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House Dem Aide: We Didn’t Even See Comey’s Letter Until Jason Chaffetz Tweeted It

Darrell Lucus

House Dem Aide: We Didn’t Even See Comey’s Letter Until Jason Chaffetz Tweeted It By Darrell Lucus on October 30, 2016 Subscribe Jason Chaffetz on the stump in American Fork, Utah ( image courtesy Michael Jolley, available under a Creative Commons-BY license) With apologies to Keith Olbermann, there is no doubt who the Worst Person in The World is this week–FBI Director James Comey. But according to a House Democratic aide, it looks like we also know who the second-worst person is as well. It turns out that when Comey sent his now-infamous letter announcing that the FBI was looking into emails that may be related to Hillary Clinton’s email server, the ranking Democrats on the relevant committees didn’t hear about it from Comey. They found out via a tweet from one of the Republican committee chairmen. As we now know, Comey notified the Republican chairmen and Democratic ranking members of the House Intelligence, Judiciary, and Oversight committees that his agency was reviewing emails it had recently discovered in order to see if they contained classified information. Not long after this letter went out, Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz set the political world ablaze with this tweet. FBI Dir just informed me, "The FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation." Case reopened — Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) October 28, 2016 Of course, we now know that this was not the case . Comey was actually saying that it was reviewing the emails in light of “an unrelated case”–which we now know to be Anthony Weiner’s sexting with a teenager. But apparently such little things as facts didn’t matter to Chaffetz. The Utah Republican had already vowed to initiate a raft of investigations if Hillary wins–at least two years’ worth, and possibly an entire term’s worth of them. Apparently Chaffetz thought the FBI was already doing his work for him–resulting in a tweet that briefly roiled the nation before cooler heads realized it was a dud. But according to a senior House Democratic aide, misreading that letter may have been the least of Chaffetz’ sins. That aide told Shareblue that his boss and other Democrats didn’t even know about Comey’s letter at the time–and only found out when they checked Twitter. “Democratic Ranking Members on the relevant committees didn’t receive Comey’s letter until after the Republican Chairmen. In fact, the Democratic Ranking Members didn’ receive it until after the Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Jason Chaffetz, tweeted it out and made it public.” So let’s see if we’ve got this right. The FBI director tells Chaffetz and other GOP committee chairmen about a major development in a potentially politically explosive investigation, and neither Chaffetz nor his other colleagues had the courtesy to let their Democratic counterparts know about it. Instead, according to this aide, he made them find out about it on Twitter. There has already been talk on Daily Kos that Comey himself provided advance notice of this letter to Chaffetz and other Republicans, giving them time to turn on the spin machine. That may make for good theater, but there is nothing so far that even suggests this is the case. After all, there is nothing so far that suggests that Comey was anything other than grossly incompetent and tone-deaf. What it does suggest, however, is that Chaffetz is acting in a way that makes Dan Burton and Darrell Issa look like models of responsibility and bipartisanship. He didn’t even have the decency to notify ranking member Elijah Cummings about something this explosive. If that doesn’t trample on basic standards of fairness, I don’t know what does. Granted, it’s not likely that Chaffetz will have to answer for this. He sits in a ridiculously Republican district anchored in Provo and Orem; it has a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+25, and gave Mitt Romney a punishing 78 percent of the vote in 2012. Moreover, the Republican House leadership has given its full support to Chaffetz’ planned fishing expedition. But that doesn’t mean we can’t turn the hot lights on him. After all, he is a textbook example of what the House has become under Republican control. And he is also the Second Worst Person in the World. 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

FLYNN: Hillary Clinton, Big Woman on Campus - Breitbart

Daniel J. Flynn

Ever get the feeling your life circles the roundabout rather than heads in a straight line toward the intended destination? [Hillary Clinton remains the big woman on campus in leafy, liberal Wellesley, Massachusetts. Everywhere else votes her most likely to don her inauguration dress for the remainder of her days the way Miss Havisham forever wore that wedding dress. Speaking of Great Expectations, Hillary Rodham overflowed with them 48 years ago when she first addressed a Wellesley graduating class. The president of the college informed those gathered in 1969 that the students needed “no debate so far as I could ascertain as to who their spokesman was to be” (kind of the like the Democratic primaries in 2016 minus the terms unknown then even at a Seven Sisters school). “I am very glad that Miss Adams made it clear that what I am speaking for today is all of us — the 400 of us,” Miss Rodham told her classmates. After appointing herself Edger Bergen to the Charlie McCarthys and Mortimer Snerds in attendance, the bespectacled in granny glasses (awarding her matronly wisdom — or at least John Lennon wisdom) took issue with the previous speaker. Despite becoming the first to win election to a seat in the U. S. Senate since Reconstruction, Edward Brooke came in for criticism for calling for “empathy” for the goals of protestors as he criticized tactics. Though Clinton in her senior thesis on Saul Alinsky lamented “Black Power demagogues” and “elitist arrogance and repressive intolerance” within the New Left, similar words coming out of a Republican necessitated a brief rebuttal. “Trust,” Rodham ironically observed in 1969, “this is one word that when I asked the class at our rehearsal what it was they wanted me to say for them, everyone came up to me and said ‘Talk about trust, talk about the lack of trust both for us and the way we feel about others. Talk about the trust bust.’ What can you say about it? What can you say about a feeling that permeates a generation and that perhaps is not even understood by those who are distrusted?” The “trust bust” certainly busted Clinton’s 2016 plans. She certainly did not even understand that people distrusted her. After Whitewater, Travelgate, the vast conspiracy, Benghazi, and the missing emails, Clinton found herself the distrusted voice on Friday. There was a load of compromising on the road to the broadening of her political horizons. And distrust from the American people — Trump edged her 48 percent to 38 percent on the question immediately prior to November’s election — stood as a major reason for the closing of those horizons. Clinton described her vanquisher and his supporters as embracing a “lie,” a “con,” “alternative facts,” and “a assault on truth and reason. ” She failed to explain why the American people chose his lies over her truth. “As the history majors among you here today know all too well, when people in power invent their own facts and attack those who question them, it can mark the beginning of the end of a free society,” she offered. “That is not hyperbole. ” Like so many people to emerge from the 1960s, Hillary Clinton embarked upon a long, strange trip. From high school Goldwater Girl and Wellesley College Republican president to Democratic politician, Clinton drank in the times and the place that gave her a degree. More significantly, she went from idealist to cynic, as a comparison of her two Wellesley commencement addresses show. Way back when, she lamented that “for too long our leaders have viewed politics as the art of the possible, and the challenge now is to practice politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible possible. ” Now, as the big woman on campus but the odd woman out of the White House, she wonders how her current station is even possible. “Why aren’t I 50 points ahead?” she asked in September. In May she asks why she isn’t president. The woman famously dubbed a “congenital liar” by Bill Safire concludes that lies did her in — theirs, mind you, not hers. Getting stood up on Election Day, like finding yourself the jilted bride on your wedding day, inspires dangerous delusions.

Why the Truth Might Get You Fired

Consortiumnews.com

Why the Truth Might Get You Fired October 29, 2016 The tension between intelligence analysts and political policymakers has always been between honest assessments and desired results, with the latter often overwhelming the former, as in the Iraq War, writes Lawrence Davidson. By Lawrence Davidson For those who might wonder why foreign policy makers repeatedly make bad choices, some insight might be drawn from the following analysis. The action here plays out in the United States, but the lessons are probably universal. Back in the early spring of 2003, George W. Bush initiated the invasion of Iraq. One of his key public reasons for doing so was the claim that the country’s dictator, Saddam Hussein, was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons and was hiding other weapons of mass destruction. The real reason went beyond that charge and included a long-range plan for “regime change” in the Middle East. President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney receive an Oval Office briefing from CIA Director George Tenet. Also present is Chief of Staff Andy Card (on right). (White House photo) For our purposes, we will concentrate on the belief that Iraq was about to become a hostile nuclear power. Why did President Bush and his close associates accept this scenario so readily? The short answer is Bush wanted, indeed needed, to believe it as a rationale for invading Iraq. At first he had tried to connect Saddam Hussein to the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. Though he never gave up on that stratagem, the lack of evidence made it difficult to rally an American people, already fixated on Afghanistan, to support a war against Baghdad. But the nuclear weapons gambit proved more fruitful, not because there was any hard evidence for the charge, but because supposedly reliable witnesses, in the persons of exiled anti-Saddam Iraqis (many on the U.S. government’s payroll ), kept telling Bush and his advisers that the nuclear story was true. What we had was a U.S. leadership cadre whose worldview literally demanded a mortally dangerous Iraq, and informants who, in order to precipitate the overthrow of Saddam, were willing to tell the tale of pending atomic weapons. The strong desire to believe the tale of a nuclear Iraq lowered the threshold for proof . Likewise, the repeated assertions by assumed dependable Iraqi sources underpinned a nationwide U.S. campaign generating both fear and war fever. So the U.S. and its allies insisted that the United Nations send in weapons inspectors to scour Iraq for evidence of a nuclear weapons program (as well as chemical and biological weapons). That the inspectors could find no convincing evidence only frustrated the Bush administration and soon forced its hand. On March 19, 2003, Bush launched the invasion of Iraq with the expectation was that, once in occupation of the country, U.S. inspectors would surely find evidence of those nukes (or at least stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons). They did not. Their Iraqi informants had systematically lied to them. Social and Behavioral Sciences to the Rescue? The various U.S. intelligence agencies were thoroughly shaken by this affair, and today, 13 years later, their directors and managers are still trying to sort it out – specifically, how to tell when they are getting “true” intelligence and when they are being lied to. Or, as one intelligence worker has put it, we need “ help to protect us against armies of snake oil salesmen. ” To that end the CIA et al. are in the market for academic assistance. Ahmed Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress, a key supplier of Iraqi defectors with bogus stories of hidden WMD. A “partnership” is being forged between the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which serves as the coordinating center for the sixteen independent U.S. intelligence agencies, and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine . The result of this collaboration will be a “ permanent Intelligence Community Studies Board” to coordinate programs in “social and behavioral science research [that] might strengthen national security .” Despite this effort, it is almost certain that the “social and behavioral sciences” cannot give the spy agencies what they want – a way of detecting lies that is better than their present standard procedures of polygraph tests and interrogations. But even if they could, it might well make no difference, because the real problem is not to be found with the liars. It is to be found with the believers. The Believers It is simply not true, as the ODNI leaders seem to assert, that U.S. intelligence agency personnel cannot tell, more often than not, that they are being lied to. This is the case because there are thousands of middle-echelon intelligence workers, desk officers, and specialists who know something closely approaching the truth – that is, they know pretty well what is going on in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Israel, Palestine and elsewhere. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (right) talks with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office, with John Brennan and other national security aides present. (Photo credit: Office of Director of National Intelligence) Therefore, if someone feeds them “snake oil,” they usually know it. However, having an accurate grasp of things is often to no avail because their superiors – those who got their appointments by accepting a pre-structured worldview – have different criterion for what is “true” than do the analysts. Listen to Charles Gaukel, of the National Intelligence Council – yet another organization that acts as a meeting ground for the 16 intelligence agencies. Referring to the search for a way to avoid getting taken in by lies, Gaukel has declared, “ We’re looking for truth. But we’re particularly looking for truth that works. ” Now what might that mean? I can certainly tell you what it means historically. It means that for the power brokers, “truth” must match up, fit with, their worldview – their political and ideological precepts. If it does not fit, it does not “work.” So the intelligence specialists who send their usually accurate assessments up the line to the policy makers often hit a roadblock caused by “group think,” ideological blinkers, and a “we know better” attitude. On the other hand, as long as what you’re selling the leadership matches up with what they want to believe, you can peddle them anything: imaginary Iraqi nukes, Israel as a Western-style democracy, Saudi Arabia as an indispensable ally, Libya as a liberated country, Bashar al-Assad as the real roadblock to peace in Syria, the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) aka Star Wars, a world that is getting colder and not warmer, American exceptionalism in all its glory – the list is almost endless. What does this sad tale tell us? If you want to spend millions of dollars on social and behavioral science research to improve the assessment and use of intelligence, forget about the liars. What you want to look for is an antidote to the narrow-mindedness of the believers – the policymakers who seem not to be able to rise above the ideological presumptions of their class – presumptions that underpin their self-confidence as they lead us all down slippery slopes. It has happened this way so often, and in so many places, that it is the source of Shakespeare’s determination that “what is past, is prelude.” Our elites play out our destinies as if they have no free will – no capacity to break with structured ways of seeing. Yet the middle-echelon specialists keep sending their relatively accurate assessments up the ladder of power. Hope springs eternal.

15 Civilians Killed In Single US Airstrike Have Been Identified

Jessica Purkiss

Videos 15 Civilians Killed In Single US Airstrike Have Been Identified The rate at which civilians are being killed by American airstrikes in Afghanistan is now higher than it was in 2014 when the US was engaged in active combat operations. Photo of Hellfire missiles being loaded onto a US military Reaper drone in Afghanistan by Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson/U.S. Air Force. The Bureau has been able to identify 15 civilians killed in a single US drone strike in Afghanistan last month – the biggest loss of civilian life in one strike since the attack on the Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital (MSF) last October. The US claimed it had conducted a “counter-terrorism” strike against Islamic State (IS) fighters when it hit Nangarhar province with missiles on September 28. But the next day the United Nations issued an unusually rapid and strong statement saying the strike had killed 15 civilians and injured 13 others who had gathered at a house to celebrate a tribal elder’s return from a pilgrimage to Mecca. The Bureau spoke to a man named Haji Rais who said he was the owner of the house that was targeted. He said 15 people were killed and 19 others injured, and provided their names (listed below). The Bureau was able to independently verify the identities of those who died. Rais’ son, a headmaster at a local school, was among them. Another man, Abdul Hakim, lost three of his sons in the attack. Rais said he had no involvement with IS and denied US claims that IS members had visited his house before the strike. He said: “I did not even speak to those sort of people on the phone let alone receiving them in my house.” The deaths amount to the biggest confirmed loss of civilian life in a single American strike in Afghanistan since the attack on the MSF hospital in Kunduz last October, which killed at least 42 people. The Nangarhar strike was not the only US attack to kill civilians in September. The Bureau’s data indicates that as many as 45 civilians and allied soldiers were killed in four American strikes in Afghanistan and Somalia that month. On September 18 a pair of strikes killed eight Afghan policemen in Tarinkot, the capital of Urozgan provice. US jets reportedly hit a police checkpoint, killing one officer, before returning to target first responders. The use of this tactic – known as a “double-tap” strike – is controversial because they often hit civilian rescuers. The US told the Bureau it had conducted the strike against individuals firing on and posing a threat to Afghan forces. The email did not directly address the allegations of Afghan policemen being killed. At the end of the month in Somalia, citizens burnt US flags on the streets of the north-central city of Galcayo after it emerged a drone attack may have unintentionally killed 22 Somali soldiers and civilians. The strike occurred on the same day as the one in Nangarhar. In both the Somali and Afghan incidents, the US at first denied that any non-combatants had been killed. It is now investigating both the strikes in Nangarhar and Galcayo. The rate at which civilians are being killed by American airstrikes in Afghanistan is now higher than it was in 2014 when the US was engaged in active combat operations. Name

Iranian woman jailed for fictional unpublished story about woman stoned to death for adultery

Howard Portnoy

Print An Iranian woman has been sentenced to six years in prison after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard searched her home and found a notebook that contained a fictional story she’d written about a woman who was stoned to death, according to the Eurasia Review . Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, 35, is the wife of political prisoner Arash Sadeghi, 36, who is serving a 19-year prison sentence for being a human rights activist, the publication reported. “When the intelligence unit of the Revolutionary Guards came to arrest her husband, they raided their apartment – without a warrant – and found drafts of stories that Ebrahimi Iraee had written,” the article stated. “One of the confiscated drafts was a story about stoning women to death for adultery – never published, never presented to anyone,” the article stated. “The narrative followed the story of a protagonist that watched a movie about stoning of women under Islamic law for adultery.

Jackie Mason: Hollywood Would Love Trump if He Bombed North Korea over Lack of Trans Bathrooms (Exclusive Video) - Breitbart

Daniel Nussbaum

In these trying times, Jackie Mason is the Voice of Reason. [In this week’s exclusive clip for Breitbart News, Jackie discusses the looming threat of North Korea, and explains how President Donald Trump could win the support of the Hollywood left if the U. S. needs to strike first. “If he decides to bomb them, the whole country will be behind him, because everybody will realize he had no choice and that was the only thing to do,” Jackie says. “Except the Hollywood left. They’ll get nauseous. ” “[Trump] could win the left over, they’ll fall in love with him in a minute. If he bombed them for a better reason,” Jackie explains. “Like if they have no transgender toilets. ” Jackie also says it’s no surprise that Hollywood celebrities didn’t support Trump’s strike on a Syrian airfield this month. “They were infuriated,” he says. “Because it might only save lives. That doesn’t mean anything to them. If it only saved the environment, or climate change! They’d be the happiest people in the world. ” Still, Jackie says he’s got nothing against Hollywood celebs. They’ve got a tough life in this country. Watch Jackie’s latest clip above. Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum

Life: Life Of Luxury: Elton John’s 6 Favorite Shark Pictures To Stare At During Long, Transcontinental Flights

Ever wonder how Britain’s most iconic pop pianist gets through a long flight? Here are the six pictures of sharks Sir Elton John likes to stare at to pass the time on an airplane. 1. A Shark Swimming Sit next to Elton John on a flight and you’ll see a man living in the lap of luxury, as he immediately tapes this photo of a shark darting through the ocean over his window to stare at throughout the trip. The platinum-selling artist has been known to pull his window shade down to make the shark disappear, and then quickly retract it to mark the animal’s triumphant return. He will often repeat this act dozens of times per flight. 2. A Great White Shark Leaping Into The Air When you’re an international pop sensation worth an estimated $450 million, people go the extra mile to make you happy. Flight crews are instructed to place this photo of a breaching great white in Elton John’s seat-back pocket before he even boards the plane. The five-time Grammy winner loves to pull the image out at his leisure to stare at while flying, sometimes holding it a mere 3-to-4 inches away from his face while he fixates upon the shark’s beady eyes. 3. A Shark On The Prowl Rumor has it Elton John first acquired this shark photo in 1997, just before flying to London to perform “Candle In The Wind” at Princess Diana’s funeral. It’s been a staple of his travel routine ever since. Those who have flown with the music legend say that Sir Elton turns on every single overhead light in his row to study this picture with a magnifying glass. 4. Two Hammerhead Sharks How does the man behind “Tiny Dancer” and “Rocket Man” handle turbulence as his plane traverses the Atlantic? Once that “Fasten Seat Belts” sign lights up, this picture of two hammerhead sharks comes out. Elton John holds the photo in a tight vice grip and stares straight at it until the turbulence passes, often without blinking for minutes at a time. 5. The Poster For Jaws Sir Elton John absolutely adores the poster for Steven Spielberg’s Jaws and hopes to one day see the film. In the meantime, the British icon makes do by slowly unfolding his 24-by-36-inch copy of the poster whenever he’s on a long flight, gently tracing the shark’s teeth with his finger as he stares lovingly into its gaping mouth. 6. Pilot’s Choice As much as Elton relishes in the calming regularity of his shark picture rotation, he also loves the excitement of gazing upon a totally unexpected shark when flying from London to a distant corner of Europe. That’s why all pilots who fly Sir Elton print out a shark picture of their choice from their home computers before going to the airport, and hand it to the visibly excited musician prior to takeoff. So yeah—it’s good to be Elton!

Benoît Hamon Wins French Socialist Party’s Presidential Nomination - The New York Times

Alissa J. Rubin

PARIS — France chose an idealistic, traditional candidate in Sunday’s primary to represent the Socialist and parties in the presidential election this spring. The candidate, Benoît Hamon, 49, who ran on the slogan that he would “make France’s heart beat,” bested Manuel Valls, the former prime minister, whose campaign has promoted more policies and who has a strong background. Mr. Hamon appeared to have won by a wide margin, with incomplete returns showing him with an estimated 58 percent of the vote to Mr. Valls’s 41 percent. “Tonight the left holds its head up high again it is looking to the future,” Mr. Hamon said, addressing his supporters. “Our country needs the left, but a modern, innovative left,” he said. Mr. Hamon’s victory was the clearest sign yet that voters on the left want a break with the policies of President François Hollande, who in December announced that he would not seek . However, Mr. Hamon’s strong showing is unlikely to change widespread assessments that candidates have little chance of making it into the second round of voting in the general election. The first round of the general election is set for April 23 and the runoff for May 7. The Socialist Party is deeply divided, and one measure of its lack of popular enthusiasm was the relatively low number of people voting. About two million people voted in the second round of the primary on Sunday, in contrast with about 2. 9 million in the second round of the last presidential primary on the left, in 2011. However, much of the conventional wisdom over how the elections will go has been thrown into question over the past week, because the leading candidate, François Fillon, who represents the main party, the Republicans, was accused of paying his wife large sums of money to work as his parliamentary aide. While nepotism is legal in the French political system, it is not clear that she actually did any work. Prosecutors who specialize in financial malfeasance are reviewing the case. France’s electoral system allows multiple candidates to run for president in the first round of voting, but only the top two go on to a second round. Mr. Hamon is entering a race that is already crowded on the left, with candidates who include Mélenchon on the far left, and Emmanuel Macron, an independent who served as economy minister in Mr. Hollande’s government and who embraces more policies. Unless he decides to withdraw, Mr. Fillon, the mainstream right candidate, will also run, as will the extreme right candidate Marine Le Pen. The two have been expected to go to the runoff. Mr. Hamon’s victory can be attributed at least in part to his image as an idealist and traditional leftist candidate who appeals to union voters as well as more environmentally concerned and socially liberal young people. Unlike Mr. Valls, he also clearly distanced himself from some of Mr. Hollande’s more unpopular policies, especially the economic ones. Thomas Kekenbosch, 22, a student and one of the leaders of the group the Youth With Benoît Hamon, said Mr. Hamon embodied a new hope for those on the left. “We have a perspective we have something to do, to build,” Mr. Kekenbosch said. Mr. Hollande had disappointed many young people because under him the party abandoned ideals, such as support for workers, that many voters believe in, according to Mr. Kekenbosch. Mr. Hollande’s government, under pressure from the European Union to meet budget restraints, struggled to pass labor code reforms to make the market more attractive to foreign investors and also to encourage French businesses to expand in France. The measures ultimately passed after weeks of strikes, but they were watered down and generated little concrete progress in improving France’s roughly 10 percent unemployment rate and its nearly 25 percent youth joblessness rate. Mr. Hamon strongly endorses a stimulus approach to improving the economy and has promised to phase in a universal income, which would especially help young people looking for work, but would also supplement the livelihood of French workers. The end goal would be to have everyone receive 750 euros per month (about $840). “We have someone that trusts us,” Mr. Kekenbosch said, “who says: ‘I give you enough to pay for your studies. You can have a scholarship which spares you from working at McDonald’s on provisional contracts for 4 years. ” Mr. Hamon advocates phasing out diesel fuel and encouraging drivers to replace vehicles that use petroleum products with electrical ones. His leftist pedigree began early. His father worked at an arsenal in Brest, a city in the far west of Brittany, and his mother worked off and on as a secretary. He was an early member of the Movement of Young Socialists, and he has continued to work closely with them through his political life. He also worked for Martine Aubry, now the mayor of Lille and a former Socialist Party leader.

Excerpts From a Draft Script for Donald Trump’s Q&ampA With a Black Church’s Pastor - The New York Times

Donald J. Trump is scheduled to make a highly anticipated visit to an church in Detroit on Saturday, the first such visit of his campaign. There, he will participate in a session conducted by Bishop Wayne T. Jackson of the church, Great Faith Ministries International. Given the importance of the visit, the Trump team went so far as to script Mr. Trump’s answers to Bishop Jackson’s questions, which were submitted in advance. After this article was published on Thursday night, a campaign official said that Mr. Trump would also speak to the church’s congregation and then tour some neighborhoods with Ben Carson, a former presidential candidate and Detroit native. Below are excerpts from a draft of the script that was obtained by The New York Times. _____ Mr. Trump there is racial divide in our country and it is evident that the tension is boiling over. Case and point Reverend Pinckney in South Carolina was gunned down when a white young man came into their Bible Study and slaughtered the Reverend and eight other individuals because he wanted to start a race war. What would your administration do to bring down the racial tension that is in our Country? In the Bible Jesus said that a house divided cannot stand. Our best hope for erasing racial tensions in America is to work toward a society. In business, we hire, retain and award based on merit. In society, however, we have divisions that can only be eliminated if we have equal opportunity and then equal access to programs and institutions that will lift all people in the country. We have to reform our tax system so that we can spur economic growth for the long haul. We have to have stronger enforcement of immigration laws. We have to renegotiate our trade deals so that we can bring advantage back to the American workforce. But perhaps most important is that we must provide equal opportunity for a quality education for all Americans. The higher the educational attainment, the greater the likelihood one can climb the economic ladder. We must bring school choice programs to our cities and we must get rid of Common Core. We must make sure that access, affordability and accountability are brought into our higher education system. Without a focus on educational outcomes for every American, we will perpetuate the permanent underclass that progressive policies have sustained. Republicans like me need to have the courage to speak the truth about where we are and what has to be done. We have to have the courage to go into communities and work with everyone there to make sure that our schools are good and that our children have access to the whatever educational situation they may need. This is not something one person can do, but it is something that we can do together. _____ Mr. Trump there is a perception that your administration is racist. With many of the African American voters their belief is that the Republican Party as a whole does not cater to African American needs. In 2008 and 2012 we had two Republican Candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney and neither one of them came to Detroit, or any urban area that I can remember to even address the concerns of our community. First I would like to commend you for coming to our community as a Republican Candidate. Second I need to know how would you change that perception in our community? The proof, as they say, will be in the pudding. Coming into a community is meaningless unless we can offer an alternative to the horrible progressive agenda that has perpetuated a permanent underclass in America. We need to be true to our word and offer all Americans more opportunities so that each and every one of them can reach their full potential. This means economic policies that will bring jobs back to America and will raise wages for all. This means working hard to provide as many educational options as possible to our parents and children. This means cleaning up drugs and making our neighborhoods and communities safer. We need to get people off welfare and back to work. We need to make sure that anyone who qualifies can go into a bank, get a loan and then start a business. We need to reduce regulations and expand options for people who want to be independent of government. We need to make sure that people can worship how they want and where they want without worrying that some federal agency is going to threaten the religious liberties. Republicans have better options. We just need to have the courage to present them with conviction. _____ Mr. Trump what is your vision for America? And specifically Black America? If you repeal Obama care what is your plan to provide health care and medicine to those who can’t afford it, yet need it the most? As President, I must serve all Americans without regard to race, ethnicity or any other qualification. I must approach my task with the utmost wisdom and make sure that all Americans have opportunities to achieve to their potential. If we are to Make America Great Again, we must reduce, rather than highlight, issues of race in this country. I want to make race disappear as a factor in government and governance. Every individual, regardless of race or ethnicity, must have access to the full array of opportunities in America. My vision for America is that every citizen and legal resident of this nation will be able to stand side by side and be proud of the fact that they live in the greatest nation on earth. As for the Affordable Care Act, I will work to repeal the act and replace it with market driven solutions that will offer more access to healthcare at more affordable prices. Every American should be able to purchase health insurance across state lines, have health savings account that belong to them, have price transparency so they can shop for the best services at the best prices and know that they will not have to compete with those who are clogging the system simply because they are in this country illegally. We want to block grant Medicaid so that states can provide services closer to the people. We want to make sure that every American has great economic opportunity so that they can seek out their own health insurance and still be able to afford it. This approach will serve all Americans and will ensure that more Americans are covered by better insurance and healthcare options. _____ Mr. Trump I am a registered Democrat but I am an undecided voter in this election for 2016. It is not only myself but there has been a lot of Pastors and African Americans who have not made up their minds concerning who they are going to cast their vote for. The latest polls indicate that you have 1 percent of the African American vote. What can you say to undecided voters such as myself and others in the African American Community that will win our vote on November 8, 2016? And beyond winning, why is the African American vote important to you? All votes are important to me and my campaign. Your vote, your neighbor’s vote, the vote of every American is critical and I must do all I can to make sure you know that if you vote for me, you are voting for a stronger, more vibrant America. My policies offer you a clear choice. You can continue down the road of progressivism that has created a permanent underclass in this country that, unfortunately, includes far too many people of color. If you want a better America, you must break from the historical hold that Democrats have had on people of color and move to options that allow you to achieve your potential. This is all about opportunity — not outcomes and promises of things to come that never materialize. The progressives have worked tirelessly to bring all Americans down to one level rather than allowing as many as possible to rise as high as possible. Education, jobs, religious liberty and protection of civil rights are the promises that I will keep, not just utter to gain favor. If you are interested in a greater America with more opportunity, liberty and prosperity, you must take a chance and walk over to my side. If you want a strong partner in this journey, you will vote for me. I will never let you down. By the way, my support is now up to 8% and climbing.

A Back-Channel Plan for Ukraine and Russia, Courtesy of Trump Associates - The New York Times

Megan Twohey and Scott Shane

A week before Michael T. Flynn resigned as national security adviser, a sealed proposal was to his office, outlining a way for President Trump to lift sanctions against Russia. Mr. Flynn is gone, having been caught lying about his own discussion of sanctions with the Russian ambassador. But the proposal, a peace plan for Ukraine and Russia, remains, along with those pushing it: Michael D. Cohen, the president’s personal lawyer, who delivered the document Felix H. Sater, a business associate who helped Mr. Trump scout deals in Russia and a Ukrainian lawmaker trying to rise in a political opposition movement shaped in part by Mr. Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort. At a time when Mr. Trump’s ties to Russia, and the people connected to him, are under heightened scrutiny — with investigations by American intelligence agencies, the F. B. I. and Congress — some of his associates remain willing and eager to wade into efforts behind the scenes. Mr. Trump has confounded Democrats and Republicans alike with his repeated praise for the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, and his desire to forge an alliance. While there is nothing illegal about such unofficial efforts, a proposal that seems to tip toward Russian interests may set off alarms. The amateur diplomats say their goal is simply to help settle a grueling, conflict that has cost 10, 000 lives. “Who doesn’t want to help bring about peace?” Mr. Cohen asked. But the proposal contains more than just a peace plan. Andrii V. Artemenko, the Ukrainian lawmaker, who sees himself as a leader of a future Ukraine, claims to have evidence — “names of companies, wire transfers” — showing corruption by the Ukrainian president, Petro O. Poroshenko, that could help oust him. And Mr. Artemenko said he had received encouragement for his plans from top aides to Mr. Putin. “A lot of people will call me a Russian agent, a U. S. agent, a C. I. A. agent,” Mr. Artemenko said. “But how can you find a good solution between our countries if we do not talk?” Mr. Cohen and Mr. Sater said they had not spoken to Mr. Trump about the proposal, and have no experience in foreign policy. Mr. Cohen is one of several Trump associates under scrutiny in an F. B. I. counterintelligence examination of links with Russia, according to law enforcement officials he has denied any illicit connections. The two others involved in the effort have somewhat questionable pasts: Mr. Sater, 50, a pleaded guilty to a role in a stock manipulation scheme decades ago that involved the Mafia. Mr. Artemenko spent two and a half years in jail in Kiev in the early 2000s on embezzlement charges, later dropped, which he said had been politically motivated. While it is unclear if the White House will take the proposal seriously, the diplomatic freelancing has infuriated Ukrainian officials. Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Valeriy Chaly, said Mr. Artemenko “is not entitled to present any alternative peace plans on behalf of Ukraine to any foreign government, including the U. S. administration. ” At a security conference in Munich on Friday, Mr. Poroshenko warned the West against “appeasement” of Russia, and some American experts say offering Russia any alternative to a international agreement on Ukraine would be a mistake. The Trump administration has sent mixed signals about the conflict in Ukraine. But given Mr. Trump’s praise for Mr. Putin, John Herbst, a former American ambassador to Ukraine, said he feared the new president might be too eager to mend relations with Russia at Ukraine’s expense — potentially with a plan like Mr. Artemenko’s. It was late January when the three men associated with the proposed plan converged on the Loews Regency, a luxury hotel on Park Avenue in Manhattan where business deals are made in a lobby furnished with leather couches, over martinis at the restaurant bar and in private conference rooms on upper floors. Mr. Cohen, 50, lives two blocks up the street, in Trump Park Avenue. A lawyer who joined the Trump Organization in 2007 as special counsel, he has worked on many deals, including a tower in the republic of Georgia and a mixed martial arts venture starring a Russian fighter. He is considered a loyal lieutenant whom Mr. Trump trusts to fix difficult problems. The F. B. I. is reviewing an unverified dossier, compiled by a former British intelligence agent and funded by Mr. Trump’s political opponents, that claims Mr. Cohen met with a Russian representative in Prague during the presidential campaign to discuss Russia’s hacking of Democratic targets. But the Russian official named in the report told The New York Times that he had never met Mr. Cohen. Mr. Cohen insists that he has never visited Prague and that the dossier’s assertions are fabrications. (Mr. Manafort is also under investigation by the F. B. I. for his connections to Russia and Ukraine.) Mr. Cohen has a personal connection to Ukraine: He is married to a Ukrainian woman and once worked with relatives there to establish an ethanol business. Mr. Artemenko, tall and burly, arrived at the Manhattan hotel between visits to Washington. (His wife, he said, met the first lady, Melania Trump, years ago during their modeling careers, but he did not try to meet Mr. Trump.) He had attended the inauguration and visited Congress, posting on Facebook his admiration for Mr. Trump and talking up his peace plan in meetings with American lawmakers. He entered Parliament in 2014, the year that the former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych fled to Moscow amid protests over his economic alignment with Russia and corruption. Mr. Manafort, who had been instrumental in getting Mr. Yanukovych elected, helped shape a political bloc that sprang up to oppose the new president, Mr. Poroshenko, a wealthy businessman who has taken a far tougher stance toward Russia and accused Mr. Putin of wanting to absorb Ukraine into a new Russian Empire. Mr. Artemenko, 48, emerged from the opposition that Mr. Manafort nurtured. (The two men have never met, Mr. Artemenko said.) Before entering politics, Mr. Artemenko had business ventures in the Middle East and real estate deals in the Miami area, and had worked as an agent representing top Ukrainian athletes. Some colleagues in Parliament describe him as corrupt, untrustworthy or simply insignificant, but he appears to have amassed considerable wealth. He has fashioned himself in the image of Mr. Trump, presenting himself as Ukraine’s answer to a rising class of nationalist leaders in the West. He even traveled to Cleveland last summer for the Republican National Convention, seizing on the chance to meet with members of Mr. Trump’s campaign. “It’s time for new leaders, new approaches to the governance of the country, new principles and new negotiators in international politics,” he wrote on Facebook on Jan. 27. “Our time has come!” Mr. Artemenko said he saw in Mr. Trump an opportunity to advocate a plan for peace in Ukraine — and help advance his own political career. Essentially, his plan would require the withdrawal of all Russian forces from eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian voters would decide in a referendum whether Crimea, the Ukrainian territory seized by Russia in 2014, would be leased to Russia for a term of 50 or 100 years. The Ukrainian ambassador, Mr. Chaly, rejected a lease of that kind. “It is a gross violation of the Constitution,” he said in written answers to questions from The Times. “Such ideas can be pitched or pushed through only by those openly or covertly representing Russian interests. ” The reaction suggested why Mr. Artemenko’s project also includes the dissemination of “kompromat,” or compromising material, purportedly showing that Mr. Poroshenko and his closest associates are corrupt. Only a new government, presumably one less hostile to Russia, might take up his plan. Mr. Sater, a longtime business associate of Mr. Trump’s with connections in Russia, was willing to help Mr. Artemenko’s proposal reach the White House. Mr. Trump has sought to distance himself from Mr. Sater in recent years. If Mr. Sater “were sitting in the room right now,” Mr. Trump said in a 2013 deposition, “I really wouldn’t know what he looked like. ” But Mr. Sater worked on real estate development deals with the Trump Organization on and off for at least a decade, even after his role in the stock manipulation scheme came to light. Mr. Sater, who was born in the Soviet Union and grew up in New York, served as an executive at a firm called Bayrock Group, two floors below the Trump Organization in Trump Tower, and was later a senior adviser to Mr. Trump. He said he had been working on a plan for a Trump Tower in Moscow with a Russian real estate developer as recently as the fall of 2015, one that he said had come to a halt because of Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign. (Mr. Cohen said the Trump Organization had received a letter of intent for a project in Moscow from a Russian real estate developer at that time but determined that the project was not feasible.) Mr. Artemenko said a mutual friend had put him in touch with Mr. Sater. Helping to advance the proposal, Mr. Sater said, made sense. “I want to stop a war, number one,” he said. “Number two, I absolutely believe that the U. S. and Russia need to be allies, not enemies. If I could achieve both in one stroke, it would be a home run. ” After speaking with Mr. Sater and Mr. Artemenko in person, Mr. Cohen said he would deliver the plan to the White House. Mr. Cohen said he did not know who in the Russian government had offered encouragement on it, as Mr. Artemenko claims, but he understood there was a promise of proof of corruption by the Ukrainian president. “Fraud is never good, right?” Mr. Cohen said. He said Mr. Sater had given him the written proposal in a sealed envelope. When Mr. Cohen met with Mr. Trump in the Oval Office in early February, he said, he left the proposal in Mr. Flynn’s office. Mr. Cohen said he was waiting for a response when Mr. Flynn was forced from his post. Now Mr. Cohen, Mr. Sater and Mr. Artemenko are hoping a new national security adviser will take up their cause. On Friday the president wrote on Twitter that he had four new candidates for the job.

Obama’s Organizing for Action Partners with Soros-Linked ‘Indivisible’ to Disrupt Trump’s Agenda

Aaron Klein

Organizing for Action, the activist group that morphed from Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign, has partnered with the Indivisible Project for “online trainings” on how to protest President Donald Trump’s agenda. [Last week, Breitbart News extensively reported that Indivisible leaders are openly associated with groups financed by billionaire George Soros. Politico earlier this month profiled Indivisible in an article titled, “Inside the protest movement that has Republicans reeling. ” The news agency not only left out the Soros links, but failed to note that the organizations cited in its article as helping to amplify Indivisible’s message are either financed directly by Soros or have close ties to groups funded by the billionaire, as Breitbart News documented. Organizing for Action (OFA) is a community organizing project that sprung from Obama’s 2012 campaign organization, Organizing for America, becoming a nonprofit described by the Washington Post as “advocate[ing] for the president’s policies. ” In a recent Facebook post titled, “Take a deep breath. Then take action,” OFA called on constituents to lobby particularly hard between now and February 26, when lawmakers will be in their home districts. The post included a link to a guide released by Indivisible on how to organize against Trump. “Stay tuned for online trainings and invitations to calls with coalition partners like Indivisible Guide,” the OFA post states. Paul Sperry, writing at the New York Post, relates: The manual, published with OFA partner “Indivisible,” advises protesters to go into halls quietly so as not to raise alarms, and “grab seats at the front of the room but do not all sit together. ” Rather, spread out in pairs to make it seem like the whole room opposes the Republican host’s positions. “This will help reinforce the impression of broad consensus. ” It also urges them to ask “hostile” questions — while keeping “a firm hold on the mic” — and loudly boo the the GOP politician if he isn’t “giving you real answers. ” “Express your concern [to the event’s hosts] they are giving a platform to authoritarianism, racism, and corruption,” it says. … “Even the safest [Republican] will be deeply alarmed by signs of organized opposition,” the document states, “because these actions create the impression that they’re not connected to their district and not listening to their constituents. ” Sperry reported OFA “plans to stage 400 rallies across 42 states this year to attack Trump and Republicans over ObamaCare’s repeal. ” Earlier this month, NBC News reported on OFA’s new actions and its partnership with Indivisible: OFA has hired 14 field organizers in states home to key senators as part of its campaign to defend Obama’s signature healthcare law. To run that campaign, the group hired Saumya Narechania — the former national field director at Enroll America, which worked to sign people up for Obamacare — and a deputy campaign manager. … OFA says more than 1, 800 people have applied to its Spring Community Engagement Fellowship, a training program, of whom have not previously been involved with OFA. And the group has teamed up with Indivisible, a buzzy newcomer to the progressive movement, to offer organizing training that began Thursday night with a video conference. A combined 25, 000 people have registered to participate in those trainings, OFA said. Indivisible’s DC branch was implicated in a scuffle last week that reportedly injured a staffer for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher ( ) as well as reportedly knocking a to the ground. Protesters claimed they were only delivering Valentine’s Day cards. Indivisible is a part of a coalition of activist groups slated to hold a massive Tax March in Washington and at least 60 other locations on April 15. Unreported by the news media is that most of the listed partners and support organizers of the march are openly financed by Soros or have close links to Soros financing, as Breitbart News documented last week. Meanwhile, earlier this month, Politico profiled Indivisible and reported that “conservatives” are “spreading unfounded rumors” that the group is “being driven by wealthy donors like George Soros. ” Politico, however, seemingly failed to do even the most minimal research on the Indivisible leaders cited in the news outlet’s own profile. Some of those personalities are openly associated with groups financed by Soros. Politico further failed to note that the organizations cited in its article as helping to amplify Indivisible’s message are either financed directly by Soros or have close ties to groups funded by the billionaire. Citing Angel Padilla, a of the group, Politico reported: Dubbed “Indivisible,” the group launched as a way for Padilla and a handful of fellow aides to channel their heartbreak into a manual for quashing President Donald Trump’s agenda. They drafted a protest guide for activists, full of pointers on how to bird dog their members of Congress in the language of Capitol insiders. The manual has since been downloaded over one million times. Indivisible says on its website that over 4, 500 local groups across the nation have “signed up to resist the Trump agenda in nearly every congressional district in the country. ” The manual has been utilized to form the basis of a protest movement. The group’s website states: “What’s more, you all are putting the guide into action — showing up en masse to congressional district offices and events, and flooding the congressional phone lines. You’re resisting — and it’s working. ” Politico reported on “unfounded” rumors being spread about Soros’s involvement with Indivisible (emphasis added by this reporter): Its handful of senior leaders count about 100 contributors to their national organizing work but insist that all are working on a volunteer basis. They know conservatives are spreading unfounded rumors that their success is being driven by wealthy donors like George Soros, which they flatly deny. That paragraph was followed by the following quote from Padilla (emphasis again added by this reporter): “It doesn’t matter who we take money from — we’re always going to get blamed as a Soros group, even if we don’t take money from Soros,” said Padilla, now an analyst with the National Immigration Law Center. “That’s one of the attacks and that’s fine. ” While “Indivisible” has yet to disclose its donors, Politico failed to inform readers that the National Immigration Law Center where the news outlet reported Padilla serves as an analyst is financed by Soros’s Open Society Foundations. The Center has received numerous Open Society grants earmarked for general support. Also unmentioned by Politico is that Padilla previously served as an immigration policy consultant at the radical National Council of La Raza. Soros is a major La Raza donor. Politico went on to detail how Indivisible has been aided by MoveOn. org and the ACLU. The news website failed to tell readers that MoveOn. org and the ACLU are both financed by Soros, a relevant tidbit given Politico’s claim about “unfounded rumors” that Indivisibles’ success was being driven by Soros . The news website reported: In addition, MoveOn. org and the Working Families Party joined with Indivisible for its first nationwide call on Jan. 22. Nearly 60, 000 people phoned in that day, according to Levin and MoveOn organizing director Victoria Kaplan. Indivisible estimates that its second national call, on the impact of Trump’s immigration order with assistance from the ACLU and Padilla’s group, drew 35, 000 people. Politico also missed that, according to its Twitter account, another organizer of the conference call with MoveOn. org was the International Refugee Assistance Project, a project of the Urban Justice Center, another recipient of an Open Society grant. Taryn Higashi, executive director of the Center’s International Refugee Assistance Project, currently serves on the Advisory Board of the International Migration Initiative of Soros’s Open Society Foundations. Politico further reported on Indivisible’s ties to the organizers of last month’s Women’s March while failing to mention that Soros reportedly has ties to more than 50 “partners” of that march. Also, this journalist first reported on the march leaders’ own close associations with Soros. Regarding Indivisible and the Women’s March, Politico reported: Indivisible is also embracing collaboration with other major protest outlets. Leaders of the group were in communication with Women’s March organizers before their main event on Jan. 21, and that partnership will become official when the March unveils the third in its series of 10 direct actions that attendees have been asked to pursue in their communities. Another Indivisible leader mentioned in the Politico article is Jeremy Haile. Not reported by Politico is that is Haile served as federal advocacy counsel for the Sentencing Project. The Sentencing Project is reportedly financed by Soros’s Open Society Foundations, which has also hosted the Project to promote its cause. Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio. ” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.

BBC Comedy Sketch "Real Housewives of ISIS" Causes Outrage

Chris Tomlinson

The BBC produced spoof on the “Real Housewives” TV programmes, which has a comedic Islamic State twist, has been criticised by Leftists and Muslims who claim the sketch is offensive. [The BBC released the trailer earlier this week and were immediately slammed by those on the left and Muslims who thought that making fun of the brides of members of the terror group was out of the bounds of conventional humour. The sketch is part of a new programme called “Revolting” written by Jolyon Rubinstein and Heydon Prowse which, according to the BBC, is “satirising the state of the nation. ” LOLOLOL pic. twitter. — Raheem Kassam (@RaheemKassam) January 4, 2017, The BBC2 Facebook page was inundated with criticism. One user wrote, “I’m mortified that the BBC had produced such a programme. This is simply bad taste. The fact it is a comedy makes it even more worrying that humour should be associated with the actions of ISIS. Is this really what TV licenses are funding! ?” Others took a different point of view including a Muslim saying, “As a Muslim I find this HILARIOUS! Brilliant! The satire is on point highlighting the pathetic ideals of a pathetic group like ISIS. ” Not all Muslims agreed with the sentiment and users on Twitter expressed just as much outrage for the sketch. One man, a Bangladeshi, said “The BBC really made a satirical show called ‘The Real Housewives of ISIS’ while the real housewives of ISIS are being raped and abused daily. ” The BBC really made a satirical show called ”The Real Housewives of ISIS” while the real housewives of ISIS are being raped and abused daily, — Meraj. (@UncleMeraj) January 4, 2017, Another wrote, “‘Real Housewives of ISIS’ will make Hijabis feel more isolated n targeted by Islamophobes. Thanks @BBC for adding to the negative stereotype. ” ’Real Housewives of ISIS’ will make Hijabis feel more isolated n targeted by Islamophobes. Thanks @BBC for adding to the negative stereotype, — aѕн (@AshKaneSkittles) January 4, 2017, Leftists also articulated how offended they were that the public broadcaster would dare create such a sketch mocking Islamic State. Some questioned whether the use of taxpayer money via the TV license fee should go toward the funding of the programme. As if people’s TV license in this country is going towards funding the production of a programme called ”the real housewives of ISIS”. Wow, — Cameron Edgar (@CammyyyEdgar) January 4, 2017, The video itself has already been viewed millions of times on Facebook and other social media platforms. The clip shows several women in hijabs talking to each other in a house taking selfies and showing off their suicide belts to each other. One woman even mentions that she hadn’t come from Birmingham “to do this” as she scrubbed the floor of the home. Women joining Islamic State and travelling to Syria to become brides has become a real problem in European countries as the terror group promises young girls a more glamorous lifestyle. In 2014, eight schoolgirls from Bethnal Green travelled to Syria to become brides of Islamic State fighters, all of them under the age of 18.

Russian Researchers Discover Secret Nazi Military Base ‘Treasure Hunter’ in the Arctic [Photos]

Amando Flavio

The mystery surrounding The Third Reich and Nazi Germany is still a subject of debate between many observers. Some believe that Nazi Germany, under the control of Adolf Hitler, possessed supernatural powers, and largely employed pseudo-science during the 1933-1945 period. However, some also hold that the above belief is just a mere speculation without any proven fact. Over the years, researchers have searched extensively for answers to some of the more mysterious activities associated with Nazi Germany. Nazi Germany invaded Russia (formerly the USSR) during the Second World War on June 22, 1941. At the time, the German army progressed deep into Russian territory, gaining ground close to the capital Moscow, before the Russians could counter-attack, eventually driving the Nazis back. During the Nazi occupation in Russia, in 1942, the Nazis built a secret military base around the Arctic, code-named “Schatzgraber” or “Treasure Hunter,” which was reportedly very instrumental in the war against Russia. The base was primarily used as a tactical weather station for planning the strategic movements of Nazi troops, warships and submarines. The base also housed eminent Nazi scientists, whom conducted many experiments to help progress a German win of the war. It was widely speculated at the time that the Nazis used the base to contact aliens or extraterrestrial beings. The controversial Ahnenerbe was even linked to the base. The Ahnenerbe was an institute in Nazi Germany. Responsible for researching archaeological and cultural history of the Aryan race, it is rumored to have had heavy occult influences. Founded on July 1, 1935, by Heinrich Himmler, Herman Wirth and Richard Walther Darré, the Ahnenerbe later conducted experiments and launched expeditions in attempts to prove that mythological Nordic populations had once ruled the world. However, the Nazis abandoned the base in 1944 – a time when the Russian army began its offensive, pushing the Germans out of the country. According to a war-time story, supplies had dwindled to dangerously low levels, and the Nazi officers stationed at the base outpost were forced to kill and eat polar bear, which ultimately, was infected with trichinosis. This caused those stationed at the base to fall severely ill and eventually they required rescue by a German U-boat. Despite Russian authors telling the story of “Treasure Hunter,” some observers consider it a myth, doubting its existence. But Russian researchers have now announced that “Treasure Hunter” has been discovered, saying the base is on the island of Alexandra Land in the Arctic Circle, located 620 miles from the North Pole. A senior researcher at the Russian Arctic National Park, Evgeny Ermolov said in a statement announcing the discovery : “Before it was only known from written sources, but now we also have real proof.”

US Officials See No Link Between Trump and Russia

Jason Ditz

Clinton Campaign Demands FBI Affirm Trump's Russia Ties With the 2016 election campaign winding down, the Clinton campaign is ratcheting up demands for the FBI to publicly confirm the campaign’s allegations that Republican nominee Donald Trump is secretly in league with Russia. Sen. Harry Reid (D – NV) went so far as to claim the FBI has secret “explosive” evidence of coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russian government that it is withholding. FBI officials familiar with their investigations into the allegations, which the Clinton campaign started publicizing around the Democratic National Convention, say they’ve turned up nothing to connect Trump and Russia , leading FBI Director James Comey to decide against making any statements to that effect. The Clinton campaign has been making the allegations so long that they have taken to claiming “everyone knows” that they are true, and appears unsettled by the FBI’s refusal to sign off on the claims simply because they haven’t been able to find real evidence corroborating the story. The Trump campaign has repeatedly denied ties to Russia, but that didn’t stop Clinton from calling Trump a “puppet” of Russian President Vladimir Putin during the final presidential debate. The calls have grown since Friday’s FBI report to Congress about further Clinton emails being sought. With Clinton’s main campaign scandal growing in the waning weeks of the deal, some in her campaign have suggested that affirming Trump as secretly in league with the Russians would only be fair. Absent any evidence, however, it appears that won’t be happening.

Re: Yes, There Are Paid Government Trolls On Social Media, Blogs, Forums And Websites

AnotherAnnie

Yes, There Are Paid Government Trolls On Social Media, Blogs, Forums And Websites February 26th, 2014 Do you want solid proof that paid government shills are targeting websites, blogs, forums and social media accounts? For years, many have suspected that government trolls have been systematically causing havoc all over the Internet, but proving it has been difficult. But now thanks to documents leaked by Edward Snowden and revealed by Glenn Greenwald, we finally have hard evidence that western governments have been doing this. As you will see below, a UK intelligence outfit known as the Government Communications Headquarters, through a previously secret unit known as the Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group, has been systematically attempting “to control, infiltrate, manipulate, and warp online discourse”. This should be deeply disturbing to anyone that values free speech on the Internet. It isn’t just that the British government is trying to influence what people are thinking. The reality is that this is far bigger than a mere propaganda campaign. As Greenwald recently noted on his new website , the “integrity of the Internet itself” is at stake… By publishing these stories one by one, our NBC reporting highlighted some of the key, discrete revelations: the monitoring of YouTube and Blogger , the targeting of Anonymous with the very same DDoS attacks they accuse “hacktivists” of using, the use of “ honey traps ” (luring people into compromising situations using sex) and destructive viruses . But, here, I want to focus and elaborate on the overarching point revealed by all of these documents: namely, that these agencies are attempting to control, infiltrate, manipulate, and warp online discourse , and in doing so, are compromising the integrity of the internet itself. So what techniques are the British using to control and manipulate discourse on the Internet? According to Greenwald, the documents that Snowden has uncovered show that they are willing to sink to despicable lows in order to get the results that they desire… Among the core self-identified purposes of JTRIG are two tactics: (1) to inject all sorts of false material onto the internet in order to destroy the reputation of its targets; and (2) to use social sciences and other techniques to manipulate online discourse and activism to generate outcomes it considers desirable. To see how extremist these programs are, just consider the tactics they boast of using to achieve those ends: “ false flag operations ” (posting material to the internet and falsely attributing it to someone else), fake victim blog posts (pretending to be a victim of the individual whose reputation they want to destroy), and posting “ negative information ” on various forums. The following is a list of Internet infiltration techniques that were listed on one particular slide that Snowden leaked… – Infiltration Operation – Sting Operation You can check out this slide for yourself right here . There is also evidence that the Canadian government has been involved in this sort of thing as well. Natural News … You’ve probably run into them before — those seemingly random antagonizers who always end up diverting the conversation in an online chat room or article comment section away from the issue at hand, and towards a much different agenda. Hot-button issues like illegal immigration, the two-party political system, the “war on terror” and even alternative medicine are among the most common targets of such attackers, known as internet “trolls” or “shills,” who in many cases are nothing more than paid lackeys hired by the federal government and other international organizations to sway and ultimately control public opinion . Several years ago, Canada’s CTV News aired a short segment about how its own government had been exposed for hiring secret agents to monitor social media and track online conversations, as well as the activities of certain dissenting individuals. This report, which in obvious whitewashing language referred to such activities as the government simply “ weighing in and correcting ” allegedly false information posted online, basically admitted that the Canadian government had assumed the role of secret online police . You can see a video news report about this activity up in Canada right here . Are you disturbed yet? You should be. So what kind of people are the governments of the western world targeting online? Well, when it comes to the U.S. government, all you have to do is to look at their official documents to see who they consider the “problems” to be. For much more on this, please see my previous article entitled “ 72 Types Of Americans That Are Considered ‘Potential Terrorists’ In Official Government Documents “. Sadly, the reality of the matter is that the days of the free and open Internet are numbered. The governments of the world are increasing their control over the Internet with each passing day, and eventually a time will likely come when we will not be able to communicate openly like this any longer. Things have gotten so bad in the U.S. already that even Google is spooked … A recent court decision that endorsed a broad view of the Federal Communications Commission’s authority over the Internet has Google and other Web companies nervous. In closed-door meetings with regulators and Capitol Hill staff, Google’s lawyers have said they’re worried how the FCC may use its newfound powers, according to multiple people familiar with the meetings. The extent of the FCC’s authority over Google and other Web services remains unclear, and the current FCC has given no indication that it is interested in pushing aggressive new regulations. But the possibility that the commission could begin telling Google how to organize its search results or handle its users’ data is enough to spook the company’s army of Washington lobbyists. And this is just the beginning. If you think that the control freaks that are running things now are bad, just wait until you see the next generation of control freaks. For example, there is one prominent student writer at Harvard that apparently believes that free speech at her university should be abolished and that any professor that does not advocate for her politically-correct version of “justice” should be fired … A student writer at Harvard University is raising eyebrows after publishing her belief that free speech on campus should be abolished and professors with opposing views be fired. Sandra Korn, a senior who writes a column for the Harvard Crimson newspaper, thinks radical leftism is the only permissible political philosophy, and the First Amendment only hinders colleges from brainwashing students with her viewpoint. “Let’s give up on academic freedom in favor of justice,” states the subtitle of her Feb. 18 column , in which she insists Harvard stop guaranteeing students and professors the right to hold controversial views and conduct research putting liberalism in a negative light. “If our university community opposes racism, sexism, and heterosexism, why should we put up with research that counters our goals?” Korn asks. This is what control freaks always want. They always want to shut down those that are presenting opposing views. They don’t believe in free speech and a “marketplace of ideas”. Rather, they believe in shoving what they believe down the rest of our throats. And now we have solid proof that the governments of the western world are paying people to manipulate discourse on social media, blogs, forums and websites. So will there be great outrage over this, or will the apathetic public just roll over and ignore this like they have so many other times the past few years? My guess, most will just roll over and ignore this. People don’t care. Hammerstrike At least I know why people disagree with me other dem intrenets now, they are paid trolls! Paid by the governement to spread falsehoods and hurt muh feelins! seth datta Most of my comments get deleted by bankster paid control freaks if they don’t troll my comments. Banksters truly are the psychopaths destroying the world. K The amazing thing is, they are not that hard to spot. But since like so many other things, people will not face the truth. This information will only help a very few. For those of you still sitting on the fence. How much more evidence do you need? How many more ways does the Government have to mess with you? What will it finally take, to say enough? Rodster “Don’t confuse me with the facts. I already made up my mind.” SupernaturalCat “The amazing thing is, they are not that hard to spot. But since like so many other things, people will not face the truth.” Indeed. Never underestimate the power of denial. DJohn1 This is called doing anything for a paycheck. Otherwise known in the world as prostituting for money. Snowden probably has a few other “surprises” in the material he has not released yet. This also dates back to way before the internet was ever thought of. PR firms for the government have been making fun of anything that they truly want to hide. Such as any legitimate UFO reporting over the last 50 or so years. Anyone with a thorough knowledge of Solar System Astronomy was made to feel like a nut as far back as the 50s. One Russian Scientist came up with a fantastic theory of how Venus came to be where it is in the Solar System. In 1949 or 1950 scientists all over the planet wanted his books banned from publication and actually boycotted anyone that would pub his work. His theory said that Venus was extremely hot(800 degrees Fahrenheit). That the planet had a weird rotation. That it possibly came into the Solar System around the time of Joseph of Egypt and 400 years later caused the plagues of Egypt under Moses. That placed it in BIblical times. Well Venus does have a weird day. It is longer than its year. Venus is full of hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide. It has an atmosphere much thicker than the Earth’s. All of which sort of lend credit to the theory. It is volcanic and has a very hot surface. In 1950, astronomers were guessing that Venus was a twin to Earth with a slightly higher temperature. Possibly 150 at the equator and comfortable at the poles. Then the Russian Drones sent to Venus told an entirely different story and blew all of the astronomers out of the water. I hope I am embarrassing them for their efforts to ban the man from publication. He spent his years at Princeton University after leaving Russia. Two aspects of the theory should make us all sit up and listen. He claimed the Hydrocarbons rained oil over the surface of the Earth and that might be where a lot of Earth’s supply of oil came from. The Russians are acting on that theory to find new oil reserves. The second aspect is that Venus played a kind of bounce game as it came down through the Solar System and removed the second planet from the Sun in the process and dumped it out further in the Solar System. He thought that Mars was originally in the orbit where Venus is today. His theory was that mankind forgot what happened in a kind of national amnesia. IF what he says was true, then Mars could have had a thick enough atmosphere and water to support life! More important it might have had a thick magnetic layer that filtered out the Sun and kept the planet temperate at one time. All of which was ruined as Venus dragged it out of orbit. That might have happened in biblical times. The Earth might have been slightly closer to the Sun with a 360 day year instead of 365 and a quarter day year. This of course is all speculation until we go out there and find out the real truth of what is going on. My own guess is that if there is life on Mars it is in caves under the surface with a slightly heavier atmosphere and possibly seas in these huge caverns. If there is any surface life left, it is likely to be about the size of a dog or a racoon. If there is large life, I suspect it will be Sand Worms deep in the sands of Mars. I mention this because it is very easy to ridicule ideas. The one I just told you about actually happened in the 50s and was ridiculed coast to coast by actual scientists. We are in a universe with over 100 billion galaxies out there. The number of stars with life possible is at a fantastic number. If one in a million stars has life, that is still a whole lot of life out there. The only explanation that makes sense to me is we are far off the trade lanes between the stars. Otherwise we would have been contacted years ago. Or have we been? I suggest that when a civilization reaches the level of using Atomic Bombs then that civilization bares watching. We had a lot of UFO activity after World War II and the setting off of bombs all over the planet as governments tested these weapons. Governments all over the world that are big enough are probably hiding a lot of things from all of us. I think we might all be amazed at just exactly what has been withheld. NowAlive This is quite a postulation on the mere evidence that was correct, namely the temperature of Venus. The plagues of Egypt were localized. You had firstborns killed unless you used a passover lamb. Second, what about the oils raining down all over the Earth? I was quite young when Valdez crashed. The oil rig explosion in the Gulf is more recent. The hydrocarbon dumping would have killed off most life on the planet. Basically my point is that observational science shows that virtually none of what you just stated has been proven or even has any legitimate evidence. It’s wild speculation. I’m not an astrophysicist, but I doubt you are either. The governments hiding things is obvious. This in no way shows life on Mars or Venus dumping oil or switching orbital positions. It does not even slightly point to alien visitations or life. I’m not trying to offend you. I’m just trying to understand what you just said in a way that shows there is some evidence for it. DJohn1 You are quite right. It is wild speculation on my part. Except the temperature is not the only evidence. Venus rotates the wrong direction in its spin or day. It is the only planet in the entire solar system to do so. The day is 268 of our days long. The year is 222 of our days. That the temperatures are so high could just be the closeness to the Sun. The atmosphere is 15 times thicker than our planet’s atmosphere. That speaks to me that something unusual is going on. As for the oil, it is showing up in places that only a rain of oil might explain. The critical thing that we do not know is When it occurred or if it occurred at all. If I am right, there is a good possibility that the Moon will have some fairly large deposits of oil under the surface. There is a lot of unexplained discoloration on face of the Moon. If there is oil under the surface of the Moon, it might also mean that the Moon was a small planet at one time with an atmosphere and life. Again, I am speculating. The theory did not come from astrophysics. It came from examining a lot of stories all over the planet from the approximate time of Moses. That was Velinkovsky’s specialty, ancient languages and psychology of ancient cultures. Rastus A field of study that you may or may not have heard of is called “catastrophism”. Not without its critics and highly controversial among biblical scholars, you may find the subject a good scratch to your itch. A book by Donald Wesley Patten called “Catastrophism And The Old Testament” might be in accordance with your fancy. Johnny Are you speaking of Immanuel Velikovsky? He is the Author of Worlds in Collision. He points out the chaos of the universe. I found him interesting to read in 1958. DJohn1 Yes. He was not a specialist in astronomy. He simply pointed out what the beliefs of the ancient world were. He did upset the scientific world of his time. I think he was at least 50% right about things. We now know that Venus could not have come from Jupiter or Saturn. My own thought is that it had to come from the outer solar system or beyond. We have well over 100 moons around the planets. Most of which are around the gas giants. Most of which have a nickel/iron core. None of which could have come from the major gas giants in the Solar System. They had to come from something much more dense and much older. The man most likely to shake the core beliefs of astrophysics and astronomy is an accomplished astronomer, Dr. Mike Brown. What he is finding is there are a series of small, Pluto sized planets, some with small moons in the outer solar system. Scientists have been looking in the wrong place. Of the four new planets he has found, they seem to be 40-50 degrees off the orbits of the gas giants. Some are in extremely comet like orbits and at least one is on its way out of the Solar System. I am no scientist. A lot of what I read about it makes little sense with current theories. Unless there is something out there that is big enough to drag small planets and moons out of their original orbits around the Sun. Some think we have a brown dwarf about a light year out at the edge of the Sun’s influence(gravity). So far no one has found it. I think we are looking in the wrong places. IF there is a brown dwarf, it is quite small as stars go. IF it is in a comet-like orbit, then somewhere down the road it will return causing all kinds of changes in the Solar System. IF it has planets around it, then those planets might cause a lot of destruction as they come close to existing planets and moons in our solar system. Our planets as viewed from the North and top of the Solar System rotate around the Sun counter-clockwise. IF this brown dwarf is rotating clockwise around the Sun, that might complicate finding and plotting an orbit for it. IF it is way off the angle that most planets orbit the Sun, that might also keep it from being discovered. I do find it interesting that a lot of astronomy telescopes are moving towards the South Pole for observations. Known Brown Dwarf Stars do exist around stars in our stellar neighborhood and some are independent of any other stars all within about 12 light years of our Sun. A lot of what we do know is kept fairly low key and doesn’t really get a lot of news headlines. How many people know about Dr. Brown’s work in the outer solar system? How many know about the gap(hole) in the orbits of the ORB cloud? A gap big enough for something the size of Venus or much larger could have made in the outer asteroid belt. I think it is possible that an object possibly the size of a gas giant might be out there somewhere but so little light is coming from it that we will only discover it by accident. What is significant is we are still learning about new planets in our own solar system. The governments have spent enormous amounts of money in this area through NASA. So someone must think we have things out there we need to know. GrimReaperLady I found your reply facinating! There is no way we are the only planet with life. I think I am going to go read some scientific journals, any suggestions. jaxon64 Awesome distraction technique…you turned a discussion of govt media control and trolling into a lengthy discussion of planetary formation?…truly masterful. You deserve a raise. DJohn1 Thank you. Just for the record, I have no salary from the U.S. Government for trolling. The only funds from them I see is my monthly Social Security Check as someone that has retired. Not sure how long that lasts before they steal what they haven’t all ready spent out of the general fund. The true masters are the PR people hired to keep the sheep all sleeping peacefully while the government steals everything in sight. I started getting suspicious about 20 years ago, when the entire newspaper business stopped mud raking and went with bland stories handed out by the wire services. It appears stirring up things has legal penalties and newspapers do not want to get hung up in legal battles. So they run news from wire services and leave the real reporting to others. Making advertisers angry has financial penalties as well, so lord help the reporter that angers an advertiser. Everything is wrapped up in money motivations. That above anything else is what has destroyed the country’s estate that used to bring down the crooked politicians. The only way this related to planetary formation is that this media was used to go against this man by scientists that were angry at his claims. These scientists literally boycotted the publishers willing to pub his work. My own thought is that controling the scientific discovery press is just as bad. Jonathon von Tischner A good video on that is “Return of the Nephilim” by Chuck Missler. DJohn1 Immanuel Velikovsky wrote the book in question. Worlds in Collision was the title. He was wrong about a lot of things. For instance I do not think it is possible to have Venus come out of Jupiter. The elements are different. Venus has a heavy core vs Jupiter has a Hydrogen and Helium core. What he did get right was a lot of facts about what Venus actually consisted of. My own idea is Venus might have been a wondering planet not orbiting any Star. I mentioned this man because by coincidence he did get a lot of things right. His ideas should not have been debunked or censored in any way. How was Venus created? I think it might have come from Brown Dwarf that was coming apart at the seams. That would make it a whole lot older than Velinkovsky thought. The idea is Brown Dwarfs might have a lot of heavy materials on them than regular stars and gas planets. We have an entire solar system full of heavy objects like that. We also have at least 4 gas giants that consist mostly of hydrogen and helium. The question is where did all of those heavy material objects consisting of nickel/iron cores come from? That is a question that most astronomy scientists do not have a good answer yet. 2¢Wurth Wow, less than two sentences into the article and the icon of Gary2 started appearing on the left and right sides of the screen. I used to think of a troll as a small ugly creature, now I think of this perverted looking plastic muppet who barks out this “take from the rich, give to me” mantra. Must be very weird living in that world… Chris Yes the Purple colored Cookie Monster from Sesame Street! seth Half my comments get deleted or trolled outright. There is little to no freedom of speech in the West. Heck, other countries are the lands of the free, relatively speaking. blackciti_fo5 So they’re doing with the internet what has already been done to television basically? Great. Just great. Eric Blair Those who propose that only one perspective is viable and that all competing viewpoints should be abolished by decree are the worst trolls of all, no matter what ideals they hold up to justify their actions. America was founded on the idea of freedom, and primarily freedom of speech and ideas. Any who would seek to deter that freedom are as tumors on the political body of this country, and as such should be excised lest their disease continue to spread. Goebbels and Bernays would be proud of such people, but they have no place in a truly free country. Nicholas Mull yes brotherjohnf We have been telling people this for years as we have battled these trolls for more than a decade. People just refuse to believe it. Sad. Syrin Anyone reading my unrelenting attacks on GARY at Michael’s other web site knows that I believe without a doubt he is a paid disinformation gov’t agent. NO ONE can read the facts that Michael presents, and logically reach the conclusions he does when faced with pages of data and facts unless they are brain dead or have an agenda. He might have both. Guest LOL. I don’t think Gary is a disinformation agent. I think he’s just an angry man who feels that he’s owed something. But that’s just my opinion. jaxon64 agreed…now gay vet may actually be a troll. Gary at least discusses the issues,-albeit from his redundant and close-minded viewpoints which are inalterable by facts—yet gay vet and a few others are always trying to distract from the topic and turn any intelligent discourse in the comments section into a name calling and Repub vs Democrat discussion. His very name was probably chosen to distract from article content. Another tactic I see from some here consistently is that if anyone mentions any faith, or God or just finishes a post with “God help us”…then trolls who never post anything else will pounce in and start attacking God—I think the true motive is to turn the conversation toward one of atheism/religion/creation instead of the topic of the article… You see it from the same people over and over–then they disappear and someone new with a different moniker will take their place ( quite possibly the same shill but different name.) All said, they are very effective at distraction if one reads through the comments, they often take over an entire article and it never gets back on topic. Gay Veteran speak of trolls and jaxon64 pops up. “…yet gay vet and a few others are always trying to distract from the topic and turn any intelligent discourse in the comments section into a name calling and Repub vs Democrat discussion… hey Einstein, get a clue, there is no differences between the 2 parties …His very name was probably chosen to distract from article content….” I’ll choose my own name, j-hole. “…Another tactic I see from some here consistently is that if anyone mentions any faith, or God or just finishes a post with “God help us”…then trolls who never post anything else will pounce in and start attacking God…” OR you post something incredibly stoopid and get hammered for it FirstGarden You know a tree by its fruit. Veteranforpeace Some folks take pride in being prime slime. They’re so desperate for attention that any kind would be better than none. Veteranforpeace They’ll do it for buck too, Paid prime time slime. Facts seldom stand in the way of what someone wants to believe English Kev I think Gary has genitalia dimension disorder. Syrin Michael, I actually believe the gov’t push to take over the internet will HELP America. Why? because most Americans are fat, lazy brain dead zombies who let Jon Stewart do their thinking for them. They’re intellectual sloths and are 100% unaware of the noose being placed around their neck. HOWEVER, they are internet addicts, and take away an addicts fix, and he/she will react potentially violently. It might just shake enough people from their stupor to effect meaningful change. FirstGarden How dare you speak my mind? :-) Media-mesmerized couch potatoes. Derp So basically, what you’re saying is that the only way to save the internet (and all that it represents) is to destroy it? Apple Cider Your beliefs step on the rights of free citizens and we are not here to serve your needs. Please stick your head in a bucket of water and drown yourself. Gay Veteran you’ll get more truth from Jon Stewart than from the corporate media (including Fox) rkb100100 Public sector employee unions troll everything. FirstGarden The New “Free Speech”– no speech tolerated but their own. (If you disagree, you’re automatically a hater and a phobe.) The New “Diversity”– Everyone except veterans and white males in their 50s. The New “Constituency”– Left wing voting blocks (Formed by tax incentives to corporations for target hiring; promotion of welfare vs. workfare.) Rastus Their father is the “father of lies” FirstGarden Aye, but he is an equal-opportunity father, with children in many a camp. Derp Freedom of Speech means that you have the freedom to speak your mind. That doesn’t mean that what you say is automatically correct or true. FirstGarden You’re correct. Unfortunately, Statism does not tolerate free speech, dissent, nor true diversity. Joey D’Fixer I dont know why they even bother anyway. Its not like this garbage works and they are so easy to spot. For instance, on YT, they are always a dead give away, as for 95% of the time, they use a First and Last name, which from what i can tell, is autogenerated through some script they use. I had seen in a video, the FedBizOpps site putting out a contract for a system to make multiple IDs for use in some Social Media program. If i recall, it was the Air Force or something like that. Operation Earnest Voice was another one as well. But they basically log in through some front-end of sorts, and they dont actually use YT like we do. The profiles are ALWAYS empty: no dates, no vids, no likes, no uploads, no playlists, nothing on the ‘About’ section. Its all pure vapor. And Cass Sunstein was the one who recommended all this in his paper, calling it ‘cognitive infiltration’, and who is another Dr Goebbels wanna-be and who should be hung from a tree. And its not like they are ‘going to change our minds’ on anything. Troll or no troll, if i dont like what youre saying to me, i have 3 words for you ‘Go F yourself.’ This is what actually enrages me more than anything, that they feel everyone but themselves, are going to be that malleable, zombified and sloth-like, to just believe everything they spew. If its one thing i hate, its people with superiority complexes, they are just a total scourge on the planet and its mindset of every control-freak authoritarian out there, past, present and future. Randall Thrift The illusion of privacy is just that, AN ILLUSION. My granddaddy always taught me that once an idea, thought, or opinion leaves you mind it is no longer private and you no longer should have any expectations of privacy. In today’s world of the high tech social media this truth is more evident than ever. GrimReaperLady Wow that is scary, this my last post until I think this through. Captain Canuck Yeah if you guys are worried about Obama’s NSA, then you wouldn’t believe Prime Minister Harper. He’s diabolical. He’s managed to remove or control most press and cameras from Parlaiment Hill. This is huge, as media used to have access and reporters had a presence at the capital. He’s also managed to muzzle ANYONE who comes out and questions the Big Oil agenda. c p Corrupt governments hate free speech, and ours will be gone for good with the next major terrorist attack or natural disaster. Then the internet will be every bit as dumbed down as the broadcast media. Blitzkrieg Oh Gay Veteran… Paging Gay Veteran. Blitzkrieg …and Gary — if they’re not already the same person. Gay Veteran sorry junior but I detest our fascist government Charles Reece By the way, since Britain and America are BOTH English-speaking countries – and the closest of allies, along with France; that therefore, England is ALREADY “in league” with whatever almost EVERTHING that the U.S. does in the first place, AND therefore, given Edward Snowden’s revelations of the U.S. Government’s intelligence apparatus “spying” on its own citizens; that accordingly, why not EXPECT Britain to do the “same” – to not only their OWN people, but also ours as well, anyway. And besides, truly, during the 1960’s, the English-speaking countries; such as England itself, and Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have already been SHARING “signals-intelligence” information – or electronic “eavesdropping” information – with each other and with Uncle Sam; through the ECHELON electronic eavesdropping network; which was set up back in 1964. By each member nation of ECHELON electronically spying on each other’s respective private citizens – and passing on intelligence-gathered information to the OTHER member nations; that consequently, each member nation could actually CIRCUMVENT their own respective government’s laws PROHIBITING ECHELON from “spying” on its OWN country’s citizens. They’ve been doing this ever since ECHELON was “set up” back in ’64. But very few Americans have already known about what’s been “going on” all of these past five decades; that being, with ECHELON members permitting each other to electronically “spy” and “share” intelligence information dealing with each other’s country’s citizens. Thus, by ONE member nation allowing ANOTHER one to gather information on its own citizens – and sharing that same “information” with the others; that consequently, each member nation COULD NOT legally be “accused” of violating its own respective government’s laws prohibiting domestic spying. BART SIMPSONSON Hey, it’s just another means of getting the prog’s agitprop out there and countering any notion of Free Speech on the internet. In case you haven’t noticed they also pretty much have the non-Fox TV news networks, channels, and programs fellating them daily……. James It’s not really a surprise tho is it? And I don’t think it’s a Lib vs Dem thing, I imagine most governments do it. And it’s not just governments either. Big business is up to exactly the same thing. Big pharma, oil companies spreading disinformation about climate change. Sad times we live in really, difficult to know who to trust on the Internet these days. We all seek out the stories and opinions that support our view on the world. ButIDigress In any society, most people do nothing. It’s up to the minority to defend the naive majority. It’s how things are done. Bob G If I read the article correctly the government is targeting conservative thought. I always wondered why liberals would deliberately read conservative web sites and then harass the commentators. I certainly have no wish to read liberal web sites let alone comment on them. It all makes sense now. OGIS The DNC is behind a lot of this. False flag operations to make “conservative” posters sound ignorant, stupid and racist. (Not to say that there are not elements of that in many conservatives AND liberals, but these j@ck@sses ramp it up to 11.) Tami Chapman I almost posted this until you mentioned the Harvard Student’s article, which was taken totally out of context. Great article until the very end when you very sneakily try to place all of the blame on liberals when we all know the the real villains completely control both parties, especially the conservatives. It’s Independents like Sanders who will fight for our rights…people who are not bought by the power elite.

In Major League Soccer, Argentines Find a Home and Success - The New York Times

Jack Williams

Guillermo Barros Schelotto was not the first Argentine player to set foot on a Major League Soccer field. Statistically speaking, he was the 28th when he made his debut for the Columbus Crew in 2007. But Schelotto’s phone still rings to this day, more than six years after he left the league, with calls from fellow Argentines looking for advice. Though Schelotto, 43, is currently the coach of Boca Juniors, the most decorated team in Argentina, most of the players who call him want to talk about other teams, about other countries, about a soccer world away from the environment of Buenos Aires. “Most of them like to talk about the cities,” Schelotto said. Many of them find a way to come. Argentines now make up the demographic in M. L. S. trailing only Americans. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, going into this season’s openers, 98 Argentine players had been featured in an M. L. S. game since the league’s inception. Sebastian Blanco, a new designated player for Portland, made his debut in an opener Friday and became No. 99. In a ranking by nationality, Argentines have the goal total, too. Twelve of the 22 teams in M. L. S. will start the season with at least one Argentine on their roster, a list that includes stars like Dallas’s Mauro Diaz and Montreal’s Ignacio Piatti and newcomers like Atlanta’s Hector Villalba and New York City F. C.’s Maxi Moralez. Why do they come? For some it’s the money, or at least the promise that it will be paid regularly. Others come for the lifestyle, the chance to fade into a comparative anonymity unavailable to them at home, or to live the “quiet, clean” life that Schelotto describes as he reminisces about his days in Ohio. The Portland Timbers playmaker Diego Valeri was one such player who called Schelotto, his former manager, and he eventually heeded his advice. But he said it was for an entirely different reason. A year before he signed with Portland, while under contract to his hometown club Lanus, Valeri had had a gun pressed to his throat when robbers attempted to steal his BMW with his wife, Florencia, and daughter, Connie, inside. “After that moment,” Valeri said with considerable understatement, “we thought about opportunities to play outside and know different places in the world. ” Within a year, Valeri, who had had loan spells in Portugal and Spain, was on his way to Portland. “Situations like that are very hard for the Argentinian people to change,” he said. The Valeri and his family are now settled in the Northwest, where he is playing arguably the best soccer of his career. He is a and in between was named the most valuable player when Portland won the 2015 M. L. S. Cup championship game. “I think they like the anonymity and the tranquillity here,” Caleb Porter, Valeri’s coach with the Timbers, said of his star and his countrymen. “They really relish the opportunity to be here and to live a lifestyle that’s different to how they lived in Argentina. They transition well into M. L. S. ” Since 2011, Portland has signed six Argentines, including its acquisition of Blanco, 28. Valeri has been a good ambassador — he speaks English and urges newcomers to try to learn it as soon as possible, to ease the transition. But Porter and the Timbers’ general manager and president of soccer, Gavin Wilkinson, believe there is another, more straightforward reason for Argentina’s outsize presence in M. L. S.: It simply produces the kind of technical player that the league desires. “Certain countries produce certain positions more,” Porter said. “Most teams are looking for that creative piece, and you know you can get one in Argentina. ” A large alumni directory and strong ties to agents and consultants in the region have made that kind of shopping easier for M. L. S. teams, and in the past the struggles of the Argentine economy also favored North American clubs, some said. But there also has been a change in the kind of individual looking to make the move north, and that has dovetailed with the league’s overall transfer policy. As the quality of M. L. S. has improved as it enters its third decade, its teams have looked less for marketability from its imports — which in the past had trended toward aging, often European stars — and more toward onfield impact and value. The latest class of Argentines reflects this shift, as they enter a league where the average age of designated players — the team’s stars — has fallen below 28, its lowest point in a decade. “They know that M. L. S. is different to 10 years ago,” said Schelotto, who was 34 when he moved to the league. “They can go, make good money, play with some pressure. They know they can make a career in the United States and then maybe move to Europe. “Ten years ago, it was impossible. Right now, you can. ” There are currently 24 Argentines playing in the league. Atlanta United and its Argentine coach, Tata Martino, brought in three ahead of its first season, each of them 25 or younger (Villalba is just 22). Buying young is now seen as more of a benefit to clubs than a risk, as players who continue to develop retain a value if they move on to brighter prospects in Europe. “People are coming here younger and younger, maybe to start their careers,” Ignacio Piatti, a playmaker for the Montreal Impact, said through an interpreter. “It’s what they are looking for at that age: being able to live a comfortable life off the field and focus on their games. ” Piatti, like Schelotto, has been happy to offer advice to the next wave of Argentine talents considering entering M. L. S. including players on both sides of the Hudson River. Gonzalo Veron, 27, of the Red Bulls, and Moralez, 30, who recently signed with New York City F. C. both acknowledged that they had turned to Piatti for advice before signing. At a community event in East Harlem last week, Moralez — who spent four years in Italy — reflected on his decision to move to the United States. He had never been to New York City before signing, he said, and after turning to the likes of Piatti and David Villa for advice about the league’s standard of play, he said he also sought assurances for his family, who are set to join him in New York shortly. “First off, I just want to enjoy football,” Moralez said. “But also to get to know the beauty of the city and the country. Not everybody gets the opportunity to come here. ”

Wells Fargo Chief Abruptly Steps Down - The New York Times

Michael Corkery and Stacy Cowley

The scandal engulfing Wells Fargo toppled its chairman and chief executive on Wednesday, as John G. Stumpf announced his departure from the company, effective immediately. The move was a swift and stunning fall for an executive whose bank made it through the 2008 financial crisis relatively unscathed, only to be undone by a sales scandal that pervaded its community banking division and percolated under the surface for years. It was an extraordinary moment even in the banking industry, which has been bedeviled by criticism and regular scandals since the financial crisis. Despite the industry’s many troubles, relatively few banking chiefs have stepped down under outside pressure. But Wells Fargo’s transgressions were unusually blatant and straightforward, which contributed to the public outcry. This time, there were no exotic financial instruments, complicated trades or complex mortgage trickery. The bank’s misdeeds were fundamentally simple: Under intense pressure to meet aggressive sales goals, employees created sham accounts using the names — and sometimes, the actual money — of the bank’s real customers. And in some cases the customers did not discover the activity until they started accumulating fees. The reaction to the fake accounts at Wells Fargo, and to Mr. Stumpf’s response to what has been uncovered as a widespread problem, has been withering and unrelenting. Wells Fargo has been under fire from irate customers, regulators, lawmakers and former employees since last month, when it disclosed that it would pay $185 million in fines and penalties over the unauthorized creation of as many as two million bank and credit card accounts over a period of at least five years by branch employees who were said to be under intense pressure to hit ambitious product sales goals. The sales practices may reach back far longer. Former bank employees told The New York Times of concerns they raised internally as far back as 11 years ago. Mr. Stumpf, 63, who was twice called in front of Congress to testify about the scandal in recent weeks, faced vocal demands to resign from an outraged public, but the timing of his departure was unexpected given that the Wells Fargo board had not completed its internal investigation into the phony accounts and that the bank reports earnings on Friday. He potentially walks away with millions of dollars, including a $20 million pension, as of Wednesday, another $4. 3 million in deferred compensation, plus stock worth $109 million, according to data from Equilar. As the scandal erupted, Mr. Stumpf, who grew up on a dairy and poultry farm in Minnesota and had long emphasized his folksy roots, was unable to quell the uproar. Rather, he often seemed to inflame it. During his testimony in front of Congress, Mr. Stumpf said he took responsibility for the problems, but would not admit that there anything wrong with the bank’s broader culture. When pressed repeatedly by members of the Senate Banking Committee about why he had not given back any of his lavish compensation, Mr. Stumpf insisted that the decision was not up to him, but to the bank’s board. He was reminded that he was the board’s chairman. One senator on the banking committee noted that criticism of the Wells Fargo scandal was one of the few things that Democrats and Republicans had agreed on in a long time. Mr. Stumpf’s spent 34 years at a bank that had once been regarded as a darling on Wall Street because of its ability to churn out profits even as other banks struggled. Mr. Stumpf was named chief executive in 2007 and was one of the country’s bankers, earning about $19 million last year. He was named the 2013 Banker of the Year by the trade publication American Banker. Wells Fargo was once the most valuable bank as measured by the price of its stock, which attracted the billionaire Warren E. Buffett as its largest shareholder. Mr. Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, has a stake of about 10 percent. Mr. Buffett did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. Wells Fargo has since ceded the most valuable bank distinction to JPMorgan Chase. The board received a letter from Mr. Stumpf early on Wednesday indicating that he intended to retire, according to a person briefed on the matter. This person said the board was still in the early stages of conducting its investigation into the fake accounts and Mr. Stumpf’s handling of the scandal and had not drawn any conclusions from its inquiry. The board was not scheduled to meet on Wednesday when it received Mr. Stumpf’s letter, which this person described as brief and lacking any indication as to why the longtime C. E. O. decided to leave now. Top bank executives were expecting that Mr. Stumpf would address analysts and investors — as he has always done — when Wells Fargo reports its results on Friday. Wells Fargo said Mr. Stumpf would be replaced by Timothy J. Sloan, its president and chief operating officer. Just two days earlier, the San Francisco bank shuffled its top management to give more responsibility to Mr. Sloan. “I am grateful for the opportunity to have led Wells Fargo,” Mr. Stumpf said in a written statement. “While I have been deeply committed and focused on managing the company through this period, I have decided it is best for the company that I step aside. ” Mr. Sloan was informed early Wednesday that he was the bank’s new C. E. O. though he had known for several days that Mr. Stumpf was preparing to step down. In an interview, Mr. Sloan said Mr. Stumpf had told him of his decision to retire after concluding that he would most likely continue to be the focus of much of the criticism being leveled at the bank. “It was an incredibly selfless decision,” Mr. Sloan said. Federal regulators and the Los Angeles city attorney began looking into the issue in 2013. The deal Wells Fargo announced last month to settle cases brought by their offices was intended to resolve the matter, but it instead opened the floodgates, provoking a furious outpouring of questions, criticism and new information about what former employees say was a culture of toxic sales pressure. The Department of Justice and Labor Department opened their own inquiries. Mr. Sloan said the bank had already named a new head of community banking, ended the retail banking sales goals that employees blamed for putting them under undue pressure and extended its review of its sales practices back to 2009. Originally, the bank’s review covered its activities only between 2011 and 2015. Mr. Sloan will not hold the dual of roles of chief executive and chairman as Mr. Stump had. Mr. Stumpf agreed last month to surrender stock grants valued at $41 million — another highly unusual move on Wall Street, where clawback provisions have been widely adopted but are almost never deployed. Mr. Stumpf said he would give up his $2. 8 million annual salary for the duration of the board’s investigation. Because his departure is a resignation, Mr. Stumpf will leave without any severance, according to Oscar Suris, a company spokesman. Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat who blasted Mr. Stumpf when he appeared before the Senate last month, fired off a scathing statement on Wednesday. “As I said at the hearing last month, Mr. Stumpf should resign, return every nickel he made while this scam was going on, and face an investigation by the Justice Department and S. E. C. ,” she said. “So far, he’s one for three. ”

Anonymous Donor Pays $2.5 Million To Release Everyone Arrested At The Dakota Access Pipeline

Starkman

A Caddo Nation tribal leader has just been freed after spending two days behind bars in North Dakota. Family members say she was simply an innocent bystander in a clash between police and protesters, and was not guilty of anything the police claimed. Via AlternativeNews Jessi Mitchell, of local News 9 reports that “family members of Caddo Nation chairwoman Tamara Francis-Fourkiller said an anonymous donor paid $2.5 million late Saturday afternoon to release everyone arrested on Thursday at the Dakota Access Pipeline site.” They added, however, that Francis-Fourkiller was never supposed to have been arrested in the first place. “An expert on sacred burial grounds , Francis-Fourkiller was one of the tribal leaders visiting the Sioux of Standing Rock to advise them during negotiations with the Dakota Access Pipeline construction team,” Mitchell continues. “Remains were being desecrated in this pipeline, so they had asked a bunch of people to come up there, so there’s a big conference,” Francis-Fourkiller’s sister Loretta Francis explained. On the visit , Francis said her sister and other leaders decided to tour the protest camps. They never thought they would wind up in jail. Francis said her sister had no access to her medication while in custody in Cass County, North Dakota, and now faces charges of conspiracy and rioting. “Part of my family was removed on the Trail of Tears and they came here to Oklahoma and they suffered,” said Francis. “I always feel like each generation – our parents, our grandparents – try to make it better for the next generation and they certainly didn’t want this for my sister.” Dozens of Native Americans from Oklahoma tribes had gathered Saturday afternoon at the state Capitol, according to Mitchell, with the purpose of voicing their “anger at the treatment of the protesters in North Dakota, pointing out this week’s acquittal of armed protesters at an Oregon wildlife refuge earlier this year.” “We’re not holding guns. We’re not armed, and when we see the military right here in the US use that on us, it’s shameful,” Comanche Nation tribal council member Sonya Nevaquaya explained. One of the fundamentals of all Native American tribes is the protection of the land. Chanting “Water is life!” Saturday, the Oklahoma demonstrators hope to rally people from around the country to stand with those in North Dakota and stop construction on the pipeline project. “These pipelines, you hear of a lot of bursts and leaks and it contaminating the waters. What happens when all of our waters and resources are gone?” Nevaquaya explained. Francis-Fourkiller says she will be traveling back to her home in Norman as soon as possible.

FBI Closes In On Hillary!

The Doc

FBI Closes In On Hillary! Posted on Home » Headlines » World News » FBI Closes In On Hillary! We now have 5 separate FBI cases probing the Hillary-Bill Clinton inner circle. Here is the background on those 5 cases and all of the major players that we are going to cover: FIVE INVESTIGATIONS UNDERGOING BY THE FBI ON CLINTON, THE CLINTON FOUNDATION AND INNER CIRCLE/TRUMP SURPASSES CLINTON IN THE POLLS/DEUTSCHE BANK STOCK PLUMMETS AGAIN/DB’S CHIEF ECONOMIST BLASTS THE ECB AGAIN: THEY MUST BE HURTING!/569,000 OZ ADDED TO THE SLV/2.67 TONNES ADDED TO THE GLD Gold closed at $1306.40 up $20.40 silver closed at $18.66 or up 47 cents. Access market prices: THE DAILY GOLD FIX REPORT FROM SHANGHAI AND LONDON . The Shanghai fix is at 10:15 pm est and 2:15 am est The fix for London is at 5:30 am est (first fix) and 10 am est (second fix) Thus Shanghai’s second fix corresponds to 195 minutes before London’s first fix. And now the fix recordings: Shanghai morning fix Nov 2 ( 10:15 pm est last night): $ 1294.53 NY ACCESS PRICE: $1289.70 (AT THE EXACT SAME TIME) Shanghai afternoon fix: 2: 15 am est (second fix/early morning):$ 1296.08 NY ACCESS PRICE: 1291.70 (AT THE EXACT SAME TIME/2:15 am) HUGE SPREAD TODAY!! 4 dollars London Fix: Nov 2: 5:30 am est : $1295.85 (NY: same time: $1296.10: 5:30AM ) London Second fix Nov 2: 10 am est : $1303.75 (NY same time: $1301.75 , 10 AM ) Shanghai premium in silver over NY: 59 cents. It seems that Shanghai pricing is higher than the other two , (NY and London). The spread has been occurring on a regular basis and thus I expect to see arbitrage happening as investors buy the lower priced NY gold and sell to China at the higher price. This should drain the comex. Also why would mining companies hand in their gold to the comex and receive constantly lower prices. They would be open to lawsuits if they knowingly continue to supply the comex despite the fact that they could be receiving higher prices in Shanghai. end NOTICES FILINGS FOR NOVEMBER CONTRACT MONTH: 381 NOTICES FOR 38,100 OZ TONES NOTICES FOR NOVEMBER CONTRACT MONTH FOR SILVER: 12 NOTICES OR 60,000 OZ Let us have a look at the data for today . In silver, the total open interest ROSE by 4181 contracts UP to 196,912. The open interest FELL AS the silver price was UP 63 cents in yesterday’s trading .In ounces, the OI is still represented by just less THAN 1 BILLION oz i.e. .985 BILLION TO BE EXACT or 141% of annual global silver production (ex Russia &ex China). In November, in silver, 12 notice filings: FOR 60,000 OZ I In gold, the total comex gold ROSE by 12,920 contracts WITH THE RISE in price of gold ($14.90 YESTERDAY) . The total gold OI stands at 521,506 contracts. The bankers supplied the necessary non backed paper trying to quell gold’s advance. In gold for November: we had 381 notices filed for 38,100 oz With respect to our two criminal funds, the GLD and the SLV : GLD TODAY WE HAD A BIG CHANGE AT THE GLD OUT OF THE GLD/A DEPOSIT OF 2.67 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD Total gold inventory rests tonight at: 945.26 tonnes of gold SLV we had ANOTHER BIG CHANGE at the SLV/ A DEPOSIT OF 569,000 OZ THE SLV Inventory rests at: 361.242 million oz . First, here is an outline of what will be discussed tonight: 1. Today, we had the open interest in silver ROSE by 4181 contracts UP to 196,912 as the price of silver rose by 63 cents with yesterday’s trading.The gold open interest ROSE by 12,920 contracts UP to 521,506 as the price of gold ROSE $14.90 IN YESTERDAY’S TRADING. (report Harvey). 2.a) The Shanghai and London gold fix report (Harvey) 2 b) Gold/silver trading overnight Europe, Goldcore (Mark O’Byrne/zerohedge 3c FRBNY gold movement report (Harvey) 3. ASIAN AFFAIRS i) Late TUESDAY night/WEDNESDAY morning: Shanghai closed DOWN 19.7 POINTS OR 0.63%/ /Hang Sang closed DOWN 336.57 OR 1.45%. The Nikkei closed DOWN 307.72 POINTS OR 1.76% Australia’s all ordinaires CLOSED DOWN 1.19% /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed UP at 6.7611/Oil FELL to 45.96 dollars per barrel for WTI and 47.45 for Brent. Stocks in Europe: ALL IN THE RED Offshore yuan trades 6.7652 yuan to the dollar vs 6.7611 for onshore yuan. THE SPREAD BETWEEN ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE NARROWS QUITE A BIT AS MORE USA DOLLARS ATTEMPT TO LEAVE CHINA’S SHORES / CHINA SENDS A MESSAGE TO THE USA TO NOT RAISE RATES IN DECEMBER. REPORT ON JAPAN SOUTH KOREA NORTH KOREA AND CHINA 3a)THAILAND/SOUTH KOREA i)Deutsche bank stock is falling along with with rising credit default swaps ( zero hedge) ii)Strange one!! Deutsche bank’s chief economist Landau accuses the ECB of creating asset bubbles and most importantly expropriating savers plus other goodies as they come clean. They must be hurting real bad… ( zero hedge/Deutsche bank/Landau) 5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS none today 6.GLOBAL ISSUES i)As a proxy for the upcoming election, the fall in the Peso is a good sign that Hillary is in trouble at the polls ( zero hedge) ii) Another humourous story from the Philippines. After Duterte used much vulgar language against the USA, the Americans decided to stop shipments to them. He again called the Americans: “Monkeys” ( zero hedge) 7.OIL ISSUES Last night we got a huge inventory build from API. Today from DOE also confirms a huge buildup. Oil retreats: (courtesy zero hedge) Venezuela’s currency disintegrates by 20% in just one week. Hyperinflation rages on ( zero hedge) 9.PHYSICAL STORIES i)The CME is to start London gold contracts in total competition with ICE and LME .. Too many folks are abandoning the manipulated USA gold forum ( Bloomberg/GATA) ii)The story behind the huge Grasberg mine ( The Guardian from London) iii) Silver’s rise is showing that there is a real flight to safety going on (courtesy Dave Kranzler/IRD) 10.USA STORIES WHICH MAY INFLUENCE THE PRICE OF GOLD/SILVER i) We now have 5 separate FBI cases probing the Hillary-Bill Clinton inner circle: Here is the background on those 5 cases and all of the major players that we are going to cover. (the Daily Mail) ii)Trump and Hillary are basically tied in latest ABC poll ( zero hedge) iii)Citibank states what even if Hillary wins the election, it will be marked by continuous investigations and an impeachment risk. ( Citibank/zerohedge) iv) a. The Dept of Justice guy, Peter Kadzik who is leading the investigation into the Clinton scandals has now been exposed with colluding with the Clinton campaign. What a mess!! Yesterday, in my commentary I wrote that this was this biggest conflict of interest possible and it has now become reality. ( zero hedge) iv b. The DOJ responds: finds nothing wrong..so move on…Kadzik is nothing but a huge conflict of interest here! ( zerohedge) v)Trump now surpasses Clinton as the rats abandon ship ( Nathan McDonald/Sprott Money) vi)Unusual for these guys to report such a negative repot: the ADP employment sinks to its weakest level for over 2 years: ( ADP/zero hedge) vii)The New York, ISM mfg index contracts for the 3rd consecutive month: viii)The Fed holds again but states that the rate hike in December “strengthens” ( zero hedge) Let us head over to the comex: The total gold comex open interest ROSE BY 12,920 CONTRACTS to an OI level of 521,506 as the price of gold ROSE $14.90 with YESTERDAY’S trading.The bankers were on full alert supplying the necessary non backed gold paper keeping the gold price contained.In the front month of November we had 494 notices standing for a GAIN of 19 contracts. We had 13 notices served upon yesterday so we GAINED 32 contracts or 3200 ADDITIONAL oz will stand for delivery in November. The next contract month and the biggest of the year is December and here this month showed a increase of 8,987 contracts up to 369,645. Today, we had 381 notice(s) filed for 38,100 oz of gold.

Chuck Todd: ’BuzzFeed Did Donald Trump a Political Favor’ - Breitbart

Jeff Poor

Wednesday after Donald Trump’s press conference at Trump Tower in New York City, NBC “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd expressed his exasperation over the normalcy of what he called a “circus” surrounding Trump’s event. “I was struck big picture wise which is of how normal a circus is now to us,” Todd said. “This was a circus. We’ve never seen a a transition like we saw today where the press conference gets interrupted, you have a lawyer in here. The lawyer does half legal talk, half political spin. I’ve never seen that, using the lawyer to say he’s here to make America great again, and by the way I’m going to play constitutional lawyer. I don’t think this but clearly a constitutional lawyer told us we better not accept any of this money. So they made that exception. So I am struck at how normal crazy looked to us today. This was just a crazy scene, but this is the norm of Donald Trump. And in fact, this is where he’s most comfortable. And I will say this. just as a political show. if you’re Donald Trump, you want these press conferences because it made the press look disjointed, unorganized, all this stuff. And his people, you know, he just, it was a performance for his supporters and his people. ” Later in the segment, Todd decried what he saw as elements within the intelligence community being at odds with one another, then called a story put out by BuzzFeed a night earlier suggesting Trump had ties to Russia to be a “political favor. ” “Look, let’s be honest here,” Todd said. “Politically BuzzFeed did Donald Trump a political favor today by doing what they did by going ahead and making it all public because it allowed them to deny a specific without having to deal with the bigger picture. ” Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor

News: Hope For The GOP: A Nude Paul Ryan Has Just Emerged From An Ayahuasca Tent With Visions Of A New Republican Party

Email Since Donald Trump entered the election over a year ago, he has single-handedly destroyed the GOP, leaving both the House and the Senate in utter disarray. But although many political strategists believe permanent damage has been done, conservatives shouldn’t lose hope yet, because Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has just emerged fully nude from an ayahuasca tent with visions of a new Republican Party. A fresh GOP platform requires fresh leadership, and when Speaker Ryan journeyed to South America last week to embark on an immersive psychedelic vision quest of political rebirth, he just proved he’s the only one for the job. After traveling to Peru and entering a makeshift tent with nothing but a towel, 200 mg of DMT, and a bucket to vomit in, Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) spent the last 12 hours lying nude on the jungle floor, enduring bursts of vivid consciousness in which he watched the secrets of a unified, more moderate GOP unfold before his very eyes. While under the influence of the powerful psychedelic, ancient spiritual guides appeared before the congressman, instructed him to remove his clothes, and held him down as lifelike projections of Republican leaders twisted and contorted around him until the perfect cabinet had revealed itself amid infinite realities in which tax cuts and fiscal budgets exploded into cacophonous symphonies, all to create a Republican Party that mobilizes key voter constituencies. Check out these tweets he posted just a few moments after emerging nude from his tent in the Amazon rain forest! Whoa. Democrats have been pretty confident this past year, but if Paul Ryan’s visions of the Republican party are right, they better watch out! Say what you want about Paul Ryan, but he’s a man who refuses to give up. On the one hand, is it possible that the speaker’s grand ayahuasca visions of a new Republican Party are just a temporary fix? Sure. But on the other hand, if he plays his cards right, his proposals could have an even larger impact than they did during the thousands of years he lived while trapped inside his own mind. One thing is for sure: Paul Ryan emerged fully nude from that ayahuasca tent with a new perspective, and people are starting to take notice.

Monica Lewinsky, Clinton Sex Scandal Set for ’American Crime Story’

Jerome Hudson

Screenwriter Ryan Murphy, who has produced the FX series American Crime Story, is set to bring the Monica Clinton White House sex saga to TV. [According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Ryan Murphy Productions chief has optioned author and CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Tobin’s 2000 book A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President. The New York Times bestseller, acquired by Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions, will become the basis for a future American Crime Story season. In February, Murphy told E! News that the series would explore the Lewinsky sex scandal as “ ” plot to “tear down” President Bill Clinton, and on “the other women” who were ensnared in the 1996 sex scandal, involving House intern Monica Lewinsky, and the events that led to Clinton’s impeachment. “It’s not really about Hillary Clinton. That book is about the rise of a certain segment of a group of people who despised the Clintons and used three women, Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp to try and tear him down,” Murphy said. In February, Murphy announced that actress Sarah Paulson — who starred in the first season of his crime drama, The People vs. O. J. Simpson — has been confirmed for a role, but ruled out that it would be of Lady Hillary Clinton. The mogul has reportedly confirmed that his studio is looking actresses to portray Lewinsky and Tripp. Season two of the Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy show will tackle Hurricane Katrina, and is set to premier in 2018. Season three, he confirmed will focus on the 1997 assassination of Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace, singer Ricky Martin has already joined the cast. Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @JeromeEHudson

Rob Reiner: Trump Is ’Mentally Unstable’ - Breitbart

Pam Key

Sunday on MSNBC’s “AM Joy,” actor and director Rob Reiner accused President Donald Trump of being “mentally unstable. ” Reiner said, “It’s scary, it’s scary, because if you look at the capacity that cyber warfare has, and if you know about Stuxnet, which some people do and don’t know about that, they were able to weaponize, you know, a cyber warfare and actually go in and blow up centrifuges in Iran. That’s what scares me. We don’t have, anybody at the helm of our country right now. He is — you know, I hate to say it, we don’t want to use the word mentally ill, but he is mentally unstable, this man, and so who is going to take charge here when the next attack. ” “If the first attack, which was going into our elections, which we know happened, if it had been that a bomb blew up in New York, everybody would be going crazy, he continued. “That’s what happened. He blew up something. And now he could blow more stuff up. So we have to be — you know, we’ve got to make sure that our country is stable. And right now it’s not stable. ” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

Massachusetts Cop’s Wife Busted for Pinning Fake Home-Invasion Robbery on Black Lives Matter

Massachusetts Cop’s Wife Busted for Pinning Fake Home-Invasion Robbery on Black Lives Matter Source: PINAC The wife of a Massachusetts cop is facing charges for filing a false police report after she concocted a story about thieves ransacking her home, stealing $10,000 in jewelry and then spray-painting her house with Black Lives Matter to pin it on black people. Maria Daly, wife of Millbury K-9 cop Daniel Daly, took to social media about her dreamt-up victimization after she filed a police report on October 17. “We woke up to not only our house being robbed while we were sleeping, but to see this hatred for no reason,” she posted, according to the Boston Herald. “ If you would of [sic] asked me yesterday about this blue lives and black lives matter issue my response would of [sic] been very positive [sic],” the now private Facebook account alleged. “Today on the other hand I have so much anger and hate that I don’t like myself. This is what we have to deal with these days and it makes me sick that this is what was on the side of my house.” Maria Daly called police to report someone had robbed her home while she was sleeping and then spray-painted her home with BLM for Black Lives Matter then posted about it on social media. Millbury Police Chief Donald Desourcy told the Herald that Daly called police to report an early morning break-in October 17, claiming someone had made off with thousands of dollars worth of valuables and spray-painting “BLM” on the outside of her house. But Chief Desourcy stated that as the investigation unfolded, something didn’t feel “quite right” and Daly ended up admitting she fabricated the whole thing, telling the officers her valuables had already been recovered. “It was pretty obvious. The officers did their due diligence and followed through with the investigation that we had,” he told CBS Boston . “We came to the conclusion it was all fabricated. There was no intruder, there was no burglary.” The chief said the hoax was likely motivated by the couple’s financial troubles and that he has empathy for the family. “I’m very familiar with her and it’s an unfortunate set of circumstances that have taken place.” Daly’s neighbors said it wasn’t a very smart thing to do for a woman who is married to a cop. “She must have tagged the place herself,” said one neighbor. “I don’t know why you’d do that, if you’re gonna stage a robbery, I mean really come on, you’re a cop’s wife. You should know better.” In addition to charges for filing a false police report, Daly also faces a charge for misleading a police investigation. Her cases will be heard at Worcester District Court after she is summoned. Daly’s husband, Daniel Daly was not involved or charged in relation to the hoax, according to police. Share This Article...

Abortion Pill Orders Rise in 7 Latin American Nations on Zika Alert - The New York Times

Donald G. McNeil Jr. and Pam Belluck

Orders for abortion pills by women in seven Latin American countries with Zika outbreaks increased after health officials in those countries warned that the virus might cause severe birth defects, according to a women’s organization supplying such pills. Orders from women in Brazil, Ecuador and Venezuela roughly doubled, while those from Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras went up by from 36 percent to 76 percent, researchers said in a study published Wednesday by The New England Journal of Medicine. The authors of the study included a leader of the group based in Amsterdam that is supplying the pills, Women on Web, a nonprofit staffed by doctors helping women from countries where abortion is illegal or restricted to terminate unwanted pregnancies. Even with the increase in demand for abortion pills, the number of orders received by Women on Web from Latin America and the Caribbean in that time period was small: slightly more than 2, 300 in the region, with about 1, 600 of those in countries where health authorities had warned about Zika’s potential to cause brain damage. In the countries where Zika warnings were issued, there are typically about 3. 5 million abortions per year, said Gilda Sedgh, the principal research scientist at the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research organization which was not involved in the study. So, Dr. Sedgh said, “The increase in demand for abortion observed by the authors in countries affected by Zika could be spurious because Women on Web accounts for a small share of all abortions in that part of the world. ” The numbers could be “an early warning sign” of increased demand for abortion because of Zika, Dr. Sedgh said, adding that it is also possible that Women on Web “might have experienced an increase in demand as a result of increased visibility of their services when health advisories were issued. ” Access to abortion has been a contentious issue for years in many of the countries affected by Zika, but Zika has brought fresh attention to the debate. In Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a recent study, there are about 6. 5 million abortions each year. Most of them are illegal, and an estimated 750, 000 women a year are treated for complications from unsafe abortions in the region, Dr. Sedgh said. Women’s rights groups have long pressed for abortion restrictions to be eased. The study looked at orders for pills between Nov. 17, 2015, when the Pan American Health Organization issued an alert saying Zika virus might be linked to a surge in infants born with tiny heads and damaged brains in Brazil, and March 2 of this year. It compared actual orders to the number that would have been expected based on orders during the previous five years. Women on Web has a history of defying legal restrictions in such countries, which sometimes block access to its website or seize the packages it sends. The nonprofit also asks women unable to pay for their prescription to write an email explaining why they needed the abortion pill and could not afford it. “Some of the emails that came in were heartbreaking,” said Dr. Abigail R. A. Aiken, a reproductive health researcher at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin, and the lead author of the study. “The fear and desperation was really hard to read. ” A woman from Venezuela wrote, “I contracted Zika 4 days ago,” adding: “I love children. But I don’t believe it is a wise decision to keep a baby who will suffer. I need an abortion. I don’t know who to turn to. Please help me ASAP!” An email from a woman in Colombia said, “Here Zika is a major problem and the health authorities do not help with it. ” She added: “I have no resources at this time and want to ask for your help because fear overwhelms me. What if the baby is born sick? !” Even more than it has increased attention on restrictive abortion laws, the Zika crisis has highlighted the issues of access to contraception and ways that women are about birth control or discouraged from using it in some of the countries. In the face of Zika, some countries have been working to increase the availability and use of contraception. Women on Web is an offshoot of Women on Waves, which was founded in 1999 by Dr. Rebecca Gomperts. Women on Waves originally sailed a Dutch boat to countries that outlawed abortion, took women on board and performed abortions outside a nation’s territorial waters. As internet access in poor countries increased, Dr. Gomperts began supplying mifepristone and misoprostol pills, a combination approved by the World Health Organization for abortion in the first 10 weeks of a pregnancy. The Women on Web site is posted in five languages and tops Google search results for “I need an abortion. ”

Nukes and the UN: a Historic Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons

Ira Helfand

Email In an historic move the United Nations First Committee voted Thursday to convene a conference next March to negotiate a new treaty to ban the possession of nuclear weapons. The vote is a huge step forward in the campaign to rid the world of nuclear weapons launched several years ago by nonnuclear weapons states and civil society from across the globe. Dismayed by the failure of the nuclear weapons states to honor their obligation under Article VI of the Non Proliferation Treaty which requires them to pursue good faith negotiations for the elimination of their nuclear arsenals, and moved by the growing danger of nuclear war, more than 120 nations gathered in Oslo in March of 2013 to review the latest scientific data about the catastrophic consequences that will result from the use of nuclear weapons. The conference shifted the focus of international discussion about nuclear war from abstract consideration of nuclear strategy to an evaluation of the medical data about what will actually happen if these weapons are used. It was boycotted by all of the major nuclear powers, the US, Russia, UK, China and France, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, or P5. Further meetings in Nayarit, Mexico and Vienna followed in 2014 and culminated in a pledge by the Austrian government to “close the gap” in international law that does not yet specifically outlaw the possession of these weapons. More than 140 countries ultimately associated themselves with the pledge which was fiercely opposed by the United States and the other nuclear weapons states, and in the fall of 2015 the UN General Assembly voted to establish an Open Ended Working Group which met in Geneva earlier this year and recommended the negotiations approved Thursday. The United States, which led the opposition had hoped to limit the “Yes” vote to less than one hundred, but failed badly. The final vote was 123 For, 38 Against and 16 Abstentions. The “No” votes came from the nuclear weapons states, and US allies in NATO, plus Japan, South Korea and Australia which have treaty ties to the US and consider themselves to be under the protection of the “US nuclear umbrella”. But four nuclear weapons states broke ranks, with China, India and Pakistan abstaining, and North Korea voting in favor of the treaty negotiations. In addition, the Netherlands defied intense pressure from the rest of NATO and abstained, as did Finland, which is not a member of NATO but has close ties with the alliance. Japan which voted with the US against the treaty has indicated that it will, nonetheless, participate in the negotiations when they begin in March. The US and the other nuclear weapons states will probably try to block final approval of the treaty conference by the General Assembly later this fall, but, following Thursday’s vote, it appears overwhelmingly likely that negotiations will begin in March, and that they will involve a significant majority of UN member states, even if the nuclear states continue their boycott. The successful completion of a new treaty will not of itself eliminate nuclear weapons. But it will put powerful new pressure on the nuclear weapons states who clearly do not want to uphold their obligations under the Non Proliferation Treaty even as they insist that the nonnuclear weapons states meet theirs. We have come perilously close to nuclear war on multiple occasions during the last 70 years, and we have been incredibly lucky. US nuclear policy cannot continue to be the hope that we will remain lucky in the future. We need to join and lead the growing movement to abolish nuclear weapons and work to bring the other nuclear weapons states into a binding agreement that sets out the detailed time line for eliminating these weapons and the detailed verification and enforcement mechanisms to make sure they are eliminated. This will not be an easy task, but we really have no choice. If we don’t get rid of these weapons, someday, perhaps sooner rather than later, they will be used and they will destroy human civilization. The decision is ours. Ira Helfand , MD, is past president of Physicians for Social Responsibility and is currently co-president of that group’s global federation, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize. Join the debate on Facebook Ira Helfand MD practices internal medicine at an urgent care center in Springfield, MA. He is a Past President of Physicians for Social Responsibility and is currently the Co-President of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War , the 1985 Nobel Peace Laureate.

EXCLUSIVE: Islamic State Supporters Vow to ‘Shake’ the West Following Manchester Terrorist Massacre - Breitbart

Aaron Klein and Ali Waked

JERUSALEM — Islamic State sympathizers and militants celebrated last night’s deadly terrorist massacre at a crowded concert in Manchester, England, with the jihadists vowing to continue the onslaught against the West. [The Islamic State claimed that a “soldier of the caliphate planted bombs in the middle of Crusaders gatherings,” apparently taking credit for the carnage. Breitbart Jerusalem obtained access to correspondence posted in a closed chat group that utilizes the encrypted Telegram messaging service. The chat group serves as an internal Twitter of sorts for IS jihadists and sympathizers, and it has been used in the past to issue IS communications. A militant named Abu Ayman Alalmani (the German) wrote, “Thanks to Allah who allowed this achievement of the Mujahedeen. We are all believers in Allah that our brothers, the supporters and the Mujahedeen, are those who committed the attack among the infidels. We swear to Allah that the infidel countries in the West won’t have the luxury of security. This is a Godly promise and this is the promise of the Mujahedeen, the future will prove to you that you are the countries of heresy. You will see this and not only hear it. ” An account titled “Muslim Justice” wrote, “Allah is great, Allah is great, we will shake the infidel and criminal regimes. We will destroy the rule of those who abandon Islam [a reference to Arab leaders]. Allah is great, this is a call that will rise high on the horizon and we will yet defeat the cross and the countries of infidels. ” ISIS member Abu Abdullah Alsury (the Syrian) wrote, “Thanks to Allah who caused the faithful to rejoice, we ask and request of Allah that this blessed act will be part of the battle of our brothers, the lone wolves roaming across all parts of the infidel nations, as they seek this type of blessed attack. This is part of the work and this is part of the revenge. Those infidel states will pay a heavy price. ” Prior to the Islamic State claiming credit for the attack, another militant, Alqaqaa Alidlebi from Idlib, wrote, “We’re waiting for our brothers in the official media department to publish what should warm our hearts with an official declaration of responsibility, even if this isn’t an organized act. ” “We pray to Allah that the attacker is a faithful Muslim. You aren’t aware of the huge happiness here in the ranks of the Mujahedeen and their families in the district of Elkheir (the area of Dir Azzur on the border between Syria and Iraq). How happy we are that Allah guided the hand of the attacker to send the heads of the corrupt infidels who murder the Muslims in our countries flying. ” Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio. ” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook. Ali Waked is the Arab affairs correspondent for Breitbart Jerusalem.

Humiliated Hillary Tries To Hide What Camera Caught 15 Mins Before Rally

Amanda Shea

Humiliated Hillary Tries To Hide What Camera Caught 15 Mins Before Rally Posted on October 27, 2016 by Amanda Shea in Politics Share This Hillary Clinton outside rally (left), Fox News catching incident on live feed (right) Both presidential candidates stopped in the battleground state of Florida this week to campaign for votes to crowds at separate locations. However, things didn’t go so well for Hillary Clinton, who was humiliated when a camera caught what she immediately tried to hide to save her campaign — which backfired big time. While Donald Trump’s 15,000-person army of “Deplorables” were holding down the fort in Stanford, Florida as they listened to this great leader explain how he plans to make America great again, Hillary was at a much smaller venue at Palm Beach State College. Although she was feeling pretty good about herself with having a higher turnout than she’s used to, the approximate 1,000 to 2,000 attendees paled in comparison to what Trump was looking at in the same state. However, Hillary’s anemic crowd was enough to be publicly mocked in front of. Perhaps Hillary didn’t think anyone would notice, but Fox Business Network was watching — and commenting — live. With just fifteen minutes before the Democratic candidate was set to take the stage in one of her final and most important rallies, the small room should have been jam-packed with people. As the humored hosts noted on the news show, that was far from the case. “Here it is nowhere near the size of the crowd we saw in Sanford, Florida yesterday for Mr. Trump, 15,000. There’s maybe a thousand to two thousand people here today,” one host pointed out much to Hillary’s embarrassment. “The Clinton rallies tend to be much smaller and you can see there’s empty space here and she’s supposed to speak in 15 minutes. And I can tell you that as the camera pans across that if we were at a Trump rally this would absolutely be packed,” the commentators added. No matter how far ahead in the polls Hillary and her lapdog media says she is, the attendance at her events speaks volumes. Nobody cares or is enthusiastic enough about this woman to bother showing up, and those who do have to be coached on how to chant and act excited. On the other hand, there are Trump’s rallies, where so many people turn up to venues four times the size as Hillary’s that these massive stadiums can’t contain everyone who is eager to come, and some are turned away. If the turnout at the rallies is any indicator of what’s expected at the polls, Hillary can’t win, and if she does, Americans should definitely question how that could even happen

Andrea Tantaros of Fox News Claims Retaliation for Sex Harassment Complaints - The New York Times

Jim Dwyer

Andrea Tantaros, a former Fox News host, charged in a lawsuit filed Monday that top executives at the network, including the man who replaced Roger Ailes, punished her for complaining about sexual harassment by Mr. Ailes. The suit by Ms. Tantaros, filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, is the latest round in a contentious volley that began in late winter, when Fox claimed she had breached her employment contract by writing a book without receiving network approval. “Fox News masquerades as a defender of traditional family values, but behind the scenes, it operates like a Playboy cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency and misogyny,” Ms. Tantaros’s suit says. Fox News said it would not comment on pending litigation. Mr. Ailes, the network’s founding chairman and guiding force for two decades, resigned last month after a former anchor, Gretchen Carlson, said in a suit that she was fired for refusing his sexual advances. Mr. Ailes has denied all allegations of harassment. In April, the chief lawyer for Fox charged that Ms. Tantaros had concocted sexual harassment claims to gain leverage in the contract dispute her lawyer, Judd Burstein, said the book dispute was a pretext that Fox was using to silence her. During arbitration, Mr. Burstein said, Fox News offered to pay her a sum “in the seven figures” if she renounced claims against Mr. Ailes and others at the network, including the host Bill O’Reilly. According to the lawsuit, Ms. Tantaros said she had been subjected to unwelcome advances from Mr. O’Reilly, whom she had regarded as a friend and adviser. “Ailes did not act alone,” the lawsuit states. “He may have been the primary culprit, but his actions were condoned by his most senior lieutenants, who engaged in a concerted effort to silence Tantaros by threats, humiliation and retaliation. ” Ms. Tantaros also claimed in the lawsuit that she was the subject of humiliating posts by pseudonymous accounts on Twitter known as “sock puppets” that she says were instigated by the Fox News publicity department. Ms. Tantaros joined Fox as a contributor in 2010, and a year later was named of “The Five,” which aired at 5 p. m. She said in the suit that she was repeatedly told by Fox executives that she could not wear pants on the air because “Roger wants to see your legs. ” The lawsuit goes on to say that on Aug. 12, 2014, Mr. Ailes called her into his office and asked if she was planning to marry and have children. “Ailes then started complaining about marriage in general, and also made jokes about being married,” the lawsuit states. It describes Mr. Ailes as speculating on the sexual habits and preferences of 10 Fox News personalities. He asked Ms. Tantaros to turn around “so I can get a good look at you,” the lawsuit charges, adding that Ms. Tantaros refused. Soon after, she was moved from “The Five” to a show, “Outnumbered,” that aired at midday. Mr. Ailes called her back for similar sessions in December 2014 and February 2015, the lawsuit charges, and when she continued to rebuff him, she encountered hostility from the Fox News publicity department. In the February meeting, she said, Mr. Ailes talked about how she would look in a bikini, and accused her of ending a relationship because she had been merely using the man. The episode brought her to tears, the lawsuit states. She said the sole interview arranged by the publicity department during that period was with a writer for a blog controlled by Fox, who asked about her breasts and if she was difficult to work with. In April 2015, the lawsuit states, Ms. Tantaros met with Bill Shine, then a senior news executive and close aide to Mr. Ailes. She said that she told him about the meetings with Mr. Ailes and asked if he had told the head of publicity for Fox News, Irena Briganti, to go after her. The lawsuit claims that Mr. Shine “told Tantaros that Briganti is like a rabid dog on a chain that we can’t control. Sometimes that dog gets off the chain. ” Then, pointing to a picture of Mr. Ailes on a magazine cover, the lawsuit charges, Mr. Shine told her that “this powerful man has faith in Irena Briganti” and that Ms. Tantaros “needs to let this one go. ” Mr. Shine, through a spokeswoman, has said that Ms. Tantaros never approached him about Mr. Ailes harassing her. Mr. Shine was named of Fox News after Mr. Ailes departed.

How Hillary Clinton Became a Hawk - The New York Times

Mark Landler

Hillary Clinton sat in the hideaway study off her ceremonial office in the State Department, sipping tea and taking stock of her first year on the job. The study was more like a den — cozy and lined with bookshelves that displayed mementos from Clinton’s three decades in the public eye: a statue of her heroine, Eleanor Roosevelt a baseball signed by the Chicago Cubs star Ernie Banks a carved wooden figure of a pregnant African woman. The intimate setting lent itself to a interview than the usual locale, her imposing outer office, with its marble fireplace, heavy drapes, crystal chandelier and ornate wall sconces. On the morning of Feb. 26, 2010, however, Clinton was talking about something more sensitive than mere foreign affairs: her relationship with Barack Obama. To say she chose her words carefully doesn’t do justice to the delicacy of the exercise. She was like a technician, deciding which color wire to snip without blowing up her relationship with the White House. “We’ve developed, I think, a very good rapport, really positive about everything you can imagine,” Clinton said about the man she described during the 2008 campaign as naïve, irresponsible and hopelessly unprepared to be president. “And we’ve had some interesting and even unusual experiences along the way. ” She leaned forward as she spoke, gesturing with her hands and laughing easily. In talking with reporters, Clinton displays more warmth than Obama does, though there’s less of an expectation that she might say something revealing. Clinton singled out, as she often would, the United Nations meeting in Copenhagen the previous December, where she and Obama worked together to save the meeting from collapse. She brought up the Middle East peace proc ess, a signature project of the president’s, which she had been tasked with reviving. But she was understandably wary of talking about areas in which she and Obama split — namely, on bedrock issues of war and peace, where Clinton’s more activist philosophy had already collided in unpredictable ways with her boss’s instincts toward restraint. She had backed Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s recommendation to send 40, 000 more troops to Afghanistan, before endorsing a fallback proposal of 30, 000 (Obama went along with that, though he stipulated that the soldiers would begin to pull out again in July 2011, which she viewed as problematic). She supported the Pentagon’s plan to leave behind a residual force of 10, 000 to 20, 000 American troops in Iraq (Obama balked at this, largely because of his inability to win legal protections from the Iraqis, a failure that was to haunt him when the Islamic State overran much of the country). And she pressed for the United States to funnel arms to the rebels in Syria’s civil war (an idea Obama initially rebuffed before later, halfheartedly, coming around to it). That fundamental tension between Clinton and the president would continue to be a defining feature of her tenure as secretary of state. In the administration’s first meeting on Russia in February 2009, aides to Obama proposed that the United States make some symbolic concessions to Russia as a gesture of its good will in resetting the relationship. Clinton, the last to speak, brusquely rejected the idea, saying, “I’m not giving up anything for nothing. ” Her hardheadedness made an impression on Robert Gates, the defense secretary and George W. Bush holdover who was wary of a changed Russia. He decided there and then that she was someone he could do business with. “I thought, This is a tough lady,” he told me. A few months after my interview in her office, another split emerged when Obama picked up a secure phone for a weekend conference call with Clinton, Gates and a handful of other advisers. It was July 2010, four months after the North Korean military torpedoed a South Korean Navy corvette, sinking it and killing 46 sailors. Now, after weeks of fierce debate between the Pentagon and the State Department, the United States was gearing up to respond to this brazen provocation. The tentative plan — developed by Clinton’s deputy at State, James Steinberg — was to dispatch the aircraft carrier George Washington into coastal waters to the east of North Korea as an unusual show of force. But Adm. Robert Willard, then the Pacific commander, wanted to send the carrier on a more aggressive course, into the Yellow Sea, between North Korea and China. The Chinese foreign ministry had warned the United States against the move, which for Willard was all the more reason to press forward. He pushed the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mike Mullen, who in turn pushed his boss, the defense secretary, to reroute the George Washington. Gates agreed, but he needed the commander in chief to sign off on a decision that could have political as well as military repercussions. Gates laid out the case for diverting the George Washington to the Yellow Sea: that the United States should not look as if it was yielding to China. Clinton strongly seconded it. “We’ve got to run it up the gut!” she had said to her aides a few days earlier. (The Vince Lombardi imitation drew giggles from her staff, who, even 18 months into her tenure, still marveled at her pugnacity.) Obama, though, was not persuaded. The George Washington was already underway changing its course was not a decision to make on the fly. “I don’t call audibles with aircraft carriers,” he said — unwittingly Clinton on her football metaphor. It wasn’t the last debate in which she would side with Gates. The two quickly discovered that they shared a Midwestern upbringing, a taste for a stiff drink after a long day of work and a skepticism about the intentions of America’s foes. Bruce Riedel, a former intelligence analyst who conducted Obama’s initial review on the Afghanistan war, says: “I think one of the surprises for Gates and the military was, here they come in expecting a very administration, and they discover that they have a secretary of state who’s a little bit right of them on these issues — a little more eager than they are, to a certain extent. Particularly on Afghanistan, where I think Gates knew more had to be done, knew more troops needed to be sent in, but had a lot of doubts about whether it would work. ” As Hillary Clinton makes another run for president, it can be tempting to view her rhetoric about the world less as deeply felt core principle than as calculated political maneuver. But Clinton’s instincts are bred in the bone — grounded in cold realism about human nature and what one aide calls “a textbook view of American exceptionalism. ” It set her apart from her Barack Obama, who avoided military entanglements and tried to reconcile Americans to a world in which the United States was no longer the undisputed hegemon. And it will likely set her apart from the Republican candidate she meets in the general election. For all their bluster about bombing the Islamic State into oblivion, neither Donald J. Trump nor Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has demonstrated anywhere near the appetite for military engagement abroad that Clinton has. “Hillary is very much a member of the traditional American establishment,” says Vali Nasr, a strategist who advised her on Pakistan and Afghanistan at the State Department. “She believes, like presidents going back to the Reagan or Kennedy years, in the importance of the military — in solving terrorism, in asserting American influence. The shift with Obama is that he went from reliance on the military to the intelligence agencies. Their position was, ‘All you need to deal with terrorism is N. S. A. and C. I. A. drones and special ops.’ So the C. I. A. gave Obama an angle, if you will, to be simultaneously hawkish and shun using the military. ” Unlike other recent presidents — Obama, George W. Bush or her husband, Bill Clinton — Hillary Clinton would assume the office with a long record on national security. There are many ways to examine that record, but one of the most revealing is to explore her cultivation of the military — not just civilian leaders like Gates, but also its commanders, the men with the medals. Her affinity for the armed forces is rooted in a lifelong belief that the calculated use of military power is vital to defending national interests, that American intervention does more good than harm and that the writ of the United States properly reaches, as Bush once put it, into “any dark corner of the world. ” Unexpectedly, in the bombastic, presidential election of 2016, Hillary Clinton is the last true hawk left in the race. For those who know Clinton’s biography, her embrace of the military should come as no surprise. She grew up in the buoyant aftermath of World War II, the daughter of a Navy petty officer who trained young sailors before they shipped out to the Pacific. Her father, Hugh Rodham, was a staunch Republican and an anticommunist, and she channeled his views. She talks often about her girlhood dream of becoming an astronaut, citing the rejection letter she got from NASA as the first time she encountered gender discrimination. Her real motive for volunteering, she has written, may have been because her father fretted that “America was lagging behind Russia. ” Political conversion came later, after Vietnam and the ’60s swept over Wellesley College, where she spoke out against the establishment at her graduation. But even in the tumultuous year of 1968, she was still making her transition from Republican to Democrat, managing to go to the conventions of both parties. As a Republican intern in Washington that summer, she questioned a Wisconsin congressman, Melvin Laird, about the wisdom of Lyndon B. Johnson’s escalating involvement in Southeast Asia. It was after law school that she had her most curious encounter with the military. In 1975, the year she married Bill Clinton, she stopped in at a Marine recruiting office in Arkansas to inquire about joining the active forces or reserves. She was a lawyer, she explained maybe there was some way she could serve. The recruiter, she recalled two decades later, was a young man of about 21, in prime physical condition. Clinton was then 27, freshly transplanted from Washington, teaching law at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and wearing eyeglasses. “You’re too old, you can’t see and you’re a woman,” he told her. “Maybe the dogs will take you,” he added, in what she said was a pejorative reference to the Army. “It was not a very encouraging conversation,” Clinton said at a lunch for military women on Capitol Hill in 1994. “I decided, Maybe I’ll look for another way to serve my country. ” Some reporters have cast doubt on the veracity of this story, which she repeated in the fall of 2015 over breakfast with voters in New Hampshire: certainly, there’s no concrete evidence that it happened, and Bill gave a different account of it in 2008, substituting the Army for the Marines. Why would a professionally minded Yale Law graduate, on the cusp of marriage, suddenly want to put on a uniform? It’s impossible to decipher her possible motives, but Ann Henry, an old friend who taught at the university after Clinton moved to Little Rock, offers a theory: During those days, she recalls, female faculty members, as an exercise, would test the boundaries of careers that appeared closed to women. “I don’t think it’s made up,” she says. “It was consistent with something she would have done. ” Clinton’s next sustained exposure to the military did not come until she was first lady, almost two decades later. Living in the White House is, in many ways, like living in a military compound. A Marine stands guard in front of the West Wing when the president is in the Oval Office. The Mili tary Office operates the medical center and the telecommunications system. The Navy runs the cafeteria, the Marines transport the president by helicopter, the Air Force by plane. Camp David is a naval facility. The daily contact with men and women in uniform, Clinton’s friends say, deepened her feelings for them. In March 1996, the first lady visited American troops stationed in Bosnia. The trip became notorious years later when she claimed, during the 2008 campaign, to have dodged sniper fire after her military plane landed at an American base in Tuzla. (Chris Hill, a diplomat who was onboard that day and later served as ambassador to Iraq under Clinton, didn’t remember snipers at all, and indeed recalled children handing her bouquets of spring flowers.) But there was no faking the good vibes during her tour of the mess and rec halls. With her teenage daughter at her side, she bantered and joked with the young servicemen and women — an experience, she wrote, that “left lasting impressions on Chelsea and me. ” When Clinton was elected to the Senate, she had strong political reasons to care about the mili tary. The Pentagon was in the midst of a long, politically charged process of closing military bases New York State had already been a victim, when Plattsburgh Air Force Base was closed in 1995, a loss of 352 civilian jobs for that North Country town. New York’s delegation was determined to protect its remaining bases, especially Fort Drum, home of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division, which sprawls over a hundred thousand acres in rural Jefferson County. In October 2001, a month after the terrorist attacks, Clinton traveled to Fort Drum at the invitation of Gen. Buster Hagenbeck, who had just been named the division’s commander and would be deployed to Afghanistan a month later. Like many of the officers I spoke with, he had preconceptions of Clinton from her years as first lady the woman who showed up at his office around happy hour that afternoon did not fulfill them. “She sat down,” he recalls, “took her shoes off, put her feet up on the coffee table and said, ‘General, do you know where a gal can get a cold beer around here? ’’u2009” It was the start of a dialogue that stretched over two wars. In the spring of 2002, Hagenbeck led Operation Anaconda, a assault on Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters in the Valley that was the largest combat engagement of the war to date. When the general came back to Washington to brief the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Clinton took him out to dinner on Capitol Hill for her own briefing. They also spoke about the Bush administration’s preparations for war in Iraq, something which Hagenbeck was following anxiously. The general, it turned out, was more of a dove than the senator. He warned her about the risks of an invasion, which was then being inside the Pentagon. It would be like “kicking over a bee’s nest,” he said. Hagenbeck excused Clinton’s vote in 2002 to authorize military action in Iraq. “She made a considered call,” he says. And “she was chagrined, much after the fact. ” For him, what mattered more than Clinton’s voting record was her unstinting public support of the military, whether in protecting Fort Drum or backing him during a difficult first year in Afghanistan. Clinton’s education in military affairs began in earnest in 2002, after the Democratic Party’s crushing defeat in midterm elections moved her up several rungs in Senate seniority. The party’s congressional leaders offered her a seat on either the Senate Foreign Relations Committee or the Senate Armed Services Committee. She chose Armed Services, spurning a long tradition of New York senators, like Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Jacob Javits, who coveted the prestige of Foreign Relations. Armed Services deals with more earthbound issues, like benefits for veterans, and it had long been the preserve of Republican hawks like John McCain. But after Clinton saw Armed Services as better preparation for her future. For a politician looking to hone credentials — a woman who aspired to be commander in chief — it was the perfect training ground. She dug in like a grunt at boot camp. Andrew Shapiro, then Senator Clinton’s adviser, called upon 10 experts — including Bill Perry, who was defense secretary under her husband, and Ashton Carter, who would eventually become President Obama’s fourth defense secretary — to tutor her on everything from grand strategy to defense procurement. She met quietly with Andrew Marshall, an octogenarian strategist at the Pentagon who labored for decades in the blandly named Office of Net Assessment, earning the nickname Yoda for his Delphic insights. She went to every committee meeting, no matter how mundane. Aides recall her on sitting alone in the chamber, patiently questioning a lieutenant colonel. She visited the troops in Afghanistan on Thanksgiving Day in 2003 and spoke at every significant military installation in New York State. By then — 30 years after she recalled being rejected by a Marine recruiter in Arkansas — Hillary Clinton had become a military wonk. Jack Keane is one of the intellectual architects of the Iraq surge he is also perhaps the greatest single influence on the way Hillary Clinton thinks about military issues. A bear of a man with a jowly, careworn face and hair, Keane exudes the supreme you would expect of a retired general. He speaks with a trace of a New York accent that gives his pronouncements a urgency. He is also a member of the complex, sitting on the board of General Dynamics and serving as a strategic adviser to Academi, the contractor once known as Blackwater. And he is the chairman of an aptly named think tank, the Institute for the Study of War. Though he is one of a parade of generals, Keane is the resident hawk on Fox News, where he appears regularly to call for the United States to use greater military force in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. He doesn’t shrink from putting boots on the ground and has little use for civilian leaders, like Obama, who do. Keane first got to know Clinton in the fall of 2001, when she was a freshman senator and he was the Army’s second in command, with a distinguished combat and command record in Vietnam, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo. He had expected her to be intelligent, and politically astute, but he was not prepared for the respect she showed for the Army as an institution, or her sympathy for the sacrifices made by soldiers and their families. Keane was confident he could smell a phony politician a mile away, and he didn’t get that whiff from her. “I read people that’s one of my strengths,” he told me. “It’s not that I can’t be fooled, but I’m not fooled often. ” Clinton took an instant liking to Keane, too. “She loves that Irish gruff thing,” says one of her Senate aides, Kris Balderston, who was in the room that day. When Keane got up after 45 minutes to leave for a meeting back at the Pentagon with a Polish general, she protested that she wasn’t finished yet and asked for another appointment. “I said, ‘O. K. but it took me three months to get this one,’’u2009” Keane told her dryly. Clinton exploded into a raucous laugh. “I’ll take care of that problem,” she promised. She was true to her word: The two would meet many times over the next decade, discussing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Iranian nu clear threat and other flash points in the Middle East. Sometimes he dropped by her Senate office other times they met for dinner or drinks. He escorted her on her first visit to Fort Drum and set up her first trip to Iraq. They generally agreed to forgo talk of politics, but at a meeting in Clinton’s Senate office in January 2007, Keane tried to sell her on the logic of a troop surge in Iraq. The previous month, he had met with President Bush in the Oval Office to recommend that the United States deploy five to eight Army and Marine brigades to wage an urban counterinsurgency campaign only that, he argued, would stabilize a country being ripped apart by sectarian strife. His presentation angered some of Keane’s fellow generals, who feared that such a strategy would deepen Iraq’s dependency and prolong America’s involvement. But it had a big impact on the commander in chief, who soon ordered more than 20, 000 additional troops to Iraq. Clinton was another story. “I’m convinced it’s not going to work, Jack,” she told him. She predicted that the American soldiers patrolling in Iraqi cities and towns would be “blown up” by Sunni militias or Al Qaeda fighters. “She thought we would fail,” Keane recalls, “and it was going to cause increased casualties. ” Politics, of course, was also on her mind. Barack Obama was laying the groundwork for his candidacy in with a campaign that would emphasize his opposition to the Iraq War and her vote in favor of it — a vote that still shadows her in this year’s Democratic primaries. Obama was setting off on a drive that would net $25 million in three months, sending tremors through Clinton’s political camp and establishing him as a formidable rival. Although she disagreed with Keane about Iraq, Clinton asked him to become a formal adviser. “As much as I respect you,” he replied, “I can’t do that. ” Keane’s wife had health problems that had moved up his retirement from the Army, and he did not, as a policy, endorse candidates. Sometime during 2008 — he doesn’t remember exactly when — Clinton told him she had erred in doubting the wisdom of the surge. “She said, ‘You were right, this really did work,’’u2009” Keane recalls. “On issues of national security,” he says, “I thought she was always intellectually honest with me. ” He and Clinton continued to talk, even after Obama was elected and she became secretary of state. More often than not, they found themselves in sync. Keane, like Clinton, favored more robust intervention in Syria than Obama did. In April 2015, the week before she announced her candidacy, Clinton asked him for a briefing on military options for dealing with the fighters of the Islamic State. Bringing along three young female analysts from the Institute for the Study of War, Keane gave her a presentation. Among other steps, he advocated imposing a zone over parts of Syria that would neutralize the air power of the Syrian president, Bashar with a goal of forcing him into a political settlement with opposition groups. Six months later, Clinton publicly adopted this position, further distancing herself from Obama. “I’m convinced this president, no matter what the circumstances, will never put any boots on the ground to do anything, even when it’s compelling,” Keane told me. He was sitting in the library at his home in McLean, Va. which is lined with books on military history and strategy. His critique of Obama was hardly new or original, but much of it mirrors the thinking of Clinton and her policy advisers. “One of the problems the president has, which weakens his diplomatic efforts, is that leaders don’t believe he would use military power. That’s an issue that would separate the president from Hillary Clinton rather dramatically. She would look at military force as another realistic option, but only where there is no other option. ” Befriending Keane wasn’t just about cultivating a single adviser. It gave Clinton instant entree to his informal network of and retired generals. The most interesting by far was David Petraeus, a cerebral commander who shared Clinton’s ambition and whose life stories would mix heady success with humbling setbacks. Both would be accused of mishandling classified information — Clinton because of her use of a private server and email address to conduct sensitive government business, a decision that erupted into a political scandal Petraeus because he had given a diary containing classified information to his biographer and mistress (he was eventually charged with a misdemeanor for mishandling classified information). On Clinton’s first trip to Iraq in November 2003, Petraeus, then a general commanding the 101st Airborne Division, flew from his field headquarters in Mosul to the relative safety of Kirkuk to brief her congressional delegation. “She was full of questions,” he recalls. “It was the kind of gesture that means a lot to a battlefield commander. ” On subsequent trips, as he rose in rank, Petraeus walked her through his plans to train and equip Iraqi Army troops, a forerunner of the counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan. It worked to their mutual benefit: Petraeus was building ties to a prominent Democratic voice in the Senate Clinton was burnishing her image as a friend of the troops. “She did it the way,” he says. “She did it by pursuing relationships. ” When Petraeus was sent back to Iraq as the top commander in early 2007, he gave every member of the Senate Armed Services Committee a copy of the U. S. Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, which he edited during a tour at Fort Leavenworth. Clinton read hers from cover to cover. Although Clinton’s reservations about the surge were valid — the stability that the additional troops brought to Iraq didn’t last — her opposition to it, like her vote for the war, came back to haunt her. This time, it was her ally Bob Gates who summoned the ghost. In his memoirs, Gates wrote that she confessed to him and the president that her position had been politically motivated, because she was then facing Obama in the Iowa caucuses. (Obama, he wrote, “vaguely” conceded that he, too, had opposed it for political reasons.) Clinton pushed back, telling Diane Sawyer of ABC News that Gates “perhaps either missed the context or the meaning, because I did oppose the surge. ” Her opposition, she told Sawyer, was driven by the fact that at that time, people were not going to accept any escalation of the war. “This is not politics in electoral, political terms,” Clinton said. “This is politics in the sense of the American public has to support commitments like this. ” The next time she found herself in a debate over sending troops into harm’s way, she voiced no such reservations. “We need maps,” Hillary Clinton told her aides. It was early October 2009, and she had just returned from a meeting in the Situation Room. Obama’s war cabinet was debating how many additional troops to send to Afghanistan, where the United States, preoccupied by Iraq, had allowed the Taliban to regroup. The Pentagon, she reported, had used impressive, maps to show its plans to deploy troops around the country. The attention to detail made Gates and his commanders look crisp and well prepared the State Department, which was pushing a “civilian surge” to accompany the troops, looked wan by comparison. At the next meeting, on Oct. 14, the team from State unfurled its own maps to show the deployment of an army of aid workers, diplomats, legal experts and crop specialists who were supposed to follow the soldiers into Afghanistan. Clinton’s fixation with maps was typical of her in the first great debate of the Obama presidency. She wanted to be taken seriously, even if her department was less central than the Pentagon. One way to do that was by promoting the civilian surge, the pet project of her friend and special envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke. “She was determined that her briefing books would be just as thick and just as meticulous as those of the Pentagon,” a senior adviser recalls. She also didn’t hesitate to get into the Pentagon’s business, asking detailed questions about the training of Afghan troops and wading into the weeds of military planning. She resolved not to miss out on anything — a determination that may have been rooted in a deeper insecurity about her role in what was to become the most White administration of the modern era. On the morning of June 8, 2009, she emailed two aides to say: “I heard on the radio that there is a Cabinet mtg this am. Is there? Can I go? If not, who are we sending?” On Feb. 10, 2010, she dialed the White House from her home, but couldn’t get past the switchboard operator, who didn’t believe she was really Hillary Clinton. Asked to provide her office number to prove her identity, she said she didn’t know it. Finally, Clinton hung up in frustration and placed the call again through the State Department Operations Center — “like a proper and properly dependent secretary of state,” as she later wrote to one aide in a tone. “No independent dialing allowed. ” The Afghan troop debate, a drama of dueling egos, leaked documents and endless deliberations, is typically framed as a test of wills between the Pentagon’s wily military commanders and an inexperienced young president, with Joe Biden playing the role of devil’s advocate for Obama. While that portrait is accurate, it neglects the role of Clinton. By siding with Gates and the generals, she gave political ballast to their proposals and provided a bullish counterpoint to Biden’s skepticism. Her role should not be overstated: She did not turn the debate, nor did she bring to it any distinctive point of view. But her unstinting support of General McChrystal’s maximalist recommendation made it harder for Obama to choose a lesser option. (McChrystal was later fired by Obama after his aides made derogatory remarks about almost every member of his war cabinet to Rolling Stone magazine she was the exception. “Hillary had Stan’s back,” one of his aides told the reporter, Michael Hastings.) “Hillary was adamant in her support for what Stan asked for,” Gates says. “She made clear that she was ready to support his request for the full 40, 000 troops. She then made clear that she was only willing to go with the 30, 000 number because I proposed it. She was, in a way, tougher on the numbers in the surge than I was. ” Gates believed that if he could align Clinton the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mike Mullen the commander of Central Command, David Petraeus and himself behind a common position, it would be hard for Obama to say no. “How could you ignore these Four Horsemen of national security?” says Geoff Morrell, who served as the Pentagon press secretary at the time. Just as Clinton benefited from her alliance with the military commanders, she gave them political cover. “Here’s the dirty little secret,” says Tom Nides, her former deputy secretary of state for management and resources. “They all knew they wanted her on their side. They knew that if they walked into the Situation Room and they had her, it made a huge difference in the dynamics. When she opened her mouth, she could change the momentum in the room. ” David Axelrod recalls one meeting where Clinton “kicked the thing off and pretty much articulated their opinion I’m sure that’s one that they remember. There’s no doubt that she wanted to give them every troop that McChrystal was asking for. ” Still, Clinton didn’t prevail on every argument. After agreeing to send the troops, Obama added a condition of his own: that the soldiers be deployed as quickly as possible and pulled out again, starting in the summer of 2011 — a deadline that proved more fateful in the long run than a difference of 10, 000 troops. Clinton opposed setting a public deadline for withdrawal, arguing that it would tip America’s hand to the Taliban and encourage them to wait out the United States — which, in fact, was exactly what happened. In the final days of the debate, Clinton also found herself at odds with her own ambassador in Kabul, Karl Eikenberry. He, too, held different views than she did on the wisdom of a surge, which he put into writing. On Nov. 6, 2009, in a long cable addressed to Clinton — and later leaked to The New York Times — he made a trenchant, convincing case for why the McChrystal proposal, which she endorsed two weeks earlier in a meeting with Obama, would saddle the United States with “vastly increased costs and an indefinite, military role in Afghanistan. ” Much of Eikenberry’s analysis proved prescient, particularly his warnings about the threadbare American partnership with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai. It carried an extra sting because he was a retired Army general who was the commander in Afghanistan from 2005 to 2007. Clinton, who had not asked for the cable, was furious, fearing it could upset a debate in which she and the Pentagon were about to prevail. What the cable made clear was the degree to which the Afghanistan debate was dominated by military considerations. While Clinton did raise the need to deal with Afghanistan’s neighbor, Pakistan, her reflexive support of Gates, Petraeus and McChrystal meant she was not a powerful voice for diplomatic alternatives. “She contributed to the overmilitarizing of the analysis of the problem,” says Sarah Chayes, who was an adviser to McChrystal and later to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mike Mullen. In October 2015, the persistent violence in Afghanistan and the legacy of Karzai’s misrule forced Obama to reverse his plan to withdraw the last American soldiers by the end of his presi dency. A few thousand troops will stay there indefinitely. And for all of Clinton’s talk about a civilian surge, it never really materialized. For Clinton, the Afghanistan episode laid bare a vexed relationship between her and Eikenberry, one of the few generals with whom she didn’t hit it off. A with graduate degrees from Harvard and Stanford, Eikenberry was brilliant but had a reputation among his colleagues for being imperious. Clinton had a similarly chilly relationship with Douglas Lute, another Army lieutenant general with a graduate degree from Harvard, who also fought with Holbrooke. “She likes the — McChrystal, Petraeus, Keane,” one of her aides observes. “Real military guys, not these retired who go into civilian jobs. ” “There’s no doubt that Hillary Clinton’s more muscular brand of American foreign policy is better matched to 2016 than it was to 2008,” said Jake Sullivan, her top policy adviser at the State Department, who plays the same role in her campaign. It was De cem ber 2015, 53 days before the Iowa caucuses, and Sullivan was sitting down with me in Clinton’s sprawling Brooklyn headquarters to explain how she was shaping her message for a campaign suddenly dominated by concerns about national security. Clinton’s strategy, he said, was twofold: Explain to voters that she had a clear plan for confronting the threat posed by Islamic terrorism, and expose her Republican opponents as utterly lacking in experience or credibility on national security. There were good reasons for Clinton to let her inner hawk fly. After the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif. Americans’ concern about a major attack on the nation spiked. A poll taken after Paris showed that a majority, 53 percent, favored sending ground troops to Iraq or Syria, a remarkable shift from the sentiment that prevailed during most of Obama’s presidency. The Republican candidates were reaching for apocalyptic metaphors to demonstrate their resolve. Ted Cruz threatened to the Islamic State to test whether desert sand can glow Donald Trump called for the United States to ban all Muslims from entering the country “until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses. ” Yet such spikes in the public appetite for mili tary action tend to be transitory. Three weeks later, the same poll showed an even split, at 49 percent, on whether to deploy troops. Neither Trump nor Cruz favors major new deployments of American soldiers to Iraq and Syria (nor, for that matter, does Clinton). If anything, both are more skeptical than Clinton about intervention and more circumspect than she about maintaining the nation’s War II military commitments. Trump loudly proclaims his opposition to the Iraq War. He wants the United States to spend less to underwrite NATO and has talked about withdrawing the American security umbrella from Asia, even if that means Japan and South Korea would acquire nuclear weapons to defend themselves. Cruz, unlike Clinton, opposed aiding the Syrian rebels in 2014. He once supported Pentagon budget constraints advocated by his isolationist colleague, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. Thus might the gen eral election present voters with an unfamiliar choice: a Democratic hawk versus a Republican reluctant warrior. To thwart the progressive insurgency of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Clinton carefully calibrated her message during the Democratic primaries to align herself closely with Barack Obama and his racially diverse coalition. But as she pivots to the general election, that balancing act with Obama will become trickier. “There’s going to be a huge amount of interest in the press to ” Sullivan says. “It just so easily can become a sport that distracts from her ability to make an affirmative case. ” In showing her stripes as a prospective commander in chief, Clinton will no doubt draw heavily upon her State Department experience — filtering the lessons she learned in Libya, Syria and Iraq into the sinewy worldview she has held since childhood. Last fall, in a series of policy speeches, Clinton began limning distinctions with the president on national security. She said the United States should consider sending more troops to Iraq than Obama had committed, to help the Iraqis and Kurds fight the Islamic State. She came out in favor of a partial zone over Syria. And she described the threat posed by ISIS to Americans in starker terms than he did. As is often the case with Clinton and Obama, the differences were less about direction than degree. She wasn’t calling for ground troops in the Middle East, any more than he was. Clinton insisted her plan was not a break with his, merely an “intensification and acceleration” of it. It’s an open question how well Clinton’s hawkish instincts match the country’s mood. Americans are weary of war and remain suspicious of foreign entanglements. And yet, after the retrenchment of the Obama years, there is polling evidence that they are equally dissatisfied with a portrait of their country as a spent force, managing its decline amid a world of rising powers like China, resurgent empires like Vladimir Putin’s Russia and lethal new forces like the Islamic State. If Obama’s minimalist approach was a necessary reaction to the maximalist style of his predecessor, then perhaps what Americans yearn for is something in between — the kind of pragmatism that Clinton has spent a lifetime honing. “The president has made some tough decisions,” says Leon Panetta, who served as Obama’s defense secretary after Bob Gates, and as director of the C. I. A. before David Petraeus. “But it’s been a mixed record, and the concern is, the president defining what America’s role in the world is in the 21st century hasn’t happened. “Hopefully, he’ll do it,” he added, acknowledging the time Obama has left. “Certainly, she would. ”

Chuck Todd to BuzzFeed EIC: ’You Just Published Fake News’ - Breitbart

Ian Hanchett

During a discussion of BuzzFeed’s story on a dossier regarding Russia and Donald Trump on Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “MTP Daily,” host Chuck Todd told BuzzFeed Ben Smith “you just published fake news. ” Todd said BuzzFeed’s decision to publish the dossier was an instance where they “would not have made the same decision in the era. ” Smith stated that it was more “the era. ” And that there was a time “where we could act as gatekeepers. Where we could say, you know what, crazy people are claiming that Barack Obama’s birth certificate is forged, but we’re not going to write about that, that’s crazy. ” He continued that this era doesn’t exist, and that while they had reporters trying to confirm or deny specific details, the dossier was “in play,” and “having consequences for the way our elected leaders are acting. The — you do have to ask the question of, why should I suppress that? There are then good reasons, right? Once though, it emerges, as it did last night in the public conversation that there is this secret document floating around, full of dark allegations that we will not repeat to you. That I feel like in this era, you really have to share [with] your readers what that is in an appropriate context. And our original report, I mean, if you read what we wrote, it stressed that there were real solid reasons to distrust this. It noted two specific errors. ” Todd then asked if BuzzFeed had a responsibility to not spread false information. Smith responded that, like with the Obama birth certificate issue, it’s a “difficult balance that everybody in our business navigates every day. ” Todd then asked if BuzzFeed would publish a false birth certificate. Smith answered, “We certainly quoted the of the United States making false claims about it, and years ago we debated whether we should quote regular citizens in Iowa saying, I don’t believe his birth certificate. And I remember us thinking at first, we probably shouldn’t. That we we shouldn’t pass that on and then saying, you know what, this has become a force that is impacting the conversation. ” Todd countered, “I know this was not your intent. I’ve known you a long time, but you just published fake news. ” Smith countered that people throw the term “fake news” around to diminish things they don’t like, and that “this was a real story about a real document that was really being passed around between the very top officials of this country. And then the question you say is, okay, it’s okay for you — to Chuck Todd see this document. It’s okay for me to see it. Okay for Senator John McCain ( ). Okay for the CIA. What’s — why is it not okay for your audience?” Todd then countered that BuzzFeed could have published a redacted version of the document. Smith answered that there was fair disagreement, but didn’t think you could defend acknowledging the dossier’s existence but then not say what was in it and that this was saying it was okay to summarize false claims. Smith further stated that if there wasn’t a “public conversation” about the dossier, they would have just continued to report the story out. ( Mediaite) Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

Israel is Becoming Pivotal to China’s Mid-Eastern Calculus http://journal-neo.org/2016/11/07/israel-is-becoming-pivotal-to-china-s-mid-eastern-calculus/

Country: Israel While China is silently playing an important role in the mitigation of the conflict in the Middle East, which is an important market for the Chinese goods, continuously deteriorating security situation, marred by the presence of numerous jihadi groups in the region, the necessity for China to have a strong anchor in the region has become all the more evident today than it was few years ago. The so-called “Arab spring” has brought many changes in its wake. However, war being one of the most important outcomes of this “spring”, certain changes in the erstwhile foreign policy orientation of many countries, big and small alike, was expected. To this particular outcome owes the growth of China-Israel relations that continue to develop stronger and deeper every year. Facts speak for themselves: China’s total capital investment in Israeli high-tech deals involving Chinese businesses is expected to reach around $500 million by the end of 2016, compared to $467 million in 2014 and $118 million in 2012. And as Times of Israel reported recently, Chinese acquisitions in Israel have dramatically increased in the last few years. In March 2015, China’s Bright Food acquired Tnuva , one of Israel’s largest dairy companies for approximately $2.1 billion. Similarly, in July 2016, a Chinese consortium that included private equity firm Yunfeng Capital — founded by Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma – acquired Israeli social games company Playtika from Caesars Interactive Entertainment online games unit for $4.4 billion in cash. In August 2016, ChemChina completed its takeover of Adama — considered one of the world’s leading crop protection companies — for approximately $1.4 billion. The high level of growth is—and it is not a coincidence—running parallel to the intensification and geographical spread of the conflict in the Mid-East region, particularly in and around the Suez canal region. While Syria and Iraq are direct victims of terrorism, many important countries such as Egypt (read: Egypt’s Sisi is building ties with Syria because of the fears of being the next target of jihadist militias) are only inches away from breaking down into shatters, pushing China to find an alternative route and construct an alternative geography of trade to steer its own business in the region. Israel, as such, happens to be the best country in the region. Not only is it politically and militarily stable, but its geographical location also makes it an apt candidate to qualify for partnership in China’s ‘Silk Road’ on its southern corridor, which is China’s route to Europe. Before the emergence of ‘jihadi’ groups in the Middle East, China depended on the Suez Canal to reach its largest export destination: Europe. With its trade volume standing roughly at €521 billion in 2015, and the volume of their bi-lateral trade crossing well over €1 billion a day , Europe undoubtedly remains one of the most important markets for the Chinese business, and with it remains the Mid-East the only geographical entity to facilitate this trade. However, the presence of ISIS, Al Qaeda and other Islamic extremist groups in the Sinai are threatening China’s maritime trade. With over 95% of global trade being seaborne and China now as the world’s largest trading state, this is a serious challenge for Beijing’s continued economic development. The crisis in the Middle East is, therefore, directly threatening China’s economic interest. And, while China has already stepped in the crisis (read: China’s Rear Adm Guan Youfei recently visited Syria to boost co-operation with the Syrian army), this is not the only way it is following to protect its vital interests. This is where Israel becomes important for China. The growing economic alliance between Israel and China is moving forward with a $2 billion, 300 kilometre freight rail link connecting Eilat, on the Red Sea, with Ashdod Port, on the Mediterranean. The project, nicknamed the ‘Red-Med,’ was greenlit by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, and construction, which is expected to take five years, will begin within the year. About the link, Netanyahu said, “It’s the first time we’d be able to assist the countries in Europe and Asia to make sure they always have an open connection between Europe and Asia and between Asia and Europe.” While Israel is clearly poised to play a pivotal role in providing an unhindered and a secure trade route for European and Asia countries, China’s primary motivation is not to merely to build a network of allies in the Middle East. For China, the primary concern remains, apart from its trade with the Mid-Eastern countries, access to Europe and the African continent via the Middle East. However, both of these concerns cannot be effectively satisfied when the entire region remains under crisis. China, due to its fairly balanced approach to the crisis and the fact that it is perhaps the only global player that continues to enjoy equally good relations with such arch rivals as, for instance, Israel and Iran and Saudi Arabia and Iran, is an important country for the regional countries to look up to as a conflict mediator. This assumption about China playing this role owes its existence to the geography of trade China is eyeing to build through the Mid-East. As an alternative to shipping through the crowded Suez Canal, China sees value in sending goods into the Persian Gulf, and shipping them overland to the Mediterranean via several lines that could cross through Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar or even southern Iraq before finally continuing through Jordan and Israel. Will China eventually built this geography or not is a moot question. However, it is quite obvious that regional countries are open to it and know the potential benefits it can yield. Speaking at to the inaugural SIGNAL conference on Israel’s China policy at the IDC in Herzliya in the last week of September, Capt. Yigal Maor, director general of the Israel’s Transportation Ministry’s Administration of Shipping and Ports, said that If China invests in building those paths, which he dubbed IGEC – the Israel Gulf Economic Corridor – it could push Gulf countries into more formal ties with Israel. “Maybe with the help of China there will be peace in that area,” he said. Whereas such prospects signal Israel’s own elevation from the position of a US “protected” state to an important power, integrating the region, as also continents, the potential entry of the “dragon” in the region, connecting various countries into a whole, is likely to yield important results for the whole region. While we may have to wait a little to see what impact it leaves exactly, it is quite obvious that China is poised to become an important player in the Mideast security scene, and is already asserting its role economically, diplomatically and, to some extent, militarily. Salman Rafi Sheikh, research-analyst of International Relations and Pakistan’s foreign and domestic affairs, exclusively for the online magazine “ New Eastern Outlook ”. Popular Articles

Having Won, Boris Johnson and ‘Brexit’ Leaders Fumble - The New York Times

Steven Erlanger

LONDON — With their giddy celebrations of “independence day” having given way to political and economic turmoil, one thing has become especially clear about the former London mayor Boris Johnson and other leaders of the successful campaign to vote Britain out of the European Union: They had no plan for what comes next. In the days since Britain voted to leave the bloc, the movement’s leaders have often appeared as if they had not expected to win and were not prepared to cope with the consequences. Faced with the scope of the decision, they have been busy walking back promises they made during the campaign and scaling back expectations. They have failed to show a united front or to answer basic questions. Their faltering performance has added to the sense of political chaos in Britain and, arguably, to the turmoil in the financial markets. And it has undercut their credibility and authority as Mr. Johnson prepares his bid to become prime minister and lead Britain into a new relationship with the Continent. The stakes are high for Mr. Johnson in particular, as he tries to build an impression as a capable leader amid the chaos that followed the vote in favor of a British exit, or “Brexit. ” But the mixed signals coming from him and other proponents of leaving the European Union have left their intentions unclear on such basic issues as when and how they will seek to negotiate a withdrawal, and what kind of new arrangement they want. To the degree that they have signaled a direction, it has often been substantially different from what they promised during the campaign. On issues from immigration to spending on the National Health Service, the “Leave” coalition has retreated from its more populist and apparently exaggerated claims. Many of those assertions had been promoted by the U. K. Independence Party, or UKIP, led by Nigel Farage, and benefited the broader Leave campaign, whose most prominent figures included two senior Conservatives, Mr. Johnson and Michael Gove, the justice minister. In changing their tune, the leaders of the Union campaign risk undermining whatever trust they had earned from the millions who voted to leave the bloc in the expectation that immigration would be cut sharply and that money now going to the European Union — which the Leave campaign said was 350 million pounds, or $465 million, a week — would be available to help finance the National Health Service. For example, one Leave advocate, Iain Duncan Smith, a former Conservative Party leader and cabinet secretary, walked away from the campaign pledge to reallocate the £350 million a week to the health service. Instead, he said, “the lion’s share” of anything left from that amount after replacing subsidies from the bloc to British farmers could be available for health services. On immigration, too, there was immediate backtracking from Mr. Johnson and Daniel Hannan, a member of the European Parliament from the Conservative Party, who told the BBC, “Frankly, if people watching think that they have voted and there is now going to be zero immigration from the E. U. they are going to be disappointed. ” Analysts say the change in tone may be necessary to begin reeling in unrealistic expectations about the changes the referendum could produce, but it also holds considerable political peril for Mr. Johnson and other Conservative Party leaders of the Leave campaign, especially with populist sentiment spreading and groups like the U. K. Independence Party eager to build support. “There is a clear tension between what the voter wanted and what senior euroskeptic leaders want to produce,” said Matthew Goodwin, a professor of politics and international relations at the University of Kent. “If they don’t deliver radical reforms on immigration, it would be the equivalent of pouring gasoline on the populist UKIP fire that has been burning since 2010. ” In his regular column in The Daily Telegraph on Monday, Mr. Johnson tried to strike a prime ministerial tone of unity in the wake of the divisive referendum, but he emphasized continuity over change and tried to argue that immigration, clearly the primary motivation for many voters in taking a position against Europe, was somehow not a major issue. “It is said that those who voted Leave were mainly driven by anxieties about immigration,” Mr. Johnson wrote. “I do not believe that is so. ” Suggesting that he wants to keep some kind of open flow of people across the border with Europe, Mr. Johnson wrote, “British people will still be able to go and work in the E. U. to live to travel to study to buy homes and to settle down. ” Not only that, he asserted, “There will continue to be free trade, and access to the single market. ” What he described was a relationship with the European Union like that of Norway, which would allow freedom of movement and labor and would pay money to Brussels in return for access to the single market, but without having a voice in . But Mr. Johnson rejected the Norway model during the campaign, and even if negotiations proved to lead to a slightly enhanced Norway, with some symbolic measures to restrict immigration of European Union citizens to Britain, the result would be a betrayal of those who voted Leave. And right now, Norway pays Brussels roughly per capita what Britain currently does as a full member. “The difficulty for Boris and Gove is that Brexit feels like a column gone wrong, an academic exercise suddenly turned into reality,” Paul Waugh wrote in his blog for The Huffington Post, alluding to the shared backgrounds in journalism of Mr. Johnson and Mr. Gove. “And reality, particularly where the E. U. is concerned, is a messy, complex thing. ” Mr. Johnson is clearly looking to unite the divided Conservative Party behind his own, flamboyant self and to burnish his economic credentials. But playing down immigration, Mr. Goodwin said, could create more political trouble. “I worry for senior euroskeptic leaders, because there is a misunderstanding of the vote, and that will feed voter dissatisfaction,” he said, driving many of the voters who chose a British exit to turn away from both mainstream parties and move to the populist right. The referendum was unusual, because it pitted a government on one side, “Remain,” against a loose coalition on the other, made up of Conservatives, some Labour legislators and U. K. Independence Party supporters. The Leave side never had to hammer out an agreement on how to proceed if it won, said Tony Travers, a professor of government at the London School of Economics. “There was no coherence, because it wasn’t a political party fighting for government, but an odd coalition fighting against something, but with no consistent view of what it was fighting for,” he said. Even on the economy, the Leave side was made of economists who believe in no tariffs at all, those who believe in trade deals and protectionists who want to shield the declining working class against globalization, Professor Travers said. “And now the government will have to be reformed as if it were representing the Leave side and yet represent both, a government that must reflect the schism in itself,” he said. In the aftermath of the Leave campaign’s victory, the political editor for Sky News, Faisal Islam, asked a Conservative member of Parliament who supported leaving the bloc to see his camp’s plan. The legislator replied, according to Mr. Islam: “There is no plan. The Leave campaign don’t have a plan. ” Then the legislator added, “Number 10 should have had a plan,” referring to the prime minister’s office.

Texas Oil Fields Rebound From Price Lull, but Jobs Are Left Behind - The New York Times

Clifford Krauss

MIDLAND, Tex. — In the land where oil jobs were once a guaranteed road to security for workers, Eustasio Velazquez’s career has been upended by technology. For 10 years, he laid cables for service companies doing seismic testing in the search for the next big gusher. Then, powerful computer hardware and software replaced cables with wireless data collection, and he lost his job. He found new work connecting pipes on rigs, but lost that job, too, when plunging oil prices in 2015 forced the driller he worked for to replace rig hands with cheaper, more reliable automated tools. “I don’t see a future,” Mr. Velazquez, 44, said on a recent afternoon as he stooped over his shopping cart at a local grocery store. “Pretty soon every rig will have one worker and a robot. ” Oil and gas workers have traditionally had some of the jobs — just the type that President Trump has vowed to preserve and bring back. But the West Texas oil fields, where activity is gearing back up as prices rebound, illustrate how difficult it will be to meet that goal. As in other industries, automation is creating a new demand for workers — sometimes hundreds of miles away in a control center — but their numbers don’t offset the ranks of field hands no longer required to sling chains and lift iron. So while there is a general sense of relief in the oil patch that a recovery is gaining momentum, discussions at company meetings and family kitchen tables are rife with aching worries, especially among those who are with no more than a high school education. Roughly 163, 000 oil jobs were lost nationally from the 2014 peak, or about 30 percent of the total, while oil prices plummeted, at one point by as much as 70 percent. The job losses just in Texas, the most productive state, totaled 98, 000. Several thousand workers have come back to work in recent months as the price of oil has begun to rise again, but energy experts say that between a third and a half of the workers who lost their jobs are not returning. Many have migrated to construction or even jobs in renewable energy, like wind power. “People have left the industry, and they are not coming back,” said Michael Dynan, vice president for portfolio and strategic development at Schramm, a Pennsylvania manufacturer of drilling rigs. “If it’s a repetitive task, it can be automated, and I don’t need someone to do that. I can get a computer to do that. ” Indeed, computers now direct drill bits that were once directed manually. The wireless technology taking hold across the oil patch allows a handful of geoscientists and engineers to monitor the drilling and completion of multiple wells at a time — onshore or miles out to sea — and supervise immediate fixes when something goes wrong, all without leaving their desks. It is a world where rigs walk on their own legs and sensors on wells alert headquarters to a leak or loss of pressure, reducing the need for a technician to check. And despite all the lost workers, United States oil production is galloping upward, to nine million barrels a day from 8. 6 million in September. Nationwide, with a bit more than as many rigs operating as in 2014, production is not even down 10 percent from record levels. Some of the best wells here in the Permian Basin that three years ago required an oil price of over $60 a barrel for an operator to break even now need about $35, well below the current price of about $53. Much of the technology has been developed by the aviation and automotive industries, along with deepwater oil exploration, over more than a decade. But companies drilling on land were slow to adapt until oil prices crashed and companies needed to get efficient quickly or go out of business. All the big companies, and many smaller ones, have organized teams of technicians that collect well and tank data to develop complex algorithms enabling them to duplicate the design for the most productive wells over and over, and to repair valves and other parts before they break down. The result is improved production and safety, but also a far smaller work force, and one that is increasingly morphing from muscle to brain power. Pioneer Natural Resources, one of the most productive West Texas producers, has slashed the number of days to drill and complete wells so drastically that it has been able to cut costs by 25 percent in wells completed since early 2015. The typical rig that drilled eight to 12 wells a year just a few years ago now drills up to 16. Last year, the company added nearly 240 wells to its Permian Basin inventory without adding new employees. The faster operations, Pioneer executives say, are due in large part to more effective well planning and drill steering. Both have been made possible by the computer connections between the rig and top geoscientists back at corporate headquarters and intense analysis of the data gathered at every well. The laborious task of checking tank levels by climbing a flight of steps and popping open a series of latches, for instance, has been replaced by pressing a few icons on a computer touch screen. A fully automated water pump station installed last summer is intended to save hundreds of truck trips every day hauling water for hydraulically fracturing wells, yielding diesel and labor cost savings. “We want to transform our work force to the point where we need to hire fewer people,” said Joey Hall, Pioneer’s executive vice president for Permian operations. Improved computing streamlines operations, he noted, and lets technicians optimally space their wells and more accurately perforate the sweet spots of shale veins to squeeze every drop of oil out of the ground. “We’re heading toward artificial intelligence and machine learning, analyzing thousands of algorithms,” Mr. Hall added, sounding more like a Silicon Valley futurologist than a wildcatter. “Through repetitive operations, you learn the patterns, and through patterns you learn to make automated decisions. ” With the loss of manual jobs has come a transformation in the job force, with demand growing for more data analysts, math scientists, communications specialists and robotic design engineers. In the last two years, ABB, the Swiss technology company, has opened two plants in Houston for assembling and packaging robotics and integrating advanced instrumentation into oil field operations. GE Oil and Gas opened a technology center in Oklahoma City in October to place scientists closer to the oil fields to research and apply new digital industrial technologies for exploration and production. Among its many projects is an experiment to use drones to inspect equipment and identify methane leaks on oil sites. Nabors, the oil services giant, has 100 employees developing software, 10 times the number it had only a few years ago. “With the adoption of all this software and stuff, we’ve had to bring in a lot of new technicians,” said Dennis A. Smith, a Nabors vice president. A typical new oil company employee is Andre Nel, a mechanical engineer who is a rising star at Pioneer Natural Resources. In less than two years, he has helped rewrite computer software to instruct workers on the best designs for hydraulic fracturing, optimizing the amounts of fluids, sand and chemicals pumped into the wells. Now, connected by computers to technicians in the field, he is monitoring the production of 950 wells, instantly checking the maintenance history and production trends of every well with the click of a mouse. “I’m lucky and happy that the tech revolution in the oil field has created the need for engineers like me with backgrounds in computer science,” he said. But smaller companies and their workers are struggling to keep up. S. O. C. Industries, a small local pump truck operator and chemical services provider, is forced to invest $100, 000 a year to keep up with the computer programs and monitoring equipment its clients request. The added expenses are one reason the company has let go 15 of the 60 field workers employed three years ago. Another is that well operators that once hired five or six people on a drill site to mix chemicals and drilling fluids as well as clean up spills are now hiring only three as mechanization has sliced their drilling time in half. Some of the remaining S. O. C. employees are straining to keep up with new computerized pump truck monitors and GPS systems. “It’s a struggle,” said Rodrigo Urias, 59, an S. O. C. truck driver, who for many years only had to look at a needle on a gauge to monitor flow pressures. Now he needs to reset computer screens, take work orders on a computer tablet and sometimes do algebraic calculations. “A lot of the guys can’t operate these new technologies, tablets and instruments, and they keep whining,” he added. “They want to know why we can’t do things like we used to. ” Manufacturing executives say they are trying to minimize the complexity for field workers, and sometimes design their equipment with the advice of video game makers. That’s a good thing for Michael Manga, 34, an employee of Latshaw Drilling, an Oklahoma company active here. A college dropout, he knocked around from job to job before finding his way to the oil patch. Now, playing video games like Call of Duty and Mario Kart with his friends over the years has paid off, giving him the coordination to monitor and operate the control panels and joy sticks that control the drilling rig. “We do such a good job now,” he said, “we’re drilling ourselves out of a job. ”

Bayer Deal for Monsanto Follows Agribusiness Trend, Raising Worries for Farmers - The New York Times

Leslie Picker, Danny Hakim and Michael J. de la Merced

Don Halcomb, a farmer in Adairville, Ky. is expecting his profit to vanish this year, largely because of the confluence of falling crop prices and rising costs for seeds and other materials. The price of an bag of seed corn rose to $300 from $80 in the last decade, as the companies that produced them consolidated, he said. And with the recent decline in commodity prices, Mr. Halcomb said he expects to lose $100 an acre this year. “We’re producing our crops at a loss now, just like the oil guys are pumping oil at a loss,” Mr. Halcomb, who grows corn, soybeans, wheat and barley on his family farm, said by telephone on Wednesday. “You can’t cut your costs fast enough. ” It is a common plight of farmers across the United States, with the global agriculture industry in a wrenching downturn. Because farmers have produced too much corn, wheat and soybeans, they have been forced to slash prices to sell their crops. They have also reduced spending on seeds, pesticides and fertilizer, which has eaten into sales at agribusiness giants, including Monsanto and DuPont. In response, these companies have sought deals to cut costs and weather the industry’s storm. Four major agribusiness mergers have been announced in the last year. The latest is Bayer AG’s $56 billion takeover of Monsanto — the largest acquisition of 2016 — announced on Wednesday. Every merger creates the possibility of higher costs for farmers. Mr. Halcomb buys seeds with traits licensed to Monsanto of St. Louis and seeds from DuPont, which has a deal pending to merge with Dow Chemical. His fertilizers are made of potassium compounds and phosphate produced by Agrium of Calgary, Alberta, which on Monday agreed to combine with the fertilizer producer Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan. He uses pesticides made by Syngenta of Switzerland, which agreed in February to a takeover by the China National Chemical Corporation. “It’s just like any other industry that consolidates,” Mr. Halcomb said. “They tell the regulators they’re and then they tell their customers they have to increase pricing after the deal’s done. ” The companies say they are merging to diversify and increase growth and research capabilities, but these deals, given their size and scope, have already caught the attention of lawmakers and regulators in Washington. There is no guarantee that they will all receive regulatory approval, and some companies may have to sell assets to allay antitrust concerns. Dow’s merger with DuPont is under Justice Department review. The market seemed to anticipate hurdles for the Monsanto deal on Wednesday. Shares of the company closed about 20 percent lower than the $128 per share cash offer from Bayer, which is based in Leverkusen, Germany. Shares of each company gained less than 1 percent after the deal was announced. Adding the assumption of about $10 billion of Monsanto debt, Bayer’s total $66 billion pact is the largest deal, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters, ahead of InBev’s $60. 4 billion offer for another St. company, in June 2008. Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, scheduled a hearing next week to discuss the possible effect of these mergers on farming. Iowa produced more corn last year than any other state, according to the National Corn Growers Association. “It seems to be catching fire and happening so fast with so many,” Senator Grassley said in a phone interview. “When you have less competition, prices go up. ” European competition regulators also said publicly, before a deal was even signed, that they would look at how it could affect prices and the availability of seed products, as well as research. Liam Condon, who leads Bayer’s division, said in an interview that the company did an “extensive analysis” with regard to antitrust before approaching Monsanto in May. Mr. Condon said that he does not believe there is much overlap between their portfolios, because Bayer’s focus is largely on crop protection, while Monsanto’s is on seeds and traits. He said the companies assume they may need to sell off some assets to appease regulators. Monsanto, which is famous for its production of genetically modified seeds, rejected several offers from Bayer as too low. Wednesday’s deal represented a 44 percent premium to Monsanto’s stock price on May 9, the day before Bayer’s interest in a deal surfaced. To assuage Monsanto’s concerns, Bayer threw in a $2 billion breakup fee if the deal fell apart on antitrust grounds. The strategic goal of the deal, according to Bill Selesky, an analyst at Argus Research, is to create a experience for farmers, making Bayer the world’s largest supplier of seeds and farm chemicals. By improving the product for farmers, the combined company could ultimately raise prices, Mr. Selesky said in an interview. Senator Grassley said that he had spoken with a few farmers who believed the deals were necessary so large agribusinesses could continue to absorb the costs of researching and developing products and getting government approval for them. Bayer and Monsanto said they planned to cut about $1. 2 billion worth of costs as part of the deal, helping to improve efficiency. But Jim Benham of Versailles, Ind. the president of the Indiana Farmers Union, was not so optimistic. He blamed the rising costs of inputs — seeds, fertilizer and the like — for eating away at farmers’ profit margins, and warned that consolidation will make it worse. Costs have already risen by double digits over the last four to five years, and the proposed merger could accelerate that. “The merger is going to hurt the farmer,” said Mr. Benham, who grows corn, soybeans and sometimes wheat on his farm. “The more consolidation we have on our inputs, the worse it gets. ” Mr. Condon of Bayer said that the company would not raise prices without providing more value to farmers. “This is a highly competitive industry, and just increasing prices without having any additional advantage or benefit for growers won’t go anywhere,” he said. “It’s up to us to show what we’re offering will help farmers improve their return on investment. ” Some farmers said the consolidation could even enable prices to fall. Christine Hamilton manages a farm of more than 12, 000 acres in Kimball, S. D. growing crops like corn and operating a ranch. She said that if the deal can pass the antitrust screening, then maybe it could actually help farmers. “I understand how companies need to get bigger in order to be competitive,” she said. “As we are in a low part of the cycle, anything that might have a chance of reducing our input prices would be great. ”

Russia Moves to Ban Jehovah’s Witnesses as ‘Extremist’ - The New York Times

Andrew Higgins

VOROKHOBINO, Russia — A dedicated pacifist who has never even held a gun, Andrei Sivak discovered that his government considered him a dangerous extremist when he tried to change some money and the teller “suddenly looked up at me with a face full of fear. ” His name had popped up on the exchange bureau’s computer system, along with those of members of Al Qaeda, the Islamic State and other militant groups responsible for shocking acts of violence. The only group the father of three has ever belonged to, however, is Jehovah’s Witnesses, a Christian denomination committed to the belief that the Bible must be taken literally, particularly its injunction “Thou shalt not kill. ” Yet, in a throwback to the days of the Soviet Union, when Jehovah’s Witnesses were hounded as spies and malcontents by the K. G. B. the denomination is at the center of an escalating campaign by the authorities to curtail religious groups that compete with the Russian Orthodox Church and that challenge President Vladimir V. Putin’s efforts to rally the country behind traditional and often militaristic patriotic values. The Justice Ministry, in a preliminary adminstrative strike last month, put the headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, an office complex near St. Petersburg, on a list of the bodies banned “in connection with the carrying out of extremist activities. ” Whether it stays there will depend on Russia’s Supreme Court, which is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to hear a request from the Justice Ministry to outlaw the religious organization and stop its more than 170, 000 Russian members from spreading “extremist” texts. Extremism, as defined by a law passed in 2002 but amended and expanded several times since, has become a catchall charge that can be deployed against just about anybody, as it has been against some of those involved in recent protests in Moscow and scores of other cities. Several students who took part in demonstrations in the Siberian city of Tomsk are now being investigated by a special unit, while Leonid Volkov, the senior aide to the jailed protest leader Aleksei A. Navalny, said he himself was detained last week under the extremism law. In the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the putative extremism seems to derive mostly from the group’s absolute opposition to violence, a stand that infuriated Soviet and now Russian authorities whose legitimacy rests in large part on the celebration of martial triumphs, most notably over Nazi Germany in World War II but also over rebels in Syria. Jehovah’s Witnesses, members of a denomination founded in the United States in the 19th century and active in Russia for more than 100 years, refuse military service, do not vote and view God as the only true leader. They shun the patriotic festivals promoted with gusto by the Kremlin, like the annual celebration of victory in 1945 and recent events to celebrate the annexation of Crimea in March 2014. Mr. Sivak, who says he lost his job as a physical education teacher because of his role as a Jehovah’s Witnesses elder, said he voted for Mr. Putin in 2000, three years before joining the denomination. He added that while he had not voted since, nor had he supported activities of the sort that usually attract the attention of Russia’s version of the K. G. B. the Federal Security Service, or F. S. B. “I have absolutely no interest in politics,” he said during a recent Jehovah’s Witnesses Friday service in a wooden country house in Vorokhobino, a village north of Moscow. Around 100 worshipers crammed into a long, chilly room under fluorescent lights to listen to readings from the Bible, sing and watch a video advising them to dress for worship as they would for a meeting with the president. “From the Russian state’s perspective, Jehovah’s Witnesses are completely separate,” said Geraldine Fagan, the author of “Believing in Russia — Religious Policy After Communism. ” She added, “They don’t get involved in politics, but this is itself seen as a suspicious political deviation. ” “The idea of independent and public religious activity that is completely outside the control of — and also indifferent to — the state sets all sorts of alarm bells ringing in the Orthodox Church and the security services,” she said. That the worldwide headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses is in the United States and that its publications are mostly prepared there, Ms. Fagan added, “all adds up to a big conspiracy theory” for the increasingly assertive F. S. B. For Mr. Sivak, it has added up to a long legal nightmare. His troubles began, he said, when undercover security officers posed as worshipers and secretly filmed a service where he was helping to officiate in 2010. Accused of “inciting hatred and disparaging the human dignity of citizens,” he was put on trial for extremism along with a second elder, Vyacheslav Stepanov, 40. The prosecutor’s case, heard by a municipal court in Sergiyev Posad, a center of the Russian Orthodox Church, produced no evidence of extremism and focused instead on the insufficient patriotism of Jehovah’s Witnesses. “Their disregard for the state,” a report prepared for the prosecution said, “erodes any sense of civic affiliation and promotes the destruction of national and state security. ” In a ruling last year, the court found the two men not guilty, and their ordeal seemed over — until Mr. Sivak tried to change money and was told that he had been placed on a list of “terrorists and extremists. ” He and Mr. Stepanov now face new charges of extremism and are to appear before a regional court this month. “There is a big wave of repression breaking,” Mr. Stepanov said. In response to written questions, the Justice Ministry in Moscow said a yearlong review of documents at the Jehovah’s Witnesses “administrative center” near St. Petersburg had uncovered violations of a Russian law banning extremism. As a result, it added, the center should be “liquidated,” along with nearly 400 locally registered branches of the group and other structures. For the denomination’s leaders in Russia, the sharp escalation in a long campaign of harassment, previously driven mostly by local officials, drew horrifying flashbacks to the Soviet era. Vasily Kalin, the chairman of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Russian arm, recalled that his whole family had been deported to Siberia when he was a child. “It is sad and reprehensible that my children and grandchildren should be facing a similar fate,” he said. “Never did I expect that we would again face the threat of religious persecution in modern Russia. ” In Russia, as in many countries, the proselytizing of Jehovah’s Witnesses often causes irritation, and their theological idiosyncrasies disturb many mainstream Christians. The group has also been widely criticized for saying that the Bible prohibits blood transfusions. But it has never promoted violent or even peaceful political resistance. “I cannot imagine that anyone really thinks they are a threat,” said Alexander Verkhovsky, director of the SOVA Center for Information and Analysis, which monitors extremism in Russia. “But they are seen as a good target. They are pacifists, so they cannot be radicalized, no matter what you do to them. They can be used to send a message. ” That message, it would seem, is that everyone needs to get with the Putin program — or risk being branded as an extremist for displaying indifference, never mind hostility, to the Kremlin’s drive to make Russia a great power again. “A big reason they are being targeted is simply that they are an easy target,” Ms. Fagan said. “They don’t vote, so nobody is going to lose votes by attacking them. ” Attacking Jehovah’s Witnesses also sends a signal that even the mildest deviation from the norm, if proclaimed publicly and insistently, can be punished under the law, which was passed after Russia’s second war in Chechnya and the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States. Billed as a move by Russia to join a worldwide struggle against terrorism, the law prohibited “incitement of racial, national or religious strife, and social hatred associated with violence or calls for violence. ” But the reference to violence was later deleted, opening the way for the authorities to classify as extremist any group claiming to offer a unique, true path to religious or political salvation. Even the Russian Orthodox Church has sometimes fallen afoul of the law: The slogan “Orthodoxy or Death!” — a rallying cry embraced by some believers — has been banned as an illegal extremist text. To help protect the Orthodox Church and other established religions, Parliament passed a law in 2015 to exempt the Bible and the Quran, as well as Jewish and Buddhist scripture, from charges of extremism based on their claims to offer the only true faith. The main impetus for the current crackdown, however, appears to come from the security services, not the Orthodox Church. Roman Lunkin, director of the Institute of Religion and Law, a Moscow research group, described it as “part of a broad policy of suppressing all nongovernmental organizations” that has gained particular force because of the highly centralized structure of Jehovah’s Witnesses under a worldwide leadership based in the United States. “They are controlled from outside Russia, and this is very suspicious for our secret services,” he said. “They don’t like having an organization that they do not and cannot control. ” Artyom Grigoryan, a former Jehovah’s Witness who used to work at the group’s Russian headquarters but who now follows the Orthodox Church, said the organization had “many positive elements,” like its ban on excessive drinking, smoking and other unhealthy habits. All the same, he said it deserved to be treated with suspicion. “Look at it from the view of the state,” he said. “Here is an organization that is run from America, that gets financing from abroad, and whose members don’t serve in the army and don’t vote. ” Estranged from his parents, who are still members and view his departure as sinful, he said Jehovah’s Witnesses broke up families and “in the logic of the state, it presents a threat. ” He added, “I am not saying this is real or not, but it needs to be checked by objective experts. ” Mr. Sivak, now preparing for yet another trial, said that he had always tried to follow the law and that he respected the state, but could not put its interests above the commands of his faith. “They say I am a terrorist,” he said, “but all I ever wanted to do was to get people to pay attention to the Bible. ”

Re: Why We Are Still In ‘The Danger Zone’ Until January 20th, 2017

greanfinisher .

Why We Are Still In ‘The Danger Zone’ Until January 20th, 2017 17th, 2016 Donald Trump is not the president yet, and Barack Obama could still do an extraordinary amount of damage during his last two months in the White House. Prior to the election, I described the period of time ending on January 20th as “the danger zone”, and my outlook has not changed just because Donald Trump was victorious on election night. As you will see, the next two months are an absolutely critical time, and if we can get through January 20th without something major happening perhaps we can breathe a little bit easier (at least for a while). On the other hand, the events of the next two months could easily plunge this country into a period of unprecedented chaos. A lot of people are feeling really good about things right now because of Trump’s victory, but now is definitely not a time to relax and let down our guard. And the truth is that Donald Trump has not even won the presidency yet. As I detailed shortly before election night , the next president will not be determined until December 19th when the Electoral College meets. On Monday, December 19th the members of the Electoral College will gather in all 50 state capitals to cast their votes for president. It is then, and only then, that the next president of the United States will be elected. Throughout our history, electors have followed the will of the people more than 99 perfect of the time, but there have been “faithless electors” before, and if Democrats can get enough of them to switch sides in December it is still possible (though not probable) that Hillary Clinton could win the election. One petition that is asking electors to switch their votes has already been signed by more than 4 million people. The petition claims that Donald Trump is “unfit to serve” as president, and that since Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by a wide margin she should be elected president instead. The following comes from a USA Today article entitled “ Could the Electoral College elect Hillary Clinton instead of Donald Trump? “… A Change.org petition, now signed by more than 4.3 million people, encourages members of the Electoral College to cast their votes for Hillary Clinton when the college meets on Dec. 19. The petition argues that Donald Trump is “unfit to serve” and that “Secretary Clinton WON THE POPULAR VOTE and should be President.” “If they all vote the way their states voted, Donald Trump will win,” the petition states. “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.” Personally, I don’t believe that this is going to happen. They may be able to flip a few electors, but the gap in electoral votes is almost certainly too wide for the Democrats to overcome. However, that is not the only concern we are facing. Ever since his victory on November 8th, there have been a multitude of violent threats against Donald Trump and his family. And without a doubt, there are a lot of very powerful people that would be very interested in finding a way to keep Donald Trump from getting to Inauguration Day. So let us pray for his safety and for the safety of his family. If Donald Trump were to be incapacitated after he wins the Electoral College vote on December 19th, Mike Pence would take his place. But if something were to happen to him before December 19th, his electors would be free to vote for another candidate – including Hillary Clinton. If everything goes smoothly and Donald Trump successfully makes it to Inauguration Day, he could be facing one of the biggest political protests in United States history. In an article for The Most Important News , I showed that the far left is calling for thousands upon thousands of protesters to descend upon Washington D.C. on January 20th in order to disrupt the Inauguration festivities as much as possible. This giant protest is being organized by the usual suspects, and they have already put up Facebook pages , websites , and the hashtag “#DisruptJ20″ is being widely used all over social media. Traditionally Inauguration Day is a day of joy and celebration, but the far left seems intent on transforming it into a massive riot. Let us hope that they are not successful. Another reason why we will be in “the danger zone” over the next two months is because of what Barack Obama may choose to do at the United Nations. Now that it looks like Donald Trump is going to be our next president, the international pressure on Barack Obama to do something at the United Nations regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before the end of his term has become even more intense. And this is something that Trump and his advisers are actively concerned about. In fact, I came across an article earlier today that discussed the fact that the Trump team is warning Obama “against making moves on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his last months in office” … Saying that pushing agendas “contrary to the president-elect’s position” would not be in the “spirit of the transition”, Trump national security advisor for Donald Trump last week warned the Obama administration against making moves on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his last months in office. “On big, transformative issues where President Obama and President-elect Trump are not in alignment, I don’t think it’s in keeping with the spirit of the transition…to try to push through agenda items that are contrary to the president-elect’s positions,” the advisor told Politico . Specifically, the concern is that Obama may decide to support a UN Security Council resolution that would officially recognize a Palestinian state, set the parameters for a “two state solution”, and establish East Jerusalem as the capital for the new Palestinian state. Just a few weeks ago, an article in the Wall Street Journal entitled “ Obama’s Israel Surprise? ” reported that this is one of the options that the Obama administration is strongly considering right now. A UN Security Council resolution would be legally binding on both Israel and the Palestinians, and it would be something that President Trump would not be able to undo. The rest of the UN Security Council is eager to support such a resolution, and so the decision about whether this resolution is going to happen or not sits in the hands of Barack Obama, and at this moment we do not know what he is going to do. The following comes from an article by Leo Hohmann … The Wall Street Journal reported one week before Tuesday’s election that Obama had requested his aides provide him with a list of options to deal with the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli diplomats, according to the WSJ story, are preparing for the possibility that a lame-duck President Obama “may try to force a diplomatic resolution for Israel and the Palestinians at the United Nations.” The president is presumably now reviewing those options, which number about half a dozen. He may be preparing to recognize a Palestinian state at the U.N. before he leaves office , WSJ reported. If Barack Obama decides to divide the land of Israel at the United Nations, it will be the worst decision of his entire presidency. I have warned repeatedly that all hell will break loose in America if it happens, and it will also mean that many of the events that I warn about in my latest book are much closer than many had been anticipating. But if we can get to January 20th and the land of Israel has not been divided yet, we may be able to rest easy for at least a little while, because Trump has already said that he would not support a UN Security Council resolution that forces a solution on the Israelis and Palestinians. When politicians are going to do something that they know people won’t like, they tend to try to sneak it through around the holidays when a lot of people aren’t paying attention. For example, yesterday I discussed how the legislation that created the Federal Reserve was rushed through Congress right before Christmas in 1913 . So keep an eye on the period around Thanksgiving and the period around Christmas. If Barack Obama is going to stab Israel in the back, it may happen during one of those times. My hope is that we can get through January 20th without anything going seriously wrong. If that happens, I know that I will be very thankful. And as I detailed in a previous article , Donald Trump will be 70 years, 7 months and 7 days old on his first full day in office on January 21st, and that will happen in year 5777 on the Hebrew calendar. Could that be a sign of better things ahead as many believe? Or will the next two months set off a chain of events that will be absolutely disastrous for this nation? I believe that this is an absolutely critical moment in our history, and let us hope that our leaders make the right decisions. “Danger Zone” Brings back memories of Kenny Loggins and Top Gun. anonymous Listen to her howlin’ roar Metal under tension Beggin’ you to touch and go Highway to the Danger Zone Ride into the Danger Zone Headin’ into twilight Spreadin’ out her wings tonight She got you jumpin’ off the deck And shovin’ into overdrive Highway to the Danger Zone I’ll take you Right into the Danger Zone William Lutz I will not celebrate the holidays this year! Screw Christmas and New Years already. anonymous Good on you. Why support corporate mandated holidays anyway? Thanksgiving should be the most important celebration. We should also celebrate the day of the dead. A solemn reminder of what the future holds for us all. Besides, their parties are awesome! Ricardo We should also celebrate the day of the dead. ………. that is spiritism. King Saul tried to bring up the dead (Samuel) via the witch of Endor………. don’t mess with spiritism Let the dead bury the dead ..Matthew 8:22 …… meaning if you have no spiritual life you are dead so let the dead bury the dead. Halloween. October 31st. What date did Martin Luther nail the 95 thesis to the church (catholic) door ? …… October 31st. Halloween is the catholic church playing with spiritism and fostering it on the world via the disguise of “its just harmless fun”…….. don’t mess with spiritism. anonymous I meant more of a remembrance of loved ones who have passed away. You are painting with a broad religious brush. What is God? Isn’t God a Spirit? What do you know of death? Have you died? You are clearly biased. df NJ God is unknowable force that motivates the electrons to move and have charge. Without God, time would cease to exist. Paul Benson Wrong again df NJ (Dumb Friend from New Jersey?) God has gone to great extremes to make himself knowable. When Jesus died on the Cross the veil of the Temple was torn by god from top to bottom as a sign the way into his presence had been given. Put your faith in Jesus, follow his teaching, and that path will lead you to the Father and eternal life. YOU CAN KNOW GOD! Mondobeyondo Merry Hallothanksmaskwanzaanewyear! nick I am a political atheist, just to set the record straight. Although I visit this site fairly often, it is showing signs of paranoia and provoking fear. When George W. as elected, there were many protesters, they were just hidden away in “free speech” zones. Of course there are many unhappy people, as there were in 2000, and every election. Trumps votes were less than 19% of the 325 million people in the country. Will Trump bring jobs. No, not unless they are gov’t employees, or funded by taxes. There is only one way jobs are created, and that is when there is demand for products and services. A lot of people with their low paying jobs can hardly afford the basic necessities, let alone keep playing the consumerism game. I cannot see Obama doing anything that requires legislation, as he is lame duck status now. Perhaps this site needs to focus on the swamp getting filled with more careerists, especially lobbyists I have been an expat for over 6 years, it is a lovely peaceful warm day here. Think I will go for a bicycle ride, then a dip in 86 degree seawater. I do have faith that not much will change and the sun will continue to rise, even when it is obscured by clouds. Peace and Love…it is the only way df NJ Obama’s big political move will be to appoint an ultra liberal judge to the bench during the recess. I just can’t imagine that he doesn’t leave office without punishing the Republicans for not taking Garland. And given all the threats to taking away all of Obama’s legacy this is the only thing left he has to make his mark on history. Rick I don’t think he can do that with a phone and pen. Sorry. HeyAHuman Could you imagine the pandemonium that would ensue if the Electoral College were to vote Hillary in? Then we’d be in a REAL danger zone… Mondobeyondo Yes, it would be. It would be like the Krakatoa volcano erupting again. df NJ That is not going to happen because the electors hate Hillary as much as you do. It would be like cutting off one of your own fingers with a kitchen knife. I think we are okay. anonymous It always amazes me that people will look for signs in anything. Remember the world was going to end in the year 2000? Then again in 2012 with the end of the Mayan Calendar. “Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.” -John Allen Paulos df NJ It’s 11/18 and still no second coming of Jesus. Every single person reading this and posting on this board is going to be long dead and gone before Jesus returns. James Staten You just fulfilled prophecy, and you don’t even know it. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+3%3A2-4&version=KJV Jerry C No longer need to look for signs as they are happening whether or not you’re looking. By the way, 2000 & 2012 were LSM saying it was ending. I guess for you the fact Trump will be 70 years 7 months 7 days old on his first full day of office is coincidence? You see coincidence; believers see signs. ISA41:10 Liberals have long since gone beyond Activism, and descended to mobs all acting like spoiled children, stamping their feet and screaming, “I want it NOW!” It’s the politics of juvenile delinquency. To be a liberal means you must lie, deceive, deflect and, as a last resort, attack a conservative. Liberalism is godlessness. df NJ You only criticize and hate on other people’s character what you do not like about your own character. Otherwise, if you are able to meet people as being sacred then all you have remaining is unconditional love and acceptance of other people’s flaws. Where does civility come from if not from having respect for opposing opinions? ISA41:10 The election is OVER!!!! These demonstrations mean nothing. These are bunch of winy liberals breaking laws. Did Conservative do these childish things in 08 or 12. N ! I wonder what Obama’s “Pardon List” looks like! JC Teecher Jesse “james” Jackson, a pawn for the left, is pushing hard to have hitlery pardoned for all her crimes, before she is even charged. As a crook himself, he has received a free pass because of his so called “religious” connections. Bull caca! Occult religions maybe. Mondobeyondo Yes, there is still a possibility that Hillary Clinton could still get in the Oval Office. But a Trump presidency is pretty much a done deal (knock on wood). The Secret Service had better guard him and his family VERY closely. From what I’ve seen and heard, President Obama is trying to make Trump’s transition to the presidency very peaceful and orderly (even though they hate each other). Let’s hope that Trump’s presidency will be a successful one, and that it heals the many divisions and other issues that plague our country. Back in 1985, I bought a brand new book called “The Art of the Deal” at my college bookstore. It was written by some guy named Donald Trump. Yes, I actually did read it. df NJ Not a chance. Hillary is dead and gone. Mondobeyondo Barack Obama is actually liberal enough to sign a resolution that would divide the land of Israel. Donald Trump would have to be pressured by outside forces to make such a decision. Would he do it? Don’t know. Although from what I’ve heard, President Putin of Russia likes Trump a lot… df NJ We dropped 23,000 bombs on five predominately Muslim countries in 2015. Maybe it’s time to give the Yinon plan a rest and stop bombing ragheads for Israel. America first! We have way too many problems and debt in this country to continue our foreign policies of American adventurism. Where’s Pat Buchanan when you need him? I think it’s time we return to a more traditional conservative approach to foreign policy. The long war does absolutely nothing to make me feel safer on the streets of Newark or Jersey City. I say eff ’em. America first! TheLulzWarrior Who f***ing cares? Israel is not an US state so far, they would simply refuse to go along such a plan. Paul Patriot Freedom loving Americans (should) know what needs to happen if hitlery is said to be el presidente on December 19th. The left can whine, shout, protest and riot……its time freedom loving Americans get the right mind set about standing up to tyranny……and apathy, passivity, fear and political correctness will prove ineffective. The liberty tree is getting mighty thirsty…..just saying! df NJ There are many forms of freedom. You criticize the left but you just don’t understand it. Here’s how the left thinks: “An old English judge once said: ‘Necessitous men are not free men.’ Liberty requires opportunity to make a living – a living decent according to the standard of the time, a living which gives man not only enough to live by, but something to live for. “For too many of us the political equality we once had won was meaningless in the face of economic inequality. A small group had concentrated into their own hands an almost complete control over other people’s property, other people’s money, other people’s labor – other people’s lives. For too many of us life was no longer free; liberty no longer real; men could no longer follow the pursuit of happiness. Against economic tyranny such as this, the American citizen could appeal only to the organized power of government. ” You many not agree with this approach but ALL the evidence shows wealth inequality is at all time highs. Most of you right wingers claim we have too much socialism and communism in this country. The sad fact is we cannot be further way from communism and still have a currency with any shred of value. But do not fear. Every year the top 1% become richer and richer. Every year the middle class is driven deeper and deeper into poverty wages. Marx said laissez faire capitialism is always followed by communism because unfettered greed would result in a government’s currency collapse. Once the currency collapses people in bread lines will DEMAND more government not less. See you in the breadlines comrades! хорошего дня JC Teecher It is fairly evident that B Hussein Odrama is spewing his NWO rhetoric and propaganda overseas, as he attempts to assume the role of the world’s authoritarian. He was handpicked by the biggest Nazi since Hitler, behind the scenes, as in GHW Bush. Odrama was chosen by the underworld as a successor to GHWB, and billery. Why? To fulfill their occultic destiny of the Beast System of Gov, Religion, Education, and Economics. The four hidden Dynasties. also viewed as Die-Nasty, if one is part of it. Anything is possible in the next two months, and with the huge amounts of $$ invested into continuing an evil empire, the underworld/shadow gov, will use any and all means to make their plans come to fruition. All we as Christians can do is prepare for the worst, and pray for the “will” of God, to become manifest for His purpose, pleasure, and fulfillment of the end of days, of this age. The time of the fulfillment of a 100 year generation since the planting of the Fig Tree/ House of Judah, in Israel, is drawing nigh. Christ said the generation that sees it (nation of Israel) replanted in the Covenant land, will also see His return. Glory glory Hallelujah, we might just get out of this world………alive. Not fly away in a pre-trib rapture (trap), but change in the twinkling of an eye, here, in this earth, to be a part of the “Kingdom come, on Earth as it is in Heaven”. df NJ We just need to stop dropping bombs on ragheads and God will shower us with blessings. Guns or butter, choose. You get one or the other. Black Wow. I hope there is such a place as hell so scum like you can burn there for eternity Jerry C

Open Thread (NOT U.S. Election) 2016-39

b

Open Thread (NOT U.S. Election) 2016-39 News & views not U.S. election related ... 18, 2016 at 01:44 PM | Permalink Comments The Podesta emails - After Hillary, John Podesta had been seriously warned about the Syrian chaos Posted by: nmb | Nov 18, 2016 1:59:59 PM | 1 Although it is hilarious to see the Hillary supporters throwing a massive tantrum about 'fake news,' it does make it clear just how powerful having direct access to information is in negating money, mainstream media capture and control, and government propaganda. I don't know how much the new Trump presidency will change the US intelligence agency culture. But one has to assume they are apoplectic over their failure in Syria. Billions of dollars and years wasted all because people have direct access to information unfiltered out of Syria. It should have a completely unremarkable US regime change operation: * Send in the NGOs to agitate locals * Make promises of support for attacks on the government by the sole world superpower * Get selectively edited footage of your collaborators on the ground being attacked by the government(after they attacked the government) * Pump out mass amounts of propaganda based off that footage: "Simple farmers rising up to overthrow a brutal regime!" * Wield the tremendous economic power of the US to ensure the vast majority of smaller countries are on board with military action sanctioned by the UN * Flood the country with arms for anyone no matter how crazy to attack the government * Fake chemical attacks, US intelligence agency compromised UN reports and inspectors, etc. All of that derailed by nothing more than people having direct access to information uncensored out of Syria. I think it is safe to assume the US intelligence agencies are actively working on ways to make it illegal or impossible for anyone to publish, share, or consume 'unauthorized' information from countries that are targets of regime change. The easiest way would be to designate any source of information not actively working with or approved by the US intelligence agencies will be increasingly labeled as 'terror propaganda' and US social media and Internet providers will be required to censor or shutdown any such sources. Posted by: Stevens | Nov 18, 2016 2:16:40 PM | 2 Stevens @ 2: Great post, thanks. This "regime change" U$A foreign policy, has been implemented around the globe for many many years now, all in the interests of big corporate profits, and global hegemony. The sad truth seems to be, there are no signs its about to change. Posted by: ben | Nov 18, 2016 2:34:13 PM | 3 I was watching a travelogue program on PBS. The trip was to Cuba. The narrator traveled by train across the country. A train line that was originally built in the 1870s by Spain to divide the country for defensive and control purposes. The locomotives pulling the passenger cars were 1950s USA manufactured vintage and date to a time when our Federal Government had good economic relations with the Batista Regiem. When I think of the cruel and unusual economic punishment dished out to Cuba by our Federal Government all I can see is a bunch of financially poor peasants who bear the brunt of U.S. economic warfare. Just as in the Middle East and now Europe economic sanction wars hurt the farmer, the small business operator, the basic family unit, etc., while rich people get richer. Isn't it about time to back off on the economic war against Cuba and the rest of the Planet? Our collective cruelty seems to know no bounds? Just my opinion Posted by: ALberto | Nov 18, 2016 3:00:02 PM | 4 Bernhard, I should think most of us reading and commenting here have pretty much accepted the result of the US presidential elections and are glad that Killer Klinton's ambitions have crashed and her future seems to be in a white house with steel bar columns and uniformed prison guards. The focus is now on President-elect Donald Trump's likely cabinet appointments, who are the most likely choices for critical positions like Defense Secretary and State Secretary, what the process is and how that is being carried out (or not carried out), and what that says about Trump's leadership and decision-making style, how he plans on being President and whether his choices are the right choices for his agenda (if it is genuine) of reforming the political culture on Capitol Hill, or "draining the swamp". If indeed Trump is intent on bringing changes to Capitol Hill, then there's a strong likelihood that the Soros-funded "Color Revolution" rioting around the US East and West Coasts will come to Washington and we'll be seeing a re-enactment of the Kiev Maidan events there. Posted by: Jen | Nov 18, 2016 3:01:27 PM | 5 Does the Constitution of the United States require the president to have a specific number of executive departments? The answer is no. George Washington only had four departments in his administration as first President of the United States. Perhaps if Mr. Trump can't find suitable candidates for his cabinet when he "drains the swamp", he could assume the role as interim department head until such time as qualified non-militarists emerge from the private sector to serve in his administration. Posted by: PokeTheTruth | Nov 18, 2016 3:04:34 PM | 6 @2 stevens..thanks for your comments. lets hope open access to information continues.. the signs of this happening don't look great, but they remain open still.. thankfully, moa is one of many sites where sharing info is of great benefit and continues.. M K Bhadrakumar's latest.. meanwhile obama, merkel, hollandaze and their italian counterpart have all agreed to continue for another year, the sanctions on russia over ukraine.. the bozo head for nato jens stalenbread or however his name is spelled, continues on with the disingenuous musings of an old king about to reenact a version of humpty dumpty.. meanwhile the witch hunt on acedemics, or anyone associated with gulen continues in turkey.. erdogan was visiting pakistan the past few days and i happened to read this on the usa state dept daily transcript from yesterday in the form of a question. Question :"Turkish President Erdogan is in Pakistan today, and he publicly suggested to Pakistan that the West was behind ISIS in order to hurt Muslims, quote, “It is certain that Western countries are standing by Daesh. Now Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and many others are suffering from terrorism and separatist terrorism.”What’s your comment on that? Do you think it’s a reasonable statement? MR KIRBY: No, I do not." it is pretty funny how these daily press briefings highlight usa propaganda in such a distinct and colourful manner.. fortunately the odd journalist asks questions that lift the veil that is constantly being thrown out by these same masters of propaganda.. Posted by: james | Nov 18, 2016 3:36:30 PM | 7 @5 If indeed Trump is intent on bringing changes to Capitol Hill, then there's a strong likelihood that the Soros-funded "Color Revolution" rioting around the US East and West Coasts will come to Washington and we'll be seeing a re-enactment of the Kiev Maidan events there. No, you will not be seeing "Maidan". Middle America white (and not only) working class men are extremely well armed and are really angry still. So, if this rioting will come to Washington, who says that good ole' Ford Truck can not run over mountain bike of Tesla? Once the shooting starts (hopefully not) it will be a totally different game than Kiev "Maidan". There is also a trend, call it a hunch--most of US combat veterans from US endless wars tend to lean towards people like Trump. Posted by: SmoothieX12 | Nov 18, 2016 3:49:18 PM | 8 2 The Right firmly believes in Onward Xtian Soldiers for the Judeo-Xtian Axis, remember the $150,000,000,000 that 'Obama Paid As Hostage to Iran' was just a setup by the Right, that was Iran's sovereign national wealth held in overseas investments and illegally frozen by the Right as an *act of war*. When Obama agreed to end those illegal sanctions and let Iran retrieve their investments (which they may have done today, if you look at the huge market selloff), the Right again illegally crossed into Iran territory with their Navy patrol boats to create a false 'hostage' narrative. Those Navy boats know where they are by GPS withing 3.5 meters (10 feet), and Iran didn't beat them or waterboard them like AbuGraib or Gitmo, instead, they traded them for their *interest losses* on their illegally frozen foreign investments. With Huckabee as nee Ambassador to Israel, and neocon Pompeo as named CIA Director, and Jared Kushner getting top secret briefings to pass along to his Israeli blood-diamond partner Lev Leviev, you can bet the Xtian Soldiers will be pouring our blood and our treasure onto the radioactive sands of the Middle East, filling up the VA hospitals again for the Judeo-Xtian Axis of Greater Isreal. If anyone else has a happier sitrep, we'd all like to hear it. Posted by: chipnik | Nov 18, 2016 4:22:24 PM | 9 #8 - I read somewhere the majority of the enlisted were voting Trump and the officer corp leaning Clinton. It would be interesting to see the breakdown of the military vote. Posted by: h | Nov 18, 2016 4:24:54 PM | 10 Anybody witness the duet between Obama and Merkel on youtube? Merkel talked first while Obama stood off to the side with a ridiculous smirk on his bobble head. It was so horrible I couldn't watch. Posted by: ruralito | Nov 18, 2016 4:27:09 PM | 11 Jen | Nov 18, 2016 3:01:27 PM | 5 and SmoothieX12 | Nov 18, 2016 3:49:18 PM | 8 We have one month before the electoral college votes. I suspect that this is the venue that the neolibcons will use to try to steal the election from Trump. The "demonstrators" paid and organized by Soros et al help set the background and provide the rationale for the "need" to "accept the will of the people". If this should transpire, then you will see civil unrest. The red states will not go along with the theft of the election for Clinton. Posted by: Perimetr | Nov 18, 2016 4:28:35 PM | 12 @12 Soros "paid for" protesters is just more of b's "fake news". I have friends, middle class professionals, who've been participating in California and all they know about Soros is he made a ton of $$ on Brit Currency bets 2 decades ago. The elector's "switch" is not going to happen, just more hysteria. Posted by: jdmckay | Nov 18, 2016 4:40:06 PM | 13 If this should transpire, then you will see civil unrest. The red states will not go along with the theft of the election for Clinton. Even the "blue" states have very large and populous "red" areas--mostly beyond large urban centers which long ago became a cloaca of depravity. My point is, that this possible (how probable--that is totally another discussion) civil unrest, once "red" states America gets involved seriously, will not last too long for a number of purely tactical, operational and logistical reasons. This is if to discount the possibility of law enforcement actually enforcing the law and order which may, under certain conditions, turn very violent against those who will try to undermine constitutional process. Blue states can not win for mostly cultural reasons since, as I already stated, "Red" states' America is simply armed on several orders of magnitude better and is really angry. It is also tougher. Social and cultural composition of HRC's electorate speaks volumes--it is, in Steve Sailer's words (I think it was him), a "coalition of the fringes" and not very capable to start with. Posted by: SmoothieX12 | Nov 18, 2016 4:47:57 PM | 14 @10 It would be interesting to see the breakdown of the military vote. I don't hold my breath but, again--call it a hunch, I think that majority of US Armed Forces officer corps, especially officers "in the field" are Trump supporters. Posted by: SmoothieX12 | Nov 18, 2016 4:50:06 PM | 15 @13 WRT "fake news" and Soros paid rioters : Paul Horner — the 38-year-old self-made titan of a fake news empire on Facebook — is claiming responsibility for pushing Donald Trump to the White House, and says he has no plans to stop publishing fake news. In an interview with The Washington Post, Horner attributed his success to Trumps’ particular base of supporters. He is the man behind such viral headlines as “The Amish in America Commit their Vote to Donald Trump” and “President Obama Signs Executive Order Banning the National Anthem at all Sporting Events Nationwide” — neither of which were true. “My sites were picked up by Trump supporters all the time. I think Trump is in the White House because of me. His followers don’t fact-check anything — they’ll post everything, believe anything. His campaign manager posted my story about a protester getting paid $3,500 as fact. Like, I made that up. I posted a fake ad on Craigslist,” he told The Washington Post. Posted by: jdmckay | Nov 18, 2016 4:52:36 PM | 16 The coming conflict is between globalism and nationalism. The basic problem is numbers. Rule by monopolistic global corporations, at best, supports 20% of the population in the short term. It enriches the ruling elite and their servants and improvises everyone else. In the long term, climate change or a nuclear war, brought on by the blind needs of greed, will end the world as we know it. Brexit and the Trump Presidency proved that globalism and democracy are incompatible. For globalism to proceed in the middle term, it will require a surveillance police state, total propaganda, reeducation camps and the shutdown of this bar. Posted by: VietnamVet | Nov 18, 2016 4:56:50 PM | 17 Who decides which news is fake? Sounds like an easy way to limit freedom of speech and of the press. Why can't people be allowed to decide for themselves which news is fake? Posted by: lysias | Nov 18, 2016 4:58:30 PM | 18 As a retired officer of the U.S. Navy, I would be very disappointed if a majority of the officer corps supported Hillary. It would be very disappointing if they put their increased chances of promotion in new wars over the good of the country. Disappointing, but not exactly surprising. Posted by: lysias | Nov 18, 2016 5:01:17 PM | 19 I find it interesting that this open thread was not suppose to be about the US election but darn near all of the comments are to one degree or another. Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 18, 2016 5:12:13 PM | 20 It's great that there's some dialog between Trump and Putin. I think at least Western Syria will be cleansed of jihadis as a result. But Trump might be a little more hard nosed in the future. After the tensions are dialed down and having the score at basically Russia 1, US 0, he's not going to be so pliable. He sure as fuck isn't going to throw Israel under a bus. He's not going to roll over on all American commitments in the region. Trump's been getting a complete rundown on the big picture. It's no secret that until recently he couldn't have found Damascus on a map. Now he knows about the Shiite Crescent and how the arms can flow from Iran to Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon in volumes like never before and how upsetting that is for Israel. Now there's action towards taking Raqqa by the Kurds and who knows who else. The US and its posse will provide the air cover and logistics plus lots of special ops once it kicks in. I'm surprised the Kurds bit again after taking it up the arse from the US a couple of months ago They're not going all in right now as things are ongoing in Mosul and will be for a while. But you don't hear Assad and the Russians squawking much about it. It's like they both know that parts of Eastern Syria are bye-bye. Trump's good will towards Russia certainly doesn't extend to Iran. And no American will ever call Hezbollah anything bur a terrorist organization after the Marine barracks truck bombing in Beirut all those years ago. If Putin and Trump are going to come to a general understanding in the ME there's going to have to be some give and take. Putin's done quite a turnaround in taking Russia from a pariah state a couple of years ago to the player on the world sage that it is now. It's looking good for him to keep his man in power in Syria and to establish a permanent presence in the ME with Khmeimim and Tartus. Once Trump is fully up to speed on the totality of American interests in the region he is bound by his office not to walk away from them. There will have to be some serious deal-making. Posted by: peter | Nov 18, 2016 5:16:47 PM | 21 Putin's done quite a turnaround in taking Russia from a pariah state a couple of years ago to the player on the world sage that it is now. Your timeline is a bit off. The coming of Putin was a direct result of NATO's 1999 aggression against Yugoslavia, while War of 08-08-08 was the start of Russia's return into big league. So, it is not a "couple of years". Results of War of 080808 actually stunned DC's neocon interventionist cabal. Posted by: SmoothieX12 | Nov 18, 2016 5:28:28 PM | 22 Who decides which news is fake? Buzzfeed did some analysis on Social media generated fake news during the election. An awful lot of it was simply false. You can look at some of those headlines and judge for yourself. Ironically, Paul Horner (guy behind "fake news empire" I linked in prior post) said: He said he didn’t do it for ideological reasons. “I hate Trump,” he told The Post. “I thought I was messing with the campaign, maybe I wasn’t messing them up as much as I wanted — but I never thought he’d actually get elected.” Just happens 70% + of fake news this election cycle (according to Buzzfeed) was anti-Clinton. Posted by: jdmckay | Nov 18, 2016 5:47:15 PM | 23 ....and how the arms can flow from Libya and Zio-Ukraine to ISIS in Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon in volumes like never before and how 'upsetting'(sic) that is for Israel. Yeah, 'upsetting' to the Israel Likud former-Soviet mafia which fully supports ISIS and maintains 'Hezbullah' straw dog, to keep UN forces out of Greater Israel and torpedo the Two-State Solution and the Right-of-Return agreements which Netanyahu freely boasted he lied about supporting. http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/02/07/when-reagan-cut-and-run/ MoA isn't another Likud psyop disinformation campaign for the new Trump-Israel First Regime. Remember it was your team's counterfeit Yellow Cake Big Lie that assassinated the Baathists, and paved the way for Shi'ia's defensive action against the Bush-Cheney IL Wahhabi's usurpers and crusaders. You theory will do much better on Breitbart. Posted by: chipnik | Nov 18, 2016 5:52:07 PM | 24 @22 I was referring to his exclusion after annexing Crimea. The G8 turned into the G7 and he was shunned at the G20. It was decided by the US and its posse that world events would move along without any input from Russia. That changed when he entered Syria. Posted by: peter | Nov 18, 2016 6:45:39 PM | 25 And on the climate change or not front there are these articles:

Democrat Gutierrez Blames Chicago’s Gun Violence on NRA - Breitbart

AWR Hawkins

Rep. Luis Gutierrez ( ) made the rounds on MSBNC and CNN, dismissing President Donald Trump’s offer to help Chicago end gun violence, and blaming the NRA for the death and mayhem currently marring the Windy City. [Gutierrez was reacting to Trump’s description of the “carnage” in Chicago and his pledge to intervene federally if city leaders fail to stop the violence. On January 24 Trump tweeted: If Chicago doesn’t fix the horrible ”carnage” going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016) I will send in the Feds! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017, The following day, Gutierrez appeared on All In With Chris Hayes and said, “[President Trump] tweets about the “carnage” and that he’s going to send the feds in. Did he send any extra money for police officers? We could use that, for training. ” He noted that Trump is increasing the number of Border Patrol agents on the southern border and said Chicago would like to have more federal agents — ATF and FBI — in the city as well. Then Gutierrez said: But … [President Trump is] with the NRA. The NRA that endorsed him, [that is] … so part of his relationship. You know that NRA did? It crippled the laws of the city of Chicago and the courts, so that we cannot keep guns off our streets. The next day Gutierrez appeared on CNN, where he was again asked about Trump’s “carnage” assessment and his pledge to send in the feds if Chicago city leaders fail to end the violence. Gutierrez said: Here’s the hypocrisy of it all. The fact is, Donald Trump loves the NRA. And during his campaign he embraced them and they embraced him. The city of Chicago had some of the most stringent gun control laws, how were they eviscerated? Because the NRA funded lawsuits against our gun control measures. Gutierrez ignores the fact that Chicago had some its highest annual murder rates while all the city’s gun controls were place. For example, the Chicago Police Department reports 921 murders during 1991, 940 during 1992. 850 during 2993, and 930 during 1994. These excessively high murder numbers all occurred while Chicago’s ban on handgun ownership was in place. Viewed in this light, the 762 murders CNN reported for 2016 were a far cry from some of the murder numbers witnessed while Chicago’s most “stringent gun controls” were in effect. AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart. com.

Avoiding Peanuts to Avoid an Allergy Is a Bad Strategy for Most - The New York Times

Aaron E. Carroll

This article originally ran in April. We are resurfacing it in light of new guidelines from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases that advise giving peanuts to children early and often as a strategy to forestall an allergy. It has become an article of faith among many women I know to eliminate some foods during pregnancy, out of concern that their children could become allergic to them: shellfish, dairy and, most of all, peanuts. After their babies arrive, they continue to abstain from certain foods while and they certainly keep their children from eating them. But research in the last few years has consistently shown that all this avoidance often does more harm than good. In many cases, we need to be doing the opposite. Mothers didn’t adopt this behavior out of nowhere. In 2000, the American Academy of Pediatrics released guidelines on reducing a child’s risk for developing allergies. They recommended that mothers “eliminate peanuts and tree nuts (e. g. almonds, walnuts, etc.) and consider eliminating eggs, cow’s milk, fish, and perhaps other foods from their diets while nursing. ” Further, they recommended that children at high risk for allergies be given no solid foods until six months of age, no dairy products until 1 year old, no eggs until age 2, and no peanuts, nuts or fish until age 3. A debate has been raging in the health care system for decades on this topic. I was part of a systematic review that examined the relationship between early solid food introduction and allergic disease in children. We found no good evidence to support the idea that being exposed to solid foods earlier led to persistent food allergies. To its credit, the A. A. P. changed its recommendations based on new research. In 2008, updated guidelines reported that maternal restrictions in pregnancy or no longer seemed like advice that should be widely recommended. It also acknowledged that there didn’t seem much reason to delay the introduction of “allergy” foods like peanuts after six months, around the age babies move from milk or formula to a wider range of food. Unfortunately, this did little to change people’s behavior. Many had already internalized the advice. It seemed logical to them that avoiding foods would give children less of a chance to develop allergies. If it was still a good idea not to expose children until they were six months old, why not keep going? A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine last year turned all of this on its head. Researchers enrolled 640 infants at high risk for allergies, between 4 and 11 months of age, in a trial and randomized them to one of two groups. One of them was to avoid peanut protein the other was to eat at least six grams of peanut protein a week given in three or more meals. All participants were followed until they were 5 years old. What was most surprising in this work was that 15 percent of the infants already had evidence of peanut sensitivity by allergy testing. They were enrolled in the trial despite this, and half of them were given peanut extract every week. The results were remarkable. At the end of the study, about 3 percent of those exposed to peanuts had developed a peanut allergy, compared with more than 17 percent among those who avoided peanuts. More surprising, if you looked just at the children who already had evidence of peanut sensitivity when they were babies, fewer than 11 percent of those regularly exposed to peanuts developed an allergy. But more than 35 percent of those who avoided peanuts developed an allergy. Children who had proven sensitivity to peanuts, but consumed them in their diet regularly, were less likely to develop a peanut allergy than children without sensitivity who avoided them. Recently, results were published. After the trial ended, researchers asked all the participants who had been regularly consuming peanuts to avoid them for the next 12 months. At the end of that period, when the children were 6, there was no significant increase in new peanut allergies in that group. Avoidance at this point made no difference. The critical need for exposure appears to be somewhere from infancy until age 5. These results were so convincing that, once again, experts are changing their recommendations. In September 2015, the A. A. P. — along with others — argued that “health care providers should recommend introducing products into the diets of ‘ ’ infants early on in life. ” These changes dovetail nicely within what has become known as the hygiene hypothesis, the gist of which is that as we’ve made our environment more and more sterile, our immune systems develop differently than they used to. Without exposure to outside things to fight, our defenses turn inward and toward more benign substances, leading to increased levels of eczema, asthma and allergies. Of course, many people used to die from infections that no longer threaten us because of advances, so no one should take this as a call for living in filth. Nor should anyone take these recent findings as advice to feed babies and small children peanuts and other foods without concern. All changes to an infant’s diet, especially in children with allergies, should be done in consultation with a health care professional. As with many things in health care, however, we went too far with our response to peanut and other food allergies. Avoidance is sometimes needed for those with severe reactions. When we apply those same rules to everyone else, however, things can backfire.

MRI Shows Detailed Images of 20-Week Unborn Babies - Breitbart

Dr. Susan Berry

A newly developed MRI scan allows parents to see detailed images of the beating heart of even a unborn baby, as well as clear pictures of the baby stretching its legs and even swallowing in the womb. [The new scan, developed by a team of medical researchers, could replace the somewhat grainy ultrasound images parents are more accustomed to viewing during pregnancy. UK video parenting site ChannelMum is sharing the video, created by the iFind project, which shows an MRI scan of a baby at 20 weeks. Cathy Ranson, who edits the site, says, “Scans are amazing as they help mums, dads and even other family members bond with their baby. ” “There is nothing quite as emotional as seeing your unborn child moving inside you, and these MRI scans are taking images to the next level,” she adds. “They are truly breathtaking. ” According to the Daily Mail, the new scan is also revving up the abortion debate in the UK once again since, with the new technology, parents and doctors can see clearly how fully formed an unborn baby is at 20 weeks. Currently, the legal abortion limit in the UK is 24 weeks. “Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has previously supported slashing the limit to 12 weeks and there have also been calls to reduce it to 20 weeks,” says the report. With a administration now in the White House in the United States, national leaders who oppose abortion are hoping to pass the Unborn Child Protection Act, which would ban most abortions past the mark, into law. Dr. David Lloyd, a clinical research fellow at King’s College London who has participated in the project, says, “Taking pictures of a 20 week fetus while they’re still in the womb really isn’t that easy. ” He explains: For one thing, they’re very small. The fetal heart, for example, with all of its tiny chambers and valves, is only about 15mm long: less than the size of penny. Ultrasound technology — used in all routine antenatal scans in the UK — is actually fairly good at visualising these tiny structures. It uses very high frequency sound waves which are reflected back (‘echo’) from the structures inside the body to produce an image. The MRI scan, unlike an ultrasound, shows what is happening under the baby’s skin, so that images can be obtained even of babies who move around frequently. “In fetal ultrasound, the images produced can be excellent, but unfortunately, that’s not true for every patient,” Lloyd continues. “Ultrasound has to be able to ‘see’ through the body to the parts of the baby we want to image, and that isn’t always easy. It will depend on the age of the baby, how they are lying in the womb, the size of the mother, and many other factors. ” “MRI, which uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to produce images, isn’t so limited,” he explains. “It can see the structures inside the body regardless of whether there’s bone, muscle or fat in the way and in some cases it can give us even more detailed images than ultrasound. ” “Importantly, it is also one of the few imaging techniques that is safe to use in pregnancy,” Lloyd adds.

4 of the Best Kinds of Milk That Aren’t Dairy

Alexandria Laredo

Now, numerous studies have concluded that milk doesn’t actually build bone and provide the same amount of calcium that we thought. A study published in the British Medical Journal , for example, followed more than 100,000 people in Sweden over periods of 20 to 30 years, with shocking results: The people who drank milk were more likely to die from heart disease and cancer. The women suffered more overall fractures and hip fractures as well. Different studies have also shown that higher dairy intake is linked to higher risks of prostate and ovarian cancer and can trigger type 1 diabetes. It is also linked to forms of acne, just to name a few effects. There is also the disturbing side of the dairy industry, where animals are abused to produce the milk we drink. A lot of dairy products are filled with the hormones that were given to female cows to keep them perpetually lactating so they produce an endless flow of milk. This doctor describes it perfectly when he says “cow’s milk is for baby calfs, just like human milk is for babies.” It is a substance we need while in crucial stages of development, but past a certain age, it becomes obsolete. While there are many alternatives to dairy milk, some are much better than others. Here are some of the better “milk” products out there. Almond Milk Raw organic almond milk is a great choice when you know where it’s coming from. As with many mass produced products, even some almond milks aren’t the best for us. An analysis of a UK almond milk brand showed that nuts make up only 2% of the drink itself. A single serving of almond milk has almost no protein. Compared with plain old almonds, it fares even worse. There is one place where almond milk comes out on top, of course: It has more potassium and more of the vitamins A and D. But almond milk is fortified with these nutrients — they’ve been added during the production process. Making almond milk yourself, however, is a fantastic option, and allows you to control exactly what goes inside it, ensuring there are no additives, preservatives, or substances you’ve never even heard of before. Rice Milk Rice milk is another good choice that works well as a dairy substitute, if you don’t mind the taste. It’s higher in carbohydrates than other milk choices and contains around the same amount of calcium as cow’s milk. Yet it contains almost no protein, so it needs to be balanced with other protein rich foods. During processing, the carbs break down into sugars and give the milk a sweet taste. It is filled with more sugar, around 10 grams for one serving, which is a lot more than something like coconut milk, which has around 3 grams. If you’re trying to have as little sugar as possible, rice milk may not be the best choice, but it’s certainly better than plain old dairy milk. Coconut Milk Coconut milk is definitely one of the healthier options here. When this milk is all natural, meaning there’s no added sugars, natural flavours, or preservatives, it is incredibly healthy for us. “ Coconuts are highly nutritious and rich in fibre, vitamins C, E, B1, B3, B5 and B6 and minerals including iron, selenium, sodium, calcium, magnesium and phosphorous.” The things that makes coconuts so good is the type of fat they contain. They have a form of medium-chain fatty acids rather than long-chain fatty acids, which are stored in our tissue for much longer. One of the beneficial acids within coconuts is called lauric acid. This gets converted inside the body into a beneficial substance called monolaurin acid, which acts as an antiviral agent. But unlike other milks, if you have access, you can go right up to a coconut tree and drink the milk straight from the coconut without the need for processing. This is one of the most pure and fresh ways to get some milk in you! Hemp Milk Ah, hemp; one of the most versatile plants on our planet. Hemp milk has a wide range of health benefits that a lot of other milks don’t. Some companies make fully organic, non-GMO, and unsweetened hemp milk, but it’s always good to check exactly where you’re getting your products from. Hemp milk has a more bean-like and nutty flavor to it, which still tastes great in many drinks or foods. It’s also packed with healthy omega-3 fatty acids, which help with our heart health. In a single 8-ounce glass of hemp milk you can find the following nutrients: Vitamin A

Ryan Lochte Dropped by Speedo USA and Other Retailers - The New York Times

Katie Rogers

The fallout from Ryan Lochte’s story about being robbed at gunpoint in Rio — a tale the Brazilian police said was not true — continued Monday when four companies said they would end business partnerships with Mr. Lochte, an American swimmer and Olympic medalist. After a week of intense international media attention and anger in Brazil, the financial repercussions were swift for Mr. Lochte as Speedo USA, the luxury clothing retailer Ralph Lauren and the mattress company Airweave all announced that they would part ways with him. And Syneron Candela, a company that sells devices, told Reuters its relationship with the swimmer ended on Sunday. Speedo USA said in a message on Twitter that it would instead donate a $50, 000 portion of Mr. Lochte’s fee to a charity to help Brazilian children. “While we have enjoyed a winning relationship with Ryan for over a decade and he has been an important member of the Speedo team, we cannot condone behavior that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for,” the company said in its statement. On Monday, Kim Angelastro, a spokeswoman for Syneron Candela, wrote in an email, “We hold our employees to high standards, and we expect the same of our business partners. ” Mr. Lochte was a spokesman for the company’s Gentle Hair Removal brand. Through a spokeswoman, Ralph Lauren said Monday that Mr. Lochte’s endorsement agreement with the clothing company had been for only the 2016 Olympics, and that his contract would not be renewed. Airweave said on Twitter that “after careful consideration, we have made the decision to end our partnership with Ryan Lochte. ” The decisions to cut ties with Mr. Lochte, 32, were the first major signs of the financial fallout for him. For the past week, he has been at the center of an international firestorm after the Brazilian police said he and three other American athletes — Jimmy Feigen, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz — had fabricated the account of being robbed after a party in Rio de Janeiro. The authorities said that the swimmers had instead drunkenly vandalized a gas station bathroom, paying a security guard about $50 for the damage before leaving. Mr. Lochte originally said that the car they were traveling in had been stopped by armed men, who held a gun to his head. But his story later changed. A Brazilian judge ordered the swimmers to remain in Rio, but Mr. Lochte had already left the country. After Mr. Conger and Mr. Bentz were pulled from their flight to the United States, they told the police that the confrontation began when Lochte pulled a poster off a gas station wall. Mr. Feigen, 26, later donated $10, 800 to a charity in Rio that teaches martial arts to poor children. Mr. Lochte first issued an apology on social media — “I should have been much more responsible for how I handled myself,” he wrote — then told Matt Lauer in an interview on NBC that he had been intoxicated and that he had “overexaggerated that story. ” He has maintained that he was held at gunpoint. “All we know is that there was a gun pointed in our direction, and we were demanded to give money,” Mr. Lochte said. Mr. Lochte, whose boyish and sometimes oafish personality had made him a commercial success in Olympics past, had headed into Rio with fewer sponsors than he’d had at the London Games, according to a report by CNN Money. Mr. Lochte took home a gold medal in the freestyle relay in Rio.

Can I have one girlfriend without you bastards f**king it up? asks Harry

Can I have one girlfriend without you bastards f**king it up? asks Harry 08-11-16 PRINCE Harry has asked the world’s media if he could just have one relationship that is not immediately ruined by bastard journalists. The prince has released a letter to the media asking if they could just one time not steam straight into a new girlfriend’s life and bollocks it all up. He continued: “Seriously you fuckers, the prince thing only gets you so far when she’s getting a hundred texts her day about her mum being followed by stubbly, fag-scented photographers. “And I do not need every newspaper in Britain muttering words like ‘Compton’ and ‘ghetto’ like a horrendously prejudiced grandparent. Especially as I already have a horrendously prejudiced grandparent. “Stop saying I could do better. You might think so, but by any realistic measure she’s already way out of my league, okay?” Following the letter, newspapers agreed that what would be lovely is getting out the family album to show this new girl photos of Harry dressed as a Nazi. Share:

Conservatives Urge Sessions to Clean Out Obama’s Civil Rights Division - Breitbart

Ian Mason

A group of attorneys, scholars, and advocates put their names to a letter sent to Attorney General Jeff Sessions Tuesday, urging him to take a serious look at reform as he works with the President to select a new Assistant Attorney General for his Civil Rights Division. [“During the Obama administration, the Division served purely ideological ends with rigidity unmatched in other federal offices. Entrenched federal bureaucrats jettisoned precepts like equal enforcement in favor of political and racialized dogmas with a zeal that risks litigation failure and invites court sanctions,” the letter states. Signed by such conservative heavyweights as Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the letter paints a picture of a Division ripe for sweeping reform after eight years under Obama during which “The Civil Rights Division has relegated its leadership role to political activists. ” Hiring practices for the career staff of the Division is one of the letter’s chief concerns. While Tom Perez, now head of the Democratic National Committee, was the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, the Division was the subject of an Inspector General’s review that found the Obama Justice Department’s insistence that have a “demonstrated commitment to civil rights” led to a perception only activists need apply. “In this case, perception and reality were synonymous,” the letter insists, noting instances in which Division employees leaked confidential information to civil rights groups, and Perez’s subsequent refusal to implement any of the report’s hiring recommendations. Also among the letter’s complaints is the alleged culture of politically motivated bullying that was fostered during the Obama years. The same Inspector General’s Report found a pattern of personal attacks against, for example, employees who were “openly Christian. ” J. Christian Adams, President of the Public Interest Legal Foundation and a signatory of the letter, added, “For years, a radicalized Civil Rights Division advanced leftists causes with respect to voting, law enforcement, immigration, and others while constitutional Rule of Law was considered a nuisance. General Sessions has an opportunity to begin the course correction necessary to protect all Americans from civil rights abuses. ” In picking a new head for the Civil Rights Division, the letter’s signatories hope Attorney General Sessions will look for a reformer prepared to return to civil rights enforcement and tackle the Division’s entrenched cultural problems. “The next AAG certainly cannot be a proponent of the status quo by any means,” they say.

Internal Inquiry Sealed the Fate of Roger Ailes at Fox - The New York Times

Jim Rutenberg, Ben Protess and Emily Steel

Executives at 21st Century Fox decided to end the tenure of Roger Ailes after lawyers they hired to investigate an allegation of sexual harassment against him took statements from at least six other women who described inappropriate behavior from Mr. Ailes, two people briefed on the inquiry said Wednesday. One of the people said that the details of the allegations, while unverified, were troubling enough that they left 21st Century Fox little choice but to force an end to Mr. Ailes’s reign as chairman and chief executive of Fox News, given the potential liability they presented to the company both legally and in terms of its own corporate culture. The people with knowledge of the state of discussions over Mr. Ailes’s exit agreement said both sides were working toward an accommodation that would recognize Mr. Ailes’s service to the company as the founder and leader of Fox News, which sits atop the cable news ratings and is a major profit engine for 21st Century Fox. The agreement could also include a provision for him to continue with Fox as a consultant. But given the personalities and complications involved, the situation was fluid enough that no accommodation had been reached by Wednesday night. Fox News did not respond to requests for comment on the status of the discussions or on the investigation, which is being conducted by the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton Garrison. Lawyers for Mr. Ailes did not respond to requests for comment. Mr. Ailes has denied the allegations of sexual harassment and more than a dozen Fox News staff members, including some top stars, have publicly supported him. The people briefed on the investigation, who would not speak for attribution because of the sensitivity of the investigation, stressed that it was narrowly focused on the allegations against Mr. Ailes, and not the broader climate at the network. But Mr. Ailes’s departure will have much wider implications. Given Fox News’s place as a central hub for conservative opinion — not to mention as a primary outlet for the Republican nominee for president, Donald J. Trump — the shape of its operation goes beyond corporate intrigue at 21st Century Fox, and could have consequences for the national political dialogue. In the two weeks since Gretchen Carlson, a former Fox anchor, filed suit against Mr. Ailes, the Murdoch family, which runs 21st Century Fox, has made it clear that its decision to take the allegations seriously was in keeping with its desire to follow modern standards for office conduct, and that these needed to extend to Fox News, as well. The question in the environment is to what extent the Murdochs decide to continue on with Mr. Ailes’s current management team. That, in turn, could determine the future approach and look of the network, which is the outlet of choice for viewers seeking an alternative to the mainstream media. Speculation about who Mr. Ailes’s successor would be transfixed the media world on Wednesday, with focus on outsiders such as the CBS News president, David Rhodes, who had worked at Fox News for several years one of Mr. Ailes’s current lieutenants, like Bill Shine or Michael Clemente the New York Post chief executive Jesse Angelo or someone from conservative media like Christopher Ruddy, the founder and chief executive of Newsmax Media Inc. At least for the day, fears that some of Fox News’s stars, like Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and Greta Van Susteren, would exercise contract clauses to leave with Mr. Ailes’s loss of his chairmanship, appeared to abate. Network staff members were acutely focused on Megyn Kelly, who had hinted in recent months she wanted to leave the network. She was one of the women who told Paul, Weiss investigators that Mr. Ailes had acted improperly with her, one of the people briefed on the inquiry said Tuesday. Ms. Kelly maintained her silence on Wednesday. But as the end of Mr. Ailes’s chairmanship approached, it appeared to embolden other women to discuss their own experiences at the network. Several spoke with reporters on condition that they not be named. In interviews, several current and former Fox News employees said inappropriate comments about a woman’s appearance and her sex life were frequent in the newsroom. The newsroom has been on edge in the weeks since Ms. Carlson filed her suit, one person said. Everybody wants to talk about the drama but nobody wants to talk in the open, the person said. As of Wednesday evening, staff members had not received an email from 21st Century Fox, Fox News or Mr. Ailes informing them about the events that have transpired, the investigation or the future of the network. The swift pace of events at Fox News — only two weeks passed between Ms. Carlson’s filing of her lawsuit and the negotiations to end Mr. Ailes’s leadership — were especially surprising for a network that has made its name by embracing “politically incorrect” themes, something in keeping with the brash personalities of both Mr. Ailes and the 21st Century Fox patriarch, Rupert Murdoch. Female hosts in skirts, sitting behind translucent desks that can highlight their legs, have always been a network trademark. To completely move away from that ethos would be to fundamentally change the network. And 21st Century Fox’s leadership will have to be mindful of maintaining its special relationship with viewers that Mr. Ailes has so carefully cultivated, and which is central to the financial and ratings success of the network. Mr. Murdoch will ultimately determine that direction in close consultation — and perhaps even some deference — to the two sons he is grooming to succeed him, Lachlan and James Murdoch. The latter, at least, is known to have different politics from his father. So far, none of the three has made any public statement about the network, its future or, for that matter, Mr. Ailes.

Press TV Debate: Duff on Lebanon, Hezbollah and Aoun’s Presidency (3 videos)

Gordon Duff, Senior Editor

By Gordon Duff, Senior Editor on November 2, 2016 Understanding Lebanon and the political realignment there critical to US understanding of the region...and to our future with Israel Lebanon has a new president. The political development puts an end to over two years of power vacuum in the country. On Monday, lawmakers voted to pick General Michel Aoun as Lebanon’s 13th president. The election is seen as a victory for the resistance movement Hezbollah, especially after Saad Hariri, the leader of the March 14 Alliance and a close ally of Saudi Arabia, voiced his support for Aoun. On this edition of ‘The Debate,’ Press TV has asked two analysts why they believe Hariri threw his weight behind Aoun. Nabil Mikhail, a professor at The George Washington University, praised Hariri’s measure, adding that with this decision, he actually wanted to bring stability back to Lebanon and thus avoid Syria’s spillover effects. Hariri is a shrewd politician who represents an important segment of the Lebanese society, Mikhail said, adding that by his vote for General Aoun, he aimed to take the country out of the current political deadlock and, ultimately, save it from the repercussions of the Syrian war. Mikhail believes that the United States’ shrinking power in the Middle East has forced Hariri to face away from Washington. “I believe that Saad Hariri could have been motivated, along with others, about a vision that America’s role in the Middle East is receding. So, perhaps Russia is the new reality in the Middle East, is a new power. So, anything that is somehow close to Russia will be better for Lebanon,” Mikhail argued. Mikhail said that “so many things have transpired inside Lebanon and inside the Arab region within this year. I would assume that the Syrian civil war and its severity and brutality has convinced him that he can maintain good ties with the [Persian] Gulf states but at the same time study the strategic realities.” “He (Hariri) sees that Syria has to be stable in order for Lebanon to be stable. So, he is making calculations. I hope none of them is a miscalculation because the area cannot afford any other catastrophe. So, he displayed again very well maintaining some sort of balance between his Syrian interests and [Persian] Gulf interests and perhaps he can formulate some equilibrium about this.” The image grab shows Gordon Duff (L), a senior editor of Veterans Today based in Ohio, and Nabil Mikhail, a professor at The George Washington University, at Press TV’s ‘The Debate’ show on Monday night. Meanwhile, the other guest on the show, Gordon Duff, the editor of Veterans Today , noted that, in his view, the reason behind Hezbollah’s victory in Michel Aoun’s election is the movement’s victories in Syria, especially in Aleppo, which has made it more powerful than ever and has paved the way for domestic victories. “If Aleppo falls, and Aleppo will fall, it’s only a matter of how long, a victorious and highly-disciplined, highly-trained Hezbollah force, [which is] heavily trained by Russia and by Iran, is going to return to Lebanon. It’s a very different force and I believe Hariri is looking at this. Reaching out for what should be a very different Hezbollah could lead to stabilization of the political process in Lebanon that has been out of control,” Duff reiterated. Related Posts:

СМИ Сербии приписали россиянам "подготовку терактов" в Черногории

0 комментариев 0 поделились Фото: AP Однако глава правительства Сербии Александр Вучич отказался комментировать сообщения о высланных россиянах. "Не все в вашем вопросе неверно, одна часть не точна. Я не хотел вам отвечать не только по той причине, которую уже назвал, но и еще из-за одной вещи — потому, что об этих делах я говорить не имею права по закону", — сказал Вучич белградскому телеканалу N1. Новость о депортации российских граждан совпала с неожиданным приездом в Белград секретаря Совбеза РФ Николая Патрушева. Сербские эксперты убеждены, что главная цель визита — обсуждение ситуации в Черногории. Как сообщает "Коммерсантъ", ссылаясь на близких к правительству Сербии источников, Белград не заинтересован в таком скандале, но и не хочет быть заподозренным в причастности к неким "террористическим акциям". Во время своего визита Николай Патрушев встретился со всем руководством республики: 26 октября — с президентом Томиславом Николичем и главой МИДа Ивицей Дачичем, а 27 октября — с премьером Александром Вучичем. Все переговоры прошли в строго закрытом режиме. В самом начале визита было официально объявлено, что Патрушев предложил сербским властям подписать меморандум о взаимопонимании в области безопасности, который создал бы постоянный канал связи между Москвой и Белградом в этой сфере. Однако профессор факультета безопасности Белградского университета Зоран Драгишич уверен, что визит связан с тем, что произошло в соседней Черногории, где власти объявили о предотвращении террористических акций в день выборов. Этой же точки зрения придерживается сербский военный эксперт Александр Радич. Источник "Ъ" близкий к правительству Сербии считает, что "российский гость наверняка хотел бы прояснить наши шаги по сотрудничеству с Черногорией в расследовании активности групп, готовивших беспорядки в Подгорице 16 октября". Напомним, 16 октября в Черногории состоялись парламентские выборы . В день голосования Власти страны объявили о задержании 20 граждан Сербии по подозрению в подготовке теракта и путча. По предварительным данным, группа планировала напасть на собравшихся перед зданием парламента граждан и полицейских, занять помещения скупщины с целью провозгласить победу одной из политических партий, лишить свободы премьер-министра Черногории. Утверждается, что лидером организации был экс-начальник жандармерии Сербии Братислав "Бато" Дикич. Спустя несколько дней сербский премьер Вучич сообщил, что службы безопасности страны задержали ряд лиц, организовавших слежку за премьером Черногории. Напомним, на парламентских выборах в Черногории победила прозападная Демократическая партия социалистов (ДПС) премьер-министра Мило Джукановича. Как рассказал ранее Pravda.Ru специалист Института европейских исследований Стеван Гайич, "даже если бы оппозиция признала выборы, разница между оппозицией и пронатовской партией Джукановича — только в одном или двух депутатах. Так что Джуканович далеко не победил. Джуканович провел эти выборы в атмосфере государственного переворота, во время выборов были выключены Viber и WhatsApp. Оппозиция впервые за 27 лет сказала: хватит, не будем больше признавать нелегитимные выборы, потому что одним и тем же образом Джуканович приобретает власть из года в год и уже 27 лет он находится практически в режиме абсолютного диктатора страны". Можно предполагать, что и сообщения о подготовке "террористических актов" могут быть частью политической борьбы в Черногории - с учетом того, что от власти Мило Джуканович отказываться явно не собирается. Спешка к "европейскому будущему": Черногория в НАТО Поделиться:

Samsung, After Combustible Galaxy Note 7, Unveils New Smartphone - The New York Times

Brian X. Chen

SAN FRANCISCO — Dogged by combustible smartphones and recalls of other devices, Samsung Electronics is hoping to find a path to product redemption. The South Korean company on Wednesday introduced the Galaxy S8, its first major smartphone release since the scandal over its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, which were discontinued last year after some of the devices spontaneously caught fire. “It’s been a challenging year for Samsung,” said D. J. Koh, the company’s head of mobile devices, adding that Samsung was ready to start anew. The Galaxy S8 features a large 5. screen without adding bulk to the device. The company said it made room for the screen by reducing the size of the bezel — or the forehead and the chin — on the face of the device. Samsung also made the home button into a virtual button and shoved it under the display. With the Galaxy S8, Samsung also rolled out its virtual assistant, Bixby, to rival Apple’s Siri, Google’s Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa. Similar to previous virtual assistants, Bixby responds to voice commands. Time — and sales — will tell whether the Galaxy S8 will restore confidence in Samsung’s smartphones. Last year, after the company received dozens of complaints about the Galaxy Note 7 overheating, and in some cases exploding, the company recalled the phones. But replacement phones continued to catch fire, and the company had to recall the devices a second time before killing the product altogether, sacrificing billions of dollars in revenue. The Galaxy Note 7 may still make a reappearance. On Monday, Samsung said that it might sell refurbished versions of the phone. Jan Dawson, an independent analyst for Jackdaw Research, said the Galaxy S8 could help Samsung recover as long as the product worked reliably. “Note 7 definitely did some damage to the Samsung brand, especially for people who had little or no personal experience with Samsung devices,” he said. “But as long as the S8 does well and doesn’t suffer from any of the same problems, the memories of the Note 7 issues will fade and Samsung will recover well.” Samsung last year also issued a separate recall for 2. 8 million washing machines in the United States. The machines were prone to detaching from the washing machine chassis, posing a risk of injury. The Galaxy S8 will arrive in stores next month with a starting price of $750.

Poland Vows Referendum on Migrant Quota Amidst EU Pressure: ’The Public’s Voice Will Be Heard’ - Breitbart

Virginia Hale

“The public’s voice will be heard,” Poland’s president declared, as he vowed a referendum on the European Union’s (EU) migrant quota amidst growing pressure from Brussels. [Describing the question of whether Poland should be forced to accept a quota of migrants from the third world as “of vital importance” for its future security, Andrzej Duda said the referendum could be held during parliamentary elections in 2019. “That would allow the new government to hear the clear voice of the nation on the issue,” said the president. The conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government’s position on the quota system is “clear and unambiguous” Duda said. He said maintaining the party “does not agree with the [plan] and asserted that “Poland does not consent to the forced relocation of refugees on our territory”. Holding a referendum will also enable the public’s voice to be heard over the voices of international organisations, Duda asserted. “If Brussels continues to raise [the issue of migration] attempting to exert pressure and force on the Polish authorities, then public opinion will be extremely important,” Duda promised. Poland’s latest display of opposition to the redistribution plan comes as the Czech Republic announced its withdrawal from the scheme, which has been fiercely contested in Central and Eastern Europe, with Hungary and Slovakia challenging the plans in court. In an interview with Czech tabloid Blesk published Tuesday, EU president Juncker demanded all nations in Europe shoulder “solidarity and responsibility” when it comes to migration. Brussels was left humiliated last year when Hungarians were asked what they thought of EU plans to force on their nation migrants from the third world, as 95 per cent said they rejected the scheme. Earlier this month, Breitbart London reported that senior Polish MEP Ryszard Czarnecki announced the “only proven method” to avoid Islamist terror attacks is not to import Muslim migrants. “When it comes to reducing the chances of Poland being hit by [Islamist] terror attacks, the only proven method is to not allow in Muslim migrants,” the MEP told local radio after the London Bridge terror attack, which killed eight and injured at least 48 others.

Sparking An Inner Revolution

Lance Schuttler

0 0 With humanity’s awakening continuing to speed up as every day passes, we see more and more people desiring information to help them better themselves. Whether that is done through eating healthier foods, beginning a yoga or meditation practice, or whether it is done by being more mindful with the words they choose to use when having an inner dialogue or a conversation with friends and family, more people are looking for information to help them transform their lives in a positive way. While there are many methods to improving one’s life, below are some methods that can help a person spark an inner revolution to create positive and uplifting change in his or her world. Grounding/Earthing Grounding, or what is also called Earthing is when a person has bare skin touching the Earth or a tree and is most commonly done by standing on the Earth with one’s bare feet. Doing this begins to balance the electrochemical state of the body because of the negative ions the Earth emits. Negative ions act as antioxidants (free-radical scavengers) by pairing up with the free radicals and rendering them neutral. Thus, pain, inflammation and anything out of balance begins to move towards balance, or homeostasis. There have been several studies that have shown how grounding helps with pain reduction, wounding healing, balancing of the circadian rhythm to help improve sleep, as well as helping to shift a person’s brainwaves to the alpha state, which is great for a calm and balanced, yet alert and fully awake state of mind. Standing barefoot on the Earth, sand, dirt or concrete (not asphalt) will allow the free flow of negative ions to come in contact with the sensory neurons on the skin and begin to trigger positive physiological and psychological changes within the body. Taking it a bit further, if a person is able to connect with the Earth in a quiet place, the benefits could be even more as Dr. Joe Dispenza has said , “In clinical studies, we have proven that 2 hours of nature sounds a day significantly reduce stress hormones up to 800% and activates 500-600 DNA segments known to be responsible for healing and repairing the body.” Burning Sage In a 2007 study from the Journal of Ethnopharmacology , researchers found that medicinal smoke killed harmful airborne bacteria by up to 94% in just one hour. On a more spiritual level, burning sage has long been used to clear negative or disharmonious energies from a space. This can be done when a person comes home from work or school for that day, as burning sage can be a good way to clear any discordant energy the person may have “picked up” or had “taken on” from other people or their environment. It is used to clear away such energy so that a person can be centered in who he or she is, rather than having to deal with issues that might have been taken on from others. I personally do this each time after coming home from getting groceries or running and errand. Essential Oils The two best ways to use essential oils are to smell them as well as apply them to the skin. While applying essential oils to the skin has many of it’s own benefits, smelling them also creates wonderful responses in the body, and especially the brain. According to the University of Minnesota , smelling essential oils’ molecules affect the olfactory organs, the lungs (and thus the respiratory system) as well as the brain. Odor molecules travel through the nose and positively affect the limbic system of the brain, which is sometimes called the “emotional part of the brain.” To this end, the limbic system controls heart rate, mood, blood pressure, memory, breathing, stress hormone response and overall stress levels. Applying or smelling essential oils throughout the day is a wonderful way to develop emotional intelligence and can help a person respond to stressful situations in a more positive way than before. Smelling essential oils can be personally described as an uplifting and heavenly experience; one that allows us to smell the cosmic byproduct of thousands of flowers pressed into a wonderful gift for humanity. Breathing Exercises Breathing exercises, which can also be considered a form of meditation, can have profound effects on the body and mind. According to Deepok Chopra , a regular practice of rhythmic deep breathing has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression, stabilize blood pressure, increase energy levels and decrease feelings of stress. Over time, a breathing or meditation practice can lead to wonderful internal shifts both physically and emotionally. Incorporating a deep breathing practice into the practice of grounding or Earthing is a great way to accomplish both practices at once. Here is an article of three sample breathing exercises from Dr. Andrew Weil. While there are many other practices a person can use to help catalyze deeper inner growth, such as flower essence therapy (different from essential oils), nature walking, sun-bathing and the use of certain health supplements like fulvic acid and Reishi , this list is a guide that may help those who may just be starting to experience an internal transformation. These four simple practices can be easy to incorporate into one’s life and is recommended to experiment with what feels best for that person. What of these practices do you use in your life? What other practices do you use to help you continue your inner revolution? Share with us your practices or suggestions you have in the comments section. Cheers to our health! Lance Schuttler graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in Health Science-Health Coaching and offers health coaching services through his website Orgonlight Health. You can follow the Orgonlight Health Facebook page or visit the website for more information on how to receive health coaching for yourself, your friend or family member as well as view other inspiring articles.

Dueling Drills Further Increase NATO Russia Tensions

Dueling Drills Further Increase NATO Russia Tensions November 03, 2016 Dueling Drills Further Increase NATO Russia Tensions Irked by NATO's disaster-relief drills in Montenegro, Russia held special forces exercises with its Balkan neighbour Serbia on Wednesday. In Montenegro, which split from Serbia a decade ago, NATO is on Friday due to wrap up a five-day disaster-relief drill of 680 unarmed personnel from seven NATO members and 10 partner countries including Serbia. "It is in the interest of Montenegro, in the interest of NATO, and also in the interest of the region, to be part of NATO and promote Euro-Atlantic values in the Balkans, and these values benefit each and every one of us," Montenegro's deputy Prime Minister Dusko Markovic , said about the exercise. Across the border, in Serbia, Russia flew in its paratroopers along with allied Belarus for an exercise called "Slavic Brotherhood", which according the Serbian defence ministry focuses on "fighting terrorism". The drills are set to last until November 9 and will include 212 Russian, 450 Serbian and 56 Belarusian troops. Three Russian transport planes have already landed in Belgrade on Wednesday bringing in soldiers and equipment. Drills in the two former Yugoslav republics reflect mounting tensions between Russia and the West over a variety of geopolitical issues including conflicts in Syria and Ukraine. READ MORE: RUSSIA IS MOVING NUKES WEST IN RESPONSE TO CONTINUING NATO AGGRESSION In Serbia, NATO is hugely unpopular after its 1999 bombing ousted Belgrade's armed forces out of its former southern province of Kosovo. But as part of its integrations with the West, Serbia last year signed the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP), the highest level of cooperation between NATO and a country not aspiring to join. An EU candidate, Serbia insists that it is militarily neutral, but maintains close ties with Russia, its Orthodox Christian and Slavic superpower ally, the biggest gas and oil source and an obstacle to Kosovo's membership in the United Nations. Last year Montenegro accepted an invitation to join NATO, a move that soured relations withRussia. Ahead of October's parliamentary vote Montenegro's outgoing Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic accused Moscow of meddling in country's elections and of financing the opposition. A fifth of the votes in the poll went to an anti-NATO, pro-Serbia bloc. Article by Doc Burkhart , Vice-President, General Manager and co-host of TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles 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

Study: More Than Half of Car Crashes Involve Drivers Distracted by Cell Phones - Breitbart

Nate Church

A new study found that 52% of roadside accidents involved drivers distracted by their phones. [Apparently, being in sole control of one of the aluminum shells hurtling at high speed on America’s roads isn’t enough to hold drivers’ attention. Traffic deaths have jumped by 14% since 2014, according to Cambridge Mobile Telematics, which conducted the study. The research firm found that 52% of accidents involved drivers who were distracted by their phones. phone use while driving laws have done little to curb the habits of its citizens. Only fourteen states have banned handheld use of phones while driving, and only twenty prohibit phone use by school bus drivers a single state bans bus drivers from texting. But Cambridge Mobile Telematics’ Chief Technology Officer, Hari Balakrishnan, has hope: Distracted driving due to smartphone use is intuitively blamed for the increase in road crashes and claims. What’s less intuitive is that smartphones hold the solution to the problem they created. Drivers now have access to tools that analyze their driving and achieve real behavioral change through immediate and ongoing feedback. Balakrishnan called distracted driving “one of the most urgent public safety problems facing our communities today” and stressed the importance of taking a “critical look at how we can most effectively reduce the danger that drivers face. ” CMT is working to do their part. Their DriveWell app both monitors drivers and encourages safer driving habits. The site claims that “users see an average reduction of 35% in phone distraction, 20% in hard braking, and 20% in speeding all within less than 30 days of using the program. ” Their goals are best summed up by Balakrishnan himself: “By harnessing the very technology that threatens driver safety, and using it to help drivers understand and improve their behavior, we’re making the world safer by the day. ” Follow Nate Church @Get2Church on Twitter for the latest news in gaming and technology, and snarky opinions on both.

Dairy✓ᵀᴿᵁᴹᴾ

Sounds like he has our president pegged. What a shame, Obama's ineptness pushed our strategic partner in that area away with the idiotic pushing of PC policies. Duterte has a huge drug problem that is ruining his country and there is only one way to set it back on course. Yes, it's ugly and people get hurt, but cleaning the drugs out is always a hard thing to do and it must be done in order to bring about a civil society again. They should have just left him alone and not tried to tell him how to run his country. I can't believe the complete ignoramuses we have running this country. Maybe Trump can fix this screw up but it's a slim hope even for someone as able as Trump.

Samantha Bee Explores the Dangerous Rise of the Alt Right in American Politics (Video)

Samantha Bee Explores the Dangerous Rise of the Alt Right in American Politics (Video) Posted on Nov 2, 2016 The “Full Frontal” host discussed the “white nationalist ghouls” of the “racist fringe” that have taken over the Republican Party in a two-part segment on Monday.

The Trump Election Will Spark More Individual & Collective Healing

Lance Schuttler

The Trump Election Will Spark More Individual & Collective Healing Nov 9, 2016 1 0 This article will not be a pro-Trump or a pro-Hillary piece. It will have little to do with politics and more to do with a much bigger picture. As everyone knows, many people are celebrating the Trump victory and many people are mourning it. What is needed right now is a wider perspective at what is occurring. Donald Trump will become the next U.S. President. With Donald Trump set to take over the Oval Office in late January of 2017, there are many unknowns, just as it would be if Hillary would have won. What is going to happen with health insurance? What is going to happen with immigration laws? What is going to happen with foreign policy in relation to other nations? More importantly, what is going to happen to us as individuals and humanity as a whole? Individual Healing While these questions need to be asked and will in time be answered, we must remember that we cannot give up our personal power to shape our individual lives. Right now, many people are worried and many people are thrilled. Regardless of our feelings on this election, we must remember that we alone are responsible for our individual lives as we make countless choices each day. How will I choose to treat others today? How will I choose to treat myself today? Am I taking care of my physical body well by eating well and exercising enough? Am I ensuring to get enough sleep throughout the week? What is it I can do today to become a better person? By either believing that one person is going to save or change your entire life or by believing that one person is going to ruin your entire life gives away your own personal power. The great philosopher Epictetus once said , “It is not what happens to you, it is how you respond.” We always have a choice in our response to any situation. By either being saddened or thrilled at the perception that one man is going to either ruin or save your life is extremely dis-empowering. Though each person has every right to feel how they want, it must be remembered where true power comes from: within . Every person has the choice how they wish to respond to this election. Are you going to wither away in frustration, anger and despair or are you going to make choices that help you to become the best person you can be? On the opposite side, are you going to sit back and believe your personal challenges are going to be fixed with a new president or are you also going to take action to become the best person you can be? Regardless of who you did or didn’t support, we all need to reclaim our personal power and continue the trek towards bettering and healing ourselves, even if it is in the smallest of ways. Collective Healing On a wider scale, this election will give us the collective choice to where we wish to travel. Do we wish to seek peace with other people and other countries? Do we wish to have dialogue with nations previous administrations demonized? Do we wish to communicate with and try to understand other people’s viewpoints or are we going to remain closed off to such opportunities for personal and collective healing and growth? Additionally, are we going to continue to allow group-think to dominate our society by letting the media tell us what to believe, or are we going to begin gathering information from several sources to arrive at our own conclusions? Are we going to question our leaders more and demand answers that are truthful and unbiased towards any specific agenda? Will we do this both on a local and mass level? Are we going to work towards cooperation or continue to live in a dying paradigm of competition? As physicist and author Gregg Braden says , “A growing body of scientific evidence, gathered from more than 400 peer-reviewed studies, is leading to an undeniable truth: violent competition and war directly contradict our deepest instincts of cooperation and nurturing. Scientific studies show conclusively that nature is based upon a model of cooperation and mutual aid, not violent competition and war. We live in a world where everything is connected. We can no longer think in terms of us and them when it comes to the consequences of the way we live. Today it’s all about WE .” Science has disproved Darwin’s theory and shows us we must act in unison to transcend our collective challenges. I see this election as many other do: a massive turning point in our world’s evolution. I personally have full trust that we will look back at this time and see this as a positive, yet challenging event in that it empowered more people to begin taking action to create the kind of world they wish to live in. This turning point is allowing us all to shift our perception of the world and to initiate action towards creating a more peaceful, happy and abundant world for all. Lance Schuttler graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in Health Science and practices health coaching through his website Orgonlight Health . You can follow the Orgonlight Health facebook page or visit the website for more information on how to receive health coaching for yourself, a family member or a friend as well as view other inspiring articles.

Ep. 544 FADE to BLACK Jimmy Church w/ Laura Eisenhower : Restoring the Balance [VIDEO]

Madeline

Click Here To Learn More About Alexandra's Personalized Essences Psychic Protection Click Here for More Information on Psychic Protection! Implant Removal Series Click here to listen to the IRP and SA/DNA Process Read The Testimonials Click Here To Read What Others Are Experiencing! Copyright © 2012 by Galactic Connection. All Rights Reserved. Excerpts may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Alexandra Meadors and www.galacticconnection.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any material on this website without express and written permission from its author and owner is strictly prohibited. Thank you. Privacy Policy By subscribing to GalacticConnection.com you acknowledge that your name and e-mail address will be added to our database. As with all other personal information, only working affiliates of GalacticConnection.com have access to this data. We do not give GalacticConnection.com addresses to outside companies, nor will we ever rent or sell your email address. Any e-mail you send to GalacticConnection.com is completely confidential. Therefore, we will not add your name to our e-mail list without your permission. Continue reading... Galactic Connection 2016 | Design & Development by AA at Superluminal Systems Sign Up forOur Newsletter Join our newsletter to receive exclusive updates, interviews, discounts, and more. Join Us!

Cognition and True Islam - A Book Review

M.R. Islam

1 Shares 1 0 0 0 Book Review – Dr. Rafiq Islam, Emertec R&D Ltd; Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia Book title: True Islam, Jihad, and Terrorism: The Science of Islamic Foreign Policy – Jaan S. Islam Publisher: New York: Nova Science Publishers ISBN 978-1-63485-542-6. At a time of politics of fear, Jaan Islam counters fear with knowledge in his masterpiece, True Islam, Jihad and Terrorism (Nova Science Publishers, New York, 2016). During the 2016 US election, it has become clear world peace and security is connected to the state of Islam and how it is understood in today’s context. This is a very timely book that fills a gap in the western society about Islamic history, philosophy, and political science. This book presents the Islamic political philosophy as represented in the writings of great Muslim thinkers and scholars such as Ibn Khaldun. Jaan Islam uses the so-called ‘Islamic cognition technique’ and starts the book with a chapter dedicated to Islamic cognition. This chapter on cognition itself is a paradigm shift in the modern research scholarship and can be considered for advancing knowledge in other fields. Such an extension was first pointed by Islam, Zatzman and Islam (2013) in their ground-breaking work on educational curriculum. MORE... Stop using millenary religions as a scapegoat for the crimes of Modern Imperialism Another Ramadan for Muslims amid sufferings A conversation on equality, integration and Islam as a religious marker An open letter to young Muslims everywhere: The seed of triumph in every adversity Following the tradition of early Islamic scholars, Jaan Islam presented all theories in the book with evidence from the primary Islamic sources, Qur'an and authenticated traditions of the prophet . These sources were completely ignored in the in the Orientalist (now it has morphed into neo-Orientalism) writings, which led to the inundation of the post 9/11 world with disinformation and agenda-driven ‘research’ about Islamic history. The distinction between this book and these agenda-driven ones gives the book a special value. Although the book explains the Islamic foundations of political science and governance, it should not be looked at as a book of theology. It is a dogma-free approach that has been characterized as truly scientific elsewhere . Quite appropriately, the author starts off with a brilliant narration of Islamic cognition. It has been all but forgotten in the west that Islam is the religion that started the tradition of dogma-free, truly scientific cognition. The west does recognize Averröes, the famous Islamic scholar as the father of secular philosophy, whereas brands Islam as just another religion, similar to Christianity, infected with doctrinal philosophy. It is no surprise that with that starting point, Islam remains the most misunderstood religion in the west. Chapter 3 of the book deals with fundamental philosophies of three major philosophers, namely Hobbes, Locke and Ibn Khaldun. In this chapter, the author debunks another myth, that is Ibn Khaldun’s political theory is somehow similar to those of Hobbes and Locke. Ibn Khaldun, the father of social science, indeed had a very different starting point in his cognition. The author points out how Ibn Khaldun’s first premise was Shahadah that formed the basis of the cognition axis by using Qur’an as the origin and prophet Muhammad’s life (through the book of Hadith) as the pivotal point. One the other hand, Locke had placed himself as the pivotal point, whereas Hobbes eliminated any cognition point. The author makes it clear that both Hobbes’ and Locke’s cognition tools are just as illogical as dogmatic cognition. In my researched opinion, this accurate distinction has not been made by any other author on the topic. It is because the eastern authors do not know about Hobbes and Locke and the western authors do not know about Islamic cognition that was obviously alive and well with Ibn Khaldun. In Chapter 4, the author uses the case laws of the prophet and his four rightly guided caliphs (known as Rashedun Caliphs). Clearly, the author’s intention is to understand how the prophet and his closest followers went to war or which verses of the Qur’an they were enacting. For the first time anyone took this approach and not surprisingly, the author comes up with four rigid criteria from the Qur’an. No other author to the best of my knowledge connected them to specific wars that the prophet and his companions engaged in. This finding helps the author establish jus ad bellum that can explain every war that shaped the foundation of the young Islamic state of the time. Similar to Chapter 4, the author discovers jus ad bello in Islamic jurisprudence in Chapter 5. Once again, the case laws are presented and analyzed in such a manner, one can take any new example and evaluate it to call it permissible or not. The theoretical basis for critiquing any modern warfare is set in this chapter. In Chapter 6, the author addresses a difficult topic. When is it allowed or even mandatory to rebel against a head of state? It is often stated that Islam is a complete code of life. The author makes it clear that Islam didn’t leave anything to imagination and has left a strict criterion and modus operandi for any imaginable crisis that can occur at any time. The important question arises as to when a head of state that once claimed to have divine authority can be removed or when a head of state can be declared unfit and it becomes mandatory for the citizens to remove him or wage war if necessary. This is not an easy topic to cover even in today’s world. The author covers it with dexterity from an epoch he considers as exemplary. The history is not pretty and there is room for controversy as often the history is written by the victor and clearly after the demise of the rightly guided Caliphate, the victors were no longer rightly guided. The author weaves through this difficult process and makes it clear for the readership. This chapter can be an eye opener even for a student of Islam that has spent lifetime on the topic. Often when Islamic criteria are discussed, eyes roll and eye brows furrow in disbelief. If it is all that simple, why don’t Islamic scholars have consensus? The author handles this topic like a pro. In Chapter 7, he analyzes current Islamic scholars and deconstructs their thought process. He has kind words for some but has nothing but scorn for the self-righteous, apologist ‘scholars’ that have done great disservice to Islam and/or scientific cognition process. One doesn’t have to be personal, but the writing is so clear, one can hardly afford to not get angry at certain genre of scholars. To anyone’s surprise, this list is not made out of anti-Islamic non-Muslim scholars. Chapter 8 is where proof of the pudding appears. The author analyzes every major event of today’s political arena and analyzes it with the Islamic criteria of both jus ad bello and jus ad bellum. The author comes up with an index to rank various countries and groups. Most interesting is the discussion on current US allies, such as Saudi Arabia, and how they rank among the biggest offenders of Islam and Islamic laws. This is not a topic for the faint of heart but the author did an excellent job making it easily readable, punctuated with numerous riveting arguments. Chapter 9 is the conclusion and recommendation. I have studied Islam for some 30 years and yet I found these conclusions novel and entirely logical. I doubt anyone would agree with the conclusions unless of course that person reads the entire book prior to reading the conclusion. It is important to read the book in sequence. Chapter 10 lists the bibliography and references. It is many pages long and is quite comprehensive. Chapter 11 is the Appendix that lists the letters of the prophet. It is a great idea to give the letters in original Arabic, so there is no room for misinterpretation, let alone disinformation. Anyone with knowledge of Islam knows that Jihad is in the core of Islam and this book shows it is so and there needs to be no apology. Quite interestingly, the author even depicts Jihad as the roof of Islam. Without the roof, the Fort of Islam has no protection whatsoever. This depiction captures the essence of protection, security, as well as integrity and puts away the notion of Jihad being a weapon for Crusade like aggression. This book belongs to the desk of any researcher interested in knowing about Islam or what Islam can do to bring about peace on earth in order to live out the true meaning of the word, Islam that means peace through submission to the creator. This book is equally useful for anyone interested in pursuit of peace and harmony that is truly elusive in today’s world. In this sense, this book is a manual for world governance in peace.

If Donald Trump Wins The Election, It Will Be The Biggest Miracle In US Political History

The Doc

If Donald Trump Wins The Election, It Will Be The Biggest Miracle In US Political History Posted on Home » Headlines » World News » If Donald Trump Wins The Election, It Will Be The Biggest Miracle In US Political History Are we about to see the largest election day miracle of all time? From Michael Snyder : Because as I will show in this article, that is precisely what it is going to take in order for Donald Trump to win. Before I go any further, I want to make it exceedingly clear that I am not saying what the outcome will be on November 8th. As I recently told a national television audience, I do not know who is going to win. In this article I am simply going to examine the poll numbers and the electoral map as they currently stand. But in this bizarre election things can literally change overnight, and it is entirely possible that we could still have another “October surprise” or two before it is all said and done. And without a doubt Donald Trump desperately needs something “to move the needle”, because if the election was held today Hillary Clinton would almost certainly win. What we have witnessed so far during the 2016 election season has been absolutely unprecedented. Just consider some of the things that we have seen up to this point in time. We have never had a bigger “October surprise” than the release of the lewd audio tape from 11 years ago in which Donald Trump claimed to grope women without their consent. We have never seen the mainstream media openly attack a presidential candidate as much as they have attacked Donald Trump. In the past, the big mainstream news outlets at least pretended to be fair and balanced, but this year they have completely discarded all notions of objectivity. They should be completely and utterly ashamed of themselves, and no matter who wins the election they will never be able to get their integrity back. We have also never seen a major party at war with itself this close to a presidential election. It has been said that a house divided against itself will surely fall, and a whole host of prominent Republican leaders have been openly attempting to sabotage the Trump campaign. If Donald Trump is able to overcome all of these factors, it truly will be a miracle of Biblical proportions. As it stands at the moment, however, the numbers are looking quite ominous for Trump. Right now, the Real Clear Politics average of national polls has Hillary Clinton ahead by 6.2 percent. Most political experts consider that to be an insurmountable lead at this stage in the game. But even if Trump can close that gap and pull ahead, that does not mean that he will win the election. In fact, Trump could beat Clinton by millions of votes nationally and still lose. In order to win the election, one candidate has got to get to 270 electoral votes. And on the latest Real Clear Politics electoral map, 262 electoral votes are being projected to go to Hillary Clinton, 164 electoral votes are being projected to go to Donald Trump, and 112 electoral votes are in the “toss up” category. So unless something dramatically changes, Donald Trump is essentially going to have to run the table in all of the closely contested states in order to win, and the mathematical odds of that happening are extremely slim. Let’s take a closer look at this. The first thing that Donald Trump is going to have to do in order to get to 270 electoral votes is to win all of the states that Mitt Romney won in 2012. That would get him up to 206 electoral votes. Unfortunately, it looks like that may be very difficult to do. Romney won North Carolina, but the six most recent polls all have Clinton ahead in that state. Romney also won Arizona, but the most recent poll to be taken there has Clinton ahead by five points. But for a moment, let’s assume that Trump can win all of the states that Romney won. On top of that, there are four other states that Trump must win… #1 Trump must win Florida’s 29 electoral votes. Without Florida, Trump has no realistic path to 270 electoral votes. So on election night if it is announced that Trump has lost Florida, you might as well turn off your television and go to bed because Trump is going to lose the election. Unfortunately for Trump, four recent major surveys all show Trump down by four points in the Sunshine state. #2 Trump must win Ohio’s 18 electoral votes. No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio, and the two most recent major surveys show that Trump and Clinton are tied in the state. #3 Trump must win Iowa’s 6 electoral votes. Fortunately for Trump, most recent surveys show him actually leading in Iowa. #4 Trump must win Nevada’s 6 electoral votes. At this point that is looking like it will be very tough to do, because all of the recent polls have Clinton leading in Nevada, including the most recent one that has her up by 7 points. If Donald Trump can win those four states, that still does not get him to 270 electoral votes. Instead, it gets him to 265 electoral votes, and so he would still need one more medium-sized state to win. The most likely candidates for that last state are Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin or Minnesota. Unfortunately for Trump, Clinton appears to have big leads in all four of those states right at this moment. But even if Trump can somehow pull off a miracle and squeak past the 270 electoral vote mark, the truth is that Utah could still mess everything up. Do you remember Evan McMullin? He was the third party “conservative alternative” candidate that was hyped for a couple of days but that seemingly fell off the map afterwards. He is only on the ballot in 12 states, but one of those states is Utah, and it turns out that Evan McMullin is a Mormon. Many Mormons believe that a Mormon will be elected president someday when the U.S. Constitution hangs “like a thread“. According to this belief, this Mormon president will turn the country around and all sorts of wonderful things will start to happen. Many Mormons thought that Mitt Romney was going to be this president, but now Evan McMullin has become the target of these expectations. So how in the world could Evan McMullin become president? Well, their plan is to have Evan McMullin win Utah, and that could potentially keep both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton from both getting to 270 electoral votes if the election is super close. If that happens, the election would be thrown into the House of Representatives. It is being projected that the House will still be controlled by the Republicans after this election, and so the choice would come down to either Trump or McMullin, and those backing McMullin believe that he would have a realistic shot in that scenario. I know all of this sounds very strange, but this is actually being discussed around family dinner tables all over Utah tonight. And in recent days Evan McMullin has been soaring in Utah. One recent survey shows Trump with a one point lead over McMullin, and another recent survey actually show McMullin leading Trump by four points in the state. So Trump could pull off a miracle and do everything else that he needs to do to get to 270 electoral votes, and Utah could end up messing up everything for him. In addition, it is also very important to keep in mind that Trump could actually get all of the legitimate votes that he needs to win and still have it stolen from him by election fraud. There was widespread evidence of “funny business” in 2012, and this is something that I detailed for a live studio audience down at Morningsideearlier this month… Are you starting to see why I would consider this to be the biggest miracle in American political history if Donald Trump actually overcomes all of these factors and wins the election? And we don’t have to wait until November 8th to get some indications about how the vote is going to go. Early voting is already taking place is some states, and so far the signs are not encouraging for the Trump campaign. The following comes from CNN… Democratic early turnout has stayed steady in North Carolina compared to 2012, while Republicans have dropped by about 14,500. In Nevada, Democrats have a smaller early voting deficit today than they did at this point in 2012. And Democrats are slightly ahead in Arizona in the early vote so far, though they are lagging Republicans in the tally of how many Arizonans have requested ballots. Perhaps most surprisingly, Democrats improved their position in conservative and Mormon-heavy Utah, where recent polls have shown a tight race. At this point in 2012, Republicans led Democrats in early voting by more than 22,000 voters. But so far this year, the GOP advantage is only 3,509. But if you do want Trump to win, the good news is that we still have more than two weeks before November 8th. We have seen some extremely bizarre things happen already in this election, and a miracle is definitely not out of the question. In fact, I am of the opinion that it is quite likely that some very strange events could take place between now and early November. So hold on to your hats, because the most interesting portion of the 2016 election may still be ahead of us.

Mindful Eating as Way to Fight Bingeing - The New York Times

Jeff Gordinier

Editors’ note: We’re resurfacing this 2012 article for Smarter Living. Now sit down, take a deep breath and really savor that Christmas cookie. TRY this: place a forkful of food in your mouth. It doesn’t matter what the food is, but make it something you love — let’s say it’s that first nibble from three hot, fragrant, perfectly cooked ravioli. Now comes the hard part. Put the fork down. This could be a lot more challenging than you imagine, because that first bite was very good and another immediately beckons. You’re hungry. Today’s experiment in eating, however, involves becoming aware of that reflexive urge to plow through your meal like Cookie Monster on a shortbread bender. Resist it. Leave the fork on the table. Chew slowly. Stop talking. Tune in to the texture of the pasta, the flavor of the cheese, the bright color of the sauce in the bowl, the aroma of the rising steam. Continue this way throughout the course of a meal, and you’ll experience the pleasures and frustrations of a practice known as mindful eating. The concept has roots in Buddhist teachings. Just as there are forms of meditation that involve sitting, breathing, standing and walking, many Buddhist teachers encourage their students to meditate with food, expanding consciousness by paying close attention to the sensation and purpose of each morsel. In one common exercise, a student is given three raisins, or a tangerine, to spend 10 or 20 minutes gazing at, musing on, holding and patiently masticating. Lately, though, such experiments of the mouth and mind have begun to seep into a secular arena, from the Harvard School of Public Health to the California campus of Google. In the eyes of some experts, what seems like the simplest of acts — eating slowly and genuinely relishing each bite — could be the remedy for a Paula Deen Nation in which an endless parade of new diets never seems to slow a stampede toward obesity. Mindful eating is not a diet, or about giving up anything at all. It’s about experiencing food more intensely — especially the pleasure of it. You can eat a cheeseburger mindfully, if you wish. You might enjoy it a lot more. Or you might decide, halfway through, that your body has had enough. Or that it really needs some salad. “This is ” said Dr. Jan Chozen Bays, a pediatrician and meditation teacher in Oregon and the author of “Mindful Eating: A Guide to Rediscovering a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food. ” “I think the fundamental problem is that we go unconscious when we eat. ” The last few years have brought a spate of books, blogs and videos about eating. A Harvard nutritionist, Dr. Lilian Cheung, has devoted herself to studying its benefits, and is passionately encouraging corporations and health care providers to try it. At the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University, Prof. Brian Wansink, the author of “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think,” has conducted scores of experiments on the psychological factors that lead to our bottomless bingeing. A mindful lunch hour recently became part of the schedule at Google, and gurus like Oprah Winfrey and Kathy Freston have become cheerleaders for the practice. With the annual of Thanksgiving, Christmas and Super Bowl Sunday behind us, and Lent coming, it’s worth pondering whether mindful eating is something that the mainstream ought to be, well, more mindful of. Could a discipline pioneered by Buddhist monks and nuns help teach us how to get healthy, relieve stress and shed many of the neuroses that we’ve come to associate with food? Dr. Cheung is convinced that it can. Last week, she met with team members at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and asked them to spend quality time with a almond. “The rhythm of life is becoming faster and faster, so we really don’t have the same awareness and the same ability to check into ourselves,” said Dr. Cheung, who, with the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, “Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life. ” “That’s why mindful eating is becoming more important. We need to be coming back to ourselves and saying: ‘Does my body need this? Why am I eating this? Is it just because I’m so sad and stressed out?’ ” The topic has even found its way into culinary circles that tend to be more focused on Rabelaisian excess than monastic restraint. In January, Dr. Michael Finkelstein, a holistic physician who oversees SunRaven, a center in Bedford, N. Y. gave a talk about mindful gardening and eating at the headquarters of the James Beard Foundation in New York City. “The question isn’t what are the foods to eat, in my mind,” he said in an interview. “Most people have a general sense of what the healthy foods are, but they’re not eating them. What’s on your mind when you’re eating: that’s mindful eating to me. ” A good place to try it is the Blue Cliff Monastery, in Pine Bush, N. Y. a Hudson Valley hamlet. At the serene refuge about 75 miles northwest of Manhattan, curious lay people can join Buddhist brothers and sisters for a free “day of mindfulness” twice a week. At a gathering in January, visitors watched a videotaped lecture by Thich Nhat Hanh (pronounced ) who founded this and other monasteries around the world they strolled methodically around the grounds as part of a walking meditation, then filed into a dining room for lunch. No one spoke, in keeping with a key principle of mindful eating. The point is simply to eat, as opposed to eating and talking, eating and watching TV, or eating and watching TV and gossiping on the phone while Tweeting and updating one’s Facebook status. A long buffet table of food awaited, all of it vegan and mindfully prepared by two monks in the kitchen. There was plenty of rice, herbed chickpeas, a soup made with cubes of taro, a stew of fried tofu in tomato sauce. In silence, people piled their plates with food, added a squirt or two of condiments (eating mindfully doesn’t mean forsaking the hot sauce) and sat down together with eyes closed during a Buddhist prayer for gratitude and moderation. What followed was captivating and mysterious. Surrounded by a murmur of clinking forks, spoons and chopsticks, the Blue Cliff congregation, or sangha, spent the lunch hour contemplating the enjoyment of spice, crunch, saltiness, warmth, tenderness and company. Some were thinking, too, about the origins of the food: the thousands of farmers, truck drivers and laborers whose work had brought it here. As their jaws moved slowly, their faces took on expressions of deep focus. Every now and then came a pause within the pause: A chime would sound, and, according to the monastery’s custom, all would stop moving and chewing in order to breathe and explore an even deeper level of sensory awareness. It looked peaceful, but inside some of those heads, a struggle was afoot. “It’s much more challenging than we would imagine,” said Carolyn Cronin, 64, who lives near the monastery and regularly attends the mindfulness days. “People are used to eating so fast. This is a practice of stopping, and we don’t realize how much we’re not stopping. ” For many people, eating fast means eating more. Mindful eating is meant to nudge us beyond what we’re craving so that we wake up to why we’re craving it and what factors might be stoking the habit of . “As we practice this regularly, we become aware that we don’t need to eat as much,” said Phap Khoi, 43, a robed monk who has been stationed at Blue Cliff since it opened in 2007. “Whereas when people just gulp down food, they can eat a lot and not feel full. ” It’s this byproduct of mindful eating — its potential as a psychological barrier to overeating — that has generated excitement among nutritionists like Dr. Cheung. “Thich Nhat Hanh often talks about our craving being like a crying baby who is trying to draw our attention,” she said. “When the baby cries, the mother cradles the baby to try to calm the baby right away. By acknowledging and embracing our cravings through a few breaths, we can stop our autopilot of reaching out to the pint of ice cream or the bag of chips. ” The average American doesn’t have the luxury of ruminating on the intense tang of sriracha sauce at a monastery. “Most of us are not going to be Buddhist monks,” said Dr. Finkelstein, the holistic physician. “What I’ve learned is that it has to work at home. ” To that end, he and others suggest that people start with a few baby steps. “Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Dr. Cheung said. “You’re not supposed to be able to switch on your mindfulness button and be able to do it 100 percent. It’s a practice you keep working toward. ” Dr. Bays, the pediatrician, has recommendations that can sound like a return to the simple rhythms of Mayberry, if not “Little House on the Prairie. ” If it’s impossible to eat mindfully every day, consider planning one special repast a week. Click off the TV. Sit at the table with loved ones. “How about the first five minutes we eat, we just eat in silence and really enjoy our food?” she said. “It happens step by step. ” Sometimes, even she is too busy to contemplate a chickpea. So there are days when Dr. Bays will take three mindful sips of tea, “and then, O. K. I’ve got to go do my work,” she said. “Anybody can do that. Anywhere. ” Even scarfing down a burrito in the car offers an opportunity for insight. “Mindful eating includes mindless eating,” she said. “ ‘I am aware that I am eating and driving.’ ” Few places in America are as frantically abuzz with activity as the Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. but when Thich Nhat Hanh dropped by for a day of mindfulness in September, hundreds of employees showed up. Part of the event was devoted to eating thoughtfully in silence, and the practice was so well received that an hourlong wordless vegan lunch is now a monthly observance on the Google campus. “Interestingly enough, a lot of the participants are the engineers, which pleases us very much,” said Olivia Wu, an executive chef at the company. “I think it quiets the mind. I think there is a real sense of feeling restored so that they can go back to the crazy pace that they came from. ” It’s not often, after all, that those workhorse technicians get to stop and smell the pesto. “Somebody will say, ‘I ate so much less,’ ” Ms. Wu said. “And someone else will say, ‘You know, I never noticed how spicy arugula tastes.’ ” And that could be the ingredient that helps mindful eating gain traction in mainstream American culture: flavor. “So many people now have found themselves in an adversarial relationship with food, which is very tragic,” Dr. Bays said. “Eating should be a pleasurable activity. ”

The Major Potential Impact of a Corporate Tax Overhaul - The New York Times

Neil Irwin

The United States system for taxing businesses is a mess. If there’s one thing nearly everyone can agree upon, it is that. The current corporate income tax manages the weird trick of both taxing companies at a higher statutory rate than other advanced countries while collecting less money, as a percentage of the overall economy, than most of them. It is infinitely complicated and it gives companies incentives to borrow too much money and move operations to countries with lower tax rates. Now, the moment for trying to fix all of that appears to have arrived. With the House, Senate and presidency all soon to be in Republican hands and with all agreeing that a major tax bill is a top priority, some kind of change appears likely to happen. And it may turn out to be a very big deal, particularly if a tax plan that House Republicans proposed last summer becomes the core of new legislation. Among Washington’s lobbying shops and policy analysis crowd, it’s known as a “ cash flow tax with border adjustment. ” It’s easier to think of it as the most substantial reworking of how businesses are taxed since the corporate income tax was introduced a century ago. And it could, if enacted, have big effects not just in the tax departments of major corporations but in global financial markets and the aisles of your local Walmart. This possible revamping of the corporate tax code is less politically polarizing than the debates sure to unfold in the months ahead over health care, or even over individual income taxes. But the consequences for business — and for the trajectory of the economy — are huge. The basic idea behind a D. B. C. F. T. (to use the abbreviation that has taken hold in a particularly nerdy corner of Twitter) is this: Right now companies are taxed based on their income generated in the United States. But there are countless tricks that corporate accountants can play to reduce the income companies report and to reduce their tax burden, and those tricks distort the economy. Two prime examples are transferring intellectual property to overseas holding companies and engaging in corporate inversions that move a company’s legal headquarters to a country with lower taxes. Moreover, because interest payments on debt are the current system makes it appealing to take on as much debt as possible, even though that can increase the risk of bankruptcy when a downturn comes along. The House Republicans’ approach, instead of taxing the corporate income, goes after a firm’s domestic cash flow: money that comes in from sales within the United States borders minus money that goes out to pay employees and buy supplies and so forth. There’s no incentive to play games with overseas companies that exist only to exploit tax differences or to relocate production to countries with lower taxes because you’ll be taxed on things you sell in the United States, regardless. “With an income tax, one of the key issues is ‘how do you measure income,’ ” said Alan Auerbach, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, who is a leading advocate of the idea. “But with cash flow you just follow the money. ” And the tax, Mr. Auerbach argues, could spur business investment while not encouraging companies to rely on debt. It allows companies to enjoy the tax savings of capital investments immediately rather than depreciating them over time. And it doesn’t give favorable treatment to debt, as opposed to equity. That alone would amount to a major shift in the tax system. Congressional staff members, the incoming administration and armies of lobbyists will spend countless hours hammering out the details of any such proposal: how it might be phased in, and how to treat financial services, and much more. Some of the most complex, and politically problematic, elements of the plan revolve around its treatment of international trade, which creates winners and losers. And some of those potential losers are powerful. Consider what border adjustment means: When an American company exports goods under this new tax system, it would not pay any taxes on its international sales, while its imports would be taxed. So a company that spent $80 making something that it sold overseas for $100 would pay no tax on its earnings. A company that imported goods worth $80 from abroad and them sold them domestically for $100 would pay tax on the full $100. At first glance this looks as if it would boost exports and reduce the trade deficit. Indeed, it might prove politically promising for advocates of the strategy to pitch the plan as one that would do this. Many economists think it won’t work that way, however. That’s because as soon as a tax with border adjustment looks likely to become law, the value of the dollar should rise in currency markets. And that stronger dollar could eliminate the apparent effects of the tax. The dollar could rise by, say, 20 to 25 percent, and the trade balance could remain about where it started. Essentially, moving to this system means betting on a “textbook economic theory,” as analysts at Evercore ISI put it, becoming a reality even though the effect hasn’t been tested in practice. If the dollar doesn’t strengthen as expected, for example, industries, especially those with lean profit margins, could face disaster. That helps explain why some of the stiffest opposition to this tax overhaul is coming from the retail industry. Essentially, economists are telling them “trust us, our models say the currency will adjust and it will all come out in the wash,” but if the models are wrong, for companies like Walmart, Target and many others that sell large volumes of imported goods, their viability could be threatened. If the models turn out to be right, there is a different set of risks. The United States dollar is the linchpin of the global financial system, and a large move in its value triggered by changes in domestic tax policy could have unforeseen effects. Many companies worldwide, especially banks and especially in emerging markets, have debt denominated in dollars, which would become more of a burden after a new dollar appreciation. A big dollar rise would also effectively shift trillions in wealth from American investments overseas toward global investors with assets in the United States. As Jared Bernstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has noted, we don’t really know what the distributional consequences of this tax overhaul would be. It could increase the costs of imported goods that the poor spend a disproportionate portion of their income on, like clothing and gasoline. That would be bad news for poorer Americans even as it makes the overall economy more efficient. There’s still a lot of work to be done to understand the consequences of the D. B. C. F. T. (also, work to be done to find a catchier name). But there’s a broader point about the nature of any major policy reform. The benefits of a reworked corporate tax code would emerge slowly these disruptions and costs could arrive almost instantly. No matter the outcome, 2017 will be a fascinating year in which core components of the tax system — with economic consequences — will be up for grabs.

I wonder what GLP will be like the day after the election?

Anonymous Coward (UID 12781064)

I wonder what GLP will be like the day after the election? Don't you? Re: I wonder what GLP will be like the day after the election? The servers will be smoking Peace is a lie, there is only passion.Through passion, I gain strength.Through strength, I gain power.Through power, I gain victory.Through victory, my chains are broken.The Force shall free me.Or something

3 Makers of World’s Smallest Machines Awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry - The New York Times

Kenneth Chang and Sewell Chan

Three pioneers in the development of nanomachines, made of moving molecules, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday. Molecular machines, the world’s smallest mechanical devices, may eventually be used to create new materials, sensors and energy storage systems, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in announcing the prize. “In terms of development, the molecular motor is at the same stage as the electric motor was in the 1830s, when scientists displayed various spinning cranks and wheels, unaware that they would lead to electric trains, washing machines, fans and food processors,” the academy said. The three scientists — Sauvage, J. Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa — will share equally in the prize of 8 million Swedish kronor, or about $930, 000. Nanotechnology — the creation of structures on the scale of a nanometer, or a billionth of a meter — has been a field of fruitful research for a couple of decades. Now, scientists are learning how to construct tiny moving machines about the width of a strand of human hair. “They’ve got it started,” said Donna J. Nelson, a professor of chemistry at the University of Oklahoma and president of the American Chemical Society. “This is just the beginning. ” The first step toward creating a molecular machine was making a moving part. Chemists have long been able to synthesize molecules, and they knew that interlocking rings might function as molecular parts. But how to create a second ring that passed through the first ring? Dr. Sauvage figured that out in 1983. A charged copper ion essentially acted as a pin around which to form the interlocking rings, he found. Once the rings were connected, the copper ion could be removed. These molecules became known as catenanes. The pieces of the molecule were held together mechanically, like links in a chain, rather than the usual chemical bonds. Dr. Stoddart made the next advance in 1991. Instead of two interlocking rings, Dr. Stoddart, then at the University of Birmingham in Britain, and his colleagues synthesized a rotaxane: a ring molecule wrapped around a axle. The ring slides back and forth along the dumbbell, like a bead on an abacus. Dr. Stoddart went on to construct a small computer chip that was essentially a molecular abacus, as well as other complex devices. One was composed of three rotaxanes whose rings were connected to form a larger platform that could rise 0. 7 billionths of a meter: a molecular elevator. Rotaxanes bending thin layers of gold acted like an artificial muscle, he found. As a sidelight, Dr. Sauvage and Dr. Stoddart used their techniques to create molecules that twisted in complicated knots. Dr. Stoddart said in an interview that he was inspired by the interlocking forms in Celtic art. Dr. Feringa, in 1999, became the first person to develop a molecular motor, creating a minuscule rotor blade powered by light that spun continually in the same direction. The first motor was not fast, but 15 years later, he and his research group demonstrated one that spun 12 million times per second. In 2011, they built a molecular “car. ” Four of the molecular motors acted as wheels, connected by a . The three men invigorated the field of topological chemistry, the academy said on Wednesday. They were pioneers in the second wave of nanotechnology, a field that the physicist Richard P. Feynman, also a Nobel laureate, foresaw as early as 1959. He gave a seminal lecture in 1984, toward the end of his life, on design and engineering at the molecular scale. In living organisms, nature has produced a slew of molecular machines that ferry materials around cells, construct proteins and divide cells. Artificial molecular machines are still primitive by comparison, but scientists can already envision applications in the future. “Think about nanomachines, microrobots,” said Dr. Feringa, who spoke by telephone with journalists assembled in Stockholm at the prize announcement. “Think about tiny robots that the doctor in the future will inject in your blood veins, and they go search for cancer cells or going to deliver drugs, for instance. ” The technology could also lead to the creation of “smart materials” that change properties based on external signals, Dr. Feringa said. Dr. Sauvage, 71, was born in Paris and received his Ph. D. in 1971 from the University of Strasbourg in France, where he is a professor emeritus. He is also director of research emeritus at the National Center for Scientific Research in France. Dr. Stoddart, 74, was born in Edinburgh, received his Ph. D. in 1966 from Edinburgh University, and is a professor of chemistry at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. He previously taught at U. C. L. A. and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to science. Dr. Feringa, 64, was born in the Netherlands, and received his Ph. D. in 1978 from the University of Groningen, where he is a professor of organic chemistry. Dr. Feringa said he was “a bit shocked” when he got the phone call telling him he had received the Nobel. “I feel a little bit like the Wright brothers, who were flying 100 years ago for the first time,” he said. “People were saying, ‘Why do we need a flying machine?’ And now we have a Boeing 747 and an Airbus. ” The molecular discovery “opens up a whole new world of nanomachines,” he said, while acknowledging that, as scientists figure out how to make machines that can operate autonomously, “we have to think about how we can handle these things safely. ” Dr. Stoddart’s name had been mentioned for the Nobel for years. “It really got to the point where I didn’t take it very seriously,” he said. He was asleep when the phone rang at 4 a. m. “I detected a Swedish accent, and I thought it was probably not a prank,” Dr. Stoddart said. When told that he was sharing the prize with Dr. Sauvage and Dr. Feringa, “I was totally delighted, because these are my scientific brothers in many ways,” he said. James M. Tour, a professor of chemistry at Rice University in Houston, said the Nobel would bestow legitimacy on the field and help convince people that nanomachines are not just fantastical science fiction of the far future. “No one is making money on these right now, but it will come,” he said. “These men have established and built up the field in a remarkable way. ” Dr. Tour predicted that the first profitable use of the technology might be machines that open up cell membranes in the body to deliver drugs. “It’s really going to be quite extraordinary,” he said. ■ Yoshinori Ohsumi, a Japanese cell biologist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for his discoveries on how cells recycle their content, a process known as autophagy, a Greek term for “ . ” ■ David J. Thouless, F. Duncan M. Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz shared the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for their research into the bizarre properties of matter in extreme states. Tomas Lindahl, Paul L. Modrich and Aziz Sancar were awarded the prize last year for discovering how cells repair their DNA and protect it from the sun’s ultraviolet light, as well as from natural toxins and industrial pollutants. Three more will be awarded in the coming days. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday in Norway. The Memorial Prize in Economic Science will come on Monday, Oct. 10, in Sweden. The Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced on Thursday, Oct. 13, in Sweden. Read about the winners at nytimes. .

Massive Anti-Trump Protests, Union Square NYC Live Stream

Truth Broadcast Network

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Review: ‘Lion’ Brings Tears for a Lost Boy, Wiped Dry by Google - The New York Times

A. O. Scott

The first part of “Lion,” Garth Davis’s unabashedly movie about a remarkable incident, has some of the scary, wondrous feeling of a fairy tale. The audience is invited to imagine a time — 1986, to be precise — before social media or smartphones or Google. In those days, a person could get lost, which is just what happens to a little boy named Saroo (Sunny Pawar) who accidentally travels more than 1, 000 miles from his home in central India to the streets of Calcutta. Saroo’s mother (Priyanka Bose) is a laborer in a poor village. He and his beloved older brother, Guddu (Abhishek Bharate) supplement her meager wages with whatever casual work they can find. In the first scene, they are scavenging lumps of coal to exchange for milk at the market. Later, Saroo follows Guddu to a railroad station, where the younger boy accidentally boards an train that takes him to a city full of strangers who speak a different language. With minimal dialogue and graceful editing, Mr. Davis and the screenwriter Luke Davies convey the Dickensian dimensions of Saroo’s situation. He is small and vulnerable, but also smart and resourceful, and even as he is exposed to horrifying cruelty, he is also a hero on an adventure. The enormous pain of his loss is sometimes mitigated by the excitement of discovery. You fear for him, and also root for him, and mostly you are captivated by his story and the sophisticated simplicity of its telling. What happens in the second part of the movie is a little more complicated. Saroo (now played by Dev Patel) has grown to manhood as the adopted son of an Australian couple, John and Sue Brierley (David Wenham and Nicole Kidman). He has a brother, Mantosh (Divian Ladwa) who was also adopted from India and has mental health and problems. Despite that, Saroo seems to be living in the stage of the fairy tale. He moves to Melbourne to study hotel management and falls in love with a fellow student, Lucy (Rooney Mara) from America. But memories of his life haunt him, and the arrival of new technology raises the tantalizing possibility of a return to his first home. Using Google Earth, Saroo sets out to retrace, on the computer screen and on sheets of paper tacked to his bedroom wall, his accidental journey. It’s not a fast or easy process, and the effort takes an emotional toll on him, on his parents and on Lucy. But you know, even if you’re not familiar with the true story behind “Lion,” that the fairy tale will come true. Mr. Davis, with strong assistance from a cast of dignified, charismatic criers and the music of Hauschka and Dustin O’Halloran, floods the viewer with big feelings. If you have ever been a child, raised a child, lost a child or met a child — or a mother — this movie will wreck you. As a purely emotional experience it succeeds without feeling too manipulative or maudlin. I mean, it is manipulative and maudlin, but in a way that seems fair and transparent. Still, it isn’t quite satisfying. The transition from the young to the Saroo demands a shift in tone and genre that “Lion” doesn’t quite achieve. What felt in the first part like wonderful, Spielbergian simplicity feels, in the latter sections, like simplification. There isn’t enough of the rough texture of family life or the complications of young love to give the older Saroo a full identity. The movie hovers on the edge of going deeper into his psychological predicament but holds itself back. At the end, the focus shifts from the agonies of Saroo to the glories of Google. I can’t complain too much about that for all I know, Google brought you to this review. But I also can’t help feeling a dystopian chill amid all the warm don’ fuzzies, a hint of corporate propaganda behind the fable. It is indeed remarkable how small the world has become, how many problems data can solve, how connected we all are to one another. But we’ve lost something, too, and we can’t even see what it is. “Lion” is rated (Parents strongly cautioned) for sex and profanity. Running time: 1 hour 59 minutes.

U.S. General: Islamic State Chemical Attack Had ’No Impact’ on U.S. Forces

Kristina Wong

WASHINGTON — U. S. and Australian troops advising Iraqi forces got caught up in a chemical weapons attack by the Islamic State (ISIS) in western Mosul during the weekend, a U. S. general confirmed Wednesday. [The chemical agent did not affect U. S. forces and is still undergoing testing, said Maj. Gen. Joseph Martin, the commander of U. S. and coalition ground forces in Iraq. “Daesh has used chemicals in the vicinity of Mosul. The chemicals have had no impact on the Iraqi Security Forces. They had no impact on our forces,” Martin said, using a derogatory Arabic acronym for ISIS. A U. S. defense official said U. S. forces donned protective gear. Australian troops were not exposed to the substance, according to an article by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Australian medics provided some Iraqi forces first aid after the attack. A U. S. defense official said those Iraqi forces have returned to duty. It is not the first time ISIS has used chemical weapons in Iraq. The U. S. military coalition confirmed in 2015 the first instances of the terrorist group using sulfur mustard and mustard gas. An assessment by IHS Conflict Monitor found in November 2015 that ISIS has used chemicals, including chlorine and sulfur mustard agents, at least 52 times in Iraq and Syria since 2014. Martin said the chemicals ISIS has used in the past are all “ ” because of the group’s lack of production capability. He said the chemicals were believed to have been delivered by indirect fire, meaning via rocket or some projectile containing the chemical agent. Martin said U. S. forces have the appropriate equipment and training to protect themselves from chemical weapons. The attack also raised the question of how closely U. S. forces are operating with Iraqi forces. Officials have said U. S. troops are not on the front lines fighting ISIS. However, Martin indicated they are close together and share the same risks. Martin said U. S. forces are with Iraqi security forces at “various command and control locations throughout Iraq. ” “Being forward with those command and control facilities, they share the same risks the Iraqis do,” he said. He added that U. S. forces are “forward with the Iraqis each and every day. ” A defense official of unknown nationality told ABC that Australian and U. S. advisers were with Iraqi forces at the time of the attack. Martin characterized ISIS as getting increasingly desperate, as Iraqi forces — backed by the U. S. military coalition — are succeeding in pushing the terrorist group out of their main stronghold in Iraq. Martin said ISIS members were turning on civilians, killing hundreds each week. “As I see it, the longer this fight goes on in west Mosul, the civilians will suffer at the hands of a brutal enemy. This is why ISIS must be defeated quickly,” he said. He said ISIS was using civilians as human shields and fighting from protected sites. “ISIS uses the tactic of taking civilians hostage for protection while they’re fighting from protected sites. ISIS has been indiscriminate in their use of [ improvised explosive devices] and building IEDs to kill, maim and injure innocent civilians as part of their ongoing campaign of terror,” he said. Martin said ISIS’s “leadership has fled and their days are numbered. ” Meanwhile, he said, Iraqi forces were getting better. “They continue to improve their capability and demonstrate a level of professionalism that makes me proud to serve with them. It’s only a matter of time before they liberate the rest of Mosul and defeat ISIS in Iraq,” he said.

Jury finds all Oregon standoff defendants not guilty of federal conspiracy, gun charges

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Oregon Live – by Maxine Bernstein A federal jury on Thursday found Ammon Bundy, his brother Ryan Bundy and five co-defendants not guilty of conspiring to prevent federal employees from doing their jobs through intimidation, threat or force during the 41-day occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The Bundy brothers and occupiers Jeff Banta and David Fry also were found not guilty of having guns in a federal facility. Kenneth Medenbach was found not guilty of stealing government property, and a hung jury was declared on Ryan Bundy’s charge of theft of FBI surveillance cameras. “More than we could have hoped for,” said one of Ammon Bundy’s lawyers, J. Morgan Philpot. “Stunning,” said defense lawyer Lisa Ludwig, who was standby counsel for Ryan Bundy. “I’m just thrilled,” said Neil Wampler’s attorney Lisa Maxfield. The jury of nine women and three men returned the verdicts after five hours of deliberations on Thursday in the high-profile case that riveted the state and drew national and international attention to the federal bird sanctuary in rural eastern Oregon. Each defendant stood separately, facing the jury, as the judge read the verdicts. Ammon Bundy, his hands clasped behind his back, nodded as the “not guilty” verdicts were read for him first. As he sat, he smiled and rubbed the shoulder of his lawyer, Marcus Mumford. His older brother Ryan Bundy stood. As his “not guilty” verdicts were read, he nodded, and mouthed to the jury, “Thank you.” Defendant Neil Wampler hugged and kissed his defense lawyer, Maxfield. The coda to the stunning verdict, undoubtedly a significant blow to federal prosecutors, was when Ammon Bundy’s lawyer Marcus Mumford argued that his client, dressed in a gray suit and white dress shirt, should be allowed to walk out of the court, a free man. U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown told him that there was a U.S. Marshal’s hold on him from a pending federal indictment in Nevada. Oregon Standoff defendant Jeff Banta is relieved by acquittals “If there’s a detainer, show me,” Mumford stood, arguing before the judge. Suddenly, a group of about six U.S. Marshals surrounded Mumford at his defense table. The judge directed them to move back but moments later, the marshals grabbed on to him. “What are you doing?” Mumford yelled, as he struggled and was taken down to the floor. As deputy marshals yelled, “Stop resisting,” the judge demanded, “Everybody out of the courtroom now!” Mumford was taken into custody, a member of his legal team confirmed. Ammon Bundy’s lawyer J. Morgan Philpot, said afterwards on the courthouse steps that Mumford had been arrested and marshals had used a stun gun, or Taser, on his back. Another member of Ammon Bundy’s legal team Rick Koerber, echoed Philpot, saying he heard Mumford questioning in court why they were using a Taser against him. Philpot decried the marshals’ treatment of Mumford in the courtroom. “What happened at the end is symbolic of the improper use of force by the federal government,” he said. By 6:30 p.m., Mumford was released from custody. He confirmed that he was struck with a stun gun once while he was on the floor of the courtroom. “I grew up on a dairy farm, so am I used to some rough treatment, sure?” he said. But he said the actions of the U.S. marshals were uncalled for. “All I was asking for was papers. Just show me you have the authority to take Mr. Bundy into custody.” As to the verdict, “Very pleased, very gratified. This jury was dedicated. They listened to our case.” Just after the verdicts were announced, people emerged onto the front steps of the courthouse to tell a crowd of media and onlookers. Supporters of the defendants gathered in a joyous hug. One of them, Brand Thornton of Las Vegas, one of the original occupiers who accompanied Ryan Bundy and others onto the refuge on Jan. 2 and was called as witness by the defense, said that he has been at the trial since Oct. 2. The verdict “means everything,” Thornton said. It’s huge for ranchers and land rights within Harney County and across the West, he said. “We did something peaceful and wanted to stay peaceful,” said Thornton, who has kept vigil outside the courthouse, blowing a shofar. “This is for the people of Oregon,” Thornton said. “This was never for us.” Wampler appeared on the courthouse steps and described the verdict as a “stunning victory for rural America.” David Fry’s lawyer Per C. Olson said, “It was the right result.” “I think the jury saw through this that they were well-meaning, well-intentioned individuals,” Olson said. The jury saw that the defendants cared about the Hammonds and didn’t like how the federal government was treating them. Maxfield, who represented Wampler, came out of the courthouse, holding up her fists. She said she has never seen “anything like this happen,” where multiple defendants in a federal court trial were all acquitted, and called it one of the most significant cases in her career. Defendant Shawna Cox said she had a “peaceful feeling,” as she waited for the verdicts, “but I didn’t expect we’d all be found not guilty.” “I wept,” Cox said. “It brings me to tears. I’m so grateful to the jury.” Defense lawyer Matthew Schindler, standby counsel to defendant Kenneth Medenbach who was excused from court because of medical ailments, said he called his client right away. “He’s been fighting for more than 20 years to be in a situation where a jury acquitted him,” Schindler said. “It’s vindication.” Schindler said he believes the jury’s verdicts resulted from the difficulty the government had in proving that the “intent” of the defendants was to conspire against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management. “The judge gave us broad ability to bring in a defendant’s state of mind and what you saw was a number of defendants who each had their own motivations,” Schindler said. When prosecuting a drug conspiracy, it’s easy to point to what the defendants’ underlying objective is. But in this case, Schindler said, there was “no obvious underlying self interest.” He said the defense also was bolstered because the jurors came from different regions from the state, and not just from Portland. Oregon U.S. Attorney Billy Williams sat in the back of the courtroom with Oregon’s FBI Special Agent in Charge Gregg Bretzing as the verdicts were read. Williams left the courtroom early, before the scrum with Mumford, to attend a gathering of the League of Minority Voters in Salem Thursday night. Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward, who was the face of law enforcement during the 41-day refuge takeover, said in a statement, “While I am disappointed in the outcome, I believe our form of government and justice system to be the best in the world. These folks were tried in a court of law and found not guilty by a jury of their peers. This is our system, and I stand by it.” The five-week trial offered a rare display: Three of the seven defendants chose to represent themselves. Five of them were among the more than 80 people who took the witness stand to testify. And one of the original 12 jurors was dismissed after a fellow juror raised concerns about his impartiality four days into an initial round of deliberations – what the judge called an “extraordinary circumstance.” An alternate juror was summoned to begin a new round of deliberations with the remaining 11 jurors Thursday morning. There was heightened security in and around the courthouse throughout the trial, with security officers ordered to wear bulletproof vests, and metal detectors set up outside the main trial courtroom and an overflow room with a live video feed of the proceedings. Often, supporters knelt in prayer in the courthouse corridor before the trial began in the mornings, and some kept vigil across the street, with one fellow occupier blowing a ram’s horn, or shofar, as the jury deliberated. PENDING PROSECUTIONS The seven on trial were among 26 people indicted on the conspiracy charge. Eleven of them pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge. Seven others are set for trial on Feb. 14, but their cases may be affected by the verdicts. If convictions are handed down in this case, then defendants scheduled for trial in February might consider potential pleas. If there are acquittals, prosecutors may rethink going to trial on same charges against co-defendants next year. On the eve of jury selection in this case, prosecutors agreed to dismiss the conspiracy charge against Pete Santilli, an independent broadcaster and self-described “shock jock,” who provided live stream footage of the occupation. NEVADA CASE Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy also face prosecution in Nevada in the 2014 standoff with federal agents over the impounding of their father’s cattle near Bunkerville, Nevada. The trial there is set to start Feb. 6. The two brothers and father Cliven Bundy are among 19 indicted in Nevada. Others from the Oregon refuge occupation also indicted on federal charges in Nevada are Pete Santilli, Ryan Payne, Brian Cavalier, Blaine Cooper and Joseph O’Shaughnessy. Payne pleaded guilty to the federal conspiracy charge in Oregon under a potential global agreement that was in the works with Nevada prosecutors, but he recently asked to withdraw the Oregon plea because no deal was reached in Nevada. Prosecutors in Portland have until Oct. 31 to respond. Cooper entered guilty pleas in both cases. O’Shaughnessy pleaded guilty in the Oregon case, with a deal pending in Nevada. Cavalier pleaded guilty in the Oregon case. — Maxine Bernstein

Clinton Campaign STUNNED As FBI Reportedly Reopens Probe Into Hillary Clinton Emails

The Doc

Clinton Campaign STUNNED As FBI Reportedly Reopens Probe Into Hillary Clinton Emails Posted on Tweet Home » Headlines » World News » Clinton Campaign STUNNED As FBI Reportedly Reopens Probe Into Hillary Clinton Emails A SHOCKING blow to the Clinton Campaign emerged unexpectedly Friday as the FBI has reportedly REOPENED probe into Hillary Clinton’s email server as “The FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation.” Here we go… Yes. Exactly! He’ll own it once we vote him in there. Then he’ll pull the plug and drain it and put all those corrupt SOBs in prison. Maybe you too ; ) A ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ! Drain the swamp! Reopened!??!?!??!? This monster needs to be opened, all right. I’ll leave up to the readers to come up with ways to execute that idea. How many people were there when Nixon was reelected despite the fact that the Watergate investigation was in full swing? That ended pretty badly for Tricky Dick. And Killer was on the judicial investigation group at this time. This group was lead by a Democrat and he fired Killer for lying. I don’t recall the nature of the lie but it was enough to get her fired. From Fox News Politics FBI Director James Comey wrote in a letter to top members of Congress Friday that the bureau has “learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation.” Comey did not detail those emails, saying only that they surfaced “in connection with an unrelated case.” He told lawmakers the investigative team briefed him on the information a day earlier, “and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation.” He said the FBI could not yet assess whether the new material is significant and he could not predict how long it will take to complete “this additional work.”

Pence Will Speak at Anti-Abortion Rally - The New York Times

Jeremy W. Peters

WASHINGTON — Vice President Mike Pence will speak on Friday to a gathering of activists on the National Mall, a sign of the movement’s new and growing authority in a government now dominated by Republicans. The organizers for the event, the March for Life, had extended invitations to President Trump and Mr. Pence. A senior White House official confirmed that Mr. Pence would address the marchers. Mr. Pence’s appearance will come just a few days before Mr. Trump is expected to reveal his nominee for the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia last year. Mr. Trump has said his pick, like Mr. Scalia, would oppose abortion rights, one of several promises he has made to roll back legal protections for the procedure. Other Republican presidents, including Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, have spoken to the march, but remotely. leaders see the Trump administration’s commitment to their cause and the looming Supreme Court nomination battle as a tipping point after eight years of a Democratic administration. The symbolism of hearing from Mr. Pence and another senior Trump administration official, Kellyanne Conway, at the march is hard to overlook. Mr. Trump eventually won over many reluctant leaders who had chafed at his past support for abortion rights and his history of being a role model for religious conservatives. Mr. Trump’s pledges to them, which he made in writing before the election, have gone a long way to rebuilding trust. activists say they are among the most detailed and serious pledges a president has made to their cause. They include a vow to sign a nationwide ban on abortion at 20 weeks of pregnancy and a commitment to ensuring that his Supreme Court appointments are against the procedure.

Bernie Sanders Says What The Media Won’t: Trump Is A Gutless Political Coward

Jason Easley

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 27, 2016 If you don’t have the guts to run for office on your ideas @realDonaldTrump , then you shouldn’t run for office at all. — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 27, 2016 Sen. Sanders was correct. Elections are supposed to be contests about ideas and visions for the future. However, the Republican Party ran out of ideas decades ago and has been on a slow and steady descent into substituting beliefs for facts, and hopes for visions. Trump is trying to suppress the vote because voter suppression is the only tactic that he has left that may lead him to victory. It takes guts and courage to run a presidential campaign based on ideas and principles. Donald Trump lacking in both the guts and courage departments which is why he is spending the final days of his presidential campaign trying to con and scheme his way into the Oval Office. The media will never say it, but real candidates for office don’t try to win by discouraging people from voting. The best candidates get people excited to vote and play their vital role in the democratic process. Bernie Sanders gets it. Donald Trump never will.

How To Make Briquettes From Daily Waste

Chris Black

22, 2016 How To Make Briquettes From Daily Waste Do you remember that old saying that one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure? The same principle applies to our daily wastes. In case you did not know it, Americans are among the most wasteful civilization in history. Actually, I would dare to say that we are the champions, my friends, and that’s nothing to be proud of. We waste at an incredible rate: absolutely anything, including food, where we lead the world by a wide margin. Also, as a nation, the United States generates more municipal solid-waste per person/per day than any other developed/industrial country in the world, boasting 7.1 pounds of solid waste a day, per person. If you crunch these numbers– 365 days a year x 330 million people x 7.1 pounds of solid waste – you’ll come up with astonishing numbers. Putting Waste to Work for Energy It was a Greek philosopher who once said 2000 years ago that nothing gets wasted – everything gets transformed, or something along these lines. To follow this guy’s axiom, we can transform waste into an excellent and basically perpetual source of energy . We, the preppers, can help mitigate the “disaster” and put that amount of waste to good use, by making briquettes using daily wastes. Briquettes are traditionally defined as compressed blocks of combustible material – usually coal dust, wood chips, paper, peat or sawdust – that are used to start a fire. The terms derives from the French language and it means “brick.” Biomass briquettes are starting to become all the rage nowadays and daily waste is basically biomass. Traditionally, biomass briquettes are built from agricultural waste and they’re used as a “green” replacement for hydrocarbons (coal, oil etc) in all sorts of applications, including industrial stuff like heating boilers and whatnot. Currently, almost half of the world’s population is using charcoal and/or wood for heating and cooking purposes. Cutting the forest for subsistence farming or for cooking your food or heating your home is not a great idea if you have better alternatives, and that’s the whole purpose of technology: making the world a better place and improving humans, right? Any household can reduce their need for charcoal and wood by creating their own fuel so to speak, by making “fuel briquettes” using waste plant material which is readily available in their own environment. How to Make the Briquettes So, what type of wastes can be re-used for making fuel briquettes? Paper Charcoal fines Any other type of agricultural waste. It’s important to realize that not all waste is created equal, and this is where the calorific value of each type of waste comes into play. As a general rule of thumb, the aforementioned materials are the best when it comes to DIY fuel briquettes (sawdust, paper etc), but you’ll have to use a home-made press for achieving legendary status, i.e becoming energy self-sufficient as much as humanly possible. There are also commercially available presses. You’ll just have to look for them on the internet or in The fuel briquettes are being made around the world using mini Bryant and Peterson presses. You can also make them by hand or using a plastic mold. Video first seen on The Do It Yourself World . You can also use a plastic mold. Video first seen on The Do It Yourself World . Basically, you can use a plastic bottle or any other type of plastic container in order to shape the briquette. You’ll also need something that you can use as a piston that fits into the respective container to press it, in order to get the water out of the mix. You can use something like a tin can or a piece of wood as the piston along with a plastic bag, a knife and some wire. Here’s a cool idea about DIY-ing a mold-press biomass fuel briquette using an old DVD container. The possibilities are basically endless. Video first seen on nobodyprepper . How to Make Briquettes in Easy Steps Step 1 – preparing the briquette mix For example, if you’re going to use waste paper and sawdust (the simplest to DIY and very efficient and cost effective), you’ll have to soak the paper in water for a couple of days in order to soften it and to allow the fibers to be released, as these fibers will later bind the materials together. In the next step, you’ll have to thoroughly homogenize the soaked paper using your hands until the stuff reaches the consistency of porridge or mashed potatoes, i.e. no pieces are evident in the “soup”. This step is very important but it takes some time and you’ll have to do it well. To speed up the process, you can use tools such as a mortar and pestle or a dedicated pounding tool for processing the paper mix quickly and more efficiently. The simplest mix for homemade briquettes consists of one part soaked paper and 3/4 parts sawdust. You can also add pine needles, rice husks, chopped leaves/grass, charcoal fines and any other flammable materials you can think of into the mix, as they’ll add to the flavor. You’ll have to use roughly 20% paper though – that’s the lesson to be taken home. You can alternatively swap paper for cassava peels/flour, which can replace the paper’s binding properties into the sawdust-mix. You’ll have to boil the cassava until it gets very soft, but in sufficient amounts, the cassava paste will successfully replace the paper for the purpose of binding the sawdust together. In the next step, you’ll have to mix the paper or cassava mixture with the sawdust along with enough water. The mix must hold together if squeezed; that’s how you determine the ideal consistency. Step 2 – prepare the press This step depends on whether you’re using a cool home press or an improvised device. Let’s say you’re on the low-tech side and you’re using a plastic bottle mold as an improvised briquette-making device. You’ll have to cut the upper quarter of the plastic bottle (a soda bottle will do) and perforate the bottom, making 10-12 drainage holes. You can use a hot wire to burn the holes. Then you’ll require a thin plastic bag to be used as a liner to help you remove the finished briquette from bottle. Don’t forget to punch drainage holes in the plastic bag too, both on the sides and in the bottom, so the water can be expelled during the pressing process. Obviously, you can use something bigger than a plastic bottle, like a plastic bucket or a plastic flower pot. Ideally you’ll have two of each: one for playing the role of the mold and the second to act as a piston. Don’t forget to put drainage holes in the plastic liner though – otherwise, the water won’t drain and you’re wasting your time. Step 3 – press the mix In this step, you’ll have to put a quantity of briquette-mix inside the plastic liner (bag) and then insert the bag into the mold. Then you’ll have to add more mix to the bag and press it with the improvised piston (a can, the other bucket/another bottle or whatever fits into the mold) so the water gets pushed out of the mix. Push as hard as you can – the harder the better. Then you’ll have to pull the bag out of the mold and here’s your first briquette, folks. Step 4 – dry your briquettes But it’s not over yet. You’ll have to dry your briquettes for about a week outside in the sun. If they’re not properly dried, the briquettes will smoke when burned and that’s unpleasant to say the least. If you can’t improvise a mold and/or a press, you can always make fuel-briquettes with just your hands, squeezing the mix in your bare hands and building fuel balls and you’ll have to dry these out too, obviously. There are so many survival things you can do by yourself. discover wood creations. 5 total views, 5 views today

Treason! NYT vows 'rededication' to reporting!

Ivan the Stakhanovets

In Hillary's America, email server scrubs you Obama transfers his Nobel Peace Prize to anti-Trump rioters Democrats blame Hillary's criminal e-mail server for her loss, demand it face prison Afraid of "dangerous" Trump presidency, protesters pre-emptively burn America down to the ground Clinton Foundation in foreclosure as foreign donors demand refunds Hillary Clinton blames YouTube video for unexpected and spontaneous voter uprising that prevented her inevitable move into the White House Sudden rise in sea levels explained by disproportionately large tears shed by climate scientists in the aftermath of Trump's electoral victory FBI director Comey delighted after receiving Nobel Prize for Speed Reading (650,000 emails in one week) U.N. deploys troops to American college campuses in order to combat staggeringly low rape rates Responding to Trump's surging poll numbers, Obama preemptively pardons himself for treason Following hurricane Matthew's failure to devastate Florida, activists flock to the Sunshine State and destroy Trump signs manually Tim Kaine takes credit for interrupting hurricane Matthew while debating weather in Florida Study: Many non-voters still undecided on how they're not going to vote The Evolution of Dissent: on November 8th the nation is to decide whether dissent will stop being racist and become sexist - or it will once again be patriotic as it was for 8 years under George W. Bush Venezuela solves starvation problem by making it mandatory to buy food Breaking: the Clinton Foundation set to investigate the FBI Obama ​​captures rare Pokémon ​​while visiting Hiroshima Movie news: 'The Big Friendly Giant Government' flops at box office; audiences say "It's creepy" Barack Obama: "If I had a son, he'd look like Micah Johnson" White House edits Orlando 911 transcript to say shooter pledged allegiance to NRA and Republican Party President George Washington: 'Redcoats do not represent British Empire; King George promotes a distorted version of British colonialism' Following Obama's 'Okie-Doke' speech , stock of Okie-Doke soars; NASDAQ: 'Obama best Okie-Doke salesman' Weaponized baby formula threatens Planned Parenthood office; ACLU demands federal investigation of Gerber Experts: melting Antarctic glacier could cause sale levels to rise up to 80% off select items by this weekend Travel advisory: airlines now offering flights to front of TSA line As Obama instructs his administration to get ready for presidential transition, Trump preemptively purchases 'T' keys for White House keyboards John Kasich self-identifies as GOP primary winner, demands access to White House bathroom Upcoming Trump/Kelly interview on FoxNews sponsored by 'Let's Make a Deal' and 'The Price is Right' News from 2017: once the evacuation of Lena Dunham and 90% of other Hollywood celebrities to Canada is confirmed, Trump resigns from presidency: "My work here is done" Non-presidential candidate Paul Ryan pledges not to run for president in new non-presidential non-ad campaign Trump suggests creating 'Muslim database'; Obama symbolically protests by shredding White House guest logs beginning 2009 National Enquirer: John Kasich's real dad was the milkman, not mailman National Enquirer: Bound delegates from Colorado, Wyoming found in Ted Cruz’s basement Iran breaks its pinky-swear promise not to support terrorism; US State Department vows rock-paper-scissors strategic response Women across the country cheer as racist Democrat president on $20 bill is replaced by black pro-gun Republican Federal Reserve solves budget crisis by writing itself a 20-trillion-dollar check Widows, orphans claim responsibility for Brussels airport bombing Che Guevara's son hopes Cuba's communism will rub off on US, proposes a long list of people the government should execute first Susan Sarandon: "I don't vote with my vagina." Voters in line behind her still suspicious, use hand sanitizer Campaign memo typo causes Hillary to court 'New Black Panties' vote New Hampshire votes for socialist Sanders, changes state motto to "Live FOR Free or Die" Martin O'Malley drops out of race after Iowa Caucus; nation shocked with revelation he has been running for president Statisticians: one out of three Bernie Sanders supporters is just as dumb as the other two Hillary campaign denies accusations of smoking-gun evidence in her emails, claims they contain only smoking-circumstantial-gun evidence Obama stops short of firing US Congress upon realizing the difficulty of assembling another group of such tractable yes-men In effort to contol wild passions for violent jihad, White House urges gun owners to keep their firearms covered in gun burkas TV horror live: A Charlie Brown Christmas gets shot up on air by Mohammed cartoons Democrats vow to burn the country down over Ted Cruz statement, 'The overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats' Russia's trend to sign bombs dropped on ISIS with "This is for Paris" found response in Obama administration's trend to sign American bombs with "Return to sender" University researchers of cultural appropriation quit upon discovery that their research is appropriation from a culture that created universities Archeologists discover remains of what Barack Obama has described as unprecedented, un-American, and not-who-we-are immigration screening process in Ellis Island Mizzou protests lead to declaring entire state a "safe space," changing Missouri motto to "The don't show me state" Green energy fact: if we put all green energy subsidies together in one-dollar bills and burn them, we could generate more electricity than has been produced by subsidized green energy State officials improve chances of healthcare payouts by replacing ObamaCare with state lottery NASA's new mission to search for racism, sexism, and economic inequality in deep space suffers from race, gender, and class power struggles over multibillion-dollar budget College progress enforcement squads issue schematic humor charts so students know if a joke may be spontaneously laughed at or if regulations require other action ISIS opens suicide hotline for US teens depressed by climate change and other progressive doomsday scenarios Virginia county to close schools after teacher asks students to write 'death to America' in Arabic 'Wear hijab to school day' ends with spontaneous female circumcision and stoning of a classmate during lunch break ISIS releases new, even more barbaric video in an effort to regain mantle from Planned Parenthood Impressed by Fox News stellar rating during GOP debates, CNN to use same formula on Democrat candidates asking tough, pointed questions about Republicans Shocking new book explores pros and cons of socialism, discovers they are same people Pope outraged by Planned Parenthood's "unfettered capitalism," demands equal redistribution of baby parts to each according to his need John Kerry accepts Iran's "Golden Taquiyya" award, requests jalapenos on the side Citizens of Pluto protest US government's surveillance of their planetoid and its moons with New Horizons space drone John Kerry proposes 3-day waiting period for all terrorist nations trying to acquire nuclear weapons Chicago Police trying to identify flag that caused nine murders and 53 injuries in the city this past weekend Cuba opens to affordable medical tourism for Americans who can't afford Obamacare deductibles State-funded research proves existence of Quantum Aggression Particles (Heterons) in Large Hadron Collider Student job opportunities: make big bucks this summer as Hillary’s Ordinary-American; all expenses paid, travel, free acting lessons Experts debate whether Iranian negotiators broke John Kerry's leg or he did it himself to get out of negotiations Junior Varsity takes Ramadi, advances to quarterfinals US media to GOP pool of candidates: 'Knowing what we know now, would you have had anything to do with the founding of the United States?' NY Mayor to hold peace talks with rats, apologize for previous Mayor's cowboy diplomacy China launches cube-shaped space object with a message to aliens: "The inhabitants of Earth will steal your intellectual property, copy it, manufacture it in sweatshops with slave labor, and sell it back to you at ridiculously low prices" Progressive scientists: Truth is a variable deduced by subtracting 'what is' from 'what ought to be' Experts agree: Hillary Clinton best candidate to lessen percentage of Americans in top 1% America's attempts at peace talks with the White House continue to be met with lies, stalling tactics, and bad faith Starbucks new policy to talk race with customers prompts new hashtag #DontHoldUpTheLine Hillary: DELETE is the new RESET Charlie Hebdo receives Islamophobe 2015 award ; the cartoonists could not be reached for comment due to their inexplicable, illogical deaths Russia sends 'reset' button back to Hillary: 'You need it now more than we do' Barack Obama finds out from CNN that Hillary Clinton spent four years being his Secretary of State President Obama honors Leonard Nimoy by taking selfie in front of Starship Enterprise Police: If Obama had a convenience store, it would look like Obama Express Food Market Study finds stunning lack of racial, gender, and economic diversity among middle-class white males NASA: We're 80% sure about being 20% sure about being 17% sure about being 38% sure about 2014 being the hottest year on record People holding '$15 an Hour Now' posters sue Democratic party demanding raise to $15 an hour for rendered professional protesting services Cuba-US normalization: US tourists flock to see Cuba before it looks like the US and Cubans flock to see the US before it looks like Cuba White House describes attacks on Sony Pictures as 'spontaneous hacking in response to offensive video mocking Juche and its prophet' CIA responds to Democrat calls for transparency by releasing the director's cut of The Making Of Obama's Birth Certificate Obama: 'If I had a city, it would look like Ferguson' Biden: 'If I had a Ferguson (hic), it would look like a city' Obama signs executive order renaming 'looters' to 'undocumented shoppers' Ethicists agree: two wrongs do make a right so long as Bush did it first The aftermath of the 'War on Women 2014' finds a new 'Lost Generation' of disillusioned Democrat politicians, unable to cope with life out of office White House: Republican takeover of the Senate is a clear mandate from the American people for President Obama to rule by executive orders Nurse Kaci Hickox angrily tells reporters that she won't change her clocks for daylight savings time Democratic Party leaders in panic after recent poll shows most Democratic voters think 'midterm' is when to end pregnancy Desperate Democratic candidates plead with Obama to stop backing them and instead support their GOP opponents Ebola Czar issues five-year plan with mandatory quotas of Ebola infections per each state based on voting preferences Study: crony capitalism is to the free market what the Westboro Baptist Church is to Christianity Fun facts about world languages: the Left has more words for statism than the Eskimos have for snow African countries to ban all flights from the United States because "Obama is incompetent, it scares us" Nobel Peace Prize controversy: Hillary not nominated despite having done even less than Obama to deserve it Obama: 'Ebola is the JV of viruses' BREAKING: Secret Service foils Secret Service plot to protect Obama Revised 1st Amendment: buy one speech, get the second free Sharpton calls on white NFL players to beat their women in the interests of racial fairness President Obama appoints his weekly approval poll as new national security adviser Obama wags pen and phone at Putin; Europe offers support with powerful pens and phones from NATO members White House pledges to embarrass ISIS back to the Stone Age with a barrage of fearsome Twitter messages and fatally ironic Instagram photos Obama to fight ISIS with new federal Terrorist Regulatory Agency Obama vows ISIS will never raise their flag over the eighteenth hole Harry Reid: "Sometimes I say the wong thing" Elian Gonzalez wishes he had come to the U.S. on a bus from Central America like all the other kids Obama visits US-Mexican border, calls for a two-state solution Obama draws "blue line" in Iraq after Putin took away his red crayon "Hard Choices," a porno flick loosely based on Hillary Clinton's memoir and starring Hillary Hellfire as a drinking, whoring Secretary of State, wildly outsells the flabby, sagging original Accusations of siding with the enemy leave Sgt. Bergdahl with only two options: pursue a doctorate at Berkley or become a Senator from Massachusetts Jay Carney stuck in line behind Eric Shinseki to leave the White House; estimated wait time from 15 min to 6 weeks 100% of scientists agree that if man-made global warming were real, "the last people we'd want to help us is the Obama administration" Jay Carney says he found out that Obama found out that he found out that Obama found out that he found out about the latest Obama administration scandal on the news "Anarchy Now!" meeting turns into riot over points of order, bylaws, and whether or not 'kicking the #^@&*! ass' of the person trying to speak is or is not violence Obama retaliates against Putin by prohibiting unionized federal employees from dating hot Russian girls online during work hours Russian separatists in Ukraine riot over an offensive YouTube video showing the toppling of Lenin statues "Free Speech Zones"confuse Obamaphone owners who roam streets in search of additional air minutes Obamacare bolsters employment for professionals with skills to convert meth back into sudafed Gloves finally off: Obama uses pen and phone to cancel Putin's Netflix account Joe Biden to Russia: "We will bury you by turning more of Eastern Europe over to your control!" In last-ditch effort to help Ukraine, Obama deploys Rev. Sharpton and Rev. Jackson's Rainbow Coalition to Crimea Al Sharpton: "Not even Putin can withstand our signature chanting, 'racist, sexist, anti-gay, Russian army go away'!" Mardi Gras in North Korea: " Throw me some food! " Obama's foreign policy works: "War, invasion, and conquest are signs of weakness; we've got Putin right where we want him" US offers military solution to Ukraine crisis: "We will only fight countries that have LGBT military" Putin annexes Brighton Beach to protect ethnic Russians in Brooklyn, Obama appeals to UN and EU for help The 1980s: "Mr. Obama, we're just calling to ask if you want our foreign policy back . The 1970s are right here with us, and they're wondering, too." In a stunning act of defiance, Obama courageously unfriends Putin on Facebook MSNBC: Obama secures alliance with Austro-Hungarian Empire against Russia’s aggression in Ukraine Study: springbreak is to STDs what April 15th is to accountants Efforts to achieve moisture justice for California thwarted by unfair redistribution of snow in America North Korean voters unanimous: "We are the 100%" Leader of authoritarian gulag-site, The People's Cube, unanimously 're-elected' with 100% voter turnout Super Bowl: Obama blames Fox News for Broncos' loss Feminist author slams gay marriage: "a man needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" Beverly Hills campaign heats up between Henry Waxman and Marianne Williamson over the widening income gap between millionaires and billionaires in their district Biden to lower $10,000-a-plate Dinner For The Homeless to $5,000 so more homeless can attend Kim becomes world leader, feeds uncle to dogs; Obama eats dogs, becomes world leader, America cries uncle North Korean leader executes own uncle for talking about Obamacare at family Christmas party White House hires part-time schizophrenic Mandela sign interpreter to help sell Obamacare Kim Jong Un executes own " crazy uncle " to keep him from ruining another family Christmas OFA admits its advice for area activists to give Obamacare Talk at shooting ranges was a bad idea President resolves Obamacare debacle with executive order declaring all Americans equally healthy Obama to Iran: "If you like your nuclear program, you can keep your nuclear program" Bovine community outraged by flatulence coming from Washington DC Obama: "I'm not particularly ideological; I believe in a good pragmatic five-year plan" Shocker: Obama had no knowledge he'd been reelected until he read about it in the local newspaper last week Server problems at HealthCare.gov so bad, it now flashes 'Error 808' message NSA marks National Best Friend Day with official announcement: "Government is your best friend; we know you like no one else, we're always there, we're always willing to listen" Al Qaeda cancels attack on USA citing launch of Obamacare as devastating enough The President's latest talking point on Obamacare: "I didn't build that" Dizzy with success, Obama renames his wildly popular healthcare mandate to HillaryCare Carney: huge ObamaCare deductibles won't look as bad come hyperinflation Washington Redskins drop 'Washington' from their name as offensive to most Americans Poll: 83% of Americans favor cowboy diplomacy over rodeo clown diplomacy GOVERNMENT WARNING: If you were able to complete ObamaCare form online, it wasn't a legitimate gov't website; you should report online fraud and change all your passwords Obama administration gets serious, threatens Syria with ObamaCare Obama authorizes the use of Vice President Joe Biden's double-barrel shotgun to fire a couple of blasts at Syria Sharpton: "British royals should have named baby 'Trayvon.' By choosing 'George' they sided with white Hispanic racist Zimmerman" DNC launches 'Carlos Danger' action figure; proceeds to fund a charity helping survivors of the Republican War on Women Nancy Pelosi extends abortion rights to the birds and the bees Hubble discovers planetary drift to the left Obama: 'If I had a daughter-in-law, she would look like Rachael Jeantel' FISA court rubberstamps statement denying its portrayal as government's rubber stamp Every time ObamaCare gets delayed, a Julia somewhere dies GOP to Schumer: 'Force full implementation of ObamaCare before 2014 or Dems will never win another election' Obama: 'If I had a son... no, wait, my daughter can now marry a woman!' Janet Napolitano: TSA findings reveal that since none of the hijackers were babies, elderly, or Tea Partiers, 9/11 was not an act of terrorism News Flash: Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) can see Canada from South Dakota Susan Rice: IRS actions against tea parties caused by anti-tax YouTube video that was insulting to their faith Drudge Report reduces font to fit all White House scandals onto one page Obama: the IRS is a constitutional right, just like the Second Amendment White House: top Obama officials using secret email accounts a result of bad IT advice to avoid spam mail from Nigeria Jay Carney to critics: 'Pinocchio never said anything inconsistent' Obama: If I had a gay son, he'd look like Jason Collins Gosnell's office in Benghazi raided by the IRS: mainstream media's worst cover-up challenge to date IRS targeting pro-gay-marriage LGBT groups leads to gayest tax revolt in U.S. history After Arlington Cemetery rejects offer to bury Boston bomber, Westboro Babtist Church steps up with premium front lawn plot Boston: Obama Administration to reclassify marathon bombing as 'sportsplace violence' Study: Success has many fathers but failure becomes a government program US Media: Can Pope Francis possibly clear up Vatican bureaucracy and banking without blaming the previous administration? Michelle Obama praises weekend rampage by Chicago teens as good way to burn calories and stay healthy This Passover, Obama urges his subjects to paint lamb's blood above doors in order to avoid the Sequester White House to American children: Sequester causes layoffs among hens that lay Easter eggs; union-wage Easter Bunnies to be replaced by Mexican Chupacabras Time Mag names Hugo Chavez world's sexiest corpse Boy, 8, pretends banana is gun, makes daring escape from school Study: Free lunches overpriced, lack nutrition Oscars 2013: Michelle Obama announces long-awaited merger of Hollywood and the State Joe Salazar defends the right of women to be raped in gun-free environment: 'rapists and rapees should work together to prevent gun violence for the common good' Dept. of Health and Human Services eliminates rape by reclassifying assailants as 'undocumented sex partners' Kremlin puts out warning not to photoshop Putin riding meteor unless bare-chested Deeming football too violent, Obama moves to introduce Super Drone Sundays instead Japan offers to extend nuclear umbrella to cover U.S. should America suffer devastating attack on its own defense spending Feminists organize one billion women to protest male oppression with one billion lap dances Urban community protests Mayor Bloomberg's ban on extra-large pop singers owning assault weapons Concerned with mounting death toll, Taliban offers to send peacekeeping advisers to Chicago Karl Rove puts an end to Tea Party with new 'Republicans For Democrats' strategy aimed at losing elections Answering public skepticism, President Obama authorizes unlimited drone attacks on all skeet targets throughout the country Skeet Ulrich denies claims he had been shot by President but considers changing his name to 'Traps' White House releases new exciting photos of Obama standing, sitting, looking thoughtful, and even breathing in and out New York Times hacked by Chinese government, Paul Krugman's economic policies stolen White House: when President shoots skeet, he donates the meat to food banks that feed the middle class To prove he is serious, Obama eliminates armed guard protection for President, Vice-President, and their families; establishes Gun-Free Zones around them instead State Dept to send 100,000 American college students to China as security for US debt obligations Jay Carney: Al Qaeda is on the run, they're just running forward President issues executive orders banning cliffs, ceilings, obstructions, statistics, and other notions that prevent us from moving forwards and upward Fearing the worst, Obama Administration outlaws the fan to prevent it from being hit by certain objects World ends; S&P soars Riddle of universe solved; answer not understood Meek inherit Earth, can't afford estate taxes Greece abandons Euro; accountants find Greece has no Euros anyway Wheel finally reinvented; axles to be gradually reinvented in 3rd quarter of 2013 Bigfoot found in Ohio, mysteriously not voting for Obama As Santa's workshop files for bankruptcy, Fed offers bailout in exchange for control of 'naughty and nice' list Freak flying pig accident causes bacon to fly off shelves Obama: green economy likely to transform America into a leading third world country of the new millennium Report: President Obama to visit the United States in the near future Obama promises to create thousands more economically neutral jobs Modernizing Islam: New York imam proposes to canonize Saul Alinsky as religion's latter day prophet Imam Rauf's peaceful solution: 'Move Ground Zero a few blocks away from the mosque and no one gets hurt' Study: Obama's threat to burn tax money in Washington 'recruitment bonanza' for Tea Parties Study: no Social Security reform will be needed if gov't raises retirement age to at least 814 years Obama attends church service, worships self Obama proposes national 'Win The Future' lottery; proceeds of new WTF Powerball to finance more gov't spending Historical revisionists: "Hey, you never know" Vice President Biden: criticizing Egypt is un-pharaoh Israelis to Egyptian rioters: "don't damage the pyramids, we will not rebuild" Lake Superior renamed Lake Inferior in spirit of tolerance and inclusiveness Al Gore: It's a shame that a family can be torn apart by something as simple as a pack of polar bears Michael Moore: As long as there is anyone with money to shake down, this country is not broke Obama's teleprompters unionize, demand collective bargaining rights Obama calls new taxes 'spending reductions in tax code.' Elsewhere rapists tout 'consent reductions in sexual intercourse' Obama's teleprompter unhappy with White House Twitter: "Too few words" Obama's Regulation Reduction committee finds US Constitution to be expensive outdated framework inefficiently regulating federal gov't Taking a page from the Reagan years, Obama announces new era of Perestroika and Glasnost Responding to Oslo shootings, Obama declares Christianity "Religion of Peace," praises "moderate Christians," promises to send one into space Republicans block Obama's $420 billion program to give American families free charms that ward off economic bad luck White House to impose Chimney tax on Santa Claus Obama decrees the economy is not soaring as much as previously decreeed Conservative think tank introduces children to capitalism with pop-up picture book "The Road to Smurfdom" Al Gore proposes to combat Global Warming by extracting silver linings from clouds in Earth's atmosphere Obama refutes charges of him being unresponsive to people's suffering: "When you pray to God, do you always hear a response?" Obama regrets the US government didn't provide his mother with free contraceptives when she was in college Fluke to Congress: drill, baby, drill! Planned Parenthood introduces Frequent Flucker reward card: 'Come again soon!' Obama to tornado victims: 'We inherited this weather from the previous administration' Obama congratulates Putin on Chicago-style election outcome People's Cube gives itself Hero of Socialist Labor medal in recognition of continued expert advice provided to the Obama Administration helping to shape its foreign and domestic policies Hamas: Israeli air defense unfair to 99% of our missiles, "only 1% allowed to reach Israel" Democrat strategist: without government supervision, women would have never evolved into humans Voters Without Borders oppose Texas new voter ID law Enraged by accusation that they are doing Obama's bidding, media leaders demand instructions from White House on how to respond Obama blames previous Olympics for failure to win at this Olympics Official: China plans to land on Moon or at least on cheap knockoff thereof Koran-Contra: Obama secretly arms Syrian rebels Poll: Progressive slogan 'We should be more like Europe' most popular with members of American Nazi Party Obama to Evangelicals: Jesus saves, I just spend May Day: Anarchists plan, schedule, synchronize, and execute a coordinated campaign against all of the above Midwestern farmers hooked on new erotic novel "50 Shades of Hay" Study: 99% of Liberals give the rest a bad name Obama meets with Jewish leaders, proposes deeper circumcisions for the rich Historians: Before HOPE & CHANGE there was HEMP & CHOOM at ten bucks a bag Cancer once again fails to cure Venezuela of its "President for Life" Tragic spelling error causes Muslim protesters to burn local boob-tube factory Secretary of Energy Steven Chu: due to energy conservation, the light at the end of the tunnel will be switched off Obama Administration running food stamps across the border with Mexico in an operation code-named "Fat And Furious" Pakistan explodes in protest over new Adobe Acrobat update; 17 local acrobats killed White House: "Let them eat statistics" Special Ops: if Benedict Arnold had a son, he would look like Barack Obama

Dress Like a Woman? What Does That Mean? - The New York Times

Jacey Fortin

What does it mean to “dress like a woman”? Social media users took it upon themselves to answer that very question in response to a report that President Trump wants women who work for him to look a certain way. The sentiment was anonymously cited in the new newsletter Axios from Mike Allen, a former Politico reporter. In response, Twitter erupted with a stream of photos showing women dressed for the jobs they hold and the lives they lead, as firefighters, soldiers, police officers and astronauts, to name a few. But while many of the tweets were aimed at rejecting the idea that women should be restricted to some narrow sartorial category, the “dress like a woman” phrase, as a hashtag, didn’t come directly from Mr. Trump. In his newsletter, Mr. Allen attributed the phrase this way: In an email on Friday afternoon, Mr. Allen declined to offer any further details. It’s clear that appearances matter to the president. Mr. Trump, the former owner of the Miss Universe Organization, has come under harsh criticism for rating women’s appearances on a scale of one to 10 and for hurling insults at female critics. As a candidate, he readily attacked when people commented on the size of his hands or on his hair. Like presidents past, Mr. Trump will most likely have some influence over style in the West Wing. The White House does not have an official dress code, according to its Press Office, but every administration has its own norms. For the past two decades, wardrobes have tended to be more relaxed in Democratic administrations. Under President Clinton, “aides frequently attended meetings in jeans and ” The New York Times reported in 2001. President George W. Bush restored formality to the West Wing, but President Obama was so relaxed that he broke with protocol, foregoing a suit jacket on his first full day in the Oval Office. If the pattern holds, dressing for work in the West Wing could become more formal under the Trump administration. Whether that means women would be required to “dress like women” remains to be seen.

At 91, Ella Brennan Still Feeds (and Leads) New Orleans - The New York Times

Brett Anderson

NEW ORLEANS — A typical evening for Ella Brennan begins with cocktails. They are delivered from Commander’s Palace, her family’s restaurant next door to her mansion in this city’s historic Garden District. Drinks are often followed by dinner, also from Commander’s, and wine. Ms. Brennan favors Champagne and distinguished whites from the Côte de Beaune because, as she puts it, “I’m too damn old to drink cheap wine” and “because I can. ” In New Orleans, there is little question that Miss Ella, as Ms. Brennan is widely known here, has earned her sense of entitlement. Her hometown’s civic pride is tightly linked to its reputation for culinary excellence Ms. Brennan helped create that reputation, and has made maintaining it a personal responsibility for more than 60 years. At 91, she is the matriarch of an extended family of restaurateurs that employs nearly 1, 400 people, both full and part time, and she has mentored countless talents, including the celebrity chefs Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse. “She was there to embrace and elevate, not just me but the entire staff,” said Mr. Lagasse, whom Ms. Brennan plucked from obscurity and installed, at age 23, as Commander’s chef in the early 1980s. “The list of people she has impacted in the hospitality industry in America is endless. ” Ms. Brennan’s family has recently set out to ensure that her legacy is appreciated beyond New Orleans. Those efforts culminated last year with the release of a memoir, “Miss Ella of Commander’s Palace,” written with Ti Martin, her daughter. It was followed by the documentary “Ella Brennan: Commanding the Table,” directed by Leslie Iwerks. The film, which has been screening at festivals, will be available on Netflix in May. The book and film tell the story of a businesswoman — her other nickname is Hurricane Ella — who excelled in a profession decades before gender imbalance in the restaurant industry became a hot issue. “When I first started, you would hardly ever see another woman in the kitchen, much less running the show,” said Sue Zemanick, the former chef at Gautreau’s, a “Top Chef Masters” contestant and a line cook at Commander’s early in her career. “Working at a restaurant with such strong women in charge gave me hope that I could make it. ” While Ms. Brennan is, as Ms. Martin put it, “as retired as Mom is capable of being,” her New Orleans restaurants, which include Café Adelaide and SoBou, remain an obsession for her they are managed by Ms. Martin and Lally Brennan, a niece of Ms. Brennan. On a recent afternoon, Ms. Brennan sat next to the unlit fireplace in her living room. As she moved a sore leg back and forth between an ottoman and the floor, she suggested that her impulse to empower employees was a rejection of restaurant industry norms she confronted as a young woman. “In those days, no one was paying attention to developing people,” she said. “A restaurateur has to be part of a team to make something everyone can be proud of. ” Her decision to tap Mr. Prudhomme, a Cajun, to run Commander’s kitchen in the 1970s loosened the grip that chefs had on American fine dining. Alongside Ms. Brennan, and later on his own, the Mr. Prudhomme helped set the table for a renaissance in American regional cooking that has yet to abate. “New Orleans was really the centerpiece of the whole American food movement,” the New York restaurateur Drew Nieporent said. “And Ella put New Orleans on the map. ” Ms. Brennan entered the hospitality business as a teenager working at the Old Absinthe House, a Bourbon Street bar owned by her brother Owen, 15 years her senior. She had dropped out of a local business school after deciding, as she wrote in her book, that “I wasn’t going to type for any man. ” In 1946, Mr. Brennan bought Vieux Carré, a French Quarter restaurant that Ms. Brennan described recently, with typical candor, as “terrible. ” Mr. Brennan hired her to manage the business, looking to prove that an Irish family could operate a restaurant superior to established restaurants like Arnaud’s, Antoine’s and Galatoire’s. “I didn’t know anything,” Ms. Brennan recalled. “But Owen was a raconteur. He slept till noon. He got me to do all of the things he didn’t like. So I learned. ” A voracious reader, she pored over books recommended by the restaurant’s two chefs, Jack Eames and Paul Blangé, whose respect she sought and whom she frequently praised. “I was amazed at their talent,” she said. “They were like surgeons. ” The gregarious Brennan family — the other siblings were Dick, Adelaide, Dottie and John — cultivated a clientele of influential locals and visitors, including celebrities. All the while, Ms. Brennan worked with the chefs to elevate Vieux Carré’s food. For inspiration, she traveled frequently to New York City, where she became a regular at the “21” Club. Culinary pioneers like James Beard and Helen McCully, the food editor of McCall’s magazine, took the young visitor under their wings. “You had to go to New York in those days,” Ms. Brennan said. “I was trying to get New Orleans to that level. ” In 1955, the Brennans were preparing to relocate Vieux Carré to a larger space on Royal Street when Owen died of a heart attack at 45. It fell to Ms. Brennan to carry out her brother’s vision for the new restaurant, which would be called Brennan’s. By all accounts, Brennan’s ushered in a new age for fine dining in the South. It became a grand showcase for New Orleans joie de vivre, replete with a wine cellar, antiques and food that stretched the boundaries of traditional cuisine. The national press took notice, especially of its boozy, multicourse breakfasts. “America was coming to appreciate dining as entertainment,” Ms. Brennan wrote, “and all of the newspapers were just beginning to have columns about food. ” Ms. Brennan helped develop new dishes, including bananas Foster. She pushed to expand the family’s restaurant properties, with spotty success, aggravating a rift between Owen’s heirs and what came to be known as “Ella’s side” of the family. In 1973, Ms. Brennan was dismissed from Brennan’s, initiating a bitter, litigious family split that has never fully healed. “It was a tragedy,” Ms. Brennan said. “Family is everything to us. ” (Owen Brennan’s sons continued to run Brennan’s until 2013, when a group that includes Ralph Brennan, a son of John Brennan, purchased the property at a sheriff’s auction. Brennan’s of Houston, overseen by Ms. Brennan’s son Alex, is part of her restaurant group.) Commander’s Palace, which Ms. Brennan acquired in 1969, was a sprawling property in need of repair. In partnership with her sisters and brothers, she set about turning it into a restaurant that would eclipse Brennan’s. Early reviews weren’t favorable. But over time, Commander’s became renowned for its sophisticated blending of south Louisiana and nouvelle cuisines — Ms. Brennan christened the style haute Creole — and its warm, celebratory approach to fine dining. “We want people who eat here to feel important, and we want them to have fun,” Ms. Brennan said. Ms. Brennan never presumed that her management responsibilities ended at the kitchen door. Alex McCrery, a Commander’s line cook in the early 2000s, recalled that Ms. Brennan admonished another cook for proposing that the kitchen make mustard ice cream. “She was the type who was like your mom is when she is disappointed in you,” Mr. McCrery said. “She was stern, and you’d feel like you really messed up. ” Ms. Brennan said she “gave up men for Lent” after her divorce in 1970 from Paul Martin. She also never learned to cook (“I don’t think she can boil water,” Mr. Lagasse said) but that doesn’t prevent her from giving lavish dinner parties in the home she shares with Dottie. “We don’t carry on like we once did,” she said before a recent meal. “But I do like to take advantage of living next door to my restaurant. ” A waiter carried Ms. Brennan’s drink as she moved, with the aid of a walker, from her parlor to her dining room. She sat at the head of the table as Commander’s waiters delivered a series of courses from the restaurant’s kitchen. As she sank her spoon into a steaming sea urchin and stone crab soufflé, Ms. Brennan explained that entertaining gives her an opportunity to weigh in on new ideas from Tory McPhail, Commander’s current and chef. It also allows her to partake in the kind of pleasure she has provided others for so long. “What we’re doing here tonight is letting him experiment on us,” she said, referring to Mr. McPhail, who had just introduced a course of lamb osso buco. Ms. Brennan was as engaged and vivacious as when the evening began. As Mr. McPhail turned to leave, she called after him, “Bring back a bottle of Champagne, will you?” Recipe: Bananas Foster

Pressing Asia Agenda, Obama Treads Lightly on Human Rights - The New York Times

Jane Perlez

HANGZHOU, China — Human rights barely registered on President Obama’s latest visit to China, which ended Monday night with a news conference at which he made only a glancing reference to differences with Beijing over “religious freedom. ” And as Mr. Obama moved on to Laos for a summit meeting of Asian nations, human rights advocates worried that their concerns were falling off the American agenda not only with China but also across the region, for the same reason: Beijing’s continuing rise as an economic and geopolitical power. As China challenges the United States for influence in Asia, the administration is concerned that any criticism of nations like Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Laos for backsliding on human rights could alienate them rather than pulling them closer. At the same time, shining a spotlight on China’s own rough treatment of dissidents risks losing Beijing’s cooperation on issues like trade, climate change and nuclear proliferation. Rights advocates accused the administration of being too timid, arguing that the United States should put as much pressure on governments over how they treat their citizens as they do during trade negotiations. “Decades of experience should make clear to Washington that Beijing responds only to the expectation of unpleasant consequences,” said Sophie Richardson, the China director for Human Rights Watch. “Why not threaten sanctions, cut out the pointless pomp or visibly align with peaceful critics of the government?” she said. “On other diplomatic, economic and security issues, governments recognize and use these points of leverage. Why not on human rights?” Others say Mr. Obama, who speaks openly about civil rights in the United States, has been wise not to inject the issue into talks with China, even as Beijing has carried out the most sweeping crackdown on Chinese civil society in nearly 20 years. They say the president understands that a more powerful China is better able to resist American pressure on human rights than it was a decade ago. “To its credit, the Obama administration has not exacerbated the many U. S. economic and security issues with a human rights policy,” said Robert S. Ross, a professor of political science at Boston College. “It is quite a stretch to argue that diplomacy could persuade an authoritarian, government to undermine its domestic political power by allowing greater opposition to the government and tolerating greater political instability. ” The pattern is now extending beyond China’s borders. During Mr. Obama’s visit to Laos, a tiny country run by a repressive Communist regime, he so far has chosen not to publicly raise the case of an civil rights worker who disappeared at a police checkpoint four years ago. He has refrained, at least in public, from criticizing the new president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, who has been unapologetic about waging a violent war against drugs in the first two months of his term. On Wednesday, a day after Mr. Obama abruptly canceled a meeting with Mr. Duterte, who had unleashed a diatribe against him, the two men met informally. During Mr. Obama’s visit to Vietnam in May, he agreed to lift a longstanding ban on the sale of lethal weapons without winning significant concessions on human rights. And after trying to draw Malaysia closer, Mr. Obama has been embarrassed by the country’s prime minister, Najib Razak, who has closed online news outlets and prosecuted opposition figures in an effort to stay in power. The Obama administration has pressed China on human rights in a way on only a few occasions. In 2012, the American Embassy in Beijing harbored Chen Guangcheng, a blind Chinese dissident, and flew him to the United States. But the days when the White House could demand and expect the release of a few Chinese political prisoners before a summit meeting are gone, Professor Ross said. As the Chinese Communist Party gained confidence, it began rearresting dissidents who had been released before American summit meetings. “Since then,” Professor Ross said, “U. S. human rights diplomacy has been reduced to rhetoric, which, no surprise, has not improved China’s human rights situation. ” Despite Mr. Obama’s fleeting public reference to religious repression this week, for example, few expect the Chinese authorities to retreat from a campaign against Christian churches in the area surrounding Hangzhou, the city that hosted the Group of 20 meeting. One of the new challenges for Mr. Obama, and one for his successor, will be how to deal with Mr. Duterte. The police in the Philippines say they have killed about 1, 000 suspects in the antidrug campaign, and about 300 people have been killed by vigilantes. Rights groups have urged the United States to do something about the situation. “It’d be difficult for us to overstate how grave the situation has become in the Philippines,” said John Sifton, the deputy Washington director of Human Rights Watch. “At this rate, we’re talking about over 6, 000 people dead by the end of the year. ” But the Philippines is an American ally and a bulwark against Chinese military gains in the South China Sea. By that calculus, the United States cannot afford to alienate Mr. Duterte. Philippine analysts say that Mr. Duterte is on good terms with Chinese business executives who invested in Davao, the city where he served as mayor, and that he may be open to negotiating with Beijing over the South China Sea. Under American legislation known as the Leahy Amendment, Washington is obliged to cut off assistance to Philippines law enforcement units that are suspected of human rights abuses. But Antonio La Viña, a professor of government at Ateneo de Manila University, said the threat of such a sanction was unlikely to be effective. “The truth is that the Philippines has the money to modernize our military,” he said. Mr. Obama is the first sitting American president to visit Laos, and he has sought to promote reconciliation with the nation, on which the United States dropped more than two million tons of bombs at the height of the Vietnam War. But he is also being called on to press Laos’s repressive government — a traditional ally of China — on the case of Sombath Somphone, a civil rights campaigner and agriculture specialist who disappeared at a police checkpoint in the capital, Vientiane, four years ago. Mr. Obama will also have to decide how hard to push concerns about human rights with other leaders at the meeting, several of whom are being wooed by China. One of Mr. Obama’s favorite Southeast Asian leaders, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar, is scheduled to visit the White House this month, and American officials hope to make progress on addressing the plight of the Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority in the predominantly Buddhist country. More than 100, 000 Rohingya live in camps in northern Myanmar, and Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi has appointed a commission that includes the former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan to find solutions. “She has demonstrated a recognition that this is a problem that must be solved,” said Tom Malinowski, the United States assistant secretary for democracy, human rights and labor. The Obama administration has been less vocal on conditions in Vietnam, which it has tried to steer closer to the United States in the face of Chinese pressure over territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Since then, the human rights situation has only deteriorated, said Nguyen Quang A, an activist and a former member of the Vietnamese Communist Party who was invited to meet Mr. Obama in Hanoi but who was stopped by Vietnamese security forces. Political prisoners remain in jail, the news media is muzzled, and independent labor unions have not been allowed, despite promises to Washington. “Should Obama have done more to try and influence the government of Vietnam?” Mr. Quang A asked. “Absolutely. ”

Democrats Have a 60 Percent Chance to Retake the Senate - The New York Times

Josh Katz

The Upshot’s new Senate election forecast gives Democrats a 60 percent chance of winning control of the chamber in November. Included within this 60 percent is a 17 percent chance that the Senate ends up evenly split with a Democratic vice president providing the tiebreaking vote. By our count, the Democrats need to win five seats among the 11 most competitive races. (The Democrats will need to win six if Donald J. Trump wins the presidential race we put Mr. Trump’s chances of winning at only 11 percent). Ten of these seats are held by Republicans, and one by a Democrat, Harry Reid of Nevada, who is retiring. That the Democrats are favored in this election should not be surprising. The 2016 Senate elections boded well for the Democrats without any consideration of a possible Trump effect on races. In recent history, Democrats have done better in presidential election years than in midterm years, when turnout is lower. Most of the senators up for last went before the voters in the Republican wave election of 2010 — when the G. O. P. made big and broad gains in an environment — leaving Republicans with several potentially vulnerable incumbents. This year, the Democrats are defending only 10 seats while the Republicans have to preserve 24. On fundamentals alone — that is, historical voting patterns, the candidates’ political experience and — the Democrats would have about a shot to win the Senate. The latest Senate polling improves this figure to 60 percent. The framework for our model is broadly similar to the approach we took in 2014, when our Election Day forecast correctly called 35 of 36 Senate races. That approach means starting with the fundamentals as a prior, then updating those beliefs as polling information comes in. We let races affect one another and assume that the errors will be correlated. The main difference between 2014 and this year is that we have some additional information to gauge candidates’ chances in a presidential year. Previous research suggests that there is a strong relationship between presidential and Senate voting. Accordingly, our model assumes that Senate races will track the presidential race in each state to some degree. That is, if Hillary Clinton has improved her standing in the presidential forecast since the last time a state has been polled, we “ ” the Senate polling average a small amount in the same direction. Incumbents are running in seven of the 10 seats being defended by Democrats. All seven seats are considered safe. For the other three: ■ Democrats are guaranteed to win the seat in California: Barbara Boxer is retiring, and two Democrats — Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez — won the top two spots in an open primary. ■ Initial polling in Maryland showed the Democratic candidate, Chris Van Hollen, up by 20 to 30 points. ■ It’s only in Nevada, where Catherine Cortez Masto is trying to replace Mr. Reid, where the election is competitive. This leaves Democrats with 36 seats that are not up for election this year — including two independents, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine, who both caucus with Democrats — in addition to nine safe seats. Much of the weakness in the Republican position comes from seven G. O. P. incumbents in mostly states trying to win a second term after first being elected in the Republican wave year of 2010: Ron Johnson in Wisconsin, Mark Kirk in Illinois, Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire, Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania, Roy Blunt in Missouri, Rob Portman in Ohio, and Marco Rubio in Florida (assuming he wins the Republican primary next week). In addition, the retirement of the Republican Dan Coats along with the entry of the former Democratic senator Evan Bayh in the race in Indiana shifted that seat from a likely Republican hold to a possible Democratic pickup. Richard Burr’s seat in North Carolina also seems vulnerable. Polling indicates that even Senator John McCain of Arizona could be swept out by the encroaching Democratic tide. If Mr. McCain beats back a primary challenge from the Tea Party candidate Kelli Ward, he will face a Democratic challenger, Ann Kirkpatrick, who was within two points in a June poll. Our model gives Ms. Kirkpatrick a roughly chance of taking the seat. To give themselves a cushion in retaking the Senate, Democrats would probably need to win six of these 11 races: the seven elections with Republicans the elections in Indiana, Arizona and North Carolina and the contest for Mr. Reid’s seat in Nevada. If Mrs. Clinton wins the presidency and they win five seats, they will most likely control that chamber because the vice president has the tiebreaking vote in the Senate. With so many seats remaining uncertain, the race could still tip in either direction, with Republicans possibly retaining a slim majority or Democrats running the table. As of today, the most likely outcome is a tie.

News: PR Disaster: The President Of Panasonic Has Been Forced To Resign After 60,000 Panasonic TVs Ascended To Heaven Without Warning

Email Get ready for the most cringeworthy story you’re going to read all day. Panasonic might be one of the largest electronics manufacturers in the world, but after today, they may find themselves struggling to stay afloat. The company’s president has been forced to resign in disgrace after 60,000 Panasonic TVs abruptly ascended to heaven without warning. We’ll give you a minute to finish shaking your head. The scandal broke early last night when 60,000 of the company’s popular DX802-model flat-screen TVs from all over the world silently lifted off of the ground and, despite their owners yelling at them to stop and trying to drag them back down to Earth, floated away from the mortal realm and into the kingdom of heaven to reside with the immortal seraphim for all eternity. Yikes. Needless to say, Panasonic customers are not happy! Only a few minutes after the televisions began their skyward journey to the kingdom of God, Panasonic found themselves completely inundated with tweets like this: Wow. Panasonic definitely wishes it could rewind the clock on this one! Chances are, when you’re trying to stay competitive as one of the world’s foremost electronics companies, the last thing you want is for tens of thousands of your televisions to drift skyward into paradise. We’ve got to give credit where credit is due: At least Panasonic had the decency to admit that they let their customers down. The company has issued a public apology, and in a drastic move, the president of the company, Kazuhiro Tsuga, chose to resign in the wake of this scandal. Speaking at a press conference this morning, Tsuga issued the following statement: “After much consideration, I have chosen to step down as the president of Panasonic Corp. If I could, I would travel to Heaven and retrieve each and every one of these televisions. I would kill any angel who tried to stop me from carrying these TVs out of paradise and returning them to our loyal Panasonic customers on Earth. Even if I saw God sitting on one of our missing DX802 flat-screens, I would shove the Lord off of the TV so that I could retrieve it for our customers. Unfortunately, I do not have the power to travel to Heaven, and so I am left with no choice but to resign my position.” Tsuga’s resignation is a nice gesture, but it doesn’t bring back a swarm of televisions from heaven. Panasonic’s reputation has been severely tarnished by the rapturing of their televisions. Whoever steps up to become Panasonic’s new president is going to have to do everything they can to prevent any of their products from ascending to heaven ever again.

Judge spanks transgender-obsessed Obama: You lie! | RedFlag News

Redflag Newsdesk

Bob Unruh | WND For a third time, a federal judge has affirmed a nationwide injunction against the Obama administration’s agenda to impose mandatory open-restroom policies on schools from coast to coast, scolding the White House for repeating old arguments and catching those who submitted the newest arguments in a lie. The ruling this week from U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor left intact his nationwide injunction against Obama’s decision that transgender public school students can use the restroom of their choice, rather than the restroom designated for their physical sex. The White House issued the order some months ago, and when several states sued, O’Connor found in August that they were likely to prevail in their arguments, so he suspended implementation of the program nationwide. In October, when he had to address the issue again because of demands from the White House, he doubled down, stating, “It is clear from Supreme Court and Fifth Circuit precedent that this court has the power to issue a nationwide injunction where appropriate. Both Title IX and Title VII rely on the consistent, uniform application of national standards in education and workplace policy. “A nationwide injunction is necessary because the alleged violation extends nationwide. Defendants are a group of agencies and administrators capable of enforcing their guidelines nationwide, affecting numerous state and school district facilities across the country.” Now in another ruling prompted by demands from the Obama administration, O’Connor has affirmed the decision – again.

51 U.S. Diplomats Urge Strikes Against Assad in Syria - The New York Times

Mark Landler

WASHINGTON — More than 50 State Department diplomats have signed an internal memo sharply critical of the Obama administration’s policy in Syria, urging the United States to carry out military strikes against the government of President Bashar to stop its persistent violations of a in the country’s civil war. The memo, a draft of which was provided to The New York Times by a State Department official, says American policy has been “overwhelmed” by the unrelenting violence in Syria. It calls for “a judicious use of and air weapons, which would undergird and drive a more focused and U. S. diplomatic process. ” Such a step would represent a radical shift in the administration’s approach to the civil war in Syria, and there is little evidence that President Obama has plans to change course. Mr. Obama has emphasized the military campaign against the Islamic State over efforts to dislodge Mr. Assad. Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, led by Secretary of State John Kerry, have all but collapsed. But the memo, filed in the State Department’s “dissent channel,” underscores the deep rifts and lingering frustration within the administration over how to deal with a war that has killed more than 400, 000 people. The State Department set up the channel during the Vietnam War as a way for employees who had disagreements with policies to register their protest with the secretary of state and other top officials, without fear of reprisal. While dissent cables are not that unusual, the number of signatures on this document, 51, is extremely large, if not unprecedented. The names on the memo are almost all midlevel officials — many of them career diplomats — who have been involved in the administration’s Syria policy over the last five years, at home or abroad. They range from a Syria desk officer in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs to a former deputy to the American ambassador in Damascus. While there are no widely recognized names, State Department officials are known to share their concerns. Mr. Kerry himself has pushed for stronger American action against Syria, in part to force a diplomatic solution on Mr. Assad. The president has resisted such pressure, and has been backed up by his military commanders, who have raised questions about what would happen in the event that Mr. Assad was forced from power — a scenario that the draft memo does not address. The State Department spokesman, John Kirby, declined to comment on the memo, which top officials had just received. But he said Mr. Kerry respected the process as a way for employees “to express policy views candidly and privately to senior leadership. ” Robert S. Ford, a former ambassador to Syria, said, “Many people working on Syria for the State Department have long urged a tougher policy with the Assad government as a means of facilitating arrival at a negotiated political deal to set up a new Syrian government. ” Mr. Ford, who is now a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, resigned from the Foreign Service in 2014 out of frustration with the administration’s policy toward the conflict. In the memo, the State Department officials wrote that the Assad government’s continuing violations of the partial known as a cessation of hostilities, will doom efforts to broker a political settlement because Mr. Assad will feel no pressure to negotiate with the moderate opposition or other factions fighting him. The government’s barrel bombing of civilians, it said, is the “root cause of the instability that continues to grip Syria and the broader region. ” “The moral rationale for taking steps to end the deaths and suffering in Syria, after five years of brutal war, is evident and unquestionable,” it said. “The status quo in Syria will continue to present increasingly dire, if not disastrous, humanitarian, diplomatic and challenges. ” The memo acknowledged that military action would have risks, not the least further tensions with Russia, which has intervened in the war on Mr. Assad’s behalf and helped negotiate a . Those tensions increased on Thursday when, according to a senior Pentagon official, Russia conducted airstrikes in southern Syria against forces fighting the Islamic State. The State Department officials insisted in their memo that they were not “advocating for a slippery slope that ends in a military confrontation with Russia,” but rather a credible threat of military action to keep Mr. Assad in line. Once that threat was in place, the memo said, Mr. Kerry could undertake a diplomatic mission similar to the one he led with Iran on its nuclear program. The expression of dissent came a week after Mr. Assad showed renewed defiance of the United States and other countries, vowing to retake “every inch” of his country from his enemies. The which Mr. Kerry helped negotiate in Munich last winter, has never really taken hold. Mr. Assad has continued to block humanitarian convoys, despite a warning that the United Nations would begin airdrops of food to starving towns. “There is an enormous frustration in the bureaucracy about Syria policy,” said Andrew J. Tabler, a Syria expert at the Washington Institute for Near Eastern Policy. “What’s brought this to a head now is the real downturn in the negotiations, not just between the U. S. and Russia, but between Assad and the opposition. ” Last month, Mr. Kerry rejected the suggestion that the United States and its allies would never use force to stop the bombings or enforce humanitarian access. “If President Assad has come to a conclusion there’s no Plan B,” he said, “then he’s come to a conclusion that is totally without any foundation whatsoever and even dangerous. ” Still, Mr. Obama has shown little sign of shifting his focus from the campaign against the Islamic State — a strategy that probably acquired even more urgency after the mass shooting Sunday in Orlando, Fla. In the memo, the State Department officials argued that military action against Mr. Assad would help the fight against the Islamic State because it would bolster moderate Sunnis, who are necessary allies against the group, also known as ISIS or ISIL. While the State Department has a tradition of being open to dissent — in the 1990s, Secretary of State Warren Christopher met with Foreign Service officers who had written a dissent on the Clinton administration’s Balkans policy — Mr. Christopher and his successors have been frustrated when these classified memos become public. In this case, the memo mainly confirms what has been clear for some time: The State Department’s rank and file have chafed at the White House’s refusal to be drawn into the conflict in Syria. During a debate in June 2013, after the Assad government had used chemical weapons against its own people, Mr. Kerry brandished a State Department report that argued that the United States needed to respond militarily or Mr. Assad would view it as “green light for continued CW use. ” Three years later, the sense of urgency at the State Department has not diminished. The memo concludes, “It is time that the United States, guided by our strategic interests and moral convictions, lead a global effort to put an end to this conflict once and for all. ”

Franken Calls for ’Independent Investigation’ Into Trump’s ’Putin Crush’ - Breitbart

Pam Key

Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” in reacting to reports about President Donald Trump’s national security adviser Michael Flynn’s phone conversations with a Russian ambassador, Sen. Al Franken ( ) said, “We need to have an independent investigation on it” because what he said was Trump having a “Putin crush. ” Partial transcript as follows: FRANKEN: There is a lot here that we need to look at, and we need to have an independent investigation on it. TAPPER: When you say independent, what do you mean, independent counsel, select committee? FRANKEN: I think an independent counsel would be terrific but I know that Lindsey Graham and Sheldon Whitehouse in Judiciary are doing — did doing hearinngs and investigation. I trust those guys. There’s something going on in intelligence and that’s opaque. We need something transparent and we need an investigation because we don’t know what he owes Russia. We don’t know how many Russian oligarchs have invested in his business. He has saddled up to Putin in so many ways. What he’s doing in Syria is great. TAPPER: Yeah. FRANKEN: He didn’t, you know, annex Crimea and going after NATO. There’s something — he’s got a bit of a Putin crush, and there’s — I want to know how much of that is tied to maybe financial strings? Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

Louisiana, Simone Biles, U.S. Presidential Race: Your Tuesday Evening Briefing - The New York Times

Andrea Kannapell and Sandra Stevenson

(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the .) Good evening. Here’s the latest. 1. Floodwaters saturated southern Louisiana, forcing more desperate rescues and evacuations. The death toll rose to 11, and tens of thousands of people have been displaced. Some areas have received as much as 31 inches of rain (yes, 31) in the last week — a phenomenon that some experts say foretells the disasters of climate change. _____ 2. At the Olympics, the spectacular American gymnast Simone Biles scooped up her fourth gold medal, soaring past the competition in the floor exercise. More of today’s highlights are here. Fans of the U. S. runner Allyson Felix raged over a dive across the finish line by the Bahamian Shaunae Miller to win the women’s 400 meters. And an Irish boxer, Michael Conlon, raged against judges after they ruled he lost to a Russian, Vladimir Nikitin, in a bout many observers believed he had won. Our full coverage of the Games is here, including the battle for the 2024 Olympics and a meditation on the sometimes mystifying theatrics in synchronized swimming. _____ 3. Donald Trump spoke at a rally in a suburb of Milwaukee, steering clear of the area where unrest flared after a fatal police shooting. He accused Hillary Clinton of pushing an “narrative” and said, “Law and order must be restored. ” His campaign focus has shifted to the theme of fighting terrorism, with a special focus on protecting women. He’s also portraying Hillary Clinton as weak and tired. _____ 4. Four sources told our political reporters that Roger Ailes, the Fox News chairman ousted last month over accusations of sexual harassment, is advising Donald Trump as he prepares for the coming presidential debates. A Trump spokeswoman issued a denial, saying the two are friends and “speak occasionally, which isn’t news. ” _____ 5. Hillary Clinton traveled to Philadelphia for a drive, bolstered by new polls showing her lead strengthening in Florida. Her campaign is spending heavily to influence early voting, which is allowed in 35 states and the District of Columbia. The first, Minnesota, begins on Sept. 23. Almost of voters cast early ballots in 2012. The F. B. I. under pressure from House Republicans, gave Congress classified documents related to its investigation of Mrs. Clinton’s private email server. _____ 6. Russia launched air attacks in Syria from an air base in Iran, becoming the first foreign military to operate from Iranian territory since at least World War II. The move could alter the political and military equation in the Middle East. The Russian military said its bombers destroyed ammunition dumps and other targets linked to the Islamic State and other groups. _____ 7. Turns out older people are pretty good life hackers. A professor of industrial design has been collecting examples: using the moldable putty Sugru to buffer furniture edges that can bruise or tear elderly skin, and snapping rubber bands around cups to increase grip. A woman who put a lazy susan in her refrigerator to ease access said, “Designers think they can put themselves in the shoes of the aging, but you don’t really know until you’ve lived with the realities. ” _____ 8. Gawker will be getting a new owner. Univision’s bid of $135 million secured the muckraking gossip site at auction, according to two people with direct knowledge of the deal. Gawker declared bankruptcy after being hit with a $140 million judgment for publishing a sex tape involving the former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan. Above, Nick Denton, who founded Gawker in 2002. _____ 9. Google released Duo, a app that can place video calls between Android and iPhone users. In a jab at Apple, whose FaceTime operates only with iOS, Google’s statement said users shouldn’t have to worry “if your friend is using the same type of device as you are. ” _____ 10. Wen Hair Care, created by a Los Angeles stylist to the stars, has drawn more than 21, 000 complaints, including hair loss in women and children. Its distributor is part of a trade association bitterly fighting proposed legislation that would empower the Food and Drug Administration to test and recall cosmetics. But the proposal has the backing of the bigger players in the beauty industry, who want to regain public trust. _____ 11. Finally, this Native American chef, Sean Sherman, is unearthing and revitalizing indigenous cooking traditions that have been lost or forgotten. An Oglala Lakota, he favors chokecherries, corn silk and even chaga, the fungus that blooms on birch trees, joking about his “ . ” He plans to open a restaurant in Minneapolis next year. _____ 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 last night’s briefing. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes. com.

Turkey Threatens to Open Migrant ’Land Passage’ to Europe After Row With Dutch

Breitbart London

(AP) — Turkey’s minister in charge of European Union affairs says his country should consider reviewing its migration deal with the EU and relax controls on people reaching Europe over land. [advertisement

Huma’s Weiner Dogs Hillary

Steve Sailer

Colin Kaepernick Starts Black Panther-Inspired Youth Camp? Wow!

Scott Osborn

0 comments Colin Kaepernick has started a kids camp inspired by the Black Panther Party, and their popular 10 point plan and said he didn’t want the media to find out. Well I wonder why he would not want the media to find out he was taking such a far out approach with children? MAYBE his goal is to make little Black Panthers out of our youth? The NY DAILY NEWS reports: Please don’t say anything about it online,” Colin asked me a few days before the camp. “I’m not doing this for the press and I don’t want it to become a media event so that the kids and the families can feel like this is just for them.” nspired by the Black Panther Party, and their popular 10 point plan, on their 50th Anniversary, the camp created 10 rights that each child has the right to know. They were listed on the back of T-shirts given to each camper. “We’re here today to fight back and give you all lessons to combat the oppressive issues that our people face on a daily basis. We’re here to give you tools to help you succeed,” he said. “We’re going to give you knowledge on policing history, what the systems of policing in America were based on, and we’re also going to teach you skills to make sure you always make it home safely.” Why couldn’t Kaepernick just be normal and do something good for kids? Why so secretive? Why push such an extreme political agenda from an extremist group? Kaepernick could have taken another road. He has instead taken an anti-American, anti-Law Enforcement road. He has chosen the road of hate and divisiveness instead of the road of Patriotism and unity. Kaepernick wants to pass this line of reasoning on to children. insanity on many levels.

Trump’s Immigration Policies Explained - The New York Times

Nicholas Kulish, Vivian Yee, Caitlin Dickerson, Liz Robbins, Fernanda Santos and Jennifer Medina

With an executive order last month and a pair of Department of Homeland Security memos on Tuesday, the Trump administration has significantly hardened the country’s policies regarding illegal immigration. Here are some of the most significant elements of the new approach: In 2014, the Obama administration issued guidelines for deporting unauthorized immigrants that placed the highest priority on gang members, felons and those who posed security threats. A goal was to concentrate limited resources on the most serious cases, but many Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents complained that the priorities tied their hands, taking away their discretion as to whom to pursue. Under the new directives, the government “no longer will exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement. ” Immigration agents can now focus on picking up and removing anyone charged with or convicted of any criminal offense, even minor ones, as well as anyone already ordered deported, regardless of whether they have a criminal record. One unauthorized immigrant in California, Kristina, who did not want her last name used because of fear of deportation, said she was alarmed to learn on Tuesday that she would now be considered a prime target. Kristina has been in the country for 25 years and has been ordered deported, but her removal had been postponed for the last four years by the Obama administration. “We have our whole lives here our children are citizens,” she said. “Now I don’t know if I can go out, if I should drive. ” But the Obama guidelines “translated into de facto protections” for people with no legal right to live in the United States, said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which opposes legalization for unauthorized immigrants. Unless they fell into one of the categories, Mr. Stein said, “the chance of being deported was virtually zero. ” Under the Obama administration, people caught crossing the border without permission were often released into the United States while their requests for asylum wound through the immigration system, a process that can take years. Most requests are denied, but by then, the immigrant has been living in the United States all that time and may not be easy to find. The Trump administration has declared an end to the catch and release policy, though it may take awhile to see any significant change. “Catch and release” came about in part because the government had nowhere to hold detainees waiting for immigration decisions. One of the memos released on Tuesday directs officials to expand detention facilities, but it will take time to build centers big enough, or find enough room in jails, to hold the thousands of Mexican and Central American asylum seekers expected to cross the border this year. The document also raises another alternative: sending migrants back to Mexico to wait out the immigration process, even those who are not originally from Mexico. That proposal comes with its own problems. Though United States law appears to allow it, Mexico’s laws do not, if the immigrant is not a Mexican citizen. Two decades ago, Congress passed a law allowing the government to quickly deport undocumented immigrants who have not been in the United States very long, without allowing them go before a judge. In practice, the government has used this process, called “expedited removal,” relatively narrowly because of concerns about whether it violates constitutional rights of due process that are granted to anyone in the United States, regardless of immigration status. Since 2002, expedited removal has been applied only to immigrants who have been in the country less than two weeks and were caught within 100 miles of the border. That is because the Supreme Court has held that such immigrants can still be considered “in transit” and not here long enough to qualify for due process protections. The Trump administration is now planning to use expedited removal as extensively as the original law allows, saying that limits on its use had contributed to a backlog of more than half a million cases in immigration court. Immigration advocates vowed to challenge the change. “Someone could be living in Chicago for a year and a half and then be swept off the street by an ICE agent,” said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the A. C. L. U.’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. “He is going to be detained and removed right away without ever seeing a judge. ” One of the memos on Tuesday acknowledges that children who arrive at the border alone — “unaccompanied alien children,” in government parlance — are entitled to special protections: Unlike other border crossers, whom border patrol agents may deport without a legal hearing, these children must appear before an immigration judge and be interviewed by an asylum officer. Children have surged across the border in recent years, many fleeing violence and destitution in Central America. But the memo turns a sterner face to their parents, who, under the new policy, may be subject to deportation or even prosecution for enabling their children to come into the country. The memo notes that parents and relatives often pay smugglers several thousand dollars to bring their children from Central America, an act that the memo says amounts to facilitating illegal smuggling or trafficking. Immigration advocates are predicting that the policy will drive parents of migrant children further underground. With parents fearful of prosecution, advocates say, navigating the immigration process — or even showing up to court — could become much harder for these children. Some 750, 000 people who were brought into the country as children were issued work permits and temporary protection from deportation under an Obama program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. Even President Trump said last week that the subject “is very, very difficult” for him and that he promised to “deal with DACA with heart. ” So far, the Trump administration has left the program alone. But chills went through the community of “Dreamers,” as DACA recipients are known, with the recent arrest of a Mexican immigrant in Washington State, Daniel Ramirez. Immigration agents arrested him when they went to his house to detain his father, a convicted drug trafficker. They said Mr. Ramirez admitted to having gang affiliations, which cancels the protection offered under DACA. But Mr. Ramirez denies having made the admission, and his lawyers are fighting his deportation. A program known as 287( g) named for its section of the Immigration and Nationality Act, allows the Department of Homeland Security to train local and state law enforcement officers to work as de facto federal immigration officers, identifying undocumented immigrants in their communities and jails and turning them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. From 2006 to 2013, the program led to 175, 000 deportations, according to federal statistics. But investigations and court rulings revealed an ugly side effect: In some jurisdictions, local officers were using their authority to racially profile Latinos. One of the most egregious cases was in Maricopa County, Arizona’s most populous, during the tenure of Sheriff Joseph Arpaio, who a federal judge ruled had discriminated against Latinos in patrols and other enforcement efforts. The Obama administration curtailed the use of the program, which currently involves 32 agencies in 16 states. The Trump administration wants more agencies to take part, and some have already expressed a desire to do so. The administration is trying to significantly expand the amount of information available on the enforcement of immigration laws and, in particular, unauthorized immigrants who commit crimes. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will establish a new office to work with the victims of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants, some of whom appeared with Mr. Trump on the campaign trail. The office, known as Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement, or Voice, will provide victims with information about defendants’ immigration status and whether they are in jail. Significantly, funding for the office comes from reallocating “any and all resources that are currently used to advocate on behalf of illegal aliens” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE will now have to provide monthly public reports on its apprehensions and releases. The agency also has to publish a weekly report about state and local authorities that release undocumented immigrants from jails. That is a clear shot across the bow at sanctuary cities that limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities, contending that turning in unauthorized immigrants would destroy the fragile relationship that the police have with immigrant communities. “We are going to continue our policy that has been in place because we think that it helps us have a safer, stronger, better community,” Mayor Stephanie A. Miner of Syracuse said on Tuesday. The Trump administration is already pondering ways to punish those cities by denying them some federal aid. “Now everyone is going to be able to see how many criminal aliens are being released as a result of the sanctuary policies,” said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports tighter controls on immigration. In January 2009, the departing Bush administration extended some Privacy Act rights, which American citizens and legal permanent residents already had, to undocumented immigrants. That meant that information obtained by one agency, like the Internal Revenue Service or Citizenship and Immigration Services, could not generally be shared with other agencies, like Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One rationale for the move was to protect the personal information of immigrants who might one day become citizens covered by the Privacy Act. The Trump administration has now rescinded those privacy protections. One of the memos released on Tuesday said that those protections had been detrimental to the families of the victims of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants, because those families could not get information about such defendants’ legal status, or whether they had been deported, leaving victims “feeling marginalized and without a voice. ” The Department of Homeland Security said it would develop new rules on the sharing of undocumented immigrants’ private information. But advocates for unauthorized immigrants said they feared that immigrants who had applied for legal status — in the process divulging they were not here legally — were now in danger of having that information used to deport them. “The constitution doesn’t traditionally allow bait and switches,” said Thomas A. Saenz, the president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, an organization that advocates for immigrants. “These are folks who submitted their information attempting to play by the rules, with part of the rules being that the government would protect their privacy. ” The memos released on Tuesday repeat Mr. Trump’s demand in his executive order for a larger enforcement force that can speed up the removal of millions of undocumented immigrants from the United States. In practice, that may play out more slowly than the president might prefer. The source of this caution is none other than John F. Kelly, the homeland security secretary, who told lawmakers this month that he did not believe it would be possible to hire the desired 15, 000 ICE and border patrol agents in the next couple of years. “I’d rather have fewer and make sure that they’re people,” Mr. Kelly told lawmakers. “I will not skimp on the training and the standards. ” On top of the stringent hiring standards and training, Border Patrol applicants are required to take a polygraph test, which nearly 60 percent fail. A previous surge in hiring under President George W. Bush resulted in dozens of corruption cases, with Border Patrol and other agents accused of taking bribes and providing information to Mexican drug cartels.

Mary Tyler Moore Is Mourned by Dick Van Dyke and Other Stars - The New York Times

Niraj Chokshi and Liam Stack

Mary Tyler Moore, whose iconic television roles reflected the changing place of women in America, died on Wednesday, eliciting an outpouring of tributes on social media. Dick Van Dyke, who played Ms. Moore’s husband in the 1960s sitcom “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” said on Twitter that Ms. Moore had changed his life for the better. Other former and friends also shared their grief and gratitude online. They included the actors Ed Asner, who played her boss at a local television station in the 1970s sitcom “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” Ben Stiller and Patricia Arquette, who with her in the 1996 movie “Flirting With Disaster,” and Michael Keaton, who appeared on her variety show “Mary. ” Some remembered Ms. Moore as a role model who portrayed strong female characters onscreen. They included Oprah Winfrey, who has said she grew up inspired by Ms. Moore, as well as Ellen Degeneres, Marlee Matlin and George Takei, all of whom described Ms. Moore as a trailblazer. The comedian and actor Stephen Fry said he was rehearsing on Wednesday at the stage where “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” was produced, adding that he and others observed a minute of silence in her honor. Female journalists felt a special affinity for Ms. Moore, who starred in that show as Mary Richards, a news producer at a Minneapolis television station.

Poison

Heather Callaghan

By Dr. Mark Sircus Everyone knows that there are psychopaths everywhere including in the fields of medicine and science. The greatest harm psychopaths as a group have engineered on the human race is...

Trump Fans Rally Across the Nation to Support the President - The New York Times

Jack Healy

DENVER — As Americans poured into airport terminals, public squares and congressional town meetings over the past month to vent their anger over President Trump’s policies, Debbie Dooley started hearing from fellow conservatives. “Phone call after phone call from people: ‘Why aren’t we out supporting President Trump? ’” said Ms. Dooley, a Tea Party activist in Georgia. So on Monday, conservatives around the country got out the Make America Great Again hats, unfurled American flags and held rallies at state capitols and on courthouse steps, seeking to rekindle the populist fervor that helped vault Mr. Trump to the White House and stick up for a president whose approval ratings have taken a beating during five weeks in office. But the modest crowds that showed up for the noontime rallies from New Jersey to Georgia to Colorado offered a reminder of what liberal groups learned eight years ago in the face of Tea Party anger at President Barack Obama: Stoking energy is often easier for the outraged resistance than for the party pulling the levers in Washington. “I’m getting a lot of comments from the leftists about, ‘Your crowd’s not going to be as big as our crowd,’” said Betty Blanco, a retired teacher from La Junta, Colo. on the state’s conservative eastern plains, who organized a rally on the steps of the State Capitol. “I didn’t know it was a contest. ” About 150 Trump supporters turned out for Monday’s rally in Denver, held just across the street from a park that had swelled with tens of thousands of protesters as part of the Women’s March on Jan. 21. Organizers said Monday’s rallies, held a day before the president addresses a joint session of Congress, bubbled up organically from Trump supporters who felt he was being treated unfairly by Democrats and the news media. Some people said the ferocity of that criticism had actually nudged them closer to Mr. Trump. “I was mad at Trump for a while, absolutely,” said Steve Foose, a bus driver in Middletown, N. J. and former Democrat who joined about 200 people waving signs and flags along the curb of a crossroads. “I just grew to like him, and I would lay down my life for him. ” Monday’s rallies were filled with prayer, choruses of “God Bless America” and speeches about cutting taxes and regulations. People applauded the president and veterans, and urged one another to stay positive. But there were also chants of “Lock her up!” every so often, and a few shouting matches when Trump critics wandered by and yelled at the crowds. People praised Mr. Trump for actions that have provoked protests and lawsuits from the left. In interviews at five rallies on Monday, his supporters said that he was breaking the china in Washington, cracking down on immigration and supporting American businesses, and that they were getting frustrated that more people did not seem to see it that way. In Atlanta, Jermane Enoch, 57, a project manager from Powder Springs, Ga. was among the few in a largely white crowd of 200 who rallied on the president’s behalf at Liberty Plaza, in the shadow of the State Capitol. Wearing a red Trump hat, a patriotic bow tie and a Trump Mr. Enoch said that good businesspeople would understand why Monday’s rallies across the country were needed, given what he said was the “negative messaging” from protesters and the news media. “It’s necessary to have a show of continuous support, just like it’s necessary for businesses to show continuous improvement,” he said. Mr. Enoch argued that the president had been mischaracterized and misunderstood. The idea that Mr. Trump is a racist, as some critics contend, struck him as balderdash. In a turn at the microphone, Mr. Enoch said his support for Mr. Trump superseded race, and he urged a return to conservative values. Mr. Enoch brandished a pocket Constitution, to much applause. And he took a cue from Isaiah as he said Mr. Trump’s supporters should not be cowed by counterprotest: “I am not afraid!” he said. “No weapon that is formed against us shall prosper!” RICHARD FAUSSET In Mandeville, a city in one of Louisiana’s most conservative parishes, there was some question as to how many Trump supporters would materialize, this being the usually quiet eve of Mardi Gras. But there was little doubt that those who showed up — 150 or so bikers, retirees, police officers and others — would be in their support for a president who won the parish by roughly three to one. A home remodeler and disc jockey who uses the name Bobby Blaze made the most entrance, wearing a suit over his leather “Brotherhood of Bikers” vest, a bright red tie with a gold clip and, to top it all off, a Trump wig. He said that his father, a World War II veteran who died two years ago, would have loved Mr. Trump: “‘The country needs John Wayne,’ that’s what he used to say. ” And after aiding its allies around the globe for decades, Mr. Blaze suggested, the United States had finally gotten such a leader at a time when it needed him most. “We can’t help the world,” he said, “till we can help ourselves first. ” CAMPBELL ROBERTSON In Cabarrus County, N. C. which Mr. Trump easily carried, more than 150 of his supporters met up outside the courthouse in Concord, many of them unfurling last year’s Trump campaign flags, lawn signs and red caps — though a surprising number said they had never attended a Trump rally during the presidential race. Bill Cagle, a retiree, decided to attend on Monday after seeing a deluge of news coverage of demonstrations in the streets and at congressional town halls. “I said, ‘Well, we’ve been silent long enough, and we’ve really got to say what’s in the heart,’ when I saw all of this vitriol the last six weeks,” Mr. Cagle said. An operations manager for a company that builds towers for lines, Mr. Cagle said he was a registered Democrat but had not voted for the party’s presidential ticket in decades. He said he maintained his registration only to vote against what he considered the worst option in a primary race. “What he’s done in a little bit of time, I think is great,” he said of Mr. Trump, noting in particular his efforts to roll back regulations. “I’ve been in business, and by golly, if they can get rid of some of that, it’s great. ” TRIP GABRIEL On the edges of the Denver crowd, two men exemplified the devotion and the dread that the president inspires. Ron Kamstra, a retired civil engineer and Christian who said he deeply supported Mr. Trump’s stances on terrorism and immigration, handed out photocopied passages of the Quran that he said encouraged violence. Mohamed Mashkooke, an accountant born in Somalia, wandered up to Mr. Kamstra and said he was growing increasingly worried about becoming the target of racist attacks — like the shooting last week of two Indian men in Kansas. Cordially at first, but then increasingly tensely, the men argued about religion, immigration, faith and the validity of Mr. Obama’s birth certificate. (Despite all of the facts, Mr. Kamstra is still dubious.) “I don’t hate Trump,” Mr. Mashkooke said finally, walking away, “but I think he’s crazy. ” “O. K. good,” Mr. Kamstra replied, and turned back to the speeches. JACK HEALY

Fox Biz Reporter Can't Help But Bash Clinton’s Rally After Covering Trump’s Packed Event Day Before

Kayla Brandon

Share on Twitter The battle of campaign rallies has been going strong throughout the 2016 presidential election, with both candidates amassing pretty large crowds. Just last month, the Washington Post compared two separate September rallies for both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Trump's had a crowd of 15,000, at his Sept. 27th rally in Melbourne, Florida: Unbelievable evening in Melbourne, Florida w/ 15,000 supporters- and an additional 12,000 who could not get in. Thank you! #TrumpTrain #MAGA pic.twitter.com/2N3Xq7AGmx — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 28, 2016 ...while Clinton had a crowd of roughly 1,400 people in Raleigh, North Carolina, that same day: Hillary Clinton rallies in Raleigh, NC the day after the debate pic.twitter.com/pvWndH0zlK — Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) September 27, 2016 It appears as though Fox Business reporter Adam Shapiro felt the need to compare Trump and Hillary's crowd attendance, too. At a West Palm Beach rally Wednesday, Shapiro said there appeared to be roughly a thousand Hillary supporters at Palm Beach State College, which was a sizable difference to Trump's rally the day before: "It's nowhere near the size of the crowd we saw in Sanford, Florida yesterday for Mr. Trump — 15,000. Take a look, Stewart [camera pans crowd]. There's maybe 1,000 to 2,000 people here today. The Clinton rallies tend to be much smaller and you can see there's empty space here." Image Credit: Screenshot/ YouTube He just couldn't stop talking about it, adding that if they were covering a Trump rally, the room would be “packed.” Though Shapiro took a dig at the Democratic nominee for her apparently “empty” rally, those who were in attendance still sang “Happy Birthday” to her.

11 Fiction Podcasts Worth a Listen - The New York Times

Amanda Hess

The fiction podcast is having a moment. But modern audio dramatists have been turning out intriguing scripted podcasts for several years, and they’re showing no signs of slowing down. Take a guided tour through the past, present and future of audio drama with these fictional standouts. “The Truth” bills itself as “movies for your ears. ” This anthology series, which tells stories through subtle sound effects and naturalistic acting, was ahead of its time at its 2012 debut. Typically, each episode places new characters into short capsule tales. But recently “The Truth” introduced an series, “Songonauts,” about musicians in a struggling band who are unexpectedly transported into their own songs. Listen here. “Welcome to Night Vale,” which also began in 2012, takes the form of a darkly funny radio show, broadcast from a town where every conspiracy theory is true. Its vibe — just a narrator, a script and some music — is matched by its bizarre storytelling form. At first, listening to “Welcome to Night Vale” feels like tuning into a disoriented beat poetry session, but with every episode, listeners get drawn closer into this community, its characters and their strange dealings. Listen here. “Limetown” is a 2015 podcast that follows the story of a radio reporter with American Public Radio, who sets out to solve the sudden and mysterious disappearance of 300 people in a Tennessee town. Though it’s one of several fictional podcasts released last year to borrow the aesthetics of the podcast “Serial,” this one is still an exciting debut from Productions, an upstart fiction podcast studio that’s poised to expand with a slate of scripted series next year. Listen here. “The Message” is the first fiction series to come out of a partnership between the podcast network Panoply and the sponsor, General Electric. The collaboration is branded G. E. Podcast Theater, harking back to the old, Ronald radio and television anthology series General Electric Theater. “The Message” felt more moneyed than many of early fiction podcasts, boasting cinematic sound design and a tense plot that felt borrowed from peak TV, and it was rewarded with a No. 1 slot on the iTunes charts last year. Listen here. “Alice Isn’t Dead,” a haunting new tale from the creators of “Welcome to Night Vale,” was released earlier this year under their new podcast imprint, Night Vale Presents. “Alice Isn’t Dead” follows a woman as she sets out on a frightening and fantastical road trip in an effort to track down her missing wife. Listen here. “The Orbiting Human Circus (of the Air),” the latest offering from Night Vale Presents, is a surreal series set in the world of an absurdist variety show. Created by Julian Koster of the band Neutral Milk Hotel, the series features John Cameron Mitchell alongside guest stars like Tim Robbins (who voices a cricket) and Mandy Patinkin (who sings). Listen here. “A Night Called Tomorrow” stars James Urbaniak, the actor and host of the beloved monthly podcast “Getting On. ” This noirish scripted series, which also features comedy luminaries like Andy Richter and “Weird Al” Yankovic, is being released exclusively through Howl, an audio subscription service that offers up dozens of nonfiction podcasts, original fiction pieces and comedy albums for $4. 99 a month. Listen here. “Fruit” comes from the mind of Issa Rae — the creative force behind the YouTube series “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl” and the new HBO comedy “Insecure. ” It tells the intimate story of an athlete, known only as “X,” who grapples with issues of sexuality in the hypermasculine world of pro football. This is another Howl subscription offering Season 2 had its debut last month. Listen here. “LifeAfter,” the second scripted series from Panoply and GE Podcast Theater, is a piece that plays with ideas of life, death and artificial intelligence. Its vibe recalls the grounded technodystopias of “Black Mirror” and “Her. ” It has its premiere on Sunday, Nov. 13. Subscribe here. “Homecoming” is the first scripted podcast from Gimlet Media, home to series like “Reply All” and “StartUp,” and is billed as a “psychological thriller” and cast with actors. Oscar Isaac and Catherine Keener play an army vet and his therapist who come together as part of a strange and new government program. David Schwimmer, David Cross and Amy Sedaris also appear. Subscribe here in advance of the premiere on Wednesday, Nov. 16. “Serendipity” is a preview of audio drama’s future. Every month the hosts, Anne Heppermann and Martin Johnson, celebrate innovative audio fiction from around the world. Listen here.

Mike Birbiglia’s 6 Tips for Making It Small in Hollywood. Or Anywhere. - The New York Times

Mike Birbiglia

This summer, I went on a tour with my movie “Don’t Think Twice,” a comedy about an improv group that has to decide whether to stay in show business when one member is plucked for a “Saturday Night Live” type of show. At every Q. and A. session for the movie, people would ask the same question: “If I want to be a comedian [or actor or writer or improviser or film director] how do I get started?” The truth is they should probably pick someone more successful to ask — I make small films, small shows Off Broadway and small comedy specials for Netflix — but I’m the person who showed up to talk to them. And now I’m the person offering you unsolicited advice — so if you don’t need it or want it, this is not for you. Anyway, I’ve boiled my answer down to six ideas. 1. DON’T WAIT Write. Make a short film. Go to an open mike. Take an improv class. There’s no substitute for actually doing something. Don’t talk about it anymore. Maybe don’t even finish reading this essay. 2. FAIL Don’t worry about failing. There’s a great video where Ira Glass explains that when you start in a new field, your work won’t be as good as your taste. It will take years for your taste and the quality of your work to intersect. (If ever!) Failure is essential. There’s no substitute for it. It’s not just encouraged but required. The bedrock of all good pieces of writing is 10 bad drafts. Maybe 20. I wrote 12 drafts of “Don’t Think Twice,” 14 drafts of my first movie, “Sleepwalk With Me,” and worked on my first show for six years. My first set on “Late Show With David Letterman” in 2002 was mined from three hours of material that I had tried and failed with for six years. 3. LEARN FROM THE FAILURE This is where it becomes important to find a community of people you respect. People who have good taste. People who might not be good at something themselves but know what good is. They might be in a theater company, at an improv school, or live in your dorm. They aren’t the easiest thing to find. When I was in college, every Wednesday I drove my girlfriend Maggie’s Ford Taurus to an open mike at a Best Western 40 minutes away, to enter a lottery of 30 comedians trying to win one of the nine spots to perform in front of the other angry 21 comedians. It sucked. People didn’t like my comedy there. I didn’t love theirs. It wasn’t a fit. But then I got a job working as a door person at the DC Improv comedy club in Washington, and that was a fit. Around the same time, I was cast in my college improv group. So all at once, I met people whom I could bounce jokes and ideas off of. They’d give me candid feedback, and I tried to listen. I wasn’t great at it at first. It’s hard to hear criticism. But I’ve learned that harsh feedback, constructive feedback, even weird, random feedback, is all helpful, if you know the essence of what you’re trying to convey. I once heard an interview where Ron Howard said that he tests the rough cuts of his movies with a ton of audiences. He doesn’t do it to be told what the movie’s vision should be, but to understand whether his vision is coming across. If not, he makes changes. Your vision is not being conveyed a majority of the time. With “Don’t Think Twice,” I workshopped the script like the way I workshop my standup: I invited friends over to read it out loud in my living room and then fed them pizza. The pizza was excellent. The script often wasn’t. So I’d get my friends all drunk on pizza and then ask them hard questions like: “What do you like least about the script? Be honest. I can take it. ” That’s where I learned the most. 4. MAYBE QUIT You might not be meant to be a writer or performer or improviser. You might be meant to teach kids math or raise money for a food bank or start a company that makes Rubik’s Cubes for babies. Don’t rule out quitting. There is going to be an insane amount of work ahead, and your time might be spent better elsewhere. There was a great column in The New York Times recently where Angela Duckworth writes, “Rather than ask, ‘What do I want to be when I grow up?’ ask, ‘In what way do I wish the world were different? What problem can I help solve?’ This puts the focus where it should be — on how you can serve other people. ” 5. BE BOLD ENOUGH TO MAKE STUFF THAT’S SMALL BUT GREAT Eight years ago, I made a network sitcom pilot based on my life. It was a dream come true. A sitcom about my life? What could be better than that for a standup comedian? Well, it didn’t get picked up. I was devastated. But here’s the kicker: Failing to get that sitcom was the single greatest stroke of luck that’s happened in my entire career. The show wasn’t truly my comedic voice. It was watered down by network and studio notes to the point of being like dozens of other bland sitcoms. After that, I no longer wanted to create projects for the Hollywood gatekeepers. The networks. The studios. Since then, I’ve created a handful of pieces for “This American Life,” three Off Broadway shows, toured hundreds of cities around the world, and written, directed and starred in two feature films. All outside the system. Based on that work, I’ve been offered small movie roles by people who work inside the system. Which is to say: Leaving the system behind and creating something of your own may actually be thing that gets you into the system, hopefully on your own terms. The point is, forget the gatekeepers. As far as I’m concerned, what you create in a improv theater in Phoenix can be far more meaningful than a mediocre sitcom being by seven million people. America doesn’t need more stuff. We need more great stuff. You could make that. 6. CLEVERNESS IS OVERRATED, AND HEART IS UNDERRATED Plus, there are fewer people competing for heart, so you have a better chance of getting noticed. Sometimes people say, “One thing you have to offer in your work is yourself. ” I disagree. I think it’s the only thing.

Investment Strategist Forecasts Collapse Timeline: ‘The Last Gasp Of This Economic Cycle Will Come In 2018’

Mac Slavo

It is no longer a question of whether or not financial markets and the U.S. economy will collapse. That, according to a host of experts, both mainstream and alternative, is a given. The only question now is “when” that moment will come. According to Christine Hughes, chief investment strategist at Otterwood Capital , it will be very soon. Basing her assessment on historically dead-on yield curve analysis, Hughes says in her latest update to clients that we’re looking at a maximum breaking point of 2020, but that some time in the next 12 – 15 months is the more likely scenario, which pegs the next crisis right at the beginning of 2018 . First, the chart, which has been near perfect in its accuracy thus far and shows just how rapidly the yield curve has collapsed in the last 12 months: Hughes explains what it means for you and why you can expect 2018 to be the year of reckoning: As the bond market sees a recession slower growth means lower interest rates and it [the yield curve] collapses. So let’s assume we’re like every other time in history and that happens. Then it moves forward to 2018… So, 2018, according to the yield curve, is pretty much the last gasp we have for this economic cycle. We’re closing in on 2016 now… we basically have a year… maybe a year to 15 months before we have the next crisis on our hands. So if you are levered personally or corporately… if a lot of your assets are in illiquid stuff… the Canadian housing market comes to mind… You might want to think about existing and liquefying yourself. Watch the video report: Wolf Richter of Wolf Street explains why the Treasury Yield Curve is so important: Since early July, the 30-year US Treasury Bond Price Index has plunged 8.3%. It’s now called “the rout” in longer-dated government bonds. One of the specters is rising inflation at a time of ultra-low yields. What has become the number one predictor of a bear market in stocks over the past many decades? The US Treasury yield curve. It drives bank lending – which can strangle the economy. But this time, the risks are much higher, and the potential economic consequences steeper. We know it is only a matter of time at this point. Greg Mannarino of Traders Choice has made similar warnings, noting that the bond markets are signaling a massive crash ahead. And when that crash finally takes place the fall out after the debt bubble bursts, according to Mannarino, could lead to extremely serious consequences: So, when the debt bubble bursts we’re going to get a correction in population. It’s a mathematical certainty. Millions upon millions of people are going to die on a world-wide scale when the debt bubble bursts. And I’m saying when not if… … When resources become more and more scarce we’re going to see countries at war with each other. People will be scrambling… in a worst case scenario… doing everything that they can to survive… to provide for their family and for themselves. There’s no way out of it. If Mannarino and Hughes are right, you have about a year to get ready for the next leg of the collapse . Article reposted with permission from SHTF Plan Don't forget to Like Freedom Outpost on Facebook , Google Plus , & Twitter . You can also get Freedom Outpost delivered to your Amazon Kindle device here .

Venezuela Muzzles Legislature, Moving Closer to One-Man Rule - The New York Times

Nicholas Casey and Patricia Torres

IQUITOS, Peru — Venezuela took its strongest step yet toward rule under the leftist President Nicolás Maduro as his loyalists on the Supreme Court seized power from the National Assembly in a ruling late Wednesday night. The ruling effectively dissolved the elected legislature, which is led by Mr. Maduro’s opponents, and allows the court to write laws itself, experts said. The move caps a year in which the last vestiges of Venezuela’s democracy have been torn down, critics and regional leaders say, leaving what many now describe as not just an authoritarian regime, but an outright dictatorship. “What we have warned of has finally come to pass,” said Luis Almagro, the head of the Organization of American States, a regional diplomacy group that includes Venezuela and is investigating the country for violating the bloc’s Democratic Charter. Mr. Almagro called the move a “ coup,” a term used in Latin America to denote takeovers typical of the 1990s in Guatemala and Peru — but virtually in the region today. Recent months have seen a swift consolidation of power by Mr. Maduro as scores of political prisoners have been detained without trial, protesters violently repressed and local elections postponed. In taking power from the National Assembly, the ruling removed what most consider to be the only remaining counterbalance to the president’s growing power in the country. The court said that lawmakers were “in a situation of contempt,” and that while that lasted, the justices themselves would step in to “ensure that parliamentary powers were exercised directly by this chamber, or by the body that the chamber chooses. ” It did not say whether it might hand power back. Members of the National Assembly denounced the ruling on Thursday. “They have kidnapped the Constitution, they have kidnapped our rights, they have kidnapped our liberty,” said Julio Borges, the opposition lawmaker who heads the body, holding a crumpled copy of the ruling before reporters on Thursday. Oneida Guaipe, an opposition lawmaker from the country’s central coast, said the body would continue to do its work, even if its laws would now be ignored when it produced legislation. “This is demonstrating before the world the authoritarianism here,” she said. “The people chose us through a popular vote. ” The ruling was also a challenge to Venezuela’s neighbors, which met in Washington this week to put pressure on the country to hold elections, and to discuss a possible expulsion of Venezuela from the O. A. S. on the grounds that the country is not democratic. Last week, the United States, Canada and a dozen of Latin America’s largest nations called for Mr. Maduro to recognize the National Assembly’s powers, a rare joint statement that reflected deep impatience with his government. “We consider it a serious setback for democracy in Venezuela,” the United States State Department said on Thursday of the court decision. Peru withdrew its ambassador in protest. David Smilde, an analyst from the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights advocacy group, said it might now be up to Venezuela’s neighbors to encourage the country to hold elections again, given resistance from within the government. “The Maduro government seems to have no intention of respecting the basic elements of electoral democracy,” he said. Critics say a long litany of other moves by the government are taking a toll on Venezuela’s democracy. Perhaps most visible to Venezuelans was an effort last year to hold a recall referendum against the president, whose popularity is sinking along with the country’s collapsing economy. While such a referendum was permitted by the country’s Constitution, and highly favored in polls, Mr. Maduro alternatively called the effort illegal or a coup staged by his opponents. In October, a lower court suspended the process on the grounds that there had been irregularities in the gathering of signatures. Meanwhile, political prisoners continued to be arrested. In January, Mr. Maduro established a new “ commando” to round up political dissidents accused of treason. The group has taken aim at members of the opposition, arresting many, including a city councilman from central Venezuela and a deputy lawmaker in the National Assembly. In February, after CNN en Español, the network’s Spanish language channel, broadcast an investigation that linked Venezuela’s vice president to a passport fraud scheme in the Middle East, Mr. Maduro ordered the channel off the air. The government has blocked the Caracas bureau chief of The New York Times from entering the country since October. But to many, the gradual assault against the National Assembly, more than a year in the making, was the most telling sign of democratic erosion in Venezuela. “It has come in fragments,” Carlos Ayala Corao, a Venezuelan lawyer and legal analyst, said of the court’s actions against the legislature. “They have been slicing it in pieces. ” The conflicts began in December 2015, when rising grievances about the country’s faltering economy propelled Mr. Maduro’s opposition to win control of the legislature. It was the first time in years that the chamber was not dominated by the movement founded by the former leftist President Hugo Chávez. Mr. Maduro initially said he accepted the vote. He even appeared before opposition lawmakers to give his annual address on the state of the government in January of last year. But the Supreme Court, packed with loyalists to Mr. Maduro shortly before the National Assembly took power, was chipping away at the chamber’s powers. It refused to let it seat four lawmakers on the grounds that there had been voting irregularities. That denied the opposition of a supermajority, which would have given it expanded powers over Mr. Maduro. The National Assembly went back and forth on the ruling, but eventually complied. As the National Assembly began to get to work, it continued to clash with the court. By last spring, the legislature had written laws delivering on campaign promises like one measure to invigorate the economy and another to free more than 100 political prisoners, only to see the court overturn them as unconstitutional. When Mr. Maduro tried to increase his own powers under a state of emergency that he declared, the legislature rejected the effort. But the court sided with the president. In October, the court stripped the National Assembly of its power to review the annual budget, leaving Mr. Maduro in charge of the country’s purse strings. More recently, legislators tried to block the president from pursuing oil ventures without their approval. In Wednesday’s ruling stripping the National Assembly of its lawmaking powers, the court said the president had the right to make these oil deals. It said its ruling was justified by the Assembly’s choice to keep the lawmakers onboard whose elections had been questioned earlier. This act, it said, rendered the Assembly itself invalid. With few protesters in the streets of Caracas on Thursday, it was unclear what popular support the opposition might get from the public. Analysts say many Venezuelans feel as dispirited by the opposition as by leftist leaders, given the opposition’s continued defeat by the government. Opposition leaders called for protests on Saturday and in the coming week but have been unable to draw large crowds since last fall. John Magdaleno, a political consultant, said he expected a wider crackdown against the opposition from Mr. Maduro in coming weeks, and possibly more arrests. “In my opinion, from now on, there will be growing pressures against lawmakers,” he said, “and it’s probable there will be much greater persecution of political leaders. ”

Whether it's John McCain, Mitt Romney or Donald Trump, Democrats always run 'War on Women' tactic to destroy the Republican candidate

Natural News Editors

Whether it's John McCain, Mitt Romney or Donald Trump, Democrats always run 'War on Women' tactic to destroy the Republican candidate Natural News Editors Tags: war on women , democrats , campaign tactic (NaturalNews) Single women are a crucial element of the Democrat constituency, pushed to the polls with a crude combination of scare tactics and pandering that would be comical if it wasn't so effective in election after election. We may pause to remark that Republicans should have been much more prepared for this in 2016, but we should also look back to 2012 because it was used in 2012, regardless of how absurd it was to suggest Mitt Romney was leading a "War on Women."(Article written by John Howard, republished from Breitbart.com )Even some liberals are recognizing the absurdity, given the emergence of "Strange New Respect" for Romney this year. Of course this new respect is pure political opportunism — and don't be surprised to hear liberals complaining in future election that the conservative Republican presidential candidate isn't as candid and relaxed about social issues as Donald Trump was in the good old days of 2016.We should practice a little political opportunism of our own, and put the Left's revised opinion of Romney to good use. What they said about him was absurd in almost every respect. They've wholeheartedly embraced his position on the geopolitical threat of Russia, which means they're tacitly admitting Barack Obama didn't know what the hell he was talking about. They razz Trump about not paying enough taxes, but they didn't care a whit that Romney paid stupendous amounts of tax, plus vast charitable contributions.Most pertinently, they turned Mitt Romney into a misogynist clod, and his wife Ann Romney into an out-of-touch Stepford Wife, on the thinnest of pretexts. Lefty polemicists today are acting like they were possessed by political demons when they spent the final weeks of the 2012 campaign shrieking about "binders full of women ," and now they can't quite remember what they were going on about.As for Mrs. Romney, she was unceremoniously stripped of her feminine identity by liberals and treated like a space alien because she dared to endorse stay-at-home motherhood. When a mild backlash ensued, the White House memorably denied one of its slander ninja by claiming to know several different people with the same name. [1, 2]In the Democrat imagination and campaign ads, Republicans are constantly targeting American woman. You can draw a straight line from Anita Hill's hit on Clarence Thomas in the Nineties, to "journalist" George Stephanopoulos ambushing the Republican presidential field with a bizarre question about contraceptives in the 2012 primary.It's all pure opportunism, not principle. Romney was a choirboy, so they claimed his policies revealed his secret inner misogynist beast. Trump's policies include a family-leave plan, a culture-war cease-fire declared by Peter Thiel at the GOP convention, and an unease with late-term abortion that tracks with the majority of the country. There's precious little that could be twisted into a War on Women narrative, even by the people who used Sandra Fluke to portray spending ten bucks on contraceptives as the equivalent of female slavery. Therefore, the Left ignores Trump's policies and hits his character, while Bill Freakin' Clinton gets ready to move back into the White House.In the Nineties, Democrats argued that Clinton's sexual abuses had nothing to do with how he governed, so discussing them was a silly distraction we all needed to MoveOn.org from, even when he was in the dock for perjury. Liberals of that election cycle laughed out loud at the notion Bill Clinton's libido had any effect whatsoever on national policy. He was good for the abortion industry, so his treatment of actual women was irrelevant.Partisan feminism is at a strange crossroads, as the core feminist message of independence clashes with victim politics. Women are supposed to simultaneously feel strong, capable... and be utterly helpless before systemic male chauvinism. They can only achieve personal "independence" through total dependence on the Big Government, which is staffed and managed by the only men in America who supposedly aren't looking to exploit them. (You're not to think about the bureaucrats who keep getting caught surfing for pornography on government computers.) [3]The great left-wing project to rewire society in defiance of biology has saddled America with devastating social problems, but that's not a problem for the social engineers. Indeed, it's more of a feature than a bug.Everything from illegitimacy, to crime, to the enormous difficulty of raising children as a single mom becomes another opportunity for them to push increased government power on a fearful, atomized population, which is rapidly losing its ability to form non-government voluntary structures of enduring social value, such as thriving small businesses and stable marriages.The dirty little secret known to the Left all along, but denied vociferously by them until their plans were fully up and running, is that most of these societal changes hit women harder, due to everything from their voluntary career choices, to the realities of child-rearing.So in the world liberals have made, single women become more anxious than ever, about everything from campus rape to the "implicit bias" of a systematically misogynist workplace, and they rush to government for protection from the harms caused by that abusive government.Read more at: Breitbart.com

Breitbart News Daily: Trump Boom - Breitbart

Breitbart News

On the Thursday edition of Breitbart News Daily, broadcast live on SiriusXM Patriot Channel 125 from 6AM to 9AM Eastern, Breitbart Alex Marlow will continue our discussion of President Trump’s first 100 days. [Breitbart Financial Editor John Carney will discuss the Trump stock market boom, as the Dow Jones industrial average hit 21, 000 points on Wednesday following President Trump’s address to a Joint Session of Congress. Dan Caldwell, Director of Policy for Concerned Veterans of America, will discuss the VA Accountability Act. Tom Giovanetti, the President of Institute for Policy Innovation, will discuss his recent on the Email Privacy Act. Live from London, Rome, and Jerusalem, Breitbart correspondents will provide updates on the latest international news. Breitbart News Daily is the first live, conservative radio enterprise to air seven days a week. SiriusXM Vice President for news and talk Dave Gorab called the show “the conservative news show of record. ” Follow Breitbart News on Twitter for live updates during the show. Listeners may call into the show at: .

White House Confirms More Gitmo Transfers Before Obama Leaves Office

Edwin Mora

President Barack Obama will likely release more prisoners from the U. S. military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, before incoming Donald Trump takes over on January 20, the White House press secretary reiterated on Thursday. [That same day, reports confirmed that the U. S. transferred four detainees to Saudi Arabia. The Daily Mail has placed the number of 11th hour transfers at 22, including the four recently sent to Saudi Arabia, adding that the group of prisoners who are expected to be released will include jihadists who have threatened to behead and bomb Americans. Prior to the Daily Mail article and recent transfers, the number of prisoners who are expected to be set free by the time Obama leaves the White House varied by news agencies, ranging from 17 to 19, a move that would reduce the current detainee population at the Guantánamo facility to between 40 and 42. On Thursday, Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, told reporters: I am not able to speak to any specific detainee transfers between now and January 20th other than to confirm for you that there are likely to be some. And whenever those transfers take place, once they have been completed, we announce them publicly. And that will continue to be our approach through January 20th. And my expectation is that there will be some additional announcements of that type. Asked about the risk of detainees in terrorist activity against the United States, Earnest boasted that only nine of the prisoners transferred since Obama took office have been confirmed by the intelligence community as having returned to militant activity, compared to 21 percent (113 of 532) under the previous administration, a figure often touted by Democrats. However, Earnest failed to mention that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) figure (nine) that he highlights refers to as of July 2016, when 161 detainees had been released by Obama, not the 183 he mentioned on Thursday. The nine confirmed includes one deceased detainee and accounts for six percent of the 161 prisoners who had been released under Obama as of July 2016. Moreover, the number of prisoners released before 2009 exceeds those liberated under Obama more than (3. 3) which may account for the higher rate of confirmed under George W. Bush. The White House spokesman attributed the low percentage of under Obama to the president’s panel, known as the Periodic Review Board (PRB) that has cleared for release all the prisoners transferred out after 2009, including “forever prisoners,” or those believed to be too dangerous to release. “Since President Obama took office, and since these reforms were initiated, nine detainees have been confirmed by the intelligence community of reengaging in the fight,” Earnest said on Thursday. “Considering that we have released 183 detainees during President Obama’s time in office, a little math would indicate that our percentage is much better, and it’s a result of the reforms that President Obama instituted on his first day in office. ” According to ODNI, 20 out of 161 detainees (12 percent) had been confirmed (nine) or suspected (11) to have returned to terrorist activities under Obama’s watch as of July 2016. Under the Bush administration, 188 out of 532 (35 percent) are confirmed (113) or suspected (75) to have in terrorism. When taken as a whole, if there were 20 detainees confirmed or suspected to have in terrorism for every 161 detainees released under Bush like during the Obama administration, the overall rate of terror returnees before 2009 would be closer to 40 percent, not 35. In late December, the Chicago Tribune, citing U. S. officials, reported that the Obama administration has shared its plans with Congress to transfer out as many as 19 detainees held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Of the 55 prisoners still held at Gitmo, 18 have been cleared for release by Obama’s PRB and more than half (27) are considered “forever prisoners,” or too dangerous to release. Nevertheless, Obama has already released prisoners who had been designated too dangerous to release. The remaining 10 prisoners are believed to still be undergoing war crimes proceedings at military commissions, including at least six who were facing death penalty tribunals as of late last year. On Friday, the Pentagon announced that four detainees — Salem Ahmad Hadi Bin Kanad, Muhammed Rajab Sadiq Abu Ghanim, Abdallah Yahya Yusif and Muhammad Ali Abdallah Muhammad Bwazir — had been transferred to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. All four detainees are from Yemen, which shares a border with Saudi Arabia. At least two individuals — Kanad and Ghanim — had been linked to the Taliban when they were apprehended and taken to the Guantánamo prison, also known as Gitmo. Meanwhile, the Bwazir has been directly linked to Osama bin Laden. also affiliated with was born in Saudi Arabia, but is a citizen of Yemen, according to the U. S. military. In December 2007, the U. S. military deemed him “a HIGH risk, as he is likely to pose a threat to the US, its interests and allies. ”

The Geometry of Energy and Meditation of Buddha

License DMCA A mandala is a visual symbol often utilized in meditation practices and teachings. The mandala symbol itself is a geometric construction of points, lines, planes and solids symbolizing the universe. Mandalas are geometric designs depictive of the universe specifically. Other designs are similarly meditation tools, but may not be mandalas specifically. The visually conceived geometric symbols are visual meditation tools. A visual meditation tool is called a yantra. Mandalas and all other yantras are visual meditation points of concentration. Yantras are visual meditative tools similar in value to points of concentration. The image above is the sri yantra, sri meaning king or most important. A mantra is the audio version of a mandala. A mantra is an audio meditation tool. Whether the sound of the mantra is a single syllable tone or a series of lengthy metaphysical musings, a mantra is an audio meditation tool. Mantras, as sound vibration, are wavy linear vibrations of connection. The terms asana and mudra both reference physical positioning. An asana is a body posture as a meditation tool, and a mudra is a hand gesture or posture as a meditation tool. Asanas and mudras enable our own bodies to become a geometric representation of a meditation tool. The postures are physical meditation tools transforming self into one's own geometric figure or plane among the space and sensitive to the space of self and surroundings. Tantra means unification, or looming/weaving together principles and practices, instruction and individual action. Tantra unites entirety. Tantra signifies confluence and integration; a fusion. It is Sanskrit for loom, the device which weaves together string into cloth. It is an ancient word with many properties and has been variously used to describe the knots of strings weaved together in a rug, and the cord on which sacred mala bead necklaces were strung, (Mala beads are Tibetan prayer necklaces of 108 beads used to assist mentally or vocally repeating a mantra 108 times.) and practices of unification of individual with the universal. Today the word tantra is often used in reference to the union of lovemaking. Though there is also a specific type of yoga called Tantra Yoga it means unification. There is the potentiation of the unification of principle and practice. There is the potentiation of tantra of yantra, mantra and asana. And there is certainly the lesson of the potentiation of Yin Yang tantra. The combination of Yin and Yang potentials and energies within leads to all sorts of aspects of development. This can be energetically understood in the idea that there are only two types of energies, straight and circular, straight for Yang potentials and circular for Yin potentials. It can be understood on a tangible level that rest and work are both required. When straight and circular energies combine, a spiral results. A spiral is one of, if not the highest expressions of energy. More broadly and generally, tantra notes a mutually accepted connection, a tied knot of intertwined being, like lovemaking, but not necessarily beginning with or limited to the act of lovemaking. Humanity itself is a tantra; a fused weaving knot or many strings, of many instructions and many individuals. - Advertisement - Essentially tantra is spiritual understanding of the relationship and connections between individuation and universal energies. An ancient spiritual philosophy preceding both Buddhism and Hinduism, tantra represents integration, unifying the macrocosm with the microcosm, the universal and the individual, the feminine and the masculine, the Yin and the Yang. It also refers to integrative knowledge and its continuation and building refinement through the interaction of teacher and student, signifying union and fusion; the acceptance, integration and transmutation of knowledge between individuals, like the string of life. Tantric ideas enhance and explore metaphysical merging of ideas and energies. Tantra is the merging of the physical and spiritual, through the merging of the conceptual. In essence, Tantra is the integration of yantra (the philosophy of visual symbols), mantra (communication of audio symbolism) and mudra (our very physical posturing) each of which is important on their own and increasing so when intertwined aspects of yoga, and life. Tantra unites meditation practices and enhances the individual unity expansion with entirety of the universal. There is not necessarily the need for a specific yantra, or specific mantra, or specific asana in meditation, however each are tools that can be used and considered, and most are most powerful when practiced in unified tantric manner, or tantric mind state. A tantric mind state recognizes unity expansion and aims toward it, rather than cultivating a mind state of separation. No matter how one approaches meditation the unifying tantra of our meditation principles and practices bring about the unity expansion of yantra no matter. No matter our level of refinement of posture, we are always in an asana, no matter if we utilize mantra, or yantra, we for th most part still see and hear and those who cannot can still concentrate and connect. And no matter the mantra, yantra or asana, it is the principles behind and pertaining to the symbolism that contains the real power, the highest potential for tantric connection. Yantras, mantras and asanas establish your sacred space and sacred perimeter and uniting with entirety in tantric balance. Seed of Buddha Meditation - Advertisement - One of my favorite meditations relates to the four dimensions of geometry, but is extracted from Buddhist lessons. It is one of the most powerful meditations I have learned and as I learned it, Buddha himself practiced and taught this meditation. I learned this meditation from a Tibetan Buddhist monk from Nepal before I considered the four dimensions of geometry applied to meditation. On later examination however the components of the meditation relate to the four dimensions of geometry. This meditation is direct and simple, but can lead to infinitely complex profound lessons. The profundity of each of the ideas in this meditation cannot be understated. And each of the concepts has been elaborated on endlessly for centuries since Buddha, and so the presentation here is of course a simplification of the ideas and processes that might be endlessly explored and refined. And that is what meditation is all about really, our own personal inward exploration and refinement. To begin, sit in a comfortable cross legged position on a meditation pillow. Sit for a time to simply settle into absorption and relaxation, focusing on the breath. The rhythm of the following meditation consists of mindfulness of an idea followed by mindfulness of no idea, where as much as possible we think on nothingness. The nothingness gives us a chance to relax, compared to processing the series of ideas which can all be quite intense. The process can be done in any time period. The point is to cover each idea as deeply as can be, given time or mental state circumstances. The meditation is formed from important Buddhist concepts. Many meditations are derived from such teachings, Buddhist and otherwise, so that there are lessons in a sense for the secular, and meditation practitioners.

Poll: Most Voters Have Not Heard of Democratic 2020 Election Candidates - Breitbart

Katherine Rodriguez

There is a minefield of potential 2020 election candidates in the Democratic Party waiting to challenge President Trump, but most voters have not heard of many of them, according to a new poll. [The Consult poll asked 1, 990 registered voters their views on 19 potential Democratic challengers to Trump’s presidency. The list of potential candidates identified in the survey includes eight senators, five governors, a mayor of a large city, a congressman, two CEOs, a former vice president, and a failed Senate candidate. Of those mentioned in the survey, half of the respondents did not know most of the candidates. “All bets are off when it comes to the composition of the 2020 Democratic primary,” said Morning Consult and Chief Research Officer Kyle Dropp. “This early polling indicates that many of the names being floated in Washington still have a lot of work to do in terms of building national profiles. ” Most survey respondents were able to identify and have opinions on former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, ( ) and Sen. Bernie Sanders ( ). of the voters surveyed said they knew enough about Biden and Warren to have formed opinions about the candidates. Sanders was not included in the survey. According to Morning Consult, Biden was the most popular candidate of the list of potential 2020 Democratic candidates, with 74 percent of respondents having a positive view of the former vice president. Warren came in second, with 51 percent of respondents viewing her favorably. The number of those rumored to be potential Democratic candidates for the 2020 election pales in comparison to the list of people who have filed to run for president so 129 people have filed to run for the presidency in 2020.

Migrants Confront Judgment Day Over Old Deportation Orders - The New York Times

Vivian Yee

There are a little more than two weeks between Juan, an electrician in the Bronx, and the date he cannot forget: March 21, 2017, at 8 a. m. when the federal government has told him to report for deportation. Two weeks to decide: Avoid it, and try to preserve the American life he has built for a little longer, even as a fugitive. Go, and lose it all: his wife and son, his job, his apartment, his world. “I would feel like an animal if I stay here and hide,” said Juan, 29, who asked that his last name not be used. “I want to prove that I can follow the laws. I want to make my case at this meeting, but I know that if I go, they’re going to deport me. ” In an immigration system mottled with escape hatches and hobbled by scant resources, Juan, who fled Colombia six years ago, is one of nearly a million people who have managed to linger in the United States despite having been ordered out of the country by an immigration judge — some of them more than a decade ago. And with the Trump administration intent on sweeping perhaps millions of immigrants without legal status out of the country, the White House has not had to look far to make a quick mark. Because people with deportation orders have had their day in court, most of them can be sent out of the country without seeing a judge, sometimes within hours of being arrested. “People who have been ordered deported and who are still here are the fruit,” said Stephen an immigration law professor at Cornell University. “Trump has said he has wanted to deport more people. The easiest way to get those numbers up are to take those people who’ve been ordered deported and go after them. ” President Trump’s immigration agency has already offered what looks like a preview: Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents recently deported to Mexico an Arizona mother who had been ordered out of the country four years ago. But the will be complicated. The backlog of what the government calls “fugitive aliens” has persisted through Republican and Democratic administrations, inflamed conservatives who oppose illegal immigration, and resisted the immigration authorities’ attempts at enforcement. Since 2006, even as the overall total of unauthorized immigrants in the United States has dipped, the number facing outstanding deportation orders has grown by more than half, to around 962, 000 people from 632, 726. More than half of them come from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala or Honduras. (Another 13, 200 or so, as of early February, were already in the custody of customs officials.) Despite the Bush and Obama administrations’ commitments to focus on expelling those who pose a serious danger to their communities, slightly less than one in five people facing deportation has been convicted of a crime in the United States. The causes for delays can vary. Deportations have been deferred for humanitarian reasons — like allowing mothers to stay with sick children in the United States — or they have been frozen while an appeal is mounted. The Obama administration put off deportations for thousands of immigrants it did not consider priorities, including Juan, the Bronx electrician, and Guadalupe García de Rayos, the Arizona mother, often people with strong ties to their communities. “Felons, not families criminals, not children,” President Barack Obama said in 2014, describing the kinds of people he wanted deported. The government also postponed deportations for people who were likely to face torture if they were sent back. Some deportations are simply impossible to carry out: About a quarter of the immigrants with outstanding deportation orders come from countries that refuse to take back deportees, including China, Haiti, Brazil and India. Mr. Trump has threatened to stop issuing visas to people from these countries. In the past, diplomats have urged caution on this front, not wanting to disrupt international relationships over the issue of deportees. And many people under final orders have slipped through gaping cracks in the immigration system. Court notices — either mailed to outdated addresses or illegible to Spanish speakers — are routinely missed, leaving judges to issue deportation orders for people who miss their chance to argue their case. Nearly a quarter of judges’ decisions rendered in 2015, for example, involved cases where the immigrant in question was absent. The months and, sometimes, years it takes for immigration and asylum cases to wind through a clogged court system can cause the authorities to lose track of immigrants living and working in the country, because they have fled or simply moved. The White House has sought to make it harder for immigrants to be remain free inside the United States while their requests for asylum plod through the courts. They will be detained more often, or asked to wait in Mexico until a judge can rule. “There are all kinds of things in the system that weren’t built to maximize compliance,” said David A. Martin, a professor of immigration law at the University of Virginia and a former immigration official in the Obama and Clinton administrations. It led to a climate, he said, that has prompted many people to not consider a deportation order a serious matter. “And that’s one of the attitudes that sometimes infuriates, with some justification, people who voted for Donald Trump. ” In a significant break from his predecessor, Mr. Trump is directing immigration agents to go after virtually anyone who is in the United States illegally, ending the reprieve for people who had not been considered priorities. “Ensure that aliens ordered removed from the United States are promptly removed,” one line of Mr. Trump’s executive order on immigration reads, with the crispness of a traffic sign. “What has been lacking, up until a month ago, is a willingness and a commitment on the part of the administration to actually do it,” said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which supports stricter immigration controls. “Nothing is easy,” he said, but going after people who already have deportation orders “will be the easiest part of enforcing the president’s removal priorities. ” President George W. Bush’s administration dented the backlog by deploying fugitive teams that were supposed to track down unauthorized immigrants with deportation orders and criminal records. But the strategy drew a backlash when the raids began snaring undocumented immigrants who were not targets. “That was something that caused a lot of controversy and a lot of anxiety in immigrant communities, because it meant these officers could stop anyone at any time,” said Randy Capps, the director of research at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. Mr. Capps added that while the Obama administration narrowed the scope of such raids, he expected the Trump administration to return to the Bush model. There is, of course, an easier way to find some people with final orders: Wait for them to walk into ICE offices for their scheduled appointments. Ms. Rayos was driven across the border within hours of her in Phoenix, and her deportation has haunted immigrants with coming appointments ever since. But the Trump administration has yet to show a consistent hand. Roxana Orellana Santos, 37, was allowed to walk out of her appointment in Baltimore last week. Ms. Santos, who said she had fled domestic abuse in El Salvador, was arrested in 2008 while eating lunch outdoors, her lawyers say, leading to a civil rights lawsuit that claimed she had been racially profiled. She had been ordered deported two years before that arrest, after she missed an immigration court hearing. Her lawyers said she could not read the notice, which was in English. Ms. Santos’s next appointment is in August. “I don’t feel assured of what the outcome’s going to be next time,” she said, adding that she had asked her brother to help her husband care for her four children if she was deported. In the case of Juan, the electrician, nothing remains to stop the government from acting on the deportation order he first received in 2013. Juan had requested asylum after paramilitary forces in Colombia tried to kill him, he said, but he lost his final appeal the month Mr. Trump was elected president. “I feel hopeless,” Juan said. “My wife is here, my son is here, they are my world. I have nowhere else to run to. I’ve run out of options. I don’t know what to do. ”

M.I.T., N.Y.U. and Yale Are Sued Over Retirement Plan Fees - The New York Times

Tara Siegel Bernard

Three prominent universities were sued on Tuesday, accused of allowing their employees to be charged excessive fees on their retirement savings. The universities — the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University and Yale — each have retirement plans holding more than $3 billion in assets and are being individually sued by a number of their employees in cases seeking status. The lawyer representing the three groups of plaintiffs, Jerome J. Schlichter, is a pioneer in retirement plan litigation. Over the last decade, he has filed more than 20 lawsuits on behalf of workers in 401( k) retirement plans and has been widely credited with lowering plan fees across corporate America. With the suits filed in federal courts on Tuesday, the focus has turned to a corner of the retirement savings market, 403( b) plans, which are named for a section of the tax code. The accounts are similar to 401( k) plans, but are offered by public schools and nonprofit institutions like universities and hospitals. The complaints allege that the universities, as the plan sponsors, failed to monitor excessive fees paid to administer the plans and did not replace more expensive, investments with cheaper ones. Had the plans eliminated their long lists of investment options and used their bargaining power to cut costs, the complaints argue, participants could have collectively saved tens of millions of dollars. “It is important for retirees and employees of universities to have the same rights and ability to build their retirement assets as employees of companies,” said Mr. Schlichter, a founding partner of Schlichter Bogard Denton in St. Louis. “They shouldn’t be penalized. ” In a statement, New York University said that it took the welfare of its faculty and employees seriously, including a dignified retirement. “The retirement plans offered to them are chosen and administered carefully and prudently. We will litigate this case vigorously and expect to prevail,” said John Beckman, a university spokesman. A spokeswoman for M. I. T. said it did not comment on pending litigation, while Yale said it was “cautious and careful” in administering its plans and would defend itself vigorously. More attention is being paid to investment costs shouldered by American workers, who are less likely today to have pension plans. With the strong support of the Obama administration, the Labor Department introduced new rules in April to strengthen investor protections, requiring a broader group of financial professionals to act in customers’ best interest when handling their retirement money. The aim is to reduce conflicts of interest and the fees consumers pay. Even modest reductions in costs can have a significant effect on retirees’ savings. An example from the Labor Department: Paying one percentage point more in fees over a career — say 1. 5 percent instead of 0. 5 percent — could leave a worker with 28 percent less at retirement. An account with $25, 000 — and no further contributions for those 35 years — would rise to only $163, 000 instead of $227, 000, at an annual rate of 7 percent. Mr. Schlichter said the three universities’ plans were targeted because more people were asking questions about their retirement accounts and “these involve clear breaches of the law. ” The complaint against N. Y. U. — which involves two 403( b) plans covering faculty, research administration and the medical school — centers largely on costs. The complaint said that participants were offered too many investment choices (there were more than 100 options for faculty) and that many of them were too expensive. The suit, filed in Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York, singles out several investments, including the TIAA Traditional Annuity, which it said has severe restrictions and penalties for withdrawal, as well as variable annuities that have several layers of fees and have historically underperformed. A spokesman for TIAA said it offered plans and investments that provide lifetime income. The suit also argues that even the cheapest funds offered could have been provided for less, given the enormous size and bargaining power of the faculty and medical school plans, which together held $4. 2 billion in assets for more than 24, 000 participants at the end of 2014. The complaint alleges that the university did not use its negotiating powers to select a single record keeper for administrative tasks such as sending statements to employees. It said it also overpaid for these services for many years. The issues concerning Yale’s 403( b) retirement plan — which held nearly $3. 6 billion in assets in the spring of 2014 — follow a similar pattern: multiple record keepers with excessive fees, costing participants millions of dollars over the last six years too many investments of the same style and the use of funds instead of identical but ones. That case was filed in Federal District Court in Connecticut. Yale eventually consolidated to one provider, TIAA, in April 2015, and swapped in some investments, but the suit claims that the changes did not go far enough to fully protect the interests of its employees. Mr. Schlichter said participants were still burdened with sorting through more than 100 options, many of which were too expensive. The complaints lodged against M. I. T. ’s retirement plan (unusually, it is a 401( k) like those used by corporations) are similar but with a twist. The suit alleges that the university, because of its longstanding relationship with nearby Fidelity, did not conduct a thorough search for a plan provider, which might have provided better service for less. The retirement plan offered more than 340 investment options — including 180 Fidelity funds — until July 2015, when M. I. T. reduced the lineup to 37 options but still retained Fidelity as the record keeper. The complaint said that Fidelity had donated “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to M. I. T. while Abigail Johnson, Fidelity’s chief executive, has served as a member of M. I. T. ’s board of trustees, giving her influence over the institution’s . Had the plan reduced its options to those on the menu it adopted last year, “participants would have saved over $8 million in fees in 2014 alone, and many millions more since 2010,” according to the complaint, filed in Federal District Court in Massachusetts. M. I. T. recognized that the plan structure was inefficient, the filing said, since that was part of the reason it said it made the changes. But even after the overhaul, the suit alleges, investment costs could be further reduced. Fidelity, which noted that it was not a defendant in the case, declined to comment. Mr. Schlichter’s firm has settled about half of his 20 cases over the last 10 years. His first case involving a 403( b) was against Novant Health, a nonprofit hospital system, which settled last year for $32 million. In a landmark case he argued last year before the Supreme Court, the justices, in a unanimous decision, agreed that plan sponsors had a “continuing duty to monitor investments and remove imprudent ones. ” A series of suits, from Mr. Schlichter’s firm and others, continue to be filed in the corporate world: Several asset managers, including Neuberger Berman and Franklin Resources, among others, have recently been sued for putting their own investments in their employees’ 401( k) plans. Some of the more prominent cases against 401( k) plans settled by Mr. Schlichter include a $62 million settlement against Lockheed Martin, $57 million from Boeing and $27. 5 million from Ameriprise, all in 2015. He also settled cases with Cigna, International Paper, Caterpillar, General Dynamics, Bechtel and Kraft. Mr. Schlichter said his firm, which works on a contingency basis, typically collects up to a third of the settlement, while the remainder goes to the plaintiffs and members of the class. He said that his settlements also required employers to make changes to their plans to ensure fees were reasonable in the future.