916: Personfriend

Hi Adam,

Your energy analysis was very much appreciated and spot on. Until recently

I was the treasurer for a large energy company

In a EU country. This puts me in an excellent position to follow

the money. Feel free to use the info (or not) but please do not put my

name on the show.

In Europe we have something called the merit order. Meaning that there is

a specific order in which the different sources are prioritized on the

net. Solar and wind first and all the way down to Coal. Meaning that all

the sources being thought of as clean have a high prio on the grid. This

makes the whole system very inefficient. On high wind days with a descent

amount of sunshine there is more power available then we are able to

handle. The net effect is negative prices. This is sometimes used to pump

water in basins and drain them when prices are high. (Process is called

“pump storage”) Effectively meaning that you get paid to use the excess

power.

This process makes the coal and gas plants very inefficient since it is

hard and energy consuming to start them up. In itself this is not an issue

other than some financial and environmental aspects. The big down side is

that the tax payer is paying for this inefficiency. Wind and solar are

still very far away from being profitable without subsidies. Our current

thinking is that offshore Wind will never (or not within 20 years) give

any descent return on investment Onshore wind might break even in 10 years

depending on technological developments. Solar is nice but not usable on

any scale the coming 10 years. However if you throw in a large amount of

subsidies you get a money bonanza!

Putting up more wind does not help anything other than the contractors

that build them and the energy companies that run them. Since most of the

old school energy providers are having to take huge impairments on their

assets (coal and gas) they are investing like crazy in new wind parks. New

permits are sold for very high amounts. It is a lose lose situation for

the companies. Don’t and go bankrupt since you have a lot of assets that

are virtually useless, or do and pay too much. Some try to located their

bas assets in separate listings on the stock exchange (EON and RWE).

I hope this helps but feel free to disregard this or contact me if you

want some specific info.

Cheers

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 30 Mar 2017 05:55

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

March 28, 2017

''I am going to lift the restrictions on American energy, and allow this wealth to pour into our communities.'' '' Donald J. Trump

MUCH NEEDED REFORM: The past Administration burdened Americans with costly regulations that harmed American jobs and energy production.

The previous Administration's Clean Power Plan could cost up to $39 billion a year and increase electricity prices in 41 States by at least ten percent, according to NERA Economic Consulting.The Clean Power Plan would cause coal production to fall by 242 million tons, according to the National Mining Association.27 states, 24 trade associations, 37 rural electric co-ops, and 3 labor unions are challenging the Clean Power Plan in Federal court.AMERICAN ENERGY INDEPENDENCE: President Donald J. Trump's Energy Independence Policy Executive Order reverses the regulations on American jobs and energy production.

President Trump's Executive Order directs the Environmental Protection Agency to suspend, revise, or rescind four actions related to the Clean Power Plan that would stifle the American energy industry.President Trump's Executive Order directs the Attorney General to seek appropriate relief from the courts over pending litigation related to the Clean Power Plan.President Trump's Executive Order rescinds Executive and Agency actions centered on the previous administration's climate change agenda that have acted as a road block to energy independence.President Trump's Executive Order lifts the ban on Federal leasing for coal production.President Trump's Executive Order lifts job-killing restrictions on the production of oil, natural gas, and shale energy.President Trump's Executive Order directs all agencies to conduct a review of existing actions that harm domestic energy production and suspend, revise, or rescind actions that are not mandated by law.Within 180 days, agencies must finalize their plans.President Trump' Executive Order directs agencies to use the best available science and economics in regulatory analysis, which was not utilized by the previous administration.It disbands the Interagency Working Group (IWG) on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases.By revisiting the federal overreach on energy regulation, President Trump is returning power to the states '' where it belongs.FREEING AMERICA'S POTENTIAL: President Trump has worked tirelessly to free American industry and ingenuity from the constraints of Government overreach.

President Trump has signed four pieces of legislation to clear burdensome and costly regulations on energy production from the previous Administration.President Trump has required that for every new Federal regulation, two existing regulations be eliminated.President Trump has directed each agency to establish a Regulatory Reform Task Force to identify costly and unnecessary regulations in need of modification or repeal.President Trump has directed the Department of Commerce to streamline Federal permitting processes for domestic manufacturing and to reduce regulatory burdens on domestic manufacturers.President Trump signed legislation, House Joint Resolution 38, to prevent the burdensome ''Stream Protection Rule'' from causing further harm to the coal industry.President Trump ordered the review of the ''Clean Water Rule: Definition of Waters of the United States,'' known as the WOTUS rule, to evaluate whether it is stifling economic growth or job creation.President Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum and gave a Presidential permit to clear roadblocks to construct the Keystone XL Pipeline.President Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum declaring that the Dakota Access Pipeline serves the national interest and initiating the process to complete its construction.FULFILLING HIS PROMISE:By taking action on the Clean Power Plan, President Trump is fulfilling his promise to the American people.

As a candidate, Mr. Trump promised ''we will eliminate'... the Clean Power Plan'--these unilateral plans will increase monthly electric bills by double-digits without any measurable improvement in the climate.''

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Archived Version

Thu, 30 Mar 2017 05:52

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

March 17, 2017

NATIONAL POISON PREVENTION WEEK, 2017

- - - - - - -

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

The United States has made great strides in preventing unintentional childhood poisoning deaths. Thanks to combined national, State, and local efforts over the course of years, Americans have reduced childhood fatalities related to accidental poisoning in the United States from 200 deaths per year to 27 per year, which is an 88 percent decline. From a public health perspective, this is a resounding achievement.

Fifty-five years ago, President John F. Kennedy noted that virtually all deaths attributable to accidental poisoning could be prevented. He was right we as a society must do much more to prevent tragic and preventable loss of life from occurring. Ensuring the safety and security of the American people requires that we unequivocally commit to a continuation of the successful policies that have reduced accidental childhood poisonings and injuries.

This week we warn all Americans about unintended exposure to poisons and the threat of household items unintentionally being turned into deadly weapons. This is an important reminder and one that could save lives.

To encourage Americans to learn more about the dangers of unintentional poisonings and to take appropriate preventative measures, on September 26, 1961, the Congress, by joint resolution (75 Stat. 681), authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation designating the third week of March each year as, "National Poison Prevention Week."

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, do hereby proclaim March 19 through March 25, 2017, as National Poison Prevention Week. I call upon all Americans to observe this week by taking actions to safeguard our families from poisonous products, chemicals, and medicines found in our homes.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand seventeen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-first.

DONALD J. TRUMP

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 30 Mar 2017 05:41

EXECUTIVE ORDER

- - - - - - -

PROMOTING ENERGY INDEPENDENCE AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. (a) It is in the national interest to promote clean and safe development of our Nation's vast energy resources, while at the same time avoiding regulatory burdens that unnecessarily encumber energy production, constrain economic growth, and prevent job creation. Moreover, the prudent development of these natural resources is essential to ensuring the Nation's geopolitical security.

(b) It is further in the national interest to ensure that the Nation's electricity is affordable, reliable, safe, secure, and clean, and that it can be produced from coal, natural gas, nuclear material, flowing water, and other domestic sources, including renewable sources.

(c) Accordingly, it is the policy of the United States that executive departments and agencies (agencies) immediately review existing regulations that potentially burden the development or use of domestically produced energy resources and appropriately suspend, revise, or rescind those that unduly burden the development of domestic energy resources beyond the degree necessary to protect the public interest or otherwise comply with the law.

(d) It further is the policy of the United States that, to the extent permitted by law, all agencies should take appropriate actions to promote clean air and clean water for the American people, while also respecting the proper roles of the Congress and the States concerning these matters in our constitutional republic.

(e) It is also the policy of the United States that necessary and appropriate environmental regulations comply with the law, are of greater benefit than cost, when permissible, achieve environmental improvements for the American people, and are developed through transparent processes that employ the best available peer-reviewed science and economics.

Sec. 2. Immediate Review of All Agency Actions that Potentially Burden the Safe, Efficient Development of Domestic Energy Resources. (a) The heads of agencies shall review all existing regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, and any other similar agency actions (collectively, agency actions) that potentially burden the development or use of domestically produced energy resources, with particular attention to oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear energy resources. Such review shall not include agency actions that are mandated by law, necessary for the public interest, and consistent with the policy set forth in section 1 of this order.

(b) For purposes of this order, "burden" means to unnecessarily obstruct, delay, curtail, or otherwise impose significant costs on the siting, permitting, production, utilization, transmission, or delivery of energy resources.

(c) Within 45 days of the date of this order, the head of each agency with agency actions described in subsection (a) of this section shall develop and submit to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB Director) a plan to carry out the review required by subsection (a) of this section. The plans shall also be sent to the Vice President, the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, and the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality. The head of any agency who determines that such agency does not have agency actions described in subsection (a) of this section shall submit to the OMB Director a written statement to that effect and, absent a determination by the OMB Director that such agency does have agency actions described in subsection (a) of this section, shall have no further responsibilities under this section.

(d) Within 120 days of the date of this order, the head of each agency shall submit a draft final report detailing the agency actions described in subsection (a) of this section to the Vice President, the OMB Director, the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, and the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality. The report shall include specific recommendations that, to the extent permitted by law, could alleviate or eliminate aspects of agency actions that burden domestic energy production.

(e) The report shall be finalized within 180 days of the date of this order, unless the OMB Director, in consultation with the other officials who receive the draft final reports, extends that deadline.

(f) The OMB Director, in consultation with the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, shall be responsible for coordinating the recommended actions included in the agency final reports within the Executive Office of the President.

(g) With respect to any agency action for which specific recommendations are made in a final report pursuant to subsection (e) of this section, the head of the relevant agency shall, as soon as practicable, suspend, revise, or rescind, or publish for notice and comment proposed rules suspending, revising, or rescinding, those actions, as appropriate and consistent with law. Agencies shall endeavor to coordinate such regulatory reforms with their activities undertaken in compliance with Executive Order 13771 of January 30, 2017 (Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs).

Sec. 3. Rescission of Certain Energy and Climate-Related Presidential and Regulatory Actions. (a) The following Presidential actions are hereby revoked:

(i) Executive Order 13653 of November 1, 2013 (Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change);

(ii) The Presidential Memorandum of June 25, 2013 (Power Sector Carbon Pollution Standards);

(iii) The Presidential Memorandum of November 3, 2015 (Mitigating Impacts on Natural Resources from Development and Encouraging Related Private Investment); and

(iv) The Presidential Memorandum of September 21, 2016 (Climate Change and National Security).

(b) The following reports shall be rescinded:

(i) The Report of the Executive Office of the President of June 2013 (The President's Climate Action Plan); and

(ii) The Report of the Executive Office of the President of March 2014 (Climate Action Plan Strategy to Reduce Methane Emissions).

(c) The Council on Environmental Quality shall rescind its final guidance entitled "Final Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Effects of Climate Change in National Environmental Policy Act Reviews," which is referred to in "Notice of Availability," 81 Fed. Reg. 51866 (August 5, 2016).

(d) The heads of all agencies shall identify existing agency actions related to or arising from the Presidential actions listed in subsection (a) of this section, the reports listed in subsection (b) of this section, or the final guidance listed in subsection (c) of this section. Each agency shall, as soon as practicable, suspend, revise, or rescind, or publish for notice and comment proposed rules suspending, revising, or rescinding any such actions, as appropriate and consistent with law and with the policies set forth in section 1 of this order.

Sec. 4. Review of the Environmental Protection Agency's "Clean Power Plan" and Related Rules and Agency Actions. (a) The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (Administrator) shall immediately take all steps necessary to review the final rules set forth in subsections (b)(i) and (b)(ii) of this section, and any rules and guidance issued pursuant to them, for consistency with the policy set forth in section 1 of this order and, if appropriate, shall, as soon as practicable, suspend, revise, or rescind the guidance, or publish for notice and comment proposed rules suspending, revising, or rescinding those rules. In addition, the Administrator shall immediately take all steps necessary to review the proposed rule set forth in subsection (b)(iii) of this section, and, if appropriate, shall, as soon as practicable, determine whether to revise or withdraw the proposed rule.

(b) This section applies to the following final or proposed rules:

(i) The final rule entitled "Carbon Pollution Emission Guidelines for Existing Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units," 80 Fed. Reg. 64661 (October 23, 2015) (Clean Power Plan);

(ii) The final rule entitled "Standards of Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New, Modified, and Reconstructed Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units," 80 Fed. Reg. 64509 (October 23, 2015); and

(iii) The proposed rule entitled "Federal Plan Requirements for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Electric Utility Generating Units Constructed on or Before January 8, 2014; Model Trading Rules; Amendments to Framework Regulations; Proposed Rule," 80 Fed. Reg. 64966 (October 23, 2015).

(c) The Administrator shall review and, if appropriate, as soon as practicable, take lawful action to suspend, revise, or rescind, as appropriate and consistent with law, the "Legal Memorandum Accompanying Clean Power Plan for Certain Issues," which was published in conjunction with the Clean Power Plan.

(d) The Administrator shall promptly notify the Attorney General of any actions taken by the Administrator pursuant to this order related to the rules identified in subsection (b) of this section so that the Attorney General may, as appropriate, provide notice of this order and any such action to any court with jurisdiction over pending litigation related to those rules, and may, in his discretion, request that the court stay the litigation or otherwise delay further litigation, or seek other appropriate relief consistent with this order, pending the completion of the administrative actions described in subsection (a) of this section.

Sec. 5. Review of Estimates of the Social Cost of Carbon, Nitrous Oxide, and Methane for Regulatory Impact Analysis. (a) In order to ensure sound regulatory decision making, it is essential that agencies use estimates of costs and benefits in their regulatory analyses that are based on the best available science and economics.

(b) The Interagency Working Group on Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases (IWG), which was convened by the Council of Economic Advisers and the OMB Director, shall be disbanded, and the following documents issued by the IWG shall be withdrawn as no longer representative of governmental policy:

(i) Technical Support Document: Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis Under Executive Order 12866 (February 2010);

(ii) Technical Update of the Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis (May 2013);

(iii) Technical Update of the Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis (November 2013);

(iv) Technical Update of the Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis (July 2015);

(v) Addendum to the Technical Support Document for Social Cost of Carbon: Application of the Methodology to Estimate the Social Cost of Methane and the Social Cost of Nitrous Oxide (August 2016); and

(vi) Technical Update of the Social Cost of Carbon for Regulatory Impact Analysis (August 2016).

(c) Effective immediately, when monetizing the value of changes in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from regulations, including with respect to the consideration of domestic versus international impacts and the consideration of appropriate discount rates, agencies shall ensure, to the extent permitted by law, that any such estimates are consistent with the guidance contained in OMB Circular A-4 of September 17, 2003 (Regulatory Analysis), which was issued after peer review and public comment and has been widely accepted for more than a decade as embodying the best practices for conducting regulatory cost-benefit analysis.

Sec. 6. Federal Land Coal Leasing Moratorium. The Secretary of the Interior shall take all steps necessary and appropriate to amend or withdraw Secretary's Order 3338 dated January 15, 2016 (Discretionary Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to Modernize the Federal Coal Program), and to lift any and all moratoria on Federal land coal leasing activities related to Order 3338. The Secretary shall commence Federal coal leasing activities consistent with all applicable laws and regulations.

Sec. 7. Review of Regulations Related to United States Oil and Gas Development. (a) The Administrator shall review the final rule entitled "Oil and Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources," 81 Fed. Reg. 35824 (June 3, 2016), and any rules and guidance issued pursuant to it, for consistency with the policy set forth in section 1 of this order and, if appropriate, shall, as soon as practicable, suspend, revise, or rescind the guidance, or publish for notice and comment proposed rules suspending, revising, or rescinding those rules.

(b) The Secretary of the Interior shall review the following final rules, and any rules and guidance issued pursuant to them, for consistency with the policy set forth in section 1 of this order and, if appropriate, shall, as soon as practicable, suspend, revise, or rescind the guidance, or publish for notice and comment proposed rules suspending, revising, or rescinding those rules:

(i) The final rule entitled "Oil and Gas; Hydraulic Fracturing on Federal and Indian Lands," 80 Fed. Reg. 16128 (March 26, 2015);

(ii) The final rule entitled "General Provisions and Non-Federal Oil and Gas Rights," 81 Fed. Reg. 77972 (November 4, 2016);

(iii) The final rule entitled "Management of Non Federal Oil and Gas Rights," 81 Fed. Reg. 79948 (November 14, 2016); and

(iv) The final rule entitled "Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation," 81 Fed. Reg. 83008 (November 18, 2016).

(c) The Administrator or the Secretary of the Interior, as applicable, shall promptly notify the Attorney General of any actions taken by them related to the rules identified in subsections (a) and (b) of this section so that the Attorney General may, as appropriate, provide notice of this order and any such action to any court with jurisdiction over pending litigation related to those rules, and may, in his discretion, request that the court stay the litigation or otherwise delay further litigation, or seek other appropriate relief consistent with this order, until the completion of the administrative actions described in subsections (a) and (b) of this section.

Sec. 8. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

DONALD J. TRUMP

THE WHITE HOUSE,

March 28, 2017.

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Archived Version

Thu, 30 Mar 2017 05:41

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

March 24, 2017

GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY: A NATIONAL DAY OF CELEBRATION OF

GREEK AND AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, 2017

- - - - - - -

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

This year marks the 196th anniversary of Greek independence. Greek and American democracy are forever intertwined. American patriots built our Republic on the ancient Greeks' groundbreaking idea that the people should decide their political fates.

As a young Nation, only recently free from Great Britain and securing its place on the world stage, America served as a source of inspiration for the revolutionary and freedom-loving Greeks who sought their own independence. Indeed, American citizens stood united with the people of Greece in its "glorious cause" of democracy and freedom, as expressed by Philadelphia's Franklin Gazette at the time.

The ideas and ideals of the ancient Greeks altered the course of human history, from our own American Republic to the modern Greek state and many other nations. All those who believe in the refrain "liberty and justice for all," and who are devoted to democracy and rule of law, owe a debt of gratitude to Greece and the foundational principles that took root in the ancient city-state of Athens.

On this Greek Independence Day, we express our deep gratitude for Greece's enduring friendship in a region that has experienced great uncertainty. Greece is an important partner in our engagements throughout the international sphere. We look forward to strengthening our excellent bilateral defense relationship, and recognize the value and importance Greece's role as a strong ally in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The American people join Greece in celebrating another milestone in its independent history, and we look forward to a future of shared success as partners and allies.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 25, 2017, as Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this

twenty-fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand seventeen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-first.

DONALD J. TRUMP

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Archived Version

Sun, 26 Mar 2017 22:35

Scientists say the planet could be covered with a solar shield for as little as $10bn a year. Photograph: ISS/Nasa

US scientists are set to send aerosol injections 20km up into the earth's stratosphere in the world's biggest solar geoengineering programme to date, to study the potential of a future tech-fix for global warming.

The $20m (£16m) Harvard University project will launch within weeks and aims to establish whether the technology can safely simulate the atmospheric cooling effects of a volcanic eruption, if a last ditch bid to halt climate change is one day needed.

Scientists hope to complete two small-scale dispersals of first water and then calcium carbonate particles by 2022. Future tests could involve seeding the sky with aluminium oxide '' or even diamonds.

''This is not the first or the only university study,'' said Gernot Wagner, the project's co-founder, ''but it is most certainly the largest, and the most comprehensive.''

Janos Pasztor, Ban Ki-moon's assistant climate chief at the UN who now leads ageoengineering governance initiative, said that the Harvard scientists would only disperse minimal amounts of compounds in their tests, under strict university controls.

''The real issue here is something much more challenging,'' he said ''What does moving experimentation from the lab into the atmosphere mean for the overall path towards eventual deployment?''

Geoengineering advocates stress that any attempt at a solar tech fix is years away and should be viewed as a compliment to '' not a substitute for '' aggressive emissions reductions action.

But the Harvard team, in a promotional video for the project, suggest a redirection of one percent of current climate mitigation funds to geoengineering research, and argue that the planet could be covered with a solar shield for as little as $10bn a year.

Some senior UN climate scientists view such developments with alarm, fearing a cash drain from proven mitigation technologies such as wind and solar energy, to ones carrying the potential for unintended disasters.

Kevin Trenberth, a lead author for the UN's intergovernmental panel on climate change, said that despair at sluggish climate action, and the rise of Donald Trump were feeding the current tech trend.

''But solar geoengineering is not the answer,'' he said. ''Cutting incoming solar radiation affects the weather and hydrological cycle. It promotes drought. It destabilizes things and could cause wars. The side effects are many and our models are just not good enough to predict the outcomes''

Natural alterations to the earth's radiation balance can be short-lasting, but terrifying. A 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption lowered global temperatures by 0.5C, while the Mount Tambora eruption in 1815 triggered Europe's 'year without a summer', bringing crop failure, famine and disease.

A Met Office study in 2013 said that the dispersal of fine particles in the stratosphere could precipitate a calamitous drought across North Africa.

Frank Keutsch, the Harvard atmospheric sciences professor leading the experiment, said that the deployment of a solar geoengineering system was ''a terrifying prospect'' that he hoped would never have to be considered. ''At the same time, we should never choose ignorance over knowledge in a situation like this,'' he said.

''If you put heat into the stratosphere, it may change how much water gets transported from the troposphere to the stratosphere, and the question is how much are you [creating] a domino effect with all kinds of consequences? What we can do to quantify this is to start with lab studies and try to understand the relevant properties of these aerosols.''

Stratospheric controlled perturbation experiments (SCoPEX) are seen as ''critical'' to this process and the first is planned to spray water molecules into the stratosphere to create a 1km long and 100m wide icy plume, which can be studied by a manoeuvrable flight balloon.

If lab tests are positive, the experiment would then be replicated with a limestone compound which the researchers believe will neither absorb solar or terrestrial radiation, nor deplete the ozone layer.

Bill Gates and other foundations are substantially funding the project, and aerospace companies are thought to be taking a business interest in the technology's potential.

The programmme's launch will follow a major conference involving more than 100 scientists, which begins in Washington DC today.

Solar geoengineering's journey from the fringes of climate science to its mainstream will be sealed at a prestigious Gordon research conference in July, featuring senior figures from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Oxford University.

Pasztor says that most scientific observers now see the window to a 1.5C warmed world as ''practically gone'' and notes that atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations will continue rising for many decades after the planet has reached a 'net zero emissions' point planned for mid-late century.

But critics of solar radiation management approach this as a call to redouble mitigation efforts and guard against the elevation of a questionable Plan B.

''It is appropriate that we spend money on solar geoengineering research,'' said Kevin Anderson, the deputy director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. ''But we also have to aim for 2C with climate mitigation and act as though geoengineering doesn't work, because it probably won't.''

The piece that's going around on Gender

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Mon, 27 Mar 2017 16:05

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guy 1

ÉÄ /

noun

noun: guy ; plural noun: guys

1.

informal

a man.

"he's a nice guy"

people of either sex.

"you guys want some coffee?"

2.

British

a figure representing Guy Fawkes, burned on a bonfire on Guy Fawkes' Night, and often displayed by children begging for money for fireworks.

verb

verb: guy ; 3rd person present: guys ; past tense: guyed ; past participle: guyed ; gerund or present participle: guying

1.

make fun of; ridicule.

"he didn't realize I was guying the whole idea"

Origin

early 19th century ( sense 2 of the noun ): named after Guy Fawkes (see Gunpowder Plot ) . Sense 1 of the noun dates from the mid 19th century. guy 2

ÉÄ /

noun

noun: guy ; plural noun: guys ; noun: guy rope ; plural noun: guy ropes

1.

a rope or line fixed to the ground to secure a tent or other structure.

verb

verb: guy ; 3rd person present: guys ; past tense: guyed ; past participle: guyed ; gerund or present participle: guying

1.

secure with a line or lines.

"it was set on concrete footings and guyed with steel cable"

Origin

late Middle English: probably of Low German origin; related to Dutch gei 'brail' and German Geitaue 'brails.'

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Translations, word origin, and more definitions

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Guy | Define Guy at Dictionary.comwww.dictionary.com/browse/guy"fellow," 1847, originally American English; earlier (1836) "grotesquely or poorly dressed person," originally (1806) "effigy of Guy Fawkes," leader of the Gunpowder Plot to blow up British king and Parliament (Nov. 5, 1605), paraded through the streets by children on the anniversary of the conspiracy. Guy | Definition of Guy by Merriam-Websterhttps://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/guyDefinition of guy. 1 often capitalized : a grotesque effigy of Guy Fawkes traditionally displayed and burned in England on Guy Fawkes Day. 2 chiefly British : a person of grotesque appearance. Urban Dictionary: guyswww.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=guysTop Definition. Guy. used for a normal/bloke-ish kind of boy. orringinates from guy fawks. "that guy is boring". by D'arcy-Starr McIntosh August 02, 2005. Urban Dictionary: What a guywww.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=What%20a%20guyTop Definition. What a guy. A random form of praise given to a male or female that has done something pretty good, funny or stupid. Guy: *falls over* Other guy: ... Guy - definition of guy by The Free Dictionarywww.thefreedictionary.com/guyA rope, cord, or cable used to steady, guide, or secure something. tr.v. guyed, guy ·ing, guys. To steady, guide, or secure with a rope, cord, or cable. guy - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.comhttps://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/guyHey guys! Another meaning of guy comes from a guy rope, which is basically a rope that supports something like a tent to a pole. What a guy! So to guy means ... My Account Search Maps YouTube Play News Gmail Drive Calendar Google+ Translate Photos MoreShopping Wallet Finance Docs Books Blogger Contacts Hangouts Keep Even more from Google

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Wed, 29 Mar 2017 23:59

A new picture book will depict Santa as a gay man in an interracial relationship, publisher Harper Design confirmed Tuesday.

The book, Santa's Husband, goes on sale Oct. 10 and tells the story of a black Santa Claus and his white husband who both live in the North Pole. Santa's spouse frequently fills in for his husband at malls, according to a description of the book Harper Design provided to TIME.

Daniel Kibblesmith, who is a staff writer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and co-author of How to Win at Everything, penned the parody children's book after tweeting in December that he would only tell his future child Santa was black. ''If they see a white one, we'll say 'That's his husband,''' Kibblesmith wrote.

A photo Kibblesmith tweeted Tuesday of the book's original concept art shows the couple, both wearing Santa suits, looking dreamingly into each other's eyes.

Harper Design said the book is meant for all ages.

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Archived Version

Thu, 30 Mar 2017 04:13

§'¯222.

Privacy of customer information

(a) In general Every telecommunications carrier has a duty to protect the confidentiality of proprietary information of, and relating to, other telecommunication carriers, equipment manufacturers, and customers, including telecommunication carriers reselling telecommunications services provided by a telecommunications carrier.

(b) Confidentiality of carrier information A telecommunications carrier that receives or obtains proprietary information from another carrier for purposes of providing any telecommunications service shall use such information only for such purpose, and shall not use such information for its own marketing efforts.

(c) Confidentiality of customer proprietary network information (1) Privacy requirements for telecommunications carriers Except as required by law or with the approval of the customer, a telecommunications carrier that receives or obtains customer proprietary network information by virtue of its provision of a telecommunications service shall only use, disclose, or permit access to individually identifiable customer proprietary network information in its provision of (A) the telecommunications service from which such information is derived, or (B) services necessary to, or used in, the provision of such telecommunications service, including the publishing of directories.

(2) Disclosure on request by customers A telecommunications carrier shall disclose customer proprietary network information, upon affirmative written request by the customer, to any person designated by the customer.

(3) Aggregate customer information A telecommunications carrier that receives or obtains customer proprietary network information by virtue of its provision of a telecommunications service may use, disclose, or permit access to aggregate customer information other than for the purposes described in paragraph (1). A local exchange carrier may use, disclose, or permit access to aggregate customer information other than for purposes described in paragraph (1) only if it provides such aggregate information to other carriers or persons on reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms and conditions upon reasonable request therefor.

(d) Exceptions Nothing in this section prohibits a telecommunications carrier from using, disclosing, or permitting access to customer proprietary network information obtained from its customers, either directly or indirectly through its agents'-- (1) to initiate, render, bill, and collect for telecommunications services;

(2) to protect the rights or property of the carrier, or to protect users of those services and other carriers from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful use of, or subscription to, such services;

(3) to provide any inbound telemarketing, referral, or administrative services to the customer for the duration of the call, if such call was initiated by the customer and the customer approves of the use of such information to provide such service; and

(4) to provide call location information concerning the user of a commercial mobile service (as such term is defined in section 332(d) of this title) or the user of an IP-enabled voice service (as such term is defined in section 615b of this title)'-- (A) to a public safety answering point, emergency medical service provider or emergency dispatch provider, public safety, fire service, or law enforcement official, or hospital emergency or trauma care facility, in order to respond to the user's call for emergency services;

(B) to inform the user's legal guardian or members of the user's immediate family of the user's location in an emergency situation that involves the risk of death or serious physical harm; or

(C) to providers of information or database management services solely for purposes of assisting in the delivery of emergency services in response to an emergency.

(e) Subscriber list information Notwithstanding subsections (b), (c), and (d), a telecommunications carrier that provides telephone exchange service shall provide subscriber list information gathered in its capacity as a provider of such service on a timely and unbundled basis, under nondiscriminatory and reasonable rates, terms, and conditions, to any person upon request for the purpose of publishing directories in any format.

(f) Authority to use location information For purposes of subsection (c)(1), without the express prior authorization of the customer, a customer shall not be considered to have approved the use or disclosure of or access to'-- (1) call location information concerning the user of a commercial mobile service (as such term is defined in section 332(d) of this title) or the user of an IP-enabled voice service (as such term is defined in section 615b of this title), other than in accordance with subsection (d)(4); or(2) automatic crash notification information to any person other than for use in the operation of an automatic crash notification system.

(g) Subscriber listed and unlisted information for emergency services Notwithstanding subsections (b), (c), and (d), a telecommunications carrier that provides telephone exchange service or a provider of IP-enabled voice service (as such term is defined in section 615b of this title) shall provide information described in subsection (i)(3)(A)'¯ (including information pertaining to subscribers whose information is unlisted or unpublished) that is in its possession or control (including information pertaining to subscribers of other carriers) on a timely and unbundled basis, under nondiscriminatory and reasonable rates, terms, and conditions to providers of emergency services, and providers of emergency support services, solely for purposes of delivering or assisting in the delivery of emergency services.

(h) Definitions As used in this section: (1) Customer proprietary network information The term ''customer proprietary network information'' means'-- (A) information that relates to the quantity, technical configuration, type, destination, location, and amount of use of a telecommunications service subscribed to by any customer of a telecommunications carrier, and that is made available to the carrier by the customer solely by virtue of the carrier-customer relationship; and

(B) information contained in the bills pertaining to telephone exchange service or telephone toll service received by a customer of a carrier;

except that such term does not include subscriber list information.

(2) Aggregate information The term ''aggregate customer information'' means collective data that relates to a group or category of services or customers, from which individual customer identities and characteristics have been removed.

(3) Subscriber list information The term ''subscriber list information'' means any information'-- (A) identifying the listed names of subscribers of a carrier and such subscribers' telephone numbers, addresses, or primary advertising classifications (as such classifications are assigned at the time of the establishment of such service), or any combination of such listed names, numbers, addresses, or classifications; and

(B) that the carrier or an affiliate has published, caused to be published, or accepted for publication in any directory format.

(4) Public safety answering point The term ''public safety answering point'' means a facility that has been designated to receive emergency calls and route them to emergency service personnel.

(5) Emergency services The term ''emergency services'' means 9''1''1 emergency services and emergency notification services.

(6) Emergency notification services The term ''emergency notification services'' means services that notify the public of an emergency.

(7) Emergency support services The term ''emergency support services'' means information or data base management services used in support of emergency services.

(June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title II, §'¯222, as added Pub. L. 104''104, title VII, §'¯702, Feb. 8, 1996 , 110 Stat. 148; amended Pub. L. 106''81, §'¯5, Oct. 26, 1999 , 113 Stat. 1288; Pub. L. 110''283, title III, §'¯301, July 23, 2008 , 122 Stat. 2625.)Prior Provisions A prior section 222, act June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title II, §'¯222, as added Mar. 6, 1943, ch. 10, §'¯1, 57 Stat. 5; amended July 12, 1960 , Pub. L. 86''624, §'¯36, 74 Stat. 421; Nov. 30, 1974 , Pub. L. 93''506, §'¯2, 88 Stat. 1577; Dec. 24, 1980 , Pub. L. 96''590, 94 Stat. 3414; Dec. 29, 1981 , Pub. L. 97''130, §'¯2, 95 Stat. 1687, related to competition among record carriers, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 103''414, title III, §'¯304(a)(6), Oct. 25, 1994 , 108 Stat. 4297.

Amendments 2008'--Subsec. (d)(4). Pub. L. 110''283, §'¯301(1), inserted ''or the user of an IP-enabled voice service (as such term is defined in section 615b of this title)'' after ''section 332(d) of this title)'' in introductory provisions.

Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 110''283, §'¯301(2), struck out ''wireless'' before ''location'' in heading.

Subsec. (f)(1). Pub. L. 110''283, §'¯301(1), inserted ''or the user of an IP-enabled voice service (as such term is defined in section 615b of this title)'' after ''section 332(d) of this title)''.

Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 110''283, §'¯301(3), inserted ''or a provider of IP-enabled voice service (as such term is defined in section 615b of this title)'' after ''telephone exchange service''.

1999'--Subsec. (d)(4). Pub. L. 106''81, §'¯5(1), added par. (4).

Subsecs. (f), (g). Pub. L. 106''81, §'¯5(2), added subsecs. (f) and (g). Former subsec. (f) redesignated (h).

Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 106''81, §'¯5(2)''(4), redesignated subsec. (f) as (h), inserted ''location,'' after ''destination,'' in par. (1)(A), and added pars. (4) to (7).

This is a list of parts within the Code of Federal Regulations for which this US Code section provides rulemaking authority.

This list is taken from the Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules provided by GPO [Government Printing Office].

It is not guaranteed to be accurate or up-to-date, though we do refresh the database weekly. More limitations on accuracy are described at the GPO site.

47 CFR - Telecommunication

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Thu, 30 Mar 2017 04:12

Whose Internet History Should Be Purchased First?Voting is now closed and the results are in!Total Votes: 66,997Paul RyanSpeaker of the House

Total Votes: 23,773 ( 35% )

Let them know!

Marsha BlackburnHouse Member

Total Votes: 17,582 ( 26% )

Let them know!

Mitch McConnellSenate Majority Leader

Total Votes: 15,545 ( 23% )

Let them know!

Ajit PaiChairman of the FCC

Total Votes: 9,750 ( 14% )

Let them know!

Brian RobertsChairman and CEO of Comcast

Total Votes: 255 ( 1% )

Let them know!

Randall StephensonCEO of AT&T

Total Votes: 122 ( 1% )

Let them know!

All your private Internet history, now easily searchable!Thanks to the Senate for passing S.J.Res 34, now your Internet history can be bought.

I plan on purchasing the Internet histories of all legislators, congressmen, executives, and their families and make them easily searchable at searchinternethistory.com.

Everything from their medical, pornographic, to their financial and infidelity.

Anything they have looked at, searched for, or visited on the Internet will now be available for everyone to comb through.

Since we didn't get an opportunity to vote on whether our private and personal browsing history should be bought and sold, I wanted to show our legislators what a democracy is like. So, I'm giving you the opportunity to vote on whose history gets bought first.

Help me raise money to buy the histories of those who took away your right to privacy. Some did it for just thousands of dollars from telephone and ISPs. Your private data will be bought and sold to marketing companies, law enforcement.

Let's turn the tables. Let's buy THEIR history and make it available.

If you can't donate money, maybe you can donate time, your skill-set? I want to get help from any of you on a proper, transparent, and most importantly legal aspects of accepting donations for this purpose.

Are you someone who can help? Send me a message!

STAY INFORMED!Get updates on donations or updates on when new internet histories have been purchased.

DONATIONSI want to setup a transparent method for donations so you know exactly where your money is going. I'm always looking for volunteers who believe in this cause to help!

If you are someone who thinks their skill-set would be useful, lawyer, accountant, big data engineer, software developer, please contact me below!

Check out the GoFundMe

Why a $1,000,000 goal?Do you think this will be a cheap endeavor?

50 Republicans were lobbied by Telecom and ISPs in an effort to kill your privacy. So they can make more money. If all it takes is a million dollars to buy legislators, let's do it.

If it takes a million dollars to get real change, I am sure a million people are willing to donate $1 to help ensure their private data stays private.

The change must come from you. Congress has been bought and sold by big tobacco , NRA, pharmaceutical companies and telecom giants. If you want things to change, then you must fight fire with fire. We must join together and buy our own legislators.

Let's not pretend this doesn't happen. This happens every day. Those 50 Republicans traded YOUR privacy and personal data for a few thousand dollars each. I don't think they realized the Pandora's Box they opened when they did.

Your data will not just be bought and sold to marketing companies. If your data can be bought, anyone can buy it. Including law enforcement, insurance companies, banks, schools, ex-wives, husbands, anyone with an agenda.

This is unacceptable.

Well, let's buy the vote back.

So, I need your donations to help me purchase the histories of those who sold you out. I want to put it online and searchable so you can see exactly what they do and who they are. Help me lobby our legislators. Don't just help me, help yourself too.

OTHER WAYS TO HELPIf you want to help protect your privacy and the rules, you should support groups like ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Free Press.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 30 Mar 2017 04:09

§'¯151.

Purposes of chapter; Federal Communications Commission created

For the purpose of regulating interstate and foreign commerce in communication by wire and radio so as to make available, so far as possible, to all the people of the United States, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex, a rapid, efficient, Nation-wide, and world-wide wire and radio communication service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges, for the purpose of the national defense, for the purpose of promoting safety of life and property through the use of wire and radio communications, and for the purpose of securing a more effective execution of this policy by centralizing authority heretofore granted by law to several agencies and by granting additional authority with respect to interstate and foreign commerce in wire and radio communication, there is created a commission to be known as the ''Federal Communications Commission'', which shall be constituted as hereinafter provided, and which shall execute and enforce the provisions of this chapter.

(June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title I, §'¯1, 48 Stat. 1064; May 20, 1937, ch. 229, §'¯1, 50 Stat. 189; Pub. L. 104''104, title I, §'¯104, Feb. 8, 1996 , 110 Stat. 86.)References in Text This chapter, referred to in text, was in the original ''this Act'', meaning act June 19, 1934, ch. 652, 48 Stat. 1064, known as the Communications Act of 1934, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 609 of this title and Tables.

Amendments 1996'--Pub. L. 104''104 inserted '','without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex,'' after ''to all the people of the United States''.

1937'--Act May 20, 1937 , inserted ''for the purpose of promoting safety of life and property through the use of wire and radio communication''.

Moratorium on Internet Taxes Pub. L. 105''277, div. C, title XI, Oct. 21, 1998 , 112 Stat. 2681''719, as amended by Pub. L. 107''75, §'¯2, Nov. 28, 2001 , 115 Stat. 703; Pub. L. 108''435, §§'¯2''6A, Dec. 3, 2004 , 118 Stat. 2615''2618; Pub. L. 110''108, §§'¯2''6, Oct. 31, 2007 , 121 Stat. 1024''1026; Pub. L. 113''235, div. E, title VI, §'¯624, Dec. 16, 2014 , 128 Stat. 2377; Pub. L. 114''125, title IX, §'¯922, Feb. 24, 2016 , 130 Stat. 281, provided that:

''SEC. 1100.

SHORT TITLE.

''This title may be cited as the 'Internet Tax Freedom Act'.

''SEC. 1101.

MORATORIUM.

''(a) Moratorium.'-- No State or political subdivision thereof may impose any of the following taxes: ''(1) Taxes on Internet access.

''(2) Multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce.

''(b) Preservation of State and Local Taxing Authority.'-- Except as provided in this section, nothing in this title shall be construed to modify, impair, or supersede, or authorize the modification, impairment, or superseding of, any State or local law pertaining to taxation that is otherwise permissible by or under the Constitution of the United States or other Federal law and in effect on the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 21, 1998 ].

''(c) Liabilities and Pending Cases.'-- Nothing in this title affects liability for taxes accrued and enforced before the date of enactment of this Act, nor does this title affect ongoing litigation relating to such taxes.

''(d) Exception to Moratorium.'-- ''(1) In general.'-- Subsection (a) shall also not apply in the case of any person or entity who knowingly and with knowledge of the character of the material, in interstate or foreign commerce by means of the World Wide Web, makes any communication for commercial purposes that is available to any minor and that includes any material that is harmful to minors unless such person or entity has restricted access by minors to material that is harmful to minors'-- ''(A) by requiring use of a credit card, debit account, adult access code, or adult personal identification number;

''(B) by accepting a digital certificate that verifies age; or

''(C) by any other reasonable measures that are feasible under available technology.

''(2) Scope of exception.'-- For purposes of paragraph (1), a person shall not be considered to [be] making a communication for commercial purposes of material to the extent that the person is'-- ''(A) a telecommunications carrier engaged in the provision of a telecommunications service;

''(B) a person engaged in the business of providing an Internet access service;

''(C) a person engaged in the business of providing an Internet information location tool; or

''(D) similarly engaged in the transmission, storage, retrieval, hosting, formatting, or translation (or any combination thereof) of a communication made by another person, without selection or alteration of the communication.

''(3) Definitions.'-- In this subsection: ''(A) By means of the world wide web.'-- The term 'by means of the World Wide Web' means by placement of material in a computer server-based file archive so that it is publicly accessible, over the Internet, using hypertext transfer protocol, file transfer protocol, or other similar protocols.

''(B) Commercial purposes; engaged in the business.'-- ''(i) Commercial purposes.'-- A person shall be considered to make a communication for commercial purposes only if such person is engaged in the business of making such communications.

''(ii) Engaged in the business.'-- The term 'engaged in the business' means that the person who makes a communication, or offers to make a communication, by means of the World Wide Web, that includes any material that is harmful to minors, devotes time, attention, or labor to such activities, as a regular course of such person's trade or business, with the objective of earning a profit as a result of such activities (although it is not necessary that the person make a profit or that the making or offering to make such communications be the person's sole or principal business or source of income). A person may be considered to be engaged in the business of making, by means of the World Wide Web, communications for commercial purposes that include material that is harmful to minors, only if the person knowingly causes the material that is harmful to minors to be posted on the World Wide Web or knowingly solicits such material to be posted on the World Wide Web.

''(C) Internet.'-- The term 'Internet' means collectively the myriad of computer and telecommunications facilities, including equipment and operating software, which comprise the interconnected world-wide network of networks that employ the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or any predecessor or successor protocols to such protocol, to communicate information of all kinds by wire or radio.

''(D) Internet access service.'-- The term 'Internet access service' means a service that enables users to access content, information, electronic mail, or other services offered over the Internet and may also include access to proprietary content, information, and other services as part of a package of services offered to consumers. The term 'Internet access service' does not include telecommunications services, except to the extent such services are purchased, used, or sold by a provider of Internet access to provide Internet access.

''(E) Internet information location tool.'-- The term 'Internet information location tool' means a service that refers or links users to an online location on the World Wide Web. Such term includes directories, indices, references, pointers, and hypertext links.

''(F) Material that is harmful to minors.'-- The term 'material that is harmful to minors' means any communication, picture, image, graphic image file, article, recording, writing, or other matter of any kind that is obscene or that'-- ''(i) the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find, taking the material as a whole and with respect to minors, is designed to appeal to, or is designed to pander to, the prurient interest;

''(ii) depicts, describes, or represents, in a manner patently offensive with respect to minors, an actual or simulated sexual act or sexual contact, an actual or simulated normal or perverted sexual act, or a lewd exhibition of the genitals or post-pubescent female breast; and

''(iii) taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.

''(G) Minor.'-- The term 'minor' means any person under 17 years of age.

''(H) Telecommunications carrier; telecommunications service.'-- The terms 'telecommunications carrier' and 'telecommunications service' have the meanings given such terms in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153).''(e) Additional Exception to Moratorium.'-- ''(1) In general.'-- Subsection (a) shall also not apply with respect to an Internet access provider, unless, at the time of entering into an agreement with a customer for the provision of Internet access services, such provider offers such customer (either for a fee or at no charge) screening software that is designed to permit the customer to limit access to material on the Internet that is harmful to minors.

''(2) Definitions.'-- In this subsection: ''(A) Internet access provider.'-- The term 'Internet access provider' means a person engaged in the business of providing a computer and communications facility through which a customer may obtain access to the Internet, but does not include a common carrier to the extent that it provides only telecommunications services.

''(B) Internet access services.'-- The term 'Internet access services' means the provision of computer and communications services through which a customer using a computer and a modem or other communications device may obtain access to the Internet, but does not include telecommunications services provided by a common carrier.

''(C) Screening software.'-- The term 'screening software' means software that is designed to permit a person to limit access to material on the Internet that is harmful to minors.

''(3) Applicability.'-- Paragraph (1) shall apply to agreements for the provision of Internet access services entered into on or after the date that is 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 21, 1998 ].

''SEC. 1102.

ADVISORY COMMISSION ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE.

''(a) Establishment of Commission.'-- There is established a commission to be known as the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce (in this title referred to as the 'Commission'). The Commission shall'-- ''(1) be composed of 19 members appointed in accordance with subsection (b), including the chairperson who shall be selected by the members of the Commission from among themselves; and

''(2) conduct its business in accordance with the provisions of this title.

''(b) Membership.'-- ''(1) In general.'-- The Commissioners shall serve for the life of the Commission. The membership of the Commission shall be as follows: ''(A) 3 representatives from the Federal Government, comprised of the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the United States Trade Representative (or their respective delegates).

''(B) 8 representatives from State and local governments (one such representative shall be from a State or local government that does not impose a sales tax and one representative shall be from a State that does not impose an income tax).

''(C) 8 representatives of the electronic commerce industry (including small business), telecommunications carriers, local retail businesses, and consumer groups, comprised of'-- ''(i) 5 individuals appointed by the Majority Leader of the Senate;

''(ii) 3 individuals appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate;

''(iii) 5 individuals appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and

''(iv) 3 individuals appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.

''(2) Appointments.'-- Appointments to the Commission shall be made not later than 45 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 21, 1998 ]. The chairperson shall be selected not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

''(3) Vacancies.'-- Any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

''(c) Acceptance of Gifts and Grants.'-- The Commission may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or grants of services or property, both real and personal, for purposes of aiding or facilitating the work of the Commission. Gifts or grants not used at the expiration of the Commission shall be returned to the donor or grantor.

''(d) Other Resources.'-- The Commission shall have reasonable access to materials, resources, data, and other information from the Department of Justice, the Department of Commerce, the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative. The Commission shall also have reasonable access to use the facilities of any such Department or Office for purposes of conducting meetings.

''(e) Sunset.'-- The Commission shall terminate 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 21, 1998 ].

''(f) Rules of the Commission.'-- ''(1) Quorum.'-- Nine members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum for conducting the business of the Commission.

''(2) Meetings.'-- Any meetings held by the Commission shall be duly noticed at least 14 days in advance and shall be open to the public.

''(3) Opportunities to testify.'-- The Commission shall provide opportunities for representatives of the general public, taxpayer groups, consumer groups, and State and local government officials to testify.

''(4) Additional rules.'-- The Commission may adopt other rules as needed.

''(g) Duties of the Commission.'-- ''(1) In general.'-- The Commission shall conduct a thorough study of Federal, State and local, and international taxation and tariff treatment of transactions using the Internet and Internet access and other comparable intrastate, interstate or international sales activities.

''(2) Issues to be studied.'-- The Commission may include in the study under subsection (a)'-- ''(A) an examination of'-- ''(i) barriers imposed in foreign markets on United States providers of property, goods, services, or information engaged in electronic commerce and on United States providers of telecommunications services; and

''(ii) how the imposition of such barriers will affect United States consumers, the competitiveness of United States citizens providing property, goods, services, or information in foreign markets, and the growth and maturing of the Internet;

''(B) an examination of the collection and administration of consumption taxes on electronic commerce in other countries and the United States, and the impact of such collection on the global economy, including an examination of the relationship between the collection and administration of such taxes when the transaction uses the Internet and when it does not;

''(C) an examination of the impact of the Internet and Internet access (particularly voice transmission) on the revenue base for taxes imposed under section 4251 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [26 U.S.C. 4251];''(D) an examination of model State legislation that'-- ''(i) would provide uniform definitions of categories of property, goods, service, or information subject to or exempt from sales and use taxes; and

''(ii) would ensure that Internet access services, online services, and communications and transactions using the Internet, Internet access service, or online services would be treated in a tax and technologically neutral manner relative to other forms of remote sales;

''(E) an examination of the effects of taxation, including the absence of taxation, on all interstate sales transactions, including transactions using the Internet, on retail businesses and on State and local governments, which examination may include a review of the efforts of State and local governments to collect sales and use taxes owed on in-State purchases from out-of-State sellers; and

''(F) the examination of ways to simplify Federal and State and local taxes imposed on the provision of telecommunications services.

''(3) Effect on the communications act of 1934.'-- Nothing in this section shall include an examination of any fees or charges imposed by the Federal Communications Commission or States related to'-- ''(A) obligations under the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.); or''(h) National Tax Association Communications and Electronic Commerce Tax Project.'-- The Commission shall, to the extent possible, ensure that its work does not undermine the efforts of the National Tax Association Communications and Electronic Commerce Tax Project.

''SEC. 1103.

REPORT.

''Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 21, 1998 ], the Commission shall transmit to Congress for its consideration a report reflecting the results, including such legislative recommendations as required to address the findings of the Commission's study under this title. Any recommendation agreed to by the Commission shall be tax and technologically neutral and apply to all forms of remote commerce. No finding or recommendation shall be included in the report unless agreed to by at least two-thirds of the members of the Commission serving at the time the finding or recommendation is made.

''SEC. 1104.

GRANDFATHERING OF STATES THAT TAX INTERNET ACCESS.

''(a) Pre-October 1998 Taxes.'-- ''(1) In general.'-- Section 1101(a) does not apply to a tax on Internet access that was generally imposed and actually enforced prior to October 1, 1998 , if, before that date'-- ''(A) the tax was authorized by statute; and

''(B) either'-- ''(i) a provider of Internet access services had a reasonable opportunity to know, by virtue of a rule or other public proclamation made by the appropriate administrative agency of the State or political subdivision thereof, that such agency has interpreted and applied such tax to Internet access services; or

''(ii) a State or political subdivision thereof generally collected such tax on charges for Internet access.

''(2) Termination.'-- ''(A) In general.'-- Except as provided in subparagraph (B), this subsection shall not apply after June 30, 2020 .

''(B) State telecommunications service tax.'-- ''(i) Date for termination.'-- This subsection shall not apply after November 1, 2006 , with respect to a State telecommunications service tax described in clause (ii).

''(ii) Description of tax.'-- A State telecommunications service tax referred to in subclause (i) is a State tax'-- '''''''(I) enacted by State law on or after October 1, 1991 , and imposing a tax on telecommunications service; and

'''''''(II) applied to Internet access through administrative code or regulation issued on or after December 1, 2002 .

''(3) Exception.'-- Paragraphs (1) and (2) shall not apply to any State that has, more than 24 months prior to the date of enactment of this paragraph [Oct. 31, 2007 ], enacted legislation to repeal the State's taxes on Internet access or issued a rule or other proclamation made by the appropriate agency of the State that such State agency has decided to no longer apply such tax to Internet access.

''(b) Pre-November 2003 Taxes.'-- ''(1) In general.'-- Section 1101(a) does not apply to a tax on Internet access that was generally imposed and actually enforced as of November 1, 2003 , if, as of that date, the tax was authorized by statute and'-- ''(A) a provider of Internet access services had a reasonable opportunity to know by virtue of a public rule or other public proclamation made by the appropriate administrative agency of the State or political subdivision thereof, that such agency has interpreted and applied such tax to Internet access services; and

''(B) a State or political subdivision thereof generally collected such tax on charges for Internet access.

''(2) Termination.'-- This subsection shall not apply after November 1, 2005 .

''(c) Application of Definition.'-- ''(1) In general.'-- Effective as of November 1, 2003 '-- ''(A) for purposes of subsection (a), the term 'Internet access' shall have the meaning given such term by section 1104(5) of this Act, as enacted on October 21, 1998 ; and

''(B) for purposes of subsection (b), the term 'Internet access' shall have the meaning given such term by section 1104(5) of this Act as enacted on October 21, 1998 , and amended by section 2(c) of the Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act (Public Law 108''435).''(2) Exceptions.'-- Paragraph (1) shall not apply until June 30, 2008 , to a tax on Internet access that is'-- ''(A) generally imposed and actually enforced on telecommunications service purchased, used, or sold by a provider of Internet access, but only if the appropriate administrative agency of a State or political subdivision thereof issued a public ruling prior to July 1, 2007 , that applied such tax to such service in a manner that is inconsistent with paragraph (1); or

''(B) the subject of litigation instituted in a judicial court of competent jurisdiction prior to July 1, 2007 , in which a State or political subdivision is seeking to enforce, in a manner that is inconsistent with paragraph (1), such tax on telecommunications service purchased, used, or sold by a provider of Internet access.

''(3) No inference.'-- No inference of legislative construction shall be drawn from this subsection or the amendments to section 1105(5) made by the Internet Tax Freedom Act Amendments Act of 2007 [Pub. L. 110''108] for any period prior to June 30, 2008 , with respect to any tax subject to the exceptions described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2).''SEC. 1105.

DEFINITIONS.

''For the purposes of this title: ''(1) Bit tax.'-- The term 'bit tax' means any tax on electronic commerce expressly imposed on or measured by the volume of digital information transmitted electronically, or the volume of digital information per unit of time transmitted electronically, but does not include taxes imposed on the provision of telecommunications.

''(2) Discriminatory tax.'-- The term 'discriminatory tax' means'-- ''(A) any tax imposed by a State or political subdivision thereof on electronic commerce that'-- ''(i) is not generally imposed and legally collectible by such State or such political subdivision on transactions involving similar property, goods, services, or information accomplished through other means;

''(ii) is not generally imposed and legally collectible at the same rate by such State or such political subdivision on transactions involving similar property, goods, services, or information accomplished through other means, unless the rate is lower as part of a phase-out of the tax over not more than a 5-year period;

''(iii) imposes an obligation to collect or pay the tax on a different person or entity than in the case of transactions involving similar property, goods, services, or information accomplished through other means;

''(iv) establishes a classification of Internet access service providers or online service providers for purposes of establishing a higher tax rate to be imposed on such providers than the tax rate generally applied to providers of similar information services delivered through other means; or

''(B) any tax imposed by a State or political subdivision thereof, if'-- ''(i) the sole ability to access a site on a remote seller's out-of-State computer server is considered a factor in determining a remote seller's tax collection obligation; or

''(ii) a provider of Internet access service or online services is deemed to be the agent of a remote seller for determining tax collection obligations solely as a result of'-- '''''''(I) the display of a remote seller's information or content on the out-of-State computer server of a provider of Internet access service or online services; or

'''''''(II) the processing of orders through the out-of-State computer server of a provider of Internet access service or online services.

''(3) Electronic commerce.'-- The term 'electronic commerce' means any transaction conducted over the Internet or through Internet access, comprising the sale, lease, license, offer, or delivery of property, goods, services, or information, whether or not for consideration, and includes the provision of Internet access.

''(4) Internet.'-- The term 'Internet' means collectively the myriad of computer and telecommunications facilities, including equipment and operating software, which comprise the interconnected world-wide network of networks that employ the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or any predecessor or successor protocols to such protocol, to communicate information of all kinds by wire or radio.

''(5) Internet access.'-- The term 'Internet access''-- ''(A) means a service that enables users to connect to the Internet to access content, information, or other services offered over the Internet;

''(B) includes the purchase, use or sale of telecommunications by a provider of a service described in subparagraph (A) to the extent such telecommunications are purchased, used or sold'-- ''(i) to provide such service; or

''(ii) to otherwise enable users to access content, information or other services offered over the Internet;

''(C) includes services that are incidental to the provision of the service described in subparagraph (A) when furnished to users as part of such service, such as a home page, electronic mail and instant messaging (including voice- and video-capable electronic mail and instant messaging), video clips, and personal electronic storage capacity;

''(D) does not include voice, audio or video programming, or other products and services (except services described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (E)) that utilize Internet protocol or any successor protocol and for which there is a charge, regardless of whether such charge is separately stated or aggregated with the charge for services described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (E); and

''(E) includes a homepage, electronic mail and instant messaging (including voice- and video-capable electronic mail and instant messaging), video clips, and personal electronic storage capacity, that are provided independently or not packaged with Internet access.

''(6) Multiple tax.'-- ''(A) In general.'-- The term 'multiple tax' means any tax that is imposed by one State or political subdivision thereof on the same or essentially the same electronic commerce that is also subject to another tax imposed by another State or political subdivision thereof (whether or not at the same rate or on the same basis), without a credit (for example, a resale exemption certificate) for taxes paid in other jurisdictions.

''(B) Exception.'-- Such term shall not include a sales or use tax imposed by a State and 1 or more political subdivisions thereof on the same electronic commerce or a tax on persons engaged in electronic commerce which also may have been subject to a sales or use tax thereon.

''(C) Sales or use tax.'-- For purposes of subparagraph (B), the term 'sales or use tax' means a tax that is imposed on or incident to the sale, purchase, storage, consumption, distribution, or other use of tangible personal property or services as may be defined by laws imposing such tax and which is measured by the amount of the sales price or other charge for such property or service.

''(7) State.'-- The term 'State' means any of the several States, the District of Columbia, or any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States.

''(8) Tax.'-- ''(A) In general.'-- The term 'tax' means'-- ''(i) any charge imposed by any governmental entity for the purpose of generating revenues for governmental purposes, and is not a fee imposed for a specific privilege, service, or benefit conferred; or

''(ii) the imposition on a seller of an obligation to collect and to remit to a governmental entity any sales or use tax imposed on a buyer by a governmental entity.

''(B) Exception.'-- Such term does not include any franchise fee or similar fee imposed by a State or local franchising authority, pursuant to section 622 or 653 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 542, 573), or any other fee related to obligations or telecommunications carriers under the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.).''(9) Telecommunications.'-- The term 'telecommunications' means 'telecommunications' as such term is defined in section 3(43) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153(43) [now 153(50)]) and 'telecommunications service' as such term is defined in section 3(46) of such Act (47 U.S.C. 153(46) [now 153(53)]), and includes communications services (as defined in section 4251 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 4251)).''(10) Tax on internet access.'-- ''(A) In general.'-- The term 'tax on Internet access' means a tax on Internet access, regardless of whether such tax is imposed on a provider of Internet access or a buyer of Internet access and regardless of the terminology used to describe the tax.

''(B) General exception.'-- The term 'tax on Internet access' does not include a tax levied upon or measured by net income, capital stock, net worth, or property value.

''(C) Specific exception.'-- ''(i) Specified taxes.'-- Effective November 1, 2007 , the term 'tax on Internet access' also does not include a State tax expressly levied on commercial activity, modified gross receipts, taxable margin, or gross income of the business, by a State law specifically using one of the foregoing terms, that'-- '''''''(I) was enacted after June 20, 2005 , and before November 1, 2007 (or, in the case of a State business and occupation tax, was enacted after January 1, 1932 , and before January 1, 1936 );

'''''''(II) replaced, in whole or in part, a modified value-added tax or a tax levied upon or measured by net income, capital stock, or net worth (or, is a State business and occupation tax that was enacted after January 1, 1932 and before January 1, 1936 );

'''''''(III) is imposed on a broad range of business activity; and

'''''''(IV) is not discriminatory in its application to providers of communication services, Internet access, or telecommunications.

''(ii) Modifications.'-- Nothing in this subparagraph shall be construed as a limitation on a State's ability to make modifications to a tax covered by clause (i) of this subparagraph after November 1, 2007 , as long as the modifications do not substantially narrow the range of business activities on which the tax is imposed or otherwise disqualify the tax under clause (i).

''(iii) No inference.'-- No inference of legislative construction shall be drawn from this subparagraph regarding the application of subparagraph (A) or (B) to any tax described in clause (i) for periods prior to November 1, 2007 .

''SEC. 1106.

ACCOUNTING RULE.

''(a) In General.'-- If charges for Internet access are aggregated with and not separately stated from charges for telecommunications or other charges that are subject to taxation, then the charges for Internet access may be subject to taxation unless the Internet access provider can reasonably identify the charges for Internet access from its books and records kept in the regular course of business.

''(b) Definitions.'-- In this section: ''(1) Charges for internet access.'-- The term 'charges for Internet access' means all charges for Internet access as defined in section 1105(5).

''(2) Charges for telecommunications.'-- The term 'charges for telecommunications' means all charges for telecommunications, except to the extent such telecommunications are purchased, used, or sold by a provider of Internet access to provide Internet access or to otherwise enable users to access content, information or other services offered over the Internet.

''SEC. 1107.

EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.

''(a) Universal Service.'-- Nothing in this Act [probably means ''this title''] shall prevent the imposition or collection of any fees or charges used to preserve and advance Federal universal service or similar State programs'-- ''(1) authorized by section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254); or''(2) in effect on February 8, 1996 .

''(b) 911 and E''911 Services.'-- Nothing in this Act [probably means ''this title''] shall prevent the imposition or collection, on a service used for access to 911 or E''911 services, of any fee or charge specifically designated or presented as dedicated by a State or political subdivision thereof for the support of 911 or E''911 services if no portion of the revenue derived from such fee or charge is obligated or expended for any purpose other than support of 911 or E''911 services.

''(c) Non-Tax Regulatory Proceedings.'-- Nothing in this Act [probably means ''this title''] shall be construed to affect any Federal or State regulatory proceeding that is not related to taxation.

''SEC. 1109.

EXCEPTION FOR TEXAS MUNICIPAL ACCESS LINE FEE.

''Nothing in this Act [probably means ''this title''] shall prohibit Texas or a political subdivision thereof from imposing or collecting the Texas municipal access line fee pursuant to Texas Local Govt. Code Ann. ch. 283 (Vernon 2005) and the definition of access line as determined by the Public Utility Commission of Texas in its 'Order Adopting Amendments to Section 26.465 As Approved At The February 13, 2003 Public Hearing', issued March 5, 2003 , in Project No. 26412.''

[Pub. L. 110''108, §'¯7, Oct. 31, 2007 , 121 Stat. 1027, provided that:

''This Act [enacting provisions set out as a note under section 609 of this title and amending title XI of div. C of Pub. L. 105''277, set out above], and the amendments made by this Act, shall take effect on November 1, 2007 , and shall apply with respect to taxes in effect as of such date or thereafter enacted, except as provided in section 1104 of the Internet Tax Freedom Act [title XI of div. C of Pub. L. 105''277] (47 U.S.C. 151 note).''][Pub. L. 108''435, §'¯8, Dec. 3, 2004 , 118 Stat. 2619, provided that:

''The amendments made by this Act [amending title XI of div. C of Pub. L. 105''277, set out above] take effect on November 1, 2003 .'']Stylistic Consistency Pub. L. 104''104, title I, §'¯101(c), Feb. 8, 1996 , 110 Stat. 79, provided that:

''The Act [Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.)] is amended so that'-- ''(1) the designation and heading of each title of the Act shall be in the form and typeface of the designation and heading of this title of this Act [110 Stat. 61]; and''(2) the designation and heading of each part of each title of the Act shall be in the form and typeface of the designation and heading of part I of title II of the Act [110 Stat. 61], as amended by subsection (a).''Study of Telecommunications and Information Goals Pub. L. 97''259, title II, §'¯202, Sept. 13, 1982 , 96 Stat. 1099, provided that:

''(a) The National Telecommunications and Information Administration shall conduct a comprehensive study of the long-range international telecommunications and information goals of the United States, the specific international telecommunications and information policies necessary to promote those goals and the strategies that will ensure that the United States achieves them. The Administration shall further conduct a review of the structures, procedures, and mechanisms which are utilized by the United States to develop international telecommunications and information policy.

''(b) In any study or review conducted pursuant to this section, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration shall not make public information regarding usage or traffic patterns which would damage United States commercial interests. Any such study or review shall be limited to international telecommunications policies or to domestic telecommunications issues which directly affect such policies.''

Commission on Governmental Use of International Telecommunications Act July 29, 1954, ch. 647, 68 Stat. 587, established the Commission on Governmental Use of International Telecommunications to examine, study and report on the objectives, operations, and effectiveness of information programs with respect to the prompt development of techniques, methods, and programs for greatly expanded and far more effective operations in this vital area of foreign policy through the use of foreign telecommunications. The Commission was required to make a report of its findings and recommendations on or before Dec. 31, 1954 , and the Commission ceased to exist 90 days after submission of its report to the Congress.

Communication Privileges to Participants in World Telecommunication Conferences Act May 13, 1947, ch. 51, 61 Stat. 83, provided that nothing in this chapter, or in any other provision of law should be construed to prohibit United States communication common carriers from rendering free communication services to official participants in the world telecommunications conferences which were held in the United States in 1947.

Executive Order No. 10460 Ex. Ord. No. 10460, eff. June 18, 1953 , 18 F.R. 3513, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 10773, eff. July 1, 1958 , 23 F.R. 5061; Ex. Ord. No. 10782, eff. Sept. 8, 1958 , 23 F.R. 6971, which related to the performance of telecommunication functions by Director of the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization, was revoked by section 4 of Ex. Ord. No. 10995, eff. Feb. 16, 1962 , 27 F.R. 1519.

This is a list of parts within the Code of Federal Regulations for which this US Code section provides rulemaking authority.

This list is taken from the Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules provided by GPO [Government Printing Office].

It is not guaranteed to be accurate or up-to-date, though we do refresh the database weekly. More limitations on accuracy are described at the GPO site.

15 CFR - Commerce and Foreign Trade 47 CFR - Telecommunication 47 CFR Part 1 - PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE

47 CFR Part 4 - DISRUPTIONS TO COMMUNICATIONS

47 CFR Part 6 - ACCESS TO TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT AND CUSTOMER PREMISES EQUIPMENT BY PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

47 CFR Part 8 - PROTECTING AND PROMOTING THE OPEN INTERNET

47 CFR Part 9 - INTERCONNECTED VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL SERVICES

47 CFR Part 10 - WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERTS

47 CFR Part 11 - EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM (EAS)

47 CFR Part 36 - JURISDICTIONAL SEPARATIONS PROCEDURES; STANDARD PROCEDURES FOR SEPARATING TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROPERTY COSTS, REVENUES, EXPENSES, TAXES AND RESERVES FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANIES

47 CFR Part 51 - INTERCONNECTION

47 CFR Part 52 - NUMBERING

47 CFR Part 53 - SPECIAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING BELL OPERATING COMPANIES

47 CFR Part 54 - UNIVERSAL SERVICE

47 CFR Part 61 - TARIFFS

47 CFR Part 63 - EXTENSION OF LINES, NEW LINES, AND DISCONTINUANCE, REDUCTION, OUTAGE AND IMPAIRMENT OF SERVICE BY COMMON CARRIERS; AND GRANTS OF RECOGNIZED PRIVATE OPERATING AGENCY STATUS

47 CFR Part 65 - INTERSTATE RATE OF RETURN PRESCRIPTION PROCEDURES AND METHODOLOGIES

47 CFR Part 76 - MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE

47 CFR Part 79 - ACCESSIBILITY OF VIDEO PROGRAMMING

47 CFR Part 80 - STATIONS IN THE MARITIME SERVICES

47 CFR Part 97 - AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE

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Archived Version

Thu, 30 Mar 2017 04:07

Sponsor:Sen. Flake, Jeff [R-AZ] (Introduced 03/07/2017)Committees:Senate - Commerce, Science, and TransportationLatest Action:03/28/2017 Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection. (All Actions)Roll Call Votes:There have been 2 roll call votesTracker:This bill has the status Passed House

Here are the steps for Status of Legislation:

IntroducedArray ( [actionDate] => 2017-03-07 [displayText] => Introduced in Senate [externalActionCode] => 10000 [description] => Introduced )

Passed SenateArray ( [actionDate] => 2017-03-23 [displayText] => Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 50 - 48. Record Vote Number: 94. [externalActionCode] => 17000 [description] => Passed Senate )

Passed HouseArray ( [actionDate] => 2017-03-28 [displayText] => Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 215 - 205 (Roll no. 202).(text: CR H2489) [externalActionCode] => 8000 [description] => Passed House )

To PresidentBecame LawShown Here: Passed Senate without amendment (03/23/2017)

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

This joint resolution nullifies the rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission entitled "Protecting the Privacy of Customers of Broadband and Other Telecommunications Services." The rule published on December 2, 2016: (1) applies the customer privacy requirements of the Communications Act of 1934 to broadband Internet access service and other telecommunications services, (2) requires telecommunications carriers to inform customers about rights to opt in or opt out of the use or the sharing of their confidential information, (3) adopts data security and breach notification requirements, (4) prohibits broadband service offerings that are contingent on surrendering privacy rights, and (5) requires disclosures and affirmative consent when a broadband provider offers customers financial incentives in exchange for the provider's right to use a customer's confidential information.

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Archived Version

Thu, 30 Mar 2017 04:06

Republicans in Congress just voted to allow Americans' browser history to be bought and sold. A genius crowdfunding campaign wants to use that against them.

The website searchinternethistory.com is attempting to raise $1 million in order to put in bids to purchase the internet history of leading Republicans and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) members. The first histories the site aims to buy are those of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin), Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.

''If it takes a million dollars to get real change, I am sure a million people are willing to donate $1 to help ensure their private data stays private,'' wrote Adam McElhaney, who launched a GoFundMe campaign for the endeavor.

McElhaney clarified on the GoFundMe campaign's site that while he understands the privacy risks of using social media, the privacy rules Congress just eliminated goes far beyond what he feels is acceptable.

''I understand that what I put on the Internet is out there and not private. Those are the risks you assume. I'm not ashamed of what I put out on the Internet,'' he wrote. ''However, I don't think that what I lookup on the Internet, what sites I visit, my browsing habits, should be bought and sold to whoever. Without my consent.''

McElhaney, who describes himself as ''a privacy activist & net neutrality Advocate,'' argues that since both houses of Congress have passed bills allowing anyone's browser history to be sold and purchased by major telecom giants like Verizon, that the American people should be able to buy the browser records for their elected officials. If successful, the site aims to publish a searchable database of browser history for every member of Congress who voted to gut former President Barack Obama's regulations prohibiting corporations from viewing Americans' browser histories.

''Everything from their medical, pornographic, to their financial and infidelity. Anything they have looked at, searched for, or visited on the Internet will now be available for everyone to comb through,'' the site promises, next to a survey of which public official's browser history should be published first. ''Since we didn't get an opportunity to vote on whether our private and personal browsing history should be bought and sold, I wanted to show our legislators what a democracy is like. So, I'm giving you the opportunity to vote on whose history gets bought first.''

''Help me raise money to buy the histories of those who took away your right to privacy,'' McElhaney adds.

Those who don't have the means to donate money to the campaign are being asked to donate any legal skills they may have, so the site's administrators can navigate around the tricky legal battlefield of purchasing and publishing the internet history of some of the most powerful people in the United States.

As of this writing, the campaign has raised nearly $100,000.

Tom Cahill is a senior editor for the Resistance Report based in the Pacific Northwest. He specializes in coverage of political, economic, and environmental news. You can contact him via email at [email protected], or follow him on Facebook by clicking here.

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Archived Version

Tue, 28 Mar 2017 18:09

It's March 2017, and the political process and the media in the U.S. are a depressing mess, on top of an ever-growing pile of issues that are not remotely being addressed, much less resolved by society: inequality, climate change, a global refugee crisis, you name it.

Donald Trump presents a new problem on top of the old familiar ones; a toxic multifront political disaster whose presence in the White House is doing damage to the national psyche on a daily basis. But in the first few months of his presidency it appears he is unwilling or unable to carry out almost any of the campaign promises he made to his base. Repealing Obamacare was supposed to be a cinch -- well, that was a total disaster for Trump and the Republican party; the first big legislative rollout of his presidency, and it didn't even make it to a vote. What about canceling TPP? Trump did do that, right?

In a recent interview with the renowned intellectual and public commentator Noam Chomsky, he told me TPP was dead on arrival regardless of who was elected. What about scrapping NAFTA? Chomsky said he was doubtful Trump would be able to do much there either. What Trump appears to be doing, Chomsky observed, is ramming through the standard GOP wish list: tax cuts, corporate welfare, climate change denial. How would Trump's voters react to that? What we need to worry about, Chomsky says, is the potential for the Trump administration to capitalize on a "staged or alleged" terrorist attack. The text of our interview follows.

Jan Frel: Do you observe any meaningful signs of the key power factions in Washington aligning against Trump?

Noam Chomsky: Well, the so-called Freedom Caucus, which is a Tea Party outgrowth, has been refusing, so far, to go along with the health plan that he has advocated. There are other indications of the Tea Party-style far-right, separating themselves from Trump's proposals.

On the other hand, if you take a look at what is actually happening in Washington, apart from the rhetoric and what appears in Sean Spicer's press conferences and so on, the old Republican establishment is pretty much pushing through the kinds of programs that they have always wanted. And now they have a kind of open door that is Trump's cabinet, which draws from the most reactionary parts of the establishment. It doesn't have much to do with Trump's rhetoric. His rhetoric is about helping the working man and so on, but the proposals are savage and damaging to the constituency that thinks that Trump is their spokesperson.

JF: Do you think there will ever be a moment of awakening, or a disconnect for Trump's supporters of his rhetoric and what he's been doing in Washington, or can this just keep going?

NC: I think that sooner or later the white working-class constituency will recognize, and in fact, much of the rural population will come to recognize, that the promises are built on sand. There is nothing there.

And then what happens becomes significant. In order to maintain his popularity, the Trump administration will have to try to find some means of rallying the support and changing the discourse from the policies that they are carrying out, which are basically a wrecking ball to something else. Maybe scapegoating, saying, "Well, I'm sorry, I can't bring your jobs back because these bad people are preventing it." And the typical scapegoating goes to vulnerable people: immigrants, terrorists, Muslims and elitists, whoever it may be. And that can turn out to be very ugly.

I think that we shouldn't put aside the possibility that there would be some kind of staged or alleged terrorist act, which can change the country instantly.

JF: Have you observed any rethinking in elite circles about how to protect and expand multilateral trade and investor agreements since the Brexit referendum, the election of Trump and his scrapping of TPP, and his threat to 'terminate NAFTA'?

NC: Well, first of all, TPP was kind of dead on arrival. Almost everybody was opposed to it. With regard to NAFTA, I rather doubt that Trump will actually move to abrogate NAFTA; there is too much involved in the integration with Mexico and Canada. There might be some changes, but in general the support for the forms of international trade agreements that have developed over recent years are a strong priority for elites. There's a lot wrong with them, and they ought to be changed. But for all of Trump's talk about what's wrong with them, I have yet to see a proposal as to what he thinks we ought to be doing.

JF: Do you observe any substantial divergence, on Trump's part, from the longer-term plans and project of the State Department and the Defense Department in the Middle East or in Southeast Asia?

NC: Well, his main policies that have been implemented and not just talked about are in the Middle East, where he has transferred authority more to the Pentagon. Relaxed conditions on drone strikes. Sent more troops. There have been more atrocities in Yemen and in Syria. There is more giving the Pentagon leadership more of a free hand. Which is not a huge change from Obama's policies, but a more violent and aggressive version of them.

JF: Do you see Russia as anything like a real threat to the integrated and allied industrialized countries in Europe and North America? Lost in the hysteria over Russia's potential interference in U.S. domestic affairs is that by virtually every measure of modern state power, Russia doesn't come close, whether it's finance, science and tech research, advanced manufacturing, agricultural and cultural exports.

NC: Yeah, it's all just a joke, as it was incidentally through the Cold War almost entirely. Right now the matter of Russian interference in U.S. elections has half the world cracking up in laughter.

I mean whatever the Russians may have been doing, let's take the most extreme charges, that barely registers in the balance against what the U.S. does constantly. Even in Russia. So for example, the U.S. intervened radically to support [Boris] Yeltsin in 1991 when he was engaged in a power play trying to take power from the Parliament, Clinton strongly supported him. In 1996, when Yeltsin was running, the Clinton administration openly and strongly supported them, and not only verbally, but with tactics and loans and so on.

All of that goes way beyond what the Russians are charged with, and of course that is a minor aspect of U.S. interference in elections abroad: "If we don't like the election, you can just overthrow the country."

JF: MIT has released a massive archive of your work over the previous decades. Have you had the time to search through it, and did you learn anything about yourself?

NC: That is the kind of thing one doesn't want to learn. You know, there is a very rich collection there of some stuff that has been published, a lot of things like notes for classes over 60 years, and notes for talks over 60 years, and scraps of paper on which ideas are written. Looking through it all, I am sure that I will rediscover a lot of things that I have forgotten, but maybe rightly.

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Archived Version

Thu, 30 Mar 2017 04:43

Conservative wachdog Judicial Watch today released another 1,184 pages of State Department records, including previously unreleased Hillary Clinton email exchanges which according to the legal organization revealed "additional instances of Abedin and Hillary Clinton sending classified information through unsecured email accounts and contributors being given special access to the former secretary of state."

The records contain 29 previously undisclosed Clinton emails '' of a total of which is now at least 288 emails that were not part of the 55,000 pages of emails that Clinton turned over to the State Department. This further appears to contradict statements by Clinton that, ''as far as she knew,'' all of her government emails were turned over to the State Department. Two of these emails are now available on the State Department's website.

In one notable email exchange from February 23, 2010, ambassador and long-time friend to Hillary Clinton sought to map out her - and Bill Clinton's - funerals in 2010 because ''planning is best done when they are still with us."

Capricia Marshall, who was chief of protocol for the State Department when Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state, wrote to Huma Abedin, Doug Band and Cheryl Mills on Feb. 23, 2010, saying ''everytime someone significant passes, I am flooded with requests'' about the Clintons' arrangements.

''Planning is necessary and best done when they are still with us,'' she wrote to top Clinton aide Abedin.

''As well, Hum - I would make the same suggestion to you - for her it will be a little different ... And once affirmed it will be very hard for someone to deny the type of ceremony she wanted '-- as well I understand that the President can request certain arrangements for her that she/her rep cannot (ie if you want the motorcade to go through DC '-- stop somewhere),'' Marshall wrote.

She told the aides she needed to contact the military to prepare for the funerals '-- ''as Protocol has a lot to do with planning, notification etc.''

* * *

Another email exchange between Abedin and Doug Band revealed tension between Clinton's top personal aide and the former secretary of state's chief of staff, Cheryl Mills. The rift was revealed when Chelsea Clinton asked Band if he could arrange a White House tour for a female Haitian-American sailor from the USS Comfort.

''I don't want to get cross wise with cdm [Cheryl Mills] on anything Haiti related,'' Abedin replied. Three minutes later she wrote again. ''HAVE YOU MET CHERYL MILLS,'' Abedin asked in all caps about Hillary Clinton's former chief of staff when she was secretary of state. ''You have no idea.''

Band replied, ''Good point.''

''She will kill the tour if she find out i set it up '...,'' Abedin wrote back. ''Wow,'' Band replied.

* * *

Among the other emails, is a February 2010 exchange in which Jake Sullivan, then-Deputy Chief of Staff to Clinton, sent to Clinton's and Abedin's unsecure email accounts information that the State Department has classified as the material includes information ''to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy; foreign relations or foreign activities of the US, including confidential sources.'' The redacted information concerns ''former GTMO [Guantanamo] detainee Binyam Mohamed'' and Mohamed's request for ''various classified intelligence documents'' that contained U.S. intelligence information related to his detention before he was taken to Guantanamo.

In other emails, Clinton's ''final'' schedules with specific details concerning her whereabouts were transmitted by Lona Valmoro to the unsecure emails accounts of Clinton Foundation officials Doug Band, Terry Krivnic Margaret Steenberg and others, and forwarded to Abedin's unsecure email account.

In April 2010, Sid Blumenthal sent two email memos to Clinton containing information now classified. Clinton forwarded this material to Abedin's unsecure email account. The classified information, which Clinton asks Abedin to print off for her, concerns the change of government in the Kyrgyz Republic.

In a statement by Tom Fitton, the Judicial Watch President said that ''these emails are yet more evidence of Hillary Clinton's casual and repeated violations of laws relating to the handling of classified information. The Justice Department should finally begin an independent investigation into the Clinton email matter." But why, when every day there is a new daily dose of dripping red meat - or rather make that Russian salad - involving Trump's ties to Putin to keep the media and authorities more than busy with constant speculation that Trump is a Kremlin spy.

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Archived Version

Tue, 28 Mar 2017 16:44

U.S. cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has revised and retracted statements it used to buttress claims of Russian hacking during last year's American presidential election campaign. The shift followed a VOA report that the company misrepresented data published by an influential British think tank.

In December, CrowdStrike said it found evidence that Russians hacked into a Ukrainian artillery app, contributing to heavy losses of howitzers in Ukraine's war with pro-Russian separatists.

VOA reported Tuesday that the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), which publishes an annual reference estimating the strength of world armed forces, disavowed the CrowdStrike report and said it had never been contacted by the company.

Ukraine's Ministry of Defense also has stated that the combat losses and hacking never happened.

Some see overblown allegations

CrowdStrike was first to link hacks of Democratic Party computers to Russian actors last year, but some cybersecurity experts have questioned its evidence. The company has come under fire from some Republicans who say charges of Kremlin meddling in the election are overblown.

FILE - CrowdStrike co-founder and CTO Dmitri Alperovitch speaks during the Reuters Media and Technology Summit in New York, June 11, 2012.

After CrowdStrike released its Ukraine report, company co-founder Dmitri Alperovitch claimed it provided added evidence of Russian election interference. In both hacks, he said, the company found malware used by "Fancy Bear," a group with ties to Russian intelligence agencies.

CrowdStrike's claims of heavy Ukrainian artillery losses were widely circulated in U.S. media.

On Thursday, CrowdStrike walked back key parts of its Ukraine report.

The company removed language that said Ukraine's artillery lost 80 percent of the Soviet-era D-30 howitzers, which used aiming software that purportedly was hacked. Instead, the revised report cites figures of 15 to 20 percent losses in combat operations, attributing the figures to IISS.

The original CrowdStrike report was dated Dec. 22, 2016, and the updated report was dated March 23, 2017.

The company also removed language saying Ukraine's howitzers suffered "the highest percentage of loss of any ... artillery pieces in Ukraine's arsenal."

FILE - Members of a rapid reaction unit of Ukraine's National Guard stand in front of howitzers during a ceremony marking the first anniversary of its creation, in the village of Stare, 80 km east of Kyiv, Ukraine, June 2, 2016.

Finally, CrowdStrike deleted a statement saying "deployment of this malware-infected application may have contributed to the high-loss nature of this platform" '-- meaning the howitzers '-- and excised a link sourcing its IISS data to a blogger in Russia-occupied Crimea.

In an email, CrowdStrike spokeswoman Ilina Dmitrova said the new estimates of Ukrainian artillery losses resulted from conversations with Henry Boyd, an IISS research associate for defense and military analysis. She declined to say what prompted the contact.

CrowdStrike defends report

"This update does not in any way impact the core premise of the report that the FANCY BEAR threat actor implanted malware into a D-30 targeting application developed by a Ukrainian military officer," Dmitrova wrote.

Reached by VOA, the IISS confirmed providing CrowdStrike with new information about combat losses, but declined to comment on CrowdStrike's hacking assertions.

"We don't think the current version of the [CrowdStrike] report draws conclusions with regard to our data, other than quoting the clarification we provided to them," IISS told VOA.

FILE - Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta speaks to reporters outside Clinton's home in Washington, Oct. 5, 2016.

Dmitrova noted that the FBI and the U.S. intelligence community have also concluded that Russia was behind the hacks of the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the email account of John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign manager.

The release of embarrassing Democratic emails during last year's U.S. political campaign, and the subsequent finding by intelligence agencies that the hacks were meant to help then-candidate Donald Trump, have led to investigations by the FBI and intelligence committees in both the House and Senate.

Trump and White House officials have denied colluding with Russians.

This report was produced in collaboration with VOA's Ukrainian Service.

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Source: The Intercept

Tue, 28 Mar 2017 18:14

'–'‹ '–'‹ '–'‹ '–'‹ '–'‹ '–'‹ '–'‹ '–'‹ '–'‹ '–'‹ '–'‹ '–'‹ '–'‹ '–'‹ '–'‹ 'Ÿ¶

Five years ago , I made a simple iPhone app. It would send you a push notification every time a U.S. drone strike was reported in the news.

Apple rejected the app three times, calling it ''excessively objectionable or crude content.''

Over the years, I would occasionally resubmit the app, changing its name from Drones+ to Metadata+. I was curious to see if Apple might change its mind. The app didn't include graphic images or video of any kind '-- it simply aggregated news about covert war.

At its core was a question: do we want to be as connected to our foreign policy as we are to our smartphones? My hypothesis was no. Americans don't care about the drone war because it is largely hidden from view.

In 2014, after five rejections, Apple accepted the app. It remained in the App Store for about a year. According to Apple's internal statistics, Metadata+ was downloaded by more than 50,000 people.

But the following September, Apple decided to delete the app entirely. They claimed that the content, once again, was ''excessively objectionable or crude.''

Well, Apple's position has evolved. Today, after 12 attempts, the Metadata app is back in the App Store.

Wreckage of a vehicle in which Mullah Mansour was allegedly traveling after it was hit by U.S. drone on May 22, 2016, in Balochistan, Pakistan.

Photo: Barkat Tareen/Getty Images

As an artist who works with data, I think the story of this app is about more than a petty conflict with Apple. It is about what can be seen '-- or obscured '-- about the geography of our covert wars.

For the past 15 years, journalists on the ground in Yemen, Pakistan, and Somalia have worked hard to uncover the contours of U.S. drone attacks '-- in some cases at their own peril. Filmmakers, academics, and attorneys have done important work documenting their ghastly aftermath. Websites like The Intercept have published whistleblower expos(C)s about how the covert drone program clicks together.

But buried in the details is a difficult truth: no one really knows who most of these missiles are killing.

Because the particulars of the drone wars are scant, we only have 'metadata' about most of these strikes '-- perhaps a date, the name of a province, maybe a body count. Absent documentary evidence or first-person testimony, there isn't much narrative to speak of.

The name 'Metadata' has a double meaning: the app both contains metadata about English-language news reports, and it refers to the basis on which most drone strikes are carried out. (As Gen. Michael Hayden famously said, ''we kill people based on metadata.'')

Smartphones have connected us more intimately to all sorts of data. As Amitava Kumar put it recently, ''The internet delivers ugly fragments of report and rumor throughout the day, and with them a sense of nearly constant intimacy with violence.'' Yet information about drone strikes '-- in Apple's universe '-- had somehow been deemed beyond the pale.

What would it mean to be more connected to our wars? Might our phones allow us to think more constellationally?

With a president who plans to lift the Obama-era constraints on drone strikes even further, declaring parts of Yemen and Somalia as ''areas of active hostilities,'' I'm glad that Apple has decided to stop blocking a news app.

If anything about the app is ''excessively objectionable or crude,'' perhaps it's the airstrikes themselves.

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Thu, 30 Mar 2017 04:33

Taking a stand in the national debate over illegal immigration, Malibu has joined the ranks of sanctuary cities.

The City Council of the celebrity enclave voted 3-2 this month to approve a resolution prohibiting use of city funds and resources to enforce federal civil immigration law.

Councilwoman Laura Rosenthal introduced the resolution after Malibu resident and actor Martin Sheen appeared before the council in December to urge a sanctuary designation.

''When I reached out to some of the people at the schools and other people in the community, they told me people are scared,'' Rosenthal told the Los Angeles Times. ''That's people coming into Malibu who may be undocumented. I wanted to send a clear message that we are here for you.''

A report by the city attorney cited the potential for some ''negative fiscal impacts'' due to an executive order by President Donald Trump directing the attorney general and secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that sanctuary jurisdictions do not receive federal grants.

The report said the city receives annually about $46,000 in community development block grant funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Development. Malibu also occasionally receives one-time grants from federal agencies but currently has none that are active.

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Tue, 28 Mar 2017 22:59

A well-connected hedge funder with ties to Bernie Madoff plunged to his death at a posh New York hotel, according to reports.

Charles Murphy, who most recently worked with hedge fund heavyweight John Paulson at Paulson & Co., was pronounced dead shortly after 5 p.m. Monday at the Sofitel building in what authorities are calling an apparent suicide. The New York Post reported that Murphy, 56, jumped from a room on the 24th floor and landed on a fourth-floor terrace.

"We are extremely saddened by this news. Charles was an extremely gifted and brilliant man, a great partner and a true friend," Paulson said in a statement. "Our deepest prayers are with his family."

There was no apparent motive for the suicide, though Murphy's financial travails have been well-documented.

Murphy's Fairfield Greenwich fund had invested more than $7 billion with Madoff before it became known in 2008 that Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme. Fairfield eventually agreed to pay $125 million to settle a lawsuit related to the Madoff case, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Madoff himself is serving a 150-year prison sentence; his son Mark hanged himself in 2010. Murphy is believed to be the fourth person connected to the Madoff case to commit suicide.

Money problemsAfter leaving Fairfield, Murphy went to work for Paulson, whose spokesman told CNBC the firm would have no further comment.

Murphy, along with his second wife, Annabelle, had lived in a townhouse on East 67th Street purchased for $33 million, a record then for a mansion less than 26 feet wide, according to the Observer.

He had been looking to sell the home in recent years, with an asking price last year of $49.5 million. The mansion has eight bedrooms, 11 fireplaces, Venetian plastered walls and two elliptical staircases, according to The Real Deal. The current asking price was $36 million, according to the Daily Mail. The home also is believed to include a gym, wine cellar and an elevator.

Financial problems may have been come into play; the Post quoted a parking garage attendant as saying Annabelle Murphy was in an automobile accident last year but couldn't afford to have the car fixed.

In addition to his work with Paulson and Fairfield, Murphy also worked with Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse.

The family was not available for further comment. The Murphys are believed to have two young sons. He also had two children with his first wife, Heather Kerzner.

Correction: The parking garage attendant's occupation was inaccurate in an earlier version.

WATCH: Bernie Madoff has spent a lot of time from prison trying to tell his side of the story

More From CNBC

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Thu, 30 Mar 2017 00:07

The president of the United States has a very difficult job, and in recent weeks we've all been given to wonder whether President Donald Trump really wants to do it. Last week, Trump's first big legislative initiative '• the American Health Care Act '• foundered, partially due to the fact that the president abruptly stopped trying to facilitate negotiations with members of Congress. Over the latter half of Thursday , we went from House Freedom Caucus Chair Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) extolling Trump's efforts, to Trump suddenly bailing on the effort and demanding a Friday resolution to the matter '• which all but guaranteed it wouldn't be resolved to anyone's satisfaction.

But over the weekend, the president's philosophy on running the country suddenly became more clear. Trump wants to get a lot of work done, he just wants his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to do it.

As the Washington Post's Ashley Parker and Philip Rucker reported on Sunday , Kushner has been tapped to run an entirely new office with the ''sweeping authority to overhaul the federal bureaucracy and fulfill key campaign promises '• such as reforming care for veterans and fighting opioid addiction.''

Okay, but let's cast our minds back to Jan. 9, when the same newspaper reported this :

Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President-elect Donald Trump and one of his closest confidants, will join the White House as a senior adviser to the president, Trump announced Monday, while a lawyer assisting the family said that Kushner's wife, Ivanka Trump , will not immediately take on a formal role.

Kushner, who will not take a salary, is expected to have a broad portfolio that includes government operations, trade deals and Middle East policy, according to a member of Trump's transition team. In a statement, the transition office said Kushner would work closely with White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon to execute Trump's agenda.

Trump said he wanted to explore the possibilities for making what he has called ''the ultimate deal,'' a peace pact between Israel and the Palestinians. He is deploying his son-in-law '-- and now senior adviser on the Middle East '-- Jared Kushner to the task.

So, if you're keeping track, Jared Kushner, who comes to Washington with no government experience, no policy experience, no diplomatic experience, and business experience limited to his family's real estate development firm, a brief stint as a newspaper publisher, and briefly bidding to acquire the Los Angeles Dodgers, will be working on trade, Middle East policy in general, an Israel-Palestine peace deal more specifically, reforming the Veterans Administration, and solving the opioid crisis.

Oh wait, that's not all! Apparently, this new office will also be responsible for ''modernizing the technology and data infrastructure of every federal department and agency; remodeling workforce-training programs; and developing ''transformative projects'' under the banner of Trump's $1 trillion infrastructure plan, such as providing broadband internet service to every American.''

We have certainly come a long way from ''I alone can fix it.''

How is Jared Kushner going to do all of these things? Simply ''modernizing the technology and data infrastructure of every federal department and agency'' is an enormous undertaking. In the United Kingdom, they had to create a whole new cabinet agency just to surmount that challenge . It would be great if Kushner would simply work on that one thing, or any one of these things. Instead, Kushner has now basically been saddled with several full-time jobs, in which he is responsible for fulfilling many, if not all, of his father-in-law's campaign promises.

Just imagine what Kushner's daily schedule is going to be like:

9:00-9:30: ''Fox and Friends'' debrief.

9:30-10:00:Provide broadband internet service to entire nation.

10:00-11:00:Stop working on providing broadband internet service to entire nation to focus on just providing it to entire government first.

11:00-11:30:Elevensies.

11:30-1:00:Working lunch to solve the intractable Israel-Palestine peace process that adults in government have been working on to no avail for decades.

1:00-1:30:What do you mean there are other places in the Middle East that need tending to? FFS, people, I can't possibly do everything!

1:30-2:00:Daily ''I can't possibly do everything'' meeting with POTUS. POTUS reminds Kushner that the AHCA went down because he was off in Aspen, skiing.

2:00-2:15:Cancel all skiing vacations for the foreseeable future.

2:15-2:30:Search for another samovar of coffee to push through the rest of the afternoon.

2:30-3:30:Develop one ''transformative project for America under the banner of Trump's $1 billion infrastructure program.''

3:30-3:45:Meeting with POTUS to discuss ''transformative project.'' POTUS says there is still something missing.

3:45-4:15:WHAT IS IT MISSING? COME ON KUSHNER, THINK! YOU CAN DO THIS.

4:15-4:30:Trump's name added to transformative project. POTUS signs off.

4:30-4:45:A brief wander through the White House. How did it come to this? Didn't life used to be so much simpler? I could have done anything. I really would have liked to own the Dodgers. Oh, man, the crack of bat, fists pounding on leather, the scents of an afternoon ballgame? Heaven is a patch of well-manicured grass, the cheers of the crowd, fathers in the upper decks teaching their freckle-faced kids how to score the game, and nothing but the expanse of a hazy Southern California afternoon ahead of you. That should have been me. That's what I was meant to do. How did I end up here? I only vaguely remember: My name, shouted in a certain dawn '... a message '... a summons '... There must have been a moment, at the beginning, where I could have said '' no. But somehow, I missed it.

4:45-6:00:Fix the VA system, the opioid crisis, streamline government, and maybe do some trade stuff?

6:00:Fifteen hours of weeping.

Oh, hey, I nearly forgot: For the time being, Kushner is going to be wrapped up in the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation into ''ties between Trump associates and Russian officials or others linked to the Kremlin,'' so that's going to cut into a lot of these activities.

Now, the good news, if you're Kushner, is that this latest thing he'll be tapped to run may as well be called ''the Office of Farming Out All This Work To Other People.'' The Washington Post describes this agency as one that will ''harvest ideas from the business world and, potentially, [privatize] some government functions.'' (If you hate the VA hospital system now, just wait until it has a fiduciary responsibility to turn a profit for shareholders!)

Parker and Rucker report that this arrangement is ''viewed internally as a SWAT team of strategic consultants'' and is ''designed to infuse fresh thinking into Washington,'' which is what I thought Trump was going to do himself.

Of course, ''SWAT teams of strategic consultants'' already exist '• they are called management consulting firms and one could presumably simply give them money to do things like overhaul veterans' hospitals. But that wouldn't give Kushner the chance to run his own version of McKinsey out of the White House, where he can build up his own prestige while commanding the participation of people like ''Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Salesforce Chief Executive Marc Benioff and Tesla founder and Chief Executive Elon Musk'' '• all of whom already have full-time jobs.

Still, we're on the verge of someone having to write a ''Can Jared Kushner Have It All'' think piece, and it's all down to the fact that Donald Trump seems to know very few people '• and trust even fewer '• and so task after task keeps being placed on the shoulders of a small inner circle of advisers. And at least two factions of that inner circle seems to openly loathe one another '• the Reince Priebus faction is made up of government careerists who are distrusted by the Steve Bannon faction, who want to humiliate career bureaucrats, dismantle the ''administrative state,'' and spend the rest of their free time oppressing immigrants and Muslims. Those are two legs of what Vox's Matt Yglesias describes as Trump's ''three legged stool'' of staffing, with the third being ''the entire extended Trump family,'' of which Kushner is the nominal head.

All of this means that Trump will likely never court some of the controversy that his predecessor, President Barack Obama faced. When Obama staffed up, he found different people to tackle different problems or run specific policy portfolios '• all of which led to extended criticism that he was placing a coterie of unaccountable ''czars'' (or if you prefer, ''tsars'') in White House gigs. Trump is solving this dilemma by making Kushner the Everything Czar '• though it's starting to look like Kushner is the de facto president, and Trump is the czar of golfing and tweeting.

But who knows if Kushner is going to be able to successfully take on this immense pile of work all by himself. Even if all he'll be doing is shuttling the half-baked ideas of Silicon Valley CEOs up and down the administrative ladder, at some point, people are going to remember all the things for which Trump made his son-in-law responsible and wonder if this arrangement really makes sense. And the longer that actual solutions to these problems elude the Trump White House, the worse it will be for Kushner.

In the end, Donald Trump may have to do the one thing he's long been loath to do: give his daughter Tiffany a job. (Also, he might have to take some personal responsibility for something.)

The Huffington Post

Jason Linkins edits ''Eat The Press'' for The Huffington Post and co-hosts the HuffPost Politics podcast ''So, That Happened.'' Subscribe here, and listen to the latest episode below.

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Mon, 27 Mar 2017 16:05

big_D: "In most cases, there just isn't any benefit to having white goods attached to the internet. What is it supposed to tell me? I can't start it until I have manually filled it up and it already turns itself off, when it is finished."

... You appear to be looking for something that would be a benefit to you. Please make no mistake, in a lot of cases IoT is not about consumer benefit, it's about them:

- Making it stand out in the store -- It has to have a bigger LCD panel than the competitors model and some bright animation playing on it to draw you in - things that are actually no benefit to you, but higher numbers and larger sizes sell even when they are not relevant. I imagine that once more than half of dishwashers have a screen on them, there will even be some poor folk who will not consider buying one without a screen, even if they don't know why.

- Letting them know how you use it -- They need to know when the salt is low, whether you skip putting rinse aid in, when it's due for a service etc. They can even kindly let you know after 11 months that you in fact bought the wrong model because you do two washes per day and as it happens they have made a newer model with a quicker wash cycle. How great would it be to have a d/w less than a year old displaying an advert for the d/w it wishes it was. And you can bet all those variables will be added into warranty contract so it's easier for them to say it's your fault the d/w broke because you used Aldi rinse aid, didn't top up the salt, and you should have bought the model which was fit for your usage case.

The possibility that it might be some use to you during your period of ownership is the last thing they think about.

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Mon, 27 Mar 2017 16:13

North Korea is accusing the US of spreading the Ebola virus, claiming it has been ''bent on the development of bio-weapons'' in order to achieve world supremacy.

The secretive state reacted strongly to the Ebola outbreak by closing its border to tourists and quarantining anyone who does enter.

Now, a report by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) is claiming an aide to ex-President Reagan informed them the US had invented a progenitor of Ebola virus ''for the purpose of launching a biological warfare''.

The aide was named as Roberts, who The Washington Post said could be a reference to Paul Craig Roberts, an econmoist.

Mr Roberts recently published a blog post entitled 'Is The US Government The Master Criminal Of Our Time?' which cited work published by two academics on Ebola.

Only a few weeks after a UN resolution condemned the country's human right's record, The KCNA criticised the US for its own human rights record.

The article said the US had given $140 million (£89 million) to a pharmaceutical company for research into the virus and chose Africa as a bio-weapon testing ground. It credited this claim to an unnamed Liberian professor.

It also claimed that the ''US Department of Health and Human Services'' admitted that the US ''imperialists'' have long conducted ''vivisections with fatal epidemics, inflicting untold sufferings on mankind''.

Video: President Obama urges Congress for emergency Ebola funds It added: ''Russian, Singaporean and American newspapers criticised that the US developed anti-Ebola virus vaccine through experiment on Ebola contagion, but has prevented this vaccine from being known to the world, only for its own interests.''

It also went on to claim that the Aids pandemic was also created by the US. In one final accusation, it said: ''As already known to everyone, the US is the world's biggest nuke possessor.''

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Tue, 28 Mar 2017 15:25

less

The City of St. Louis and St. Clair County, Illinois, are among the areas considered at high risk for transmission of Zika infection.

That's according to an early online article in the American Journal of Public Health by Saint Louis University researchers.

The researchers at Saint Louis University put the bulls-eye of Zika transmission on the Mississippi delta.

They also predicted the virus, which is spread sexually and by bites from the Aedes aegypti mosquito, is likely to be transmitted in southern states extending northward along the Atlantic coast and in southern California.

''The purpose of this study was not to create unwarranted alarm, but rather to enhance Zika prevention methods such as mosquito control, effective prevention message dissemination, and treatment and care preparation, in advance of a Zika epidemic in the contiguous U.S.'' said Enbal Shacham, Ph.D., M.Ed., associate professor of behavioral sciences and health education at Saint Louis University and the lead author of the study.

''We need significant planning and prevention in areas and populations most likely to experience the highest burdens from Zika infection. Timely strategies to communicate risk, control mosquito populations, and prevent disease transmission are imperative to preventing a large-scale Zika epidemic in the United States.''

Zika poses the most serious threat to unborn babies who may die or develop devastating birth defects, such as brain damage, after their mothers contract Zika during pregnancy.

About 80 percent of those who contract Zika have no symptoms, which means they may engage in sexual activity without any indication they are at risk of transmitting the virus.

(C) 2017 KSDK-TV

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Tue, 28 Mar 2017 22:48

Public life Laura Silsby founded the New Life Children's Refuge and led the expedition in Haiti. Though she was freed after serving her sentence in Haiti, she also faced legal problems in Idaho [1][2]. In early March 2010, her attorney in these cases filed a motion to withdraw as her counsel.[3] Another lawyer who represented Silsby in a child custody case also withdrew as her attorney.[4]

Silsby faced civil lawsuits for fraud, wrongful termination and unpaid wages mostly related to Personal Shopper,[5][6][7] an Internet company that she founded in 1999 with James Hammons. Silsby and Hammons worked together at Hewlett-Packard [8].

Currently, Silsby goes by her married name, Laura Gayler, and works at AlertSense as their VP of Marketing.[9](archive.is) AlertSense provides a platform for issuing emergency alerts on a large scale. This includes Amber alerts for abducted children. For example in Arizona, Prescott eNews reported, "By broadcasting frequent public alerts, descriptions and other vital information in the crucial first hours after a child abduction, the Arizona AMBER Alert can enlist large numbers of citizens in an effort to recover the child as soon as possible. AMBER Alert notifications are supported by the AlertSense AMBER Alert Web Based System and the Emergency Alert System (EAS)"[10](archive.is)

Source: Wikipedia on New Life Children's Refuge

Pizzagate findings The online blog, Zerohedge.com, did a great objective writeup explaining this scandal. It is highly recommended.

Here is the abstract from Zerohedge.com, The Clinton-Silsby Trafficking Scandal And How The Media Attempted To Ignore/Cover It Up, by William Craddick, published on January 25th, 2017:[11][Archived Version]

Abstract:Contrary to reports in the media, the crowd sourced investigation labeled by some as "Pizzagate" did not begin with internet sleuths digging through the Wikileaks Podesta Files releases looking for pizza parlors and encoded language discussing human trafficking. It began with the shocking discovery that Hillary and [[Bill Clinton]] provided assistance to convicted child trafficker, Laura Silsby, resulting in a reduced sentence for child trafficking.Silsby was arrested at the Haitian border attempting to smuggle 33 children out of Haiti without documentation. Her sentence and charges were reduced after an intervention by [[Bill Clinton]]. In the aftermath of Silsby's arrest, her originally retained lawyer [[Jorge Puello]] was arrested in connection with an international smuggling ring accused of trafficking women and minors from Central America and Haiti. The revelation of this news in November was either ignored by the Western media or attacked by Clinton controlled publications.Attempt to abduct 33 children from Haiti Laura Silsby was caught and faced charges in 2010 for trying to abduct 33 children from Haiti, most of whom were not even orphans and had families. Ms. Silsby had claimed she originaly planned to build an orphanage in the Dominican Republic, but authorities in the country said she never submitted an application for this purpose. Silsby's organization instead located to Haiti after the earthquake in February 2010.[12][13]

Silsby's connections to the Clintons, which go back as far as 2001, may have influenced the outcome of her case. Three days after the arrival of Bill Clinton to Haiti following the earthquake, all charges of kidnapping were dropped against Ms. Silsby.[14]

Connection to Hillary Clinton Clintons negotiate to significantly lower charges for Laura Silsby Huma Abedin was constantly forwarding Hillary articles on Silsby's organization and its status leading up to the event: https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/2772

Then Bill Clinton arrived in Haiti three weeks after the earthquake in February 2010 and just days after Laura Silsby and the New Life Children's Refuge missionaries were arrested. Within one month he managed to convince the Haitian government that there had been no wrong-doing and the charges were dropped from kidnapping to "irregular air travel".[15] All the missionaries were immediately freed aside from Laura Silsby, who then served 4 months in Haitian jail.[16]

Further connections between Laura, the Clintons, and trafficking Jorge Puello, the attorney who represented Laura Silsby, was himself convicted as a sex trafficker[17]

An email in Wikileaks was uncovered from the State Department describing the costs to transport children which included religious rhetoric:

UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2014-20439 Doc No. C05766639 Date: 08/31/2015 ' For God to guide us to the children He wants us to bring to NLCR and for their physical, emotional and spiritual healingSource: WikiLeaks

Cheryl Mills, close attorney to the Clintons, was intimately involved in the press releases surrounding the United States portrayal of Silsby's arrest.[18][19] Silsby and the New Life Children's Refuge come up many times in the Clinton emails in fact.[20]

Hillary Clinton also contacted a lawyer regarding the 10 people who were arrested for their roles in the New Life Children's Refuge kidnapping case.[21]

Special thanks to Voat user @Look_See_Think

More info on this story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1249280/Haiti-earthquake-Missionaries-led-Laura-Silsby-accused-stealing-orphans.html

Connection to Max Maccoby and James Achilles Alefantis Special thanks to Voat user Sentastixc

Jorge Puello http://mobile.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/world/americas/16haiti.html[Archived Version]

July, 2009 - Laura Silsby and Charisa Coulter visit Dominican Republic and inquired about property in the northwestern village of Gaspar Hernandez, a known pedophile area. (Boston, [26])Nov, 2009 - Bill Clinton was scheduled to visit somebody at the NPH orphanage in Haiti, Friends of the Orphans, which is eventually revealed to be the orphanage that Laura Silsby was given children from. (Robin Forestal, [27])Dec 7, 2009 - Laura Silsby's $358,500 house gets foreclosed by the bank. (New York Times, [28])During late December, Laura Silsby and Charisa Coulter visited Haiti for a week to visit some orphanages. (Wall Street Journal, [30])Jan 12, 2010 - 7.3 magnitude earthquake hits 10 miles Southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. [32]The Friends of the Orphans building in Petionville, Fr. Wasson Center, collapses, and 4 volunteers, including orphanage volunteer Molly Hightower, die. (NPH, [33])Official reports show that it originally housed 450 children, indicating an unexplained disappearance of 100 children. (NPH, [35]) (Molly Hightower, [36])Coincidentally, this number matches Laura Silsby's documented mission statement to collect 100 orphans. [37]Jan 15, 2010 - Body of volunteer, Molly Hightower recovered from Fr. Wasson Center in Petionville.Jan 22, 2010 - (NLCR) New Life Children's Refuge team flies to Dominican Republic.Jan 23, 2010 - Team takes a bus from Santo Domingo into Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (New York Times, [38])Jan 24, 2010 - Laura Silsby meets Ms d'Adesky at Lino Hotel in Santo Domingo, and dismisses warnings about the need documentation. (Anne d'Adesky, [39])Jan 26, 2010 - A director at Friends of the Orphans meets Laura Silsby at the collapsed Fr. Wasson Center in Petionville and loads 40 orphans onto the bus. (Fox News, [40])A concerned citizen catches them in the act and reports to a police officer, who stops them and orders the children to get off the bus. Afterwards, he directs Laura Silsby to the Dominican embassy. (CNN, [41])Dominican Republic consul in Haiti warns Laura Silsby that without necessary documentation, her actions would be considered child-trafficking. (CNN, [42])Jan 27, 2010 - Laura Silsby visits Ouanaminthe and meets with pastor Jean Sainvil to discuss the next plan. (NY Daily News, [43])Jan 28, 2010 - Jean Sainvil approaches villages and convinces parents to hand over their children. (NY Daily News, [44])Jan 29, 2010 - Laura Silsby and missionaries arrested for trying to take 33 children out of Haiti. (Boston, [45])Jan 30, 2010 - Pastor Jean Sainvil hears of Laura Silsby's arrest, and leaves the country. (Wall Street Journal, [46])Feb, 2010 - Hillary Clinton and staff work with media on press release regarding the (NLCR) New Life Children's Refuge . (Wikileaks, [47], [48]) NLCR is brought up several times in Clinton emails. (Wikileaks, [49])Feb 5, 2010 - Bill Clinton flies into Port-au-Prince for the second time since the earthquake, to negotiate a solution. (United Nations (UN) , [50])Feb 7, 2010 - ''And I was just amazed to see she was down in Haiti, saying she was trying to save orphans. She never struck me as the do-gooder type,'' says neighbor Chris Wentzel. (The Sunday Telegraph, [51])March, 2010 - her attorney in these cases filed a motion to withdraw as her counsel [52] (name of attorney referencing?)2015 - Silsby married and took the last name Gayler [53] (source of date of marriage?)See also External links

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Thu, 30 Mar 2017 12:57

[See NewsBusters for more.] CBS This Morning on Monday offered a schizophrenic defense of ObamaCare, insisting that the plan is just fine. However, the solution to keep it from ''exploding'' is ''more subsidies and more regulations.'' Co-host Gayle King introduced Bloomberg journalist Shannon Pettypiece to do a ''reality check on some of the strongest GOP criticism.'' Pettypiece insisted, ''I think these predictions of ObamaCare's death spiral, from the reporting I have done, are greatly exaggerating the problem.'' Sure, she allowed, ''There are certain markets and there are certain people who are not doing well under this law.''

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Thu, 30 Mar 2017 12:55

Taking a break from tweeting against the President Donald Trump, comedian Sarah Silverman lashed out at a new target: ''evil'' banks and ''BIG OIL.''

"As long as my money is in a big bank, I am part of the problem,'' Silverman argued. ''And those banks are investing in big oil. They're scratching each other's balls.''

Why was Silverman so upset about banks? Because of the Dakota Access Pipeline. She railed against banks and oil companies in a March 18 video op-ed for Now This News. In it, she sympathized with fellow pipeline opponents who felt ''helpless'' because Trump recently approved construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Her version of events skewed predictably left and against the project, the company behind it and banks.

''Well they originally planned on putting it um, in like, this rich neighborhood'' Silverman argued ''and then the rich neighborhood said 'Fuck NO!' And then they were like 'Oh, Ok.''' She then blasted the banks and the company for putting it on ''sacred ground.''

She conveniently ignored the fact that the pipeline does not cross reservation land at all, and that the Army Corps of Engineers tried to discuss the route with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe about a dozen times over two years to hear concerns over its location, as the Daily Caller reported.

Silverman urged people to pull their money out of large banks, because banks invest in ''big oil,'' and instead told them to put their money into a non-profit credit union. ''Think about where you spend your money. Look it up. Google shit,'' she said.

Of course, she also threw in a dig at those skeptical of climate alarmism saying, ''if you are someone who still believes in science'' the pipeline would ''contribute to the climate change that is destroying the Earth.''

She portrayed Trump's decision to approve the pipeline as entirely self interested by saying he was invested in Energy Transfer Partners. Once agains she ignored information that would undermine her claims.

NBC reporter Jacob Pramuk reported Dec. 5, 2016, that Trump divested himself from the company. And even if he hadn't, Trump's investment was estimated at $15,000-$50,000, or worst case 0.001 percent of his $3.7 billion dollar net worth.

The liberal comedian is no stranger to controversial, political outbursts and often attacks the president on Twitter where 10.4 million people follow her.

In February, Silverman called for the overthrow of the Trump Administration tweeting, ''WAKE UP & JOIN THE RESISTANCE. ONCE THE MILITARY IS W US FASCISTS GET OVERTHROWN. MAD KING & HIS HANDLERS GO BYE BYE.''

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Thu, 30 Mar 2017 12:50

Barack Obama isn't even in office anymore but Democrats are still pining for their long lost savior.

Liberal commentator and former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus Angela Rye bemoaned this fact on Anderson Cooper 360 Monday night. After discussing Congressman Devin Nunes' comments about the investigation into Trump's wiretapping claims, Rye expressed outrage that the media wasn't talking about other issues, instead of talking about ''something that didn't happen.''

Read more on Newsbusters.

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Thu, 30 Mar 2017 11:57

This is stunningly interesting and hopefully will be picked up by MSM and congressional investigators.

Sometimes when a person is deep inside an echo-chamber of like-minded ideologues, they might not realize what they're saying is rather revealing to those on the outside. That's the set up for former Obama administration official Evelyn Farkas (Deputy Asst. Secretary of Defense) appearing on MSNBC and admitting first hand knowledge the Obama administration spied on candidate and president-elect Donald Trump's transition team to gather ''intelligence'' for political use.

It would appear Ms. Farkas was so caught up in the discussion, she didn't quite realize the significant admissions she was making about the Obama administration spying on Donald Trump's team and generating classified intelligence for Ms. Farkas (and others) to spread to Capitol Hill politicians. MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski recognized the 'oh-snap' admission and tried to play it off,'... but by then it was too late.

I was urging my former colleagues, and, and frankly speaking the people on the Hill [Democrat politicians], it was more actually aimed at telling the Hill people, get as much information as you can '' get as much intelligence as you can '' before President Obama leaves the administration.

Because I had a fear that somehow that information would disappear with the senior [Obama] people who left; so it would be hidden away in the bureaucracy, um, that the Trump folks '' if they found out HOW we knew what we knew about their, the Trump staff, dealing with Russians '' that they would try to compromise those sources and methods; meaning we no longer have access to that intelligence.

So I became very worried because not enough was coming out into the open and I knew that there was more. We have very good intelligence on Russia; so then I had talked to some of my former colleagues and I knew that they were also trying to help get information to [Democrat politicians].

But wait, it didn't just stop there. It gets worse '' or better, depending on your position.

With the help of MSNBC, simultaneous to her admission of first-hand specific knowledge of the administration spying on Mr. Trump, Ms. Evelyn Farkas outs herself as the key source for a New York Times report which discussed President Obama officials leaking classified information to media.

Considerable irony jumps to the forefront when you recognize, the New York Times tried to protect Evelyn Farkas as the source of their reporting by stating:

''More than a half-dozen current and former officials described various aspects of the effort to preserve and distribute the intelligence, and some said they were speaking to draw attention to the material and ensure proper investigation by Congress. All spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were discussing classified information, nearly all of which remains secret.'' (link)

D'oh.

Whoopsie.

Looks like Devin Nunes and the House Intelligence Committee has a new person to bring in for testimony. A positive development because at this rate the media leakers will out themselves without much need for investigation.

I wonder what the criminal penalties are for having access to intelligence and sharing it with Democrat politicians [''The Hill People''].

Question #1:

Who, specifically, are these ''Hill People'' you speak of Mrs. Farkas?Watch again . Longer version '' key moment at 04:50 [prompted ] Just hit play :

'... Evelyn Farkas has stated freely on TV that she and a group of associates from the Obama Administration went to congressional staffers who did not have access to these COMINT products and urged them to seek to gain access to them.

At some point in the recent past Farkas was de-briefed (cut off) from access to the various kinds of compartmented information she had been given as a requirement of her prior job. When that occurred she signed some papers in which she accepted the responsibility to protect the secrecy of that information. (link)

'... Evelyn Farkas is also a senior fellow of the Atlantic Council ''SEE HERE'' the Atlantic Council is funded in part by the US State Department, NATO, the governments of Latvia and Lithuania, the Ukrainian World Congress, and the Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk. The Atlantic Council has been among the loudest voices calling for a new Cold War with Russia

And guess who else is a senior fellow of the Atlantic Council? Dimitri Alperovitch '' the founder and CTO of CrowdStrike! Alperovitch is head honcho of the Atlantic Council's ''Cyber Statecraft Initiative''.

'... CrowdStrike, aka Dimitri Alperovitch was the organization that initially claimed they had evidence the Russians were connected to the Trump organization. A claim they have subsequently walked back '' SEE HERE

Combine all of these data-points and you discover that Evelyn Farkas was essentially part of a disinformation campaign with Obama insiders spreading a fake DNC constructed story using false information. However, in addition to pushing the false Trump Russian conspiracy narrative, Farkas has knowledge of the outcome of the original pushing of the narrative leading to actual surveillance of the Trump team.

This bolsters the information already presented by Devin Nunes that an entirely separate network of surveillance, unrelated to the Russian conspiracy story, was directly targeting the candidacy of Trump and the post-election surveillance of the President Elect Trump-transition team.

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Thu, 30 Mar 2017 05:33

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Thu, 30 Mar 2017 05:29

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer found himself in some hot water with the sensational liberal media following his nationally televised throwdown with reporter April Ryan, during Tuesday's press briefing. The turbulent exchange was noticed by failed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who railed against Spicer in a speech she was giving in Los Angeles, California. Clinton's rant seemed to entertain Don Lemon who played the clip for his panel on CNN Tonight, with one joyfully declaring ''Hillary Clinton is back!''

In her tirade Clinton tried to blame Spicer's action on sexism and racism:

April Ryan, a respected journalist with unrivalled integrity, was doing her job just this afternoon in the White House press room when she was patronized and cut off trying to ask a question. One of your own California congresswoman, Maxine waters was taunted with a racist joke about her hair. Now, too many women, especially women of color, have had a lifetime of practice taking precisely these kinds of indignities in stride. But why should we have to? And any woman who thinks this couldn't be directed at her is living in a dream world.

''And we're back to the campaign, it seems like,'' Lemon joked before begging Ryan to tell her side of the story, ''But seriously those are very strong words. What did you think of the Secretary's comments?''

...

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Thu, 30 Mar 2017 05:16

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Thu, 30 Mar 2017 05:04

On Wednesday's New Day on CNN, hosts Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota threw a pity party for reporter April Ryan, commiserating with her about how unfairly Trump treats the ''credible'' media, after her testy exchange with White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer Tuesday.

Read more on Newsbusters.

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Thu, 30 Mar 2017 04:58

See more in the cross-post on the NewsBusters blog.

Pot, meet kettle. On Tuesday's 11th Hour, MSNBC's serial liar Brian Williams complained that President Donald Trump was ''diminish[ing] our institutions'' by touting Fox News and turning attention away from the litany of Russia investigations. As if he and the media aren't in control of the news agenda, he also bemoaned the lack of coverage on Trump's environmental policies.

After spending a few minutes summarizing news about former Justice Department official Sally Yates and the House Intelligence Committee, Williams became unglued when highlighting a Trump tweet.

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Thu, 30 Mar 2017 04:55

***To read the full blog, please check out the complete post on NewsBusters***

In a clear effort to discredit President Donald Trump and keep Hillary Clinton clean, CBS Anchor Scott Pelley dismissed claims that the Clinton family received payments from Russia for American Uranium. ''Well, today, President Trump sewed confusion on the Russian investigation. He asked why the media are not covering, quote, 'Money from Russia to Clinton for the sale of uranium,''' he announced during CBS Evening News, ''Well, here's why: no credible source alleges that Hillary Clinton was paid by Russia for American uranium.''

But Pelley's bold assertion is highly misleading. It wasn't Hillary who was alleged to have been paid for the Uranium, it was her husband and the family foundation. And there was not one, but two credible sources who found those connections.

As many would remember, these assertions were brought up in the book Clinton Cash, which was written by Peter Schweizer. One of his earlier books, Throw Them All Out, opened the nation's eyes to how members of Congress take advantage of their insider knowledge and position to enrich themselves. The book was so successful that Congress was forced to pass bill limited that ability, even though they later removed it.

In addition to Schweizer, The New York Times spent considerable time looking into these claims and found them to be credible. The Times found that Uranium One's chairman used an intermediary organization to donate $2.35 million to the Clinton Foundation ''as the Russians gradually assumed control:''

And shortly after the Russians announced their intention to acquire a majority stake in Uranium One, Mr. Clinton received $500,000 for a Moscow speech from a Russian investment bank with links to the Kremlin that was promoting Uranium One stock.

...

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Thu, 30 Mar 2017 04:22

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Thu, 30 Mar 2017 00:03

The frontman behind one of England's most successful rock bands got candid on his thoughts about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

When NME asked The Who's Roger Daltrey for his opinion on President Donald Trump, he chose to focus on his looks over his political stance.

''His f--king haircut! He needs it cut and as my mother would say, 'wash your f--king mouth out,''' said the 73-year-old singer. ''On other pieces of politics, let's put it this way: when you say that middle America and the Democrats lost it, but Trump didn't really win it '-- because Democrats threw it away by putting [Hillary Clinton] up. A dead dog would have won it against [her], look at that.''

THE WHO ANNOUNCE NEW U.S. CANCER CHARITY

But Daltrey didn't just focus on American politics. He also spoke to NME about the impact of Brexit on his native England, adding that it is ''the right thing for the country to do.''

''We are getting out, and when the dust settles I think that it'll be seen that it's the right thing for this country to have done, that's for sure,'' he explained.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has started the formal process that will divorce the United Kingdom from the European Union, overturning four decades of integration with its neighbors.

While many disagree with the controversial move, Daltrey said it will help the country be better heard.

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''It's got nothing to do with any of the immigration issues or any of that for me,'' he explained. ''It was to do with much more. The majority of this country felt that their voices weren't being heard. It would have been nice to do a deal with Europe, but they didn't want to do a deal, and they sent [David] Cameron back with a bag.

''I'm sad we voted how we voted, but I think we have to go with it now,'' he added. ''This country will always be all right, I don't worry about it. You know it's going to be bumpy on the way '-- we expected that; the ones that voted to get out. But Iceland had it a bit bumpy when they went bankrupt, but oh not now.''

The Who is currently gearing up to perform at London's Royal Albert Hall for Teenage Cancer Trust from March 29th to April 2nd.

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Thu, 30 Mar 2017 00:00

United Airlines responded to criticism it received on Sunday after it barred two teenage girls from boarding a flight because they were wearing leggings.

The incident sent a number of social media users into an uproar, with some calling the policy sexist and discriminatory against women.

The story came to light after Shannon Watts, an activist who witnessed the exchange at an airport in Denver, tweeted about it early Sunday.

"A @united gate agent isn't letting girls in leggings get on flight from Denver to Minneapolis because spandex is not allowed?" she wrote on Twitter.

"A 10-year-old girl in gray leggings. She looked normal and appropriate. Apparently @united is policing the clothing of women and girls," she added in another tweet.

"We heard the gate agent say, 'You know, these aren't my rules. I just enforce them,'" Watts told ABC News. The two girls, who weren't identified, "looked very panicked," according to Watts.

Watts, a mother of five and the founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said of the apparent dress code prohibiting leggings, "To me, that seems like a pretty sexist policy."

A spokesman for United confirmed that two teenage passengers were told they could not board a flight from Denver to Minneapolis because their leggings "were not in compliance with dress code policy for company benefit travel," a program that lets United workers and their family members travel free on a standby basis.

"There are different rules for these privileges because people are flying for free," he said in an emailed statement Sunday.

United Airlines issued a dozen or so tweets in response to users who were upset about the incident.

United said the teens waited for the next flight and eventually got to travel under the benefit program. For "regular customers," the airline said in the statement, "leggings are welcome."

In one tweet, the company said it reserves the right to deny service to "passengers who are not properly clothed via our Contract of Carriage."

ABC News' Will Gretsky contributed to this report.

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Wed, 29 Mar 2017 22:55

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Tue, 28 Mar 2017 22:23

Sure, Chris. I can just imagine Ivanka Trump feeding a wayward White House staffer into a wood chipper feet first.

Via Washington Free Beacon:

MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews compared President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's kids on Monday night.

''Let me just say, you know, we kid,'' Matthews said. ''I kid about everything, but Uday and Qusay working for Saddam Hussein '' you couldn't go to a restaurant and have eye contact with those guys without getting killed. These people are really powerful. Imagine getting into a fight in the office with Jared or Ivanka, they have enormous power, and they're always gonna be there.''

Politico reporter Annie Karni responded that this is what worries her about Ivanka and Jared being top officials in the Trump White House.

''This is what I worry about for other people in the White House,'' Karni said. ''Ivanka Trump has been described as her father's eyes and ears on the ground. That's a little scary if you're just a regular White House staffer.''

Keep reading'...

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Tue, 28 Mar 2017 20:29

From Afghanistan to Libya, US Pentagon officials are increasingly concerned by mounting Russian military and diplomatic activity they believed is aimed at undermining the US and NATO.

Some of the actions Moscow is accused of participating in include sending operatives to support an armed faction in Libya and providing political legitimacy -- and maybe even supplies -- to the Taliban in Afghanistan. These moves come on top of their overt dispatching of warplanes and ships to target the political opponents of its ally in Syria.

"It is my view that they are trying to increase their influence in this critical part of the globe," Gen. Joseph Votel, who oversees US forces in the region, told the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month.

Military commanders and analysts see Moscow's efforts as aimed at taking advantage of the geopolitical turbulence in the Middle East to re-establish Russia as a major player in the region and by extension the world stage.

The Soviet Union maintained a substantial military presence there during the Cold War, propping up an array of anti-Western regimes to counterbalance American partners and extend its geopolitical sphere of influence.

But shifting alliances, including a rapprochement between the US and Egypt, as well as the collapse of the USSR in 1991 caused Russian troops to mostly depart the Middle East.

"Russia is certainly expanding its influence and trying to reestablish itself as a superpower," Bill Roggio of the Washington-based Foundation for the Defense of Democracies told CNN.

Russian imperialism?

Roggio, managing editor of The Long War Journal, said the efforts were a new form of "growing Russian imperialism" that were also intended to "undermine the US and NATO."

"What all these Kremlin actions show is that Putin cares more about dividing and undermining the West than anything else," Anna Borshchevskaya of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy told CNN.

In Afghanistan, US intelligence agencies once backed an insurgency aimed at ejecting Soviet troops in order to weaken an overextended Moscow. The Soviet Union's costly 1979 invasion of Afghanistan involved tens of thousands of ground troops and resulted in a damaging withdrawal in 1989 that many historians view as precipitating the fall of the USSR.

Now American military officers see a growing Russian effort to bolster the Taliban's legitimacy and undercut NATO's military effort there, seemingly disregarding the harsh lessons of its previous invasion -- or perhaps seeing a chance at ironic form of revenge for America's Cold War efforts.

America's top military officer in Europe, Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, said Thursday that Russia had increased its support to the Afghan Taliban, including potentially the provision of supplies.

"I've seen the influence of Russia of late, increased influence in terms of association and perhaps even supply to the Taliban," Scaparrotti told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Scaparrotti, who is also NATO's top military commander, did not specify what kind of war materiel the Russians might be supplying to the Taliban.

Moscow denied the accusation Friday.

Moscow: False claims

Zamir Kabulov, a Russian Foreign Ministry official, told Russian state media Ria Novosti, "It is an absolutely false claim, we have reacted to this multiple times. It doesn't deserve any reaction as these announcements are inventions, designed to justify the failure of the American political and military campaigns. We cannot find any other explanation."

Votel and the commander of international forces in Afghanistan, Gen. John Nicholson, have both previously said that Moscow is trying to undermine the government in Kabul and provide political legitimacy to the Taliban by saying the insurgent group was fighting ISIS, a notion that experts and NATO military officials reject.

Roggio said that while there had been reports of Russia arming the Taliban in the past, he called Scaparrotti's comments the "first significant" official remarks on the issue.

Of particular concern to US officials was a series of meetings held in Moscow in December concerning Afghanistan's future, which included neighboring countries with Taliban representatives reportedly on the sidelines but no representation from the internationally recognized government in Kabul.

Moscow's actions in Afghanistan in particular are seen as part of a bid to undermine NATO and to better their position in the case of a Taliban victory should the US withdraw from the country.

In Libya, US military intelligence has detected Russian forces at an airbase in far western Egypt close to the Libyan border, a deployment that US officials see as part growing Russian interference in that civil war-torn nation.

While the US would like to see the UN-backed Government of National Accord in the country's west prevail over, Russia has been reaching out to Gen. Khalifa Haftar, a military commander who exercises control over the country's east as well.

Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the commander of US troops in Africa, called Russian activities in Libya "very concerning" while appearing on Capitol Hill alongside Votel earlier in March.

"They are on the ground, they are trying to influence the action, we watch what they do with great concern," Waldhauser elaborated while speaking to reporters at the Pentagon Friday.

"In addition to the military side of this, we have seen some recent activities in business ventures, whether its oil, whether its weapons sales," he added.

It's a concern recently echoed by the NATO Deputy Secretary General, Rose Gottemoeller, who drew attention to Moscow's presence in Libya.

"I am very concerned about Russian forces seemingly gathering to influence the situation there. It troubles me very, very much," she told an audience in Brussels on Saturday.

Russia engages both sides in Libya

Russia has engaged repeatedly with Haftar, even going so far as to fly him out to a Russian air craft carrier for a formal visit. But the Kremlin also recently hosted the Prime Minister from the rival Government of National Accord.

"Russia is trying to exert influence on the ultimate decision of who becomes and what entity becomes in charge of the government inside Libya," Waldhauser said earlier this month, saying that Moscow was trying to replicate what it had achieved in Syria, where it has amassed considerable influence by being the military savior of the embattled regime.

Analysts see Moscow's support of secular strongmen in Syria and Libya while simultaneously offering some support to the Taliban in Afghanistan and working with Iran in Syria as indicative of Russia's willingness to forgo ideology as it seeks to expand its influence.

Borshchevskaya of the Washington Institute, who focuses on Russia's role in the Middle East, added that Moscow appears particularly interested in the Mediterranean, and through its diplomatic efforts and stationing of military assets, is seeking to boost its presence there, as it's traditionally been a stronghold of NATO.

But faced with an economy battered by low oil prices and international sanctions over its actions in Ukraine, Russia interventions are being waged largely on the cheap.

Outside of Syria, Moscow has largely avoided a robust military intervention, preferring clandestine aid and diplomatic maneuvers.

"Putin appears quite cognizant of his limitations and is avoiding a second Afghanistan scenario for Russia," Borshchevskaya said.

The less ambitious involvement, according to Roggo, means that, "For now it appears to be costs they can absorb."

And experts see Moscow's actions as taking advantage of what Putin viewed as a US pull back from the region following Washington's decision to not intervene in the Libyan or Syrian civil wars and its drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Broadly speaking, Putin has been stepping into vacuums wherever the West retreated," Borshchevskaya, said.

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Tue, 28 Mar 2017 18:20

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Tue, 28 Mar 2017 18:18

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Tue, 28 Mar 2017 18:17

Throughout the day today liberal media have been trying to make a controversy over House Intel Committee Chairman Devin Nunes visiting the White House on the day prior to his press conference revealing surveillance of Trump transition team members.

The implication of the MSM reporting was that Nunes was in cahoots with the Trump administration. However, Nunes has explained that the visit to the White House facility was needed because the databases of intelligence are ''compartmented''.

Meanwhile, CNN's insufferable agenda-driven Wolf Blitzer tries to get Chairman Nunes to break the rules and say too much about confidential material. Blitzer is literally trying to compromise Nunes during his broadcast. Quite stunning '' SEE VIDEO:

.

Beyond Blitzer trying to dig up information on behalf of those who are at risk from Chairman Nunes, it becomes obvious CNN is trying to signal to the Obama leakers within the aggregate intelligence community and provide them information they can use to defend themselves from further investigation.

All intelligence information is viewed within a SCIF, a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility. The originating entity for the intel information is the proprietary host for their intelligence within their database. The databases are not connected. The SCIF in congress does not contain the same information as the SCIF in the executive (or any other intelligence community).

The congressional oversight committee asks each Intel Agency to transmit their originating intel to the congressional SCIF. The NSA has been cooperative in complying with the Intel Committee's requests to share the NSA database of their information. The FBI has NOT been cooperative in sending their proprietary originating intelligence information to Congress or the Intel Committee.

Obviously the information Nunes needed to see (Eisenhower building SCIF) related to the executive office (Obama administration) and their coordination with the FBI (Dept. of Justice). Hence, only the executive office SCIF database would hold the information because the FBI was/is refusing to send it to the House Intel Committee.

The reality of James Comey actively working to the benefit of the Obama White House is becoming increasingly obvious.

In the segment of the questioning below Rep. Stefanik begins by asking director Comey what are the typical protocols, broad standards and procedures for notifying the Director of National Intelligence, the White House and senior congressional leadership (aka the intelligence Gang of Eight), when the FBI has opened a counter-intelligence investigation.

The parseltongue response from Comey is a generalized reply (with uncomfortable body language) that notification of counter-intel investigations are discussed with the White House, and other pertinent officials, on a calendar basis, ie. ''quarterly''.

With the statement that such counter-intel notifications happen ''generally quarterly'', and against the backdrop that Comey stated in July of 2016 a counter-intel investigation began, Stefanik asks:

'...''when did you notify the White House, the DNI and congressional leadership''?BOOM! Watch an extremely uncomfortable Director James Comey outright LIE'... by claiming there was no active DNI -which is entirely false- James Clapper was Obama's DNI.

.

Watch it again.

Watch that first 3:00 minutes again. Ending with:

'...''Because of the sensitivity of the matter'' ~ James Comey

Director Comey intentionally obfuscates knowledge of the question from Rep Stefanik; using parseltongue verbiage to get himself away from the sunlit timeline.

The counter-intel investigation, by his own admission, began in July 2016. Congress was not notified until March 2017. That's an eight month period '' Obviously obfuscating the quarterly claim moments earlier.

The uncomfortable aspect to this line of inquiry is Comey's transparent knowledge of the politicized Office of the DNI James Clapper by President Obama.

The first and second questions from Stefanik were clear. Comey's understanding of the questions was clear. However, Comey directly evaded truthful response to the second question. When you watch the video, you can see Comey quickly connecting the dots on where this inquiry was going.

There is only one reasonable explanation for FBI Director James Comey to be launching a counter-intel investigation in July 2016, notifying the White House and Clapper, and keeping it under wraps from congress. Comey was a participant in the intelligence gathering for political purposes '' wittingly, or unwittingly.

As a direct consequence of this mid-thought-stream Comey obfuscation, it is now clear -at least to me- that Director Comey was using his office as a facilitating conduit for the political purposes of the Obama White House.

RESEARCH LINK

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Source: Washington Free Beacon

Tue, 28 Mar 2017 18:14

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Tue, 28 Mar 2017 15:38

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Tue, 28 Mar 2017 15:28

The supply of US dollars has slowed during early 2017 with February's year-over-year percentage increase hitting a 17-month low of 7.7 percent. Monthly year-over-year growth rates in the money supply have been falling each month since October.

Over the past eight months or so, money supply growth rates have become somewhat volatile with the growth rate surging from 6.7 percent in late 2017 up to 11.3 percent by late 2016, and down again to under 8 percent by February of this year.

This recent period of volatility comes after a long period of relatively sedate and consistent growth in the money supply through most of 2013, 2014, and 2015.

The "Austrian" money supply measure (AMS) used here is a measure of the money supply pioneered by Murray Rothbard and Joseph Salerno and is designed to provide a better measure than M2. The Mises Institute now offers regular updates on this metric and its growth.

The "Austrian" measure of the money supply differs from M2 in that it includes treasury deposits at the Fed (and excludes short time deposits, traveler's checks, and retail money funds).

Since 2014, money supply growth has ranged from about 7 percent to 8.5 percent. In October of last year, money supply growth hit a seven-year low of 6.8 percent, although this proved not to be an indication of any new trend.

February's drop to a 7.7 percent year-over-year growth rate shows a return to the sort of growth that has been common in recent years.

Recent variations in growth rates in AMS '-- compared to M2 '-- is being driven partly by historically large increases and decreases in treasury deposits at the Fed. The federal government has become increasingly liquid in recent years, with unusually large amounts of spend-ready dollars available. Looking at total deposits at the fed, for example, we can see that until recently, totals had reached well beyond what has been seen in the past:

As of February there were 269 billion dollars in deposits at the Fed, which is a decrease of 1.7 percent from February 2016. Deposits nevertheless remain at a relatively high level. This follows a long period of sizable increases in Treasury deposits which can be seen in the graph below:

Since December, however, treasury deposits began to fall quickly, and if we look at a similar measure that is available weekly '-- namely, "Deposits at the Federal Reserve other than reserve balances" '-- we find that totals have dropped to their lowest point in a year:

This appears to have affected our overall measure of money supply and is helping to push down money supply growth.

What have treasury deposits been disappearing so quickly? David Stockman theorizes it is the result of political posturing.

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Tue, 28 Mar 2017 15:26

The Russian military's new Zircon missile will reportedly be able to travel at five to six times the speed of sound, using a state of the art engine called a "scramjet".

Naval sources fear it would have a devastating impact on any ship it strikes.

Tim Ripley, defence analyst at Jane's Defence Weekly, told 5 live's Phil Williams that for ''the past 25 years the West has had military supremacy'', but now ''the Russians are developing very potent weapons''.

He warns the UK could be ''dead meat'' if it doesn't keep up.

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Tue, 28 Mar 2017 06:17

dinsdag 28 maart 2017, 7:43Er komen anderhalf miljard nieuwe 1-pond munten in de omloop. Niet vanwege de Brexit maar door de Amsterdamse valsemunter Patrick O.

Gerelateerde artikelenMeer artikelen in Nieuws2016 Telegraaf Media Nederland | Landelijke Media B.V. Amsterdam. Alle rechten voorbehouden.

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Tue, 28 Mar 2017 06:14

5556277

On Monday's episode of ''The View,'' amid a discussion of President Trump's use of Fox News as a source of information, Whoopi Goldberg launched into a tirade against the country's most popular cable news network, comparing it unfavorably to her talk show.

''We talk about our opinions. We will check stuff, and make sure that we're not passing false information, and if we do we say, 'Hey, I was wrong.' Fox News doesn't do that very often.''

The show's conservative co-host Jedediah Bila, who used to work for Fox News, was quick to remind Goldberg that the channel took Judge Andrew Napolitano off the air after Trump repeated Napolitano's allegation that Britain had spied on Trump Tower at Obama's behest, and multiple personalities on the network criticized his comments.

Joy Behar touted false information on ''The View'' just a few days before.

Follow Mike on Twitter

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Tue, 28 Mar 2017 05:40

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