Unidentified men threw a grenade into a laborers hostel in the Pakistani port of Gwadar wounding 26 of them, police said on Friday, in an attack likely to raise concern about security for the Pakistani section of China s Belt and Road initiative. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, one of three on Thursday in the gas-rich southwestern province of Baluchistan, a key section of the plan for energy and transport links connecting western China with the Middle East and Europe. They laborers were having dinner at the hostel when motorcyclists attacked them with a grenade, police official Imam Bakhsh told Reuters. Separatist rebels in Baluchistan, fighting against what they see as the unfair exploitation of the province s resources, have for years attacked energy and infrastructure projects, including the Gwadar deep-sea port on the Arabian Sea. Islamist militants also operate in Baluchistan, which shares borders with both Afghanistan and Iran. Security officials have said that militants trying to disrupt construction of the Chinese economic corridor through Pakistan have killed more than 50 Pakistani workers since 2014. Pakistan has assured China that it can provide security for the $57 billion worth of projects that it plans. In the other attacks, a grenade attack at a food court in the town of Mastung, 55 km (35 miles) from the provincial capital of Quetta, wounded 15 people, a police official said. In the third attack, gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire at paramilitary soldiers killing one and wounding four in the west of the province. On Wednesday, a suicide car-bomber rammed a police bus in Quetta killing five policemen and two passers-by. The Pakistani Taliban claimed that attack. A suicide bombing claimed by Islamic State at a Sufi Muslim shrine in Baluchistan this month killed 22 people and wounded more than 30.


U.S. President Donald Trump's administration said on Wednesday that it will take aggressive action to combat other countries' unfair trade practices and may defy World Trade Organization rulings that it views as interfering with U.S. sovereignty In an annual trade policy agenda document, the U.S. Trade Representative's office said the administration "will not tolerate" unfair trade practices that distort markets, including currency manipulation, unfair government subsidies, intellectual property theft and state-owned enterprises. The document publicly released to Congress on Wednesday signals that the administration may try to push the limits of what is acceptable under WTO rules in its quest to make good on campaign promises to slash U.S. trade deficits with China and Mexico, and bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States. The document represents a departure from the Obama administration's strict adherence to WTO compliance in its challenges to unfair foreign trade practices. "Unlike earlier presidents, Trump is signaling a willingness to impose import restrictions — especially against a country like China — where the justification under WTO rules for doing so may be highly questionable," said Chad Bown, a senior fellow and trade expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. "The downside of the United States going down this path is that it is likely that other countries will follow suit immediately," Bown added. The USTR document said it was not in the United States' interest to let some WTO rulings undermine the use of effective remedies that the Geneva-based trade body expressly allows to fight unfair trade. "Accordingly, the Trump administration will act aggressively as needed to discourage this type of behavior — and encourage true market competition," the USTR said in the document. Laying out many of Trump's trade plans in writing for the first time, the document said the Trump administration plans to strictly enforce U.S. trade laws, defend U.S. national sovereignty over trade policy, and use all possible leverage to open foreign markets to U.S. exports, the document said. It makes clear the Trump administration's view that U.S. law supersedes WTO rules — a view that could be invoked should Congress adopt a border tax adjustment plan to impose new taxes on imports that is later challenged as violating WTO tariff rules by other member countries. "The Trump administration will aggressively defend American sovereignty over matters of trade policy," the report said. The nominee to be Trump's top trade negotiator, veteran steel industry lawyer Robert Lighthizer, in 2010 advocated "aggressive interpretations of WTO provisions that might help us deal with Chinese mercantilism." Lighthizer is awaiting confirmation by the U.S. Senate. He served as a deputy USTR in the Reagan administration, helping to negotiate import quotas on Japanese goods in the 1980s, with the help of powerful trade law provisions that have largely gone unused since the WTO was launched in 1995.


Three more Senators threw their support behind Obama s Iran deal to further seal a victory for the Democrats. My Senator just announced he s backing the deal which doesn t surprise me he does what he s told to do. Wouldn t it be nice if these goofballs had the strength to reject this deal instead of the saying it s better than no deal at all . Really? What a joke! They obviously aren t listening to the American people:Less Than a Quarter of Americans Approve of Nuclear Agreement with IranDick Chaney and other foreign policy experts are warning the Democrats that this deal is not a good one: The deal with Iran will have profound consequences. Dick ChaneyDem Sen. Joe Manchin: Iran Nuclear Deal Endangers American SecurityHARRY REID CLAIMS VICTORY WITH THE IRAN DEAL: The deal President Obama and other world leaders struck with Iran is the best chance to stop the Islamic Republic s nuclear program, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday in a speech setting the stage for the intense floor fight over the agreement.Mr. Reid, Nevada Democrat, will be the key figure in leading support for Mr. Obama, and he has now mustered enough backers to mount a filibuster, which would deliver an early victory and prevent the deal from even having to go back to the White House for a final veto showdown. This agreement will stand, Mr. Reid said in a speech at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.Three new senators declared support for the deal Tuesday morning, giving Democrats 41 backers of the agreement. That is enough to guarantee they can sustain their filibuster and bottle the debate up in the Senate.Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Gary Peters of Michigan all threw their support behind the deal.Mr. Blumenthal called the agreement better than no deal at all, while Mr. Peters said he was only reluctantly backing it, and still had serious reservations.


Myanmar urged Muslims in the troubled northwest to cooperate in the search for insurgents, whose coordinated attacks on security posts and an army crackdown have led to one of the deadliest bouts of violence to engulf the Rohingya community in decades. The treatment of Buddhist-majority Myanmar s roughly 1.1 million Muslim Rohingya is the biggest challenge facing leader Aung San Suu Kyi, accused by Western critics of not speaking out for the minority that has long complained of persecution. Aid agencies estimate that about 73,000 Rohingya have fled into neighbouring Bangladesh from Myanmar since violence erupted last week, Vivian Tan, regional spokeswoman for U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, told Reuters on Sunday. Hundreds more refugees on Sunday walked through rice paddies from the Naf river separating the two countries into Bangladesh, straining scarce resources of aid groups and local communities already helping tens of thousands. The clashes and military counter-offensive have killed nearly 400 people during the past week. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that violence against Muslims amounted to genocide. It marks a dramatic escalation of a conflict that has simmered since October, when a smaller Rohingya attack on security posts prompted a military response dogged by allegations of rights abuses. Islamic villagers in northern Maungtaw have been urged over loudspeakers to cooperate when security forces search for Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) extremist terrorists, and not to pose a threat or brandish weapons when security forces enter their villages, a report in state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar said on Sunday. ARSA has been declared a terrorist organisation by the government. The group claimed responsibility for coordinated attacks on security posts last week. In Maungni village in northern Rakhine, villagers this week caught two ARSA members and handed them over to the authorities, the newspaper added. The army wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday that Rohingya insurgents had set fire to monasteries, images of Buddha as well as schools and houses in northern Rakhine. More than 200 buildings, including houses and shops, were destroyed across several villages, the army said. While Myanmar officials blamed the ARSA for the burning of homes, Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh and human rights watchers say that a campaign of arson and killings by the army is aimed at trying to force out the minority group. On a Twitter account believed to be linked to the ARSA, the group accused the Myanmar army of causing terror and destruction to the ethnic Rohingya population . About a hundred protesters gathered in Myanmar s commercial capital Yangon on Sunday, calling for the authorities to step up security measures in northern Rakhine to protect ethnic Rakhine Buddhists. I want the government to protect the people (from insurgents) without any hesitation, said Zin Lin Aung, a university student. More than 11,700 ethnic residents had been evacuated from northern Rakhine, the government has said, referring to non-Muslims. In Bangladesh, authorities said that at least 53 bodies of Rohingya had either been found floating in the Naf river or washed up on the beach in the past week as tens of thousands continue to try to flee the violence. A senior leader of al Qaeda s Yemeni branch has called for attacks on Myanmar authorities in support of the Rohingya. Amid mounting anger over the violence against Rohingya in Indonesia, home to the world s biggest Muslim population, a petrol bomb was thrown at the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta on Sunday, causing a small fire. Separately, hundreds protested in Jakarta, calling on the Indonesian government to take an active role in bringing a halt to human rights violations against the Rohingya. Former colonial ruler Britain said on Saturday that it hoped Suu Kyi would use her remarkable qualities to end the violence.


Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont will speak in the regional parliament next Tuesday, a parliamentary spokeswoman said on Friday. Catalan parliamentary leaders will meet at 1330 GMT on Friday to decide the timing on this speech. It was unclear whether the meeting of the parliament scheduled for Monday to discuss the result of the banned referendum on splitting from Spain and a potential declaration of independence would still go ahead. Another regional government official, Raul Romeva, told BBC radio earlier that Catalonia s parliament would defy a Spanish court ban and go ahead on Monday with a debate that could lead to a declaration of independence from Spain.


U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday he hoped to finish work on a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare by the end of this week. "This is just the beginning, we're not out here to spike the football," McConnell told reporters after the Senate voted to open debate on healthcare. "This is a long way, but we'll finish at the end of the week," he said.


U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned under pressure from President Donald Trump on Friday in an uproar over Price's use of costly private charter planes for government business. His abrupt departure was announced an hour after Trump told reporters he was disappointed in Price's use of private aircraft and did not like the way it reflected on his administration. "Secretary of Health and Human Services Thomas Price offered his resignation earlier today and the president accepted," the White House said in a statement. Trump named Don Wright to serve as acting secretary. Wright is currently the deputy assistant secretary for health and director of the office of disease prevention and health promotion. "I'm not happy. OK? I'm not happy," Trump told reporters on the White House South Lawn. Candidates to succeed Price included Seema Verma, who is administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and who is close to Vice President Mike Pence, and Scott Gottlieb, a physician who serves as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, according to industry analysts. Several sources saw Gottlieb as a clear front runner. They said he got along well with the White House and is viewed favorably there. Price's resignation leaves Trump with a second Cabinet position to fill. He has yet to pick a secretary for homeland security after hiring former Secretary John Kelly as his White House chief of staff. It was the latest blow to the Trump White House, which has struggled to get major legislative achievements passed by Congress and has been embroiled in one controversy after another since Trump took office in January. Price, a former congressman, was instrumental in the Trump administration's policies aimed at undercutting Obamacare, as well as working with governors across the country to slowly begin unraveling parts of the law. In a resignation letter, Price offered little in the way of contrition. He said he had been working to reform the U.S. healthcare system and reduce regulatory burdens, among other goals. "I have spent forty years both as a doctor and public servant putting people first. I regret that the recent events have created a distraction from these important objectives," he said. Trump, currently trying to sell his tax cut plan and oversee the federal response to devastation wreaked by three hurricanes, saw the Price drama as an unnecessary distraction and behind the scenes was telling aides "what was he thinking?," a source close to the president said. Price promised on Thursday to repay the nearly $52,000 cost of his seats on private charter flights. "The taxpayers won't pay a dime for my seat on those planes," Price said. But that was not enough to satisfy Trump. Trump told reporters that the "optics" of Price's travel were not good, since, as president he was trying to renegotiate U.S. contracts to get a better deal for taxpayers. "Look, I think he's a very fine person. I certainly don't like the optics," Trump said. Price had also been seen in the White House as having been ineffective in getting Congress to pass healthcare reform legislation, an effort that has fizzled on Capitol Hill. Price was one of a handful of senior officials in Trump's administration put on the defensive over reports about their use of charter flights and government aircraft, sometimes for personal travel, when they could have flown commercial for less money. The White House issued an order late on Friday saying use of private planes required approval from White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and that the commercial air system was appropriate even for very senior officials with few exceptions. The Washington Post on Friday reported that Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin attended a Wimbledon tennis match, toured Westminster Abbey and took a cruise on the Thames this summer during a 10-day trip to discuss veterans' health issues in Britain and Denmark. Shulkin, who traveled on a commercial airline, was accompanied on the trip by his wife, whose airfare was paid for by the government and who received a per diem for meals, the Post said, noting that the Department of Veterans Affairs said she was traveling on "approved invitational orders." His six-person traveling party included an acting undersecretary of health and her husband as well as two aides. They were accompanied by a security detail of as many as six people, the Post said. Washington news media outlet Politico has reported that Price had taken at least two dozen private charter flights since May at a cost to U.S. taxpayers of more than $400,000. Politico also reported he took approved military flights to Africa and Europe costing $500,000. Senior U.S. government officials travel frequently, but are generally expected to keep costs down by taking commercial flights or the train when possible. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin have also been in the spotlight for their travel habits.


‹ › Arnaldo Rodgers is a trained and educated Psychologist. He has worked as a community organizer and activist. Disabled veterans find freedom in water By Arnaldo Rodgers on November 4, 2016 Disabled veterans  By Emily Cochrane  Anthony Lopez was surrounded by fish.  Hundreds engulfed him on a recent Sunday morning as he dove off the coast of Pompano Beach, just a 10-minute boat ride from shore.  "You're in a different world," said the retired U.S. Marine Corps corporal. "We're not naturally supposed to be there, so it's really awesome to see this stuff first hand."  For the 28-year-old, scuba diving is a world where he can let go of the painful reminder of a 2009 vehicle rollover accident in Camp LeJeune, North Carolina: the muscle spasms from the blunt trauma to his back, the phantom pain in his left hand where all but one finger was amputated.  Read the Full Article at www.miamiherald.com >>>> Related Posts: No Related Posts The views expressed herein are the views of the author exclusively and not necessarily the views of VNN, VNN authors, affiliates, advertisers, sponsors, partners, technicians or the Veterans Today Network and its assigns. Notices Posted by Arnaldo Rodgers on November 4, 2016, With 0 Reads, Filed under Veterans . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 . You can leave a response or trackback to this entry FaceBook Comments  You must be logged in to post a comment Login WHAT'S HOT


U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he plans to nominate Liberty University School of Law professor Caren Harp to oversee the Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. If ultimately confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Harp would oversee the Justice Department office that trains and works with state and local communities to develop effective juvenile justice programs and prevent delinquency. Harp previously was director of the National Juvenile Justice Prosecution Center at the American Prosecutors Research Institute. According to Harp's LinkedIn page, she is in her sixth year as a professor at Liberty, which is located in Lynchburg, Virginia. The law school's website says its program is "taught from a Christian worldview" and says it offers a "uniquely tailored legal program taught with sound biblical principles." Harp, who holds a law degree from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, has also worked as both a prosecutor and a public defender, including as chief of the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit in New York City, Family Court Division, and as a trial attorney for the Arkansas Public Defender Commission. In an article published in May, Harp raises questions about the role of adolescent neuroscience in the courtroom and writes that the best way to tackle juvenile justice is by teaching youth to accept responsibility and involve them in community-based diversion programs to prevent them from re-offending. "Misplaced reliance on nascent neuroscience and neuroimaging evidence to remove from youth and young adults the consequences of their criminal behavior invites pushback from those who favor a retributive system, and it may create some unintended and unwanted consequences for youth and young adults," she writes. It is unclear when the Senate may consider Harp's nomination. There are a handful of key nominees who have been waiting months now for their confirmation votes. Nominees to head the Criminal, Civil and National Security divisions, for instance, are still pending.


A plan to raise California's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022 passed both houses of the state legislature on Thursday, putting the state on track to become the first in the nation to commit to such a large pay hike for the working poor. The measure, incorporating a deal Governor Jerry Brown reached with labor leaders and progressive Democrats in the Legislature, was approved in the state Senate Thursday afternoon after winning approval earlier in the day in the Assembly, and now goes to Brown for his signature. "If you work full time, your family shouldn't live in poverty," Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, a Southern California Democrat, said in support of the bill to raise the state's minimum wage from its current level of $10 per hour. Lawmakers from the state's poorer regions said the measure could harm small businesses that are barely hanging on amid double-digit unemployment, ultimately leading to job losses. If enacted, the bill would put California, home to one of the world's biggest economies, among a growing number of U.S. states and cities that have moved in recent years to surpass the federal minimum wage, which has remained at $7.25 an hour since 2009. A proposal to raise the minimum wage in parts of New York state to $15 was announced Thursday by Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders. The California measure would gradually raise the state's hourly minimum wage to $15 by 2022 for large businesses and by 2023 for smaller firms. The measure would also head off two competing ballot initiatives lacking a provision to allow the governor to suspend increases in hard economic times, a deal breaker for Brown. The proposal sped through the legislative process after the governor's office reached a deal last week with labor unions pushing a similar minimum wage hike in the form of two ballot initiatives. With polls showing strong support for those measures at the ballot box, Brown emphasized that a version passed through the legislature would allow lawmakers to amend it if needed over time instead of going back to voters to request amendments in expensive and uncertain campaigns. Moreover, the deal allows the state to opt out of minimum wage increases if the economy is doing poorly, a provision not in either of the union-backed ballot initiatives. Even so, several moderate Democrats and most Republicans complained that it was being rushed through, and would disproportionately harm businesses in poorer parts of the state, where the cost of living is not high enough to warrant such a dramatic wage hike. The deal reached in New York would raise wages in costly New York City to $15 in three years, but would stagger increases in other parts of the state, some to just $12.50 per hour unless further approval is granted. It still must pass the legislature, where negotiations on the details are ongoing.


U.S. President Barack Obama said several civil society members in Vietnam were prevented from meeting him on Tuesday and that, despite great strides made by the country, Washington still had concerns about the limits it puts on political freedom. Obama said during a meeting with about six activists that there were "significant areas of concern" about political freedom and praised those Vietnamese who were "willing to make their voices heard". Obama announced on Monday the end of an arms ban on Vietnam, which Washington had long said hinged on the extent to which the country's human rights record had improved.


The global climate negotiations scheduled to take place at the end of this year in Paris are not a time for empty rhetoric or half-hearted commitments to cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions, President Obama reminded the world Monday evening. On the contrary, he stressed, "This year, in Paris, has to be the year that the world finally reached an agreement to protect the one planet that we've got — while we still can." Speaking at a meeting of Arctic Circle nations in Anchorage, Alaska, Obama outlined the science behind his urgent call for climate action, and stressed that failure, this time, is not an option. "On this issue, of all issues, there is such a thing as being too late," he said. "That moment is almost upon us." The warning rings frighteningly true, as time is indeed running out not just for an Obama climate deal, but for any climate deal. As talks began last year in Lima, Peru for a draft of the agreement intended to be signed and sealed this December in Paris, experts reminded the delegates that the world has already used up nearly two-thirds of its carbon budget — the amount of carbon we can continue to pour into the atmosphere while still having a chance at keeping warming below two degrees Celsius. It's a limit, some experts contend, that we've already in effect blown past. Yet with the day of reckoning nearing, negotiations aren't where they should be, to say the least: fewer than 60 countries, representing just 61 percent of the world's emissions, have submitted their goals for cutting back, many of which are considered to be not nearly ambitious enough. In June, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon complained that talks were moving "at a snail's pace." Obama emphasized that the U.S. is on track to meet its submitted goal — a 26 to 28 percent decrease in emissions from 2005 levels by 2025 — thanks in large part to the finalization of the EPA's new regulations for coal-fired power plants. There is, unfortunately, still reason to doubt the sincerity of the president's commitment to the radical action he says is needed. Obama continues to press the fact that climate change is not only real — deniers, he scoffed, are "on their own shrinking island" — but a crisis that we're experiencing right now, a point driven home by his decision to speak from Alaska, where the impacts of climate change are already taking a significant toll. Yet at the same time, his administration has allowed Shell to go ahead and drill for oil in the Arctic, a decision that to many feels irreconcilable with his insistence that the world must address the key causes of climate change as quickly as possible — not to mention the contention, among experts, that our best hope of preventing climate catastrophe requires us to leave all of the Arctic's oil and gas reserves in the ground. "I am not trying to suggest that there are not going to be difficult transitions that we all have to make," Obama conceded. Still, he said, "This is within our power. This is a solvable problem if we start now."


U.S. congressional Democrats filed suit on Thursday seeking the release of government documents related to Republican President Donald Trump's ownership of a Washington hotel that critics say represents a conflict of interest. In the lawsuit, Democrats on the House of Representatives' Oversight and Government Reform Committee said the General Services Administration (GSA), the government's property arm, illegally withheld documents about the Trump International Hotel. The 14-page suit marks the latest legal skirmish over the luxury hotel a few blocks from the White House, which has become a rallying point for anti-Trump protesters. Critics say the hotel violates government rules barring elected officials from taking part in a lease of federal property. Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the committee's ranking Democrat, said the GSA had ignored federal law by refusing to provide documents about the hotel's operation, foreign payments to the hotel or the legal reasoning that Trump could be a party to the lease. "We have no transparency - no ability to check for ongoing conflicts of interest or unconstitutional foreign payments," Cummings said in a statement. The suit filed in U.S. District Court names acting General Services Administrator Timothy Horne as defendant. Pam Dixon, a spokeswoman for the agency, said it would not comment on pending litigation. Cummings and other critics have argued that the hotel housed in the government's historic Old Post Office represented a conflict of interest because Trump is both landlord and tenant of the building. A GSA contracting officer said in March that the hotel was not in violation of federal conflict-of-interest rules. Thursday's lawsuit said the GSA rebuffed three requests from committee Democrats for information about the hotel since Trump took office in January. The requests included ones filed under a law which mandates that a federal agency turn over information requested by at least seven members of the committee. Under the same law, the GSA had produced documents about the Trump International Hotel while Democrat Barack Obama was president, the suit said. Trump is facing numerous lawsuits targeting his alleged failure to distance himself from his business empire while in office. The president ceded day-to-day control of his businesses to his sons, Eric and Donald Jr., in a move he said would steer clear of conflicts of interest.


Former FBI Director James Comey accused President Donald Trump on Thursday of firing him to try to undermine the agency's investigation of possible collusion by Trump's campaign with Russia's alleged efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election. In the most eagerly anticipated U.S. congressional hearing in years, Comey told lawmakers the Trump administration had lied and defamed him and the Federal Bureau of Investigation after the president dismissed him on May 9. During more than two hours of testimony, Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee he believed Trump had directed him in February to drop an FBI probe into the Republican president's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, as part of the broader Russia investigation. Comey would not say whether he thought the president sought to obstruct justice, but added it would be up to special counsel Robert Mueller, who is now investigating the Russia allegations, "to sort that out." "I don't think it's for me to say whether the conversation I had with the president was an effort to obstruct. I took it as a very disturbing thing, very concerning," Comey testified. Sitting alone at a small table facing a bank of senators who fired question after question, Comey gave short, deliberative answers. He painted a picture of an overbearing president he did not trust and who pressured him to stop the FBI probe of Flynn. Trump critics say any efforts by the president to hinder an FBI probe could amount to obstruction of justice. Such an offense potentially could lead to Trump being impeached, although his fellow Republicans who control Congress have shown little appetite for such a move. In a speech to supporters across town, Trump vowed to fight on. "We're under siege ... but we will come out bigger and better and stronger than ever," he said. Comey did not make any major disclosures about any links between Trump or his associates and Russia, an issue that has dogged the president's first months in office and distracted from his policy goals such as overhauling the U.S. healthcare system and making tax cuts. Russia has denied such interference. The White House has denied any collusion with Moscow. Nevertheless, the Russia matter likely will continue to overshadow Trump's presidency, especially as the FBI probe has ensnared not only Flynn but Trump's son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has had to recuse himself from the investigation. Comey's testimony drew renewed attention to Sessions and his relationship with Russia's ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak. After Trump fired Comey, the administration gave differing reasons for his dismissal. Trump later contradicted his own staff and acknowledged on May 11 he fired Comey because of the Russia matter. Asked why he thought Trump fired him, Comey said he did not know for sure. He added: "Again, I take the president's words. I know I was fired because of something about the way I was conducting the Russia investigation was in some way putting pressure on him, in some way irritating him, and he decided to fire me because of that." Comey said repeatedly there were details he could not discuss in a public session, making clear he had sensitive information he could disclose only in a closed session with the senators. Comey said Trump's administration had defamed him in comments made after his firing by saying the FBI was in disarray and that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader. "Those were lies, plain and simple," Comey said. His accusations could further mire Trump's administration in legal difficulties. Mueller and several congressional committees are investigating what U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded was an effort by Russia to help Trump win the election. "The Russian investigation is going to go on and it's not going to stop and the president should have known that," committee member Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein told MSNBC. Trump's personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, said Comey's testimony proved the president was not under any investigation and there was no evidence a single vote was changed as a result of Russian interference in last year's election. Kasowitz denied Trump ever told Comey he needed and expected his loyalty, as Comey said. NBC News reported on Thursday that Kushner was expected to meet with staff members of the Senate Intelligence Committee in mid-June. Comey said he felt he needed to get his account of his conversations with Trump in the public sphere in the hope it might prompt the appointment of a special counsel, which later occurred. Comey said he gave copies of his memo memorializing his talks with Trump to people outside the Justice Department and asked a friend to share its contents with a journalist. Columbia Law School professor Daniel Richman confirmed to Reuters he was the friend to whom Comey was referring. Kasowitz said that "we will leave it to the appropriate authorities" to determine whether Comey's leak "should be investigated." Legal experts questioned Kasowitz's contention that Trump's private encounters with Comey should be considered privileged communications. Comey said he did not know if there were tapes of his conversations with Trump, but that if so, they should be released. "Lordy, I hope there are tapes," Comey said. Republicans on the committee questioned Comey intently but did not attack his integrity or try to treat him roughly, as a witness making accusations against a sitting Republican president might expect. Comey testified he kept notes after meeting with Trump because "I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting, and so I thought it really important to document." From Capitol Hill to San Francisco's Castro district, Comey's appearance attracted television "watch parties" beckoning politics buffs to taverns, restaurants and living rooms to view an event some likened to the "Super Bowl of Washington." U.S. stocks closed slightly higher as the market reacted little to Comey's testimony, viewing his testimony alone as unlikely to mark the end of Trump's presidency. Comey said Trump did not attempt to get him to drop the overall Russia investigation, just the part of if that related to Flynn, whom the president fired in February for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the extent of his conversations last year with Kislyak. Republican Senator Marco Rubio asked Comey whether he perceived the president's request to let the Flynn matter go as an order given Trump's position as president, the setting and the circumstances surrounding the conversation. "Yes," Comey replied. Laura Donohue, a Georgetown University Law Center professor, said if Trump fired Comey to change the course of the Russia investigation, that would constitute obstruction of justice. Both the conversation between Trump and Comey about Flynn and the firing itself were obstructive acts, she said. "He wanted to scuttle the investigation - it is hard to see it any other way," she said. Regarding Sessions, Comey said he did not discuss Trump's pressure to drop the probe into Flynn with the attorney general because the FBI leadership team believed Sessions would later recuse himself from the Russia probe. "We were also aware of facts that I can't discuss in an open setting that would make his continued engagement in a Russia-related investigation problematic," Comey said, without giving more details. The Justice Department later issued a statement saying that Sessions recused himself from the Russia probe only because he had been part of Trump's campaign. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he did not believe Trump had committed a crime even if his personal style was often brash, adding: "I'll just say it, if being crude, rude and a bull in a china shop was a crime, Trump would get the death penalty."


"One of the great weapons of a democracy. " This was how Harry Belafonte, the performer and civil rights activist, referred to the street march in a recent interview. Mr. Belafonte played a critical role in organizing the 1963 March on Washington, which helped spur the passage of two major civil rights bills. He is also a of the women's march set for Saturday. When thousands of women converge on Washington this weekend, they will join a long tradition of rallies in the capital. From the suffrage processions of the early 20th century to the Tea Party rallies of 2009, marches have drawn attention to crucial issues, occasionally resulted in violence and often prompted opposing gatherings. Marian B. Mollin, an associate professor at Virginia Tech who studies the history of social movements, said successful marches had capitalized on symbolism and street theater, attracted a broad coalition and pushed clear policy goals. But the test of a march's efficacy, she said, is whether it energizes participants long after they've gone home, sustaining them through the less exciting aspects of change. This is what she'll be watching for in the months after Saturday's march. "Are they continuing to be fired up when they get back? Because there is a lot of unfun, unglamorous work to do," she said. We took a look back at several marches in Washington and how they changed — or didn't change — history. On March 3, 1913, a named Inez Milholland slipped on her white kid boots, threw a cape around her shoulders and climbed onto a borrowed horse to help lead what was then the largest women's march in American history. Behind her came businesswomen in blue, writers in white, artists in pink and musicians in red, all calling for their right to vote. Five thousand women marched while some onlookers hurled insults and tripped them. "If my wife were where you are," a police officer told one woman, according to this newspaper, "I'd break her head. " Woodrow Wilson skipped the event, taking side streets to a hotel to avoid the crowds. By the end, more than 100 women were hospitalized. Women had fought for suffrage since at least 1848. But the 1913 march kicked off a series of political actions that swayed the public and male politicians, finally pushing them to pass the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. By 1920, American women had the right to vote. Read how The New York Times covered the march here. On July 28, 1932, Gen. Douglas MacArthur and Army troops surrounded a group of protesting veterans in Washington, wheeled tanks into position, prepared gas bombs and gave the former fighters 30 minutes to disperse. The Bonus Army gathering, in which an estimated 20, 000 World War I veterans demanded the payment of bonuses guaranteed under a 1924 law, is among the marches in American history. The law had said payments would be made in 1945, but veterans reeling from the Depression wanted them earlier. The event lasted weeks, until President Herbert Hoover ordered the protesters' removal. Army troops shot "a heavy barrage of tear gas" at the veterans, according to The Times. Two people died during the protest. In "The Bonus Army: An American Epic," the authors Paul Dickson and Thomas B. Allen wrote that the march changed the nation, pushing Congress to pass the G. I. Bill, landmark legislation that allowed many veterans to go to college. Read how The Times covered the march here. The National Mall swelled with people on Aug. 28, 1963, to urge Congress to pass a historic civil rights bill. It was here that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. "As he arose, a great roar welled up from the crowd," the journalist E. W. Kenworthy wrote in The Times. "When he started to speak, a hush fell. " The paper reported that more than 200, 000 people had attended. At the time, civil rights legislation was tied up in Congress, facing a filibuster by Southern lawmakers. But the march helped energize everyday people like Hazel Mangle Rivers, a black woman who took the $8 overnight bus to Washington from her home in Birmingham, Ala. "When I get back there tomorrow I'm going to do whatever needs to be done," she told a Times reporter after the protest. "I don't care if it's picketing or marching or or what, I'm ready to do it. " The gathering was followed by sustained activism — including a drive in Mississippi and a march in Alabama from Selma to Montgomery — that helped pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The march, Mr. Belafonte said recently, showed that there was "a great swatch of American opinion that was supportive of our cause. " Read how The Times covered the march here. On Nov. 15, 1969, antiwar activists streamed down Pennsylvania Avenue, calling for a rapid withdrawal of troops from Vietnam. Three drummers led the procession, followed by people carrying 11 coffins bearing names of the dead. Then came rows and rows of marchers, 17 abreast, shouting, "Peace now! Peace now!" A police official estimated the crowd to be at least 250, 000 strong, though others have said it was much larger. At the time, many Americans had grown impatient with President Richard Nixon's policy of gradual withdrawal. The White House said the president had spent the day watching college football inside. It was the largest antiwar protest to date. But its success was less clear than the 1963 civil rights gathering. "In the aftermath of that march, Nixon escalates the war," Professor Mollin said. Read how The Times covered the march here. The Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade, which affirmed a woman's right to an abortion, spurred anger across the country, particularly among religious and conservative families. A year after Roe v. Wade, on Jan. 22, 1974, thousands gathered in Washington to urge Congress to support a constitutional amendment, known as the Buckley Amendment, which would have effectively overturned the decision. When it became clear it wouldn't happen that year, the march's founder, Nellie Gray, vowed to hold marches every year until it did. This year's march, to be held on Jan. 27, will include a particularly prominent speaker: Kellyanne Conway, the woman in the Trump administration. Read how The Times covered the march here. Andy Humm was a television reporter for the Gay Cable Network on Oct. 11, 1987, when an estimated 200, 000 people gathered in Washington to call for AIDS research and the end of discrimination against gay people. (The event followed a 1979 march, before the AIDS crisis.) By 1987, more than 20, 000 Americans had died of AIDS and an additional 36, 000 had learned they had the disease, which was deeply stigmatizing. Activists were desperate for research and care. They spread a quilt bearing names of the dead. And they wept as Mr. Humm interviewed them. "There was no hope," he said in a recent conversation. "We were a fairly powerless movement back then. " The march helped mobilize and personalize the movement. Three years later, Congress passed the Ryan White Care Act, the largest federally funded program for people living with H. I. V. and AIDS. (AIDS deaths continued to climb each year until 1995.) Read how The Times covered the march. Hundreds of thousands of people, most of them black men, came together on Oct. 16, 1995, for a rally organized by Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam. He called on them to "accept the responsibility" to "be good husbands and fathers and builders of our community. " It was contentious — Mr. Farrakhan had been criticized previously for sexist and remarks — and was attended by the poet Maya Angelou but opposed by the N. A. A. C. P. Organizers said the event spurred 1. 7 million black men to register to vote. But the march's legacy is the subject of debate. "Some say its core message of and atonement left black men grappling alone with issues such as violence, drug abuse and poverty, letting politicians and institutions off the hook," a Washington Post reporter wrote. "Others argue that the earnest assembly was a potent symbol that changed perceptions of black men and inspired the marchers to make great changes in their lives. " In 2015, Mr. Farrakhan held a second march. Much of the discussion centered on the use of force by the police and continued discrimination. Art Scott, 59, a salesman who attended, told The Times: "There comes a time, after being pushed for so long, to push back. I think that's the feeling in the black community right now. " Read how The New York Times covered the march.


Establishment pundits were horrified when Donald Trump claimed that the system is rigged, and panicked when he wouldn t say whether or or he would respect the elections results if he lost. Like or not, the evidence shows that Trump is right. That s right: there is actual rampant voter fraud and election rigging in the United States.Watch this report by FOX News: SUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV


U.S. Republican Representative Lee Zeldin said he would not support the tax reform legislation introduced by Republican congressional leaders on Thursday. "I am a 'no' to this bill in its current form. We need to fix this state and local tax deduction issue. Adding back in the property tax deduction up to $10,000 is progress, but not enough progress," Zeldin said in a statement. A number of lawmakers from New York opposed eliminating the deduction for state and local taxes.


Former RNC chair Michael Steele did not mince words when he called out Donald Trump on Saturday.Rep. John Lewis, who nearly sacrificed his life fighting for voting rights in Selma, Alabama during the Civil Right Movement, remarked on Friday during an interview with Chuck Todd that he doesn t believe Trump is a legitimate president. I believe in trying to work with people, Lewis said. It will be hard. It s going to be very difficult. I don t see this president-elect as a legitimate president. Of course, Trump s ego couldn t handle the truth so he lashed out in the most embarrassing way.Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2017mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk no action or results. Sad! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2017Trump literally accused Lewis of being all talk and no action. Unlike Trump, Lewis has spent his life fighting for equality and civil rights. He was even nearly beaten to death for it. Meanwhile, Trump has never fought for a damn thing except for himself.Trump s attack on Lewis also coincides with Martin Luther King Day weekend, which made his attack all the more offensive, and Steele put Trump in his place during an appearance on MSNBC. Number one, don t tweet that. Number two, don t go there. And number three, try and step back and appreciate what s being said, Steele advised Trump. You can put it in a partisan context. You know, He s a Democrat, I m a Republican. He s black, I m white. It goes to what you were just saying, what s undergirding that? Steele then reminded Trump that if he really wants to heal wounds and bridge divides that he needs to include African-Americans. Instead, Trump just widened that divide by attacking a civil rights legend. If you re looking to heal and bridge, and bring people of America together, well, we re a part of that. As black folks, we re apart of that. Our expectation is, not only will you attempt that same effort that you would to white folks in other communities, but that you will show respect for our leadership, those who do represent our interests. You know, the tweet is unnecessary. John Lewis has a walk that very few people in this country, least of all Donald Trump, have ever walked. In short, Lewis walked the walk while Trump does nothing but talk.Here s the video via Twitter. John Lewis has a walk that very few people in this country, least of all Donald Trump, have ever walked. #AMJoy https://t.co/L3WtLNCfNs Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) January 14, 2017Donald Trump has done nothing but divide this nation since his ugly campaign began. And despite his pathetic calls for unity, Trump has done nothing to deserve the respect he and Republicans are demanding from the American people. And his tweets only undermine him more every day as he continues to insult and attack people who criticize him.


Kathleen Purvis, the Southern food writer most likely to let you know when you have something wrong, made a peach declaration on Facebook a couple of weeks ago. Peaches, she said, should never be eaten before the Fourth of July. From there, one has six weeks to fill up. Ms. Purvis, the food editor of The Charlotte Observer, adopted the rule after an interview in the 1990s with Jeanne Voltz, the pioneering food editor, who died in 2002. Ms. Voltz said that her Alabama father never wasted his calories or his jaw power on a peach before July 4. It just wasn't worth it. The private Facebook post unleashed a peach debate among a circle of cooks and food writers. "That is a North Carolina rule, not a Georgia or South Carolina rule," admonished Nathalie Dupree, another Southern food writer with deeply held opinions. Texans offered that their peach season was almost over. Cathy Barrow, who writes Mrs. Wheelbarrow's Kitchen from her home in Washington, D. C. reported that she had eaten some great peaches from Georgia and Virginia recently, blaming climate change for their early arrival. Peach fans from the Northeast weighed in, crying over what is shaping up to be an exceptionally lousy peach season because of a late frost. Californians were silent, even though the drought has affected the largest state. Here in the South, where high humidity, rain and long hot nights give peaches plenty of time to plump up, the crop isn't as abundant as farmers would like. Still, the fruit itself is exceptional, with dense but yielding flesh so full of sugary juice that leaning over the sink is the best approach to eating one. And in Atlanta, they are indeed at their best in July and August. But for many people, the need to eat a peach overrides seasonal perfection. Juan Carlos Melgar, the peach specialist at Clemson University, ate his first peach around the middle of May. It was a clingstone, a type of peach that is not as good to eat out of hand as the freestones. In Florida, farmers are planting peach trees that produce fruit as early as April or May. "They are not so nice looking," Dr. Melgar said. "But they are peaches for people who want them as early as possible. People need their peaches. " Indeed, we all need our markers of summer. For Ms. Purvis, it's a fresh peach not eaten until the Fourth of July. For others, it's a peach whenever one shows up. "I always go in too early and stay too long when it comes to peaches," Katie Monson, a Charlotte resident, posted on the Facebook peach debate. "I can't help myself!"


British Prime Minister Theresa May will meet new U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday seeking to reinvigorate what London views as the two countries' "special relationship". May, the first foreign leader to visit Trump, aims to forge closer ties with the United States as Britain leaves the European Union. She hopes to enjoy the same closeness with him that Margaret Thatcher had with Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. "Unquestionably, this relationship has assumed way more importance than it might have had even a year ago," said John Bew, a history and foreign policy professor at King's College London. "Anglo-American relations are back in town in a big way." The history of the special relationship between the two countries has always been defined by personalities, Europe and security issues and has not always been easy. The United States declared independence from Britain in 1776 but it was not until 1946 that Winston Churchill coined the term "special relationship" following World War Two. The establishment of NATO in 1949 helped to deepen military ties but the alliance saw challenges in the early years of the Cold War. In the 1956 Suez Crisis, when Britain attacked Egypt without informing the United States, U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower was incensed and pressured Prime Minister Anthony Eden to seek a peaceful solution, resulting in Eden's resignation. The episode was arguably the worst crisis of U.S.-UK relations in the 20th century but demonstrated to the British establishment its fading imperial power and the importance of collaboration with the United States in international affairs. The relationship was tested again in 1962 when the administration of U.S. President John Kennedy unexpectedly canceled its Skybolt missile program, angering Britain, which had been set to use the missiles. But, as with Suez, the resolution of the crisis deepened ties between the countries and contributed to the decision of France to block Britain's accession into the European Community in the early 1960s. The defining image of British and U.S. relations by the end of the Cold War was of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President Ronald Reagan. The grocers' daughter and the Hollywood film star struck up a rapport on the basis of their shared commitment to small government, economic liberalism and anti-communism. Even this relationship was subjected to strains, however. Thatcher was angered by the U.S. invasion of Grenada, a Commonwealth nation in 1983. In 2014 a recording of a phone call by Reagan, apologizing to Thatcher, was released. WMDs The special relationship was reinforced again with the co-operation of Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George W. Bush over the Iraq War. Following the 9/11 attacks on the United States, Blair was keen to offer support to the United States. However, while the initial military action to depose Saddam Hussein as Iraq's leader in 2003 achieved its aims, the war became drawn out. The lack of weapons of mass destruction, which had provided a justification for the action, drew opposition on both sides of the Atlantic, with some describing Blair as a puppet of Bush. While Blair's close friendship with Bush - they famously shared their toothpaste - became a political issue for him, British leaders tended to see good relations with president Barack Obama as an asset. Obama was popular in Britain and Prime Minister David Cameron was keen to portray their closeness, in contrast to the more awkward manner of his predecessor Gordon Brown. Cameron high-fived Obama as they played table tennis during a visit to London in 2011, while Cameron ate hotdogs with the president as they took in a university basketball game in Ohio. However, Obama's comment in April 2016 that Britain would be "at the back of the queue" in trade talks should it vote to leave the EU also raised questions among Britons about the value of the relationship. Tom Packer, research fellow at the Rothermere American Institute in Oxford University, believes that the pragmatic relationship of Bush and Blair may be a better guide to May and Trump's relationship than Reagan and Thatcher. "I think it can't be like Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, because they shared an ideological vision, and also had important personal ties already," Packer said. "It could conceivably be like Bush and Blair, where people who share common objectives slowly become personally and in some ways ideologically close."


President Donald Trump's choice for national security adviser, retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward, has turned down the offer, a senior White House official said on Thursday. Harward was offered the job after Michael Flynn was fired by Trump on Monday for misleading Vice President Mike Pence over his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the United States. The White House official said Harward cited family and financial reasons for opting not to take the job. Harward is a senior executive at Lockheed Martin. Two sources familiar with the decision said Harward turned down the job in part because he wanted to bring in his own team. That put him at odds with Trump, who had told Flynn's deputy, K.T. McFarland, that she could stay. Trump appeared to refer to Harward earlier in the day at a presidential news conference, saying: "I have somebody that I think will be outstanding for the position." The president also made clear why he asked Flynn to resign, saying it was because the retired lieutenant general had not been completely truthful with Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak. "The thing is, he didn't tell our vice president properly, and then he said he didn't remember. So either way, it wasn't very satisfactory to me," Trump said.


The 100 Democratic women who packed into a suburban Maryland conference room recently for a one-day training on how to run for political office were more than activists eager to battle President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans. The teachers, students and business leaders were also a window into the future for a Democratic Party desperate for new blood, and into the booming effort to turn the left's grassroots anti-Trump activism into a new wave of Democratic officeholders. As thousands of potential first-time candidates explore political bids in what Democratic veterans say is an unprecedented surge of activity, a broad but informal network of groups is beefing up efforts to train them for the task. The goal: turning neophytes into successful politicians who can win, giving the party a deep and diverse bench of up-and-coming progressive talent at all levels of government. "This era of Trump has made everybody just want to run for office, and it's not easy," said Josh Morrow, executive director of 314 Action, which since its founding last year has heard from about 6,000 scientists, engineers and mathematicians exploring political runs and trained nearly 500 of them. "No matter how accomplished people are, they need help when they first run," Morrow said. The surge of interest has given dispirited Democrats, long criticized as a top-heavy party lacking fresh faces, hope for a renaissance at the local and state levels after repeated setbacks under President Barack Obama. Building from the ground up, from the school board to the statehouse, is a party priority after losing nearly 1,000 state legislative seats in the last eight years. Republicans also control the White House, both chambers of Congress and 33 governor's offices, the most in nearly a century. "Local offices matter, and as Democrats we have sort of forgotten that," said Amanda Litman, a staffer on Democrat Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign who founded the group Run for Something after the 2016 election to recruit and prepare millennials for office. For first-timers, the initial enthusiasm for public service can quickly give way to worried questions about the logistics of building a fundraising list, utilizing social media and crafting a message. "I knew I had a steep learning curve," said Thereasa Black, a lawyer and Navy veteran running for the U.S. Congress from Maryland. She attended the Rockville session run by Emerge America, which prepares women for office. "This is a way to find people who are like-minded and going through what you are, and can help you," she said. A Republican spokesman said Democrats would need more than training and fresh faces to gain ground in next year's midterm elections given the losses of first-time Democratic candidates in special congressional races in Georgia and Montana earlier this year. "The challenges that Democrats face go much deeper and come down to fundraising and messaging," said Rick Gorka, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, which sponsored a training program for about 4,500 volunteer field staff and operatives last year. Geoffrey Dittberner, 30, said he had volunteered on campaigns before deciding to run for the Minnesota legislature, but he was still unprepared for being a candidate before he was accepted into Run for Something's training program. "There were so many things I didn't know - fundraising, setting up a campaign organization - but they made it pretty easy," he said. The group's Slack application gave him access to a variety of resources, from tutorials to mentors and peer networks, discussion groups and on-call experts, he said. Aside from new groups like 314 Action and Run for Something, about a dozen established organizations that have long offered training to progressive candidates also have been flooded with interest since Trump's election. Emily's List, which for years has trained women candidates who favor abortion rights, has hired five more staffers this year for a reconstituted training unit. It already has heard from 16,000 women interested in becoming candidates this year, compared to 920 in 2016. Emerge America has seen applications jump by 87 percent and added five new state chapters. The Maryland state chapter, which ran the one-day course in Rockville, had trained 250 women by mid-year. Last year, it trained 55. At Emerge's Rockville session, candidates were encouraged to listen more than they talk and delve into their own experiences to explain what motivated them to run. "When we tap into our own personal story, we relate better to people in our community," Diane Fink, executive director for Emerge Maryland, told the class. She asked them to put together a three-minute story that explains how they got started. While Democrats nationally have battled over their core message, most of the training programs say they avoid telling candidates specifically what issues to emphasize. "First and foremost you should be talking about what matters to voters, not to you," said veteran Democratic strategist Kelly Dietrich, who founded the National Democratic Training Committee last year to offer free online training for any Democrat running for any office. So far, more than 6,000 have signed up.


by Dr. Mercola  A new federal report revealed that the majority of U.S. adults (more than 54 percent) had some type of musculoskeletal pain disorder such as back, joint or neck pain in 2012 (the latest year for which statistics are available). [1]  Its prevalence is indicative of the significant price Americans pay for pain — it's a leading cause of disability and major contributor to health care expenses and disability compensation.  Also revealing, people suffering from pain were significantly more likely to have used a complementary health approach compared to people without pain — nearly 42 percent versus 24 percent, respectively.  The reason wasn't addressed by the study, but time and again, conventional medicine fails to relieve many people's pain.  Congressional testimony from the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) stated that Americans consume 80 percent of the pain pills in the world, [2] and in a survey of more than 2,000 pain patients in the U.S., most said they were taking a dangerously addictive opioid pain medication. [3]  Research suggests, however, that these drugs work for only about three months, after which changes in your brain may lead to increased feelings of pain along with added emotional upset, including feelings of hopelessness and desperation. [4]  Many pain sufferers have tried virtually every treatment that conventional medicine has to offer — medications, injections, surgery and more — only to find that their pain hasn't gotten better and they may be struggling with treatment-induced side effects as well (one of the worst of which is opioid addiction ).  At that point (and for many far sooner), it's only natural that you would begin to seek other options, which brings many people to holistic, complementary or "alternative" health care options for relief. Science-Backed Natural Pain Relief Options  A recent study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings evaluated several complementary approaches for pain relief. [5] The options that follow have been scientifically proven to help with relief, according to the report.  Acupuncture  One of the most common uses for acupuncture is in treating chronic pain. One analysis of the most robust studies available concluded that acupuncture has a clear effect in reducing chronic pain, more so than standard pain treatment. [6]  Study participants receiving acupuncture reported an average 50 percent reduction in pain, compared to a 28 percent pain reduction for standard pain treatment without acupuncture. It's likely that acupuncture works via a variety of mechanisms.  In 2010, for instance, it was found that acupuncture activates pain-suppressing receptors and increases the concentration of the neurotransmitter adenosine in local tissues [7] (adenosine slows down your brain's activity and induces sleepiness).  Massage Therapy  A systematic review and meta-analysis, published in the journal Pain Medicine, included 60 high-quality and seven low-quality studies that looked into the use of massage for various types of pain, including muscle and bone pain, headaches, deep internal pain, fibromyalgia pain and spinal cord pain. [8]  The review revealed that massage therapy relieves pain better than getting no treatment at all.  Relaxation Techniques  Breathing exercises, guided imagery, meditation and other relaxation techniques may provide relief, especially from pain from tension headaches and migraines.  Research by an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Herbert Benson, found that people who practice relaxation methods such as yoga and meditation long-term have more disease-fighting genes switched "on" and active, including genes that protect against pain and rheumatoid arthritis. [9]  Exercise  Among people who had experienced back pain , those who exercised had a 25 percent to 40 percent lower risk of having another episode within a year than those who did no exercise. [10]  Strength exercises, aerobics, flexibility training and stretching were all beneficial in lowering the risk of back pain.  Motor control exercises (MCE), which help to improve coordination of muscles that support your spine,11 may also help. One systematic review found MCE led to reductions in pain and disability and improvements in perceived quality of life compared with minimal intervention. [12]  Yoga , which is particularly useful for promoting flexibility and core muscles, has also been proven to be beneficial if you suffer from back pain.  People suffering from low back pain who took one yoga class a week had greater improvements in function than those receiving medicine or physical therapy. [13] The Yoga Journal has an online page demonstrating specific poses that may be helpful. [14]  Medical Marijuana  There are cannabinoid receptors in your brain, lungs, liver, kidneys, immune system and more. Both the therapeutic and psychoactive properties of marijuana occur when a cannabinoid activates a cannabinoid receptor.  Research is still ongoing on just how extensive their impact is on our health, but to date it's known that cannabinoid receptors play an important role in many body processes, including metabolic regulation, cravings, pain, anxiety, bone growth and immune function. [15]  Some of the strongest research to date is focused on marijuana for pain relief. In one study, just three puffs of marijuana a day for five days helped those with chronic nerve pain to relieve pain and sleep better. [16]  Also revealing, in states where medical marijuana is legal, overdose deaths from opioids like morphine, oxycodone and heroin decreased by an average of 20 percent after one year, 25 percent after two years and 33 percent by years five and six. [17] Turmeric for Pain Relief  Turmeric was once most known for being a flavorful and colorful addition to curry, but in the scientific world, turmeric has earned a reputation for being a multi-faceted healer. Turmeric contains curcumin, which has notable anti-inflammatory properties.  It can inhibit both the activity and the synthesis of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2) and 5-lipooxygenase (5-LOX), as well as other enzymes that have been implicated in inflammation.  A 2006 study found that a turmeric extract composed of curcuminoids (curcumin is the most investigated curcuminoid) blocked inflammatory pathways, effectively preventing the launch of a protein that triggers swelling and pain. [18]  Turmeric has been found to significantly improve post-operative pain and fatigue, [19] and in a study of osteoarthritis patients, those who added only 200 milligrams (mg) of curcumin a day to their treatment plan had reduced pain and increased mobility.  Time magazine even published the story of one doctor who marveled at one of his older hip patient's lack of pain and remarkably swift recovery from surgery. The patient took turmeric regularly, and the results so impressed the physician that he began taking the supplement himself. [20] Essential Oils for Pain Relief  Essential oils are concentrated, aromatic plant extracts that have been used for thousands of years for emotional, cosmetic, medical and even spiritual purposes. One of their most popular uses is also for relief of chronic and acute pain.  There are a number of ways to use essential oils , including via aromatherapy. Lavender aromatherapy, for instance, has been shown to lessen pain following needle insertion [21] while green apple scent significantly relieves migraine pain . Other essential oils noted for pain relief, including relief from joint pain, include: [22] Lavender


MADRID (AP) — If you're taking a bus in the Spanish capital, be sure to keep your legs to yourself. [Madrid authorities on Monday started putting up signs banning the practice of 'manspreading' — opening one's legs so wide you invade other's seating space — on city buses as part of their new etiquette guidelines. EMT municipal transportation company says the sign is designed to discourage physical postures that bother people. The sign features an illustration of a man with splayed legs with a red 'X' above. The text beneath urges passengers to "respect the space of others. " There are no sanctions or fines for those indulging in the practice. The bus company incorporated the ban following an internet signature campaign by a woman's group, Mujeres en Lucha (Fighting Women). In their campaign petition, the women said it was a "very common practice. " La @EMTmadrid añade una nueva señal a bordo del bus para evitar el #manspreading: "Respeta el espacio de los demás". https: . pic. twitter. — Ayuntamiento Madrid (@MADRID) June 6, 2017, "It's not difficult to see women with their legs closed and very uncomfortable because there's a man beside them who's invading their space with their legs," it added. The group said women were taught to sit with their legs together whereas men are ingrained with "the idea of territorial hierarchy, as if the space belongs to them. " EMT said it felt its initiative, which also includes asking passengers not to eat or drink on buses, to keep their backpacks on or put their feet up on seats, was being well received. Again, there are no sanctions for any of these other requests. "When a person opens their legs so wide it disturbs others, this is rude," said Alvaro Gomez Jordana Moya, 60, as he waited for a bus in Madrid. "It's also uncomfortable having to ask someone, 'Please, can you close your legs'. " "It's a problem because people don't respect seating," said another bus passenger Maria Carmen Ventosa, 46. "It should change things, if only out of respect for others. " Madrid's underground train company said it had no plans to follow suit.


The Chinese military, in a move analysts described as a challenge to Donald J. Trump's strident criticism of China, has deployed an aircraft carrier to patrol the contested South China Sea, officials said on Tuesday. The ship, which is known as the Liaoning and is China's first and only aircraft carrier, was spotted leading five other Chinese warships this week in patrols near the coasts of Taiwan and Japan. China claims the South China Sea as its own despite objections from neighboring countries and the United States. Chinese military experts called the deployment of the Liaoning a challenge to American military dominance in the Pacific. Several said the move appeared aimed at testing Mr. Trump, who has antagonized Beijing with acerbic words and actions on issues like Taiwan, trade and North Korea. "The message is: 'If you test our bottom line, we'll play that game too,'" said Ni Lexiong, a naval expert at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law. The decision by Beijing to deploy the carrier group seemed likely to complicate an increasingly fractious relationship between China and the United States. Nowhere are those tensions more on display than in the South China Sea, where American forces have resisted China's efforts to build artificial islands and military outposts as part of its efforts to assert greater control over the sea, a major commercial waterway. In the weeks since Mr. Trump's election, Beijing has increased pressure on the United States, placing weapons on disputed islands and seizing an underwater United States Navy drone from international waters. Chinese officials appear to be emboldened by Mr. Trump's pledge to focus on domestic issues and his ambivalence toward the One China principle, an understanding between the United States and China that has underpinned relations for decades. "The mission is to signal to neighbors that Beijing will set the security table in East Asian waters, and that not even President Donald Trump can reverse that trend," Patrick M. Cronin, a senior director at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank, said in an email. Chinese officials played down the significance of the Liaoning's journey, saying the ships were taking part in annual training exercises. "The Liaoning aircraft carrier is entitled to the freedom of navigation and overflight under international law," Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a news conference on Monday. "We hope that all parties will respect this. " Officials in Taiwan and Japan said that the warships were spotted patrolling their coasts over the past several days. Taiwanese officials said the Liaoning came within 90 nautical miles of the southern tip of the island before entering the South China Sea. Japanese officials said the ships were seen near the shores of Okinawa, in the Pacific Ocean. Many people in China cheered the deployment of the Liaoning, a discarded vessel bought from Ukraine in 1998 and refurbished by the Chinese Navy. While the Liaoning lacks the capabilities of its American counterparts, it is a symbol of national pride for the government, which is in the midst of an effort to vastly upgrade its military capacity to meet its ambition of projecting strength far from Beijing. Officials have announced plans for a second aircraft carrier and other weapons. Some commentators in China seized the moment to call on officials to send the Liaoning closer to American shores. "Aircraft carriers are strategic tools which should be used to show China's strength to the world and shape the outside world's attitude toward China," an editorial in Global Times, a newspaper that often adopts a nationalistic tone, said on Sunday. "As China's only aircraft carrier fleet now, it should have the ability and courage to sail further. " The Department of Defense declined to directly address China's movements in the South China Sea. "We continue to observe a range of ongoing Chinese military activity in the region," Cmdr. Gary Ross, a spokesman for the Pentagon, said in a statement on Tuesday. "The United States recognizes the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all countries in accordance with international law. " In Taiwan, officials called for caution. Many residents worry that China is seeking to punish Taiwan for Mr. Trump's actions. He surprised officials in Beijing when he took a call from President Tsai of Taiwan, breaking from decades of diplomatic practice. More recently, he suggested he might abandon the One China principle, prompting sharp rebukes from Beijing. In a speech on Tuesday, Taiwan's defense minister, Feng spoke about the dangers facing the island and urged more training for Taiwanese soldiers. "The threat of our enemies is growing day by day," he said, according to Reuters. As China looks to expand its power in the South China Sea, some experts argue that it risks antagonizing nearby countries, potentially pushing them to form stronger alliances with the United States. "As China's military power grows, the fear is that so, too, will its appetite for regional hegemony," said Mr. Cronin of the Center for a New American Security. "Thus China's coercion will impose yet new costs on Beijing. " Still, others note China's ability to win allies in the region through its economic might, and they point to the shifting allegiances of countries like the Philippines, an American ally that has warmed up to Beijing in recent months. Xu Guangyu, a retired major general in the People's Liberation Army, said China's decision to deploy aircraft carriers in faraway waters and to expand its military were natural developments for a country of China's stature. "People in other countries should rest assured that China will not interfere in other country's affairs like the U. S.," he said.


Roger Ailes, the chairman of Fox News, was accused on Wednesday of forcing out a prominent female anchor after she refused his sexual advances and complained to him about persistent harassment in the newsroom, a startling accusation against perhaps the most powerful man in television news. In a lawsuit, the anchor, Gretchen Carlson, a longtime Fox employee who left the network last month, portrays Mr. Ailes as a loutish and serial sexual harasser, accusing him of ogling her in his office, calling her "sexy," and describes a boys' club environment at the network. Her charges — including the accusation that Mr. Ailes explicitly asked Ms. Carlson for a sexual relationship during a meeting in his office — amounted to an almost unprecedented public attack on Mr. Ailes, a towering figure in media and Republican politics who typically enjoys absolute loyalty from his employees. Late Wednesday, the parent company of Fox News, 21st Century Fox, issued a measured statement, saying it had "full confidence'' in Mr. Ailes, but had initiated an internal review of Ms. Carlson's charges. "We take these matters seriously," the company said. Mr. Ailes, in a separate statement, was far less temperate. "Gretchen Carlson's allegations are false," he wrote. "This is a retaliatory suit for the network's decision not to renew her contract," which he attributed to ratings he called "disappointingly low. '' He added: "This defamatory lawsuit is not only offensive, it is wholly without merit and will be defended vigorously. " The suit arrives at a complex moment for Mr. Ailes, who is facing new challenges to the television empire that he has overseen, with control and huge success, for two decades. While he retains the support of his corporate boss, Rupert Murdoch, Mr. Ailes, 76, has sometimes clashed with Mr. Murdoch's sons, James and Lachlan, who have ascended to the most senior leadership roles at the company. And Fox News, while still enjoying high ratings, is facing renewed competition from CNN, which has been closing what was long an enormous gap in ratings between the networks. (In one important demographic, CNN has narrowed its deficit with Fox News to its slimmest figure in eight years.) The network has also been less of a dominant political force in this year's presidential election, with the Republican nominee, Donald J. Trump, publicly clashing with the network and some of its anchors, a sharp contrast from previous election cycles. Ms. Carlson, 50, filed her lawsuit in Superior Court in New Jersey, where Mr. Ailes maintains a residence. She contends that during a meeting last fall to discuss her concerns that she was being treated unfairly, Mr. Ailes told her: "I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you'd be good and better and I'd be good and better. " When she rebuffed him, the lawsuit claims, Mr. Ailes retaliated by reducing Ms. Carlson's salary, curtailing her appearances and, to her surprise, declining to renew her contract last month. Ms. Carlson's suit, filed by the law firm Smith Mullin of Montclair, N. J. names Mr. Ailes as the sole defendant and seeks a variety of compensatory damages. Her lead lawyer, Nancy Erika Smith, said in an interview that Ms. Carlson's grievance was with Mr. Ailes personally, not the Fox network. "We were considering taking action before she was terminated," Ms. Smith said. "The firing sort of pulled the trigger for us. " Mr. Ailes is known as a fierce public relations warrior who can be ruthless with enemies. Ms. Carlson can be on air, but she is working with a formidable team: Ms. Smith once brought a sexual harassment suit against a former acting governor of New Jersey, and Ms. Carlson's husband, Casey Close, is a powerful sports agent known for tenacious negotiating on behalf of clients like Derek Jeter. Ms. Smith, the lawyer, said that several women had contacted her saying they had similar experiences with Mr. Ailes, although she declined to name them. A 2014 biography of Mr. Ailes, by the journalist Gabriel Sherman, "The Loudest Voice in the Room,'' recounted an episode in the 1980s, when Mr. Ailes was at NBC, involving a woman named Randi Harrison who said he offered her an extra $100 a week in salary in exchange for having sex with him "whenever I want. " (Fox News denied the claim at the time Ms. Harrison corroborated the account in a phone interview on Wednesday.) Ms. Carlson joined Fox News in 2005. In her suit, Ms. Carlson, who once walked off a Fox set as her made jokes about women, portrays a culture at the network where casual sexism is tolerated, part of a broader Ailes news aesthetic of bombastic coverage and physically attractive talent. In 2009, Ms. Carlson contends, she complained to the network about her on the popular "Fox Friends" morning show, Steve Doocy, saying he belittled her on the set, openly mocked her among colleagues and once tried to shush her during a live broadcast by pulling down her arm. Mr. Ailes, the lawsuit states, responded by calling Ms. Carlson a "man hater" and saying "she needed to learn to 'get along with the boys.' " Ms. Carlson claims that because of her complaints, Mr. Ailes eventually reassigned her from "Fox Friends," in 2013, to a less prestigious slot. Until last month, Ms. Carlson was still hosting that program, "The Real Story With Gretchen Carlson," which is broadcast at 2 p. m. on the network. The show had consistently won its time slot, averaging 1. 1 million viewers in recent months. But it was the network's daytime program among a crucial advertising demographic, raising concerns at Fox News that it was losing ground to competition from CNN. Mr. Ailes has minted stars like Bill O'Reilly and Megyn Kelly, who now host the two shows in cable news. And he established Fox News as a powerful force in Republican politics and a major profit center for Mr. Murdoch's media empire. Even Ms. Carlson has had kind words for Mr. Ailes. In a book published last year, "Getting Real," Ms. Carlson described Mr. Ailes as "the most accessible boss I've ever worked for," and thanked him for encouraging her career. Shelley Ross, a longtime TV news executive, has been quoted as saying Mr. Ailes used inappropriate comments with her during a job interview. In an email on Wednesday, she played down that incident and praised Mr. Ailes. "I have had many bosses throughout my career Roger turned out to be one of my favorites," she wrote, adding, "If you want to expose disgusting immoral behavior in network and cable news, I have much better candidates about whom you could write. " Ms. Carlson's announcement of her lawsuit on Wednesday was carefully coordinated. A public relations firm distributed copies of the complaint to reporters across a variety of disciplines. Shortly afterward, on Twitter, Ms. Carlson offered thanks for an "outpouring of support" and introduced a hashtag: #StandWithGretchen. By the afternoon, a link to her lawsuit was prominently posted on her personal website. The public nature of the suit was unusual, some legal experts said, since typically such suits are settled privately. "The fact that it isn't proceeding along that trajectory suggests that Carlson had an interest in seeing these allegations brought forward in the public forum," said Debra Katz, a lawyer who specializes in sexual harassment cases.


Re: WINDOWS 10 « Reply #91 on: November 17, 2015, 01:37:05 PM » nVidia even admitted that they intentionally cripple Linux drivers to put performance under Linux the same as performance under Windows.Clips its own product's wings to please MicrosoftBy Chris MerrimanMon Oct 07 2013, 15:28 CHIP DESIGNER Nvidia has revealed that it crippled its Linux driver to ensure parity with Windows.According to a forum poster at the Nvidia Developer Zone , the v310 version of the drivers for Basemosaic has reduced the number of monitors a user can connect simultaneously to three.The firm's reply to the post was the type of dismissive response that the Linux community has come to expect in its dealings with Nvidia.Nvidia said, "For feature parity between Windows and Linux we set Basemosaic to [three] screens."So let's be clear about this. Nvidia has chosen to remove functionality from a Linux driver to ensure that it isn't more capable than the Windows version. This really doesn't sound like the action of a company that wants to get along well with Linux developers and users. So far, Nvidia hasn't indicated whether this is a temporary situation, or more likely a permanent arrangement.There can be one of two obvious motives for this, which amount to two sides of the same coin. Either Nvidia doesn't want to be seen to show up an embarrassing limitation in Windows or the Windows driver, or the continuing acrimony between the graphics firm and Linux is not over yet.While for most users three monitors are ample, making this a fairly niche problem, it's an example of a company manipulating the marketplace. Of course controlling the flow of progress in order to sell another product is nothing new - video games makers have been doing that since the 1980s.But to control the flow of progress to favour one platform over another is playing "technology god" and sets a disturbing precedent. Logged


USA Has Killed More Than 20 Million People in 37 'Victim Nations' Since World War II Recently, the world commemorated another anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which changed the world as... Print Email http://humansarefree.com/2016/11/usa-has-killed-more-than-20-million.html Recently, the world commemorated another anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which changed the world as we knew it, and has since, cast a terroristic haze over the planet. The War on Terror was engaged; the premise was a globally united citizen, freedom was under attack, "God Bless America." Admitting, in the famous Bush speech , to rally the world to a new war, he stated this:"The Americans have known wars, but for the past 136 years, they have been wars on foreign soil, except for one Sunday in 1941 [ Pearl Harbour ]."It is with this quote that I bring the attention to the countless deaths over not 136 years, but only those since World War II, that the United States of America can be partially held culpable. Proxy wars, particularly, hold some of the highest numbers; there is barely a nation where the U.S. has not permeated its military might through borders. Yes, wars are messy and incredibly complex. But it is important to recognize, that although Russia, China, North Korea and all the other nations accused of bloodshed are guilty in their own rights, the United States must share a large part of the responsibility. One study, compiled by James A. Lucas , explains with hard evidence, 37 nations deeply affected by U.S. involvement. However, anyone with a history book can see for themselves that the self-proclaimed freedom fighter – the U.S. – is not all that it seems. Afghanistan and Russia Most are familiar with the 'Mujahadeen' name. It conjures up Russians, war, and the Soviet Union invading Afghanistan. What a lot don't know is how the proxy war came about, or that Afghanistan – a secular nation at the time – was friendly with its Russian neighbors. So what happened? In 1998, Zbigniew Brzezinski admitted to a CIA-instigated battle which saw 12,000 deaths in Afghanistan directly attributed to the United States. The Carter administration, at the time, had agreed to provide "secret aid" to rebels wanting to overthrow the pro-Soviet regime. Well aware that providing this aid would create a Soviet military intervention, the act was signed off. "Regret what? That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Russians into the Afghan trap and you want me to regret it?" 6 billion dollars later and a 10-year war, over a million were reported dead. The other interventions less talked about… There are smaller nations, less notable in the history books, but equally devastated by the overthrows, coups and interventions that took place, courtesy of the United States. Angola's civil war lasted 26 years, with a reported 300,000 to 750,000 dead , depending on the literature you read. It was reported that Henry Kissinger [top architect of the New World Order ] had claimed that the US had to intervene in Angola because "the Soviet Union was already providing military aid to the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in the form of Cuban troops." It was, years later, discovered that he lied and that the Soviet Union was very reluctant to become involved in Angola, in the first place. Chad saw around 40,000 killed and over 200,000 tortured after the CIA assisted Hissen Habre into power in 1982. Then there is the famous CIA intervention with Chile's elections and Salvador Allende , who became elected president. On Sept. 11, 1973, Allende either killed himself or was assassinated. General Augusto Pinochet rose to power in 1974 – much to Henry Kissinger's approval, and thousands were murdered, tortured or simply disappeared. In the 1960s the Dominican Republic witnessed 3,000 deaths after a CIA coup overthrew Juan Bosch. When the citizens tried to reelect the man, the U.S. invaded with 22,000 military. Chilean President Salvador Allende, flanked by body guards during the coup on 11 September 1973. Later that day, Allende was reported dead. But you haven't mentioned… The Korean War? The " U.S. dropped 650,000 tons of bombs , including 43,000 napalm bombs." Fatalities stand anywhere between a few hundred thousand to 4.5 million for the Koreans and Chinese, depending on the literature you read. The Vietnam War? If you include Laos, where an estimated 200,000 died from U.S. bombs, it bumps up the already 5.1 million deaths estimated by the Vietnam government – but just a little bit. Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge ? Millions were slaughtered after the U.S. left the country in tatters, providing a vacuum of power for Pol Pot's psychopathic tendencies. Or we could focus on the pivotal role the U.S. played in placing General Suharto as leader of Indonesia after the East Timor atrocities of 1975, leaving over a quarter of the population dead. That was Gerald Ford and Kissinger's handy work, providing Suharto with American arms. In 1991 it happened again, with East Timorese protesters in Dili gunned down by Suharto's military. Notably, we can't forget the Iraq Wars, post sanctions: "excessive deaths among children" under 5 stand at 227,000 with a real estimate closer to 350,000 , according to some statisticians. Let me say that again: A quarter million children under 5, dead. In Conclusion As one goes through statistics like these, it becomes increasingly difficult to remain impartial. Did the past wars create the build up to the 9/11 tragedy? I don't say it lightly; the victims of that time, and all the innocent civilians caught up in America's wrath since Bush's War on Terror commenced, have suffered greatly. Everyone since, is suffering. Stepping into civil wars, instigating coups, disrupting functional regimes, baiting nations into proxy wars… how did 9/11 not happen sooner? Crimea , Turkey , Syria , North Korea and China… the world edges towards the precipice. By Anon Watcher Dear Friends, HumansAreFree is and will always be free to access and use. If you appreciate my work, please help me continue.  Stay updated via Email Newsletter: Related


The chairman of the House Permanent Committee on Intelligence told reporters at the Capitol Monday he has yet to see evidence of contacts between President Donald Trump's campaign and individuals in the Russian government or part of its extensive network of affiliated persons. ["As of right now, we have no evidence, but we will continue to ask for evidence and look for evidence," said Rep. Devin Nunes (R. .) who called the press conference to deal with a number of issues, including a New York Times report that the members of the Trump campaign were in contact with Russian intelligence and that he was pressured by the White House to call reporters to knock down the Times story. " Nunes said his committee had not concluded its probe into contact between Russian operatives and any of the presidential campaigns. "Not only the three Americans named in that story but also any Americans with the Russians. " Trump's national campaign chairman Paul Manafort was named in the Times report, but the other two individuals were not named. Manafort resigned from the Trump campaign Aug. 19, shortly after the Republican National Convention. The hauling of citizens before a congressional hearing based on media reports would bring back the days of McCarthyism, he said. "I am trying to be very careful," he said. "We can't have the government — the U. S. government — the Congress or another branch of the government chasing down American citizens, calling them before the Congress as if they are some sort of secret Russian agents," he said. "That is what I am concerned about here — that we go off on some witch hunt against American citizens just because they appear in a press story somewhere. " The congressman said he has yet to see any sign that members of the Trump campaign or transition team broke any laws dealing with foreign governments. There were, however, contacts between the Trump camp and the Russians that were completely he said. After President Barack Obama issued his Dec. 29 sanctions against Russia, retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, then designated to serve as Trump's National Security Adviser, spoke to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak a number of times. Those conversations were wiretapped by the Department of Justice and transcripts of the conversations were given to media outlets. If anything, the FBI should focus on how a DOJ wiretap transcript that had to be approved by the classified Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court went public, which is indisputably a crime, he said. Nunes said that even if Flynn discussed Obama's December sanctions, he would have no problem — even if Flynn told the Russians that the incoming Trump administration would ignore or ease that round of sanctions. Flynn has maintained that he did not discuss the sanctions. "If the discussions occurred around ensuring that there was no overreaction by the Russian government, so that the new administration could do like all the other previous administrations, who thought they could work with Putin, all three have been wrong," Nunes said. "If that is just what General Flynn did, to try and keep the lines of communications open," he said. "That did us a big favor. " This comment incensed CNN reporter Jim Sciutto. Sciutto called out to the congressman: "Do you want an administration negotiating against another? Isn't that one U. S. administration negotiating — " The congressman subdued a smirk as he cut Sciutto off, saying, "You want to investigate the Logan Act? You're a Logan Act guy?" The 1799 Logan Act bans American citizens from negotiating with a foreign power without the approval of the federal government. Sciutto: "I didn't mention the Logan Act, I'm just saying that if one administration — " Nunes cut him off again: "The Logan Act is ridiculous. You guys all know that. " No one has ever been prosecuted for violating the Logan Act. The other contentious was between the chairman and reporters, who kept insisting that there was something nefarious about the White House asking Nunes to talk to a reporter about the New York Times story. "It was kind of an odd story, I thought," the congressman said. CNN reporter Manu Raju asked Nunes if he felt that his integrity was compromised when he spoke to the reporter at the behest of the White House. Nunes said he was not compromised at all. "If the White House asked me to talk to a reporter — it was one reporter — if the White House asked me to talk to you? Would that be OK or not OK?" Raju was silent for a long moment, then asked, "What is your response to that?" Raju: "You're investigating this matter, the White House is urging you to knock down these stories that are leaving questions — " Nunes: "That doesn't happen. That absolutely doesn't happen. " Following the press conference, Nunes met with other Republican members of the intelligence committee. As the committee moves forward with its investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 election cycle, he pledged to hold regular press availabilities.