Share on Facebook Share on Twitter The healing art of Reiki has been practiced and taught around the world for many years, with many believing its origins to be as ancient as those of humans themselves. With scientific research now emerging attesting to the ability of human thoughts, emotions, and intentions to affect the physical material world, an increasing number of scientists, quantum physicists in particular, are stressing the importance of studying factors associated with consciousness and its relation to our physical world. One of these factors is human intention. Reiki essentially uses human intention to heal another person's ailments. Practitioners usually place their hands on the patient in order to channel energy into them by means of touch. It can be roughly defined as using compassionate mental action and physical touch, energy healing, shamanic healing, nonlocal healing, or quantum touch. The popularity of this practice is exemplified by the fact that, as of 2000, there were more 'distant healers' in the United Kingdom than therapists practicing any other form of complementary or alternative medicine, and the same goes for the United States. ( Barnes PM, Powell-Griner E, McFann K, Nahin RL. Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults: United States, 2002 . Adv Data. 2004. May 27;( 343 ):1–19. [ PubMed ]) Quantum physicists have been advocating for the effectiveness of such treatment for some time. For example, Max Planck, the theoretical physicist who originated quantum theory — winning him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918 — stated that he "regards consciousness as fundamental" " and derivative from consciousness." He also maintained t hat "everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness." Distant healing involves factors associated with consciousness. Eugene Wigner, a well-known theoretical physicist and mathematician, emphasized that "it was not possible to formulate the laws of quantum mechanics in a fully consistent way without reference to consciousness." Richard C. Henry, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University, takes this idea even further in his article "The Mental Universe," published in the journal Nature : A fundamental conclusion of the new physics also acknowledges that the observer creates the reality. As observers, we are personally involved with the creation of our own reality. Physicists are being forced to admit that the universe is a "mental" construction. Pioneering physicist Sir James Jeans wrote: "The stream of knowledge is heading toward a non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine. Mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into the realm of matter, we ought rather hail it as the creator and governor of the realm of matter. Get over it, and accept the inarguable conclusion. The universe is immaterial—mental and spiritual. With so much evidence to support these ideas and with so many studies published on the subject, that this field remains the subject of ridicule to many in mainstream academia is simply baffling. A study published in The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, as seen in the US National Library of Medicine, demonstrated that a women with special abilities was and is able to accelerate the germination of specific seeds for the purposes of developing a more robust seed stock. The study determined that this woman could induce plant seeds to grow shoots and roots several cm long within 20 min using mentally projected qi energy. For a selected list of downloadable peer-reviewed journal articles reporting studies of psychic phenomena, mostly published in the 21st century, you can click HERE . Distant Healing Intention Therapies (DHI): An Overview of the Scientific Evidence Did you know that clinical trials testing the effectiveness of DHI have been being conducted since the mid-1990s? Serious scientific inquiry has been ongoing and continues to this day, with both systematic and meta-analytic reviews being published, many of which have concluded that, with nearly half of all the published studies on this topic exhibiting statistically significant results, further study is desperately needed. Your Inbox Will Never Be The Same Inspiration and all our best content, straight to your inbox. A number of studies involving DHI experiments using simple life forms and animals have also reported statistically significant results, which have been seen under randomized and blinded conditions which include enzymes, fungi, yeast, bacteria, cancer cells, red blood cells, fibroblasts, tendon cells, (tenocytes), and bone cells. Distant Mental Interactions With Living Systems (DMILS) Hundreds of experiments in this area, which is closely related to DHI, have been conducted as well. DMILS is not concerned with healing, but rather with searching for measurable empirical evidence that A can affect B in any way, rather than if A can heal B. These studies investigate the influence of A's intention on B's physiological state — a process referred to as "remote intention." They further examine the influence of A's attention on B's physiological state while A gazes at B over a 1 way video link, called "remote staring." Last but not least, they study the influence of A's intention on B's attention or behaviour, which is referred to as "remote helping." The effects of distant mental interactions are measured using electrodermal activity, heart rate, blood volume pulse, and electrocortical activity (EEG electrodermal activity, heart rate, blood volume pulse, brain blood oxygenation [MRI], and electrogastrogram [EGG]). These studies have yielded remarkable results which have since been successfully repeated in laboratories around the world. An Overview Of The Scientific Evidence DHI is very popular as an alternative healing method, but scientific experiments thus far have failed to produce clinical results which can be reliably assessed. As Dean Radin ( Chief Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences ) argues: The contradiction between persistent popularity and lack of clinical effectiveness may be due on the one hand to some healers, in some contexts, who do seem to produce remarkable outcomes, and on the other hand by conventional RCT protocols that may be incompatible with the nature of DHI phenomena. Tools must match the requirements of the subject, and if the right tools are not available, then new ones must be devised. In other words, it is inadvisable to use a sledgehammer to study the surface structure of a soap bubble. On the other hand, DMILS experiments, which relate to distant healing, more clearly indicate the existence of genuine interactions between people at a distance. As Dean Radin explains, this offers up some challenges: But the proof-of-principle offered by DMILS experiments more clearly indicates the existence of genuine interactions between distant people. This presents us with an evidence-based enigma worthy of serious consideration. However, for many researchers, the mere concept of distant healing continues to elicit significant resistance for two main reasons. The first is based on the assumption that "action at a distance" is impossible because it violates one or more physical or biological laws. The second is founded on the neuroscience-based assumption that the mind is identical to the brain, in which case it does not make sense to propose that the brain activity we call "healing intention" can interact with anything outside of the brain's own body ( source ) While it's quite clear that healing at a distance hasn't yet been proven scientifically, DMILS effects do indeed manifest shifts in physiological measures, lending credibility to reports of distant healing being successful. Dean Radin himself maintains that "the implications of DHI for basic science epistemology and ontology and for pragmatic efforts to improve health healing are vast, deep, and perennially intriguing." A Few Other Strange Reported Anomalies I find it interesting to consider how much scientific investigation into 'psychic' phenomena has been conducted by the Department of Defense. In the United States, for example, they had project Star Gate, which lasted more than two decades before being unexpectedly shut down. ( source ) One of the most popular projects within that program was remote viewing. According to a declassified report which has since been published in multiple journals: To summarize, over the years, the back-and-forth criticism of protocols, refinement of methods, and successful replication of this type of remote viewing in independent laboratories has yielded considerable scientific evidence for the reality of the [remote viewing] phenomenon. Adding to the strength of these results was the discovery that a growing number of individuals could be found to demonstrate high-quality remote viewing, often to their own surprise. . . . The development of this capability at SRI has evolved to the point where visiting CIA personnel with no previous exposure to such concepts have performed well under controlled laboratory conditions. ( source ) I just want to make it clear that psychic phenomena have been investigated at the highest levels of government, and probably still are. Who knows what information from these programs remains classified? And why do so many mainstream scientists criticize this research when scientists working at the highest levels of government are studying it? This topic has piqued the interest of more than just Western intelligence agencies, as China also actively works to identify individuals with extended human capacities. For example, a paper published in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) in September 1981 in the journal Ziran Zazhi (Nature Journal) tilted "Some Experiments on the Transfer of Objects Performed by Unusual Abilities of the Human Body" (Shuhuang et al., 1981) reported that 'gifted children' were able to teleport small physical objects from one place to another. ( source ) A publication titled "Exceptional Functions of the Human Body" also makes some extraordinary claims, reporting highly accurate parapsychological effects, including clairvoyance, psychokinetic effects, and more. ( source ) A report published in 2010 by retired research chemist Dong Shen describes an experiment involving mental teleportation of bits of paper out of a sealed plastic film container. Fascinatingly, these methods were taught to others with a success rate of 40 percent. ( source ) "The results of the Chinese p-Teleportation experiments can simply be explained as a human consciousness phenomenon that somehow acts to move or rotate test specimens through a 4th spatial dimension, so that the specimens are able to penetrate the solid walls/barriers of their containers without physically breaching them." – Eric Davis, Ph.D, FBIS ( source )  Source Used & Suggested Reading:


Lawmakers say Washington is dithering while a dangerous epidemic threatens American shores. They suggest darkly that the government is playing down the risk to avoid panic. They warn: Don't wait for it to arrive at the airports and establish a perilous foothold. Fear of the Zika virus today? No, those were Republicans in 2014 as they hammered the Obama administration in the final weeks of the midterm campaign for failing to react quickly and decisively enough to the possible spread of the Ebola virus, which never really became a domestic threat. The politically heated attacks cooled quickly after the election, but the message was credited with helping Republicans sow unease about the administration as they chalked up big wins in Congress. Now it is the Congress moving slowly on providing money to combat the spread of Zika, alarming some lawmakers who fear that their colleagues do not recognize the potential consequences if the disease begins to spread in the United States. "There is just a lack of urgency about it," said Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, who added that lawmakers could find themselves facing difficult questions about a congressional Zika response as Election Day looms this fall. "People are going to be asking, 'Why didn't you do anything? '" he said in an interview. "You are going to have to have a pretty good answer, and I am not sure there is going to be one. " Mr. Rubio has a special interest in the disease, given that the climate and conditions in his state are well known for breeding mosquitoes. He worries that even the smallest of outbreaks could send his state's economy into a spiral as visitors stay away. "I tell people we are one infection away from serious damage to our tourism industry," he said. He has not been alone in clamoring for a federal fix. In February, President Obama asked Congress for more than $1. 8 billion in emergency funds to step up prevention efforts and speed a vaccine for the disease, which has been linked to serious birth defects and other health problems. Last week — almost four months later — the Senate voted to begin negotiations to try to resolve differences among the House, Senate and White House approaches. Democrats are demanding a resolution by the Fourth of July recess, but there is no guarantee that the funding legislation can be completed by then. "I just think they're long overdue," Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, said last week. "An emergency bill could have passed — we're over 100 days since the request. " She noted that the public health community "could have been well down the road to what needs to be done in terms of prevention, in terms of research and the other aspects of stopping the epidemic. " The issue is particularly grating at the White House, which came under siege in October 2014 over what Republicans called a lack of preparedness for Ebola. The administration believes it was unfairly maligned for political purposes by Republicans who saw an opening to make voters anxious close to the election. Mr. Obama said recently that he was having difficulty squaring Republicans' position on Ebola with their much more casual approach to Zika, "given that I have, at least, pretty vivid memories of how concerned people were about Ebola. " Republicans say there is no need for a furious rush since the administration agreed in April to redirect nearly $590 million, most of it previously allocated for Ebola prevention, to the effort against Zika, easing the pressure to act quickly. Some Democrats now think that move, perhaps wise from a policy and prevention standpoint, may have been a strategic mistake because it let Republicans off the hook. "I think we are fine," said Senator Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, predicting that Republicans had done what they needed to avoid a political backlash. He said that shifting the money had provided public health experts with the resources they needed and that the necessary funds "will be there in the end. " Negotiators working on a compromise are expected to move toward the $1. 1 billion approved by the Senate as opposed to $622 million allocated by the House. Mr. Rubio and others favor providing the full amount sought initially by the White House. As of last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had identified nearly 700 Zika infections in the continental United States, though all appeared to have been contracted elsewhere. More than 1, 000 have been counted in Puerto Rico. Public health experts are now preparing for the first case of someone's being infected by a mosquito in the United States. Mr. Rubio worries that the federal response has fallen too far behind. "I think in some ways we are already too late," he said. "It takes time to get this implemented. Every day that goes by is wasted. " As they try to hold on to control of the House and Senate, Republicans should hope that Mr. Rubio is wrong and that the disease does not become a crisis in the United States. If it does, it could be Democratic attacks on Republicans for moving too slowly that go viral.


The latest North Korean missile test failed on Wednesday, with the rocket exploding "within seconds of launch," according to the U. S. Pacific Command. ["South Korea and the US are aware of the missile launch and to their knowledge, North Korea's missile was not successfully launched," said South Korea's Ministry of Defense about the North Korean missile test, in a statement relayed by CNN. Reuters reports the launch was made from "near the city of Wonsan, on North Korea's east coast, the same place from where it launched several missiles last year, all but one of which failed. " A South Korean military official agreed with the U. S. assessment that the missile "may have exploded right after it took off from a launch pad. " The Washington Post writes that American and South Korean military intelligence services are still analyzing the data they gathered about the launch and are not yet certain precisely what type of missile it was. North Korea tested a rocket engine that dictator Kim described as technology of "historic significance" over the weekend, but it's not clear if this failed test involved one of those engines.


For years, liberals have maintained that evangelicals have only been using religion as a means to achieve absolute power, and now one of their leaders has confirmed it.On Monday, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention president Russell Moore wrote a column for the Washington Post blasting evangelical Christians for proving liberals right.Donald Trump, despite his more than fleeting flirtation with fascism and his campaign of hate and intolerance, has gained massive support from evangelical Christians who are willing to overlook the Republican front-runner s lack of Christian morals as long it means they get a president who will give them more power. The problem is the behavior of some evangelical leaders, Moore wrote. I have watched as some of these who gave stem-winding speeches about character in office during the Clinton administration now minimize the spewing of profanities in campaign speeches, race-baiting and courting white supremacists, boasting of adulterous affairs, debauching public morality and justice through the casino and pornography industries. Moore wasn t finished though. He also slammed evangelicals, a term he is too embarrassed to use to describe himself any longer, because they are flocking to candidates who pretend to be Christians. I watched one evangelical leader pronounce a candidate a Christian, though he explicitly states that he has never repented of sin, because he displays the fruit of the Spirit in job creation. That s not a political problem; it s a gospel problem.Why are many evangelical leaders, including some who pontificate on nearly everything else, scared silent as evangelicalism is associated with everything from authoritarianism and bigotry to violations of religious freedom? How can they look the other way in silence when politicians praise Planned Parenthood and demur about white supremacists and neo-Nazis? And then he admitted that liberals have been right about evangelicals for years and they have been vindicated by evangelicals who have flocked to Trump s campaign. For years, secular progressives have said that evangelical social action in America is not about religious conviction but all about power. They have implied that the goal of the Religious Right is to cynically use the moral to get to the majority, not the other way around.This year, a group of high-profile old-guard evangelicals has proven these critics right. Indeed, evangelical Christians have only sought power and they ve had no problem rewriting or flat-out ignoring parts of the Bible that do not fit with their agenda in order to achieve it.It s been all about money and power, and evangelical leaders have fleeced their congregations so they can keep trying to topple the government and establish religious tyranny. But evangelicals have grown more and more desperate over the years as Americans continually reject them and their radical agenda that would confine women to the home and sentence gay people to death as well as declare America a Christian state governed by the Bible instead of the constitutional principles we hold dear.And Donald Trump may not be an evangelical Christian, but evangelicals are increasingly supporting his campaign because he is saying exactly what they want to hear and they see him as their last chance to take power. It s never been about the gospel or morality to evangelicals. It has always been about gaining power and using it to persecute and indoctrinate those they disagree with. And by supporting Trump, evangelicals are telling the world that they are precisely the fake Christians that liberals have been fighting against for decades.


A Swedish man is facing charges in court after being accused of eating bacon too closely to a group of veiled Muslim women and calling them derogatory names. [The incident occurred in the Swedish capital of Stockholm over the weekend. The Swedish man, who has not been named by media or the police, is said to have approached the Muslim women who were wearing Islamic veils on a train while he was eating bacon and dangled the bacon in front of their faces, Swedish broadcaster SVT reports. According to the report, the women got up to find seating elsewhere and the man followed them with his bacon. He is alleged to have called them derogatory names and made racist comments, though neither the police nor the court has specified what was said during the incident. The prosecutors allege he then used racial epithets on another woman in the train station after getting off the train. He faces charges of incitement to racial hatred. Reaction to the incident on social media has been a mix of laughter and disbelief amongst English language users. Twitter user PeterSweden tweeted his disbelief at the charges saying: "What's the next step, being racist for walking your dog?" What's the next step ? Being racist for walking your dog ? https: . — PeterSweden (@PeterSweden7) March 26, 2017, Other users found humour in the story posting various reaction images involving Islamic extremism and bacon. Many criticised the policies of the Swedish government and political correctness. @PeterSweden7 This insanity is made possible by so called "politic correctness" which creates an non liveable situation for nativs! ὢ pic. twitter. — Jo Ker #Nexit (@JoKer33817736) March 26, 2017, However, the reaction to the article from Swedish speakers was different. On Facebook, one Swedish speaker wrote: "I hope I never see this. I will make him eat the bacon raw the f**k up!" The sentiment was shared by another Swedish speaker who posted: "In what way do they really think that it would be okay to shove food in the face of someone you don't know?" and added: "Grown men. Shame on you. " The case is not the first time bacon misuse has led to prosecutions for hate crimes. In the UK last year, two Polish men were jailed for throwing bacon inside a London mosque. The pair were charged with a "racially motivated attack" when one of the men swore at a Muslim man and threw bacon at him. In Bristol last year, police were also alerted to another potential hate crime after several people threw bacon sandwiches at the entrance of a local mosque. Police commented on the incident calling it "abhorrent". Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson@breitbart. com


CNN Technicians Rush To Empty Wolf Blitzer's Urine Tank Midway Through Election Coverage Close Vol 52 Issue 44 · News Media · Election 2016  NEW YORK—Noting that the storage canister had nearly reached capacity, CNN technicians reportedly rushed to empty Wolf Blitzer's urine tank Tuesday night midway through the network's election coverage. "All right, people, it's go time—we need to release the pressure valves and drain this thing now, because the clock is ticking," said head technician Raymond Harrington, prompting his crew of assistants to assume their designated positions around the 12-gallon stainless-steel vat before discharging the liquid contents into an off-camera waste container while Blitzer delivered a long stretch of uninterrupted state-level voting analysis. "Easy does it. Be careful of splashback. That stuff is hot. Okay, now make sure all urine lines are clear before closing the runoff spigot." At press time, an unforeseen leak in the urine tank had forced CNN technicians to sequester Blitzer in an isolated containment unit and evacuate the set during a commercial break. Share This Story: WATCH VIDEO FROM THE ONION Sign up For The Onion's Newsletter  Give your spam filter something to do. Daily Headlines


It really is perfect.And it s from a book that was published in 1961.When Joseph Heller wrote Catch-22 over 50 years ago, he had no idea that a particular passage in his classic novel would one day be the EXACT description of the Republican Party.But Twitter user Maris Kreizman certainly noticed the similarities, which is why she shared the discovery, only for it to then be shared worldwide by singing and acting icon Bette Midler.In a post last month that seems to have gone largely unnoticed for some reason, Midler posted the passage, aiming particularly at Donald Trump. However, the paragraph really can be be applied to the GOP in general. It was miraculous. It was almost no trick at all, he saw, to turn vice into virtue and slander into truth, impotence into abstinence, arrogance into humility, plunder into philanthropy, thievery into honor, blasphemy into wisdom, brutality into patriotism, and sadism into justice. Anybody could do it; it required no brains at all. It merely required no character. ~Joseph Heller, Catch-22Here s the tweet via Twitter.With credit. pic.twitter.com/8wrCbwEY49 Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) January 4, 2016For years, Republicans have been hypocrites when it comes to lawbreaking, claiming that it s okay when white conservatives use their guns to seize federal property or use their bibles as an excuse to violate the rights of others. In other words, they want us all to think of these vices as virtues.The slander into truth part is pretty easy since Republicans have been lying about liberals and liberal policies throughout the last eight years while insisting that they are telling the truth.Republicans have also disguised arrogance as humility, although they really aren t hiding it anymore.The way conservative donors like the Koch brothers use pretended philanthropy to give themselves more power is one of the more disgusting aspects of Republicans today, and it was perfectly described by Heller.Republicans have also pretended for decades that stealing from the poor to give to the wealthy is honorable, but it s only caused great suffering among the American people as the middle class shrinks and families struggle to put food on the table.Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have made it very clear during the GOP primary that they intend to bring back torture, which they think is a patriotic and just way of fighting the war on terror. For years, Republicans have displayed fake patriotism while at the same time sending our troops to their deaths in wars for profit and once our troops come home, they refuse to take care of them. This is evident in their blockage of bills that would aid veterans and first responders.And finally, the conservative support of the death penalty and cops who kill unarmed black men are the ultimate examples of how Republicans see sadism as justice.Make no mistake, this paragraph from Joseph Heller is downright prophetic, and Bette Midler did us all a favor by bringing it to our attention. Featured image from Twitter


A reporter for the conservative website Breitbart News filed a criminal complaint on Friday against Republican presidential election front-runner Donald Trump's campaign manager, saying he grabbed her arm at a rally with such force that he left bruises. A police report released on Friday showed that the reporter, Michelle Fields, said she was the victim of battery on Tuesday night at Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, where Trump spoke after that day's contests in the race to nominate the party's candidate for the Nov. 8 presidential election. The accusation prompted a flurry of exchanges between Trump's campaign and Fields. The campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, and Trump have denied the accusation. Lewandowski dismissed Fields as an "attention seeker" on Twitter. Fields published her account at Breitbart on Thursday of what happened when reporters gathered around Trump to ask him additional questions after a press conference. Fields said she asked Trump about his views on affirmative action. "Trump acknowledged the question, but before he could answer I was jolted backwards. Someone had grabbed me tightly by the arm and yanked me down. I almost fell to the ground, but was able to maintain my balance. Nonetheless, I was shaken," Fields wrote. A Trump campaign spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, questioned Fields' story on Friday. Hicks said she had not seen any encounter and said no cameras had captured the incident. Fields, who posted a photo on Twitter of bruises on her arm, initially said she did not know who had grabbed her and caused her to stumble. Ben Terris, a Washington Post reporter who witnessed the incident, told her Lewandowski had seized her arm. He wrote his own account for his newspaper. The political news site Politico posted a transcript of an audio recording of the incident, which included an exchange between Terris and Fields. "Yeah he just threw you down," Terris said to Fields, who replied, "I can't believe he just did that. That was so hard. Was that Corey?" Terris said that it was and later reported that Fields was tearful after the incident. In a statement on Friday, Breitbart Chief Executive Officer Larry Solov said Trump's suggestion that Fields may have invented the episode was contradicted by the evidence. "Breitbart News stands behind Michelle Fields," he wrote. Hours later, however, the website posted a story disputing Terris' account. The story said that footage from the event showed Trump flanked by two men: Lewandowski and a security official who bore some resemblance to the campaign manager. "The person who made contact with Fields was likely not Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski," the report said. Terris stood by his account on Friday. He was quoted in a blog by Washington Post reporter Erik Wemple as saying, "I saw what I saw." Terris did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. Fields and Solov could not immediately be reached for comment on the complaint to police. Trump's rallies across the United States have been marked by rowdiness and physical contact between protesters and either his supporters or security personnel. At a rally in Virginia on Feb. 29, a Time magazine photographer trying to document the exit of dozens of black protesters was grabbed by the neck and shoved to the ground by a U.S. Secret Service agent. White House spokesman Josh Earnest also weighed in on the Fields incident on Friday, telling reporters: "There is no excuse or justification for acts of violence against reporters who are covering a political event." (Reporting by Joseph Ax; Additional reporting by Colleen Jenkins and Jeff Mason; editing by Grant McCool) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.


Donald J. Trump hurled himself into a new effort to reshape the presidential race on Monday, scrambling to allay voters' concerns about his temperament and put Hillary Clinton on the defensive over her critical comments about many of Mr. Trump's supporters. Though Mr. Trump, the Republican nominee, has largely withheld comment about Mrs. Clinton's health, showing uncharacteristic restraint after her campaign announced she had pneumonia, he took Mrs. Clinton's unexpected absence from public view as an opportunity to press his case with ferocity. Among Mr. Trump's advisers, there is a sense of urgency. With eight weeks left in the race — and just two before his first debate with Mrs. Clinton, the Democratic nominee — Mr. Trump may never again have such a window to make his argument to voters more or less uninterrupted. Without a forceful message and iron discipline heading into the debates, Mr. Trump could struggle mightily to overcome the deeply rooted opposition to his candidacy. An ABC Post poll published over the weekend showed Mrs. Clinton with a edge over Mr. Trump nationally, with six in 10 voters describing Mr. Trump as unqualified and biased against women and minorities. Mr. Trump seized the chance on Monday to turn the charge of intolerance against Mrs. Clinton: Denouncing the allegation that his supporters were bigoted, Mr. Trump argued in a speech in Baltimore that Mrs. Clinton had shown "contempt" for voters by deriding many of his supporters as racist and sexist, calling them a "basket of deplorables" at a on Friday. At a rally on Monday night in North Carolina, Mr. Trump said Mrs. Clinton was running a " and negative campaign. " The Trump campaign also announced the support of R. James Woolsey, a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, to reassure voters of Mr. Trump's readiness for the presidency. Mr. Trump made no mention of Mrs. Clinton's health in his campaign speeches. During two television interviews on Monday morning, he said he wished Mrs. Clinton well. He also did not revive his frequent accusation that Mrs. Clinton lacks the physical strength to be president, though he suggested vaguely that "something is going on. " Instead, he used a speech to the National Guard Association of the United States to defend his supporters at length, arguing that they were right to be concerned about border security and crime, and that those concerns did not indicate a hateful view of racial and religious minorities. "If Hillary Clinton will not retract her comments in full, I don't see how she can credibly campaign any further," Mr. Trump said, demanding an apology. He claimed that his campaign was doing "amazingly well with and Hispanic workers. " But Mr. Trump, who records little support in the polls among racial minorities and educated whites, did not address any of the past remarks that have contributed to his low standing with those groups. He has continued to call for a crackdown on immigrants who are in the country illegally, and has declined to retract his false assertions in the past that President Obama was not born in the United States. Mr. Trump has also not expressed regret for clashing with the family of a slain Muslim Army captain or renounced his proposal to bar Muslims from entering the country. Mrs. Clinton has rebuked Mr. Trump over the last month for what she has called his promotion of racially insensitive messages and policies and his alignment with leaders of the movement known as the "" which is widely seen as holding fringe and racist views. Robert Blizzard, a Republican pollster, said that Mr. Trump appeared to be recovering his footing in the race, but that it might be too late for him to change many voters' longstanding assessment of his character and capabilities. "Hillary Clinton clearly won the summer, and there's little doubt Donald Trump dug himself a very deep hole in the aftermath of the nominating conventions," Mr. Blizzard said. "While Trump is starting to climb out of that hole now, his ability to take advantage of a few bad weeks for Clinton is going to be limited due to enduring views about his judgment, his temperament and his rhetoric toward other ethnicities and women. " And Democrats are skeptical that Mr. Trump will be able to reinvent himself by using Mrs. Clinton's biting comments as a shield. Geoff Garin, a Democratic pollster who advises a "super PAC," described an exercise he uses in focus groups, asking voters to write down three words to describe Mr. Trump before the discussion begins. "People use the word 'racist' consistently to describe him," Mr. Garin said. "But they also talk about him as a dangerous egomaniac. " Still, on a conference call with top supporters Monday, advisers to Mr. Trump spoke of Mrs. Clinton's turbulent stretch as a source of relief: For the first time in a while, they said, they were starting the week on offense, according to people who participated in the call who spoke on condition of anonymity about a private discussion. Campaign surrogates were told to hammer Mrs. Clinton for her description of Trump voters, and to say as little as possible about her pneumonia diagnosis. Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, a retired Army officer who advises Mr. Trump, said there was optimism in the campaign that the momentum of the race had "totally shifted in Mr. Trump's favor. " He predicted that voters would see a distinction between "a guy who made all kinds of comments as he was fighting to win the primaries" and the Donald Trump of the general election. Mr. Trump has taken other steps in recent days to steady his candidacy, moving to shore up his campaign in crucial swing states. With Mrs. Clinton holding a daunting advantage on the Electoral College map, Mr. Trump aimed a new television campaign at the four most critical states for his candidacy: Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and North Carolina. He has given his aides greater leeway in directing his television advertising, allowing the campaign to focus on that smaller cluster of states, a change from as recently as two weeks ago, when Mr. Trump was personally choosing where to run television ads, according to two people briefed on the Trump operation. Mr. Trump also removed the head of his Florida operation last week, replacing her with Susie Wiles, a veteran Republican operative close to Gov. Rick Scott. And Corey Lewandowski, Mr. Trump's former campaign manager, who is still a trusted adviser, has visited New Hampshire in recent weeks, meeting with senior Republicans there and making suggestions on spending and strategy decisions in the state, two people familiar with his activities said. It remains to be seen if Mr. Trump and his allies can maintain this level of determined focus. Numerous times, Mr. Trump has briefly adopted a more disciplined pose on the campaign trail, only to give in quickly to the temptation to taunt and brawl. Even on Monday morning, as he refrained from taunting Mrs. Clinton in a television interview, Mr. Trump made an offhand reference to Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts as "Pocahontas. " Ms. Warren, a Democrat, has described herself as having Native American heritage. Some of Mr. Trump's advisers have suggested in the past that Mrs. Clinton's health should be fair game. Blaise Ingoglia, the chairman of the Florida Republican Party, said he considered Mrs. Clinton's handling of her health a legitimate campaign issue because she did not immediately disclose that she had pneumonia. "The disturbing part of that whole thing is that the campaign is willing to conceal that instead of being up front and honest," he said. "You really start to question: What else is being concealed?"


With a battle heating up between Republicans and Obama on a Supreme Court nomination, the president chooses to skip the funeral of longtime Supreme Court Justice Scalia. This is a classless move by Obama who s got a track record of not showing up at important funerals. He expects the Republicans to be bipartisan, yet he shows his true colors when he does something like this. The White House has confirmed reports that President Barack Obama will not be attending the funeral of late Supreme Court Justice Scalia s funeral which is scheduled for Saturday. Instead, the president and first lady Michelle Obama will pay their respects to Scalia on Friday, when the Justice s body lies in repose in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court building. The White House added that Vice President Joe Biden will attend Saturday s funeral at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.The last supreme court justice to pass away was Justice William Rehnquist in 2005. Then-President George W. Bush not only attended the service, but delivered a eulogy along with Justice Sandra Day O Connor.Critics claim that his decision not to attend Justice Scalia s funeral is just the latest in a string of snubs over the past several years. While Obama has attended some high profile funerals like those of former South African President Nelson Mandela and Senator and ex-KKK member Robert Byrd, the president has skipped out services for a number of high-profile conservatives and members of the U.S. military:Margaret Thatcher When the Iron Lady passed away in 2013, the Obama administration sent what the Daily Signal referred to as a low-level delegation similar in size and scope to the delegation sent to the funeral of Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez. Chris Kyle After Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle was murdered on a gun range in 2013, the president opted not to attend his Texas funeral. Furthermore, the president ruffled even more feathers by failing to acknowledge Kyle in his State of the Union address which was held on the same day.Major General Harold Greene Army Major General Harold Greene became the highest ranking combat fatality since Vietnam after he was ambushed by an Afghan police officer in August of 2014. The president was not present when Greene was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. The administration also came under criticism for failing to even releasing a statement upon receiving news of the president s death.Zeinuti Onyango The funeral of President Obama s aunt Zeinuti Onyango was not the high-profile affair of a high ranking government official, but the fact that the decided to play a few rounds of golf instead of attending is somewhat telling. The Kenyan-born Onyango passed away at the age of 61 in 2014.The list could go on and on but here s some great advice from a liberal pundit for Obama:MSNBC host Chris Hayes: Some amazing advice my mom gave me once: If you re wondering whether you should go to the funeral, you should go to the funeral.


President Donald Trump has made his selection for the next full-time head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Testifying before lawmakers on Thursday, Mnuchin did not name the person tapped for the job, but said the decision had been made and the individual is going through background checks before a formal announcement. The comptroller position is currently being filled in an acting capacity by Keith Noreika, an attorney whom Mnuchin named as interim head earlier in May. Noreika replaced Thomas Curry, who had served as comptroller under President Obama. "We actually have someone the president has approved that is going through the FBI vetting process," Mnuchin said. "This is a time-consuming process." Joseph Otting, who formerly worked as a banking executive at OneWest bank, which Mnuchin once headed, is believed to be the favorite for the position. Mnuchin said that an OCC pick had been made in response to criticism from Democrats, who objected to Trump installing a new bank regulator on an interim basis who was not confirmed by the Senate. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland questioned whether this approach was to skirt Senate approval. But Mnuchin insisted Noreika was put in place simply to get someone in the post while a permanent nominee was selected. The Comptroller's office writes money-laundering rules, bank charters and closely monitors banks' lending activities.


A Sucker's Rally Like No Other This week has seen a political earthquake followed by a financial eruption. But don't be fooled. The Dow's 500 point surge amounts to a Sucker's Rally like no other; it was just a case of raging robo-machines determined to tag an all-time high on the charts You need to login to view this content.  David Stockman's Contra Corner isn't your typical financial tipsheet. Instead it's an ongoing dialogue about what's really happening in the markets… the economy… and governments… so you can understand the world around you and make better decisions for yourself.  David believes the world -- certainly the United States -- is at a great inflection point in human history. The massive credit inflation of the last three decades has reached its apogee and is now going to splatter spectacularly.  This will have lasting ramifications on how governments tax and regulate you… the type of work you and your family members will have available and what you get paid… the value of your nest egg… and all other areas comprising your quality of life. Login


Gay Mafia descends in 5 4 3 2 1 Given the current body of evidence, the American College of Pediatricians believes it is inappropriate, potentially hazardous to children, and dangerously irresponsible to change the age-old prohibition on same-sex parenting, whether by adoption, foster care, or reproductive manipulation, they conclude. This position is rooted in the best available science. A Utah juvenile court judge ruled Tuesday that a 1-year-old girl, who has been in the care of lesbian foster parents, cannot be adopted by them and should be sent to a more traditional home, says the Utah Division of Child and Family Services.According to CNN, the case is the first major challenge to same-sex adoption rights. LGBT civil rights groups are outraged over the ruling.While Judge Scott Johansen is not commenting on his decision publicly per the Utah Code of Judicial Conduct April Hoagland, one of the lesbians, married over a year ago to Beckie Peirce, told KUTV that Johansen said research indicates children in homosexual homes do not do as well as they do in heterosexual homes. [W]hen they asked to show his research he would not, Hoagland added.Hoagland and Peirce were approved as foster parents by the division of family services and are raising Peirce s two children. They say the state and the child s biological mother are supportive of their desire to adopt the child.As CBS reports, the two women are part of a group of same-sex couples who were permitted to become foster parents in Utah following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Deborah Lindner, a spokeswoman for the Utah Foster Care Foundation, which trains foster parents for the state, said about 20 same-sex couples are caring for children in the foster program. Heartbreaking. We ve been told to take care like a mother would and I m her mother, and that s who she knows and she s just going to be taken away in seven days to probably another good, loving home, Hoagland said. But it s not fair, and it s not right, and it hurts me very badly, because I have done nothing wrong. Removing a child from a loving home simply because the parents are LGBT is outrageous, shocking and unjust, Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement. It also flies in the face of overwhelming evidence that children being raised by same-sex parents are just as healthy and well-adjusted as those with different-sex parents. At a time when so many children in foster care need loving homes, it is sickening to think that a child would be taken from caring parents who planned to adopt, he added.Utah child and family services said they are reviewing the ruling to determine their options, including whether to challenge the order. This is the first time there has been an attempt to deprive gay foster parents of their rights to care for an adoptive child, said CNN legal analyst Paul Callan. I believe it was a bizarre and highly unusual decision by the judge based most probably on religious beliefs rather than scientific facts. He predicted the case would be overturned by Utah appeals courts.In 2012, however, sociologist Mark Regnerus of the University of Texas at Austin published research in the journal Social Science Research on a large, random sample of Americans of ages 18-39 who were raised in different types of families. The study of some 3,000 adults found numerous differences that exist among the various family arrangements and that outcomes for children of gay and lesbian parents were suboptimal. In another study by Loren Marks of Louisiana State University also published in Social Science Research Marks debunked a 2005 policy brief on same-sex parents by the American Psychological Association (APA), in which the organization analyzed 59 studies and concluded [n]ot a single study has found children of lesbian or gay parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents. Marks observed that 55 of the studies analyzed by APA did not even provide evidence of statistical power in accord with APA s own standards. [N]ot one of the 59 studies referenced in the 2005 APA Brief compares a large, random, representative sample of lesbian or gay parents and their children with a large, random, representative sample of married parents and their children, Marks noted. [W]e have been left with large, scientifically strong studies showing children do best with their married mother and father but which do not make comparisons with homosexual parents or couples, observed Peter Sprigg, senior fellow for policy studies at Family Research Council, and studies which purportedly show that children of homosexuals do just as well as other children but which are methodologically weak and thus scientifically inconclusive. However, Regnerus s research, called the New Family Structures Study, included comparisons with children raised by same-sex parents and surveyed young adults about their experiences growing up in their family situations as well as their current life. Unlike other studies, Regnerus also did not rely on reports of children, while they were still living in their homes, or the potentially biased reports of the parents.Regnerus found that children of homosexuals fared worse on 77 out of 80 outcome measures that compared children with same-sex parents to those from other family arrangements. Specifically, compared with children raised by married, biological parents, children of homosexual parents are more likely to be on public assistance, have lower educational attainment, and report both less safety in their childhood families and more continued negative impact from them. In addition, children of same-sex parents were found to more likely suffer from depression, to have been arrested more often, and to have had more male and female sexual partners if they are female.For children of lesbian mothers, statistical significance in both direct comparisons and with control subjects was found in numerous areas in Regnerus s research. Children of lesbian mothers were found to be four times more likely to be on welfare, more than three times more likely to be unemployed, nearly ten times more likely to have been touched sexually by a parent or other adult caregiver, and nearly four times as likely to have been physically forced to have sex against their will.Despite numerous statistically significant correlations in his study and his carefully controlled methodology, Regnerus still cautions these relationships do not indicate causality. Still, as Sprigg noted, The large number of significant negative outcomes in this study gives legitimate reason for concern about the consequences of homosexual parenting. According to Drs. Michelle Cretella and Den Trumbull:[M]others and fathers parent differently and make unique contributions to the overall development of the child. Psychological theory of child development has always recognized the critical role that mothers play in the healthy development of children. More recent research reveals that when fathers are absent, children suffer as well. Girls without fathers perform more poorly in school, are more likely to be sexually active and become pregnant as teenagers. Boys without fathers have higher rates of delinquency, violence, and aggression. [T]radition and science agree that biological ties and dual gender parenting are protective for children, the doctors continue. The limited research advocating childrearing by same-sex parents has severe methodological limitations. There is significant risk of harm inherent in exposing a child to the homosexual lifestyle.


When it comes to the Trump family, one thing is for certain, they love photo opportunities, especially with those who they think may boost the image of the campaign.The Trump campaign knows they re losing, by a lot, with minorities, so any chance they can get to make it look like they re not, they seem to hop on board.Seemingly knowing this, a pair of Latina sisters, Annie and Ceci Cardelle from Salisbury, North Carolina, went to go see Eric Trump as he was out campaigning for his dad in their state.The sisters, ages 23 and 17, are Hillary Clinton supporters, and Annie wore a shirt that read Latina Contra Trump, which of course means Latina Against Trump. However, knowing neither Trump nor his supporters would likely notice this, and maybe thought it read Latina Con Trump which means with the sisters took a chance to take advantage of the moment.Ceci tweeted out: When you protest a Trump rally but no one realizes your shirt says Latinas AGAINST trump so they take pics w/ you like you re supporters. When you protest a Trump rally but no one realizes your shirt says "Latinas AGAINST trump" so they take pics w/ you like you're supporters pic.twitter.com/5ce8SZw5Mh CC (@cecicardelle) October 21, 2016These women are very proud of themselves, as they should be:No one at the rally realized my shirt said AGAINST tr*mp congrats, y'all played yourselves ? ? ? pic.twitter.com/qZ3x1ER8j0 Annie (@AnnieCardelle) October 21, 2016Here are the images the sisters shared on Twitter:via Twittervia Twittervia Twittervia TwitterAccording to Buzzfeed, no one seemed to notice that they were there protesting, which actually makes it all the more amusing and amazing. And Trump didn t take photos with everyone, so the campaign clearly saw it as a photo opportunity.Ceci said: I was sort of in disbelief when they actually called us forward. I was like, This is not happening. There s no way they don t see this shirt. via BuzzfeedAnd while reactions have been mixed, quite honestly these women deserve an award for not only their creativity but their bravery and follow-through.


If Dr. Dre were a white guy the police would have treated him totally differently.But because the legendary rapper is black and some white asshole looking for revenge claimed Dre brandished a gun during a confrontation, police officers swarmed the outside of his own home, slapped handcuffs on him and detained him in a police car.A white motorist was parked in front of Dr. Dre s home in Malibu on Monday when the musician returned. The driver was blocking Dr. Dre s driveway so he asked him to move his vehicle so he could pull in. Rolling Stone reports that the driver complied but yelled at Dr. Dre and hurled curse words at him as he drove off. Rather than move on, the angry white driver returned to the same spot to block the driveway again. Dr. Dre took out his cell phone and began recording the incident. The motorist reportedly said Here we go again. Another black guy with a gun and called police claiming that a black man pulled a gun on him.In response, several police officers showed up to harass the unarmed rapper. Due to the nature of the call, the person was searched, handcuffed, and briefly detained in a patrol car while deputies investigated the incident, Sheriff s Captain Chris Reed said.Here s video of Dr. Dre being handcuffed via YouTube.Despite not finding a gun, the accuser insisted on making a citizen s arrest and filled out a report.Again, look at all the white cops surrounding Dr. Dre, a man who simply wanted to pull his vehicle into his driveway and not be harassed by an angry white guy.Dr. Dre should not only sue the guy for everything he owns, he should sue the police for not arresting the racist who lied to police about him supposedly having a gun.If Dr. Dre were a white guy, the white driver never would have accused him of having a gun and the police certainly would have treated the situation differently. There was absolutely no reason to handcuff Dr. Dre. He was complying. He did nothing wrong. But they chose to humiliate him anyway by treating him like the bad guy instead of questioning whether the white accuser was full of shit. Last time I checked, using a cell phone is NOT a crime. Filing a false report, however, definitely is.


Mayor Bill de Blasio posted a video on his City Hall Twitter account on Tuesday that featured two Broadway actors singing his praises and promoting his accomplishments, drawing criticism from government watchdog groups who said that it was an inappropriate use of public money and was too much like a campaign ad. The video, which tries to poke fun at itself even as it promotes the mayor, was posted on the official City Hall Twitter account, @NYCMayor, and features Mr. de Blasio in an awkward thespian effort. It also includes his wife, Chirlane McCray a senior adviser, Andrea Hagelgans and two Broadway stars, Jenna Ushkowitz and James Monroe Iglehart. Ms. Ushkowitz starred in the television show "Glee" and has appeared in Broadway musicals, including "Waitress" and "Spring Awakening. " Mr. Iglehart won a Tony Award in 2014 for his role as the Genie in "Aladdin. " The video shows Mr. de Blasio, who is running for in the coming year, sitting in the back of what appears to be one of the mayoral sport utility vehicles, talking with Ms. McCray on his cellphone. "Hey honey, I really like this song idea," he says. "I really think it's the perfect way to wrap up all the great things we've done this year. " Ms. McCray, Ms. Hagelgans and the actors are shown in a room at Gracie Mansion. Ms. McCray puts the mayor on speaker phone so he can listen as the two actors sing, accompanied by a piano player. "In case the folks are unaware, we've got some facts we'd like to share," they sing. They go on to plug mayoral programs like protections for renters, the construction and preservation of affordable housing, and a mental health initiative. "Who's bringing cops and community close?" Ms. Ushkowitz sings as the beat goes . "Who's got incarceration and crime rates sinking to a record low?" The performance closes with a rousing reference to Mr. de Blasio. "No matter what will be, we've got Billy D. B. !" Ms. Ushkowitz belts out. The mayor starts out nodding happily to all the praise but then whispers to an aide, "This is kind of over the top. " In the end, he delivers his review of the performance: "Maybe the song's a little too elaborate," he says. "Maybe we should just do a couple of tweets and a Facebook post instead. " Dick Dadey, the executive director of Citizens Union, a government watchdog organization, questioned whether creating the video was a justifiable use of public resources and said it raised questions because it came right before next year's campaign. "This is a virtual campaign ad that is meant to be a announcement but goes beyond that in serving to promote the mayor," Mr. Dadey said. The video is part of a broader effort by City Hall to increase its use of the internet and social media to reach out to New Yorkers directly, bypassing traditional news media. It also comes as Mr. de Blasio controls his interactions with the press, frequently avoiding questions and limiting the news conferences at which he will take questions on any topic to once a week. Eric Phillips, Mr. de Blasio's press secretary, said that the video was produced by City Hall staff and that the actors volunteered their time. Mr. Phillips said that City Hall spent a total of $700 to pay the piano player and a composer. He said it cost an additional $170 to have the piano tuned and $30 to rent a rehearsal room. Although the mayor is running for next year, Mr. Phillips said in a written statement that the video "doesn't have anything to do with his campaign. " He added, "We think New Yorkers have a right to know what their government does, and it's our job to communicate that work in a modern way. " The immediate effect of the video was not exactly the stuff of Broadway hit material. In the first seven hours after the video was posted on Twitter, it had received 218 likes on the mayor's account and 88 retweets.


Few really believe former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has changed her mind about the virtues of free trade or the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Part of the reason is because, despite Clinton's rhetoric, some of her closest allies say she is firmly in the corporate camp and a true free trader who supports NAFTA and TPP. In 2012, Clinton called TPP " the gold standard in trade agreements to open free, transparent, fair trade, the kind of environment that has the rule of law and a level playing field." On October 8, 2015, Clinton reversed her position and said she no longer supported TPP. Clinton and her staff pushed back on claims that her reversal was political, but a recently released email from Wikileaks shows Clinton Campaign Manager Robby Mook uncertain about Clinton's position as recently as March 1, 2015, not even a year before the reversal. When informed on February 28 by White House Director of the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach David Simas that a bipartisan letter was being drafted by former cabinet officials in support of free trade, Mook responded: I can't recall where we landed exactly on trade. Is she going to say she supports it? Regardless of her position, signing a letter feels like poking the bear with labor to me. Even Clinton's staff didn't now what her position was on trade in 2015? How could someone who had been in public life so long not know their own views? The answer, of course, is that Clinton was likely waiting to see where the polling came out on TPP—a deal that largely resembles the one she helped negotiate as secretary of state. TPP does not poll well, especially among progressive Democrats, whom she was going to have to deal with in the then-future presidential primaries. The problem for those opposing TPP is not Clinton's current position, it is whether, as her friends say, she is going to reverse herself again if she becomes president and sign TPP into law. The post TPP: Leaked Emails Show Clinton Staff Unsure of Trade Positions In 2015 appeared first on Shadowproof .


The Trump administration is seeking a 17 percent cut to the budget of the government's meteorological agency that monitors the climate and issues daily weather forecasts, the Washington Post reported on Friday. Citing a four-page budget memo, the Post said the proposed reductions in the budget of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would affect research and satellite programs and eliminate funding for some smaller programs. The NOAA is part of the Commerce Department, whose overall budget "would be hit by an overall 18 percent reduction from its current funding level," it said. The paper did not give a total figure for the proposed cuts, but said the White House Office of Management and Budget outline for the Commerce Department's budget for fiscal year 2018 included sharp reductions for specific parts of the NOAA. The agency's satellite data division would lose $513 million, or 22 percent, of its current funding under the proposal, and its Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research would lose $126 million, or 26 percent, the Post said. The paper said a spokesperson for the Commerce Department declined to comment, and that an unnamed White House official said the process was "evolving" and cautioned against specific numbers.


Britain said North Korea was behind the WannaCry cyber attack that infected computers around the globe earlier this year on Tuesday, joining the United States in blaming Pyongyang for the ransomware incident. Britain s National Cyber Security Centre had assessed it was highly likely that North Korea s Lazarus hacking group was behind the one of the most significant cyber attacks to hit the UK in terms of scale of disruption, the Foreign Office said. We condemn these actions and commit ourselves to working with all responsible states to combat destructive criminal use of cyber space, Foreign Office minister Tariq Ahmad said. The indiscriminate use of the WannaCry ransomware demonstrates North Korean actors using their cyber program to circumvent sanctions, Ahmad said.


A successful business man has launched a political campaign against Paul Ryan. We love what he s doing even though it s unconventional. Paul Nehlen put up billboards this week that are devastating to the Republican Speaker:Following last night s historic Brexit vote, House Speaker Paul Ryan s primary challenger, Wisconsin businessman Paul Nehlen, seems to have taken a page from the playbook of the U.K. Independence Party (UKIP) with the launch of a new billboard campaign.On Friday morning, Nehlen s campaign went live with a new billboard in Ryan s hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin that is reminiscent of the distinctive UKIP-style campaign.The ad reads: Radical Islam Kills Americans. Vote YES for Immigration Control. Vote NO for Paul Ryan. The billboard then directs viewers to Nehlen s campaign website, ElectNehlen.com.UKIP s national billboard campaign is distinctive for its clear, straight-forward manner of describing the effects of large-scale migration and its impact on workers and Western culture.


Democratic California Rep. Brad Sherman appeared as a guest on Thursday s Tucker Carlson Tonight, and apparently didn t feel like leaving after his segment was over.Sherman and Carlson went back and forth in a heated arguments over new revelations regarding Russian influence via the Podesta Group and the new tax bill. Sherman also brought up impeaching Donald Trump, something he tried to trigger this summer with his own articles of impeachment.After the segment ended, Carlson began a new segment with Byron York of the Washington Examiner, but Rep. Sherman stuck around, interjecting into the conversation.At the end of Carlson speaking with York, Sherman is still sitting at the other end of the desk, so Tucker invites him to read the teleprompter tease for the next part of the show after the commercial break.Sherman reads it poorly and the show goes to commercials.What a putz!NOT EMBARRASSED?!SHERMAN S PARTY WAS JUST CAUGHT GIVING MILLIONS FOR OPPOSITION RESEARCH! ALSO, THE PAY TO PLAY ALLEGATION WITH URANIUM ONE IS EVEN MORE SERIOUS!


Former Russian economy minister Alexei Ulyukayev, accused of taking a $2 million bribe from Rosneft chief executive Igor Sechin, told a court on Thursday he was the victim of a monstrous and cruel provocation. State prosecutors said the bribe was given last year on Nov. 14 in exchange for Ulyukayev approving the sale of state-controlled oil company Bashneft to Rosneft. Ulyukayev denies the charges. He says he thought the bag holding the bribe was a gift of expensive alcohol. A monstrous and cruel provocation was carried out against me, Ulyukayev told the court in his final statement before it hands down a verdict on Dec. 15. This trial has aroused public interest similar to that of a circus, he added. The charges are absurd, the evidence is absurd, and at its base lies the cruelty and impunity of the provocateur. Rosneft head Sechin, a witness in the trial and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, has not appeared in court, citing work commitments. Russian prosecutors earlier this month sought a sentence of 10 years in jail for Ulyukayev.


This is a major conflict of interest that should automatically disqualify him.When the Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to approve Donald Trump s nomination of Brett Talley to a federal judgeship in Alabama, they did so without knowing that Talley is married to White House lawyer Ann Donaldson, who is the chief of staff to White House counsel Donald McGahn.That s a pretty big detail to leave out of a disclosure form.According to the New York Times,Mr. Talley was asked on his publicly released Senate questionnaire to identify family members and others who are likely to present potential conflicts of interest. He did not mention his wife.District judges often provide the first ruling when laws are called into question, decisions that can put them at odds with the White House and its lawyers. Last month, for example, judges in Hawaii and Maryland temporarily blocked Mr. Trump s travel ban.Mr. Talley also did not mention his wife when he described his frequent contact with White House lawyers during the nomination process.Talley has also never tried a case in his life, making him even more unqualified to be a judge. In fact, the American Bar Association judged Tally as unqualified for the position in a very rare unanimous decision.The Senate could hold a confirmation vote as early as Monday, and it is important that they reject Talley, especially since he lied to them by omission.If Republicans confirm Talley, they will be telling future nominees that it s okay to lie to Congress in order to get an important job. That should not be allowed to happen. Trump and Republicans often claim that immigration should be based on merit. Well, becoming a federal judge should definitely be based on merit, not based on who you re married to and whether you ll be a rubber stamp for a corrupt administration.Featured Image: Win McNamee/Getty Images


Chinese President Xi Jinping told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the two Asian giants are development opportunities for each other, not threats, China s foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, told a regular news briefing on Tuesday. Xi held a meeting with Modi in the southeastern Chinese town of Xiamen on the sidelines of a summit of the BRICS grouping of nations.


Iceland s prime minister said on Saturday the president had accepted his request for a snap parliamentary election, and Nov. 4 had been discussed as a possible date. Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson called on Friday for the snap vote after one party in the ruling coalition quit.


WASHINGTON (AFP) — A coalition air strike accidentally killed 18 members of a alliance fighting the Islamic State group near a key town in northern Syria, the coalition said Thursday. [Tuesday's strike occurred south of Tabqa, a strategically important town on the Euphrates River next to a dam and military airport, and close to the IS stronghold of Raqa. "The strike was requested by the partnered forces, who had identified the target location as an ISIS fighting position," a coalition statement read. "The target location was actually a forward Syrian Democratic Forces fighting position. " SDF troops backed by coalition air power and other military assistance have been fighting for control of Tabqa since last month. The town is considered an important waypoint ahead of the main offensive for Raqa, the IS group's last bastion in Syria. In its own statement, the SDF described the incident as a "painful accident" resulting from a "mistake. " "The accident caused a number of deaths and injuries. The general command of the Syrian Democratic Forces is coordinating with international coalition forces to investigate the incident and uncover the reasons and conditions that led to this accident. " The coalition offered its "deepest condolences" to the members of the SDF and their families. "The coalition is in close contact with our SDF partners who have expressed a strong desire to remain focused on the fight against ISIS despite this tragic incident," the coalition statement said. Officials were assessing the cause and would "implement appropriate safeguards to prevent similar incidents in the future," the statement added. The SDF is a local force that the coalition is supporting with arms, air strikes, training and advice as they fight IS.


Generations upon generations of incest have apparently caused the gerbils operating the brain of Alaska state Representative David Eastman to go on strike. As House Republicans are directly attacking the American people with their new Trumpcare plan, news broke that Eastman a lawmaker from Wasilla, Sarah Palin s neck of th1e woods decided to make the GOP sound even more heartless and stupid than they previously seemed.Eastman, who views the elimination of a clump of cells as the ultimate form of child abuse, recently tacked an anti-abortion message onto a state House resolution meant to raise awareness about sexual assault and child abuse a message he says could not possibly be delivered without badgering people about abortion. Abortion is a very serious issue, and it needs to be talked about, Eastman says, adding that women get pregnant just so they can get a free trip to the city for their glamorous abortion: We have folks who try to get pregnant in this state so that they can get a free trip to the city, and we have folks who want to carry their baby past the point of being able to have an abortion in this state so that they can have a free trip to Seattle. Medicaid can fund a woman s travel to Anchorage or Seattle if they seek an abortion. Asked for evidence that women get pregnant just to take advantage of the free travel a nonsensical claim Eastman said that a number of people have come to (his) office with stories, experiences. He offered no evidence to back the claim.This isn t the first horrible thing Eastman has done or said. KTUU notes that he recently was the only person to vote against resolutions honoring black soldiers who helped build the Alaska Highway during World War II and another honoring Hmong and Lao veterans who fought for the U.S. during the Vietnam War. Those resolutions had otherwise unanimous support.It is unclear if he has f*cked himself yet, or if he still needs to do that.Watch him shame his state below:


A smiling President Robert Mugabe was pictured shaking hands with Zimbabwe s military chief a day after the army seized power, throwing confusion over predictions that the 93-year-old s nearly four-decade rule had come to an end. Mugabe unexpectedly drove from his lavish Blue Roof Harare compound in Harare, where he had been confined since troops took to the streets, to State House, where official media pictured him meeting military chief Constantino Chiwenga and South African ministers sent to mediate the crisis. The official Herald newspaper carried no reports of the outcome of the meeting, leaving Zimbabwe s 13 million people in the dark as to what was happening as night fell on Thursday. Mugabe is insisting he remains Zimbabwe s only legitimate ruler and is refusing to quit, but pressure was mounting on the former guerrilla to accept offers of a graceful exit, sources said on Thursday. Earlier, a political source who spoke to senior allies holed up in the compound with Mugabe and his wife Grace said he had no plans to resign voluntarily ahead of elections due next year. It s a sort of stand-off, a stalemate, the source said. They are insisting the president must finish his term. The army s takeover signaled the collapse in less than 36 hours of the security, intelligence and patronage networks that sustained Mugabe through 37 years in power and built him into the Grand Old Man of African politics. A priest mediating between Mugabe and the generals, who seized power on Wednesday in what they called a targeted operation against criminals in Mugabe s entourage, has made little headway, a senior political source told Reuters. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai called for Mugabe s departure in the interest of the people . In a statement read to reporters, Tsvangirai pointedly referred to him as Mr Robert Mugabe , not president. The army may want Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, to go quietly and allow a smooth and bloodless transition to Emmerson Mnangagwa, the vice president Mugabe sacked last week triggering the political crisis. The main goal of the generals is to prevent Mugabe from handing power to his wife Grace, 41 years his junior, who has built a following among the ruling party s youth wing and appeared on the cusp of power after Mnangagwa was pushed out. The last of Africa s state founders still in power from the era of the struggle against European colonization, Mugabe is still seen by many Africans as a liberation hero. But he is reviled in the West as a despot whose disastrous handling of the economy and willingness to resort to violence to maintain power pauperized one of Africa s most promising states. Once a regional bread-basket, Zimbabwe saw its economy collapse in the wake of the seizure of white-owned farms in the early 2000s, followed by runaway money-printing that catapulted inflation to 500 billion percent in 2008. Millions of Zimbabweans, from highly skilled bankers to semi-literate farmers, emigrated, mostly to neighboring South Africa, where an estimated 3 million still live. After briefly stabilizing under a 2009-2013 power-sharing government, when Mugabe was forced to work with the opposition, the economy has once again cratered, with dollars scarce, inflation surging, imports running out and queues outside banks. A fighter, both literally and figuratively during a political career that included several assassination attempts, Mugabe may now have reached the end of the road. With the army camped on his front door and the police - once seen as a bastion of support - showing no signs of resistance, force is not an option. Similarly, he has little popular backing in Harare, where he is widely loathed, and his influence in the ruling ZANU-PF party is evaporating. ZANU-PF youth leader Kudzai Chipanga, a vocal Mugabe supporter, publicly apologized for opposing the army after being marched by soldiers into the state television headquarters to read out a statement, sources at the broadcaster said. He was then taken back to the army s main KGVI (pronounced KG Six) barracks in Harare, where Finance Minister Ignatius Chombo is also being held, an army source said. Video footage obtained by Reuters from the houses of two key allies of Grace Mugabe - cabinet ministers Jonathan Moyo and Saviour Kasukuwere - indicated that the army was also prepared to use force if necessary. Moyo s front door was blown open with explosives, scattering glass across the entrance hall, while the inside walls of Kasukuwere s house were pocked with bullet holes. The pair managed to escape on the evening of the coup and make it to Mugabe s compound, where they remain under effective house arrest, one political source said. Zimbabwean intelligence reports seen by Reuters suggest Mugabe s exit was in the planning for more than a year. Mnangagwa, a former security chief and life-long Mugabe confidant known as The Crocodile , is the key player. According to the files and political sources in Zimbabwe and South Africa, once Mugabe s resignation is secured Mnangagwa would take over as president of an interim unity government that will seek to stabilize the imploding economy. Fuelling speculation that this plan might be rolling into action, 65-year-old Tsvangirai, who has been receiving cancer treatment in Britain and South Africa, returned to Harare late on Wednesday. Ex-finance minister Tendai Biti added to that speculation, telling Reuters he would be happy to work in a post-coup administration as long as Tsvangirai was also on board. If Morgan says he s in, I m in, said Biti, who earned international respect during his time as finance minister in the 2009-13 government. The country needs a solid pair of hands so one might not have a choice. South Africa said Mugabe had told President Jacob Zuma by telephone on Wednesday that he was confined to his home but was otherwise fine. The military said it was keeping him and his family, including Grace, safe. Despite admiration for Mugabe among older African leaders, there is little public affection for 52-year-old Grace, an ex-government typist who began an affair with Mugabe in the early 1990s while his first wife Sally was dying of kidney failure. Dubbed DisGrace or Gucci Grace on account of her reputed love of shopping, she enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks of ZANU-PF in the last two years, culminating in Mnangagwa s removal. Zimbabweans, including the Mnangagwa camp and the military, interpreted the vice president s ouster as a move to clear the way for her to succeed her husband. In contrast to the high political drama unfolding behind closed doors, the streets of the capital remained calm, with people going about their daily business, albeit under the watch of soldiers on armored vehicles at strategic locations.


Trump has been relentlessly attempting to scrub the government of any program associated with President Obama and an extremely popular program meant to help educated girls and young women around the world has become the latest victim.Characteristically, Trump s administration gave zero defense for cutting the program, just a flat announcement that it was finished. Moving forward, we will not continue to use the Let Girls Learn brand or maintain a stand-alone program, read an email sent to Peace Corps employees this week by the agency s acting director Sheila Crowley.Despite the self-created obstacles, the Peace Corps promised to continue attempting to educate young girls around the world through other means. It doesn t seem likely that they will get much input from Trump, who has not signaled that he cares about girls education one way or the other.One person not involved in this mess is Ivanka Trump which is weird. Republicans and pundits have spent months insisting that Trump s daughter is a rebel feminist working to push her father and his administration into a more pro-woman direction. The evidence for this take on Ivanka is nonexistent. And Trump s dismantling of a program meant to educate girls seems like a perfect opportunity to put up or shut up. Her big moment to stand up for women and she is dead silent.Ivanka s imaginary check on her father didn t prevent him from going after Michelle Obama s efforts to improve school lunches, either. Obama s initiative was meant to combat America s obesity program and help kids have better access to healthy options while in school. Those reasonable goals were savaged by Republicans who by that time had spent so long hating everything the White House did that they rarely stopped to ask themselves whether the things they were after were bad.Trump inherits that knee-jerk opposition to Obama, but now as president he has the ability to actually act on it. And the one person who might have the influence to stop him proves she s all talk.Feature image via Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images


The head of a G4S-run immigration unit in Britain at the center of allegations of bullying and abuse, has resigned, the outsourcing company said on Friday. G4S said Ben Saunders, director of the immigration removal center near Gatwick Airport in southeast England, would be replaced on an interim basis by Lee Hanford from Monday, Sept. 25, pending the appointment of a permanent successor. British lawmakers accused G4S last week of repeated failures of detainee welfare safeguards and whistleblowing mechanisms at the immigration center, after physical and verbal abuse by guards was revealed in a BBC documentary. G4S, contracted by the British government to run the Brook House center, earlier this month suspended 10 members of staff, three of whom have now been sacked, for abusive behavior following the documentary. Police are also investigating. Earlier this year an investigation at the G4S-run Medway Secure Training Centre resulted in allegations of abuse and mistreatment of youngsters. The center is now run by the government s National Offender Management Service.