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Elanora Heights Public School bans clapping in favour of 'silent cheering'
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 13:29
Elanora Heights Public School (above) has banned students from clapping, only allowing them 'silent cheers' if a teacher approves. Picture: NSW Department of Education
CLAPPING has been banned at a Sydney primary school which has introduced ''silent cheering'', ''pulling excited faces'' and ''punching the air'' to respect students who are ''sensitive to noise''.
The school now only allows its pupils ''to conduct a silent cheer'' when prompted by teachers and says the practice ''reduces fidgeting''.
Elanora Heights Public School, which is on Sydney's northern beaches, announced its new ''silent cheer'' policy in its latest school newsletter.
The latest example of a political correctness outbreak in Australian schools, which have banned hugging, singing Christmas carols, celebrating Australia Day and singing the word ''black'' in the nursery rhyme ''baa baa black sheep''.
The ban on clapping at Elanora Heights Primary School emerged on the same day that an exclusive girls school banned teachers from calling ''ladies'' or ''women'' in favour of ''gender-neutral'' terms.
The Elanora public school's newsletter banned clapping out of 'respect' for noise-sensitive students who may now 'punch the air' or do 'silent cheers'. Picture: Elanora Heights Public SchoolSource:Supplied
In its July 18 newsletter, the Elanora school has published an item under the headline ''Did you know'' that ''our school has adopted silent cheers at assembly's'' (sic).
''If you've been to a school assembly recently, you may have noticed our students doing silent cheers,'' the item reads.
''Instead of clapping, the students are free to punch the air, pull excited faces and wriggle about on the spot.
''The practice has been adopted to respect members of our school community who are sensitive to noise.
''When you attend an assembly, teachers will prompt the audience to conduct a silent cheer if it is needed.
''Teachers have also found the silent cheers to be a great way to expend children's energy and reduce fidgeting.''
At Elanora public school (pictured) 'teachers have found silent cheers to be a great way to reduce fidgeting'. Picture: NSW Department of EducationSource:Supplied
Cheltenham Girls School (pictured) in northwestern Sydney has banned teachers from calling students women or girls. Picture: News CorpSource:News Corp Australia
The ban follows a direction at exclusive Cheltenham Girls High School in northwest Sydney for teachers to avoid discrimination and support LGBTI students by avoiding the words ''girls'', ''ladies'' or ''women''.
Teachers at Cheltenham Girls School in Sydney have been told to stop referring to students as "girls", "ladies" and "women", and to use gender-neutral language instead. Courtesy: Today Show
The measure followed the introduction of the Safe Schools anti-bullying program and teachers were told at a meeting if they did not comply they could be deemed homophobic and breaking the law.
The school also has a ''Queer-Straight alliance'' club and holds gender equality events such as Wear it Purple Day
Last month, it lowered the Aboriginal flag to raise the rainbow flag at half-mast following the attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
Local MP Damien Tudehope told the Daily Telegraph that parents feared their daughters might be ostracised if they didn't comply with Rainbow Day and Purple Day.
Damien Tudehope, MP for Epping, said parents of students at exclusive Cheltenham Girls School had complained about the gender word ban. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied
Hugging was banned at St Patricks Primary School (above) in Geelong in April. Picture: Nigel HallettSource:News Corp Australia
Elanora Heights Public School's ban on clapping in favour of silent cheering comes after several schools have banned hugging.
In April, hugging was banned at a Geelong primary school and children were told to find other ways to show affection.
St Patricks Primary School principal John Grant said ''nothing in particular'' had caused hugging to be replaced by high fiving or ''a knuckle handshake''.
''But in this current day and age we are really conscious about protecting kids and teaching them from a young age that you have to be cautious,'' Mr Grant said.
He said he had spoken to teachers about his decision to ban hugging and then the teachers had spoken to classes, instructing the children on different methods of showing affection. He had not sent any correspondence home to parents but said there would now be a letter going home on Monday.
''There's a range of methods including a high five or a particular knuckle handshake where they clunk knuckles as a simple way of saying 'well done','' Mr Grant said. ''There are also verbal affirmations and acknowledgments.''
Children at the school have been enthusiastic huggers, he said, with hugs given out to teachers and other children.
''We have a lot of kids who walk up and hug each other and we're trying to encourage all of us to respect personal space,'' Mr Grant said. ''It really comes back to not everyone is comfortable in being hugged.''
Comment from Elanora Heights Public School about the clapping ban has been sought by news.com.au.
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Elections 2016
Queen 'Frustrated' by Donald Trump After RNC Song Usage - Rolling Stone
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 20:51
Queen has lashed out at Donald Trump again for using their 1977 song "We Are the Champions" without permission.
"We are frustrated by the repeated unauthorized use of the song after a previous request to desist, which has obviously been ignored by Mr. Trump and his campaign," the band said in a statement issued by their publishing company, Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
"Queen does not want its music associated with any mainstream or political debate in any country. Nor does Queen want 'We are the Champions' to be used as an endorsement of Mr. Trump and the political views of the Republican Party. We trust, hope and expect that Mr. Trump and his campaign will respect these wishes moving forward."
A representative for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
During the first night of the Republican National Convention, Trump walked onstage to "We Are the Champions" before introducing his wife, Melania, who gave the night's headlining speech (which, coincidentally, also came under fire for allegedly incorporating someone else's work without permission). On Twitter, Queen responded to the spectacle, posting, "An unauthorised use at the Republican Convention against our wishes."
In June, Queen sparred with Trump over the use of "We Are the Champions," which was played before the candidate gave a victory speech after clinching the final round of Republican primaries. Guitarist Brian May wrote on his website, "This is not an official Queen statement, but I can confirm that permission to use the track was neither sought nor given. We are taking advice on what steps we can take to ensure this use does not continue. Regardless of our views on Mr. Trump's platform, it has always been against our policy to allow Queen music to be used as a political campaigning tool."
Along with Queen, the Trump campaign has earned the ire of several other musicians for using their songs without permission, including R.E.M., Neil Young, Everlast and Aerosmith.
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Queen doesn't want Donald Trump to use 'We Are the Champions.' Too bad. - The Washington Post
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 16:56
Donald Trump's spectacular, weird, spectacularly weird entrance onto the Republican stage Monday night is already legendary. Trump's silhouette walking onto a blue-white screen, hair-shelf giving him away immediately. And the soundtrack: Queen's "We Are the Champions."
Queen was not happy about this.
(Two important asides: @QueenWillRock is a bad Twitter handle, but @Queen is owned by Kim Jackson, who somehow only joined Twitter in 2012. Anyway, memo to @QueenWillRock: We get it; you're Queen. No need to sign your tweets.)
It was not the first time Queen complained about the man who would be president. In June, the band's Brian May blogged about his annoyance over a previous usage of the song by Trump, saying that he was "taking advice on what steps we can take to ensure this use does not continue" because "it has always been against our policy to allow Queen music to be used as a political campaigning tool."
Sean Spicer, communications director for the Republican party, offered a response to the tweet.
And here, Spicer is correct.
In May, I spoke with Will Ritter, who was director of advance for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign and now works for Poolhouse, an ad agency he co-founded. Ritter and I were talking after another, similar issue arose with a song by the Rolling Stones.
Ritter explained the Romney campaign's process for using a song in an email:
Acquire the two big blanket licenses for events of different crowd sizes. They aren't cheap. These licenses cover most popular music played to a crowd.Pick a popular, upbeat song with a good message.Check and see if the song was on the covered list.Read through the lyrics.Google the band and see if they are outspoken against your candidate or their positions, or were particularly litigious.Put it on the approved playlist.Audio tech gets a USB drive with just the approved songs.Let's break these down a bit further.
If you go to the website for BMI, the company walks you through the cost and process for obtaining a license to use music from its library. Say you're hosting an event for charity and you want to license "We Are the Champions" (which is in its catalog). Here's the fee schedule, according to its licensing agreement.
And here's what you get.
Queen doesn't play any part in that process. Ritter notes that "artists retain certain rights to the work outside of the blanket license," resulting in some cases where an artist can block the use of a song in certain circumstances, like in an ad. If the campaign had played a song to which it didn't have a license at an event '-- if the audio technician strayed from that USB drive '-- the band could object and sue. With a license, though, the artist doesn't have many options. ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, has a guide for campaigns which notes that other legal constraints may apply, such as the precept of "false endorsement" -- implying that the artist supports the person's candidacy. To avoid this, they wisely recommend contacting the artist.
Which jumps us ahead to No. 5 on the list. Spicer and the RNC got a good hint in June that Queen wasn't thrilled about their use of the song, though it didn't deter them. The question then becomes one of politics. Ritter told me that the Romney campaign got cease-and-desist requests from artists whose songs they used about "once a week," and that they would usually just pull the song from the rotation. That was "less out of fear of lawsuits, more because it'd be a distraction to the campaign message, which is supposed to be about big things, not sparring publicly with pop acts," he said. "A silly feud would easily eat up a whole day's news."
The use of Queen at the convention is one thing. Music at a campaign rally is another. "An important thing to keep in mind is we're talking about hours of music," Ritter said. "Especially after [Secret Service] protection is implemented at events, you could be asking a voter to stand somewhere for three hours before you speak, so you need 50-plus songs that are going to keep their energy up." That's a lot of songs, a lot of licensing and a lot of screening. (When I noted that most campaign songs sucked, Ritter suggested that "maybe [I'm] a snob.")
Inadvertently, we've stumbled on another way that this is not just another election. Romney's team in 2012 would have sighed and taken Queen out of the rotation. Trump's team '-- or at least the Republican party that's running his convention '-- is willing to bear the heat.
Being in the clear legally is an emboldening thing.
This article was updated with the ASCAP guide, pointed out by a person on Twitter.
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Odds Hillary Won Without Widespread Fraud: 1 in 77 Billion Says Berkeley, Stanford Studies | HNN '' Higgins News Network
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 19:30
Widespread allegations of election fraud and voter suppression across the United States during the 2016 Democratic Primary has sparked the interest of several academic researchers and what they discovered in their research is disturbing.
The researchers each performed independent studies in which a few different statistical was applied to analyze various subsets of vote data and of the studies came to the same conclusion.
Namely that Hillary's win was could have only been possible a result of widespread election fraud.
In fact, one of the statistical models applied by Stanford University researcher Rodolfo Cortes Barragan to a subset of the data found that the probability of the ''huge discrepancies'' of which ''nearly all are in favor of Hillary Clinton by a huge margin'' was ''statistically impossible'' and that ''the probability of this this happening was is 1 in 77 billion''.
Furthermore, the researchers found that the election fraud only occurred in places where the voting machines were hackable and that did not keep an paper trail of the ballots.
In these locations Hillary won by massive margins.
On the other hand, in locations that were not hackable and did keep paper trails of the ballots Bernie Sanders beat Hillary Clinton.
Analysis also showed repeatedly irregularities and statistically impossible reverses in reported live votes in several locations across the country.
In commenting on the research, Barragan stated that some of the models are rock solid and 59 years old and the results seen here have never been witnessed in non-fraudelent election during that time period.
To summarize, at least four different independent studies were conducted with various statistical models applied.
The researchers applied the different statistical models to:
Actual vote counts as they were reportedDiscrepancies in polling data verse actual counts.Various subsets of demographic polling data verse actual vote countsThe results of each study corroborated the with the results of the others and some of the researchers have review the work of the others' and go onto to confirm the findings in those studies.
It will take months for the studies to undergo peer review.
However, all of their research statistically proved there there must of been widespread fraud to create the discrepancies in the vote counts that exist in all 3 subsets of the data analyzed.
The research of Barragan, done collaboratively with Axel Geijsel of Tilburg University in The Netherlands.
That research corroborates independent mathematical research conducted by Richard Charnin.
Further independent research was conducted by Beth Clarkson of Berkeley who also not only corroborated the two previous studies but reviewed them and after her research was done and confirmed their results.
A PDF Summary of the Barragan/Geijsel study ''Are we witnessing a dishonest election? A between state comparison based on the used voting procedures of the 2016 Democratic Party Primary for the Presidency of the United States of America'' can be found here.
The meat of the study is contained in the Appendix, Supplemental Analyses, and References to Barragan's Study and in the attachments which follow.
Attachment:
Page 1
This report summarizes the results of our review of the GEMS election management system, which counts approximately 25 percent of all votes in the United States. The results of this study demonstrate that a fractional vote feature is embedded in each GEMS application which can be used to invisibly, yet radically, alter election outcomes by pre-setting desired vote percentages to redistribute votes. This tampering is not visible to election observers, even if they are standing in the room and watching the computer. Use of the decimalized vote feature is unlikely to be detected by auditing or canvass procedures, and can be applied across large jurisdictions in less than 60 seconds.
They allow ''weighting'' of races. Weighting a race removes the principle of ''one person-one vote'' to allow some votes to be counted as less than one or more than one. Regardless of what the real votes are, candidates can receive a set percentage of votes. Results can be controlled. For example, Candidate A can be assigned 44% of the votes, Candidate B 51%, and Candidate C the rest.
Instead of ''1'' the vote is allowed to be 1/2, or 1+7/8, or any other value that is not a whole number.Fractions in results reports are not visible.Votes containing decimals are reported as whole numbers unless specifically instructed to reveal decimals (which is not the default setting). All evidence that fractional values ever existed can be removed instantly even from the underlying database using a setting in the GEMS data tables, in which case even instructing GEMS to show the decimals will fail to reveal they were used.
'' from http://blackboxvoting.org/fraction-magic-1/
The amount of support Clinton receives among blacks is far higher in states without a paper trail, than the states with a paper trail.
Page 2
Even when adjusting for the proportion of black voters in a state, the amount that votes for Clinton is still disproportionally higher.
[note from the writer, this might indicate that if tampering with the votes has occurred, it would be reasonable to assume that they are added to subgroups which are claimed to heavily favor Hillary Clinton, i.e. black and female voters (for the latter I have not found the time yet)]
Retrieved from: https://richardcharnin.wordpress.com/2016/06/08/democratic-primary-appro'...
Page 3
http://www.gallup.com/poll/190571/sanders-oldest-candidate-looks-best-yo'...
http://www.gallup.com/poll/191465/millennials-sanders-dislike-election-p'...
Page 4
http://www.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/192362/clinton-negatives-a'...
retrieved from: http://www.people-press.org/2016/03/31/4-perceptions-of-the-presidential'...
Page 5
Retrieved from: http://www.people-press.org/2016/03/31/4-perceptions-of-the-presidential'...
Page 6
In the above polls done by Gallup and Pew research center Sanders scores a higher favorability ratings than Clinton. In all the ratings, conducted by these renowned institutes, they found that the favorability ratings for Sanders consistently outperformed Hillary Clinton, with mixed results in the subgroup of African American voters. The last being one of the biggest claimed subgroups which would favor Hillary Clinton. This is in stark contrast with the results in the non paper-trail states, where Clinton won the African American vote with 83%. In the paper-trail states, she only won them with 74% of the votes. The latter lying far closer to the polling results.
Not just that, Sanders outperforms Clinton in almost all the groups and subgroups in these polls, which is in stark contrast with the end results from the primaries. These results in earlier elections often lied very closely to the actual final results.
* * *
In the following pages, graphs are shown containing the cumulative placed votes over time. In sampling, polling, or any other form of statistical analysis. The general rule is that the higher the amount of trials that one does, the more you would get closer to the actual 'true' number. Meaning, the more votes that are placed, the more chance that the number that is given is correct.
Because of this, at the start of the polling, the numbers might fluctuate heavily, after which they will stabilize over time. Similar to an 1/x graph. On the following three pages, you will find numerous examples in which the graphs will indeed smoothe out. These are examples of graphs as you would normally find them.
On the three pages thereafter, you will find abnormal curves. Incidentally, all of these changes favored Hillary Clinton. Below the graphs, you will find the p-value as we found through our own proportional analysis. Meaning, the smaller the p-value, the higher the discrepancy between the exit-polls and the final results (i.e. indicating the chance of such an occurrence; e.g. p=0,07 is a 7% chance). These are indications of election fraud taking place.Most of the normal curves are retrieved from the New York Times website. The abnormal curves have been retrieved from the website of '' https://richardcharnin.wordpress.com/category/2016-election/ . The reason for this is because the abnormal graphs have been removed from the mainstream media websites.
''One can also search for trends to check for fraud. One of the most revealing methods, the Cumulative Vote Share Analysis, searches for a correlation between the size of a discrepancy (between recorded vote and exit polls) and the size of a precinct. When no fraud has taken place the trend tends to be quite regular. When the discrepancy tends to manifest as the size of the precinct becomes larger than a certain value, it is a strong indication of fraud, according to Richard Charnin. Roughly speaking the reason for this behavior is that electronic rigging is implemented strategically in order not to become obvious. The discrepancy caused by the rigging is ''better'' distributed between those precincts that are big enough to be worth the effort.''
'' http://www.democracyintegrity.org/ElectoralFraud/just-doing-the-math.html
Page 7
Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/west-virginia
retrieved from : http://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/indiana
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
P = 0,309 ; Favoring Clinton (not significant).P = 0,00001 ; Favoring Clinton
P = 0,00001 ; Favoring Clinton
Page 11
P = not available
P = 0,247 ; Favoring Clinton (not significant).
Page 12
P = 0,01116 ; Favoring Clinton
P = 0,00012 ; Favoring Clinton
Page 13
'' retrieved from: http://showmethevotes.org/2016/03/05/an-open-letter-to-bernie-sanders/P = 0,000341 ; favoring Sanders
Page 14
Looking at the discrepancies between the exit polls and the final tally, nearly all are in favor of Hillary Clinton by a huge margin. This is statistically impossible (''The probability P of this happening is 1 in 77 billion'').
''A discrepancy between the declared vote (recorded vote) and the vote extrapolated from the exit polls is an indication of fraud when it is above a margin of error of 2% within a confidence level of 95%.Here is how it works. When statisticians try to measure the 'real vote' they not only estimate the final vote count but they also analyze the entire distribution of the data they gathered from the exit poll voter sampling in order to determine the reliability of their final determination. When fluctuations in the data are due to randomness they will follow a statistical distribution that follows the shape of a bell curve, the Gaussian curve. The reliability or unreliability of the sample data doesn't depend so much on the trustworthiness of those who collect the exit poll voter sampling, but it's rather intrinsic to the shape of the distribution. From this shape an 'interval of confidence' is determined within which we can unquestionably claim our confidence that we got it right with a probability of 95%''always 95%. This interval of confidence is also called 'margin of error' (MoE).
Poorly informed 'experts' frequently argue that the statistical analysis of exit polls can be misleading because it assumes that real life data is randomly distributed (as in the Gaussian curve) when that's not always the case. And here is where they are missing a central point. The expectation that sample data will be randomly distributed ALREADY takes into account all possible relevant factors in a practical observation in real life. When extraneous factors intervene, a discrepancy will make the recorded value fall outside of the interval of confidence signaling only one possibility: a systematic error. When this occurs statisticians make further analysis to determine the causes, and either remove the cause or include it into the 'margin of error'. After 59 years of fine-tuning this process in countless elections around the world statisticians have reached a point where exit polls have become extremely reliable. If the final 'Recorded Vote' falls outside the interval of confidence one can assume with a high degree of certainty that the systematic error is intentional. This is why we say that we have a high probability of fraud.''Retrieved from : http://www.democracyintegrity.org/ElectoralFraud/just-doing-the-math.html
'' by Giovanni and Marcello Pietrobon; Berkeley, June 3rd, 2016
Page 15
''My specialty is statistics and I've pulled down publicly available data independently, analyzed it myself, and corroborated analyses which points to massive widespread election fraud. Mr. Holland disparages the mathematical work of Richard Charnin*, but I have not found an error in any of the analyses of his that I have repeated.
In particular, his assessment of the binomial probability regarding the likelihood of the exit poll results, is both accurate and appropriate. I have verified it myself. This binomial analysis was ignored by Mr. Holland in favor of criticizing a different approach that was also used. That approach is also sound, but I have not reproduced those calculations. That both models show results that are consistent with the hypothesis of election fraud is more than doubly damning.
If we assume no election fraud, then the two different types of analysis of the exit poll errors are unrelated because one analysis looks at the size of the error while the other is based on whether it benefited Hillary versus Bernie. That they are both consistent with fraud could be considered a third piece of evidence in support of that hypothesis.There are only two possibilities '' a) Bernie supporters are more likely to respond to the poll or b) there is widespread election fraud altering election results in favor of Hillary across the U.S.Cumulative Vote Share (CVS) analysis pioneered by Francis Choquette shows problems across the nation for the past decade or more. Interestingly enough, places that use hand counted ballots do not show the same trends and within a state, analyzing by machine can show sharply different trends for different equipment. Such analysis shows trends that are indicative of rigging that favors Hillary.
The apparent ease of hacking electronic voting machines combined with the prevalence of election rigging through-out the world and human history.Lack of basic quality control procedures: In most locations in the U.S., no one '' not officials and not citizens '' actually verify the official vote counts. Canvassing becomes a sham that involves verifying that yes, the machine produced outcomes all add up to the machine produced totals. In those places where the count was supposed to be publicly verified,citizens watching report blatant miscounting to force a match to the ''official results''. Their testimony to election commissioners about such actions were met with a blank stare followed by dismissal of their testimony.
I do not make that statement lightly. I hold a Ph.D. in statistics and have been certified as a Quality Engineer for nearly 30 years. I've gone to the extreme of filing a lawsuit requesting access to the voting machine records to verify those election results. So far, I haven't been allowed access.
[Steven D editorial note: Statement of Beth Clarkson]
'' http://showmethevotes.org/2016/06/10/the-theater-is-on-fire/
'' http://bethclarkson.com/
Tags:2016 Election, Berkeley, Bernie Sanders, Clinton, Election, Election Fraud, Hillary Clinton, Primary, Sanders, Stanford, Study
Republican attacks on Hillary Clinton are more like a witch trial than politics | Angelina Chapin | Opinion | The Guardian
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 19:30
'The New Jersey governor didn't only attack Hillary's track record as secretary of state, he attacked her personality.' Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The tirades against Hillary Clinton at the Republican national convention this week have resembled a witch trial more than a political event.
In his speech on Tuesday night, New Jersey governor Chris Christie decided to try ''something fun'' and indict Hillary Clinton for her crimes. The former prosecutor listed her ''offences'' one by one '' she ruined Libya by overthrowing Gaddafi, she helped empower Boko Haram in Nigeria, she negotiated ''the worst nuclear deal in history'' '' and hyperbolically asked ''Guilty or not guilty?'' at the end of every accusation. The nauseating spectacle was a hit.
The crowd cried ''Guilty!'' and chanted ''Lock her up!'' with the fervor of townspeople holding torches, ready to storm the town square and burn Clinton at the stake. At least the Republican speakers were consistent: Ben Carson accused Clinton of devil worship since one of her college mentors, Saul Alinsky, acknowledges Lucifer in his book.
Christie's theatrical performance is not surprising. Both he and Donald Trump are the kind of megalomaniacal, testosterone-fuelled politicians whose rhetoric is more suited for the football field than the political stage (Christie actually ended his speech with ''Now let's go get 'em!''). These kind of men deter women from entering politics, when more females representatives is exactly what America needs.
The New Jersey governor didn't only attack Hillary's track record as secretary of state, he attacked her personality. He said ''She'll bring all the failure of the Obama years with less charm and more lies'' and underlined that America needs a ''man who is unafraid '... a man who wants to lead us.'' In other words, this country needs an alpha male with zero political experience rather than a woman who has dedicated her life to public service instead of catchphrases.
In case anyone needs a reminder, Congress is already 80% male. According to the Institute of Women's Policy Research, there will not be gender parity in politics for another century. Of course discrimination has a lot to do with it '' white men still symbolize power and competence in American culture '' but many women are also turned off by the macho environment that Christie and his ilk perpetuate.
Politics is still an alpha male's game. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich found that women were less likely to apply for jobs that contained words with typically make adjectives such as ''assertive'' and ''aggressive''. Let's not forget that Donald Trump and Marco Rubio openly talked about penises during a national debate. Then there's the shouting, bragging and sex scandals that define too many male politicians' careers. Women who go into politics are also judged more harshly than men. They need to be tough but sensitive, good-looking but not flashy, assertive but demure. No matter what, your haircut will make headlines.
It's a shame more women don't run for office, because they truly could improve America. Despite Christie's accusation that Clinton is a ''self-proclaimed champion of women'' who helped Boko Haram abduct ''hundreds of innocent young girls'', studies show female politicians are good for the world. For example, they tend to focus on providing childcare, healthcare and education, policies that help lift the disproportionate number of low-income women out of poverty. Women are also more collaborative colleagues. Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said they ''inject less libido and less testosterone into the equation'', which can often lead to better results. Women in office obtain almost 10% more federal funding than male politicians and introduce about double the number of bills.
Egotistical male politicians are often more concerned with stage presence than political acumen. For his grand finale, Christie led a call and response. He listed countries '' ''China and Syria'' '' to which the crowd roared ''Guilty!'' As the governor of New Jersey stood in front of delegates with outstretched arms and a self-satisfied smirk on this face, his subtext was clear: vote for the showman and his charismatic posse. Hillary may have experience, but she's a real snooze.
If Trump wins, a coup isn't impossible here in the U.S. - LA Times
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 19:13
Americans viewing the recent failed coup attempt in Turkey as some exotic foreign news story -- the latest, violent yet hardly unusual political development to occur in a region constantly beset by turmoil -- should pause to consider that the prospect of similar instability would not be unfathomable in this country if Donald Trump were to win the presidency.
Trump is the most brazenly authoritarian figure to secure the nomination of a major American political party. He expresses his support for all manner of strongmen, and his campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has actually worked for one: former Ukrainian president and Vladimir Putin ally Viktor Yanukovich. At the Republican National Convention here Monday, Manafort put some of the tricks he learned overseas as a dictator whisperer to good use, employing underhanded tactics to avoid a roll call vote on the convention's rules package and quietly removing language from the party platform expressing support for Ukraine's democratic aspirations.
Throughout the campaign, Trump has repeatedly bragged about ordering soldiers to commit war crimes, and has dismissed the possibility that he would face any resistance. ''They won't refuse,'' he told Fox News' Bret Baierearlier this year. ''They're not gonna refuse me. Believe me.'' When Baier insisted that such orders are ''illegal,'' Trump replied, ''I'm a leader. I've always been a leader. I've never had any problem leading people. If I say do it, they're going to do it.''
Oh really? Blimpish swagger might fly within the patriarchal confines of a family business, a criminal operation (the distinction is sometimes blurred) or a dictatorship. It does not, however, work in a liberal democracy, legally grounded by a written constitution, each branch restrained by separation of powers.
Try to imagine, then, a situation in which Trump commanded our military to do something stupid, illegal or irrational. Something so dangerous that it put the lives of Americans and the security of the country at stake. (Trump's former rival for the Republican presidential nomination, Marco Rubio, said the United States could not trust ''the nuclear codes'' to an ''erratic individual.'') Faced with opposition from his military brass, Trump would perhaps reconsider and back down. But what if he didn't?
In that case, our military men and women, who swear to uphold the Constitution and a civilian chain of command, would be forced to choose between obeying the law and serving the wishes of someone who has explicitly expressed his utter lack of respect for it.
They might well choose the former.
''I would be incredibly concerned if a President Trump governed in a way that was consistent with the language that candidate Trump expressed during the campaign,'' retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, who served as head of the CIA and the National Security Agency under President George W. Bush, said in response to Trump's autocratic ruminations. Asked by TV host Bill Maher what would happen if Trump told American soldiers to kill the families of terrorists, as he has promised to do, Hayden replied, ''If he were to order that once in government, the American armed forces would refuse to act.''
''You are required not to follow an unlawful order,'' Hayden added. ''That would be in violation of all the international laws of armed conflict.''
Previously, in those rare situations when irreconcilable disagreements have arisen between America's civilian and military leadership, it is the latter who were ultimately deemed out of line. This was the case when President Truman acrimoniously fired Gen. Douglas MacArthur after he publicly criticized Truman for denying him permission to bomb China in the midst of the Korean War. Though MacArthur returned to the United States with a hero's welcome, Truman's decision endures as one of the most important in the history of American civil-military relations.
Trump could pull a reverse-Truman, firing a general who refused to bomb.
If this scenario sounds implausible, consider that Trump has normalized so many once-outrageous things -- from open racism to blatant lying. Needless to say, such dystopian situations are unimaginable under a President Hillary Clinton, who, whatever her faults, would never contemplate ordering a bombing run or -- heaven forbid -- a nuclear strike on a country just because its leader slighted her small hands at a summit. Rubio might detest her, but he cannot honestly say that Clinton, a former secretary of State, should not be trusted with the nation's nuclear codes.
Trump is not only patently unfit to be president, but a danger to America and the world. Voters must stop him before the military has to.
James Kirchick is a fellow with the Foreign Policy Initiative. His book, ''The End of Europe'', is forthcoming from Yale University Press.
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Read the text of proposed RFRA changes
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 17:41
2:55 p.m. EDT April 2, 2015
Sen. Patricia Miller, R-Indianapolis addresses the Indiana Senate in March.(Photo: Charlie Nye/The Star)Buy Photo
These proposed changes to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act were announced Thursday by Indiana legislative leaders.
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT DIGEST FOR ESB 50
Citations Affected: 10 34439.
Synopsis: Anti-discrimination safeguards. Indicates that the law related to adjudicating a claim or defense that a state or local law, ordinance, or other action substantially burdens the exercise of religion of a person: (1) does not authorize a provider to refuse to offer or provide services, facilities, use of public accommodations, goods, employment, or housing to any member or members of the general public; (2) does not establish a defense to a civil action or criminal prosecution for refusal by a provider to offer or provide services, facilities, use of public accommodations, goods, employment, or housing to any member or members of the general public; and (3) does not negate any rights available under the Constitution of the State of Indiana. Defines the term provider. (This conference committee report deletes the provisions concerning elections in SB 50, as amended by the house, and inserts provisions related to the law governing adjudicating a claim or defense that a state or local law, ordinance, or other action substantially burdens the exercise of religion of a person.)
Effective: July 1, 2015
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT
MADAM PRESIDENT:
Your Conference Committee appointed to confer with a like committee from the House upon Engrossed House Amendments to Engrossed Senate Bill No. 50 respectfully reports that said two committees conferred and agreed as follows to wit:
that the Senate recede from its dissent from all House amendments and that the Senate now concur in all House amendments to the bill and that the bill be further amended as follows:
1 Delete the title and insert the following amend the Indiana Code concerning
2 A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
3 judicial and administrative proceedings.
4 Delete everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
5 SECTION 1 . 1C 34- 1 IS ADDED TO CODE
6 AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS JULY
7 i, 2015]: Sec. 0.7. This chapter does not:
8 (I) authorize a provider to refuse to offer or provide services,
9 facilities, use of public accommodations, goods, employment,
10 or housing to any member or members of the general public
11 on the basis of race, color, religion, ancestry, age, national
12 origin, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or
13 United States military service;
14 (2) establish a defense to a civil action or criminal prosecution
15 for refusal by a provider to offer or provide services, facilities,
16 use of public accommodations, goods, employment, or housing
17 to any member or members of the general public on the basis
18 of race, color, religion, ancestry, age, national origin,
19 disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or United
20 States military service; or
21 (3) negate any rights available under the Constitution of the51 2015
1 State of Indiana.
2 SECTION 2.1C 34- 1 3-9?7 .5 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE
3 AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS JULY
4 1, 2015]: Sec. 7.5. As used in this chapter, "provider" means one (1)
5 or more individuals, partnerships, associations, organizations,
6 limited liability companies, corporations, and other organized
7 groups of persons. The term does not include:
8 A church or other nonprofit religious organization or
9 society, including an affiliated school, that is exempt from
10 federal income taxation under 26 U.S.C. 501(a), as amended
11 (excluding any activity that generates unrelated business
12 taxable income (as de?ned in 26 U.S.C. 512, as amended?.
13 (2) A rabbi, priest, preacher, minister, pastor, or designee of
14 a church or other nonprofit religious organization or society
15 when the individual is engaged in a religious or affiliated
16 educational function of the church or other nonprofit
17 religious organization or society.
(Reference is to ESB 50 as reprinted March 17, 2015.)
2015
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BREAKING: Donald Trump Just Announced His Pick for Attorney General '' Hillary's Worst Nightmare! | EndingFed News Network
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 20:22
Donald Trump has made yet another announcement that will dismay Democrats across the country, and that is his choice for Attorney General. Trump tweeted that his pick for Attorney General is South Carolina conservative Rep.
Trey Gowdy, who currently chairs the U.S. House of Representative's Select Committee on Benghazi.
Gowdy has been a constant thorn in the Obama administration's side, and has exposed the White House's incompetence on everything from amnesty to IRS abuses to the illegal deletion of Clinton's emails.
Trump's tweet read, [email protected] toast. Dems had better get the''B Team'' off the bench. @TGowdySC for Attorney General under President Trump.'' This tweet came right on the heels of an announcement that Trump would want Sarah Palin on his Cabinet.
Trump is looking to build a team of influential conservative leaders who have fought against the liberals. He and Gowdy share the same no-nonsense style.
Please follow us on Facebook to get news like this. Click on thebutton.Leave a comment...
Trump's Boswell Speaks - The New Yorker
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 01:04
Last June, as dusk fell outside Tony Schwartz's sprawling house, on a leafy back road in Riverdale, New York, he pulled out his laptop and caught up with the day's big news: Donald J. Trump had declared his candidacy for President. As Schwartz watched a video of the speech, he began to feel personally implicated.
Trump, facing a crowd that had gathered in the lobby of Trump Tower, on Fifth Avenue, laid out his qualifications, saying, ''We need a leader that wrote 'The Art of the Deal.' '' If that was so, Schwartz thought, then he, not Trump, should be running. Schwartz dashed off a tweet: ''Many thanks Donald Trump for suggesting I run for President, based on the fact that I wrote 'The Art of the Deal.' ''
Schwartz had ghostwritten Trump's 1987 breakthrough memoir, earning a joint byline on the cover, half of the book's five-hundred-thousand-dollar advance, and half of the royalties. The book was a phenomenal success, spending forty-eight weeks on the Times best-seller list, thirteen of them at No. 1. More than a million copies have been bought, generating several million dollars in royalties. The book expanded Trump's renown far beyond New York City, making him an emblem of the successful tycoon. Edward Kosner, the former editor and publisher of New York, where Schwartz worked as a writer at the time, says, ''Tony created Trump. He's Dr. Frankenstein.''
Starting in late 1985, Schwartz spent eighteen months with Trump'--camping out in his office, joining him on his helicopter, tagging along at meetings, and spending weekends with him at his Manhattan apartment and his Florida estate. During that period, Schwartz felt, he had got to know him better than almost anyone else outside the Trump family. Until Schwartz posted the tweet, though, he had not spoken publicly about Trump for decades. It had never been his ambition to be a ghostwriter, and he had been glad to move on. But, as he watched a replay of the new candidate holding forth for forty-five minutes, he noticed something strange: over the decades, Trump appeared to have convinced himself that he had written the book. Schwartz recalls thinking, ''If he could lie about that on Day One'--when it was so easily refuted'--he is likely to lie about anything.''
It seemed improbable that Trump's campaign would succeed, so Schwartz told himself that he needn't worry much. But, as Trump denounced Mexican immigrants as ''rapists,'' near the end of the speech, Schwartz felt anxious. He had spent hundreds of hours observing Trump firsthand, and felt that he had an unusually deep understanding of what he regarded as Trump's beguiling strengths and disqualifying weaknesses. Many Americans, however, saw Trump as a charmingly brash entrepreneur with an unfailing knack for business'--a mythical image that Schwartz had helped create. ''It pays to trust your instincts,'' Trump says in the book, adding that he was set to make hundreds of millions of dollars after buying a hotel that he hadn't even walked through.
In the subsequent months, as Trump defied predictions by establishing himself as the front-runner for the Republican nomination, Schwartz's desire to set the record straight grew. He had long since left journalism to launch the Energy Project, a consulting firm that promises to improve employees' productivity by helping them boost their ''physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual'' morale. It was a successful company, with clients such as Facebook, and Schwartz's colleagues urged him to avoid the political fray. But the prospect of President Trump terrified him. It wasn't because of Trump's ideology'--Schwartz doubted that he had one. The problem was Trump's personality, which he considered pathologically impulsive and self-centered.
Schwartz thought about publishing an article describing his reservations about Trump, but he hesitated, knowing that, since he'd cashed in on the flattering ''Art of the Deal,'' his credibility and his motives would be seen as suspect. Yet watching the campaign was excruciating. Schwartz decided that if he kept mum and Trump was elected he'd never forgive himself. In June, he agreed to break his silence and give his first candid interview about the Trump he got to know while acting as his Boswell.
''I put lipstick on a pig,'' he said. ''I feel a deep sense of remorse that I contributed to presenting Trump in a way that brought him wider attention and made him more appealing than he is.'' He went on, ''I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization.''
If he were writing ''The Art of the Deal'' today, Schwartz said, it would be a very different book with a very different title. Asked what he would call it, he answered, ''The Sociopath.''
The idea of Trump writing an autobiography didn't originate with either Trump or Schwartz. It began with Si Newhouse, the media magnate whose company, Advance Publications, owned Random House at the time, and continues to own Cond(C) Nast, the parent company of this magazine. ''It was very definitely, and almost uniquely, Si Newhouse's idea,'' Peter Osnos, who edited the book, recalls. GQ, which Cond(C) Nast also owns, had published a cover story on Trump, and Newhouse noticed that newsstand sales had been unusually strong.
Newhouse called Trump about the project, then visited him to discuss it. Random House continued the pursuit with a series of meetings. At one point, Howard Kaminsky, who ran Random House then, wrapped a thick Russian novel in a dummy cover that featured a photograph of Trump looking like a conquering hero; at the top was Trump's name, in large gold block lettering. Kaminsky recalls that Trump was pleased by the mockup, but had one suggestion: ''Please make my name much bigger.'' After securing the half-million-dollar advance, Trump signed a contract.
Around this time, Schwartz, who was one of the leading young magazine writers of the day, stopped by Trump's office, in Trump Tower. Schwartz had written about Trump before. In 1985, he'd published a piece in New York called ''A Different Kind of Donald Trump Story,'' which portrayed him not as a brilliant mogul but as a ham-fisted thug who had unsuccessfully tried to evict rent-controlled and rent-stabilized tenants from a building that he had bought on Central Park South. Trump's efforts'--which included a plan to house homeless people in the building in order to harass the tenants'--became what Schwartz described as a ''fugue of failure, a farce of fumbling and bumbling.'' An accompanying cover portrait depicted Trump as unshaven, unpleasant-looking, and shiny with sweat. Yet, to Schwartz's amazement, Trump loved the article. He hung the cover on a wall of his office, and sent a fan note to Schwartz, on his gold-embossed personal stationery. ''Everybody seems to have read it,'' Trump enthused in the note, which Schwartz has kept.
''I was shocked,'' Schwartz told me. ''Trump didn't fit any model of human being I'd ever met. He was obsessed with publicity, and he didn't care what you wrote.'' He went on, ''Trump only takes two positions. Either you're a scummy loser, liar, whatever, or you're the greatest. I became the greatest. He wanted to be seen as a tough guy, and he loved being on the cover.'' Schwartz wrote him back, saying, ''Of all the people I've written about over the years, you are certainly the best sport.''
And so Schwartz had returned for more, this time to conduct an interview for Playboy. But to his frustration Trump kept making cryptic, monosyllabic statements. ''He mysteriously wouldn't answer my questions,'' Schwartz said. After twenty minutes, he said, Trump explained that he didn't want to reveal anything new about himself'--he had just signed a lucrative book deal and needed to save his best material.
''What kind of book?'' Schwartz said.
''My autobiography,'' Trump replied.
''You're only thirty-eight'--you don't have one yet!'' Schwartz joked.
''Yeah, I know,'' Trump said.
''If I were you,'' Schwartz recalls telling him, ''I'd write a book called 'The Art of the Deal.' That's something people would be interested in.''
''You're right,'' Trump agreed. ''Do you want to write it?''
Schwartz thought it over for several weeks. He knew that he would be making a Faustian bargain. A lifelong liberal, he was hardly an admirer of Trump's ruthless and single-minded pursuit of profit. ''It was one of a number of times in my life when I was divided between the Devil and the higher side,'' he told me. He had grown up in a bourgeois, intellectual family in Manhattan, and had attended (C)lite private schools, but he was not as wealthy as some of his classmates'--and, unlike many of them, he had no trust fund. ''I grew up privileged,'' he said. ''But my parents made it clear: 'You're on your own.' '' Around the time Trump made his offer, Schwartz's wife, Deborah Pines, became pregnant with their second daughter, and he worried that the family wouldn't fit into their Manhattan apartment, whose mortgage was already too high. ''I was overly worried about money,'' Schwartz said. ''I thought money would keep me safe and secure'--or that was my rationalization.'' At the same time, he knew that if he took Trump's money and adopted Trump's voice his journalism career would be badly damaged. His heroes were such literary nonfiction writers as Tom Wolfe, John McPhee, and David Halberstam. Being a ghostwriter was hackwork. In the end, though, Schwartz had his price. He told Trump that if he would give him half the advance and half the book's royalties he'd take the job.
Such terms are unusually generous for a ghostwriter. Trump, despite having a reputation as a tough negotiator, agreed on the spot. ''It was a huge windfall,'' Schwartz recalls. ''But I knew I was selling out. Literally, the term was invented to describe what I did.'' Soon Spy was calling him ''former journalist Tony Schwartz.''
Schwartz thought that ''The Art of the Deal'' would be an easy project. The book's structure would be simple: he'd chronicle half a dozen or so of Trump's biggest real-estate deals, dispense some bromides about how to succeed in business, and fill in Trump's life story. For research, he planned to interview Trump on a series of Saturday mornings. The first session didn't go as planned, however. After Trump gave him a tour of his marble-and-gilt apartment atop Trump Tower'--which, to Schwartz, looked unlived-in, like the lobby of a hotel'--they began to talk. But the discussion was soon hobbled by what Schwartz regards as one of Trump's most essential characteristics: ''He has no attention span.''
In those days, Schwartz recalls, Trump was generally affable with reporters, offering short, amusingly immodest quotes on demand. Trump had been forthcoming with him during the New York interview, but it hadn't required much time or deep reflection. For the book, though, Trump needed to provide him with sustained, thoughtful recollections. He asked Trump to describe his childhood in detail. After sitting for only a few minutes in his suit and tie, Trump became impatient and irritable. He looked fidgety, Schwartz recalls, ''like a kindergartner who can't sit still in a classroom.'' Even when Schwartz pressed him, Trump seemed to remember almost nothing of his youth, and made it clear that he was bored. Far more quickly than Schwartz had expected, Trump ended the meeting.
Week after week, the pattern repeated itself. Schwartz tried to limit the sessions to smaller increments of time, but Trump's contributions remained oddly truncated and superficial.
''Trump has been written about a thousand ways from Sunday, but this fundamental aspect of who he is doesn't seem to be fully understood,'' Schwartz told me. ''It's implicit in a lot of what people write, but it's never explicit'--or, at least, I haven't seen it. And that is that it's impossible to keep him focussed on any topic, other than his own self-aggrandizement, for more than a few minutes, and even then . . . '' Schwartz trailed off, shaking his head in amazement. He regards Trump's inability to concentrate as alarming in a Presidential candidate. ''If he had to be briefed on a crisis in the Situation Room, it's impossible to imagine him paying attention over a long period of time,'' he said.
In a recent phone interview, Trump told me that, to the contrary, he has the skill that matters most in a crisis: the ability to forge compromises. The reason he touted ''The Art of the Deal'' in his announcement, he explained, was that he believes that recent Presidents have lacked his toughness and finesse: ''Look at the trade deficit with China. Look at the Iran deal. I've made a fortune by making deals. I do that. I do that well. That's what I do.''
But Schwartz believes that Trump's short attention span has left him with ''a stunning level of superficial knowledge and plain ignorance.'' He said, ''That's why he so prefers TV as his first news source'--information comes in easily digestible sound bites.'' He added, ''I seriously doubt that Trump has ever read a book straight through in his adult life.'' During the eighteen months that he observed Trump, Schwartz said, he never saw a book on Trump's desk, or elsewhere in his office, or in his apartment.
Other journalists have noticed Trump's apparent lack of interest in reading. In May, Megyn Kelly, of Fox News, asked him to name his favorite book, other than the Bible or ''The Art of the Deal.'' Trump picked the 1929 novel ''All Quiet on the Western Front.'' Evidently suspecting that many years had elapsed since he'd read it, Kelly asked Trump to talk about the most recent book he'd read. ''I read passages, I read areas, I'll read chapters'--I don't have the time,'' Trump said. As The New Republic noted recently, this attitude is not shared by most U.S. Presidents, including Barack Obama, a habitual consumer of current books, and George W. Bush, who reportedly engaged in a fiercely competitive book-reading contest with his political adviser Karl Rove.
Trump's first wife, Ivana, famously claimed that Trump kept a copy of Adolf Hitler's collected speeches, ''My New Order,'' in a cabinet beside his bed. In 1990, Trump's friend Marty Davis, who was then an executive at Paramount, added credence to this story, telling Marie Brenner, of Vanity Fair, that he had given Trump the book. ''I thought he would find it interesting,'' Davis told her. When Brenner asked Trump about it, however, he mistakenly identified the volume as a different work by Hitler: ''Mein Kampf.'' Apparently, he had not so much as read the title. ''If I had these speeches, and I am not saying that I do, I would never read them,'' Trump told Brenner.
Growing desperate, Schwartz devised a strategy for trapping Trump into giving more material. He made plans to spend the weekend with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, his mansion in Palm Beach, where there would be fewer distractions. As they chatted in the garden, Ivana icily walked by, clearly annoyed that Schwartz was competing for her husband's limited free time. Trump again grew impatient. Long before lunch on Saturday, Schwartz recalls, Trump ''essentially threw a fit.'' He stood up and announced that he couldn't stand any more questions.
Schwartz went to his room, called his literary agent, Kathy Robbins, and told her that he couldn't do the book. (Robbins confirms this.) As Schwartz headed back to New York, though, he came up with another plan. He would propose eavesdropping on Trump's life by following him around on the job and, more important, by listening in on his office phone calls. That way, extracting extended reflections from Trump would not be required. When Schwartz presented the idea to Trump, he loved it. Almost every day from then on, Schwartz sat about eight feet away from him in the Trump Tower office, listening on an extension of Trump's phone line. Schwartz says that none of the bankers, lawyers, brokers, and reporters who called Trump realized that they were being monitored. The calls usually didn't last long, and Trump's assistant facilitated the conversation-hopping. While he was talking with someone, she often came in with a Post-it note informing him of the next caller on hold.
''He was playing people,'' Schwartz recalls. On the phone with business associates, Trump would flatter, bully, and occasionally get mad, but always in a calculated way. Before the discussion ended, Trump would ''share the news of his latest success,'' Schwartz says. Instead of saying goodbye at the end of a call, Trump customarily signed off with ''You're the greatest!'' There was not a single call that Trump deemed too private for Schwartz to hear. ''He loved the attention,'' Schwartz recalls. ''If he could have had three hundred thousand people listening in, he would have been even happier.''
This year, Schwartz has heard some argue that there must be a more thoughtful and nuanced version of Donald Trump that he is keeping in reserve for after the campaign. ''There isn't,'' Schwartz insists. ''There is no private Trump.'' This is not a matter of hindsight. While working on ''The Art of the Deal,'' Schwartz kept a journal in which he expressed his amazement at Trump's personality, writing that Trump seemed driven entirely by a need for public attention. ''All he is is 'stomp, stomp, stomp''--recognition from outside, bigger, more, a whole series of things that go nowhere in particular,'' he observed, on October 21, 1986. But, as he noted in the journal a few days later, ''the book will be far more successful if Trump is a sympathetic character'--even weirdly sympathetic'--than if he is just hateful or, worse yet, a one-dimensional blowhard.''
Eavesdropping solved the interview problem, but it presented a new one. After hearing Trump's discussions about business on the phone, Schwartz asked him brief follow-up questions. He then tried to amplify the material he got from Trump by calling others involved in the deals. But their accounts often directly conflicted with Trump's. ''Lying is second nature to him,'' Schwartz said. ''More than anyone else I have ever met, Trump has the ability to convince himself that whatever he is saying at any given moment is true, or sort of true, or at least ought to be true.'' Often, Schwartz said, the lies that Trump told him were about money'--''how much he had paid for something, or what a building he owned was worth, or how much one of his casinos was earning when it was actually on its way to bankruptcy.'' Trump bragged that he paid only eight million dollars for Mar-a-Lago, but omitted that he bought a nearby strip of beach for a record sum. After gossip columns reported, erroneously, that Prince Charles was considering buying several apartments in Trump Tower, Trump implied that he had no idea where the rumor had started. (''It certainly didn't hurt us,'' he says, in ''The Art of the Deal.'') Wayne Barrett, a reporter for the Village Voice, later revealed that Trump himself had planted the story with journalists. Schwartz also suspected that Trump engaged in such media tricks, and asked him about a story making the rounds'--that Trump often called up news outlets using a pseudonym. Trump didn't deny it. As Schwartz recalls, he smirked and said, ''You like that, do you?''
Schwartz says of Trump, ''He lied strategically. He had a complete lack of conscience about it.'' Since most people are ''constrained by the truth,'' Trump's indifference to it ''gave him a strange advantage.''
When challenged about the facts, Schwartz says, Trump would often double down, repeat himself, and grow belligerent. This quality was recently on display after Trump posted on Twitter a derogatory image of Hillary Clinton that contained a six-pointed star lifted from a white-supremacist Web site. Campaign staffers took the image down, but two days later Trump angrily defended it, insisting that there was no anti-Semitic implication. Whenever ''the thin veneer of Trump's vanity is challenged,'' Schwartz says, he overreacts'--not an ideal quality in a head of state.
When Schwartz began writing ''The Art of the Deal,'' he realized that he needed to put an acceptable face on Trump's loose relationship with the truth. So he concocted an artful euphemism. Writing in Trump's voice, he explained to the reader, ''I play to people's fantasies. . . . People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. It's an innocent form of exaggeration'--and it's a very effective form of promotion.'' Schwartz now disavows the passage. ''Deceit,'' he told me, is never ''innocent.'' He added, '' 'Truthful hyperbole' is a contradiction in terms. It's a way of saying, 'It's a lie, but who cares?' '' Trump, he said, loved the phrase.
In his journal, Schwartz describes the process of trying to make Trump's voice palatable in the book. It was kind of ''a trick,'' he writes, to mimic Trump's blunt, staccato, no-apologies delivery while making him seem almost boyishly appealing. One strategy was to make it appear that Trump was just having fun at the office. ''I try not to take any of what's happened too seriously,'' Trump says in the book. ''The real excitement is playing the game.''
In his journal, Schwartz wrote, ''Trump stands for many of the things I abhor: his willingness to run over people, the gaudy, tacky, gigantic obsessions, the absolute lack of interest in anything beyond power and money.'' Looking back at the text now, Schwartz says, ''I created a character far more winning than Trump actually is.'' The first line of the book is an example. ''I don't do it for the money,'' Trump declares. ''I've got enough, much more than I'll ever need. I do it to do it. Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That's how I get my kicks.'' Schwartz now laughs at this depiction of Trump as a devoted artisan. ''Of course he's in it for the money,'' he said. ''One of the most deep and basic needs he has is to prove that 'I'm richer than you.' '' As for the idea that making deals is a form of poetry, Schwartz says, ''He was incapable of saying something like that'--it wouldn't even be in his vocabulary.'' He saw Trump as driven not by a pure love of dealmaking but by an insatiable hunger for ''money, praise, and celebrity.'' Often, after spending the day with Trump, and watching him pile one hugely expensive project atop the next, like a circus performer spinning plates, Schwartz would go home and tell his wife, ''He's a living black hole!''
Schwartz reminded himself that he was being paid to tell Trump's story, not his own, but the more he worked on the project the more disturbing he found it. In his journal, he describes the hours he spent with Trump as ''draining'' and ''deadening.'' Schwartz told me that Trump's need for attention is ''completely compulsive,'' and that his bid for the Presidency is part of a continuum. ''He's managed to keep increasing the dose for forty years,'' Schwartz said. After he'd spent decades as a tabloid titan, ''the only thing left was running for President. If he could run for emperor of the world, he would.''
Rhetorically, Schwartz's aim in ''The Art of the Deal'' was to present Trump as the hero of every chapter, but, after looking into some of his supposedly brilliant deals, Schwartz concluded that there were cases in which there was no way to make Trump look good. So he sidestepped unflattering incidents and details. ''I didn't consider it my job to investigate,'' he says.
Schwartz also tried to avoid the strong whiff of cronyism that hovered over some deals. In his 1986 journal, he describes what a challenge it was to ''put his best foot forward'' in writing about one of Trump's first triumphs: his development, starting in 1975, of the Grand Hyatt Hotel, on the site of the former Commodore Hotel, next to Grand Central Terminal. In order to afford the hotel, Trump required an extremely large tax abatement. Richard Ravitch, who was then in charge of the agency that had the authority to grant such tax breaks to developers, recalls that he declined to grant the abatement, and Trump got ''so unpleasant I had to tell him to get out.'' Trump got it anyway, largely because key city officials had received years of donations from his father, Fred Trump, who was a major real-estate developer in Queens. Wayne Barrett, whose reporting for the Voice informed his definitive 1991 book, ''Trump: The Deals and the Downfall,'' says, ''It was all Fred's political connections that created the abatement.'' In addition, Trump snookered rivals into believing that he had an exclusive option from the city on the project, when he didn't. Trump also deceived his partner in the deal, Jay Pritzker, the head of the Hyatt Hotel chain. Pritzker had rejected an unfavorable term proposed by Trump, but at the closing Trump forced it through, knowing that Pritzker was on a mountain in Nepal and could not be reached. Schwartz wrote in his journal that ''almost everything'' about the hotel deal had ''an immoral cast.'' But as the ghostwriter he was ''trying hard to find my way around'' behavior that he considered ''if not reprehensible, at least morally questionable.''
Many tall tales that Trump told Schwartz contained a kernel of truth but made him out to be cleverer than he was. One of Trump's favorite stories was about how he had tricked the company that owned Holiday Inn into becoming his partner in an Atlantic City casino. Trump claimed that he had quieted executives' fears of construction delays by ordering his construction supervisor to make a vacant lot that he owned look like ''the most active construction site in the history of the world.'' As Trump tells it in ''The Art of the Deal,'' there were so many dump trucks and bulldozers pushing around dirt and filling holes that had just been dug that when Holiday Inn executives visited the site it ''looked as if we were in the midst of building the Grand Coulee Dam.'' The stunt, Trump claimed, pushed the deal through. After the book came out, though, a consultant for Trump's casinos, Al Glasgow, who is now deceased, told Schwartz, ''It never happened.'' There may have been one or two trucks, but not the fleet that made it a great story.
Schwartz tamped down some of Trump's swagger, but plenty of it remained. The manuscript that Random House published was, depending on your perspective, either entertainingly insightful or shamelessly self-aggrandizing. To borrow a title from Norman Mailer, who frequently attended prizefights at Trump's Atlantic City hotels, the book could have been called ''Advertisements for Myself.''
In 2005, Timothy L. O'Brien, an award-winning journalist who is currently the executive editor of Bloomberg View, published ''Trump Nation,'' a meticulous investigative biography. (Trump unsuccessfully sued him for libel.) O'Brien has taken a close look at ''The Art of the Deal,'' and he told me that it might be best characterized as a ''nonfiction work of fiction.'' Trump's life story, as told by Schwartz, honestly chronicled a few setbacks, such as Trump's disastrous 1983 purchase of the New Jersey Generals, a football team in the flailing United States Football League. But O'Brien believes that Trump used the book to turn almost every step of his life, both personal and professional, into a ''glittering fable.''
Some of the falsehoods in ''The Art of the Deal'' are minor. Spy upended Trump's claims that Ivana had been a ''top model'' and an alternate on the Czech Olympic ski team. Barrett notes that in ''The Art of the Deal'' Trump describes his father as having been born in New Jersey to Swedish parents; in fact, he was born in the Bronx to German parents. (Decades later, Trump spread falsehoods about Obama's origins, claiming it was possible that the President was born in Africa.)
In ''The Art of the Deal,'' Trump portrays himself as a warm family man with endless admirers. He praises Ivana's taste and business skill'--''I said you can't bet against Ivana, and she proved me right.'' But Schwartz noticed little warmth or communication between Trump and Ivana, and he later learned that while ''The Art of the Deal'' was being written Trump began an affair with Marla Maples, who became his second wife. (He divorced Ivana in 1992.) As far as Schwartz could tell, Trump spent very little time with his family and had no close friends. In ''The Art of the Deal,'' Trump describes Roy Cohn, his personal lawyer, in the warmest terms, calling him ''the sort of guy who'd be there at your hospital bed . . . literally standing by you to the death.'' Cohn, who in the fifties assisted Senator Joseph McCarthy in his vicious crusade against Communism, was closeted. He felt abandoned by Trump when he became fatally ill from AIDS, and said, ''Donald pisses ice water.'' Schwartz says of Trump, ''He'd like people when they were helpful, and turn on them when they weren't. It wasn't personal. He's a transactional man'--it was all about what you could do for him.''
According to Barrett, among the most misleading aspects of ''The Art of the Deal'' was the idea that Trump made it largely on his own, with only minimal help from his father, Fred. Barrett, in his book, notes that Trump once declared, ''The working man likes me because he knows I didn't inherit what I've built,'' and that in ''The Art of the Deal'' he derides wealthy heirs as members of ''the Lucky Sperm Club.''
Trump's self-portrayal as a Horatio Alger figure has buttressed his populist appeal in 2016. But his origins were hardly humble. Fred's fortune, based on his ownership of middle-income properties, wasn't glamorous, but it was sizable: in 2003, a few years after Fred died, Trump and his siblings reportedly sold some of their father's real-estate holdings for half a billion dollars. In ''The Art of the Deal,'' Trump cites his father as ''the most important influence on me,'' but in his telling his father's main legacy was teaching him the importance of ''toughness.'' Beyond that, Schwartz says, Trump ''barely talked about his father'--he didn't want his success to be seen as having anything to do with him.'' But when Barrett investigated he found that Trump's father was instrumental in his son's rise, financially and politically. In the book, Trump says that ''my energy and my enthusiasm'' explain how, as a twenty-nine-year-old with few accomplishments, he acquired the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Barrett reports, however, that Trump's father had to co-sign the many contracts that the deal required. He also lent Trump seven and a half million dollars to get started as a casino owner in Atlantic City; at one point, when Trump couldn't meet payments on other loans, his father tried to tide him over by sending a lawyer to buy some three million dollars' worth of gambling chips. Barrett told me, ''Donald did make some smart moves himself, particularly in assembling the site for the Trump Tower. That was a stroke of genius.'' Nonetheless, he said, ''The notion that he's a self-made man is a joke. But I guess they couldn't call the book 'The Art of My Father's Deals.' ''
The other key myth perpetuated by ''The Art of the Deal'' was that Trump's intuitions about business were almost flawless. ''The book helped fuel the notion that he couldn't fail,'' Barrett said. But, unbeknown to Schwartz and the public, by late 1987, when the book came out, Trump was heading toward what Barrett calls ''simultaneous personal and professional self-destruction.'' O'Brien agrees that during the next several years Trump's life unravelled. The divorce from Ivana reportedly cost him twenty-five million dollars. Meanwhile, he was in the midst of what O'Brien calls ''a crazy shopping spree that resulted in unmanageable debt.'' He was buying the Plaza Hotel and also planning to erect ''the tallest building in the world,'' on the former rail yards that he had bought on the West Side. In 1987, the city denied him permission to construct such a tall skyscraper, but in ''The Art of the Deal'' he brushed off this failure with a one-liner: ''I can afford to wait.'' O'Brien says, ''The reality is that he couldn't afford to wait. He was telling the media that the carrying costs were three million dollars, when in fact they were more like twenty million.'' Trump was also building a third casino in Atlantic City, the Taj, which he promised would be ''the biggest casino in history.'' He bought the Eastern Air Lines shuttle that operated out of New York, Boston, and Washington, rechristening it the Trump Shuttle, and acquired a giant yacht, the Trump Princess. ''He was on a total run of complete and utter self-absorption,'' Barrett says, adding, ''It's kind of like now.''
Schwartz said that when he was writing the book ''the greatest percentage of Trump's assets was in casinos, and he made it sound like each casino was more successful than the last. But every one of them was failing.'' He went on, ''I think he was just spinning. I don't think he could have believed it at the time. He was losing millions of dollars a day. He had to have been terrified.''
In 1992, the journalist David Cay Johnston published a book about casinos, ''Temples of Chance,'' and cited a net-worth statement from 1990 that assessed Trump's personal wealth. It showed that Trump owed nearly three hundred million dollars more to his creditors than his assets were worth. The next year, his company was forced into bankruptcy'--the first of six such instances. The Trump meteor had crashed.
But in ''The Art of the Deal,'' O'Brien told me, ''Trump shrewdly and unabashedly promoted an image of himself as a dealmaker nonpareil who could always get the best out of every situation'--and who can now deliver America from its malaise.'' This idealized version was presented to an exponentially larger audience, O'Brien noted, when Mark Burnett, the reality-television producer, read ''The Art of the Deal'' and decided to base a new show on it, ''The Apprentice,'' with Trump as the star. The first season of the show, which premi¨red in 2004, opens with Trump in the back of a limousine, boasting, ''I've mastered the art of the deal, and I've turned the name Trump into the highest-quality brand.'' An image of the book's cover flashes onscreen as Trump explains that, as the ''master,'' he is now seeking an apprentice. O'Brien said, '' 'The Apprentice' is mythmaking on steroids. There's a straight line from the book to the show to the 2016 campaign.''
It took Schwartz a little more than a year to write ''The Art of the Deal.'' In the spring of 1987, he sent the manuscript to Trump, who returned it to him shortly afterward. There were a few red marks made with a fat-tipped Magic Marker, most of which deleted criticisms that Trump had made of powerful individuals he no longer wanted to offend, such as Lee Iacocca. Otherwise, Schwartz says, Trump changed almost nothing.
In my phone interview with Trump, he initially said of Schwartz, ''Tony was very good. He was the co-author.'' But he dismissed Schwartz's account of the writing process. ''He didn't write the book,'' Trump told me. ''I wrote the book. I wrote the book. It was my book. And it was a No. 1 best-seller, and one of the best-selling business books of all time. Some say it was the best-selling business book ever.'' (It is not.) Howard Kaminsky, the former Random House head, laughed and said, ''Trump didn't write a postcard for us!''
Trump was far more involved in the book's promotion. He wooed booksellers and made one television appearance after another. He publicly promised to donate his cut of the book's royalties to charity. He even made a surprise trip to New Hampshire, where he stirred additional publicity by floating the possibility that he might run for President.
In December of 1987, a month after the book was published, Trump hosted an extravagant book party in the pink marble atrium of Trump Tower. Klieg lights lit a red carpet outside the building. Inside, nearly a thousand guests, in black tie, were served champagne and fed slices of a giant cake replica of Trump Tower, which was wheeled in by a parade of women waving red sparklers. The boxing promoter Don King greeted the crowd in a floor-length mink coat, and the comedian Jackie Mason introduced Donald and Ivana with the words ''Here comes the king and queen!'' Trump toasted Schwartz, saying teasingly that he had at least tried to teach him how to make money.
Schwartz got more of an education the next day, when he and Trump spoke on the phone. After chatting briefly about the party, Trump informed Schwartz that, as his ghostwriter, he owed him for half the event's cost, which was in the six figures. Schwartz was dumbfounded. ''He wanted me to split the cost of entertaining his list of nine hundred second-rate celebrities?'' Schwartz had, in fact, learned a few things from watching Trump. He drastically negotiated down the amount that he agreed to pay, to a few thousand dollars, and then wrote Trump a letter promising to write a check not to Trump but to a charity of Schwartz's choosing. It was a page out of Trump's playbook. In the past seven years, Trump has promised to give millions of dollars to charity, but reporters for the Washington Post found that they could document only ten thousand dollars in donations'--and they uncovered no direct evidence that Trump made charitable contributions from money earned by ''The Art of the Deal.''
Not long after the discussion of the party bills, Trump approached Schwartz about writing a sequel, for which Trump had been offered a seven-figure advance. This time, however, he offered Schwartz only a third of the profits. He pointed out that, because the advance was much bigger, the payout would be, too. But Schwartz said no. Feeling deeply alienated, he instead wrote a book called ''What Really Matters,'' about the search for meaning in life. After working with Trump, Schwartz writes, he felt a ''gnawing emptiness'' and became a ''seeker,'' longing to ''be connected to something timeless and essential, more real.''
Schwartz told me that he has decided to pledge all royalties from sales of ''The Art of the Deal'' in 2016 to pointedly chosen charities: the National Immigration Law Center, Human Rights Watch, the Center for the Victims of Torture, the National Immigration Forum, and the Tahirih Justice Center. He doesn't feel that the gesture absolves him. ''I'll carry this until the end of my life,'' he said. ''There's no righting it. But I like the idea that, the more copies that 'The Art of the Deal' sells, the more money I can donate to the people whose rights Trump seeks to abridge.''
Schwartz expected Trump to attack him for speaking out, and he was correct. Informed that Schwartz had made critical remarks about him, and wouldn't be voting for him, Trump said, ''He's probably just doing it for the publicity.'' He also said, ''Wow. That's great disloyalty, because I made Tony rich. He owes a lot to me. I helped him when he didn't have two cents in his pocket. It's great disloyalty. I guess he thinks it's good for him'--but he'll find out it's not good for him.''
Minutes after Trump got off the phone with me, Schwartz's cell phone rang. ''I hear you're not voting for me,'' Trump said. ''I just talked to The New Yorker'--which, by the way, is a failing magazine that no one reads'--and I heard you were critical of me.''
''You're running for President,'' Schwartz said. ''I disagree with a lot of what you're saying.''
''That's your right, but then you should have just remained silent. I just want to tell you that I think you're very disloyal. Without me, you wouldn't be where you are now. I had a lot of choice of who to have write the book, and I chose you, and I was very generous with you. I know that you gave a lot of speeches and lectures using 'The Art of the Deal.' I could have sued you, but I didn't.''
''My business has nothing to do with 'The Art of the Deal.' ''
''That's not what I've been told.''
''You're running for President of the United States. The stakes here are high.''
''Yeah, they are,'' he said. ''Have a nice life.'' Trump hung up.
Schwartz can understand why Trump feels stung, but he felt that he had to speak up before it was too late. As for Trump's anger toward him, he said, ''I don't take it personally, because the truth is he didn't mean it personally. People are dispensable and disposable in Trump's world.'' If Trump is elected President, he warned, ''the millions of people who voted for him and believe that he represents their interests will learn what anyone who deals closely with him already knows'--that he couldn't care less about them.'' '...
This article appears in other versions of the July 25, 2016, issue, with the headline ''Trump's Boswell Speaks.''
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Ballots With Sanders Votes Covered with White-Out Filmed by Election Monitors in San Diego - USAPoliticsNow
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 01:09
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, an open Hillary Clinton supporter who headlined a fundraiser for Clinton in Riverside on May 21st, has been sued, before and after the primary, for presiding over an election in which many independent voters were given the wrong instructions. Another lawsuit has just been filed asking the court to halt the impending certification of the primary election results for Clinton until all the ballots are counted and questions answered.
Due to citizen pressure, provisional ballots continue to be counted in California and have so far tipped the counties of Glenn, San Bernardino, and San Luis Obispo to Sanders.
The extraordinary citizen reporting in San Diego caps an extraordinarily contentiousDemocratic primary season, in which election analysts have contended that Bernie Sanders actually won, or did better than officially reported, in many critical states. Sanders rallies topped 30,000 and 40,000 people, filling stadiums, while it was noted that Hillary's Clinton's crowds frequently did not fill high school auditoriums.
Clinton supporters have met every contention of fraud with dismissal that such allegations are ''CT,'' for ''conspiracy theories.''
In the HBO documentary ''Hacking Democracy,'' a demonstration shows how an optical ballot scanner can be secretly, and easily, tampered with, to show vote totals which even election officials are unaware have been tampered with.
The mainstream media has published numerous denials that there has been any evidence of vote tampering on behalf of Clinton, even as incidents such as those witnessed in Illinois and San Diego have been ignored by the same media. Election integrity activists have raised issues with the Democratic primaries almost from the start, in the Iowa causes.
In Massachusetts, another key primary, election watchers have submitted that in districts in which ballots are counted by hand, Sanders won by an average of 17%, whereas in districts where ballots are counted by machine, Clinton won by just over one percent.
Other analysts studying exit polls contend there is strong evidence, warranting further investigation, that Sanders had in actuality done better, in some cases much better, than reported in the states of Texas, Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois, Connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee, and Massachusetts.
A recent study performed by graduate students at Stanford University concluded that:
''DATA SUGGEST THAT ELECTION FRAUD IS OCCURRING IN THE 2016 DEMOCRATIC PARTY PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ELECTION. THIS FRAUD HAS OVERWHELMINGLY BENEFITED SECRETARY CLINTON AT THE EXPENSE OF SENATOR SANDERS.'' 'ª
Nevertheless, media coverage continues to treat the nomination of Hillary Clinton at the Democratic convention as inevitable. What is not clear is if Sanders forces will marshall challenges to the seating of Clinton delegates based on evidence of election fraud.
Criminal election fraud is defined in the US laws and is subject to investigation by the US Department of Justice. A 2012 US Department of Justice directive to the Department's ''Criminal Division and the Department's 94 U.S. Attorneys' Offices,'' states that:
''THE CRIMINAL DIVISION'S PUBLIC INTEGRITY SECTION AND THE DEPARTMENT'S 94 U.S. ATTORNEYS' OFFICES ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ENFORCING THE FEDERAL CRIMINAL LAWS THAT PROHIBIT VARIOUS FORMS OF ELECTION FRAUD, SUCH AS VOTE BUYING, MULTIPLE VOTING, SUBMISSION OF FRAUDULENT BALLOTS OR REGISTRATIONS, DESTRUCTION OF BALLOTS OR REGISTRATIONS, ALTERATION OF VOTES AND MALFEASANCE BY ELECTION OFFICIALS'...''
The federal government asserts jurisdiction over election fraud taking place both in primaries and general elections, citing US Supreme Court precedent which:
''RECOGNIZED THAT PRIMARY ELECTIONS ARE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE PROCESS BY WHICH CANDIDATES ARE ELECTED TO OFFICE.''
Lawsuits challenging Clinton's claim to pledged delegates having been filed in California,New York, Arizona, Illinois, and Massachusetts, and official investigations into voter suppression tactics have been announced in New York,Arizona, and Kentucky.
Tiny Wall Erected Around Donald Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame Star | KTLA
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 07:49
A 6-inch-tall wall, complete with barbed wire and tiny American flags, was erected around Donald Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame star this week.
A 6-inch concrete wall was placed around Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 19, 2016. (Credit: Plastic Jesus)
A Los Angeles-based street artist who goes by Plastic Jesus set up this political statement piece on Tuesday, sharing photos of the sight on social media.
The wall around the GOP presidential candidate's star, at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. in front of Forever 21 at the Hollywood & Highland Center, attracted quite a few photo-snapping sightseers.
L.A. Weekly first reported the mini-installation on Tuesday evening, attributing the work to Plastic Jesus. The artist on Instagram said ''someone'' built the wall, but also made available photos for download on his website.
People take photos of a tiny wall around Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 19, 2016. (Credit: Plastic Jesus)
Intensely focused on immigration, Trump has vowed to build a wall between Mexico and the United States. The Republican Party has embraced that plan, with Republican National Convention delegates on Monday approving a 2016 platform that codifies that support.
''The border wall must cover the entirety of the southern border and must be sufficient to stop both vehicular and pedestrian traffic,'' the platform reads.
As for the tiny wall around Trump's star, which was installed in 2007, it's not clear how long it was in place. It was no longer there as of about 9:45 a.m. Wednesday.
Plastic Jesus has also created ''No Trump Anytime'' fake parking signs.
A 6-inch concrete wall was placed around Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 19, 2016. (Credit: Plastic Jesus)
34.102608-118.339981
Sheriff - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 01:28
Historically, a sheriff was a legal official with responsibility for a "shire" or county. In modern times, the specific combination of legal, political and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country.
In the United States, a sheriff is a sworn law enforcement officer and the duties of his/her office vary across states and counties. A sheriff is generally an elected county official, with duties that typically include policing unincorporated areas, maintaining county jails, providing security to courts in the county, and (in some states) serving warrants and court papers. In addition to these policing and correction services, a sheriff is often responsible for enforcing civil law within his/her jurisdiction.A sheriff (or High sheriff) is a ceremonial county or city official in England, Wales, Northern Ireland.In Scotland, sheriffs are judges.[1]In the Republic of Ireland, sheriffs are legal officials similar to bailiffs in some counties and in the cities of Dublin and Cork.In Australia and South Africa sheriffs are legal officials similar to bailiffs. In these countries there is no link maintained between counties and sheriffs.In Canada, sheriffs exist in most provinces. The provincial sheriff services generally manage and transport court prisoners, serve court orders, and in some provinces sheriffs provide security for the court system, protect public officials, support investigations by local police services and in Alberta, sheriffs carry out traffic enforcement.In British English, the political or legal office of a sheriff, term of office of a sheriff, or jurisdiction of a sheriff, is called a shrievalty.[2]
The word "sheriff" is a contraction of the term "shirereeve". The term, from the Old EnglishscÄrgerefa, designated a royal official responsible for keeping the peace (a "reeve") throughout a shire or county on behalf of the king.[3] The term was preserved in England notwithstanding the Norman Conquest. From the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the term spread to several other regions, at an early point to Scotland, latterly to Ireland and to the United States.
AustraliaEditThe office of sheriff was first established in Australia in 1824. This was simultaneous with the appointment of the first Chief Justice of New South Wales. The role of the sheriff has not been static, nor[clarification needed] is it executing court judgements, acting as a coroner, transporting prisoners, managing the gaols and formally carrying out executions (through an anonymous hangman).[citation needed]
Australia no longer applies capital punishment. A state government department (usually called the Department of Corrections or similar) now runs the state prison system.[citation needed]
The sheriff is now largely responsible for enforcing the civil orders and fines of the court (seizing and selling the property of judgement debtors who do not satisfy the debt), providing court security, enforcing arrest warrants, evictions, and running the jury system.[4][5] Some State Sheriffs can also apply sanctions ranging from suspending driving licences and car registration to wheel clamping and arranging community service orders and as a last resort make arrests.[citation needed]
CanadaEditSome provinces in Canada operate sheriffs services. They are primarily concerned with services such as courtroom security, post-arrest prisoner transfer, serving legal processes and executing civil judgements. Sheriffs are defined under section 2 of the Criminal Code as "peace officers". In parts of Canada not covered by a sheriffs service, bailiff functions are handled directly by the provincial police or by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as appropriate.
AlbertaEditIn 2006, the Province of Alberta expanded the duties[6] of the provincial sheriffs service to include tasks such as court security and prisoner transport, traffic enforcement, executive protection and some investigation functions (SISU and SCAN). As of June 2008, The provincial sheriffs service consists of 105 traffic sheriffs who are assigned to one of seven regions in the province. Sheriffs also assist various police services in Alberta with prisoner management.
British ColumbiaEditThe responsibilities of sheriffs in the Province of British Columbia include providing security for the Provincial Court, Supreme Court, and Court of Appeal; planning high-security trials; providing an intelligence unit; assessing threats towards public officials and those employed in the justice system; protecting judges and Crown prosecutors; managing detention cells; transporting prisoners by ground and air; managing and providing protection for juries; serving court-related documents; executing court orders and warrants; and assisting with the coroner's court.
Nova ScotiaEditIn the Province of Nova Scotia, the sheriffs service focuses on the safety and security of the judiciary, court staff, the public, and persons in custody. There are local sheriffs for every county in Nova Scotia, numbering over 200 in total. They work with up to 20,000 inmates and travel over 2 million kilometers in a year. Sheriffs are responsible for: court security; the transportation of prisoners to and from institutions and all levels of court; the service of some civil and criminal documents; and the execution of court orders. [7]
IcelandEditIn Iceland, sheriffs (or magistrates) (Icelandic: s½sluma°ur (singular), s½slumenn (plural)) are administrators of the state, holders of the executive power in their jurisdiction and heads of their Sheriff's Office. Sheriffs are in charge of certain legal matters that typically involve registration of some sort and executing the orders of the court. The duties of the sheriffs differ slightly depending on their jurisdiction but they can be broadly categorised as:
Duties of all sheriffs except in Reykjavk: collection of public fees, publication of licences and permits for various personal and business purposes and more.[9]There are 24 sheriffs and sheriff jurisdictions in Iceland. The jurisdictions are not defined by the administrative divisions of Iceland but are mainly a mixture of counties and municipalities.
The post of sheriff was mandated by the Old Covenant, an agreement between the Icelandic Commonwealth and the Kingdom of Norway. The agreement which was ratified between 1262 and 1264 makes the post of sheriff the oldest secular position of government still operating in Iceland.[11]
IndiaEditAmong cities in India, only Mumbai (Bombay), Kolkata (Calcutta) and Chennai (Madras), the three former British Presidencies, have a sheriff. The sheriff has an apolitical, non-executive role. Sheriffs preside over various city-related functions and conferences and welcome foreign guests. The post is second to the mayor in the protocol list
Republic of IrelandEditSheriffs have been appointed in Ireland since the Norman conquest (late 12th century) to enforce court judgements. In the modern day, a sheriff (Irish: sirriam) is an officer who collects taxes on behalf of the Collector General (part of the Revenue Commissioners). There are 16 sheriffs in the country: two in Dublin, two in Cork City and twelve for the rest of the country. These twelve sheriffs are also County Registrars. Sheriffs enforce the repayment of a debt which has been specified by court order. This can be in the form of payment or, failing that, in the removal and subsequent disposal of assets (a property and/or its contents).[12]
United StatesEditIn the United States, the scope of a sheriff varies across states and counties (which in Louisiana are called "parishes"). The sheriff is most often an elected county official, and serves as the law enforcement arm of the county or parish court. The sheriff enforces court orders and mandates, typically serving as the chief civil law enforcement officer of their jurisdiction. These may include such functions as performing evictions, seizing property and assets pursuant to court orders, serving warrants and legal papers. In some counties, a sheriff may be restricted to these civil procedure enforcement duties while in urban areas that have their own police departments, while in other counties, the sheriff may serve as the principal police force and have jurisdiction over all of the county's municipalities, regardless if they have their own city or town police department. A sheriff often administers the county jails and is responsible for court security functions within his/her jurisdiction.
Meredith Mciver is a registered democrat
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 07:48
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, July 20, 2016, 2:24 PM
Staff writer Meredith McIver may work for the GOP presidential nominee '-- but she votes for Democrats.
McIver, 65, the speechwriter who claims she inadvertently caused Melania Trump's plagiarism during the Republican National Convention, is a longtime staff writer for the Trump organization who lives on the Upper West Side and is a registered Dem.
Her bio shows she's been working for Donald Trump since 2001 '-- and they've co-authored numerous books together for several publishers, including the 2004 hit ''Trump: How to Get Rich.''
According to her bio for All American Speakers, McIver is a ''close associate'' of the bombastic billionaire.
Trump speechwriter takes blame for Melania's plagiarized speech
McIver helped share the ''secrets of (Trump's) success'' in their co-authored books, her bio said.
She helped him present lessons ''learned from 'The Apprentice,' his real estate empire, his position as head of the 20,000-member Trump Organization, and his most important role, as a father who has successfully taught his children the value of money and hard work,'' the page continued.
Prior to joining Trump's organization, McIver said she worked on Wall Street.
She was originally from San Jose, Calif., was a Ford Foundation scholar at 14 and also claimed to have been a dancer who trained at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet.
INTERACTIVE FEATURE: See how the Daily News has covered Donald Trump's scandals for 30 years
She graduated with honors from the University of Utah in English, her bio said.
Other Trump books McIver has coauthored include:
''Trump Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges Into Success,'' March 2010.''Trump 101: The Way to Success,'' May 2009.''Think Like a Champion: An Informal Education in Business and Life,'' April 2009.''Trump: Think Like a Billionaire: Everything You Need to Know About Success, Real Estate and Life,'' October 2004.Tags:donald trumpmelania trumprepublican national convention2016 electionSend a Letter to the EditorJoin the Conversation:facebookTweet
Urban Dictionary: my word is my bond
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 21:11
Urban Dictionary: my word is my bondIt's a maritime brokers' motto. Since 1801 the motto of the London Stock Exchange (in Latin "dictum meum pactum") where bargains are made with no exchange of documents and no written pledges being given.
"My word is my bond" as brokers say (or "my word, my bond!")
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The Origins Of The Phrase ''Word Is Bond'' ' Word Is Bond
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 21:09
Hip Hop Music became a global phenomenon through multiple cultural exports, the most famous of which was emceeing, break dancing, graffiti and deejaying. Yet an often over looked aspect of the movement has been it's influence in shaping how people talk, with artists constantly reinventing slang words, there are enough rap-isms to fill a dictionary '' or even a bible. Perhaps this is what inspired Krs-One to write an entire book entitled ''The Gospel Of Hip-Hop''. An apt title given the most common hip-hop phrase of the 90's ''My Word Is My Bond'' has a biblical origin. The phrase became so prevalent within rap music we named this website after it '' word is bond.
The book of Matthew speaks of the importance of the word and how it relates to a persons soul. But how exactly did a seemingly spiritual term become something uttered by aspiring emcees the World over? The answer lies within the history of hip-hop. From the outset, pioneers such as Afrika Bambaataa sought to infuse the music with a progressive ideology which encouraged knowledge of self. Hip-Hop was about empowerment but it was also about staying true to yourself and being real. Bambaataa called his movement the Universal Zulu Nation which encouraged an end to violence within the African American community whilst borrowing teachings from the Five-Percent Nation.
The Five-Percent Nation held a belief that 85 percent of the World was ruled by an elitist 15 percent, ten percent of whom obstructed the population from true knowledge. Whilst only the last five percent were willing to share the information which would awaken the masses. Despite it being a relatively small offshoot from the nation of Islam, it caught fire within hip-hop in a major way. In an effort to calm down gang activity which was rampant in the 70's, Kool Herc enlisted members of the Five-Percent Nation as his security team. As much of the first hip-hop recordings were disco inspired party tracks, Five-Percenter terminology was slow to manifest itself through commercial rap in the early 80's. It wasn't until emcees like Rakim arrived that hip-hop truly began to reflect it's foundations.
These lyrics from Rakim's song ''The R'', are a prime example:
''In the Summertime, pockets bulgingSomethings's happening then I'm indulgingMusic is mine, Gucci seats reclinedGold grill, a paint job will shine..Pull up in the park and then pop the trunkTurn up the bass and let the system thumpA block party starts to form, people start to swarmLoud as a ghetto blaster, word is bond.''
Hip-Hop had mostly existed in New York block parties throughout the 70's, and Rakim is referencing that culture whilst also ending his lines with a telling finishing phrase ''word is bond'', which was undoubtedly a nod to the Zulu Nation and Five-Percenter teachings. And he wasn't the only one, Big Daddy Kane was another pioneer who can be heard using the term on his song ''Smooth Operator''.
''Girlfriend, you been scooped like ice creamSo just swing or fling a gathering, try to clingCause It's a Big Daddy ThingAnd I'm lovin em right, word is bond''
As most of the best emcees at the time began using ''word is bond'' (including LL Cool J), the phrase entered into the public consciousness as a hip-hop term. Although not everybody understood it's meaning, it would become more recognisable with each passing year. By the early 90's artists who professed to be Five-Percenters included Q-Tip, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Digable Planets and Busta Rhymes. However, it was solidified as one of the defining hip-hop terms when the Wu-Tang Clan made countless uses of it throughout there albums. What made the Wu's use of ''word is bond'' exceptional was there subject matter being mostly violent, something that may have seemed at odds with the Zulu Nations teachings.
In retrospect, the Wu-Tang Clan were ahead of their time and used the phrase as a way of adding weight to their lyrics, turning heads in the process. Today it is still not uncommon to hear an emcee say it, with it's beauty being that it conjures up an image of an era, a period when emcees where at their most creative. Whilst it meaning has undeniably evolved you'd be hard pressed not to find a hip-hop fan with fond memories of it's history.
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Utah delegates react to RNC vote switch from Cruz to Trump | KUTV
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 05:01
Cleveland '--(KUTV) The last-minute rules changed from the Republican National Committee at Tuesday night's roll call hearing in Cleveland turned a quiet Utah delegation into a confused crowd where pandemonium ensued. All 40 delegates, as counted by the national party, went to Donald Trump from a state where he didn't win the popular vote after Utah pledged votes Tuesday to Ted Cruz.
Utah delegation party leader Phil Wright had the microphone on the floor of the convention "according to the votes of the great state of Utah, we passed all 40 of our delegates to the gentleman who won our state, Ted Cruz."
After days of tumult and insider fights over voting your conscience, Utah delegates breathed a sigh of relief as a crush of national reporters pressed in for the final shot of Utah's Never Trump stand.
"Utah 40 votes trump."
With four simple words came silence and then boos as Utah delegates processed what happened. As the delegates expressed their anger, Utah Republican Party Chair James Evans made a cut sign at his throat. He was trying to tell his delegation to keep quiet. He knew the switcheroo was coming but said, "we didn't get a chance to communicate that."
Chris Herrod, a Utah delegate, was heard shouting, "you knew about this before."
Once the crowd quieted, Herrod explained his anger.
"We didn't find out until just right there that our votes would not go to Ted Cruz. It makes it harder for us to coalesce."
Everyone was trying to make sense of how Utah's bound delegates were unbound before their eyes.
"To find out at the last minute, we couldn't even represent our own state and Trump will be the nominee, but we can't be represented, it is unfortunate."
Gov. Gary Herbert, who was given a heads up just before the announcement came said, "I think there was a little surprise they didnt' know what was going to happen. I'd heard 45 minutes ago."
First-time delegate Kera Birkeland, from Morgan County, was crushed. It was a slap in the face coming just 24 hours after she'd been threatened with her life in an arena bathroom.
Tuesday she will leave her seat as delegate disappointed, but ready to keep fighting for what she believes in tomorrow.
"We will move on, it is what we do as Republicans -- rally on."
Wilders enthousiast onthaald op homofeestje voor Trump | Buitenland | de Volkskrant
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 06:38
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Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party -- Dinesh D'Souza on the Clinton Foundation | National Review
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 03:04
n January 2015 a group of Haitians surrounded the New York offices of the Clinton Foundation. They chanted slogans, accusing Bill and Hillary Clinton of having robbed them of ''billions of dollars.'' Two months later, the Haitians were at it again, accusing the Clintons of duplicity, malfeasance, and theft. And in May 2015, they were back, this time outside New York's Cipriani, where Bill Clinton received an award and collected a $500,000 check for his foundation. ''Clinton, where's the money?'' the Haitian signs read. ''In whose pockets?'' Said Dhoud Andre of the Commission Against Dictatorship, ''We are telling the world of the crimes that Bill and Hillary Clinton are responsible for in Haiti.''
Haitians like Andre may sound a bit strident, but he and the protesters had good reason to be disgruntled. They had suffered a heavy blow from Mother Nature, and now it appeared that they were being battered again '-- this time by the Clintons. Their story goes back to 2010, when a massive 7.0 earthquake devastated the island, killing more than 200,000 people, leveling 100,000 homes, and leaving 1.5 million people destitute.
The devastating effect of the earthquake on a very poor nation provoked worldwide concern and inspired an outpouring of aid money intended to rebuild Haiti. Countries around the world, as well as private and philanthropic groups such as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, provided some $10.5 billion in aid, with $3.9 billion of it coming from the United States.
Haitians such as Andre, however, noticed that very little of this aid money actually got to poor people in Haiti. Some projects championed by the Clintons, such as the building of industrial parks and posh hotels, cost a great deal of money and offered scarce benefits to the truly needy. Port-au-Prince was supposed to be rebuilt; it was never rebuilt. Projects aimed at creating jobs proved to be bitter disappointments. Haitian unemployment remained high, largely undented by the funds that were supposed to pour into the country. Famine and illness continued to devastate the island nation.
The Haitians were initially sympathetic to the Clintons. One may say they believed in the message of ''hope and change.'' With his customary overstatement, Bill told the media, ''Wouldn't it be great if they become the first wireless nation in the world? They could, I'm telling you, they really could.''
I don't blame the Haitians for falling for it; Bill is one of the world's greatest story-tellers. He has fooled people far more sophisticated than the poor Haitians. Over time, however, the Haitians wised up. Whatever their initial expectations, many saw that much of the aid money seems never to have reached its destination; rather, it disappeared along the way.
Where did it go? It did not escape the attention of the Haitians that Bill Clinton was the designated UN representative for aid to Haiti. Following the earthquake, Bill Clinton had with media fanfare established the Haiti Reconstruction Fund. Meanwhile, his wife Hillary was the United States secretary of state. She was in charge of U.S. aid allocated to Haiti. Together the Clintons were the two most powerful people who controlled the flow of funds to Haiti from around the world.
Haitian deals appeared to be a quid pro quo for filling the coffers of the Clintons.
The Haitian protesters noticed an interesting pattern involving the Clintons and the designation of how aid funds were used. They observed that a number of companies that received contracts in Haiti happened to be entities that made large donations to the Clinton Foundation. The Haitian contracts appeared less tailored to the needs of Haiti than to the needs of the companies that were performing the services. In sum, Haitian deals appeared to be a quid pro quo for filling the coffers of the Clintons.
For example, the Clinton Foundation selected Clayton Homes, a construction company owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, to build temporary shelters in Haiti. Buffett is an active member of the Clinton Global Initiative who has donated generously to the Clintons as well as the Clinton Foundation. The contract was supposed to be given through the normal United Nations bidding process, with the deal going to the lowest bidder who met the project's standards. UN officials said, however, that the contract was never competitively bid for.
Clayton offered to build ''hurricane-proof trailers'' but what they actually delivered turned out to be a disaster. The trailers were structurally unsafe, with high levels of formaldehyde and insulation coming out of the walls. There were problems with mold and fumes. The stifling heat inside made Haitians sick and many of them abandoned the trailers because they were ill-constructed and unusable.
The Clintons also funneled $10 million in federal loans to a firm called InnoVida, headed by Clinton donor Claudio Osorio. Osorio had loaded its board with Clinton cronies, including longtime Clinton ally General Wesley Clark; Hillary's 2008 finance director Jonathan Mantz; and Democratic fundraiser Chris Korge who has helped raise millions for the Clintons.
Normally the loan approval process takes months or even years. But in this case, a government official wrote, ''Former President Bill Clinton is personally in contact with the company to organize its logistical and support needs. And as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has made available State Department resources to assist with logistical arrangements.''
InnoVida had not even provided an independently audited financial report that is normally a requirement for such applications. This requirement, however, was waived. On the basis of the Clinton connection, InnoVida's application was fast-tracked and approved in two weeks.
The company, however, defaulted on the loan and never built any houses. An investigation revealed that Osorio had diverted company funds to pay for his Miami Beach mansion, his Maserati, and his Colorado ski chalet. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering in 2013, and is currently serving a twelve-year prison term on fraud charges related to the loan.
Several Clinton cronies showed up with Bill to a 2011 Housing Expo that cost more than $2 million to stage. Bill Clinton said it would be a model for the construction of thousands of homes in Haiti. In reality, no homes have been built. A few dozen model units were constructed but even they have not been sold. Rather, they are now abandoned and have been taken over by squatters.
The Schools They Never Built
USAID contracts to remove debris in Port-au-Prince went to a Washington-based company named CHF International. The company's CEO David Weiss, a campaign contributor to Hillary in 2008, was deputy U.S. trade representative for North American Affairs during the Clinton administration. The corporate secretary of the board, Lauri Fitz-Pegado, served in a number of posts in the Clinton administration, including assistant secretary of commerce.The Clintons claim to have built schools in Haiti. But the New York Times discovered that when it comes to the Clintons, ''built'' is a term with a very loose interpretation. For example, the newspaper located a school featured in the Clinton Foundation annual report as ''built through a Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action.'' In reality, ''The Clinton Foundation's sole direct contribution to the school was a grant for an Earth Day celebration and tree-building activity.''
The Clintons claim to have built schools in Haiti. But the New York Times discovered that when it comes to the Clintons, 'built' is a term with a very loose interpretation.
USAID contracts also went to consulting firms such as New York''based Dalberg Global Development Advisors, which received a $1.5 million contract to identify relocation sites for Haitians. This company is an active participant and financial supporter of the Clinton Global Initiative. A later review by USAID's inspector general found that Dalberg did a terrible job, naming uninhabitable mountains with steep ravines as possible sites for Haitian rebuilding.
Foreign governments and foreign companies got Haitian deals in exchange for bankrolling the Clinton Foundation. The Clinton Foundation lists the Brazilian construction firm OAS and the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) as donors that have given it between $1 billion and $5 billion.
The IDB receives funding from the State Department, and some of this funding was diverted to OAS for Haitian road-building contracts. Yet an IDB auditor, Mariela Antiga, complained that the contracts were padded with ''excessive costs'' to build roads ''no one needed.'' Antiga also alleged that IDB funds were going to a construction project on private land owned by former Haitian president Rene Preval '-- a Clinton buddy '-- and several of his cronies. For her efforts to expose corruption, Antiga was promptly instructed by the IDB to pack her bags and leave Haiti.
In 2011, the Clinton Foundation brokered a deal with Digicel, a cell-phone-service provider seeking to gain access to the Haitian market. The Clintons arranged to have Digicel receive millions in U.S. taxpayer money to provide mobile phones. The USAID Food for Peace program, which the State Department administered through Hillary aide Cheryl Mills, distributed Digicel phones free to Haitians.
Digicel didn't just make money off the U.S. taxpayer; it also made money off the Haitians. When Haitians used the phones, either to make calls or transfer money, they paid Digicel for the service. Haitians using Digicel's phones also became automatically enrolled in Digicel's mobile program. By 2012, Digicel had taken over three-quarters of the cell-phone market in Haiti.
Digicel is owned by Denis O'Brien, a close friend of the Clintons. O'Brien secured three speaking engagements in his native Ireland that paid $200,000 apiece. These engagements occurred right at the time that Digicel was making its deal with the U.S. State Department. O'Brien has also donated lavishly to the Clinton Foundation, giving between $1 million and $5 million sometime in 2010''2011.
Coincidentally the United States government paid Digicel $45 million to open a hotel in Port-au-Prince. Now perhaps it could be argued that Haitians could use a high-priced hotel to attract foreign investors and provide jobs for locals. Thus far, however, this particular hotel seems to employ only a few dozen locals, which hardly justifies the sizable investment that went into building it. Moreover, there are virtually no foreign investors; the rooms are mostly unoccupied; the ones that are taken seem mainly for the benefit of Digicel's visiting teams.
In addition, the Clintons got their cronies to build Caracol Industrial Park, a 600-acre garment factory that was supposed to make clothes for export to the United States and create '-- according to Bill Clinton '-- 100,000 new jobs in Haiti. The project was funded by the U.S. government and cost hundreds of millions in taxpayer money, the largest single allocation of U.S. relief aid.
Yet Caracol has proven a massive failure. First, the industrial park was built on farmland and the farmers had to be moved off their property. Many of them feel they were pushed out and inadequately compensated. Some of them lost their livelihoods. Second, Caracol was supposed to include 25,000 homes for Haitian employees; in the end, the Government Accountability Office reports that only around 6,000 homes were built. Third, Caracol has created 5,000 jobs, less than 10 percent of the jobs promised. Fourth, Caracol is exporting very few products and most of the facility is abandoned. People stand outside every day looking for work, but there is no work to be had, as Haiti's unemployment rate hovers around 40 percent.
The Clintons say Caracol can still be salvaged. But former Haitian prime minister Jean Bellerive says, ''I believe the momentum to attract people there in a massive way is past. Today, it has failed.'' Still, Bellerive's standard of success may not be the same one used by the Clintons. After all, the companies that built Caracol with U.S. taxpayer money have done fine '-- even if poor Haitians have seen few of the benefits.
Then there is the strange and somehow predictable involvement of Hillary Clinton's brother Hugh Rodham. Rodham put in an application for $22 million from the Clinton Foundation to build homes on ten thousand acres of land that he said a ''guy in Haiti'' had ''donated'' to him.
''I deal through the Clinton Foundation,'' Rodham told the New York Times. ''I hound my brother-in-law because it's his fund that we're going to get our money from.'' Rodham said he expected to net $1 million personally on the deal. Unfortunately, his application didn't go through.
Rodham had better luck, however, on a second Haitian deal. He mysteriously found himself on the advisory board of a U.S. mining company called VCS. This by itself is odd because Rodham's resume lists no mining experience; rather, Rodham is a former private detective and prison guard.
The mining company, however, seems to have recognized Rodham's value. They brought him on board in October 2013 to help secure a valuable gold mining permit in Haiti. Rodham was promised a ''finder's fee'' if he could land the contract. Sure enough, he did. For the first time in 50 years, Haiti awarded two new gold mining permits and one of them went to the company that had hired Hillary's brother.
I wouldn't go so far as to say the Clintons don't care about Haiti. Yet it seems clear that Haitian welfare is not their priority.
The deal provoked outrage in the Haitian Senate. ''Neither Bill Clinton nor the brother of Hillary Clinton are individuals who share the interest of the Haitian people,'' said Haitian mining representative Samuel Nesner. ''They are part of the elite class who are operating to exploit the Haitian people.''
Is this too harsh a verdict? I wouldn't go so far as to say the Clintons don't care about Haiti. Yet it seems clear that Haitian welfare is not their priority. Their priority is, well, themselves. The Clintons seem to believe in Haitian reconstruction and Haitian investment as long as these projects match their own private economic interests. They have steered the rebuilding of Haiti in a way that provides maximum benefit to themselves.
No wonder the Clintons refused to meet with the Haitian protesters. Each time the protesters showed up, the Clintons were nowhere to be seen. They have never directly addressed the Haitians' claims. Strangely enough, they have never been required to do so. The progressive media scarcely covered the Haitian protest. Somehow the idea of Haitian black people calling out the Clintons as aid money thieves did not appeal to the grand pooh-bahs at CBS News, the New York Times, and NPR.
For most Democrats, the topic is both touchy and distasteful. It's one thing to rob from the rich but quite another to rob from the poorest of the poor. Some of the Democratic primary support for Bernie Sanders was undoubtedly due to Democrats' distaste over the financial shenanigans of the Clintons. Probably these Democrats considered the Clintons to be unduly grasping and opportunistic, an embarrassment to the great traditions of the Democratic party.
'-- Dinesh D''Souza is the author of Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party.
'Schindler's List' Producer Compares Dinesh D'Souza to Oskar Schindler at 'Hillary's America' Screening - Hollywood Reporter
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 03:06
CLEVELAND '-- Gerald Molen, the Oscar-winning producer of Schindler's List, at a screening of a film slamming Hillary Clinton, compared conservative filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza to Oskar Schindler, the protagonist in the Steven Spielberg-directed film about a man who saves Jews during the Holocaust.
''Years ago, I had the honor of working on a film that told the story of a man, one man, a single man, who made a difference in the lives of about 1,100 people. His name was Oskar Schindler,'' Molen told 2,200 people at the Republican National Convention premiere of Hillary's America in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sunday night.
''Tonight, I'm sharing the stage with another man who is making a difference in this country. The film you're about to see will open the eyes of a lot of people,'' said Molen, who executive produced Hillary's America, which stars and was written by D'Souza.
Molen, Spielberg and Branko Lustig won Oscars for Best Picture for 1993's Schindler'sList and Spielberg won the Oscar for Best Director.
D'Souza had a West Coast premiere of Hillary's America last week at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. But Sunday night's affair, at the historic Connor Palace in Cleveland ahead of the GOP convention, which officially starts Monday, was more intense, since it was populated by Republican delegates. At Sunday's premiere, in fact, the delegates treated D'Souza like he was a rock star '-- appropriate, since the theater is right down the block from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
''We wanted to come out strong and early,'' D'Souza told The Hollywood Reporter. ''It's a very infectious movie. It can play an important role in uniting the Republican party and make the case against not just Hillary Clinton but the Democrats, too.''
D'Souza also gave THR an exclusive clip from the doc, which features scenes from the 1915 silent film The Birth of a Nation. Watch the clip above.
''It was unfortunate for our country that the first movie ever screened in the White House was a racist movie by a racist Democratic president,'' said Carol Swain, professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University, while scenes of Birth of a Nation roll in Hillary's America.
At Sunday night's RNC premiere of the film, the Gatlin Brothers also played a short set. Larry Gatlin wrote and performed a song for the doc.
''Hillary Clinton's a criminal, whether she's been thrown in jail or not,'' Gatlin told THR. ''When Dinesh asked me to be a part of this movie, I asked him where I should stand and when I should start singing. It took me about 15 minutes to write the song, because there's a whole lot of information about Hillary and the Democrats out there.''
Clinton is the presumptive Democratic candidate for president and will square off against Donald Trump, the presumptive nominee for the Republicans.
Donald Trump Sets Conditions for Defending NATO Allies Against Attack - NYTimes.com
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 04:51
CLEVELAND '-- Donald J. Trump, on the eve of accepting the Republican nomination for president, said Wednesday that if he were elected, he would not pressure Turkey or other authoritarian allies about conducting purges of their political adversaries or cracking down on civil liberties. The United States, he said, has to ''fix our own mess'' before trying to alter the behavior of other nations.
''I don't think we have a right to lecture,'' Mr. Trump said in a wide-ranging interview in his suite in a downtown hotel here while keeping an eye on television broadcasts from the Republican National Convention. ''Look at what is happening in our country,'' he said. ''How are we going to lecture when people are shooting policemen in cold blood?''
During a 45-minute conversation, he explicitly raised new questions about his commitment to automatically defend NATO allies if they are attacked, saying he would first look at their contributions to the alliance. Mr. Trump re-emphasized the hard-line nationalist approach that has marked his improbable candidacy, describing how he would force allies to shoulder defense costs that the United States has borne for decades, cancel longstanding treaties he views as unfavorable, and redefine what it means to be a partner of the United States.
He said the rest of the world would learn to adjust to his approach. ''I would prefer to be able to continue'' existing agreements, he said, but only if allies stopped taking advantage of what he called an era of American largess that was no longer affordable.
Giving a preview of his address to the convention on Thursday night, he said that he would press the theme of ''America First,'' his rallying cry for the past four months, and that he was prepared to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada if he could not negotiate radically better terms.
He even called into question whether, as president, he would automatically extend the security guarantees that give the 28 members of NATO the assurance that the full force of the United States military has their back.
For example, asked about Russia's threatening activities that have unnerved the small Baltic States that are the most recent entrants into NATO, Mr. Trump said that if Russia attacked them, he would decide whether to come to their aid only after reviewing whether those nations ''have fulfilled their obligations to us.''
He added, ''If they fulfill their obligations to us, the answer is yes.''
Mr. Trump said he was pleased that the controversy over similarities betweenpassages in a speech by his wife, Melania, to the convention on Monday night and one that Michelle Obama gave eight years ago appeared to be subsiding. ''In retrospect,'' he said, it would have been better to explain what had happened '-- that an aide had incorporated the comments '-- a day earlier.
When asked what he hoped people would take away from the convention, Mr. Trump said, ''The fact that I'm very well liked.''
Mr. Trump conceded that his approach to dealing with the United States' allies and adversaries was radically different from the traditions of the Republican Party '-- whose candidates, since the end of World War II, have almost all pressed for an internationalist approach in which the United States is the keeper of the peace, the ''indispensable nation.''
Interactive Feature | Republican Convention Night 3: Analysis Here's how we analyzed the third night of the Republican National Convention, which featured Mike Pence, Ted Cruz and more.
''This is not 40 years ago,'' Mr. Trump said, rejecting comparisons of his approaches to law-and-order issues and global affairs to Richard Nixon's. Reiterating his threat to pull back United States troops deployed around the world, he said, ''We are spending a fortune on military in order to lose $800 billion,'' citing what he called America's trade losses. ''That doesn't sound very smart to me.''
Mr. Trump repeatedly defined American global interests almost purely in economic terms. Its roles as a peacekeeper, as a provider of a nuclear deterrent against adversaries like North Korea, as an advocate of human rights and as a guarantor of allies' borders were each quickly reduced to questions of economic benefit to the United States.
No presidential candidate in modern times has ordered American priorities that way, and even here, several speakers have called for a far more interventionist policy, more reminiscent of George W. Bush's party than of Mr. Trump's.
But Mr. Trump gave no ground, whether the subject was countering North Korea's missile and nuclear threats or dealing with China in the South China Sea. The forward deployment of American troops abroad, he said, while preferable, was not necessary.
''If we decide we have to defend the United States, we can always deploy'' from American soil, Mr. Trump said, ''and it will be a lot less expensive.''
Many military experts dispute that view, saying the best place to keep missile defenses against North Korea is in Japan and the Korean Peninsula. Maintaining such bases only in the United States can be more expensive because of the financial support provided by Asian nations.
Mr. Trump's discussion of the crisis in Turkey was telling, because it unfolded at a moment in which he could plainly imagine himself in the White House, handling an uprising that could threaten a crucial ally in the Middle East. The United States has a major air base at Incirlik in Turkey, where it carries out attacks on the Islamic State and keeps a force of drones and about 50 nuclear weapons.
Mr. Trump had nothing but praise for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country's increasingly authoritarian but democratically elected leader. ''I give great credit to him for being able to turn that around,'' Mr. Trump said of the coup attempt on Friday night. ''Some people say that it was staged, you know that,'' he said. ''I don't think so.''
Asked if Mr. Erdogan was exploiting the coup attempt to purge his political enemies, Mr. Trump did not call for the Turkish leader to observe the rule of law, or Western standards of justice. ''When the world sees how bad the United States is and we start talking about civil liberties, I don't think we are a very good messenger,'' he said.
The Obama administration has refrained from any concrete measures to pressure Turkey, fearing for the stability of a crucial ally in a volatile region. But Secretary of State John F. Kerry has issued several statements urging Mr. Erdogan to follow the rule of law.
Interactive Feature | Sign Up for the First Draft Newsletter Subscribe for updates on the 2016 presidential race, the White House and Congress, delivered to your inbox Monday through Friday.
Mr. Trump offered no such caution for restraint to Turkey and nations like it. However, his argument about America's moral authority is not a new one: Russia, China, North Korea and other autocratic nations frequently cite violence and disorder on American streets to justify their own practices, and to make the case that the United States has no standing to criticize them.
Mr. Trump said he was convinced that he could persuade Mr. Erdogan to put more effort into fighting the Islamic State. But the Obama administration has run up, daily, against the reality that the Kurds '-- among the most effective forces the United States is supporting against the Islamic State '-- are being attacked by Turkey, which fears they will create a breakaway nation.
Asked how he would solve that problem, Mr. Trump paused, then said: ''Meetings.''
Ousting President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, he said, was a far lower priority than fighting the Islamic State '-- a conclusion the White House has also reached, but has not voiced publicly.
''Assad is a bad man,'' Mr. Trump said. ''He has done horrible things.'' But the Islamic State, he said, poses a far greater threat to the United States.
He said he had consulted two former Republican secretaries of state, James A. Baker III and Henry Kissinger, saying he had gained ''a lot of knowledge,'' but did not describe any new ideas about national security that they had encouraged him to explore.
Mr. Trump emphatically underscored his willingness to drop out of Nafta unless Mexico and Canada agreed to negotiate new terms that would discourage American companies from moving manufacturing out of the United States. ''I would pull out of Nafta in a split second,'' he said.
He talked of funding a major military buildup, starting with a modernization of America's nuclear arsenal. ''We have a lot of obsolete weapons,'' he said. ''We have nuclear that we don't even know if it works.''
The Obama administration has a major modernization program underway, focused on making the nuclear arsenal more reliable, though it has begun to confront the huge cost of upgrading bombers and submarines. That staggering bill, estimated at $500 billion or more, will land on the desk of the next president.
Mr. Trump used the ''America First'' slogan in an earlier interview with The New York Times, but on Wednesday he insisted he did not mean it in the way that Charles A. Lindbergh and other isolationists used it before World War II.
''To me, 'America First' is a brand-new, modern term,'' he said. ''I never related it to the past.''
He paused a moment when asked what it meant to him.
''We are going to take care of this country first,'' he said, ''before we worry about everyone else in the world.''
New Spirit Revival Center | The Church for YOU!
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 06:10
Our Legacy
New Spirit Revival Center is a Bible-based, Non Denominational church with a Pentecostal/Charismatic persuasion founded by Drs. Darrell & Belinda Scott in February of 1994. It was four years earlier, in 1990, when our Pastors received the vision for New Spirit Revival Center Ministries. After much prayer and deliberation, with an eye on the divine timetable of God, New Spirit Revival Center was officially chartered on the 14th day of February 1994, with 4 members and now has expanded and grown to a ministry supporting over 3000 members to date. Having humble beginnings as tenants of the historic Civic Center in the suburb of Cleveland Heights, OH, New Spirit Revival Center has grown into a multifaceted ministry reaching souls both locally and abroad.
Rapid Expansion & Growth of A Great MinistryFacing opposition during their days as tenants of the Civic Center in Cleveland Heights, the Scott's persevered in faith and went on to purchase the 120,000 square foot Civic Center in 2002. But the story doesn't find its completion there. The Scott's set out on a mission of biblical proportions, receiving a mandate from God to "restore {this house} to its former glory" and have since their acquisition done just that. The Civic, a former jewish synagogue which housed the B'nai Jeshrun Congregation, is now the premier conference and events center in its region and serves as a multi purpose facility that also houses Covenant Childcare Learning and Enrichment Center (CCCUR), a daycare facility that has received high marks for quality and excellence from the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. (return to top)
Visionary leadership has always been commonplace at New Spirit Revival Center, and under the leadership of Drs. Darrell & Belinda Scott, they have since acquired 10 acres of prime real estate on Cleveland's East Side for future development. In 2005, the Scott's were privileged to purchase WCCD Radio 1000, an AM Radio Station, from Salem Communications, being the first church/ministry in the region to own and operate its own gospel based media platform/radio station. Today, Radio 1000 boasts over 1.3 million listeners per month all over the globe, and impacts the lives of many on a daily basis with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Scott's continue to set precedence not only in this region but also in the Kingdom of God at large. Over the years, the Scott's have expanded their reach, taking their burden for soul winning to both national and international platforms. Drs. Darrell & Belinda Scott have been on five major television networks during New Spirit Revival Center's fifteen years in ministry. They have impacted the homes of thousands upon thousands with weekly broadcasts on CBS TV's local affiliate in Cleveland, OH (covering Ohio and parts of Kentucky, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Canada), The Impact Network, the Now Network, Ion TV (Formerly) PAX-TV, CTN-Christian Television Network (covering all of Detroit, Michigan and the surrounding suburbs, extending into Windsor, Ontario), and finally worldwide satellite coverage on Sky Angel TV. With such a broadcast resume, New Spirit Revival Center ministries is poised to traverse into the world of operating its own television network in the near future. (return to top)
Training & Equipping Leaders for ServiceDrs. Darrell and Belinda Scott have taken their desire for inreach and for "training and equipping ministers and Christian workers for service in the Kingdom" to new heights and deeper depths chartering programs for Christian ministerial development. In 1998, Dr. Belinda Scott founded the Women's Educational and Mentoring Alliance, or WEMA, as a means to mentor and educate women who have a burden an d a desire to minister the Gospel. WEMA's first class saw over two hundred (200) applicants and in June of 2000 saw its first ninety women earning certificates of completion. Scheduled to commence in 2010, Drs. Darrell & Belinda Scott are also organizing a Ministerial Training Institute; open to participants city wide who feel the call and the burden to minister effectively in the Kingdom of God.
On The Horizon: New Spirit Revival Center On The Move!What's next for NSRC? The sky is truly the limit! Since late 2008, Drs. Darrell and Belinda Scott and New Spirit Revival Center have launched Urgency Records, a major record label under the leadership of Dr. Darrell Scott, acquired distribution with one of the largest distributors of gospel music and merchandise -- Central South Distribution, released a debut album entitled "No Other Name" with none other than its very own praise and worship team, aptly named NSRC accompanied by Marvin Winans Jr, Kim Stratton, BB Jay, and many other chart topping artists, and have commenced in renovation of homes that they've acquired from the city of Cleveland Heights, OH to grant opportunities to families in its membership. Drs. Darrell & Belinda Scott's heart for the people and their honest servant leadership are genuine and are noteworthy. NSRC has branched out to fulfill the mandate placed upon them by God for sixteen churches, acquiring property at 1061 Clearview Avenue in Akron, Ohio to start New Spirit Revival Center Akron in 2008. Since then, New Spirit Revival Center Akron continues to thrive, beginning with commuting members of its Wednesday night services, and has now expanded into Sunday morning worship. (return to top)
Meredith McIver | Wiki | Everipedia, the encyclopedia of everything
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 05:36
Meredith McIver is the in-house staff writer at the The Trump Organization, she has worked there since September 2001. Despite working for Donald Trump who is the presidential nominee for the Republican Party, Meredith is a registered Democrat. She has ghost written several books for Donald Trump. Meredith lives in New York, New York but is originally from San Jose, California. [16] [2]
Prior to working for The Trump Organization that Meredith worked on Wall Street. Meredith studied English at the University of Utah where she graduated with honors. At the age of 14, Meredith started her ballet career as a Ford Foundation Scholar. She trained at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet. [11]'
Donald Trump books ghost written by Meredith McIver [5] :
Meredith McIver helped Melania Trump write a speech that allegedly plagiarized from a speech by Michelle Obama for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. [2]'
The speech generated much controversy and became known as Speechgate - Melania Trump convention speech plagiarism scandal 2016. [2] McIver offered her resignation on July 20th, 2016 in response to the backlash from the speech citing that it was a personal mistake to include Michelle Obama's speech in Melania Trump's own address. She offered her resignation from the Trump campaign, but Donald Trump refused to fire her responding that it was an honest and small mistake.
There is a conspiracy theory that Mciver included the plagiarism on purpose to sabotage Trump. Further evidence is that a line from Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" - often used on the Internet for prank Rickrolling - was included in the speech. The line was: ''He will never, ever give you up. And most importantly, he will never, ever let you down.''
Meredith McIver: The mystery of the Trump employee behind Melania's plagiarised speech | Americas | News | The Independent
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 05:34
''The Mystery of Meredith McIver'': it sounds like the title of a badly written novel, the same kind of formulaic prose to be found in Donald Trump's books or, perhaps, in his wife's speeches.
If we are to believe the Trump campaign, the blame for one of the largest and most obvious cases of plagiarism in the history of American politics comes down to one woman who is hiding in the shadows.
The pleasingly alliterative name of Donald Trump's employee, the woman who supposedly helped to write Melania Trump's speech for the RNC and which turned out to contain passages that matched Michelle Obama's 2008 speech word for word, has no verified Twitter account and no LinkedIn profile.
Michelle Obama and Melania Trump's speech side by side
At the time of writing, no credible news outlet has tracked down Meredith McIver.
Mr Trump, normally so keen to show off his ''beautiful ladies'', has kept this ghost writer hauntingly silent.
There is growing speculation that the name is simply an alias, a fictional name for the Trump campaign to hide behind as Republicans and Democrats alike are furious that the potential First Lady has fluffed her first major appearance.
Is this another of Mr Trump's scams, surrounding himself with make believe friends?
The press have barely recovered from the discovery that Mr Trump's so-called spokesperson, John Barron, who gave frequent over-the-phone interviews and exposed all kind of personal details about the businessman, was Mr Trump himself.
But it turns out that Meredith McIver, who released this profusely apologetic and rather absurd statement, has not just written one bad speech.
According to her author page, she has co-written books including ''Trump 101'', ''Trump Thinks Like A Billionaire'' and ''Trump Never Give Up'' - the latter title being horrendously grammatically incorrect but perhaps a good strategy for the aftermath of this plagiarism faux pax.
Everyone, put your thinking caps on. Her name begins with M. The letter ''M''.
Which other employee amongst the Trump campaign begins with M? Not Hope Hicks. Not Corey Lewanski. Not Paul Manaf'--
What an irony that Ms McIver could - who knows - turn out to be a man: the Republicans do so little to support gender fluidity.
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Meredith McIver - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 05:33
Meredith McIverBorn(1951-01-03) January 3, 1951 (age 65)NationalityAmericanCitizenshipAmericanEducationBachelor of EnglishAlma materUniversity of Utah (1976)OccupationHome townSan Jose, CaliforniaMeredith McIver is a (possibly fictional) staff writer[1] for The Trump Organization, author, and former ballerina.[2][3] She is credited with ghostwriting multiple books by Donald Trump and was described in 2007 as an "assistant" to him.[4][5][6]
Early life and education[edit]McIver is from San Jose, California and earned an English degree at the University of Utah in 1976.[7][8]
Speech plagiarism controversy[edit]In July 2016, McIver contributed to a speech for Melania Trump, which Trump read at the 2016 Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016.[9] The speech was later found to have plagiarized passages from a Michelle Obama speech.[10][11]
McIver later issued a statement explaining that Melania Trump told her some passage from Michelle Obama's speech as an 'example', but due to misunderstanding she thought that that passage is of Melania Trump's own thinking and included that passage in the speech. To be more precise, McIver places some of the blame on Ms. Trump: "In a statement issued by the campaign, Meredith McIver took the blame but made it clear that Mrs. Trump knew the passages were from the first lady's speech."[12] The Trump family declined McIver's offer to resign over the incident.[13][14]
Bibliography[edit]Trump: How to Get Rich with Donald J. Trump (2004)[15]Trump: Think Like a Billionaire with Donald J. Trump (2004)[16]Trump 101: The Way to Success with Donald J. Trump (2006)[1]Trump: Never Give Up with Donald J. Trump (2008)[1]References[edit]^ abc"People aren't sure Melania Trump's 'speechwriter' Meredith McIver actually exists". 20 July 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016. ^Jane, Emily (2014-01-02). "Is a Ballerina to Blame for Melania Trump's Plagiarized Speech?". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2016-07-20. ^Horowitz, Jason (2016-07-20). "Behind Melania Trump's Cribbed Lines, an Ex- Ballerina Who Loved Writing". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-07-21. ^Meredith McIver. "Meredith McIver | Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schuster". Authors.simonandschuster.com. Retrieved 2016-07-20. ^Queenan, Joe (20 March 2005)Ghosts in the Machine, The New York Times^Gaby Wood (7 January 2007). "Donald Trump: the interview". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-07-20. ^"Who is Meredith McIver, the Trump staffer who took the fall for Melania's speech?". Retrieved 21 July 2016. ^Chan, Melissa. "Who Is Melania Trump's Speech Writer Meredith McIver?". Retrieved 21 July 2016. ^Haberman, Maggie (19 July 2016). "How Melania Trump's Speech Veered Off Course and Caused an Uproar". NY Times. Retrieved 20 July 2016. ^"Scientific Proof That Melania Trump's Speech Was Definitely Stolen From Michelle Obama". Gizmodo.com. Retrieved 2016-07-20. ^Muise, Monique. "Chances that Melania Trump didn't plagiarize Michelle Obama 1 in 87 billion: expert - National". Globalnews.ca. Retrieved 2016-07-20. ^OHLEMACHER, STEPHEN (2016-07-20). "Trump speechwriter apologizes for Melania Trump's speech". TheLedger.com. Retrieved 2016-07-20. ^Diamond, Jeremy (20 July 2016). "Trump aide offers resignation in Melania Trump plagiarism incident". CNN. Retrieved 20 July 2016. ^"You decide: Did Melania plagiarize Michelle's '08 speech?". 19 July 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016. ^Shea, Jim (4 April 2004). Trump's powers: The Donald cashes in, Toledo Blade^(1 October 2004). Trump: Think Like a Billionaire: Everything You Need to Know about Success, Real Estate, and Life (review), Publisher's Weekly
Tim Kaine, Possible Hillary Clinton Pick for Vice President, Signals Support to Banks
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 08:17
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, considered a leading contender for the Democratic vice presidential nomination, has spent this week signaling to the financial industry that he'll go to bat for them.
On Monday, Kaine signed onto two letters, one to federal banking regulators and the other to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, urging them to loosen regulations on certain financial players. The timing of the letters, sent while Kaine is being vetted for the top of the ticket, could show potential financial industry donors that he is willing to serve as an ally on their regulatory issues.
In the letters, Kaine is offering to support community banks, credit unions, and even large regional banks. While separate from the Wall Street mega-banks like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, these financial institutions often partner with the larger industry to fight regulations and can be hostile to government efforts to safeguard the public, especially if it crimps their profits.
They also represent a key source of donor funds, one that has trended away from Democrats. The Independent Community Bankers of America have given 74 percent of their $873,949 in donations this cycle to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Regional banks like PNC Financial Services, SunTrust Bank, and First Republic Bank, have given even higher percentages to the Republicans.
Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is expected to announce her vice presidential pick on Friday. Kaine, if selected, could now help woo fundraising dollars away from Republicans, because he's able to point to his support for financial industry causes. The letters also show Hillary Clinton's campaign how Kaine could be an asset with banking interests on the fundraising trail.
The letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, signed by a bipartisan coalition of 16 Democrats and every Republican senator, asked that the consumer agency ''carefully tailor its regulations'' to exempt community banks and credit unions. It posits these smaller banks as ''essential to spurring economic growth and prosperity at a local level.''
While this seems benign, tailoring rules that exempt large classes of financial institutions leaves consumers vulnerable to deceptive practices. A rule of this type could allow community banks and credit unions to sell high-risk mortgages or personal loans without the disclosure and ability to pay rules in place across the industry.
The fact that the entire Republican caucus, from Ted Cruz and Mike Lee to Mitch McConnell, supports this idea suggests that it's not necessarily a bipartisan measure but a Republican desire that a few Democrats agree with. Kaine counts himself among those Democrats.
The second letter, sent to the heads of the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, seeks to protect an even bigger subset of banks, the large regional institutions like PNC and SunTrust. Kaine and three Democratic colleagues want regulators to change certain rules so they don't apply to these regional banks.
Some regional banks have become so large that they may reach a threshold triggering daily reporting requirements under the liquidity coverage ratio rule, which requires qualifying banks to hold enough assets to cover a 30-day period of financial stress. Kaine and his colleagues argue that would ''impose significant burdens on the firms'' and want the regulators to alter that threshold and exempt all regional banks, regardless of size.
Next, Kaine and his fellow senators want to eliminate so-called ''advanced approaches'' capital requirements '-- which governs the ratio of reserves banks must carry to cover potential losses '-- for regional banks, even if they have over $250 billion in assets. The rule ''captures many regional banks that do not share the same risk profile or complexity as their larger, systemically important brethren,'' the senators write.
In fact, regional banks with over $50 billion in assets like PNC, BB&T, SunTrust, and Regions Financial, are among the 33 subject to annual stress tests by the Federal Reserve. In an interconnected financial system, a large regional bank that gets into trouble has as much chance of creating ripple effects as a mega-bank. It's unclear why they should be exempted from regulations deemed appropriate for all facets of the financial sector.
While Kaine has focused on protecting banks this week, he has apparently been less concerned for consumers. He was one of 13 Democrats who did not sign onto a separate letter authored by Senate Banking Committee Chairperson Sherrod Brown, supporting a strengthening of new rules for payday lenders, so borrowers don't continue to get trapped in a vortex of debt.
Ottomania
Turkey gouvernement revokes 3213 ham radio licenses - The QRP world.
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 03:08
Turkey gouvernement revokes 3213 ham radio licensesIt has been confirmed by Supreme Council of radio and television of Turkey (RTUK) the news that Mr. Erdogan '' the president of Turkey has revoked 3213 national ham radio licenses. The HF radio in Turkey is now silent. No transmissions are allowed.
Following the coup d'etat '' of July 5th '' many things are changing in Turkey. TV , Radio licenses have been cancelled and this involved also our colleagues : ham radio amateurs. The number of amateur radio operators in Turkey is not too much, but according to the site TRAC.org it looks like that around 3000 licenses have been revoked. Who's transmitting outside turkey without licence should be considered a pirate '' said Mr Erdogan.
The Supreme Council of radio and television of Turkey (RTUK) has cancelled the licenses of over 20 radio and television broadcasters as well ham radio operators.
The Telsiz ve Radyo Amat¶rleri Cemiyeti (TRAC) is the national non-profit organization for amateur radio enthusiasts in turkey. The TRAC was founded in 1962 as the T¼rkiye Radyo Amat¶rleri Cemiyeti, adopting its current name in 1980. It's located in Istanbul, with branches in 44 locations across Turkey. TRAC is the national member society representing Turkey in the IARU. Now, it has been closed down.
We look forward to have news from Turkey ham radio league.
Turkey's coup in numbers21,000 private teachers have licences removed15,000 suspended from education ministry8,000 police officers detained or suspended6,000 soldiers detained1,500 staff at Ministry of Finance dismissed3213 ham radio operators with license revoked.2745 judges dismissed1,577 deans '' Education board demands resignation492 sacked from Religious Affairs Directorate399 from Ministry of Family and Social Policies stripped of responsibilities257 fired from the prime minister's office100 intelligence officials sacked47 district governors dismissed30 provincial governors dismissed20 news websites blocked
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Ties Emerge Between Clinton And Mysterious Islamic Cleric | The Daily Caller
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 19:42
In addition to muddying that complex geopolitical dynamic, a 2009 email recently released by Judicial Watch provides yet another example of access being provided to a Clinton campaign and Clinton Foundation donor.
In the April 1, 2009 message, a Gulen follower named Gokhan Ozkok asked Clinton deputy chief of staff Huma Abedin for help in connecting one of his allies to President Obama.
Ozkok is founding board member of the Turkish Cultural Center and part of a network of businesses and non-profits affiliated with the Gulen movement, also known as Hizmet.
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton speaks at the Turkish Cultural Center, Sept. 2007. (Youtube screengrab)
Ozkok served as national finance co-chair of the pro-Clinton Ready PAC. He gave $10,000 to the committee in 2014 and $2,700 to Clinton's campaign last year. He is also listed on the Turkish Cultural Center's website as a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, one of the non-profit arms of the Clinton Foundation. He's given between $25,000 and $50,000 to the Clinton charity.
Another link between Gulenists and the Clinton orbit was revealed in a lobbying registration disclosure filed last month with the Senate. It shows that a Gulen-aligned group called the Alliance for Shared Values hired the Clinton-connected Podesta Group to lobby Congress on its behalf. The group seeks to lobby for the ''promotion of peace, tolerance and interfaith dialogue.''
The group's executive director is Alp Aslandogan, a former professor at universities in Texas. He has also donated to Clinton's political endeavors, campaign finance records show.
The Podesta Group is a natural choice for those seeking influence with Clinton. The firm was co-founded by John Podesta, Clinton's campaign chairman, and his brother Tony, a major Clinton campaign bundler.
Through various non-profit groups, both Gulenists promote the cleric's teachings, which are relatively moderate and pro-Western. They are also involved in the Gulen movement's money-making endeavor: a vast network of taxpayer-funded charter schools.
Those schools, which number more than 150, have been a source of controversy for the Gulen movement.
Federal investigators have reportedly investigated some of the schools for using work visas to bring Turkish citizens to the U.S. to teach. In some cases, taxpayer funds were used to pay immigration and legal fees for family members of teachers who worked at the facilities. Funds allocated to the schools have also been funneled to contractors controlled by Turkish nationals with connections to the Gulen movement.
A 2011 New York Times article focused on suspicious ties between Gulenist schools operating in Texas under the name Harmony Public Schools. Harmony contracted with a company controlled by a pro-Gulen non-profit called the Cosmos Foundation. In 2002, Aslandogan purchased property that was later sold to Harmony. He also founded the Texas Gulf Foundation, which has also been awarded taxpayer-funded contracts to provide services to Gulen schools.
Aslandogan did not return a request for comment. Nor did Ozkok, who has affiliations with Gulen-connected education firms Sema Education and Apple Education Services.
The partnerships between the schools and contractors allow taxpayer funds to remain within the Gulen network. Teachers at the schools, many of whom are not fluent in English, are also used to help finance Hizmet, according to one former teacher at a Gulen institute.
The teacher, who is now a government whistleblower, told ''60 Minutes'' in 2012 that Turkish teachers are required to return a large portion of their salary to the Gulen network. She said that her Turkish husband, who taught at one of the schools, was required to return 40 percent of his salary.
Accusations of visa fraud and other impropriety, which Gulenists largely deny, have contributed to an increased profile for Gulen, who ended up staying in the U.S. permanently after coming here for medical treatment.
ErdoÄan's campaign to rid Turkey of Gulen's influence has also thrust the recluse onto the public spotlight.
On top of his efforts to crackdown on Gulenists within the Turkish media, judiciary and police, ErdoÄan has sought to exert influence over Gulen in the U.S.
During a 2014 visit with President Obama, ErdoÄan, who served as prime minister prior to his presidential term, reportedly asked Obama for Gulen's extradition. The Turkish government has also retained the law firm Amsterdam & Partners in an effort to undermine Gulen and Gulenists in the courts as well as the media.
The connections between the Gulen movement and Clinton are not the first to be revealed. They also add to questions about what it is the Gulenists want from Clinton and whether the Democrat has rewarded their financial support with favors.
Last year The Daily Caller reported that numerous Gulen followers have donated to Clinton's various political campaigns and to her family charity. One Gulen movement leader, Recep Ozkan, donated between $500,000 and $1 million to the Clinton Foundation.
As senator from New York, Clinton gave a keynote address at the Turkish Cultural Center's annual banquet.
The email to Abedin, which is the first piece of communication showing that a Gulen follower had direct access to Clinton's staff, sought a favor.
''Please tell Madam Secretary that it would be great if President Obama can include a 15 minutes [sic] meeting with Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary-General of the Organization of of [sic] the Islamic Conference (OIC), in his trip to Turkey,'' wrote Ozkok.
April 1, 2009 email from Gokhan Ozkok to Huma Abedin. Obtained by Judicial Watch
It is unclear if Abedin forwarded Ozkok's request to Clinton or anyone else in the Obama administration. But Ihsanoglu, who is an ally of Gulen's and lost to Erdogan in the 2014 presidential election, did meet with Obama in Istanbul several days after the email. There, Obama reportedly extended an invitation to Ihsanoglu to visit the White House. The academic visited in June 2009 and reportedly asked Obama to create a U.S. ambassador to the Muslim world.
Huma Abedin (R) and Clinton campaign spokesman Nick Merrill (L). (REUTERS)
Some terror watchdog groups flagged the meetings, pointing to Ihsanoglu's past praise of the terrorist group Hamas and for Sudanese president and U.S. foe Omar al-Bashir. But Ihsanoglu does not appear to be a radical firebrand like so many Islamists in the Middle East.
As for the Podesta Group, the lobbying firm has connections to several controversial companies seeking to peddle influence at Clinton's State Department.
Daily Caller investigations have revealed that the Podesta Group has represented Uranium One, a Russia-controlled uranium company that had ties to Canadian mining magnate and Clinton Foundation philanthropist Frank Giustra.
The Podesta Group also lobbied Clinton's State Department on behalf of BAE Systems just as the U.K. defense contractor was facing stiff government sanctions for illegal arms trading. The Associated Press has sued the State Department for records pertaining to discussions to let BAE Systems off with a slap on the wrist for its infractions.
Clinton's favorite lobbying firm also started working last year for Islami Bank Bangladesh, a Bengali bank that has been linked to terrorist groups. And earlier this year, Tony Podesta, the Clinton bundler and Podesta Group principal, was hired by the Saudi government.
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In addition to muddying that complex geopolitical dynamic, a 2009 email recently released by Judicial Watch provides yet another example of access being provided to a Clinton campaign and Clinton Foundation donor.
In the April 1, 2009 message, a Gulen follower named Gokhan Ozkok asked Clinton deputy chief of staff Huma Abedin for help in connecting one of his allies to President Obama.
Ozkok is founding board member of the Turkish Cultural Center and part of a network of businesses and non-profits affiliated with the Gulen movement, also known as Hizmet.
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton speaks at the Turkish Cultural Center, Sept. 2007. (Youtube screengrab)
Ozkok served as national finance co-chair of the pro-Clinton Ready PAC. He gave $10,000 to the committee in 2014 and $2,700 to Clinton's campaign last year. He is also listed on the Turkish Cultural Center's website as a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, one of the non-profit arms of the Clinton Foundation. He's given between $25,000 and $50,000 to the Clinton charity.
Another link between Gulenists and the Clinton orbit was revealed in a lobbying registration disclosure filed last month with the Senate. It shows that a Gulen-aligned group called the Alliance for Shared Values hired the Clinton-connected Podesta Group to lobby Congress on its behalf. The group seeks to lobby for the ''promotion of peace, tolerance and interfaith dialogue.''
The group's executive director is Alp Aslandogan, a former professor at universities in Texas. He has also donated to Clinton's political endeavors, campaign finance records show.
The Podesta Group is a natural choice for those seeking influence with Clinton. The firm was co-founded by John Podesta, Clinton's campaign chairman, and his brother Tony, a major Clinton campaign bundler.
Through various non-profit groups, both Gulenists promote the cleric's teachings, which are relatively moderate and pro-Western. They are also involved in the Gulen movement's money-making endeavor: a vast network of taxpayer-funded charter schools.
Those schools, which number more than 150, have been a source of controversy for the Gulen movement.
Federal investigators have reportedly investigated some of the schools for using work visas to bring Turkish citizens to the U.S. to teach. In some cases, taxpayer funds were used to pay immigration and legal fees for family members of teachers who worked at the facilities. Funds allocated to the schools have also been funneled to contractors controlled by Turkish nationals with connections to the Gulen movement.
A 2011 New York Times article focused on suspicious ties between Gulenist schools operating in Texas under the name Harmony Public Schools. Harmony contracted with a company controlled by a pro-Gulen non-profit called the Cosmos Foundation. In 2002, Aslandogan purchased property that was later sold to Harmony. He also founded the Texas Gulf Foundation, which has also been awarded taxpayer-funded contracts to provide services to Gulen schools.
Aslandogan did not return a request for comment. Nor did Ozkok, who has affiliations with Gulen-connected education firms Sema Education and Apple Education Services.
The partnerships between the schools and contractors allow taxpayer funds to remain within the Gulen network. Teachers at the schools, many of whom are not fluent in English, are also used to help finance Hizmet, according to one former teacher at a Gulen institute.
The teacher, who is now a government whistleblower, told ''60 Minutes'' in 2012 that Turkish teachers are required to return a large portion of their salary to the Gulen network. She said that her Turkish husband, who taught at one of the schools, was required to return 40 percent of his salary.
Accusations of visa fraud and other impropriety, which Gulenists largely deny, have contributed to an increased profile for Gulen, who ended up staying in the U.S. permanently after coming here for medical treatment.
ErdoÄan's campaign to rid Turkey of Gulen's influence has also thrust the recluse onto the public spotlight.
On top of his efforts to crackdown on Gulenists within the Turkish media, judiciary and police, ErdoÄan has sought to exert influence over Gulen in the U.S.
During a 2014 visit with President Obama, ErdoÄan, who served as prime minister prior to his presidential term, reportedly asked Obama for Gulen's extradition. The Turkish government has also retained the law firm Amsterdam & Partners in an effort to undermine Gulen and Gulenists in the courts as well as the media.
The connections between the Gulen movement and Clinton are not the first to be revealed. They also add to questions about what it is the Gulenists want from Clinton and whether the Democrat has rewarded their financial support with favors.
Last year The Daily Caller reported that numerous Gulen followers have donated to Clinton's various political campaigns and to her family charity. One Gulen movement leader, Recep Ozkan, donated between $500,000 and $1 million to the Clinton Foundation.
As senator from New York, Clinton gave a keynote address at the Turkish Cultural Center's annual banquet.
The email to Abedin, which is the first piece of communication showing that a Gulen follower had direct access to Clinton's staff, sought a favor.
''Please tell Madam Secretary that it would be great if President Obama can include a 15 minutes [sic] meeting with Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary-General of the Organization of of [sic] the Islamic Conference (OIC), in his trip to Turkey,'' wrote Ozkok.
April 1, 2009 email from Gokhan Ozkok to Huma Abedin. Obtained by Judicial Watch
It is unclear if Abedin forwarded Ozkok's request to Clinton or anyone else in the Obama administration. But Ihsanoglu, who is an ally of Gulen's and lost to Erdogan in the 2014 presidential election, did meet with Obama in Istanbul several days after the email. There, Obama reportedly extended an invitation to Ihsanoglu to visit the White House. The academic visited in June 2009 and reportedly asked Obama to create a U.S. ambassador to the Muslim world.
Huma Abedin (R) and Clinton campaign spokesman Nick Merrill (L). (REUTERS)
Some terror watchdog groups flagged the meetings, pointing to Ihsanoglu's past praise of the terrorist group Hamas and for Sudanese president and U.S. foe Omar al-Bashir. But Ihsanoglu does not appear to be a radical firebrand like so many Islamists in the Middle East.
As for the Podesta Group, the lobbying firm has connections to several controversial companies seeking to peddle influence at Clinton's State Department.
Daily Caller investigations have revealed that the Podesta Group has represented Uranium One, a Russia-controlled uranium company that had ties to Canadian mining magnate and Clinton Foundation philanthropist Frank Giustra.
The Podesta Group also lobbied Clinton's State Department on behalf of BAE Systems just as the U.K. defense contractor was facing stiff government sanctions for illegal arms trading. The Associated Press has sued the State Department for records pertaining to discussions to let BAE Systems off with a slap on the wrist for its infractions.
Clinton's favorite lobbying firm also started working last year for Islami Bank Bangladesh, a Bengali bank that has been linked to terrorist groups. And earlier this year, Tony Podesta, the Clinton bundler and Podesta Group principal, was hired by the Saudi government.
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Turkey may no longer be a viable partner in fight against Isis following coup, says French foreign minister | Europe | News | The Independent
Sun, 17 Jul 2016 20:30
France's foreign minister has said Turkey may no longer be a viable partner in the fight against Isis in Syria, while Syrian state media has claimed the failed coup in the country was fabricated by President Erdogan to tarnish the military's reputation.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault raised concerns over Turkey's ability to fight Isis amid growing political instability in the country following the attempted coup against Mr Erdogan's regime.
He said: ''There are questions that are being asked and we will ask them. [Turkey] is partly viable but there are suspicions as well. Let's be honest about this.''
He said he would raise the issue at a meeting in Washington next week convened to discuss action against Isis.
Following his comments, a French diplomatic official said Mr Ayrault did not mean to question Turkey's viability in the fight against Isis and said that they would remain a crucial coalition partner in the fight against the terror group.
A Syrian government newspaper has said the coup was fabricated by President Erdogan in an attempt to "avenge the military and strip it of its remaining support."
Mr Erdogan supports insurgents in Syria who are trying to force President Bashar Assad from power.
Tensions have also risen between Turkey and the US following the attempted coup, as Turkey closed its airspace thereby effectively grounding US warplanes which have been targeting Isis forces in neighbouring Syria and Iraq.
Some senior Turkish officials have directly blamed the US for the coup. The Obama administration has strongly denied any involvement, with Secretary of State John Kerry saying to his Turkish counterpart in a phonecall: ''''Public insinuations or claims about any role by the United States in the failed coup attempt are utterly false and harmful to our bilateral relations.''
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TASS: Russian Politics & Diplomacy - Putin, Erdogan have telephone conversation after military coup attempt in Turkey '-- Kremlin
Sun, 17 Jul 2016 20:42
MOSCOW, July 17. /TASS/. Russia's President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Kremlin's press service said the conversation was initiated by the Russian side.
"Vladimir Putin in relation to the attempt of a force overthrowing of democratically elected Turkish authorities at night to July 16 stressed Russia's principal line for categorical inacceptance of anti-constitutional actions and use of force in life of a country," the Kremlin said. "Recep Tayyip Erdogan was offered condolences following the many victims among the civilians and law enforcers opposing the plotters, as well as wishes of soonest recovery of stable constitutional order and stability in Turkey."
Presidents discussed safety of Russian tourists in Turkey after the military coup attempt in that country.
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"The Russian president said after lifting of the limiting measures the number of Russian tourists in Turkey has jumped up, and expressed hope the Turkish side under the current complicated conditions would be able to provide maximum their safety," the Kremlin's statement reads. "Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed all necessary steps in that sphere would be undertaken.".
Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan also confirmed earlier agreement to meet in person soon, the Kremlin's press service said
Latest reports say about 265 killed and about 1,440 injured in the military coup attempt in Turkey's Istanbul and Ankara. A group of insurgents staged a military attempt coup in Turkey on the night from Friday to Saturday. Bombs were dropped on the parliament building and the presidential palace in Ankara.
How will the attempted coup in Turkey affect Moscow-Ankara relations?
Sun, 17 Jul 2016 20:43
Experts are divided on the significance of the failure to overthrow the Turkish government by members of the country's armed forces for Russia-Turkey relations.
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Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge on Friday, July 15, 2016. Source: AP
Late in the evening of July 15, a military coup was attempted in Turkey. In Ankara, rebel faction of the armed forces seized helicopters and carried out several strikes against government buildings, while in Istanbul, the plotters closed off the bridges across the Bosphorus and broke into the offices of leading Turkish media organizations '' the TRT TV channel and the Dogan Media Group, which owns the CNN Turk TV channel and the leading opposition newspaper Hurriyet.
As a result of the coup, over 160 people were killed and hundreds injured.
The attempt to seize power was organized by a group of officers from the country's military police and air force, acting chief of General Staff Umit Dundar announced.
Over 2,800 people have been arrested on suspicion of taking part in an attempted coup d'etat.
Moscow's reactionWhile the international community condemned the attempt to seize power in Turkey, Moscow was more restrained in its reaction, with no outright condemnation of the coup bid.
Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov expressed concern at the developments in Turkey, saying that Russia was keen to see the events unfolding in Turkey end ''in a legitimate way as soon as possible'' and hoped that the country would''return to the path of stability, predictability, and law and order.''
Peskov went on to add that Russian President Vladimir Putin had not been in contact with either side of the conflict. At the time of writing, there has still been no reaction from Putin himself.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev urged Ankara to restore the constitutional order as soon as possible.
''What happened shows that there are strong and deep divisions inside Turkish society and the armed forces, which were manifested in these events,'' he said.
Bilateral relations unlikely to benefitIn late June, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologized to Moscow for the incident with the downed Russian plane that took place on Nov. 24, 2015 and triggered a seven-month-long crisis in bilateral relations.
A process of normalization of relations was launched following the apology: Putin and Erdogan had their first telephone conversation since the November incident, the parties agreed to meet in person in the near future, andrestrictions on travel to Turkey for Russian tourists were lifted.
''In general, the situation should not have a negative effect on Russian-Turkish relations,''saidI lshat Sayetov, a Turkey expert and head of the Center for Contemporary Turkish Studies.
''The country is headed by a leader who has expressed a clear intention to restore relations. However, the overall instability in Turkey '' terrorist attacks, semi-coups, polarization of society and so on '' is, of course, not to the benefit of the two countries' relations,'' said Sayetov.
''The concentration of all power in the hands of the Turkish president increases the risk of ill-judged decisions, and the Russian authorities will be taking this into account,'' he said.
A similar view was voiced by Yury Mavashev, a Middle East and Turkey scholar and expert from the Caucasus Geopolitical Club.
''The seven months of the Russian-Turkish crisis could not but influence the opinions of a certain section of Russian society,'' said Mavashev.
''To wit, in the first hours of the coup attempt, some members of the Russian expert community were inclined to take a positive view of what was happening. It was suggested that the coup had deep-lying causes and reflected the pressing issues of Turkish society.
''These estimates show that the Russian public are not yet fully convinced that, given its previous mistakes, the country's leadership indeed seeks to take relations to the appropriate level,'' he said.
A more optimistic view came from Kerim Has, an expert on Eurasian politics at the International Strategic Research Organization independent think-tank in Ankara. In his opinion, these developments will give an impetus to normalizing relations with Moscow.
''The country's leadership will start to pursue a more independent policy aimed at strengthening security in the country. The downside will be a drop in the number of Russian tourists and a delay inthe lifting of Russia's economic sanctions,'' saidHas.
For his part, Hasan Oktay, a Turkish analyst and head of the Ankara-based Caucasus Strategic Studies Center, predicts that the developments in Turkey will not have a negative effect on relations with Moscow.
''The attempted coup failed. The plotters have been arrested. Democracy has triumphed,'' he said.
Today President Erdogan Presents The ''Rabba Salute'' '' Affirming Ideological Alignment With Muslim Brotherhood'...
Sun, 17 Jul 2016 20:43
Political Islam is fraught with coded messaging used to convey intention to Islamic audiences while simultaneously presenting a false face to the West. When you know what signals to look for you are able to fully understand the ideology behind the message.
When Mohammed Morsi rose to power in Egypt his rise was on the back of the Muslim Brotherhood. The ''Islamist Spring'' brought forth a more radical version of Islamic sentiment '' The Muslim Brotherhood, or just ''Brotherhood'', is the political branch of various hardline Islamic ideologies.
The foundational ideological block under ISIS, al-Qaeda and Al Nusra, is the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood has its own signature; and when you know what to look for you can identify its appearance.
Islamist activists, and demonstrators hold four fingers in the air to display a hand sign referring to the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, the site of a violent confrontation between Morsi's followers and the Egyptian army.
Reported deaths from the clash range from hundreds to thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters. In Arabic, ''Rabba'' means ''four'' or ''the fourth;'' hence the Rabaa symbol.
Showing the Rabaa hand signal indicates an ideological following with ''the Brotherhood'', in the extremist vein of Mohamed Morsi. Unless you follow the intricacies of the extremist views held by pro-Morsi demonstrators, the four fingers mean nothing to you. The word ''Rabaa'' itself is foreign to Westerners, and the hand sign has no pre-existing connotations.
The use of the Rabaa means the Brotherhood cares about building political support in their own region '' and has written off Western political opinion as less important.
When the Egyptian people rose up against the Islamist takeover of their government (2013) supporters of Egypt's deposed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood waved Egyptian flags during a rally in protest against the violence in Egypt, outside of the Eminonu New mosque in Istanbul August 17, 2013. REUTERS/Murad Sezer
The State Department hosted a delegation of Muslim Brotherhood-aligned leaders this week for a meeting about their ongoing efforts to oppose the current government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, who rose to power following the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi, an ally of the Brotherhood, in 2013.One member of the delegation, a Brotherhood-aligned judge in Egypt, posed for a picture while at Foggy Bottom in which he held up the Islamic group's notorious four-finger Rabia symbol, according to his Facebook page.
Moments ago '' Today in Turkey, President Recep Erdogan took to the stage to deliver a speech against the failed Coup. At 16:30 in the video below notice the hand signal (screen grab below video):
For Western observers, the Rabaa teaches an important lesson: As unrest continues across the Middle East, we should be aware not only of verbal rhetoric, often fraught with intentional deception, but also of the use of gestures.
By flashing four fingers the supporters of The Muslim Brotherhood are signaling their rejection of an international movement and their embrace of a singular, less tolerant, more extremist and more hard-line Islamist agenda.
CTH presents these empirical outlines so that people can see through the false prism of liberal media claims. The deception is not only from the politicians who are promoting their own ideology, but also from sympathetic liberal (globalist) media entities who are not being honest about the intents and purposes behind international events.
'... Another example of the skewed manipulation of media stems from the failed coup itself. Turkey has two state run, state controlled, political media outlets. However, when Erdogan needed to communicate with his Islamist followers, he turned to CNN-Turkey (Screen grab below). It was this specific broadcast that saved Erdogan from the coup.
CNN as an international media enterprise is part of the U.S. State department political agenda. We have outlined this in several prior articles noting each time when the State Department, as a political interventionist ideological enterprise, is noticed using Ted Turner's media construct to advance a specific cause.
CNN transparently supports Erdogan, along with other baseline Islamic entities, and the larger objectives of the Muslim Brotherhood.
'... During the Sept 11th 2012 uprising against the U.S. in Cairo Egypt was underway, Nick Robertson was live broadcasting the purpose and intention of the demonstrators. Their goal of the Brotherhood was to demand the release of the Blind Sheik (screen grab left).
However, the protests led to the U.S. Embassy being overrun by Islamists.
Hillary Clinton and the state department needed to draw attention away from the visibility of their failure. The Nick Robertson CNNi report was never shown again on any broadcast. This, along with the simultaneous attack in Benghazi later that night, set the stage for Hillary to claim the protest was spawned by an innocuous You Tube video.
'... When Iran arrested Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian it was not because Rezaian had written anything the Iranian regime was concerned about; it was entirely because Iran sees CNN as the hidden and corrupt media entity used by the U.S. State Department.
Rezaian had just given an interview to Anthony Bourdain about Iran (see above).
'... Former CNN Producer/Journalist Amber Lyon previously blew the whistle on the State Department and CNN working together when her reporting about Bahrain was removed and refused airtime because Bahrain -via the State Department- was paying for control.
So when you go full circle and see Recep Erdogan today presenting an Islamist signal, the intelligent viewer will notice how no-one in the media is explaining -honestly- what this indicates.
However, if you reference the ideology of Christianne Amanpour, another key CNN figurehead, you'll understand why:
For some, ''9-11'' was a day of victory and jubilation, not a day of national mourning and sorrow.
Ms. Amanpour standing in her apartment with a painting of the Twin Towers attack on 9/11 titled ''Day of Jubilation'':
Favorite Item in the Apartment: A massive painting that I got in Iran, a few years ago, by Farideh Lashai, a friend who is also Iran's pre-eminent abstract-expressionist painter. It gives me joy every time I walk in my door. (link)
Yep, those would be: things that make other things make sense...
Air traffic between Russia and Turkey is gradually recovering
Sun, 17 Jul 2016 20:42
Russia has currently restricted flights to Turkey.
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Two flights of Turkish Airlines from Antalya resort town landed in Moscow, according to online data of Moscow's Vnukovo Airport. A flight from Istanbul airport to Moscow also landed this morning. These are the first flights from Turkey that landed in Moscow after the coup attempt.
Russia has currently restricted flights to Turkey. However, Russian and Turkish air carriers may continue performing flights from Turkey, the Russian aviation authority said earlier.
Russian flag carrier Airport will start delivering Russians trapped in Istanbul and Antalya today. SU2134 Moscow - Istanbul flight will take passengers in Istanbul and return back to Moscow on July 18, Aeroflot spokesperson told TASS earlier.
SU2142 flight will depart from Moscow to Antalya on July 18.
According to the latest reports, the death toll in Turkey has climbed to 265 and about 1,440 more were injured as a result of the coup attempt.
Source: Tass.com
Read more: Turkey coup: Why did the military try to overthrow Erdogan?
Russia not considering lifting embargo on Turkish goods
Sun, 17 Jul 2016 20:49
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Russia is not considering the possibility of lifting embargo on goods from Turkey because this may affect domestic agricultural producers, Russian Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev said on July 16.
"No such decisions have been made yet. As far as I know, the government is not considering his, neither does the Agriculture Ministry. We understand very well that is it dangerous for us now," Tkachev said adding that "opening this market will hit hard."
Many Russian producers have understood the signal and started developing domestic production, the minister noted.
On January 1, 2016, Russia imposed a ban on the import of a list of agricultural products from Turkey (including strawberries, oranges, tangerines, grapes, apples, pears, apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, some vegetables). The restrictive measures were taken after the Turkish Air Force shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber over the Syrian territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the Russian government to start negotiations with Turkey to restore cooperation in trade and other areas in June 2016.
Source: Tass.com
Turkish PM: Any country that stands by cleric Gulen will be at war with Turkey | Reuters
Sun, 17 Jul 2016 22:55
Sat Jul 16, 2016 | 6:11 AM EDT
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Any country that stands by the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen will not be a friend of Turkey and will be considered at war with the NATO member, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday.
The government said that followers of Gulen, who has been living in self-imposed exile in the United States for years, were behind the attempted coup by a faction of the military on Friday.
The government accuses Gulen of trying to build a "parallel structure" within the judiciary, education system, media and military as a way to overthrow the state, a charge the cleric denies.
(Reporting by David Dolan; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
42 Helicopters Missing in Turkey Sparking Concerns of a Second Coup Attempt / Sputnik International
Sun, 17 Jul 2016 22:23
CNN Turk anchor Serdar Tuncer reports that at least 42 helicopters have gone missing from the Turkish military inventory and says concern is brewing that another coup effort may soon be underway."It is as though this rogue will try more things. Can they succeed? No! But will they try?" said the reporter.
Unrest continues in Turkey in the wake of Friday's failed coup attempt that left at least 265 dead and over 2000 people wounded, most of whom were civilians answering the call of President Erdogan to put down the coup attempt.
'The Turkish government asserts that it has retained full-control of the government and has begun a "systematic purge of the military." On Saturday, the government rounded up over 6,000 individuals who will face prosecution under the country's treason laws with President Erdogan refusing to rule out applying a death sentence to the traitors. The arrested include 2,745 judges and over 2,800 soldiers in the Turkish military including Erdogan's top military adviser.
The US State Department cautions that the situation in Turkey remains unstable in the wake of the failed coup plot and warns foreign travelers against visiting the country citing an increased terror threat as chaos ensues across the country.
NATO also maintains roughly 90 tactical nuclear weapons at the Incirlik Air Base, from where the 42 helicopters have gone missing, causing concern about the security of US weapons in Turkey and raising the specter that terrorists may ultimately be able to get their hands on advanced weaponry or potentially a nuclear bomb.
Turkey's president says all he wants is same powers as Hitler - Telegraph
Mon, 18 Jul 2016 17:22
In the meantime, he has been trying to change the constitution to formalise the situation.
Local critics used his words to argue he was becoming dictatorial, but in Israel they will be seen as another example of political insensitivity. Mr Erdogan has clashed with Israel on a number of occasions over his perceived support for Islamist, anti-Israel groups.
Online, Turks, bloggers and Middle East analysts all took to Twitter to express their astonishment.
Eliot Higgins, who has achieved celebrity status for his analysis of weapons usage in the Syrian war, said Mr Erdogan had achieved a first by managing to "Godwin" himself. "Godwin's Law" is a joke rule of the internet which states that anyone who compares someone else to Hitler in an online argument has lost.
Officials immediately tried to argue that Mr Erdogan's words had been taken out of context.
They pointed out his subsequent comments, in which he said the important thing was not the type of system but whether it ruled with justice.
"What is important is that a presidential system should not disturb the people in its implementation,'' he said. ''If you provide justice, there will be no problem because what people want and expect is justice."
The day before, Mr Erdogan's replacement as prime minister, seemed to say the opposite, defending the proposed changes by saying that in Germany a parliamentary system had been used by Hitler in his rise to power.
"There are authoritarian structures coming out of parliamentary systems,'' he said. ''Hitler's Germany was born out of a parliamentary system."
Turkey prepared 'purge' lists prior to coup, says EU leader - Arutz Sheva
Mon, 18 Jul 2016 15:25
EU commissioner suggests Turkey had planned purge before coup attempt, amid conspiracy theories Erdogan orchestrated rebellion.
David Rosenberg, 18/07/16 10:12
Turkey has arrested more than 6,000 during purges of the army and judiciary following the failed coup attempt over the weekend. More than 290 people were killed and some 1,400 wounded in the abortive uprising Friday night and Saturday.
While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed an exiled Muslim cleric for inspiring the attempted overthrow of Turkey's government, conspiracy theories have abounded that Erdogan himself may be behind the attempted takeover, using it as a pretext to purge the military and courts of possible enemies.
On Monday, European Union commissioner Johannes Hahn said the rapid mass arrests immediately following the coup attempt suggested the purges were pre-planned.
''It looks at least as if something has been prepared. The lists are available, which indicates it was prepared and to be used at a certain stage. I'm very concerned. It is exactly what we feared.''
Hahn's comments have fueled speculation the coup attempt was orchestrated by the Turkish president himself.
On Monday it was also revealed that rebel pilots had targeted Erdogan's plane as the president returned to Istanbul, yet did not open fire. A senior Turkish official claimed rebel forces targeted Erdogan with airstrikes, missing him ''by minutes''.
Turkey reopens air base for U.S fight against Islamic State: Pentagon | Reuters
Mon, 18 Jul 2016 12:28
Sun Jul 17, 2016 | 6:33 PM EDT
WASHINGTON/ SAYLORSBURG, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Turkey will reopen its Incirlik air base to U.S. planes, used to attack Islamic State, following an attempted coup, the Pentagon said on Sunday.
"After close coordination with our Turkish allies, they have reopened their airspace to military aircraft. As a result, counter-ISIL coalition air operations at all air bases in Turkey have resumed," a Pentagon statement said.
Turkey, a major U.S. ally, has allowed the United States to use the air base in Incirlik to launch attacks against the militant group. Those air operations were temporarily halted following the coup attempt on Friday.
Secretary of State John Kerry said on CNN's "State of the Union" that he had spoken with Turkey's foreign minister three times on Saturday.
"They assure me that there will be no interruption of our counter-ISIL efforts," Kerry said, using an acronym to refer to the Islamic State.
Kerry said that the difficulty for U.S. planes accessing Incirlik may have been a result of planes flown in support of the coup using the air base to refuel.
On NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Kerry was asked if Turkey's president Tayyip Erdogan would use the coup attempt to seize more power.
Kerry said such a move by Erdogan would be a challenge to his relationship with Europe, with NATO and others.
"We have urged them not to reach out so far that they are creating doubts about their commitment to the democratic process," he said.
Erdogan has blamed his rival, Fethullah Gulen, for masterminding the coup attempt. Gulen, who is currently living in Pennsylvania, has denied any involvement.
Kerry said he had no evidence at this time that Gulen was behind the plot to seize power from Erdogan, but he urged Turkish authorities to compile evidence as rapidly as possible so the United States can evaluate whether Gulen should be extradited to Turkey.
In an interview from Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, Gulen told reporters he did not know who was behind the attempted coup and suggested it might have been staged by Erdogan's government to seize more control.
"This is not the pattern of an attempted coup," Gulen said through an interpreter.
(This version of the story was refiled to add a dropped letter to word not in the penultimate paragraph.)
(Reporting by Julia Edwards; Additional reporting by David Chance and Timothy Gardner; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Alan Crosby)
F-Russia
Putin To Ban Pokemon GO From Russia Due To Links To CIA | Your News Wire
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 20:37
Vladimir Putin is set to ban Pokemon GO from Russia after an internal Kremlin investigation revealed the viral augmented reality smartphone game has direct links to the CIA and wider intelligence community and is being used to secretly gather data on a colossal scale.
Young people are being tricked into giving up their privacy to these intelligence agencies, according to Kremlin sources, and while playing the game they act as unwitting intelligence gatherers for the CIA. The game has an extensive list of intrusive tracking permissions, and it is these 'fine print clauses' that raised eyebrows in the Kremlin and sparked the ongoing investigation.
The game's creator, Niantec, is closely linked to the CIA. Niantec CEO John Hanke created Keyhole in 2001 '' which was later bought by Google.
Most of the money used to create Keyhole came from the National Geo-Spatial Intelligence Agency and the CIA.
Pokemon GO is the pinnacle of Hanke's intelligence gathering career thus far. He is a New World Order intelligence operative whose career has been creating ingenious ways to spy on unsuspecting citizens and siphon the information back to intelligence agencies.
With the launch of the viral game, the CIA effectively recruited millions of unaware, distracted people to work as intelligence and surveillance operatives, gathering previously time consuming, expensive data for the intelligence agency.
An agency that wants footage of the inside of a home or building can now place desirable Pokemon there, and naive citizens will collect the footage for them.
Putin, who has promised to destroy the New World Order in 2016, believes the augmented reality smartphone game is a case of wolf in sheep's clothing.
The game hasn't been released in Russia yet, however some Russian Pokemon fans have gained access and have started playing the game in Moscow, prompting Putin to warn them to stay away from his residence and government buildings over security fears.
The game looks set to have a limited life span in Russia, and other countries are showing signs of following suit in banning the CIA-funded game over security concerns.
China, the world's biggest gaming and smartphone market, has expressed reservations about the game, believing it could be a Trojan horse for offensive military action by the United States and Japan.
Pokemon GO represents the latest tool to ensnare people. It is a form of hypnotism and could have sinister consequences. The New World Order have corralled these young people and are using them to create caches of hi-res data-rich images of their surroundings '' including personal spaces '' that get collated and stored by the CIA.
Kremlin sources believe the most objectionable clause in the Pokemon GO contract being signed by young people all over the world is the line: ''We may disclose any information about you (or your authorized child) that is in our possession or control to government or law enforcement officials or private parties.''
In other words, everything your smartphone camera captures while you are attempting to capture Pokemon can and will be used against you in a court of law.
Baxter DmitryPassionate about motor sports, military history and the truth, Baxter has travelled in over 80 countries and won arguments in every single one.
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Ministry of Truth
Helen Thomas dies at 92; journalist was the feisty scourge of presidents - The Washington Post
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 03:55
Helen Thomas, a wire service correspondent and columnist whose sharp questions from the front row of the White House press room challenged and annoyed 10 presidents and who was effective in divulging information that federal officials tried to keep secret, died July 20 at her home in Washington. She was 92.
A friend, retired journalist Muriel Dobbin, confirmed her death. No immediate cause of death was disclosed, but Ms. Thomas had been on dialysis for a kidney ailment.
Unintimidated by presidents or press secretaries, Ms. Thomas was known as the dean of the White House press corps for her longevity in the beat. She reported for the United Press International wire service for almost 60 years.
Among the most-recognized reporters in America, Ms. Thomas was a short, dark-eyed woman with a gravelly voice who, for many years, rose from her front-row seat at presidential news conferences to ask the first or second question. For nearly 30 years, she closed the sessions with a no-nonsense ''Thank you, Mr. President.''
''Helen was a true pioneer, opening doors and breaking down barriers for generations of women in journalism,'' President Obama said in a statement. ''She covered every White House since President Kennedy's, and during that time she never failed to keep presidents '-- myself included '-- on their toes.''
Ms. Thomas's pointed queries often agitated the powerful, but she was also lauded for posing questions ''almost like a housewife in Des Moines would ask,'' a colleague once said. She asked President Richard M. Nixon point-blank what his secret plan to end the Vietnam War was, and she asked President Ronald Reagan what right the United States had to invade Grenada in 1983.
When President George H.W. Bush announced that the defense budget would remain the same after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the disappearance of communism in Europe, she succinctly asked, ''Who's the enemy?''
''I respect the office of the presidency,'' she told Ann McFeatters for a 2006 profile in Ms. magazine, ''but I never worship at the shrines of our public servants. They owe us the truth.''
Ms. Thomas had a number of scoops, including her exclusive interviews with Martha Mitchell, which helped expose some aspects of the Watergate scandal. Mitchell, the wife of Attorney General John Mitchell, told Thomas in late-night phone calls that she had seen a Nixon campaign strategy book that included plans for Watergate-style operations. Thomas also broke the story that Nixon's speechwriters were working on a resignation address that he would give the next day.
Her strength was her indefatigable pursuit of hard news, the bread-and-butter staple of the wire services. She arrived at work every morning before dawn and accompanied presidents on overseas trips. She was the only female print reporter to accompany Nixon on his historic visit to China, and later, in her 70s and 80s, she often outdistanced younger reporters on arduous around-the-world travels.
Her unparalleled experience covering the presidency earned her the respect and affection of both colleagues and public officials for decades.
In 2000, she quit UPI and became a columnist for the Hearst News Service, a job she retired from in 2010 after she told a rabbi that Jewish settlers should ''get the hell out of Palestine'' and go back to ''Poland, Germany, America and everywhere else.''
She apologized, but White House spokesman Robert Gibbs denounced her comments as ''offensive and reprehensible.'' The White House Correspondents' Association issued a rare admonishment, calling her statements ''indefensible.''
The remarks ignited a controversy that had been simmering for years. The daughter of Lebanese immigrants, Ms. Thomas routinely questioned White House officials over U.S. policies toward Israel and the Middle East, which led some to complain she was too sympathetic to Palestinian and Arab viewpoints. Bush spokesman Tony Snow once famously answered one of her questions with, ''Thank you for the Hezbollah view.''
Ms. Thomas was clear about her antipathy to secretive government and her belief that the George W. Bush administration disregarded well-established law. In 2003, she told another reporter that she was covering ''the worst president in American history.'' The remark was quoted, and Bush, who was not amused, froze her out. She apologized in writing, and he accepted her regrets but did not call on her at his news conferences for the next three years.
When he finally did, she immediately fired off a classic Thomas question:
''I'd like to ask you, Mr. President. Your decision to invade Iraq has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, wounds of Americans and Iraqis for a lifetime. Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is: Why did you really want to go to war? From the moment you stepped into the White House, from your Cabinet '-- your Cabinet officers, intelligence people and so forth '-- what was your real reason? You have said it wasn't oil '-- quest for oil '-- it hasn't been Israel or anything else. What was it?''
She and Bush went toe to toe, interrupting each other as the president attempted to respond.
''I'm never going to forget the vow I made to the American people,'' Bush said, ''that we will do everything in our power to protect our people.''
Ms. Thomas publicly criticized her colleagues in the press and broadcast media for failing to ask the hard questions of the Bush administration, but she saved her toughest criticisms for elected officials.
''We are the only institution in our society that can question a president on a regular basis and make him accountable,'' she told author Kay Mills for a 1996 Modern Maturity magazine article. ''Otherwise, he could be king.''
Ms. Thomas had spent much of her life fighting against unearned privilege, leading a decades-long battle to gain female reporters equal access to jobs, news and newsmakers.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Ms. Thomas, Associated Press reporter Fran Lewine and Washington Post writer Elsie Carper fought to gain admittance to the newsmaking luncheons at the National Press Club, which then barred women from its membership. The club, with the help of the U.S. State Department, booked world leaders to speak, and women, even those who worked for prominent press outlets, were not allowed.
The lobbying finally paid off after a planned appearance of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was nearly canceled. Women were allowed in, starting in 1956, but were relegated to a balcony, where they were not permitted to ask questions of the guests. After another decade of activism, women were finally allowed to join the National Press Club as full members in 1971.
Ms. Thomas became the club's first female officer, as well as the first woman to be named White House bureau chief of a major wire service, the first woman to be admitted to the Gridiron Club, the first woman to serve as president of the White House Correspondents' Association and the recipient of multiple lifetime achievement awards.
High school journalist
Helen Amelia Thomas was born Aug. 4, 1920, in Winchester, Ky., one of nine children of immigrants from present-day Lebanon. A few years after her birth, the family moved to Detroit, where her father ran a grocery store in a neighborhood that was home to people of Italian, African, German and Arab ancestry.
She found her career while working on her high school newspaper, then studied journalism at what is now Wayne State University in Detroit. She paid for her education by working in the college library and helping out at her brother's gas station.
After graduating in 1942, she moved to Washington, where she was briefly a copy girl, the newsroom equivalent of a gofer, at the old Washington Daily News. After being laid off, she knocked on doors at the National Press Building until the United Press wire service hired her in 1943 to write radio scripts, starting at 5:30 a.m., for a salary of $24 a week.
When World War II ended in 1945, many single female journalists were laid off to make room for the returning veterans. But Ms. Thomas stayed on, and by 1956, she had joined the UP's national staff to cover federal agencies. (The United Press took over the International News Service in 1958 to become United Press International.)
In 1960, she was assigned to report on the presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy. When Kennedy won the election, there was suddenly a huge demand for stories about his glamorous wife, Jacqueline.
Ms. Thomas interviewed hairdressers, clerks at clothing stores, caterers, pianists who played at the family's parties and even the owner of the diaper service. She and Lewine staked out the hospital when John Kennedy Jr. was born and were such a frequent presence in Jacqueline Kennedy's life that the first lady began calling them ''the harpies'' and complained to the Secret Service that ''two strange Spanish-looking women'' were stalking her.
The Kennedy administration was her favorite, she said in one of her four books, ''Front Row at the White House: My Life and Times'' (1999), because of the ''vibrancy and vigah'' that the family exuded. She was on hand when Kennedy shook hands with a teenage Bill Clinton in July 1963.
Over the next decade, Ms. Thomas began reporting harder news, still finding the unusual and juicy tidbit. President Lyndon B. Johnson was furious when he learned through Ms. Thomas's UPI report that his daughter Luci was engaged.
''You announced Luci's engagement, you announced Luci's marriage, you announced when Luci was going to have a baby, and I resented it,'' he once told her. But in those more informal times, he also invited her to lunch in the family quarters of the White House when he learned about her worry for her family after Detroit erupted in riots, she wrote.
In 1970, her longtime mentor, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Merriman Smith, committed suicide. Ms. Thomas was named UPI's senior White House correspondent, the first woman to hold that post.
Few knew at the time that she was dating journalist Douglas B. Cornell, who also covered the White House for the rival Associated Press newswire. Cornell, 17 years her senior, was retiring in 1971, and Nixon gave him a going-away party. In the midst of the ceremony, first lady Pat Nixon grabbed the microphone and announced the Thomas-Cornell engagement. ''At last,'' the first lady said, ''I've scooped Helen Thomas.''
A few years later, Cornell learned that he had Alzheimer's disease. He died in 1982. Ms. Thomas had no children; a complete list of survivors could not be confirmed.
Ms. Thomas was named UPI's White House bureau chief in 1974, and Nixon noted that hallmark at a news conference.
''So after he had been so gracious, he pointed to me for the first question,'' she wrote in her White House memoir. ''''Mr. President,' I said. 'Mr. Haldeman, your former top aide in the White House, has been charged with perjury because he testified you said it would be wrong to pay hush money to silence the Watergate defendants.''
She continued, in ''Front Row at the White House'': ''It's like I say to young people who ask me about going into journalism: If you want to be loved, don't go into this business.''
Sharp-edged humor
Known for her quick wit, Ms. Thomas didn't hesitate to exercise it on presidents. When a set of fortune-telling scales once spewed out a card for Gerald Ford saying, ''You are a brilliant leader,'' she glanced at the card and cracked, ''It got your weight wrong, too.''
In China, she accompanied Pat Nixon to a farm, where the first lady wondered about the breed of some pigs in a pen. ''Male chauvinist, of course,'' Ms. Thomas piped up. And when a man told her that ladies were not allowed in a Bible study class taught by Jimmy Carter, she retorted, ''I'm no lady, I'm a reporter.''
Her performances at the annual Gridiron Club song-and-dance show often brought down the house. She appeared in comedian Stephen Colbert's mock audition tape in 2006 for the job of presidential spokesman, playing herself in relentless pursuit of him. She turned up in President Bill Clinton's 2000 spoof tape as well and had a brief appearance in the 1993 movie ''Dave,'' rolling her eyes at the fake president's grand pronouncements.
In the 1980s, after the official planting of a Lebanon cedar tree on the South Lawn of the White House, fellow reporters urged Ms. Thomas, a Lebanese American, to pick up the ceremonial shovel and toss some dirt into the hole to cover the roots.
''And as she shoveled,'' ABC News broadcaster Sam Donaldson later said, ''I heard the ghosts of presidents past and present say, 'Shove her in.''''
Ms. Thomas was president of the Women's National Press Club in 1959 and was named one of the ''25 Most Influential Women in America'' by the World Almanac in 1976. In 1998, she was the first recipient of a prize established in her name by the White House Correspondents' Association '-- the Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 1984, when she received the National Press Club's Fourth Estate Award, Reagan told Ms. Thomas: ''You are not only a fine and respected professional, you have also become an important part of the American presidency.''
After spending most of her working life at UPI, Ms. Thomas quit the wire service in 2000, the day after the announcement of its acquisition by News World Communications, a company founded and controlled by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, leader of the Unification Church. Within two months, she became a columnist for Hearst Newspapers and resumed her seat in the White House briefing room, but in the back row rather than the front row.
At the time, colleagues and sources lined up to praise her.
''It's not too strong to say that Helen's a hero of journalism '-- to work that long, that well, under that much pressure at that high an altitude,'' said former CBS News anchorman Dan Rather.
She returned to her seat in the front row in 2007, courtesy of the White House Correspondents' Association.
Although she identified herself as a political liberal, Ms. Thomas did not hesitate to criticize the Democratic administration of President Obama, even after he presented her with cupcakes on Aug. 4, 2009, their shared birthday. She once told CNSNews.com that not even Nixon attempted to control the news media the way Obama's administration tried to do.
''What the hell do they think we are '-- puppets?'' Ms. Thomas asked. ''They're supposed to stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay them.''
Fox News' Megyn Kelly accuses Roger Ailes of sexual harassment: Report
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 19:15
Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly told investigators she was sexually harassed by CEO Roger Ailes, theDaily Intelligencer reports, less than two weeks after Gretchen Carlson made similar allegations against him.
Two sources told the New York Magazinepublication that Kelly told a team handling an outside investigation into Ailes' behavior that she, too, was the victim of sexual advances from the Fox News executive about a decade ago. The probe is being handled by New York-based law firm Paul, Weiss, Kelly, on behalf of Fox News' parent company 21st Century Fox.
Sources told the Daily Intelligencer that Ailes was told to resign by Aug. 1 or be fired for cause.
Fox News, which has handled Ailes' communications, did not respond to a CNBC request for comment, and 21st Century Fox declined to comment. Kelly's representatives did not respond to a request for comment.
Daily Intelligencer, citing sources, previously reported that 21st Century Fox co-Chairmen Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch and CEO James Murdoch had decide to fire Ailes in light of the allegations. James had allegedly wanted Ailes to be let go this week, while the other Murdochs were leaning toward ousting the executive after the GOP convention.
Kelly, who hosts "The Kelly File," is one of Fox News' best known journalists. She was co-moderator of the first GOP debate in August, during which Donald Trump accused her of being biased. The two sat down for a highly publicized interview on May 17.
She previously hosted "America Live" as well as co-hosted "America's Newsroom" with Bill Hemmer.
Earlier this month, Carlson filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Ailes, alleging she was fired from Fox News on June 23 because she refused to have a sexual relationship with Ailes.
Migrants
Why Germany Can't Figure Out the Identity of Its First ISIS Attacker | TIME
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 13:32
The martyr video identified the knifeman as Muhammad Riyad, the ISIS ''soldier'' who went berserk on Monday aboard a train in Bavaria, hacking and slashing at several passengers in the first ISIS attack Germany has ever seen. But that isn't the name he gave to German authorities when he arrived last summer via Austria. His application for asylum bore the name Riaz Khan Ahmadzai, and nearly three days after German police cut short his rampage by shooting the attacker dead, his real identity remains a mystery.
During a press conference on Wednesday in Berlin, Germany's top police official conceded that investigators are not sure about his real name, his age or even his nationality. Without providing any verifiable information about himself, the attacker was not just able to enter the country last summer '' he was also granted temporary asylum status, housing, welfare benefits and, in the two weeks before the attack, he was assigned to a German foster family, said Interior Minister Thomas de Maizi¨re. Only after he was shot and killed by police did investigators begin checking on his identity in earnest.
Authorities have discovered that he could be from Afghanistan or Pakistan, and that the information he provided to officials in Germany could be partly or entirely false. ''Naturally it is often the case that the authorities have to rely on the information provided by the person concerned, especially when there is no passport available,'' said de Maizi¨re.
When it comes to refugees, that information is often impossible to check. Last year, more than a million asylum seekers came to Germany from across the Middle East and North Africa, and more than three-quarters of them crossed the border with no passports or other forms of identification, according to government statistics. Monday's attack, which left five people gravely injured in the Bavarian town of W¼rzburg, has shown how little Germany really knows about the refugees it is sheltering. In many cases, the government appears to have simply given them the benefit of the doubt '' a policy that has long worried conservative German politicians and security experts.
''You have to know who is in your country,'' the center-right lawmaker Hans-Peter Friedrich, who preceded de Maizi¨re as Interior Minister, told TIME last fall, soon after asylum seekers were implicated in the November terrorist attacks in Paris. ''At the moment you have the opposite situation,'' he said at the time. ''You do not know anything. You do not know who's coming.''
In the last few months, Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders have moved to regulate the influx. The open borders that migrants used last year to reach Western Europe have been closed and, under a deal agreed with Turkey in March, the European Union has started sending back migrants who arrive from the Turkish coast. These measures appear to be working. Last month, only about 1,500 asylum seekers reached the E.U. by boat from Turkey, compared to more than 31,000 arrivals in June of last year, according to the latest U.N. data.
By easing the pressure on the German asylum system, this decline should help the government process the roughly 440,000 asylum applications it received last year, mostly from refugees fleeing the war zones in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. But it will not necessarily help the authorities verify the newcomers' identities. As de Maizi¨re noted on Wednesday, Afghanistan does not even keep records on its citizens that Germany could use to check against the information they provide. ''There is no reference data from the Afghan registration bureau or anything like that,'' he said.
Complicating matters further is the fact that at least 60,000 of Germany's asylum seekers are minors who arrived with no parents or guardians. The W¼rzburg attacker was initially thought to be one of them, as he claimed to be 17 years old in his application for asylum. German authorities are now working to establish whether that information was accurate.
But so far, they have not announced any additional identity checks for migrants who arrived without passports. At Wednesday's press conference, de Maizi¨re urged the country's social workers and volunteer groups to continue helping refugees from the Muslim world feel welcome in German society. That approach has so far helped Germany avoid the devastating Islamist attacks that have struck in neighboring France and Belgium over the past year. As the minister put it, ''Good integration policy is good security policy.'' Even when the state isn't sure whom exactly it is integrating.
BREAKING: Terrorist Axe Rampage On German Train Leaves 15+ Injured '' American Military News
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 00:37
A terrorist attacker, yelling ''Allahu Akbar'' went on a murderous rampage injuring over 15 people on a commuter train in Germany during rush hour. The 17-year-old Afghanistan refugee then made a run for it but was shot dead by police.
The attack took place in the region of Wurzburg in the Bavarian region of Germany. The Bavarian Interior Minister said the boy entered Germany as an ''unaccompanied minor.''
Wuerzburg police said that three of the victims suffered serious injuries and one was only slightly injured. Another 14 people were being treated for minor injuries. The terrorist wielded an axe and a knife and started chopping and slashing.
Officials stated that it was 'probably' an Islamic attack.
Four of the victims are in critical condition.
Vrouw en meisjes aangevallen met mes om 'luchtige kleding' | Buitenland | AD.nl
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 12:43
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EU wil 60 miljoen migranten binnenhalen voor 2050
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 05:30
Geen complottheorie, maar een duidelijk door het europarlement beschreven doel uit 6 april 2009, al gaat het trouwens tot ruim verder terug.
Om veroudering tegen te gaan, en onze samenleving en economie te redden, heeft de EU voorgenomen om 60 miljoen migranten binnen te halen. Dat niet alleen, omdat migranten door de EU worden gezien als 'De Redders van Europa', moeten ze ook een warm welkom worden geheten, met veel gratis te verkrijgen voordelen als lokkertje, moeten er afspraken worden gemaakt met landen als Oekra¯ne, Moldavi en Algerije om de migratie op gang te brengen en worden lokale overheden en gemeenten verplicht de rode loper uit te rollen'...
Nogmaals, geen complot theorie, maar officieel EU doel zoals beschreven in officile EU-stukken.
Legale migratie
11. is van mening dat legale migratie nog steeds noodzakelijk is om te voorzien in de behoeften van Europa op het gebied van demografie, de arbeidsmarkt en de benodigde vaardigheden en door de gevolgen van demografische krimp en vergrijzing voor de economie; zij levert tevens een bijdrage aan de ontwikkeling van derde landen, door de uitwisseling van kennis en know how en door middel van betalingen door migranten; roept op tot de tenuitvoerlegging van veilige systemen om deze overschrijvingen naar derde landen te vereenvoudigen;
12. is van mening dat reguliere migratie het alternatief moet vormen voor niet-reguliere immigratie, aangezien het een legale, veilige en georganiseerde toegangsweg tot de Europese Unie vormt;
13. roept in herinnering dat er rond 2050 volgens de prognoses van de Commissie naar schatting 60 miljoen migrerende werknemers nodig zijn, hetgeen de noodzaak met zich meebrengt om migratie langs legale weg mogelijk te maken;
De EU heeft voor u bedacht dat de EU 60 miljoen (il)legale migranten nodig heeft om de veroudering van de samenleving tegen te gaan. Nou, met succes, klaarblijkelijk, want de migranten komen binnen met miljoenen tegelijk. Deze EU afspraken verklaren direct waarom de EU geheel niets onderneemt tegen de illegale stromen en zich alleen inzet voor migranten en hen vooral een warm welkom wil heten '' op ons aller kosten uiteraard.
Dit is geen incompetentie dus, van de EU, of een goed bedoelde verspreking van Merkel, of stompzinnig gedrag van Rutte, het is bewust zo gepland! Het is gepland gedrag dat al terug gaat tot ruim voor het Verdrag van Lissabon. De rode loper wordt uitgerold voor migranten, precies zoals gepland door de EU, en dan heb je het als burger uiteraard maar te accepteren en betalen.
De EU rolt de rode loper uit
Ook verwijst het besluit naar andere bevreemdende documenten, zomaar eens een greep uit de referenties:
LEES VERDER OP
Annotaties:
Burgerwacht 'Soldiers of Odin' jaagt op criminele asielzoekers | Vluchtelingenstroom West-Europa | AD.nl
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 14:04
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Save the Date
'FBI waarschuwde voor dreiging bij vuurwerk Vierdaagse' - RTL Nieuws
Mon, 18 Jul 2016 20:25
Burgemeester Danil Termont van Gent is gisteravond op de hoogte gesteld dat er aanwijzingen waren dat er mogelijk een dreiging was rond een vuurwerkshow in een Europese stad. Daarbij werd ook Nijmegen genoemd. Het was een waarschuwing van de FBI, zei Termont voor de Vlaamse tv-zender VTM.
De Nationaal Co¶rdinator Terreur en Veiligheid (NCTV) bevestigt via een woordvoerder dat er een 'niet-concrete dreiging' was. De NCTV heeft de dreiging beoordeeld, maar of er extra veiligheidsmaatregelen zijn genomen rond het vuurwerk gisteravond, wilde hij niet zeggen.
Ook de gemeente Nijmegen bevestigt dat er een dreiging was. "Het was een signaal zoals we het de laatste weken vaker hebben gehad", zegt een woordvoerder tegen RTL Nieuws. "Dit is geduid door mensen die er verstand van hebben. Er bleek niets aan de hand."
Gent beveiligd met pantserwagensTermont heeft na de waarschuwing wel maatregelen genomen. Gent werd gisteravond tijdens het vuurwerk van de Gentse feesten beveiligd met pantserwagens, scherpschutters en helikopters. "Er was geen enkele dreiging naar Gent toe, maar ik heb met de korpschef beslist om geen enkel risico te nemen", zei de burgemeester. De FBI had volgens VTM Nieuws gemeld dat er mogelijk een aanslag zou worden voorbereid bij een vuurwerkshow in een Europese stad.
In Nijmegen waren al extra maatregelen genomen omdat het dreigingsniveau in Nederland 'substantieel' is. Zo was de politie bij het vuurwerk duidelijk zichtbaar aanwezig, zegt de woordvoerder van Nijmegen. Volgens hem moeten mensen zich niet zo veel aantrekken van mogelijke dreigingen. "Mensen moeten gewoon doorgaan waar ze mee bezig zijn. De beste manier is doorgaan met leven en niet zwichten voor terreur of de dreiging daarmee."
Meer op rtlnieuws.nl:
RTL Nieuws
Fal$e Flag
Parents of boy killed by alligator at Disney resort will not sue | Reuters
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 16:05
Wed Jul 20, 2016 | 11:36 AM EDT
ByLaila Kearney
(Reuters) - The parents of a two-year-old boy drowned by an alligator at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida last month "are broken" but will not sue over the incident, the couple said in a statement on Wednesday.
Lane Graves was playing at the edge of the Seven Seas Lagoon at the Walt Disney World's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa on June 14 when he was snatched by an alligator and dragged into the water. His parents rushed to save their child but failed to pry him free from the predator's grip, as a second alligator attacked during the rescue attempt.
Graves, whose family was vacationing from Nebraska, was found by divers a day later at the bottom of the manmade lake.
"Melissa and I are broken. We will forever struggle to comprehend why this happened to our sweet baby, Lane," parents Matt and Melissa Graves said in the statement. "As each day passes, the pain gets worse."
Despite their grief, the couple said they would focus on the development of a charitable foundation named after their son and would not file a lawsuit.
"In addition to the foundation, we will solely be focused on the future health of our family and will not be pursuing a lawsuit against Disney," the parents said.
Walt Disney Co has had more than 240 "nuisance" alligators captured and killed over the last 10 years at its theme park property in Orange County, Florida.
At the time of the attack on Graves, the resort had "No Swimming" signs that did not mention alligators. Disney has since installed signs by the lagoon warning guests of alligators and snakes.
"Danger! Alligators and snakes in area," read the new signs, which feature diagrams of the two animals. "Stay away from the water. Do not feed the wildlife."
(Editing by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
'Broken' parents won't sue Disney over the alligator attack that left their toddler dead - The Washington Post
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 03:11
A toddler was dragged into a lake at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa by an alligator after dark on June 14. Orlando officials scoured the lagoon and recovered the boy's body June 15. (The Washington Post)
The family of a 2-year-old boy who died after being pulled into a lake by an alligator on a Disney World property announced Wednesday they won't sue the company.
''We will solely be focused on the future health of our family and will not be pursuing a lawsuit against Disney,'' Matt and Melissa Graves said in a statement released Wednesday morning.
On June 14, the Graves, who are from suburban Omaha, were relaxing on the white-sand beach that stretches along Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.
They were watching their young son, Lane, wade ankle-deep into the lake known by vacationers as Seven Seas Lagoon when the alligator snatched Lane and dragged him deeper into the water, officials said.
Matt Graves rushed into the water and grabbed desperately for his son, cutting his hand in an unsuccessful attempt to wrestle the boy from the alligator.
Authorities from Disney World, the Orange County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission deployed more than 50 officers in helicopters and boats to the lake in a desperate search for the missing toddler.
They found his body a day later. Authorities believe Lane drowned. His body was found intact, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings told reporters.
In a statement to The Washington Post, George A. Kalogridis, president of the Walt Disney World Resort said: ''In the wake of this tragic accident we continue to provide ongoing support for the family, which includes honoring their request for privacy.''
The Florida resort did not have signage warning of alligators in the water at the time, though there were signs warning people not to swim in the lagoon.
Three days after the attack, Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Wahler said ''we are installing signage and temporary barriers at our resort beach locations and are working on permanent, long-term solutions at our beaches,'' adding that the company will ''continue to evaluate processes and procedures for our entire property.''
Trappers removed five alligators from the lake, which covers nearly 200 acres and borders the Magic Kingdom theme park. Investigators will compare bite marks to help identify whether any of the captured alligators attacked the boy, said Nick Wiley, executive director of the fish and wildlife group.
Authorities released audio of a 911 call placed after a 2-year-old boy was attacked and subsequently killed by an alligator on June 15 at Walt Disney World in Orlando. (Reuters)
Read more:
Legal experts: Did Disney do enough to warn its guests about alligators?
We saved the alligators from extinction '-- then moved into their territory
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SANDY HOOK; GAME OVER! '' NO Deaths NO Victims in Official Record [VIDEO] | Secrets of the Fed
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 20:50
Sandy Hook '' NO DEATHS, NO VICTIMS; According to SSDI Official Master File
The Sandy Hook shooting official narrative is now dead. We have seen in previous films how the Newtown school ''shooting'' was interconnected not only to the CIA, but also that Dawn Hochsprung '' a supposed 'victim' of the event '' is closely related to the family of a key propagandist. This propagandist AND Hochsprung are secretly and closely related to Peter Lanza '' and therefore to the entire ''Lanza'' family!
While some geneology websites list the 'official' Sandy Hook victims in database searches, it was discovered that NONE of the ''deaths'' were actually traceable to the town of Sandy Hook in Fairfield County, Connecticut. Why? Inconsistencies in the various proprietary databases suggested TAMPERING WITH THR RECORDS as the cause. Indeed, it has been revealed that a systematic effort was made about one year before the ''massacre'', to block or limit public access to such records!
In this document, you will see the results of a painstakingly thorough search of the ORIGINAL Social Security Death Master File for the Sandy Hook ''victims.'' The results ar shocking. A great deal of information is made available, so anyone can verify the result for themselves.
The Boston Marathon ''bombing'' taught us much about how the fake death industry works '' particularly in connection with Sandy Hook (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m07q7'... '-- The Fake Death Industry). Here, we can see it in action, with the people who put it to use.
This information may help others who are now beginning the REAL investigation into Sandy Hook again. Now that the fake 'official' investigation has concluded so infamously.
MAX RESISTANCE
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Caliphate!
It's WAR - France Just Attacked ISIS and Syria [VIDEO]
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 01:19
After Nice attack, where 80 people died, France is really MAD!
The French Ministry of Defense just confirmed the massive bombing of Raqqa, the ''capital'' of Syria, the headquarter of ISIS.
From an Italian website (translated by Google)
The operation was conducted in coordination with US forces. US intelligence has provided information to identify ISIS targets while minimizing innocent damage.
France has dropped 20 bombs in Syria: 12 aircraft have been employed, including 10 fighter jets.
People on social media are going crazy: Destroy them, Kill them one by one, #KillISIS is the new viral hashtag.
The reaction of the French government continues even at home. French Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, said they will start shutting down mosques that preach hate and violence. They will check all the mosques and imams in France.
''I want to combat the preachers of hate, we have to act quickly,'' said Cazeneuve.
A video just leaked:
Earon
Iran nuke deal after 10 years.
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 00:14
VIENNA (AP) -- Key restrictions on Iran's nuclear program imposed under an internationally negotiated deal will start to ease years before the 15-year accord expires, advancing Tehran's ability to build a bomb even before the end of the pact, according to a document obtained Monday by The Associated Press.The confidential document is the only text linked to last year's deal between Iran and six foreign powers that hasn't been made public, although U.S. officials say members of Congress who expressed interest were briefed on its substance. It was given to the AP by a diplomat whose work has focused on Iran's nuclear program for more than a decade, and its authenticity was confirmed by another diplomat who possesses the same document.Both demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to share or discuss the document.The diplomat who shared the text with the AP described it as an add-on agreement to the nuclear deal in the form of a document submitted by Iran to the International Atomic Energy Agency outlining its plans to expand its uranium enrichment program after the first 10 years of the nuclear deal.But while formally separate from the bigger nuclear accord, he said that it was in effect an integral part of that pact and had been approved by the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, the six powers that negotiated the deal with Tehran.Details published earlier outline most restraints on Iran's nuclear program meant to reduce the threat that Tehran will turn nuclear activities it says are peaceful to making weapons.But although some of the constraints extend for 15 years, documents in the public domain are short on details of what happens with Iran's most proliferation-prone nuclear activity - its uranium enrichment - beyond the first 10 years of the agreement.The document obtained by the AP fills in the gap. It says that as of January 2027 - 11 years after the deal was implemented - Iran will start replacing its mainstay centrifuges with thousands of advanced machines.Centrifuges churn out uranium to levels that can range from use as reactor fuel and for medical and research purposes to much higher levels for the core of a nuclear warhead. From year 11 to 13, says the document, Iran will install centrifuges up to five times as efficient as the 5,060 machines it is now restricted to using.Those new models will number less than those being used now, ranging between 2,500 and 3,500, depending on their efficiency, according to the document. But because they are more effective, they will allow Iran to enrich at more than twice the rate it is doing now.Components other than centrifuge numbers and efficiency also go into the mix of how quickly a nation can make a nuclear weapon. They include how much enriched uranium it has to work with, and restrictions on Iran's stockpile extend until the end of the deal, crimping its full enrichment program.But a comparison of outputs between the old and newer machines shows the newer ones work at double the enrichment rate. That means they would reduce the time Iran could make enough weapons grade uranium to six months or less from present estimates of one year.And that time frame could shrink even more. While the document doesn't say what happens with centrifuge numbers and types past year 13, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz told The AP that Iran will be free to install any number of advanced centrifuges beyond that point, even though the nuclear deal extends two additional years..That will give Iran a huge potential boost in enrichment capacity, including bomb making should it choose to do so. But it can be put to use only after the deal expires.Moniz noted that the limit on the amount of low-enriched enriched uranium Iran will be allowed to store will remain at 300 kilograms (660 pounds) for the full 15 years, significantly below the amount needed for further enrichment into a bomb. As well, the stockpile will remain restricted to a level used for reactor fuel that is well below weapons grade.These restrictions translate into "serious constraints on ... (Iran's) nuclear program for 15 years," Moniz said.In selling the deal to skeptics, the U.S. administration said it is tailored to ensure that Iran would need at least 12 months to "break out" and make enough weapons grade uranium for at least one weapon. Moniz said the document obtained by the AP posed no contradiction to that claim because "we made it very clear that we were focused on 10 years on the minimum one-year breakout time."The document also notes that Iran will greatly expand its work with centrifuges that are even more advanced, including large-scale testing in preparation for the deal's expiry 15 years after its implementation on Jan. 18.But State Department spokesman Mark Toner said that "the prohibition on Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapon - and our ability to monitor the peaceful nature of its nuclear program - remains in effect indefinitely."The breakout time does not go off a cliff nor do we believe that it would be cut in half, to six months, by year 11," he said.Iran insists it is not interested in nuclear weapons, and the pact is being closely monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA says Tehran has essentially kept to its commitments since the agreement was implemented, a little more than six months after Iran and the six powers finalized it on July 14, 2015.Marking the agreement's anniversary Thursday, President Barack Obama said it has succeeded in rolling back Iran's nuclear program, "avoiding further conflict and making us safer." But opposition from U.S. Republicans could increase with the revelation that Iran's potential breakout time would be more than halved over the last few years of the pact.Also opposed is Israel, which in the past has threatened to strike Iran if it deems that Tehran is close to making a nuclear weapon. Alluding to that possibility, David Albright, whose Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security is a U.S. government go-to resource on Iran's nuclear program, said the plan outlined in the document "will create a great deal of instability and possibly even lead to war, if regional tensions have not subsided."The bigger nuclear deal provides Iran with sanctions relief in exchange for its nuclear constraints. But before going into recess, the U.S. Congress last week approved a bill to impose new sanctions for Tehran's continuing development and testing of ballistic missiles, a program the White House says is meant to carry atomic warheads even if it is not part of the nuclear agreement.It also approved a measure that calls for prohibiting the Obama administration from buying more of Iran's heavy water, a key component in certain nuclear reactors.The White House has said removing the country's surplus heavy water denies Tehran access to a material that may be stored for potential nuclear weapons production. But critics note that the purchase was made only after Iran exceeded heavy water limits proscribed by the nuclear deal and assert it rewarded Tehran for violating the agreement.---Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed from Washington.Editors: This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of U.S. Energy Secretary Moniz's first name to Ernest, instead of Ernst..
Planned Obsolecense
For 90 years, lightbulbs were designed to burn out. Now that's coming to LED bulbs. / Boing Boing
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 07:10
In 1924, representatives of the world's leading lightbulb manufacturers formed Phoebus, a cartel that fixed the average life of an incandescent bulb at 1,000 hours, ensuring that people would have to regularly buy bulbs and keep the manufacturers in business.
But hardware store LED bulbs have a typical duty-cycle of 25,000 hours -- meaning that the average American household will only have to buy new bulbs ever 42 years or so.
The lighting industry is panicked about "socket saturation," when all household bulbs have been replaced with long-lasting LED bulbs. There's signs that they're moving to limit the longevity of LED bulbs, albeit without the grossly illegal cartels of the Phoebus era. Philipps is seling $5 LED bulbs that have a 10,000 hour duty-cycle. Many no-name Chinese LED bulbs are so shoddy that they're sold by the kilo, and buyers are left to sort the totally defective (ranging from bulbs that don't work at all to bulbs that give people electrical shocks) from the marginally usable ones.
JB MacKinnon's excellent New Yorker piece tells the story of planned obsolescence and home lighting, but only skims the surface of the Internet of Things future of "smart" bulbs. It's been less than a year since Philips pushed out a firmware update that gave its light fixtures the ability to detect and reject non-Philips lightbulbs -- and thanks to laws like the DMCA, which have metastasized in the IoT era, it's a potential felony to alter your light fixture to override this behavior and force it to work with non-Philips bulbs.
The IoT's twin dark patterns are control (forcing you to use original consumables, only get service from the manufacturer, and limiting features to those that benefit the manufacturer, at the owner's expense) and surveillance -- and that's the other side of this. As bulbs get smarter, they're being positioned as IoT hubs that do everything from relaying your wifi to connecting to your thermostat to serving and coordinating with your home security system. This gives them the power to gather farcical quantities of potentially compromising, sensitive information about your life inside your own home, and since a federal court just ruled that the Terms of Service accompanying these products have the force of law, there's little you can do (or sell) that will help people get out from under this kind of spying.
The "smart hardware" companies are operating on razor-thin margins, with less than a year of runway before they run out of investment capital, selling products with 42-year duty cycles. They face knockoff competition from China that can force them into negative margins -- selling at less than cost -- and their only hope of survival is to be acquired before the money runs out. They make themselves attractive to acquisition suitors by accumulating mountains of monetizable private information (and the more invasive that information is, the fewer competitors there will be selling the same data, and the higher the price it fetches will go) and setting up monopolistic "ecosystems" through which their customers are locked into paying premiums for service, features and consumables. Every dollar they spend on information security (beyond that which is needed to keep their data from leaking at this precise instant) is a dollar they don't have to keep their lights on while they hope for acquisition. Add to that the fact that the DMCA terrorizes security researchers who discover flaws in these products -- which can be used to violate customers' privacy in unintentional ways -- and you've got a perfect storm of awful, all in a cute LED bulb that will fester in your home for 42 years.
Watching companies that have been selling bulbs since before the Phoebus cartel turn their backs on the light-bulb business is startling, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're getting out of lighting entirely. Instead, a more sophisticated L.E.D. industry is under development, focussed on placing L.E.D.s in products where obsolescence remains the rule of the day, and on expanding the ways that lighting is used. Osram will continue to provide L.E.D. components, for example, in sectors such as the automotive and electronics industries. And while G.E. appears set to leave residential lighting behind, it will continue to develop its commercial-scale L.E.D. business with ''smart'' products, such as streetlights that alert authorities whenever a built-in sensor detects gunshots in the area.
Smart lighting is buzzy in the household market as well. Philips was a pioneer here, with Hue, a system it introduced in 2012 that allows you to, for example, gradually brighten your room to wake you up or set off explosions of light to accompany your gaming, drawing on a palette of (allegedly) sixteen million colors. The newly independent Philips Lighting is planning to use earnings from the declining lamps market to fund further innovation in smart-lighting systems. Sony's recently released Multifunctional Light, meanwhile, turns fixtures into a locus for the Internet of Things, connecting to speakers, security systems, and other devices. Oh, and it also lights up a room.
''Lighting is the perfect medium for you to insert the other connectivity products to fill the house, because you use light everywhere,'' Philip Smallwood, the director of L.E.D. and lighting research for Silicon Valley-based Strategies Unlimited, told me. He compared the direction that smart lighting is headed to the technological revolution that saw telephones turn into multitasking security blankets of connectedness.
THE L.E.D. QUANDARY: WHY THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS ''BUILT TO LAST'' [JB MacKinnon/New Yorker]
(Image: E27 with 38 LCD, Ocrho, PD)
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The L.E.D. Quandary: Why There's No Such Thing as ''Built to Last'' - The New Yorker
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 07:19
The light bulb that has brightened the fire-department garage in Livermore, California, for the past hundred and fifteen years will not burn out. Instead, it will ''expire.'' When it does, it certainly won't be thrown out. It will be ''laid to rest.''
''You have to use the correct terminology,'' Tom Bramell, a retired deputy fire chief who has become the Livermore light's leading historian, told me. The bulb has been on almost continuously since 1901, he said; in 2015, it surpassed a million hours in service, making it, according to Guinness World Records, the longest-burning in the world.
Bramell so cuts the figure of a firefighter that he has smoke-colored eyes and hair, and a permanent hack from smoke inhalation (''I do a bag of cough drops a day''). His circumlocution around the bulb's eventual, inevitable end reflects the reverence in which it is held by Livermoreans and its more far-flung fans, who keep vigil over the light online. The bulb, he said, has outlived three webcams so far. It was manufactured sometime around 1900 by Shelby Electric, of Ohio, using a design by the French-American inventor Adolphe Chaillet. Its essential makeup is something of a mystery, because it is hard to dissect a light that is always on. (Shelby bulbs of the same vintage have been studied, but the company was experimenting with a variety of designs at the time.) What's known for sure about the Livermore bulb is that it has a carbon filament of about the same human-hair thickness as the ones, typically made of tungsten, that are found in modern bulbs. It was made to be a sixty-watt bulb, though it currently illuminates the Fire Department Station 6 garage with only about the brightness of a nightlight.
More intriguingly, the light bulb is of the incandescent variety'--the same type that many consumers now revile for its short life span. Had you plugged in a typical drugstore incandescent on January 1st of this year and left it on full time, it would likely have died by around February 12th. These bulbs commonly burn for about a thousand hours, or approximately half as long as the average bulb did in the early nineteen-twenties. ''We don't build things today to last,'' Bramell said'--speaking for, I would guess, almost all of us.
Building bulbs to last poses a vexing problem: no one seems to have a sound business model for such a product.Photograph by David Paul Morris / Bloomberg / GettyThat truism has lately come into question, however, thanks to the widespread adoption of durable, light-emitting-diode light bulbs. L.E.D.s use semiconductor technology to achieve long life spans'--bulbs that promise a fifty-thousand-hour design life are not uncommon. Current penetration in the consumer-lamps market (as the bulb business is known) is seven per cent worldwide, and is expected by lighting analysts to reach fifty per cent by around 2022. In the first quarter of 2016, according to the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, L.E.D.-lamp shipments in the U.S. were up three hundred and seventy-five per cent over last year, taking more than a quarter of the market for the first time in history.
This would seem to be a good thing, but building bulbs to last turns out to pose a vexing problem: no one seems to have a sound business model for such a product. And, paradoxically, this is the very problem that the short life span of modern incandescents was meant to solve.
The thousand-hour life span of the modern incandescent dates to 1924, when representatives from the world's largest lighting companies'--including such familiar names as Philips, Osram, and General Electric (which took over Shelby Electric circa 1912)'--met in Switzerland to form Phoebus, arguably the first cartel with global reach. The bulbs' life spans had by then increased to the point that they were causing what one senior member of the group described as a ''mire'' in sales turnover. And so, one of its priorities was to depress lamp life, to a thousand-hour standard. The effort is today considered one of the earliest examples of planned obsolescence at an industrial scale.
When the new bulbs started coming out, Phoebus members rationalized the shorter design life as an effort to establish a quality standard of brighter and more energy-efficient bulbs. But Markus Krajewski, a media-studies professor at the University of Basel, in Switzerland, who has researched Phoebus's records, told me that the only significant technical innovation in the new bulbs was the precipitous drop in operating life. ''It was the explicit aim of the cartel to reduce the life span of the lamps in order to increase sales,'' he said. ''Economics, not physics.''
Phoebus is easily cast as a conspiracy of big-business evildoers. It even makes an appearance as such in Thomas Pynchon's weird-lit classic ''Gravity's Rainbow'': the shadowy organization sends an agent in asbestos gloves and seven-inch heels to seize diehard bulbs as they approach their thousandth hour of service. (''Phoebus discovered'--one of the great undiscovered discoveries of our time'--that consumers need to feel a sense of sin,'' Pynchon writes.) In its day, however, the shift to planned obsolescence was in keeping with the views of a growing body of economists and businesspeople who felt that, unless you dealt in coffins, it was bad business and unsound economics to sell a person any product only once. By the late nineteen-twenties, the repetitive-sales model had become so popular that Paul Mazur, a partner at Lehman Brothers, declared obsolescence the ''new god'' of the American business (C)lite.
Giles Slade, in his book ''Made to Break,'' traces the term ''planned obsolescence'' to a 1932 pamphlet, circulated in New York, titled ''Ending the Depression through Planned Obsolescence.'' The term gained currency in 1936, through a similarly themed essay in Printer's Ink, ''Outmoded Durability: If Merchandise Does Not Wear Out Faster, Factories Will Be Idle, People Unemployed.''
This Depression-era argument, which one marketing writer of the era summed up as a ''sound and genuine philosophy in free spending and wasting,'' became the foundation of the modern consumer economy, so much so that we heard it again during the Great Recession, in 2007, when prominent political leaders suggested that shopping presented a solution to the crisis. The prospect of repetitive consumption is now built into almost everything we buy, and obsolescence has become, as Slade puts it, ''a touchstone of the American consciousness.''
With the advent of L.E.D. bulbs, we now have perhaps the first mass-consumer product of the twenty-first century to challenge planned obsolescence. After a long technological incubation, L.E.D.s surpassed the energy efficiency of comparably bright incandescent lighting in the nineteen-nineties. Today, hardware-store-variety L.E.D. bulbs are commonly advertised at a twenty-five-thousand-hour design life, which is also the benchmark for federal Energy Star labelling; after that length of time they will have lost more than thirty per cent of their brightness. Plug one in on January 1st and it will wane by about May 15th the following year. Under more ordinary usage'--each of the sixty-seven bulbs in a typical American household is turned on for an average of only 1.6 hours daily'--it would, in theory, at least, stay bright for more than forty-two years. Incentives for the purchase of L.E.D.s are now offered in forty-eight states, and the U.S. Department of Energy considers the widespread adoption of the technology to offer the greatest potential impact on energy conservation in the country.
But does their increased prominence mean that, sometime between the Phoebus cartel and now, we found the business model for stuff that lasts? ''That's the billion-dollar question,'' Fabian Hoelzenbein, a London-based lighting market analyst, told me.
The lighting industry has a term, ''socket saturation,'' that describes the point at which enough short-lived incandescent bulbs have been replaced by durable L.E.D. bulbs that light-bulb sales as a whole begin to decline. Market-analysis firms such as I.H.S. Technology and Strategies Unlimited predict that socket saturation will be felt across the global market in 2019. Parts of Asia, including China, may already be feeling the effect.
Although the lamps market will bring in an estimated thirty-eight billion dollars this year, L.E.D.-bulb makers are already reacting to the spectre of declining sales. One response, echoing the path of incandescents, is the emergence of cheaper bulbs with shorter life spans. Last year, for example, the lighting-industry giant Philips introduced a sixty-watt, ten-thousand-hour L.E.D. that sells for five dollars. But a profusion of new manufacturers, most of them in Asia, has driven cost and quality much lower than that. (California is the only state in the federation with a minimum-longevity standard for L.E.D. lamps'--ten thousand hours, effective January 1, 2018.) ''You can buy bulbs on eBay that are of such low quality that, when you screw them in, you can actually get a shock,'' Hoelzenbein said. He's heard reports from China of people buying bargain L.E.D. light bulbs by the kilogram, knowing some would last and others might not work at all.
A second approach is to get out of the lamps market altogether. At the end of May, Philips spun off Philips Lighting into a stand-alone company, acknowledging in the I.P.O. documents that the traditional lamps market will decline. Germany's Osram'--another of the world's biggest lighting brands'--has also calved off its two-billion-dollar lighting business to form an independent company, Ledvance, which is now for sale. And last October, G.E., the company founded by Edison, made a similar move, breaking up G.E. Lighting to leave behind a rump firm'--the light-bulb division, essentially'--that would be easy to sell off.
Watching companies that have been selling bulbs since before the Phoebus cartel turn their backs on the light-bulb business is startling, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're getting out of lighting entirely. Instead, a more sophisticated L.E.D. industry is under development, focussed on placing L.E.D.s in products where obsolescence remains the rule of the day, and on expanding the ways that lighting is used. Osram will continue to provide L.E.D. components, for example, in sectors such as the automotive and electronics industries. And while G.E. appears set to leave residential lighting behind, it will continue to develop its commercial-scale L.E.D. business with ''smart'' products, such as streetlights that alert authorities whenever a built-in sensor detects gunshots in the area.
Smart lighting is buzzy in the household market as well. Philips was a pioneer here, with Hue, a system it introduced in 2012 that allows you to, for example, gradually brighten your room to wake you up or set off explosions of light to accompany your gaming, drawing on a palette of (allegedly) sixteen million colors. The newly independent Philips Lighting is planning to use earnings from the declining lamps market to fund further innovation in smart-lighting systems. Sony's recently released Multifunctional Light, meanwhile, turns fixtures into a locus for the Internet of Things, connecting to speakers, security systems, and other devices. Oh, and it also lights up a room.
''Lighting is the perfect medium for you to insert the other connectivity products to fill the house, because you use light everywhere,'' Philip Smallwood, the director of L.E.D. and lighting research for Silicon Valley-based Strategies Unlimited, told me. He compared the direction that smart lighting is headed to the technological revolution that saw telephones turn into multitasking security blankets of connectedness.
But smart phones are also paramount symbols of product obsolescence'--easy to break (though this wasn't always the case), hard to repair, and constantly being updated. A study in Europe found that the average person disposes of his smart phone after 2.7 years, a service life barely longer than that of T-shirts or flip-flops. If the business model for L.E.D.s shifts toward mass-market bulbs of lower price and life span alongside ''lightified products'' that are subject to digital-age upgrade cycles, then the technology's potentially radical challenge to repetitive consumption will'--like the long-lasting incandescent bulb'--end up being comfortably absorbed by consumer culture.
All of this would amount to little more than a business-school case study of history quirkily repeating itself, if it weren't for the fact that finding an economic model for products that last is increasingly seen as critical to environmental sustainability.
''My starting point is, get the economics right,'' Tim Cooper, a design professor who heads the sustainable-consumption research group at Nottingham Trent University, told me. It's already possible to buy durable products, he said'--Miele washing machines, Vitsoe shelving, Jaguar cars. But, because such products command premium prices, they remain niche goods; by Cooper's estimate they make up less than five per cent of the market. To truly change a light bulb will require policy changes'--whether regulatory, market-based, or voluntary within industries'--that support longer product lifetimes.
In a 2010 book that he edited, ''Longer Lasting Products,'' Cooper suggests possible ways to accomplish this: Minimum standards of durability, repairability, and upgradeability. A decrease in taxes on labor and an increase on energy and raw materials, to help make it cheaper to repair or recondition things and more expensive to make new ones. Sales-tax rates based on product lifetimes. Longer consumer guarantees and warranties. Labelling programs or rating schemes that let consumers know how long stuff will last.
The economic model to aim for, Cooper said, is founded on people buying fewer, but better, products, and paying more across those products' lifetimes. The manufacture of quality goods would employ more people, and the goods would sell at higher prices. A dramatic expansion of the repair-and-servicing sector, the secondhand market, and the sharing economy would provide additional levels of commercial activity. And while consumers would likely end up spending less money on stuff over all, that would free up income for services and investment.
Such visions date back at least to 1982, when an O.E.C.D. report urged governments to address the volume of solid waste by encouraging more durable products, but they remain little studied or implemented. Almost thirty-five years later, Cooper, who has been researching product durability since the early nineties, couldn't name any instances when national governments or world bodies implemented policies to promote longer life spans. (I wrote about outdoor retailer Patagonia's seemingly incongruous attempt to address consumerism last year.) Politically speaking, the reason is obvious: even advocates such as Cooper describe the transformation of a consumer economy fuelled by obsolescence as a ''radical, systemic change'' that is likely, at least in the short term, to slow economic growth. ''This may be unacceptable to governments, which use economic growth as their primary performance indicator,'' Cooper notes, rather dryly, in ''Longer Lasting Products.''
The first international academic conference on product durability took place last year, in Nottingham, England; also in 2015, a consortium of environmental organizations, ranging from the California-based repair wiki iFixit to European government agencies, issued a joint call for longer-lasting goods. Sustainability thinkers increasingly recognize that the efforts of industrialized nations to ''decouple'' economic growth from its environmental impacts have not succeeded. Despite a conspicuous boom in energy-efficient, recyclable, biodegradable, and nontoxic products on the market, resource exploitation continues to intensify'--the footprint of annual global consumption now exceeds the replacement rate of the planet's resources by one and a half times. (It would be four times if everyone on Earth consumed like the average American.) Perpetual, consumer-driven growth has proven staggeringly difficult to disentangle from impacts like pollution, resource depletion, energy consumption, and waste. Even purchasing eco-friendly products quickly becomes a zero-sum green game if we constantly buy more of them.
''We're at the start of the policy process, but it's looking quite promising,'' Cooper said. ''For many years I was a bit on my own.'' The most important change that he advocates might also be the most difficult: a culture shift away from the pursuit of novelty, disposability, short-term value, and du jour fashion and technology. ''What drives the throwaway culture? Well, often people want to have the newest and the latest,'' he said. ''But there are people who want to have the oldest and the best.''
The Livermore light is cosseted and cloistered today, dangling almost sixteen feet off the floor of the fire-station garage. But that wasn't always the case. Sitting in Sanctuary Ultra Lounge, the bar that now operates out of the former fire hall on Livermore's main street, Bramell recalled the days when the bulb hung over a workbench and whole crews would slap it'--''bong!'''--for good luck as they headed out on calls.
Today, every Livermore firefighter learns the tale of the bulb's origin as part of crew orientation, which has given them a better-than-average appreciation for the tension between product lifetimes and the modern consumer economy. ''It's common sense to us that manufacturers have to put a finite life on products,'' Bramell told me. ''You wish at the same time that you'd have a product that would last forever.''
Watch: The artist Duke Riley sets two thousand homing pigeons, outfitted with L.E.D. lights, into motion.
Bullying
Announcing an Application Process for Verified Accounts | Twitter Blogs
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 18:39
Today we announced that we've created an online application process for Twitter accounts to receive verified status.
Verified accounts on Twitter allow people to identify key individuals and organizations on Twitter as authentic, and are denoted by a blue badge icon. An account may be verified if it is determined to be of public interest. Typically this includes accounts maintained by public figures and organizations in music, TV, film, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key interest areas.
Our goal with this update is to help more people find great, high-quality accounts to follow, and for creators and influencers - no matter where they are in the world - to easily connect with a broader audience.
We took a look back and found that the @CDCGov was one of the first Twitter accounts to be verified, in an effort to help citizens find authentic and accurate public health information straight from the source. Among the other first accounts to be verified include @NASAArmstrong, @KimKardashian, @Oprah, @MilwaukeePolice, @SF311, and @TonyHawk.
Milo Yiannopoulos Permanently Banned From Twitter | The Mary Sue
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 20:04
Yesterday, I wrote about the racist and sexist harassment inflicted on Ghostbusters' Leslie Jones, which was both participated in and encouraged by self-proclaimed ''most fabulous supervillain on the internet'' Milo Yiannopoulos. Now Twitter, after being called upon not only by Jones, but by fans and other victims of online abuse through their platform, has finally permanently banned Yiannopoulos, shutting down his account for good.
Twitter released the following statement to Recode:
People should be able to express diverse opinions and beliefs on Twitter. But no one deserves to be subjected to targeted abuse online, and our rules prohibit inciting or engaging in the targeted abuse or harassment of others. Over the past 48 hours in particular, we've seen an uptick in the number of accounts violating these policies and have taken enforcement actions against these accounts, ranging from warnings that also require the deletion of Tweets violating our policies to permanent suspension.
We know many people believe we have not done enough to curb this type of behavior on Twitter. We agree. We are continuing to invest heavily in improving our tools and enforcement systems to better allow us to identify and take faster action on abuse as it's happening and prevent repeat offenders. We have been in the process of reviewing our hateful conduct policy to prohibit additional types of abusive behavior and allow more types of reporting, with the goal of reducing the burden on the person being targeted. We'll provide more details on those changes in the coming weeks.
In an interview with Conservative site Heat Street, when asked if he regretted his part in the trouble Jones faced on Twitter, Yiannopoulos responded by saying, ''No, of course, I don't have any regrets. But feminists on the other hand should have regrets that they have taught strong women that they are victims and attacked people for having different opinions to them on Twitter.''
Because refusing to back down when people are coming at you with racist or sexist comments, screencapping them to report their behavior to appropriate authorities, and encouraging others to stand up for themselves is the textbook definition of ''victim.'' Also, I love how Yiannopoulos calls blatant racist epithets ''different opinions'' on Twitter. As if one could have a mere difference of opinion as to whether or not a particular group of people deserves to be dehumanized.
Meanwhile, Yiannopoulos followers who completely misunderstand the First Amendment have started a #FreeMilo campaign (Free him from what, exactly? Twitter did set him ''free.'' They didn't want to hold onto him. That's entirely the point. Let him spout his opinions elsewhere. He has the freedom to do that), implying that somehow not allowing Yiannopoulos to use Twitter is the equivalent of the government dictatorship in North Korea. (This from many of the same Conservatives who would never want government telling corporations what to do or how to run their business. I guess Twitter doesn't count as a private business? Except, oh wait, it does.)
Yiannopoulos insisted on Twitter that he himself did not say anything racist to Jones. That actually he's the victim here, because all he did was review Ghostbusters and not like it (based on completely sexist beliefs about what women ''should'' be versus what they actually are), and now he's being blamed, poor baby, for the actions of his followers. As reported by Buzzfeed, he made the following statement:
''With the cowardly suspension of my account, Twitter has confirmed itself as a safe space for Muslim terrorists and Black Lives Matter extremists, but a no-go zone for conservatives.Twitter is holding me responsible for the actions of fans and trolls using the special pretzel logic of the left. Where are the Twitter police when Justin Bieber's fans cut themselves on his behalf?''
Speaking of zero logic, there's a big difference between the current situation with Jones and that unfortunate Justin Bieber situation. In the case of the latter, 1) it was a hoax that started at 4Chan, and 2) it was people doing something of their own volition. They weren't attacking Justin Beiber. They weren't attacking those with mental illnesses (though as many said at the time, a hoax like that is horribly insensitive to those who've actually had trouble with cutting themselves).
In this case, there was targeted harassment of Jones based on her race and her gender. That's literally what constitutes hate speech.
And though he insists that he said nothing racist, both the above tweet and this one are exactly that:
Calling Jones a ''black dude'' and ''barely literate'' when she makes a clear typo is steeped in racist coding. Because a woman who looks like her ''isn't really feminine.'' Because ''those people'' are barely literate. Racists don't always start their sentences with ''I'm a racist, and I think that'...'' They don't have to. The subtext is clear.
But even ignoring that. Even giving him the benefit of the doubt and saying that he didn't say anything explicitly racist (which he didn't, very purposefully), that isn't why he was banned. He wasn't banned for what he said. He was banned for the behavior he orchestrated that culminated in Jones being harassed.
He admits that he is inflammatory. Takes pride in it. If he can admit that he's inflammatory, he knows that he holds a certain sway over people, too. You don't get to have that many followers and a platform like his and not know that. For him to suddenly play dumb now and pretend like he was just minding his own business when all of a sudden his followers started running amok is disingenuous and hypocritical.
What's funny is that in his own Justin Bieber analogy, people did call on Bieber to speak out against the hashtag in order to stop actual cutters who thought they were helping from engaging in the behavior. He never did. And people were pissed. People also criticized Bernie Sanders for not speaking out against the actions of ''Bernie Bros'' (even though he did). Because when you have a platform, and your followers do things in your name, in your defense, or somehow inspired by you, you have a responsibility to at least say something to try and rein them in. You don't want that responsibility? Give back your platform.
The fact that Yiannopoulos only speaks up when he's being accused of racism, or when people attack him is very telling. Because standing by while others make racist comments, sexist comments, and continually harass someone around you is tacitly contributing to the behavior. Plain and simple.
It reminds me of the behavior of another prominent Conservative who's currently the Republican nominee for President of the United States. In a jaw-dropping segment on her show on MSNBC earlier this year, Rachel Maddow broke down just how this particular candidate actively encouraged a level of violence against protesters of color in a clearly calculated way:
Yiannopoulos engages in the same tactics, baiting his followers with inflammatory language, allowing them to harass others unchecked, then being very careful to maintain plausible deniability. You'll notice that Twitter hasn't been willy-nilly banning Yiannopoulos' followers. They're certainly easy enough to find if Twitter were as hell-bent on quieting Conservatives as they claim. They banned him. Because he's the one with the sway. He's the one that can inspire people with certain ''opinions'' to action that can be harmful. Without people like him, the sheep are aimless. And harmless. Or, rather, less harmful.
That's why he was banned. It has nothing to do with free speech (which Twitter can't take away anyway) and everything to do with him using that free speech to encourage others to act against someone else. Once your free speech infringes on another person's well-being, you don't get to have it anymore. That's how it works. You don't get to yell ''Fire!'' in a crowded theater that isn't burning down, either.
(via The Daily Dot, images via screencap)
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Teenage Boys With Tits: Here's My Problem With Ghostbusters - Breitbart
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 13:50
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I'd have loved nothing more than to give Ghostbusters a glowing review. Seriously! Can you imagine a better troll? Extolling the virtues of a film that my loyal readership has been warring with social justice warriors over for months?But I can't. You see, I strive to be honest with my audience. I went into Ghostbusters with a clear and impartial mindset, like some tall, slim, and devastatingly handsome statue of justice. (But no blindfold. It would be a crime to cover up these eyes.)
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Ugh, I don't know what to tell you. Ghostbusters is terrible. It's more obvious than the reading on an EKG-meter in Zuul's bedroom. The only frame of reference in which this movie functions is as a meta-movie, in which the Ghostbusters franchise is treated like a vampire in a Hammer Horror from the 60s. The beloved franchise from our childhood with a stake driven through its heart, head chopped off, body burned and buried at a crossroads.
The overarching problem with Ghostbusters is that the script is a greater abomination to God than any of the demons and ghosts in the franchise. I'm sure they could have done a worse job, but they'd have to study Tobin's Spirit Guide to summon a script from an even deeper circle of Hell.
Mostly, it's a lack of intelligence. In the original movie, the bad guys weren't actually the ghosts '-- everybody loves Slimer and the Marshmallow Man. No, the bad guys were the clueless bureaucrats in the government, who set off a supernatural crisis through bumbling and red tape.
In this film, by contrast, the enemy is all men, while the government ends up playing dad. Every man in the movie is a combination of malevolent and moronic. The chick 'busters shame the mayor so much they end up getting government funding at the end. Like all feminists, they can only survive by sucking on the teat of Big Government.
I'll skip over the vacuous and incoherent plot. You won't understand it watching the movie and you won't understand it reading my summary so who cares. This, unlike any movie I've ever seen before, seems to have been conceived entirely out of spite, with the result that its plot is largely irrelevant.
Let's focus on how this movie will be interrogated by audiences: its style and politics. The weak, Twitter-style feminist quips come off as lame, unfunny, and resentful. This is especially puzzling in light of the women in the original movies, who captured the range of tough broads one finds in New York City.
Janine even acted as a Ghostbuster in the cartoon series, without it being hailed as a revolutionary act of feminist girl power. What we are left with is a movie to help lonely middle-aged women feel better about themselves after being left on the shelf. It's an overpriced self-esteem device for women betrayed by the lies of third-wave feminism.
Despite pandering to the kind of woman who thinks misandry is a positive lifestyle choice, Ghostbusters is remarkably unkind to its female leads. Abigail is repellant and fat. Holtzmann is a clownish, lip-syncing drag queen. Erin is a forgettable, low-rent Jennifer Aniston clone. Patty is a two dimensional racist stereotype by even the most forgiving measure.
Patty is the worst of the lot. The actress is spectacularly unappealing, even relative to the rest of the odious cast. But it's her flat-as-a-pancake black stylings that ought to have irritated the SJWs. I don't get offended by such things, but they should.
Ghostbusters, the film acting as standard bearer for the social justice left, is full of female characters that are simply stand-ins for men plus a black character worthy of a minstrel show. Remember, the original film not only represented women well, but also had Winston Zeddemore, the character with his feet most firmly on the ground in the entire movie.
Ghostbusters is afraid to acknowledge the shortcomings of any of its female characters, perhaps fearing the wrath of their target audience, which, after all, is never satisfied. (Literally. Which is perhaps why Sony did a deal with Hostess to sell Ghostbusters-branded Twinkies.)
What we are left with is a movie completely incapable of laughing at itself. Chris Hemsworth, dumb secretary, is the only actor who betrays any sense of self-awareness. As a result, he steals every scene he's in.
To the point of weirdness. Hemsworth's scenes move to an entirely different beat, as if we step into a different film when he's on screen. The timing is off, relative to the rest of the movie. But irrespective of his strong performance, Hemsworth is still there to make men look like idiots and villains.
The ladies, by contrast, bravely brandish their particle throwers like phalluses, which is a clue to where Ghostbusters went wrong.
The leads are searching for the friendly, buddyish camaraderie that men often build together, especially in dangerous jobs. This doesn't ring true, because they aren't dudes '-- even though they think, act and look like guys. These teenage boys with tits snigger at queef jokes '-- which no woman ever does '-- within the first ten minutes of the movie.
Compare the female Ghostbusters with my favorite female character of all time, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy's feminine qualities are part of her strength. She saves the world using her female vulnerability, not in spite of it. In fact, her femininity is the only thing that makes her capable of heroic feats.
The petty, two-dimensional feminist posturing of Ghostbusters is demeaning to all four of its leads, particularly when you consider how complex and interesting the film could have been with someone like Joss Whedon at the helm.
The spattering of negative and lukewarm reviews that are now piling up is brave for the leftist establishment media. These writers are risking being labelled sexist bigots, a fate worse for a liberal than running out of quinoa and humous while your vegan boyfriend is staying over.
But most of the press realizes that whatever shreds of credibility it has left would be utterly lost by giving this film an unqualifiedly positive review.
Just consider the feminist uproar directed at James Rolfe for the crime of announcing he wouldn't see or review the movie. Rolfe was called a bigot without even doing a negative review. Feminists have invented like an innovative form of feminist pre-crime.
The feminists themselves commit plenty of crimes. Spoiler alert: they kill Bill Murray. They don't just kill him; the movie chucks him out of a window. It's a clumsy metaphor for the treatment of boys in college campus kangaroo courts and in general in public life these days.
This film has already killed everything good about the franchise. Murray was the final human sacrifice. Maybe he asked for his character to be killed to safely rule him out from whatever hellishly banal sequel Sony is already working on.
By the way: the special effects are horrifically lazy and ugly. Did the entire budget for this movie go into craft services? The finale is confused and feels like it's trying to be Gremlins 2 but without any lightness of touch or character development given to its supernatural subjects.
A lack of intelligence and subtlety is the movie's second great failing, after the poor script. The third great flaw is the bad guy. The villain in Ghostbusters is the most unsatisfying bad guy in my film memory. He is the opposite of a morally ambiguous Batman villain. There is no complexity, no backstory, just a beta-male dork for feminists to bully.
If the bad guy in Ghostbusters followed the Ghostbusters on Twitter, he would be asking for permission before retweeting their boorish, teenage boy jokes and furtively Googling findom mistresses.
Besides being stunningly handsome, friendly to the proletariat, and blessed with a beautiful singing voice, I am always months ahead of the curve. Back in early May I wrote about how terrible this film was likely to be.
Go ahead and take a few minutes to enjoy my analysis of what we knew about the film following its YouTube trailer. You'll note the delicate hand and sensitive approach I use with the regressive left '-- it's becoming my trademark!
But another trademark of mine is gilding my criticism with helpful suggestions. What director Paul Feig needed to make this picture work is a script doctor to turn groans into laughs and yawns into cheering. Although I am new to Hollywood, I think I have the skills necessary to put together a much more effective feminist Ghostbusters story.
It's time to start again, with a movie that has integrity. So here are my suggestions for a fresh, true-to-life feminist reboot of the franchise.
1) The film should open with a team of competent male Ghostbusters coordinating their fire and deploying equipment in a businesslike manner. Their prey appears to be a screaming banshee, a nightmare specter intent on dooming all around her to death.
It turns out to be a terrible mistake: the screaming banshee is one of our female leads, angry at a restaurant server for using the wrong pronouns. She sues the Ghostbusters, taking over their whole operation, and then hires her friends to be the new Ghostbusters.
2) The Ghostbusters determine the best course is an all-female team, to secure lucrative government subsidies and Title IX certification. Like the military, they have problems finding women who can pass their rigorous testing, so they are forced to relax the physical standards for potential employees.
As a result, the two gals who aren't beasts of burden are unable to carry their heavy proton packs into battle, and use cute motorized scooters to transport them. These are known as Ecto-2 and Ecto-3, and are each worth a cool million in merchandising.
3) Crossing the streams is not only allowed, it is encouraged. It is also renamed to 'scissoring the streams', blatant pandering to the film's heavily lesbian core demographic. (I'm using the word ''heavily'' on purpose.)
4) An early mission for the new team will be a disturbance at a health food store. An obese female ghost is tearing the place apart, upset she can't find anything tasty to eat. Maybe she is worried she will be late to the ghostly JC Penney sale. Anyway, she is being lectured in the health food store by the ghost of Dr. Atkins who wants her to shed weight.
The Ghostbusters capture Dr. Atkins while scolding him that ''Ghosts can be healthy at any size.'' The girls point the portly poltergeist toward the nearest pizza shop and try to give her a high five on the way out, but the ghost is so large she slimes them all.
5) Every Ghostbusters movie needs a scene where all the captured ghosts are released on an unsuspecting city. Our fiendishly clever antagonist will organize all the ghosts in containment to identify as living people.
The Ghostbusters face a tsunami of bad press accusing them of bigotry towards the trans-living, resulting in them releasing the apprehended apparitions to wreak havoc once again.
6) The happy memory that turns into a monster will be of comfort to the ladies. That's right, they have to fight a giant tub of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. To make matters worse, they won't have their equipment to fight it, since they accused their male secretary (Brad Pitt in a cameo) of mansplaining when he suggested their put their proton packs on the charger.
They have to take this ice cream down the old fashioned way, with big spoons, crying, romantic comedies streaming on their smartphones.
7) In the final act we meet the real enemy of the female Ghostbusters'-- their parents' dead hopes and dreams. Will the phantasmagorical manifestation of pure disappointment at the lack of grandchildren be too great for our stunning and brave womyn to overcome?
Will they finally show daddy, through piercings, pretension and proton packs that they don't care what he thinks anyways? This is the sort of dramatic tension that is needed to make a successful summer tent-pole movie.
Yeah, the theater was nearly empty.
Follow Milo Yiannopoulos (@Nero) on Twitter and Facebook. Hear him every Friday on The Milo Yiannopoulos Show. Write to Milo at milo@breitbart.com.
Shut Up Slave!
Germany mulls self-drive car 'black box'
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 14:40
Image copyrightAPImage caption Many companies are testing fully autonomous vehicles Germany is considering introducing a black-box-style data recorder for autonomous cars to help investigators in the event of an accident.
Following reports that new legislation was being prepared, the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure told the BBC the draft had not yet been finalised.
The hardware would record the decisions made by a car's computer while being used in autonomous mode.
It could pinpoint the cause of a crash.
The draft law was expected to be sent to other ministries for approval this summer, Reuters reported.
Self-driving car technology has been under close scrutiny following the fatal crash of a Tesla vehicle being operated in Autopilot mode in May.
Tesla has repeatedly stated that its Autopilot functionality is still in development and is not intended to be used as a fully autonomous driving solution.
EU Data Protection Law May End The Unknowable Algorithm - InformationWeek
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 14:09
Slated to take effect as law across the EU in 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation could require companies to explain their algorithms to avoid unlawful discrimination.Robotics Gone Wild: 8 Animal-Inspired Machines
(Click image for larger view and slideshow.)Europe's data protection rules have established a "right to be forgotten," to the consternation of technology companies like Google that have built businesses on computational memory. The rules also outline a "right to explanation," by which people can seek clarification about algorithmic decision that affect them.
In a paper published last month, Bryce Goodman, Clarendon Scholar at the Oxford Internet Institute, and Seth Flaxman, a post-doctoral researcher in Oxford's Department of Statistics, describe the challenges these rights pose to businesses and the opportunities they present to machine learning researchers in designing algorithms that are open to evaluation and scrutiny.
The rationale for requiring companies to explain their algorithms is to avoid unlawful discrimination. In his 2015 book The Black Box Society, University of Maryland law professor Frank Pasquale describes the problem with opaque programming.
"Credit raters, search engines, major banks, and the TSA take in data about us and convert it into scores, rankings, risk calculations, and watch lists with vitally important consequences," Pasquale wrote. "But the proprietary algorithms by which they do so are immune from scrutiny."
Several academic studies have already explored the potential for algorithmic discrimination.
A 2015 study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, for example, found that Google showed ads for high income jobs to men more frequently than to women.
That's not to say Google did so intentionally. But as other researchers have suggested, algorithmic discrimination can be an unintended consequence of reliance on inaccurate or biased data.
Google did not immediately respond to a request to discuss whether it changed its advertising algorithm in response to the research findings.
A 2014 paper from the Data & Society Research Institute echoes the finding that inappropriate algorithmic bias tends to be inadvertent. It states:
Although most companies do not intentionally engage in discriminatory hiring practices (particularly on the basis of protected classes), their reliance on automated systems, algorithms, and existing networks systematically benefits some at the expense of others, often without employers even recognizing the biases of such mechanisms.
Between Europe's General Data Protection Rules (GDPR), scheduled to take effect in 2018, and existing regulations, companies would do well to pay more attention to the way they implement algorithms and machine learning.
But adhering to the rules won't necessarily be easy, according to Goodman and Flaxman. They note that excluding sensitive data having to do with race or religion, for example, doesn't necessarily mean algorithms will return non-biased results. That's because other non-sensitive data points, like geographic area of residence, may have some correlation with sensitive data.
What's more, the researchers observe that many large data sets are the product of multiple smaller data sets. The derivation makes it difficult if not impossible for organizations to vouch for the integrity, accuracy, and neutrality in their data.
"The GDPR thus presents us with a dilemma with two horns: Under one interpretation the non-discrimination requirement is ineffective, under the other it is infeasible," write Goodman and Flaxman.
In a phone interview, Lokke Moerel, senior of counsel at Morrison & Foerster, said the provision on automated decision making is not new. Also under the current Directive (the data rules that apply to criminal matters), companies have to inform individuals about the underlying logic involved in their automated decisions.
[See 8 Ways to Secure Data During US-EU Privacy Fight.]
Moerel acknowledged the difficulties of the rules, noting that in an era where algorithms are dynamic and self-learning, it's very difficult to know how an algorithm made a decision at any point in time, let alone communicate this to an individual in a meaningful manner. If logic is incomprehensible to the vast majority of people, the question becomes: What is the added value of providing this information in the first place?
Moerel said she found it troubling that algorithms can end up being discriminatory through data correlation. As an example, she noted that an insurance company charging higher premiums in a certain region because of higher accident rates could end up discriminating against a specific ethnic group that happens to live in that area.
She also suggested there's a risk that companies may try to hide such discriminatory correlations by performing further analytics and finding other nonsensitive correlations that they know are correlated with the sensitive data. Requiring the disclosure of algorithmic logic guards against such action, she said.
In order to avoid being questioned about algorithmic logic, Moerel suggested companies give individuals affected by their decisions more control over the implications of how data is used (e.g., by giving them control over their ad preferences, whereby they can view and adjust the indicators that triggered the relevant advertisement for the visitor).
"It will help to avoid individuals questioning your logic if you give them control of the triggers that matter to them," she said. "If people are looking at a black box, it won't be acceptable for European regulators."
Goodman and Flaxman say that work is already underway to make algorithms more easily subject to inspection. They remain optimistic that technical code can coexist with the legal code.
"We believe that, properly applied, algorithms can not only make more accurate predictions, but offer increased transparency and fairness over their human counterparts," they conclude.
(Cover Image: mattjeacock/iStockphoto)
Thomas Claburn has been writing about business and technology since 1996, for publications such as New Architect, PC Computing, InformationWeek, Salon, Wired, and Ziff Davis Smart Business. Before that, he worked in film and television, having earned a not particularly useful ... View Full BioMore Insights
Real News
David Bowie's Art Collection to Be Auctioned - artnet News
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 02:35
Sotheby's is to sell 380 art works from the collection of rock star David Bowie, who died this past January. Three sales, scheduled for November 10''11 in London, are valued in excess of £10 million ($13.3 million).
The top lot is expected to be an over-five-foot-high 1984 painting, Air Power, by Jean-Michel Basquiat, with an estimate of up to £3.5 million ($4.7 million). Bowie bought it at Christie's in London in November 1995 for £78,500 ($120,122).
Related: Take a Peek at David Bowie's Idiosyncratic Art Collection
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Air Power (1984). Photo courtesy of Sotheby's
The connection between Bowie and Basquiat was established in Julian Schnabel's 1996 film Basquiat, in which he played the role of Andy Warhol (whom he met in 1971), part-mentor and collaborator of the young artist. It is clear that Bowie felt a strong connection to the artist and his method: ''It comes as no surprise to learn that [Basquiat] had a not-so-hidden ambition to be a rock musician,'' wrote Bowie. ''His work relates to rock in ways that very few other visual artists get near. He seemed to digest the frenetic flow of passing image and experience, put them through some kind of internal reorganization and dress the canvas with this resultant network of chance.''
Related: Anthony Haden-Guest on Why He Did Not Kill Jean-Michel Basquiat
Frank Auerbach, Head of Gerda Boehm (1965). Courtesy of Sotheby's
Another top lot is expected to be Frank Auerbach's Head of Gerda Boehm (1965), a thickly encrusted monochromatic painting on board typical of that early period for the artist. ''My God, yeah! I want to sound like that looks,'' Bowie told the New York Times in 1998. He loved the rich, sculptural effects of Auerbach's paintings: ''It will give spiritual weight to my angst. Some mornings I'll look at it and go, 'Oh, God, yeah! I know!' But that same painting, on a different day, can produce in me an incredible feeling of the triumph of trying to express myself as an artist.''
Related: Lucian Freud's Auerbach Collection Accepted In Lieu of Taxes by UK Government
Bowie bought the painting at Christie's London in 1995 for £54,300; it's now estimated to fetch up to £500,000 ($665,000).
Harold Gilman, Interior (Mrs. Mounter), (1917). Courtesy of Sotheby's
Judging from the contents of the sale and what I know of his purchases having observed him at the auctions in the 1990s, his first love was for modern British art, from the early 20th century to the post-war schools of St Ives and London. Occasionally he would push the boat out on prices in this area when he wanted something badly. An example in this sale will be Harold Gilman's Interior (Mrs Mounter) (1917), a classic Camden Town School wartime painting of a simple domestic subject bathed in subtle colors. He paid a record £111,500 for it in 1994. It is now estimated at up to £250,000 ($332,000).
Related: That Time David Bowie and Tracey Emin Talked Drugs, Art, and Fame
Damien Hirst, Beautiful, Shattering, Slashing, Violent, Pinky, Hacking Sphincter Painting (1995). Photo: courtesy of White Cube (C)Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS 2012.
Much to the dismay of the ''Mod Brit'' dealers, Bowie inevitably turned towards contemporary art and the Young British Artists. The leading example in the sales will be a 7-foot-diameter spin painting by Damien Hirst, Beautiful, Shattering, Slashing, Violent, Pinky, Hacking Sphincter Painting'--an early example in this genre, dated 1995. Hirst's spin paintings have fallen in value since pre-crash 2007, when one brand-new example with butterflies sold for £1.1 million ($2.3 million) over a £350,000 ($466,000) high estimate. Bowie's spin painting carries the same estimate but is arguably more significant historically.
Related: A Lock of David Bowie's Hair Sells for $18,750 at Auction
Bowie's other main passion to be reflected in this sale is the Memphis designs of Ettore Sottsass, which carry estimates from a few hundred pounds to a few thousand. His personal record player is estimated at £1,200 ($1,600).
A radiophonograph by Pier Giacomo and Achille Castiglioni Brionvega from 1965 from David Bowie's private collection. Courtesy of Sotheby's
Bowie's idiosyncratic collection goes on view at Sotheby's in London from July 20''August 9. The works will then travel across the pond to Los Angeles and New York for quick outings (September 20''21 and September 26''29, respectively) and to Hong Kong (October 12''15) before returning to London for a final showing ahead of the auctions, which take place on November 10''11.
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CLIPS AND DOCS
VIDEO-Video: Actor Leslie Jones speaks out after flood of hateful Twitter messages - YouTube
VIDEO-Jewish activist promotes "multicultural mode" for Europa: Sample Sweden - YouTube
VIDEO-Warning: +18 Video. Aleppo rebels behead a child
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 13:30
Aleppo 'moderate rebels' brutally beheaded a youngster they have captured earlier today near Handarat Refugee Camp in northern Aleppo.
The child, who is ostensibly under the age of 12, was arrested by Islamist militants fighting for the Turkish-backed Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement for allegedly being a fighter of the Palestinian Liwaa Al Quds (Al-Quds Brigade).
However, a footage released by the captors shows the underage wearing ragged clothes surrounded by bearded fighters in the trunk of a pickup car.
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Another sickening video shows a knife-wielding fighter beheading the child who has been laid down on the trunk with his hand cuffed behind his back.
With the ominous Allahuakbar shout, the executioner holds high the child's head then put it down on his back.
Liwaa Al Quds is a pro-government Palestinian paramilitary faction made up of the Palestinians who have been driven out of their homes in the Handarat Camp once Islamist militants took over the neighborhood. Today, the group is fighting alongside the Syrian Army to retake the Camp.
VIDEO-AUDIO-Correction: Donald Trump's Reaction To Coup Attempt In Turkey : NPR
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 07:40
Last Friday, during continuing coverage of the attempted coup in Turkey, we mistakenly attributed a tweet from a parody Twitter account to GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.
KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:
We made a mistake on Friday during our continued coverage of the attempted coup in Turkey.
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
While speaking with a reporter based in Istanbul, we mentioned Donald Trump's reaction to the day's events, reporting that he'd tweeted that people were taking their country back as they may do so in the United States.
MCEVERS: But @realDonaldTrump did not tweet that day about Turkey. What we had seen was a retweet, and it was actually from a parody of his Twitter account.
CORNISH: We regret the error.
Copyright (C) 2016 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio record.
VIDEO-Nigel Farage Interview at the Republican National Convention (video)'... | The Last Refuge
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 07:36
Nigel Farage question and answer session at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr. Farage answers questions about Donald Trump, 2016 nationalistic politics, the current European Union and Brexit. Well worth watching.
Beyond the annoyingly GOPe progressive interviewer, this is a great interview:
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VIDEO-Sheriff David Clarke Confronts CNN's Don Lemon, Part 1 | MRCTV
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 05:09
[More in the cross-post on the MRC's NewsBusters blog.]
Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke confronted CNN's Don Lemon from the very beginning of his interview on the 17 June 2016 edition of CNN Tonight. Clarke wondered if there were "any protests over the deaths of these cops today in Baton Rouge?...Any riots or protests over the police officers in Dallas?" When Lemon asked the Wisconsin sheriff to specify what his message was in the wake of the murders of police in Louisiana, Clarke replied, "My message has been clear from day one two years ago. This anti-cop sentiment from this hateful ideology called Black Lives Matter has fueled this rage against the American police officer. I predicted this two years ago."
VIDEO-Julian Castro Auditions for VP, Attacks Donald Trump On Fusion | MRCTV
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 05:06
JORGE RAMOS, UNIVISION/FUSION ANCHOR: So, let's talk about Donald Trump. Are you afraid that he might won?
SECRETARY JULIAN CASTRO (HUD): Uh, I'm not.
JORGE RAMOS, UNIVISION/FUSION ANCHOR: Really?
SECRETARY JULIAN CASTRO (HUD): More and more Americans are seeing what kind of a fraud Donald Trump is, and he's shown himself in this campaign not to be someone that unites Americans, but someone that divides them, ah, somebody who has called for a religious litmus test, a ban on Muslims, obviously has insulted immigrants, has mocked at the disabled, he has scoffed at POWs, so it's very clear that Americans understand that he's just not fir to be President. In fact, I saw a poll the other day that said that over 60% of Americans believe that he's unqualified to be President.
VIDEO-Charlie Rose to Hillary Clinton: Is 'Trump The Most Dangerous Man to Ever Run for President?' | MRCTV
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 04:54
Crossposted on NewsBusters.
Charlie Rose let Hillary Clinton rant against Donald Trump as he set-up Clinton with questions like ''Do you believe Donald Trump is dangerous?'' and ''Donald Trump with his finger on a nuclear bomb would be a threat to civilization?'' In an interview aired on the July 19, 2016 CBS This Morning, the co-anchor didn't challenge Clinton's slams on Trump but merely repeated her attacks on him back to her, so she could re-assert them.
VIDEO-PBS Freaks Out at Benghazi Mom's Allegedly Historic 'Intense Animus' Against Hillary Clinton | MRCTV
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 04:48
[More in the cross-post on the MRC's NewsBusters blog.]
PBS covered the Republican convention for three hours of prime time on the night of 18 July 2016, in association with its pubcasting buddies at NPR. But they were allergic to showing any Hillary-scandal films that were offered on the convention floor. As a mini-documentary ran about Benghazi, PBS anchors Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff clumsily talked over it, and NPR national political correspondent Mara Liasson had a wide-eyed freakout at what she claimed was a historically ''intense animus'' against an opposing candidate.
VIDEO-Out of Control: BLM Guest Goes Wild, Lemon Backs Him Up | MRCTV
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 04:32
In the wee hours of Tuesday morning during CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, the panel discussion descended into borderline chaos as guests and the host engaged in a wild shouting match. It all started when the topic of Mayor Rudy Giuliani's convention speech was brought up. ''Rudy Giuliani's speech tonight was rousing. It was. It was the definition of rousing,'' stated Black Lives Matter supporter Bakari Sellers, ''But it was also the definition of divisive.''
Sellers' shot at Giuliani came after, Donald Trump supporter, Andy Dean reminded the group that Giuliani was the reason New York City's crime rate dropped so dramatically. Dean noted that, ''New York City was a cesspool before Giuliani.''
Host Don Lemon pounced on Dean claiming, ''New York wasn't a cesspool. I lived there, it wasn't a cesspool.'' But Lemon's claim is misleading, it has been widely documented that during the 1980s and early 90s, particularly during the Crack Epidemic, New York City was a rough place to live.
Lemon was openly hostile to the GOP convention. In responding to Sellers' comment, that Giuliani's speech was ''the definition of divisive'' Lemon sniped saying, ''Well that's what they're here for. It is the Republican convention.''
Lemon and Sellers, in a tag team style, attacked Dean and, Trump supporter, Kayleigh McEnany about why they hated Black Lives Matter. ''It means black lives matters, too, because we have a question in this country about the value of black lives. And that's all we're saying,'' shouted Sellers. ''Why is that so hard to understand? Answer the question,'' Lemon demanded of McEnany.
After, literally, several minutes of being shouted at McEnany was able get in her counter. She agreed that there were circumstances of racial bias in policing, but didn't agree with BLM's direction, ''when it gets to the point where an entire profession is demonized, which is what Andy is saying and he's right, and we have police being slaughtered because there is such distrust of the police'--''
She was quickly cut off by Lemon who insisted, ''But we don't know the cause of that though.'' In referencing the recent police ambushes Lemon argued, ''We don't have a 100 percent connection between what's being said and officers being slaughtered.''
But it's hard to separate the two when BLM chants, ''pigs in a blanket, fry them like bacon,'' and the Dallas and Baton Rouge shooters who say they aimed to kill police officers.
VIDEO-Obsessed CBS Again Hypes These Musicians Angry at Trump | MRCTV
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 04:28
[See NewsBusters for more.] The journalists at CBS are obsessing over musicians who are angry at Donald Trump's use of their music. Evening News anchor Scott Pelley combined this with the alleged plagiarism of Melania Trump, chiding, ''Borrowed words are controversial and borrowed music, too.'' Reporter Jim Axelrod intoned, ''The Rolling Stones, Adele and Michael Stipe have all voiced their displeasure at Trump using their songs.'' The reporter quoted a tweet from tennis star Martina Navratilova (not a singer): ''The moment Trump made Freddie Mercury roll over in his grave,' was one tweet, referencing the contradiction that a nominee of party whose platform anti-same-sex marriage would choose a song written and sung by a gay man who died from AIDS.''
VIDEO-CBS Evening News Out To Lunch On ISIS-Inspired Attack In Germany | MRCTV
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 04:25
[More in the cross-post on the MRC's NewsBusters blog.]
On 19 and 20 July 2016, CBS Evening News failed to cover the ISIS-inspired knife and ax attack by an Afghan refugee on train passengers in Germany. Instead, the newscast ended on Tuesday with a full report on the celebrities who condemned Donald Trump for walking out to Queen's "We Are The Champions" at the Republican National Convention on Monday. To their credit, NBC Nightly News covered the Islamist terrorism with a brief on Monday and a full report on Tuesday. ABC's World News Tonight finally covered the story with a brief on Tuesday.
VIDEO-MSNBC's Chris Hayes Blames Anti-Hillary Tone on 'Invective' and 'Misogyny' | MRCTV
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 03:39
[See NewsBusters for more.] Liberal MSNBC host Chris Hayes on Wednesday desperately tried to blame the anti-Hillary Clinton tone at the Republican convention on ''invective'' and ''misogyny.'' Talking to Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, he took a few isolated incidents and smear all the delegates: ''Hillary Clinton is not popular in that hall. I understand that. But I wonder, when you see shirts around here or buttons that, like, use the word b-i-t-c-h to describe her... how do you feel about that?'' Highlighting Democratic vitriol, Blackburn shot back: ''Have you read my Twitter feed or my Facebook page? You know, it kind of goes with the territory.'' Conceding the point that liberals can be hateful, Hayes admitted, ''I'm sure it is unspeakably ugly.''
VIDEO-MSNBC Warns Sensitive Viewers Before Showing Anti-Hillary Buttons
Thu, 21 Jul 2016 03:28
[See NewsBusters for more.] Warning, sensitive MSNBC viewers may want to look away. That's essentially what Rachel Maddow told liberal watchers on Wednesday night before showing a picture of anti-Hillary Clinton buttons at the Republican convention. Considering the hateful rhetoric that's come out of MSNBC for years, perhaps that viewer warning should have appeared in the past. The buttons included ones that read ''Hillary for prison'' and ''Vote no to Monica's ex-boyfriend's wife in 2016.'' Maddow informed viewers, ''You may find it uncomfortable. And so, you may not want to look at this stuff. But these are some of the pins that are being sold at the venue.''
VIDEO-Lieutenant General Michael T Flynn Retired | Video | C-SPAN.org
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 18:35
July 18, 2016Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn (Retired) Remarks at Republican National Convention Lieutenant General Michael Flynn (Retired) delivered remarks at the 2016 Republican National Convention.'He said that Donald Trump'... read more
Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn (Retired) Remarks at Republican National Convention Lieutenant General Michael Flynn (Retired) delivered remarks at the 2016 Republican National Convention.'He said that Donald Trump would make America stronger.'He called on Americans to ''wake up,'' saying there is ''no substitute for American leadership and exceptionalism.'' close
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*This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.
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VIDEO-Ben Carson rails against Hillary Clinton, Lucifer
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 18:34
Ben Carson questioned the subject of Hillary Clinton's senior thesis, Saul Alinsky. According to Carson, Alinsky acknowledged Lucifer in one of his publications.
CLEVELAND '-- Ben Carson wanted to get one thing straight right away in his Tuesday speech to Republican convention delegates: "I am not politically correct."
With that out of the way, the retired neurosurgeon and former presidential candidate went on the offensive against "secular progressives," the "political elite," the media, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton '-- and Saul Alinsky and Lucifer.
Carson told the crowd that one of Clinton's role models, community organizer Alinsky, "acknowledges Lucifer" in one of his books, reflecting the views of secular progressives who would remove God from the nation's life.
USA TODAY
Analysis: An embrace for Trump from party leaders. But not too close
"We will not be blessed, and our nation will go down the tubes," Carson said.
As for the prospect of a Clinton presidency, Carson said, "America may never recover from that."
As a result, Carson said he is "proud to support Donald Trump," and he urged the convention delegates to work for his election.
"It's time for us to stand up and shout out about what we believe in," Carson said.
During the speech, a Code Pink protester tried to shout down Carson from the upper deck. Trump backers then sought to drown her out; security later removed the woman.
USA TODAY
Latest from #RNCinCLE: Ryan pleads for unity
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VIDEO-Antonio Sabato: Of Course Obama Is A Muslim, He Doesn't Even Have A Christian Name [VIDEO] - Joe.My.God.
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 18:09
Via Politico:
Actor Antonio Sab to Jr. ''absolutely'' believes President Barack Obama is a Muslim, he said Monday after addressing the Republican National Convention, accusing Obama of being ''on the other side.''
''First of all, I don't believe that the guy is a Christian,'' Sab to said. ''I don't believe he follows the God that I love and the Jesus that I love.''
''If you follow his story, if you read his book, if you understand about Obama '-- I mean, that's not a Christian name, is it?'' he continued.
Sab to maintained that Obama doesn't go to church and accused him of having never talked about Jesus Christ. ''I've met a lot of Christians. I know Christians,'' he said. ''I am one, and I don't believe he is.''
''I believe that he's on the other side '-- the Middle East. He's with the bad guys,'' Sab to said. ''He's with them. He's not with us. He's not with this country.'' Asked if America could ever have a Muslim or Jewish president, Sab to insisted the country has already had the former ''for seven and a half years.''
I love the look on LZ Granderson's face.
VIDEO-Gov. Mike Pence signs RFRA fix
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 17:34
House Speaker Brian Bosma and Senate President Pro Tem David Long announce a fix for the RFRA to ensure it "does not tolerate discrimination against any class of Hoosier," Thursday, April 2, 2015. Matt Kryger/The Star
Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma (right) and Senate President Pro Tempore David Long announce proposed changes Thursday to REFA.(Photo: Matt Kryger/The Star)Buy Photo
6:05 p.m. UPDATE:
Gov. Mike Pence has signed into law a measure aimed at removing fears that the state's new "religious freedom" law would allow businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians.
Here is his full statement:
"The freedom of religion for every Hoosier is enshrined in the Constitution of the United States and in the Indiana Constitution, which reads, 'No law shall, in any case whatever, control the free exercise and enjoyment of religious opinions, or interfere with the rights of conscience.' For generations, these protections have served as a bulwark of religious liberty for Hoosiers and remain a foundation of religious liberty in the State of Indiana, and that will not change.
"Last week the Indiana General Assembly passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act raising the judicial standard that would be used when government action intrudes upon the religious liberty of Hoosiers, and I was pleased to sign it.
"Over the past week this law has become a subject of great misunderstanding and controversy across our state and nation. However we got here, we are where we are, and it is important that our state take action to address the concerns that have been raised and move forward.
"Last weekend I called upon the Indiana General Assembly to clarify that this new judicial standard would not create a license to discriminate or to deny services to any individual as its critics have alleged. I am grateful for the efforts of legislators, business and other community leaders who came together to forge this clarifying language in the law.
"Hoosiers deserve to know, that even with this legislation, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act enhances protections for every church, non-profit religious organization or society, religious school, rabbi, priest, preacher, minister or pastor in the review of government action where their religious liberty is infringed. The law also enhances protection in religious liberty cases for groups of individuals and businesses in conscience decisions that do not involve provision of goods and services, employment and housing.
"In the midst of this furious debate, I have prayed earnestly for wisdom and compassion, and I have felt the prayers of people across this state and across this nation. For that I will be forever grateful.
"There will be some who think this legislation goes too far and some who think it does not go far enough, but as governor I must always put the interest of our state first and ask myself every day, 'What is best for Indiana?' I believe resolving this controversy and making clear that every person feels welcome and respected in our state is best for Indiana.
"Our state is rightly celebrated for our pro-business environment, and we enjoy an international reputation for the hospitality, generosity, tolerance and kindness of our people. Hoosier hospitality is not a slogan; it is our way of life. Now that this is behind us, let's move forward together with a renewed commitment to the civility and respect that make this state great."
4:24 pm UPDATE: The Indiana Senate voted 34-16 to OK changes to the "religious freedom" law. The measure now goes to Gov. Mike Pence, who has yet to say whether he'll sign the measure into law, veto it or let it become law without his signature.
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Last SlideNext Slide4:10 p.m. UPDATE:
The Indiana House voted 66-30 to alter the divisive "religious freedom" law to remove fears that it would allow businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians.
The Indiana Senate was expected to quickly follow suit and send the changes to Gov. Mike Pence, who has yet to say whether he will accept the revisions.
The changes would make it clear that the law cannot be used to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Updated at 2:30 p.m:
What appeared to be a group effort Thursday morning to fix Indiana's divisive "religious freedom" law dissolved into a Republican power play as the GOP kicked out Democrat committee members before taking a vote on the changes.
As of 1 p.m., Democrats were meeting privately to decide whether to sign off on the clarifying measure, which they said doesn't go far enough to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination.
But by 2:30 p.m., Republicans had removed the Democrat committee members, so they could move the bill without Democrat support to the full House and Senate for a final vote today.
Democrats said the changes didn't go far enough. They wanted a repeal of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or full civil rights protections for gays and lesbians.
Earlier story:
Business, civic and sports leaders who demanded a fix to Indiana's divisive "religious freedom" lawflanked Republican legislative leaders Thursday as they announced a new measure that would prohibit the law from being used to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Those leaders had overwhelmingly opposed the law, which many feared would allow discrimination against the LGBT community. But they embraced the fix unveiled Thursday morning and began to try to repair the damage that the controversy has wrought on Indianapolis' once sterling reputation as a welcoming convention and sports city.
Speaking at the news conference were Allison Melangton, who headed planning for the 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis, Jim Morris, vice chairman of the Pacers, former Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson and Salesforce Marketing Cloud CEO Scott McCorkle.
Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, and House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, presented the clarifying measure at a 9 a.m. Statehouse news conference and presented the proposal to lawmakers at a 9:30 a.m. committee meeting.
"Hoosier hospitality had to be restored," Bosma said during the news conference, where he apologized "not for actions taken, but the message received."
"Is the damage able to be turned back?" he said. "That remains to be seen."
The leaders were referring to intense backlash that rained down on Indiana after Gov. Mike Pence signed the bill during a private ceremony last week. Conventions have canceled or threatened to move events that bring millions of dollars into the state. Prominent business executives have halted expansion plans or canceled travel to the state. The NCAA, which is holding the men's Final Four in Indianapolis this week, has also expressed concerns about the law.
"It was never intended to discriminate against anyone," Long said. "That perception led to the national protests we've seen."
INDIANAPOLIS STAR
Angie's List rejects 'religious freedom' law revision, calls it 'insufficient'
Peterson, now a vice president with Eli Lilly, said the words "gender identity" and "sexual orientation" will appear in state law in context of anti-discrimination for first time.
"The healing needs to begin right now," he said.
Salesforce's McCorkle lauded his employees and Indiana residents for coming out strong against the bill.
The tech company had previously said it would no longer send employees and customers to Indiana in light of what it saw as the passing of a discriminatory law.
"I've lived in Indiana my entire life ... this state has given me so much. I've love Indiana," McCorkle said.
Chris Douglas, founding president of Indianapolis Rainbow Chamber of Commerce, said Indiana is a "loving state."
"Much of our work has been done over many years to achieve progress in Indiana," said Douglas, whose group promotes the interests of the LGBT community in the city's economic development.
INDIANAPOLIS STAR
RFRA: Boycotts, bans and a growing backlash
At the committee hearing that followed the news conference, Eric Miller of Advance America, which lobbied for the original religious freedom law, said the proposed changes would "destroy" the law.
"Among the things that will happen, Christian bakers, florists and photographers would now be forced by the government to participate in a homosexual wedding or else they would be punished by the government," Miller's group said in a blog post.
Some Christian conservatives who had supported the original law called for Pence to veto the changes.
The proposed new language '-- worked out during private, marathon negotiations on Wednesday between Republican legislative leaders, key business and sports officials and the governor's staff '-- would alter the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, to ensure it does not discriminate against gay and lesbian customers of Indiana businesses. But it stops short of providing statewide protections against discrimination of gay, lesbian and transgender people.
Pence called for "clarifying" language over the weekend in an effort to stem the tide of criticism and economic blows. But it was unclear as of Thursday afternoon whether the governor would support the new language.
INDIANAPOLIS STAR
Gov. Mike Pence: Change RFRA law to make it clear discrimination won't be allowed
The measure could put to rest some of the harsher criticisms that Indiana Republicans have suffered through in the past week. But it is unlikely to make either liberal or conservative activists happy and easily prefaces a future Statehouse battle over LGBT protections.
In fact, Long said he thought it was likely lawmakers would take up full LGBT protections next year.
The compromise legislation specifies that the new religious freedom law cannot be used as a legal defense to discriminate against patrons based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The proposal goes much further than a "preamble" that was proposed earlier in the week, and, if it stands, would be the first time any protections against discrimination have been extended to gays and lesbians in state law. But it doesn't go as far as establishing gays and lesbians as a protected class of citizens statewide or repealing the law outright, both things Republican leaders have said they could not support.
INDIANAPOLIS STAR
Tully: Mike Pence is out of his league as governor
Specifically, the new language says the RFRA does not authorize a provider '-- including businesses or individuals '-- to refuse to offer or provide services, facilities, goods, employment, housing or public accommodation to any member of the public based on sexual orientation or gender identity, in addition to race, color, religion, ancestry, age, national origin, disability, sex or military service.
The proposed language exempts churches or other nonprofit religious organizations '-- including affiliated schools '-- from the definition of "provider."
Democrats insist the changes don't go far enough. They want a repeal of the RFRA and full civil rights protections for gays and lesbians.
Long, Bosma and the Rainbow Chamber's Douglas all said they didn't think there was enough time for a robust discussion on that issue now '-- but that a debate over that issue was likely next year.
INDYSTAR
IndyStar Visual: A look at 'religious freedom' laws across the U.S.
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Editorial: Gov. Pence, fix 'religious freedom' law now
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VIDEO-U.S. Charges HSBC Official in FX Rigging Probe - Bloomberg
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 16:05
Federal agents surprised an HSBC Holdings Plc executive as he prepared to fly out of New York's Kennedy airport late Tuesday, arresting him for an alleged front-running scheme involving a $3.5 billion currency transaction, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Mark Johnson, HSBC's global head of foreign exchange cash trading in London, was held in a Brooklyn jail overnight and will appear in court Wednesday, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the details of his arrest aren't public. The U.S. unsealed charges against him and Stuart Scott, the bank's former head of currency trading in Europe, making them the first individuals to be charged in the long-running probe.
The arrest and charges are a coup for the Justice Department, which has struggled to build cases against individuals in its investigation into foreign-exchange trading at global banks. U.S. prosecutors once had so much confidence in the quality of evidence they were gathering thanks to undercover cooperators that in September 2014, then-Attorney General Eric Holder said he expected charges against individuals within months. The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority also found it difficult to make cases against currency traders and announced in March that it was dropping its efforts.
Extradition ConcernsU.S. agents moved quickly to arrest Johnson, who works in London and New York, to avoid difficulties that could arise in extraditing him, according to one of the people. The complaint against Johnson and Scott was unsealed Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court. HSBC wasn't made aware of the plans to arrest Johnson, another person said.
Scott left the bank in 2014 after it agreed to pay $618 million to settle currency-rigging investigations by the FCA and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He remains in the U.K., and the U.S. is likely to seek extradition, according to one of the people.
Rob Sherman, an HSBC spokesman, and Peter Carr, a Justice Department spokesman, declined to comment. Johnson and his lawyer, Frank Wohl, didn't immediately respond to calls seeking comment. Contact information for Scott wasn't immediately available in U.K. directories.
Johnson's arrest comes more than a year after five global banks pleaded guilty to charges related to the rigging of currency benchmarks. HSBC, though it settled regulatory cases, is still being investigated by the Justice Department. The bank has set aside $1.3 billion for possible settlements, according to an August filing.
For a QuickTake explainer on the benchmark probes, click here.
Separately on Tuesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve banned former UBS Group AG trader Matthew Gardiner from the banking industry for life for his role rigging currency benchmarks. Gardiner used electronic chat rooms, with names including The Cartel and The Mafia, to facilitate the rigging of foreign-exchange benchmarks and to disclose confidential customer information to traders at other banks, the Fed said in a statement Tuesday. That matter is separate from the one involving Johnson, the people said.
Gardiner has been helping U.S. prosecutors who are trying to build currency-rigging cases against individuals for violation of antitrust laws, two people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News in April. He hasn't been publicly charged and it isn't clear if he has been granted immunity for cooperation. A lawyer for Gardiner didn't respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal.LEARN MORE
VIDEO-Turkey coup attempt: Government formally asks U.S. to extradite cleric - CNN.com
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 14:36
Erdogan told CNN in an exclusive interview Monday that the extradition request was coming soon.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced the request Tuesday in Parliament and on Twitter referred to Gulen as a "terrorist leader."
The Muslim cleric, living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, has denied any involvement in the coup attempt.
Gulen, in a statement released Tuesday, said Erdogan "once again demonstrated he will go to any length necessary to solidify his power and persecute his critics. It is ridiculous, irresponsible and false to suggest I had anything to do with the horrific failed coup. I urge the U.S. government to reject any effort to abuse the extradition process to carry out political vendettas."
Gulen, who lives in the United States, previously said any attempt to overthrow the country "is a betrayal to our unity and is treason."
Can Gulen be extradited?
Under the U.S.-Turkey extradition agreement, Washington can only extradite a person if he or she has committed an "extraditable act." Treason -- such as that implied by Erdogan's demand for Gulen's extradition -- is not listed as such an act in the countries' treaty.
The Turkish President's supporters celebrate after soldiers surrendered on Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge.
When asked what evidence the government had that Gulen was behind the coup, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Tuesday that the attempt itself was the biggest piece of evidence, and that Turkey would provide thousands of pieces of evidence to the United States of Gulen's involvement.
He compared the coup attempt to the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, saying it was clear Gulen was behind it, just as the United States knew al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was behind 9/11.
Security forces gutted
The request for Gulen's extradition is the latest move by the Turkish government to rein in dissent in the country.
More than 9,300 people are in detention in the fallout from the failed coup, Kurtulmus said.
The government has gutted some of the security forces, dismissing almost 9,000 people from the Interior Ministry, mostly police officers, and hundreds of others from various ministries.
Among those detained are at least 118 generals and admirals, accounting for a third of the general-rank command of the Turkish military, according to Turkish state broadcaster TRT.
Some 15,200 public education employees were suspended and are being investigated for possible links to Gulen, the Ministry of Education said.
Authorities have revoked the licenses of 21,000 teachers working in private education institutions who are being investigated under the same auspices, state news agency Anadolu reported.
More than 80 judges are also among those arrested, as are lawyers, senior aides and police.
A photo emerged over the weekend of dozens of detainees, who appeared to be all men, seen stripped to the waist in a horse stable, their hands bound.
Asked about that, Kurtulmus said it was "normal procedure for police under these circumstances," adding that their "crime is very heavy."
Two pilots who downed a Russian jet last year are also among "the detained soldiers who attempted the coup," said Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag.
Erdogan continued to laud Turkish citizens for thwarting the plotters. "Our response to the coup attempt has proven that our democracy is strong," he said.
Friends turned foes
Erdogan and Gulen are former allies whose relationship fell into a bitter feud in 2013.
Erdogan supporters outside Gulen's Pennsylvania home have been calling him inflammatory names following the weekend violence. Gulen's supporters accused Erdogan of scapegoating the cleric to grab more power.
Gulen is a reclusive cleric who leads a popular movement called Hizmet, which includes hundreds of secular co-ed schools, free tutoring centers, hospitals and relief agencies credited with addressing Turkey's social problems.
Gulen supporters -- known as Gulenists -- describe the 75-year-old as a moderate Muslim cleric who champions interfaith dialogue.
WikiLeaks releases emails
Whistleblower site WikiLeaks seems to think Turkey's purge has spread to cyberspace. It said it has come under a sustained cyberattack after announcing on social media its plan to leak hundreds of thousands of documents on "Turkish power."The WikiLeaks website on Tuesday evening leaked 300,000 emails and thousands of documents in the wake of the failed coup.
The website appeared operational Tuesday, and WikiLeaks said it planned to go ahead with publishing the #ErdoganEmails, adding that all 300,000 were internal to Erdogan's Justice and Development Party.
The most recent emails were sent July 6 and the oldest dates back to 2010, the group said.
It was unclear when the other 500,000 documents would be released. The organization said the emails date up until July 7.
Death penalty talks
International pressure is mounting on Erdogan after he responded to the failed coup with an iron fist.
People kick a Turkish soldier who participated in the attempted coup, on Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge.
In the CNN interview Monday, he said refused to rule out the death penalty for the thousands arrested despite warnings from the European Union that reintroducing capital punishment would dash Turkey's chances of joining the the EU.
The EU official overseeing Turkey's bid to join, Johannes Hahn, expressed concern over Turkey's post-coup purge, raising suspicions that a list of people to arrest had been prepared well in advance of the political upheaval.
A man waves a Turkish flag from the roof of a car during a march around Ankara's Kizilay Square.
"(That) the lists are available already after the event indicates that this was prepared, that at a certain moment (they) should be used," he said.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also warned that Turkey must respect the law and its democratic institutions if it wanted to remain part of NATO.
CNN's Andrew Carey, Sara Ganim, Nic Robertson, Salma Abdelaziz, Onur Cakir and Gul Tuysuz contributed to this report.
VIDEO-USA: State Dept. welcomes Turkish request to extradite Gulen after coup - YouTube
VIDEO-Trump addresses Republican convention after securing nomination | Reuters.com
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 05:37
ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) Donald Trump addresses the Republican National Convention (RNC) by video feed after securing the party's presidential nomination, telling delegates it has been a "special day" and one he will "never forget". Earlier Trump officially secured enough delegates to win the party's 2016 nomination for the White House. During a roll-call vote Trump's eldest child, Donald Trump Jr., announced the support of New York, their home state, ensuring Trump had the majority of delegates - 1,237 - needed to contest the November 8 U.S. presidential election against presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. "We've achieved historic results, with the largest vote total in the history of the Republican party," said Trump via video link on a screen over the convention stage. "This is a movement, but we have to go all the way." Trump repeated his familiar campaign promises about building a border wall and creating jobs, before concluding with his campaign slogan. "Together, most importantly, we are going to make America great again," Trump said.
VIDEO-Carson accuses Clinton of supporting "Lucifer"
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 05:33
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VIDEO-17 Year Old Afghan Immigrant Attacks 4 People With An Ax On A Train In Germany! - YouTube
VIDEO-Debbie Wasserman Schultz claims Hillary Clinton didn't lie to Congress about her emails - YouTube
VIDEO-Columbus police officer hospitalized after glass found in sandwich | WSYX
Tue, 19 Jul 2016 19:25
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX/WTTE) -- A Columbus police officer was rushed to the hospital after officials say he cut his mouth after biting into a sandwich, which contained several shards of glass from a restaurant on East Long Street Monday afternoon.
The officer was taken to Grant Medical Center around 3 p.m. where he's being held overnight. The officer is expected to be okay, according to investigators.
Police say the officer bit into the sandwich and felt what was a grisly texture as well as a crunching sound. When he looked into the sandwich, he saw the glass. When he checked his mouth, he saw it was bleeding.
The restaurant was subsequently shut down as assault squad investigators conducted interviews.
Detectives said it's not clear whether the incident was accidental or intentional.
Columbus Public Health officials say they will be at the cafe Tuesday to take a closer look at what happened.
No charges have been filed in the case.
The officer's identity and the restaurant's name are being withheld as Columbus police investigate.
Stay with ABC 6/FOX 28 for the latest in this developing story.
VIDEO-Stunning Press Conference '' Baton Rouge Police Ambush: A ''Meticulously Planned, Specific and Intentional Targeting of Police'' '' Video.. | The Last Refuge
Mon, 18 Jul 2016 21:36
During a rather jaw-dropping press conference, full video below, the city, county and state law enforcement in Baton Rouge Louisiana outlined the exact details of how police shooter Gavin Long carried out his ambush attack against law enforcement.
The key part of the presser was Colonel Mike Edmonson explaining the entire event. Video is prompted to 24:20 for his presentation:
Shooter Gavin Eugene Long (29) was forensically confirmed as shooter at midnight last night. Law enforcement confirm that Long traveled to Baton Rouge specifically and intentionally to target police officers. Gavin Long specifically did not engage the general public as he tactically targeted ONLY police officers.
'... Louisiana Governor, John Bel Edwards, during the press conference stated: ''the attack was intended to tear the fabric of society''. To provide additional emphasis Edwards stated: ''there is no division in Louisiana, and make no mistake we support our law enforcement community''.
'... Baton Rouge Mayor, Kip Holden, noted hundreds of calls from Majors coast to coast across America offering support. He thanked them for their support, and for the support from all Americans, and affirmed the strength of the Louisiana people.
'... Louisiana State Police Superintendent, Mike Edmonson, walked reporters through the entire shooting and a chilling CCTV captured video showing ''an intended assassination of police officers''. The police are confident Gavin Long was the only shooter during the events of Sunday. Long used a rented Chevy Mailbu which originated from Missouri to travel to Baton Rouge.
IWI U.S. Tavor SAR Rifle 5.56Fully outfitted tactical with scope = $$$$$
VIDEO-Sheriff Clarke Forces CNN to Cut to Commercial During Tense Exchange on Police Killings [VIDEO] | Tribunist
Mon, 18 Jul 2016 20:45
Popular conservative and law enforcement activist Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke recently appeared on CNN with host Don Lemon to discuss the recent killings of police officers in Dallas, Texas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. At one point, the interview got pretty tense, and Clarke's strong talking points forced Lemon to take a commercial break and end the interview.
[Scroll Down For Video]
During the interview, Lemon mentioned that he had spoken to law enforcement officials in Baton Rouge about their message for the community and the country as a whole.
Lemon: ''Their message is peace and coming together in the country. What's your message?''
Clarke: ''You don't believe that for one minute, do you?''
Lemon: ''Uh, that's what they said to me '... Yeah, I believe them.''
Clarke: ''Any protests over the deaths of these cops today in Baton Rouge?''
Lemon: ''I don't know.''
Clarke: ''Any riots or protests over the officers in Dallas, Texas?''
Lemon: ''What are you asking?''
Then things got a little more tense.
Clarke: ''It's a pretty simple question. My message has been clear from day one, two years ago. This anti-cop sentiment from this hateful ideology called Black Lives Matter has fueled this rage against the American police officer. I predicted this two years ago.''
Lemon: ''OK, Sheriff, with all due respect, do you know that this was because of that? As a law enforcement officer?''
Clarke: ''Yes, I do. I've been watching this for two years. I predicted this. This anti-police rhetoric sweeping the country has turned out some hateful things inside of people that our now playing themselves out on the American police officer. I wanna know, with all of the black-on-black violence in the United States of America '-- By the way, when the tragedies happened in Louisiana and Minnesota, do you know that 21 black people were murdered across the United States? Was there any reporting on that?''
Lemon tried to calm the sheriff and change the topic. However, Clarke wasn't going to relent his point and ultimately said that Black Lives Matter wasn't a group that was trying to improve racial equality, but was rather an anti-police hate group.
That's when a dumbstruck Lemon abruptly cut to commercial and ended the interview by patronizingly saying, ''Thank you sheriff, we know it's a very tough time for you.''
Clarke is due to speak at the Republican National Convention this week. In the past, Clarke's speeches at venues such as the NRA Annual meetings have resonated strongly with conservatives. It is thought by many pundits that Clarke will likely become a politician at the national level at some point in the future.
VIDEO-CNN Tries To Silence Sheriff Clarke
Mon, 18 Jul 2016 20:04
Sheriff Clarke gave this wonderful interview on CNN yesterday. The host desperately tried (unsuccessfully) to silence him over and over again, so CNN pulled the video.
He will be speaking in Cleveland tonight, so you can be assured that paid Democrat agitators will try to get someone killed outside the building '' to give an excuse for CNN to turn their cameras and blame the violence on Trump.
VIDEO-Joint Press Availability With EU High Representative Federica Mogherini
Mon, 18 Jul 2016 19:50
HIGH REPRESENTATIVE MOGHERINI: Thank you very much. John, welcome. It's an honor and it's been a pleasure to welcome you for the first time at the Foreign Affairs Council with the 28 foreign ministers of our union just a few days after our leaders summit in Warsaw, where we clearly reaffirmed that transatlantic unity has never been so important and so strong. And the EU-U.S. relationship and common work is vital to both of us in addressing all foreign and global challenges. Actually, there is not one single issue related to foreign security policy on which we are not working closely together on a single '' daily basis.
First of all, we discussed with the ministers the situation in Turkey. You know very well the European Union was the first to stress the importance during that tragic night to uphold the legitimacy of the institutions, and we continue to do so, condemning the coup '' the attempt of having a coup. At the same time, we call for the full observance of Turkey's constitutional order, and we as European Union stress the importance of the rule of law prevailing in the country. We share concerns about what is happening in the country these hours. We need to respect '' to have Turkey respect democracy, human rights, and fundamental freedoms. We will continue discussing this issue with the foreign ministers now at the beginning of the formal session of the Foreign Affairs Council, so expect some council conclusions also on that. But in this respect, I have to say that messaging towards the same lines '' on the same lines from the very beginning between the EU and the U.S. were very potent and crucial.
Another issue where we cooperate very closely and tightly is the fight against terrorism, and this is even more important after what we saw happening in Nice, but also in the United States, in other parts of the world '' Asia or the Middle East. And this will also be on the agenda of the meeting of the global coalition against Daesh this week in Washington, so we will meet again there under your leadership and strengthen our cooperation on counterterrorism in different forms.
We obviously took advantage of you coming back from Moscow to have a debrief on your talks on Syria in particular with Russian authorities. The European Union and the United States work closely together to try to have talks restarted in Geneva with a situation on the ground that needs to be built with some credibility, starting with a cessation of hostilities that holds. We exchanged in this respect, and the European Union is and continues to be ready to support even more the political transition process once the situation from the military aspects gets more under control.
We also had good exchanges on our common work on Libya '' that is key for both of us '' and on the Middle East peace process, where we value enormously the common work we've done in the framework of the Quartet that produced a significant report with important recommendations that were endorsed by the 28 foreign ministers and that we will follow up together very closely '' really working hand in hand in this respect.
We also exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine. Here also the European Union and the United States believe firmly that the full implementation of Minsk of is the way ahead and we're working in that direction together.
I would like to close by thanking you, John, for your personal commitment all of these years and in these difficult months and weeks to strengthen and improve every single day the EU-U.S. relationship. I remember very well that at the beginning of the Obama Administration, he made reference to the need to, let's say, strengthen the friendships that are based on our common values and history, and I can say that you managed in that respect. Our friendship has never been so strong and so important.
I would also like to thank you personally, and through you the U.S. Administration and President Obama, for the strong message and clear message that we always hear from you on the need for a strong and united Europe. And let me say that sometimes we need our closest friends, our best friends to remind us the extraordinary value of the European Union. And we appreciate that; we value that. This is extremely important to remind all Europeans of the responsibilities we hold not only towards our citizens but also towards our partners, so thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, good morning to everybody. And Federica, thank you. Thank you very much for your personal comments just now. Thank you for your affirmation of the strength of the relationship between the United States and the EU, and thank you for your own leadership and friendship and for the way in which you have really conducted yourself in a very difficult job. You have 28 countries that you work with extraordinarily effectively, and we appreciate it very, very much.
And I want to thank all the members of the FAC. Today, the committee, with whom I met '' it was an extremely constructive '' it was lengthy. Everybody who wanted to have a chance to speak, had a chance to speak and shared thoughts and asked questions. So we had a very, very constructive exchange, an exchange which I heard I am the first Secretary of State to have engaged in '' with the foreign affairs committee. And I feel very privileged for having done so, but I might say also I found it very helpful, very constructive, and I think it's something we probably ought to be doing on a regular basis. But that's obviously up to our friends here at the EU.
HIGH REPRESENTATIVE MOGHERINI: Deal. Deal.
SECRETARY KERRY: Deal. (Laughter.) All right, it's a deal.
To start with, I want to reiterate a message that President Obama and I have delivered frankly time and again in recent weeks, and that message is very simple and very straightforward. It is that the U.S.-EU partnership is strong '' strong today, will remain strong into the future, it is enduring, and it is unbreakable. And it is all of those things for some very simple reasons.
Yesterday when I was in Luxembourg, I had the privilege of visiting the American Cemetery there, where there are some 5,000 Americans buried, including General George Patton. And I was given a tour and reminded of a history that I have personally read for many years. I have read a lot about World War II; I'm fascinated by it. And I was intrigued to see the maps reminding us of the original invasion of Normandy and the way the troops dispersed and the Canadians moving up in the north and the Americans and General Patton and the Third Army moving through. And then, of course, the Battle of the Bulge, which was the most costly battle of the war, with some 87,000 Americans losing their lives in the course of that battle alone '' the largest single number of casualties in one battle in the course of the war.
And as I measured the sacrifices that were made, counted in the crosses and in the history that was reviewed there, and as I thought about the journey of the European project from its earliest days '' from Jean Monnet, from Konrad Adenauer, from all of the great hurdles that have been surpassed '' the unification of Germany; the creation of a single currency for 19 countries of the 28; 24 languages spoken by 28 nations; the remarkable progress the people of Europe have experienced as a result; the amazing growth in income, the growth in quality of living; the shared responsibility of the IMF, of the World Bank, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of all of the values and interests that bring us together '' this is why the relationship is so important.
And all of those interests, all of those values that have united us for all of these years were the same, as I said previously, before the vote that took place in the United Kingdom as they are today. And Boris Johnson made clear today in his own comments that the United Kingdom intends to remain a critical, vital, strong component of the European relationship and of the United States relationship with Europe. So our cooperation, we have learned '' our cooperation, all of us together '' is essential to promoting international peace, stability, security, and prosperity. And I underscore the peace and the prosperity components of that.
Now, obviously, with a new government taking shape in the United Kingdom and negotiations upcoming on Britain's departure from the EU, there's obviously some uncertainty out there.
But what we came out of this meeting with today was, frankly, a remarkable sense of unity, a commitment; a calm, if you will '' very calm but resolved dedication to finding the strength and finding the benefits and defining a future that keeps those interests that brought us together and those values that brought us together at the forefront of our efforts.
So the fact is we are collaborating now as intensely and as widely as we ever have, and I am convinced we will continue to do that. As the U.S., the EU, and the UK share '' all of us '' an interest in the smoothest possible transition and the highest levels of integration and the highest levels of collaboration, I am convinced we are all being guided by the same set of objectives.
Now, my presence in Brussels today reflects America's commitment to that cooperation, and so did the breadth of the discussions that we had at the breakfast this morning. The fullness of our agenda is absolutely extraordinary.
To begin with, we are all united in fighting back against terror, and we were united today in expressing our grief in the wake of last week's horrific attack in Nice. France is a founding member of the EU and one of America's oldest allies, and the act of savagery in Nice will only strengthen our shared resolve to combat the forces of violent extremism everywhere.
Those forces may not understand that. They may take those words for granted when we say that. And unfortunately, we have been called on to say it too many times in the last months with Orlando, with Paris, with Belgium, with Nice, with Ankara. But despite these events '' these spectacular moments of killing, of death and mayhem, calculated to try to scare people '' we maintain our resolve and we maintain our conviction that we are in fact making progress as we need to. And that will be further elucidated in the meeting that we are having with 45 nations '' with defense ministers and foreign ministers '' in Washington this week, when we will come together to not only review what we are accomplishing but to self-criticize and to try to analyze what we can do better and do faster.
We also discussed this morning the unfolding situation on the ground in Turkey '' a NATO ally, obviously, and a key partner to the EU. We stand squarely on the side of the elected leadership in Turkey, which President Obama and I both stated in the course of the events, in the early hours, as they were unfolding that night. But we also firmly urge the Government of Turkey to maintain calm and stability throughout the country. And we also urge the Government of Turkey to uphold the highest standards of respect for the nation's democratic institutions and the rule of law. And we will certainly support bringing the perpetrators of the coup to justice, but we also caution against a reach that goes well beyond that and stress the importance of the democratic rule being upheld. We were pleased to see that the operations at Incirlik have been restored and we are all determined to make sure that the efforts against ISIL or Daesh do not miss a beat in the days ahead.
In addition, at this meeting today we reviewed the situation in Syria, and I briefed the FAC on my visit to Moscow over the Friday and weekend. We discussed some of the specific sequential steps that I talked about the other day that the United States and Russia have agreed to take in order to restore a cessation of hostilities and halt the indiscriminate bombing of the Assad regime and to step up efforts against al-Nusrah and to create space for a genuine and credible political transition. The meetings that we referred to '' the homework that needed to be done is being done right now as I speak, and this week there will be further meetings. And I anticipate as we are ready, we will announce further steps as we go forward.
Further, we also addressed today the fight against Daesh, against ISIL. And I want to stress that the fight to cut off that group's leadership, its finances; to reduce the ranks of fighters and to shrink its territory are underway, and each and every one of those objectives is seeing gains in each of those sectors.
We reaffirmed our support today and talked about the next steps that we need to take to strengthen the Government of National Accord in Libya. We examined how we can further back Prime Minister Sarraj's campaign to counter Daesh, to improve governance, and to respond to economic and humanitarian needs, and also to strengthen the counterterrorism capabilities.
We also reiterate '' we reiterated the United States and the EU's strong support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. We talked about the process now in place that I talked about further with President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov for the further implementation of the Minsk agreement. We talked about the importance of continued reform within Ukraine with its anti-corruption agenda. And we also talked about the full need for the security measures that need to be put in place to be defined in a way that creates a sequential process for both political and security steps. I updated the group this morning on our efforts in Moscow to back the work of France and Germany in accelerating the pace of the Minsk implementation, especially on the security side.
Finally, we talked about the U.S.-EU economic relationship and our shared goal to conclude an ambitious TTIP this year. This remains a high priority for President Obama and for our Administration, and there's a reason for that, and I talked about that reason with the countries there today. I know there have been a couple of comments, because I've read them, from certain people in the region, suggesting somehow that TTIP will not or cannot proceed forward. But we, frankly, gracefully '' I hope '' and respectfully disagree, because we believe that there is some mythology that has been attached to it. And it's our job to make sure that we adequately inform people about the ways in which the facts of the TTIP actually work for the people of Europe '' that it will create jobs; it will protect their interests, protect their regulatory rights, protect their ability with respect to labor and environment. And in '' I think as people learn the facts, there will be an important opportunity for us to be able to take steps forward.
I also believe that in the wake of what has been taking place with respect to the discussions on the economy relative to whatever impact Brexit may or may not have, TTIP actually becomes more important, because it is a large market. And when you're talking about a very significant marketplace between the United States and Europe, that has a very significant ability to act as a counter to whatever negatives may or may not ultimately attach themselves to whatever construct is negotiated between the UK and Europe. So I intend to be back here in the next months, giving several speeches in various places to lay out the facts and help people to understand exactly what the positive side '' an upboost of economic growth, which Europe needs; of upgrade of international standards in trade and capacity for people to sell their goods in various parts of the world; and to protect workers' rights at the same time.
So, my friends, the events of the recent weeks have really just underscored the importance of our relationship, the importance of the road ahead. And before we start to take some questions, let me just emphasize the meaning of what I just talked about with respect to the war, which a lot of people don't tap into, don't remember that well, or even, certainly, only understand from a history book. There's a whole separation, obviously, of time, which has changed attitudes for some people.
But no one should forget that what we did was defeat fascism, defeat the greatest evil that the world knew at that time. And we did it through our unity and we did it through our commitment mutually to the values and the interests that we share. Since then, we've seen a Berlin Wall built up and then torn down; a Germany divided and then reunited; a solidarity created that created the fall of communism and the subsequent rise of democracies from the West to the East and the North to the South '' more democracies today in the world than at any time in our history.
So we have stood united in order to end ethnic cleansing in the Balkans; to halt the spread of disease; to deliver food, water, medicine, and care to communities in need. We've rebuilt our economies after a great financial crisis. We made clear that we're not going to be intimidated by terrorists '' not in the Middle East, not in Orlando, not in Brussels, not in Nice, not anywhere.
And throughout that period, we have built and sustained and expanded and strengthened institutions that promote peace, advance prosperity, and bring us closer together for our mutual benefit '' institutions like the European Union. And I ask anyone who questions the importance of the EU or its relationship with the United States to never forget not just the history that I articulated, but the increase of prosperity, the rise in the standard of living '' the better health care, the better education opportunities, the better promotion and protection of rights for individuals throughout the EU '' as a consequence of what we have done together.
So I believe this partnership today is not just as strong but it is equally just as important and is '' as it has ever been. And I'm confident that we are going to meet the challenges before us. We're going to turn whatever this challenge presents us into something stronger and something better for the simple reason that our interests and our values are so unique and so connected that they demand that we do so. And I look forward to any questions.
MODERATOR: Thank you. We'll have time for very '' just a couple of questions before noon, so Daniel may be first.
QUESTION: Daniel Brossler, Suddeutschen Zeitung. First question for Vice President Mogherini. There was talk in Turkey about reintroducing the death penalty. If that would happen, would that end accession talks with the European Union, and would that actually endanger arrangements the EU has, for example, in the refugee question?
And Secretary Kerry, if I may, are you worried that in Turkey actually '' a NATO partner and important partner in the fight against ISIL '' is shifting away from democracy to an authoritarian system? And what actually can the U.S., what can NATO do to prevent that?
And a second question, if I may, about the preacher, Gulen. Have you received from Turkey any fresh information or evidence that he might be linked to the coup attempt? Thank you very much.
SECRETARY KERRY: Go ahead.
HIGH REPRESENTATIVE MOGHERINI: We are '' you hear me? We are seeing a debate in Turkey. We are also seeing that political forces are starting to react. When we mentioned the fact that we need to preserve the legitimate and democratic institutions, that includes the parliament.
Let me be very clear on one thing '' actually, on two. One, no country can become a EU member-state if it introduces death penalty. That is very clear in our acquis, as we call it. So this is for sure. The other point I would like to stress, even if this is not the institution I am entitled to speak for, but Turkey is part '' an important part '' of the Council of Europe. It's an important member of the Council of Europe, and as such is bound by the European Convention of Human Rights that is very clear on death penalty. I hope I've been clear.
And let me add something that maybe it's useful to stress here: We have been the first to stress the need during that difficult hours '' the need for having the legitimate institutions protected against the attempt of coup. This is no excuse to take the country away from fundamental rights and rule of law, and we will be extremely vigilant on that for the sake not of the European Union or negotiations, but for the sake of Turkey itself and for the sake of Turkish people.
SECRETARY KERRY: So very quickly, let me just say with respect to NATO and the movement of Turkey, obviously, NATO also has a requirement with respect to democracy, and NATO will indeed measure very carefully what is happening. And my hope is that Turkey is going to move in ways that do respect what they have said to me many times is the bedrock of their country. I mean, I spoke with the foreign minister three times in the last days, and he assured me that they fully intended to respect the democratic process and the law. Now, obviously, a lot of people have been arrested and arrested very quickly, and so as Federica has said, I think the level of vigilance and scrutiny is obviously going to be significant in the days ahead. And we'll work very closely, and hopefully we can work in a constructive way that prevents a backsliding, and that is our hope.
With respect to Fethullah Gulen, we have received no request for extradition. Specifically, though, President Erdogan obviously in his public comments the other day called on the United States to return him to Turkey. I made it clear to the foreign minister there is indeed a very formal process for that, and there has to be a formal extradition requirement '' request submitted through the appropriate channels, legal channels. There is a standard under our system of law that applies to that. I urged the foreign minister to make certain that in whatever portfolio and request they send us, they send us evidence, not allegations. We need to see genuine evidence that withstands the standard of scrutiny that exists in many countries' system of law with respect to the issue of extradition. And if it meets that standard, there's nothing '' there's no interest we have in standing in the way of appropriately honoring the treaty that we have with Turkey with respect to extradition. But we '' and let me emphasize that we've never had such a request, we've never had such evidence, and we are doing nothing whatsoever to stand in the way of a legitimate process which respects the treaty.
MODERATOR: Thank you very much. I'm afraid we have to stop due to the minute of silence at 12 o'clock that (inaudible) must attend in the Foreign Affairs Council. Thank you very much for --
SECRETARY KERRY: Apologize, folks. We ran a little late, so bear with us. Thank you.
MODERATOR: And we'll see you after the Foreign Affairs Council. Thank you.
VIDEO-barbara spectre: Here We Come.... - YouTube
VIDEO-Joint Press Availability With Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
Mon, 18 Jul 2016 19:20
FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: (Via interpreter) (In progress) -- met President Aliyev and President Sargsyan. Recently upon the instruction of my president I visited Yerevan and Baku, and today we exchanged views as to the ways to use the momentum in order to reach an agreement with respect to practical steps and agreed upon the agreements that will be acceptable for all the sides and that would help us attain the goal of bringing peace to this very important region.
We also raised the issue of Ukraine. There's a number of formats working on the '' this (inaudible) issue. I'm referring to the contact group with the subgroups. We believe that this format is very important since the representatives of the Ukrainian authorities and the representatives of Donbas are participating in this format. There is also the Normandy format with the participation of Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany, and there is also direct bilateral channel between Russia and the United States.
We've got a (inaudible) which all these formats should be working concurrently, and during the visit of John Kerry to the Russian Federation a series of experts meeting has taken place that have been very fruitful, and we hope that they would be instrumental in terms of implementing the package of measures of the implementation of Minsk agreements by promoting direct dialogue between Kyiv and Donbas and Luhansk.
(Inaudible) exchanged views on the results of the recent Russia-NATO Council (inaudible). We discussed the issues of strategic stability that would require additional dialogue, first of all, between our states. I hope that these discussions would develop and evolve in the future.
We also discussed the issues of our bilateral agenda. Contrary to the previous meetings, during which we exchanged concerns the both sides are having, we tried to move from just expressing concerns to elaborating upon a roadmap that would focus on minor steps (inaudible) and overcoming difficult situation in our bilateral context.
All in all, I believe that this meeting and this visit was very useful. I'm referring to the negotiations with the Russian president that took place yesterday and today's talks that have lasted for the whole day, and they all demonstrate there is a common understanding that we need each other as well as that the international community needs us particularly when it comes to (inaudible) international problems. First of all, I'm referring to the problem of national terrorism and yesterday terrorist attack in Nice, which has become a real shock despite the fact that terrorist attacks have become a regular thing today. Together with John Kerry we visited the French embassy and laid a wreath at the embassy. We left a note in the book of condolences.
I believe that all of it should encourage us to start working more efficiently on real problems at the level of foreign ministers and at the level of heads of state so that we put aside politicized and artificial rows which are worked up in mass media and presented as the main substance of our negotiations. Our talks in Moscow bring me to the conclusion that it is not the case and, as it has been confirmed during the recent telephone conversation between President Obama and President Putin, there is possible politicians in those countries are interested in being guided by real national interests and interests of the international community, taking into account the importance the Russia and United States have for the global stability and cooperation.
I would like to thank John Kerry for his visit. We meet and talk regularly. I do hope that the results of our meetings are instrumental not only in addressing international problems but also in preventing imbalances and distortions in the relations between Russia and the United States.
Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Sergey, good evening. Good evening to all of you. Thank you very much for your patience. I know it's been a very long day. It's been a long day for us too. I'm particularly grateful, Sergey, for your comments and your hospitality, and my sincere thanks to you and President Putin for welcoming me back to Moscow, and thank you for some very candid conversations as you described. And I thank President Putin for the significant time that he shared with me last night. I think we were there till about 1 in the morning covering many bases but particularly focusing, of course, on Syria.We also talked about issues of enormous concern to the world, issues which are challenging countries and leaders in many parts of the world. And we were reminded in very stark and painful terms of one of those issues last night when we learned of the horrific attack in Nice. And I join with Sergey, as I did this afternoon when we were privileged to go over to the embassy here in Moscow, the French embassy, put some flowers on a makeshift memorial and have an opportunity to write condolences in the book. And both of us join in extending our deepest condolences to the families and to the friends of those killed. I know there were a couple of Americans. My hearts go out particularly to their family and their friends, and we wish a very speedy recovery to those who were injured, and there were many of them.
No doubt yesterday had a special irony for me because I had the privilege in the morning of standing alongside President Hollande in Paris and the privilege of marking Bastille Day, the national day of France. How profoundly shocking to see a day of national celebration turned into a night of horror and of mourning.
Our countries '' I know from my conversations with President Putin yesterday and Sergey Lavrov today '' we will continue to stand together in this time of tragedy, and we will stand with France in our shared fight against violent extremism worldwide. And I know we will do everything in our power to support the French people at this time '' another tragedy yet again for France.
What is certain is that none of us will ever be intimidated by the forces that seek to divide and terrorize nations. No act of terror can shake the bonds of friendship between the United States and France nor undermine the values that join us together as allies and partners, the very values that we celebrated on Bastille Day '' liberty, equality, and fraternity.
Now, it is inescapable that these horrendous attacks the night before I began my conversations with President Putin and here today with Sergey Lavrov underscored the degree to which making progress against terrorists and resolving the conflict in Syria particularly is absolutely critical. So we met here in Moscow over these last hours because, as everyone knows, the cessation of hostilities has come under huge stress in recent months and still in Syria too many innocent people are dying. Too many terrorists are waging war against civilization itself.
On the first hand, the Assad regime has relentlessly continued indiscriminate attacks contrary to the agreements of the ISSG and the UN Security Council. But on the other side, the terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusrah, the al-Qaida branch in Syria, has also launched its own offensives, sometimes with members of different oppositions joining with them.
And the result has been a cycle of excuses for continuing to fight each other, with a steady deterioration of a hard-fought-for cessation of hostilities in the process. And that has resulted in the killing of civilians, more refugees, more displaced persons, more radicalization, more terrorism, and ultimately an increasing sense of hopelessness among the people of Syria.
Russia and the United States have come together with the belief, as Sergey expressed, that when Russia and the United States put their mind to it and try deliberately and with purpose to have an impact on an issue '' as we did on chemical weapons in Syria, as we did with respect to the Joint Plan of Action for Iran, as we did in passing a monumental initiative in Paris on climate change '' when we come together with that purpose, we have an ability to make a difference.
And so we came together here and we have agreed to steps that, if implemented in good faith, can address two serious problems that I've just described about the cessation. It is possible to help restore the cessation of hostilities, significantly reduce the violence, and help create the space for a genuine and credible political transition.
Now, the concrete steps that we've agreed on are not going to be laid out in public in some long list because we want them to work and because they need more work in order to work. I want to emphasize, though, they are not based on trust. They defined specific, sequential responsibilities all parties to the conflict must assume with the intent of stopping altogether the indiscriminate bombing of the Assad regime and stepping up our efforts against al-Nusrah.
Now, there are further steps that we need to work on. We both accepted that responsibility. In order to implement this approach, our teams will need to meet and work through some details. Each of us know exactly what we have to do. And I know and Sergey knows that there are spoilers who will make every effort to try to disrupt this initiative, and we also know '' and this is important '' the results will not be tomorrow or the next day. They will not be immediate.
But our patience also is not limitless. International efforts have failed the Syrian people for far too long. We know that. After five years of war, the people of Syria don't want words. They want action and they deeply want to be able to live in peace. We, of course, took every effort over the course of the last hours '' many hours '' focusing on how to try to make this real. And we believe the best way to make it real is to go about a quiet business which is the prerequisite of being able to implement the things that we think should be implemented.
Now, as Sergey related to you, we had a very, very full agenda. We discussed almost every other issue of concern, from bilateral relationship to Ukraine, implementation of Minsk; Yemen, Middle East peace, as Sergey described; Libya, and so forth. And we talked specifically further about Nagorno-Karabakh, where we have both been involved as members of the Minsk '' as the co-chairs of Minsk. Together with our French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault we are working on that issue, and I appreciate President Putin's leadership and I appreciate Sergey's initiative in visiting the capitals and working with the presidents. I had the privilege of meeting with both presidents in Warsaw just the other day, and we are deeply encouraging '' all of us '' of an effort to move away from war and move towards the potential of peace for a long, long-frozen conflict.
Just last month, President Putin met with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia in St. Petersburg, and when I saw them in Warsaw, they were grateful for that and they talked further about ways we might try to go forward. It is clearly in everyone's interest to avoid a new outbreak of fighting, and I am confident that with Russian, American, and French support, the potential for progress is there. Foreign Minister Lavrov and I will continue to consult on this issue, and we'll remain in regular contact with both presidents in order to try to encourage a peaceful and a permanent solution.
In closing, I just want to remind everyone that yesterday marked one year since the United States, Russia, China, and our partners in Europe finalized an agreement that blocks Iran's potential pathways to building a nuclear weapon. And that was an agreement that we can proudly say has made the world a safer place. Reaching that agreement required cooperation, coordination, and a consistent commitment by both of our nations '' Russia and the United States, and the others '' to diplomacy, to nonproliferation, and to a future that is less dangerous and more secure and more peaceful.
It is absolutely in that spirit that we have come together in Moscow today, and it is in that spirit that we strive to replicate our efforts in confronting the crises in Syria, Ukraine, Nagorno-Karabakh, and elsewhere. And so with that, again, I thank my host, Sergey Lavrov, and we'd be happy to take a question, or questions. I'm not sure how it's working.
MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) question is going to be one question from Russian journalists (inaudible).
MR KIRBY: First question tonight from Gardiner Harris, New York Times.
QUESTION: Secretary Kerry, first, can you give us an update on the situation in Turkey at the moment? I'm sorry to ask something so off-topic, but it's certainly of interest.
Second, critics say this deal is a huge boon to the Assad regime by concentrating American firepower against the most effective anti-Assad forces and that you're basically selling out the rebels. Can you respond to that criticism, and what happens to this deal if, like every other one, the Syrian and Russian forces violate its terms?
Mr. Lavrov, are you doing anything concrete to plan for or encourage a post-Assad future, and if so, what? And independent news organizations have reported that Russian forces have repeatedly violated previous ceasefire agreements in Syria. Are those reports accurate?
SECRETARY KERRY: You want me to go first, Sergey (inaudible)?
FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: (Inaudible.)
SECRETARY KERRY: So with respect to Turkey, I only '' because we have been engaged very deeply in discussions all day, and literally Sergey and I caught up to the news of what may or may not be happening at the very last minute before coming in here. So I think it's inappropriate for me to comment except to say that we've heard the reports that others have heard. I don't have any details at this point in time. I hope there will be stability and peace and continuity within Turkey, but I have nothing to add with respect to what has transpired at this moment.
With respect to the critics who may or may not be making judgments about what may or may not have been agreed upon, first of all, they don't know the details of what we have or haven't agreed on. And number two, we have homework to do, and I said that very clearly. Number three, the United Nations Security Council has labeled both Daesh '' or ISIL, as some call it '' and al-Nusrah, which is al-Qaida '' they are labeled as terrorist organizations. And the United States has no clouds over our '' there's nothing standing in the way of our judgment about the need to be standing up against and fighting against terrorism. And both are terrorists.
So if some critic is criticizing the United States or Russia for going after al-Nusrah, which is a terrorist organization, because they're good fighters against Assad, they have their priorities completely screwed up. The fact is that Nusrah is plotting against countries in the world. What happened in Nice last night could just as well have come from Nusrah or wherever it came from as any other entity, because that's what they do. And so I have no illusions about what we need to do. I also have confidence in the people of Syria and confidence in the opposition '' the non-terrorist organization opposition, the legitimate opposition, the opposition we have supported '' to continue to fight for their freedom and for their principles and their values within Syria. And there is nothing that we are doing that is going to undermine the particular fundamentals between them and the Assad regime.
We have always said '' and nothing that we're talking about doing here will change the fact '' that there is no military solution to the problem of Syria. It requires a diplomatic, political solution. And that political solution requires going to the table and having a negotiation in Geneva according to the terms of the Geneva accord.
Now, as I said a moment ago, there are two principal violators that have been persistently violating what is going on with respect to the ceasefire. And one is, as I said, the Assad regime with its indiscriminate bombing, and the second is obviously the question of al-Nusrah '' which, as you just said, is fighting against Assad and which is providing no peace and security and which, regrettably, some opposition have occasionally chosen to fight with because they are fighting against Assad. But that doesn't excuse it, and it will not excuse it in our eyes. We saw what happened when people said the same thing about ISIL for a period of time '' oh, don't worry, they're just a force against Assad, and down the road we can take them on. Well, they became more than just a force. And so I think that it is important for the United States, Russia, the entire coalition of ISSG to stand up against terrorism, and that is what we intend to continue to do.
Now, we continue '' not one iota of our policy has changed with respect to the Assad regime. We still believe that Syria can't have peace while Assad is there. We believe that. We have a difference with Russia on that. But notwithstanding that difference, we both believe it is important for us to try to reestablish the cessation of hostilities.
And when we first came to the table in Vienna and I proposed a ceasefire, put it on the table, it was not Russia or Iran that said no. Both of them said yes, we should have a ceasefire. But there were others at the table who opposed proceeding forward with a ceasefire, and some of them, unfortunately, I think, may regret that today. But the point is simply that we have consistently been working towards the full implementation of a ceasefire.
Now, final comment. It gets very confusing, obviously, on the ground with respect to who's who and who's where, and that's part of the homework we're going to do in order to absolutely be able to be clearer to people about who is supported by whom and who needs to change their behavior in order to adhere to the ceasefire itself.
And we had a long conversation about that today. I'm not going to share all the details of it because it won't work unless certain things, conditions which we agree have to be met, are put in place. So we're not here promising the world, not here tonight to suggest to you that overnight this is going to change. But I am here with confidence that if the things we talked about and agreed ought to be implemented are, in fact, implemented, then this has the opportunity to change the playing field significantly. And let the proof be in the pudding, not in our words.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: (Via interpreter) As for our attitude regarding your first question about the recent events in Turkey, we get all the recent updates regarding the information in that country, but I do believe that reporters and press people these days know more than diplomats. We believe that it is important right now to avoid any bloodshed, any violent clashes, and all issues should be addressed and resolved constitutionally in any country.
As for Syria and the issues that we see within the context of implementing the decisions of the ISSG and the UN Security Council resolutions, as John said, we have agreed today on some very specific steps, but those steps cannot be regarded as results as such, as results in themselves, as of now. A very specific result of today's negotiation is our agreement on these steps, and I hope very much that our experts on both sides will do everything quickly and with full awareness of their responsibility considering our two countries' roles as co-chairs of the ISSG and the initiatives proposed by our two countries that were approved by the UN Security Council.
You asked whether this concentration of effort by the U.S., its focus on fighting the al-Nusrah Front will mean that the most effective anti-Assad group will become weaker, will be weakened. I understand that reporters have the right to instigate a discussion with hard questions, but the UN Security Council stated several times that there can be no excuse for terrorist attacks; nothing can serve as an excuse or a pretext for supporting or abetting terrorist activities. And ISIS and the al-Nusrah Front have been identified as terrorist groups by the UN Security Council, and as such they must be eliminated. And all the countries that are part of the ISSG have unilaterally '' have unanimously agreed on this. This is also the unanimous attitude of the United Nations laid out in UN Security Council resolutions. They have previous examples in history where certain governments tried to coo terrorists, to court terrorists and use them to their own ends in order to topple governments like in other countries. Back in Soviet time, we do remember the history in Afghanistan where some of our counterparts supported the Mujaheddin in Afghanistan, believing that the Mujaheddin would help them inflict maximum damage against Soviet forces and later they will be able to tame those Mujaheddin. But tame them they have not managed to do, and those Mujaheddin later morphed into al-Qaida, which on September 11th, 2001 committed a horrible terrorist attack in New York, after which our countries had to unite against terrorism.
We also have the more recent example in Libya, where countries that were determined to overthrow Qadhafi did not shy away from cooperating with certain terrorist groups, and we all see what's '' where this has gotten us. Today Libya is a den of terrorism. It is a country which is in the hands of radicals and the weapons supplied to anti-Qadhafi groups have spread out all across the region and now we are all doing our best to keep this country together and keep it from falling apart and becoming a festering pit for terrorists.
As for the Syrian issue, we could go on and on discussing who is to blame. We have our roadmap laid out in numerous documents starting from the Geneva communique of June 2012 plus the UN Security Council resolutions plus the decisions by the ISSG, and all of those documents clearly state that the Syrian people, the people of Syria, are the only one entitled to decide the future of Syria. This means that what we need is to finally implement the agreements that we already have and put all those groups in Syria at the bargaining table, the negotiating table, including the Syrian Government and all of Syria's political group.
Unfortunately, regrettably, with all due respect to our colleagues in the United Nations, no one has tried to do that as of now. The effort by various UN officials to play the role of charter diplomacy, trying to put various groups at a negotiating table and act as intermediaries, they have not been successful. The roadmap requires a direct negotiation between the warring parties. It is the same drill in all other countries, with Libya or other countries of the world: A direct negotiation between the warring parties is needed for a settlement, for a peaceful settlement; and no international stakeholders, including Russia or the United States, is entitled to substitute this process.
However, we can exert our influence on the groups that we support and on the parties that we have in this country to urge them to sit down at the negotiating table and start talking to each other, and we hope that such a process, such a political process, will be launched in the future, in the near future, and that the future political process in Syria will be based on democratic principles and on the UN's Charter which states, which maintains that the peoples are entitled to decide their own fate, primarily through free and fair elections where politicians will take place in the race and where voters will be able to make their choices.
MODERATOR: (In Russian.)
QUESTION: (Via interpreter) We just received information that the foreign ministries of France and Belgium have recommended their citizens to stay indoors if they are in Turkey. Has the Russian foreign ministry issued any recommendations for the Russian nationals in Turkey?
And as for this separation between the al-Nusrah Front and the so-called moderate opposition, have you discussed any measures to punish, to penalize Syrian --
FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: (Via interpreter, in progress) ...or more to be as careful as possible before we learn the detail of the situation as much as possible. But we also have recommended places. You can consider this as a public warning issued as of now.
As for the second part of your question, we have agreed that ISIS and the al-Nusrah Front are terrorist groups and they are exempt from any ceasefire arrangements. They are supposed to be eliminated. They are our common enemies, and the ISSG has clearly decided and has clearly agreed that the opposition groups in Syria that do not want to be associated with terrorists and that are willing to join the ceasefire and become parties to the ceasefire, they must separate themselves from ISIS and the al-Nusrah Front, including geographic separation '' they must physically separate themselves and geographically separate themselves from the terrorists so that nobody would be able to speculate that in some '' in certain areas in Syria, the terrorists are mixed and intertwined with the moderate opposition.
There has been enough time in the past months for moderate groups in Syria to join the ceasefire and separate themselves from the real terrorists. I believe that those who have not done so should not be considered constructive opposition or moderate opposition. Those are people who are trying to benefit in their own way from dealing and cooperating with terrorists. We understand the complications that our American counterparts have to face, especially as regards practical steps aimed at separating and distinguishing moderate opposition groups from the terrorists such as, primarily, the al-Nusrah Front. But we in Russia are also convinced that in recent months, such complications could have been already overcome or removed, and the measures that we have agreed on and that we will have to get down to implementing in the days and weeks to come, we hope that those measures will enable us to '' after a certain deadline, I don't know what to call those people. But I believe that those who have stayed in those positions despite the many months and the numerous calls to leave them and to separate themselves from the terrorists, maybe those people are not very different from terrorists themselves.
MODERATOR: (Via interpreter.) Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: Thank you, John.
VIDEO-Misogyny is now a hate crime - BBC News
Mon, 18 Jul 2016 17:34
Harassment of women is to be recorded as a hate crime in Nottinghamshire in a bid to tackle sexist abuse.
It means abuse or harassment which might not be a crime can be reported to and investigated by the police, and support for the victim put in place.
VIDEO-Jobs and employment: Seven reasons the US picture is still weak
Mon, 18 Jul 2016 17:33
The jobs market also is unlikely to get much help from business investment, which Yellen and her Fed cohorts have cited as a significant concern. Nondefense capital goods orders are tracking for a decline of 6.3 percent annualized, which Deutsche Bank economists say is "an excellent proxy" for capital spending.
"Importantly, the recent weakness in capital spending has been broad based and not simply attributable to the energy sector. Moreover, forward-looking surveys of capital spending remain depressed, pointing to negligible improvement in the back half of the year," Deutsche economists Aditya Bhave and Joseph LaVorgna said in a recent note to clients.
"The weakness in capital expenditures has not gone unnoticed by monetary policymakers, most notably Fed Chair Yellen, who expressed concern that the deterioration in business investment could signal a desire on the part of firms to expand their operations at a slower pace," they added.
On top of all the global developments, such as June's Brexit referendum, that have scared Fed policymakers off what was supposed to be a year of consistent rate hikes, the continued job market softness will only add to their trepidation.
The Fed has been hoping to see healthy levels of inflation in the economy, but nearly a decade of ultra-accommodative monetary policy has fallen short in that regard, with most inflation gauges running below the central bank's 2 percent target.
The fed funds futures market currently assigns no chance of a rate hike at this month's Federal Open Market Committee meeting, and only a 46.5 percent chance for one by the end of 2016.
VIDEO-The Republican Ticket: Trump and Pence - CBS News
Mon, 18 Jul 2016 04:48
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, speak to Lesley Stahl in their first joint interview
The following is a script from "The Republican Ticket" which aired on July 17, 2016. Lesley Stahl is the correspondent. Richard Bonin and Ruth Streeter, producers.
The Republican National Convention that begins tomorrow in Cleveland will star Donald Trump and his chosen running mate the governor of Indiana, Mike Pence.
The Republican leadership has praised Pence as a good choice to unite the party. He's known as a reliable conservative with close ties to the religious right and he also has good relations with Republicans in Congress, having served six terms in the House of Representatives.
PlayVideo
60 Minutes OvertimeWhat kind of vice president would Mike Pence be?Donald Trump highlights Mike Pence's "tremendous relationships" with members of Congress and the approval of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan
But there are significant areas in terms of values and policy where he has differed with Mr. Trump in the past.
We had the chance to ask the two of them about that in their first and only interview together, yesterday afternoon in New York, in Trump's three-story penthouse apartment in the Trump Tower.
Lesley Stahl: First of all, Governor Pence, congratulations.
Mike Pence: Thank you.
"It's very, very humbling and I couldn't be more honored to have the opportunity to run with, and serve with, the next president of the United States."Lesley Stahl: This has probably come as a huge, life-changing moment for you.
Mike Pence: It has. It's very, very humbling and I couldn't be more honored to have the opportunity to run with, and serve with, the next president of the United States.
Lesley Stahl: Before we actually talk about the politics, you know, there've been so many major world events very recently, in the last week. I don't know if you can remember the last time we have seen a world this much in chaos. You even said, "It's spinning apart." Are you ready for this world that we are facing today?
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60 Minutes OvertimeMike Pence on waging war against radical Islam"We have the capacity in the United States of America to...destroy the enemy," says presumptive Republican VP nominee Mike Pence
Donald Trump: We're both ready. I've no doubt. We need toughness. We need strength. Obama's weak, Hillary's weak. And part of it is that, a big part of it. We need law and order. We need strong borders.
Lesley Stahl: But all reactions to what's been going on aren't muscular. For example, look what happened in Turkey. There was a military coup in a democratic country; a NATO ally. How would you respond to that?
Donald Trump: Well, as a president, I'm going to be-- you know, they've been an ally and I stay with our allies. They have been an ally. But that was a quick coup. I was actually surprised to see how well it was handled. And you know who really handled it? The people. So, I mean, we can say what we want, but the people handled it. When they surrounded the army tanks and without the people, you would've never had it. The military would've taken over.
"We're both ready. I've no doubt. We need toughness. We need strength. Obama's weak, Hillary's weak."Mike Pence: But I truly do believe that the larger issue here is declining American power in the world. I truly do believe that history teaches that weakness arouses evil and whether it be the horrific attack in France, the inspired attacks here in the United States, the instability in Turkey that led to a coup. I think that is all a result of a foreign policy of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama that has led from behind and that has sent an inexact, unclear message about American resolve. One of the reasons why I said yes in a heartbeat to run with this man, is because he embodies American strength, and I know that he will provide that kind of broad-shouldered American strength on the global stage as well.
Lesley Stahl: Let's talk about what happened in Nice, horrendous, carnage, horrible--
Donald Trump: Horrible.
Lesley Stahl: Horrible. You said you would declare war against ISIS. What exactly do you have--
Donald Trump: It is war. By the way, it is war.
Lesley Stahl: No, but does that-- when you say, "Declare war," do you want to send American troops in there? Is that what you mean?
Donald Trump: Look, we have people that hate us. We have people that want to wipe us out. We're gonna declare war against ISIS. We have to wipe out ISIS. These are people that--
PlayVideo
60 Minutes OvertimeDid Trump consider his daughter for vice president?Before selecting Mike Pence as a running mate, Donald Trump says he was told many times: "Why don't we run Ivanka as your vice president?"
Lesley Stahl: With troops on the ground?
Donald Trump: I am going to have very few troops on the ground. We're going to have unbelievable intelligence, which we need; which, right now, we don't have. We don't have the people over there. We are going to use--
Lesley Stahl: You want to send Americans--
Donald Trump: Excuse me-- and we're going to have surrounding states and, very importantly, get NATO involved because we support NATO far more than we should, frankly, because you have a lot of countries that aren't doing what they're supposed to be doing. And we have to wipe out ISIS. And speaking of Turkey, Turkey is an ally. Turkey can do it by themselves. But they have to be incentivized. For whatever reason, they're not. So we have no choice.
Lesley Stahl: But I still don't know if you're going to send troops over--
Donald Trump: Very little. I'm gonna--
Lesley Stahl: But declare war--
Donald Trump: --get neighboring states and I'm going to get-- we are going to get NATO; we're going to wipe 'em out. We're gonna--
Lesley Stahl: But declare war?
Mike Pence: Lesley--
Lesley Stahl: What does that mean--
Mike Pence: This is-- this is the kind-- this is the kind of leadership that America needs and it--
Lesley Stahl: But what--
Mike Pence: -and it begins with deciding to destroy the enemies of our freedom.
Lesley Stahl: How?
Mike Pence: And how we do that? I have every confidence. You-- you remember I served on the Foreign Affairs Committee. And I'm very confident that when Donald Trump becomes president of the United States, he'll give a directive to our military commanders, bring together other nations, and we will use the enormous resources of the United States to destroy that enemy.
PlayVideo
60 Minutes OvertimeTrump and Pence's shared valuesRepublican VP nominee Mike Pence tells 60 Minutes both he and Donald Trump come from immigrant families and were raised by self-made men
Donald Trump: Now look, we are going to get rid of ISIS, big league. And we're going to get rid of 'em fast. And we're going to use surrounding states. We're going to use NATO, probably. And we're going to declare war. It is war. When the World Trade Center comes tumbling down, with thousands of people being killed, people are still-- I have friends that are still--
Lesley Stahl: But we did go to war, if you remember. We went to Iraq.
Donald Trump: Yeah, you went to Iraq, but that was handled so badly. And that was a war-- by the way, that was a war that we shouldn't have entered because Iraq did not knock down--excuse me
Lesley Stahl: Your running mate--
Donald Trump: Iraq did not--
Lesley Stahl: --voted for it.
Donald Trump: I don't care.
Lesley Stahl: What do you mean you don't care that he voted for?
Donald Trump: It's a long time ago. And he voted that way and they were also misled. A lot of information was given to people.
Lesley Stahl: But you've harped on this.
Donald Trump: But I was against the war in Iraq from the beginning.
Lesley Stahl: Yeah, but you've used that vote of Hillary's that was the same as Governor Pence as the example of her bad judgment.
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60 Minutes OvertimeTrump OK with Pence's vote for Iraq war, but not Clinton'sDonald Trump has blasted Hillary Clinton on her vote for the war in Iraq -- a vote that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, his running mate, cast the same ...
Donald Trump: Many people have, and frankly, I'm one of the few that was right on Iraq.
Lesley Stahl: Yeah, but what about he--
Donald Trump: He's entitled to make a mistake every once in a while.
Lesley Stahl: But she's not? OK, come on--
Donald Trump: But she's not--
Lesley Stahl: She's not?
Donald Trump: No. She's not.
Lesley Stahl: Got it.
Lesley Stahl: I have to move on or we're never gonna find out why he chose you. Why did you pick him? You had other candidates--
Donald Trump: OK, I did. I had a lot of people that wanted it; a lot more people than anybody--
Lesley Stahl: That came to you and begged you for it?
Donald Trump: That called me and came to me and wanted it badly. And you know, the press didn't report that. The press said, "Well, maybe he's having hard time picking--"
Lesley Stahl: Well, what about the governor? Did he want it like that?
Donald Trump: I actually brought it up to him.
Lesley Stahl: OK.
Donald Trump: I got to know him during the-- when I was in Indiana during the primaries, and I did very well in Indiana, like I did just about everywhere else in all fairness. But-- I got to know him very well and I gained great respect for him. And I looked at the numbers, meaning the financials, which we would say in business. But I looked at the numbers. Unemployment? What a great job he did. Jobs? What a great job he did. Triple-A rating on his bonds.
Lesley Stahl: --but you went to him and said--
Donald Trump: I did--
Lesley Stahl: Would you want to be considered--
Donald Trump: I broached it.
Lesley Stahl: He didn't -- And then he said, "I-- I really want it." So why did you pick him?
Donald Trump: I would say that he thought about it a little bit. And about two seconds later, he called me, with his incredible wife, and said--
Lesley Stahl: That I'd like to be-- but what--
Donald Trump: Like many others.
Lesley Stahl: How does he help you? How does he help you win in terms of groups of people? And what is your weakness that he compensates for and so forth--
Donald Trump: Well, I went for the quality individual rather than I'm gonna win a state, because I'm doing very well in Indiana, and I guess I'm a lot up. And I think I'm gonna win Indiana. I have a great relationship and Bobby Knight helped me so much with Indiana. Indiana's a great place; great state.
Lesley Stahl: Why didn't you pick him? No, I'm joking -- moving on.
Donald Trump: He would've been very good. But he's a terrific guy. But-- but I really like him as an individual.
Lesley Stahl: So you must've considered, obviously, by the reaction to your choice, a lot of the conservatives are very happy.
Donald Trump: Very happy.
Lesley Stahl: Was that part of the--
Donald Trump: Yes, it was party unity. I'm an outsider. I am a person that used to be establishment when I'd give them hundreds of thousands of dollars. But when I decided to run, I became very anti-establishment because I understand the system--
Lesley Stahl: Is he establishment?
Donald Trump: --than anybody else. He's very establishment, in many ways, and that's not a bad thing. But I will tell you--
Lesley Stahl: That's kind of interesting --
Donald Trump: --I have seen more people that, frankly, did not like me so much, and now they're saying, "What a great pick." You see the kinda reaction. He has helped bring the party together. I understand. Look, I got more votes than anybody, but I also understand there's a faction--
Lesley Stahl: Is it already unified, do you think?
Donald Trump: I think it's very close to unified. And I will say--
Lesley Stahl: Just because of this pick?
Donald Trump: No. I think it's be-- I think it was much more unified than people thought. You saw that with the recent vote where we won in a landslide. You saw that with the big vote, the primary vote. I think it's far more unified than the press lets on. But having Governor Mike Pence has really-- people that I wasn't necessarily liking or getting along are loving this pick, because they have such respect for him.
Lesley Stahl: And that was--
Donald Trump: And the party unity is OK. You know, I think it's OK to say I picked somebody, because I-- as one of the things. But I really believe the main reason I picked him is the incredible job he's done. Just look at the economics of Indiana--
Lesley Stahl: Indiana--
Donald Trump: --and what's going on.
Lesley Stahl: But what about the chemistry between you two? You don't really know each other that well. You're -- at least I've read, a very low-key, very religious, you're a brash New Yorker--
Donald Trump: Religious.
Lesley Stahl: Religious?
Donald Trump: Religious--
Lesley Stahl: Are you?
Donald Trump: Yea, religious.
Lesley Stahl: --you wouldn't--
Donald Trump: Hey, I won the evangelicals. The evangelicals--
Lesley Stahl: That doesn't--
Mike Pence: You know, nobody thought--
Donald Trump: --well, I think it means a lot. I don't think they think I'm perfect, and they would get up and they would say, "You know, he's not perfect," but--
Lesley Stahl: They'd point to the --
Donald Trump: --they like me--
Lesley Stahl: --divorces--
Donald Trump: --but I won-- I won states with evangelicals that nobody thought I'd even come close to--
Lesley Stahl: Well, that's true--
Donald Trump:-and I won--
Lesley Stahl: --so you didn't (UNINTEL)--
Donald Trump: --with landslides--
Lesley Stahl: --need him for the evangelicals?
Donald Trump: I think it helps. But I don't think I needed him, no, because--I won with evangelicals.
Mike Pence: But I think we have more in common--
Lesley Stahl: Yeah, tell me--
Mike Pence: --than--
Lesley Stahl: --what you think you have in common.
Donald Trump: --what might be immediately obvious.
Lesley Stahl: Besides issues. Values and things like that.
Donald Trump: I think we will have very, very good chemistry. I feel that. And I can feel that pretty early on. I don't think you need to be with somebody for two years to find that out. My feeling is-
Lesley Stahl: Your gut feeling.
Donald Trump: I knew him during the primaries, during many trips to Indiana, I'd be with him. I think we have a great chemistry.
Lesley Stahl: I want to ask you though about something you've said about negative campaigning.
Donald Trump: Yeah.
Lesley Stahl: You said negative campaigning is wrong, and a campaign ought to demonstrate the basic decency of the candidate.
Mike Pence: Right.
Lesley Stahl: With that in mind, what do you think about your running mate's campaign and the tone and the negativity of it?
Mike Pence: I think this is a good man who's been talking about the issues the American people care about.
Lesley Stahl: But name-calling?
Mike Pence: In that--
Lesley Stahl: "Lyin' Ted?"
Mike Pence: --in the essay that I wrote a long time ago, I said campaigns oughta be about something more important than just one candidate's election. And-- and this campaign and Donald Trump's candidacy has been about the issues the American people care about.
Lesley Stahl: --but what about--
Donald Trump: Lesley, Lesley--
Lesley Stahl: --the negative side? He apologized for being a negative--
Donald Trump: We're different people. I understand that. I'll give you an example. Hillary Clinton is a liar. Hillary Clinton-- that was just proven--
Lesley Stahl: That's--
Donald Trump: --last week.
Lesley Stahl: --that's negative--
Donald Trump: Hillary Clinton--
Lesley Stahl: By the way --
Donald Trump: --you better believe it. Hillary Clinton is a crook.
Lesley Stahl: That's negative--
Donald Trump: I call her "Crooked Hillary." She's crooked Hillary. He won't-- I-- I don't-- I didn't ask him to do it, but I don't think he should do it because it's different for him.
Lesley Stahl: But-- he--
Donald Trump: He's not that kind of a--
Lesley Stahl: He probably--
Donald Trump: --person. We're different people--
Lesley Stahl: --don't you think he--
Donald Trump: --to me she's--
Lesley Stahl: --thinks that's--
Donald Trump: --Crooked Hillary.
Lesley Stahl: --wrong?
Donald Trump: I don't think he should use that term. I've never said one way or the other. But to him, I don't think it would sound right, but he will say how dishonest she is by going over the facts.
Lesley Stahl: But would you go to him-- let's say you won, you're the vice president, your office is, I assume, down the hall, and you go in and you say, "You know, you shouldn't be saying-- name-calling." Would you do that? Would you go in and say, "You crossed the line, I think you should apologize?" Would you do something like that?
Mike Pence: Look, I--
Lesley Stahl: He's laughing.
Mike Pence: --it's probably-- it's-- it's probably--
Lesley Stahl: It's OK.
Mike Pence: --obvious to people that our styles are different. But I promise you, our vision is exactly the same.
Lesley Stahl: No, but would you--
Mike Pence: And let me be--
Lesley Stahl: --will--
Mike Pence: --clear--
Lesley Stahl: --will you answer that? Would you go in --
Mike Pence: Well the-- one of the things I found out about this man is he appreciates candor. And--
Lesley Stahl: So you would go in--
Mike Pence: --I-- I--
Donald Trump: I'd like him to if he thinks I was doing something wrong--
Lesley Stahl: Would you listen--
Donald Trump: --just say--
Lesley Stahl: --to him--
Mike Pence: Yeah.
Lesley Stahl: --if he said you--
Donald Trump: Absolutely--
Lesley Stahl: --crossed the line.
Donald Trump: --absolutely. I might not apologize. You know, you said apologize, but--
Lesley Stahl: I did say apologize.
Donald Trump: But I might not do that, but I would absolutely want him to come in-- if he thinks I'm doing something wrong, Mike, I would want him to come in and say, really, you're doing, you gotta-- and that's OK. I accept that from my consultants and my people and if Mike came in and told me, you know, "I think you should do this or that--
Lesley Stahl: Back off that.
Donald Trump: I would listen and very likely listen to him.
Lesley Stahl: Do you think John McCain is not a hero because he was captured?
Mike Pence: I have a great deal of respect for John McCain, and--
Lesley Stahl: Do you think he went too far?
Donald Trump: You could say yes. I-- that's OK.
Donald Trump: That one, you could say yes, I mean, you're not--it's fine - hey, look, I like John McCain. But we have to take care of our vets.
Lesley Stahl: No, but I wanna know if--
Donald Trump: OK, but I'm just--
Lesley Stahl:-Mr. Pence would go in and--
Donald Trump:-I'm just saying, that's--
Lesley Stahl: --say to you--
Donald Trump: --why not that many people are that upset--
Lesley Stahl: What are you -- what did you say? You know, would you do something like that?
Mike Pence: I promise you that when the circumstances arise where I have a difference on policy or on presentation, I have-- I can tell you in my heart, I know-- I would have no hesitation, were I privileged to be vice president, to walk into the president's office, close the door, and share my heart. And I also know this good man would listen, and has the leadership qualities to draw from the people around him.
Lesley Stahl: Let's talk about-- some of the issues. Because there seems to be some daylight between you two, and we can just tick-- go quickly through these. Immigration. Mr. Trump, you have called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States. Do you agree with that?
Mike Pence: I do. In fact, in Indiana we suspended the Syrian refugee program in the wake of the terrorist attack. We have no higher priority than the safety and security of the people of this country, and Donald Trump--
Lesley Stahl: Now--
Mike Pence: --is right to--
Lesley Stahl: --in December--
Mike Pence: --articulate that view.
Lesley Stahl: --in December you tweeted, and I quote you, "Calls to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. are offensive and unconstitutional."
Donald Trump: So you call it territories. OK? We're gonna do territories. We're gonna not let people come in from Syria that nobody knows who they are. Hillary Clinton wants 550 percent more people to come in than Obama--
Lesley Stahl: So you--
Donald Trump: --who doesn't know what he's--
Lesley Stahl: --so you're changing--
Donald Trump: --so we're going to--
Lesley Stahl: --your position.
Donald Trump: --no, I-- call it whatever you want. We'll call it territories, OK?
Lesley Stahl: So not Muslims?
Donald Trump: You know-- the Constitution -- there's nothing like it. But it doesn't necessarily give us the right to commit suicide, as a country, OK? And I'll tell you this. Call it whatever you want, change territories, but there are territories and terror states and terror nations that we're not gonna allow the people to come into our country. And we're gonna have a thing called "Extreme vetting." And if people wanna come in, there's gonna be extreme vetting. We're gonna have extreme vetting. They're gonna come in and we're gonna know where they came from and who they are.
Mike Pence: You just asked me--if I'm comfortable with that--
Mike Pence: --and I am. What-- what Donald--
Lesley Stahl: You're on the same--
Mike Pence: Which--
Lesley Stahl: --page on that?
Mike Pence: --clearly-- clearly this man is not a politician. He doesn't speak like a politician--
Lesley Stahl: He's done pretty well.
Mike Pence: --he-- he speaks from his--
Mike Pence: --heart--
Donald Trump: Is that a good thing? I think that's a good thing.
Mike Pence: --he speaks from his heart. And--
Lesley Stahl: Well, I--
Donald Trump: Well, I-- I speak from my heart and my brain. Just so we understand.
Mike Pence: Right.
Donald Trump: This is (points to head) maybe more important.
Lesley Stahl: Let's go to trade. You have voted for every trade agreement when you were in Congress--
Mike Pence: I have.
Lesley Stahl: --that came before you. You're supporting the Trans-Pacific partnership that Mr. Trump says would rape this country. Now, are you gonna be able to go out and campaign in support of his protectionist positions?
Mike Pence: I support free trade, and so does Donald Trump.
Lesley Stahl: Not really--
Donald Trump: I do. I'm free trade, but I wanna make good deals. No, no, I'm all for free--
Lesley Stahl: You've talked
Donald Trump: --trade. You--
Lesley Stahl: --about--
Donald Trump: --know I'm not an isolationist. A lot of people think because I wanna make good deals--
Lesley Stahl: You wanna undo--
Donald Trump: --these are stupid people--
Lesley Stahl: --these--
Donald Trump: --wait a minute Lesley, these are stupid people that think that. I wanna make great deals for our country. We have deals like the deal signed by Bill Clinton, NAFTA, one of the worst things that ever happened to this country in terms of trade, in terms of economics.
Lesley Stahl: What do you think about NAFTA?
Mike Pence: You're absolutely right. I've supported free trade throughout my career. But--
Lesley Stahl: OK.
Mike Pence: --the truth of the matter is NAFTA has provisions in that law that call for it to be reviewed, that have never been-- never been-- initiated. What-- what I hear Donald Trump saying is let's-- let's look at these trade agreements and reconsider them and renegotiate them. And--
Lesley Stahl: And you're OK with--
Mike Pence: --with regard to--
Lesley Stahl: --that?
Mike Pence: --and with regard to other trade agreements, we've talked about this. I-- I really do believe when the American people elect one of the best negotiators in the world as president of the United States, we would do well--
Donald Trump: We're gonna bring back jobs--
Mike Pence: --to negotiate individually with countries.
Donald Trump: We're gonna bring back our jobs, we're gonna bring back our wealth, we're gonna take care of our people. Very simple.
Lesley Stahl: OK. More issues. Waterboarding. Mr. Trump wants to bring back waterboarding, and quote, "A hell of a lot more." Are you comfortable with bringing back waterboarding?
Mike Pence: I don't think we should ever tell our enemy what our tactics are.
Lesley Stahl: But what about that? What--
Mike Pence: I don't--
Lesley Stahl: --about-- he's publicly--
Donald Trump: I like that answer.
Lesley Stahl: --said that--
Mike Pence: I don't think we should-- I-- I think--
Lesley Stahl: But are you OK with the idea of--
Mike Pence: --I think--
Lesley Stahl: --waterboarding?
Mike Pence: --I think enhanced interrogation saved lives.
Lesley Stahl: And you're OK with--
Mike Pence: I--
Lesley Stahl: --that?
Mike Pence: --what I'm OK with-- what I'm OK with is protecting the American people. What I'm OK with is when people have the intent to come to this country and take American lives, that-- that we are-- that we are prepared to do what's necessary to gain the information to protect the people of this country--
Donald Trump: But Lesley, let's step further. We have an enemy, ISIS and others, who chop off heads, who drown people in steel cages and we can't do waterboarding--
Lesley Stahl: OK, but, but why--
Donald Trump: OK, they're not playing--
Lesley Stahl: --would you use their--
Donald Trump: --under -- because you know--
Lesley Stahl: --techniques?
Donald Trump: --what, those techniques get information. I don't care what anyone says.
Lesley Stahl: Are you agreeing with him?
Mike Pence: I am--
Donald Trump: And get information--
Mike Pence: --what I--
Donald Trump: --using those things.
Mike Pence: --what I can tell you is enhanced information gleaned information that saved American lives and, I was informed, prevented incoming terrorist attacks on this country from being successful. The American people expect the president of the United States to be prepared to support action to protect the people of this nation, and I know Donald Trump will.
Lesley Stahl: Have you answered me?
Mike Pence: I have.
Lesley Stahl: Let's talk about the convention. You're a showman. What are you going to do to keep it from being a snooze-o-rama, as some have happened.
Donald Trump: Well, I think we're gonna have an exciting time. We've got some wonderful speakers. We have some very talented people. My family's gonna speak.
Lesley Stahl: Worried about violence outside? This is an open-carry state. People can carry guns. There'll be demonstrators. They've already said they're going to carry assault rifles. Are you worried? And would you call on people not to carry their guns?
Donald Trump: I have great faith in law enforcement. If they don't want to take their guns, I think that's fantastic. But I have great confidence in law enforcement. The police like Donald Trump. It's law and order. And I have great confidence that they will do a great job.
Lesley Stahl: There's no question in anybody's mind that you want to win this election. I don't think anyone would doubt that. But what about being president? Do you really want to be president of the United States?
Donald Trump: I want to make America great again. Honestly. I want to make Am-- I'm not doing this because-- I'm sacrificing tremendous things. I could be doing other things. It's lovely to sit down with you and be grilled. That's okay. But I could be doing other things right now. And I have some of the greatest properties in the world. I could be out there--
Lesley Stahl: Would you rather be out there?
Donald Trump: I tell you what. I've really enjoyed this process. I've gotten to know the people of this country. I've gotten to know places that I didn't know, that I read about, but I didn't know. I've also gotten to see the problems. And it's a movement.
Donald Trump: Now, when you ask me the question, do I wanna be?
Lesley Stahl: Yeah.
Donald Trump: I wanna be for one reason. I wanna make America safe again, and I wanna make America great again. That's why I'm doing this. And I love it.
Lesley Stahl: And you wanna govern? I mean it--
Donald Trump: I do wanna govern.
Lesley Stahl: It is different--
Donald Trump: I do--
Lesley Stahl: --building a movement--
Donald Trump: I govern my-- I--
Lesley Stahl: -and than-- going in there with the nitty gritty and--
Lesley Stahl: --all that tough decision making.
Donald Trump: Sure. No, no I wanna govern
Lesley Stahl: OK, this is my absolute final question.
Donald Trump: OK.
Lesley Stahl: You're not known to be a humble man. But I wonder--
Donald Trump: I think I am, actually humble. I think I'm much more humble than you would understand.
Lesley Stahl: As you think about-- prospect of running this country in these tough times where the world is spinning apart-- are you awed? Are you intimidated? Are you humbled by the enormity of this?
Donald Trump: You just said it best.
Mike Pence: Mmm.
Donald Trump: In a world that's spinning apart. That's what I'm thinking of. I'm not thinking of, "Oh gee, isn't this wonderful? Isn't this great what I've done?" I've had people that said, "It doesn't matter if you win or lose, what you've done has never been done before. You're gonna go down in the history books." You know what I say to 'em?" I say, "You're wrong." I will consider it, 'cause I funded my own primaries, I'm funding now a lot of this campaign. I'm putting in, you know-- I've spent $55 million in the primaries. I'm spending a fortunate now. I'll tell you, it is spinning. Our world is spinning out of control. Our country's spinning out of control. That's what I think about. And I'll stop that.
Lesley Stahl: Not-- humbled or-- awe.
Mike Pence: I can say to 'ya-- what--
Lesley Stahl: Go ahead.
Mike Pence: Talking with him in private settings, I love the words you used because this man is awed with the American people, and he is not intimidated by the world. And Donald Trump, this good man, I believe, will be a great president of the United States.
Donald Trump: I love what he just said.
(C) 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
VIDEO-Convos With Cosmo on Protesting, Oppression, and how to deal with Bullies - YouTube
VIDEO-America Learns Police Ambushed in Milwaukee Same Day 3 Cops Killed in Baton Rouge
Sun, 17 Jul 2016 21:05
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Earlier today, three police officers were gunned down by a trio of suspects in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
One suspect was killed by the authorities and the two others are still at large.
And on the same day, a police officer was ambushed in his squad car in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In a news conference, Assistant Police Chief William Jessup explained what happened:
Officers responded to that location shortly before 2:00 AM for a call of a domestic violence incident.
As officers were about to leave the scene, discovering that the suspect was not on the scene, an officer seated in his squad car was attacked viciously by a suspect who fired multiple rounds into the squad car striking the officer multiple times.
Fortunately, he survived the attack. The officer, whose name hasn't been released to the public, is being treated for multiple gunshot wounds at the hospital.
As for the suspect, he was found dead nearby. The reported cause of death: Suicide.
In light of the ambush attack on the officer, the Milwaukee Police Association revealed some details about him via Facebook:
Their message reads, in part:
Officer injured/ambushed
We [MPD/MPA] are truly blessed today. The officer that was seriously injured late night/early this morning, is a good cop that has pledged himself to service of community; in-fact, was engaged in sworn duty at the time he was brutally attacked.
This officer, like many others, risk their life each and every day so that we may have a safer city'... and certainly so we may sleep through the night uninterrupted.
Tonight that wasn't the case. This COP is also a husband, father and a child of loving parents; they did not sleep through the night, rather they were awoken to the unknown. I saw the pain and concern in the parents faces, as well as that of the officer's bride. I also felt the absolute terror that obviously was haunting Mrs. COP.
This incident will soon be forgotten by the community, however for the family of the officer, and he himself, this night will replay'... replay. I truly believe, collectively from our officers '' they give more than they will ever receive.
The officer's injuries are not life-threatening but they are serious. He has served as a policeman for thirteen years.
