there are many ways to make a case either way. Instead this is just a statement of simple facts (if facts mean anything anymore, that is). And the facts are clear that the former secretary of state is doing everything she needs to do to run for the White House one more time. If she finds a path to do so, she will take it. And I can prove it. … Clinton is not going to want to spend the rest of her life haunted by the question of “what if. ” What if I could run again — and win? Besides, seeking the White House has been her aspiration for decades. What else is there for her to do? Yes, barring some calamity, Clinton is running. And this brave columnist will go one step further. Not only will Clinton will run again, she has an excellent shot at getting the Democratic Party nomination again. But only if she approaches it quite differently. Here’s some advice for her. Read the rest of the article here.

Share on Facebook When you think of a Lynx, chances are a big kitty happily purring in utter contentment does not come to mind! However, that's exactly how Max the Canada Lynx acts when his caretaker pets him and gives him a nice relaxing head massage. Just like his domestic feline relatives, Max is partial to a good ear, cheek, and chin scratch. In fact, he loves it so much that he rolls over on his back and purrs like an engine. Hearing his sweet rumble is so therapeutic and relaxing, if you listen to this you'll be falling asleep before you know it! When you think of a Lynx, chances are a big kitty happily purring in utter contentment does not come to mind! However, that's exactly how Max the Canada Lynx acts when his caretaker pets him and gives him a nice relaxing head massage. Just like his domestic feline relatives, Max is partial to a good ear, cheek, and chin scratch. In fact, he loves it so much that he rolls over on his back and purrs like an engine. Hearing his sweet rumble is so therapeutic and relaxing, if you listen to this you'll be falling asleep before you know it! She runs a program called Wildlife Education by Bernie which Max is a part of. He's an education animal ambassador who helps teach school children and the general public about the ongoing need to both protect and respect our planet and the endangered species who call it home. For centuries the Canada Lynx had endured and survived despite hunters who trap and kill them for their fur. In addition to hunting, an overall loss of habitat has led to their steady decline, so much so that in March of 2002 they were added to the endangered species list as threatened. Hopefully their population and numbers will rebound back to healthy levels. Until then, wildlife ambassadors like Max will continue to raise awareness and spread hope for the survival of all threatened and endangered species everywhere. Check out his beautiful face and listen to the sweet purring noises he makes, they'll definitely make you relax and feel at ease! Related:

The Minnesota officer who has been on trial for the murder in the shooting death of a black motorist has been found not guilty. The verdict was announced around 2:55 p. m. on Friday. [St. Anthony police Officer Jeronimo Yanez testified during the trial that Philando Castile had his hand on a gun. A Facebook video live streamed by Diamond Reynolds, his girlfriend who was in the car, went viral. She narrated as Castile sat dying. Officer Yanez fatally shot Castile on July 6 after a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, a suburb in St. Paul, Minnesota. At the time, there was a question as to whether Castile was a suspect in a recent convenience store robbery. Officer Yanez faced charges of manslaughter and reckless discharge of a weapon. The Minnesota jury has been deliberating this week. Shortly after the shooting, Officer Yanez’ lawyer said, “I can tell you that the stop of the vehicle for an equipment violation was not the only reason for the stop. ” A handgun was recovered at the scene. During the Facebook live stream, Reynolds said, “police just shot my boyfriend for no apparent reason. ” Castile had a concealed handgun license. During Yanez’ trial, a police force expert testified that the officer was justified in his use of force. Expert Joe Dutton told jurors “When Yanez saw the grip of Castile’s hand, he had to react to the actions of Mr. Castile,” reported the CBS affiliate in Minnesota. He added, “This truly was a decision, there wasn’t time to do anything else. ” A firefighter testified that he heard Castile’s gun drop to the ground from his pocket when he put him on a stretcher. Officer Yanez took the stand in his defense. He testified that he stopped Castile’s car after Castile drove past him and gave him a “deer in the headlights” look that made him suspicious. “It’s a trigger,” he testified. The officer was already on alert after the convenience store robbery and Castile looked like one of the robbery suspects. He radioed his partner that he was going to pull the car over because “[t]he two occupants just look like people that were involved in a robbery,” Minnesota’s Star Tribune reported. He also had legal grounds to pull Castile over because he was driving with a broken brake light. Yanez walked up to the car, and he could smell burnt or burning marijuana, he testified. The officer told the jury he saw Castile’s hand on the gun and Castile did not follow his instructions not to reach for the gun. He told the jury, “I told him, ‘Don’t pull it out,” but when he saw Castile pull out the top of the gun, “That’s when I engaged Mr. Castile and shot him. ” The officer testified when he saw Castile’s gun, “my family popped into my head. My wife. My baby girl. ” “I did not want to shoot Mr. Castile at all. ” “Those were not my intentions. ” After the shooting, Castile’s mother, Valerie Castile, reportedly told CNN, “I think he was just black in the wrong place. ” Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton further fanned the flame of racial tension when he asked at a press conference after the shooting — “Would this have happened if the driver and passenger were white?” He answered his question saying — “I don’t think it would have,” reported Fox 9 News in . Paul. As can be heard in the video, the officer told the girlfriend, “I told him not to reach for it. I told him to get his hand off of it. ” This occurs at the mark in the video. Lana Shadwick is a writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as a prosecutor and associate judge in Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2

It is called the SS-18, the “Satan” for short. As Obama has gutted military preparedness, Putin has busily been doing the opposite. The Russian military is capable of wiping our large swaths of this country in less than an afternoon. The title of this piece is 115 million Americans killed in 30 minutes. Thirty minutes is the approximate time that an SS-18, launched from inside Russia, would reach the Eastern Seaboard, where 5 of these missiles would destroy the entire east coast in which 115 million Americans would perish with scarcely a trace. The casualty figures come from Paul Craig Roberts. When will the bulk of Americans realize that they have been sold out under a treasonous chief executive? You will scarcely believe your eyes and ears in the following report as you are about to learn that we are Russia’s mercy. The stunning details are in the following video. DOES ANYONE THINK THAT HILLARY’S “NO-FLY ZONE” IN SYRIA, IS STILL A GOOD IDEA? P lease Donate to The Common Sense Show PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL AND DON’T FORGET TO “LIKE” US This is the absolute best in food storage. Dave Hodges is a satisfied customer. Don’t wait until it is too late. Click Here for more information.

90 Shares 70 19 0 1 Mohsen Abdelmoumen : According to you, when we see the numerous demonstrations anti-Trump in the United States after the election of Donald Trump at the presidency, are we witnessing a colored revolution? Wayne Madsen: It is classic Soros-funded color revolution. Soros is financing MoveOn.org, Black Lives Matter, Demos, and other of his groups to turn out protesters and is even running ads in papers looking for paid drivers and protest coordinators. In your very relevant books devoted to George Soros: “Soros: Quantum of Chaos”, you reveal the true face of this figure who is the spearhead of several destabilization operations in the world. From where does all the power come that this criminal holds and why is he untouchable? Soros is very wealthy and actually a frontman for an even more powerful and wealthy person, Evelyn de Rothschild, along with his family. They are all the true puppet masters of the world. Soros remains a major element in the anti-Trump device. Can Trump resist him? MORE... Disrespecting the American Imperial Presidency Trump Won, Now What? Will America Survive the Next 4 Years? Defeating White Liberalism in the Age of Trump Trump is actually now being surrounded by people who will serve in his administration who will be loyal to the Soros-Rothschild puppet masters and certainly not to Trump. Can we say that the occult world is more powerful than legal institutions? Secret societies with their crazy rituals have been the bane of human existence since the time of the Sanhedrin and Pharisees in Palestine and the Dionysian cults of the Nile Valley and the Mediterranean region. In your book “ ISIS is US - The Shocking Truth Behind the Army of Terror”, you detail the relations between the USA and ISIS/Daesh. What is the triggering element that has put you on this trail? Trump's national security adviser retired Lt Gen Michael Flynn revealed that the US was supporting ISIS and then he was forced to resign. My own sources in the Middle East confirmed this long before Flynn made his public statement and was fired as Defense Intelligence Agency chief by Obama. You mention Western Sahara and the involvement of the Clintons in a deal with the Kingdom of Morocco while this case is under the authority of UN. Aren't the Clintons outlaws such Bonnie and Clyde by supporting Morocco against the Sahrawi people and the UN's resolutions? The Clintons received at least $12 million from the Moroccan government in return for buying their loyalty to Morocco's agenda, which includes permanently annexing Western Sahara as the "Southern Province." Morocco and Israel share the same policy on annexing illegally-occupied territories. According to your diverse very interesting analysis, can we assert that the World Government or the false prophets of the New World Order are the real decision-makers of this world? I mentioned a few already, Soros/Rothschild. Others are the Bilderbergs, Bohemian Club, and the Council on Foreign Relations and their counterparts. You know very well some American intelligence agencies like the NSA. Do these intelligence agencies serve the US' interests or, rather, the oligarchy's interests? The CIA has always served the interests of Wall Street. NSA now serves the interests of the global security network it leads. You were an officer in the US Navy. Was the whistleblower you are today born after your military career or before? Before. I was an FBI-Navy whistleblower in 1982 and helped to uncover a major pedophile ring in the US Navy that reached into the Reagan-Bush White House and was ultimately exposed in The Washington Times in 1988-89. My whistleblowing cost me my Navy career, however, and a subsequent series of fairly bad jobs. In the recent US election, we saw the mass media bankruptcy despite their manipulations and their fake polls. Didn't one of the pillars of world oligarchy collapse under our eyes? Don't we witness a historic moment announcing the end of the New World Order and its purely capitalist product, globalization? 99 percent of major newspapers endorsed Clinton. Many alternative news sources supported Trump. We are seeing a massive shift away from newspapers and corporate TV and websites to the alternative media, of which WayneMadsenReport.com has been prominent since its founding in 2005. Snowden has denounced the Prism program and you have denounced Echelon, both of which serve the interests of the world's oligarchic caste. What is known is not only the immersed part of the iceberg? What is still relatively unknown is the close cooperation between NSA and private companies like Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook, and major telecommunications companies. It is much greater than even Snowden's documents describe. The quantity and especially the quality of your reports reveal to us a world unknown by millions of human beings. How all these truths have been hidden? The major media cooperates with the government in covering up news events. I advise everyone to read the Wayne Madsen Report as well as your books and follow your various interventions in the alternative media. How do you explain that we, who are resisting to what I call the fascist oligarchic caste, are called conspiracy theorists? Is this concept the only weapon of the fascist imperialists to reduce to silence all those who resist them and to reinforce the ranks of those whose who have been brainwashed? The term conspiracy theorist was developed by the CIA in the mid-1960s to ridicule those who believed there was a wide government role in the assassination of President Kennedy. It has been used ever since to describe legitimate researchers into Iran-Contra, 9/11, and other deep state crimes. Your book “ The Star and The Sword ” is one of the few to talk about intimate and opaque links between the Zionist entity of Israel and Saudi Arabia. You claim that they organize false flag attacks, including the 9/11. What is the origin and nature of this Israeli-Saudi strategic alliance? Do you think that the JASTA law will succeed or will it be countered by the Zionist allies of Saudi Arabia? Do the fact that the USA and the Westerners turn a blind eye on the criminal war led by the Saudis to Yemen isn't due to the weight of the lobby Zionist? The Zionist-Wahhabi/Saudi alliance goes back to Ibn Saud who wrote the British and Zionist leaders that he did not oppose a Jewish homeland in Palestine so long as it did not lay claim to Saudi territory on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Aqaba. The relationship has always been close, except for the time of King Faisal, who was conveniently shot in the face and killed by a relative. Do you undergo pressure or threats in relation to the remarkable work you do? If so, how do you live it? I was forced to move my domicile from Washington because the outgoing Obama administration put pressure on some media organizations I did work for. These included RT (contributor agreement canceled) and Al Jazeera America (which is now defunct). The FBI entered my apartment in Washington at least twice and I've had three visits by them at my new home in Florida. I was informed of 3 personal threats in Washington. I ignore all these pressures and continue to exercise the freedom of the press. Are you optimistic or do you think that the Satanist project of the oligarchy still has a nuisance capacity that can plunge the world into chaos? As with cockroaches, which detest light, the shadow figures of covert power cannot stand what is known as the disinfectant of sunshine. Light has always fought against darkness and will continue to do so. Interview realized by Mohsen Abdelmoumen Who is Wayne Madsen? Wayne Madsen is an American journalist, television news commentator, online editor of Wayne Madsen Report.com , investigative journalist and author specializing intelligence and international affairs. Starting in 1997, after his military service as a U.S. Navy lieutenant assigned to Anti-Submarine Warfare duties and to the National Security Agency as a COMSEC analyst, he applied his military intelligence training to investigative journalism. He has since written for many daily, weekly, and monthly publications including The Progressive , The Village Voice , Counterpunch , Philadelphia Inquirer , Houston Chronicle , Allentown Morning Call , Juneau Empire , Cleveland Plain Dealer , Real Clear Politics , Danbury Newstimes , Newsday and many others. Throughout his journalistic career, he has been a television commentator on many programs, including 60 Minutes , Russia Today , Press TV , and many others. He has been a frequent political and national security commentator on Fox News and has also appeared on ABC , NBC , CBS , PBS , CNN , BBC , Al Jazeera , and MS-NBC . He has been invited to testify as a witness before the US House of Representatives, the UN Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and a terrorism investigation judicial inquiry of the French government. Wayne Madsen has some thirty-five years experience in security issues. As a U.S. Naval Officer, he managed one of the first computer security programs for the U.S. Navy. He subsequently worked for the National Security Agency, the Naval Data Automation Command, Department of State, RCA Corporation, and Computer Sciences Corporation. Wayne Madsen was a Senior Fellow for the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a privacy public advocacy organization. Mr. Madsen is a member of the National Press Club. Wayne Madsen is the author of The Handbook of Personal Data Protection (London: Macmillan, 1992), an acclaimed reference book on international data protection law; Genocide and Covert Operations in Africa 1993-1999 (Edwin Mellen Press, 1999); co-author of America's Nightmare: The Presidency of George Bush II ( Dandelion, 2003); Forbidden Truth: U.S.-Taliban Secret Oil Diplomacy, Saudi Arabia and the Failed Search for bin Laden ; author of Jaded Tasks: Big Oil, Black Ops & Brass Plates ; Overthrow a Fascist Regime on $15 a Day ; The star and the sword ; The Manufacturing of a President: the CIA's Insertion of Barack H. Obama, Jr. into the White House ; L'Affaire Petraeus ; and National Security Agency Surveillance: Reflections and Revelations ; Soros: Quantum of Chaos (2015); Unmasking ISIS: The Shocking Truth (2016). His website: http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

Another powerful earthquake strikes central Italy Please scroll down for video Initial reports on the magnitude of the tremors varied – while USGS and Italian media first talked of a 7.1 earthquake, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) said the tremor was magnitude 6.5 or 6.6. Italy Civil Protection reports buildings collapsing in a number of locations following Sunday's tremors. They did not provide any information regarding casualties. Local RAI TV reports that the tremor was powerful enough to wake the residents of the capital Rome, who reported walls of buildings shaking. While according to RAI Radio, at least two buildings collapsed in Norcia - the Basilica di San Benedetto and the Cathedral of Santa Maria Argentea. BEFORE AFTER Local media also reported destruction at the Church of Saint Augustine in Amatrice, which lost its bell tower . According to the mayor of Ussita, a commune in the Marche district with around 450 inhabitants, 90 percent of the buildings in the area were brought down by the quake. Emergency services across the region are currently checking the destroyed buildings for casualties, civil protection authorities said. Aftershocks with magnitudes of up to 4.5 still reportedly rock the area. The USGS says the quake was centered 6 km (3.7 miles) north of Norcia, a town in the province of Perugia. The epicenter lay some 10 kilometers deep. Norcia is home to some 5,000 people. Italians who live in the areas affected by the quake rushed to the web, posting videos of shaking furniture inside their homes. Italy's National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks (CGR) cautioned Friday that more powerful earthquakes could hit the region in the nearest future, identifying at least three areas at risk for further seismic activity. "There is no current evidence that the (seismic) sequence underway is coming to an end," the commission warned. This week's quakes come mere two months after almost 300 people were killed in the region by a quake that levelled several small towns ( via rt.com ). Related Articles

I grew up in San Francisco, land of organic vegetables and vegan delights, before such things were so popular. From an early age, my parents sent me to school with sandwiches, eggs, and fresh fruit from the fields of the Central Valley. Although I had every opportunity to eat delicious and nutritious food, I never met a vegetable I liked. Every time I tried something green, I spit it out or threw it up. I was a theatrical kid: taking off all my clothes when I didn’t want to leave a friend’s house, throwing myself against walls screaming “Aya not tired! Aya happy! Aya bouncing off the walls!” when I didn’t want to go to bed. I was just as melodramatic with food, gagging loudly when I accidentally ran into a zucchini in a quiche, picking mushrooms out of pasta dishes and piling them on the side of my plate like dams, throwing out a perfectly good tuna melt if there were slivers of celery inside. What I could keep down was junk food. Lots and lots of junk food. My parents tried their best, but the only times I was truly happy were the two days a week I ate fast food for dinner, one day with my mom at McDonald’s and the other with my dad at Wendy’s. My parents were divorced I spent exactly half the week with each of them, alternating every Saturday. Neither parent knew about the other’s weekly convenience meal. Like most children of divorce, the only power I had was to keep their secrets and then exploit them when it suited my needs. I kept these visits confidential, allowing both parents to think they were treating me to something special. I would sit in the car, beatifically chewing, fondling a Hamburglar toy or cheap movie that had come with the food. By the time I got to middle school, I was a sugar addict, using every dime of my weekly “lunch money” to buy candy at the Cala Foods in the Castro. I hid Skor bars and Skittles around my room like Claudia in “The Club. ” I once woke up covered in melted chocolate from a forgotten stash in my pillowcase. In high school, I realized I needed more than just sugar to live, so every day I would buy and consume an entire bag of Goldfish (that elusive pizza flavor really is the best). Who needed multiple food groups? Artificial flavors? Count me in. Butylated hydroxyanisole? Yum! It wasn’t until I was 22 and newly graduated from college that I voluntarily chose to put a piece of lettuce in my mouth, then actually chewed and swallowed it. I was doing “The Winter’s Tale” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Great River Shakespeare Festival, playing Perdita and Hermia — two characters whose names, in retrospect, sound like leafy greens. I was a working actor making $250 a week, more money than I had ever seen, and I felt like a real adult. But adults cooked and had wine with dinner. When I was invited for meals at other company members’ small apartments, I didn’t want to embarrass them by refusing their food, or embarrass myself by smuggling in a box of Mike and Ikes and a bag of . One night, someone made a salad. Just a salad. I stared at the plate — lettuce, onions, tomatoes — you know, salad. To me, that pile of fresh food was like a challenge out of “Fear Factor. ” For years, I had been telling everyone that I didn’t eat vegetables. I believed I hated them. I even took pride in the fact that I could fill my body with junk and not gain weight. I secretly, ridiculously, bizarrely thought my stance made me intriguing. Unique. Idiosyncratic. But sometimes we tell stories about ourselves that aren’t true. Sometimes stories we think are fixed are actually flexible. I picked up a piece of lettuce and ate it. I didn’t gag. To my surprise, I didn’t even dislike it. Tentatively, I began to try other vegetables, not just that night, but every time they were put in front of me. That Christmas, out for dinner with my mother, I lifted a fork of spinach to my mouth. She was so excited that she took a picture of it and made it her screen saver. Surprisingly, I found that I loved lots of vegetables and consequently, all kinds of foods. Broccolini was somehow less intimidating than the larger version: the gateway, broccoli. Zucchini wasn’t so bad after all. I realized that I had determined a defining characteristic based on who I was at 6. I had not tried again for 16 years. What else had I decided about myself that might not be true anymore? What had I decided about other people? That piece of lettuce was my first recognition that my identity was not set, but malleable. I used to think belly button piercings were cool. I used to date men who didn’t like me. I used to smoke. I had never wanted to get married I thought it wasn’t “who I was. ” But a few years ago, I found myself feeling otherwise. This didn’t mean I was a different person. But the narrative I had about myself had changed. Would I have learned this in other ways? Probably. But that bite opened me up to the possibility that change can happen even when you’re not trying you just have to stay curious. I’m still a picky eater. I don’t like pork chops, chicken, mushrooms and celery. But now, I will at least try pretty much anything. I still love the occasional Taco Bell (two bean burritos, no red sauce, no onions) and, of course, an burger. Yet my world is so much bigger because of that tiny piece of lettuce.

Trump Adviser Says Israeli Settlements ‘Not Illegal’ Contrary to Trump camp's statements, Israeli settlements are a violation of international law, | October 27, 2016 Be Sociable, Share! Marc Zell, co-chairman of Republicans Overseas Israel speaks as the Republican Party launches its first ever election campaign in Israel in Modiin, Monday, Aug. 15, 2016. Donald Trump’s adviser on Israel said on Wednesday that Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank are not illegal, adding that he believes the candidate agrees with him, putting the pair at odds with much of the world. Speaking to AFP at a rooftop restaurant on Jerusalem’s Mount Zion after a pro-Trump rally, David Friedman also said the US presidential candidate was “tremendously sceptical” about the prospects for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. About 150 people, including right-wing Israelis and evangelical Christians, attended Wednesday’s Trump rally outside the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City, near the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound. The compound is holy to both Muslims and Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. Located in East Jerusalem, it was occupied by Israel in 1967 and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community. Asked whether Trump viewed the West Bank as part of Israel, as many far-right Israelis do, Friedman did not answer directly. “I don’t think he believes that the settlements are illegal,” Friedman said. Myself and . @realDonaldTrump senior #Israel advisor David Friedman at the #JerusalemForever event that was held tonight at the old city. pic.twitter.com/2JxEWRrk8o — Israeli for Trump (@davidweissman3) October 26, 2016 Israeli religious nationalists see the Palestinian territory as part of the country, citing Jews’ connection to the land from biblical times. The US has intensified criticism of Israeli settlement building in the West Bank in recent months, warning that it is eating away at hopes for a two-state solution. Settlements in the West Bank are viewed as illegal under international law and are major stumbling blocks to peace efforts because they are built on land seized in the 1967 war which Palestinians see as part of their future state. At an American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in March, Trump described an “unbreakable bond” between the US and Israel. “When I become president, the days of treating Israel like a second-class citizen will end on day one,” Trump told delegates, in a speech that heaped praise on Israel and derided Palestinians as perpetrators of violence. Recalling rounds of failed peace talks between the two parties, Trump blamed Palestinian leaders. “To make a great deal, you need two willing participants,” Trump said. “We know Israel is willing to deal. Israel has been trying to sit down at the negotiating table without preconditions for years.” Friedman reiterated that Trump would recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the US embassy there – which would break with decades of precedent and put Washington at odds with most UN member states. There were chants of “lock her up” when Trump’s Democrat rival Hillary Clinton’s name was mentioned at the rally ahead of the 8 November vote – a common refrain among Trump supporters who want to see her jailed over an emails scandal. “I hate Hillary. She’s the same like (Barack) Obama,” said Ran Hofman, 54, who waved an Israeli flag. “They screw up the whole world.” A brief video message from Trump of about one minute was played at the event. “Together we will stand up to the enemies like Iran, bent on destroying Israel and her people,” Trump said. “Together we will make America and Israel safe again.”

All the worries over Serena Williams’s right shoulder and concerns about her difficult opponent seemed to vanish in a little over an hour Tuesday, as Williams let the rest of the women’s field know that despite the alarms, she is in very good form. The Williams opened her 2016 United States Open campaign with a smooth win over No. 29 Ekaterina Makarova and moved a step closer to the title that eluded her a year ago. Also on Tuesday night, Andy Murray defeated Lukas Rosol, . Williams’s previous match at the U. S. Open was her surprising semifinal loss to Roberta Vinci in 2015, which prevented Williams from winning the Grand Slam. “I had a great experience last year,” she said. “I was going for something that no one has done in a really long time. Yeah, it didn’t end up wonderful for me or the way I wanted it to end. But it was all I could do. If I could make the semis this year, I’d be excited about that. I need to at least do something. ” This year Williams is seeking her 23rd title in a major tournament, which would move her past Steffi Graf for the most in the Open era. She is also in pursuit of a record seventh U. S. Open title, which would break a tie with Chris Evert. The smiles and hugs that were exchanged by members of her support team after the match, including her coach Patrick Mouratoglou, suggest Williams is ready for the challenge. Wearing compression sleeves on both arms, Williams moved well across the court. Her serve was more than strong enough to dismiss most of the concerns about the shoulder injury that prompted her to withdraw from the Western Southern Open in Cincinnati this month. Williams said the key, though, would be how she felt Wednesday. Her average speed was 108 miles per hour, and she touched 121 m. p. h. on her fastest delivery. She served 12 aces, eight in the first set, to overwhelm Makarova in 62 minutes. Makarova beat Williams at the Australian Open in 2012, but there was little to resemble that match on Tuesday, which was a good day over all for the Williams family. Before Serena Williams took the court, her sister Venus, seeded sixth, defeated Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine, to improve her record in the of the Open to . Venus Williams said she knew nothing about her opponent before the match. She said mistakes led to her dropping the second set. “I definitely had a lot more errors than I wanted,” she said. “If I could cut those in half, it’s definitely a different story. ” She made 63 unforced errors to 39 for Kozlova. Venus Williams was playing in the main draw of a record 72nd Grand Slam event, breaking a tie with Amy Frazier for the most in the Open era. She reflected back on her first final here, in 1997, which she lost to Martina Hingis, and wondered if her younger sister could have won. Perhaps Serena could have. But the more pertinent question today is whether Serena Williams can win a match a week from Saturday, when the final is scheduled, even if her shoulder is sore. “I wouldn’t bet against her,” Venus Williams said. “Honestly, I wouldn’t want to do that. ”

Sam Moore, of legendary soul and RB duo Sam Dave, has been announced as a performer at the “Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration” on January 19 in Washington, D. C.[“I was a participant in the civil rights movement and have seen many positive changes and advancement in my 81 years of living in this wonderful country, but I know we must all join hands and work together with our new President,” the Grammy singer said in a press release. “I honestly believe that if we can accomplish this, the best is yet to come. ” Moore stressed the importance of all Americans rallying behind Trump. “We all as Americans need to unite behind our new President and give him a chance,” he said. “He needs everyone’s support to make America greater, stronger and an even better country. ” Moore joins a list of inaugural performers, including The Beach Boys, country music stars Lee Greenwood and Toby Keith, and rock band Three Doors Down. Broadway singer Jennifer Holliday and renowned opera singer Andrea Bocelli backed out of singing at inauguration events after facing fierce backlash. Moore said he won’t be bullied by protesters because performing at Trump’s inauguration is the “right thing to do. ” “I am not going to let them, the left side, intimidate me from doing what I feel is the right thing to do for the country and that [presidential] seal,” Moore said, according to the Associated Press. “Give the man a shot. He hasn’t even said ‘I do’ yet. Give him a chance. If you don’t like him after four years, then don’t vote for him next time. ” Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson

According to the Associated Press, Chinese diplomats “say they aren’t overly worried by fiery rhetoric from Trump and his Cabinet picks, and that China won’t change its basic approach” to issues like the South China Sea. [“Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Thursday that tensions in the strategically vital waterway have lessened and countries from outside the region should support efforts toward stability,” the AP reports. Kang was speaking in response to Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson’s assertion that the U. S. should send a “clear signal” to China about halting its military buildup on South China Sea islands. The New York Times worries that Tillerson’s remarks could “foreshadow” a foreign policy crisis with China: Mr. Tillerson told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday that China’s campaign in the rich sea was illegal and “akin to Russia’s taking of Crimea. ” “We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the stops,” Mr. Tillerson told the senators. “And second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed. ” Should those words be translated into action after Donald J. Trump assumes the presidency on Jan. 20, it would be a remarkable change in the American approach to Beijing’s in the South China Sea, which is transforming the area into what one Washington think tank said would by 2030 become “virtually a Chinese lake. ” China asserts sovereignty over most of the South China Sea despite competing claims by countries including Vietnam and the Philippines and an international ruling rejecting most of Beijing’s assertions. The Secretary of State nominee explained his focus on the South China Sea, as related by Reuters: Tillerson said he considered China’s South China Sea activity “extremely worrisome” and that it would be a threat to the “entire global economy” if Beijing were able to dictate access to the waterway. He blamed the current situation on what he termed an inadequate U. S. response. “The failure of a response has allowed them just to keep pushing the envelope on this,” Tillerson said. “The way we’ve got to deal with this is we’ve got to show back up in the region with our traditional allies in Southeast Asia,” he said. “They’re taking territory or control, or declaring control of territories that are not rightfully China’s,” he added, stressing that China’s and declaration of an air defense zone in contested waters are “illegal actions. ” If Tillerson is serious about denying China access to the islands, it certainly would be a dramatic change from the Obama policy of “challenging” China’s “excessive maritime claims” without doing anything to actually slow them down. The Times reports Tillerson’s remarks generated “reactions including confusion, disbelief, and warlike threats from analysts in China,” quoting one such analyst boasting that China now has greater capability than the United States, and would be ready for any “troubles” sent its way. Just about every Western media report on Tillerson’s statement focuses on the ominous ambiguity of what he meant by denying China “access” to South China Sea islands — many of which, as Reuters points out, are “equipped with airstrips and fortified with weapons. ” “This is the sort of remark akin to a tweet that pours fuel on the fire and maybe makes things worse. Short of going to war with China, there is nothing the Americans can do,” senior analyst Malcolm Davis of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute told Bloomberg News. However, Bloomberg notes that for all the concern about an enraged Chinese response, and a bit of snarling from analysts like those cited and alluded to by the New York Times, the actual official response from Beijing has been “relatively measured” so far — consisting mostly of officials like the Foreign Ministry’s Lu Kang saying they aren’t quite certain what Tillerson meant.

HONG KONG — A billionaire who has forged financial ties with some of the country’s most powerful families was taken by the Chinese police from his apartment at the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong late last week and spirited across the border, a person close to the businessman said on Tuesday. The billionaire, Xiao Jianhua, who has been missing since Friday, is in police custody in China, where he apparently is safe, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of arrest. Mr. Xiao is a Canadian citizen with an Antiguan diplomatic passport, though he was born in China. His removal from Hong Kong appears to contravene the “one country, two systems” rule that allows the former British colony to run its own affairs and bars the Chinese police from operating here. When asked on Tuesday about Mr. Xiao, the Hong Kong police issued a statement saying that “the subject” had entered mainland China through a border crossing on Friday. His disappearance was reported the following day, but on Sunday one of Mr. Xiao’s family members reported that Mr. Xiao was safe and that the family had asked to withdraw the missing person’s filing. Mr. Xiao, 45, had spent years outside China, most recently staying at the Four Seasons in Hong Kong. The situation is eerily reminiscent of the case of another holder, the bookseller Lee Bo, who disappeared off the streets of Hong Kong in late 2015, only to turn up days later in Chinese custody. His case, as well as the disappearance of four of his business associates, made headlines around the world and shook many people in Hong Kong, who saw his abduction as a violation of the city state’s ability to run its own affairs, guaranteed by international treaty until 2047. Mr. Xiao, a prodigy who passed the examination to enter the elite Peking University at age 14, controls a sprawling empire with shares in banks, insurance companies, coal, cement and property through his Tomorrow Group. The Hurun Report, which tracks Chinese billionaires, estimated his fortune last year at 40 billion renminbi, or $5. 8 billion. But that vastly understates his wealth, said the person close to Mr. Xiao. Mr. Xiao’s fortunes rose after his graduation from the university in 1990, where he had been head of the official student organization and stayed loyal to the government during the demonstrations in 1989. In recent years, Mr. Xiao has acted as a kind of banker to the ruling class, paying $2. 4 million in 2013 to buy shares in an investment firm held by the sister and of China’s president, Xi Jinping. A company he helped to control financed a deal that benefited the of a top former leader, Jia Qinglin, The New York Times reported in 2014. Mr. Xiao bought the shares from Mr. Xi’s relatives to help them divest financial holdings following a 2012 report by Bloomberg News that detailed his relatives’ wealth. He did it “for the family,” Mr. Xiao’s spokeswoman said in 2014. His fate in recent days has been the focus of media attention and confusion in Hong Kong and in the overseas press after reports emerged that he had been arrested. On Tuesday, Mr. Xiao posted two notices on his company’s WeChat account saying he had not been taken from Hong Kong to the mainland and instead was “recuperating abroad” and soon would meet with media organizations. In Chinese, there is no ambiguity: “Abroad” means outside the mainland. Those posts have since been removed. Those statements were untrue, according to the person close to Mr. Xiao, and were meant to tamp down interest in the story, because China’s government did not want it publicized. The person did not know why Mr. Xiao had been taken to the mainland, adding that his relatives, including his wife and son, were not in China. The Tomorrow Group has extensive holdings in China. Previous disappearances of Chinese billionaires have generated turmoil in Chinese stock markets, which are closed this week for the Lunar New Year. On Tuesday evening, the Hong Kong police press office would not comment on whether the local police had helped arrest Mr. Xiao and transport him across the border, and it would not say whether the Chinese police had illegally apprehended Mr. Xiao, saying only that it had asked the mainland police for help in the case. The Chinese Ministry of Public Security did not respond to a faxed request seeking comment on Mr. Xiao. A spokesperson for the Four Seasons Hotel, where Mr. Xiao lived for years, was not available to comment.

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Bestselling conservative author Ann Coulter, one of President Donald Trump’s earliest and staunchest supporters, railed against the Obamacare 2. 0 bill championed by House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday. [Obamacare 2. 0 would inflict severe healthcare costs on Rust Belt voters while easing taxes on counties that voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, according to Bloomberg News. Trump swept into the White House on a populist wave because voters protested mass immigration policies, erosive trade deals, and Middle Eastern military conflicts — not because they wanted another “crazy corporatist agenda,” Coulter tweeted. Could some investigative reporter write a piece explaining why Ryan is so hellbent on this deeply unpopular healthcare bill? — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) March 22, 2017, We did the tough thing! We passed an unpopular bill! — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) March 22, 2017, GOP: When did you get the sense that Americans are clamoring for a tax cut to help the “job creators”? — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) March 22, 2017, Only 50% of people even pay taxes! — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) March 22, 2017, ”Job creators” aren’t popular right now. They’re creating jobs in Indonesia and jobs for lobbyists. — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) March 22, 2017, TRUMP DIDN’T RUN ON CUTTING TAXES! — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) March 22, 2017, NO ONE SAID CUTTING TAXES WAS TOP PRIORITY! Even businesses would prefer cutting regulations, red tape and trial lawyers. — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) March 22, 2017, The only thing that got the GOP this win that voters thought Trump was going to abandon this crazy corporatist agenda. — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) March 22, 2017, GOP response to Trump’s victory has been to on all the ugly unpopular policies that make GOP hated. — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) March 22, 2017, GOP has to get working class votes, or they’re just handing it to social justice warriors. — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) March 22, 2017, I’d love to pay less in taxes. THAT ISN’T THE BIGGEST PROBLEM. Bigger: No jobs, no health care, no wall, immigrant crime welfare … — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) March 22, 2017, Conservatives are furious over the bill’s complete lack of enforcement against illegal aliens receiving healthcare tax credits — meant for citizens and certain immigrants — through document fraud and identity theft. Michigan Republican Rep. Justin Amash said the bill has “no constituency” beyond the political class entrenched in Washington, D. C. and their wealthy insurance company allies.

Citizen journalism with a punch How NATO Is Trying to Sabotage the Turkey-Russia Reset Deployments to the Black Sea and rhetoric on Aleppo are serving one important goal -- placing pressure on Turkey to backpedal on rapprochement with Moscow Originally appeared at Indian Punchline The Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Jens Stoltenberg in his ‘doorstep statement’ today on the 2-day meeting of the alliance’s defence ministers in Brussels said, inter alia, that an agenda item concerns “making progress on plans” for more NATO presence in the Black Sea region. He cited Russia’s belligerence as the rationale for such move. Interestingly, there was much emphasis on the Russian operations in Syria in Stoltenberg’s media briefing. ( Transcript ) Prima facie, Syria is not ‘NATO territory’, but a linkage is being established between NATO posturing toward Russia and the latter’s military presence in Syria. This can only happen at the behest of the United States, because Stoltenberg wouldn’t even sneeze sans green signal from Washington. Of course, generally speaking, boosting the ‘enemy’ image of Russia is useful and necessary for Washington to keep the alliance going, since the member countries are otherwise loathe to increase their defence budgets to 2% of GDP. The US also calibrates the NATO posturing toward Russia to curb any proximity developing between individual European countries and Moscow at the bilateral level as well as to ensure that the sanctions against Russia will remain in place. However, the plan to discuss Black Sea deployment as well as Stoltenberg’s emphasis on Aleppo also appears to serve another US objective – namely, put pressure on Turkey to delimit its strategic autonomy vis-à-vis Syrian conflict. Significantly, NATO intervened publicly – alongside an American demarche – to force Spain to refuse refuelling for the Russian flotilla of warships (including aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov) heading for eastern Mediterranean. This has been justified on the ground that with beefed up military prowess, Russian operations in Aleppo might intensify. ( RT ) The alibi that NATO has advanced is laughable – namely, humanitarian considerations – given the alliance’s brutal war crimes in Libya and its role in the gruesome murder of Muammar Gaddafi. Seumas Milne wrote in Guardian newspaper at that time, ‘If there were global justice, NATO would be in the dock over Libya.’ ( Guardian ) So, why is Stoltenberg acting like this? The answer is, Spain’s rethink on refuelling the Russian flotilla on the basis of a NATO demarche, is intended to create a precedent that will also be applicable to Turkey. Indeed, Washington is having a difficult time to ‘manage’ Turkey. Turkish President Recep Erdogan is on guard vis-à-vis Washington ever since Ankara concluded that the US had a hand in the July 15 attempted coup to overthrow his government. Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus had some strong words for the Obama administration when he left Ankara for Washington on Tuesday on a mission to put more pressure on Washington to extradite the Islamist preacher Fetullah Gulen. (Hurriyet) But then, wouldn’t Ankara know that Washington simply cannot extradite Gulen who has worked for the CIA? Of course the Turks would know that alright. So, it is a catch-22 situation. Gulen has become a lump stuck in Uncle Sam’s throat. Read a caustic commentary by the pro-government Sabah newspaper titled What happens if Washington refuses to extradite Fetullah Gulen? To be sure, Turkey’s role in any plans on NATO deployment in the Black Sea will be crucial because of its prerogatives under the Montreaux Convention (1936), which severely restricts the traffic of warships (other than Turkey and Russia’s) through the Bosporus. In principle, Turkey will be obliged to go along with any NATO plans to step up deployment in the Black Sea. But in reality, Turkey would know that Moscow expects it to fully and faithfully observe the provisions of the Montreaux Convention. You bet Erdogan will twiddle thumbs and keep Stoltenberg waiting in the ante-room, no matter the decision to accelerate NATO deployment in the Black Sea. Clearly, the US hopes to somehow insert NATO into the Turkey-Russia rapprochement. Washington feels uneasy that Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin are effectively coordinating their approaches to the Aleppo situation. What emerges out of all this is the desperate extent to which Washington will go to stall the progress of the Russian-Syrian mlitary operations to liberate Aleppo from the al-Qaeda affiliate Nusra. Conceivably, the Obama administration would prefer to somehow keep the Syrian situation fluid for Hillary Clinton to do what she promises to do — namely, revive the ‘regime change agenda in that country, if need be through a US military intervention. (See the piece in Telegraph titled Hillary Clinton will reset Syria policy against ‘murderous’ Assad regime .) Erdogan disclosed today that the Turkish military operations in northern Syria will steer clear of Aleppo. He said he has discussed the matter with Putin. At the same time, he gave a punch to Washington by revealing that Turkey next intends to target Manbij in northern Syria with a view to drive out from the city the Syrian Kurdish militia, who happen to be the US’ closest ally on the Syrian chessboard. ( Hurriyet ) Did you enjoy this article? - Consider helping us! Russia Insider depends on your donations: the more you give, the more we can do. $1 $10 Other amount If you wish you make a tax-deductible contribution of $1,000 or more, please visit our Support page for instructions Click here for our commenting guidelines On fire

161 Views November 16, 2016 GOLD , KWN , KWN II King World News In the aftermath of what has been a wild couple of weeks of trading, today a former associate of George Soros told King World News that the professionals have it completely wrong and that gold and silver are going to skyrocket like the 1970s. Victor Sperandeo manages over $3 billion, has been in the business 45 years, and has worked with famous individuals such as Leon Cooperman and George Soros. Below is what Sperandeo had to say . Victor Sperandeo: “ The base metals are going through the roof. Why? Because inventories were so low and demand is picking up. Inflation is rising all over the world because all of the currencies across the globe have been plunging, except for the U.S. dollar… IMPORTANT: To find out which company Doug Casey, Rick Rule and Sprott Asset Management are pounding the table on that already has a staggering 18.1 million ounces of gold that just added another massive deposit and is quickly being recognized as one of the greatest gold opportunities in the world – CLICK HERE OR BELOW: Sponsored And with regards to a Trump presidency, yes, you will get growth. But you will also get rising interest rates and rising inflation. If you look back to the 1970s, that’s why gold went up 31 percent a year from 1971-1980 (see remarkable chart below). This is what the professionals are missing, Eric. We are going to have a lot of inflation going forward and that will be extremely bullish for both gold and silver, which will soon catch up to the rest of the industrial metals. People just need to look at the 1970s in order to understand the roadmap for higher gold and silver prices. The Days Of Low Inflation Are Over 5-year compounded rates of inflation are now at the lowest levels since 1961. 1.56 percent compounded is the rate of 5-year inflation. Again, Eric, that is the lowest in 55 years. The 10-year compounded rate of CPI is 1.87 percent per year. This is all coming to an end, Eric. Worldwide central banks have failed. Their policies have failed. Now there is going to be spending and debt will increase. Meaning, the days of low inflation have come to an end. Massive Inflation Is Coming – Gold & Silver Will Skyrocket What we are looking at going forward is massive inflation. If you remember, Eric, inflation was so out of control in the 1970s that there were times when people would purchase a high-quality used car and it would be worth more money one year later than what they originally paid for it — that’s how bad inflation was. And during that historic run, gold went up 25.5 times and silver went up 38 times in price. This is what the professionals are missing, Eric. The bottom line is that once again gold and silver are going to skyrocket.” *** KWN has just released one of legendary Art Cashin’s greatest audio interviews ever discussing the gold market at length, including the recent takedown in gold, what to surprises to expect in key markets as Trump becomes president, and what impact massive public works projects will have on the United States, inflation, gold, bonds, and much more. and you can listen to this extraordinary interview by CLICKING HERE OR ON THE IMAGE BELOW. ***KWN has now released the extraordinary KWN audio interview with whistleblower Andrew Maguire, where he discusses the gold and silver smash, at what price the large sovereign wholesale bids are located, and much more, and you can listen to it by CLICKING HERE OR ON THE IMAGE BELOW. Is The World Going To See A Global Monetary Reset With QE Used To Purchase Gold? CLCK

Doctors Restore Ken Burns’ Full-Color Vision After Removing Massive Tumor From Filmmaker’s Visual Cortex CLEVELAND—Speaking to reporters following the successful eight-hour procedure Tuesday, neurosurgeons at the Cleveland Clinic confirmed they had removed a golf ball–sized tumor from the visual cortex of filmmaker Ken Burns, restoring the documentarian’s ability to see in full color. Mom Produces Decorative Gift Bag Out Of Thin Air LEXINGTON, MA—Conjuring the item into existence along with several sheets of perfectly coordinated tissue paper, local mother Caroline Wolfson, 49, reportedly produced a decorative gift bag out of thin air Tuesday within a mere fraction of a second of her daughter mentioning she needed to wrap a present. Paul Krugman’s Facebook Friends Excitedly Posting About New Article He Got Published In ‘The New York Times’ NEW YORK—Sharing the link on their news feeds with captions such as “You have to read this!” and “Check out what a buddy of mine wrote,” Paul Krugman’s Facebook friends reportedly spent Tuesday morning excitedly posting about a new article of his that was published in The New York Times.

Is Hillary Panicking Over the FBI and Weiner Emails? These past few days have seen a major shift in the Clinton tactics. During the original investigation, the Clinton campaign and its political and media allies launched attacks at Republicans for "wasting time" investigating Hillary, but did not attack the FBI. It misrepresented FBI statements, but it certainly did not target investigators in the way we're seeing now. But now we have open hostilities between Lynch at the DOJ and the FBI. We have the Clinton campaign circulating a letter attacking the FBI. We have countless media hit pieces aimed at the FBI. The obvious question is why. The Clinton campaign kept its cool, at least to some degree, before. It certainly didn't begin an ill-advised campaign against the FBI. That's the kind of tactic that may play to your core base, but alienates everyone else. That is to say everyone who isn't in the media. So what's going on here? 1. The Clintons thought they were done. It's close to the election. So they're lashing out. It's typically paranoid and nasty behavior by the Clintons. Hillary tried playing humble. She tried apologizing. But a moment ago, her victory seemed inevitable, and now she's in a state of fury at having it put at risk. 2. There is something in those emails that genuinely frightens the Clinton campaign. Which is why it took the crazy risk of going after the FBI with both barrels. It's desperate to smear the FBI as much as possible in order to neutralize any revelations or even potential charges. The attacks are a warning to treat Hillary with kid gloves again... or else. The first is plausible. To a degree. But for all of Hillary's awkwardness, she didn't lose it in the past. Why is she losing it now? There's no evidence beyond speculation for the latter. And yet the major shift in tactics is rather striking. If the Clinton campaign were panicking, this is what it would look like.

WASHINGTON — President Trump, smarting from a series of crises, moved his surrogates aside on Thursday and assigned the rescue of his presidency to the only spokesman he’s ever really trusted — himself. For days, a frustrated and simmering president fumed inside the West Wing residence about what aides said he saw as his staff’s inadequate defense and the ineffectiveness of his own tweets. Over the objections of some top advisers who wanted to steer him away from confrontation, Mr. Trump demanded to face the media, determined to reject the narrative that his administration is sinking into chaos, scandal and incompetence. In a rowdy, news conference hastily staged in the East Room, Mr. Trump attempted to deflect attention from news coverage about Russian intelligence, the resignation of his national security adviser, the defeat of his labor secretary nominee, and deepening questions about his ability to govern. “I turn on the T. V. open the newspapers and I see stories of chaos,” Mr. Trump said as he attempted — with little discipline — to read from prepared remarks listing his accomplishments since being inaugurated one month ago. “Chaos. Yet it is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a machine. ” From there he offered a disjointed and emotional performance in which he appeared to release anger and suspicion about the “dishonest media,” Democrats, intelligence officials, “criminal” leakers, Hillary Clinton, environmentalists and judges. Taking a room of reporters and the television audience on a journey through the Trump psyche, the president was at times angry (at the news media) playful (“I love this,”) bewildered (by “bias and hatred”) occasionally respectful (“It’s a great honor to be with you”) and needy (“I’m really not a bad person, by the way”). Ever the salesman, Mr. Trump painted his presidency as he wishes it to be: an Electoral College victory so massive it was historic — a falsehood pointed out by a reporter in the room — plus accomplishments in the first four weeks that have outpaced, he said, every other president. For his supporters, the performance was certain to be energizing. Mr. Trump turned sober questions from journalists into, at times, mesmerizing television. He attempted to reassert his command of “dishonest” journalists at a time when the news media is questioning his capacity to lead. It all made the brooding boss feel better, people close to Mr. Trump said. The news conference, they said, was Mr. Trump’s best effort at spitting the bit out of his mouth and escaping the bridle of the West Wing, where he views his only way to communicate his side of any argument is his limited Twitter feed. Still, it is unlikely that Mr. Trump’s performance will divert much attention from questions about his campaign’s relationship with Russia, or reassure wavering Republicans on Capitol Hill that their agenda is on track. Yet Mr. Trump’s close allies said he had met his more immediate goal of soothing himself with a sense of control over his own administration. Mr. Trump, who has long required employees to sign nondisclosure agreements, has been unnerved, aides said, by leaks big and small, ranging from disclosures about his evenings spent alone in the White House residence to the details of his calls with global leaders. Now, Mr. Trump finds himself at the mercy of a vast, leaky bureaucracy. “The first thing I thought of when I heard about it is: How does the press get this information that’s classified? How do they do it?” Mr. Trump said of the leaks. “The press should be ashamed of themselves. ’’ The news conference was not without its high points for the embattled president. His initial statement about a surge of optimism in the business world and more jobs was, however fleetingly, a focused message on the issue that helped elect him. And he lured a few reporters into a trap of debating the quality of their reporting as opposed to the merits of their original questions. And after complaining to aides about the dour delivery of his press secretary, Sean Spicer, at the daily televised briefing, Mr. Trump laced his own banter with humor. But he also revealed how crushing he is finding the onslaught of criticism that a president receives, saying that he has long preferred the business media to the political press corps he must now deal with. With the same lack of discipline that his supporters on the campaign trail found refreshing, Mr. Trump lashed out at the news media, which he called “out of control. ” He accused The New York Times of publishing what he termed a “discredited” story — evidently a reference to an article this week about current and former American officials who say that phone records and intercepted calls show that members of his campaign had repeated contact with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election. He said The Wall Street Journal had published an article that was “almost as disgraceful. ” He mocked Jim Acosta, a CNN correspondent, saying at one point, “Yeah, go ahead, Jimmy. ” His exchange with Mr. Acosta — a frequent foil for Mr. Trump in his news conferences on the campaign trail — made it clear that the president believes that the American people are with him, and against the news media. “That’s why the public sees it,” Mr. Trump said. “They see it. They see it’s not fair. The public is smart, they understand it. ” Mr. Trump also blamed former President Barack Obama — whom he had often described in glowing terms since his inauguration — for handing him a failing government. “I inherited a mess,” Mr. Trump asserted. “It’s a mess. At home and abroad, a mess. Low pay, low wages, mass instability overseas, no matter where you look. ” At one point, Mr. Trump searched for a new face among the veteran White House reporters who were challenging him and settled on a journalist wearing a skullcap whom he clearly did not recognize, hoping for the best. “Are you a friendly reporter? ’’ Mr. Trump said. The response of the reporter, Jake Turx of Ami magazine, a Jewish publication, could not be heard in the room. The president’s anger then flared when Mr. Turx asked about a rise in incidents around the country. Telling Mr. Turx to sit down and accusing him of lying about asking a “very straight, simple question,” Mr. Trump rejected the charge that he is personally — something the reporter had explicitly said he was not asserting. At one point, Mr. Trump predicted how the news media would cover the event — and preemptively rejected that, too. “Tomorrow, they will say, ‘Donald Trump rants and raves at the press,’” Mr. Trump said. “I’m not ranting and raving. I’m just telling you. You know, you’re dishonest people. But — but I’m not ranting and raving. I love this. I’m having a good time doing it. ”

(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the .) Good evening. Here’s the latest. 1. The Supreme Court made its most sweeping ruling in decades on abortion rights, striking down parts of a Texas law that imposed strict limits on abortion providers. Opponents of the law, which was passed in 2013, said that it had already caused about half of the state’s abortion clinics to close. The decision has significant implications for laws in other states where similar restrictions exist they, too, are likely unconstitutional. _____ 2. The court vacated the conviction of Bob McDonnell, the former governor of Virginia, on corruption charges, a unanimous decision that could send Mr. McDonnell back for another round with prosecutors. “There is no doubt that this case is distasteful it may be worse than that,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote, emphasizing that the justices were more focused on what they considered an overly broad interpretation of the federal bribery law at hand than “tawdry tales of Ferraris, Rolexes and ball gowns. ” _____ 3. In Britain, the path forward remained uncertain after the vote last week to leave the European Union. Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London who supported “Brexit” and is a contender to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron, promised Britons in an essay that their country “is part of Europe, and always will be. ” But the nation remained locked in a political crisis, and leaders of the “Leave” movement, including Mr. Johnson, have already disavowed some of their pledges. _____ 4. The pound, meanwhile, sank to its lowest level against the dollar since 1985, and S. P. downgraded Britain’s credit rating to AA from AAA as the economic fallout from the Brexit vote continued. Global authorities tried to soothe the markets, promising to intercede in the event of an economic disaster. But investors remained skeptical, and British officials tried to assure citizens that they would still have access to the Continent’s market. _____ 5. Volkswagen has agreed to pay nearly $15 billion to settle claims stemming from its diesel emissions cheating scandal, in one what would be one of the largest ever consumer deals ever in the U. S. The cash compensation offered to each car owner will range from $5, 100 to $10, 000. The German automaker acknowledged last year that it had installed illegal software in 11 million cars worldwide that made them capable of defeating pollution tests. 6. Hillary Clinton and Senator Elizabeth Warren campaigned together for the first time on Monday in Cincinnati. Their alliance seems unlikely to some, given their distinct approaches to Wall Street. But those differences did not come into play during the Ohio appearance: The two women showed a united face on income inequality and criticism of the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald J. Trump. _____ 7. A police scandal has erupted in Oakland, Calif. with more than a dozen officers coming under investigation for their relationships with an prostitute who is a daughter of a police dispatcher. The city has long had a reputation for police abuses, but it had seemed to be in the midst of a turnaround under its new mayor, Libby Schaff. She said in a recent interview, “It’s tragic that this scandal has overshadowed the incredible progress that Oakland has made. ” _____ 8. Unfortunately for your briefing editor, spoilers abound in our television critic’s review of the sixth season of HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” which had its finale Sunday night. We can tell you without ruining anything that he found the show to be “faster, simpler and more ” partly because it was the first season to move beyond the plot established by the books. “If this was not the series’s best season, it was its most entertaining,” he writes. 9. Returning from a visit to Armenia on Sunday night, Pope Francis said that all Christians and the Roman Catholic Church owed the gay community an apology for past mistreatment. Francis’ comments, in response to a question about the recent deadly attack at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. were applauded by leaders of gay Catholic groups, but some said there was more work to be done. “A statement of remorse is only as good as the change in behavior that follows,” said the head of one leading organization. _____ 10. “Now, what we’ve been doing is looking at the data, and we know that police somehow manage to disarm and not kill white people every day. ” That comment was part of a powerful speech by the actor Jesse Williams of “Grey’s Anatomy” at the BET Awards on Sunday. The show featured a commanding performance from Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar, and tributes to Prince and Muhammad Ali. But Mr. Williams’s speech, a demand for equal treatment and justice, was the strongest statement of the night. _____ 11. Summer is already in session for many of us, but New York City’s public school students are just now preparing to go on vacation. Tuesday is officially the last day of school, and some students are planning to duck out early. Daily attendance last year at the city’s high schools was 88 percent on the last day, it fell to 74 percent. “I might go to school,” one student told our reporter, a hint that schools may experience a similar drop this year. “I might. ” _____ 12. Students may soon own the streets of New York, but on Sunday afternoon, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, was dominated by the walking dead. The Zombie Crawl, an annual event celebrating “all things undead, bloody and ” celebrated its 10th year. Participants chanted about their lust for brains, drank beer and speculated about their chances of surviving a zombie apocalypse. “If it ever happened in real life, I think I could personally deal with that,” one said. _____ Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p. m. Eastern. And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, posted weekdays at 6 a. m. Eastern, and Your Weekend Briefing, posted at 6 a. m. Sundays. Want to look back? Here’s the Weekend Briefing. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes. com.

Arianna Huffington was sitting like a very relaxed queen in her SoHo bedroom on a thronelike bergère chair covered in brocade Fortuny fabric. It was time to wind down, 8 p. m. Behind her, an embroidered throw pillow announced: “Sleep your way to the top. ” The phrase recalls a TED Talk she gave in 2010, and it isn’t about sex, thank you. It is about sleeping. “I was making a speech about sleep as a performance enhancer,” she said. “As opposed to being lazy or not engaged with life. ” One wouldn’t think that about one of the most powerful women in the world, the author of 15 books and a founder of a news site that sold to AOL for $315 million in 2011. But of all the things on her agenda, which would exhaust most mortals, sleep is at the top. Her new book, “The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time” (Harmony) is a call to bed. It is also inspiring a turbocharged national tour that involves “sleep fairs” at colleges and an educational “takeover” of a JetBlue flight during which she gave out books and answered questions. “I want to rekindle our romance with sleep,” said Ms. Huffington, 65, in a lullaby voice as soothing as her floral perfume. “It’s a central part of life and a gateway to our dreams. ” If sleep is a gateway to her dreams, then her bedroom is the mother ship. It is one of four in a vast apartment she transformed a few years ago with the help of the designer Steven Gambrel. “It was a minimalist loft,” she said. “But I wanted something that felt more and European. ” To achieve that, she hired Mr. Gambrel to add walls to break up the space, for which he also designed much of the furniture. Peter Mucek, the decorative painter, plastered the walls to emulate a golden Venetian glow. Michael S. Smith, who redecorated some rooms in the Obama White House and is a friend, suggested that she treat the loft’s concrete columns with metallic brown paint to give them an ancient bronze feel. Mr. Smith also designed some leather chairs and an ottoman. Her home now has a regal and romantic ambience that seems in perfect keeping with Ms. Huffington’s personality. Everything in the decidedly bedroom is as carefully considered as a business move. On a bed surrounded with Fortuny curtains in a restful light blue, she sleeps on organic cotton sheets from a collection called Huffington. The Huffington line, carried by a nearby bedding shop, was designed by her daughter Isabella Huffington, 25, an artist who shares her home. Her pillows are stuffed with soporific hops and barley. Across the room are two Gordon Parks photographs, including the bucolic “Boy With June Bug. ” Over her night stand is a photograph of her other daughter, Christina, now 27, at Isabella’s christening. “I call it a joy trigger,” Ms. Huffington said, “and I like having it right by my bed. ” Her night stand functions as a kind of altar to Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams. The books are inspirational, including works by Rumi, the Persian poet, and Marcus Aurelius, whom Ms. Huffington admires because he was a multitasking Roman emperor and not easily ruffled. There is a simple alarm clock from Pottery Barn without any of the pesky digital lights she bans from her bedroom and from her hotel rooms. (She packs masking tape to obscure their blinking.) Roses and peonies rest in a vase by a journal with a black cover decorated by Isabella. Next to it is a pen light. “So if I wake up in the middle of the night, I can write down my dreams without turning on the light,” she said. Dreams, of course, are welcome business ideas, not so much. On a desk and dresser across the room, which she can’t reach from her bed, Ms. Huffington has several china Herend Rothschild bird bowls to hold such workaday items as and manuscript clips, and a lacquered box for her packed appointment book. “I hide the whole mess to forget about it,” she said, lifting and setting down lids like a cook. At bedtime, her phone and electronic devices are relegated to the foyer outside the bedroom, to recharge under a wall of family photographs. Withdrawing from her machines, she said, is part of a “transition to sleep” ritual that includes writing down the many things she is grateful for dimming the lights taking a warm bath in Epsom salts by flickering candlelight and changing into a silk nightgown to greet sleep with respect. “I used to sleep in the same thing I wore during the day,” said Ms. Huffington, whose call to rest came in 2007, when she fell down from exhaustion and broke her cheekbone. “It’s better to have special clothes for sleeping. ” It also helps to have soundproofed windows, which required a complicated and expensive installation process that made her renovated home as quiet as a church. Indeed, her cellphone rings with the sound of cathedral chimes. “I love church bells, don’t you?” she asked in a seductive purr. It was time for a tour of the rest of the apartment. It is one of her two homes and very different from the one she has in California. “My other house is from the 1920s, in Brentwood, in L. A.,” she said as she swept into her living room. “When I step out the door there, it’s into a garden of entirely white flowers, where all I smell is gardenias and it feels like being in the country. Here, it’s children, dogs and people from all over the world on my street when I walk out, and my favorite shops and restaurants. ” Her spacious living area — with a custom bookcase, a gilded Louis XV desk, gilded bronze and cobalt candelabra and a Italian mirror above the fireplace — has the feeling of something between a papal chamber and the Oval Office. “Isn’t this beautiful?” she asks, gesturing to a screen by Mr. Mucek that hides a small white kitchen area, where she doesn’t concern herself with cooking. Just the same, Ms. Huffington loves to hold the many dinners that she doesn’t prepare at a faux marble dining table. “I know how to make a really great cheese plate,” she said. She makes tea, too. Near the front door is a portrait of a woman by Françoise Gilot, which Ms. Gilot, who spent 10 years with Picasso, gave Ms. Huffington around the time Ms. Huffington was writing “Picasso: Creator and Destroyer,” published in 1988. The portrait of her daughters is by Nelson Shanks, who also painted Bill Clinton, Pope John Paul II and Diana, Princess of Wales. “But what I love most of all are the works of my daughter Isabella,” she said. As if on cue, Isabella emerged from an art studio next to her bedroom. (Christina has her own place.) The two put their arms around each other. The daughter, as it turns out, also respects a good night’s sleep. “Even in college, I’d get nine hours of sleep a night,” said Isabella, who is as tall and graceful as her mother and whose pretty collages have a dark political edge. “Remember when you’d visit, and my friends were pulling and you’d lecture them about it?” Her mother laughed. No need for that at home. It was 10 o’clock, and with a television appearance scheduled for early the next day, time to dim the lights and take the moment seriously. “My sleep ritual is about to begin,” Ms. Huffington said with a beatific smile. She looked to the double doors leading to her bedroom. “My gateway calls. ” The church bells on her phone were ringing. She ignored them.

0 комментариев 7 поделились Отвечая на соответствующий вопрос участника форума Виктора Тарасова, глава российского государства отметил: "Мы направили на решение этой задачи из федерального бюджета 23 с лишним миллиарда рублей. С 2015 по 2020 г. планируется в федеральной целевой программе по развитию Крыма и Севастополя еще свыше 40 млрд руб.", — сказал Путин. Он также добавил, что эти деньги необходимо израсходовать рационально. "Федеральные и региональные органы власти эту проблему должны решить и обязательно решат, у меня в этом сомнений нет никаких". Президент также напомнил, что на первых порах проблема с пресной водой на полуострове стояла "очень остро, особенно после того как наши соседи отключили Крым от Северо-Крымского". В данный момент сделано очень многое, но сама проблема осталась, подчеркнул глава государства. Отметим, что кроме прочего, Владимир Путин призвал активистов ОНФ продолжать мониторинг расходования бюджетных средств. Один из участников пленарного заседания форума ОНФ "Форум действий. Крым" отметил, что федеральной целевой программой по развитию массового спорта для Крыма предусмотрено 4,5 млрд руб. на реконструкцию восьми крупных спортивных объектов. Если отложить реконструкцию одного из них, то на освободившиеся деньги можно построить 2,5 тыс. спортивных площадок для развития массового спорта. Он попросил президента "пересмотреть назначения" в пользу таких спортивных площадок. В первый день упомянутого форума, 25 октября его работа развернулась на трех тематических площадках: "Образование и культура как основы национальной идентичности", "Качество повседневной жизни" и "Честная и эффективная экономика". Участники мероприятия сосредоточились на наиболее актуальных проблемах, выявленных активистами региональных отделений в Крыму и Севастополе по результатам обработки обращений граждан, опросов, экспертных совещаний Читайте также: Читайте последние новости Pravda.Ru на сегодня Поделиться:

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Sonoma County California Just Voted to Create the Largest GMO Free Zone in America Nov 14, 2016 0 0 Just when it seemed the biotech industry couldn’t get any more gargantuan, with the threat of a Bayer-Monsanto merger , not only were the TTIP and TPP pronounced dead , but Sonoma County California just passed a successful ban on the cultivation on genetically modified crops, creating the largest GMO-Free zone in America . Measure M passed with 55.9% of the vote in favor of banning crop cultivation. The vote transpired on the same day as the U.S. presidential election. The ban will affect a whopping 13,734 square miles bridging Sonoma, Humboldt, Marin, Mendocino, Santa Cruz and Trinity Counties. Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, BASF, and DuPont all descended on Sonoma County to fight Measure M, but local farmers largely wanted an opportunity to grow organic, non-GMO crops without the fear of contamination through cross-pollination. (You can see who supported a ‘yes’ note and who supported a ‘no’ vote, here .) “My right to grow non-GMO should not be threatened by someone else’s business practices that are harmful to mine. Millions of dollars in lost export revenue has occurred from GMO contamination,” says Joey Smith , owner/manager of Let’s Go Farm in Santa Rosa. “Because people growing genetically engineered crops are not required to register, we don’t know exactly how many genetically engineered crops are growing here in Sonoma County.” he explains. “We don’t want GMO crops proliferating here, so that’s why we are taking action. The Measure is carefully written to be fair to all farmers. Measure M is really about being proactive, just like the GMO growing bans in the five other CA counties.” Already, 80% of Sonoma County’s dairy farms are certified organic, and the wine-making industry has been trying to go organic as well. Measure M will make it much easier for farmers growing a multitude of crops to do so without using herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and petroleum-based fertilizers, but also without their hard-earned yield going to waste due to GM contamination. The measure will protect farmland, pastureland, and surrounding green spaces, and hopefully the almost 14 thousand square miles which are now to be GM-free, will eventually expand to cover an even larger area. When this area is tied to others in the U.S. which have smaller GMO-Free zones, we can start to see a patchwork of resistance that has paid off. Connecticut and Maine have passed GMO labeling laws as of May of 2013 , but are still waiting on triggering states for those laws to go into effect. Maui, Hawaii has successfully passed a GMO moratorium which took effect in March of 2015. Both Josephine and Jackson Counties in Oregon have banned GMOs, though they are said to be in conflict with a state law. Vermont fought hard against the GM industry and passed a law that requires ALL GMO food to be labeled as of July 1, 2016. San Juan County in Washington has also banned GM crops. The GMO-Free movement has grown slowly, but surely over the years, and Sonoma’s recent addition of GM-Free lands is a shining example of what grassroots movements can do to fight against the trillion-dollar biotech machine. It isn’t impossible, but it has been hard as heck. Consider purchasing some Sonoma County organic wine or fresh produce over the holidays to toast their successful endeavors.

Differentiating Wikileaks from journalists, FBI Dir. James Comey calls Wikileaks ”intelligence porn” https: . pic. twitter. Wednesday at the Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing, FBI Director James Comey said Wikileaks was not journalism, but “intelligence porn. ” Comey said, “In that there is at least a portion, and people can argue that maybe this conduct Wikileaks is engaged on in the past that is closer to regular news gathering, but in my view, a huge portion of Wikileaks’ activities has nothing to do with legitimate news gathering, informing the public, commenting on important controversies but releasing classified information to damage the United States of America. People start to get cynical about journalists, but American journalists do not do that. ” “They almost always call us before classifying publishing information to say, is there anything that will jeopardize government people, or innocent civilians anywhere in the world and work with us to try to accomplish their important First Amendment goals by safeguarding the interests. This activity, I’m talking about Wikileaks, involves so much considerations whatsoever,” he continued. “It is intelligence porn, push it out in order to damage. ” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

Is Audrey Hepburn making a return to the house of Givenchy? On Thursday, the French brand named Clare Waight Keller as its artistic director, responsible for women’s and men’s wear, accessories and couture. She will be the first woman to run the creative side of the house founded by Hubert de Givenchy in 1952. The announcement marks a new stage in this year’s game of fashion musical chairs, and it is a potentially significant change, both for Givenchy and its incoming designer. The news came less than two months after Ms. Waight Keller, a British designer, officially resigned from Chloé — which is owned by Compagnie Financière Richemont, and which announced last week that its new creative director was Natacha . Ms. had been creative director of women’s at Louis Vuitton, a brand that, like Givenchy, is owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. “I am very happy to have Clare Waight Keller join the LVMH group,” said Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH, in announcing the news, which was released simultaneously on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, WeChat and Weibo. “I believe her widespread expertise and vision will allow Givenchy to enter the next phase of its unique path. ” What that next phase is remains to be seen, but the choice of Ms. Waight Keller, rumored during the recent Paris Fashion Week, suggests the answer is not more of the same. Givenchy’s previous artistic director, Riccardo Tisci, left the brand in February after 12 years. He was responsible for transforming it from the house defined largely by the relationship between Mr. de Givenchy and Ms. Hepburn, his greatest muse, to a house the Kardashians loved, with all the Gothic buzz that suggests. Mr. Tisci also made it a social media force. By contrast, there is nothing about Ms. Waight Keller, 46, a personality often pictured peeking out from under her long brown hair, hands tucked into trouser pockets. As a designer, she has seemed content to let her brands be the stars, and her work, both at Chloé and in her former position as designer of Pringle of Scotland, was marked by a accessible elegance with a tailored line. Think of it as slouchy chic. Indeed, the statement by Philippe Fortunato, chief executive of Givenchy, seemed to suggest a return to the brand’s roots. “I am very excited to see Clare bring her singular sense of elegance and modernity to Givenchy,” he said. “By exploring our maison’s heritage and the outstanding of its ateliers, I am convinced Clare will help Givenchy reach its full potential. ” Though Ms. Waight Keller, who began her career working at Calvin Klein in New York and with Tom Ford at Gucci, was also in charge of men’s wear at Pringle, she has never worked with an haute couture atelier before. Givenchy suspended its formal couture shows in 2012, first holding static presentations of the collection instead, and more recently incorporating some couture looks into its men’s wear shows in January and June. But the fact that Ms. Waight Keller has been specifically given responsibility for the highest form of fashion’s art suggests that a return to a more formal couture offering may be in the future. It also suggests that the idea was false that Ms. Waight Keller, who has three children and has recently moved her family to London from Paris, was taking time off after Chloé because of the pressures of today’s fashion cycle. Her responsibilities at Givenchy, after all, will be significantly greater than her responsibilities at Chloé: She will be overseeing at least eight collections a year, as opposed to four. LVMH does not break down the performance of individual brands in its financial results, but the Givenchy annual sales revenue is believed to be to around 500 million euros, or more than $530 million,) and there are 72 stores worldwide. In January, LVMH reported revenue of €37. 6 billion in 2016, an increase of 5 percent, beating expectations because of strong sales in the United States and Europe, and a pickup in demand in Asia. Along with the move of Raf Simons to Calvin Klein from Christian Dior, the switch by Ms. Waight Keller should put to rest the recent theory that designers are rebelling against the relentless demands of the system by stepping off the hamster wheel. Perhaps most significantly of all, though, her appointment at the helm of one of LVMH’s signature brands is further indication that the largest luxury group in the world is increasingly focused on the talents of women designers, and changing a historical pattern that has seen most large brands with significant women’s wear profiles run by male creatives. (In June, Christian Dior, the structural owner of LVMH, named Maria Grazia Chiuri as artistic director.) In her new role — like Phoebe Philo, the creative director of Céline, another LVMH brand (who, when she was creative director of Chloé, became the first designer to ever take a formal maternity leave) — Ms. Waight Keller will move between London and Paris, where the Givenchy atelier is based. It may seem astonishing, but the idea that a designer would not have to choose between having a power position and a family life is a relatively new look in the fashion world. Ms. Waight Keller officially begins work May 2. Her first show for Givenchy will take place during Paris Fashion Week in October. The fashion world will be left to speculate on where Mr. Tisci, whose next move has not yet been announced, will end up. Rumor has it the answer is Versace. Stay tuned.

Tweet Widget by Robyn Maynard Canada, including its French-speaking regions, is home to much the same kind of systemic racism as its southern neighbor, according to a United Nations Working Group report. Black women’s poverty rates are “almost five times higher than that of white Canadian women.” In Montreal, “a 2008 study found that black girls are three times more likely than white girls the same age to have been arrested two times or more.” Realities Faced by Black Canadians are a National Shame by Robyn Maynard This article previously appeared in the Montreal Gazette . “ Black Montrealers continue to experience dehumanizing treatment across institutions.” After holding consultations in Quebec, Nova Scotia and Ontario last month, the United Nations Working Group on People of African Descent issued a statement that sheds light on realities, too-often invisible to most Canadians, that should be seen as a national shame. The group’s preliminary findings confirm what is already well known in Canada’s black communities: that systemic discrimination has subjected black people to racial profiling by law enforcement, soaring incarceration rates, disproportionate poverty and poor health, the over-apprehension of black children by child welfare agencies and lower graduation rates. Black women, they note, face a rate of poverty that is almost five times higher than that of white Canadian women, and are one of the fastest-growing groups in federal prisons. Underlying these injustices, the UN Working Group has made clear, is systemic racism. The UN is right to be concerned, and Montreal is by no means exempt from this criticism: Both its historical and contemporary realities are defined by a systemic anti-blackness that goes too frequently un-named. The enslavement of black (and indigenous) persons was not an uncommon practice in New France, and indeed was legal until 1834. The fact of slavery remains all around us: acclaimed art historian Charmaine Nelson reminds us that many present-day Montreal streets, buildings and institutions are named after white businessmen like James McGill and John Redpath who traded in plantation crops worked by slave labor. Enslavement may be over, but centuries later black Montrealers — the largest visible minority in the city — continue to experience dehumanizing treatment across institutions. A 2010 study by sociologists Léonel Bernard and Christopher McAll found that it was over-surveillance, and not the rates of so-called “black crime,” that accounted for up to 60 per cent of the over-incarceration of black youth in Montreal. “The enslavement of black (and indigenous) persons was not an uncommon practice in New France, and indeed was legal until 1834.” A report commissioned by the Montreal police, leaked to La Presse, found that in St-Michel and Montréal-Nord, up to 40 per cent of black youth were stopped in 2006-2007, a rate that indicates a high degree of racial profiling by police officers. Much of this heightened policing was justified to the public as curbing “gang activities,” when in reality, in 2009, only 1.6 per cent of crimes were gang related. High profile cases of police abuse of black Montrealers and alleged abuse continue to surface, including the recent case of Veckqueth Stevenson, a legally blind black man in his 50s, who has accused the police of using excessive force and unjustly arresting him, ironically, while he was at Nelson Mandela Park. Black women and girls are not exempt, though we hear even less about their experiences locally; the case of Majiza Philip, a black woman who says she had her arm broken by police in 2014, is one example, however. A 2008 study found that black girls in Montreal are three times more likely than white girls the same age to have been arrested two times or more. Beyond the criminal justice system, numerous studies have demonstrated that black children are apprehended from their homes by child welfare at alarming rates in Montreal, and this, too, can be attributed to racism. The UN Working group is not the first to point out these injustices, nor are they the only ones proposing solutions. Black Lives Matter-Toronto and other black activist groups in Toronto, Kingston, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal have been steadily mobilizing to address anti-black racism. Across cities, black communities have denounced, among other issues, the recent deaths of Abdirahman Abdi in Ottawa, and Bony Jean-Pierre in Montreal, both at the hands of police in 2016. If Canada intends to genuinely reckon with its still-living legacy of black enslavement, the injustices brought to light by the UN — alongside those highlighted by black activists around the country — need to be both addressed and redressed. Robyn Maynard is an activist and writer living in Montreal, author of the forthcoming book Policing Black Bodies (2017).

Projected as a selection in the upcoming 2017 NFL draft, Caleb Brantley now may be overlooked after legal authorities charged him with misdemeanor assault for punching a woman in the face. [The Florida defensive tackle struck a woman who stands and weighs 120 pounds, with what police described as “the intensity of force far exceeding what was reasonable or necessary. ” The malicious act, according to The Big Lead, occurred after the woman pushed Brantley for making “crude” remarks to her. Considered by some to be an instant starter in the NFL, Brantley reacted to the push by hitting her so hard she fell unconscious and “sustained dental injuries that displaced a tooth and will require a root canal. ” Some might label Brantley as a good fit for the NFL, but this same kind of cowardly thug behavior prompted the NFL to permanently suspend Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice after a 2014 tape showed Rice knocking his unconscious in an elevator and dragging her out into the hallway. In 2014, Carolina Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy was arrested for allegedly assaulting his former girlfriend and threatening to kill her, both misdemeanors. In the same year, San Francisco 49ers defensive end Ray McDonald was arrested on an accusation of felony domestic violence. In 2015 there were 31 NFL players arrested for a variety of offenses including domestic violence, DUIs, guns and weapons charges, and animal abuse.

(By Deepak Ramola , Uplift Connect ) Rooted in the hearts of many Hindus is the belief that if you breathe your last in Kashi (Varanasi) you attain what is popularly known as ‘Kashi Labh’ or ‘the fruit of Kashi’—moksh or “release from the cycle of rebirth impelled by the law of karma”. Kashi Labh Mukti Bhawan in Varanasi is one of the three guesthouses in the city where people check in to die. The other two are Mumukshu Bhawan and Ganga Labh Bhawan. Established in 1908, Mukti Bhawan is well-known within the city and outside. Bhairav Nath Shukla has been the Manager of Mukti Bhawan for 44 years. He has seen the rich and the poor take refuge in the guesthouse in their final days as they await death and hope to find peace. Shukla hopes with and for them. He sits on the wooden bench in the courtyard, against the red brick wall and shares with me 12 recurring life lessons from the 12000 deaths he has witnessed in his experience as the manager of Mukti Bhawan: People check in to die. 1. Resolve all conflicts before you go Shukla recounts the story of Shri Ram Sagar Mishr, a Sanskrit scholar of his times. Mishr was the eldest of six brothers and was closest to the youngest one. Years ago an ugly argument between the two brothers led to a wall to partition the house. In his final days, Mishr walked to the guesthouse carrying his little paan case and asked to keep room no. 3 reserved for him. He was sure he will pass away on the 16th day from his arrival. On the 14th day he said, “ Ask my estranged brother of 40 years to come see me. This bitterness makes my heart heavy. I am anxious to resolve every conflict.” A letter was sent out. On the 16th day when the youngest brother arrived, Mishr held his hand and asked to bring down the wall dividing the house. He asked his brother for forgiveness. Both brothers wept and mid sentence, Mishr stopped speaking. His face became calm. He was gone in a moment. Shukla has seen this story replay in many forms over the years. “People carry so much baggage, unnecessarily, all through their life only wanting to drop it at the very end of their journey. The trick lies not in not having conflicts but in resolving them as soon as one can,” says Shukla. The trick lies not in not having conflicts but in resolving them as soon as one can. 2. Simplicity is the truth of life “People stop eating indulgent food when they know they are going to go. The understanding that dawns on many people in their final days is that they should’ve lived a simple life. They regret that the most,” says Shukla. A simple life, as he explains, can be attained by spending less. We spend more to accumulate more and thus create more need. To find contentment in less is the secret to having more. 3. Filter out people’s bad traits Shukla maintains that every person has shades of good and bad. But instead of dismissing “bad” people outrightly, we must seek out their good qualities. Harbouring bitterness for certain people comes from concentrating on their negatives. If you focus on the good qualities though, you spend that time getting to know them better or, maybe even, loving them. To find contentment in less is the secret to having more. 4. Be willing to seek help from others To know and do everything by yourself might feel empowering but it limits one from absorbing what others have learnt. Shukla believes we must help others, but more importantly, have the courage to seek help when we’re in need. Every person in the world knows more than us in some respect. And their knowledge can help us, only if we’re open to it. He recounts the incident of an old woman being admitted on a rainy day back in the 80s. The people who got her there left her without filling the inquiry form. A few hours later, the police came to trace the relatives of the old lady who, they said, were runaway Naxalites. Shukla pretended to know nothing. The police left. When the lady’s relatives returned next morning, Shukla asked the leader uninhibitedly, “When you can kill 5-8 people yourself why didn’t you simply shoot your Nani and cremate her yourself? Why did you make me lie and feel ashamed?” The grandson fell to his knees and pleaded for forgiveness saying no one amongst them is capable of helping his religious grandmother attain salvation. He respects that, and is the reason why he brought her to Mukti Bhawan. We must help others, but more importantly, have the courage to seek help when we’re in need. 5. Find beauty in simple things Mukti Bhavan plays soulful bhajans and devotional songs three times a day. “Some people”, he says, “stop and admire a note or the sound of the instruments as if they have never heard it before, even if they have. They pause to appreciate it and find beauty in it.” But that’s not true of everyone, he adds. People who are too critical or too proud, are the ones who find it hard to find joy in small things because their minds are preoccupied with “seemingly” more important things. 6. Acceptance is liberation Most people shirk away from accepting what they are going through. This constant denial breeds in them emotions that are highly dangerous. Only once you accept your situation is when you become free to decide what to do about it. Without acceptance you are always in the grey space. When you are not in denial of a problem you have the strength to find a solution. Indifference, avoidance, and denial of a certain truth, Shukla believes, cause anxiety; they develop a fear of that thing in the person. Instead, accept the situation so you are free to think what you want to do about it and how. Acceptance will liberate you and empower you. Stop and admire a note or the sound of the instruments. 7. Accepting everyone as the same makes service easier The secret to Shukla’s unfazed dedication and determination towards his demanding job can be understood via this life lesson. He admits that life would’ve been difficult if he treated people who admit themselves to Mukti Bhavan differently, based on their caste, creed, colour, and social or economic status. Categorisation leads to complication and one ends up serving no one well. “The day you treat everyone the same is the day you breathe light and worry less about who might feel offended or not. Make your job easier,” he says. 8. If/When you find your purpose, do something about it To have awareness about one’s calling is great, but only if you do something about it. A lot of people, Shukla says, know their purpose but don’t do anything about realising it, making it come to life. Simply sitting on it is worse than not having a calling in the first place. Having a perspective towards your purpose will help you measure the time and effort you need to dedicate to it, while you’re caught up in what you think you can’t let go or escape. Take action on what truly matters. Categorisation leads to complication and one ends up serving no one well. 9. Habits become values Shukla recommends cultivating good habits to be able to house good values. And building good habits happens over time, with practice. “It’s like building a muscle; you have to keep at it everyday.” Till one doesn’t consistently work towards being just or kind or truthful or honest or compassionate, every single time he is challenged, one cannot expect to have attained that quality. 10. Choose what you want to learn In the vastness of the infinite amount of knowledge available to us it is easy to get lost and confused. “The key lesson here is to be mindful of choosing what you deeply feel will be of value to you,” he says. People might impose subjects and philosophies on you because it interests them and while you must acknowledge their suggestions, the wise thing to do is delve deeper into what rejoices your own heart and mind. With a smile on his face Shukla says, “In the last days of their life a lot of people can’t speak, walk or communicate with others with as much ease as they could, earlier. So, they turn inwards. And start to remember the things that made their heart sing once, things that they cared to learn more about over the course of their life, which enriches their days now.” They start to remember the things that made their heart sing once. 11. You don’t break ties with people; you break ties with the thought they produce You can seldom distance yourself from people you have truly loved or connected with in some way. However, in any relationship, along the way, certain mismatch of ideologies causes people to stop communicating. This never means you are no longer associated with that person. It simply means that you don’t associate with a dominant thought that person brings with him/her, and to avoid more conflict you move away. The divorce, Shukla affirms, is with the thought and never with the person. To understand that is to unburden yourself from being bitter and revengeful. 12. 10 percent of what you earn should be kept aside for dharma Dharma, Shukla doesn’t define as something religious or spiritual. Instead, he says it is associated more with doing good for others and feeling responsible about that. A simple calculation according to him is to keep 10 percent of your income for goodwill. Many people donate or do charitable acts towards the end of their life because death is hard on them. In their suffering, they begin to empathise with others’ suffering. He says those who have the companionship of loved ones, the blessings of unknown strangers, and an all-encompassing goodwill of people exit peacefully and gracefully. That is possible when you don’t cling on to everything you have, and leave some part of it for others. Feature Image: Jorge Royan

WASHINGTON — President Trump and House Republican leaders worked Thursday to win conservative support for legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, offering concessions to speed cutbacks in Medicaid and dismantle more of President Barack Obama’s signature health law. But in a bid to ensure passage of the Republican health care bill in the House, White House and Republican leaders risked losing support in more moderate quarters of their party — not only in the narrowly divided Senate, but in an increasingly nervous House. A faster path to Medicaid cuts, new work requirements for Medicaid recipients and potentially smaller tax credits for the working poor could mollify conservatives who are pressing for a smaller government footprint on the health care system, but they would cut deeper into the benefits that many Trump voters have enjoyed under the Affordable Care Act. White House officials have made clear that they are open to supporting amendments that would require a quicker end to the expansion of Medicaid under the 2010 health care law, according to an administration official involved in negotiations with Congress. Representative Joe L. Barton, Republican of Texas, and other conservatives want to freeze the expansion of Medicaid next year, two years earlier than under the legislation drafted by House Republican leaders. Referring to this change, Mr. Barton said, “The Trump administration is open to it. ” But in an interview, Representative Leonard Lance, Republican of New Jersey, said: “I am opposed to that. New Jersey expanded Medicaid. I don’t want that to be eliminated. ” The federal government pays at least 90 percent of Medicaid costs for newly eligible beneficiaries, and Mr. Lance said, “I would like that to continue for at least several years. ” Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Mr. Trump was now fully engaged. “This president is getting deeply involved,” Mr. Ryan said. “He is helping bridge gaps in our conference. He is a constructive force to help us get to a resolution. ” The political stakes for the president and the speaker could hardly be higher. If they succeed in undoing the Affordable Care Act, it would add momentum to efforts to enact other items on their agenda, such as tax cuts and a rewrite of the tax code. If they fail, it would embolden Democrats keen to block Mr. Trump — and conservatives still seeking to imprint their policies. But they are in a delicate dance with conservatives and moderates. Halting the expansion of Medicaid in 2018, rather than in 2020, “would be a huge problem, enormously problematic,” said Representative Charlie Dent, Republican of Pennsylvania, one of 31 states that have expanded eligibility for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. House Republicans appeared determined to power through, despite divisions in their ranks. On Thursday, the House Budget Committee approved a motion to send the repeal bill to the full House, where Republican leaders plan to take it up this month. But the vote in the Budget Committee portends possible difficulties. Three conservative Republicans — Dave Brat of Virginia, Gary Palmer of Alabama and Mark Sanford of South Carolina — voted no, joining a united Democratic opposition. “This legislation is a conservative vision for health care,” said Representative Diane Black of Tennessee, the chairwoman of the Budget Committee. “It dismantles Obamacare’s mandates and taxes. It puts health care decisions back in the hands of patients and doctors. ” The Budget Committee endorsed a Republican proposal suggesting that the bill could be improved by imposing work requirements on certain Medicaid beneficiaries — adults without minor children. Representative Glenn Grothman, Republican of Wisconsin, said that Medicaid in its current form was “a seductive entitlement” that encourages people “not to work at all, or to work less. ” That change would have to be made later in the legislative process the committee approved a motion directing Ms. Black to seek an amendment authorizing work requirements. Republican leaders acknowledged that they did not yet have the votes to ensure that the full House would pass the repeal bill, but Mr. Ryan said he was “working hand in glove” with Mr. Trump to achieve that goal. Mr. Trump “knows how to connect directly with people,” Mr. Ryan said House passage, Mr. Trump’s aides believe, would force the Senate Republican holdouts to consider whether they would be willing to vote against repeal of a law they have been pledging to undo for seven years. To make opposition even harder for Senate Republicans, Mr. Trump’s aides plan to deploy him to states he won where Republican senators may be uneasy about the current legislation. With no hope of winning support from Democrats, Ms. Black appealed to members of her party. “To my Republican colleagues who have doubts,” Ms. Black said, “I encourage you: Don’t cut off discussion. Stay in this effort and help us enhance this proposal by advancing it out of committee and pushing for further conservative reforms. Members who desire to see this bill improved have every right to make their voices heard. ” Last week, Mr. Ryan appeared to reject major changes sought by conservatives, saying, “It really comes down to a binary choice” between the repeal bill and that status quo. But on Wednesday, after a meeting of the House Republican Conference where Vice President Mike Pence tried to rally support for the legislation, Mr. Ryan opened the door to changes, saying, “We can make some necessary improvements and refinements to the bill. ” The bill would eliminate tax penalties for people who go without insurance and create a new system of tax credits to help people buy private insurance. It would roll back the expansion of Medicaid authorized by the Affordable Care Act and give each state a fixed allotment of federal money to provide health care to people on Medicaid. Beyond the faster end to the Medicaid expansion and work requirements for some Medicaid beneficiaries, some conservatives are still pressing to limit the size of the tax credit for the purchase of insurance to no more than the amount of federal income taxes a recipient owes. That would further hurt consumers who may owe little or nothing in income taxes, and under the current proposal would receive financial assistance from the government to help offset insurance costs. Democrats on the Budget Committee found support for their case in a report issued this week by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The report estimated that the House Republican bill would increase the number of people without insurance by 14 million next year and by 21 million in 2020. “In just three years,” said Representative John Yarmuth of Kentucky, the ranking Democrat on the Budget Committee, “the entire gains under the Affordable Care Act will be wiped out. ” Some 20 million uninsured people have gained coverage under the law, which was signed by Mr. Obama seven years ago. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, Democrat of Texas, said: “This is a bill. It is not a health care bill. ” Representative John J. Faso, Republican of New York, had previously raised questions about a provision of the bill that would cut off federal funds for Planned Parenthood clinics. But on Thursday he said the overall bill was needed to protect people against potential harm from the health law. “Many people across the country are happy with the Affordable Care Act,” Mr. Faso said. “But just as many, if not more, are seeing extraordinary increases in premiums, extraordinary increases in deductibles. They can no longer afford it. ”

Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” while discussing the Trump administration’s position on North Korea, The Atlantic Editor in Chief Jeffrey Goldberg said he was “not confident yet” that the administration could handle a crisis. Goldberg said, “I come back to this general conversation about the way the Trump administration does things. On some levels, on Gorsuch, it is smooth, on healthcare they are having a reasonable debate, but the question is, on matters of life and death I am not confident yet that these guys can and a crisis because remember nothing really has happened yet in the Trump administration. There has been no terror attacks, nothing of North Korean magnitude so remains to be seen. ” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

Print I am an Orthodox rabbi. I am also an attorney and an adjunct professor of law. I clerked 20 years ago for the Hon. Danny J. Boggs in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Judge Boggs, one of the most brilliant minds I ever have known in any of my walks of life, soon thereafter served as chief judge of the Sixth Circuit. Of course, I am disgusted by the stories that dominate the election campaign. I am disgusted as a law professor, an attorney, a father of daughters, and as a rabbi. Women making accusations that they have been sexually abused — Paula Corbin Jones who received an $850,000 settlement from Bill Clinton; Kathleen Willey who went to Bill Clinton in the White House, desperate for a job after her husband killed himself; Juanita Broaddrick, a Clinton volunteer who insists he raped her; the new list of women whose names I am only now learning who say that Donald Trump groped or kissed them against their will.

Nuclear tensions between US, Russia reach ‘dangerous’ point 10/31/2016 PRESS TV US-Russian relations have slipped to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War, with tensions now spilling over to nuclear pacts and each side accusing the other of cheating, experts say. “I would have to say that, without question, this is the low point in US-Russian relations since the end of the Cold War,” Steven Pifer, an arms control expert at the Brookings Institution, told NPR. The relationship took a turn for the worse two years ago with the conflict in Ukraine and slid lower last year with Russia’s air campaign in Syria, noted Pifer, a former US ambassador to Ukraine. This year, tensions have continued to mount with Russian and US aircraft buzzing each other over the Baltic and Washington accusing Moscow of trying to interfere in the US presidential elections, he added. Bickering over nuclear issues has also increased markedly in recent months. Early this month, Russia moved a battery of nuclear-capable missile launchers within range of three Baltic states, in what US officials said was a gesture to express displeasure with NATO. A Russian serviceman walks past Russian Iskander-M missile launchers before a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade, with the Moscow International Business Center also known as ”Moskva-City” seen in the background, at a range in Moscow, Russia, May 5, 2016. (Photo by Reuters) In late October, Russia unveiled images of a new intercontinental ballistic missile dubbed the Satan 2, which, it says, can carry up to 15 separate warheads powerful enough to destroy an area the size of Texas. The US, in September, flew three long-range nuclear bombers over Eastern Europe to participate in NATO military exercises. These developments have worried nuclear arms experts. “We are in a dangerous situation,” Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, told NPR. “Certainly a situation that is much more dire or tense than it was 10 years ago.” In 1987, four years before the Soviet Union collapsed, Washington and Moscow signed a long-negotiated treaty – known as the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty – to eliminate their arsenals of nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers. “Since May 2013, the Obama administration has repeatedly raised concerns with Russia regarding its lack of compliance with the INF Treaty,” a senior administration official told NPR on condition of anonymity. The official said Washington has called for a rare meeting of the treaty’s Special Verification Commission “in the coming weeks” to try to resolve the matter. “I actually think this is a good step,” Pifer said of the decision. The US claims that an intermediate-range missile being developed by Russia is not in line with the INF Treaty and wants clarification from Moscow. “What the administration has said is that they provided enough information to the Russians so that the Russians could identify the missile in question. The Russians thus far have said no, they haven’t got enough information, so you’re in that kind of war of words,” Pifer added. President Putin speaks during a news conference. (File photo by AFP) The war of words further escalated in early October when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the suspension of a Cold War deal with the US to dispose of weapons-grade plutonium. “That, I believe, was a little bit of a poke at President Obama, who attaches a lot of importance to the nuclear nonproliferation agenda,” Pifer said. Tensions are bound to mount even further over the next few months as the US and its NATO allies prepare to move thousands of troops as well as heavy military equipment to countries along and near Russia’s border, namely Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. A US Army convoy rolls through Liepupe, Latvia, on its way from Estonia to Germany. (Photo by European Pressphoto Agency) “This is a gradual sort of escalation of tensions between the two sides that goes beyond discourse and just disagreements over a treaty,” Kristensen said. “It’s getting pretty deep now.” The rising tensions between the two nuclear powers have other experts worried. “We could head into a nuclear conflict which would devastate humanity,” American writer and retired professor James Petras told Press TV earlier this month. “We need to move away from this saber-rattling from Washington into a position that could come to terms with peaceful co-existence, but I don’t see that on the horizon in present or the near future with either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump as presidential candidates,” he said.

Geo-Engineering Unlikely to Work, Conservation Group Says Posted on Nov 3, 2016 By Alex Kirby / Climate News Network Biofilm used in research into carbon capture: Doubts persist about geo-engineering. (ENERGY.GOV via Wikimedia Commons) LONDON—The global watchdog responsible for protecting the world ’ s wealth of species, the UN ’ s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), has looked at the hopes for reining in climate change through geo-engineering. Its bleak conclusion, echoing that reached by many independent scientists, is that the chances are “highly uncertain”. “Novel means”, in this context, describes trying to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by removing them from the atmosphere, and altering the amount of heat from the Sun that reaches the Earth. Some scientists and policymakers say geo-engineering, as these strategies are collectively known, is essential if the world is to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement . This is because current attempts to reduce emissions cannot make big enough cuts fast enough to keep global average temperatures from rising more than 2°C above their pre-industrial levels, the Agreement’s basic goal. But the CBD says in a report that geo-engineering, while it could possibly help to prevent the world overheating, might endanger global biodiversity and have other unpredictable effects. Many independent analysts have raised similar concerns.Attempts to increase the amount of carbon in the oceans, in order to remove GHGs, have so far shown disappointing results. One report doubted that geo-engineering could slow sea-level rise . Another said it could not arrest the melting of Arctic ice . A third study found that geo-engineering would make things little better and might even make global warming worse . Transboundary impacts The lead author of the CBD geo-engineering report is a British scientist, Dr Phillip Williamson, of the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council . He is an associate fellow in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia , UK. The CBD originally became involved in climate geo-engineering in 2008, because member governments were concerned that experiments to fertilise the oceans could pose unknown risks to the environment (they were then unregulated when carried out in international waters). The CBD’s concern expanded to include other geo-engineering techniques, especially atmospheric methods which could have uncertain transboundary impacts. Some scientists argue that “geo-engineering” is a hazily-defined term and prefer to speak instead simply of “greenhouse gas removal”. Dr Williamson and his colleagues say assessment of the impacts of geo-engineering on biodiversity “is not straightforward and is subject to many uncertainties”. On greenhouse gas removal they warn that removing a given quantity of a greenhouse gas would not fully compensate for an earlier ‘overshoot’ of emissions. New risks In some cases, they say, the cure may be worse than the disease: “The large-scale deployment of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) seems likely to have significant negative impacts on biodiversity through land use change.” When it comes to attempts to reflect sunlight back out into space or to manage solar radiation, a familiar theme recurs: “There are high levels of uncertainty about the impacts of SRM [solar radiation management] techniques, which could present significant new risks to biodiversity.” Time and again, it seems, a potential advance is liable to be cancelled by an equally likely reverse: if SRM benefits coral reefs by decreasing temperature-induced bleaching (as it may), in certain conditions “it may also increase, indirectly, the impacts of ocean acidification.” There could even be a risk in some circumstances of loss to the Earth’s protective ozone layer. Dr Williamson and his colleagues believe that geo-engineering is essential—if it can be made to work—because of the diminishing chances that anything else will. “I’m sceptical. That’s not to say bio-energy with carbon capture and storage is impossible, but it seems extremely unlikely to be feasible” They write: “It may still be possible that deep and very rapid decarbonisation by all countries might allow climate change to be kept within a 2°C limit by emission reduction alone. However, any such window of opportunity is rapidly closing.” Repeatedly, those two words recur: a suggested technique or development will be “highly uncertain”. Most of the report amounts to a very cautious call for more research, coupled with an implicit acceptance that in the end geo-engineering is unlikely to prove capable of contributing much to climate mitigation. Dr Williamson told the Climate News Network: “I’m sceptical. That’s not to say bio-energy with carbon capture and storage is impossible, but it seems extremely unlikely to be feasible (for all sorts of reasons)” at the scale needed. When the CBD member governments meet in December they are expected to call for more research: a safe option in most circumstances, but far from a ringing endorsement of a technology once seen as very promising. Alex Kirby is a former BBC journalist and environment correspondent. He now works with universities, charities and international agencies to improve their media skills, and with journalists in the developing world keen to specialise in environmental reporting. Advertisement

Gambia Joins South Africa and Burundi in Exodus from International Criminal Court AFP, October 26, 2016 Gambia has announced its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing the Hague-based tribunal of the “persecution and humiliation of people of colour, especially Africans”. The announcement late Tuesday comes after similar decisions this month by South Africa and Burundi to abandon the troubled institution, set up to try the world’s worst crimes. Information Minister Sheriff Bojang said in an announcement on state television that the court had been used “for the persecution of Africans and especially their leaders” while ignoring crimes committed by the West. He singled out the case of former British prime minister Tony Blair, who the ICC decided not to indict over the Iraq war. {snip} The withdrawal, he said, “is warranted by the fact that the ICC, despite being called International Criminal Court, is in fact an International Caucasian Court for the persecution and humiliation of people of colour, especially Africans”. The ICC, set up in 2002, is often accused of bias against Africa and has also struggled with a lack of cooperation, including from the United States, which has signed the court’s treaty but never ratified it. Gambia has been trying without success to use the court to punish the European Union for deaths of thousands of African migrants trying to reach its shores. {snip} South Africa’s decision followed a dispute last year when Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir visited the country despite being the subject of an ICC arrest warrant over alleged war crimes. Earlier this month, Burundi said it would leave the court, while Namibia and Kenya have also raised the possibility. {snip}

What Peyton Manning does on Sunday morning has become an intense topic of conversation, at least since Lionel Richie serenaded the Hall of Famer while he purchased groceries from an unimpressed cashier in his bathrobe. [However, wisely, Manning didn’t wear his bathrobe this past Sunday. That’s because the Super Bowl champion had a tee time with President Trump. Manning played with the president at the Trump National Golf Club, along with Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, and also visited the White House. Rumors have swirled around Manning and his potential political future for some time, specifically about what will happen in 2020 if the other Volunteer State senator, Lamar Alexander, decides to retire. Manning, a man who could probably invent an office for himself in Tennessee and get unanimously elected to it, is a likely choice to fill the seat. Though, in the past, Manning has denied reports that he’s considering a life in politics, saying, “I don’t know where that came from. Last week I was going to run a team, this week I going to apparently run for Senate, and next week I’ll be an astronaut. I have no interest in the political world, but would like to continue serving communities. ” Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter: @themightygwinn

WASHINGTON — President Obama said on Monday that he had urged Donald J. Trump to reach out to minority groups, women and others who were alienated by his campaign, during the president’s first news conference since Mr. Trump won the election in a stunning upset that has imperiled Mr. Obama’s legacy. “There are certain things that make for good sound bites but don’t always translate into good policy, and that’s something that I think that he and his team will wrestle with,” Mr. Obama said in the White House briefing room. “I did say to him, as I’ve said publicly, that because of the nature of the campaigns and the bitterness and the ferocity of the campaigns, that it’s really important to send some signals of unity, and to reach out to minority groups, or women, or others that were concerned about the tenor of the campaign, and I think that’s something that he will want to do. ” Mr. Obama also said he thought that Mr. Trump was entering office with fewer set policy ideas than other . “I don’t think he is ideological,” Mr. Obama said. “I think ultimately he is pragmatic. ” Mr. Obama, who during the campaign called Mr. Trump temperamentally unfit and dangerously unqualified to be president, has since said his priority is to lead an orderly transition of power to help Mr. Trump succeed for the good of the country. He sidestepped a question about Mr. Trump’s actions since his victory, including his selection on Sunday of Stephen K. Bannon, a media mogul whose website, Breitbart. com, has promoted white nationalist, racist and views, as his chief White House strategist and senior counselor. “Without copping out, I think it’s fair to say that it would not be appropriate for me to comment” on Mr. Trump’s personnel decisions, Mr. Obama said. The president remarked last week that Mr. Trump’s comments and behavior had been more statesmanlike since the election, saying that he had been “encouraged” by the change in tone. Since then, the has used Twitter to complain about postelection protests against him and object to the way The New York Times has covered him. Mr. Trump’s elevation of Mr. Bannon, who was a top adviser to the campaign, has drawn scathing criticism from Democrats and some Republicans who warn that the is placing a divisive figure with fringe views deep inside the West Wing. White House officials say Mr. Obama has not changed his view of Mr. Trump since the campaign this fall, when he condemned Mr. Trump as a bigot who had cozied up to white supremacists and could not be trusted with the nuclear codes. But Mr. Obama has told the American public that he believes the will of the voters should be respected. During a meeting on Thursday in the Oval Office, the president tutored Mr. Trump, who has no government policy or elective experience, on a wide range of domestic and foreign policy matters he will have to deal with on his first day in office. Mr. Obama held the news conference just before departing for a weeklong trip to Greece, Germany and Peru — his final scheduled trip abroad as president — where he expected to face questions from anxious American allies. For months, Mr. Obama assured the allies that Mr. Trump would not win the White House. Now, he said on Monday, he will tell European allies that they should not fear for the future of NATO under a Trump presidency. In the Oval Office conversation on Thursday, Mr. Obama said, Mr. Trump “expressed a great interest in maintaining our core strategic relationships, and so one of the messages I will be able to deliver is his commitment to NATO and the alliance. ”

This post was originally published on this site MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/. Russian companies won’t be able to use the services of LinkedIn to look personnel and business development after Roskomnadzor (the Federal Supervision Agency for Information Technologies and Communications) ruled to block the website, a representative with the company said The representative added that LinkedIn is still interested in a meeting with the regulator to discuss the storage of personal data. “LinkedIn strives for creation of economic opportunities for workers all over the world. We are receiving messages from Russian users who cannot use their accounts on LinkedIn any longer. The decision of Roskomnadzor to block the service closes the access to the website for millions of our users and companies from Russia that use LinkedIn for the development of their businesses. We are still interested in a meeting with Roskomnadzor so as to discuss the storage of personal data,” the representative of LinkedIn said. {{item.group_date}}

LONDON — A woman has made medical history by giving birth after having had an ovary removed and its tissue frozen at age 9, before reaching puberty. Moaza now 24, was born with beta thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder that was treated with chemotherapy and a transplant when she was a child. Because chemotherapy damages ovaries, her parents had authorized the removal of her right ovary in advance at the University of Leeds. The medical community celebrated the birth of Ms. Matrooshi’s baby boy on Tuesday in London at the Portland Hospital for Women and Children, saying the event could pave the way to restoring fertility to women who suffer cancer and other illnesses at an early age. Until now, many prepubescent girls who have undergone chemotherapy have had to abandon hopes of bearing children as adults. Professor Helen Picton, who leads the division of reproduction at the University of Leeds and who oversaw the preservation of the tissue, said that the outer part of the ovary that contained eggs was cut into pieces. The pieces were then placed in liquid nitrogen, she said in a telephone interview, and gradually cooled to a temperature of minus 320 Fahrenheit (minus 196 degrees Celsius) where they remained for 14 years. The technology was unproved at the time. It would be another three years before the first live birth from preserved adult ovarian tissue, and the prospect of its working in a girl well before puberty was even more uncertain, Professor Picton said. Last year, surgeons in Denmark transplanted five slivers of the thawed ovarian tissue back into Ms. Matrooshi’s body. Four slivers were grafted onto her failed left ovary, which had been damaged by the chemotherapy, and one sliver was grafted onto the side of her uterus. “We waited and the ovarian tissue started to get revascularized,” Professor Picton said. The cryopreservation had protected the tissue’s integrity, she said, “and when the tissue was thawed, it was alive. ” After the procedure, eggs started to grow in the transplanted tissue, and as Ms. Matrooshi’s hormones returned to normal she began ovulating. Until then, she had been in menopause. Doctors stimulated the ovary with hormone for in vitro fertilization and retrieved eight eggs, ultimately implanting two embryos in her womb earlier this year. “It’s like a miracle,” Ms. Matrooshi told the BBC. Sue Matthews, a gynecologist, treated Ms. Matrooshi at Portland Hospital. “The pregnancy was totally uncomplicated and a healthy boy Rashid was delivered by ” Dr. Matthews said via email. “Mum and baby ecstatic and all well. ” She said she still had one embryo in storage and kept two pieces of tissue “in the freezer so we can repeat the process if we need to. ” More than 60 women have so far given birth after having preserved ovarian tissue reimplanted in their bodies, Professor Picton said. But Ms. Matrooshi is thought to be the first to have had her tissue frozen before she reached puberty. In Europe alone, thousands of girls and women have had their ovarian tissue frozen and stored, Professor Picton said. The latest breakthrough, she said, “significantly increases our understanding of fertility preservation and how freezing ovarian tissue from a little girl can safeguard the future fertility of young girls. ” In another case, British regulators have cleared the way for doctors to offer a procedure to create a baby from the DNA of two women and one man. The purpose is to overcome flaws in a parent’s mitochondria that can lead to incurable diseases. As the genetic flaw is passed through the mother, DNA from an egg of the mother replaces the DNA in the egg of a healthy donor, yielding an egg with the mother’s DNA and the donor’s mitochondria. That egg is then fertilized. The procedure, performed successfully in New York earlier this year, is controversial because it involves combining genetic material from two different people.

STORRS, Conn. — After losing to Connecticut by 61 points in the first round of the N. C. A. A. tournament, Albany’s coach suggested that the Huskies were not only the best women’s basketball team in the country but also the fittest. “I think we’re as in shape a team that you’re going to come across,” said the coach, Joanna . Yet, she added, “At times they just made us look bad in the way they pushed the ball. ” Robust conditioning is a particular imperative, and a stealth weapon, for a UConn team ( ) that rotates only seven players — five starters and two reserves — as it seeks a fifth consecutive national championship. Yet, perhaps surprisingly, UConn has won 109 consecutive games with an approach that is, in some ways, decidedly . For instance, the Huskies do not use devices like monitors, GPS tracking systems or other wearable technology designed to gauge fitness, enhance performance and reduce the risk of injury. “I’m not a big data guy,” UConn Coach Geno Auriemma said, adding with a laugh, “I’m not smart enough. ” Instead, the most dominant team in basketball places a premium on rigorous and varied preseason workouts, nutrition, sustained weight training through the season and, especially, on intense practices meant to simulate game conditions. The team relies heavily on the experience and intuition of Auriemma, UConn’s coach of 32 seasons, a Hall of Famer with nearly 1, 000 career wins, in knowing when to push hard in training and when to ease up. He firmly believes that, while weight training and conditioning are vital, “nothing gets you ready to play basketball like playing basketball. ” Auriemma has 11 national championships — and is four victories shy of his 12th — to validate his theory. UConn faces U. C. L. A. on Saturday in the semifinals of the Bridgeport (Conn.) Regional. “The reason we’re fit is that we practice at an intensity that no one else does,” said Amanda Kimball, the team’s longtime strength and conditioning coach. “To maintain that intensity, it’s important to make sure we’re doing the right things in the weight room. ” UConn’s brisk, practices are designed to prepare the regulars to play 30 or more of a game’s 40 minutes and to make quick and correct decisions when they are tired — to be able to hit a shot, make an intricate pass and guard the opponent’s top scorer in the closing minutes. “Their expectations are what you think you can’t do,” said Kyla Irwin, a freshman forward. To speed the pace of practices, a shot clock is sometimes used instead of the version used in games. Other times, four defenders hustle to guard six or seven shooters stationed around the perimeter and in the lane. One drill, involving three players at a time, requires each to run the length of the court, make a shot and return to the opposite baseline within 10 seconds. A similar drill, which includes an additional sprint to midcourt and back, must be completed within 17 seconds. As do other top women’s teams, UConn also trains against male players who are not of varsity caliber but who might have had college careers at smaller programs. And there is much less stopping for instruction than when Auriemma, 63, was a younger coach. He now prefers continuous movement, comparing his practices to preparing a car for racing. “We’re going to push this car to the limit so that when race day comes, we know what the limit is,” he said. “We do that every day. ” In the drill UConn calls Kansas, five players run the length of the court four times, rehearsing plays and fast breaks, and when they are winded, they conclude the exercise against a live defense. The drill can be repeated for 15 or 20 minutes. The drill is a exercise that lasts for five minutes as players rotate in and out. Afterward, the team runs from sideline to sideline for 30 or 60 seconds and immediately proceeds to a shooting drill called “35,” where the ball is not allowed to touch the court. “We do things to get us tired, and then when we get tired, we do things that require us to be mentally smart,” said Kia Nurse, a junior guard who has hit a remarkable 15 of 19 attempts in this N. C. A. A. tournament. Compared to practice, Nurse said, “The game is much easier. ” As the fourth quarter begins, she added: “That’s when your kicks in that we’re not tired. The other team might give up, but there’s no chance that we are. ” Ideally, Auriemma would use eight players in his regular rotation, to keep his team operating efficiently and his stars satisfied with their playing time. A pet saying of his, attributed to Red Auerbach, the legendary Boston Celtics coach, is, “If you can’t win with eight, you can’t win with 88. ” For various reasons, including an N. C. A. A. rule that has required two transfers to sit out this season before becoming eligible, the current UConn team has only seven players whom Auriemma trusts to play regularly. Several began fall practice recovering from injury or surgery. None had been asked until this season to regularly make decisive plays at critical moments. So proper fitness has become even more urgent. Chris Dailey, Auriemma’s top assistant coach for three decades, said the Huskies once tended to lift weights in the preseason and stop when the regular season began. Now, the players lift at least twice a week through the season to build or maintain strength. At this time of year, given the inevitable wear and tear after games, weight training shifts from a focus on squats to dead lifts, using a chassislike device called a trap bar, to ease the stress on the players’ backs. “That’s why we always look so good at the end, because we’re still getting stronger, or at least maintaining, where other teams are not lifting, possibly, or they’re backing off because they want to stay fresh for the tournament,” said Kimball, the strength and conditioning coach. Because UConn’s season regularly extends to the Final Four in April, Kimball said, “I can’t detrain them the whole month of March. ” Twice a day, at breakfast and dinner, players are required to answer a brief questionnaire on an iPad. How much did you sleep? Are you sore? Where? Did you eat lunch? How difficult was practice? Are you fatigued? Meals are designed by Kimball and catered so that she can make sure players are getting the right nutrients. An hour before each game, players drink a shake with carbohydrates it is designed to bolster their energy and stabilize levels. For recovery after weight training, Kimball is a proponent of tart cherry juice to help reduce joint and muscle pain. She is also a massage therapist, which gives her additional interactions with players, and more chances to gauge their fitness. “All this sports science is going on, but a lot of what we do is art,” Kimball said. “It comes from basically communicating with players. I see them multiple times a day. ‘Hey, how are you doing? You feel good? Not so good?’ It’s just a lot of communication, a lot of trust. ” For training in the and preseason, Kimball also has devised a diverse set of workouts: sprints using weighted sleds, spin classes, yoga and pool exercises that include running, plyometrics and relay races. At some point, Kimball wants to incorporate GPS technology, she said, but she noted that it “doesn’t measure heart and intensity and passion to win. ” “It doesn’t measure,” she said, “that these girls might want it more than the other guys. ”

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“I am a person of faith. I am a Christian. I am a Methodist. I have been raised Methodist,” she said. She didn’t fail to bring it to a political point, however. “My study of the Bible, my many conversations with people of faith, has led me to believe the most important commandment is to love the Lord with all your might and to love your neighbor as yourself, and that is what I think we are commanded by Christ to do, and there is so much more in the Bible about taking care of the poor, visiting the prisoners, taking in the stranger, creating opportunities for others to be lifted up, to find faith themselves that I think there are many different ways of exercising your faith,” she said. It is not for me or anyone else to question someone’s faith, but that statement and her permitting “under God” to be omitted from a Pledge of Allegiance reference at her rally certainly seem contradictory. H/T QPolitical Please share this on Facebook and Twitter and let us know what you think about this omission! What do you think of the omission of "under God"? Scroll down to comment below! Advertisement Popular Right Now

It’s a nice problem to have, but it’s still a problem. Stocks have soared so high that a cautious person might start worrying about oxygen supply. In January, the Dow Jones industrial average reached 20, 000 for the first time. It crossed the 21, 000 mark on March 1, and while it slipped on Thursday and then had a late surge on Friday, it still seems to have plenty of power left in it. That means that if you’ve been in the market for a while, you are likely to be perching on a mountain of profits. Should you stay where you are and hope for further gains, or is it time to declare victory and move your money to safer ground? That’s an eternal question, one that returns whenever the market rises spectacularly. The answer depends, of course, on your analysis of two very different issues: the current situation in the markets, and the one in your own life. The raw numbers for the stock market are astonishing: Even without counting dividends, the Standard Poor’s index has risen more than 6 percent since New Year’s Day, nearly 20 percent in the last 12 months and roughly 250 percent since the start of the bull market in March 2009. Market history shows how remarkable that performance is. The current bull run is now the second longest since 1928, according to Bespoke Investment Group, a research firm. It is surpassed in duration only by one that ran from December 1987 to March 2000. In terms of strength, it ranks third, well behind that bull market, which had an gain of 582 percent, but not very far from one that lasted from June 1949 until August 1956, in which the market rose 267 percent. The current rally has lasted so long and has gone so far that precedents from past markets may not be very helpful in understanding it. “My attitude is, the market is likely to continue to do better, though I can’t point to historic metrics to prove my case the way I usually can,” said Laszlo Birinyi, president of Birinyi Associates, a stock market research and money management firm in Westport, Conn. Mr. Birinyi is a veteran strategist and a longtime bull. Back in 2009, he told me that we were at the very start of a classic bull market, and he reiterated his bullish view periodically, particularly in 2013, when many investors were growing pessimistic about the prospects for stocks. In a telephone conversation, he said that while some of the market’s recent action has been very strong — “a huge move” upward on Wednesday after President Trump’s speech to Congress, for example — the stock market’s path since 2009 has generally “been a series of slow, grinding moves” with little evidence of irrational exuberance. Clearly, though, market fundamentals are less auspicious than they were eight years ago, when stocks had been battered in the ferocious downturn of the great financial crisis, and investors with foresight and audacity could buy at prices. For example, one widely followed metric, the ratio of the Standard Poor’s index — which tells you how much money is being paid, on average, for $1 of corporate earnings — has become much less favorable. It has climbed to 22, well above its average of 18. 2, according to data from Bloomberg. Consider that in February 2009, the ratio plummeted to 12. 1, a paltry level reflecting widespread fear that both corporate earnings and stock prices would plunge. That moment was a turning point for the market, which has surged upward ever since. It may not be at a peak now, but investors are inhaling rarefied air, whether they know it or not. Yet it can be argued, as Mr. Birinyi does, that corporate earnings are rising, the economy is expanding nicely, and investors have been reacting fairly cautiously, keeping valuations within reasonable, if not optimal, bounds. On the other hand, prices have certainly leapt since Election Day in response to the possibility that the Trump administration and Congress will agree on legislation that could enrich American companies: corporate tax cuts, defense and infrastructure buildups, and changes in the Affordable Care Act. But, Mr. Birinyi says, the market hasn’t risen all that much, and if earnings keep rising, stock prices probably will, too. “It makes sense to stay involved in the stock market and to be positioned for the possibility that it will rise a lot further,” he said. The increasing likelihood of a Federal Reserve interest rate increase would have been a problem a year ago, Mr. Birinyi said, but it is a positive portent at this stage, because it signals that the central bank is convinced that the economy is in good shape and will keep expanding. That said, he also warned that in the current market, restraint and agility are important. “I wouldn’t go all in on stocks,” he said. “I’d be careful. ” Mr. Birinyi sits in front of a terminal all day, trading individual stocks whenever the prices tell him it makes sense to do so, which most people couldn’t and shouldn’t attempt. “We get out of a stock if the price is no longer right,” he said, “and we will buy it again when it’s better. We’re ready for whatever happens. ” Most of us aren’t steady stock traders, and need to be prepared for downturns in other ways. And if little is accomplished in Washington to fulfill investor expectations — or if there is an external shock, such as an international crisis — the market could fall sharply, Mr. Birinyi acknowledged. Furthermore, if the economy falters in such situations, the long rally in stocks could end violently. One way to deal with this is to try to take a cosmic view, as I suggested in a recent column, ignoring the market’s ups and downs entirely and remaining a consistent investor for a horizon that lasts decades. That can be accomplished by allocating your portfolio appropriately between stocks and bonds, depending on age and tolerance for risk, perhaps using diversified, mutual funds or funds, in which professional managers do the work for you, merely by tracking broad indexes or by picking a variety of individual securities. If you don’t need the money for a long while and are able to retain your equanimity in a protracted crisis, you may be able to avoid paying attention to the stock and bond markets. But even if you’re a very investor, it’s smart to take inventory. If, for example, you will need a chunk of your portfolio for a down payment on a house or to pay a tuition bill or to replace a roof or buy a car, you may want to liquidate some of it now, congratulating yourself on your gains. In addition, even if you don’t need to use the money, selling securities that have incurred losses may be a good move, Mr. Birinyi said. Losses will offset gains when it’s time to pay your taxes, and many investors these days are fortunate in having plenty of gains. In any case, it is surely wise to make sure, after a remarkable run in the stock market, that you will be able to handle a sharp downturn when it eventually comes. Personally, I’ve salted away my savings in broad stock and bond indexes with money that I don’t expect to need for years, and I’m careful to limit my own stock allocation. I don’t ignore the market. I examine it daily, and if I become convinced that it is shaky, I will reduce my own holdings — and say so — but haven’t taken much off the table lately. We all have to live with our own choices. I’m choosing to celebrate but also to be very careful.