Neighbors Visualization

By Rich Phillips CNN Senior Producer SARASOTA, Florida (CNN) -- Gary Meringer pulled out of his driveway in his red sedan on a rainy Florida morning. He headed south towards a federal detention center two hours away to visit Youssef Megahed. Jury foreman Gary Meringer (left) meets with Youssef Megahed's father, Samir, outside the detentention center. Meringer was apprehensive, unsure of what he would say to a man with whom he'd spent a month in the same room, but had never met. Meringer was the foreman on the jury that set Megahed free. But, three days after Megahed was acquitted of charges of possessing and transporting explosives, he was arrested again. This time, the U.S. government wants him deported, based on evidence authorities say suggests the Egyptian-born Megahed is a terrorist, in violation of his immigration status. "We never expected anything like this," said Megahed, reached by phone at the detention center in Moore Haven, Florida. Neither did his jury foreman. "I saw the story about the re-arrest, and it literally just took the air right out of my chest," Meringer said. "I could not believe what my eyes were seeing." Before he left home, Meringer sat in his backyard with his 10-year-old daughter, Rachel. They talked about what he should say when he meets Megahed. Meringer told the child he hoped to deliver this message: "People care about him and are rooting for him and hope things work out for the best," adding, "Other than that, I don't know what I'm going to say to him." "Just let him know that there are people out in the world who love him and care about him," Rachel said. The Muslim community, the jurors and the Megahed family say they believe that Youssef Megahed is a victim of profiling. They hope President Obama will intervene. Earlier in June, in his speech to the Muslim world, Obama called for an end to what he called the "cycle of suspicion." "This is like a great starting point for the Obama administration to translate their speech and their vision, into some reality here in the U.S.," said Yahia Megahed, Youssef's brother. Megahed came to the United States from Egypt in 1998 as a legal immigrant when he was 12. His problems started two years ago when, as an engineering student at the University of South Florida, he went on a road trip with a new friend, Ahmed Mohamed. The men were pulled over on a highway, near Charleston, South Carolina, for speeding. Police say they searched their vehicle and found PVC pipe with potassium nitrate inside, along with detonator cord inside one of Mohamed's bags. The government said the materials were "low explosives." Mohamed said they were materials for homemade model rockets. Youssef Megahed claimed he did not know that the materials were in the car. A search of Mohamed's laptop computer found research concerning rockets and propellants and how to manufacture them, as well as information about Qassam rockets -- crude rockets used by terrorists in the Middle East, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors also had a video, made and narrated by Mohamed, in which he demonstrates how to outfit a model car with explosives. He posted it on "YouTube." Mohamed pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists and is serving a 15-year prison sentence. However, Megahed went to trial and was found not guilty on two charges of possession and transportation of explosives. He was later set free. "I'm very happy with this," he said, smiling to reporters after his acquittal. Jurors later said they believed that Megahed did not know the "low explosives" were in the car. Gary Meringer and the other 11 jurors deliberated for over three days in U.S. district court in Tampa before reaching their unanimous verdict. "We were all waiting for a shoe to drop, for some kind of a case to be made....so, after two weeks, it seemed to me there was no case, and nothing for us to decide," Meringer said. "This case never should have seen the light of day in a courtroom." Megahed left the courthouse on Friday, April 3, ready to resume his life and his studies. He and his family spent the weekend at the beach at Fort DeSoto, Florida. Three days later, federal agents surrounded him, and his father, Samir, as they left a Wal-mart store near their home in Tampa and he was arrested again. "They surround us....I'm in shock. They didn't give us a chance to speak to somebody to know what was going on," said Samir Megahed. "I try to open the telephone, but they didn't allow me," he said. Megahed is now being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, as someone ICE says is "engaged or likely to become engaged in ... terrorist activity" even though he has never been criminally charged with terrorism . ICE will present an immigration judge with the very same facts that led to Megahed's acquittal in the criminal case. In immigration court, the burden of proof is significantly less. The evidence, from a search of the computer at his family's home, includes "numerous videos, documents and an Internet search history that supports Islamic extremism, jihad against the United States...," ICE alleged in court documents. If found guilty, Megahed will be deported. CNN requested an on-camera interview with Megahed, but ICE would not allow it. "Because of the national security implications of this case, ICE cannot allow the use of recording devices during in-person interviews with Mr. Megahed," spokesman Richard Rocha said in an e-mail. Instead, CNN conducted a phone interview with Megahed from the Glades County Detention Center, near Lake Okeechobee. "I feel this is double jeopardy because the same allegations here are the same allegations that was there, in the court, in the trial," he said. Megahed was asked, "Are you a terrorist?" "I would say this is a false allegation," Megahed responded. "Baseless. And I go to court to fight those allegations again." ICE spokeswoman Nicole Navas said in response: "He will have the opportunity to present the facts of his case before an immigration judge." This is not the first time the government has gone to immigration court as a last resort after failing to win a criminal prosecution. "The government doesn't use this a lot, but I think this is an arrow in the quiver that needs to stay because there are those cases where the government needs to do everything in its power to keep us safe, from some of those same individuals," said former U.S. Attorney Guy Lewis. "In one context, the real question is, are you going to jail for a long period of time. The other context is, are you going to get to live among us," Lewis said. But Youssef's father says it's pure discrimination against Muslims. "They didn't want us to live here. And because he wins the case, they want to destroy him completely," Samir Megahed said. At the detention center, Gary Meringer pulled his red sedan into the parking lot. He had two hours in the car to figure out what he's going to say to the man he judged in court. The Megahed family awaits at the prison entrance. They greet Meringer warmly. He shakes hands with Samir Megahed, the father. "Good to meet you after all this time. God bless," Meringer said. The juror and the former defendant meet with a plate of glass between them. They talk over a phone hook-up. The conversation is recorded by the prison. It is over in 15 minutes. "He did complain about the quality of the food and the laundry," Meringer said, smiling. "I told him... I was out here rooting for him, that he would get justice at the end of the day, and not to lose hope, not to give up, to hang in there." A spiritual man, Meringer said he was grateful he could find the words to communicate with Megahed. He believes God put him in this position for a reason. "I had to listen to my heart ... I can't say I don't want to get involved or I may get audited," he said. "I would have walked down here to talk to him," he said with a smile. "I want this kid to get a fair shake ... It was clear to me that I was talking to a fairly depressed individual, fairly depressed kid." Meringer says he plans on visiting Megahed again, before his case is heard in August. He hopes his case will also be heard in Washington. From his prison phone, Megahed said: "If President Obama wants to talk about change, he should look first inside the U.S. before talking about change worldwide."

A Missouri woman who voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election now says she's "ashamed to be an American" after her daughter-in-law was recently deported. Speaking to the Associated Press this week, Shirley Stegall said that she expected Trump to deport only criminals, not her son's wife, Letty. "I've always been proud to be an American," Stegall said. "But now I'm ashamed." Letty Stegall came to the U.S. illegally in 1999 and was living with her husband and her 17-year-old daughter from a past marriage. In February, Letty was arrested by ICE, six years after she was convicted on a misdemeanor drunk driving charge -- a record that apparently put her on ICE's radar. According to the AP, she won a stay of deportation four days after her arrest, but ICE already had her on a flight to Brownsville, Texas, where she was told to cross back over to Mexico by foot. She could be barred from entering the U.S. for up to 10 years, although her marriage to a U.S. citizen could allow her to return in 2 years. In an appearance on CNN this Wednesday, Shirley Stegall was asked by anchor Don Lemon if she still supports President Trump in light of Letty's deportation. "Absolutely not," she replied. "No way." "What do you want to say to him and his supporters?" Lemon asked. "They need to have an open mind and think if this happened to one of their family members, what it would be to go through what we're going through," she replied. "And one comment I would like to really say is our Pledge of Allegiance, at the end of it, says 'for liberty and justice for all.' It doesn't say liberty and justice for you, for me, for our neighbors -- it says for all, and I feel we have not had justice." Watch the segment below, via Don Lemon CNN : "I feel like I betrayed my daughter-in-law." Woman says she regrets voting for Donald J. Trump after her daughter-in-law was deported to Mexico Posted by Don Lemon CNN on Wednesday, July 25, 2018 Featured image via screen grab

(Photo: Sara May) A group of boys plays on the Mexican side at the Sasabe, Ariz., crossing gate. Sasabe is one of the lowest-volume crossings along the border, and U.S. guards have developed a friendship with their young neighbors on the other side of the fence. One of the boys rides a bike purchased for him by a U.S. officer who has also sponsored the boy's education. (Photo: Sara May) Recently deported men drink cups of steamed rice milk on a Sunday morning at the Nogales bus station. The owner of the bus company uses the depot as a base from which to provide daily free breakfasts and showers for deportees whom U.S. officials have dropped off at the station. The breakfasts drew 30 to 40 people each day we visited , ranging from mothers with small children to men deported directly from U.S. federal penitentiaries, still wearing their prison denim. (Photo: Sara May) A deported woman contemplates her options. She had been living in the U.S. for years with an abusive boyfriend who was eventually arrested and sentenced to 25 to life for murder. Soon after, her mother died. In the aftermath, she was arrested for drunk driving and spent 15 months in a U.S. detention facility. (Photo: Sara May) (Photo: Sara May) Across the street from the border fence on a main thoroughfare in Nogales, Mexico, bullet holes mar the wall of a medical clinic near where 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez was fatally shot by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers firing from the U.S. side. The shooting was reportedly in response to the young man's throwing stones at an officer on the other side of the fence, though witnesses maintain the teen was simply walking past while others were throwing rocks. According to a report on Fusion , the Mexican medical examiner found that eight bullets struck the teen when he was already on the ground. The autopsy showed that he was shot twice in the head, and most of the bullets hit him from behind. (Photo: Sara May)

Jurors in San Francisco reached a surprise verdict Thursday night in a case that grabbed national headlines and sparked heated debate over sanctuary cities. Jose Ines Garcia Zarate was found not guilty of the most serious charges against him in the 2015 shooting of Kate Steinle on a San Francisco pier. Jurors acquitted Zarate, an illegal immigrant, of murder and involuntary manslaughter but found him guilty of possession of a firearm by a felon. The prosecution said the shooting was intentional, but the defense successfully argued it was an accident. Zarate, a Mexican national, was in the country illegally after being deported from the United States five times. San Francisco authorities released him from jail about three months before the shooting after the city denied federal requests to hold him for deportation. The defendant's lawyers called the verdict a vindication for immigrant rights. President Donald Trump has often cited the Steinle case as evidence of the need for stronger immigration laws. "A disgraceful verdict in the Kate Steinle case!" Trump tweeted Thursday. "No wonder the people of our Country are so angry with Illegal Immigration." Read more from The Sift Share this article with friends.

A Florida sheriff interrogated a man who was hit by a car about his immigration status before getting him medical assistance, Univision reports . The incident was captured on police body cameras. Marcos Antonio Huete, a 31-year-old Honduran immigrant, was hit by a pickup truck while heading to work in Key West in late April. "You illegal? Are you a legal citizen or no? Speak English? You got ID? Passport, visa, or what? a Monroe County sheriff asks in the video. Huete gives one-word answers then calls his sister, who comes to the scene. He was eventually treated for injuries. Huete was sent to the Krome Detention Center near Miami hours after the incident. He's been held there for a month in detention, and may be deported. His sister, Olga Huete, said he was told to return to the scene of the accident after he left the hospital: "He did not tell us why, but we went back because my brother had not done anything. We had no reason to flee." He was reportedly fined $75 by a Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FHP) officer for causing the accident. He was accused of obstructing/hindering traffic. Huete's injuries were listed as "possible," and police found the driver who hit him, a 45-year-old Key West woman wasn't responsible. When they returned to the scene, Border Patrol agents wanted to see his papers, and he was detained. showed up and asked to see Huete's papers, suspecting him of being undocumented. Olga Huete her brother shouldn't be treated like this just because he's undocumented. She said the woman who hit him got off, "as if it was nothing." "The fact that we do not have papers does not mean that we do not have rights," she said. (image via Univision screengrab)

Comedy actor Seth Rogen can make almost any story sound funny, but it helps when you have great material to work with. One personal story he told... A mom shared a photo on Instagram in which she is nursing her three year old daughter. The mom reveals she is an extended nurser, and her older... A little boy who was having a meltdown at school collapsed in a heap on the floor. The boy sat with his back against the wall and his head in his... There was a time when people kept photo albums for their precious memories. Now, we have Instagram. One young couple on a date at a football game... A Missouri couple has been arrested after it was discovered that they kept four children locked up in plywood boxes for weeks. The children were... A father was sentenced to 75 years in prison for sexually abusing his daughter. The 12-year-old perished in a house fire with her 16-year-old... A North Carolina man is feeling vindicated after successfully suing his wife's lover. The wife was having an illicit affair with another man... Angelina Jolie filed papers with court on Tuesday alleging that her estranged husband hasn't paid any 'meaningful' child support since the couple... A flight cleaning crew in LaGuardia Airport in New York were shocked on Tuesday morning when they discovered a dead fetus on an American Airlines... A woman who worked in a Mexican restaurant more than 20 years ago stole from her boss. She has carried a guilty conscience ever since, and finally... (c)2014-2017 AllThatsFab All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of AllThatsFab terms of service and privacy policy. The material on this site is for informational and entertainment purposes only. (c)2017 B3 Media

Pollinators are under huge amounts of stress, struggling to survive as habitats are destroyed, systemic pesticides are applied to crops, and climate change throws off once-reliable weather patterns. Now, a new bill hopes to give these essential insects and animals a boost. The bill , introduced Thursday by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), would increase funding and improve cooperation among federal agencies that are working on getting pollinator numbers back up. If signed into law, the bill would set a goal for the USDA and other agencies of conserving, restoring, or enhancing 3 million acres of forage habitat -- i.e. fields of flowering plants and shrubs -- a step towards the goal of 7 million acres of pollinator habitat set by the White House in 2014. It would also create more financial incentives for farmers to plant bee-friendly plants -- including wildflowers, sunflowers, buckwheat, and native grasses -- and using natural predators, instead of pesticides, to ward off pests. And it would create grant opportunities to fund programs that monitor pollinator health and numbers. "It's easy to forget about the critical role pollinators play in our food systems," Merkley said in a statement. "But if we're not careful, we will only realize their importance when it's too late and our agricultural industry has been decimated by their disappearance. Let's take action now instead." Merkley is right: Pollinators play an essential part in getting food on the plates of Americans -- and people around the world. According to a report released earlier this year , 75 percent of global food crops depend on pollination, and $235-$577 billion worth of these crops are affected by pollinators every year. Some crops depend on highly specialized pollinators, and would cease to exist without them: The chocolate midge , for instance, is the only insect that can pollinate the cacao plant. In the United States, much of the pollination of commercial crops is done by honeybees, which are trucked around the country to pollinate crops such as cauliflower, broccoli, raspberries, and almonds. But honeybees have had a rough time over the last several years: U.S. beekeepers lost 44 percent of their honeybee colonies between April 2015 and April 2016, losses that are far above the 18 or so percent that beekeepers say is economically viable, but that have become the norm in recent years. Scientists say multiple stressors are causing these losses in honeybee numbers, including pesticides -- notably the widely-used, systemic neonicotinoids -- the varroa mite and the deformed wing virus it spreads, and lack of healthy foraging ground. These problems facing honeybees -- and the similar threats facing wild pollinators, including monarch butterflies, native bees, birds, and bats -- have drawn calls by activists, business owners , and members of Congress to protect pollinators by restricting or banning the use of neonicotinoids, which are sprayed on crops around the country and which have been found to be harmful to bees in large enough concentrations. This week in particular -- dubbed National Pollinator Week by the USDA and Department of Interior -- has been a major one for pollinator activists. On Wednesday, Minnesota beekeeper James Cook parked a truck full of millions of dead bees outside of the Environmental Protection Agency, a stop that marked the end of the bus's country-wide tour. He and other activists also delivered a 4-million-signature petition to the EPA, urging the agency to ban neonicotinoids and other bee-harming pesticides. Protesters rally outside the EPA on Wednesday, June 22, 2016. CREDIT: COURTESY OF FRIENDS OF THE EARTH The Keep the Hives Alive tour truck arrives at the EPA, carrying millions of dead bees. CREDIT: COURTESY OF FRIENDS OF THE EARTH And on Thursday, native bees also got a bit of a boost. Photographer Clay Bolt, who specializes in bee and other insect photography, along with Days Edge Productions, released A Ghost in the Making , a 19 minute-long film about Bolt's quest to find, photograph, and ultimately protect the rare rusty-patched bumblebee. The bee is facing threats similar to those affecting the commercial honey bee, and in fact, commercial bees themselves are likely a major threat to the rusty-patched, as they may be spreading diseases to their wild cousins. Along with the film, which you can watch here , invertebrate conservation group the Xerces Society has launched a petition to get the rusty-patched bumblebee on the Endangered Species List. The bee, whose numbers have declined 87 percent in the last 15 years, would become the first bee in the United States to gain protection under the Act. "We are, I think, uniquely in the history of the human species blind and deaf to signals that nature is giving us that things are going haywire," Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said at a briefing on pollinators Wednesday, where a shortened version of the movie was shown. "We need to learn to pay attention." Katie Valentine is a Special Assistant for ThinkProgress. Previously, she interned with American Progress in the Energy department, doing research on international climate policy and contributing to Climate Progress. Katie graduated from the University of Georgia in May 2012 with a bachelor of arts in journalism and a minor in ecology. While in school, she wrote for UGA's student newspaper, The Red & Black, and was a contributing editor for UGAzine. She also interned at Creative Loafing, Points North, and in UGA's Office of Sustainability.

How do hedgehogs mate? Noisily. Males are attracted by a female's scent and they enjoy a prolonged and noisy courtship. Females are left to raise their young alone. Youngsters are called hoglets. Litters range from two of six youngsters who stay in the nest for six weeks before wandering off. They are great friend's of the gardener, eating a huge numbers of pests such as slugs. A hedgehog can walk up to two miles in a night on the lookout for food. Hedgehog numbers have decreased alarmingly over the past few decades, declining from an estimated 36 million the 1950s to fewer than a million today. Pesticides, loss of habitat and being killed crossing roads have all played a part in the hedgehog's demise. You can help hedgehogs by supporting the British Hedegehog Preservation Society. See www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk /

Robert Redford, Kevin Spacey, Edward Norton, and other actors narrate a series of videos released Monday by Conservation International designed to send a blunt message about humans' impact on the planet: "Nature doesn't need people. People need nature." Designed by advertising legend Lee Clow, who cocreated Apple's seminal " 1984 " commercial, the Nature Is Speaking videos debuted Monday morning at the opening of the SXSW Eco conference . The initial six videos are gorgeous montages of oceans, forests, and deserts delivered alongside a message that isn't so pretty. The videos will be shown on Virgin America flights, Starwood Resorts will feature them on its hotel television network, and Pearl Jam will run the series at concerts, as will the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Nature Is Speaking also will be featured at the United Nations climate change conference in Lima, Peru, in December.

The worst affected bird is the pied flycatcher which cannot easily adapt to Britain's changing climate because it migrates here from Africa. Dr Karl Evans, at University of Sheffield's animal and plant sciences department, said: "Our work suggests as springs warm in the future less food is likely to be available for chicks of insectivorous woodland birds unless evolution changes their timing of breeding." Conservationists have long warned that climate change could affect the rearing of chicks by getting nesting out of sync with the seasons. Dr Malcolm Burgess of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said: "Forests have a short peak in caterpillar abundance and some forest birds time their breeding to coincide with the time when their chicks are hungriest. "As migratory birds, they're not in the UK in winter and so less able to respond to earlier spring weather." Researchers at the RSPB and the Universities of Exeter and Edinburgh analysed when chicks of blue and great tits and pied flycatchers hatched based on records from the British Trust for Ornithology.

- Advertisement - Tardigrades are a phylum of organism, near the limit of visibility, some fraction of a millimeter long. They are adapted to every environment on earth, can survive at the bottom of an ocean or the top of a mountain. They can dehydrate and go into suspended animation for a month at a time. They have been found in clouds and in hot springs and in the coldest places we know. They have been around since the first multi-celled animals, about 500 million years ago, and they are likely to still be around 500 million years from now. In fact, they are so hardy that people who believe life came to earth from elsewhere, hitchhiking on meteors, cite tardigrades as a possible seed organism from space. Tardigrades have their own phylum, which means that they are not closely related to insects or to worms or spiders or hydras--they're tardigrades. Tardigrade ( Image by Live Science) Permission Details DMCA No eyes and a roto-rooter mouth--not too pretty, but hey--what do you imagine they think of us?

In The Wild in You: Voices From the Forest and the Sea , photographer Ian McAllister and poet Lorna Crozier offer up a vision of the world that will soothe even the most stressed-out urbanite--unless that city dweller is turned off at the sight of a sea otter, puffin, or gray wolf. The compact book pairs photographs of wildlife inhabiting North America's Pacific coast rainforest with original poetry that seeks to understand the world from a wild animal's point of view. In less-skilled hands, the results could have been saccharine. But Crozier and McAllister succeed. The photos are engaging, the poems flavored with some of the mythological meanings that many human generations have layered onto the Pacific coast landscape and its inhabitants. A clear-eyed affection for the region comes through in their dedication: "For the bears and the salmon, the trees and the wolves, and those who work to save them." 0 of 0

Who we are and what we are doing: Warwick N.Y. had a thin Blue Line down Railroad Avenue to memorialize the dramatic increase in Police Officer assassinations. The Law enforcement community was very touched that the Mayor put it there. For the fine Officers who are routinely spit upon, cursed at and disrespected, and are now being ambushed and assassinated at unprecedented rates, this gesture truly warmed our hearts. A few radical Leftists in town began to grumble. On the internet they "discovered" that the George-Soros funded agitator group Black Lives Matter considered painted Blue Lines to be "racist" (as is most everything to them). At first, the Mayor justified his position and diplomatically brushed them off. Then they organized a petition which claimed that the line "made them feel unsafe." (Every time I write this I can't help but marvel at the absurdity of these people.) We quickly launched a counter-petition to keep the Blue Line and immediately overwhelmed their petition numbers by 400%. Yet, in a sad miscalculation, the Mayor quickly altered the line to include a red and white stripe before the Village board meeting. The Mayor thought he could resolve the issue this way. He was very wrong. The Police and Fire community have been watching Black Lives Matter very closely for almost 2 years. BLM blames the police for the warzones that many inner cities are. At BLM rallies and on their tweets you will see and hear the most vitriolic, anti-police language. Calls for the outright deaths of Police have been launched all over Twitter. Though the media will never connect the dots between BLM and the increase in police assassinations, the connection has been obvious to us in Law Enforcement. Do these ideologues not know that many valiant and courageous African American Police Officers have died as well? This is not Black vs. Blue issue. This is Anarchists vs. Law & Order. When the few radical Leftists here in Warwick cited BLM as the intellectual basis from which they wanted the Blue Line removed, we were horrified. This Blue Line was not political. They made it a political issue. They injected their warped notions of "social justice" into our beautiful, small village. They projected their grotesque agenda onto a simple gesture of gratitude and support. Without question, Black Lives Matter has the blood of Police Officers' on its hands. This is a truth that you can verify with those in Law Enforcement. Talk to us. And when BLM reared its vile strain of rhetoric here, in Warwick (a community filled with the families of Police and Firefighters) and demand that the simple commemoration to fallen Police Officers be removed, we were incensed! The very group responsible for this horrendous climate of police targeting is now telling us how we can mourn our dead! We, the Conservative backbone of this town, will not take this laying down. We are the majority and we are strong. On principle, we demand the return of the Blue Line and nothing less. The police and fire families, and their friends, have declared "No Surrender" and "No Retreat." Nor can we give BLM any quarter here. They are hateful, George Soros-funded agitators who dwell in lies, distort facts, and are directly responsible for the murder of Cops. Period. We will protest, we will spread the word. We will bring the Blue Line back!

The Black Live's Matter movement is extremely retarded and nothing but trouble. They've destroyed dozens of local businesses in public riots They haven't really done anything but cause violence in our society. They claim to want "peace" for the blacks, however how can you achieve peace causing dangerous riots? Wouldn't that damage your reputation and make it harder to achieve what you want? They're damaging the reputation against cops, encouraging people to neglect the people that help us every day. Not all cops are bad cmon now They don't actually address the problem. If we don't know what you want how can we help you? Help Today! Make the right choice.

You've likely noticed anti-police rhetoric now rampant among various communities across the United States, courtesy of groups like Black Lives Matter (see SICK: Black Lives Matter APPLAUDS Barista Spitting in Cop's Coffee and Dartmouth College: BlackLivesMatter Destroys and Replaces Police Memorial Display ). Since their inception, there's been an undeniable uptick in ambushes of police officers and anti-cop hate crimes. So coincidental. The latest in anti-cop violence took place in Sacramento, California. It was a shooting which happened DURING a memorial for another cop who was shot and killed. Two Sacramento Police officers were wounded Thursday in a shootout with a suspect linked to a suspected double homicide in Meadowview last week. The shooting unfolded in the same hour hundreds of officers from around the region and the state gathered in Roseville for the memorial service for Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy Robert French, who was killed last week in a shootout near a Ramada Inn. Sacramento Police spokesman Sgt. Bryce Heinlein said many officers who responded to the scene had come directly from French's memorial service. "It's been a very difficult day. A lot of us came from (the service)," Heinlein said. Fortunately both officers will survive. Much to the disdain of every local Black Lives Matter chapter within 200 miles, I'm sure. One of the officers was shot in his bullet proof vest, the other struck in an undisclosed location. Neither of their injuries were life threatening, and they were taken to an area hospital, Heinlein said. Like it or not, this is the reality certain social justice crap wads want. They invite these sort of atrocities when they encourage hatred and violence towards police (see WAR: 5 Cops Slain at Dallas #BlackLivesMatter Protest ). As their twisted rhetoric gains popularity, it's no wonder more and more police are getting ambushed or shot. Of course, that's not to say that this specific instance was a direct result of BLM's hatred for the boys in blue. Danger is an everyday part of policemen's jobs. But as more and more officers wind up dead, you won't see Deray or his cronies shedding any tears. Too busy lobbing accusations and vilifying the police who work tirelessly to keep his community safe. Oh wells. NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST? FIX THAT ! IT'S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH ITUNES HERE AND SOUNDCLOUD HERE .

Thank you to our wonderful speakers, organisers and audience who refused to be deterred by threats of violence and had a successful meeting tonight in Hastings. You are brave and strong https://t.co/L8whEb2JF7 Meghan Murphy is a freelance writer and journalist. She has been podcasting and writing about feminism since 2010 and has published work in numerous national and international publications, including New Statesman, Vice, Al Jazeera, The Globe and Mail, I-D, Truthdig, and more. Meghan completed a Masters degree in the department of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies at Simon Fraser University in 2012 and lives in Vancouver, B.C. with her dog.

packman (9,317 posts) Sad to say - When Police try to police police Thin blue line warped thinking? Sad to say - When Police try to police police (Original post) packman Jul 2016 OP Wed Jul 13, 2016, 12:49 PM meow2u3 (22,840 posts) 1. This. Is. The. Problem. In a nutshell Too many police departments are busy protecting their macho image to worry about firing rogue officers instead of the heroes who expose them. Wed Jul 13, 2016, 01:22 PM niyad (63,779 posts) 2. k and r. interesting that the majority on that list are women. Thu Jul 14, 2016, 08:03 AM 5 out of 8! Wonder if that's true on a whole population (of police forces) basis. That would be interesting. Wed Jul 13, 2016, 01:50 PM lark (10,144 posts) 3. This is why we call them PIGS. White power people have infiltrated and taken over the police. Many of them are not our friends and are a true threat because even if they personally aren't awful, they protect the ones that are. Thu Jul 14, 2016, 05:32 AM Wed Jul 13, 2016, 02:51 PM Wed Jul 13, 2016, 02:56 PM Bernardo de La Paz (25,222 posts) 5. Technically whistleblowing not policing. Whistleblowers' Lives Matter. . . . . nt Wed Jul 13, 2016, 03:09 PM

Blue lives matter. Across our country there has been a movement that undermines the very people we need to protect us. Officers are being blamed, not just rightly held accountable, for doing what needs to be done to enforce our laws, protect our people, and protect themselves. In many of these cases, the truth does not matter, lies become rumors, and rumors are accepted as fact. Activists have fueled the fire. Last night, here in Texas, we lost one of our own. Darren Goforth. A man that left behind a family and friends who loved and needed him. A community that respected him and needed him. A man that should still be with us today. It saddens and sickens us that he is gone. We are furious. We are disgusted. We demand something be done. Activists have gone beyond protesting. They have gone beyond what is just, what is right. They have gone beyond what is legal. They are cruelly and callously calling for murder. They are demanding people to kill the pigs. This enters the territory of treason. When someone is viciously murdered because of these demands, it enters the territory of abetting. Something has to be done. Decency demands it, we demand it. As our governor, we have appointed you to not only represent us, but to speak for us. Now we are asking you to protect us, by protecting those who lay their lives on the line for us every time they pin on their badge, every time they leave their homes. We are asking you to actively seek out the ones that call for the deaths of those in blue. Actively charge them with a crime. Actively put a stop to their inciting hate, unrest, and murder. This goes so far beyond what can be written in a few paragraphs. We need you. We need this to stop.

Get our newsletter delivered directly to your inbox I have already subscribed | Do not show this message again An investigation by the Associated Press has found that the United States government is chucking orthodoxy out the window when it comes to Haitian immigrants by plowing through records to hunt for data on criminal activity in order to decide whether they should be allowed to stay, under the protection of the Temporary Protected Status program. Internal emails of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS, obtained by the AP revealed that the Trump administration had made inquiries into the community's criminal history. The emails also showed the agency's newly appointed policy chief demanding to know how many of the 50,000 Haitians enrolled in the Temporary Protected Status program were taking advantage of public benefits, benefits they are not even eligible to receive. Maria Odom, a former Citizenship and Immigration Services ombudsman who served in the Obama administration, told AP she was puzzled by the inquiries about criminal activities. She stated that the government already checks criminal histories of applicants and denies protections to those who have violated U.S. laws. "You should not craft a humanitarian policy based on the few," Odom said. The program is intended for people escaping war or disaster, where it grants temporary protected status for said migrants to live in the United States, and is only revoked when conditions in the immigrant's home country have improved. Haitians were brought into the program in 2010 when an earthquake devastated the region, killing as many as 300,000 people. But emails now suggest Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly is looking at other criteria to decide whether the program will be extended to protect Haitians again, as protection for the community expires on July 22, with eligibility for Haitians extended several times in the past. The Trump administration must decide by May 23 so that it will be able to provide 60 days' notice about its plans. While the Homeland Security Department and Kelly have not made a final decision, USCIS's acting director, James McCament, has recommended letting the program expire, saying that Haiti is no longer unstable despite a U.N.-fueled cholera crisis , an epidemic of rape against Haitian women by U.N. peacekeepers, and poverty due to decades of Western imperial meddling .

Immigrant rights advocates are outraged after the Trump administration announced its "cruel and shameful" decision to end a program that has allowed some 59,000 Haitians to temporarily live and work in the United States since a catastrophic magnitude 7 earthquake ravaged the island nation in 2010. "The country is still struggling to recover from the earthquake and is in no position to receive these individuals who are already making enormous contributions to our country," Gupta added. "Congress must lead where the president has failed and find a permanent solution for Haitians, and other TPS holders, living in our country that allows them to continue contributing to the fabric of our democracy." Elaine Duke, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said in a statement that "extraordinary but temporary conditions caused by the 2010 earthquake no longer exist," and Haitians who have been living in the United States under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program have until July 22, 2019 to leave the country, or they will face deportation. The announcement follows a decision earlier this month to revoke TPS from about 2,500 Nicaraguans. It also confirms concerns about the program that have been growing since earlier this year, when the head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an arm of DHS, concluded that protections for Haitians were no longer necessary, and former DHS Secretary John Kelly renewed their protected status for a shorter term than normal, warning them to prepare to return to Haiti. These moves by the Trump administration have caused thousands of Haitians to unlawfully cross the border to seek asylum in Canada. -- Women's March (@womensmarch) November 21, 2017 -- United We Dream (@UNITEDWEDREAM) November 21, 2017 With crowds outside chanting, "Jail to the Chief!" and caught in the sordid turmoil of Watergate, Richard 'I Am Not A Crook' Nixon resigned the presidency 44 years ago today in the name of hastening "the start of that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America." Revisiting his final speech, most startling in this crudest of eras is his relative gravitas; for those pining for history to repeat itself, Borowitz suggests, "Imagine this, only without the complete sentences."

BETHPAGE, N.Y. (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday his administration was working on a plan to cut U.S. aid to countries that do not do enough to stem illegal immigration into the United States. "Many of these countries we give tremendous amounts of aid to," Trump said at a forum on immigration that focused on the violent MS-13 gang. "We're going to work out something where every time somebody comes in from a certain country, we're going to deduct a rather large amount of money from what we give them in aid."

The lawsuit was filed as undocumented activists and their allies shouted down Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi during a San Francisco news conference, accusing her of using DREAMers as "bargaining chips" in a meeting with President Trump last week in which she sought to win legislation protecting young immigrants in exchange for a more militarized U.S.-Mexico border. The protesters demanded protections not only for DREAMers, but for all 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. After headlines, we'll speak to Congressmember Luis Gutierrez and a DACA recipient suing President Trump. The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License . Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Get our newsletter delivered directly to your inbox I have already subscribed | Do not show this message again An investigation by the Associated Press has found that the United States government is chucking orthodoxy out the window when it comes to Haitian immigrants by plowing through records to hunt for data on criminal activity in order to decide whether they should be allowed to stay, under the protection of the Temporary Protected Status program. Internal emails of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS, obtained by the AP revealed that the Trump administration had made inquiries into the community's criminal history. The emails also showed the agency's newly appointed policy chief demanding to know how many of the 50,000 Haitians enrolled in the Temporary Protected Status program were taking advantage of public benefits, benefits they are not even eligible to receive. Maria Odom, a former Citizenship and Immigration Services ombudsman who served in the Obama administration, told AP she was puzzled by the inquiries about criminal activities. She stated that the government already checks criminal histories of applicants and denies protections to those who have violated U.S. laws. "You should not craft a humanitarian policy based on the few," Odom said. The program is intended for people escaping war or disaster, where it grants temporary protected status for said migrants to live in the United States, and is only revoked when conditions in the immigrant's home country have improved. Haitians were brought into the program in 2010 when an earthquake devastated the region, killing as many as 300,000 people. But emails now suggest Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly is looking at other criteria to decide whether the program will be extended to protect Haitians again, as protection for the community expires on July 22, with eligibility for Haitians extended several times in the past. The Trump administration must decide by May 23 so that it will be able to provide 60 days' notice about its plans. While the Homeland Security Department and Kelly have not made a final decision, USCIS's acting director, James McCament, has recommended letting the program expire, saying that Haiti is no longer unstable despite a U.N.-fueled cholera crisis , an epidemic of rape against Haitian women by U.N. peacekeepers, and poverty due to decades of Western imperial meddling .

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The waving of the rainbow pride flag at a concert on the outskirts of Cairo has triggered a backlash of state repression against the LGBTI community. Several flags were raised at a performance to 35,000 people by the Lebanese indie-rock band Mashrou' Leila on 22 September. Mashrou' Leila is fronted by lead singer Hamed Sinno, one of few openly gay musicians in the Middle East. Sinno paid tribute at the concert to the late gay icon Freddie Mercury. Mashrou' Leila lyrics reference historical gay and lesbian literary figures Abu Nawas, an eighth-century Arab poet, and Sappho, an Archaic Greek lyric poet. The band's sexually subversive music has made them a beacon of resistance for the LGBTI community in Egypt, and a target for the homophobic government. Egyptian authorities promptly barred the group from performing again after the Cairo concert. The group has already been banned twice from playing in Jordan due to Sinno's sexuality. The band described the Cairo concert as "one of the best shows we've ever played". But the prideful display quickly incurred a backlash of state violence. In the days after the concert, seven people were arrested for "promoting sexual deviancy" by waving the rainbow flag. At least 20 people have also received prison sentences, ranging from six months to six years. Several men have been subjected to anal examinations, ostensibly to determine whether they have engaged in anal sex. Armed authorities have continued raiding cafes and homes, detaining at least 71 people -- mostly gay men. Dalia Abdel Hamid, gender and women's rights officer at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said: "The magnitude of arrests might be larger than what we know, but these are the only cases that we have managed to document or intervene legally." "Homosexual acts" in public are illegal in Egypt. LGBTI people are often arrested on euphemistic charges, such as "debauchery". The wave of arrests is the latest development in the Egypt government's ongoing attacks against the LGBTI community, whose members live in hiding due to online surveillance, entrapment and abuse in detention. Human rights groups estimate that more than 300 people had been arrested -- and nearly all convicted -- since President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi came to power in 2013. Al-Sisi's homophobic regime has rivalled that of former dictator Hosni Mubarak, under whose rule 52 men were arrested in a gay nightclub in 2001. This was the previously largest crackdown on the LGBTI community. Rainbow flags were flown symbolically in Tahrir Square during the 18 days of protest that toppled Mubarak in 2011. After the latest wave of arrests, Mashrou' Leila released a statement saying: "The [Egyptian] state apparatus is hellbent on executing the most atrocious of human rights violations." Egyptian media fanned the flames of moral outrage at the display of rainbow flags. Prominent prime-time TV host Ahmed Moussa said, "homosexuality is a crime that's as terrible as terrorism." Mahram Mohammed Ahmed, chief of the government's Supreme Council for Media Regulation, said: "Homosexuality is a sickness and disgrace that would be better hidden from view and not promoted for dissemination until it is treated and its disgrace removed." He issued a ban on any positive or neutral discussion of LGBTI issues in media. The country's parliament is now debating criminalising homosexuality, with a punishment of up to 15 years in prison. The Coptic church is also organising a conference entitled "The Volcano of Homosexuality" on how to "cure" gay people. The raid came as an Egyptian lawmaker introduced a bill this month to lengthen jail sentences for gay people from a maximum of three years to 25 years, alleging there had been a recent rise in lesbian relationships. The homophobic crackdown in Egypt comes in the context of an international backlash against growing LGBTI liberation movements. Homophobic regimes are claiming lives in Chechnya, Azerbaijan, Tanzania and Indonesia. The West cannot claim moral high ground either, with Sisi's collaborator, US President Donald Trump claiming he was "amongst friends" at a recent right-wing anti-LGBTI conference, and Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull has subjected the LGBTI community to a derogatory public debate on their right to marry.

Although sexual harassment, murder, and corruption are rampant, Egypt is instead focusing on arresting peaceful LGBT who have LEGALLY done nothing wrong and whose crime was to love a person of the same-sex. So far, 57 people have arrested in the span of two weeks. If found guilty of homosexuality they face 3-12 years in prison. The Egyptian government has been cracking down on LGBT, hunting them down using social media and dating apps ( https://goo.gl/ZQfGDT ) LGBT youth are facing horrendous physical and sexual abuse in jails. The government's only concern is money, and has been making tremendous efforts to increase tourism and foreign investments to increase revenues which are spent on salary increases to the military to further suppress the citizens of the country.

An eighth grade student in Florida has been charged with a felony after changing the background image on a teacher's computer to one showing two men kissing... Read Egyptian police raided a bathhouse in Cairo on Sunday night and arrested a large group of men on charges of "perversion"... Read A Muslim medical student arrested in London on charges related to terrorism offences had complained on Twitter that the U.K. is rife with incest and homosexuality... Read Following the arrest of nine men for a 'gay marriage' Internet video, Egypt's Forensic Medicine Authority have found the men are "not homosexuals." As forensics spokesman Dr. Hisham Abdel Hamid put it in a surreal-sounding state... Read Yesterday I wrote about an illiterate young Pakistani girl imprisoned for allegedly burning pages of a Qur'an to begin a cooking fire, and thereby committing blasphemy -- in Pakistan, a crime punishable by life imprisonment. (Or, should... Read Andy reported Tuesday on the police attack on and subsequent arrest of 44 gay activists in Harare, Zimbabwe, who were meeting peaceably to discuss past infringements of their rights by police. The activists were members of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbab... Read From WashPo: Gay activists tried to stage two demonstrations in Moscow on Sunday to demand the right to hold a gay pride parade in the Russian capital, but they were blocked first by Orthodox Christian opponents and then by police, who detained a tot... Read

There's a war brewing in the Middle East - and we're not talking about Iraq. The Egyptian government continues to draw fire for jailing five HIV positive men earlier this year. One hundred and seventeen international human and gay rights groups have penned a collective letter to the nation's top brass demanding an immediate release of the prisoners, who were nabbed as part of a recently launched crackdown sweeping the nation. The men were then given HIV tests and, once the tests came out positive, were told by a prosecutor, "People like you should be burnt alive. You do not deserve to live.aEUR The activists letter takes a firm stand not only against such illegal tactics, but Egypt's "complicit" health officials: We write you urgently to voice concern over the arrest and trial of men in Egypt for alleged homosexual conduct, apparently based on menaEUR(tm)s suspected HIV serostatus. We are concerned that medical personnel may have been complicit, or actively participated, in acts violating the international norm prohibiting torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. We are further concerned that the MinistryaEUR(tm)s involvement with the detention and interrogation of suspects in these cases condones or gives credit to myths about HIV/AIDS, in a way that is incompatible with the MinistryaEUR(tm)s public health responsibilities and can only contribute to the epidemicaEUR(tm)s spread. HIV may not be the only epidemic spreading through "liberal" Middle Eastern nations. Though homosexuality isn't technically illegal in Egypt, police have been cracking down, some say, to appease religious leaders. Journalist Hani Shukrallah tells Bloomberg's Daniel Williams: "Meaningless crackdowns have become a regular thing. If not gays, devil worshippers. If not devil worshippers, apostates. The government needs to outbid Islamic opponents as guardian of morals." Egypt's not alone in its crackdowns, of course. Morocco caused a stir last year when it arrested six men at an alleged "gay wedding," while Kuwait passed a law outlawing "imitating" the opposite gender. That law helped net over a dozen arrests. In an effort to assert their authority, these governments, doctors and other administrative leaders are overzealously marginalizing the homos. And, quite frankly, it's sickening. Where, we wonder, are the United States' leaders during all of this? Oh, right - in Iraq... [ Image ]

A man arrested by police holds up a sign that says "Love is stronger than homophobia" BBC A group of about 60 LGBTQ activists assembled in St. Petersburg, Russia yesterday and roughly half of them were arrested. The incident occurred in Palace Square after the community's request to hold a Pride parade was nixed. Reuters reported that police sought to detain anyone holding a rainbow flag or other "gay propaganda" in celebration. They were then forced onto a police van. It was widely believed that this summer's World Cup might provide a false sense of security in a nation where homosexuality had been considered a crime until 1993. Being gay was considered a mental illness until 1999 in Russia. Then, in 2013, a gay propaganda law passed threatening anyone jail time for anyone engaging in "homosexual activity" with a minor. Anti-gay hate crimes have reportedly doubled since the law passed. Russian authorities continue to deny any wrongdoing toward LGBTQ people despite the current crisis in Chechnya that has the LGBTQ community actively fleeing from beatings and threats of exorcism . Chechnya leader Ramzan Kadyrov spoke recently of gay cleansing when he said, "We don't have any gays. If there are any, take them to Canada." He continued, "Take them far from us so we don't have them at home. To purify our blood, if there are any here, take them. They are devils. They are for sale. They are not people." So sad, so sad... My heart goes out to all oppressed LGBT folks in Russia. #gay #russia #gayrussia Police detain around 25 gay rights activists in St Petersburg | Article [AMP] | Reuters https://t.co/BSGSEF83Zj -- Hopohopo (@Hopohopoh) August 4, 2018

Eight men who were arrested earlier this month in Cairo for appearing in a video that resembled a gay marriage ceremony will now be put on trial, Egyptian officials reported. The men have been charged of inciting debauchery and offending public morality, and face trial in front of a misdemeanor court that was expected to start Tuesday, according to judicial officials. The charges raise fears of a larger crackdown on the LGBT community in Egypt. The video - which showed two men dressed in suits exchanging rings, embracing and surrounded by friends on a boat going down the Nile - appeared on YouTube earlier this month and went viral. The event has been described online as Egypt's "first gay marriage." One of the men in the video tried to downplay the significance of the footage, calling it a birthday party not a wedding. "I'm not the groom, I'm just a normal guy, having a birthday party with one of our friends - nothing more, nothing less," said the interviewee, calling himself "Ali," in a televised interview. "I knew that he wanted a ring, so I brought it as a birthday present," he said adding that he has a girlfriend. Seven men were arrested September 6 after the video surfaced, and the eighth man was arrested a few days later. Officials have allegedly ordered medical tests for the men, a long-standing practice in Egypt to identify homosexuals. Because the Egyptian gov has focused its efforts on monitoring people's private lives, in the bedroom or their FB accounts... #stopjailinggays -- AIUSA Women's Rights (@AmnestyWomenRts) September 24, 2014 Since last fall, there have been increased arrests and a waive of raids in Egypt, in both clubs and private properties, against the LGBT community reported The Guardian. Many queer Egyptians have also scaled back their use of dating apps, in fear of entrapment. Homosexuality is not explicitly illegal in Egyptian law, but it is a social taboo and can be sentenced under several different statutes on morality. Homosexuals in Egypt have been jailed in the past on charges ranging from "scorning religion" to "sexual practices contrary to Islam." The largest crackdown on homosexuals in Egypt took place in 2001, when police raided a floated disco called the Queen Boat where 52 men were arrested and put on trial. Egypt's LGBT community began a Twitter campaign on Wednesday with the hashtag #stopjailinggays. Egypt: Tweet and blog against homophobic brutality, September 24 and 25 http://t.co/rsKETvl7bD via @wordpressdotcom #STOPJAILINGGAYS -- Katheryn Blackadder (@KatBlackadder) September 25, 2014

lkhnuu / bhujn smaaj paarttii (bspaa) adhykss maayaavtii ne hriyaannaa tthaa uske aaspaas huii hiNsaa ke lie bhaartiiy jntaa paarttii (bhaajpaa) ko dossii kraar dete hue mnohr laal khttttr srkaar ko ttkaal prbhaav se brkhaast kie jaane kii maaNg kii hai / unhoNne khaa ki hiNsaa ke lie mukhymNtrii mnohr laal khttttr jimmedaar haiN / unhoNne khttttr srkaar ko ttkaal prbhaav se brkhaast krne kii maaNg krte hue khaa ki bhddqii vyaapk hiNsaa meN bhaarii jaan-maal kii kssti huii hai / 30 se adhik logoN ko apnii jaan gNvaanii pdd'ii / is ghttnaa ke baad kriib 500 relgaaddiyyoN ko rdd kiyaa gyaa / bhaajpaa vott baiNk kii raajniiti kr rhii hai /

haal ke dinoN meN jrmnii, phraaNs, britten aur sviiddn jaise yuuropiiy deshoN meN aatNkii hmle hue haiN / aatNkvaad ke bddh'te daayre aur iskii phNddiNg ke srotoN ko khtm krne ke lie jii-20 ke netaaoN ne milkr kaarrvaaii krne kaa sNklp liyaa hai / prdhaanmNtrii modii smet sbhii netaaoN ne shukrvaar ko khaa thaa ki duniyaa ke hr kone se aatNkvaad kii surkssit pnaahgaaheN khtm krnii hoNgii / jii-20 smmeln ke phle din aatNkvaad ke khilaaph 21 biNduoN vaalaa sNyukt byaan jaarii kiyaa gyaa / ismeN khuphiyaa, kaanuunii evN nyaayik adhikaariyoN ke biic suucnaaoN ke tej aur lkssit aadaan-prdaan kii suvidhaa dene pr prtibddhtaa jtaaii gii / sNyukt byaan kaa jikr krte hue pngddh'iyaa ne khaa, jii-20 deshoN kaa aatNkvaad se ldd'ne ke lie aayaa sNyukt byaan jii-20 ghossnnaaptr kaa ek anulgnk thaa, lekin bhaart ne aatNkvaad pr alg se byaan jaarii krne kii pairvii kii / modii ne aatNkvaad ke khilaaph 10 biNduoN vaalaa ekshn plaan bhii pesh kiyaa / ismeN aatNkvaad ko possit krne vaale deshoN ke adhikaariyoN ke jii-20 deshoN meN prvesh pr rok lgaane kii baat bhii khii gii thii /

pailett gn ke baad kshmiir ke ptthrbaajoN kaa ek aur ilaaj ddhuuNddh liyaa gyaa hai. jld hii ptthrbaajoN pr iskaa pryog kiyaa jaa sktaa hai. ye ilaaj hai koNrnr shoNtt gn. phle ijraail aur ab ijraail ke shyog se hii desh ke mdhy prdesh ke bhiNdd meN puNj loNydd meN koNrnr shoNtt gn bnaaii jaa rhii hai. koNrnr shoNtt gn kii ek khaasiyt ye bhii hai ki ye gn grenedd bhii daag sktii hai. iske saath pisttl jaisii duusrii chottii gn bhii attaic krke claaii jaa sktii hai. iskaa saaij kriib 33 iNc hotaa hai aur vjn 400 graam ke lgbhg hotaa hai. koNmbaitt oNpreshn meN hotii hai istemaal koNrnr shoNtt gn khaastaur pr koNmbaitt oNpreshn ke lie bnaaii gii hai. aatNkvaadiyoN ne kuch logoN ko hvaaii jhaaj, kisii bilddiNg meN bNdhk bnaa liyaa hai aur surkssaa bloN ko ye nhiiN ptaa hai ki jhaaj aur bilddiNg meN aatNkvaadii aur bNdhk khaaN haiN, aise meN koNrnr shoNtt gn kaa istemaal krte hue aatNkvaadiyoN pr hmlaa bolaa jaataa hai.

jyotiss meN naam ke phle akssr kaa mhtv kaaphii adhik hai / vykti ke jnm ke smy cNdrmaa jis raashi meN hotaa hai, usii raashi ke anusaar naam kaa phlaa akssr ty hotaa hai / sbhii 12 raashiyoN ke lie alg-alg akssr btaae ge haiN / naam ke phle akssr se raashi maaluum hotii hai aur us raashi ke anusaar vykti ke svbhaav aur bhvissy se judd'ii kii jaankaarii praapt kii jaa sktii hai / yhaaN jaanie kis raashi ke aNtrgt kaun-kaun se naam akssr aate haiN, kis raashi ke vykti kaa svbhaav kaisaa hai aur kis raashi ke logoN kii kyaa vishesstaa hai...

shhr meN kii baiNk haiN lekin is anuutthii baiNk meN jmaa haiN, raam naam likhit 6 krodddh se adhik kaapiyaaN / is baiNk kii sbse acchii baat yh hai ki is baiNk ke srvaakaar svNy sNktt mocn hnumaan jii haiN / unkii dekhrekh meN yh baiNk cl rhii hai / ye shhr kii phlii baiNk hai jhaaN shrddhaalu raam naam se likhii kaapiyaaN jmaa krte haiN / is baiNk kii kaaryprnnaalii dekhne hjaaroN shrddhaalu mNdir aate haiN aur dekhne ke baad khud bhii baiNk kaa hissaa bn rhe haiN / baat ho rhii hai shhr ke sNktt mocn hnumaan mNdir kii / yhaaN cltii hai raam naam kii yh anokhii aur durlbh baiNk /

nyuuj ejeNsii ANI ne sroj paannddey ke is byaan ko ttviitt kiyaa hai. keNdr srkaar ke caar saal puure hone pr biiiittii koNlej meN aayojit ek kaarykrm ke dauraan sroj paannddey ne raahul gaaNdhii pr ttippnnii krte hue khaa ki vipkss paarttii ke raassttriiy adhykss jis trh se bolte haiN, vyvhaar krte hai, baat krte hai mujhe aashcry hotaa hai ki itne bdddhe pd pr baitthaa vykti aaj bhii siikhne kii koshish kr rhaa hai. lekin 40 saal kii umr ke baad jo vykti siikhtaa hai vo asl meN mNdbuddhi khlaataa hai.

I n August, my colleague Charlie Cooke wrote an epic rant daring the Left to stop talking about repealing the Second Amendment and start doing it. Introduce the repeal to Congress, work it through the states, and tell the American people what you want to do -- take from them a fundamental, enumerated right from the Bill of Rights. As Charlie eloquently outlines, repealing the Second Amendment is an impossible task. Even worse for the Left, it's political suicide. But if the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges teaches us anything, it's that the age of judicial supremacy means that five justices can amend the Constitution far more efficiently than Congress and the state legislatures. And right now there are clearly four Supreme Court justices who are committed to the absurd view that the operative clause of the Second Amendment -- "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" -- doesn't actually mean "the right of the people" and therefore doesn't encompass an individual right to own a weapon, even for self-defense. This view defies history yet is received, conventional wisdom on the judicial Left, in much the same way that it's received, conventional wisdom that the Constitution actually protects rights to abortion and gay marriage. It is certain that the next Democratic nominee for the Supreme Court will adopt that same ahistorical view, and if that nominee replaces, for example, Justice Kennedy or Justice Scalia, then the five-justice majority in District of Columbia v. Heller will be gone. If that majority goes, then the next gun-rights case will transform the Second Amendment into nothing more than a historical artifact of the era when the militia consisted of able-bodied men with muskets over their mantles. If Heller is overruled, then the regulatory state can launch a systematic, undemocratic effort to deter gun ownership even without true confiscation. If Heller is overruled, then the regulatory state, in all its immense power, can launch a systematic, undemocratic effort to deter gun ownership even without true confiscation. The appeal of regulatory action is obvious. A Democratic president can use his or her left-wing bureaucracy to implement a host of regulations without an act of Congress and then veto any legislative effort to undo his or her reforms. It's easy to imagine the regulatory possibilities -- regulatory action against ammunition; public-employee rules creating "gun-free employment communities" that prohibit or greatly restrict private gun ownership by public employees; aggressive regulatory action against various types of ammunition; OSHA rules that require employers to restrict employees' gun rights on "work safety" grounds. The list could go on and on. #share#Further, in the absence of a federal constitutional right, gun ownership in the deep-blue states would soon become even more perilous. Chicago, Washington, and other major cities would re-implement and potentially enhance their previous draconian restrictions on law-abiding citizens. Where gun-control majorities exist, the legislative process would systematically limit gun rights. Where conservative majorities prevail, the Left-dominated regulatory process would rule. And the entire process would be backstopped by a federal judiciary committed to "social justice" at the expense of history, reason, and logic. Conservatives comfort themselves with the idea that comprehensive gun-control efforts would spell electoral disaster for Democrats, much as they did in 1994. The difference, however, is that the Democrats have already suffered two 1994-scale electoral disasters -- in 2010 and 2014 -- but, thanks to the regulatory state and the federal judiciary, the Left's power is largely unchecked. What it can't implement through legislative processes, it's largely implementing piecemeal through regulations and judicial decisions. Moreover, the Left has become very effective at using a combination of social scorn, targeted litigation, and strategic regulations to define which Americans can participate fully in the marketplace, in government, and in academe. Social conservatives are all too familiar with the notion that universities, certain categories of public employment, and even entire industries are increasingly closed off -- that they're not welcome. And that's despite the fact that we still (at least in theory) enjoy constitutional rights to free speech and free exercise of religion. Stripped of their individual right to bear arms, gun owners would be uniquely vulnerable as the next targeted population. #related#If you consider this alarmist, consider the 2006 case of Washington State University student Ed Swan . The university threatened Swan with sanctions, including potential dismissal from its teachers'-education program, in part because of his opposition to gun control. His department deemed that he did not have the "disposition" to teach young students while supporting gun rights. The university backed down after the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) exposed its actions (I was president of FIRE at the time), arguing that its "dispositions" mandates violated the First Amendment. The 2016 election is vitally important on a number of fronts, but few Americans realize that the combination of judicial supremacy and the modern regulatory state can essentially repeal the Second Amendment and systematically roll back gun rights without a single act of Congress. Hillary Clinton has vowed to use executive action to roll back gun rights, and when that executive action includes not just regulatory authority but also Supreme Court nominations, American gun rights are in grave danger indeed. David French -- David French is a senior writer for National Review , a senior fellow at the National Review Institute, and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. @DavidAFrench

50 years ago today, avid shooter and National Rifle Association Lifetime member John Fitzgerald Kennedy was murdered by a left-wing communist radical named Lee Harvey Oswald. Kennedy was known as an avid shooter of both shotguns and rifles, and was one of the early advocates of the M16/AR15 platform. Rumors have floated around for decades that Kennedy had two AR-15s in his personal collection, and that he kept one on his boat. "By calling attention to 'a well regulated militia,' 'the security of the nation,' and the right of each citizen 'to keep and bear arms,' our founding fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy... The Second Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic civilian-military relationships in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the defense of his country. For that reason I believe the Second Amendment will always be important." -Senator John F. Kennedy, April 1960 Author's Bio: Bob Owens Bob Owens is the Editor of BearingArms.com . Bob is a graduate of roughly 400 hours of professional firearms training classes, including square range and force-on force work with handguns and carbines. He is a past volunteer instructor with Project Appleseed. He most recently received his Vehicle Close Quarters Combat Instructor certification from Centrifuge Training, and is the author of the short e-book, So You Want to Own a Gun . He can be found on Twitter at bob_owens . https://bearingarms.com/author/bobowens-bearingarms/

Former NBC Today show host and CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric is still under fire for the use of deceptive editing in her EPIX documentary Under the Gun . Media critics like the Washington Post' s Erik Wemple and Fox News's Howard Kurtz have slammed the Couric documentary and its director Stephanie Soechtig's for a "pause in the Couric gun film" that "makes it look like something happened which did not in fact happen." (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) The editing trick wouldn't have been exposed if it weren't for The Virginia Citizens Defense League releasing its own audio of their members being interviewed. It's as if they were suspicious that they wouldn't be treated fairly. Of course, that would be a good assumption if they were aware of Couric's long career of attacking gun rights. From pressing then Colorado Governor Bill Owens, just one day after the Columbine massacre, about the "accessibility of guns" to asking GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan about President Obama's January gun control speech "What did you think when the President cried?...Were you affected by it?" Couric has consistently pushed for gun control in her posts at NBC, CBS and Yahoo! News. 2nd amendment constitution gun rights gun sales katie couric second weapons

Bret Stephens recently reiterated his call for repealing the Second Amendment. At Bloomberg View , I argue that this is a dead end for anyone seeking to reduce the incidence of murder or massacres. The first step of the Stephens plan is, in other words, to get nearly everyone in the country to agree that the Constitution should not protect gun rights. He offers no explanation of how this would be accomplished. His columns amount to wishing away the disagreement he seeks to overcome. A related mistake gun controllers make is to overestimate the practical importance of the Supreme Court's decisions on guns notably its 2008 decision in D.C. v. Heller recognizing an individual right to own guns. Here, for example, is Democratic operative Dan Pfeiffer in an article from last October that is again making the rounds: It is certainly true that our short-term policy positions must pass the Heller test, but it is also a major strategic error to confine our vision to a Supreme Court decision that many legal scholars find ridiculous and many generations of judges would find astonishing. Just as Republicans organize themselves around efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade , Democrats should run on changing the balance of federal courts in ways that will make it less likely that citizens will be slaughtered simply because they went to the wrong concert, movie theater, or school. In thinking about Heller's practical effect on gun policy, we should remember three points. None of the policies that Pfeiffer recommends -- including a national gun registry and a national gun buyback policy on the Australian model (which, presumably, means it would be mandatory)-has been adopted by the political branches and then struck down by the courts. American gun laws were roughly as permissive as they are now, and more permissive than those of most other advanced countries, before Heller. The Supreme Court has left open the question of whether a ban on assault weapons would violate its interpretation of the Second Amendment. It has not had to rule on the constitutionality of a federal ban because advocates of a ban have not been able to get more than 40 votes for their position in the Senate in recent years. Judicial enforcement of the Second Amendment is simply not a major constraint on gun control. The gun-control agenda's primary problem is political : Too few Americans have passionately supported it, and too many Americans passionately opposed it, for it to prevail.

California Senate Bill 798 passed the Senate Public Safety Committee on March 26. This bill, if passed, prohibits, "...the sale, manufacture, transportation, receipt, or distribution of imitation firearms for commercial purposes," unless, "...the entire exterior surface of the device is white, bright red, bright orange, bright yellow, bright green, bright blue, bright pink, or bright purple, either singly or as the predominant color in combination with other colors in any pattern, as provided by federal regulations governing imitation firearms, or where the entire device is constructed of transparent or translucent materials which permits unmistakable observation of the device's complete contents, as provided by federal regulations governing imitation firearms." http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/sen/sb_0751-0800/sb_798_bill_20110413_amended_sen_v97.pdf This is another attempt to stomp on airsoft, and yet another attempt at the Governemnt parenting us. Please sing this petition and we'll let the California State Senate know that we will NOT stand by idely as our freedoms are stripped from us.

Ammoland Inc. Posted on January 2, 2015 by Ammoland With all the overlapping regulations, its no wonder that confusion runs rampant among California gun owners, as well as police, prosecutors, & judges. To protect yourself, you need to know the law. This book will help... Read More >>> Ammoland Inc. Posted on May 1, 2012 by Ammoland Ammoland Inc. Posted on September 2, 2011 by Ammoland Mark Zanghetti : How could I buy a membership in "Kat's" name? If everyone who could bought a membership in "Kat's" name you... Wild Bill : @Quatermain, Well... brother, first we all know if a judge, senator, congressman, batfe agent or fib agent lives near... Mark Zanghetti : First let us thank God your son is alive and healthy after such an encounter! Thank your son for his... Don : The minute you take off the factory rear grip and put something else on that gun your're in a gray... Wild Bill : Author David Limbaugh, quite correctly, used the word "consuming". I say let the libtards frenzy, let the libtards riot,...

Charles Krauthammer Says He Has Just Weeks To Live Due To Return Of Cancer 12:25 PM 06/08/2018 Justin Caruso | Senior Media Reporter Fox News personality and legendary columnist Charles Krauthammer has just weeks to live due to the return of his cancer. WATCH: "I have been uncharacteristically silent these past 10 months," Krauthammer wrote in a letter read on air on Fox News Friday. "I had thought that silence would soon be coming to an end, but I'm afraid I must tell you now that fate has decided on a different course for me. In August of last year, I underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in my abdomen. That operation was thought to have been a success, but it caused a cascade of secondary complications -- which I have been fighting in the hospital ever since. It was a long and hard fight with many setbacks, but I was steadily, if slowly, overcoming each obstacle along the way and gradually making my way back to health. "However, recent tests have revealed that the cancer has returned. There was no sign of it as recently as a month ago, which means it is aggressive and spreading rapidly. My doctors tell me their best estimate is that I have only a few weeks left to live. This is the final verdict. My fight is over. I wish to thank my doctors and caregivers whose efforts have been magnificent, my dear friends, who have given my a lifetime of memories and whose support has sustained me through these difficult months, and all of my partners at The Washington Post, Fox News and Crown Publishing." "Lastly, I thank my colleagues, my readers, and my viewers, who have made my career possible and given consequence to my life's work. I believe that the pursuit of truth and right ideas through honest debate and rigorous undertaking is a noble undertaking. I am grateful to have played a small role in the conversations that have helped guide this extraordinary nation's destiny." "I leave this life with no regrets. It was a wonderful life -- full and complete with the great loves and great endeavors that make it worth living. I am sad to leave, but I leave with the knowledge that I lived the life that I intended."

Charles Krauthammer, a Pulitzer-winning columnist and one of the most prominent conservative voices in the U.S., has passed away at the age of 68 after a battle with cancer, Fox News announced Thursday. "We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and friend, Charles Krauthammer," Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott said in a statement. "A gifted doctor and brilliant political commentator, Charles was a guiding voice throughout his time with FOX News and we were incredibly fortunate to showcase his extraordinary talent on our programs. He was an inspiration to all of us and will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his beloved wife Robyn and his son Daniel." In May, Krauthammer had said that he was "finally getting back on track." However, the conservative commentator said in a letter earlier this month that a "secondary cancer" had spread, giving him "only a few weeks left to live." "My doctors tell me their best estimate is that I have only a few weeks left to live. This is the final verdict. My fight is over," he wrote.

After 9 years of being a pioneer and leader in alternative news aggregation, RedFlagNews.com closed its doors on December 31, 2017. With more than 10M readers who visited both our app and website, we had built a community of trust and loyalty in online news media; something rare to find in 2018; nevertheless, it was clearly not enough to sustain the onslaught of suppression by Google and Facebook after the 2016 election. To our amazing community, thank you for your generous support and daily visits over the years. It was a good run with you by our side. Thousands have asked us where we will be getting our daily fix. As you continue your journey of seeking both balance and truth in your news diet, we strongly recommend the following two independent and trusted news aggregation websites. In the end, independent thinking is a battle that we cannot afford to lose.

Fox News published an open letter to colleagues and fans written by conservative icon Dr. Charles Krauthammer Friday that revealed the beloved pundit and Special Report regular suffers from cancer, and that he has only weeks to live. " This is the final verdict. My fight is over," he wrote. Krauthammer took a leave of absence in August of 2017 to undergo surgery - the details of which were not discussed at the time - but a number of secondary complications plagued the 68-year-old's recovery. As recently as February, Krauthammer reached out to say he " will be back " in a letter Special Report host Bret Baier read on camera. In his letter Friday, however, he shared that recent tests found that although the procedure to remove the malignant tumor from his abdomen was successful, the cancer had returned. "I have been uncharacteristically silent these past ten months," his letter began. "I had thought that silence would soon be coming to an end, but I'm afraid I must tell you now that fate has decided on a different course for me." Read the full letter:

I didn't always agree with Krauthammer, but there was no denying he was always the smartest guy in the room. He was always a formidable debater on any subject. And what a life he's lived. In the face of debilitating injury, he chose to live his life to the fullest. Truly an inspiration. FOX News published this on their colleague. Charles Krauthammer, the beloved and brilliant Fox News Channel personality who gave up a pioneering career in psychiatry to become a Pulitzer Prize-winning political analyst, on Friday revealed the heartbreaking news that he is in the final stages of a losing battle with cancer. The 68-year-old's incisive takes on politics of the day have been missing from Fox News Channel's "Special Report" for nearly a year as he battled an abdominal tumor and subsequent complications, but colleagues and viewers alike had held out hope that he would return to the evening show he helped establish as must-viewing. But in an eloquent, yet unblinking letter to co-workers, friends and Fox News Channel viewers, Krauthammer disclosed that he has just weeks to live. June 8, 2018 I have been uncharacteristically silent these past ten months. I had thought that silence would soon be coming to an end, but I'm afraid I must tell you now that fate has decided on a different course for me. In August of last year, I underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in my abdomen. That operation was thought to have been a success, but it caused a cascade of secondary complications which I have been fighting in hospital ever since. It was a long and hard fight with many setbacks, but I was steadily, if slowly, overcoming each obstacle along the way and gradually making my way back to health. However, recent tests have revealed that the cancer has returned. There was no sign of it as recently as a month ago, which means it is aggressive and spreading rapidly. My doctors tell me their best estimate is that I have only a few weeks left to live. This is the final verdict. My fight is over. My dear friends, who have given me a lifetime of memories and whose support has sustained me through these difficult months. And all of my partners at The Washington Post, Fox News, and Crown Publishing. Lastly, I thank my colleagues, my readers, and my viewers, who have made my career possible and given consequence to my life's work. I believe that the pursuit of truth and right ideas through honest debate and rigorous argument is a noble undertaking. I am grateful to have played a small role in the conversations that have helped guide this nation's destiny. I leave this life with no regrets. It was a wonderful life full and complete with the great loves and great endeavors that make it worth living. I am sad to leave, but I leave with the knowledge that I lived the life that I intended. And Krauthammer leaves this life as he lived it. An inspiration. A true inspiration.

Charles Krauthammer Says He Has Just Weeks To Live Due To Return Of Cancer 12:25 PM 06/08/2018 Justin Caruso | Senior Media Reporter Fox News personality and legendary columnist Charles Krauthammer has just weeks to live due to the return of his cancer. WATCH: "I have been uncharacteristically silent these past 10 months," Krauthammer wrote in a letter read on air on Fox News Friday. "I had thought that silence would soon be coming to an end, but I'm afraid I must tell you now that fate has decided on a different course for me. In August of last year, I underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in my abdomen. That operation was thought to have been a success, but it caused a cascade of secondary complications -- which I have been fighting in the hospital ever since. It was a long and hard fight with many setbacks, but I was steadily, if slowly, overcoming each obstacle along the way and gradually making my way back to health. "However, recent tests have revealed that the cancer has returned. There was no sign of it as recently as a month ago, which means it is aggressive and spreading rapidly. My doctors tell me their best estimate is that I have only a few weeks left to live. This is the final verdict. My fight is over. I wish to thank my doctors and caregivers whose efforts have been magnificent, my dear friends, who have given my a lifetime of memories and whose support has sustained me through these difficult months, and all of my partners at The Washington Post, Fox News and Crown Publishing." "Lastly, I thank my colleagues, my readers, and my viewers, who have made my career possible and given consequence to my life's work. I believe that the pursuit of truth and right ideas through honest debate and rigorous undertaking is a noble undertaking. I am grateful to have played a small role in the conversations that have helped guide this extraordinary nation's destiny." "I leave this life with no regrets. It was a wonderful life -- full and complete with the great loves and great endeavors that make it worth living. I am sad to leave, but I leave with the knowledge that I lived the life that I intended."

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican's financial watchdog has taken on responsibility for evaluating suspicious donations to Vatican-based charities and foundations, an assignment that marks a new phase of Pope Francis' financial reforms. An annual report released by the Financial Information Authority on Friday showed a progressive consolidation of efforts to bring the Vatican into compliance with international norms for fighting money laundering and terrorist financing. For its dual job of supervising the Vatican bank and serving as the Holy See's financial intelligence unit, the AIF, as the agency is known, collects and evaluates reports of suspicious transactions. In recent years, the bulk of those reports have come from the bank, the Institute for Religious Works, but also other Holy See offices. In its annual report, the agency noted a law that took effect in November requiring all Vatican-registered charities and foundations to report suspicious transactions to AIF or face sanctions of up to 20,000 euros. That law was a response to a recommendation from the Council of Europe's Moneyval process, which the Vatican joined in a bid to shed its image as a loosely regulated offshore tax haven. There are only a few dozen such foundations, but the Vatican's tribunal recently scored its first financial crime-related conviction stemming from a suspicious transaction by a Vatican-registered non-profit: the fundraising foundation of the Vatican's Bambino Gesu Pediatric Hospital. The former hospital president was convicted of abuse of office last year for diverting nearly a half-million euros in foundation donations to renovate the penthouse apartment of a top Vatican cardinal. Over the years, the Vatican has worked to clean up its financial house, particularly at the bank, which has long been mired in scandal. In February, two former bank heads were found liable by the Vatican's civil tribunal for mismanagement for bad investments and ordered them to repay the institution. And on May 9, another former bank president, Angelo Caloia, and his lawyer are due to go on trial on criminal embezzlement charges related to losses of more than 50 million euros ($62 million) from Vatican real estate sales. Going forward, the current leadership has proposed changes that would eliminate a three-person board of auditors. AIF director Tommaso di Ruzza said the board was foreseen in 1990, before other controls were instituted, and may no longer be necessary. Some observers have also expressed concern about the future of the IOR itself, given its limited services as a bank -- no ATMs outside the Vatican, no online banking options, no loans and limited investment options -- has resulted in clients taking their business and money elsewhere.

It's Almost Impossible For a Modern Pope To Be the Worst Pope In History Popes of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance left behind a shady legacy, to put it mildly. Exhibit A: Pope Benedict IX (r. 1032-1048) sold the papacy to his godfather. However, the title of Worst Pope Ever has to go to Pope Alexander VI (r. 1492-1503), pictured, who among many questionable practices, established new cardinal positions in exchange for money when Church funds ran low. His blatant abuses of the papacy are considered to be partly responsible for the Protestant Reformation.

Via Mirror : The terror group ISIS has made a chilling threat against the Vatican just weeks before tens of thousands of faithful gather there to celebrate Christmas. A pro-ISIS propaganda channel made the threat in a poster depicting a car attack. The poster - reading "Christmas blood" - depicts a masked jihadi driving a BMW towards St Peter's Basilica, where Pope Francis holds mass. An assault rifle and a rucksack are visible on the seat next to the driver, who is using a sat nav and driving at high speed.

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A topless woman tried to steal the baby Jesus from a Vatican creche on Christmas Day. According to Reuters , the woman was quickly apprehended by a Vatican gendarme and was detained. The group's website identified her as a "sextremist" and lauded her attempted baby thievery. FEMEN sextremist Alisa Vinogradova has kidnapped the papal doll of the baby Christ from the Vatican Christmas nativity scene in the square of St. Peter in Vatican. On the sextremist's chests, there was the inscription - "God is woman!". The FEMEN act was directed against the Vatican's infringement of the rights of women to their own bodies. In particular, against the policy of the "Holy See" associated with the promotion of the ban on abortion and "sacred condemnation" of contraception. FEMEN considers the anti-war policy of the Vatican a rough medieval attack on the freedom of women and their natural rights. In 2014, another FEMEN activist attempted a similar stunt. She was also stopped by a Vatican gendarme. Watch the video from Christmas 2017 via Reuters here .

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Over the last several years, certain members of the Seattle City Council have embarked on a quest to make the city a socialist utopia. From raising the minimum wage to a whopping $15 an hour to instituting a ridiculous soda tax on consumers, Seattle loves to squeeze money from its residents and business owners in any way it can. On Monday, the City Council continued this pattern by voting to implement a new "employment tax" on large Seattle-based businesses. The city is justifying this tax on major job creators like Amazon, Microsoft, and Boeing by blaming them for Seattle's increase in homelessness. By the city's logic, these companies have set the bar too high when it comes to employee wages. This has subsequently led to an increase in housing prices, which the city believes is responsible for the rise in homelessness. By instituting this new tax, the city hopes to be able to build 1,780 low-income apartments over five years with the revenue collected. And while this tax was surely created with the best of intentions, the logic behind it falls flat. Punishing companies for voluntarily paying their employees generous salaries is so absurd, it sounds like a proposal straight from the mind of a Randian villain. But it also seems particularly ironic coming from the very same city officials who championed using force to incrementally raise the minimum wage just a few years ago. And while the city has yet to acknowledge the detrimental impact this minimum wage increase has already had, they are also ignoring the potential consequences of this new tax. But if the city is not careful in considering both the seen and the unseen repercussions of this new employment tax, they might soon find that all the job creators have had enough. Private Sector Opposition Amazon has been one of the first companies to voice its opposition to this new employee "head" tax. And it is no surprise why. The tax would require every Seattle-based company with revenue over $20 million to pay 14 cents for each hour worked by Seattle residents. This adds up to about $275 per employee each year, which means that these companies will end up paying an estimated $47 million a year for five years. This is an outrageous demand for companies that are doing more for job and wealth creation than all of Seattle's big-government programs put together. In fact, Amazon alone is responsible for creating over 40,000 jobs. Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener issued a statement saying: We are disappointed by today's City Council decision to introduce a tax on jobs. While we have resumed construction planning for Block 18, we remain very apprehensive about the future created by the council's hostile approach and rhetoric toward larger businesses, which forces us to question our growth here." Amazon also questioned the city's own spending habits when Herdener mentioned that the city revenue growth "far outpaces the Seattle population increase over the same time period. The city does not have a revenue problem -- it has a spending efficiency problem." But Amazon is not alone in their opposition to this tax. Starbucks, another Seattle-based company, also has some grave concerns over the city's apparent spending problem. Public affairs chief John Kelley commented on the matter saying that the city "continues to spend without reforming and fail without accountability..." A group of Seattle tech leaders also stand in opposition to the tax, but that has not done much to deter the city government. While Mayor Jenny Durkan was initially opposed to the original employment tax proposal, which was asking for 26 cents per hour worked for each employee, she seemed more than satisfied with the version that passed this week. She stated: This legislation will help us address our homelessness crisis without jeopardizing critical jobs. Because this ordinance represents a true shared solution, and because it lifts up those who have been left behind while also ensuring accountability and transparency, I plan to sign this legislation into law." But making such a bold claim about the impact, or lack thereof, that this new policy will have on job growth completely ignores the consequences that are not immediately seen. The Seen and the Unseen All actions have consequences, and when those actions are meant to control the economy, the consequences can have far reaching implications. In his essay " What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen ," French economist Frederic Bastiat explained that all government actions have consequences that are both immediately seen, and also consequences that are unseen. He writes: In the economic sphere an act, a habit, an institution, a law produces not only one effect, but a series of effects. Of these effects, the first alone is immediate; it appears simultaneously with its cause; it is seen. The other effects emerge only subsequently; they are not seen; we are fortunate if we foresee them. There is only one difference between a bad economist and a good one: the bad economist confines himself to the visible effect; the good economist takes into account both the effect that can be seen and those effects that must be foreseen." In the instance of the new Seattle employment tax, the "seen" is the revenue generated by the city through this new tax. But City Council members are so blinded by how this money can potentially decrease Seattle's homeless problem that they fail to see how this tax may also have negative implications. Unless you are the Federal Reserve, money is not simply printed out of thin air. And while the city government routinely ignores the economic realities that come with using other people's money, the private sector understands that the money has to come from somewhere. In order to pay for this new tax, which again taxes companies for each hour worked by employees, the obvious solution would be to lay off employees or cut back on employee hours, or both. Amazon is one of the largest employers in Seattle and forcing the company to lay off employees or trim the number of hours they can work will not serve to help the city's homelessness problem. In fact, in many ways, it could be adding to it. There is already a fear that automation will jeopardize human jobs. And while much of this fear is unfounded , by instituting a "head tax" on employers you are basically incentivizing them to move away from taxed labor and right into the arms of automation. Additionally, between the minimum wage increase and the new employment tax, there is also the possibility that these companies get completely fed up with Seattle and choose to leave the city altogether. Layoffs, reduced hours, and companies leaving are just a few of the "unseen" consequences of this new policy. If only the Seattle City Council was wise enough to read Bastiat, they might be able to save themselves from a world of economic trouble. But the fact of the matter is, many politicians and legislators see only the immediate consequences, and completely ignore the "unseen." However, economic realities can be ignored forever, anyone who doubts this fact need only look at the city of Detroit. Brittany Hunter is an associate editor at FEE. Brittany studied political science at Utah Valley University with a minor in Constitutional studies. This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article .

Over the last several years, certain members of the Seattle City Council have embarked on a quest to make the city a socialist utopia. From raising the minimum wage to a whopping $15 an hour to instituting a ridiculous soda tax on consumers, Seattle loves to squeeze money from its residents and business owners in any way it can. On Monday, the City Council continued this pattern by voting to implement a new "employment tax" on large Seattle-based businesses. The city is justifying this tax on major job creators like Amazon, Microsoft, and Boeing by blaming them for Seattle's increase in homelessness. By the city's logic, these companies have set the bar too high when it comes to employee wages. This has subsequently led to an increase in housing prices, which the city believes is responsible for the rise in homelessness. By instituting this new tax, the city hopes to be able to build 1,780 low-income apartments over five years with the revenue collected. And while this tax was surely created with the best of intentions, the logic behind it falls flat. Punishing companies for voluntarily paying their employees generous salaries is so absurd, it sounds like a proposal straight from the mind of a Randian villain. But it also seems particularly ironic coming from the very same city officials who championed using force to incrementally raise the minimum wage just a few years ago. And while the city has yet to acknowledge the detrimental impact this minimum wage increase has already had, they are also ignoring the potential consequences of this new tax. But if the city is not careful in considering both the seen and the unseen repercussions of this new employment tax, they might soon find that all the job creators have had enough. Private Sector Opposition Amazon has been one of the first companies to voice its opposition to this new employee "head" tax. And it is no surprise why. The tax would require every Seattle-based company with revenue over $20 million to pay 14 cents for each hour worked by Seattle residents. This adds up to about $275 per employee each year, which means that these companies will end up paying an estimated $47 million a year for five years. This is an outrageous demand for companies that are doing more for job and wealth creation than all of Seattle's big-government programs put together. In fact, Amazon alone is responsible for creating over 40,000 jobs. Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener issued a statement saying: We are disappointed by today's City Council decision to introduce a tax on jobs. While we have resumed construction planning for Block 18, we remain very apprehensive about the future created by the council's hostile approach and rhetoric toward larger businesses, which forces us to question our growth here." Amazon also questioned the city's own spending habits when Herdener mentioned that the city revenue growth "far outpaces the Seattle population increase over the same time period. The city does not have a revenue problem -- it has a spending efficiency problem." But Amazon is not alone in their opposition to this tax. Starbucks, another Seattle-based company, also has some grave concerns over the city's apparent spending problem. Public affairs chief John Kelley commented on the matter saying that the city "continues to spend without reforming and fail without accountability..." A group of Seattle tech leaders also stand in opposition to the tax, but that has not done much to deter the city government. While Mayor Jenny Durkan was initially opposed to the original employment tax proposal, which was asking for 26 cents per hour worked for each employee, she seemed more than satisfied with the version that passed this week. She stated: This legislation will help us address our homelessness crisis without jeopardizing critical jobs. Because this ordinance represents a true shared solution, and because it lifts up those who have been left behind while also ensuring accountability and transparency, I plan to sign this legislation into law." But making such a bold claim about the impact, or lack thereof, that this new policy will have on job growth completely ignores the consequences that are not immediately seen. The Seen and the Unseen All actions have consequences, and when those actions are meant to control the economy, the consequences can have far reaching implications. In his essay " What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen ," French economist Frederic Bastiat explained that all government actions have consequences that are both immediately seen, and also consequences that are unseen. He writes: In the economic sphere an act, a habit, an institution, a law produces not only one effect, but a series of effects. Of these effects, the first alone is immediate; it appears simultaneously with its cause; it is seen. The other effects emerge only subsequently; they are not seen; we are fortunate if we foresee them. There is only one difference between a bad economist and a good one: the bad economist confines himself to the visible effect; the good economist takes into account both the effect that can be seen and those effects that must be foreseen." In the instance of the new Seattle employment tax, the "seen" is the revenue generated by the city through this new tax. But City Council members are so blinded by how this money can potentially decrease Seattle's homeless problem that they fail to see how this tax may also have negative implications. Unless you are the Federal Reserve, money is not simply printed out of thin air. And while the city government routinely ignores the economic realities that come with using other people's money, the private sector understands that the money has to come from somewhere. In order to pay for this new tax, which again taxes companies for each hour worked by employees, the obvious solution would be to lay off employees or cut back on employee hours, or both. Amazon is one of the largest employers in Seattle and forcing the company to lay off employees or trim the number of hours they can work will not serve to help the city's homelessness problem. In fact, in many ways, it could be adding to it. There is already a fear that automation will jeopardize human jobs. And while much of this fear is unfounded , by instituting a "head tax" on employers you are basically incentivizing them to move away from taxed labor and right into the arms of automation. Additionally, between the minimum wage increase and the new employment tax, there is also the possibility that these companies get completely fed up with Seattle and choose to leave the city altogether. Layoffs, reduced hours, and companies leaving are just a few of the "unseen" consequences of this new policy. If only the Seattle City Council was wise enough to read Bastiat, they might be able to save themselves from a world of economic trouble. But the fact of the matter is, many politicians and legislators see only the immediate consequences, and completely ignore the "unseen." However, economic realities can be ignored forever, anyone who doubts this fact need only look at the city of Detroit. Brittany Hunter is an associate editor at FEE. Brittany studied political science at Utah Valley University with a minor in Constitutional studies. This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article .

In the past two years alone, Seattle has proposed new or increased taxes on everything from income, soda, parking, luxury real estate, and rental units. On Monday, the city council did another disservice to Seattleites after it passed a new tax on the city's largest businesses, including the high-tech companies that have become the city's economic salvation in recent decades. In May, the Seattle City Council voted unanimously to tax the city's largest employers to help address homelessness . The original tax would have imposed a 26.042-cent-per-employee-hour tax on large Seattle companies -- those with at least $20 million in total annual revenue. This version would have forced businesses to pay a head tax of about $500 per full-time employee annually. Because Mayor Jenny Durkan threatened to veto the original bill , the council then "reduced" the tax increase to $275 per employee. "Lowering" the rate and not allowing the tax to convert to a payroll tax makes the new version only slightly better than the original. However, it still creates a massive new burden on Seattle employers. Seattle is now the only city to impose an employee tax and a business and occupation tax. Unfortunately, this is not the first time such a tax has been imposed in Seattle -- although it is considerably higher than the previous version. Before 2009, Seattle imposed a short-lived $25-per-employee tax on Seattle businesses that was repealed during the recession. At the time, former Mayor Greg Nickels argued it was not appropriate to impose job-killing taxes during difficult economic times. In 2017, Seattle sought to resurrect a similar proposal, but the effort failed. Chicago's Bitter Lesson As Seattle embraces this onerous business tax, the recent trend in other cities and states has been to move in the opposite direction. For example, in 2014 Chicago repealed its business head tax of $4 per month, or $48 per year. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel told the Chicago Tribune that the head tax destroyed jobs and needed to go . "The head tax is a job killer. Eliminating the head tax is the right thing to do for businesses big and small, and it's the right thing to do to secure Chicago's future," Emanuel said. Chicago's tax was only a small fraction of what Seattle just imposed. In fact, no head tax in any city is anywhere near as severe as Seattle's outrageous $275-per-employee levy. Making matters worse, although Seattle attempts to contain the negative effect on employment by limiting the tax to large businesses, these businesses employ a disproportionately high percentage of the city's overall workforce. The tax will make it costlier to employ new and low-skill employees -- leading to less hiring or more automation. Local companies are already reacting to the tax , with many arguing it will affect both future hiring and expansion efforts in Seattle. Company Pullbacks Amazon has already pulled back on several projects in the city, erasing 7,000 potential new jobs. In fact, Amazon's plans will cost the city an estimated $3.5 billion in economic impact, according to a study from the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. Another company, Honda & Toyota of Seattle , estimates the new tax will cost "$113,500 for the first year, with 227 employees. So, it's approximately $9,500 in (monthly) overhead that we weren't anticipating." Because tech jobs are fairly mobile, the city must be especially careful not to alienate its thriving tech industry. As soon as the new tax becomes too burdensome, these companies can easily relocate. And as is nearly always the case, this tax on large businesses will have far-reaching effects that go beyond its intended target. Eventually, countless small businesses, shops and restaurants will be negatively impacted when companies such as Amazon and Starbucks don't expand or choose to relocate to escape the tax. Instead of increasing taxes on successful businesses, elected officials in all cities should focus on making the city a more attractive place for businesses and workers -- a goal that would best be accomplished by restraining spending, lowering tax rates and reducing unnecessary regulations. [Originally Posted at Investor's Business Daily ]

The city of Seattle passed a law that would require large corporations that do business inside the city to pay a head tax for all employees, hoping to raise tens of millions of dollars in extra revenue for pet projects. What they found is that, surprise, surprise, business owners and managers don't like being shaken down by politicians, even if said politicians say they have good intentions. The city council voted this week to repeal the measure they passed just weeks ago by unanimous vote. It was opposed by businesses that would have to pay the tax and labor unions that feared the loss of jobs in the city. They were right to fear job losses. Amazon.com, which employs 47,000 in the city, halted plans for the construction of new facilities there and is rethinking the potential lease of another city high rise building. The money from the tax was to be used for ostensibly good causes, for homeless services and to build what they call affordable housing. The homeless situation has gotten worse in recent years as new, higher paying jobs at employers such as Amazon have attracted more, higher-earning people to the city. That significantly increased the demand for housing, which, in turn, increased the price of housing, basic economics. In a normal economic setting, an increase in the price of a good or service would serve to attract additional investment, to increase the supply to match, and to drive prices back down. Seattle is not a normal economic setting. It is one of the most heavily regulated cities for land use. A University of Washington study from ten years ago estimated that those regulations have increased prices by $200,000, even back then. As with other cities, the affordability of land and housing in a local area is a function of how much the local government artificially restricts its availability. Another economic principle is that, as the price of something increases, the quantity demanded decreases. The increased cost of employing people decreases the number of employees demanded, with Amazon being the prime example, though not the only one in this case. Though Amazon has not indicated it will move out of the city, it is looking at other areas for its expansion. Many in Seattle are angry with Amazon, with the ironic twist that they say the company is extorting from the city with its threat to direct employment away from there, while at the same time blaming Amazon and other large employers for increasing homelessness by increasing the employment that puts the pressure on housing. There are two alternatives to the housing shortage with its resulting high prices. They can decrease demand for housing by driving away employers and their employees, which some people seem to approve of, or they can increase the supply by deregulating, especially in outlying areas, and allowing more private building of housing to accommodate the demand. As with most things Seattle, it appears like they believe that only government central planners are capable of solving this and other problems. One of the big obstacles they will face is that, because they have already caused so much price inflation in housing, present owners are going to resist efforts to bring prices down. Others will resist because, to them, maintaining the esthetic appeal of the area is more important than making housing affordable. The question that Seattle residents must answer is whether they want to accommodate more employment by allowing significantly expanded private investment in housing or drive employment away by making government more expensive and burdensome. Either way, economic principles don't yield to good intentions. The results will come from the actions taken, not from good intentions.

Amazon kicked the hornets' nest last week. The online retailer halted plans on the construction of one of its new buildings in Seattle, in response to a proposed "head tax," a tax on employee hours worked, which would affect companies that bring in more than $20 million a year in gross income. The city plans to use the funds raised to address the homelessness crisis in Seattle, which has escalated to the point that it was declared a state of emergency in 2015. Now many in Seattle who benefited from the city's economic boom--created in part by Amazon--are outraged. Seattle City Councilor Kshama Sawant, a self-proclaimed socialist and member of a Trotskyite political party , has been particularly bullish on the tax, which will affect the top 3 percent of companies in Seattle. While Sawant may have no respect for a number of Seattle job creators, Amazon is the entity she seems most interested in targeting. In a March editorial , she wrote: We want to address the housing and homelessness crisis by going to where the money really is: with Amazon and the other wealthiest corporations in Seattle. Amazon scandalously received a $789 million windfall this year on old unpaid taxes just from Trump's corporate tax cuts. In Seattle and Washington State, a greater portion of the tax burden is piled onto the shoulders of poor and working-class people than in any other state in the country. Just in case it wasn't clear, she followed up: "Our priority should be to build the strongest possible movement to win the largest tax on Amazon and other big business." This seems particularly thankless given that Amazon employs over 40,000 people in Seattle and that it helped revitalize the South Lake Union area of the city. Never mind that Amazon's presence spurred economic growth in the city beyond the revenue it already pays in taxes and that the boom in Seattle means that the city's unemployment rate is around 3.5 percent--below the national unemployment rate of 3.9 percent. This suggests that housing prices , and not necessarily unemployment, are the principal contributor to the homelessness crisis. However, with high employment and a booming economy, Seattle should have enough revenue coming in from sales taxes, its new soda tax , and other traditional tax sources to address this issue. Seattle has already set aside $50 million in taxpayer funds to combat homelessness. Despite these efforts, homelessness is increasing . The $15 minimum wage also doesn't seem like it will be a solution to the problem--estimates suggest the hike, not fully in force, has already cut low-wage workers' pay by $125 per month on average. Taxing Jobs Will Stifle Employment Whenever progressives suggest taxes on things like soda or cigarettes, they argue that such levies will contribute to better overall public health because increasing the price of something enough will diminish the demand for it. Why would a tax on jobs be any different? By increasing Amazon's tax burden by essentially penalizing the company for employing people, Seattle has sent a message to the world's most successful online retailer: we don't want jobs. Halting plans on its new building is just one way Amazon has demonstrated that it received the message. Amazon has more alternatives to paying the tax than the City Council wants to admit. The company is already looking for a second headquarters and some cities and states are embarrassing themselves as they attempt to lure the tech giant to build and spur their local economies. Regardless of how you feel about the possibility of HQ2 coming to your town (on taxpayers' dime), it does send a message that Amazon isn't necessarily anchored in Seattle. Automation has come for many jobs, and while it is unlikely Amazon could replace all of its employees with robots and software plugins, the Emerald City has just incented Amazon to look for alternatives to human labor. It might be harder to automate an Amazon employee, but if McDonald's response to the $15 minimum wage is any indicator, Amazon might be willing to invest in automating or outsourcing more of its jobs. Already the announcement has sent a rift between Seattle's labor unions. The Iron Workers Local 86 came out in force against Councilor Swant, rightly fearing that the tax would affect their construction jobs. On the other side, SEIU 775 and an AFL-CIO local union advocacy federation (Martin Luther King County Labor Council) have endorsed the tax. One thing is certain. No one can afford to lose a job in Seattle and the Emerald City doesn't want to increase its homeless population with unforced errors. Anti-Business Climate Established After a weekend of high-stakes negotiations, Seattle's City Council somewhat blunted the impact and minimized the tax after Mayor Jenny Durkan threatened to veto the original proposal. This compromise will still generate about $47 million for the Emerald City. But what will it cost? Amazon has resumed construction plans for now, but that doesn't mean the retailer plans to remain in Washington. It's possible the company will lease out the completed space and chose to expand instead in the yet-to-be-determined home of HQ2. If Amazon does go seeking greener pastures, Seattle will only have itself to blame.

What's the best way to help the homeless? While there are lots of reasons for homelessness in America, ranging from mental illness to the use of e.g. "sex offender registries" to put certain areas off-limits to certain people, poverty likely places high on the list -- and a major cause of poverty is the inability to find a good job. Apparently the city council of Seattle, Washington, disagrees. On May 14, the council voted unanimously to start reducing the Emerald City's employment opportunities for the purpose of funding the city government's homeless services and affordable housing schemes. They didn't put it that way, of course. In fact, at least one city council member accused companies like Amazon and Starbucks of "blackmail" for pointing out the obvious and inevitable consequence of demanding that employers pay a $275 annual "head tax" on each full-time employee in the city. According to the Associated Press coverage of the tax, it would "raise roughly $48 million a year to build new affordable housing units and provide emergency homeless services." That figure is likely based on on an untenable assumption: That Seattle will continue to have as many or more full-time employees working within the city limits after the tax is implemented than it had before the tax was passed. In fact, what Seattle's politicians are telling prospective employers and current employers is "don't locate here, and if you are already located here, move away, or at least don't expand." The tax may raise some money, but its main effect will be to increase unemployment in Seattle. Its secondary effect will be to raise the cost of building "affordable housing" in the city since the labor cost for every carpenter, bricklayer, electrician, etc. will go up. And the cost of everything else, too. Grocers and cab companies and landscapers and restaurants aren't going to just grin and fork over the tax. They're going to raise prices to cover it. Both of those effects lead to a tertiary effect: Fewer jobs and more expensive housing, transportation, food, etc. will mean more, not fewer, homeless people. Naturally, the likely "solution" to the problem getting worse rather than better will be to increase the tax. And that likelihood creates "regime uncertainty." Perhaps some companies would consider the other benefits of locating in Seattle worth $275 per year per employee. But if the tax can go from $275 to $500 to $1,000 at the drop of a hat, Seattle just won't look like a good place to start a new enterprise or expand an existing one. I dislike "targeted" tax measures because they smack of social engineering. But if Seattle's politicians really want to help the homeless by messing with the tax code, the better way would be to offer tax BREAKS to companies that employ people, and especially companies that employ people to build homes. Seattle cannot and will not tax its way out of its homelessness and housing problems. But it should at least stop looking for ways to tax itself more deeply into those problems. Thomas L. Knapp (Twitter: @thomaslknapp) is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism ( thegarrisoncenter.org ). He lives and works in north central Florida.

In Philadelphia, the Community Justice Land Trust is helping preserve a community in the face of rising land values and speculation in the city's Eastern North section, near Temple University, [...] "Starbucks coffee is anti-black," the demonstrators chanted Monday morning. Protesters swarmed a Starbucks in Philadelphia on Monday, days after police arrested two black men who had been waiting [...] According to the Vera Institute of Justice, Philadelphia City Council unanimously voted to end cash bail on Thursday--a system that overwhelmingly punishes poor offenders by forcing them to stay [...] From what magic bucket of money are we supposed to use to pay for all of this? The Philadelphia Municipal Pension Fund, which covers the pension costs of city workers. This $4 billion fund is [...] By Sofiya Ballin for Philly.com The message is fitting. It was Malcolm who said: "The most disrespected woman in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black [...] By Molly Knefel for In These Times - This week, Democrats descended upon the city of Philadelphia, attempting to present themselves as simultaneously progressive enough to be the party of racial, [...] By Zach Cartwright for US Uncut - Bernie Sanders delegates are leaving the Wells Fargo Center in droves, protesting the Democratic National Committee's bias toward Hillary Clinton throughout the [...] By Staff of Associated Press - Thousands of demonstrators took to the sweltering streets of Philadelphia on Sunday, chanting and beating drums in the first major protests ahead of the Democratic [...] By Bob Hennelly for Salon - Just like their Republican counterparts in Cleveland, the delegates to the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia will be sequestered far away from the daily misery and [...] Daily movement news and resources. Popular Resistance provides a daily stream of resistance news from across the United States and around the world. We also organize campaigns and participate in coalitions on a broad range of issues. We do not use advertising or underwriting to support our work. Instead, we rely on you. Please consider making a tax deductible donation if you find our website of value.

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Progressive Briefing for Thursday, June 28, 2018 This month, NationofChange turns 7! NationofChange is a nonprofit organization that provides an online magazine, daily newsletter, and activist platform - all free to the public. It's hard, expensive work, and our daily operations are funded entirely by donations from readers like you. If you value the work that we're doing, please take a moment to celebrate our 7th anniverary with your 100% tax-deductible donation. Make a donation - Become a Sustaining Member -

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Video | Ammoland Inc. Posted on October 17, 2015 by Ammoland VT Patriot : Saul, I read your comment and was ready to applaud it until the last part. Those that are rioting... Graystone : Now If FLIR is interested in marketing - and good will - they should "donate" a unit to the ECPD. tomcat : @ Wild Bill this liberal POS xander13 fits the profile you described in one post you made on this... VT Patriot : Amen Mrs. Hodges. I believe we are all here to help you and your heroic son. Please keep us... JP : Dumber in the head than a hog is in the a$$... Just say'n.... JP ...

President Donald Trump was joined in the Rose Garden by Greece Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday for a joint press briefing. During the questioning, a reporter brought up comments Tsipras made likening Trump to evil. The president joked, "I wish I knew that before my speech." Prior to that, Trump said, "I'm honored to welcome Prime Minister Tsipras of Greece, and he's a special man who's done a very special job. We're grateful to the Prime Minister and to his entire delegation for visiting us today at the White House." He added, "Greece is a cradle of Western civilization, so true, of democracy, literature, philosophy, science, and so much else. America looks on that glorious heritage with wonder and with awe. You do indeed have a tremendous heritage, Mr. Prime Minister." The President continued, "Perhaps for this reason, America's friendship with the Greek people has been long and enduring. Thomas Jefferson wrote at the dawn of the modern Greek state that 'no people sympathize more' with Greek patriots and 'none offer more sincere and ardent prayers to heaven for their success' than the American people." Prime Minister Tsipras emphasized, "The friendship between our two countries is very strong, and it's based on our common democratic principles, on the values that we jointly share as peoples." He said, "It is correct that the founders of the United States were inspired by Ancient Greece, and the Greek revolution was inspired by the American revolution for independence. At the same time, our relationship is based . . . is also based on a very dynamic diaspora of Greek people here in the U.S., which offers many . . . has many to offer for both countries." Later, a reporter asked, "And, Mr. Prime Minister, with respect to the President, in March of 2016 you said, at the potential for a Donald Trump presidency, 'I hope we will not face this evil.' And I'm wondering if, after spending time with the President, you have changed your mind or if you're of the same mind." President Trump jabbed, "I wish I knew that before my speech." Tsipras laughed and answered, "We need common values -- we have common values, excuse me. Don't forget that the value of democracy and freedom was born in Greece, and it's one of the basic values that traverses the American culture and American tradition." He added, "President (Trump) today, of the U.S., continues this tradition. And I think our collaboration will be very substantial, and I'm very optimistic after our meeting that we had today." Watch the briefing below:

There are virtue-based societies, and there are rule-based societies. America has become the latter. While it's true that apprenticeships are growing in popularity, there's still something holding them back from becoming mainstream. Apparently it's now considered racist or imperialist for one culture to borrow or elaborate on elements of another. If your goal for your children is a lifetime of government work, then by all means send them to public school: the bigger, the better. As philosophy professor Matthew Lipman realized, college was a little late in life to learn to think properly. Last week, the U.S. named Russia as its top threat, and plans to increase its troop presence in Europe. Given certain pressures and circumstances, "good" people can and will do evil things--whether or not they like or regret it.

Mr Alfano told the Corriere della Sera newspaper: "Today Europe is not in a position to express opinions about the actions of others. Or do we want to forget that walls have also been erected in Europe?" During the migrant crisis EU member state Austria built a fence and control station on the border with fellow member state Slovenia as migrants attempted to make their way across Europe. Neighbouring Hungary also built a 109-mile barrier along its border with Croatia and a fence along its Serbia border as migrants used Hungary as a gateway to Europe. Bulgaria also built a barbed wire fence along its border with Turkey in response to the migrant crisis . More than one million migrants, arriving mainly from the Middle East, have made their way into Europe in the last two years. Mr Trump has put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the US and temporarily banned travellers from seven Muslim-majority nations. The ban covers citizens of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. He says the ban will help keep Americans safe and he has cited recent attacks by Islamist militants in several European countries. Mr Alfano stressed there was no proven link between migrants and terrorism. The foreign minister said Italy's vision on dealing with migrants "is different" as he praised his country for rescuing migrants crossing the Mediterranean. He said: "We were world champions in saving lives in the Mediterranean and welcome to those who flee war and persecution. Security and solidarity can go together." The EU's foreign policy chief, Italy's Federica Mogherini, said Europe will continue to work closely with countries across the Muslim world and to help refugees from the region.

You have not viewed any products recently. Home > Shop by Department > Audio Store > Convivium Greece 2006: The Greek Roots of Democracy Convivium Greece 2006: The Greek Roots of Democracy Complete set of lectures on 7 CDs. With Dr. Thomas Fleming, Prof. Claude Polin, Christopher Check, Gail Fleming, Nikos Hidiroglou, and Diamantis Bassantis The Roots of Democracy series was recorded at The Rockford Institutes Spring Convivium in Greece. Dr. Thomas Fleming and Professor Claude Polin speak of the origin and practice of Greek democracy and the striking differences between modern and ancient democracy. Gail Fleming and Christopher Check give overviews if Greek architecture, religion, and warfare, and two of Greece's leading right-wing journalists discuss prospects for authentic conservatism in modern Greece. Customer Reviews Not yet rated. Be the first to Write a Review. Write a Review

Athens: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called on refugees on Tuesday to allow the Athens government to move them from Idomeni camp to reception centres, stressing that the borders are "closed" and will not be reopened in the near future. Representational image. AP In a joint press conference with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, who is currently on an official visit to Athens, Tsipras urged the refugees present in Idomeni not to insist on staying in this area, indicating that the borders were not closed by chance and there is no possibility they will be reopened, Efe news agency reported. Tsipras made his remarks after some 1,000 migrants and refugees left Idomeni camp on Monday and crossed the border to Macedonia by river.

Headline Mar 02, 2017 And legendary talk show host and actor Oprah Winfrey hinted Wednesday that she's open to running for president in 2020. Oprah was asked about a possible run for the White House during an interview with David Rubenstein of Bloomberg TV. Oprah Winfrey : "I actually never thought that that was--I never considered the question even a possibility. I just thought, 'Oh! Oh!'" The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License . Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us. Democracy Now! is a 501(c)3 non-profit news organization. We do not accept funding from advertising, underwriting or government agencies. We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work. Please do your part today. Make a donation

Last night was the debut of Cycle 11 of America's Next Top Model which featured perhaps the most silly 'futuristic' themed overhaul ever put on by Tyra Banks, but also the debut of pre-op transgender model Isis , whose presence is certainly one good reason to keep your eyes on this season. The other models' reactions to this contestant in their midst presented a range of reactions from the most accepting to the most bigoted. What stood out most, however, was Isis' own strength through it all. The action starts at around 1:36 in the clip AFTER THE JUMP ... Says one contestant Sharaun : "Isis is over the top. America's Next Top Model is not going to be a drag queen. I'm sorry. It's not." Says another, McKey : "Isis is a pretty cool chick. In the situation that she's in, you'd think that she'd want to hide everything, but she's open, she's forthwith, she's not gonna hide who she is from anybody. I'm a big fighter girl and I think that she is, like, tenfold more brave than I am." McKey and Isis swim together in the pool, where Isis explains her transition from male to female: Isis : "Transitioning is like going through puberty all over again. It's like, I started out as like, a kid and now I'm like... I'm developing. McKey : "You're like a butterfly." Two other contestants then share their discomfort : Clark : "I'm not gonna lie. It makes me uncomfortable as hell. It freaks me out that she got something else different down there than me." Hannah : "I think the thing about Isis though is like, I was like trying to convince myself I was comfortable. I can't even comprehend I'm comfortable. But really, I'm not. Sometimes people have a really warped view of transgender people...coming from a small town, hell yeah we have a warped view." Clark : "Hell yeah. You walk around like that in a small town, you get shot. And it's not so much a close-minded view, it's just more traditional. Coming from a good Southern family I was really thrown back by Isis. Growing up in the South you don't exactly run into a 'he-she' every day. Isis has no place in this competition." There are a few other reactions in this episode that aren't highlighted here. Asian model Sheena shows her support for Isis early on, and one other contestant (I believe she's already been booted) said that if she needs to, "she'll stomp that man down." Watch the clip, AFTER THE JUMP ...

Free sign up cp newsletter! By Rod Anderson , CP Cartoonist | Oct 18, 2014 9:27 AM As it is believed that many jihadists fear that being killed by a woman would cost them their promised "paradise" in the afterlife, it is worth noting that a Kurdish female is one of two commanders leading the resistance against the Islamic State's quest to capture the strategic Syrian border town of Kobane. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Agence France Presse that a female commander, going by the pseudonym of Narin Afrin, is co-commanding the Kurdish peshmerga forces that have been defending the key border town since the beginning of ISIS' assault on the city Sept. 16.

An underreported story in the mainstream media is the decimation of ISIS under President Donald Trump. In July, former ISIS stronghold Mosul, Iraq, was liberated from brutal Islamic State fanatics by U.S.-backed Iraq Security Forces (ISF), freeing millions of Iraqis. On Tuesday, the last of the remaining ISIS militants were pushed out of the Syrian city of Raqqa after a five-month battle from Kurdish-led forces backed by the U.S., according to a commander with the Syrian forces. The loss is big hit to ISIS, the terror group having held Raqqa as the de facto capital of their caliphate since 2014. Fox News reports : The last group of Islamic State militants had been holed up Tuesday in a stadium in the Syrian city of Raqqa, their last stand in the fight over what was the terror group's de facto capital as U.S. backed, Kurdish-led forces close in around them. Brig. Gen. Talal Sillo told The Associated Press on Tuesday that there are no longer clashes going on in the city, and that a formal declaration will follow befitting "the fall of the capital of terrorism." As reported by The Mirror , freed Syrian women were captured on video celebrating their release from brutal ISIS militants with tears of joy, some ripping off their formally-mandated burqas. Raqqa's infrastructure is essentially a hellscape, and Army Col. Ryan Dillon has warned that there are "still areas that have not been cleared."

Mark Steyn BLASTS Obama as a 'prissy preening narcissist' on his reaction to ISIS I could listen to Mark Steyn all day. Last night on Hannity Steyn took on Obama's foreign policy delusions with respect to ISIS and blasted him for saying ISIS has no place in the 21st century, calling him a 'prissy preening narcissist'. Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

Here is a small sample of some of the witnesses and reports on the London attack. 1. Witnesses watch three men on stabbing spree: 2. Police order everyone under the tables at London Pub during attack: 3. British police are responding to a THIRD 'incident' in the Vauxhall area of London Bridge: 4. Germany: Two dead following knife attack in southern Germany: "A individual of Afghan origin was shot dead by police at a refugee home near Regensburg in Arnschwang, southern Germany, on Saturday after he reportedly attacked a mother and her two children, killing one child aged five. " 5. Eye witness describes what he saw as several people were stabbed by a man screaming "this is for Allah". Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

Arabic Al Aan reporter Jennan Mousa details some of the information discovered in a laptop captured in Syria. The owner was a Tunisian man who studied physics and chemistry before joining ISIS, making it even more likely that a chemical or biological attack might be what's in store for America. Watch below the report with English captions: Meanwhile Obama keeps on golfin'.... Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

One of the murkiest dodgy deals in recent electoral history is back on in Richmond. Readers will remember how the Green Party was offered a PS250,000 inducement not to run against Zac Goldsmith in the 2016 by-election - a blatant bung that the Electoral Commission said would have been a criminal offence . In the 2017 election the Greens initially selected a candidate, Andree Frieze, and said she would run. That was until the LibDems stood down their candidate against Caroline Lucas in Brighton - and Frieze dropped out in Richmond to return the favour. Lucas farcically told the Daily Politics she couldn't "remember the name" of the person who offered the PS250,000 bung. They have never explained the inducement, essentially covering up a potential criminal offence... Now a joint Green-LibDem leaflet has gone out in Richmond explaining the parties "have decided to work together and not compete with each other" and telling voters to vote for two LibDem candidates, Penny Frost and Gareth Richards, and one Green, Frieze, in May's local elections. Here is the joint imprint: There are serious questions here to which Richmond voters deserve to know the answers. Who offered the PS250,000 bung? Why did Caroline Lucas claim she "can't remember" the name of the person who offered it? Why did she never disclose the name as she promised Andrew Neil she would? Why did the LibDems claim there was no deal in 2017 despite the Greens admitting there was? What deal has been made this time round that they are keeping from Richmond voters? Remarkable they've got away with refusing to come clean on all this... Caroline Lucas is making out that that somehow the even more heavily subsidised nuclear industry could be ditched in favour of renewables. In reality given that wind power produces less than 5% of the UK's energy needs and the output is basically zero for 64% of the time this is not very likely. She's spinning more than the wind turbines. Green and Liberal Democrat constituencies are the most expensive areas to live in the UK, with Tory seats in third place, according to research linking house prices to party support. The research commissioned by Bridging Loan Hub reveals that, when analysing the average house price in all 650 UK constituencies, at PS394,577, the sole Green constituency (Brighton Pavilion) pips the Lib Dems, with an average value of PS368,517. Despite their reputation as the party of the rich, Conservative seats are only the third most expensive in Britain, averaging PS330,585 per home. Conservative seats also have the greatest range in house prices. The difference between the most and least expensive Tory constituencies is PS2,082,689 and Labour follow closely behind with a PS2,014,780 difference. Seats held by Jeremy Corbyn's party have PS265,762 homes on average, with constituencies ranging from PS90,058 to PS2,104,838. Sinn Fein strongholds in Northern Ireland have the cheapest homes nationally, averaging just PS133,820 per property across their seven seats with the lowest average price for any single constituency: PS88,178 in West Tyrone. This will come as no surprise to people who have been out canvassing in Tory-LibDem swing seats like Richmond...

Submitted by Ed on Jul 28 2018 17:15 An interesting series of personal recollections of individuals participation and experiences of the poll tax riot in London's Trafalgar Square in 1990, which marked the beginning of the end... The far-right in Ukraine are acting as the vanguard of a protest movement that is being reported as pro-democracy. The situation on the ground is not as simple as pro-EU and trade versus pro-... Pannekoek hammers at the idea that party and class must be antagonistic, as the history of German and Russian parties had shown by 1936. Rather, the working class must self-actuate and self-... Click here to register now. Logged in users: > Can comment on articles and discussions > Get 'recent posts' refreshed more regularly > Bookmark articles to your own reading list > Use the site private messaging system > Start forum discussions, submit articles, and more...

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. (c)2018 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. All market data delayed 20 minutes. Space company United Launch Alliance builds key infrastructure for manned missions from Cape Canaveral. NASA's historic Parker Solar Probe is the space agency's first spacecraft to be named after a living individual. The Parker Solar Probe will use gravity assists to reach speeds of 430,000 mph as it heads for a rendezvous with the sun; Phil Keating reports from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Raw video: Police bystanders try to wrangle goats and sheep after the animals escaped from the Hackettstown Livestock Auction in New Jersey. NASA astronaut Leland Melvin claims he once saw an 'alien-like, organic object' floating outside his space shuttle. Seismologist reveal a 'swarm' of 153 earthquakes hit the region around Yellowstone National Park in July. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. (c)2018 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. All market data delayed 20 minutes.

It seems like the mayor of New York City is using the same line as British politicians: "We will not be cowed." But they are! New York is NOT safe! After the most recent terror attack , it's clearer than ever that New York, and the United States, are faced with the same threat as Britain and the rest of Europe. If Republican politicians don't start supporting Trump's MAGA agenda, then they'll end up with exactly the same problem as us. Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

The whole green climate change racket is falling apart - global warming has stopped and now the hippies are coming up with new theories to justify global cooling. At the UN Climate Summit yesterday the Chinese and Indian's basically called the West's bluff and said sod it, we want prosperity. UKIP campaigns against windmill subsidies and years after the daft hug-a-husky days, Populus found this month that 71% of Conservative MPs think "it has not yet been conclusively proved that climate change is man made" . Green crap - nein danke... Energy Secretary Ed Davey has today unveiled eight new major renewables projects which he says will be funded by PS12 billion of private sector investment to " boost green growth and green jobs ". Renewable projects are guaranteed a price for the power they produce, meaning that the difference between the guaranteed price and the price on the market is subsidised by the taxpayer. Guido has been crunching the numbers to work out how much the subsidy for these new projects will cost taxpayers overall. The wholesale price for power for winter 2015 is PS53 per MWh. There are 5 offshore wind projects totalling 3,184MW, each guaranteed PS140 per MWh if completed in 2017-18. That's a subsidy of PS87 per MWh. If wind farms generate 35% of the time, that's 3,066 hours per year. At PS87 per hour on 3,184MW of capacity that's a subsidy of PS849 million . Biomass CHP There is 1 Biomass CHP project providing just 299MW. This is guaranteed PS125 per MWh. A subsidy of PS72 per MWh. If this generates 85% of the time, that's 7,446 hours per year. At PS72 per hour on 299MW of capacity that's a subsidy of PS160million . Biomass Conversions Then there are 2 Biomass Conversions totalling 1,065MW. These are guaranteed PS105 per MWh. A subsidy of PS52 per MWh. If these generate 85% of the time, that's 7,446 hours per year. At PS52 per hour on 1,065MW of capacity that's a subsidy of PS412 million . Overall, that is a total subsidy of PS1.4 billion per year . Davey said today that the new contracts for renewable projects will support 8,500 green jobs. At PS1.4 billion, that amounts to PS167,000 per green job. Or green crap as the PM likes to call it.

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A Christian preacher has been recorded screaming homophobic abuse outside a gay politician's house, telling him he will die if he doesn't repent. Former Lib Dem councillor Christian Martin filmed the man branding a wooden cross and screaming "Homosexuality is wrong". The politician runs a film production company that makes gay films, flies a rainbow flag outside of his family home and advocates for LGBT rights. Footage captures the man, who is dressed in dark clothes and wielding a wooden cross, bellowing: "Same sex relationships are wrong. Bestiality is wrong. "Homosexuality is wrong. Sexual immorality is wrong. Bestiality is wrong. "Come to the cross before it's too late. Jesus loves you but he doesn't love your sin. "However if you reject Jesus Christ and what he did for you at the cross you will perish. "If you reject Jesus Christ and what he did for you at the cross you will be destroyed. "Come to the cross, before it's too late. Get on your knees and repent of your sins. "Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and saviour before it's too late."

Kyler Geoffroy Managing Editor Kyler Geoffroy serves as the Managing Editor for Towleroad. Born and raised in a small town in southeast Texas (think True Detective season one), Kyler is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, where he majored in Government and Communication Studies. In the past, he has worked with the Texas Gay Straight Alliance Network, DC's People for the American Way, and on various political and advocacy campaigns. In his spare time Kyler enjoys feeding his political junkie habits, jotting down ideas for novels that he'll never actually bother to write, and trying to figure out which Hogwarts House he wants to be placed in once they finally decide to make an Oculus Rift virtual reality version of Harry Potter. Follow him on Twitter at @kylergee Latest Articles by Kyler Geoffroy

(The Daily Signal, YouTube) During his confirmation hearing for U.S. attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions faced questions about his record on issues of race and civil rights. Allegations of racism contributed to the downfall of Sessions' 1986 bid for a federal judgeship before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the same committee he is seeking approval from to move forward as attorney general. But this time around, black leaders are coming out to defend Sessions' character and his record on race and civil rights:

Hazard 4 Media Division presents the pilot episode of the documentary series 'The No-mad Chronicles' titled 'Contractor: The Brother's Keeper' (click here to view video) co-produced by..... Read More >>> Wild Bill : Dear Mrs Hodges, engage a skilled criminal defense attorney to nail down witnesses, statements, and other evidence, anyway! Don't wait.... Rattlerjake : God gave three instances where the killing of a man has no "bloodguilt" - 1)War, 2)Judicial punishment, 3)Self defense Wild Bill : @Mark, I concur, and thank God that she is an uncivilized, discourteous, and obvious loser. She makes her own ideas,... allan King : she would be the first one to scream armed police to come to her aid when her home is being... Wild Bill : @Tcat, He must have gotten the wrong idea and made himself fit the hard core unemployable profile. Now, his career...

Veteran U.S. Navy SEAL and NRATV Commentator Dom Raso released commentary on how the weak policies feckless politicians have left our southern border unprotected Read More >>> Wild Bill : Dear Mrs Hodges, engage a skilled criminal defense attorney to nail down witnesses, statements, and other evidence, anyway! Don't wait.... Rattlerjake : God gave three instances where the killing of a man has no "bloodguilt" - 1)War, 2)Judicial punishment, 3)Self defense Wild Bill : @Mark, I concur, and thank God that she is an uncivilized, discourteous, and obvious loser. She makes her own ideas,... allan King : she would be the first one to scream armed police to come to her aid when her home is being... Wild Bill : @Tcat, He must have gotten the wrong idea and made himself fit the hard core unemployable profile. Now, his career...

A Christian preacher has been recorded screaming homophobic abuse outside a gay politician's house, telling him he will die if he doesn't repent. Former Lib Dem councillor Christian Martin filmed the man branding a wooden cross and screaming "Homosexuality is wrong". The politician runs a film production company that makes gay films, flies a rainbow flag outside of his family home and advocates for LGBT rights. Footage captures the man, who is dressed in dark clothes and wielding a wooden cross, bellowing: "Same sex relationships are wrong. Bestiality is wrong. "Homosexuality is wrong. Sexual immorality is wrong. Bestiality is wrong. "Come to the cross before it's too late. Jesus loves you but he doesn't love your sin. "However if you reject Jesus Christ and what he did for you at the cross you will perish. "If you reject Jesus Christ and what he did for you at the cross you will be destroyed. "Come to the cross, before it's too late. Get on your knees and repent of your sins. "Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and saviour before it's too late."

Secret British documents have revealed that deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had agreed to resettle Palestinians in Egypt over three decades ago. According to the documents, obtained exclusively by the BBC following a Freedom of Information Act disclosure request, Mubarak was responding to an American request when he made his offer. The former president stipulated that in return for agreeing to the move, an agreement to end the Arab-Israeli conflict must be reached. The documents show that Mubarak revealed the US request and his response during talks with the then British Prime Minister, the late Margaret Thatcher. The talks were held during his visit to London on his way back to Washington, in February 1983, where he met with the late US President Ronald Reagan. The two visits occurred eight months after Israel had invaded Lebanon on 6 June 1982 under the pretext of waging a military operation against the PLO. This was prompted by an assassination attempt against the Israeli ambassador in London, Shlomo Argov. In light of the very tense situation in the Middle East, Mubarak sought to convince the US and Israel to accept the establishment of a Palestinian entity in the context of a "confederation" with Jordan, in order to lay the foundations for establishing a future independent Palestinian state. According to the record of his meeting with Thatcher, Mubarak said that when he had been asked to accept Palestinians from Lebanon, he told the US he could do so only within the context of a comprehensive plan to resolve the conflict. The former president expressed his willingness to host Palestinians from Lebanon despite his awareness of the dangers of such a step. He also insisted that, "A Palestinian state will never pose a threat to Israel." Thatcher replied to this by hinting that regardless of any future agreement, the Palestinians could never return to Palestine. "Even establishing a Palestinian state cannot lead to absorbing all Palestinians in the diaspora," she warned. Egypt's Foreign Affairs Minister at the time, Boutros Ghali, replied to Thatcher. "The Palestinians will have their own passports at that point," he explained, "and they will have different positions. We don't only have to have an Israeli state and Jewish diaspora, but also a small Palestinian state with Palestinian diaspora." Mubarak mentioned the Palestinians in Kuwait to Thatcher as an example. "They would never return to an independent Palestinian state." According to the BBC, when the late British Prime Minister's secretary took notes of the meeting with Mubarak, he stressed that they should not be widely distributed. Mubarak's political advisor at the time, Osama Al-Baz, presented a proposed future solution, noting that the first step would be a federation between Jordan and a Palestinian state, which would develop into an independent state within 10 to 15 years. Thatcher expressed reservations about the establishment of a Palestinian state independent of Jordan: "Some feel that an independent Palestinian state would be under the influence of the Soviet Union." "This is a mistaken idea," said Al-Baz, "as there will be no Palestinian state under Russian influence. This state will rely economically on the oil-rich Arabs who are very opposed to the establishment of a state loyal to the Soviets in the region. Saudi Arabia, for example, would never allow this to happen." He also pointed out that a Palestinian state "must" be demilitarised, and therefore would not obtain Soviet weapons. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Until it was destroyed in 70 A.D., this was the site of the vast Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Now, of course, this site is under Muslim control. Sure, armed Israeli security personnel enforce this arrangement, but ultimately the PLO controls who gets to pray here, and even how visitors can dress. You might call it a bit of a "mini-apartheid" state... PS: WATCH more reports from The Rebel Media's mission to Israel HERE . Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

Such policies deliver pernicious results; American "restraint" of Israel encourages its enemies to take risks. Much like government bailouts encourage banks to make high-risk, high-payoff investments by removing the consequences of failure, Israel's adversaries need not fret over irrevocable loss because they know the international community will admonish Israel for any gains it achieves. Moreover, restraining Israel legitimizes and nourishes Palestinian rejectionism, defined as the refusal to acknowledge Israeli sovereignty and right of Jews to live in their ancestral homeland. Because it knows there will be no consequences for its sophisticated propaganda war, the Palestinian Authority can continue to demonize Israel. "To become a normal people, one whose parents do not encourage their children to become suicide terrorists, Palestinian Arabs need to undergo the crucible of defeat," writes Middle East Forum President Daniel Pipes. When Israel has licensure, without American opprobrium, to unleash its military might after a Palestinian rocket or terror attack, as when Liberman ordered over 50 airstrikes on Hamas military infrastructure in Gaza in response to one rocket, the Palestinians retreat. The fear of crushing defeat is a potent weapon in neutralizing Palestinian resistance. America's handling of the Arab-Israeli conflict is preventing the kind of metamorphosis in Palestinian thinking about Israel that peace requires. It's time for Washington to allow Israel to demolish the Palestinian dream of a one-state solution, free of Jews. As Ronald Reagan said regarding the US fight against communism, the only way to " win is if they lose. " This doesn't mean the U.S. should support a winner-take-all settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But we must dispense with the fallacy that Israel is only a concession or two away from an American-brokered diplomatic breakthrough. As Gen. Douglas MacArthur said famously, "there is no substitute for victory." Please SHARE this story as the only way for CFP to beat Facebook anti-Conservative Suppression.

I learned something today while listening to a briefing regarding the current situation in Israel. It is something that I should have learned long, long ago and explains a great deal. There is a profound difference between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In 1947, the population of the latter was miniscule. By 1948, it was considerable. Something on the order of 80% of those now living in the Gaza Strip are descended from refugees who fled from territory now Israeli as the Egyptian army approached. The same is not true of the West Bank. There are refugees camps in that region, to be sure. But most of its inhabitants live in homes occupied by their parents or grandparents in 1948. If Gaza now belongs to Hamas, it is because it is largely populated by Palestinians unwilling to settle for anything short of the destruction of the state of Israel. If the West Bank still tolerates Fatah and the PLO, it is because the majority of those who live there are less bitter than their counterparts in Gaza. The battle now going on is the third such struggle since Ariel Sharon ordered Israel's withdrawal from Gaza. If the current battle does not end with the wholesale destruction of Hamas' rockets, there is apt to be another round. If Hamas ever does the Israeli core any great damage with these rockets, Israel will be forced to reoccupy Gaza. As things stand, were it not for the effectiveness of the Iron Dome, that day would be at hand.

The Bethlehem side of Israel's security wall is covered top to bottom with anti-Western graffiti. Israelis say they approve of this, as an expression of "democracy" and "freedom of expression," but of course those are values the "Palestinians" wouldn't extend to the other side. While Israel talks about "a solution" and even "love," I don't believe these two sides will every stop fighting. PS: WATCH more reports from The Rebel Media's mission to Israel HERE . Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

The Palestinian government has set up a new watchtower at the 13 kilometre-long Palestinian-Egyptian border in an attempt to continue maintaining the state of order on the Palestinian side. According to Palestinian security sources, another eight watchtowers are to be set up along the borders, with CCTV cameras placed on them. There are no security problems on the Palestinian side of the border as security staff are continuously patrolling the area with their AK47s. On the Egyptian side, masked Egyptian soldiers are patrolling the border in armoured vehicles. From time to time, Palestinians hear what is thought to be warning bullets shot by the soldiers. This is probably because of the continued unrest in Sinai. Meanwhile, the Egyptian security forces are continuing their demolition of tunnels between Egypt and Gaza. Egyptian sources said the number of tunnels demolished so far is 1,300. The tunnels were once the lifeline for about 1.8 million besieged Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt has been closed for 28 consecutive days. It was opened once in February for a number of pilgrims. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Remember when Diane was accusing Amber Rudd of not being across the details? Jeremy Corbyn has entirely predictably backtracked on the overnight briefing saying he would ditch his commitment to free movement. Speaking to Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain, he clarified that "If the EU says access to the single market requires freedom of movement I would say... economically we've got to be able to trade with Europe" . In other words that Britain should prioritise the single market over controlling borders. He then told Today he would not end the "right to travel" , also known as free movement, adding "We're not saying anyone couldn't come here" . As of last night Corbyn was saying "Labour is not wedded to freedom of movement for EU citizens", this morning he's ultimately saying he would keep free movement. When Labour sent out the speech excerpts outlining the tougher line on immigration, it was inevitable that Corbyn wouldn't stick to it. What will he say in his speech? Find out at 3pm... Not sure which is more bizarre - Labour reaching out to the Donald or doing it via Piers...

Jeremy Corbyn is making his first visit to Northern Ireland as Labour leader today. He has already managed to annoy, well, just about everyone . And he's only just arrived... Corbyn's decision to speak at Queen's University, Belfast, where the IRA shot 29-year-old-law lecturer Edgar Graham in 1983, is being seen as a deliberate provocation. Yesterday the DUP called on Corbyn - once and for all - to categorically renounce and condemn the IRA. DUP MP Sammy Wilson has demanded he specifically condemns that killing... Meanwhile, victims groups are incensed as Corbyn has declined multiple invitations to meet with them. Corbyn's team actively ignored emails asking for a meeting until he was confronted after PMQs yesterday. J e zza was apparently too busy to spend time with those bereaved and injured during the Troubles... Local business leaders are infuriated by the Labour leader's ambiguity on Brexit. John McGrane, director-general of the British-Irish chamber of commerce, said: " It's getting late in the day for continued vagueness." Jezza faces an awkward showdown with business leaders tomorrow... Labour's sister party the SDLP are angry that Corbyn wants to leave the single market. The party has written to all Labour MPs at Westminster asking them to defy Jezza... Outstandingly, Jezza has even managed to rile up his own Labour members by snubbing them too - he will not meet with any representatives of the Labour Party in Northern Ireland, his own closest supporters. LPNI's Dugald McCullough said: "Some members feel it's a snub"... Jezza's own party are also irked that he has not allowed members to stand. Labour does not currently field candidates in Northern Ireland but let the SDLP have a free run instead. Corbynista activists want their own ticket. Corbyn is annoying them by resisting... Perhaps worse of all, Jezza's key announcement - that he wants to resurrect the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference - is a highly sensitive and somewhat hypocritical intervention. The BIIGC is part of the Good Friday Agreement, which Corbyn's own Shadow International Trade Secretary Barry Gardiner dismissed as a "shibboleth". Perhaps Jezza should have just stayed at home... Usually MPs use their maiden speech to tell the House a heart-warming story about their journey to parliament and their connections to their constituency. Does Osamor not have any original thoughts of her own?

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Chancellor says such an arrangement may be needed to ensure there is no 'cliff edge' when we officially exit the bloc in 2019 (c)News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy . To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. View our online Press Pack. For other inquiries, Contact Us . To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click here .

You can read it all today, for free, only on SunNation ... Guido reveals the hottest job in Westminster in today's Sun on Sunday column, which is free to read online here . Don't miss out on: You can read it all today, for free, only on SunNation ... You can read it all today, for free, only on SunNation ... September 13, 2015 at 11:01 am You can read it all today, for free, without a paywall, only on SunNation ... You can read it all today, for free, without a paywall, only on SunNation ... You can read it all today, for free, without a paywall, only on SunNation ... You can read it all today, for free, without a paywall, only on SunNation ... You can read it all today, for free, without a paywall, only on SunNation ... You can read it all today, for free, without a paywall, only on SunNation ... You can read it all today, for free, without a paywall, only on SunNation ... You can read it all today, for free, without a paywall, only on SunNation ... In Guido's Sun on Sunday column this week, the Labour MP who writhed, moaned and thrashed around while recreating the infamous swimming pool sex scene from Showgirls. Don't miss out on: Read today's column for free, here ... Guido's Sun on Sunday column is free to read this morning, not behind a paywall, over on SunNation . Find out what's really happening with Chuka, as allies urge him to 'do a Boris'. And don't miss out on: Suzanne Evans speaks to Guido about whether she wants to be the Sturgeon of the South Why Thursday night wasn't the first time Craig Mackinlay closed down Farage's future UKIP set for noisy campaign to address politing weightings in the second chamber. [...] Read the rest

"I remember coming back from a dinner party full of people who were high up at the BBC. I got so passionate about the Scottish question, afterwards my wife had to say, 'You've got to calm down there. Why were you yelling at everyone?' But I wasn't yelling. I was just being keen." September 18, 2014 (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices

Human rights and sports experts, Krista Hanson, Ph.D., left, Julie Dorf, and Helen Carroll discussed the Winter Olympics during a Commonwealth Club forum February 4 (Source:Jane Philomen Cleland) LGBT Russians, more so than their Olympic counterparts, are at risk under the country's anti-gay propaganda law, human rights and sports experts said this week. Speaking at the Commonwealth Club on the eve of the Sochi Winter Games, the panelists agreed that LGBTs are an easy target for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The February 4 panel was entitled, "From Russia Without Love: the 2014 Winter Olympics and Human Rights in Russia." The room was packed with about 150 people. Last summer, Putin signed the anti-gay law that makes it a crime to "promote" homosexuality to minors. The vague law means that such things as public displays of affection could subject LGBTs to fines or jail time. There have been reports of violence in the months since the law took effect. Putin and Olympic organizers maintain that LGBT athletes will be safe during the games, but it's unclear what would happen if someone spoke out in favor of LGBT rights. "Putin feels the need to bolster his power by uniting people against a common enemy," said Krista Hanson, Ph.D., a professor of Russian culture at San Francisco State University. "LGBTs are an easy target. Laws now allow for gays to be detained for saying anything which compares gay relationships to straight relationships." Hanson pointed to weaknesses in the Russian Judiciary. "The idea that a leader could be held accountable in Russia is foreign," she said. "President Putin acts to return the country to authoritarian rule. He controls all TV broadcasts in Russia, which is where most Russians get their news. There have been many murders of journalists who investigate corruption." Julie Dorf, a senior adviser with the Council for Global Equality, pointed out that LGBT life in Russia was relatively good before the crackdown began. "The crackdown has been dramatic," she said. "The fear across the community is pervasive. People want to flee. Daily discrimination includes people being harassed by neighbors, firing teachers, and taking children away from lesbian parents." Dorf described what's called an "occupy pedophilia" movement across Russia. People have been entrapped and tortured, which is filmed and put on the Internet. One panelist pointed out that the International Olympic Committee's charter prohibits discrimination. Helen Carroll, director of the sports project at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said that Principal 6 of the Olympic Charter recognizes the practice of sports as a human right and states that athletes must be able to practice without discrimination of any kind. The charter says that the group being discriminated against must be named according to race, religion, or otherwise. "It does not specify LGBT status," Carroll said. Dorf added, "Principal 6 protects from discrimination but bans protest." Hanson said that having the Olympics in Russia were important to Putin. "If President Obama and several European heads of state aren't going, and Obama sends Billie Jean King [an out lesbian tennis champion] instead, then Putin isn't happy. It's a snub. The White House did a fantastic job," she said. The audience applauded. (On Wednesday, the White House announced that due to an illness in her family, King would no longer be attending the games. Out hockey medalist Caitlin Cahow, originally scheduled to participate in the closing ceremony, will join gay skating champion Brian Boitano at the opening ceremonies.) "The risk to athletes is low," Hanson said, referring to possible prosecution under the law. "The Olympics are Putin's baby. He wants them to go without issues. They want Sochi to look gay-friendly. It's LGBT Russians and allies who are at risk." Dorf then spoke of a Russian ninth grader who came out and was put on a sexual predator list. Carroll said the IOC could have acted once Putin signed the anti-gay law. "They could have moved the Olympics," said Carroll. "That would have taken a bold move. The Olympic committee isn't bold. They should look at host countries' human rights records." Dorf said there were no easy answers. "There is no perfect country," said Dorf. "These choices are made 10 years out. These laws did not exist then. Future Olympic countries might start looking like Norway, France, and Canada." The panel called for keeping the pressure on the Russian government, holding Olympic sponsors accountable, and doing whatever possible to help asylum seekers. "The National Center for Lesbian Rights is looking closely into helping asylum seekers," said Carroll. Added Dorf, "Stay informed. Plug in and don't forget about them."

The pop legend, who lives with his husband David Furnish, has described Putin's stance on gay rights as "ridiculous". The singer met with Ukraine's president Petro Poroshenko on Saturday to lobby him over lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. After the conference, he revealed Putin was next on his list. The Russian president was entertaining former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in the annexed region of Crimea the day before. In 2013, Putin signed into law a ban on "gay propaganda" to minors, making it illegal to regard straight and gay relationships as equal or distribute material on gay rights. Sir Elton used concerts in Moscow in 2013 and St Petersburg last year to condemn the law. Attacks on the gay community in Russia have risen in recent years. A group of activists were beaten and arrested as they tried to hold a gay pride celebration in Moscow in May. President Putin had said gay and transgender athletes and supporters would not be discriminated against during the 2014 Winter Olympics but must "leave the children in peace". His comments caused an international outcry and Sir Elton called them "ridiculous", adding: "Give me a break. You are president of Russia and you go and say stupid things like that." Putin's attitude to gay people was "isolating and prejudiced", he added.

Russia has a problem: Gay people exist. They're ghastly and gross and bad , and they could destroy the traditional family and rip apart the very fabric of the nation. Even the idea of homosexuality represents a danger to the country, which is why this summer, Vladimir Putin signed wide-sweeping anti-gay and anti-gay propaganda laws to protect his citizens and fight against the country's population decline. The only problem is that next February, the world is going to crash upon Russia's shores and flood the western city of Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Gays and the ones who love them are sure to come. And now Russia is in a pickle. As Gawker's Rich Juzwiak explained , even though consensual homosexual sex was decriminalized in Russia 1993, that barely means dick now, as discriminatory legislation has been introduced to further marginalize gays. On July 3, Putin signed a bill that not only outlawed Russian children from being adopted by same-sex couples, but outlawed Russian children from being adopted by couples who lived in countries where gay marriage is legal. Three days before that, Putin signed a law that banned the "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations" to minors. That means no PDA. No positive LGBT tweets. No rainbow pins. No support of homosexuality of any kind. Harvey Fierstein pointed out in The New York Times that the law grants police the authority to arrest anyone, including foreign nationals, they suspect of being gay, fine them, and even detain them for up to 14 days. All to protect the children. The following video, widely circulated on social media, shows a Russian teen being tortured by a... Read more Read But that means during the Sochi Olympics, anyone--tourists, trainers, fans, families, coaches, and athletes--could all be subject to arrest, right? I mean, just last month, four Dutch LGBT advocates were arrested and fined for speaking at a human rights convention and filming a gay documentary in which they interviewed 17-year-old minor. Everyone relax , the International Olympic Commission claimed in a statement. Foreign gays and gay-lovers aren't going to get pinched on their way to the ice rink. They wrote, "The IOC has received assurances from the highest level of government in Russia that the legislation will not affect those attending or taking part in the Games." So...that's good, or at least it was, until Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko came out today saying that foreign nationals, even competitors, are going to be treated the same as anyone else during the Olympics. "No one is forbidding an athlete with non-traditional sexual orientation from coming to Sochi, but if he goes onto the street and starts propagandizing it, then of course he will be held accountable," Mutko said to Ria Novosti. (The article was headed with this legal disclaimer: This article contains information not suitable for readers younger than 18 years of age, according to Russian legislation. ) It's business as usual, then, in Russia next winter. But for the LGBT community, that is terrifying. In May, a gay man in Volgograd was found dead after being attacked, sodomized with beer bottles, set on fire, and brained with a rock. In June, three men set a gay man's car on fire before stabbing and stomping the victim to death. It's not like Russia's some uncivilized, backwater country, though. They're just trying to preserve their children's future. No homo stuff, and you should be fine.

Anatoly Pakhomov, mayor of Sochi, where the 2014 Olympics is being held, told the BBC in an interview that aired Monday that there were no gay people living in the city. This statement has further created outrage from many gay rights activists in light of a June 2013 law that was passed in Russia banning the promotion of gay or "non-traditional" sex to people under the age of 18. Those opposing the new law believe that the law makes it legal to prohibit gay rights protests throughout Russia; while in contrast, many supporters believe the law merely makes the "advertisement" or "propaganda" of homosexuality illegal to children. A member of Russian President Vladimir Putin's party told the BBC that regardless of this law, gays are welcomed at the upcoming Olympic Games. He was quoted saying, "Our hospitality will be extended to everyone who respects the laws of the Russian Federation and doesn't impose their habits on others." An opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, stated that there are several gay bars throughout the city and laughed at the mayor's comment wondering, if it were true, how these bars would be able to stay in business. John Sweeny, BBC Panorama reporter, even visited a gay bar in Sochi the night before his interview with Pakhomov and was able to speak to a few locals about the ongoing issue. Apparently many attendees were reluctant to speak on the topic, but were able to confirm that there is indeed a gay community throughout the city, as well as in other areas throughout Russia. President Obama has confirmed that he will not be attending the Sochi 2014 Olympics, showing his aversion for this new law as well as creating an example to support human and gay rights. One of America's retired athletes, Billie Jean King, an American tennis champion who is openly gay, will be attending the Sochi Games on behalf of the USA, as well as participating in the delegation of the opening ceremony. She spoke with the BBC in early January and said, "it took about 10 seconds" on deciding whether or not she would attend the Games in Sochi. King visited Russia throughout her career as a tennis player. "The Russian people have always been so wonderful to me, personally," she said. King also spoke about Rule 50 of the Olympic Games that states, "No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas." King hopes to help the LGBT community in Russia and wants to stand up against any discrimination that comes from ignorance and misguided fear about homosexuality. The presidents of Germany and France will also not be attending the Games in Sochi. It is doubtful that this symbolic act for distaste towards anti-human rights laws will bring any difference to the Russian government, but the validation it creates for not supporting discriminatory laws has created ripples of impact on the nations who stand by civil rights and liberties. By Carolyn Dean Sochi 2014 Olympics: Controversial Gay Russian Law Becomes Issue for Games added by Nancy Schimelpfening on January 28, 2014 View all posts by Nancy Schimelpfening -

Republican strategist Mary Matalin on Sunday asserted the Russia's laws against homosexuality were irrelevant because "all of my gay friends" think Russian President Vladimir Putin is "so buff in his shirtless photos." During a panel discussion on ABC's This Week , host George Stephanopoulos said that he had recently interviewed Putin and he "absolutely believes this law is the right thing, doesn't want to change it and he even tied it, at some point, to the need to increase birth rates." The New Yorker's David Remnick pointed out that Russia's law criminalizing homosexual "propaganda" had given cover for hate crimes across the country. "It's hard to believe he will punish anybody during the Olympics," Stephanopoulos told Matalin. "Can I just say that I'm so sick of sports," Matalin replied. "Someone came up this week and said, I am not gay and I know I'm going to get in trouble for this, but all of my gay friends thinks he looks so buff in his shirtless photos." "I'm just saying, why is he even talking about this?" she added.

On December 6 and 7, Elton John will play two concerts in Russia. As the world's most visible gay entertainer, he must speak out during both concerts and oppose the Russian government's continuing attacks on LGBT Russians. In June, Russia enacted a law that effectively makes it a crime to make any pro-LGBT statement in public or private and on the Internet. Russia also banned adoptions of Russian children by people from any jurisdiction that allows same sex marriage. Russia's parliament briefly considered legislation that would allow the government to remove children from any home that is headed by gay or lesbian Russians. While that legislation has been withdrawn, some advocates expect it will be considered again after the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Russia are over. Russian government officials and state-run media outlets have kept up a stream of anti-LGBT hate speech that has intensified a pre-existing campaign of violence by Russian neo-Nazis and nationalists targeting LGBT Russians. These thugs act with complete impunity and post videos of their brutal attacks on web sites. The Russian government has done nothing in response. While some artists and performers, such as Cher and Wentworth Miller, have refused to travel to Russia because they will not associate their work with the Russian government's bigotry and violence. Since Elton John has chosen to perform in Russia, he must speak out!

Every time Donald Trump talks about his plans for the U.S. border with Mexico, he talks about building a "Great Wall." Not a fence, but a wall " to keep illegals out ." He also floated the idea of having a "big beautiful door" so that immigrants can legally enter the country -- unless they're Muslim refugees, of course. And that thing about making Mexico pay for it? Not gonna happen. It turns out, neither will the concept of a wall with a "big beautiful door." During another bizarre press briefing on Tuesday, Sean Spicer, along with Homeland Security secretary John Kelly and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director Mike Mulvaney revealed images of what the Trump White House has in mind for the border wall. They also seemed to confirm that funding for the wall is included in the budget deal the White House reached with congressional Democrats. It turns out, 1) the wall isn't a wall, it's a levee, 2) there isn't any funding for the wall in the budget agreement, and 3) the White House lied the press, including Breitbart . The hat-trick of Trump nincompoopery. Even though Spicer refused to explicitly describe the levees in the photos as a "wall" or "walls," he later tweeted the same photos: . @POTUS just negotiated a spending deal where we can build these pic.twitter.com/UI4Wslx9wl -- Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) May 2, 2017 So, these are examples of the very, very terrific wall -- the Great Wall -- that Trump has been ceaselessly promising to build? Nothing a decent ladder from Home Depot can't surmount. However, Spicer never actually said these photos were examples of the wall... until later when Spicer's deputy, Lindsay Walker, called Breitbart and lied. Spicer directed one of his deputies, Lindsay Walters, to call Breitbart News and pitch the photos in Spicer's Tweet as a "border wall." Noting that Spicer directed her to call Breitbart News and argue that the photos represent a "border wall," Walters pushed back when Breitbart News argued that a see-through fence and a levee wall do not constitute a "border wall" that fulfills President Trump's campaign promise. Allow me to emphasize again: this is Breitbart reporting. Not the so-called "fake news." Nevertheless, the White House definitely tried to pass off levees as the border wall, and they thought Breitbart would go along with the ruse. Clearly Spicer's office miscalculated. Like always. Breitbart continued: Technically, levee walls--or flood walls--are common parts of levees designed to deal with flooding. The Rio Grande river constitutes much of the U.S.-Mexico border, so levees--and "levee walls" as Walters argued--are a part of that. They are not meant for border security, but rather for flood management. Well, I suppose the levees will keep out all that illegal Mexican water. But if Trump thinks levee walls will suffice as a cheap substitute for his Great Wall, he might as well give up. Making matters worse, the White House lied about the wall to its most loyal publication outside of Fox Nation . Not only did the White House lie about the content of the photos, but Spicer also lied when he said the omnibus spending bill pays for the wall . Adding insult to injury, we also know that the spending bill places restrictions on how Trump can deal with border security, and the funding for security in the bill is half of what the White House requested. Fail, fail, fail. Trump led his disciples to believe he'd build a "Great Wall." Who can blame them if they thought it might actually be a, you know, great wall? But when faced with actually accomplishing such a feat with a supportive Republican Congress, they can't even talk about the wall without choking -- and, bonus, they're alienating their biggest fans. If this is how flagrantly the White House is lying to loyalists, imagine the bullshit they're foisting on the rest of us. Bob Cesca is the host of the Bob Cesca Show podcast , a twice weekly political talk show. He's also a contributor to Salon.com. Follow him on Twitter and on Facebook .

One day after his Chief of Staff appeared on Fox News claiming that Trump's plan for his wall has 'evolved', President Snowflake took to Twitter to assure America that he is has not...and that he is willing to shut down America to prove it. Only fifteen minutes into Thursday morning's Fox and Friends broadcast, as the hosts discussed Trump's reported new-found understanding of the complexities of building a gigantic wall, the President-In-Tweet informed the world that tales of his evolution have been greatly exaggerated. "The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it. Parts will be, of necessity, see through and it was never intended to be built in areas where there is natural protection such as mountains, wastelands or tough rivers or water....." The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it. Parts will be, of necessity, see through and it was never intended to be built in areas where there is natural protection such as mountains, wastelands or tough rivers or water..... -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 After publicly contradicting White House chief of staff John Kelly, Trump then doubled down and reiterated that not only would Mexico still be paying for the wall, but that if Congress didn't give him the money to pay for the wall that Mexico is paying for, he would let the government shutdown on January 19th when the current deal to temporarily fund the government expires. ....The Wall will be paid for, directly or indirectly, or through longer term reimbursement, by Mexico, which has a ridiculous $71 billion dollar trade surplus with the U.S. The $20 billion dollar Wall is "peanuts" compared to what Mexico makes from the U.S. NAFTA is a bad joke! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 We need the Wall for the safety and security of our country. We need the Wall to help stop the massive inflow of drugs from Mexico, now rated the number one most dangerous country in the world. If there is no Wall, there is no Deal! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 Trump followed his threat to shut down America by preparing everyone to get angry at Democrats for devastating the military after he forces a government shutdown. A government shutdown will be devastating to our military...something the Dems care very little about! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 The current cost estimates to build the border wall are currently close to $70 billion .

Photo: AP I know, I know, it's a shocking twist--the border wall that President Trump campaigned on, promised Mexico would pay for, and has made no actual progress on since entering office is actually total bullshit that has no basis in reality, according to a new study from the Government Accountability Office. Apparently, Customs and Border Protection did not research a few minor details when proposing costs for the wall, like what the terrain is like, what parts of the border need to be blocked to stop migrants from crossing, and who actually owns the land the wall would be built on. No big deal, right? Well, according to the new report, these oversights could be a problem. Without assessing costs, consistent with leading practices for capital decision making, C.B.P. does not have complete information for prioritizing locations to use its resources in the most cost-effective manner. [The Department of Homeland Security] faces an increased risk that the Border Wall System Program will cost more than projected, take longer than planned or not fully perform as expected. How could anyone see this coming. "The report shows us what we already knew: The Trump administration put almost zero thought into the construction of this wall other than how it will play in the news cycle," Rep. Filemon Vela, a Texas Democrat, told the New York Times . At this point, the only real-world construction of the border wall, which Trump mandated through an executive order, are prototypes built in Southern California by some extremely shady companies. Congress has also provided some money that will go to repairing existing fences and building some new fencing on the border in Texas' Rio Grande Valley. Trump has threatened to shut down the government if they don't provide funding for the wall. This report confirms that if Congress does indeed fund this absurd project it will not only be an immoral exercise in xenophobia, it will also be a total waste of whatever money is spent on it. Yeah, this is definitely going to happen.

President Trump's first campaign promise was to not only build a wall along the Mexican border but that Mexico itself would pay for it. Since that time, we've discovered that's not actually how things will pan out, but Trump still insists that Mexico will end up paying the U.S. back after its initial construction through some sort of tariff, etc. Now - the Official Website of Donald J. Trump For President is sending out emails to those very same supporters Trump made his promise to, asking for donations to make the wall a reality. Below is a screenshot of one of those emails. What's funny about the email, if you hadn't noticed, is that Trump even had to remind people he wasn't building "a fence." So far, Trump has been president for going on eight months and has still not been able to pass a single significant piece of legislation, despite claiming he's passed more than almost any president before him. History shows that time is not on Trump's side. New U.S. Presidents are more likely to enact new laws with Congress in their first 100 days - this is commonly referred to as the "presidential honeymoon" phase. After that, the likelihood of getting anything passed decreases since legislators are more concerned with getting ready for the next election. Right now, Trump is trying to do everything at once and the wall doesn't seem to be front and center. If he has to beg for more campaign donations to make it a reality (as promised and not halfway done) then he's not doing the job he was elected to do. That's definitely a good thing.

In an interview with Fox News, John F. Kelly, Homeland Security secretary, says he wants the U.S. Mexico border wall to be finished in 2 years . "The wall will be built where it's needed first, and then it will be filled in. That's the way I look at it," Kelly said. "I really hope to have it done within the next two years." In his first interview since he has been sworn in as secretary of Homeland Security, Kelly called for a speedy construction of the wall and the laid out the need for Border Patrol at the wall. "Any discussion about the protection of our southwest border involves discussion of physical barriers but also of technological sensors, things like that," he said. "But it's a layered approach, and it's got to be backed up by great men and women who are going to make sure that the wall is intact." Palestenians demonstrate how easy it is to go over a wall. Credit: ActiveStills Retired Marine general, Kelly is the Cabinet member who is in charge of the construction of the wall which is one of the Donald Trump's main campaign promises. In the interview, Kelly confirmed the statement of the construction of the wall would begin in the months to come. There is still no certain plan on who will pay for the way. It is reported that the border wall would cost tens of billions of dollars. Even though the president of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto, repeatedly refused to pay for the wall, Kelly voiced his confidence that the funding for the wall will come soon. "I think the funding will come relatively quickly and like I said, we will build it where it's needed first as identified by the men and women who work the border," he said.

Trump has Set Millions of Dollars to Construct the Mexico Boarder Wall. Another White House Lie! 0 Do you remember Trump's promise during his campaign trail saying t hat Mexico would fund the border line with the US? .Well, Mexico refused. Now the Trump administration has passed a budget for the construction of the border wall. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said, "The Trump administration will use several hundred million dollars of a $1.5 billion border security spending increase approved in the soon-to-be-approved bipartisan budget deal to begin work on the wall." How about that! They want to repeal Obamacare and allow 100% funding for the wall. Where did we go wrong on the country's priorities? The government is proud of talking about the metrics construction of the damned wall! "When you heard in the last 48 hours about the deal, did you think we could build this?" Mulvaney said, pointing to a picture of the 20-foot high steel wall on the US-Mexico border. "I bet you didn't. Nobody did. OK." That's their excuse. Mulvaney acknowledged the funding wouldn't finance a "new wall" -- certainly not the gigantic concrete barricade Trump promised his supporters -- but unveiled the plans to replace and fix the current fencing with a "see-through steel wall."

The Navy has plenty of destroyers - but low morale may be the biggest one of all. Stressed and stretched thin, most sailors say they're fighting another kind of enemy: distrust and dissatisfaction. For most service members, the last six years have been an emotional roller coaster - not only because of the external conflicts, but because of the internal ones that threaten to tear apart an already fragile fighting force. In a survey of 5,536 Navy personnel, only 27% say morale is "good" or "excellent," a freefall from past responses, where strained troops still managed to keep their spirits up. Now, a half-decade deep into the President's social experiment with the military, the scars are starting to show. Almost half of enlisted troops said they "distrust senior leaders" - an opinion shared by 40% of officers. And the wave of pessimism threatens to affect more than just the Navy. From uncertainty over their retirement to the frustration with "excessive political correctness," most of our brave men and women barely recognize the military they gave up their lives to serve. Instead, sailors say they harbor widespread doubts about the men commanding them, "complaining of poor leadership and a disciplinary environment that tolerates absolutely no mistakes." What they mean is no politically incorrect mistakes. What the Obama military does tolerate, unfortunately, is a brave new world of sexual liberalism and religious censorship - both of which are tearing at the fabric of America's fighting force. Sexual assaults and suicides are through the roof since the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in 2010 - and suddenly, the biggest cheerleaders for repeal are nowhere to be found. The Pentagon downplayed the effects of open homosexuality when it was implemented in 2011 - something it will have a tough time doing now, with the rate of male-on-male assaults at a record high. While the media highlights the female victims, the Pentagon's 1,400-page report explains that service men are just as affected - if not more so. Now, four years later, the administration is scratching its head at the sky-high suicides and sexual attacks. Defense officials are racing to reassure people that they're doing everything they can to get to the bottom of these issues - only to inject more policies that accelerate both. They put political correctness ahead of national security and then seem surprised when both the nation and the people that protect us are at risk. According to the Washington Times, the survey "was released amid complaints by some aviators about excessive political correctness as the military seeks to stamp out sexual harassment and misconduct in an increasingly gender-integrated Navy." Obviously, these are complex and emotional issues - from personal safety to private beliefs. If we want to solve these crises, a key component to addressing them is the same vibrant faith this administration is trying to stamp out. Is this really the time we want to tell service members they can't rely on God? Christians in the Cross-fire in Iraq What was once the cradle of Christianity may be the death of it for believers in the Middle East. Driven out by fear (or worse), Iraqi's Christians are vanishing by the thousands, as ISIS hunts down non-Sunni Muslims, and especially Christians, like an insatiable predator. Undeterred by the world's sporadic airstrikes, the radical group is rattling Baghdad's gates - mere miles from entering the city that so many American soldiers died defending. Less than 10 kilometers may be all that stands in the way of Baghdad and the extremists who killed as many as 1,000 Iraqi troops in the last handful of days. "Things are so bad," Canon Andrew White posted on Facebook. "All the military air strikes are doing nothing. If ever we needed your prayer, it is now." The Iraqi priest is one of a number of Christians left in the warzone, whose only hope is local soldiers who say they would "take off (their) uniforms" if ISIS attacked Baghdad. "Christianity in Iraq is finished," say reporters like Daniel Williams, who spent 10 days with the suffering in hiding. "It is not simply that these Christians have gone through tremendous trauma. It is not only because they lost everything, including their homes and businesses, and in some cases spent days and even weeks in detention while being badgered to convert to Islam, where they saw babies taken from mothers' arms to be held for ransom and busloads of young people ferried off into the unknown... No, it is because, for Christians in Iraq, the past three months have been the climax of 11 years of hell," Williams wrote. Plagued and persecuted in ways no one has experienced since Jesus's time, Christians are not just being targeted - they're being massacred. Those still in the country don't have a way out. They're sitting ducks for the savage Islamists intent on wiping them - literally - off the map. Yet so far, White's pleas have gone relatively unnoticed by the Obama administration. President Obama was just at the U.N. Security Council meeting - yet made no mention of the Iraqis at the tip of the spear. The situation is so dire, White explains, that there are hardly any Christians in Iraq who haven't had a family member killed by ISIS. Yet the same President who hasn't called Pastor Saeed Abedini's wife, Naghmeh, in two years of his wrongful Iranian imprisonment has made no move to defend Christians here either. Although it would take a substantial effort and ground commitment to carve a way out of the country for the cornered Christians, it is entirely possible - with the world's help - to shepherd ISIS's prey out of harm's way. The U.S. could establish a corridor to move them into Kuwait, or press the U.N. to create an international convoy to safety. It's not a question of is there a way to get the Christians out, it's a question of is there a will to get them out. The Doe before Roe... She never wanted an abortion. So it was one of her life's greatest regrets that Sandra Cano, the plaintiff in the second most important Supreme Court case on life, became the impetus behind the greatest expansion of legal abortion in American history. Cano, the "Mary Doe" of Doe v. Bolton, is far lesser known than Roe v. Wade, which is usually credited with opening the floodgates to millions of unborn casualties. As LifeNews explains, "the Doe decision saw the high court define 'health' to include 'all factors - physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age,' every possible exception to objections." For years, Sandra tried to overturn the decision - unsuccessfully. "It's a nightmare to be connected to a case that I never wanted to be connected to," she explained recently. "Doe v. Bolton allows abortion up to the ninth month. This case takes children's lives." [Yesterday], after news of her passing, the pro-life community honored Cano's tireless work to reverse the verdict that paved the way for abortion-on-demand. "Sandra's work to overturn that devastating decision that was based on lies will not end with her death," Father Frank Pavone said. "When life ultimately triumphs over death, Sandra will share in that victory." This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.

US Drops 'Mother of All Bombs' on ISIS in Afghanistan The U.S. military dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday just days after a Green Beret was killed fighting ISIS there, a U.S. defense official confirmed to Fox News. The GBU-43B, a 21,000-pound conventional bomb, was dropped on an ISIS tunnel complex in Nangarhar Province. The MOAB -- Massive Ordinance Air Blast -- is also known as the "Mother Of All bombs." It was first tested in 2003, but hadn't been used before Thursday. The MOAB is so massive it had to be dropped out of the back of a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane. "We kicked it out the back door," one U.S. official told Fox News. For comparison to the 21,000-pound MOAB, each Tomahawk cruise missile launched at Syria last week was 1,000-pounds each. "As [ISIS'] losses have mounted, they are using IEDs, bunkers and tunnels to thicken their defense," Gen. John Nicholson, Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement. "This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against [ISIS]."

Self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham militants took over Qaraqosh, Iraq's largest Christian town and surrounding areas, when Kurdish troops withdrew overnight, fleeing residents and Christian clerics said on Thursday. "I now know that the towns of Qaraqosh, Tal Kayf, Bartella and Karamlesh have been emptied of their original population and are now under the control of the militants," Joseph Thomas, the Chaldean archbishop of Kirkuk and Sulaimaniyah, told AFP. Several residents contacted by AFP confirmed that the entire area in northern Iraq, home to a large part of the country's Christian community, had fallen to ISIS.

Muslims Helped Rebuild Assyrian Church Destroyed By ISIS in Mosul Posted 2017-05-31 21:50 GMT ( Facebook/ThisisChristianIraq) In the wake of the so-called Islamic State's (IS) near complete defeat in Mosul, Christian and Muslim families who had fled persecution are slowly returning to their homes. This includes the inhabitants of Mosul's Al Arabi neighborhood, where hundreds of buildings, including the town's Mar Georges monastery, were destroyed under the terrorist group's occupation. There were no plans to immediately rebuild the monastery, but that changed earlier this week after a false rumor of a Christian family being terrorized by some of the town's Muslim inhabitants had spread. "After false rumors were spread about a Christian family being terrorized by the Muslim inhabitants of Al Arabi neighborhood in Mosul, young Muslim volunteers from that neighborhood headed to the Monastery of Mar Georges to clean it up and repair it," a statement posted to the Facebook page This is Christian Iraq, read. Their move aims to send a message of tolerance, peace and unity amid the most difficult of circumstances, and the whole campaign was launched under the slogans "Mosul is yours as it's ours" and "Our differences are our strength." The end of two years of terrorism Iraq has one of the smallest, yet oldest, Christian communities in the world. Under the rule of IS (Daesh), hundreds of Christian sites are said to have been destroyed, including Iraq's oldest Christian monastery. According to Iraqi News, Mosul's complete liberation is set to be declared within a week, and Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has already issued orders to prepare for celebrations in the country.

As the Battle for Mosul rages on, and US-backed coalition forces are attempting to push ISIS out of their northern Iraqi stronghold, huge questions have been raised about the future of Christianity in the region. Homes once belonging to Christians have reportedly been sold by ISIS fighters to Muslim families. Churches, meanwhile, have been covered in graffiti and used as warehouses by the terror group. Father Emanuel Youkhana, of the Syrian Church of the East, said: "I don't see a future for Christians in Mosul. "Christians aren't going to come back to stay. The churches I saw were not destroyed with bombs, but by the everyday business operations of the community. "How can Christians return to that environment? It's unfortunate, because Mosul needs their skills. Most Christians were part of the intellectual and professional class here, they were doctors and lawyers and engineers and university professors. But I don't see how they can return." Father Youkhana's comments come as Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil unveiled plans for Iraq's displaced Christians. US-backed Iraqi forces last October began the biggest ground operation in the country since the 2003 Iraq invasion to defeat the jihadis. Despite Father Youkhana's warning and ongoing conflict, growing numbers of Christians are said to want to return to their homeland. Aid to the Church in Need's (ACN) Middle East project head Father Andrzej Halemba said 50 per cent of Christian refugees from villages in the Ninevah Plains wish to return. ACN plans to help rebuild Christian communities destroyed by ISIS. Father Halemba said: "ACN will support, of course, the reconstruction. However, we have to work together with other charities, alone it is impossible to manage this."

According to the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, Christians will be extinct from Iraq in just five years as ISIS continues to reign over the majority of the country while wiping Christians and their monuments from history. Fox News ran a story with the details late last year: The dwindling Christian population of the Middle East could vanish completely within a decade unless the global community intervenes, say alarmed aid groups who say followers of the Bible are being killed, driven from their land or forced to renounce their faith at an unprecedented pace. The world has largely stood by as a dangerous tide of intolerance has washed over the region, according to a new study by the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need. The study includes disturbing data about the plunging numbers of Christians in the part of the world that gave birth to the faith, and makes a dire prediction of what could happen. While Christians are under siege from Islamic State radicals in war-torn Syria and Iraq, the report notes that the religion is being targeted throughout the region. Christians who have managed to escape ISIS have fled to places like Europe and Lebanon, while members of the faith also are under increasing pressure in Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations. The Christian population in Iraq has plummeted from 1.5 million in 2003 to current estimates of 275,000 and could be gone for good within five years , according to the report. The dwindling numbers are due to genocide, refugees fleeing to other countries, those who are internally displaced, and others hiding in plain sight and not allowing their faith to be publicly known. " Last Christmas was the first time that bells did not ring out in the city of Mosul in 2,000 years, " Brown said. "I think that speaks to the reality that hundreds of thousands of Christian families are living on the edge of extinction." The definition of genocide is, "the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation." ISIS extinguishing Christianity where ever they conquer doesn't fall under this definition according to the White House.

A Florida school district just took action to remove the teacher from the classroom after her as a secret white supremacist lessons were exposed. Citrus County Schools took to both Twitter and Facebook to announce the immediate removal from the classroom and suspension of teacher Dayanna Volitich pending their official investigation of her secret second career as a racist podcaster. Intrepid journalists at HuffPost put the pieces together about Volitich's " Unapologetic " podcast where she bragged about injecting white nationalism into her middle school social studies classroom. Citrus County School Board Member Thomas Kennedy published this announcement on Twitter after a weekend long outpouring of anger over Dayanna Volitich's vile hatred: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Citrus County School District Superintendent of Schools, Sandra "Sam" Himmel https://t.co/N7ADXjkvyC @CitrusSchools pic.twitter.com/RosBAeF7uv -- Thomas Kennedy (@thomaskennedyfl) March 4, 2018 Tonight's news is a major victory for the parents at Crystal River Middle School, who complained to school administrators about the 25-year-old Volitich for injecting her support for Trump and hatred of Muslims and Jews into lesson plans. She lied to administrators about her ulterior motives, but caught the attention of bloggers for bragging about - and encouraging - surreptitiously slandering minorities in the classroom. But none of it would've happened without a blogger who took note of a public school teacher openly flaunting her racism, and the work of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the leading international hate tracking group. Then, HuffPost put it all together to catch Volitich: Earlier this week, the blog Angry White Men, which tracks white nationalism, wrote a post abou t how someone named "Tiana Dalichov" had interviewed the prominent white supremacist media figure Lana Lokteff on this week's episode of "Unapologetic." Lokteff works for the media outfit Red Ice TV, which the Southern Poverty Law Center recently designated as a hate group . In the episode, "Tiana Dalichtov" talked openly about being a public school teacher, but didn't reveal her real name or the school where she worked. HuffPost found a website promoting the writing of "Tiana Dalichov" that had a bio section listing the author's home as Crystal City, Florida. Volitich is listed in public records as residing in Crystal City. She is also listed as being 25 years old. This year, when a fan tweeted at "Tiana Dalichov" asking how old she is, she responded that she was 25. On an episode of her podcast, she mentioned that last school year was her first year in the district where she works. Citrus County School District confirmed to HuffPost that Volitich started teaching in the district in August 2016. While the Citrus County Schools suspension of racist teacher Dayanna Volitich has arrived quickly, ensuring the proper administration of her permanent expulsion from the classroom will require public vigilance. Because an evil Nazi sympathizer like Volitich has no place in the classroom of any public school in this country, or in any classroom, period. But Dayanna Volitich's stated goal to secretly propagandize your children means that there's terrifyingly high chance that she will try again to get away with pushing her disgusting brand of race hate and Trumpism on impressionable children at another school.

Editor's note: The video in this article contains coarse language that some viewers may find offensive. One common theory surrounding the election results is that Americans voted in favor of racism when they elected Donald Trump. Steven Crowder, conservative commentator and host of "Louder with Crowder," discusses his own grievances with President-elect Donald Trump and then dismisses the racism claims. Crowder points out that in order for Trump to have won, a lot of the bleed-over votes would have had to come from people who previously voted for Barack Obama. He goes on to say that their votes switched to Trump after feeling like they "got screwed" after voting for Obama.

@ekay Jeff Sessions just launched a religious freedom task force! How unnecessary! If that's not circling the wagons to protect Christians (because you know they don't give a crap about muslims, hindus, etc) I don't know what is. Evangelicals defending Trump...that's not circling the wagons? Anyone claiming Trump is a Christian(LOL) or doing good things for Chrisitans....not circling the wagons? I'm not a liberal either you dip. I hate Trump with the heat of a thousand suns, but that doesn't make me a liberal.

Following is one of the 40 perpetrators identified in UN Watch's 130-page report entitled "Poisoning Palestinian Children: A Report on UNRWA Teachers' Incitement to Jihadist Terrorism & Antisemitism." Eman Shammala, who identifies herself as an UNRWA teacher on her Facebook profile, published the picture below on January 10, 2016. UN Watch previously exposed two other UNRWA teachers who published the same picture, which shows a keffiyeh-clad Palestinian playing a knife like a violin, using a Palestinian "key of return" as a bow.

At the press conference to announce his run for president last year, Donald Trump referred to Mexican immigrants as "drug dealers, criminals, rapists" who must be stopped by "building a wall". Since taking office, Trump has continued to reiterate that message through policy initiatives designed to further degrade the quality of life for undocumented workers and their families. The overtly racist targeting of migrant and immigrant people by Trump has excited the far-right, and emboldened their efforts to organise, mobilise on a national scale, and terrorise working class communities of colour. But Trump and a re-energised far right did not appear in a vacuum.

Announcing the end of DACA is a political statement rooted in racism and bigotry. While DACA is a flawed program, it represented a step in the right direction. Now it represents a vault of information that can be used against its recipients by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). By Molly | September 11, 2017 | 3 Comments Scaramucci is more unhinged than you thought, Chelsea Manning has words for Trump, BGD is ending, Vivek Shraya and DeAnne Smith in conversation, Trump is just what in the entire fuck, Hillary's new book, Zoe Quinn, sinister Peter Pan, 4-H, and so much more! Seriously there's too much in here. By Laneia | July 27, 2017 | 18 Comments Donald Trump decided to switch up his morning Twitter time today, putting the breaks on his relentless 140-character lies that he and his campaign didn't work with Russia to steal the White House, and moving ahead with a "plan" to ban all transgender people from serving in the U.S. military. By Heather Hogan | July 26, 2017 | 52 Comments

EL PASO, Texas, July 12 (UPI) -- Among a group of parents reunited with their children this week in El Paso were at least two who had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border legally -- and were separated anyway. Three parents, each with one child, were released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody on Tuesday night under a court-ordered deadline to reunite the families. Two of them spoke to reporters at a news conference Wednesday at Annunciation House, which provides shelter and legal assistance to migrants. Roger, whose last name was withheld over safety and legal concerns, is from Honduras. He came to the United States in mid-February, seeking asylum along with his 4-year-old son. After reaching a port of entry to initiate the asylum process, he was asked to sign separate paperwork for him and his child and was told his child was going to be taken away. "For me, it was very hard, he's the only son I got. He's my only reason to live," Roger said. "Reunification was a beautiful moment because of how long he had been taken away." Roger said he was pinned down by several officers as they took his son away and that the boy was physically reprimanded in detention. Roger said he resorted to threatening suicide to get ICE to let him speak to his son. He knew the boy was in Texas, but not his exact location. Policy piloted in El Paso The family separation policy was implemented nationally in late April, just a few weeks before the Trump administration's zero-tolerance policy was enacted for illegal border crossings. But many parents who crossed through El Paso were separated from their children starting in the summer of 2017 as part of a pilot program put in place by the Department of Homeland Security. Roger said he acted according to the law, arriving at a port of entry to initiate the process of requesting asylum. "I didn't expect any of this because supposedly the well-being of the children is a priority in this country. I don't know why they did this, don't know what's their goal or end game," Roger said. Ruben Garcia, executive director of Annunciation House, said, "You have here an example here of a dad who was prosecuted after presenting at a port of entry. That is an issue of great concern." Garcia said another migrant in the group released Tuesday had a similar story to Roger's. That parent left El Paso immediately after release. Threatened with deportation A third parent, Pablo Ortiz of Guatemala, was reunited with his 3-year-old son, Andre, after nearly three months apart. Ortiz came to the United States in late April. He didn't say whether he crossed illegally. He said the biggest struggle for him in detention was not knowing about the well-being of his child, who was held in Arizona and later moved to Texas. He was only allowed to speak to him three times. Upon detention, Ortiz said he was threatened by immigration officials that he would be deported back to Guatemala without his son. "I told them I wasn't going to leave him behind. If I had to go back, I was going to take my son with me," Ortiz said. All three parents released Tuesday were exempted from wearing ankle monitors and are free to move inside the United States. They must check in routinely with ICE. Initial reunifications complete The government was only able to reunite 57 of the 103 children under 5 in its custody by Thursday morning. The 46 others were not able to be returned due to safety concerns or questions about the whereabouts of their parents. The Department of Health and Human Services, which is in charge of the children in custody, wouldn't comment on the El Paso cases. "HHS' Administration for Children and Families is focused on continuing to provide quality services and care to the minors in our Office of Refugee Resettlement-funded facilities and reunifying children and teenagers with a relative or appropriate sponsor as we have done since inheriting the program," HHS spokesman Kenneth Wolfe said in a statement. "Reunification is always the ultimate goal of those entrusted with the care of unaccompanied alien children, and we are working toward that for those unaccompanied alien children currently in our custody." Garcia commended ICE and ORR for working through the night to reunite the parents and children close to Tuesday's deadline. "I would really encourage them for that spirit to be extended to all remaining separated parents and children, 1,200-1,400 parents still in ICE custody," he said. Annunciation House is working with 48 parents who were separated from their children and although only four of them had reunited with their children by the Tuesday deadline, more were expected.

By Jennifer McEntee and Mica Rosenberg SAN DIEGO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Trump administration will increase criminal prosecutions of parents entering the United States illegally and place their children in protective custody, stepping up efforts to tighten immigration enforcement, U.S. officials said on Monday. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Thomas Homan, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the policy was not new and that the government was expanding procedures already in place. They were speaking at Friendship Park, San Diego, at the U.S.-Mexico border. "We have always separated families under two situations, one when we can't establish them as a parent and that child is being trafficked," Homan said, adding that migrant smugglers sometimes pose as parents to children that are not theirs. "The second situation when we separate is when we prosecute." "People are dying trying to enter this country. There is a right way to do and a wrong way to do it," Homan said, who has announced that he would retire this year. In April, Sessions announced a "zero tolerance" policy in which illegal entrants to the United States would be prosecuted in federal court. Previously, people apprehended crossing the border illegally were often deported without being criminally charged. A person stopped by the border patrol and referred to a federal court to face charges is taken to jail by the U.S. Marshals Service and any of their children travelling with them are placed in government custody, with the Office of Refugee Resettlement, Sessions said. "If we do our duty to prosecute most cases, then children inevitably for a period of time might be held," Sessions said, speaking over shouts from a protestor with a bull-horn and mariachi music played by a band on the Mexico side. Reuters first reported the government's idea to separate parents and children apprehended at the border in March 2017. In April, the administration said it was no longer considering such action because of a decline in apprehensions of families at the U.S. border with Mexico. Apprehensions have now risen to levels seen during the administration of former President Barack Obama, frustrating President Donald Trump, who has made illegal immigration a focal point of his administration. "Illegal immigration must end!" Trump tweeted on Friday. Immigration advocates have said that separations of children from parents have been happening for months. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in February to challenge the practice. An official with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Monday that the agency had signed onto the policy on Friday. Families seeking asylum should turn themselves into authorities so their petitions can be processed instead of attempting to cross illegally, the official said. The DHS said on Monday that there had been about 30,000 prosecution referrals since the start of the 2018 fiscal year in October, up from 18,642 prosecutions for the entire 2017 fiscal year. Sessions was scheduled to speak earlier on Monday in Arizona. In prepared remarks, he said the United States would also prosecute immigrants who pay smugglers to bring children across the border. (Reporting by Jennifer McEntee in San Diego and Mica Rosenberg in New York; additional reporting David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Sue Horton and Rosalba O'Brien) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that the Trump administration will prosecute any parents illegally bringing children over the border for "smuggling" and separate them from their kids. "If you are smuggling a child then we will prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you as required by law," Sessions said at a law enforcement conference in Arizona Monday. "If you don't like that, then don't smuggle children over our border." NBC News reports that the Trump administration says their goal is "100 percent prosecution of all who enter the U.S. Illegally." "If you cross this border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you. It's that simple," Sessions said. Via NBC News : Adults charged with illegal entry will be turned over to U.S. marshals and sent directly to federal court. Their children will be transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, which refers them to relatives in the U.S. or to shelters run by private organizations. The Department of Homeland Security says 700 children have been separated from their parents since the fiscal year began last October. A first conviction for illegal entry carries a maximum jail term of six months. "I want to be clear. DHS does not have a blanket policy on separating families as a deterrent," said Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan. "There is no new policy. This has always been the policy. But you will see more prosecutions because of the commitment to zero tolerance." Watch the video below:

U.S. says it will separate families crossing border illegally By Jennifer McEntee and Mica Rosenberg Reuters May 08. 2018 3:03AM U.S. border patrol agents ride past the U.S.-Mexico border wall on horseback near San Diego, Calif., on Monday. (REUTERS/Mike Blake) Border feds bust nine suspected illegal immigrants at Memorial Day roadblock on I-93 SAN DIEGO/NEW YORK -- The Trump administration will increase criminal prosecutions of parents entering the United States illegally and place their children in protective custody, stepping up efforts to tighten immigration enforcement, U.S. officials said on Monday. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Thomas Homan, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the policy was not new and that the government was expanding procedures already in place. They were speaking at Friendship Park, San Diego, at the U.S.-Mexico border. "We have always separated families under two situations, one when we can't establish them as a parent and that child is being trafficked," Homan said, adding that migrant smugglers sometimes pose as parents to children that are not theirs. "The second situation when we separate is when we prosecute." "People are dying trying to enter this country. There is a right way to do and a wrong way to do it," Homan said, who has announced that he would retire this year. In April, Sessions announced a "zero tolerance" policy in which illegal entrants to the United States would be prosecuted in federal court. Previously, people apprehended crossing the border illegally were often deported without being criminally charged. A person stopped by the border patrol and referred to a federal court to face charges is taken to jail by the U.S. Marshals Service and any of their children traveling with them are placed in government custody, with the Office of Refugee Resettlement, Sessions said. "If we do our duty to prosecute most cases, then children inevitably for a period of time might be held," Sessions said, speaking over shouts from a protestor with a bull-horn and mariachi music played by a band on the Mexico side. Reuters first reported the government's idea to separate parents and children apprehended at the border in March 2017. In April, the administration said it was no longer considering such action because of a decline in apprehensions of families at the U.S. border with Mexico. Apprehensions have now risen to levels seen during the administration of former President Barack Obama, frustrating President Donald Trump, who has made illegal immigration a focal point of his administration. "Illegal immigration must end!" Trump tweeted on Friday. Immigration advocates have said that separations of children from parents have been happening for months. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in February to challenge the practice. An official with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Monday that the agency had signed onto the policy on Friday. Families seeking asylum should turn themselves into authorities so their petitions can be processed instead of attempting to cross illegally, the official said. The DHS said on Monday that there had been about 30,000 prosecution referrals since the start of the 2018 fiscal year in October, up from 18,642 prosecutions for the entire 2017 fiscal year. Sessions was scheduled to speak earlier on Monday in Arizona. In prepared remarks, he said the United States would also prosecute immigrants who pay smugglers to bring children across the border. (Reporting by Jennifer McEntee in San Diego and Mica Rosenberg in New York; additional reporting David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Sue Horton and Rosalba O'Brien)

The Trump administration is moving forward with plans to build a so-called "tent city" in Texas to house about 450 children who have been forcibly separated from their parents as part of a "zero tolerance" policy at the border, according to NBC News . The report says the administration will erect camps in Tornillo, Texas and will be built by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The number of migrant children being held by the government without their parents has surged by 20 percent since the administration began to enforce the policy, according to McClatchy . Nearly 1,800 families have been separated at the U.S.-Mexico border between October 2016 and February of this year, according to Reuters . NBC News reported that over 570 unaccompanied children were in the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol as of last week. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who unveiled the administration's zero-tolerance policy last month, directed border agents to separate children from their parents at the border and prosecute the adults. The administration has framed the new policy as a deterrent to stop migrants from attempting to enter the country. The United Nations human rights office earlier this month demanded that the Trump administration "immediately halt" its policy of tearing migrant children away from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, declaring that the practice "always constitutes a child rights violation." Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement on Tuesday that the office is "deeply concerned" by the U.S. government's decision to separate migrant families, arguing that the policy "amounts to arbitrary and unlawful interference in family life, and is a serious violation of the rights of the child." "Children should never be detained for reasons related to their own or their parents' migration status. Detention is never in the best interests of the child," Shamdasani declared, noting that the practice seems to have been in effect since October and has been applied "to both asylum-seekers and other migrants in vulnerable situations." "The child's best interest should always come first, including over migration management objectives or other administrative concerns," she continued, emphasizing that the policy "runs counter to human rights standards and principles." "The majority of people arriving at the U.S.'s southern border have fled Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador--in many cases either because of rampant insecurity and violence, or because of violations of a range of other rights, such as health, education, and housing," she noted. "The U.S. should immediately halt this practice of separating families and stop criminalizing what should at most be an administrative offense." Shamdasani also pointed out that although "the rights of children are generally held in high regard in the U.S., it is the only country in the world not to have ratified the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child." The convention explicitly states that children "should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love, and understanding," and has been active for nearly three decades.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nearly 2,000 children have been separated from their families at the U.S. border over a six-week period during a crackdown on illegal entries, according to Department of Homeland Security figures obtained Friday by The Associated Press. The figures show that 1,995 minors were separated from 1,940 adults from April 19 through May 31. The separations were not broken down by age, and included separations for illegal entry, immigration violations or possible criminal conduct by the adult. Under a "zero tolerance" policy announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Department of Homeland Security officials are now referring all cases of illegal entry for criminal prosecution. U.S. protocol prohibits detaining children with their parents because the children are not charged with a crime and the parents are. Sessions announced the effort April 6, and Homeland Security began stepping up referrals in early May, effectively putting the policy into action. Since then, stories of weeping children torn from the arms of their frightened parents have flooded the media and the policy has been widely criticized by church groups, politicians and children's advocates who say it is inhumane. A battle in Congress is brewing in part over the issue. Some immigrant advocates have said women were being separated from their infants -- a charge Homeland Security and Justice officials flatly denied. They also said the children were being well cared for and disputed reports of disorder and mistreatment at the border. On Thursday, Sessions cited the Bible in defending the policy, arguing the recent criticisms were not "fair or logical and some are contrary to law." "I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order," he said. The new figures are for people who tried to enter the U.S. between official border crossings. Asylum seekers who go directly to official crossings are not separated from their families, except in specific circumstances -- such as if officials can't confirm the relationship between the minors and adults, if the safety of the children is in question, or if the adult is being prosecuted. There were an additional 38 minors separated at ports of entry in May through June 6. There were more than 55 in April and a high of 64 in March, according to the figures.

One of the great political shifts in the past decade has been the move of scientists toward the Democratic Party, a casualty of the Republican Party's war on reality. It's not about politics for scientists, it's about the fact that only one party accepts scientific findings on everything from global warming to evolutionary theory to what does and doesn't prevent pregnancy. Only 6 percent of scientists identify as Republican , whereas 55 percent identify as Democratic. In October of 2012, 68 Nobel-winning scientists co-signed a strong endorsement of Obama, saying the President "has delivered on his promise to renew our faith in science-based decision making." Which is why it was so strange to read Daniel Sarewitz, co-director of the Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes at Arizona State University, argue in Nature that it's wrong for scientists to throw their weight behind electing Democrats. Sarewitz's opening sentence lays out his argument neatly: To prevent science from continuing its worrying slide towards politicization, here's a New Year's resolution for scientists, especially in the United States: gain the confidence of people and politicians across the political spectrum by demonstrating that science is bipartisan. He argues that the perceived liberal bent of the social scientists has caused Republicans to be wary of that field and to defund it, and warns that if scientists in other fields--he names public health and environmental science--don't stop supporting Democrats so openly, Republicans will come after them, too. But the cause-and-effect relationship is reversed. Republicans started it when, as early as the environmentalist movements of the '70s, they began to morph into the party that defended corporate profits over public health and environmental good. Why would scientists support a party that ignores and refuses to fund important scientific initiatives like efforts to fight climate change, stem cell research, and advances in improving sexual health, like development of the cervical cancer vaccine? Sarewitz blames scientists for the politicization of science, when any fool can see that Republicans attacked first and scientists are just defending themselves. Both journalist Chris Mooney , author of The Republican War on Science , and historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, who together wrote Merchants of Doubt , have done extensive research that shows the faults in Sarewitz's argument. In Merchants of Doubt , Oreskes and Conway laid out how the fields of environmental science and public health, not the social sciences, turned Republicans into anti-science warriors. They explain that it was during the debates over tobacco's carcinogenic properties that conservatives began their assault on science, claiming a controversy where there was none in hopes of delaying government interventions that would depress the tobacco industry's profits. After that, the strategy was set. If scientists made proclamations that could undermine industry, conservative politicians claimed the research was more controversial than it was, offered up well-paid but unethical experts who claimed to have doubts, and introduced shoddy research with divergent findings. The strategy has been employed to resist and delay government regulation to combat acid rain, global warming, and the hole in the ozone. At some point, the conservative movement began to realize that since these fights were going to come up over and over, it wasn't enough to simply cast doubts on individual scientific claims. They had to sow suspicion of the field of science itself. Oreskes and Conway highlight how this was used recently in attacks on the long-dead Rachel Carson, the environmental author of The Silent Spring , a book that led to the ban of DDT in 1972. Even though there's no real movement to bring back the use of DDT, conservative pundits and publications routinely drag Carson's corpse out to punch it some more to spread the myth that scientists are dangerous anti-business ideologues who make up phony research for no other reason than their secret socialist agenda to bring down capitalism. Typical of the anti-Carson genre is Hoover Institute scholar and Forbes contributor Henry I. Miller calling her work "sentimental claptrap" and accusing her of lying. Writing for Reason , libertarian Ronald Bailey accused Carson of having an anti-human agenda, claiming that environmentalism isn't about protecting our habitat so much as pushing the belief that "humanity is arrogant, heedless, and often the source of moral evil." The reality is that Carson was a nature-lover and a researcher who believed, correctly, that throwing off the natural balance can have long-ranging negative effects, and thus should be guarded against. What Sarewitz fails to understand is that scientists, as a community, admirably held off becoming overtly political until this shift occurred. Before recent election cycles, only researchers whose actual work was under attack who defended themselves. But now Republicans are a threat to science itself. In other words, scientists are simply acting like any other constituency, and throwing their support behind the party that fights for their interests and against the party that openly fights against them. This isn't a threat to democracy, but a clear-cut example of how democracy works. Sarewitz has the entire political process backwards. He seems to consider Republicans and Democrats to be more like sports teams than entities that organize around genuine political differences in America. Subsequently, he thinks that all you need to do to get them to support your interests is to refuse to take sides: In the current period of dire fiscal stress, one way to undermine this stable funding and bipartisan support would be to convince Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, that science is a Democratic special interest. Let's be clear. Republicans don't attack scientists because they want to punish them for supporting Democrats. If all scientists agreed tomorrow to stop donating to parties, expressing political opinions in public, or even voting, Republicans would not gratefully start agreeing with scientific consensus around global warming or embrace public health recommendations to reduce unplanned pregnancy and STDs. They wouldn't even come around on the now 154-year-old theory of evolution. They oppose these ideas because they come in conflict with Republican ideological concerns. In a larger sense, conservatives aren't going to abandon their discomfort with empiricism, because it's so destabilizing to their political authority. Since scientists have no ability to stop Republicans from attacking science, their only real option is to take power away from Republicans by supporting Democrats. Scientists, like most people trying to do good work in this world, would far prefer to have the support of all policy-makers. Since that's not an option, it does no good to scold them for looking out for their own interests.

BOSTON (AP) -- Hundreds of scientists, environmental advocates and their supporters held a rally in Boston on Sunday to protest what they see as increasing threats to science and research in the U.S. The scientists, some dressed in white lab coats, called on President Donald Trump's administration to recognize evidence of climate change and take action on various environmental issues. Geoffrey Supran, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies renewable energy solutions to climate change, said scientists are responding to the Trump administration's "anti-science rhetoric." "We're really trying to send a message today to Mr. Trump that America runs on science, science is the backbone of our prosperity and progress," Supran said. The "Rally to Stand Up for Science" in Boston's Copley Square was held outside of the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting, one of the first major gatherings of scientists since Trump was elected in November. Protesters held signs that read "Science Matters," ''Scientists Pursuing Truth, Saving the World" and "Make America Smart Again." Jeff Crouere Some of those who turned out criticized Trump's appointment of Scott Pruitt as head of the Environmental Protection Agency over the objections of environmental groups. During six years as the attorney general of Oklahoma, Pruitt filed 14 lawsuits challenging EPA regulations. He previously expressed skepticism about scientific evidence showing the planet is heating up and that humans are to blame. However, during his Senate confirmation hearing last month, he said he disagreed with Trump's past statements that global warming is a hoax.

Donald Trump, who believes climate change is a "hoax," has forced scientists to raise their voices against his anti-environment stance. President Donald Trump, the man elected to run the United States, once called climate change a " hoax " created by China. He also vowed to cut down on expenses to fight it and to revive the coal industry. Staying true to his promise, the commander-in-chief started working on his stance to cut back the Environmental Protection Agency and free up drilling and coal mining projects soon after he was sworn in. His new administration plans to advance conversational projects like Keystone and Dakota access pipelines . In fact, Trump's pick for head of climate change, Scott Pruitt , also happens to be among a group of people currently suing EPA. Now, scientists are planning a protest similar to the women's march held after Trump's administration, to demonstrate against the removal of climate action page from the White House website. Researchers, who naturally do not want to go back in Stone Age, established a Facebook page and a Twitter account for the Science March. Within 42 hours, the @ScienceMarchDC twitter handle garnered some 60,000 followers. It has never been more important for scientists of all stripes to come together and have their voices heard in government. -- March for Science (@ScienceMarchDC) January 25, 2017 The organizers announced the march was not just open for scientists but for everyone who opposes Trump's policy on climate change. That's amazing! Everyone is welcome in the March for Science. Spread the word! #ScienceMarch https://t.co/0JKC3pLkb6 -- March for Science (@ScienceMarchDC) January 26, 2017 Two co-chairs, Berman and science writer and public health researcher Caroline Weinberg, are looking after the official website. "We were inspired (well, infuriated) by the current attacks on science from the new administration. Slashing funding and restricting scientists from communicating their findings from (tax-funded research!) with the public is absurd and cannot be allowed to stand as policy," Weinberg wrote in an email. "Scientific research moves us forward and we should not allow asinine policies to thwart it." Berman, Weinberg, their associates and other likeminded people who expressed interest will meet virtually this weekend to develop a more robust plan. Only time will tell if this march gathers as many people as did the Women's March on Washington to safeguard the rights of women. But if it does, it will once again make history against the business mogul. The march that took place a day after Trump swore in as the nation's president included hundreds of thousands of protesters. Dozens of female scientists in white lab coats also protested at the women's march with colorful signs in support of science . They were part of 500 Women Scientists -- a group that fights against his anti-science and sexist rhetoric. Last year, more that 800 earth and energy scientists wrote an open letter to the former reality TV star: "We write as concerned individuals, united in recognizing that the science is unequivocal and America must respond. "We urge you to decide if you want your Presidency to be defined by denial and disaster, or acceptance and action," it read. Read More

Eclipse mania will peak on Monday, when millions of Americans will upend their lives in response to a scientific prediction. Thanks to the work of scientists, people will know exactly what time to expect the eclipse. In less entertaining but more important ways, we respond to scientific predictions all the time, even though we have no independent capacity to verify the calculations. We tend to trust scientists. For years now, atmospheric scientists have been handing us a set of predictions about the likely consequences of our emissions of industrial gases. These forecasts are critically important, because this group of experts sees grave risks to our civilization. And yet, when it comes to reacting to the warnings of climate science, we have done little. Considering this most basic test of a scientific theory, the test of prediction, climate science has established its validity. That does not mean it is perfect, nor that every single prediction is correct. While climate scientists have forecast the long-term rise of global temperatures pretty accurately, they have not been as good -- yet -- about predicting the short-term jitters. In other fields, we do not demand absolute certainty from our scientists, because that is an impossible standard. When your aging mother is found to have cancer, the recommended treatment will be rooted in a statistical model of how tumors respond to the available medicines. Your family is likely to follow that advice, even though you know the drugs are imperfect and may not save her. We trust scientific expertise on many issues; it is, after all, the best advice we can get. Yet on climate change, we have largely ignored the scientists' work. While it is true that we have started to spend money to clean up our emissions, the global response is in no way commensurate with the risks outlined by the experts. Why? ....But a bigger reason is that these changes threaten vested economic interests. Commodity companies benefit from exploiting forests. Fossil-fuel companies, to protect their profits, spent decades throwing up a smoke screen about the risks of climate change. Most of them now say they have stopped funding climate denial, but they still finance the careers of politicians who say they are skeptical of climate science and who play down the risks. They tell us that under a worst-case scenario, it might get so hot across large parts of the world that people would be unable to work outdoors without risking death. They tell us that we stand a good chance of causing the sixth mass extinction of plants and animals in the Earth's history.

So, what do you do when you're a left-wing, tree-hugging, pro-abortion, pro-LGBT, anti-free-speech liberal and science proves that your agenda is no longer supported by science? You hijack the word "science" and repackage it as a new movement designed to advance the politically correct agenda of global socialism. Self-identified as "the first step of a global movement to defend the vital role science plays in our health, safety, economies, and governments," the March for Science is dedicated to protecting scientists that "uphold and protect" society. In other words, they aren't dedicated to protecting science, but scientists. Why is that distinction important? Because "the investigation of natural phenomena through observation, experimentation, and theoretical explanation"--the definition of science--needs no defense. However, the political objectives that can be realized by scientists with an agenda must be defended in order to be advanced. And make no mistake; just as Earth Day has nothing to do with saving the earth, the March for Science has nothing to do with science. It's all about politics. This is clearly spelled out in the " Diversity Principles " outlined on the March for Science website. "Scientists ... (embody) a diverse range of races, sexual orientations, gender identities, abilities, religions, ages, socio-economic, and immigration statuses." That's right, America. Science isn't science unless it comes from homosexuals, the transgendered, and illegal aliens, along with a host of other left-wing special-interest groups. Despite claims to the contrary , March for Science admits that "the march is explicitly a political movement" and that "science should inform political decision-making." Sounds noble, but remember, we're talking about a global, socialistic agenda, not science. By the way, true to the anti-free-speech attitudes we are witnessing on college campuses across America, where tomorrow's scientists are being educated, March for Science is intolerant of opposing viewpoints. Using the classic "hate speech" label, MFS shuts down debate with all who refuse to fully embrace their version of science . "The March for Science does not tolerate hate speech, bigotry, or harassment within or outside our community. Targeting individuals or communities with violent language, including statements that reflect racism, sexism, ableism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, or any form of bigotry, will result in banning and/or blocking. Personal attacks based on religious affiliation or lack of religious affiliation will also lead to banning and/or blocking." Politically correct science isn't science at all. Instead, it's a form of group-think where bad ideas are defended by so-called smart people. But hey, that's how it works in liberal-land when the objectives are political instead of scientific. Originally posted at The Strident Conservative David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative, your source for opinion that's politically-incorrect and always "right." His articles are also featured on RedState.com . His daily radio commentary is nationally syndicated with Salem Radio Network and can be heard on stations across America.

Plans are underway for a "Scientists' March on Washington" in response to the "ideological agenda" of the Trump administration's energy and environmental policies. President Donald Trump has garnered criticism from the American scientific establishment for among other things his apparent efforts to reduce the government's efforts to combat climate change. Though lacking an official date for the event, according to the Scientist March's website the main goal of the event will be to "use this as a starting point to take a stand for science in politics." Expand | Collapse REUTERS/JIM YOUNG U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders delivers a speech at a campaign event in Chicago, Illinois, September 28, 2015. "There are certain things that we accept as facts with no alternatives. The Earth is becoming warmer due to human action. The diversity of life arose by evolution," stated the site. "Politicians who devalue expertise risk making decisions that do not reflect reality and must be held accountable. An American government that ignores science to pursue ideological agendas endangers the world." Free sign up cp newsletter! Plans for the Scientist March come not long after the Nation's Capital was the site for a large rally critical of Trump's statements on women and proposed public policy initiatives on women's issues. Known as the Women's March on Washington, the women's rights event emphasized a progressive policy platform and drew at least a half million attendees to the District of Columbia. "The Women's March on Washington will send a bold message to our new government on their first day in office, and to the world that women's rights are human rights. We stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us," noted the March's website. "We call on all defenders of human rights to join us. This march is the first step towards unifying our communities, grounded in new relationships, to create change from the grassroots level up. We will not rest until women have parity and equity at all levels of leadership in society." The Scientist March is already garnering support for prominent people, including Vermont Senator and former Democratic primary presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders. In a message posted to his official Facebook page on Thursday, Sen. Sanders stated that the issue of advancing good science went beyond political viewpoints. "Science is not Democratic or Republican, progressive or conservative. Science is science. There are no 'alternative facts'," wrote Sanders, whose post has as of Friday morning gotten over 135,000 likes and more than 21,000 shares. "A modern society cannot survive unless decisions are made on evidence-based research. Congratulations to those scientists and researchers who are fighting back." Follow Michael Gryboski on Twitter or Facebook

http://en.metapedia.org/wiki/Jewish_human_organ_harvesting Jewish human organ harvesting Jewish human organ harvesting was revealed by Swedish freelance journalist Donald Bostrom when he began to investigate United Nations employees concerns that soldiers snatch Palestinian children in the middle of the night, murder them, and sell their organs.[1] Bostrom ran the story in Aftonbladet, Sweden's leading tabloid newspaper.[2] The translated headline of the article read "They plunder the organs of our sons".[3] In his investigation Bostrom was able to document the case of Bilal Ahmed Ghanem, a 19-year-old Palestinian man who was murdered by Israeli soldiers in 1992 in the West Bank village of Imatin. Bostrom was an eyewitness to the Israeli raid into the village.[4] When the Israeli soldiers enter the village, they targeted Ghanem at the gate of his family's home and called his name "Bilal, Bilal." He turned around and was shot dead.[5] Instead of allowing his body to be recovered by his family, the Israelis immediately abducted his corpse using an ambulance and a military helicopter which were staged and ready to transport the young man's body to the hospital.[6] A week later his body was returned to his family with with an incision from his neck to his stomach suggesting his organs had been taken.[7] His brother Jalal Ghanem said, "It was very clear that there was no abdomen, it showed from the way it was stitched. There were no teeth in his mouth."[8] Other Palestinian men were being abducted by the Israelis that year which also coincided with a shortage of organs for transplant in Israel. In his article Bostrom wrote, "At the same time that this organ campaign was going on, young Palestinian men were disappearing and being delivered back to their villages five days later at night, dead and cut open."[9] Israeli outrage Israel has expressed outrage over the exposure from the article. Dozens of public officials and commentators in the Jewish state have declared the article to be anti-Semitic and a modern form of 'blood libel' reminding the public of charges of ritual murder from the Middle Ages.[10] Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister declared, "We are not expecting an apology from the Swedish government... We are expecting condemnation." The Government of Sweden has refused to apologize or condemn the article saying the country has press freedom. Israel admits to organ thefts Harvested organs were alleged to have been used by the military and in public hospitals. Israel has admitted that it harvested organs from the dead bodies of Palestinians and Israelis in the 1990s, without permission from their families. The admission follows the release of an interview with Jehuda Hiss, the former head of Israel's forensic institute, in which he said that workers at the institute had harvested skin, corneas, heart valves and bones from Israelis, Palestinians and foreign workers. In the US, for rabbis, it's just business In July 2009 the FBI conducted raids involving money laundering and bribery arresting forty-four persons including five rabbis.[13] The human organ trafficking ring was uncovered in part of the investigation. One of the rabbis arrested said he had been in the human organ business for ten years. "His business was to entice vulnerable people to give up a kidney for $10,000 which he would turn around and sell for $160,000" Its not 'blood libel' if its true. And Israelis have a far reaching human organ trafficking ring all over the world. Israeli Organ Trafficking Ring Broken Up - Tablet Magazine http://www.tabletmag.com/.../israeli-organ-trafficking-ring-br... Tablet Magazine Jun 21, 2013 - Haaretz reports that an Israeli organ trafficking ring was uncovered in Costa Rica. On... ... Israeli Organ Trafficking and Theft: From Moldova to Palestine ifamericansknew.org/cur_sit/aw-organs2.html If Americans Knew As Scheper-Hughes describes it, organ trafficking consists of "paying the ... "the percentage of organs donated among Jews is the lowest of all the ethnic groups. .... ring centered in Israel, is the first case of trafficking to be prosecuted in the US Israeli man convicted of organ trafficking in N.J. | Jewish Telegraphic ... http://www.jta.org/.../united-states/israeli-man-conv... Jewish Telegraphic Agency Oct 30, 2011 - ... person to be convicted of illegal organ trafficking in the United States since ... Some 40 other people, mostly rabbis and politicians from New ... The Rosenbaum Kidney Trafficking Gang >> CounterPunch: Tells the ... http://www.counterpunch.org/.../the-rosenbaum-kidney-trafficki... CounterPunch Nov 30, 2011 - Some of the victims of US organs trafficking are bonded servants ... a deputy mayor, 2 state legislators, 5 Orthodox Rabbis, a stripper or two, ... Traffickers Targeting Haiti's Children, Human Organs, PM Says ... http://www.intifada-palestine.com/.../prime-minister-of-haiti-confirms-trafficki... Jan 29, 2010 - The Prime Minister of Haiti confirmed the trafficking of children and human ... children by the USA "Organ Mafia" that operates along the US/Mexico border in ... Last year the FBI arrested 6 rabbis for trafficking in human organs ... Interpol hunts two Israelis for Kosovo organ trafficking Israel News ... http://www.haaretz.com/.../interpol-hunts-two-israelis-for-kosovo-orga... Haaretz Nov 12, 2010 - Like us on Facebook and get articles directly in your news feed ....

Three Israelis were arrested over the weekend in Colombia, along with 15 others, on suspicion of involvement in sex trafficking in the tourist city of Cartagena that included the sexual exploitation of more than 250 women and girls, Israel's Ynet news reported. It's reported that Colombian authorities also asked Interpol to arrest a former Israel soldier deported from Colombia for running a child prostitution ring . Authorities claimed that even after his expulsion, 44-year-old Israeli citizen Assi Ben-Mosh continued to manage his illicit operations in Colombia from afar. Mosh was deported to Israel after it was discovered that he was part of a group of ex-Israeli soldiers that had turned a small fishing village in Taganga into a "sex and drug den" from their base in a luxury resort, the Benjamin Hostel which was known to locals as "little Israel". From "little Israel" Moosh is reported to have run similar clubs exploiting drugs and children in Cartagena, Bogota, Medellin, Ecuador, Mexico and Brazil. Local residents spoke of their relief following his arrest and deportation last November and thought they had seen the back of the former Israeli soldier. Colombian authorities said that Moosh had harmed the security of the state and its citizens. Reports identified Moosh who was also accused of a number of other charges including tax fraud, drug offenses and inciting children to prostitution. Moosh denies any connection to the tourism sex ring and, according to Israeli sources, he is currently waging a legal battle to return to Colombia. The bust over the weekend followed months of surveillance. Authorities said that it was one of the biggest operations to combat child sex trafficking and forced prostitution in Cartagena. In a statement, the attorney general's office described the victims as "real slaves of the 21st century". This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

GAZA CITY , 28 January ( IPS ) - A stream of dark and putrid sludge snakes through Gaza's streets. It is a noxious mix of human and animal waste. The stench is overwhelming. The occasional passer-by vomits. Over recent days this has been a more common sight than the sale of food on the streets of Gaza, choked by a relentless Israeli siege. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans, almost all of its able male adults among a population of 1.5 million, crossed over into Egypt last week to buy essential provisions -- and a new lease of life. That has staved off starvation. But streets continue as sewers. Read more about Closure turns Gaza's streets into sewers Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani 28 January 2008 CAIRO , 28 January ( IPS ) - Within recent months, several Israeli and US officials have stressed Israel's unique character as a "Jewish state." But according to many Arab observers, the designation negates the right of Palestinian refugees to return to Israel, and leaves the door open to expulsion of Israel's Arab citizens. "The idea of a 'state for Jews' neutralizes the right of some five million Palestinian refugees to return to what is now Israel," Abdel-Halim Kandil, former editor-in-chief of opposition weekly al-Karama told IPS . "It would also subject Arabs resident in Israel to the possibility of expulsion at any moment." Read more about Alarm bells sound over "Jewish state" Laila El-Haddad United States 25 January 2008 Last night I received a text message from my dear friend Fida: "It's coming down -- it's coming down!" she declared ecstatically. "Laila! The Palestinians destroyed [the] Rafah wall, all of it. All of it not part of it! Your sister, Fida." More texts followed, as I received periodical updates on the situation in Rafah, where it was 3am. "Two hours ago people were praising God everywhere. The metal wall was cut and destroyed. So was the cement one. It is great, Laila, it is great," she declared. Laila El-Haddad writes from the US Read more about Down goes the wall ROME , 25 January ( IPS ) - Several Italian civil society groups will mark the World Social Forum's global day of action Saturday by pledging support for Palestinians. "This decentralized World Social Forum ( WSF ) offers to Palestinian democratic movements the chance of asking Europe to intervene and stop what Nelson Mandela has defined 'the new apartheid of our century,'" said Mustafa Barghouthi, a pro-democracy activist who was candidate for presidency of the Palestinian National Authority in 2005. He spoke from Ramallah during a WSF press conference in Rome Tuesday. Read more about Italians awaken to Palestinian pain

A secret document has been published which reveals that Israel was guilty of collective punishment against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip a few days after the end of the 1967 war. According to Haaretz , the document records that the Israeli military governor of Gaza ordered the expulsion of 110 Palestinians to Sinai and the demolition of eight homes as collective punishment in retaliation for an attempted attack against Israeli troops. The document, says the newspaper, was prepared by the Israeli Foreign Ministry on 15 June, 1967, days after the end of the war. Jewish sources date the incident to June 12 or 13, when a landmine exploded in the Gaza area and tracks led from the scene to several houses in the Tarabsheh refugee camp. "At the time, 110 people said that they were soldiers in the Palestinian Liberation Army and claimed responsibility for the attack en masse," explained Haaretz . "As punishment, it was decided to take them to Sinai and leave them there and to demolish eight houses in the camp." Fayez Abu Shamala is an expert on Israeli affairs. He insists that tens of thousands of Palestinians were deported after the 1967 war and not just a few, as the Israeli document claims. Speaking to Quds Press on Thursday, Abu Shamala said that the Israeli occupation authorities tried to empty the Gaza Strip of its Palestinian inhabitants after the 1967 war and force them to move to Jordan and Egypt. "The occupation forces imposed a curfew on all areas of the Gaza Strip and summoned the population aged 15-60 years," he said. "Later, they gathered young people from the age of 17-20 years, and threw them west of the Suez Canal." Local families, he pointed out, did not know the fate of their children. "A month later, however, the International Committee of the Red Cross informed them that they are were in the Bilbes area, west of the Suez Canal, and that the Egyptians had provided them with tents to live in." Abu Shamala said that the Israelis opened the borders with Egypt and Jordan to empty the Gaza Strip of its inhabitants. The aim of the document published now, he alleged, is to "simplify what happened after the 1967 war by claiming that only 110 Palestinians were deported." Although some of the Palestinians sent to Egypt were able to return to Gaza, many more remained in exile and died there. An earlier, related, article published by Professor David Kretschmer and Gershom Gorenberg has given details of an incident in Rafah in 1972, in which thousands of Bedouins were expelled from the northern and eastern region of Sinai, which was occupied by Israel at the time. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Israel's trade deficit reached 1.8 billion shekels ($467 million) in September, a new report revealed. The report issued by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics said trade has registered a decline of 33.4 per cent compared with the same period last year. The total value of Israel's imports in September amounted to $4.129 billion compared with exports amounting to $3.662 billion. According to the report, 46 per cent of the imports included raw materials for industry, 20 per cent was consumer goods, 12 per cent machinery and investment equipment and 22 per cent in rough diamonds and fuels. Some 85 per cent of Israeli exports included weapons, drugs, technology and manufacturing, 14 per cent polished diamonds and one per cent were in agricultural exports and fish. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (PHRI) yesterday demanded medicines and all basic needs of the people of the Gaza Strip be allowed entry into the besieged enclave, warning that the health and living conditions there are deteriorating. The people of Gaza have become prisoners of war in the political game between the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Israel said Ran Goldstein, PHRI director-general. He demanded the immediate transfer of funds, medicines, power supplies and humanitarian aid to Gaza. In a report, the organisation said: "240 children and hundreds of cancer patients and cystic fibrosis patients do not receive treatment because the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah refuses to send budgets to the Health Ministry in Gaza." According to the report, the Gaza Strip today lacks one-third of the vital medicines it needs and more than 270 medical devices for operating rooms and emergency treatment. "The main victims of the crisis are 321 cystic fibrosis patients, the majority of whom are children, cancer patients, and about 240 children who have developmental problems and need therapeutic milk," it added. "Over the past few months, the Palestinian Authority has reduced its budget to the Gaza Strip, including the health and medicine budget". According to the Israeli organisation the budget initially amounted to $4 million, but fell in April to $2.3 million, and in May to only half a million dollars. The Ministry of Health in Ramallah has been refusing for the past two months to send medicines donated by donor countries to the Gaza Strip. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

atl 2016-09-12 18:10:56 UTC #7 daneel: At least we've made it massively warmer, not colder, though, right? I wonder some about the relative benefits. I mean, I know a glacial period would mean the end of at least most civilization and so most people. For one thing, our best arable land is right where the ice sheets were, precisely because of the scouring they did. On the other hand, we are going to lose a lot of that anyway. And one thing I can say is that essentially all the species on earth could survive a glaciation, because we are all only a few millennia removed from the survivors of the last one. That's not to say they would all make it to where they need to be, or that habitat loss hasn't taken those places away. But at least we know they are adapted to that kind of planet. A switch to a hothouse climate comes with no such promises. atl: I was under the impression that pre-industrial warming and cooling was due to changes in solar output, not changes in the Earth's orbit. What perturbs the Earth's orbit in such a meaningful way and why is it with some regularity? The short version is that the earth's axis slowly wobbles (precession of the equinoxes), and the earth's orbit slowly wibbles (precession of perihelion), and finally the plane of the earth's orbit slowly bobbles. It all adds up to a 20,000-ish year cycle of natural and gradual climate change, which, absent factors that could cancel out the effect (like deforestation or a change in ocean circulation), can be enough to trigger a shift from an ice age to a warm interglacial period or vice versa. If summer in the Northern hemisphere happens when Earth is closest to the sun, you get warmer summers = more complete thawing of winter ice, which can trigger a warm interglacial, all other factors being favourable. If summer happens when earth is farthest from the sun, you get milder summers = more ice that doesn't melt in the summer, which can build up over time, which, all factors being favourable, can trigger the start of an ice age.

Keeping the narrative alive. So much extra water is being added into the world's oceans from melting glaciers that the ocean floor is sinking underneath its increasing weight. This ocean floor deformation also means we have miscalculated just how much ocean levels are rising and the problem could be far worse than previously believed. Over the past 20 years, ocean basins have sunk an average of 0.004 inches per year. This means that the ocean is 0.08 inches deeper than it was two decades ago. While this small fragment of an inch may not seem much, oceans cover 70 percent of our planet, making the problem bigger than it seems at an initial glance.

That map shows how much higher than average temperatures have been across the US recently. In Colorado in particular, low amounts of rainfall coupled with dry weather (plus an ever-lengthening warm season allowing pine beetles to flourish and destroy living trees) made the state a match waiting to be lit... and that ignition has happened multiple times in the past few weeks. "Weather" is what you look at if you want to know if you need an umbrella or not today. "Climate" is what you expect on average for a given day in a given place. Weather changes on short time scales; climate over long ones. But how long?

Global warming is real. Temperatures are changing, climate is changing, and most importantly, arctic ice is changing, melting. It is absolutely critical we understand this process better so that we can better understand the implications, and some of the most formidable tools in our possession are Earth-observing satellites. Their keen and unblinking eyes watch the planet below, recording a host of characteristics so that we may record their changes. Phil Plait Isn't that lovely? But it's also very useful to climatologists. There are three types of ice visible in this image: land ice, covering the fjords on the coast; freshly fallen snow on the mountaintops, whiter and brighter than the land ice; and sea ice, which is swirling in the East Greenland Current, flowing southward and carrying frigid Arctic ice and water with it. Our planet is profoundly gorgeous, and the only home we have. It's big, but our impact upon it has had decades upon decades to grow and make itself felt. It's about time we learned how to clean things up.

Immediately after President Obama gave Shell final authorization to start offshore drilling in the Arctic, the administration was publicly rebuked for doing so by Hillary Clinton. "I have been to the Arctic," Clinton explained. "I think that we should not risk the potential catastrophes that could come about from accidents in looking for more oil in a pristine, one of the few remaining, pristine regions of the world." Arctic oil has to stay in the ground if we hope to prevent runaway climate change. President Obama made a mistake with this authorization despite the overwhelming global public opposition and the obvious risks to Arctic communities, wildlife, and our climate. Do more than watch: Take action with Greenpeace and call on President Obama to show real climate leadership by protecting the Arctic and revoking Shell's drilling permit.

While most people still worry about global warming, I am more concerned about the next Ice Age. A glaciation would present a serious problem for survival of our present civilization, akin to a nuclear winter that many worried about 30 years ago. Photo credit: Wellcome Images via Wikimedia Commons Nuclear winter is all fantasy, of course; but ice ages are for real. Natural warming of the Earth reached a peak 65 million years ago. The climate has been generally cooling ever since. Antarctic ice sheets started growing 25 million years ago. In the last 2.5 million years, the Earth entered the period of Ice Ages [the geological name is The Pleistocene] and has been experiencing periodic glaciations where much of the land was covered by miles-thick ice sheets. Credit: NASA via Flickr There have been about 17 glaciations, each lasting approx. 100,000 years, separated by short inter-glacials lasting about 10,000 years. We are approaching the likely end of... (Read Full Article)

Asylum seekers detained in Israel's Saharonim prison. (Photo: Eliyahu Hershkovitz) In a wave of door-to-door police searches over the weekend, the Israeli government cemented anti-migrant sentiment into a mass deportation program by rounding up 80 refugees . The arrests come days after a Jerusalem court legalized transferring all of Israel's 1,500 South-Sudanese migrants back to their home country. The roundup is part of a larger policy to deport all of Israel's asylum seekers, drafted by Interior Minister Eli Yishai who said earlier this month that Israel is for "the white man." Speaking to Maariv on June 3, 2012 the minister said: "Muslims that arrive here do not even believe this country belongs to us, to the white man," continuing that he is prepared to use "all the tools to expel the foreigners, until not one infiltrator remains." The program was also endorsed by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu "They are going from house to house and rounding up people. They tell us: 'Get your things and go," said community organizer Michael Bazia to YNet News . Continuing, "the [people] are willing to go home, but not in this manner. We are tired of this. We've only had independence for 10 months. You can't build a state in 10 months." deportation form (Photo: Ilana Curiel/ YNet News ) Authorities are also pressuring immigrants to "voluntarily" leave Israel by offering subsidized departure flights and immunity from jail time. Under the recently revised illegal entry laws, asylum seekers can face up to three years in prison, and if Israelis are caught assisting refugees they can be sentenced for 5 years and fined over $1 million. "Whoever wants to leave voluntarily can receive a grant and some time to sort their affairs in Israel; this is much more respectful; each person should decide according to their own considerations," said an immigration agent to YNet . With the looming threat of prison, six of the arrested families signed departure statements and YNet also reported dozens of African migrants in hiding have accepted the strong-arm deal. Arrested refugee families who did not accept the offer were split apart, with men incarcerated in a separate facility from women and children. Anti-migrant politicians are hopeful to expand Thursday's deportation greenlight by legalizing the transfer for all of Israel's 60,000 refugees, not just the South-Sudanese. Currently only Eritrean and North Sudanese immigrants receive temporary stays, but Yishai, the designer of the mass deportation policy, has assembled a task force to erode those protections. In an interview with YNet on Sunday , the minister spoke about his "Yishai plan" and aspirations to eject Eritreans, despite their asylum status: 'As for the Eritrean citizens, I haven't given up yet,' [Yishai] said Sunday in an interview with Ynet. 'I met with the Eritrean ambassador to Israel who told me of the situation there, and the situation there is good. Security wise, it is no more dangerous than Sderot.' Yishai went on to scapegoat the United Nations: 'They have problems in the African countries? Let the UN handle those problems. Let it handle it [the problems] better than it handled the problems in Syria. It is unacceptable that the UN is not solving these problems and we have to pay for it. I'm not the Eritrean welfare minister and not the Sudanese labor minister.' Ahead of the migrants' arrests, the Israeli government also has sped up construction on a new detention facility set to warehouse arrested refugees. The prison, Ir Amim, or city of nations , is planned to hold over 10,000 asylum seekers. Haaretz reported today a construction worker on site said, "We're building the Sudanese a political asylum." Haaretz ' s Gili Cohen then continued , "the inmates will stay in shipping containers turned into mobile homes."

The Washington Post reports: ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's historic trip to East Africa last week was aimed at boosting relations. But his last stop, in Ethiopia, held special meaning for many of the 135,000 Jews of Ethiopian origin who live in Israel today. Netanyahu is the first Israeli leader to visit the East African country. Formal ties were established between the two states in 1992. Most Ethiopian Jews arrived in Israel in secret immigration operations that took place in the mid-1980s and early 1990s. In Operation Moses, during the '80s, roughly 8,000 people were smuggled out of Ethiopia via Sudan and taken to Israel on secret flights organized by the Mossad, the Israeli foreign intelligence service. In Operation Solomon, in 1991, about 14,500 people were airlifted to Israel in less than 36 hours. More recently, the immigrants have arrived via regular flights almost every month, yet an estimated 9,000 to 20,000 Ethiopian Jews remain in Ethiopia. Today, about 85,900 Israelis of Ethiopian origin were born in Ethiopia, and 49,600 were born in Israel. Read more here .

(UPI) -- Thousands of African asylum seekers gathered at the Rwandan Embassy in Israel on Wednesday to protest the country's plan to deport the migrants or lock them up. The Israeli government's offer gives the migrants 60 days to accept one of two options: leave the country for an unnamed African destination in exchange for $3,500 and a plane ticket or be incarcerated indefinitely. The destination is believed to be the East African country of Rwanda, the Jerusalem Post reported. In front of the Rwandan Embassy, protesters urged Rwanda and its president, Paul Kagame, not to cooperate. Protesters held signs saying "Kagame, we're not for sale," and chanted "We are refugees -- we are not criminals" and "Rwanda shame on you." Protesters also condemned the African country for accepting money in exchange for their exile, something Rwanda's Ambassador Olivier Nduhungirehe has denied. "Don't sell me to Rwanda," a 23-year-old pleaded. "Please give us the honor of not calling us criminals. We are refugees who came to Israel for protection." On Sunday, authorities began issuing deportation notices to asylum seekers from Eritrea and Sudan, initially to men without children seeking to renew residence visas. Israeli authorities plan to begin making arrests in about two months. Israeli Interior Minister Arye Dery wrote on Twitter, "In contrast to the fake news, there is no danger to the labor infiltrators we are deporting to third countries." Some asylum seekers who were already sent to Rwanda claim when they arrived, their documents were seized and they were jailed. Copyright 2018 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent. This content is published through a licensing agreement with Acquire Media using its NewsEdge technology. VN:D [1.9.6_1107] Rating: 8.8/ 10 (4 votes cast) Thousands of African migrants protest Israeli deportations , 8.8 out of 10 based on 4 ratings

Israel, a country that became a home for those fleeing persecution, is turning away people who are fleeing persecution in their countries. The Israeli government is reportedly giving the following choices to thousands of migrants: go back home, accept deportation to a third country or go to jail. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently told his cabinet as part of his "three-pronged policy" regarding the removal of migrants from the country, African asylum-seekers would be instructed to "self-deport to a third country - which reports have identified as Rwanda," The Jerusalem Post reports. In addition, two key cabinet ministers, Interior Minister Arye Dery and Public Security Minister Gilad Erdanwould, have said they are also considering deporting asylum seekers to an African country or jailing them indefinitely. This is appalling not just because Israel is party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, which means it is legally obligated to protect refugees or other people seeking asylum, but also due to the fact that Israel was built by and for those who were also fleeing persecution in their countries at the time. Read More For nearly six years, from 2006-2012, thousands of asylum seekers from mostly war-torn African countries, arrived to Israel. The large influx was soon perceived as a threat to the Jewish state's identity and the government started mulling measures to resolve the problem. Subsequently, under the two prongs of Netanyahu's "three-pronged" plan mentioned above, the Israeli government, firstly, stemmed the flow of new migrants building a massive fence on the border with Egypt and then moved more than 20,000 migrants voluntarily. Now, the fate of 40,000 African migrants currently living in Israel hangs in the balance as the country's leader and his cabinet members plan to execute the third prong, an announcement that has drawn criticism from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). "UNHCR and the international community have been assisting Israel to meet its international obligations, including by resettling or finding other durable solutions for 2,400 refugees who have departed from Israel in the last couple of years," said Volker Turk, the agency's assistant high commissioner for protection. "As party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, Israel has legal obligations to protect refugees and other persons in need of international protection," he added. Read More

Asylum seekers detained in Israel's Saharonim prison. (Photo: Eliyahu Hershkovitz) In a wave of door-to-door police searches over the weekend, the Israeli government cemented anti-migrant sentiment into a mass deportation program by rounding up 80 refugees . The arrests come days after a Jerusalem court legalized transferring all of Israel's 1,500 South-Sudanese migrants back to their home country. The roundup is part of a larger policy to deport all of Israel's asylum seekers, drafted by Interior Minister Eli Yishai who said earlier this month that Israel is for "the white man." Speaking to Maariv on June 3, 2012 the minister said: "Muslims that arrive here do not even believe this country belongs to us, to the white man," continuing that he is prepared to use "all the tools to expel the foreigners, until not one infiltrator remains." The program was also endorsed by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu "They are going from house to house and rounding up people. They tell us: 'Get your things and go," said community organizer Michael Bazia to YNet News . Continuing, "the [people] are willing to go home, but not in this manner. We are tired of this. We've only had independence for 10 months. You can't build a state in 10 months." deportation form (Photo: Ilana Curiel/ YNet News ) Authorities are also pressuring immigrants to "voluntarily" leave Israel by offering subsidized departure flights and immunity from jail time. Under the recently revised illegal entry laws, asylum seekers can face up to three years in prison, and if Israelis are caught assisting refugees they can be sentenced for 5 years and fined over $1 million. "Whoever wants to leave voluntarily can receive a grant and some time to sort their affairs in Israel; this is much more respectful; each person should decide according to their own considerations," said an immigration agent to YNet . With the looming threat of prison, six of the arrested families signed departure statements and YNet also reported dozens of African migrants in hiding have accepted the strong-arm deal. Arrested refugee families who did not accept the offer were split apart, with men incarcerated in a separate facility from women and children. Anti-migrant politicians are hopeful to expand Thursday's deportation greenlight by legalizing the transfer for all of Israel's 60,000 refugees, not just the South-Sudanese. Currently only Eritrean and North Sudanese immigrants receive temporary stays, but Yishai, the designer of the mass deportation policy, has assembled a task force to erode those protections. In an interview with YNet on Sunday , the minister spoke about his "Yishai plan" and aspirations to eject Eritreans, despite their asylum status: 'As for the Eritrean citizens, I haven't given up yet,' [Yishai] said Sunday in an interview with Ynet. 'I met with the Eritrean ambassador to Israel who told me of the situation there, and the situation there is good. Security wise, it is no more dangerous than Sderot.' Yishai went on to scapegoat the United Nations: 'They have problems in the African countries? Let the UN handle those problems. Let it handle it [the problems] better than it handled the problems in Syria. It is unacceptable that the UN is not solving these problems and we have to pay for it. I'm not the Eritrean welfare minister and not the Sudanese labor minister.' Ahead of the migrants' arrests, the Israeli government also has sped up construction on a new detention facility set to warehouse arrested refugees. The prison, Ir Amim, or city of nations , is planned to hold over 10,000 asylum seekers. Haaretz reported today a construction worker on site said, "We're building the Sudanese a political asylum." Haaretz ' s Gili Cohen then continued , "the inmates will stay in shipping containers turned into mobile homes."

Get our newsletter delivered directly to your inbox I have already subscribed | Do not show this message again Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely on Tuesday said people in Tel Aviv are living under "migrants' terror," justifying government's recent move of handing eviction notices to asylum-seekers from mainly Eritrea and Sudan to either leave the country voluntarily or face jail time. "The government of Israel has decided to remove migrant workers just like many other democratic countries, including the US and Australia," Hotovely said, according to i24 News. Hotovely also said, "The comparison is outrageous," alluding to the comparison of between deportations of Jews during World War Two and the upcoming expulsions of Africans from Israel. Earlier this month, the Israel government handed eviction notices to nearly 38,000 migrants from Eritrea and Sudan to exit the country voluntarily by March-end or face indefinite jail time, New York Times has reported. Calling the migrants, "infiltrators" Netanyahu announced over Facebook, "The government approved a plan today that will give every infiltrator two options: a flight ticket out or jail." In January, nearly 36 Holocaust survivors, many who also spent time in concentration camps and ghettos in Europe, also penned a letter to the Israeli PM, urging him to "learn the lesson." "As a country founded by refugees," said another letter signed by 850 members of the Jewish clergy and delivered to Israeli embassies and consulates in the United States and Canada, "and whose early leaders helped craft the 1951 International Convention on the Status of Refugees, Israel must not deport those seeking asylum within its borders," New York Times reported. Around 60,000 Sudanese and Eritreans crossed the border from Egypt to reach Israel in 2005. The influx came to a halt in 2012 when Israel decided to put a steel barricade on a 150-mile long stretch bordering Egypt, the New York Times reported.

"They use ludicrous terms like 'gold star family' and make the case for continued American aggression around the world." The desire to be affirmed by American society has dangerous consequences for black people. This pernicious dynamic creates the inclination to worship any black face in a high place or to defend questionable activity. The death of special forces Sergeant La David Johnson in Niger is a case in point. Donald Trump's racism and stupidity prevented him from performing the simple task of conveying appropriate condolences to Johnson's widow. The ensuing brouhaha focuses on what Trump said in the phone call overheard by Congressional Black Caucus member Frederica Wilson. Almost no one is asking about the fact that American troops are stationed in Africa at all. Few people realize that such a thing as the United States Africa Command ( AFRICOM ) exists and that the military forces of most African nations have been under the de facto control of this country since the George W. Bush administration. There is similar silence about the role that the United States played in bringing groups designated as terrorists into nations such as Niger and Mali. The decision to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi in Libya is directly responsible for Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda affiliate groups gaining a foothold throughout the region. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and their NATO partners in crime were not just responsible for the deaths of thousands of Libyans, slavery in that country, and an ongoing humanitarian crisis. They are responsible for bringing state sponsored terror to the entire region. "The military forces of most African nations have been under the de facto control of this country since the George W. Bush administration." Focusing on Donald Trump's bad behavior is a sure path to confusion and accommodation. Instead of denouncing imperialism, otherwise sensible people are waving the flag and attacking Trump using right wing terminology. They use ludicrous terms like "gold star family" and make the case for continued American aggression around the world. It is pointless to ask about the specific circumstances of Johnson's death. He died along with three other soldiers in the murky circumstances that are to be expected in warfare. Any questions posed should be about America's ever expanding empire and the determination to make war on as many places in the world as possible. Black people should feel no need to validate themselves through military service or any other undertaking. As the people who have suffered through centuries of unpaid labor, Jim Crow apartheid and constant oppression, we should feel no need to uphold this system. Yet we have already proven a willingness to die for the interests of a corrupt and dangerous state. There is frankly no reason to show pride in Johnson's death or to allow a member of the CBC to turn an important issue into nonsensical grandstanding versus Trump. "The decision to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi in Libya is directly responsible for Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda affiliate groups gaining a foothold throughout the region." At this juncture in history all talk of patriotism is at best foolish and at worst a call for continued crimes and mass murder. It is also high time to end the deification of the American war dead, even when they look like us. They die because they are trying to kill other people. Condolences to Johnson's family are appropriate but they are also appropriate for the millions of people who lost loved ones to American empire building in Niger, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq. That is a short list which only includes the victims of American war crimes committed in the past 20 years. No one should be fooled by crocodile tears from white Americans with grudges against Trump. If Sergeant Johnson had been killed by a police officer in an American city many of the same white people who now rush to call him a hero would either shrug their shoulders in indifference or applaud his death. They should not be allowed to jump on the bandwagon of fake concern because Trump is their target. "Any questions posed should be about America's ever expanding empire and the determination to make war on as many places in the world as possible." As for congresswoman Wilson, she has a golden opportunity to discuss the impact of American interventions abroad and question their rationale. But like the rest of her CBC colleagues, her interests are confined to reliance on the largesse of the Democratic Party and their corporate benefactors. Trump's bad behavior makes him an easy target for scorn and a convenient punching bag for the useless black political class. If Wilson wants to take on the president it ought to be for more substantive reasons. Likening his boorishness to "Benghazi" uses a right wing trope for ridiculous effect. Any discussion about Sergeant Johnson ought to point out that he was a victim of the poverty draft. Before enlisting he worked at Walmart, a sure path to continued poverty or to the dubious odds offered by the army. Trump said that Johnson "knew what he signed up for" but that is probably not true. He took a chance and hoped for the best. Unfortunately the machinations of Bush, Obama, Clinton and Trump made his choice a bad one. If the Congresswoman wants to have a debate she could start with the realities of Johnson's life and how it ran afoul of United States foreign policy. Only then would her fight with a president be worthwhile. Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog as well as at http://freedomrider.blogspot.com. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgendaReport.com.

Even as a fallen U.S. soldier is laid to rest, Trump doesn't have the decency to stop lashing out at the young man's grieving family and long-time mentor. Army Sgt. La David Johnson will be laid to rest today in Hollywood, Florida, more than two weeks after he was killed in an ISIS-led ambush in Niger. He was one of four Army Special Forces troops killed on Oct. 4 , following what was described as a " massive intelligence failure ." On a day when the commander in chief should be honoring an American service member who made the ultimate sacrifice, Donald Trump instead began the day by continuing his attacks on Johnson's family and long-time mentor. Trump's attacks on Florida Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson, a close family friend for decades, started earlier this week, when Wilson described a Tuesday phone conversation between Trump and Johnson's widow, Myeshia Johnson, during which Trump said Johnson " knew what he signed up for ." Trump initially called Wilson "wacky" in a Thursday tweet in which he also claimed she was lying about what was said during the call and accused her of "secretly" listening in. Wilson was in the car with the fallen soldier's family when Trump called, and the family has since confirmed that her description of the call, which took place on speakerphone, was accurate. They've also made it clear that it was at their request that Wilson was with them. Johnson's mother also spoke out, saying Trump had disrespected the family with his call. In a series of tweets Saturday morning, Trump once again lashed out at Wilson. His vicious comments are just the latest in a now five day assault on Johnson's loved ones. In one tweet, Trump referred to Wilson as " wacky " and said she "is killing the Democrat party." I hope the Fake News Media keeps talking about Wacky Congresswoman Wilson in that she, as a representative, is killing the Democrat Party! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 21, 2017 A short time later, Trump quote-tweeted a photo of Wilson standing with President Obama, writing " People get what is going on !" -- clearly meant to imply that Wilson couldn't possibly be defending the family out of personal allegiance, and that her motives must be political. Based on the replies to Trump's tweets, people do know what's going on -- and they're disgusted to see him using his role as commander in chief to politicize the death of a fallen soldier and launch a smear campaign against mourning loved ones. Still, this didn't stop Trump and other top White House officials from attacking and lying about Wilson, who has spent the week publicly demanding more information about Johnson's death. She has also publicly pressed the administration for answers as to why his body was left behind for 48 hours after the raid in Niger. Now, as Wilson accompanies the bereaved family to Johnson's funeral, Trump is using the opportunity not to offer comfort or condolences, but to continue his disgraceful attacks on a close family friend and confidante. While Trump has often brought shame to the office of the presidency, this latest assault on a Gold Star family may be among his most heinous acts yet.

Incapable of showing common decency, Trump impugns the integrity of the family of a fallen soldier prepares to bury a son, husband, and father. Army Sgt. La David Johnson will be laid to rest on Saturday in Hollywood, Florida, more than two weeks after he was killed in an ISIS-led ambush in Niger. He was one of four Army Special Forces troops killed on Oct. 4 . At a time when most commanders in chief would be trying to offer up sympathy and support, Donald Trump and his White House continue to escalate the unseemly, lie-filled smear campaign they're waging against Johnson's family. They're waging that unprecedented campaign by attacking and denigrating Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL), a mentor of Johnson's and someone who has acted as a family advocate. (She "practically raised" Johnson, Wilson told the Washington Post.) She's been the person publicly demanding answers about the circumstances of the soldier's death, and specifically why his body was left behind for 48 hours after the raid. She's also the person who told the world that when Trump belatedly did reach out to the Johnson family, he seemed to dismissively suggest that the Green Beret "knew what he was getting into" when he signed up for the military. Trump also seemed to not know Johnson's name during the call. By Thursday, the White House smear campaign, being echoed by Fox News, had already produced death threats targeting Wilson. But then the White House doubled down on the vicious attacks. Just hours after Trump's chief of staff, John Kelly, personally denigrated Wilson as an "empty barrel" during an appearance at a White House press briefing, Trump jumped on Twitter Thursday night to belittle the Gold Star family advocate with a name-calling post: The Fake News is going crazy with wacky Congresswoman Wilson(D), who was SECRETLY on a very personal call, and gave a total lie on content! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 20, 2017 Both the Kelly and Trump attacks revolve around lies . Contrary to Trump's tweet, nothing about Wilson's recounting of his insensitive phone call has been debunked, in part because several other family members heard it and have confirmed it to the press. "President Trump did disrespect my son and my daughter and also me and my husband," Cowanda Jones-Johnson told the Washington Post. The White House has refused to acknowledge Jones-Johnson or her comments about the phone call to her family. Meanwhile, Kelly based his outrage around the fact that Wilson had overheard the Trump call to Johnson's widow, Myeshia Johnson, when the call was put on speakerphone, implying Wilson had behaved nefariously when she was simply with the family she has known for decades to provide comfort at such a painful time. "I was stunned," Kelly angrily announced , suggesting Wilson had breached some sacred bond. But Kelly failed to note that he also overheard the phone call, listening in at the White House. This is the second unseemly battle the White House has picked with a black Democratic politician in the wake of the deadly raid. Earlier this week, when pressed about his strange, determined silence about the fallen troops, Trump insisted President Barack Obama had also failed to show sympathy for fallen U.S. troops by not reaching out to families. That baseless claim that was immediately, and angrily, debunked by former Obama aides. Army Sgt. La David Johnson will be laid to rest on Saturday. We can assume neither Trump nor Kelly will be attending.

Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) told CNN's Don Lemon that President Donald Trump made a horrifying remark to the widow of fallen soldier Sgt. La David Johnson, who lost his life in Niger. "Basically he said, 'Well, I guess he knew what he signed up for, but I guess it still hurt,'" Wilson recounted. She was present for that portion of the call, which occurred on speakerphone in a vehicle she was sharing with Johnson's family. Trump made the disgusting remark to Wilson shortly before she received her husband's casket. "This is a young, young woman, who has two children, who is six months pregnant with a third child," Wilson added. "She has just lost her husband. She was just told that he cannot have an open casket funeral, which gives her all kinds of nightmares how his body must look, how his face must look. And this is what the president of the United States says to her?" Wilson explained that she asked for the phone during the call, because she was going to "curse him out." "I was livid. But they would not give me the phone," she said. Watch the segment below. Don't let big tech control what news you see. Get more stories like this in your inbox, every day. Chris Sosa is the Senior Editor at AlterNet. His work also appears in Mic, Salon, Care2, Huffington Post and other publications. Follow him on Twitter @ ChrisSosa .

President Trump has found himself in hot water yet again after he tried to tell people that former President Obama rarely called the families of soldiers who were killed in the line of duty. However, it is Trump who is constantly disrespecting our troops. In fact, Trump did not even mention the four U.S. soldiers killed by ISIS in Niger earlier this month for two weeks. His response to the loss of life is appalling. Trump even tried to double down on his claims by telling the reporters to ask his chief of staff if Obama called him after his son was killed in Afghanistan. But things took a dramatic turn for the worst when Trump finally decided to reach out to U.S. Army Sgt. La David Johnson's widow, Myeshia Johnson, who is pregnant and has two young children, to tell her that "he knew what he signed up for." Such a callous response to a grieving mother is appalling. Former HUD official and veteran Brandon Friedman said : "I did two tours in combat as an infantry officer and I never met a soldier who thought dying was a reasonable result of their service ... the President has no idea how the military works or what his role and responsibilities are." Americans are so outraged by Trump's comments that they have started a crowdfunding campaign to fund the fallen soldier's children's college tuition. Verified @gofundme campaign to pay for college for the children of Sgt. La David T. Johnson, KIA in Niger. https://t.co/RLLV8oE7FO -- Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 18, 2017 Sources report that the page raised has raised $200,000 overnight and the new goal is to get to $1 million. Are you glad America is standing up for the fallen soldiers family even when Trump won't? How does it make you feel that the president would say something like this to a grieving widow and then deny it?

"They use ludicrous terms like 'gold star family' and make the case for continued American aggression around the world." The desire to be affirmed by American society has dangerous consequences for black people. This pernicious dynamic creates the inclination to worship any black face in a high place or to defend questionable activity. The death of special forces Sergeant La David Johnson in Niger is a case in point. Donald Trump's racism and stupidity prevented him from performing the simple task of conveying appropriate condolences to Johnson's widow. The ensuing brouhaha focuses on what Trump said in the phone call overheard by Congressional Black Caucus member Frederica Wilson. Almost no one is asking about the fact that American troops are stationed in Africa at all. Few people realize that such a thing as the United States Africa Command ( AFRICOM ) exists and that the military forces of most African nations have been under the de facto control of this country since the George W. Bush administration. There is similar silence about the role that the United States played in bringing groups designated as terrorists into nations such as Niger and Mali. The decision to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi in Libya is directly responsible for Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda affiliate groups gaining a foothold throughout the region. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and their NATO partners in crime were not just responsible for the deaths of thousands of Libyans, slavery in that country, and an ongoing humanitarian crisis. They are responsible for bringing state sponsored terror to the entire region. "The military forces of most African nations have been under the de facto control of this country since the George W. Bush administration." Focusing on Donald Trump's bad behavior is a sure path to confusion and accommodation. Instead of denouncing imperialism, otherwise sensible people are waving the flag and attacking Trump using right wing terminology. They use ludicrous terms like "gold star family" and make the case for continued American aggression around the world. It is pointless to ask about the specific circumstances of Johnson's death. He died along with three other soldiers in the murky circumstances that are to be expected in warfare. Any questions posed should be about America's ever expanding empire and the determination to make war on as many places in the world as possible. Black people should feel no need to validate themselves through military service or any other undertaking. As the people who have suffered through centuries of unpaid labor, Jim Crow apartheid and constant oppression, we should feel no need to uphold this system. Yet we have already proven a willingness to die for the interests of a corrupt and dangerous state. There is frankly no reason to show pride in Johnson's death or to allow a member of the CBC to turn an important issue into nonsensical grandstanding versus Trump. "The decision to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi in Libya is directly responsible for Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda affiliate groups gaining a foothold throughout the region." At this juncture in history all talk of patriotism is at best foolish and at worst a call for continued crimes and mass murder. It is also high time to end the deification of the American war dead, even when they look like us. They die because they are trying to kill other people. Condolences to Johnson's family are appropriate but they are also appropriate for the millions of people who lost loved ones to American empire building in Niger, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq. That is a short list which only includes the victims of American war crimes committed in the past 20 years. No one should be fooled by crocodile tears from white Americans with grudges against Trump. If Sergeant Johnson had been killed by a police officer in an American city many of the same white people who now rush to call him a hero would either shrug their shoulders in indifference or applaud his death. They should not be allowed to jump on the bandwagon of fake concern because Trump is their target. "Any questions posed should be about America's ever expanding empire and the determination to make war on as many places in the world as possible." As for congresswoman Wilson, she has a golden opportunity to discuss the impact of American interventions abroad and question their rationale. But like the rest of her CBC colleagues, her interests are confined to reliance on the largesse of the Democratic Party and their corporate benefactors. Trump's bad behavior makes him an easy target for scorn and a convenient punching bag for the useless black political class. If Wilson wants to take on the president it ought to be for more substantive reasons. Likening his boorishness to "Benghazi" uses a right wing trope for ridiculous effect. Any discussion about Sergeant Johnson ought to point out that he was a victim of the poverty draft. Before enlisting he worked at Walmart, a sure path to continued poverty or to the dubious odds offered by the army. Trump said that Johnson "knew what he signed up for" but that is probably not true. He took a chance and hoped for the best. Unfortunately the machinations of Bush, Obama, Clinton and Trump made his choice a bad one. If the Congresswoman wants to have a debate she could start with the realities of Johnson's life and how it ran afoul of United States foreign policy. Only then would her fight with a president be worthwhile. Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog as well as at http://freedomrider.blogspot.com. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgendaReport.com.

NEW YORK - With a massive spike in the number of foreclosures and evictions over the past two years, communities throughout the U.S. have witnessed the sprouting of tent cities -- many of them home to once middle-class citizens fallen victim to the economic downturn. Encampments have formed in or near large urban areas including Reno, Los Angeles, Chattanooga, Columbus, St. Petersburg, Seattle and Portland. "[Starting] about four years ago, there has been an outbreak of tent cities popping up across the country. Today, we observe a slow but steady increase in homeless people," Michael Stoops, acting executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCFTH), told IPS. According to a report by NCFTH, almost 61 percent of local and state homeless coalitions say that they have seen a growth in homelessness since the foreclosure crisis -- now at 10,000 homes per week -- began in 2007. The phenomenon is similar to the social upheavals of the Great Depression of the 1930s -- an era frequently referenced these days -- when "Hooverville" ad-hoc shanty towns, some as big as 15,000 people, were erected around the country, named after the president at the time, Herbert Hoover. Scott, a resident of the tent city in Los Angeles, told a television reporter, "I had one of those escalating, finance-charge, balloon-things that steps up every year and the payment just got too much so that I couldn't afford it anymore. I tried to work with the bank and they worked with me, gave me some extra time, but it's just getting too big. So they foreclosed." Many residents of tent cities share Scott's fate. One woman told BBC that she used to live in a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house. When her husband fell ill, it became impossible to make ends meet. "We have a lot of grandkids, too. They used to always come over and stay. They don't come here anymore, I don't want them to come here. We go there and see them at their house," she said. She and her husband now live in a mobile home at a camp. Most tent cities have a community-spirit and are self-regulated, said Stoops, who has visited many of the encampments. "In most tent cities, there are certain rules -- like for instance no drugs, no alcohol and no violence," he told IPS. He and his organisation supported the formation of tent cities. "[They] are of course not the solution, but necessary until adequate shelters and housing are found," he added. "The tent city in St. Petersburg, Florida, is even supported by the government and some local, non-profit organisations provide support for tent cities across the country," Stoops said. Jeremy Rosen, executive director of the National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness (NPACH), expected a mild growth in the number of tent cities in the future due to the weak economy. "On the other hand, I suspect we'll see a definite rise in homelessness," he told IPS. According to a document published by NPACH, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) definition of homelessness "does not include children and families who have lost their homes but are temporarily staying in motels or with other people because other shelter is not available or appropriate." These families have often lost their homes due to an event like eviction, foreclosure or a family crisis, but cannot find available and appropriate shelter. "They become the 'hidden homeless', moving around from place to place -- sleeping in cars, on couches, sometimes in shelters, sometimes with friends and sometimes with family. Unfortunately, our country chooses to deny this reality and doesn't define many of these people as homeless," Rosen told IPS. There are an estimated 600,000 children and youths who are considered homeless by other agencies, but not by HUD. "More than 60 percent of the homeless students identified by public schools are ineligible for HUD Homeless Assistance," the NPACH's report states. "During the last seven years, we have seen homelessness increase. This is due to, for example, hurricanes or the unofficial economic recession with a foreclosure crisis," Stoops told IPS. "A month ago, over 900,000 homes were foreclosed and some of the people concerned will wind up homeless." While "there exists more [government] sympathy for banks and people on Wall Street", he wryly added that "the capitalist society will allow even those people to wind up homeless." In Chicago, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has taken unusual action and announced last week that he was suspending all foreclosure evictions. "The move comes as a result of the growing number of evictions that involve renters, most of whom are dutifully paying their rent every month, only to later learn their landlord has fallen behind on mortgage payments and the building has gone into foreclosure," Spokesman Steve Patterson told IPS. "These mortgage companies only see pieces of paper, not people, and don't care who's in the building. They simply want their money and don't care who gets hurt along the way," Dart said in an interview. Dart wants mortgage companies to be forced to provide sufficient information to the Sheriff's Office in order to conduct an eviction. According to a press release by the Cook County Sheriff's Office, foreclosure filings have steadily climbed in Cook County since 1999. In just two years, the number of foreclosure evictions has almost tripled. The data firm RealtyTrac recently published a report stating that foreclosures were at an unparalleled high nationally, filings were up nearly 100 percent from a year ago and officials estimate that approximately half a million people could lose their homes as adjustable mortgage rates rise over the next two years. Many of those affected might eventually end up homeless, seeking help in a tent city or elsewhere. As there are not nearly enough shelter beds for all the homeless people in the U.S., Stoops appealed for government compassion, saying that "every city should have one park or another space where homeless people are allowed to erect their tents." "It is hard for homeless people to set up a homeless campsite because cops come and make them move on. The most recent count from the government, which is from 2005, says that 44 percent of the nation's homeless are unsheltered," he said.

It was a sparse crowd at Tuesday's monthly homeless memorial. No one stepped forward to remember these men. No one there to talk about their lives lived. Who they were. Or how they became homeless. Blog After 12 years on the streets of Toronto, he's now living with his girlfriend, attending George Brown College in the Community Worker Program and completing a work placement at Sanctuary Ministries. Blog This year alone sixteen names have been added to the Homeless Memorial Board. At that pace, the number of new names will exceed last year's total, a significant increase over the prior three years. Blog

When registering, participants have the option to receive more information from NSW Mining. About 100 Aboriginal people and their supporters gathered at Hyde Park fountain in Sydney on November 1 to protest against the continued desecration of Aboriginal sites across NSW by coal and coal seam gas mining companies Boggabri Coal, Whitehaven Coal and Santos. The rally was organised by Gomeroi people from Gunnedah in north-west New South Wales. People of all ages were present, from young children to elders. Steve Talbott spoke to the crowd informing them of the cooperation between the state government and mining companies. There are approximately 60,000 public and community housing tenants in NSW and about 85% of them are receiving welfare benefits. Several non-government organisations (NGOs) such as Mission Australia are now providing clothing, food, job training and housing to welfare recipients. As more and more public housing gets transferred into the hands of NGOs as part of a push for privatisation, many of the organisations who were traditionally advocating for the poor have now become their landlords. These organisations receive a large part of their clients' income through their rent assistance. NSW Minister for Community Services Pru Goward opened the conference. She said the housing situation in NSW is grim due to housing being more expensive, less plentiful and inadequately funded. People who require housing also have more needs, she said. A small but vocal group of people gathered outside the Land and Environment Court in Sydney on August 20 to protest against Rio Tinto's plans to extend its Mount Thorley Warkworth coalmine near Bulga, in Singleton Shire in the NSW Hunter Valley. The protesters held banners saying "Don't bugger Bulga", "Stop coal and gas destroying NSW" and "Save the Warkworth Sands Woodlands", while they chanted slogans such as "Rack off Rio Tinto." Adabie told Green Left Weekly these acute housing problems faced by the most disadvantaged and vulnerable.

Report: Number of homeless in NH declines By MARK HAYWARD New Hampshire Union Leader December 15. 2016 8:19PM The number of homeless in New Hampshire tumbled this year, four counties experiencing a drop in homeless populations of a third or more, according to a 2016 tally from the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness. The report -- found at UnionLeader.com -- said that homelessness fell over the last two years in all subcategories, such as families, veterans and chronic homeless. And the reduction touched all counties of the state except Cheshire County, where the number of homeless grew by about 3 percent, which represents three people. While some of this progress may be due to the continued economic recovery," the report reads, "homeless service providers have worked tirelessly to implement new programs and initiatives that have housed hundreds of homeless." The largest homeless shelter in Manchester, New Horizons, experienced a drop off over the year too. But New Horizons director Charlie Sherman criticized the data in the report. It is based on a single day survey that takes place in January. "They look where they expect (the homeless will be). It's kind of a crapshoot," Sherman said. Its average count this year was 60, versus 85 the previous year. He also said the average stay at the shelter is down by 10 days, to 26. Like the Coalition report, Sherman said one of the biggest challenges is the high cost of housing in the area. He said some clients at New Horizons are on government programs such as Social Security disability, but cannot afford an apartment. The report can be viewed below: Other findings of the report: * Hillsborough County saw its population of long-term, or chronic, homeless people fall by 55 percent over the last two years, to 69. * Coos County had no homeless families in the count, while Hillsborough had 313. * The number of homeless veterans statewide was 123. * Unsheltered homeless -- those in emergency shelters, a tent or a dangerous building -- fell 64 percent over the last two years, to 143. The report said quick help for people who find themselves recently homeless is critical to prevent complications associated with long-term homelessness. mhayward@unionleader.com

Israeli forces demolished a Palestinian home in the Bedouin village of Umm Batin in the Negev desert in southern Israel yesterday morning, locals told Ma'an . According to locals, Israeli police raided Umm Batin and escorted bulldozers into the village, demolishing a wooden house belonging to Faris Abu Kaf. Abu Kaf, his wife, and their four children were left homeless as a result of the demolitions. An Israeli police spokesperson was not immediately available for comment. Locals highlighted that Israeli authorities have carried out demolitions in the village despite the fact that, unlike many Bedouin villages in the Negev, Umm Batin was officially recognised by the state in 2005. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

(VISIONANDVALUES.ORG) -- During a recent trip to Chicago, I couldn't help but notice the large number of homeless people in the downtown area, including one homeless man pushing a child in a stroller. Homelessness was frequently discussed during the 1980s, but seems to receive less media attention now. And yet, the number of homeless today is approximately twice as large as it was in the 1980s. Homelessness, like any other social problem, is influenced by incentives. Unfortunately, government policy may actually be making the problem worse, particularly government-subsidized housing for the poor.

Crooked Ukraine: The Canadian Connection. Call For a Public Inquiry It's so transparent what they're doing in Ukraine..." "...Speaking during a wide-ranging annual foreign affairs news conference in Moscow, Lavrov said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trudeau met on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in November in Turkey and 'both expressed desire to normalize relations.' After that meeting, Trudeau said tgo reporters he had told Putin that Russia's interference in Ukraine must cease..." There appears to be some discrepancy between Trudeau's stated intention at the time to 'tell Putin off to his face' and Russian accounts of what actually occurred during the Trudeau-Putin 'meeting'. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress and its champions inside and outside the government, as well as Washington, will not permit normalization of relations with Russia, no matter how necessary, sensible and consistent with Canadian national interests. I predict Trudeau will stay the stupid course. The nature of this sort of work behind the scenes by a country's leader is not going to make the evening papers. It will most likely always be kept discrete. As with Obama's work that yielded such good outcomes for Syria and Iran, anything positive in Canada's stance with Ukraine will be subtle and behind the scenes. This is so perverse I am gob smacked. This is what Obama has done for the people of Syria. I didn't think it was necessary to explain it to you any more than I did. But I see you don't get it yet and so I will. What the US did to Iraq is what they wanted to do to Syria. ISIS and other US backed terrorists have caused huge destruction to Syria and driven out millions of it's people. It's a mess and you didn't need pictures to prove that to me. But it's not torn to pieces and there hasn't been nearly a million slaughtered as was the case with Iraq at the hands of the US. Obama prevented that from happening by signing on to Putin's initiative of ridding Syria of it's chem/bio weapons. Would you like a grown up conversation on the facts? How do you think it came down? Did Putin snooker Obama into signing on with the fulfillment of his 'red line' demands? Or, did Putin or Obama work in concert right from the beginning? Or, do you have another valid explanation of how it came about? As for Iran, lets just work on you being able to understand Syria for now.

Last week, the US, UK and France bombed targets in Syria that were allegedly manufacturing chemical and biological weapons . Trudeau was quick to state that Canada backed the mission , and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland even called Bashar Al-Assad's actions "evil". Yet, on that very same day, there were other federal government announcements concerning Syria that inexplicably received very little press coverage from the Media Party. While the likes of Trudeau and Freeland were condemning Assad, the censorship-happy Iqra Khalid took in a Toronto area event that honoured pro-Assad and pro-Intifada activists . Khalid said she was there on behalf of Justin Trudeau, handing out an award to an Assad apologist at the same time Trudeau was officially voicing his support for the attack on the Assad regime? What's going on? Given the demographic changes in Mississauga, perhaps catering to Jew-hatred could be an adroit political strategy. Assad might be an evil bastard but, at the end of the day, it's all about getting re-elected . Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

Iraq's government has banned international flights to Iraqi Kurdistan and ordered joint military drills along the country's shared border with Iran, in its latest retaliation for a vote by Iraqi Kurds to form an independent nation. The move came after nearly 93 percent of voters approved a referendum a week ago to break away from Iraq. Meanwhile, Turkey's authoritarian president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Iraqi Kurdish leaders would "pay any price" for their move toward independence. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan : "They are not forming an independent state in northern Iraq. On the contrary, they are opening a wound in the region to twist the knife in. Ignoring this fact will do no good, neither to us nor to our Kurdish brothers in Iraq or other parties." Topics: Iraq Turkey

TO THE HONOURABLE THE SPEAKER AND MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Australia's military on 17 September participated in the US-led bombing of Syrian Arab Army soldiers in Syria, killing 62 and wounding more than 100. Whether by accident or not, our actions benefited ISIS, against whom the Syrian soldiers were protecting a town of 300,000 people. Unlike the Russians, Australia and our American, British, French and other allies are operating in Syria without the consent of the Syrian government, and therefore illegally under international law. ISIS terrorists are now a threat to the whole world, yet we are aiding them to achieve our allies' long-planned overthrow of the Assad government. The UK's Chilcot Report and House of Commons Libya Report prove that previous regime-change interventions in Iraq and Libya were based on the same lies being repeated about Syria, and that they caused, not prevented, more terrorism. Australia should not participate in another regime-change operation. Since we are not there to help the Syrian government and Russia fight ISIS, we must get out--now!

Leave this field empty if you're human: Has Justin Trudeau ever given good advice? He gives advice known to the world as peoplekind, so what good advice could he give to Russia? A week after Vladimir Putin won his fourth term is President, Trudeau said he wants to see Putin do a better job. "Whether it's pulling back of his engagement in the Donbass or leaving Crimea," the prime minister said, "whether it's taking responsibility for . . . the important questions that the U.K. has asked after the terrible poisoning incident a few weeks ago in Salisbury, whether it's questions around NATO, questions around Syria, questions around the Arctic." The Russian embassy fired back on Twitter: "We regret PM Trudeau's confrontational rhetoric at yesterday's Toronto press-conference prompted by UK slanderous Russophobic hysteria," said Thursday's tweet. "This language of ultimatums is totally unacceptable & counterproductive, especially for bilateral dialogue on important issues, like the Arctic." Now Trudeau sits at home with his tail between his legs.

Yesterday, on the 8th of August 2018, the media office at the Syrian Presidency announced that the First Lady of Syria, Mrs Asmaa al-Assad began [...] Syriana Analysis latest geopolitical report (31 July 2018) in regards to Syria, particularly the latest military developments in the southern city of Daraa, where the [...] The process of transporting the civilians and defenders of terrorist-besieged towns of Kafriya and al-Foua to al-Eis corridor in Aleppo southern countryside ended on Thursday. [...] Exclusive interview with the former UK Ambassador to Syria between 2003-2006, Mr Peter Ford who deconstructed the recent meeting between President Putin and President Trump [...]

The link between immigration from Eastern Europe and youth unemployment has been questioned in a report by campaigners. The number of migrants working in the UK who were born in Eastern Europe rose by 600,000 since the so-called A8 countries joined the EU in May 2004, while youth unemployment rose by almost 450,000 in the same period, Migration Watch UK said. Sir Andrew Green, the campaign group's chairman, said it would be "a very remarkable coincidence if there was no link at all between them". Migrants from the A8 countries - Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - "have tended to be disproportionately young, well-educated, prepared to work for low wages and imbued with a strong work ethic", he said. Youth unemployment in the UK increased from 575,000 in the first quarter of 2004 to 1,016,000 in the third quarter of 2011, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. Over the same period, the number of workers from the A8 grew by 600,000. Sir Andrew conceded that measuring any impact of immigration on youth unemployment was "not an exact science". He said: "Correlation is not, of course, proof of causation but, given the positive employability characteristics and relative youth of migrants from these countries, it is implausible and counter-intuitive to conclude - as the previous Government and some economists have done - that A8 migration has had virtually no impact on UK youth unemployment in this period. "We hear a great deal from employers about the value of immigrant labour, especially from Eastern Europe, but there are also costs some of which have undoubtedly fallen on young British born workers." A Home Office spokesman said: "This Government is working to reduce net migration from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands, levels we last saw in the 1990s."

The latest unemployment figures have shown that the number of people out of jobs in Britain rose to 2.5m in the three months to October as about 35,000 workers in the local and central governments as well as nationalised banks were made redundant. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed near-record youth unemployment with the largest rise in unemployment recorded among 16 and 17 year olds. The rise in the number of jobless was attributed to an increase in public sector redundancies following the Treasury's austerity programme as not enough new opportunities were being created in the private sector. The rate of joblessness rose from 7.8 per cent of the workforce in the previous quarter to 7.9 per cent. However, the number of jobs in the private sector remained static at 23.11m. Prime Minister David Cameron admitted that he was concerned about the weakness of the labour market, but pointed out that the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance had dropped marginally. Meanwhile, analysts expected unemployment to rise quite sharply over the next couple of years even as the full impact of the coalition government's spending cuts and tax hikes was yet to take effect.

A coincidence? Youth unemployment rises 450,000 in the time it takes 600,000 migrant workers to flock to the UK By Leon Watson Updated: 04:37 EDT, 9 January 2012 Migrant workers from the EU are keeping young Britons out of jobs, new figures suggest. Campaign group Migration Watch UK said statistics released today show the number of migrants working in the UK who were born in Eastern Europe rose by 600,000 since the so-called A8 countries joined the EU in May 2004 while youth unemployment rose by almost 450,000 in the same period. Sir Andrew Green, the campaign group's chairman, said it would be 'a very remarkable coincidence if there was no link at all between them'. Dole queue: Youth unemployment rose by almost 450,000 since May 2004 Migrants from the A8 countries - Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - 'have tended to be disproportionately young, well-educated, prepared to work for low wages and imbued with a strong work ethic', he said. Youth unemployment in the UK increased from 575,000 in the first quarter of 2004 to 1,016,000 in the third quarter of 2011, figures from the Office for National Statistics show. Over the same period, the number of workers from the A8 grew by 600,000. Immigration: While the number of young Brits out of work has gone up, the number of migrants working in the UK who were born in Eastern Europe rose by 600,000 Sir Andrew conceded that measuring any impact of immigration on youth unemployment was 'not an exact science'. He said: 'Correlation is not, of course, proof of causation but, given the positive employability characteristics and relative youth of migrants from these countries, it is implausible and counter-intuitive to conclude - as the previous Government and some economists have done - that A8 migration has had virtually no impact on UK youth unemployment in this period. 'We hear a great deal from employers about the value of immigrant labour, especially from Eastern Europe, but there are also costs some of which have undoubtedly fallen on young British born workers.' A Home Office spokesman said: 'This Government is working to reduce net migration from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands, levels we last saw in the 1990s.'

Ros Altmann, Older Workers Champion for the Government, produced the figures from her analysis of the latest job statistics. Unemployment for those aged 16 to 49 has fallen by 19 per cent or 390,000 since 2010, from 2.1 million to 1.71 million. But the number aged 50 to 64 seeking work fell by just 5.3 per cent, or 19,000, to 350,000. Dr Altmann said: "Under the Coalition government, rising numbers of older people are remaining in work. "But unemployment among those aged 50 to 64 has fallen much more slowly than for younger workers. "Employers and recruitment agencies are often focused on hiring young people. However, older jobseekers have excellent experience. "I hope to be able to identify any significant barriers and help more over-50s stay in or return to work if they wish to." Caroline Abrahams, charity director of Age UK, agreed. She said: "Too many older people find themselves locked out of the workplace."

Statistics released yesterday show 72,000 people aged 16-24 were unemployed between June and August, a drop of 29,000 on the same period last year. The figures mean Scotland's youth unemployment rate has fallen 5.6 per cent in the past 12 months, a larger drop than the 5.1 per cent in the rest of the UK. The data, released by the Office for National Statistics, also showed the number of young people out of work and claiming jobseeker's allowance has fallen by almost a third since last year. Last month, there were 20,200 young people claiming the benefit, a fall of 9,900. First Minister Alex Salmond said: "These figures are another positive sign and show that Scotland's economic recovery is ongoing. Scotland remains among the top 10 best performing countries in the EU for youth unemployment." But Labour's deputy finance spokesman, Jenny Marra, said: "A drop in youth unemployment is welcome, but it's important to look beyond the headline figures. "The Scottish Government must ensure that the jobs being created pay the living wage and are not insecure, part time, or zero hour contracts."

A survey of more than 1,600 business leaders revealed that a third planned to scale back hiring staff if the PS7.20 an hour rate for adults increased to PS9 by 2020. Others were looking at changes to staff hours, benefits or pay growth. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said the changes revealed by its research showed the rising cost burden on many companies. Two out of three firms paid their staff above the national living wage (NLW), but 25 per cent of those that were affected had increased their wage bill slightly, and 9% had increased it significantly, the report said.

TEHRAN - President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that the Iranian people continue supporting the Islamic Republic system despite pressure by foreigners. Rouhani made the remarks while visiting - along with his cabinet members - the shrine of Imam Khomeini and the tombs of the martyrs of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Rouhani said, "Those who think they can decide for Iran's future by resorting to the United Nations Security Council should realize that the Iranian nation will never give up Imam Khomeini's legacy: Islamism and Republicanism." "Return is impossible," he stressed. The remarks came just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington stands with the people of Iran against the country's ruling establishment. During his State of the Union address, Trump called the Islamic Republic a "corrupt dictatorship" and said "America stands with the people of Iran in their courageous struggle for freedom." "As long as people love the culture of Islam and love their Iran and safeguard their national unity, no superpower can change the path of this nation," Rouhani responded. He also hinted that the country's authorities should listen to what people want and draw on the lessons of the past, especially the Shah's fall. "All officials of the country should have a listening ear for people's demands and wishes," he said. "The previous regime thought it would rule forever, but lost everything because it didn't listen to people's criticism and advice," the president warned. "It only heard the voice of people's Revolution." Rouhani and his entourage also visited the tombs of the martyrs of the eight-year Holy Defense against the invading Saddam army and the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The day Imam Khomeini returned to Iran from exile (Feb 1, 1979) marks the beginning of the Ten-Day Dawn in ceremonies which culminate with the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution on February 11, 1979. Iranians toppled the U.S.-backed Pahlavi regime 39 years ago, ending 2,500 years of monarchy in the country.

"The officials and managers in the country should have open ears to listen to what the masses want and demand," said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. He made the remarks on Wednesday morning at Imam Khomeini Mausoleum in the southern outskirts of Tehran. "Forty years ago, on a day like this, nobody could believe that a revolutionary and religious movement would gain victory in this country to topple an armed to the teeth regime. This Revolution proved to the world that people can govern over their own fate," asserted the Iranian head of state, on days approaching the anniversary of the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran which put an end to 2500 year old monarchy in Iran in favor of a long-waited democracy. "The former regime could have never imagined, especially when they were cheering with the lords of the world playing with cultural and religious emotions of the people calling Iran the island of stability in the region, that Imam Khomeini, after years of being in exile in Turkey, Iraq, and France would return to the country under such circumstances and would topple Shah's establishment thanks to the sacrifice of Iranian nation," reiterated the Iranian president. "All those who held political and military positions were required to obey nobody except the Shah, but our people with the help of Imam created a democratic establishment under the auspices of Islam," noted Mr. Rouhani.

Iranian Vice President for Economic Affairs Mohammad Nahavandian announced the allocation of $1.5 billion to provide jobs in villages and rural areas in the country. This comes as Iran faces increased protests over the past two months. According to the Iranian news agency IRNA , Nahavandian stressed that villages and rural areas will be the main focus for government plans to lower the unemployment rate. Official figures put the country's unemployment rate at 22 per cent, while non-government reports place the number much higher. Tehran needs $95.2 billion in liquidity to complete several unfinished projects in the country, according to Nahavandian, undermining opportunities for new jobs. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday called for calm as riots continued against rising prices, economic inequality and unemployment, according to a report in the New York Times. "We are a free nation, and based on the Constitution and citizenship rights, people are completely free to express their criticism and even their protest," Rouhani said, according to the state-run PressTV. Demonstrations started Thursday in the second-largest city of Masshad. By Friday , rallies spread to Tehran and other major cities. At least 50 people were arrested in Masshad, and two protestors were killed at a rally Saturday night in a provincial town. The protests were the most serious in Iran since 2009 following the disputed re-election of then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Rouhani, according to the Times, also told people to not resort to violence after some crowds reportedly attacked some state buildings and confronted police. Trump tweeted Saturday that Iran's leaders fear their own people. He said, "Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever, and the day will come when the Iranian people will face a choice." He added: "The world is watching!"

In the visit that took place on Thursday evening, Dr Rouhani said "the families of martyrs and war veterans are a source of honour for the entire Iranian nation". Mentioning the bravery and courage of the veterans in the Sacred Defense era, he added, the Iranian nation was persecuted in the Sacred Defense era, while the enemies of this nation has not hesitated any criminal act. Dr. Rouhani also referred to Mohsen Hojaji's martyrdom as an example of brutal crimes of Takfiri terrorists, saying, "spirit, faith and perseverance of these young people for defending the holy shrines and the dignity of Muslims shows that our soldiers and martyrs could keep the way of martyrdom and sacrifice alive in the society. "If today we have independence in our country and enemies do not allow themselves to carry out any act of aggression to this land, it is due to our young people's faith, spirit and culture of martyrdom and devotion," the president added. In this visit, attended by Vice President and Head of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs Foundation Mohammad-Ali Shahidi, medals of honor was given to the families of the martyrs.

TEHRAN - Ali Akbar Velayati, a top advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, on Friday reiterated Tehran's support for the Lebanese government and the country's stability and independence. During a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri in Beirut, Velayati also described Iran-Lebanon relations as "very good". Velayati also praised Lebanon's victories in fighting terrorism. He said the victories of the resistance front belong to the entire region. The resistance front refers to the alliance of the Lebanese Hezbollah, Palestinian freedom fighters, Syria, and Iran against terrorists, Israel and the United States. "Terrorists are being supported by the Zionists and victory over them is victory over the U.S.-Israeli plots," he said. He also met separately with Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

Ted Cruz -- adamantly, and against all logic -- does not believe in climate change. It's an untenable position to hold in 2015, when the world's scientists are more certain than ever that global warming is happening and that we're causing it; when large portions of the country are already suffering the impacts of a changing climate; and when there's an urgent need for immediate and drastic action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It's also just hard to imagine a scenario in which a candidate who is not a scientist and yet fancies himself a Galileo could actually win the nation's highest office. His rejection of the basic tenets of science alone should, as Gov. Jerry Brown said last weekend, render him "absolutely unfit" for the presidency. But let's picture, just for a moment, a bizarro world in which Ted Cruz is president and, taking a cue from him, we no longer have to consider climate change or, for that matter, any potential downside to fossil fuel development. We can actually get a pretty good idea of what that would look like, thanks to the "American Energy Renaissance Act," an omnibus energy bill Cruz introduced last year , and reintroduced just last week, that lays out his vision for a fossil-fueled, regulation-free oil-palooza. "A Great American Energy Renaissance is at our fingertips," Cruz said at the Heritage Action for America's 2014 Conservative Policy Summit. "There is only one thing that will stop us from embracing it to its full potential: the federal government." Looking over his proposals, it requires only a small leap of the imagination to picture the headlines that would emerge from President Ted Cruz's America... President Cruz initiates oil free-for-all: "There's literally nowhere I won't let you drill." About 43 percent of oil and 25 percent of natural gas reserves are located on federal land, and Cruz is furious that not all of it is open for drilling. He wants to give states the power to lease, permit and regulate all energy development on federal lands (and waters) within their borders. The 19 million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would be opened to developers too, as would Native American land -- because, he's explained , "it is only the federal government" that is keeping Native Americans in poverty. President Cruz gets his Keystone revenge by pre-approving every pipeline, ever. The decision on whether or not to approve Keystone XL will be made before President Cruz ever takes office, but getting the pipeline built, he's said, is only the beginning of what he envisions for America. As he told the Conservative Policy Summit, "we...need to think bigger than a single pipeline." "The Keystone saga imposed by the federal government," his bill explains, "demonstrates the need to reform the process of approving oil and natural gas pipelines," removing barriers to the development of all cross-border energy infrastructure. "The Canadians won't leave the oil sands unmolested," Cruz further explained -- and he'd be loathe to miss out on the action. President Cruz: The fracking industry knows what it's doing and states totally have it handled. Last week, the Obama administration finally introduced some regulations for fracking operations on federal lands -- a small yet significant act, in that it could begin to hold the industry responsible for the environmental and public health impacts of fracking. Unsurprisingly, Ted Cruz doesn't think those are at all necessary. "States have proven they can oversee hydraulic fracturing in a responsible, safe manner," the most recent version of his bill reads, in one of its more drastic departures from reality . Any intervention from the federal government will kill the American Energy Renaissance dead. "I couldn't care less about some 'international climate agreement'": President Cruz strips EPA of its ability to regulate greenhouse gases. Yep, this is an actual thing Cruz would like to see happen: He'd strip the EPA of its mandate, awarded to it by the Supreme Court in 2007, to regulate climate change-causing emissions -- elevated quantities of which, the agency determined two years later, threaten "current and future generations." He would, predictably enough, undo the efforts the EPA's already undertaken to regulate emissions from coal-fired power plants; in the future, any regulation that could possibly harm jobs would have to go through Congress and be signed into law by the president. Assuming, optimistically, that the world pulls itself together and agrees a climate pact in Paris at the end of this year, this would likely mean going back on whatever commitment the United States ends up making. (This wouldn't be a problem for Cruz, of course, because in his world, the science, evidence and data all say that global warming isn't real anyway.) President Cruz blesses the world with the gift of fossil fuels. Cruz doesn't want America to keep its unfettered fossil fuel production to itself -- he wants to streamline the permitting process for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, end the ban on crude oil exports and remove "excessive environmental reviews" for coal export terminals. It's an important priority that would allow the entire world to have more of a hand in destroying the climate. Largest-ever campaign donation from Big Oil ensures four more years for President Cruz! Ted Cruz is one of the few politicians to have freely admitted that he opposes putting any cap on campaign contributions. If he succeeded in lifting all limits on direct political contributions, there's no telling how far his biggest supporters -- the gas and oil industry and a Koch-backed advocacy group -- could take him. The America of the future? Fortunately for all of us, Cruz's candidacy is, at best, a long shot. But his politics serve as a useful worst-case scenario for what could happen should we fail to address and instead exacerbate our dependency on fossil fuels: more oil train explosions and pipeline leaks, heightened risks to our coasts from offshore drilling and the near-inevitability of a disaster in the Arctic and poisoned air, soil and water, not least to mention the mega-droughts, monster storms and other extreme weather events that will characterize an America hit increasingly hard by the effects of climate change. An energy policy like Cruz's could, to the incredibly uninitiated, indeed be great for the country -- but knowing what we do of its consequences, we can only call it what it is: a disaster in the making.

Published : Mon, Nov 16 th 2015 @ 3:45 pm EST GOP Presidential Hopeful and Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) released his full immigration plan on Friday with details to secure the border, enforce existing immigration laws, and reform the legal immigration system. Cruz said he will use his "authority to secure the border, and to restore the value of American citizenship and the Rule of Law" while "protecting American jobs and interests". In an effort to secure the border, Sen. Cruz pledged to complete the 700-mile, double-layered fencing that was authorized by Congress when it passed the Secure Fence Act in 2006. He also pledged to triple the number of Border Patrol agents and add high-tech resources, including aerial surveillance, cameras, sensors, and monitors. As part of securing the border, Sen. Cruz also pledged to implement the biometric entry-exit system that's been authorized by Congress to track foreign visitors. Sen. Cruz said that he would "restore the rule of law" by ending Pres. Obama's executive amnesties and enforcing existing immigration laws. Cruz pledged to end catch-and-release that allows illegal border crossers to reach the interior of the United States, increase the amount of detention space for detained illegal aliens, block federal law enforcement funding and local community grants to sanctuary cities, deport criminal aliens, increase penalties for illegal re-entry into the United States, and increase the number of immigration judges to speed up the prosecution of illegal aliens. Sen. Cruz also said he would reinstate the 287(g) program that allows state and local police to assist federal immigration agents with the enforcement of immigration laws. Sen. Cruz said he would also cut off many of the rewards for illegal immigration by ending government benefits for illegal-alien households. And while he stopped short of requiring all businesses to use E-Verify, he did express support in blocking companies from deducting wages paid to illegal workers from their income taxes and allowing employers to use E-Verify as a safe harbor. Sen. Cruz has long supported increasing the number of foreign workers who can come to the United States each year, but he said he wouldn't support any increases as long as unemployment for Americans remained high. He said he would also enforce the public-charge doctrine, which forbids legal immigrants from accessing public welfare programs but has rarely been enforced, end Birthright Citizenship, and suspend the H-1B visa program until the allegations of abuse can be investigated and rooted out. Sen. Cruz also announced support for ending chain migration and the visa lottery and support for reforms to the asylum and refugee programs. You can read Sen. Cruz's full immigration plan here . Elections 2016

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said Monday that President Barack Obama is the single "biggest obstacle to passing common sense immigration reform." "A path to citizenship is the most divisive aspect of this bill," Cruz told ABC's Jeff Zeleny, "and the White House is insisting on it." Cruz slammed both the White House and Congress for being soft on border security provisions and for shutting down substantive amendments to the immigration bill that would prevent incentivizing continued illegal immigration. "The path the White House is going down, I believe, is designed for this bill to fail," Cruz said . "It is designed for it to sail through the Senate and then crash in the House to let the president go and campaign in 2014 on this issue." Cruz has been criticized for going against the grain of the GOP leadership, earning him the nickname "wacko bird" from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). To that criticism, Cruz responded "if standing for liberty, if standing for free market principles and the Constitution makes you a wacko bird, then I am a very proud wacko bird."

Texas senator and Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz has long opposed President Obama's Iran Nuclear Deal. Cruz: I can tell you this Iranian Nuclear Deal is catastrophic. But on Wednesday, Cruz finally had "enough" when an AP report outlined a secret deal between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency in which Iran will inspect its own facilities that have been accused of developing nuclear arms. Advertisement - story continues below "Enough of the concessions, capitulations and backroom deals that make up President Obama's catastrophic nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran," Cruz said in a statement to TheBlaze . "This is not a partisan issue. It is not about President Obama's political legacy," he continued. "It is about the future of our country and that of our allies. We have to stop this disastrous deal." Just last week, Cruz outlined three things this deal would do, if passed: Cruz: 1) The Obama Administration will become the world's leading financier of radical Islamic terrorism - billions of dollars will flow to jihadists who will use that money to try and murder Americans. 2) This deal leaves four American hostages languishing in Iran. 3) This deal only accelerates Iran's acquiring a nuclear weapon. Advertisement - story continues below Cruz's final point is under scrutiny by some, for running counter to what three dozen retired military generals and admirals claim is the "best option to prevent an Iranian nuclear weapon." Do you support the Iranian nuclear deal? Share your comments below. Facebook has greatly reduced the distribution of our stories in our readers' newsfeeds and is instead promoting mainstream media sources. When you share to your friends, however, you greatly help distribute our content. Please take a moment and consider sharing this article with your friends and family. Thank you.

Senator Ted Cruz, raising cash for a 2016 presidential bid, was to meet privately Monday in Denver, Colorado with executives from major oil and gas corporations, all members of the pro-fracking lobby group Western Energy Alliance (WEA), according to details of the secret meeting shared with the Center for Media and Democracy. The Republican presidential candidate, a climate change denier , is also a leading proponent of opening up federal lands in the west--in fact virtually all lands everywhere--to energy development, and for scrapping regulations on oil and gas development. Members of the forty year old Western Energy Alliance include massive fracking corporations like Devon Energy, Encana, Whiting, and Halliburton, as well as Koch Exploration Company, the fracking arm of the Charles and David Koch's sprawling energy business. Cruz sponsored legislation in the Senate in 2015--the American Energy Renaissance Act--that would limit federal regulations on fracking, ostensibly providing states the ability to lease federal land to energy companies for fracking. A likely signal to the Cruz anti-climate agenda if he were elected President, the extraordinarily broad act would also block the implementation of the Clean Power Plan to limit carbon pollution from coal plants, increase offshore drilling, immediately approve the Keystone-XL pipeline, open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to energy extraction, eliminate renewable energy mandates, end the forty year old ban on crude oil exports and expand the exportation of natural gas to foreign countries. Cruz And Koch Network Longtime Friends Cruz has been a longtime recipient of praise and support from the Kochs and their network. In 2014 Cruz was named a " Leader of Liberty " by the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity, receiving that group's highest score, a perfect 100 on its "AFP Scorecard." He was previously a fellow at the Koch-backed Texas Public Policy Foundation, affiliated with the Koch-funded State Policy Network. Cruz is due to speak at the annual meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in San Diego, California on July 24th, and will then present at the Americans for Prosperity national "Defending the American Dream" Summit in Dallas in late August. According to Politico , Cruz, wearing cowboy boots, spoke earlier this year at a private January, 2015 summit organized by Charles and David Koch in Palm Springs, California, at which he lavished praise on the brothers. "I admire Charles and David Koch. They are businessman who have created hundreds of thousands of jobs and they have stood up for free-market principles and endured vilification with equanimity and grace," Cruz said to cheers from the audience, according to Politico . The Center for Media and Democracy requested access to attend the meeting in Denver, but was refused.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz bluntly told an immigrant "DREAMer" from Mexico that he will deport her if he is elected president. At a campaign event in Webster City, Iowa, the surging GOP presidential contender was questioned by a 30-year-old special needs worker who confessed she'd benefited from President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. "I think of myself as a part of this community and you know, first day of presidency, you decide to deport, you know, people like myself, you know, it's just very difficult," Ofelia Valdez told Cruz, the Washington Post reports. Nodding sympathetically, Cruz noted the executive order was "creating human tragedies" - but held firm to his stance against illegal immigration. "If you're a DACA recipient, you were brought here illegally, and violating the law has consequences," he said. A video clip of the exchange was posted on YouTube. "One of the problems of our broken immigration system is that it is creating human tragedies and there are human tragedies when people break the law," Cruz said, adding if he were to enter another country "illegally... and they catch me, they will deport me." "And there's no reason America's laws should have less respect," he said. Cruz in 2014 accused Obama of acting like a "monarch" in passing executive actions on immigration that protected some illegal immigrants. (c) 2018 Newsmax. All rights reserved. Click Here to comment on this article

South Korea President Park Geun-hye has been on a mission to reunify with North Korea. On March 24 the South Korean leader met at The Hague with U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In the meeting, the leaders of the three countries pledged to cooperate vis a vis N Korea's nuclear and missile programs. In The Hague, Ms. Park gave a speech, warning that the North's nuclear devices could land in the hands of radical extremists. In response to her remarks, the North's leader, Kim Jong-un, verbally assaulted her, likening her to a "peasant woman" who was "blabbering." He also said she was a pawn in the hands of the U.S. and that she must learn to cease such reckless babble. On March 22, prior to the landmark Japan-South Korea summit in The Hague, North Korea test-fired 30 short-range missiles into the sea. This action was in direct opposition to demands from Seoul and Washington, D.C. to stop these tests, which they called "provocative." On March 26, during the summit meeting, N Korea sent two additional medium-range ballistic test missiles into the sea, ostensibly in response to the meeting. This is in direct violation of United Nations resolutions, prohibiting Pyongyang from conducting such tests. In response, the UN Security Council set up urgent closed-door sessions to discuss potential condemnation of these launches. Ms. Park became president of South Korea on Feb. 25, 2013--just two weeks after N Korea had launched a third nuclear test-the first two occurring in 2006 and 2009. This quashed efforts towards engagement with the North--something that was part of her presidential campaign. Prior to election, she had promised to set as priority "national reconciliation" as well as social welfare and "economic democracy." President Park is the daughter of former President Park Chung-hee, and she served as South Korea's first lady after her mother was murdered in 1974 by a North Korean gunman trying to assassinate her father. In 1961 Park Geun-hye's father became president of South Korea after seizing power in a military coup. He was assassinated in 1979 by his spy chief. Ms. Park is the first female leader of South Korea, which has the most gender inequality among developed nations. In her speech in The Hague, Ms. Park said that North Korea's nuclear program must end. She said that to avoid doing so could lead to an accident more dangerous than Chernobyl. North Korea's official Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland protested Ms. Park's remarks, saying that they "violently trampled" on an agreement made last month when the two countries had met and agreed to end slander across the North-South border. The recent verbal assault from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in response to Ms. Park's speech about nuclear dangers was not the first time he had insulted her. In the past, he had made negative remarks about her gender, referring to "the venomous swish of her skirt." Response by South Korea was that the North's comments were lacking basic etiquette and were deeply regrettable. President Park Geun-hye has made reunification one of her key platforms. In 2013, she offered a trust-building process to the North. She cautioned, however, that she would not accept any threats to national security. By October, the president issued words of caution, saying that the situation between the North and South was "grave." She said that "watertight security" would be essential to ensure that the North would take the path of genuine changes and safeguard peace. Tensions continued to mount with accusations on both sides. On March 27 a North Korea fishing boat strayed over the maritime border into South Korea waters, sailing for nearly two kilometers, ignoring warnings to return home, before the boat was seized. The crew members were taken into custody for investigation to determine if the three men were trying to defect. While in Europe, President Park visited the remains of the Berlin Wall, looking at the hope stemming from East and West Germany's reunification. While there, she expressed that she looks forward to the time when the demilitarized border between North and South Korea will, too, become a symbol of peace. In response to the North's latest nuclear assaults, however, what will be the outcome of the recent UN Security Council talks remains to be seen. It is unclear whether or how N Korea will be punished for its continued violation of UN resolutions. At this point, reunification of the North and the South looks far away, but as the South's leader, President Park, remarked recently, she has hope for a peaceful reunification. By Fern Remedi-Brown N Korea Assaults South Leader Over Nuclear Remarks added by Fern Remedi-Brown on March 28, 2014 View all posts by Fern Remedi-Brown -

It is eighty-five days since the beginning of the current right-wing offensive backed by imperialism against the Venezuelan government of President Maduro, which has left 85 people dead. So far the reactionary opposition has not achieved any of its aims. As its ability to gather large numbers of people in the streets has diminished, rioting has become increasingly more violent and deadly. The government has called Constituent Assembly elections on July 30, which will be a major test of its level of popular support. The opposition has declared it is in "disobedience" and has vowed to prevent the election from taking place. What comes next?

Late night comedian Trevor Noah criticized CNN's Jim Acosta Thursday after the White House correspondent belittled Kim Kardashian and her meeting with President Trump the day before. "Really? She shouldn't be here? You think Kim Kardashian brings down Donald Trump's Oval Office?" Noah asked. "Is that what you think? What could she do to make him worse than he already is? What could she do?" The host of The Daily Show went on to joke about the meeting, saying that "I'm not surprised to see Kim Kardashian meeting with with Donald Trump. They have so much in common, both reality stars, big on social media, [and] Kanye loves both of them." The Kardashian star met with the president lobbying for the pardon of Alice Johnson. Johnson, 62, spent the last 21 years in jail for a non-violent drug charge. (RELATED: Acosta Sanctimoniously Rants Against The President, Kim Kardashian) "It just gets to the lack of seriousness," Acosta said on Wednesday from the White House. "Forget about the fact that Kim Kardashian is here at the White House today and what planet that is anything resembling normal -- because it's not," he asserted. "She shouldn't be here talking about prison reform. It's very nice that she is here, but that's not a serious thing to have happened here at the White House."

Britain lays on the pomp for South Korean president The visit comes amid a rise in tensions between South Korea and Japan Published 7:39 AM, November 06, 2013 Updated 7:39 AM, November 06, 2013 TO UK-SK RELATIONS. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II (R) and South Korea's President Park Geun-Hye (L) raise a toast at a State Banquet at Buckingham Palace in London on November 5, 2013. AFP/Pool/Neil Hall LONDON, United Kingdom - South Korea's President Park Geun-Hye was treated to a full display of British pomp and ceremony as she began a three-day state visit to London on Tuesday, November 5. Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip accompanied Park in a horse-drawn carriage as they rode to Buckingham Palace, while troops welcomed her with a 41-gun salute at Green Park and the Tower of London. The president also inspected a guard of honor with Philip and was greeted by Prime Minister David Cameron, Foreign Secretary William Hague and interior minister Theresa May. Wrapped up in a dark purple coat against the damp chill, Park smiled from the window of the ornate black and gold carriage as she sat beside the 87-year-old queen, who wore a pink coat and hat. The president joined the queen's grandson Prince William later at a groundbreaking ceremony for a memorial dedicated to British soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War, ahead of a banquet at the palace. Park, who is staying at Buckingham Palace, is due to hold talks with Cameron on Wednesday, November 6. Foreign Secretary Hague described South Korea as "a long-standing political friend and ally of the UK". "This truly is one of our most important partnerships in Asia, and we welcome South Korea's growing role in international affairs," he said. The visit comes amid a rise in tensions between South Korea and Japan, a key ally in efforts to rein in North Korea's nuclear program. In an interview with the BBC ahead of the trip, Park suggested it would be pointless to hold a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe given Tokyo's refusal to apologize for abuses during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule, a source of deep resentment in South Korea. The strain in relations is especially problematic at a time when the international community is struggling to build a consensus on dealing with the nuclear ambitions of North Korea. - Rappler.com

North Korea announced on Saturday that it would hold a ceremony on May 23-25 to dismantle its nuclear test site in a public show of goodwill toward the international community before President Donald Trump's planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Kim had previously announced his intention to dismantle the site as negotiations begin over total denuclearization . But many analysts see the move as mostly symbolic with few real commitments to denuclearizing to Korean peninsula. North Korea's Foreign Ministry announced through state media that it would destroy all tunnels at the site and remove other facilities and guard units, according to The Associated Press . The ceremony is designed to gain positive publicity ahead of the Trump-Kim summit, and the North said it would invite journalists from the United States, South Korea, and several other countries to witness the event. South Korea, which has played an important role in arranging the summit between the leaders of the U.S. and the North, said that Kim expressed genuine openness to denuclearization in exchange for eased sanctions and economic benefits to the North's crumbling markets. But analysts suspect that Kim may only consider halting production on nuclear weapons, without fully giving up the missiles already made. Other experts are wary that the North will quickly return to its habit of bombastic threats and aggression, as the isolated nation has been known to do in the past. Despite the doubts, the North's latest effort to demonstrate cooperation with the world is a heartening sign ahead of additional negotiations, and also sets an important precedent for verification as a part of any deal made. "Now that North Korea has accepted in principle that agreements should be verified, U.S. negotiators should hold them to this standard for any subsequent agreement," Adam Mount, a senior defense analyst at the Federation of American Scientists, told The AP. "It will make it more difficult for Kim Jong Un to deny inspections now that he has placed them on the table." And as the eyes of the world turn toward North Korea, it will be under pressure to deliver on its show of goodwill by committing to further steps to denuclearize the peninsula.

North Korea agreed to send athletes and other delegates to next month's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang County, South Korea, during the first official talks between the two countries since 2015. North Korean delegates met Tuesday with their South Korean counterparts at the Peace House in the border town of Panmunjom after accepting the South's invitation last week. South Korean Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung said the North's Olympic delegation will include officials, cheerleaders, and journalists. Chun said the South proposed the two countries allow athletes to march together during the games' opening and closing ceremonies. South Korea also proposed inter-Korean military discussions to ease tensions and a reunion of families in time for the Lunar New Year holiday next month, Chun said. North Korea restored a military hotline with the South and normal communications are expected to begin Wednesday. Last week, the North restored a cross-border hotline. "We came to this meeting today with the thought of giving our brethren, who have high hopes for this dialogue, invaluable results as the first present of the year," said Ri Son Gwon, head of the North Korean delegation. Read more from The Sift Share this article with friends.

The Senate voted down an amendment that would have prevented illegal aliens from receiving taxpayer-funded health care if they are granted legal status in an immigration reform package. The 43-56 vote -- taken during the Senate's so-called budget vote-o-rama Friday and the early hours of Saturday -- split along party lines the "gang of eight" senators currently working on an immigration reform package. Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, the sponsor of the amendment, said that the vote put "immigration reform in jeopardy." "The core legal and economic principle of immigration is that those seeking admission to a new country must be self-sufficient and contribute to the economic health of the nation," Sessions said in a statement. "But, for years, the federal government has failed to enforce this law. This principle is even more urgent when dealing with those who have illegally entered the country." (RELATED: Bombshell documents show Homeland Security department not paying attention to immigrants likely to become welfare dependent) According to Sessions, the ranking member of the Senate budget committee, the Democratic majority's vote "will dramatically accelerate the insolvency of our entitlement programs and is unfair to American workers and taxpayers." The amendment would specifically have prohibited illegal immigrants who gain legal status from accessing health care in the form of Medicaid or Obamacare. Republican "gang" members -- Sens. Marco Rubio, John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Sen. Jeff Flake -- all voted in favor of the amendment. Democratic members of the gang of eight -- Sens. Dick Durbin, Charles Schumer, Bob Menendez and Michael Bennet -- voted against it. Menendez said that the amendment is unnecessary, because any new immigration package would need to be voted on in the Senate, according to a Roll Call report . He reportedly added that the amendment could get in the way of current bipartisan immigration negotiations. "The last thing we need to do in this budget process is to try muck that up," Menendez said, according to Roll Call. "This is not a great way to try to do your out reach to the Hispanic and immigrant community."

Co-Written by Ana Felicien, Christina M. Schiavoni & Liccia Romero Few countries and political processes have been subject to such scrutiny, yet so generally misunderstood, as Venezuela and the Bolivarian Revolution.1 This is particularly true today, as the international media paints an image of absolute devastation in the country, wrought by failed policies and government mismanagement. At the same time, the three [Read More...] Co-Written by Ana Felicien, Christina M. Schiavoni & Liccia Romero Few countries and political processes have been subject to such scrutiny, yet so generally misunderstood, as Venezuela and the Bolivarian Revolution.1 This is particularly true today, as the international media paints an image of absolute devastation in the country, wrought by failed policies and government mismanagement. At the same time, the three [Read More...] US retail giant Walmart bought 77 per cent stake in Indian online website Flipkart in a $16 billion deal. India does not allow retail monoplies like Walmart to enter Indian market. Walmart's acquisition of Flikart is seen as a back door entry which may put thousands of small vendors out of business. Angela Ferrao is an independent editorial cartoonist. https://www.facebook.com/Ferraodesigns Plato's theory of Idea or the Form constitutes the philosophical foundation of Plato's political theory. The problems variety and the change have been common questions for ancient Greeks, who were trying to discover the uniting element in the variety, i.e. the one in many; and the permanence in the ever changing world. Pre-Socratic Greek philosophy generally addressed to the observation of life and motion [Read More...]

The Senate introduced four different immigration bills in an effort to protect DACA recipients Thursday and all four failed. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell allowed debate on four possible fixes and each failed to get 60 votes needed to prevent a filibuster. The only thing 60 Senators could agree on Thursday was that they did not want President Donald Trump's proposal. The first plan, by Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and John McCain (R-AZ) failed 52-47. The bill would have provided a path to citizenship for 1.8 million undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children. The bill included some border security items but no funding for Trump's border wall. The second vote came on an amendment from Republican Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey. The amendment did not address DACA, but rather would have penalized sanctuary cities. The amendment failed 54-45. A bill by the Common Sense Caucus, led by Republican Sen. Susan Collins, was the most likely to pass but failed 54-45 after Trump threatened to veto it. The bill would have provided a path to citizenship for 1.8 million DREAMers, $25 billion toward border security, and would have prevented DACA recipients from sponsoring their parents for legal status. The Chuck Grassley (R-IA) bill, which was essentially the White House-backed bill, would have offered a path to citizenship for 1.8 million DREAMers, $25 billion for the border wall, and significantly cut family immigration and the diversity lottery program. The bill failed by the widest margin, 39-60. Senators will now go on recess having done nothing to address the DACA crisis.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., announced Wednesday he will retire at the end of his term because he does not want his children growing up with a "weekend dad." Ryan, who became speaker after the abrupt retirement of John Boehner in 2015, told reporters he was leaving with confidence in Republicans' standing with voters in the upcoming midterm elections. "I have given this job everything I have," he said. "We're going to have a great record to run on." Since his election to Congress in 1998, Ryan has made the budget and tax cuts the center of his agenda. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney selected him as his running mate in the 2012 presidential election. Ryan succeeded in ushering sweeping tax reforms through Congress late last year but struggled to push forward comprehensive changes in other policy areas such as immigration and healthcare. He also struggled to find common ground at times with President Donald Trump. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has a closer working relationship with Trump and is expected to seek to replace Ryan as speaker. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana is another likely candidate for the job. Read more from The Sift Share this article with friends.

After 9 years of being a pioneer and leader in alternative news aggregation, RedFlagNews.com closed its doors on December 31, 2017. With more than 10M readers who visited both our app and website, we had built a community of trust and loyalty in online news media; something rare to find in 2018; nevertheless, it was clearly not enough to sustain the onslaught of suppression by Google and Facebook after the 2016 election. To our amazing community, thank you for your generous support and daily visits over the years. It was a good run with you by our side. Thousands have asked us where we will be getting our daily fix. As you continue your journey of seeking both balance and truth in your news diet, we strongly recommend the following two independent and trusted news aggregation websites. In the end, independent thinking is a battle that we cannot afford to lose.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers # Saturday, June 9, 2018 at 6:00pm 6/9/2018 at 6:00pm Posted by Mary Chastain # Thursday, June 7, 2018 at 5:00pm 6/7/2018 at 5:00pm Senate Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has started to apply pressure on those in her party to oppose the GOP "minibus" spending package that will likely hit the floor on Friday. The minibus bill has "three appropriation bills: Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs." Rejecting this bill... Posted by Mary Chastain # Wednesday, May 2, 2018 at 11:00am 5/2/2018 at 11:00am Posted by Mike LaChance # Wednesday, February 21, 2018 at 9:00am 2/21/2018 at 9:00am Posted by Mike LaChance # Wednesday, February 7, 2018 at 7:00am 2/7/2018 at 7:00am Posted by Fuzzy Slippers # Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 11:30am 1/27/2018 at 11:30am Posted by Kemberlee Kaye # Monday, January 22, 2018 at 5:00pm 1/22/2018 at 5:00pm What the heck was wrong with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Thursday? I planned to write up one set of comments, but I'm glad I didn't because another set of comments came up today that received criticism from her #2 in the House. These comments included slamming the companies that have... After Republicans in the Senate passed a Tax Reform bill in the early hours of Saturday, December 2, there was a collective liberal freak out. Posted by Fuzzy Slippers # Tuesday, November 28, 2017 at 8:30pm 11/28/2017 at 8:30pm Posted by Fuzzy Slippers # Sunday, November 26, 2017 at 5:30pm 11/26/2017 at 5:30pm Posted by Mike LaChance # Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 7:00am 10/3/2017 at 7:00am Posted by Kemberlee Kaye # Thursday, September 14, 2017 at 10:21am 9/14/2017 at 10:21am

Image via Getty Last year several music websites pointed out that climate-change denier and private billionaire Philip Anschutz, who has donated to anti-gay organizations, Republican politicians, and classified hate groups, technically owns the music festival Coachella. Anschutz's entertainment company AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group) owns Goldenvoice, which operates Coachella (along with festivals like FYF, Panorama, Hangout, and more, in addition to several venues ). Anschutz ended up responding to the reports, telling Rolling Stone that he "supports the rights of all people without regard to sexual orientation" and that he and his foundation would cease donating to anti-LGBTQ initiatives. But he still donated to many Republican candidates in 2017, giving nearly $200,000 to politicians and Super PACs. According to the Fader this past year Anschutz gave $5,400 to Senator Cory Gardner, a pro-gun senator, $2,700 to Representative Scott Tipton, who opposes same-sex marriage and abortion rights, and $5,400 to House member Mike Coffman, who opposes abortion rights and once suggested Barack Obama was not born in America. Anschutz also gave money to speaker of the House Paul Ryan and $138,000 to the National Republican Senate Committee. So while Anschutz said he would cease donations to certain organizations, he has continued to support conservative politicians. Coachella, and music festivals more broadly, make bank off the work of politically outspoken and liberal artists like Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar, Radiohead, and more. After outlets pointed out Anschutz connections some artists, like the band Downtown Boys, called out Coachella's affiliation with the billionaire. Others, like Mitski, pointed out how not playing the festival only hurts her more. Not every artist, after all, can afford to walk away from a literally career-sustaining and rent-paying gig like Coachella. But considering Anschutz hasn't changed, and probably will never change, this is a problem Coachella and its attendees will have to keep dealing with.

Interviews with six employees who work in Silicon Valley about the ways Trump's recent actions against immigrants have affected them. Powerful stuff. " Banned " features six interviews of Silicon Valley employees who are directly affected by immigration policies introduced by the Trump administration. The goal of this project is to provide an uninformed public a more comprehensive picture of who these policies will affect, to bring awareness to Silicon Valley about the issues facing members of their own community, and directly address ongoing stereotypes around immigration. Read the rest Update, 330pm PT: Aaaaand it looks like the White House just issued statements that reverse everything they said a half hour ago.

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The Nigerian President claims to have "technically" defeated Boko Haram, but attacks on towns and refugee camps continue, and most of the girls remain missing. April 12, 2016 (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices

Cory Doctorow / 3:58 pm Thu, Jan 25, 2018 The President of the United States, whose Bill of Rights bans the government from making a law "respecting...the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances," has told the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, birthplace of the Magna Carta and signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the freedom of assembly, that he will only visit the United Kingdom if the residents of that country are legally barred from protesting his visit. Read the rest

Add Stone to the list of former top Trump aides who, despite being under investigation, are still winning attention from the President. May 31, 2017 (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices

The level of violence in the Quran was simply unacceptable to me. I was repulsed by the idea of such an angry, vengeful, hateful god... who, in his vanity, seemed rather too human. So I came to the conclusion that Islam is just incompatible with the values of human rights. Or with the values of a decent human being, for that matter. The scripture contains a lot of misogyny, sexism, homophobia, anti-Jewish sentiment, anti-not Muslim sentiment in general. If you really believed, literally, in everything contained in the Islamic scripture... Well, enter ISIS. If you evaluate Muhammad objectively, as a historical figure, not as a sacred religious figure, he was a f***ing awful person... committed genocide, he engaged in pedophilia and sexual slavery. This character is no more worthy of reverence than Hitler is. More and more Muslims are sobering up to the reality of this hateful ideology, and are rejecting it. We should keep sending this message.

Ellison is lying. He has no intention of courting Christians which on face value is blasphemy coming from this Muslim. God would surely not take kindly to such an act. As usual, when Progressives speak, the deceivers that they are, one must peel away the onion. Old Keith is engaging in taqqiya (sp). Using Christianity is a cover. The true intent is to gain unfettered access to prisons and jails for the purpose of stepping up the indoctrination, radicalization and conversion process of inmates to Islam. If successful, all hell is going to break out in jails and prisons across the country.

Hillary Clinton chimed in with some interesting commentary during the CNN/Salem Republican debate: We're not at war with a religion. We're at war with radical jihadism. Hillary knows the difference. #GOPdebate pic.twitter.com/UpP9wASGoq -- Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) December 16, 2015 While the text of Clinton's tweet is true--we're not at war with Islam--the text part is demonstrably false. Muslims have quite a bit to do with terrorism, and the vast majority of the victims of terrorism are Muslims who are killed by other Muslims. President Obama spoke about the need for the Muslim community to confront extremism. These are facts, and it's not inappropriate to say them.

As we speak, Yazidi women are being violated. Little girls. Simply because these girls follow a certain religion, ISIS militants are kidnapping them from their homes and using them as sex slaves, gifts and wives to their own soldiers. They are seen as nothing but a product, merchandise. Like pets. How would you - the reader - feel if you were stripped of everything that meant something to you. Stripped of your dignity. It is a disgusting violation of our universal human rights that is being unseen by the majority of the population. We need to take the fight directly to the United Nations Human Rights Council . With enough support, we can show both the United Nations and the Yazidis themselves that we genuinely care for their wellbeing. I urge you to sign this petition. One minute of your time will save a Yazidi from years of sexual violation, rape and torture.

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10. The Quran assures Christians and Jews of paradise if they believe and do good works Zakir Naik is on record saying the contrary, in a most foul manner I could elaborate upon. 3. It is forbidden to attempt to impose Islam on other people. 4. Islamic law forbids aggressive warfare. This Juan Cole shoul take up being a professional comedian. See these quotes here? Koran 2:191 "Make war on the infidels living in your neighborhood." Koran 9:123 "When opportunity arises, kill the infidels wherever you catch them." 1. Terrorism or hirabah is forbidden in Islamic law, which groups it with brigandage, highway robbery and extortion rackets That one is too funny. That's how muhamad started his Islam business: by brigandage and highway robbery of the Meccan caravans. Hitchens was right when he called Cole a Muslim apologist.

Phil Murphy (left) and Chris Christie. Governor Governor-elect Phil Murphy posed for photos next to a cardboard cutout of Gov. Chris Christie sitting on the beach last summer, but not everyone is laughing. The pictures were taken at a gala hosted by the New Jersey Working Families Alliance, a liberal group that has criticized Christie and used the near life-size cutout as a prop. Murphy told NJ Advance Media that he "couldn't resist" the opportunity for a photograph next the infamous image of Christie lounging on a state beach closed to the public during a government shutdown. Christie didn't find the photo funny. "I think someone's got to remind him that the campaign is over," he said of Murphy, according to the Bergen Record. In more important news, the state Senate is scheduled to vote today on a bill that would give Camden Mayor Dana Redd and perhaps a few other elected officials bigger pensions . The Assembly Appropriations Committee is also scheduled to consider the pension-padding bill for politicians. Quote of the Day: "I just think it sends a really terrible message to people." -- Gov. Chris Christie on Governor-elect Murphy posing for photos next to a cutout of him lounging on the beach during a government shutdown, (Christie's infamous day at the beach certainly sent a terrible message to people.) NJ Lawmakers Unveil Nuclear Subsidy Bill New Jersey lawmakers unveiled a bill Friday that would force ratepayers to subsidize nuclear power after the state's largest energy company warned it would close its plants without financial assistance. Christian Hetrick, Observer Read more Coughlin Picks Cimino to Lead Assembly Majority Office Incoming Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin has picked Anthony "Skip" Cimino to be the next executive director of the Assembly Majority Office, choosing a former Democratic assemblyman and lobbyist as his top aide. Christian Hetrick, Observer Read more Murphy Travels to Puerto Rico for Hurricane Maria Recovery Gov.-elect Phil Murphy and a delegation of New Jersey elected officials and advocates will travel to Puerto Rico on Friday, a trip planned by the incoming administration to survey damage and recovery efforts on the island since Hurricane Maria struck in September. Alyana Alfaro, Observer Read more NJ Assemblyman To Introduce Bill Counteracting Net Neutrality Assemblyman Tim Eustace (D-Bergen) plans to introduce legislation pushing back against Thursday's net neutrality repeal and protect New Jersey consumers from a vote by the Federal Communications Communication to scrap existing regulations that bar Internet service providers from charging based on use, website or application. Alyana Alfaro, Observer Read more One Percent of NJ Tobacco Tax Revenue Will Go to Anti-Smoking Initiatives Gov. Chris Christie on Friday approved legislation to divert one percent of all tax revenue from sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products to the State Department of Health to fund programs to combat use. Alyana Alfaro, Observer Read more Frelinghuysen has lots of power in D.C. But his pro-Trump votes could cost him big in N.J. It was supposed to be a game-changer for New Jersey, a state so long absent from having any real power on Capitol Hill. After waiting for years, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen had finally ascended to the chairmanship of the House Appropriations Committee, a panel that truly wields clout because it doles out dollars. But the big job could cost him dearly back home in New Jersey. NJ.com Read more Amtrak officials say NJ Transit owes $121 million for use of tracks from Trenton to N.Y. NJ Transit owes Amtrak $121 million for its use of the Northeast Corridor for commuter trains, $30 million more than it owed at the end of September. The Record Read more Ex-Gov. resigns from hospital board amid questions about friend's 'low-show' job Former Gov. Donald DiFrancesco said Sunday he will step down at the end of the month as board chairman of New Jersey's only public acute-care hospital, amid revelations he had promoted a friend to serve as his assistant in a "low-show" six-figure job. NJ.com Read more Christie: Murphy posing for photo sends a 'terrible message' Gov. Chris Christie isn't amused about his successor's latest photo-op in New Jersey. The Record Read more Christie: Murphy's support for renewing arbitration salary cap 'sorely needed" Gov. Chris Christie is again calling on Gov.-elect Phil Murphy to support renewal of the interest arbitration salary cap, warning that pension costs will soar if the cap is allowed to expire at the end of the year and telling Murphy his leadership on the issue is "sorely needed." Politico Read more Stile: 'Ambassador' Phil Murphy adopts diplomatic tone during rocky transition Phil Murphy is not yet the governor of New Jersey but he remains very much the ambassador. In a wide ranging interview with the Record on Tuesday, one of his first since his election last month, the former U.S. ambassador to Germany spoke very much in the cautious, yet upbeat language of diplomacy. The Record Read more What Does a Transition Team Do? Activity in Trenton -- other than lame-duck legislation and announcements of a few commissioners in the newly elected Murphy administration -- has been relatively quiet this month. But under the surface, the state's cognoscenti have been busy working on the transition. NJSpotlight Read more Booker doubles down on call for Trump's resignation, citing 'cultural shift' on harassment It was not hard for U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, the New Jersey Democrat who is now being touted as a possible presidential candidate in 2020, to ask the current resident of the White House to resign and move out. The Record Read more Police giving extra security after threat to Cory Booker The mayor of Newark, New Jersey, says the city is helping to provide extra security following a threat on the life of U.S. Sen. Cory Booker. Democratic Mayor Ras Baraka said Newark police were notified by U.S. Capitol police about the threat against the former mayor and his family. Associated Press Read more In One New Jersey Town, Pending Tax Changes Create Anxiety Politically speaking, Livingston is not the bluest of the suburbs surrounding New York City. But there are few places where people are feeling any more anxious about the potential impact of the federal tax bill proposed by Republican leaders in Washington. New York Times Read more NJ town votes to retain ban on bear hunting A New Jersey town where bear hunting isn't allowed has decided against changing that policy. The Inquirer Read more NJ's minimum wage rises in January, with bigger jumps to come In two weeks, New Jersey's minimum wage increases by its largest amount in a few years - although at an extra 16 cents an hour, bringing the minimum to $8.60 for 2018, the impact is expected to be limited. NJ101.5 Read more EDITORIAL: Halt fast-track pension fix Gov. Chris Christie's most complicated legacy from his eight years in office is his work on pension reform. It therefore seems fitting that in the lame-duck legislative session ushering Christie to the end of his gubernatorial reign, a pension bill has suddenly emerged to stir controversy. Asbury Park Press Read more

March 13, 2018 5:15 pm The Trump administration has asked Congress to punish California and other states, cities, and localities with so-called "sanctuary" policies that restrict cooperation with the federal government on matters of illegal immigration by withholding federal grants in a must-pass spending bill that requires action by next week to keep the government running. March 13, 2018 5:00 am California governor Jerry Brown's half-mocking push to win President Donald Trump's affection for the state's $10.6 billion-dollar bullet-train failed to mention that the project is projected to cost at least $6 billion more than originally planned, according to a new estimate consultants on the project announced Friday. Attorney General Jeff Sessions declared war on California's sanctuary state law and pledged to use "every power" he has to stop the state's politicians from pursuing what he referred to as its "lawless," "radical," and "irrational" "open-border" agenda.

Phil Murphy (left) and Steve Sweeney. Christian Hetrick for Observer A new front has opened in the feud between Senate President Steve Sweeney and Gov. Phil Murphy, with Sweeney throwing a roadblock in front of the governor's two top education appointments. Sweeney told NJ.com on Wednesday he wasn't satisfied with how Lamont Repollet, Murphy's pick for state education commissioner and Zakiya Smith Ellis, the governor's choice for higher education secretary, answered questions he had posed to them concerning school funding and college affordability. Sweeney said Repollet understands the need to reform school funding, but appears in no hurry to correct problems. Both Repollet and Ellis have been cleared by the state Senate Judiciary Committee and had been expected to be confirmed by the full Senate during a voting session today. But Sweeney never put them on the schedule, according NJ.com . A Murphy spokesman blasted Sweeney for "unilaterally" holding up the nominations. The clash is just the latest example of bad blood and conflicting priorities between the state's two top Democrats. The two don't agree on how the state should approach school funding, and Sweeney has made it clear he doesn't approve of Murphy's plan to impose a new millionaires tax and other spending hikes. Quote of the Day: "He's well aware what's wrong and the administration is slow walking us in a solution to funding and it's not acceptable." -- Senate President Steve Sweeney , on Lamont Repollet, Gov. Phil Murphy's nominee for state education commissioner. New Jersey Lawmakers to Vote on Salary Hikes for Judges, Cabinet A bill that would boost salaries for New Jersey's judges, cabinet officials, county prosecutors and top legislative aides is up for a final vote Thursday in the state Senate and Assembly. Christian Hetrick, Observer Read more Poll: Gov. Phil Murphy Has a 44 Percent Job Approval Rating New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is starting his tenure with a better job approval rating than his two predecessors, but many residents know little or nothing about his budget proposal, according to a new poll released on Wednesday. Christian Hetrick, Observer Read more Tom Cotton Endorses New Jersey Assemblyman Jay Webber for Congress U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has endorsed Assemblyman Jay Webber for Congress in New Jersey's 11th district. Christian Hetrick, Observer Read more Top Democrat slams brakes on confirming Phil Murphy's picks to lead education in N.J. New Jersey's top lawmaker has slammed the brakes on the confirmation of Gov. Phil Murphy's nominees to lead the two state agencies in charge of education and colleges in New Jersey. NJ.com Read more Trump says he can fire Mueller. Booker just moved to block him. President Donald Trump believes he can fire special counsel Robert Mueller, repeatedly calling the investigation into possible collusion between his campaign and Russian officials a "witch hunt." NJ.com Read more Should New Jersey Start Banking no a State Bank A new report supports Gov. Phil Murphy's call for a New Jersey public bank, finding that it would create jobs, increase state earnings, and boost economic activity. NJSpotlight Read more House clears bill in response to Hoboken crash. It's a first for rookie Jersey Democrat. The U.S. House on Tuesday approved legislation to improve the collection of railroad safety data. NJ.com Read more N.J.'s Pallone tells Zuckerberg Facebook can be a weapon for Russia New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone's message to Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg was direct. NJ.com Read more NJ Public Schools Perform On Par or Better on Nation's Report Card In what is a biennial rite of spring, New Jersey's public schools get a report card from the NAEP tests of student performance, gauging how schoolchildren measure up against other states in math, reading, and other subjects. NJSpotlight Read more Nearly 100 more medical marijuana dispensaries could be coming to N.J. New Jersey could see nearly 100 medical marijuana dispensaries under a revised plan to bolster the state's medical marijuana program, which state officials recently advanced. NJ.com Read more Another Push to Get Clean Cars on NJ Roads Clean-energy advocates are still looking for ways to jumpstart the state's efforts to phase out gas-guzzling cars in favor of plug-in electric vehicles. NJSpotlight Read more Groundbreaking Democrat to resign from N.J. Assembly Tim Eustace, the second openly gay person ever elected to the New Jersey Legislature, will resign from the state Assembly on Friday, he confirmed to NJ Advance Media. NJ.com Read more N.J. gained 3,600 jobs in March, ADP says New Jersey added 3,600 private-sector jobs in March, down from February's 4,200 job gains, according to ADP. ROI-NJ Read more Stile: Ryan's white flag further complicates Republican candidates in blue Jersey House Speaker Paul Ryan's decision not to seek reelection for his Wisconsin seat this fall won't make things any easier for Republicans running for House seats in New Jersey. The Record Read more Camden Superintendent Who Led Turnaround Is Stepping Down The state takeover of this troubled city's school district gambled on a big question: After years of experiments with more money and charter schools, could anything improve education in Camden? New York Times Read more NJ Cop Was Hired After Stabbing, Kept Job After Rape Charges If past is prologue, the Atlantic City Police Department should have seen this coming, according to a federal lawsuit accusing a police officer of brutality. NJ101.5 Read more This N.J. mayor's race is in the toilet...(literally) The mayor's ace in Ocean City has brought mudslinging to a new level. NJ.com Read more Pet groomers would be trained, licensed under Bateman's Bijou's Law Those who use pet groomers expect to pick up a fluffy, clean animal at the end of their visit, not a box with their pet's remains. The Record Read more Gov. Phil Murphy signs 'passing the trash' teacher law requiring employment checks School employees accused of sexual misconduct or child abuse would have a much tougher time moving from job to job under a measure signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Phil Murphy. The Record Read more John Currie's new part-time job: $92K at Passaic County welfare board Democratic Party chairman John Currie has landed a part-time job with the Passaic County Board of Social Services that pays him $92,000 a year to help get the word out to the public about welfare benefits. The Record Read more Walmart plans to spend $68 million on NJ store remodels, expansions Walmart plans to spend $68 million this year to expand or remodel 11 of its New Jersey stores, including stores in Kearny and Boonton, and to open one new supercenter in Mount Laurel. The Record Read more

Teacher activism spreads Colorado teachers are the latest to lobby state lawmakers en masse in hopes of securing more education funding and bigger paychecks. Hundreds of educators swarmed the state Capitol in Denver this week as lawmakers debated unpopular pension reforms. At least one suburban Denver school district canceled classes because so many teachers called in sick. Colorado teachers make $46,155 per year, on average, ranking 46th nationally. While teachers are focusing lobbying efforts on lawmakers, their time might be better spent knocking on doors. The Colorado Constitution requires voters to approve all tax hikes, and recent attempts to raise taxes specifically for education funding have failed. Education advocates plan to make another attempt in November. Meanwhile, in neighboring Arizona, teachers are voting on a proposed walkout that could cost them their jobs. Last week, Arizona teachers staged a "walk-in" across the state, a precursor to additional action if lawmakers didn't meet their demands. Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, vowed to give teachers a 20 percent raise, but leaders of the grassroots movement advocating for change say the governor's plan doesn't address other funding needs or calls for more support staff. While supporting their effort, teachers union officials have warned a walkout could lead to teachers losing their credentials under Arizona law. -- L.J.

President Obama took another step in his vision to make income inequality the focus of 2014 by using his first remarks of the new year to push for a temporary, three-week extension to unemployment insurance. After the Senate voted to begin debate on the issue, he urged Republicans in both chambers to "get this across the finish line" soon. Looking to claim the issue of addressing income inequality for Democrats, the president took on Republican opposition to extending the program, rejecting the idea that the benefits create a dependency that deters recipients from looking for jobs. "I can't name a time where I met an American who would rather have an unemployment check than the pride of having a job," he said as he was joined on stage by people who lost the benefits after they expired last month. Recounting a letter he received from one of the attendees, President Obama he said he would "challenge any lawmaker to live without an income." On Tuesday, six Republican senators joined Democrats to vote for opening debate on extending the benefits, but the votes may not be there to end debate or pass the measure. Over in the House, Speaker John Boehner has already stated that he would not take up the bill unless the spending is offset.

Gov. Chris Christie, Tim Larsen/Governor's Office Gov. Chris Christie signed three bills into law on Wednesday to make it easier for criminal records to be expunged. The legislation would increase the number of convictions that can be expunged, reduce the waiting period to expunge a juvenile record and prohibit employers from discriminating against job applicants who have expunged records. "We need to give those who have truly earned forgiveness the chance to be forgiven," Christie said. The governor could sign a bill that would force ratepayers to bail out New Jersey's nuclear power plants. The bill is being fast-tracked through the lame duck Legislature and on Wednesday cleared Senate and Assembly panels during a marathon hearing. And Governor-elect Phil Murphy announced he will nominate Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti to be New Jersey's next Commissioner of Transportation. He said the state's infrastructure is in "crisis" and vowed to turn NJ Transit around. Quote of the Day: "The answer is we're not there yet." -- Governor-elect Phil Murphy on whether he will have to hike NJ Transit fares. Lame Duck Nuclear Subsidy Bill Clears Senate, Assembly Committees New Jerseyans could see their electric bills rise by up to $41 a year to subsidize nuclear power under a bill sailing through New Jersey's lame duck Legislature. Christian Hetrick, Observer Read more As GOP Tax Plan Heads to Trump, Phil Murphy Promises to Fight Back in NJ The House and Senate have both passed the GOP tax plan, an unpopular initiative among many in New Jersey including Gov.-elect Phil Murphy, who said on Wednesday that he plans to push back against changes to the tax code that could impact New Jersey residents. Alyana Alfaro, Observer Read more Murphy to Nominate Gutierrez-Scaccetti as Head of NJ Department of Transportation Gov.-elect Phil Murphy announced on Wednesday that he will nominate Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti to be New Jersey's next Commissioner of Transportation, assigning her to oversee high-level infrastructure projects including a reassessment of NJ Transit and oversight of the Gateway tunnel project that will connect New York and New Jersey. Alyana Alfaro, Observer Read more Murphy light on details as he pledges to fix 'national disgrace' at NJ Transit Gov.-elect Phil Murphy, announcing his choice on Wednesday to lead the Department of Transportation, said the state's infrastructure is in "crisis." He called NJ Transit a "national disgrace," and vowed to "turn it upside down and shake it up, so we can make it right again." Politico Read more Christie signs bills to help former convicts clear records, get jobs Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday signed a trio of bipartisan bills that will make it easier for those convicted of minor crimes to expunge their records and apply for jobs. NJ.com Read more Christie calls for property tax write-off on state returns Gov. Chris Christie has less than a month left in office, but he's proposing allowing letting New Jersey taxpayers write off their property taxes on state returns in light of Congress' newly passed tax package. Associated Press Read more Tax bill heading to Trump's desk that even Republicans say could hurt New Jersey The tax bill Congress was working to send to President Donald Trump's desk on Tuesday will hurt too many people in New Jersey, according to both Democrats and Republicans in the state's delegation who opposed it. The Record Read more Citing states rights, Christie opposes concealed carry gun bill that passed the House Gov. Chris Christie is no friend to New Jersey gun rights activists. But Christie, a Republican who's leaving office in less than a month, opposes the NRA-backed "Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act" that passed the House of Representatives earlier this month. Politico Read more Christie move will force a big boost in pension price tag for Phil Murphy A small tweak to New Jersey's pension system made by Gov. Chris Christie's administration could create a huge headache for incoming Gov.-elect Phil Murphy, who will find state and local governments' bills for public worker pensions jacked up by hundreds of millions of dollars. NJ.com Read more Making Sense of the Lame Duck Session Like students cramming for finals, New Jersey lawmakers adopt a frenzied pace toward the end of each two-year session as they make last-ditch attempts at getting bills enacted into laws. NJSpotlight Read more Fox News settles another lawsuit, this time with a NJ political consultant Fox News' parent company has reached a settlement with former contributor Julie Roginsky, a New Jersey political strategist who claimed in a lawsuit that former chairman Roger Ailes was a "sexual predator" who punished her for refusing his advances. The Inquirer Read more State says it won't sell or lease Atlantic City MUA to private company The state announced it will not lease or sell the city's water system to a private company, following more than a year of concern from residents and local activists about the fate of the Municipal Utilities Authority. Press of Atlantic City Read more

Ayotte hammers Obama over small business, unemployment By JULIE HANSON Union Leader Correspondent August 17. 2012 11:56PM Sen. Kelly Ayotte arrives at Gilchrist Metal Fabricating and greeted by owner Jack Gilchrist, left, in Hudson Friday morning. (Julie Hanson/Union Leader Correspondent) HUDSON - Sen. Kelly Ayotte and State Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley stressed the importance of small business to the economy during a visit to Gilchrist Metal Fabricating on Park Avenue on Friday morning. Ayotte said the country needs to support small business across the country. 'Those are the people in this country who are going to get the economy moving,' she said. Instead, Ayotte said, President Barack Obama has created a regulatory climate the makes it difficult for small businesses to run and hampers the ability to create jobs. She blamed Obama for the unemployment rate staying above 8 percent for 42 months. 'That's a far cry from where the Obama administration said we'd be, below 6 percent unemployment, if we passed the President's massive stimulus package,' Ayotte said. The good news, Ayotte said, is that new leadership is on the way. Mitt Romney has business experience and will cut the red tape to provide a climate where small businesses thrive and grow, Ayotte said. Together, Romney and his vice presidential pick, Rep. Paul Ryan, present a stark contrast to the President, she said. Bradley said he welcomes Obama to New Hampshire today. While visiting, Bradley said, Obama should look out his window at gas prices nearing $4 and visit small businesses that want to expand but are stopped by uncertain health care costs. The President should also talk to average people, including the 20 million who Republicans claim will lose health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, Bradley said. 'Tell them the truth Mr. President,' Bradley said. Instead, Bradley said, voters will hear the A-B-Cs of the Obama campaign - attack Republicans, blame George Bush, and confuse the voters. He called for a robust debate on Medicare, the future of Social Security and other critical issues. The Obama campaign said that the President has cut taxes for small businesses 18 times and the average middle class family in New Hampshire saw its taxes cut by $4,200 during his first term. The President's $716 billion in Medicare savings did not cut benefits and health care reform is extending the life of Medicare by eight years, according to the Obama campaign. After speaking, the pair toured the plant with owner Jack Gilchrist. Gilchrist was featured in Mitt Romney's 'These Hands' TV ad, made in response to President Obama's 'You didn't build this' remark. jhanson@newstote.com

by Michael Sandoval A majority of Americans approve of the economy under President Trump despite controversial immigration policies, according to a CNBC poll released Monday. CNBC's All-American Economic Survey found 51 percent approve of the economy, an increase of six points since March. Fifty-four percent of Americans rated the economy... Read More News economy , President Donald Trump Leave a comment Chance of a Thunderstorm Partly cloudy with afternoon showers or thunderstorms. High near 90F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

ELECTIONS 20 hrs ago While the nation's capital is at its most divided, a cadre of Republicans and Democrats -- refugees from earlier administrations -- is quietly reaching over political divides to get the nation's work done. In announcing new sanctions Friday against North Korea, President Trump made it clear that the communist nation will pay a big price for stockpiling nuclear weapons and long-range missiles that pose a threat to the U.S. and other countries. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. (c)2018 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. All market data delayed 20 minutes.

Scary how clueless this guy is. Via Beltway Confidential : President Obama attributed the high unemployment rate to the size of the government payroll -- which is not big enough, he explained, due to congressional Republicans. . . ."The big challenge we have in our economy right now is state and local government hiring has been going in the wrong direction," he explained, citing for Congress to avert the layoffs of police, firefighters, and other public employees that have taken place at the state level.

The economy's gradual but continued improvement is good news for pretty much everybody. "Unless you work for a media organization whose job it is to make sure Obama doesn't get re-elected," Jon Stewart said Tuesday. Despite the improving jobs numbers, Fox News isn't yet congratulating President Obama on the recovery. In fact, Stewart noticed the pundits on Fox News echo talking points distributed by the Republican National Committee: the national debt, unemployment and rising gas prices. "Fox News, rooting for America to fail since November 2008," Stewart said. Watch the video:

Ayotte hammers Obama over small business, unemployment By JULIE HANSON Union Leader Correspondent August 17. 2012 11:56PM Sen. Kelly Ayotte arrives at Gilchrist Metal Fabricating and greeted by owner Jack Gilchrist, left, in Hudson Friday morning. (Julie Hanson/Union Leader Correspondent) HUDSON - Sen. Kelly Ayotte and State Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley stressed the importance of small business to the economy during a visit to Gilchrist Metal Fabricating on Park Avenue on Friday morning. Ayotte said the country needs to support small business across the country. 'Those are the people in this country who are going to get the economy moving,' she said. Instead, Ayotte said, President Barack Obama has created a regulatory climate the makes it difficult for small businesses to run and hampers the ability to create jobs. She blamed Obama for the unemployment rate staying above 8 percent for 42 months. 'That's a far cry from where the Obama administration said we'd be, below 6 percent unemployment, if we passed the President's massive stimulus package,' Ayotte said. The good news, Ayotte said, is that new leadership is on the way. Mitt Romney has business experience and will cut the red tape to provide a climate where small businesses thrive and grow, Ayotte said. Together, Romney and his vice presidential pick, Rep. Paul Ryan, present a stark contrast to the President, she said. Bradley said he welcomes Obama to New Hampshire today. While visiting, Bradley said, Obama should look out his window at gas prices nearing $4 and visit small businesses that want to expand but are stopped by uncertain health care costs. The President should also talk to average people, including the 20 million who Republicans claim will lose health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, Bradley said. 'Tell them the truth Mr. President,' Bradley said. Instead, Bradley said, voters will hear the A-B-Cs of the Obama campaign - attack Republicans, blame George Bush, and confuse the voters. He called for a robust debate on Medicare, the future of Social Security and other critical issues. The Obama campaign said that the President has cut taxes for small businesses 18 times and the average middle class family in New Hampshire saw its taxes cut by $4,200 during his first term. The President's $716 billion in Medicare savings did not cut benefits and health care reform is extending the life of Medicare by eight years, according to the Obama campaign. After speaking, the pair toured the plant with owner Jack Gilchrist. Gilchrist was featured in Mitt Romney's 'These Hands' TV ad, made in response to President Obama's 'You didn't build this' remark. jhanson@newstote.com

We only learned of the death of American aid worker Kayla Mueller on Tuesday , but it's never too soon for far-right crackpot Debbie Schlussel to recycle her same old hack-fraud routine in which she takes a giant dump all over victims of ISIS. By way of background, Schlussel might be the worst of the worst. If you think Sam Harris and Bill Maher are unfair to the Muslim world, you haven't read Schlussel's unparalleled bigotry. And she invariably disembowels anyone who she views as even slightly tolerant of Islam, dead or alive, and lashes out with puerile blog entries filled with 8th grade recess profanity, tossed with the redneckish bumper sticker slogan "America-hater." You might recall when journalist Steven Sotloff was beheaded, Schlussel naturally blamed Sotloff , referring to him as an "Islamopandering schmuck" and wrote that he's was "separated from his empty head." Yes, an American reporter's head was sawed off by terrorists and Schlussel's first reaction was to call him a "schmuck" and to punctuate it with a beheading joke. She continuously reuses a Mad Libs template in which she swaps out the proper names, the causes-of-death and the 4chan-level insults with all new ones. Because she's so serious. Frankly, she makes Coulter and Malkin look like Cronkite and Murrow. Well, she did it again. This time it was American Kayla Mueller, who died while in ISIS captivity -- a captivity that had to have been unspeakably brutal and terrifying. Schlussel, whose brain is nothing more than a bag full of monkeys, reacted by posting a blog entry titled, " Kayla Mueller: Dead ISIS Hostage Was Jew-Hating, Anti-Israel Bitch ." She opened with the following line: Mueller was a Jew-hating, anti-Israel piece of crap who worked with HAMAS and helped Palestinians harass Israeli soldiers and block them from doing their job of keeping Islamic terrorists out of Israel. Yes, because Mueller's friends and family really don't deserve to mourn without a screeching, flailing asshole smacking the roses out of their hands. She might as well crash the funeral and spray the mourners with a Super Soaker filled with blood, then desecrating the coffin with her own feces. How very Westboro Baptist Church of her. Strike that -- she's worse. Schlussel doesn't have the courage of her convictions to crash the Mueller's funeral, making her nothing more than a coward and a heartless crank who's building her marginal career on a cordwood stack of American corpses. Schlussel went on to clarify why she despises all of ISIS's victims: As I noted last week and many other times on this site, I have no sympathy for any of these "American" (in name only!) hostages of ISIS. And my attitude when I hear they've been snuffed out is, so sad, too bad. Every single one of these hostages has been a leftist America-hater. Uh-huh, and if a rape victim hadn't been wearing that mini-skirt... Either Schlussel is seriously mentally ill, or she's doing an excellent impression of a sociopath for fun and profit. What's truly bizarre is that in her obscene struggle to vilify Islam, she's actually exculpating Islamic terrorists by instead laying the blame for terrorist acts on "leftist America-haters." But her stupid-strength is too powerful to see it. If she was really concerned about terrorism, and not just exploiting the issue as her personal dead horse, she'd see tragedies like Sotloff and Mueller and fully blame the ISIS perpetrators, rather than dumping nearly all the blame on anyone other than the terrorists. Bob Cesca is the host of the Bob Cesca Show podcast , a twice weekly political talk show. He's also a contributor to Salon.com. Follow him on Twitter and on Facebook .

The wife of a top Israeli official took to Twitter to tell a racist joke about President Obama. "Do u know what Obama Coffee is? Black and weak," Judy Nir Mozes Shalom, a TV show host and the wife of Israeli Interior Minister Silvan Shalom, tweeted on Sunday. She then wrote a more direct apology: "President Obama I shouldnt have written the inappropriate joke I heard. I like people no matter about their race and religion." Mozes later wrote in Hebrew that the "scariest" response she received came from her husband, saying that she hoped the whole issue wouldn't end in divorce, reports Haaretz . This is not the first time Mozes has gotten in trouble for writing inappropriate things on Twitter, notes Vox . "I hope that today they decide to destroy Gaza if they don't stop shooting. Let them suffer as well," she wrote in March 2012 when rocket fire was coming from Gaza. Later, when her husband's Twitter account was taken over by pro-Hamas hackers she wrote : "The murderers have taken over Silvan's Facebook, Twitter and email. Our son Nimrod is trying to salvage. I wish they would die!"

Mark Levin ripped into Obama tonight over how he's ignored the rise of ISIS, calling it one of the worst military/national security screw-ups in modern American history. He also has some tough words for Republican leadership in Congress and how they are dealing with this lawless president. Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

Ted Cruz released a great new ad today showing how horrible Obama has been on ISIS, with respect to their recent attacks in Paris and their threats to America. He then shows Obama attacking him on the Syrian refugees and his response. Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

Taylor Force was an American student who was killed by a Palestinian terror attack in Jaffa, Israel, in 2016. A reporter asked a Palestinian Authority representative at the United Nations whether he thought it is just that the terrorist's family is receiving payments from his government. His answer will not baffle anyone who has been saying for years that the Palestinian Authority is a state sponsor of terror. He called the killers "martyrs" and "victims." This obscenity is proof that the United Nations should not be spending all their time condemning Israel, but should actually be doing their job of protecting human rights and targeting hostile regimes. Share this on Facebook if you think Israel is not the bad guy in the region.

James Wright Foley, who went missing in Syria in late 2012, was murdered by the savages in the Islamic State as a 'message to America': BREAKING: Islamic State, in video titled "A Message to America," beheads American journalist James Wright Foley pic.twitter.com/Y8yZcKTa6m -- Michael van Poppel (@mpoppel) August 19, 2014 There is a video out there. I've seen it. I won't be posting it here out of respect for the Foley family. Nor will I be conveying the message they intend for Americans to hear. I'll suffice it to say they aren't happy with Obama and the current American military campaign in Iraq. At the end of the video they threaten to behead another journalist, Steven Joel Sotloff: IS: "The life of this American citizen, Obama, depends on your next decision" pic.twitter.com/tFZyBGN9YN -- Michael van Poppel (@mpoppel) August 19, 2014 My condolences go out to the Foley family. This is indeed a horrible day for your family and you have our deepest heartfelt sympathies. Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

Get our newsletter delivered directly to your inbox I have already subscribed | Do not show this message again The Vatican has approved the beatification of Mother Carmen Rendiles Martinez, a Venezuelan who founded the religious congregation "Servants of Jesus." "It brings immense joy to the entire Catholic Church of Venezuela, and especially for the Archdiocese of Caracas, to announce that Pope Francis has signed the decree approving the beatification of Mother Carmen Rendiles Martinez" announced Archbishop of Caracas Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino. "On Nov. 21, a miracle presented to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints was approved, for which it will be beatified next year." Urosa explained that Martinez will become the third Venezuelan beatified by the Vatican. The blessing comes after the Vatican studied and approved, an "instantaneous, perfect, stable and lasting" miraculous healing on Trinette Duran de Branger, on 18 July 2003. Urosa extended his congratulations to the Congregation Servants of Jesus, founded by Mother Rendiles Martinez, for her tireless and laborious work performed through the commission that leads to the process of beatification and canonization. "It has been arduous work carried out by Dr Silvia Correale, postulator of the cause, Sister Rosa Maria Rios, vice postulator, and the general superiors of the Congregation," the Cardinal pointed out. "The current head of the religious order is Mother Maria Eugenia Norena." The ecclesiastical authority indicated that details about the beatification will be made available in the coming days. Mother Carmen Rendiles Martinez was a Venezuelan nun who was born in Caracas on Aug. 11, 1903, and died on May 9, 1977. Though coming into the world without a left arm, this didn't hamper her playfulness as a child nor her religious activities as an adult. She is the founder of the Servant Congregation of Jesus of Venezuela.

In case you missed it: the lady who famously, hilariously ruined that priceless Spanish Jesus fresco by making God's son look like an opossum in the throes of distemper would now like to be paid for her work. Really. 80-year-old Cecilia Gimenez has apparently lawyered up after the church that owns the fresco received an uptick in donations flocking to gawk at " Beast-Jesus ." The church has also obtained legal representation. At the center of the dispute is about $2,600 in church donations. Apparently since Gimenez is the one who ruined the art, she believes she should be entitled to proceeds from the ruined art. [ NPR ]

Get our newsletter delivered directly to your inbox I have already subscribed | Do not show this message again Spanish news agency EFE report that the group asked the pontiff in a public letter that "when the pregnancy is the product of a rape, when the mother is in a bad healthy or economic situation, and when girls have been sexually abused," the church not condemn it. Therapeutic abortion has been criminalized in Nicaragua since a 2007 bill, which gave in to the demands of Catholic and Evangelist lobbies.

In a change to Catholic doctrine, Pope Francis wrote that it is always "inadmissible" to inflict the death penalty because of the inherent dignity of human life. "Consequently the church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the [...] Running a Shopify store is a great way to net some extra cash on the side or--if you really know what you're doing--replace your 9-to-5 altogether. However, success doesn't come naturally, and newcomers tend to receive mixed results when starting on their own. This E-Commerce Bootcamp can help start your Shopify venture off on the right [...] You might be used to rolling your own smokes, but let's face it: it's not the cleanest or most eco-friendly way to enjoy your habit. Instead of fussing with papers, the Twisty Glass Blunt makes having a smoke as easy as packing your herb, twisting, and lighting up. You can get your own in the [...]

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Talk show co-host Joy Behar thinks Christians are crazy. If you make decisions based on God's voice of love speaking to you, you're mentally ill, according to Joy, who didn't care for Vice President Mike Pence's remarks about the importance of prayer in his life. Besides insulting Pence, however, Behar also insulted tens of millions of other Christians, in America and around the world. I have a proposal for Joy Behar and her fellow liberal atheist types, but I don't think they'll like it very much... Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

Ayotte hammers Obama over small business, unemployment By JULIE HANSON Union Leader Correspondent August 17. 2012 11:56PM Sen. Kelly Ayotte arrives at Gilchrist Metal Fabricating and greeted by owner Jack Gilchrist, left, in Hudson Friday morning. (Julie Hanson/Union Leader Correspondent) HUDSON - Sen. Kelly Ayotte and State Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley stressed the importance of small business to the economy during a visit to Gilchrist Metal Fabricating on Park Avenue on Friday morning. Ayotte said the country needs to support small business across the country. 'Those are the people in this country who are going to get the economy moving,' she said. Instead, Ayotte said, President Barack Obama has created a regulatory climate the makes it difficult for small businesses to run and hampers the ability to create jobs. She blamed Obama for the unemployment rate staying above 8 percent for 42 months. 'That's a far cry from where the Obama administration said we'd be, below 6 percent unemployment, if we passed the President's massive stimulus package,' Ayotte said. The good news, Ayotte said, is that new leadership is on the way. Mitt Romney has business experience and will cut the red tape to provide a climate where small businesses thrive and grow, Ayotte said. Together, Romney and his vice presidential pick, Rep. Paul Ryan, present a stark contrast to the President, she said. Bradley said he welcomes Obama to New Hampshire today. While visiting, Bradley said, Obama should look out his window at gas prices nearing $4 and visit small businesses that want to expand but are stopped by uncertain health care costs. The President should also talk to average people, including the 20 million who Republicans claim will lose health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, Bradley said. 'Tell them the truth Mr. President,' Bradley said. Instead, Bradley said, voters will hear the A-B-Cs of the Obama campaign - attack Republicans, blame George Bush, and confuse the voters. He called for a robust debate on Medicare, the future of Social Security and other critical issues. The Obama campaign said that the President has cut taxes for small businesses 18 times and the average middle class family in New Hampshire saw its taxes cut by $4,200 during his first term. The President's $716 billion in Medicare savings did not cut benefits and health care reform is extending the life of Medicare by eight years, according to the Obama campaign. After speaking, the pair toured the plant with owner Jack Gilchrist. Gilchrist was featured in Mitt Romney's 'These Hands' TV ad, made in response to President Obama's 'You didn't build this' remark. jhanson@newstote.com

by Michael Sandoval A majority of Americans approve of the economy under President Trump despite controversial immigration policies, according to a CNBC poll released Monday. CNBC's All-American Economic Survey found 51 percent approve of the economy, an increase of six points since March. Fifty-four percent of Americans rated the economy... Read More News economy , President Donald Trump Leave a comment Chance of a Thunderstorm Partly cloudy with afternoon showers or thunderstorms. High near 90F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

ELECTIONS 20 hrs ago While the nation's capital is at its most divided, a cadre of Republicans and Democrats -- refugees from earlier administrations -- is quietly reaching over political divides to get the nation's work done. In announcing new sanctions Friday against North Korea, President Trump made it clear that the communist nation will pay a big price for stockpiling nuclear weapons and long-range missiles that pose a threat to the U.S. and other countries. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. (c)2018 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. All market data delayed 20 minutes.

Scary how clueless this guy is. Via Beltway Confidential : President Obama attributed the high unemployment rate to the size of the government payroll -- which is not big enough, he explained, due to congressional Republicans. . . ."The big challenge we have in our economy right now is state and local government hiring has been going in the wrong direction," he explained, citing for Congress to avert the layoffs of police, firefighters, and other public employees that have taken place at the state level.

The economy's gradual but continued improvement is good news for pretty much everybody. "Unless you work for a media organization whose job it is to make sure Obama doesn't get re-elected," Jon Stewart said Tuesday. Despite the improving jobs numbers, Fox News isn't yet congratulating President Obama on the recovery. In fact, Stewart noticed the pundits on Fox News echo talking points distributed by the Republican National Committee: the national debt, unemployment and rising gas prices. "Fox News, rooting for America to fail since November 2008," Stewart said. Watch the video:

Ayotte hammers Obama over small business, unemployment By JULIE HANSON Union Leader Correspondent August 17. 2012 11:56PM Sen. Kelly Ayotte arrives at Gilchrist Metal Fabricating and greeted by owner Jack Gilchrist, left, in Hudson Friday morning. (Julie Hanson/Union Leader Correspondent) HUDSON - Sen. Kelly Ayotte and State Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley stressed the importance of small business to the economy during a visit to Gilchrist Metal Fabricating on Park Avenue on Friday morning. Ayotte said the country needs to support small business across the country. 'Those are the people in this country who are going to get the economy moving,' she said. Instead, Ayotte said, President Barack Obama has created a regulatory climate the makes it difficult for small businesses to run and hampers the ability to create jobs. She blamed Obama for the unemployment rate staying above 8 percent for 42 months. 'That's a far cry from where the Obama administration said we'd be, below 6 percent unemployment, if we passed the President's massive stimulus package,' Ayotte said. The good news, Ayotte said, is that new leadership is on the way. Mitt Romney has business experience and will cut the red tape to provide a climate where small businesses thrive and grow, Ayotte said. Together, Romney and his vice presidential pick, Rep. Paul Ryan, present a stark contrast to the President, she said. Bradley said he welcomes Obama to New Hampshire today. While visiting, Bradley said, Obama should look out his window at gas prices nearing $4 and visit small businesses that want to expand but are stopped by uncertain health care costs. The President should also talk to average people, including the 20 million who Republicans claim will lose health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, Bradley said. 'Tell them the truth Mr. President,' Bradley said. Instead, Bradley said, voters will hear the A-B-Cs of the Obama campaign - attack Republicans, blame George Bush, and confuse the voters. He called for a robust debate on Medicare, the future of Social Security and other critical issues. The Obama campaign said that the President has cut taxes for small businesses 18 times and the average middle class family in New Hampshire saw its taxes cut by $4,200 during his first term. The President's $716 billion in Medicare savings did not cut benefits and health care reform is extending the life of Medicare by eight years, according to the Obama campaign. After speaking, the pair toured the plant with owner Jack Gilchrist. Gilchrist was featured in Mitt Romney's 'These Hands' TV ad, made in response to President Obama's 'You didn't build this' remark. jhanson@newstote.com

BANGKOK (AP) -- Forty dead tiger cubs were found Wednesday in a freezer at a Buddhist temple that operated as an admission-charging zoo, a national parks official said. The discovery happened while authorities were removing mostly full-grown live tigers from the temple in western Kanchanaburi province following accusations that monks were involved in illegal breeding and trafficking of the animals. AP Photo The cubs were found in a freezer where the temple staff kept food, said Anusorn Noochdumrong, an official from the Department of National Parks who has been overseeing the transfer of the temple's 137 tigers to shelters. Since Monday, 60 have been tranquilized and removed. "We don't know why the temple decided to keep these cubs in the freezer," Anusorn said. "We will collect these carcasses for DNA analysis." Thai DNP officers show 40 undeclared dead baby tigers found at #TigerTemple in #Kanchanaburi pic.twitter.com/hAydQH29cd -- Dario Pignatelli (@dariopignatelli) June 1, 2016 The cubs appeared to be up to a week old, he said. Authorities plan to file charges against the temple for illegally possessing endangered species, he said. The temple's Facebook page said in March that the temple's former vet had decided in 2010 to stop cremating cubs that died soon after birth. Calls to the temple's office were not answered. Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation via AP The temple, a popular tourist attraction, has been criticized by animal rights activists because of allegations it is not properly set up to care for the animals and flouted regulations restricting the trade of tigers. The monks resisted previous efforts to take away the tigers, but relented this week after police obtained a court order. The temple recently made arrangements to operate as a zoo, but the plan fell through when the government determined that the operators failed to secure sufficient resources.

The 2,000-year old menorah Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/REX/Shutterstock Almost 1,950 years ago, in the year 70 AD, the Romans sacked the Temple of Jerusalem and absconded with the temple's prized Menorah. "We know they brought it to Rome," Colgate University classics professor Professor Robert Garland tells Reader's Digest, because it's "depicted on the frieze on the Arch of Titus in the Forum." Some claim the menorah was housed at Rome's Temple of Peace, which burned down in the year 191 after which the fate of the Menorah is uncertain. Don't miss these forbidden places no one is allowed to visit . The Imperial Seal of China Jerome Favre/Epa/REX/Shutterstock The Imperial Seal, also known as the Heirloom Seal of the Realm , is a jade seal that was carved in 221 BC for the then-newly elevated Emperor of China . It passed from dynasty to dynasty until the 10th century AD; after that, there is no record of its existence. Several theories exist as to its fate, and most recently, several seals have been claimed to be the authentic one. None of those claims have been confirmed so far.

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog Good news from the federal bench, Save Jerseyans (h/t ABC News): The judge said allegations by the agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, provide "reasonable inferences" that Corzine illegally transferred funds from customer-segregated accounts while Read More Apparently the Wall Street Wizard's cape is made of teflon? The New York Times is reporting that we're very unlikely to see criminal charges brought against former New Jersey Governor Jon "M-F'n Global" Corzine following his international brokerage firm's epic collapse. Whether any laws were Read More Former Governor Jon Corzine had previously raised $500,000+ for President Barack Obama's reelection effort. Then the DNC and Obama's campaign returned $70,ooo of it when the MF Global debacle kicked into high gear. Now as you can see via the chart Read More

The 2010 tiger census, unveiled on Monday, raised some hopes for the future of the endangered Royal Bengal Tiger. Tiger population has seen a 20% increase over four years between 2006 and 2010. The All India Tiger Estimation puts the figure of tigers at 1,706. While these numbers would suggest that the previous decline in the number of tigers has been reversed, experts are not convinced. But, even if the increase in tiger population is not contested, what is worrying is the shrinking of the tiger habitat. In 2006, India's tigers occupied 93,600 square km; it is down to 72,800 square km in 2010. Most of India's tigers live in the country's 39 existing reserves, but the survey found that more than one-quarter of the tiger population lived outside the reserves. And for the first time, the survey included the Sundarbans, the region of mangrove forests on the border of India and Bangladesh, where 70 tigers were counted.

August 19, 2013 5:16 pm Welfare benefits and the loss of leisure time still act as disincentives to earning a salary despite improvements in the welfare-work tradeoff since federal reforms in 1996, according to a report published Monday. August 19, 2013 3:38 pm The U.S. believes Zimbabwe's elections were flawed and does not intend to change its sanctions policy toward the government of President Robert Mugabe without credible, transparent reforms, the State Department said on Monday despite an endorsement of the recent vote by Southern African leaders at the weekend. August 17, 2013 12:00 pm The Senate Armed Services Committee's ranking member will launch an investigation into the Obama administration's potentially illegal surveillance of U.S. citizens following revelations that the National Security Administration (NSA) violated legal boundaries imposed by Congress.

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During Monday's nights presidential debate, Donald Trump repeated his clearly misogynistic attack that Hillary Clinton doesn't have a "presidential look." Here was that brief yet damning exchange in print form: HOLT: Mr. Trump, this year Secretary Clinton became the first woman nominated for president by a major party. Earlier this month, you said she doesn't have, quote, "a presidential look." She's standing here right now. What did you mean by that? TRUMP: She doesn't have the look. She doesn't have the stamina. I said she doesn't have the stamina. And I don't believe she does have the stamina. To be president of this country, you need tremendous stamina. HOLT: The quote was, "I just don't think she has the presidential look." TRUMP: You have -- wait a minute. Wait a minute, Lester. You asked me a question. Did you ask me a question? First of all, stamina? Trump could barely make it through a sentence without inhaling a wad of snot. He also spent most of the debate slumped over his lectern as if it was the only thing holding up his 267 pound bulk. Worse, after about 20 minutes either the cocaine kicked in, or whatever physical discomfort he was enduring became too much to tolerate, making the rest of his debate performance far worse than the behavior of a cranky toddler in church. Are there medical or even substance abuse disclosures in order? Perhaps. Does he have the stamina? Obviously not. Regardless, Trump continues to repeat that Hillary doesn't have "the look" to be president, which obviously means that because she's a woman, and because she looks like one, she doesn't fit into the masculine ideal which he and his fanboys expect from a president. Put another way: girls and their girl parts simply aren't presidential . Likewise, Trump, with his high-and-swirly combover, his orange self-tanner, his ill-fitting Chinese suits and his snotty temper tantrums is completely presidential, even though exactly zero presidents in modern history have either looked or behaved like him -- like an entitled, easily rattled bag full of monkeys. So, here's a challenge for Trump supporters with daughters. I realize that many Trump diehards, male and female, don't care that he says obnoxious and offensive things more often than he breathes, but I'd like to challenge any of these nihilistic automatons to explain this to their daughters and granddaughters: even if they work hard and achieve great things in life that they'll never be presidential material -- not because it's quite challenging for both men and women to become president, but because they have two X-chromosomes and because they appear feminine. Same goes for transgender women. I challenge Trump voters to tell their daughters and granddaughters that they have no business aspiring to be presidential because they never ever will be. It's impossible as long as they're icky cootie girls. And you know who said so? The man who's one or two points away from being the next president: Donald Trump. The man with the stupid hair and the anger issues and the three wives is thoroughly presidential, according to him and his voters, but even the Trump supporters who happen to be women will never have the "presidential look" and shouldn't even bother to try. Naturally, there will be more than a few women and girls who are okay with this kind of archaic gender-based marginalization -- this presidential glass ceiling. Like sufferers of Stockholm Syndrome, they're trapped inside a patriarchal bubble in which a woman's role is solely to serve her husband, and her value as a person is restricted to how well she does so. I have nothing but pity for these women. Hopefully, they'll be liberated from indentured servitude before it's too late. But I doubt it. Meantime, there will be more than a few women and girls who have no intention of being president, so, they'll ask, why does it matter? It's the very idea of it. It's the attitude that says you can't achieve your dreams simply because you look like a woman. It also matters because the "presidential look" isn't restricted to just being president. The old-school all-male "look" is basically this: short hair, blue suit, red tie, and, of course, a penis and a pair of testicles in there somewhere. Business executives, local politicians -- any professional post held by men involves this uniform. And women don't have it, according to Trump, so the path is shut. Enjoy being barefoot and pregnant, not to mention the unnecessary plastic surgery and constant dieting required by woman-haters. To Hillary Clinton and especially to all those daughters and granddaughters of Trump voters, I'm so terribly sorry. I'm sorry as a man. I'm sorry way too many men agree with Trump. I'm sorry your parents and grandparents are making such horrifyingly kneejerk political decisions right now -- that they're supporting a candidate who thinks you can't achieve certain goals in life merely because you happen to be women. That said, there are more than a few of us men who don't feel this way and we will happily vote for you as long as you're as competent or more so than your competitors, male or female. And if Trump is the model for political achievement in 2016, you shouldn't have much trouble overcoming such a hurdle of nincompoopery and hatred. Bob Cesca is the host of the Bob Cesca Show podcast , a twice weekly political talk show. He's also a contributor to Salon.com. Follow him on Twitter and on Facebook .

It's finally over. No more speculation, no more Bernie vs. Hillary. After winning the California Primary election, Hillary Clinton has clinched the democratic nomination for the US Presidential election, making her the first woman to do so. Clinton delivered a powerful victory speech last night filled with celebratory references to women's rights: "[I]t may be hard to see tonight, but we are all standing under a glass ceiling right now. But don't worry, we're not smashing this one." Clinton positioned her victory within the context of generations of women fighting for feminist advancement: "In our country, it started right here in New York, a place called Seneca Falls, in 1848. When a small but determined group of women, and men, came together with the idea that women deserved equal rights, and they set it forth in something called the Declaration of Sentiments." She then attempted to reconcile Sanders supporters, congratulating the senator for his "extraordinary campaign," and reiterating the need for Democratic unity against Donald Trump: "When Donald Trump says a distinguished judge born in Indiana can't do his job because of his Mexican heritage -- or he mocks a reporter with disabilities -- or calls women 'pigs' -- it goes against everything we stand for." Clinton closed her speech by paying tribute to her mother: "My mother believed that life is about serving others. And she taught me never to back down from a bully, which, it turns out, was pretty good advice," to wild applause. "On the very day my mother was born in Chicago, Congress was passing the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. That amendment finally gave women the right to vote... So yes, yes, there are still ceilings to break -- for women and men, for all of us. But don't let anyone tell you that great things can't happen in America. Barriers can come down." Even for many women who are not Clinton supporters, it's hard not to feel some elation at seeing a woman succeed in such a prominent and culturally significant position of power. Feminist activist MaryLou Singleton shared her thoughts on Facebook: "Anyone who doesn't think it's a big deal to have a female US President needs to examine their sexism... If women around you are happy about this historic moment where we might get to have a female Darth Vader for a change, let them be happy, ok? Please don't tell them that a woman president really has no historical importance in a country where women don't even have codified constitutional rights (ERA, anyone?)." Whether one supports Clinton or not, the historical significance of her now virtually certain nomination cannot be denied. And it is almost too amusing that history might write down her presidential win as being against a candidate whose political platform foundationally consists of racism and misogyny, in the hobgoblin-like embodiment of everything despicable about old-boys-club power, Donald Trump. Clinton has proven herself to be tough as nails against any sexist attempts to undermine her credibility. But as her fight against Trump truly begins, things are sure to get much more ugly. What gender slur is Trump most likely to use against Hillary Clinton: -- Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) June 8, 2016 Susan Cox is a feminist writer and academic living in the United States. She teaches in Philosophy.

There is a disturbing war on men that is currently raging inside the United States. Former First Lady Michelle Obama fueled the flames of this war on Tuesday when she gave a speech at the Obama Foundation Summit in which she criticized men and sought to divide Americans along gender lines. Here are some gems from this speech: "Y'all should get you some friends. Get you some friends and talk to each other, because...[women] straighten each other out on things. Y'all need to go talk to each other about your stuff because there's so much of it...it's so messy. Just talk to each other about why you're the way you are." " The problem in the world today is we love our boys and we raise our girls, you know? We raise them to be strong and sometimes we take care not to hurt men, and I think we pay for that a little bit... It's powerful to have strong men but what does that strength mean? Does it mean respect... or are we protecting our men too much so they feel a little entitled or a little self-righteous sometimes?" Michelle's comments here may seem relatively harmless, but when put in the context of what she and her husband have said in the past, it's anything but that. The Obamas spent eight years dividing our country along racial and gender lines, leaving the U.S. more divided than ever before by the time they left the White House. Many of us were hoping that with the Obamas out of the picture, we could finally put aside our differences and come together as a nation again. With this speech, however, Michelle is showing that she has no intention of retreating from the spotlight and instead wants to continue dividing the American people. Can you imagine what would happen if any man, especially a straight white male, gave a speech in which he slammed women as entitled and self-righteous? He would immediately be savaged by the mainstream media and his career would be over. In contrast, a woman like Michelle Obama is free to launch any kind of sexist attack on men that she pleases, because in the eyes of the left, men deserve to be attacked. Also, it raises eyebrows to hear Michelle Obama tell parents how to raise their boys when she only has two daughters. If she were a mother of two boys telling parents how to raise their girls, she likely would have been called out for this. Once again, however, since it was boys she was attacking, nobody is questioning her for it. What do you think about this? Sound off in the comments section below. Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

A man who taught me much of what I know about political consulting and campaign advertising once gave me some advice that I consider to be the gold standard of the trade: "If you want to destroy another candidate, just use their own words against them." That's exactly what the conservative Our Principles PAC has done with their latest anti-Trump ad, in which they quote the current GOP front-runner saying the following : Calling calling women "bimbos," "dogs," and "fat pigs." Trump remarking that, "A person who is flat chested is very hard to be a ten." The Donald saying of Carly Fiorina, "Look at that face, would anyone vote for that?" Trump on Princess Diana: "She had the height. She had the beauty. But she was crazy." Trump holding forth on the media and how they portray him: "You know it really doesn't matter what they write, as long as you've got a young and beautiful piece of ass." Do those sound like the kinds of things that a male candidate would want to say if he planned to get a vote from a woman? Can you imagine a variation on that ad being run against Trump if he becomes the GOP nominee and is locked in a battle with either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders? The sound you now hear is one of tens of millions of women across the United States as they mentally cast their ballot for anyone but Trump. Here's the Ad:

GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump has gotten into hot water during his campaign for his comments about women - whether it was saying Fox News debate host Megyn Kelly had "blood coming out of her wherever" or saying of fellow candidate Carly Fiorina's face, "Would anyone vote for that?" But women who have worked for Trump over the years tell The Washington Post their boss was always fair and encouraging to women even if he was sometimes boorish. Louise Sunshine spoke of how Trump kept an unflattering picture of her when she was overweight and showed it to her when she did something he didn't approve of. Still, she said, thinking of the picture motivates her even today when she gains weight, and she supports his presidential bid. Despite her praise, Trump told the Post that Sunshine's story was "totally false and ridiculous." Other women agree Trump can say things that seem sexist, but add that he was ahead of his time and was always very positive toward women, promoting them to top positions, encouraging them and allowing them time to attend to family activities. Some said they felt they were instantly part of the "old boys network" without having to change to be like a man. Barbara Res, who was in charge of building his Trump Tower in Manhattan, said he once said, "men are better than women, but a good woman is better than 10 good men." Trump has more female executives than males, his lawyer, Michael Cohen, told the Post. They head human resources, golf and hotel management, and global licensing. Trump is more interested in hiring smart people than anything else, many women say. But many of them feel that while his brash style works in business, it doesn't do as well in politics. Ereka Vetrini, who appeared on "The Apprentice," said she can't just overlook the comments he made about Kelly and Fiorina. Res agreed, saying she differs with Trump on abortion and Obamacare. "[H]is policies, the things he says he believes in, are very anti-women," she said. "I'm voting for Hillary. Click Here to comment on this article

Donald Trump spoke with GQ magazine about Justin Bieber's green card, the Black Lives Matter movement, and shaking hands, but it's the Republican front-runner's perception of his own greatness that earned both the tongue-in-cheek headline ("This Donald Trump Interview is The Best. You're Gonna Love it") and much of the piece. "Yeah, I was a great student," Trump tells an aide meditatively early in the piece. "I was good at everything." The other successes mentioned by Trump or his spokesman in the interview include his success with women in school, his academic prowess, his military leadership ("I would be somebody that would be amazingly calm under pressure"), tolerance (I am the least racist person that you have ever met) and just his general success overall ("I've had tremendous success, and I've just done it.") Here's a few other issues Trump weighed in on. Man buns. Trump's "never been a fan of them." Trump says he would "cherish" men, too. Asked about gender equality, Trump applied the phrase he's used to describe his relationship with women to men. "I would. I would. I would cherish men. I cherish all people in their lives. I think it's very important. No, I would cherish men, I would cherish women--I want to take care of everybody," Trump said. Black Lives Matter? "To me, all lives matter. All lives matter... I think that term is hurting them, not helping them." Deport Justin Bieber?

He looked so happy. Jeff Sessions got an erection today. It had been a while. As we expected, Donald Trump dispatched the hayseed racist attorney general from the Confederate States of America to announce they will "wind down" the DACA program for undocumented children brought here illegally by their parents, giving Congress six months to fix it, and giving almost 800,000 innocent DREAMers six months to prepare to go back to their own countries, which is weird, since America is the only country most of them have ever known. Watch as Sessions pulls his white hood off to 'splain us how fucking these people over is the "compassionate" thing to do: Sessions: "We are people of compassion. And we are people of law. There's nothing compassionate about failure to enforce immigration laws." pic.twitter.com/rGpTOpzcGZ -- BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) September 5, 2017 Sessions claimed, baselessly, that the DACA program led to a surge of unaccompanied minors at the border, which is funny since DACA doesn't remotely apply to those people. Of course, Trump and Sessions are only doing this for their base of cousin-romancing white supremacists, and those people won't be swayed by simple facts like that. Sessions said DACA beneficiaries took away precious American jobs, another lie he pulled out his ass. And he said Barack Obama's executive action on DACA was "unconstitutional," which is weird, because if executive actions involving immigration are unconstitutional, then how about Trump's constant attempts to ban Muslims through executive fiat? We look forward to Trump supporters explaining how this is different because "reasons." (Racism reasons.) Want more lies from Sessions? Here's the letter he sent to Homeland Security: To be clear, DACA beneficiaries are the exact kind of immigrants the white nationalists in the White House (unconvincingly) say they want in America. 97% are either employed or in school, and a higher percentage of them have college degrees than the general American public. Buzzfeed notes that this "wind-down" of DACA is Sessions's little pig turd baby (and Stephen Miller's baby and Steve Bannon's baby ) and quotes a White House official who said Sessions had put Trump "in a box," since he was just flat dang unwillin' to defend the policy in court. The New York Times reports that Trump had been looking for "a way out" of taking this action, and adds, unbelievably, that "as late as one hour before" Sessions's statement, White House people were worried "Mr. Trump might not fully grasp the details of the steps he was about to take, and when he discovered their full impact, he would change his mind." This is what happens when you elect a barely sentient child who lives inside a flabby orange senior citizen's body as your president. To be clear, all Trump wanted was to get out of being blamed for the fallout from this fulfillment of one of his most hateful campaign promises. It had nothing to do with his "feelings" about DACA immigrants, even though he said many times that "we love the DREAMers" and that he wanted to deal with them with "heart." (Read more on that here from Josh Marshall.) What is bugfuck amazing about this, especially coming from a president who enjoys approval ratings only slightly higher than cat shit, is that literally NOBODY WANTS THIS. (Nobody who matters or contributes to the American economy in any meaningful way, anyway.) Over 75% of Americans support DACA, including TWO THIRDS OF TRUMP VOTERS, as Philip Bump reports in the Washington Post . Over 400 business leaders told Trump to keep his tiny paws off DACA, too. So let's be clear about what just happened: This was a love letter from Trump and Sessions to the Nazis and white supremacists who marched through Charlottesville with tiki torches, some of whom Trump reminded us were just lovely folks. Let's see how Breitbart's Deplorable in the White House reacted: So, where does it go from here? Well, maybe Congress will act! Our GOP-led Congress is so very good at getting things done, after all! And maybe Trump will sign a thing, if Congress sends him something! Or maybe Trump will hold it hostage if Congress fails to give him the funding for his stupid fucking ineffective ugly ass border wall. Who can say! The Washington Post has a good explainer on how this "six-month wind-down" affects DREAMers immediately, and the short version is that six months from today, March 5, 2018, most of them are screwed. So how evil was this little stunt? So fucking evil. Conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin says it's Trump's most evil act so far. Josh Marshall says this is the equivalent of Trump and Sessions kicking DREAMers out of a plane at 10,000 feet and saying they hope Paul Ryan catches them. If you want to fight back, check out the DREAM Act Toolkit, which identifies key swing votes in Congress and offers tools to get the message to them that, on top of being cruel and terrible and evil, this action will fuck the American economy right up. It even has handy images for you to tweet at them, that show exactly how much money those folks' states stand to lose if DACA goes away forever: So feel free to harass the shit out of them on Twitter! If you see your congressman or senator on the list, CALL THEM. Also, sign this petition demanding the GOP to allow a clean vote on the DREAM Act right the hell now. Whatever you do, do something . This is not about "immigration policy" or the Constitution or anything else. This is ethnic cleansing, pure and simple, and it's happening IN AMERICA. Anyway, but her emails, though. Follow Evan Hurst on Twitter RIGHT HERE. Wonkette salaries are fully paid by lovely souls like you! If you love us, click below to pay us!

Apparently Erick "goatfu*ker" Erickson went to the grocery store with a Republican congressman and it was in the aisles of mayonnaise and Wonder Bread that the MOC felt he could be, um, candid. Via Daily Kos (where there's more) because I won't give Erickson's "blog" a link: "I say a lot of sh*t on TV defending him, even over this. But honestly, I wish the motherf*cker would just go away. We're going to lose the House, lose the Senate, and lose a bunch of states because of him. All his supporters will blame us for what we have or have not done, but he hasn't led. He wakes up in the morning, sh*ts all over Twitter, sh*ts all over us, sh*ts all over his staff, then hits golf balls. F*ck him. Of course, I can't say that in public or I'd get run out of town." Run out of town by WHOM? Fox News? Your brainwashed base? Your obviously equally disgusted and equally cowardly colleagues? By the way, it's not just Trump that's making you lose your seats, it's your war on health insurance, war on women, and war on brown people, and slavery to the gun lobby that's making people hate your party. It took Republicans finally "winning" both houses of Congress and the White House for some voters to wake up and realize Republican policies are terrible. Don't you dare call it Trumpism. Republican congressmen are running scared precisely because they and their propaganda ministers at Fox were so successful at brainwashing their base into rabid take-no-prisoners monsters. Now if they themselves stray from the "Republican" playbook they themselves created, they'll get bitten? And realize this, too: Republican policies aren't based on actual fixing of problems or even on a political philosophy of small government. Trump campaigned on "build the wall" and "drain the swamp" because Cambridge Analytica told him those phrases polled well. It's always been about power not principle on the GOP side. Both sides don't, and these craven cowards need to be kicked out in a blue tsunami in November, the end. | Story continues below | Update: - Karoli Wonkette put their investigator hat on to see who might have been the particular cowardly Congressman. I think they might have cracked the case.

Should President Trump subject himself to an interview with Mueller's attack dogs or not? Even though Trump has indicated that he's eager to do it, Judge Nap says no. "They will not speak to you unless they think you can help them charge you," the judge says. "Should Trump Voluntarily Talk to Mueller?" Judge Napolitano's Chambers https://t.co/MkDkB36sCy -- Judge Napolitano (@Judgenap) August 8, 2018 SPLC was instrumental in busting up much of the Klan in case anyone was curious just how much Sessions hates them https://t.co/6oPWBrfSkM -- Jessica Mason Pieklo (@Hegemommy) August 9, 2018 Chaser. Jeff Sessions was instrumental in getting a Klansman the death penalty, in case anyone was curious just how ridiculous the attacks on him are... Alliance Defending Freedom is NOT a "hate group," and any organization that says so should be laughed at. https://t.co/NHuhnInuW5 -- Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) August 9, 2018 ACLU LGBT lawyer calls man who demanded death penalty for KKK lyncher "racist." I just got done with live tweeting Attorney General Jeff Sessions' remarks to the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), in which Sessions promised the DOJ won't partner with the SPLC, which considers ADF a "hate group." Oh, and he flatly declared ADF is NOT a "hate group" (duh). In light of that, I present: Shot. "Racist bigot promises never to partner with SPLC" is a dog-bites-man story. https://t.co/lHMNAi28oQ -- Joshua Block (@JoshABlock) August 8, 2018 Chaser. "ACLU LGBT lawyer calls man who demanded death penalty for KKK lyncher 'racist'" is a much more interesting story, don't you think? https://t.co/rOUgSPhiKf -- Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) August 9, 2018

Early Sunday morning, Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson was killed in a tragic accident by a suspected drunk driver, who was reportedly in the United States illegally and had already been deported twice. Police identified the man as Manuel Orrego-Savala and stated he was deported both in 2007 and in 2009. The Indianapolis Star reported that Orrego-Savala's blood-alcohol level was almost three times higher than the legal limit at 0.239. Vice President Mike Pence addressed the incident, saying it was "senseless" and an "avoidable tragedy": On my way to Alaska. I was very saddened to hear of the passing of Indianapolis @Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson. This was a senseless & avoidable tragedy. This is a great loss for the entire Indiana community. My prayers are with his family in their time of grief. https://t.co/JKkzxakfmE -- Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) February 6, 2018 President Donald Trump weighed in Tuesday morning, calling on Democrats to "get tough" on the border and illegal immigration: So disgraceful that a person illegally in our country killed @Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson. This is just one of many such preventable tragedies. We must get the Dems to get tough on the Border, and with illegal immigration, FAST! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 6, 2018 Five minutes later, Trump tweeted his "prayers and best wishes are with the family of [Jackson], a wonderful young man whose life was so senselessly taken": My prayers and best wishes are with the family of Edwin Jackson, a wonderful young man whose life was so senselessly taken. @Colts -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 6, 2018 Players Got One More Chance to Kneel During Anthem at Super Bowl -- Guess How Many Players Took It

SPLC was instrumental in busting up much of the Klan in case anyone was curious just how much Sessions hates them https://t.co/6oPWBrfSkM -- Jessica Mason Pieklo (@Hegemommy) August 9, 2018 Chaser. Jeff Sessions was instrumental in getting a Klansman the death penalty, in case anyone was curious just how ridiculous the attacks on him are... Alliance Defending Freedom is NOT a "hate group," and any organization that says so should be laughed at. https://t.co/NHuhnInuW5 -- Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) August 9, 2018 ACLU LGBT lawyer calls man who demanded death penalty for KKK lyncher "racist." I just got done with live tweeting Attorney General Jeff Sessions' remarks to the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), in which Sessions promised the DOJ won't partner with the SPLC, which considers ADF a "hate group." Oh, and he flatly declared ADF is NOT a "hate group" (duh). In light of that, I present: Shot. "Racist bigot promises never to partner with SPLC" is a dog-bites-man story. https://t.co/lHMNAi28oQ -- Joshua Block (@JoshABlock) August 8, 2018 Chaser. "ACLU LGBT lawyer calls man who demanded death penalty for KKK lyncher 'racist'" is a much more interesting story, don't you think? https://t.co/rOUgSPhiKf -- Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) August 9, 2018

The US Attorney General was briefly interrupted by a lone protester who called Sessions "evil" and asked if he had a soul... Jeff Sessions/Photo by Gage Skidmore (CC) Los Angeles (AFP) - US Attorney General Jeff Sessions warned during a visit to the border with Mexico on Monday that people who enter the United States unlawfully with children will have them taken away. "If you cross the border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you -- it's that simple. If you smuggle illegal aliens across our border, we will prosecute you," Sessions said. "If you are smuggling a child, we will prosecute you. And that child will be separated from you, as required by law." The trip marked the fourth recent visit by a high-ranking official from the administration of President Donald Trump to tout a zero-tolerance stance against illegal immigration. The president was in Otay Mesa, a half-hour drive south of downtown San Diego, in March to survey prototypes of the border wall, a cornerstone of his presidential campaign. The attorney general said the Department of Justice would send 18 immigration judges -- a 50 percent increase -- and 35 prosecutors to the Southwest region of the US, arguing that Americans had been "pleading" for tighter immigration enforcement for decades. "The American people are right and just and decent to ask for this. They are right to want a safe, secure border and a government that knows who is here and who isn't," Sessions said. "Donald Trump ran for office on that idea. I believe that is a big reason why he won. He is on fire about this. This entire government knows it." His remarks were briefly interrupted by a lone protester shouting through a bullhorn, calling Sessions "evil" and asking if he had a soul. The Democratic National Committee denounced Sessions's comments and the Trump administration's immigration policy as an "affront to our values as a nation." "This administration is set on tearing families apart, detaining immigrants without justification, leaving US-born children without their parents and stoking fear in immigrant communities, all while siphoning off taxpayer dollars to fund a divisive and ineffective wall," a DNC statement said. Sessions's visit came a week after a caravan of fewer than 200 migrants arrived at the US border in Tijuana following a month-long trek through Mexico. The migrants have since begun the process of seeking asylum in the US.

According to a recent analysis by The Washington Post, 76% of the claims that come out of Donald Trump's mouth during his toxic rallies are complete lies. On top of that, the frequency of his lies outside of the rallies is increasing at an alarming rate. The man is getting desperate to improve his pathetic numbers and the only way he can do that is by lying, as Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins explains. Transcript: The frequency of Donald Trump's lies is increasing yet again and after his little toxic rally that he held about a week ago in Montana. The Washington Post sent their fact checkers out to analyze every single statement made by the President during that particular rally. And here's what they found, at that one Montana rally, Donald Trump lied 76 percent of the time when he was making any kind of claim during that speech. And technically, the lies would be even greater than 76 percent of the time because they didn't double count anything because Donald Trump frequently repeats his points multiple times. So, if he said it three times, they only counted it as one. If you were to bump it up and count every single time he said it, you'd probably be looking at closer to 85 to 90 percent of the time he is lying. Nonetheless, let's go back to that. Three quarters of the time, seventy six percent of the words coming out of his mouth were lies, and that's nothing new to be perfectly honest with you. Donald Trump, in the last two weeks or actually in the last week alone, excuse me, has liked more than one hundred times to the American public and that doesn't even include the rallies. One hundred lies in a week. This is unprecedented because Donald Trump is unpresidential. This man can not tell the truth. Even when he is confronted with the reality and he knows there's no way around it, he will still lie about it, and that's not the worst part. The worst part are the maggots out there who still believe him. The people wearing those maga hats and maga shirts, and cheering at these rally's still chanting lock her up. Those people buy into these lies because anything that comes out of his mouth is the absolute truth. They don't bother to question it because they don't think they have to question it. This I not a political movement. This is a cult. The people who still follow Donald Trump. The people who believe every word that he says, this is a cult. This is how dictatorships begin, this is how fascism starts folks, and we seem to be ignoring the problem. Yes, people have talked about it, they've mentioned but nobody's really working on a solution. I don't know what to do here, but I'm hoping somebody a little bit brighter, with a little bit more power than I have is trying to do something here to break these people out of their brainwashed state. So, that they don't sit there in a stadium while Donald Trump lies to them three out of four words. That's the real problem. Donald Trump has always been a liar and will always be a liar, but the people who are so blindly following him. They weren't always like this. That's the spell that we have to break. We'll never fix Donald Trump and I don't even think we should attempt to fix him, but what we have to do is fix the people in this country, and open their eyes, and pull them out of this cult. So, that this country can continue to survive.

Throughout history, science has changed and developed as people explored and learned more about our world and the universe outside our world. In the process, we have disproven many myths such as the idea that the Earth is flat and the belief that the solar system revolves around us. However, some myths persist and continue to pervade society like the idea that there is a dark side of the moon or that we only use 10 percent of our brains. Here are some of the most common myths we still believe, and how science has proved them false. Lauren Leising is a freelance writer based in Athens, Georgia. She was probably dreaming of a trip to Mount Bromo while writing this.

Robert Betts Laughlin (born November 1, 1950) is a professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Stanford University who, together with Horst L. Stormer and Daniel C. Tsui, was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in physics for his explanation of the fractional quantum Hall effect. Laughlin was born in Visalia, California. He earned a B.A. in Physics from UC Berkeley in 1972, and his Ph.D. in physics in 1979 at MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. In the period of 2004-2006 he served as the president of KAIST in Daejeon, South Korea. Laughlin shares similar views to George Chapline on the existence of black holes. See: Robert B. Laughlin Quote: The Emergent Age , by Robert Laughlin The natural world is regulated both by fundamental laws and by powerful principles of organization that flow out of them which are also transcendent, in that they would continue to hold even if the fundamentals were changed slightly. This is, of course, an ancient idea, but one that has now been experimentally demonstrated by the stupendously accurate reproducibility of certain measurements - in extreme cases parts in a trillion. This accuracy, which cannot be deduced from underlying microscopics, proves that matter acting collectively can generate physical law spontaneously. Physicists have always argued about which kind of law is more important - fundamental or emergent - but they should stop. The evidence is mounting that ALL physical law is emergent, notably and especially behavior associated with the quantum mechanics of the vacuum. This observation has profound implications for those of us concerned about the future of science. We live not at the end of discovery but at the end of Reductionism, a time in which the false ideology of the human mastery of all things through microscopics is being swept away by events and reason. This is not to say that microscopic law is wrong or has no purpose, but only that it is rendered irrelevant in many circumstances by its children and its children's children, the higher organizational laws of the world.

Michael Moore has nothing more to say Michael Moore even while being out of words had a lot of words to illustrate his disgust, America's disgust with the state of our gun culture after the Elliot Rodger killings. Remember when Michael Moore once thought that any release of the pictures from the Newton Massacre would [...] Michael Moore sent out another one of his long letters to his list yesterday. His letters are always wordy, entertaining but mostly on point. Yesterday's letter was a difficult piece to read, however it is a necessary read. We only have the words when we hear of those innocent children who died in the Sandy [...]

By Sharon Rondeau on Monday, July 16, 2018 States "STATE SPONSORED RACISM" by Sharon Rondeau (Jul. 16, 2018) -- A letter received Monday from an inmate at the Northwest Correctional Complex (NWCX) in Tiptonville, TN claims that outright segregation between blacks and whites is practiced in regard to mealtime seating. The inmate, from whom we have heard previously and who we consider to be [...] By Sharon Rondeau on Monday, July 9, 2018 States "NO ONE IS HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE" by Sharon Rondeau (Jul. 9, 2018) -- Beth Haycraft, wife of TDOC inmate Michael Haycraft, on Monday produced a 21-minute video about her husband's present situation at the Turney Center Industrial Complex (TCIX) in Only, TN which she had previously reported as precarious because of his placement in a [...] By Sharon Rondeau on Friday, June 29, 2018 States "THEY MAY DO SOMETHING TO ME" by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 29, 2018) -- A letter received Friday from TDOC inmate Grenda Ray Harmer, #88710, reports that prison guards conducted a "shakedown" of his person and cell, allegedly falsely claiming that he was in possession of a sharpened toothbrush. Harmer is housed at the Morgan County [...]

Tue Dec 18, 2012, 10:13 AM Tue Dec 18, 2012, 11:39 AM FailureToCommunicate (9,377 posts) 2. If only Santa could collect em all as he makes his stops at everyone's house And dump 'em into the ocean. Tue Dec 18, 2012, 11:58 AM liberal N proud (57,227 posts) 3. I can't count the number of times this has been denied by the gun nuts Tue Dec 18, 2012, 12:01 PM Tue Dec 18, 2012, 04:30 PM Tue Dec 18, 2012, 05:34 PM 6. "...a sportsman like myself" says Death Margulies got it in one. Thanks as always n2doc. Hekate Tue Dec 18, 2012, 06:11 PM samsingh (14,658 posts) 7. they are all profound, but 'respect for the deadly' is particularly accurate, especially selective reading of the constitution by those who love their guns more than kids. Tue Dec 18, 2012, 06:28 PM Tue Dec 18, 2012, 09:08 PM Tue Dec 18, 2012, 10:03 PM Tue Dec 18, 2012, 10:10 PM 99Forever (14,524 posts) 11. You should post this in the Gungeon and have it made sticky. Disband the NRA. Tue Dec 18, 2012, 10:37 PM Gidney N Cloyd (16,020 posts) 12. You've outdone yourself with this post, n2doc. K&R Wed Dec 19, 2012, 01:26 AM Wed Dec 19, 2012, 01:33 AM

There was a brief moment this morning when I thought Huffington Post was worth slightly more than 3/4 of a dollar bill, 1/4 of which had been masticated by an opportunistic dog destined for viral dog photo shaming. In their article " Grown Men are Exploiting Loopholes in State Laws to Marry Children ," I thought HuffPo might actually shine a light on the travesties of child marriage, as seen globally at the hands of Islam. Like this 80-Year-Old Muslim Marries 12-Year-Old Girl . Drumroll please: More than 200,000 children under 18 were married from 2000 to 2015 in the U.S., according to a report released Wednesday by the Tahirih Justice Center , a nonprofit organization working to end gender-based violence. The vast majority were underage girls who married adult men. So Muslims, right Huffington Post? I base this not on blanket "Islamophobia" but actual evidence. Not to beat this point like an Islamic husband beats his underage wife, but there have been recent stories aplenty of child brides being a problem in Islam. Here, a sampling: Okay, so with that, seems obvious where the problem lies, right? Let's check back in with HuffPo. In some cases, children may be pressured into it because of traditional or religious beliefs about premarital sex and pregnancy. In others, parents may not be able to provide for their child, and want to offload them to someone else. They could be motivated by a dowry, or want to control a child's behavior or sexuality. They could be covering up a rape that ended in pregnancy. Um, wait. Which religion? Which tradition? Both HuffPo and the group they're sourcing, the Tahirih Justice Center , fail to mention which religion and which traditions practice child marriage. Now, in Tahirih's defense, their full report is an examination of marriage laws in the United States, and how those marriage laws should change to protect children from being forced into marriages. After some brief research into the organization, many of the people they help are from Central and South America. "Tahirih" was a Persian woman excecuted for her belief that woman should be, and would be emancipated. Her last recorded words were "You can kill me as soon as you like, but you will never stop the emancipation of women." So the organization has named itself after a woman raised in Islam who rebuked its mistreatment of women. Okay? Okay. That being said, if we're going to address problems with child marriage, addressing American law is just one avenue. What about addressing the reason children are marrying adults? The existing marriage law loopholes are but the tools exploited by horrendous parents and abusive spouses. But why are parents marrying off they're children? Which gets back to the problems of Islam and an inherent disrespect for women and girls. This is the religion which is still, in 2017, slicing girls' genitals to control their sexuality. Read DEPRAVED: Virginia Imam Calls for Genital Mutilation of Girls. To'Tame Their Sexuality ' and Another Detroit Muslim Doctor Busted for Female Genital Mutilations . Gotta stop those horny pre-teen girls from kissing their Justin Bieber posters. Little harlots. Who wants to bet if this problem of child marriage was predominantly Christian or Mormon, Huffington Post would've cracked out their best bigoted anti-Christian researchers to sniff out any case where a Christian dared look at child with nothing but innocence? The headline would've been "Grown CHRISTIAN Adult Men are Exploring Marriage Laws to Marry Children" instead, yeah? Or am I just paranoid? Child marriage is a problem. Addressing laws is one battlefront. Addressing the cultural norms which allow and encourage child marriage, as seen in Islam, is another. Below is a time-stamped video with Anni Cyrus, a former child bride who escaped Islam. NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST? FIX THAT ! IT'S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH ITUNES HERE AND SOUNDCLOUD HERE .

There was a brief moment this morning when I thought Huffington Post was worth slightly more than 3/4 of a dollar bill, 1/4 of which had been masticated by an opportunistic dog destined for viral dog photo shaming. In their article " Grown Men are Exploiting Loopholes in State Laws to Marry Children ," I thought HuffPo might actually shine a light on the travesties of child marriage, as seen globally at the hands of Islam. Like this 80-Year-Old Muslim Marries 12-Year-Old Girl . Drumroll please: More than 200,000 children under 18 were married from 2000 to 2015 in the U.S., according to a report released Wednesday by the Tahirih Justice Center , a nonprofit organization working to end gender-based violence. The vast majority were underage girls who married adult men. So Muslims, right Huffington Post? I base this not on blanket "Islamophobia" but actual evidence. Not to beat this point like an Islamic husband beats his underage wife, but there have been recent stories aplenty of child brides being a problem in Islam. Here, a sampling: Okay, so with that, seems obvious where the problem lies, right? Let's check back in with HuffPo. In some cases, children may be pressured into it because of traditional or religious beliefs about premarital sex and pregnancy. In others, parents may not be able to provide for their child, and want to offload them to someone else. They could be motivated by a dowry, or want to control a child's behavior or sexuality. They could be covering up a rape that ended in pregnancy. Um, wait. Which religion? Which tradition? Both HuffPo and the group they're sourcing, the Tahirih Justice Center , fail to mention which religion and which traditions practice child marriage. Now, in Tahirih's defense, their full report is an examination of marriage laws in the United States, and how those marriage laws should change to protect children from being forced into marriages. After some brief research into the organization, many of the people they help are from Central and South America. "Tahirih" was a Persian woman excecuted for her belief that woman should be, and would be emancipated. Her last recorded words were "You can kill me as soon as you like, but you will never stop the emancipation of women." So the organization has named itself after a woman raised in Islam who rebuked its mistreatment of women. Okay? Okay. That being said, if we're going to address problems with child marriage, addressing American law is just one avenue. What about addressing the reason children are marrying adults? The existing marriage law loopholes are but the tools exploited by horrendous parents and abusive spouses. But why are parents marrying off they're children? Which gets back to the problems of Islam and an inherent disrespect for women and girls. This is the religion which is still, in 2017, slicing girls' genitals to control their sexuality. Read DEPRAVED: Virginia Imam Calls for Genital Mutilation of Girls. To'Tame Their Sexuality ' and Another Detroit Muslim Doctor Busted for Female Genital Mutilations . Gotta stop those horny pre-teen girls from kissing their Justin Bieber posters. Little harlots. Who wants to bet if this problem of child marriage was predominantly Christian or Mormon, Huffington Post would've cracked out their best bigoted anti-Christian researchers to sniff out any case where a Christian dared look at child with nothing but innocence? The headline would've been "Grown CHRISTIAN Adult Men are Exploring Marriage Laws to Marry Children" instead, yeah? Or am I just paranoid? Child marriage is a problem. Addressing laws is one battlefront. Addressing the cultural norms which allow and encourage child marriage, as seen in Islam, is another. Below is a time-stamped video with Anni Cyrus, a former child bride who escaped Islam. NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST? FIX THAT ! IT'S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH ITUNES HERE AND SOUNDCLOUD HERE .

By AJ Willingham, CNN (CNN)The Muslim population is growing, and in the next two decades Muslims could become the second-largest religious group in the United States, according to a Pew Research study. However, that's not the whole story. The Pew Research Center combined studies they conducted in 2007, 2011 and 2017 with yearly data from the US Census (which does not track religious affiliation) to put together a portrait of the future of Muslims in America. According to their data, the Muslim population is growing at an accelerated rate, and will more than double from an estimated 3.45 million in 2017 to an estimated 8.1 million in 2050 . In the meantime, Muslims are expected to surpass Jews as the second-largest religious group. To read the rest of the article, please visit CNN .

(Breitbart) Fox News Channel's "Kelly File" host Megyn Kelly grilled Hassan Shilby, the Chief Executive Director of the Florida branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, about radical Islam and President Obama's declaration that ISIS was not Islamic on Thursday night. "You look at Egypt, an ally to the United States, or at least it was. The administration's been on the fence about that, but 84% there, 84% favor the death penalty for leaving Islam. 82% favor stoning for adultery. It doesn't seem like the most moderate religion when Sharia Law comes into the picture, and this group [ISIS] takes that to an extra extreme, to an ultra extreme, and they do it in the name of Islam" she stated. And "you're talking about Sharia even being moderate and I'm telling you 'no it isn't.'" Loading ... After Shilby asked "do you know what the goals of Sharia are?" She responded "I know if you're a woman and you commit adultery, under Sharia Law, they want to stone you. All right. So I know that." He then responded that the same passages can be found in the Bible, to which Kelly retorted "yeah, but they're actually doing it there."

This video of a Christian extremist mother talking about her thirteen-year-old son murdering Middle Easterners for the sake of Jesus is really horrifying... oh wait, they're Muslim, so forget it, it's just because of meaningless differences in culture. Watch below: Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

If this is true, then what you are seeing is an 80-year-old who just forced a 12-year-old to marry him. It is acceptable for a person to be a few years older than their partner, but not 68 years older. Most don't have to force a woman to marry them either. Now, if this is a real video, then people need to stop with this nonsense about "Islamophobia." It is not a phobia when any culture allows something like this to happen. While an 80-year-old Muslim marries his 12-year-old bride during an arranged "marriage" LouderwithCrowder : I mean, there's no way this is legit, right? It would be Islamophobic (or something) to imply an 80-year-old Muslim man would take a 12-year-old sex slave as his lofty wedded bride. Because according to all things left, Islam is both "modern" and the "religion of peace," not taking to barbaric practices at all. They're, like, super advanced and stuff. Muslims wouldn't dare partake in something so backward as a geriatric creeper bedding a tween. Therefore this must be a rehearsal of "Abdul and Abidah's Wedding" before it's Religious Freedom Tour across American college campuses.

Open Doors, a non-denominational group supporting persecuted Christians worldwide, said on Wednesday it had documented 2,123 "martyr" killings, compared with 1,201 in 2012. There were 1,213 such deaths in Syria alone last year, it said. "This is a very minimal count based on what has been reported in the media and we can confirm," said Frans Veerman, head of research for Open Doors. Estimates by other Christian groups put the annual figure as high as 8,000. Editor's Note: Should ObamaCare Be Defunded? Vote in Urgent National Poll The Open Doors report placed North Korea at the top of its list of 50 most dangerous countries for Christians, a position it has held since the annual survey began 12 years ago. Somalia, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan were the next four in line. The United States-based group reported increasing violence against Christians in Africa and said radical Muslims were the main source of persecution in 36 countries on its list. "Islamist extremism is the worst persecutor of the worldwide church," it said. WAR AGAINST THE CHURCH Christianity is the largest and most widely spread faith in the world, with 2.2 billion followers, or 32 percent of the world population, according to a survey by the U.S.-based Pew Forum on religion and Public Life. It faces restrictions and hostility in 111 countries, ahead of the 90 countries limiting or harassing the second-largest faith, Islam, another Pew survey has reported. Michel Varton, head of Open Doors France, told journalists in Strasbourg that failing states with civil wars or persistent internal tensions were often the most dangerous for Christians. "In Syria, another war is thriving in the shadow of the civil war -- the war against the church," he said while presenting the Open Doors report there. About 10 percent of Syrians are Christians. Many have become targets for Islamist rebels who see them as supporters of President Bashar al-Assad. Nine of the 10 countries listed as dangerous for Christians are Muslim-majority states, many of them torn by conflicts with radical Islamists. Saudi Arabia is an exception but ranked sixth because of its total ban on practicing faiths other than Islam. In the list of killings, Syria was followed by Nigeria with 612 cases last year after 791 in 2012. Pakistan was third with 88, up from 15 in 2012. Egypt ranked fourth with 83 deaths after 19 the previous year. The report spoke of "horrific violence often directed at Christians" in the Central African Republic but said only nine deaths were confirmed last year because "most analysts still fail to recognise the religious dimension of the conflict." NORTH KOREA The report had no figures for killings in North Korea but said Christians there faced "the highest imaginable pressure" and some 50,000 to 70,000 lived in political prison camps. "The God-like worship of the rulers leaves no room for any other religion," it said. There was now "a strong drive to purge Christianity from Somalia," the report added, and Islamist attacks on Iraqi Christians have been increasing in the semi-autonomous Kurdish north, formerly a relatively safe area for them. Veerman, based near Utrecht in the Netherlands, said that killings were only the most extreme examples of persecutions. Christians also face attacks on churches and schools, discrimination, threats, sexual assaults and expulsion from countries. Open Doors, which began in the 1950s smuggling Bibles into communist states and now works in more than 60 countries, estimated last year that about 100 million Christians around the world suffered persecution for their faith. Editor's Note: Should ObamaCare Be Defunded? Vote in Urgent National Poll

Father Daniel said the death cult still exists in the minds of people brainwashed while living under their rule in Iraq and Syria. The priest told Express.co.uk those who were forced to live under ISIS rule in towns and cities controlled by the group had succumbed to their propaganda and continue to support their extremist views today. Father Daniel said: "ISIS has been defeated only militarily. Mentally, it still exists under many people who lived under their control. "For an example, Mosul. Two million people lived there. They ran schools so of course this is going to effect the minds of the students. "Everything should be according to their faith and their thinking. If you are against their thinking you will be ex-communicated or killed."

Julia A. Seymour | 9/08/15, 10:45 am The president of Indonesia needs to do more to combat Islamic extremists' persecution of Christian minorities, a new report states. The World Evangelical Alliance said Aug. 31 that though President Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, wants to check growing Islamic extremism in the majority Muslim country, his methods have not succeeded. Julia A. Seymour | 8/17/15, 11:48 am British taxpayers are helping fund persecution of Christians overseas, according to a recent investigation into the country's foreign aid contributions. Government officials defend the donations as anti-poverty efforts. But critics say the U.K. and other Western nations should use aid efforts to help promote religious liberty, not trample it. Julia A. Seymour | 8/10/15, 10:05 am Persecution and human rights organizations rejoiced last week as three repressive regimes released five Christians held on trumped-up charges. Sudan released from prison two South Sudanese pastors accused of spying. Two Christian prisoners in Vietnam and one in Iran also gained their freedom after serving "unwarranted" sentences. Julia A. Seymour | 8/03/15, 09:25 am More than a year after warring factions reached a cease-fire agreement, Central African Republic (CAR) remains divided, unstable, violent, and on the edge of becoming a "failed state." Last week, Seleka rebels and a group calling itself Revolution-Justice killed 26 people while fighting over the town of Markounda, Bloomberg reported. Julia A. Seymour | 7/20/15, 09:10 am Christians and Muslims in Nepal are criticizing the draft version of a new constitution that bans religious conversion. Spurred to action by the recent earthquake, Nepal's government introduced the draft for public comment on June 30, Reuters reported. Religious minorities are concerned about its impact on their religious freedom and the government's haste to finalize the document as soon as August.

For the second year in a row, President Donald Trump and his conservative evangelical supporters topped the list of the 10 most important religion news stories of the year as compiled by the country's largest organization of religion journalists. These so-called Trumpvangelicals are enjoying unprecedented access to the Oval Office both through Vice President Mike Pence, a conservative Christian, and an informal presidential advisory panel consisting almost entirely of conservative evangelical Christian leaders. Chance of a Thunderstorm Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 91F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.

Religious freedom activists are applauding the announcement that members of Congress will be graded on their support for religious freedom. The 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative will publish a mid-term report card in June for the 115th session of Congress. A final scorecard will be published early next year. Nina Shea, director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute , explains the need for a report card. "Because religious freedom is more in peril today internationally than it has been since the rise of Nazism and Communism," she says. "And that is because of the rise of radical Islam." She says the report card will track how every person in Congress treats religious freedom problems around the world. That can be by sponsoring and voting on bills, holding hearings on persecution, or visiting persecuted religious minorities. The United States, she says, is one of the only countries in the world that consistently speaks up for religious freedom. "I really shudder to think what would happen to those individuals, who are persecuted, if the United States loses its voice on that," she says. "So this is very important to put pressure on every member of Congress."

The Nazarene Fund has raised more than $18 million to help Christians in Syria and Iraq, with the money mostly coming in $10 or $20 at a time from everyday people doing their best to help. "In 2015, I asked you to stand with me and say, 'Never again is now' and help those Christians that were persecuted - and other religious minorities that were persecuted in the Middle East - who had been displaced and terrorized by ISIS," Glenn said on today's show. With this audience's assistance, thousands of people "marked for death" have been rescued, evacuated and resettled. To see more from Glenn, visit his channel on TheBlaze and listen live to "The Glenn Beck Radio Program" with Glenn Beck and Stu Burguiere weekdays 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. ET on TheBlaze Radio Network . For more information, please see our Terms of Use. Now, go have fun and speak your mind!

If the Supreme Court justices believed that the justices in Washington adjudicated the Christian florist's case fairly, why ask them to reexamine the case based on the Masterpiece Cakes decision? It's clear that the case was returned to them for a reason. How should we evaluate the Supreme Court's decision to send back Barronelle Stutzman's case to the Washington Supreme Court? Did they merely punt the case farther down the field? Or is this another victory for religious rights, much like the victory won by Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakes last month? The Supreme Court could have agreed to hear Stutzman's case, but it chose not to at this point. It could also have refused to hear the case entirely, which would have been a devastating defeat for this Christian grandmother. Thankfully, that did not happen. But what the court did decide is significant. The court sent the case back to Washington, advising the justices there to reconsider their initial decision, which found Stutzman (pictured) in violation of the state's anti-discrimination laws, in light of the Supreme Court's own decision in Masterpiece Cakes . In other words, the court said, "We ruled that Colorado showed animus against religion in finding Jack Phillips guilty. Now check your own decision in that light. Did you display hostility against religion in ruling against Stutzman?" Is this, then, a victory for Stutzman, not to mention for religious freedoms in general? (Remember: She did not refuse to serve a gay couple. To the contrary, she had served these same gay clients for at least nine years . She simply declined to create the floral arrangement for this couple's "wedding," based on her religious beliefs.) A headline in USA Today declared : "First cake, now flowers: Supreme Court gives florist who refused to serve gay wedding a new hearing." The article begins with, "When it comes to creating products for same-sex weddings, the Supreme Court reasoned Monday that what's good for the baker is good for the florist." This would appear to be a victory for Stutzman. The Advocate , a flagship LGBT publication, doesn't think so : "The U.S. Supreme Court has sent the case of a florist who refused to serve a same-sex couple's wedding back to the state court for review - but did not say the state ruled wrongly in finding the florist committed unlawful discrimination, leading LGBT advocates to say it's likely the state will again rule that the florist committed unlawful discrimination." This opinion is seconded by James Esseks, director of ACLU's LGBT and HIV Project. As stated in an ACLU press release: "We are confident that the Washington State Supreme Court will rule once again in favor of the same-sex couple, and reaffirm its decision that no business has a right to discriminate. Our work to ensure LGBT equality is the law and the norm in all 50 states will continue." But if this is true, why would the court bother to send the case back to Washington? If the Supreme Court justices believed that the Washington justices adjudicated the case fairly, why ask them to reexamine the case based on the Masterpiece Cakes decision? I believe it was for good reason that the ADF, which represents both Phillips and Stutzman, declared in an email announcement: "This is big news! The Washington Supreme Court had previously ruled that the government can force Barronelle to create artistic expression and participate in events that conflict with her faith." But now, to quote the ADF's email, the Supreme Court's order did three things: It granted Barronelle's petition. It wiped out the Washington Supreme Court's judgment against her. It sent her case back to the Washington courts and instructed them to reconsider the case in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Jack Phillips' Masterpiece Cakeshop case. The real issue, then, is the Washington decision. The justices ruled unanimously against Stutzman, 9-0, so they clearly decided that the matter was not debatable. In the words of Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud, "this case is no more about the access to flowers than civil rights cases were about access to sandwiches. As every other court to address the question has concluded, public accommodations laws do not simply guarantee access to goods or services. Instead, they serve a broader societal purpose: eradicating barriers to the equal treatment of all citizens in the commercial marketplace." The court also rejected the argument that Stutzman's "floral arrangements were a form of artistic expression and so protected by the First Amendment." At the same time, the Washington Supreme Court recognized that, "It is uncontested that her sincerely held religious beliefs include a belief that marriage can exist only between one man and one woman." How, then, can the court force her to violate her "sincerely held religious beliefs" to perform an act of artistic service for a gay couple? It may be true that the Washington justices did not display the same level of animosity against religion as did the Colorado officials who ruled against Jack Phillips (pictured) . Yet it would be hard to deny that, in the eyes of these Washington justices, religious rights take a distant back seat to LGBT rights. Can we expect them to change their ruling in light of the Supreme Court's order? It would be foolish to get too optimistic, given their previous 9-0 decision. Yet it's clear that the case was returned to them for a reason. And should they rule the same way again, the case will surely be appealed back to the Supreme Court. Perhaps, if that scenario unfolds, the court will issue a more definitive defense of our First Amendment rights. But let's pray even now for justice to prevail. The State of Washington has literally sought to bankrupt this Christian grandmother. Specifically , "Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Washington ... filed discrimination lawsuits" against Stutzman. "In addition to targeting her business, Arlene's Flowers, Inc., they sued Stutzman personally, ensuring that any assets she might own beyond the flower shop could be taken from her to pay their own legal fees if she lost." Are you going to tell me there is no animus against religion in these outrageous actions? It's high time these hostile sentiments get exposed. Dr. Michael Brown is the host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program. His latest book is " Saving a Sick America: A Prescription for Moral and Cultural Transformation ." This column is printed with permission. Opinions expressed in 'Perspectives' columns published by OneNewsNow.com are the sole responsibility of the article's author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support the American Family News Network, OneNewsNow.com, our parent organization or its other affiliates.

Multiple friend-of-the-court briefs filed at Washington Supreme Court in support of Barronelle Stutzman, Arlene's Flowers OLYMPIA, Washington - Numerous states and groups filed friend-of-the-court briefs last week with the Washington Supreme Court in support of a Richland floral artist and the principle that the government cannot force Americans to promote messages and participate in events with which they disagree. Among the parties filing briefs are 13 states, various constitutional scholars and legal experts, a wide range of religious organizations and denominations and an international association of Christian photographers. The Washington Supreme Court agreed in March to hear the case of floral artist Barronelle Stutzman, whom the state attorney general and the American Civil Liberties Union sued for acting consistently with her faith. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent Stutzman and her business, Arlene's Flowers. "Barronelle and many others like her around the country have been willing to serve any and all customers, but they are understandably not willing to promote any and all messages," said ADF Senior Counsel Kristen Waggoner. "The briefs that have been filed in support of Barronelle encourage the court to affirm the broad protections that both the U.S. Constitution and the Washington Constitution afford to freedom of speech and conscience. These freedoms protect Barronelle in the same way that they protect an atheist painter's right to decline to paint a mural for a church, or a pro-same-sex-marriage print shop owner's right to decline to print materials for a rally promoting marriage as the union of one man and one woman." A lower court ruled that Stutzman must pay penalties and attorneys' fees for declining to use her artistic abilities to design custom floral arrangements for a long-time customer's same-sex ceremony. Rather than participate, Stutzman referred Rob Ingersoll, whom she considers a friend and had served for nearly 10 years, to several other florists in the area who were comfortable promoting and participating in their ceremony. "This case is not about refusing service on the basis of sexual orientation or dislike for another person who is preciously created in God's image. I sold flowers to Rob for years. I helped him find someone else to design his wedding arrangements. I count him as a friend," Stutzman wrote in an op-ed for The Seattle Times in response to a column Ingersoll wrote with Curt Freed. "I want to believe that a state as diverse as Washington, with our long commitment to personal and religious freedoms, would be as willing to honor my right to make those kinds of choices as it is to honor Rob's right to make his." "This country has a rich history of protecting the rights of conscience and the free exercise of religion," said Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, who led the 13-state coalition that filed a brief in support of Stutzman. "Unfortunately, these rights have recently come under a sustained and coordinated assault even though they are the very reason many came to this country in the first place. Along with my colleagues, I am urging the Washington Supreme Court to recognize that the actions of the defendant are not discriminatory or unlawful but rather reflect sincerely held religious beliefs that should be accommodated in our pluralistic and tolerant society." Washington attorneys George Ahrend and John Connelly are also counsel of record in the lawsuits, State of Washington v. Arlene's Flowers and Ingersoll v. Arlene's Flowers. Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.

A bakery owned by a devout Christian, Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd, owned by Jack Phillips, was sued by a gay couple that intentionally targeted this business due to the owner's religious beliefs. Back in 2012, a gay couple asked Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd to bake them a cake for their gay wedding. Jack Phillips, the baker, advised them that he cannot do that because gay marriage conflicts with his religious beliefs and that he felt that baking the cake is a type of endorsement. Instead, he offered to sell the gay couple any pre-prepared goods from his bakery. The couple anticipated this answer, as the baker was known for this practice. They sued him, asking the government to force the baker to bake their cake. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission agreed with the gay couple. And they did more than that. They publicly mocked Christianity and the baker. They showed complete lack of impartiality and an unquestionable bias. Colorado Civil Rights Commission at one point called Christianity "one of the most despicable pieces of rhetoric that people can use." The Commission simultaneously favored the homosexual beliefs of the gay couple. Phillips was entitled to neutral and respectful consideration, which he did not receive. Six years after the initial incident, the Supreme Court has finally ruled in favor of the baker and chastised the Commission for their unquestionable bias. The Supreme Court decision, authored by Justice Kennedy, explains that the baker's freedom of speech and free exercise of religion are protected by the First Amendment and that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission was constitutionally required to consider the case with religious neutrality but failed to do so. "The Commission's hostility was inconsistent with the First Amendment's guarantee that our laws be applied in a manner that is neutral toward religion," Kennedy wrote, as he reversed the judgment of the Colorado Court of Appeals. "To Phillips, his claim that using his artistic skills to make an expressive statement, a wedding endorsement in his own voice and of his own creation, has a significant First Amendment speech component and implicates his deep and sincere religious beliefs." But the Colorado Civil Rights Commission did not fairy review Phillips' position. They were unfair to the Christian, publicly hostile to him and the religion, and biased in favor of the gay couple, Kennedy explained. Important to take away from this decision is that the court recognized the legal interests of the gay couple and stated that businesses cannot deny selling all goods and services to protected groups. Beth Baumann "... if a baker refused to sell any goods or any cakes for gay weddings, that would be a different matter and the State would have a strong case under this Court's precedents that this would be a denial of goods and services that went beyond any protected rights of a baker who offers goods and services to the general public and is subject to a neutrally applied and generally applicable public accommodations law." Phillips' case is different, Kennedy wrote, because he was asked to use "his artistic skills to make an expressive statement, a wedding endorsement in his own voice and of his own creation," which is narrower in scope and specifically invokes the First Amendment. With the Supreme Court's decision, both Christians and gays received protection from the Court for their beliefs. This decision was fair and balanced in its analysis, protective of all. Freedom of speech, freedom of sexuality, and freedom of religion remain protected in America.

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court remanded the case Arlene's Flowers v. Washington to the Washington State Supreme Court. While this is a win for florist Barronelle Stutzman and for religious freedom, it will also restart a long legal battle without issuing a ruling on the fundamental issue. Last February , the Washington State Supreme Court upheld $1,001 in fines against Stutzman, owner of Arlene's Flowers, for violating the state's non-discrimination law. Stutzman had refused to provide a floral arrangement for a long-time customer's same-sex wedding. Stutzman, like many other Christians refusing service for same-sex weddings, argued that the fines violated her rights to freedom of speech, freedom of association, and free exercise of religion. As a Christian, she believes that marriage is between one man and one woman, and while she gladly served Robert Ingersoll for decades, she would not sell him flowers specifically for his same-sex wedding. Although the Washington State Supreme Court acknowledged that Stutzman "has served gay and lesbian customers in the past for other, non-wedding-related flower orders," it nevertheless ruled that she had discriminated against Ingersoll on the basis of his sexual orientation. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the Washington State Supreme Court's decision, urging the court to reconsider the case, given the result in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission , decided earlier this month . Masterpiece Cakeshop was a victory for religious freedom, as the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jack Phillips, a Christian baker who refused to bake a custom cake for a same-sex wedding. While seven of the nine justices ruled for Phillips, they did so on very narrow grounds, arguing that Phillips did not receive a fair hearing due to anti-religious bias against his perspective. Importantly, the Court acknowledged that anti-Christian animus is real and will not be tolerated. Religious conservatives -- whether they are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or even atheist -- can refer to this case as proof that persecution against them is real and will not stand. While the Court gave Phillips a great moral victory, sending the message that anti-Christian bias will not be tolerated, it did not answer the fundamental question of the case: whether or not Christian (or any religious conservative) small business owners have the free speech and religious freedom rights to opt out of serving a same-sex wedding on conscience grounds. Phillips and Stutzman had powerful and convincing arguments that neither of them turn away LGBT people, but merely refuse to lend their creative work (and implicitly their public support) to a "wedding" they consider a departure from the idea of marriage. This issue is not going away anytime soon, and the Court's refusal to side with one party or the other ensures that this issue will present prolonged political and legal battles.

Expand | Collapse (Photo: Alliance Defending Freedom) Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene's Flowers, poses for a photo outside of her Richland, Washington, floral shop. How should we evaluate the Supreme Court's decision to send back Barronelle Stutzman's case to the Washington Supreme Court? Did they merely punt the case farther down the field? Or is this another victory for religious rights, much like the victory won by Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakes last month? The Supreme Court could have agreed to hear Stutzman's case, but it chose not to at this point. It could also have refused to hear the case entirely, which would have been a devastating defeat for this Christian grandmother. Thankfully, that did not happen. But what the court did decide is significant. The court sent the case back to Washington, advising the justices there to reconsider their initial decision, which found Stutzman in violation of the state's anti-discrimination laws, in light of the Supreme Court's own decision in Masterpiece Cakes. In other words, the court said, "We ruled that Colorado showed animus against religion in finding Jack Phillips guilty. Now check your own decision in that light. Did you display hostility against religion in ruling against Stutzman?" Is this, then, a victory for Stutzman, not to mention for religious freedoms in general? (Remember: She did not refuse to serve a gay couple. To the contrary, she had served these same gay clients for at least 9 years . She simply declined to create the floral arrangement for this couple's "wedding," based on her religious beliefs.) A headline in USA Today declared , "First cake, now flowers: Supreme Court gives florist who refused to serve gay wedding a new hearing." The article begins with, "When it comes to creating products for same-sex weddings, the Supreme Court reasoned Monday that what's good for the baker is good for the florist." This would appear to be a victory for Stutzman. The Advocate , a flagship LGBT publication, doesn't think so : "The U.S. Supreme Court has sent the case of a florist who refused to serve a same-sex couple's wedding back to the state court for review -- but did not say the state ruled wrongly in finding the florist committed unlawful discrimination, leading LGBT advocates to say it's likely the state will again rule that the florist committed unlawful discrimination." This opinion is seconded by James Esseks, director of ACLU's LGBT and HIV Project. As stated in an ACLU press release, "We are confident that the Washington State Supreme Court will rule once again in favor of the same-sex couple, and reaffirm its decision that no business has a right to discriminate. Our work to ensure LGBT equality is the law and the norm in all 50 states will continue." But if this is true, why would the court bother to send the case back to Washington? If the Supreme Court justices believed that the Washington justices adjudicated the case fairly, why ask them to reexamine the case based on the Masterpiece Cakes decision? I believe it was for good reason that the ADF, which represents both Philips and Stutzman, declared in an email announcement, "This is big news! The Washington Supreme Court had previously ruled that the government can force Barronelle to create artistic expression and participate in events that conflict with her faith." But now, to quote the ADF's email, the Supreme Court's order did three things: It granted Barronelle's petition. It wiped out the Washington Supreme Court's judgment against her. It sent her case back to the Washington courts and instructed them to reconsider the case in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Jack Phillips' Masterpiece Cakeshop case . The real issue, then, is the Washington decision. The justices ruled unanimously against Stutzman, 9-0, so they clearly decided that the matter was not debatable. Free sign up cp newsletter! In the words of Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud, "this case is no more about the access to flowers than civil rights cases were about access to sandwiches. As every other court to address the question has concluded, public accommodations laws do not simply guarantee access to goods or services. Instead, they serve a broader societal purpose: eradicating barriers to the equal treatment of all citizens in the commercial marketplace." The court also rejected the argument that Stutzman's "floral arrangements were a form of artistic expression and so protected by the First Amendment." At the same time, the Washington Supreme Court recognized that, "It is uncontested that her sincerely held religious beliefs include a belief that marriage can exist only between one man and one woman." How, then, can the court force her to violate her "sincerely held religious beliefs" to perform an act of artistic service for a gay couple? It may be true that the Washington justices did not display the same level of animosity against religion as did the Colorado officials who ruled against Jack Philips. Yet it would be hard to deny that, in the eyes of these Washington justices, religious rights take a distant back seat to LGBT rights. Can we expect them to change their ruling in light of the Supreme Court's order? It would be foolish to get too optimistic, given their previous 9-0 decision. Yet it's clear that the case was returned to them for a reason. And should they rule the same way again, the case will surely be appealed back to the Supreme Court. Perhaps, if that scenario unfolds, the court will issue a more definitive defense of our First Amendment rights. But let's pray even now for justice to prevail. The State of Washington has literally sought to bankrupt this Christian grandmother. Specifically , "Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Washington . . . filed discrimination lawsuits" against Stutzman. "In addition to targeting her business, Arlene's Flowers, Inc., they sued Stutzman personally, ensuring that any assets she might own beyond the flower shop could be taken from her to pay their own legal fees if she lost." Are you going to tell me there is no animus against religion in these outrageous actions? It's high time these hostile sentiments get exposed. Dr. Michael Brown ( www.askdrbrown.org ) is the host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program. His latest book is Saving a Sick America: A Prescription for Moral and Cultural Transformation . Connect with him on Facebook or Twitter . Engaging views and analysis from outside contributors on the issues affecting society and faith today. CP VOICES do not necessarily reflect the views of The Christian Post. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author(s).

The Supreme Court vacated a 2017 Washington state court ruling Monday that a Christian florist violated an anti-discrimination measure when she declined to make flower arrangements for a same-sex wedding. In an unsigned order, the high court sent the case back to the Washington State Supreme Court asking them to revisit their ruling in light of the court's ruling in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission in which they ruled 7-2 in favor of a Christian baker who declined to make a custom cake for a same-sex wedding. Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene's Flowers, refused on religious grounds in 2013 to do flower arrangements for the wedding of Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed. The Supreme Court has handed the case back to the Washington Supreme Court "for further consideration in light" of the ruling in favor of Colorado baker Jack Phillips, however, that ruling was very narrow in scope. It focused primarily on the hostility of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission towards Phillips's religious beliefs in violation of his free speech rights. It did not address generally whether businesses can decline services to same-sex weddings because of religious beliefs. Stutzman's attorney, Kristen Waggoner with Alliance Defending Freedom, argued in a statement Monday that the florist's case is similar to Phillips. "The U.S. Supreme Court has rightfully asked the Washington Supreme Court to reconsider Barronelle's case in light of the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision," she explained. "In that ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court denounced government hostility toward the religious beliefs about marriage held by creative professionals like Jack and Barronelle. The state of Washington, acting through its attorney general, has shown similar hostility here." Jeff Crouere The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), representing the couple in the case, is arguing that the high court's order does not constitute a determination on the case's merits. "To be clear, the court made no indication the lower courts ruled incorrectly and made no decision on the case's merits," James Esseks, director of the ACLU's LGBT and HIV Project, said in a statement. "We are confident that the Washington State Supreme Court will rule once again in favor of the same-sex couple, and reaffirm its decision that no business has a right to discriminate," he added. "Our work to ensure LGBT equality is the law and the norm in all 50 states will continue."

Flickr/lewishamdreamer J ohn Shore and his wife Catherine had been attending the First Presbyterian Church of San Diego for six years when they were nominated to serve as deacons. But before they could be ordained, they were asked to sign a document agreeing that no person in a same-sex relationship should hold any position of authority within the church, which is one of the city's oldest. It was 1990. The couple had never heard the pastor or any of his fellow church-goers talk about homosexuality. "At first I thought she was kidding," John says. "I said something to the effect of, 'Wouldn't it be funny if there really were a document like that?'" John and his wife refused to sign. A few days later, copies of an article the pastor had written calling acceptance of homosexuality a heresy were stacked at the church's entrances. "That's how we learned there was a whole world of Christians out there that doesn't condone homosexuality," he says. Since then, John has dedicated himself to fighting the idea that being a good Christian means hating gay people. He has been blogging about faith and gay rights since 2007 on his own website. He also wrote a book on the subject, Unfair: Christians and the LGBT Question in 2011. But his message is about to get a much bigger audience: He has teamed up with several prominent gay-rights activists--including sex columnist Dan Savage and Truth Wins Out founder Wayne Besen--to launch the NALT (Not All Like That) Christians Project . The project centers around notalllikethat.org , a website where gay-affirming Christians can upload video testimonials in support of LGBT people. The site, which went live today, takes its inspiration from the "It Gets Better" project , a similar media campaign started by Savage to counteract bullying of LGBT teens. Like "It Gets Better," the NALT Christians Project is also intended to serve as a resource for LGBT youth seeking guidance about the connection between themselves and their faith. "Over the last 30 years, the Christian right has worked to make anti-gay bigotry almost the only defining feature of Christianity." "Over the last 30 years, the Christian right has worked to make anti-gay bigotry almost the only defining feature of Christianity--you can be an adulterer like Newt Gingrich and get the support of fundamentalist Christians so long as you're anti-gay," says Savage, who coined the term "NALT Christians" after receiving e-mails from fans explaining that not all Christians were anti-gay. "Christians who are not anti-gay bigots need to speak out and come out." The project is a call to arms for Christians who want to take back their faith from the religious right, which has sucked up much of the air in public debates on faith and policy. When conservatives like Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum become synecdoches for Christians writ large, it doesn't leave much room for people like John and Catherine Shore--those who mirror public opinion far more closely than the anti-gay Christians on Fox News. Indeed, while polling shows support for gay rights varies by denomination, the majority of Catholics and mainline Protestants--the country's two largest Christian sects-- favor same-sex marriage . But the anti-gay crowd seems to have won the public-relations war: In a well-known 2007 study of to 16- to 29-year-olds, 91 percent of non-Christians and 80 percent of active churchgoers described Christianity as "anti-homosexual." Savage and Shore attribute the disconnect on the religious right's well-funded media machine; when gay rights are in the news, media bookers turn reflexively to virulently anti-gay personalities like the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins or Pat Robertson. "Tony Perkins is very loud and the NALT Christians are very quiet," Savage says. Fixing Christianity's anti-gay image is not just a cosmetic touch-up intended to make it more hip to young people; it's a matter of survival. "The conflation of Christianity and anti-gay bigotry is harming Christianity itself," Savage says. "People are walking away because of it." According to the Barna Group, a Christian polling organization, 59 percent of young Christians leave the faith because they perceive the church to be too exclusive, particularly when it comes to LGBT people. Religiosity has also declined overall. According to the most recent Census figures, from 1990 to 2008 the number of Americans who identified as Christian dropped from 86 to 76 percent while those with "no religion" doubled. The project's goal is as much to change attitudes within the Christian community as outside of it. "The problem with the perception of pro-gay Christianity is that we're not really being Biblical, that somehow we're lax in the relationship to the fundamentals of our faith," Shore says. "Exactly the opposite is the case. "I'm tired of Christians who are gay-affirming being placed on the defense; I'm as true a Christian as you are." I'm tired of Christians who are gay-affirming being placed on the defense; I'm as true a Christian as you are." The success of the NALT Project, of course, hinges on participation. While organizers say it will be hard to match the response the "It Gets Better" campaign generated-- which received 50,000 submissions, including many from celebrities and high-profile politicians-- they are confident there are enough Christians frustrated with how their faith is perceived to generate a good response. " People roll their eyes and say 'these guys don't represent us,' but if you don't stand up and speak out, who's going to speak for you?" Besen says.

A new video from Girl Pants Productions illustrates just how insane homophobic arguments are to the majority of Americans who support LGBT equality. Because, as we all know, being left-handed is really just a choice and guys who say they love both chocolate and vanilla ice cream are really just chocolate lovers too afraid to come out of the closet. Watch, AFTER THE JUMP ... A new video from Girl Pants Productions illustrates just how insane homophobic arguments are to the majority of Americans who support LGBT equality. Because, as we all know, being left-handed is really just a choice and guys who say they love both chocolate and vanilla ice cream are really just chocolate lovers too afraid to come out of the closet.

Kate Upton has done more covers this year than you'd hear at a White Ford Bronco show. Here she is blessing the September issue of Elle. Elle Instagram The magazine's interview uncovers some juicy nuggets of Up-tology. We learn what lies at the base of Kate's foundation: "I was at a photo shoot and I was wearing a cross necklace that my mom bought me, and somebody made a joke like, 'Why are you wearing a cross? Like you would be religious.' And then they took [my necklace] away. I was really affected by that. The whole thing made me realize that I do want [a cross] with me, at all times." Even in the cruel face of secularism, Kate remains resolute. On lighter notes : Her favorite parts of her body are her eyes. Her favorite thing about working out is when she's done working out. She says she has "baby hands." She loves her body because, coming from Florida, it's essential to be able to fill out a bikini. @_KatherineWebb @ELLEmagazine thank you!! Hope to see you soon xo -- Kate Upton (@KateUpton) August 8, 2013

After 9 years of being a pioneer and leader in alternative news aggregation, RedFlagNews.com closed its doors on December 31, 2017. With more than 10M readers who visited both our app and website, we had built a community of trust and loyalty in online news media; something rare to find in 2018; nevertheless, it was clearly not enough to sustain the onslaught of suppression by Google and Facebook after the 2016 election. To our amazing community, thank you for your generous support and daily visits over the years. It was a good run with you by our side. Thousands have asked us where we will be getting our daily fix. As you continue your journey of seeking both balance and truth in your news diet, we strongly recommend the following two independent and trusted news aggregation websites. In the end, independent thinking is a battle that we cannot afford to lose.

On Saturday, more than 150,000 people gathered in D.C. for the Capitol Pride Parade -- a celebration of all things LGBT. Sadly, for the first time in the event's 40-year history, the Boy Scouts of America participated in the march. Banners were also carried by the D.C. Public Schools and Library, the police and branches of the U.S. Military, as well as an assortment of private sponsors. Prior to the procession, supporters milled about in the center of Dupont Circle, sporting rainbow sunglasses, shirts, capes, beads and body paint. The atmosphere was one of excitement and tolerance for everyone -- except for those presenting an alternative view. That's where all the rainbows and acceptance turned into profanity and abuse. A small contingent of Christians had set up camp behind a fence, preaching the Gospel in a pleasant manner and professing the Biblical view of homosexuality. One formerly gay man -- now a Christian believer -- gave his testimony. In response, a young man in devil horns and a g-string (call him "Horny") begin dancing erotically, cursing and blasting music in the face of "the haters." His antics attracted an enthusiastic crowd and participants gave Horny bottles of cold water and lined up to take photos with him. Elsewhere, people argued, made obscene gestures and repeatedly shouted "F**k you!" at another church group. One man, who carried a sign which read "Jesus Christ Is the Only Way to Heaven," was physically assaulted. Thankfully, the parade itself was relatively tame in comparison. No one dared to voice an opposing view, so there was no one to scream and curse at. One participant said that the festival was "about being ourselves, it's about loving who we want to love and it's about celebrating with friends who accept us for who we are." There was certainly no love for people of a different opinion.

Voters in Springfield, Missouri, spent much of their summer debating whether or not to expand their town's non-discrimination policies to LGBT people. At the height of the back-and-forth, a local reverend named Phil Snider appeared before the city council to deliver what is being described as a "fiery sermon" about gay rights. "I worry about the future of our city," he said last August. "Any accurate reading of the Bible should make it clear that gay rights goes against the plain truth of the word of God. As one preacher warns, man in overstepping the boundary lines God has drawn by making special rights for gays and lesbians has taken another step in the direction of inviting the judgment of God upon our land." Then, toward the end of the nearly three minute remarks, Snider, who preaches at the Brentwood Christian Church , is on Twitter and has a blog , flips the script, admitting that all of his speech had been lifted from racist speeches calling for segregation. I'm sorry, I brought the wrong notes with me. It turns out what I've been reading to you this whole time are direct quotes from white preachers from the 1950s and the 1960s all in support of racial segregation. All I have done is simply take out the phrase 'racial integration' and substituted it with the phrase 'gay rights.' The non-discrimination measure was tabled, unfortunately, but Snider's incredibly clever appearance lives on in video form AFTER THE JUMP . Before that, though, read this blurb from an essay he posted on his Facebook page last July, before his appearance. The essay is called " What Does the Bible Really Say About Homosexuality? - Part I ": The question, it seems to me, is not based on whether we have uniformity of interpretation but rather integrity of interpretation. Whatever our personal beliefs might be, we are charged with interpreting the Bible with integrity, to ask how it serves as a guide for our beliefs, which demands understanding it to the best of our ability, in relationship to its original context, and in light of the teachings of Christ. Alright, find the August video of the august pastor AFTER THE JUMP .

Via the Free Beacon , I ... can't shake the feeling that the big DREAM compromise might not be happening. Three things about this hyperbole, tailor-made to emphasize the point about "negative partisanship" in this post . One: Whatever you think of Trump's character and aptitude versus his 43 predecessors, surely we as a nation should be able to agree that Woodrow Wilson is the worst person ever to occupy the office. "Princeton's answer to Benito Mussolini and the most dangerous man ever elected to the American presidency," as Kevin Williamson once described him, "a would-be dictator who attempted to criminalize the act of criticizing the state, dismissed the very idea of individual rights as 'a lot of nonsense,' and described his vision of the presidency as effectively unlimited ('The President is at liberty, both in law and conscience, to be as big a man as he can')." He was a lousy racist too, even by the benighted standards of his day, a vocal Klan apologist who oversaw the resegregation of the federal government 50 years after Reconstruction. He deserves to be remembered, for all the wrong reasons. Two: Schumer uncorked this shpiel at an event held by the Human Rights Campaign, probably the most influential LGBT lobbyist group in the country. That's a strange venue at which to make the case that Trump is uniquely bad, as he's the least socially conservative Republican president in decades, if not longer. He evinces no interest in ending legalized gay marriage; he famously scoffed during the 2016 campaign at Republicans worrying about which bathrooms transgenders might be allowed to use. His personal life prior to the presidency speaks for itself. His chief initiative against LGBT interests as president to date has been to impose a ban on new transgender recruits in the military, but a court put that (temporarily) on ice and the Pentagon has continued to accept trans soldiers in the meantime . Trump rarely mentions the issue publicly. His attitude about the setback seems to be "Whatever." I think he imposed the ban as a quick and easy way to earn some goodwill with his socially conservative fan base, not much caring what became of his gesture once it was made. He showed evangelicals that he cares about their values, the courts blocked him, the Pentagon continued with business as usual, he moved on. He doesn't seem eager for a knife fight with gays. Which is not to say they can't find him bad or dangerous for other reasons, but as I say, this is an odd forum for Schumer to make that case. Three: Trump is a dangerous president in theory given his loose talk about his "un-American" enemies, changing libel laws to muzzle the press, boasting as a candidate the military would obey illegal orders from him, and a hundred other weird and creepy authoritarian things he's said since 2015. In practice, though, he's a weak president, more than willing to defer to the people around him on most subjects -- even on one of his core issues like trade, where he has yet to do anything radically protectionist. This is what I meant last month in writing about how he's exceeded NeverTrumpers' very low expectations. When the courts block his travel ban, he doesn't tell them to go to hell, he rewrites it. When he wants health-care reform to pass, he doesn't stomp down to the Hill and demand that Republicans pass some populist plan to guarantee universal coverage, he lets Ryan and McConnell handle it. When the time comes to make key appointments, he doesn't install Corey Lewandowski as secretary of defense, he listens to his advisors and appoints James Mattis. It'd be more accurate to say that he's *potentially* dangerous because he's so unpredictable and his instincts lean towards authoritarian. He hasn't fired Mueller -- but he's reportedly come close. He hasn't nuked North Korea -- but he might deliver them a "bloody nose" out of the blue. A loose cannon is dangerous, by definition. But he hasn't been nearly as loose as his biggest skeptics feared in 2016. To come back to the Wilson comparison, though, it may surprise you to know that despite being a garbage heap of a human being, Wilson frequently lands among the top ten when historians are asked to rank the greatest presidents. And partly that's because he wasn't a weak president. On the contrary, he was a man who tried to assert his will at every opportunity, and assessment of presidential "greatness" almost always involves power-worship of the Great Man who imposes his vision, whatever that vision might be, Which is to say, among the various reasons Trump will never be ranked near the top (his tweets alone are too tawdry to make him eligible for "Great Man" status among scholars) is that he's simply not assertive enough to be dangerous. Without a certain danger quotient, you can't be truly Great.

(The Hill) President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, told Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that he accepts the landmark Supreme Court case establishing a right to abortion "as the law of the land." Gorsuch has never ruled directly on abortion rights, but liberal groups assume he would be hostile to continued access to abortion rights because of a book he authored on euthanasia. In "The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia," Gorsuch wrote, "The intentional taking of human life by private persons is always wrong."

As a large-scale real estate developer, Trump has sometimes sued in his efforts to use government to condemn houses belonging to people of modest means whose homes--which Trump considers insufficiently attractive--have stood near his big developments and have chosen to exercise their liberty by refusing to sell to him. That's one... The swift attentions stems from the fact that the contagion is spreading so rapidly that the World Health Organization (WHO) projects up to 4 million people could be infected by... Welcome to our pre-debate open thread. I'll be updating periodically until the festivities begin. Refresh your browser frequently for the latest updates... if you dare. Tonight's debate Back on the main stage: Sen. Rand Paul Joining the undercard for the second time ever: Jim Gilmore Throwing his own party: Donald Trump Our coverage of the debate... After obtaining blank passports, ISIS has successfully printed virtually undetectable counterfeits. It's unclear whether any of these fake passports have been used to enter the United States. Author Ta-Nehisi Coates is hot, hot, hot in progressive circles.

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Cory Doctorow / 3:21 pm Wed, Apr 18, 2018 Neil Gorsuch, currently serving on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, is Donald Trump's pick to fill the seat opened by Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia's death. The youngest nominee in 25 years, 49-year-old Gorsuch could provide decades of reliably conservative opinion from the bench. "A special thank you to @POTUS," was posted to an as-yet-unverified Twitter account in Gorsuch's name. "As Mr. Trump's Supreme Court nominee I promise to always do what is best for the American People. #SCOTUS" Though Scalia died a year ago, Congressional Republicans refused to consider any pick from then-president Barack Obama, let alone his nominee, Merrick Garland. Gorsuch is described by the Washington Post as "a less bombastic version" of Scalia, ruling in favor of allowing corporations religious exemptions from federal regulations. Conservatives hope to see aggressively anti-abortion opinions from Gorsuch, though the opportunity to issue one has apparently not come before him so far in his career. Gorsuch voted against birth control in the Hobby Lobby case. Yes, THAT Hobby Lobby case. https://t.co/LAJgeN82b8 -- Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) February 1, 2017 He's also shown a libertarian bent when it comes to law enforcement , dissenting when two colleagues on the bench sided with a cop who arrested kids who belched at them. Read the rest

The author of "The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels," Alex Epstein , joined Glenn Beck on the Think Tank to discuss how Al Gore's global crusade to combat climate change is only about making Al Gore richer and not about saving the environment. "The reason why I say he should be removed from the conversation is that he is not trying to give us the full picture," said Epstein. "It's a completely biased, manipulative, and for that matter, self-serving picture," and sells only to a certain group of people who crave status more than anything, according to Epstein. "People want status often, and this is an easy path to status. All you have to do is say a meaningless statement like, 'I believe in climate change. I'm not a denier.' And that confers upon you a certain superiority." Epstein went on to debunk several of Gore's key claims in his follow up film, "An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power" where Gore claims he was even more right about climate change than he thought. Epstein is also the president of the Center for Industrial Progress. To see more from Glenn, visit his channel on TheBlaze and watch full episodes of "Glenn" live weekdays 5-6 p.m. ET or anytime on-demand at TheBlaze TV .

At Via Meadia , Walter Russell Mead has been doing a great job covering the controversy surrounding visits last week by top Japanese officials to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. Yasukuni is a Shinto shrine; in Shinto belief, it houses the souls of millions of people who died in the service of the Japanese Empire, including during World War II. Among the millions commemorated are approximately 1000 convicted war criminals, including wartime Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. Japans neighbors, China and Korea, perceive official visits to the shrine as an outrageous insult and a sign that Japan has not fully repudiated the imperialism of its past. (In response to last weeks visits, China sent a fleet of patrol ships into Japanese territorial waters.) The latest controversy erupted when top officials in Prime Minister Shinzo Abes cabinet, as well more than 150 parliamentarians, visited the shrine for the annual Shinto Spring Ceremonythe largest official delegation in decades. In response to Chinese and Korean complaints, Abe doubled down, declaring in a parliamentary debate , Its only natural to honor the spirits of those who gave their lives for the country. Our ministers will not cave in to any threats. Abe doubtless feels buoyed by opinion polls showing that he has a 70% approval rating from the Japanese public. Official participation in ceremonies at Yasukuni have been controversial inside Japan as well. The Japanese Constitution, adopted after the war, disestablished Shintoism and effected, in the words of the Japanese Supreme Court, the separation of state and religion. In fact, in 1997 the Supreme Court ruled that the government officials could not make financial contributions to Yasukuni for use in Shinto ceremonies. With respect to this months visits, the officials involved were careful to point out that they were participating only as private citizens, not government officials, but that explanation has not satisfied critics. It doesnt matter how or in what role Japanese leaders visit the Yasukuni shrine, a Chinese spokesman said. We feel it is in essence a denial of Japans history of militarist invasion. And Japanese legal scholar Keisuke Abe (no relation to the Prime Minister, I believe) argues in a symposium in the St. Johns Law Review that most Japanese wouldnt recognize the distinction, either. Whatever the purpose of a visit to the shrine, he writes, the general public is likely to consider it as the government giving special support to Shintoism, associated with ancestor worship.

Fulfilling the Promise of American Energy Dominance at AFEC (Guest: Joe Balash) Podcast Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Land and Minerals Management Joe Balash gave a passionate and hopeful speech at AFEC 2018 on the strategy the Department is using to establish American energy dominance across the world. Heartland Institute co-founder Joe Bast discusses The Heartland Institute's history, it's accomplishments and what it hopes to achieve under new leadership. Marlo Lewis, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, says that federal fuel economy standards have stolen choice from consumers and heightened safety risks.

I stopped believing in monsters on Thanksgiving Day in 1976, when my stepfather came downstairs for dinner wearing black dress pants, a white collared shirt, a pair of freshly polished black leather shoes and only one sock.What will always make a monster appear even more monstrous is his ability to be magnanimous, even lovable, toward those most often targeted by his abuse. Statements and opinions expressed in articles and comments are those of the authors, not Truthdig. Truthdig takes no responsibility for such statements or opinions. Login modal

31 POSTS 0 COMMENTS Tom Magstadt has published five books including Understanding Politics: Ideas, Institutions, and Issues, 10th ed., (Wadsworth, 2013) and Nations and Governments: Comparative Politics in Regional Perspective, 6th ed. (Wadsworth, 2011), and An Empire If You Can Keep It: Power and Principle in American Foreign Policy (CQ Press, 2004). He holds a doctorate from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C. Readers are invited to follow Tom at https://www.facebook.com/thomas.magstadt

In The Tank (ep152) - AFEC 2018, and Universal Health Care Debate! Podcast Donny Kendal, with the help of Director of Communications Jim Lakely and State Government Relations Manager Charlie Katebi, presents episode #152 of the In The Tank Podcast. Fulfilling the Promise of American Energy Dominance at AFEC (Guest: Joe Balash) Podcast Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Land and Minerals Management Joe Balash gave a passionate and hopeful speech at AFEC 2018 on the strategy the Department is using to establish American energy dominance across the world. Heartland Institute co-founder Joe Bast discusses The Heartland Institute's history, it's accomplishments and what it hopes to achieve under new leadership.

Under Shinzo Abe, Japan is again bidding to become a central player on the world stage. It remains an attractive partner for technology cooperation, and the potential for defense-industrial ties could help the economies of both Japan and Europe. When serious action on the international economic front is deferred for a couple of years, institutions deteriorate, problems fester and grow, and resolutions to address these issues may be undercut by new crises that demand attention. While there may not be many viable options to stop oil from spilling into the Gulf, there are obvious actions that can be taken to improve cleanup efforts, but the Obama administration is resisting these remedies.

Al Gore It's getting late in the game, but the Democratic Party may see another candidate for president: Al Gore, former vice president under Bill Clinton's administration. Supporters of the climate change activist have started chatting up the idea, trying to determine if he'd prove a viable candidate in the face of Hillary Clinton's poll troubles, BuzzFeed reported . In 2000, Gore won the popular vote against then-presidential contender George W. Bush, but ultimately lost during a drawn-out ballot counting drama that went to the U.S. Supreme Court. Since, Gore's been one of the environmental activism crowd's most ardent spokespeople. But in the last few days, talk has surfaced about him joining the political rings again, as a Democratic Party presidential candidate. "They're figuring out if there's a path financially and politically," one senior Democrat source told BuzzFeed. "It feels more real than it has in the past months." Gore's not expressed interest yet in the move. And one of his own associates characterized the talk this way: "This is people talking to people, some of whom may or may not have talked to him," BuzzFeed said. Roy Neel, a former top adviser to Gore, also threw cold water on the idea, saying a run for the high office for the former vice president was "extremely unlikely." But the chatter continues. ABC's Rick Klein tweeted about the matter, and shortly after, Gore started trending on Twitter, the Hill reported.

Al Gore Insiders "Figuring Out If There's A Path" For Him To Run Supporters of Al Gore have begun a round of conversations among themselves and with the former vice president about his running for president in 2016, the latest sign that top Democrats have serious doubts that Hillary Clinton is a sure thing. Gore, 67, won the popular vote in the 2000 election and has been mentioned as a possible candidate in every contested Democratic primary since then. He instead spent much of the 2000s focused on environmental campaigning and business ventures. He has largely slipped out of public view in more recent years. But in recent days, "they're getting the old gang together," a senior Democrat told BuzzFeed News. "They're figuring out if there's a path financially and politically," the Democrat said. "It feels more real than it has in the past months." The senior Democrat and other sources cautioned not to overstate Gore's interest. He has not made any formal or informal moves toward running, or even met with his political advisers about a potential run. A member of Gore's inner circle asked to be quoted "pouring lukewarm water" -- not, note, cold water -- on the chatter.

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-- Michael Skolnik (@MichaelSkolnik) February 7, 2017 With crowds outside chanting, "Jail to the Chief!" and caught in the sordid turmoil of Watergate, Richard 'I Am Not A Crook' Nixon resigned the presidency 44 years ago today in the name of hastening "the start of that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America." Revisiting his final speech, most startling in this crudest of eras is his relative gravitas; for those pining for history to repeat itself, Borowitz suggests, "Imagine this, only without the complete sentences."

Submitted by libcom on Aug 15 2017 17:00 An explanation of the meaning of "territory", illustrated in its historical, social, economic and political context from the times of Cleisthenes to today's pathological "anti-cities" and... Click here to register now. Logged in users: > Can comment on articles and discussions > Get 'recent posts' refreshed more regularly > Bookmark articles to your own reading list > Use the site private messaging system > Start forum discussions, submit articles, and more...

The New York City Board of Elections has confused voters with a misleading mailer -- and it could end up hurting the populist candidates. Was this an accident? Either way, the authorities show little concern about fixing it. JFK was the first politician to recognize that the media image of a candidate, not his platform, determines who wins and who loses. Now candidates everywhere rely on that playbook. Republicans portray themselves as the strongest supporters of the military. But when the Pentagon warns that global warming threatens US national security, they are nowhere to be found.

As per the statement below, our tireless pro-life advocate, Brad Trost, has slammed Justin Trudeau's plan to spend $650 million of our scarce tax dollars to kill babies in Africa through abortion. If you haven't already joined the Conservative Party of Canada in order to vote for Brad Trost as its next Leader, please do so now by clicking here. BRAD TROST: "JUSTIN, PUT $650M TOWARD BASIC HEALTH CARE AND MATERNAL HEALTH, NOT ABORTION!" Trost calls on Conservative Leadership Candidates to defend Harper Gov't maternal health legacy OTTAWA - Conservative Leadership Candidate and Saskatoon-University MP Brad Trost called on Justin Trudeau, today, to cancel his announcement of $650 million to fund abortion internationally. Trost also asked all Conservative leadership candidates to defend the Harper Government's legacy of promoting maternal health. Said Brad Trost, "I call on Justin Trudeau to reverse his announcement, today, and cancel $650 million to fund abortion internationally over the next three years. Millions of women and girls around the world need better health care and maternal health assistance, not abortion. I also call on all Conservative leadership candidates to defend the Harper Government legacy of promoting maternal health." Justin Trudeau is making it clear that his agenda is not better health care nor maternal health in developing countries. Justin's agenda is to promote abortion, not health care, even in countries where abortion is illegal and is not supported by people who live in these countries. "Justin Trudeau is a cultural imperialist who is engaging in the new colonialism of pushing a radical leftist world view agenda by way of Canadian foreign policy. As Prime Minister, I will immediately cancel all funding for international abortion and fund, instead, basic health care and maternal health," added Brad Trost. To support Brad Trost's campaign to Lead the Conservative Party of Canada and our party in replacing Justin Trudeau in Ottawa, renew or purchase your membership, now. Click here . To learn more about what Brad Trost will do to advance the culture of life , click here . Please forward this email to anyone that you think might be interested and share on social media. This email was sent by: Brad Trost P.O. Box 11098, Station H, Ottawa, Ontario K2H 7T8 To unsubscribe click: here

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Web Exclusive Feb 14, 2018 Headline Feb 14, 2018 Story Feb 07, 2018 independent global news Democracy Now! is a 501(c)3 non-profit news organization. We do not accept funding from advertising, underwriting or government agencies. We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work. Please do your part today. Make a donation Democracy Now! is a 501(c)3 non-profit news organization. We do not accept funding from advertising, underwriting or government agencies. We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work. Please do your part today. Make a donation

http://www.morethanright.com Originally, from Los Angeles, I eventually made my way around the country: Arizona, the Bay Area and now South Florida. It seems that the more President Trump tries to push his "America First" agenda the more Un-American the Left becomes. From football to Facebook... I recently joined a Facebook Group in support of Alex Jones. I, like many others worldwide, am appalled at the three prong attack that... In part one of this two part special report my Right Side Patriots partner and friend Craig Andresen laid out the case for why socialism does not work and why it ultimately collapses.

September 5, 2017 4:35 pm The music platform Spotify has created a pro-DACA playlist in response to the Trump administration's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. September 5, 2017 1:18 pm Former Vice President Joe Biden called the Trump administration's decision to end DACA "cruel" and "not America" in a tweet Tuesday afternoon. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg waded into another political debate Friday, this time to defend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Story Jan 24, 2017 Web Exclusive Jan 24, 2017 Headline Jan 24, 2017 Headline Jan 24, 2017 independent global news Democracy Now! is a 501(c)3 non-profit news organization. We do not accept funding from advertising, underwriting or government agencies. We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work. Please do your part today. Make a donation Democracy Now! is a 501(c)3 non-profit news organization. We do not accept funding from advertising, underwriting or government agencies. We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work. Please do your part today. Make a donation

"Fox & Friends" Elisabeth Hasselbeck is stepping down as co-host of the show to spend more time raising her three children. Hasselbeck, 38, who co-hosted ABC's "The View" as its conservative voice for about a decade, joined "Fox & Friends" in 2013, said People magazine. She is married to former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Tim Hasselbeck and they have three children, noted Us Weekly . "Oftentimes, the most difficult decisions are between two great things," Hasselbeck said in a Fox News statement . "Throughout my 14 years working in television, I have never experienced a more positive and thoughtful atmosphere than Fox News Channel, thanks to the strong leadership of (Fox News Chairman & CEO) Roger Ailes, who has created the best working environment a woman and mother could ask for." "His understanding, compassion, and kindness was exemplified when I shared with him that I am entering into a season where I want to start my day with my children first, and he offered his blessing to do so. With a heart full of gratitude and the peace that God has given me, I am confident that this personal decision is the right one for our family, and we will be joining all of you watching 'Fox & Friends' each morning as we get ready for school together." Hasselbeck had a health scare last year when she had a tumor removed from her abdomen last October, according to Us Weekly. She told "Fox & Friends" viewers last November that the tumor was not cancerous but still needed emergency surgery to remove it. She said then that she had a "clean bill of health." "Elisabeth and I discussed this at length over several weeks, and while I would love for her to continue here, I respect her incredibly difficult, yet deeply personal decision," said Ailes. "She has been a great addition to the 'Fox & Friends' franchise." A source told People that rumors of her going through a "back-and-forth" with Fox News over her contract was not true. Hasselbeck, the sister-in-law of current Indianapolis Colts backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, has three children 10 and under, said People - Grace, 10; Taylor, 8; and Isaiah, 6. Related Stories: Elisabeth Hasselbeck: Why Is #BlackLivesMatter Movement Not a Hate Group? Elisabeth Hasselbeck Returns to TV, Reveals She Had a Tumor Removed (c) 2018 Newsmax. All rights reserved. Click Here to comment on this article

Increasingly, Canadian Christians are being fired from their jobs, discriminated against in hiring, and having their fundamental rights supressed. If you live in the greater Toronto area, please join this rally October 15th at Yonge & Dundas Square, to demand positive space for Christians and to speak out against the rising tide of anti-Christian bigotry. It is being organized by a wonderful new organization called Christian Positive Space. To download a flyer you can share with friends, click here .

Written by Colin Daileda over 2 years ago Written by Mashable Video over 2 years ago With the rise of Islamophobic rhetoric and racial tensions in the U.S., being a black Muslim woman is far from simple. Written by Jessica Eggert about 3 years ago Despite same-sex marriage being declared legal by the Supreme Court, the idea remains particularly controversial for America's religious groups. Indiana's Republican legislative leaders say the changes will not allow discrimination against lesbians and gays. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he asked for "certain changes to be made" to a much-criticized "religious freedom" bill that critics have called anti-gay. These are the businesses, organizations and entertainers who plan to take action to protest Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

In today's show, Ben and Michael discuss how to choose a religion. Are you interested in Buddhism? Does Christianity make sense to you? Do you even need a religion in the first place, and why isn't atheism enough? We grapple with the deep questions and help you figure out which (if any) spiritual practice is best for you. Listen and subscribe on iTunes here! Ben Cohen is the editor and founder of The Daily Banter. He lives in Washington DC where he does podcasts, teaches Martial Arts, and tries to be a good father. He would be extremely disturbed if you took him too seriously.

How big of a threat are domestic extremists in America? With new details emerging about the anti-government couple who took multiple lives in a Las Vegas shooting spree this weekend, Rev. Sharpton and a panel explore what further threats might be out ther PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton - 6:31 PM 6/10/2014 PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton - 6:16 PM 6/10/2014 Rep. Jan Schakowsky and MSNBC contributor Goldie Taylor join Rev. Sharpton to discuss the GOP's latest politically motivated attacks on the Obama administration's decision to bring home Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton - 6:01 PM 6/10/2014

Community Rules Speak your mind. Please be respectful of our rules and community. No spam, abuse, obscenities, off-topic comments, racial or ethnic slurs, threats, hate, comments that incite violence or excessive use of flagging permitted. Please be respectful of our community and spread some love. Any of the following may result in a permanent ban: Spam Abusive Obscene language Obscene photos Off-topic comments Racial or ethnic slurs Threats of any kind Hate messages Excessive use or the flagging (report as spam) feature For more information, please see our Terms of Use. Now, go have fun and speak your mind!

By George Rasley, CHQ Editor | 11/24/2014 On Saturday, November 22, 2014 The Indianapolis Star 's executive editor Jeff Taylor issued an apology and explained why he pulled the above cartoon by award-winning editorial cartoonist Gary Varvel. It was said Taylor, because it "offended a wide group of readers." Taylor's craven capitulation to race hustlers who see offense in every image or word that they consider to be a derogatory comment on illegal aliens and President Obama's near-treasonous abandonment of American sovereignty is a sorry commentary on how far The Indianapolis Star has fallen from its glory days as one of America's top newspapers. In the 1960s when Eugene C. Pulliam presided over Central Newspapers and M. Stanton Evans helmed The Indianapolis Star the paper was one of the nation's premier voices of limited government conservatism, a strong national defense and American exceptionalism. Indeed on March 17, 1962, as CHQ Chairman Richard A. Viguerie noted in his book TAKEOVER, Pulliam and Evans were honored for their contributions to conservatism at the modern conservative movement's public debut: "A Conservative Rally for World Liberation from Communism," which drew a sellout crowd of 18,500 mostly young people to Madison Square Garden in the heart of liberalism's East coast citadel, New York City. But no more. Since 2000 The Indianapolis Star has been part of the Gannett media empire and reflects the liberal attitudes of its urban elite management, not the thinking of journalists and commentators grounded in the limited government conservatism and politics of one of America's most conservative states - Indiana. Now, rather than shine the bright light of uncomfortable truth on the issue of who illegal aliens are, and why they come to America, The Indianapolis Star 's management chooses instead to avoid anything that might be perceived as being "racially insensitive." Everything in America is reduced to race by the liberal elite, so, the point of the cartoon is no longer allowed to be illegal aliens coming to America to raid the American taxpayer for the unearned benefits Obama's policies will bestow upon them, it is "...an immigrant family climbing through a window of a white family's home as Thanksgiving dinner was served." Immigrant? Not "illegal immigrant" or perhaps more properly "alien" as defined by Title 8 of the United States Code. Of course as soon as the cartoon was posted an interesting commentary on the liberal mind (or lack thereof) occurred; Varvel was subjected to a torrent of online abuse, including but not limited to threats of beatings, slapping and death, and no doubt the Star's management interpreted threats to cancel subscriptions to the newspaper by unidentifiable Twitter users in the far corners of the Twitter-verse as an existential threat to their business. But we suspect what really got Varvel's cartoon pulled was the criticism from other members of the elite tribe that are today's "journalists." "I'm ashamed to be in the same field of work as the editors who allowed this ignorant, racist cartoon," tweeted one. The Huffington Post termed the cartoon "racist" Timothy B. Lee, a senior editor at Vox and formerly of The Washington Post , gave this spin on the traditional Thanksgiving story, "Remember, the classic Thanksgiving story is about Pilgrims -- a.k.a. immigrants -- who showed up on American shores uninvited, and in precarious economic circumstances. Thanksgiving is a celebration of the fact that the native-born Americans who lived in the area welcomed these newcomers, shared their food with them, and helped them make the transition to their new home," before opining that Varvel's cartoon was "tone-deaf" and that "Thanksgiving is about immigration." We will save the meaning of Thanksgiving and its relationship to immigration for another column. We are quite sure that had Varvel drawn the same cartoon with the alien family looking in through barred windows with a caption of the guy serving the turkey saying, "It's ours and we're not sharing," there would have been no criticism of his choice of images. Or perhaps Varvel should have chosen an African-American family to be seated around the Thanksgiving table, with the turkey already picked clean, since black Americans are the demographic group that has suffered the most economic distress under the open borders policy of President Obama. Going down the path of subjecting every opinion - and fact - to an arbitrary and capricious racial sensitivity test is the end of truth-seeking and honest public debate. The Indianapolis Star and executive editor Jeff Taylor were wrong to pull Gary Varvel's cartoon. That action, by implication, labels everyone who believes that our border security and immigration laws should be enforced as a racist - and that's simply not the truth. CHQ editor George Rasley's family was in the newspaer business for over 150 years.

Last month wasn't full of good tidings and cheer: In December, the nation's unemployment rate skyrocketed to 7.2 percent (the highest since early 1993), as employers slashed 524,000 jobs. [ HuffPo ] Barack Obama thinks we can spend our way out of debt. That's amazing news. Grab your credit card and head to Barneys! [ AP ] Last year the Golden Globes gala was canceled because of the writer's strike. This year, the awards show is expected to be a low-key affair due to the financial crisis. Will glamour ever reign in Hollywood again? [ WWD ] Minnesota police warn that pimping out your ice-fishing shack with flat-screen televisions, stereos, and satellite dishes is really just an invitation for burglars. [ Star Tribune ] In a modern-day, real life rendition of The Odd Couple, Lindsay Lohan has been hanging out with Sean Penn. [ P6 ] Follow to get the latest news and analysis about the players in your inbox. See All Players

Written by Sam Laird almost 2 years ago "He's admitted to us that he's abused his wife in the past. I think what's a little unclear is the extent of that." Written by Sam Laird almost 2 years ago Written by Damon Beres almost 2 years ago Bill Belichick has had a lot of obstacles to overcome in his day, but he's raised the white flag of surrender on this. The 49ers quarterback knelt during the national anthem to boos and chants of "USA! USA!" The Panthers technically weren't breaking any rules -- but the tweet is gone. Written by Max Knoblauch almost 2 years ago Packers tight end Jared Cook was served a chicken head instead of wings at a Buffalo Wild Wings Marinovich found naked and in possession of drugs in a stranger's backyard.

Let's face it: he's not the first man to treat human beings, black, white, or aquamarine, purely as profit-creating assets. The fact that he's spewing odious racist crapola can't hide the fact that there are a great deal of people in this country who don't exist for business owners except as numbers on a ledger. V: "And tell me, the black Jews, they're the worst because they're both lazy AND greedy, right?" D: "Absolutely! And I'll now go into detail expanding on this..." And the funny thing is that this type of behaviour is so easy to punish. Stop giving this asshole your money. That's it. Consumers make the rich richer. We can also suddenly make them very poor if we want to by not purchasing whatever they're selling. The problem is he doesn't own a grocery store. He's contractually due his portion of the NBA's revenue sharing, and more importantly, the Clippers are a toy. Most of his money comes from real estate. So even if the NBA collapsed, he'd still be an 81 year old piece of shit billionaire. Biff. Different set of circumstances. If I wanted to start a car company and base it out of Detroit, there is nothing stopping me. But if I wanted to start a NBA team and locate it in LA, there is a lot stopping me You got a poor education from your under qualified union teacher, so therefore you don't understand the basics of the United States of America But Matt Kemp is mixed? Is it with Hispanic? I'd have figured that would be a wider known fact in LA, but I think this girl is mistaken.

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This legislation would ensure that legally-married same-sex couples - who, until the U.S. Supreme Court's 2013 Windsor decision, were barred from filing federal taxes jointly - are permitted to file amended tax returns back to the date of their marriage. By Priya | September 13, 2017 | 4 Comments Announcing the end of DACA is a political statement rooted in racism and bigotry. While DACA is a flawed program, it represented a step in the right direction. Now it represents a vault of information that can be used against its recipients by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). By Molly | September 11, 2017 | 3 Comments

Summary: The collection of mandatory fees by unions from non-union members, common practice and fundamentally anti-American, will soon be reviewed by SCOTUS, where it has a good chance of getting shot down. Until then, the odious practice continues. Political Causes In California, SEIU Local 1000 represents some 95,000 workers in state government. Back in 2005, the local made members and non-members alike pay a special fee to fund a massive public statewide campaign in opposition to a set of ballot propositions backed by Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The propositions involved such matters as teacher tenure requirements, the use of union dues for political campaign contributions, state budgetary spending limits, and redistricting. Governor Schwarzenegger claimed they represented necessary corrections to fix the state's problems. This is what he had been elected to do, after all. But all the propositions went down to defeat, a disaster that has set the unfortunate course of California politics to the present day. Of course, unions took the money for their anti-Schwarzenegger campaign from non-members' paychecks. Later, after the elections they gave the non-members they had fleeced a chance to get their money back. Make no mistake, this was a war chest that had essentially funded the union campaign interest-free. Regarding these controversial ballot questions, I have no doubt that many non-members opposed the union position. But the union decided that a big chunk of their efforts "lobbying the electorate" was an expense chargeable to both members and non-members, a normal part of bargaining the contract. Once again, SCOTUS didn't buy that logic. In its 2012 opinion in Knox v. SEIU the Court found that the union overstepped the bounds of the acceptable. Indeed! The idea that unions could forcibly borrow non-members' money in the name of fair play and use it to fund a campaign many of the latter opposed is grotesquely un-American. Unions in the public sector have been increasingly involved in important questions of public policy. As membership organizations with a direct interest in such questions, they are quite right to do so. But these are political questions, root and branch. Participation should be voluntary, available to members alone. Not enforced on non-members. I don't expect to convince any union officers or staff still wandering the union wilderness that my way is the right way. To them, my arguments are reactionary, tools the forces of capitalism have always used to bust unions. The only analysis that unions countenance support a dire assertion: without bargaining unit contracts and agency fees unions will become terminally weak. A weak union might as well not exist; any arguments against unfair practices is nothing but the buzzing of the saw that cuts down the workers. Thankfully, I found the right path out of that wilderness. Now I'm free, a private citizen who can say things just because I believe them to be true. And I'm no longer willing to view public life in terms of a bitter power struggle. So here's my heartfelt plea to both those outside the union world and the dedicated rank-and-file members, shop stewards and activists inside it: I ask you to consider Right to Work and agency fees through a different lens than the union's. The union lens is darkly polarized. It blocks the light from every angle except their own. In my years as a high-ranking union official, I learned that bargaining unit contracts and agency fees actually weaken the unions they're supposed to strengthen. Such draconian measures are not worth the extra money they bring in. They make strong-arm hoods out of union activists and put unions at war with the people they exist to serve. They garner resentment instead of support. In the name of an abstract and unreal liberation, they do violence to the actual freedom of individual people. We should acknowledge bargaining unit contracts and forced dues for what they are, subsidies taken by force from people who don't want to join the union. Seriously, mugging people may not be the best way to lure them to join a union! Here's the truth: if your union is any good, it has nothing to worry about from the Right to Work. Congress should pass Right to Work legislation for the private sector as soon as possible. SCOTUS needs to see that it created a monster 40 years ago in the Abood decision, and drive a stake through that monster's heart. Disingenuous appeals to fair play and spurious complaints about free riders do not justify the union tyranny many now experience. Maybe it's time to see if unions can survive on their own in America, by the simple expedient of persuading non-members to join. But maybe those in the higher echelons of the national unions already have a grim suspicion regarding this matter. What if their fears are confirmed and union's collapse under their own weight? I saw the panic that set in among union leaders after the disastrous oral arguments in Friedrichs v. CTA at the Supreme Court last year. Most observers believe that only the death of Antonin Scalia, which left the Court divided 4-4, prevented it from protecting public-sector workers. Now, with Neil Gorsuch in Scalia's place, there's a good chance the Court will move forward again. If the American labor movement can only survive on artificial life-support-which is to say, on forced dues and bargaining-unit contracts-then it's already dead. But in the end, there's nothing to be feared from the death of an illusion.

The Supreme Court dealt a blow to organized labor on Wednesday, ruling that public-sector unions cannot charge non-members dues for collective bargaining. In a 5-4 decision in Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees , the court struck down an Illinois law requiring that public-sector employees who choose not to join a union "pay their proportionate share of the costs of the collective bargaining process, contract administration and pursuing matters affecting wages, hours and other conditions of employment." "States and public-sector unions may no longer extract agency fees from nonconsenting employees," read the decision authored by Justice Samuel Alito. About half of states have laws similar to the Illinois one, so the Court's ruling has wide-ranging implications. Stay Updated with NR Daily NR's afternoon roundup of the day's best commentary & must-read analysis. The plaintiff in the case, child-support specialist Mark Janus, works for the Illinois state government, and brought suit claiming that he disagrees with his union's positions and should not be forced to make payments to it. President Trump quickly lauded the decision, calling it a "big loss for the coffers of the Democrats." Supreme Court rules in favor of non-union workers who are now, as an example, able to support a candidate of his or her choice without having those who control the Union deciding for them. Big loss for the coffers of the Democrats! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2018 Government unions had argued that members are already allowed refunds for money spent on political causes, and that non-members should not benefit from collective-bargaining negotiations without paying for them. The decision is expected to cost organized labor millions of dollars in funding.

Want more hot BPR News stories? Sign up for our morning blast HERE Photo credit 360b / Shutterstock.com. The attorney general of the U.S. Virgin islands is going after conservative and libertarian groups who don't drink the climate change Kool-Aid. The office of Claude Walker, the USVI AG, issued a subpoena in March demanding copies of communications between Exxon Mobil and 90 political and policy groups "and any other organizations engaged in research or advocacy concerning Climate Change or policies," Fox News reported . The demand is part of a national coordinated attack by states attorney generals and left wing groups to use the legal system to go after groups that are skeptical of the doctrine of man-made climate change, according to Fox News. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the subpoena in April but now the Washington Free Beacon has published the names of the groups being targeted. Among the organizations listed are he Hoover Institution, the Heritage Foundation, the Reason Foundation and the Cato Institute. Another group in the crosshairs, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, called the subpoena "a blatant attempt to intimidate and harass an organization for advancing views that you oppose." Hans von Spakovsky, a fellow at Heritage, called it "a truly outrageous abuse of [the attorney general's] authority and a misuse of the law." University of Tennessee law professor Glenn Reynolds said it "looks like a concerted scheme to restrict the First Amendment free speech rights of people they don't agree with." Sign up for our morning blast HERE We know first-hand that censorship against conservative news is real. Please share stories and encourage your friends to sign up for our daily email blast so they are not getting shut out of seeing conservative news. Carmine Sabia Jr started his own professional wrestling business at age 18 and went on to become a real estate investor. Currently he is a pundit who covers political news and current events. Latest posts by Carmine Sabia ( see all )

By Sheila Kennedy [Originally published at SheilaKennedy.net on August 20, 2014] I haven't blogged about the depressing situation in Ferguson, Missouri, for a number of reasons: first of all, unlike left- and rightwing partisans, all of whom are convinced they know exactly what happened, I'm not in possession of all the facts. So what do I know? I know that everyone in a [...] Continue reading >> By Sheila Kennedy [Originally published at SheilaKennedy.net on August 19, 2014] The Economic Policy Institute recently released a comprehensive report on immigration and the economy. The report was massive, and it included reams of information on both legal immigrants and the undocumented persons often labeled "Illegal." In one section of the report, researchers addressed a common accusation-that undocumented workers are a burden on [...] Continue reading >>

The anti-union National Right to Work Foundation, which funded the challenge, predicted the ruling would free more than 5 million public employees from supporting their unions. For the unions, which traditionally support Democrats, the ruling will mean an immediate loss of some funding and a gradual erosion in their membership. Union officials fear that an unknown number of employees will quit paying dues if doing so is entirely optional. That last sentence from the L.A. Times excerpt pretty much tells you all you need to know about the unions of today. The unions know that employees don't want to join them or pay dues to them by choice, because they don't believe the proposition that they get real benefits out of doing so. But there is someone who gets a lot of benefits out of those compulsory memberships and dues, and that is the Democratic Party, which relies heavily on unions - and especially public-sector unions - for campaign funding. Democrats will now push hard on unions to give an increasing share of their shrinking pie to political uses, but that's going to create a real conundrum for the unions. If employees don't have to pay dues unless they want to, and they're concerned about unions simply sending their money off to Democrats, then the unions are likely to lose even more members if they up the percentage of their treasury funds that are going to politicians. The smartest thing for unions to do here is to start actually playing a positive and constructive role in advocating for their members' true best interests, which would mean to stop wasting their dues money on politicians and start using it all for the benefit of the members. But if they do that, then where are Democrats going to get the money to pay for the campaigns? After all, it's Democrats who, once in office, pass the laws that force people to pay union dues even when they don't want to - knowing full well of course that the money will come back to pay for Democrat campaigns. Then again, such laws are now struck down as unconstitutional, so it's worth asking what return unions can get on their investment in Democratic candidates anyway. Maybe they're better off just staying out of politics altogether. Maybe we're all better off if they do. OK, not Democratic candidates. But what's bad for them is, by definition, good for the rest of us. Please SHARE this story as the only way for CFP to beat Facebook anti-Conservative Suppression.

On the last day of its 2017-18 term, the Supreme Court's decision in Janus v. AFSCME on Wednesday strengthened the First Amendment right to free speech and showed how the court should analyze whether to overrule one of its previous decisions. In the labor context, a "bargaining unit" is a group of employees with clear and identifiable common interests. If a majority of unit employees vote to be represented by a union, the union exclusively represents all employees, even those who do not join the union. In this case, Mark Janus is a child support specialist in the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. His unit is represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, which he refused to join because he opposes many of the union's positions on policy issues. Because he is not a union member, Janus pays about 78 percent of the full "agency fee" imposed by the union on all its members. This portion covers union activities "germane" to collective bargaining, but not the union's political or ideological activity. This agency fee arrangement was upheld by the Supreme Court in its 1977 decision in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education. The Illinois governor filed a lawsuit, arguing that this imposition of agency fees on nonconsenting employees violates the freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment. Janus joined the lawsuit and became the lead plaintiff when the courts dismissed the governor from it. The district court dismissed the suit altogether because, it said, the Abood ruling had already decided this issue, and the appeals court agreed. In Wednesday's 5-4 decision, written by Justice Samuel Alito, the Supreme Court said Abood was "inconsistent with First Amendment principles" and should be overruled. This agency fee arrangement amounted to "compelling a person to subsidize the speech of other private speakers." Labor relations experts will have much to say about agency fees and how this decision will affect labor-management relations. Just as important as the result in this case itself, however, is how the court reached that result. The Supreme Court has long embraced the principle of "stare decisis," which means "to stand by things decided." There's a presumption that the court will stick by its previous decisions, a principle that Alito in his 2006 confirmation hearing said was "very important." The court has said that overruling a previous decision requires "special justification" or, as in Wednesday's Janus decision, "strong grounds." Over the years, the court has identified several criteria for determining whether those "strong grounds" exist. By showing how to apply those criteria, the Janus decision could be useful in the future when other precedents might be up for reversal or retention. Alito addressed five "stare decisis" principles to rebut the presumption in favor of maintaining precedent. First, he questioned the "quality of Abood's reasoning," including its misplaced dependence on two precedents involving agency fees for private-sector unions and its deferential approach toward free speech restrictions. Second, Alito said Abood had become unworkable by creating a vague distinction between chargeable collective bargaining expenses and nonchargeable political expenditures. Third, Alito highlighted Abood's inconsistency with the court's First Amendment jurisprudence. In particular, he said, Abood's determination that the "forced subsidization of union speech" was at odds with the court's other First Amendment cases. Fourth, Alito found that Abood had become outdated by the rapid rise in public-sector union membership. Fifth, Alito addressed the issue of "reliance," which featured prominently in Justice Elena Kagan's dissent. Alito dismissed claims that Abood was an essential part of American law and everyday life. He cited significant lack of clarity, litigation that continued to challenge its existence, and the short-term duration of collective bargaining agreements. Finally, the court once again stated the principle that "stare decisis" is "weakest" with precedents that interpreted the Constitution. Congress can quickly and easily correct the court's errors in construing a statute. But correcting a misinterpretation of the Constitution requires an amendment voted for by two-thirds of Congress and ratified by three-fourths of the states. That is why the court is more open to correcting errors in past constitutional cases, such as Abood, than in other categories of cases. In Janus, the Supreme Court placed the constitutional right of free speech ahead of the statutory preference given to labor unions and showed that past decisions on constitutional issues can be overruled on principled grounds.

The youngest voice belongs to 21-year-old Sarah Statham, a petite blonde who works part time in a medical billing office in the suburbs. Today, though, she's outside the abortion center, carrying a worn ESV Bible and a backpack filled with tracts. She's hoping to save babies' lives: "They say that this is the darkest place in Mississippi. It's a fantastic place to come and share the gospel and give hope to people, to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves, to be a voice for the voiceless." Statham's part-time schedule means she's able to participate when other sidewalk counselors can't: "I'm available, so why not come and be a part of something like this?" "Something like this"--pro-life work--is a call to which Statham and other millennials are responding. Doug Lane has seen Mississippi's abortion centers dwindle in number from eight to one during his three decades on the sidewalks. He says lots of new folks are showing up: "Most of them are young--30 years old or younger--and they're very evangelistic-minded." That enthusiasm on the pro-life side has been matched by renewed energy on the pro-abortion side, especially since the election of Donald Trump. Pro-abortion escorts are on-site to walk women from their cars to the center's main door. As they walk, they pass by hand-painted signs atop wrought-iron fence posts. The signs read, "May the fetus you claim to save grow up to be a gay abortion provider" and "Mind your own uterus." As pro-life sidewalk counselors call out through the black screening that interlaces the fence, encouraging pregnant women to protect their babies, the escorts try to drown them out with boom boxes. "They don't want the ladies to hear us," explains Statham. "They try to put up as much resistance as they can." Until last year the city of Jackson tried to keep pro-life protesters away, but the nonprofit Pro-Life Mississippi sued and won in federal court. A consent decree required police officers to take part in mandatory training in First Amendment rights. It also required the police department to return materials seized and bonds posted because of improper arrests. Despite that history, Statham's easygoing nature has enabled her to build relationships with abortion center employees. She's on a first-name basis with security guards and also reaches out to escorts, including Dorinda, a middle-aged woman with a shock of platinum-blond hair and black biker boots who's given to demonstrating her hula hoop abilities while holding a sign proclaiming a lack of regret over her own abortion. Statham says she and Dorinda have had conversations about the gospel and even about the Ark Encounter, the life-size ark museum in Williamstown, Ky.: "I actually bought her a book and brought it back to her from there, and she was appreciative."

Via LifeNews : As of yesterday, over 25,000 Albuquerque citizens had cast early ballots in a city-wide initiative that would ban abortions after 20 weeks and is on pace to set a new early-voting record. This trend is generally a positive sign for Conservatives, who have a history of early voting. [...] Meanwhile, campaign finance records show that Planned Parenthood and the ACLU have pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into an effort to defeat the measure and keep abortions legal throughout all 9 months of pregnancy. Planned Parenthood alone has contributed $300,000 to the opposition, Respect ABQ Women - considerably more than the total amount raised by those supporting the ordinance. The ACLU has also contributed over $200,000. Texas abortionist Curtis Boyd, who owns South West Women's Options, the late-term abortion clinic that will be most affected by the proposed new law, has contributed nearly $2,000 personally and from his abortion business.

Joining the growing trend of public abortion stories , Girls actress Jemima Kirke tells her story of getting an abortion in college in this new PSA for the Center for Reproductive Rights' Draw The Line campaign. As Kirke points out, the tricky thing about abortion rights in 2015 -- or 2007 when she got hers -- is that abortion is "not completely unavailable" but "there are these little hoops we have to jump through to get them." For Kirke, as a college student who couldn't tell her mother, the cost was just barely doable -- she emptied her checking account, got a portion from her boyfriend, and skipped the anesthesia to make it work. And for other women, of course, those hurdles -- the cost , the long distance to the clinic, waiting periods that require multiple days off from work -- may actually be too much.

Samantha Bee's political satire show Full Frontal With Samantha Bee has been known to cover an array of topics that are only glanced over by prime-time news networks, but a recent report from Media Matters made it clear that no one covers abortion like Samantha Bee. The organization found that within the first 11 months of 2016, Full Frontal covered abortion twice as much as the three other nightly news networks, even though her show is only broadcast weekly. Responding with the wit we love, Samantha Bee tweeted in response: And we love to have you there, Samantha. Here's one of our favorite Full Frontal segments on abortion, btw:

"Trump hit it out of the park last night in exposing Hillary Clinton's radical leftist positions that will further contribute to the decline of America," said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue, who has endorsed the Trump/Pence ticket . "But the most important matter to those of us who work to save lives from abortion was his emphasis of his intended Supreme Court picks. Trump promises to select strong conservative pro-life nominees to the nation's highest court, while Clinton vows to pick judicial activists that will support and expand abortion while dismantling the very fabric of American society."

Draw the Line is a campaign led by the Center for Reproductive Rights that is using personal stories to mobilize people to stand up for abortion. And they rely on some of our on-screen favorites to share these stories. The Center for Reproductive Rights is taking a case, Whole Woman's Health v. Cole, to the U.S. Supreme Court in order to challenge the unconstitutional trap laws that threaten to shut down almost all of the abortion care providers in Texas. In preparation for this historic case (it will be the first abortion-related case that the Supreme Court has heard since 2007), the Center for Reproductive Rights is relying on Draw the Line to encourage people to speak out against attacks on abortion. According to their website, "We're asking you to stand with us against political attacks on reproductive health care and say: This is where I draw the line." One element of this campaign is the Draw the Line Monologues, where celebrities read real people's stories about the importance of abortion care. Here are a few of my favorites read by: Orange is the New Black 's Dascha Polanco Scandal 's First Lady, Bellamy Young

Belgrade, Serbia LGBTQ Nation BELGRADE, Serbia -- A German man who took part in a gay rights conference suffered life-threatening brain injuries when he was severely beaten in downtown Belgrade on Saturday, Serbian police and gay activists said. Belgrade, Serbia The identity of the 27-year-old man has not been released. Police said later Saturday they have arrested three suspects. Jovanka Todorovic, from the Labris gay and lesbian group, told The Associated Press that the man was attacked early morning by a group of young men who beat him with a glass ashtray and shouted: "We don't want foreigners in Belgrade!" Doctors at Belgrade's emergency hospital said the man suffered internal bleeding and head injuries. "He had a surgery and his condition is serious," said Dusan Jovanovic, deputy director of the hospital. The German ambassador to Serbia, Heinz Georg Wilhelm, said that "he is awake, so that is already very good but it is still early to say something." "The doctors told us that the first 24 hours you can't say very much, but he is awake and that is positive," Wilhelm added. Article continues below Serbia, which has a long history of attacks by far-right groups against gay activists, has repeatedly pledged to protect human rights as it seeks European Union membership. Protesting the attack, hundreds of gay rights supporters marched in downtown Belgrade on Saturday carrying signs "Stop the Violence" and "Your Policies, Our Blood." A heavy anti-riot police force presence protected the demonstrators. "If it's true that the attacker said that he does not want foreigners in Serbia, that gives a new xenophobic dimension to the whole incident," Wilhelm said. Serbia's Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic pledged that police will identify the attackers. "I ordered an intensive investigation so the attackers are brought to justice soonest," he said. (c) 2014, Associated Press, All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

A newly discovered dashcam video shows the truck used in the Berlin Christmas Market attack approach its target. After the truck is seen barreling through, you can see people running away from the scene. The video came from a taxi driver's dashcam. He was waiting to pick people up from the busy market. The truck enters on the left side of the screen as it heads toward the exterior wall of the market. 12 were killed in the attack. Another 48 were injured. A Tunisian man named Anis Amri, who pledged allegiance to ISIS , was killed this morning in a shootout with police in Milan. It is difficult to watch so be warned. Here is the video: Alan has previously worked in editorial, marketing, PR, and social networking roles for various websites and news outlets. These include Townhall Media, Newsbusters, MRCTV, and CNSNews. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook . Posted in News Tagged Terrorism

Belgrade, Serbia LGBTQ Nation BELGRADE, Serbia -- A German man who took part in a gay rights conference suffered life-threatening brain injuries when he was severely beaten in downtown Belgrade on Saturday, Serbian police and gay activists said. Belgrade, Serbia The identity of the 27-year-old man has not been released. Police said later Saturday they have arrested three suspects. Jovanka Todorovic, from the Labris gay and lesbian group, told The Associated Press that the man was attacked early morning by a group of young men who beat him with a glass ashtray and shouted: "We don't want foreigners in Belgrade!" Doctors at Belgrade's emergency hospital said the man suffered internal bleeding and head injuries. "He had a surgery and his condition is serious," said Dusan Jovanovic, deputy director of the hospital. The German ambassador to Serbia, Heinz Georg Wilhelm, said that "he is awake, so that is already very good but it is still early to say something." "The doctors told us that the first 24 hours you can't say very much, but he is awake and that is positive," Wilhelm added. Article continues below Serbia, which has a long history of attacks by far-right groups against gay activists, has repeatedly pledged to protect human rights as it seeks European Union membership. Protesting the attack, hundreds of gay rights supporters marched in downtown Belgrade on Saturday carrying signs "Stop the Violence" and "Your Policies, Our Blood." A heavy anti-riot police force presence protected the demonstrators. "If it's true that the attacker said that he does not want foreigners in Serbia, that gives a new xenophobic dimension to the whole incident," Wilhelm said. Serbia's Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic pledged that police will identify the attackers. "I ordered an intensive investigation so the attackers are brought to justice soonest," he said. (c) 2014, Associated Press, All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

The Chancellor faces a fresh wave of fury as around 500 protestors plan to descend on to Gansemarkt, a public square in Hamburg, to protest against her leadership. The first demonstration will take place on the evening of September 5 and organisers say it will take place every first Wednesday of the month - first at the Gansemarkt and followed by another at German city, Dammtor. The Hamburg intelligence agency said: "Counteractions from the left-wing extremist and militant left-extremist milieu are to be expected." It as believed that after 10 anti-Merkel demos in the city centre, protestors had decided to give up after the last one only attracted five protestors to the Heidi-Kabel Square in May. Approval for Mrs Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and sister party Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU) has plunged to its lowest level since 2006, according to an Emnid poll. Support for Ms Merkel's coalition dropped to just 29 per cent, down from 33 per cent in last September's election. Mrs Merkel's conservatives have been embroiled in an internal dispute over whether to turn back migrants at the German border who have registered elsewhere in the European Union. The issue divided longtime conservative allies and posed the most serious challenge yet to Mrs Merkel's leadership in Germany . Additional reporting by Monika Pallenberg

BERLIN (AP) -- Angela Merkel says Germany remains fully committed to the Paris climate accord, despite U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the agreement. Germany's long-time chancellor said Tuesday that the U.S. move was "very regrettable" at a time when the overwhelming majority of countries worldwide are trying to limit global warming. Merkel told a climate meeting with over 30 governments in Berlin that "climate change isn't a matter of faith ... it's a fact," citing new temperature records and the increase in extreme weather events around the world. She said efforts to curb global warming would help limit economic damage and boost innovation. Last year, at a global climate summit in Poland, Merkel urged delegates to hammer out a binding set of rules to govern the 2015 Paris agreement.

BERLIN (AP) -- A man apparently armed with a knife attacked passengers on a crowded bus Friday in the northern German city of Luebeck before being overpowered and arrested, authorities said. Nine people were reported injured, one seriously. Authorities had no immediate information on the assailant's motive for the attack on a city bus in Luebeck, which is near the Baltic coast northeast of Hamburg, but they believed the suspect had no background in terrorism.-- More.... Please SHARE this story as the only way for CFP to beat Facebook anti-Conservative Suppression.

What planet does Big Media think it's living on? Over 300,000 people filled the streets of New York City in September as part of the worldwide People's Climate March, a stirring call for action on global warming. But if you watched TV news that day, you may not have known it happened at all. - Advertisement - The Sunday chat shows totally skipped this historic climate march. Instead, one program on the supposedly liberal MSNBC produced a sad segment about how voters are loyal to either Starbucks or Chick-fil-A. Who cares about a dynamic and broad-based social movement when you can reduce the country's population to two corporate chains? Sensible people know there's no more arguing about climate change: The planet is warming due to human activity. The only important question now is whether we plan to do anything about it. It will require, among other things, a massive shift away from burning oil, gas, and coal, as Naomi Klein argues in her brilliant new book, This Changes Everything . But it's hard to build that kind of political momentum when the most important platform for discussing politics -- the mass media -- doesn't think the future of the planet is a big story. It's a good bet that many reporters who cover politics or the energy industry know that we have to stop burning fossil fuels. Yet they often don't let that fact intrude upon the stories they're reporting. For example, the front page of The New York Times -- still the country's most important newspaper -- told readers last month, "Boom in Energy Spurs Industry in the Rust Belt." This was a "good news" story about a Youngstown, Ohio steel plant that's hiring workers again. What's the cause of the turnaround? Well, the plant is taking orders for fracking equipment. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a highly controversial oil and gas drilling process that pollutes the air, poisons groundwater, and can leak methane , a gas that's far more heat-trapping than carbon dioxide. - Advertisement - But the Times report never mentioned the impact drilling for more fossil fuels will have on climate change. And they're not the only ones: When PBS recently gave viewers a long look at the controversies over fracking in Colorado, it failed to mention the climate implications. This refusal to look at the big picture is a new form of climate change denial. It's logically impossible for journalists to say they believe that we must take action to save the planet -- as The New York Times editorial board has claimed again and again -- and then trumpet the latest fossil fuel-burning project in Ohio because it might create a few dozen jobs. "One of the economy's good-news stories is the oil boom," Robert J. Samuelson wrote recently in a Washington Post column endorsing a massive expansion of the U.S. oil industry. He never mentioned climate change, even though he writes for a newspaper whose editorial board has dedicated a new series to taking the climate crisis seriously. It's pretty simple: We can't tackle climate change while fracking and burning more oil and gas. Big media outlets that refuse to make this simple connection are the new climate denialists.

Outdoorsmen lead the way on conservation throughout the United States. Ammoland news covers state and federal issues on conservation. Today is Saturday, August 11, 2018 RSS feed Video | Ammoland Inc. Posted on June 25, 2015 by AmmoLand Editor JS Ammoland Inc. Posted on June 24, 2015 by Ammoland Ammoland Inc. Posted on June 24, 2015 by Ammoland Ammoland Inc. Posted on June 23, 2015 by Ammoland Ammoland Inc. Posted on June 22, 2015 by Ammoland Rocketman : The GOP are fools if they don't incorporate "We have to regulate every aspect of people's lives." into every political... G-man : I sure didn't se al this crap when Obama was in the white house and he was as close to... Mike L : The Americans put up with decades of British tyranny before they chose to fight it. Like today, many people hesitated... Mark Zanghetti : How could I buy a membership in "Kat's" name? If everyone who could bought a membership in "Kat's" name you... Wild Bill : @Quatermain, Well... brother, first we all know if a judge, senator, congressman, batfe agent or fib agent lives near...

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers # Saturday, June 9, 2018 at 6:00pm 6/9/2018 at 6:00pm Posted by Mary Chastain # Thursday, June 7, 2018 at 5:00pm 6/7/2018 at 5:00pm Senate Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has started to apply pressure on those in her party to oppose the GOP "minibus" spending package that will likely hit the floor on Friday. The minibus bill has "three appropriation bills: Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs." Rejecting this bill... Posted by Mary Chastain # Wednesday, May 2, 2018 at 11:00am 5/2/2018 at 11:00am Posted by Mike LaChance # Wednesday, February 21, 2018 at 9:00am 2/21/2018 at 9:00am Posted by Mike LaChance # Wednesday, February 7, 2018 at 7:00am 2/7/2018 at 7:00am Posted by Fuzzy Slippers # Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 11:30am 1/27/2018 at 11:30am Posted by Kemberlee Kaye # Monday, January 22, 2018 at 5:00pm 1/22/2018 at 5:00pm What the heck was wrong with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Thursday? I planned to write up one set of comments, but I'm glad I didn't because another set of comments came up today that received criticism from her #2 in the House. These comments included slamming the companies that have... After Republicans in the Senate passed a Tax Reform bill in the early hours of Saturday, December 2, there was a collective liberal freak out. Posted by Fuzzy Slippers # Tuesday, November 28, 2017 at 8:30pm 11/28/2017 at 8:30pm Posted by Fuzzy Slippers # Sunday, November 26, 2017 at 5:30pm 11/26/2017 at 5:30pm Posted by Mike LaChance # Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 7:00am 10/3/2017 at 7:00am Posted by Kemberlee Kaye # Thursday, September 14, 2017 at 10:21am 9/14/2017 at 10:21am

I always feel a beautiful sadness when I think of Vincent Van Gogh , or see his art. He loved so hard, yet suffered so deeply with mental illness. Don McLean's 'Starry Starry Night,' written about Van Gogh, is beautifully montaged into this slide show. Van Gogh blessed us with 900 paintings and 1,110 sketches in short 37 years of life. This slideshow was part of an art and creative writing lesson plan for the patients at Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield. Compiled by artist Anthony DiFatta, who also suffers from mental illness and teaches art to other adults with mental illness. Lastly, another slide show without the music. This slideshow requires JavaScript. There have been several movies made about Van Gogh . My personal favorite is, Lust For Life from 1956, starring Kirk Douglas, with Anthony Quinn. Van Gogh was also an artist in words. Here are some of his quotes : "I experience a period of frightening clarity in those moments when nature is so beautiful. I am no longer sure of myself, and the paintings appear as in a dream" ~Vincent Van Gogh "How can I be useful, of what service can I be? There is something inside me, what can it be?" ~Vincent Van Gogh "I wish they would only take me as I am." ~Vincent Van Gogh "The more I think about it, the more I realize there is nothing more artistic than to love others." ~ Vincent Van Gogh On some days, I can't seem to get enough of Vincent Van Gogh. This is one of those days. (Visited 45 times, 1 visits today) Leslie Salzillo is a pro-choice mother, Rush Limbaugh boycotter , political commentator and visual artist. She began contributing to Liberals Unite in June of 2013. Join her on the new Facebook page, Pro-Choice Liberals. Latest posts by Leslie Salzillo ( see all )

Running a Shopify store is a great way to net some extra cash on the side or--if you really know what you're doing--replace your 9-to-5 altogether. However, success doesn't come naturally, and newcomers tend to receive mixed results when starting on their own. This E-Commerce Bootcamp can help start your Shopify venture off on the right [...] You might be used to rolling your own smokes, but let's face it: it's not the cleanest or most eco-friendly way to enjoy your habit. Instead of fussing with papers, the Twisty Glass Blunt makes having a smoke as easy as packing your herb, twisting, and lighting up. You can get your own in the [...] Every brand has a story, and animation is one of the best ways to tell it. That's why companies aren't afraid to pay a premium for professional animators to bring their brands to life and connect with their audiences. However, for those of us lacking the funds for a full animation team or the know-how [...]

I'm heading to Scotland for the Edinburgh Festival where I'm appearing with the wonderful Ada Palmer on August 12th at 845PM (we're talking about the apocalypse, science fiction and hopefulness); from there, I'm heading to the 76th World Science Fiction Convention in San Jose, California, where I'll be doing a bunch of panels, signings and [...] Running a Shopify store is a great way to net some extra cash on the side or--if you really know what you're doing--replace your 9-to-5 altogether. However, success doesn't come naturally, and newcomers tend to receive mixed results when starting on their own. This E-Commerce Bootcamp can help start your Shopify venture off on the right [...] You might be used to rolling your own smokes, but let's face it: it's not the cleanest or most eco-friendly way to enjoy your habit. Instead of fussing with papers, the Twisty Glass Blunt makes having a smoke as easy as packing your herb, twisting, and lighting up. You can get your own in the [...] Every brand has a story, and animation is one of the best ways to tell it. That's why companies aren't afraid to pay a premium for professional animators to bring their brands to life and connect with their audiences. However, for those of us lacking the funds for a full animation team or the know-how [...]

South Africa to Downsize Embassy in Israel in Protest of Trump Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president. (Photo via Twitter) The African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party in South Africa, decided on Wednesday to downsize its embassy in Israel to a liaison office, in response to the American government's controversial policy changes in the country. Official Palestinian Authority (PA)-owned Wafa news agency reported that the decision was made directly in response to US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. "In order to give our practical expression of support to the oppressed people of Palestine, the ANC has unanimously resolved to direct the SA government to immediately and unconditionally downgrade the South African Embassy in Israel to a Liaison Office," Wafa quoted the ANC statement as saying. BRKG from South Africa: ANC votes to downgrade South Africa relations with Israel #ANC54 https://t.co/tgHpiNxaBO -- Nour Odeh (@nour_odeh) December 20, 2017 The ANC said that their move would "send a clear message to Israel that there is a price to pay for its human rights abuses and violations of international law." Meanwhile, according to Wafa, Palestine ambassador to South Africa, Hashem Dajani, welcomed the move as "an important decision," expressing hope that it would encourage other international powers to follow South Africa's lead. South Africa: Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), with over 60,000 students, joins academic boycott of Israel. "This is another major win for the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement contributing to a formidable momentum for Palestine!" https://t.co/INKKrx60og pic.twitter.com/NKVFVDMOoH -- PACBI (@PACBI) December 18, 2017 Trump's decision on Jerusalem has been met by international condemnation and has escalated tension in the occupied Palestinian territories. Since his decision, 10 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, while hundreds others have been injured and arrested. (Maan, PC, Social Media) Help the Palestine Chronicle Build a Movement of Truth Please help us continue with this vital mission. To make a contribution using your Paypal account or credit card, please click HERE Or kindly send your contribution to: PO Box 196, Mountlake Terrace, WA, 98043, USA

President Donald Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel today, a controversial move that undoes decades of U.S. foreign policy. The decision is part of a plan to shift the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, something Trump promised during his 2016 campaign. Moving the embassy is a long process that will take several years, but formally recognizing Israel's capital is the first step. Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro joined Glenn on today's show to share his perspective on Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem. To see more from Glenn, visit his channel on TheBlaze and listen live to "The Glenn Beck Radio Program" with Glenn Beck and Stu Burguiere weekdays 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. ET on TheBlaze Radio Network . For more information, please see our Terms of Use. Now, go have fun and speak your mind!

Clashes erupted Friday between Palestinian youth and Israeli troops near the Gaza-Israel border amid ongoing Palestinian protests against US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Friday's clashes occurred near the Gaza-Israel border east of the strip's southern city of Khan Younis. According to witnesses, dozens of young Palestinians hurled stones at Israeli troops stationed on the other side of the border fence, while the latter responded with teargas, rubber bullets and live ammunition. As of mid-afternoon, no deaths or injuries had been reported. The Palestinian territories have remained tense since last December, when US President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, drawing widespread condemnation from across the Arab and Muslim world. In the almost three months since, Palestinians in the West Bank and the blockaded Gaza Strip have held rallies each Friday -- often leading to clashes with Israeli forces -- to protest the controversial U.S. decision. According to recent reports, the US administration plans to officially move its Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in mid-May. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Israeli Warplanes Breach Lebanese Airspace (Image: File) Two Israeli fighter jets and another reconnaissance aircraft have violated the Lebanese airspace, Lebanese army reported yesterday. According to the army's statement, the two warplanes violated the Lebanese airspace over Aalama Ech Chaab, adding that they had flown over the southern town of Chekka and then left the country's airspace. -- al whit (@soitiz) February 28, 2018 The Israeli reconnaissance aircraft, the army added, flew over the southern cities of Rayak and Baalbek and then left the airspace. The Lebanese authorities called on the UN Security Council to force Israel to halt its violations against Lebanon's sovereignty and to implement the provisions of the council's resolution 1701. Lebanon's airspace and territorial waters have been constantly exposed to Israeli breaches, whether through military boats, warplanes or reconnaissance aircraft. ( MEMO, PC, Social Media ) Help the Palestine Chronicle Build a Movement of Truth Please help us continue with this vital mission. To make a contribution using your Paypal account or credit card, please click HERE Or kindly send your contribution to: PO Box 196, Mountlake Terrace, WA, 98043, USA

Israeli occupation forces shot and wounded 22 Palestinians during Friday protests near the eastern border of the Gaza Strip, the Ministry of Health in the enclave has announced. According to a spokesman for the ministry, those who were wounded were from different parts of the besieged territory, with seven from Jabalia, six from Gaza City, four from Khan Younis and five from Al-Burij Refugee Camp. Ashraf Al-Qidra added that 16 of the protesters suffered "moderate" injuries. They were shot when dozens of Palestinian headed to the border to protest against the ongoing siege and US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel . The Israelis mobilised their occupation troops across the border, fearing a potential confrontation, Anadolu news agency reported. Such demonstrations have been held regularly ever since Trump's Jerusalem announcement in December. UN officials have pointed out that the Israeli occupation forces have been using lethal force to deter these protests, even though the demonstrators are on the Palestinian side of the border. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

The Tunisian parliament yesterday voted by an absolute majority to condemn US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and held the US Congress responsible. A majority of 121 lawmakers voted in favour of the decision, two MPs objected and two abstained. The voting took place during an emergency session held yesterday following Trump's announcement. "The People's Assembly expresses its rejection of this resolution which constitutes an attack on all human values, is a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter and international legitimacy, the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and to build their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital and a direct threat to international peace and security," the decision read. It described the US decision as "a provocation to the feelings of Arabs and Muslims and all the free world". This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Violent crime, shootings and robberies are up by double-digit percentages from last year, and Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh explained at a news briefing that she had asked the FBI's Baltimore office for assistance in stemming the murders. The predominantly black city in Maryland, has experienced more than 100 murders before the end of April. Five people were killed during one weekend, and the total number of homicides in 2017 is already up to 108, according to the Baltimore Sun. This year registers the city's highest murder rate per capita in history, according to the Baltimore Sun. The murder rate is now up more than 30 percent compared to last year. "Murder is out of control," Pugh said at her weekly news briefing, according to CNN. "There are too many guns on the streets. We're looking for all the help we can get." But Pugh did not mention that the guns were being wielded by African-American gangs. The city however has the lowest number of police officers in around a decade, with only 2 500 law enforcers. "You get in a crisis mode like we're in right now with crime out of control and not enough uniformed officers on the street," Lt. Gene Ryan, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, told WJZ. "I would say it's at a crisis point." The mayor's spokesman, Anthony McCarthy, confirmed that Pugh had requested additional agents to help fight violent crime. He said more FBI agents could be brought in or reassigned to work with local police. "The summers in Baltimore tend to be very violent," McCarthy said, according to KSAT. "And the mayor wants to get a handle on all the murders, the flood of guns on the streets and the gang activity." The US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it wants to assist the Baltimore Police with a gun-tracing van to solve murders. In Chicago, Illinois, another predominantly African-American city, more than 1 000 people have been shot and nearly 200 murders have been reported in the first four months of 2017. Last year was the most violent year in the history of Chicago. In April 2016, there were 36 reported murders compared to 45 this year, an increase of 9 murders. There were a total of 247 shootings this April, only six less than the 253 reported in April 2016. Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson however said that the overall number of people shot has gone down from 1 129 last year to 1 051 so far this year. "The shooting incidents are down a little bit over 100 from the same time last year, so that's some encouraging sign. The number of shooting victims is actually down, so if we can keep trending in that direction, then we should be setting ourselves up for a pretty good year," Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said, according to WBBM. He said the new anti-crime website and "ShotSpotter" gunshot technology that has been installed in the most violent areas in the city have made a difference. "We put those new strategic support centers in both of those districts, so a lot of that technology is helping us be more proactive in the way that we deploy," Johnson said. According to a 2013 PEW Research Center survey, the household gun ownership rate in rural white areas was 2.11 times greater than in urban areas ("Why Own a Gun? Protection is Now Top Reason," PEW Research Center, March 12, 2013). Suburban households are 28.6 percent more likely to own guns than urban households. But despite lower gun ownership, urban areas experience much higher murder rates. It is thus interesting to note that in many traditional areas of the United States there are both very high gun ownership rates and zero murders. Studies show that murders in the US are heavily concentrated in very small minority-dominated areas, and not a nationwide problem.

Violent crime, shootings and robberies are up by double-digit percentages from last year, and Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh explained at a news briefing that she had asked the FBI's Baltimore office for assistance in stemming the murders. The predominantly black city in Maryland, has experienced more than 100 murders before the end of April. Five people were killed during one weekend, and the total number of homicides in 2017 is already up to 108, according to the Baltimore Sun. This year registers the city's highest murder rate per capita in history, according to the Baltimore Sun. The murder rate is now up more than 30 percent compared to last year. "Murder is out of control," Pugh said at her weekly news briefing, according to CNN. "There are too many guns on the streets. We're looking for all the help we can get." But Pugh did not mention that the guns were being wielded by African-American gangs. The city however has the lowest number of police officers in around a decade, with only 2 500 law enforcers. "You get in a crisis mode like we're in right now with crime out of control and not enough uniformed officers on the street," Lt. Gene Ryan, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, told WJZ. "I would say it's at a crisis point." The mayor's spokesman, Anthony McCarthy, confirmed that Pugh had requested additional agents to help fight violent crime. He said more FBI agents could be brought in or reassigned to work with local police. "The summers in Baltimore tend to be very violent," McCarthy said, according to KSAT. "And the mayor wants to get a handle on all the murders, the flood of guns on the streets and the gang activity." The US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it wants to assist the Baltimore Police with a gun-tracing van to solve murders. In Chicago, Illinois, another predominantly African-American city, more than 1 000 people have been shot and nearly 200 murders have been reported in the first four months of 2017. Last year was the most violent year in the history of Chicago. In April 2016, there were 36 reported murders compared to 45 this year, an increase of 9 murders. There were a total of 247 shootings this April, only six less than the 253 reported in April 2016. Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson however said that the overall number of people shot has gone down from 1 129 last year to 1 051 so far this year. "The shooting incidents are down a little bit over 100 from the same time last year, so that's some encouraging sign. The number of shooting victims is actually down, so if we can keep trending in that direction, then we should be setting ourselves up for a pretty good year," Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said, according to WBBM. He said the new anti-crime website and "ShotSpotter" gunshot technology that has been installed in the most violent areas in the city have made a difference. "We put those new strategic support centers in both of those districts, so a lot of that technology is helping us be more proactive in the way that we deploy," Johnson said. According to a 2013 PEW Research Center survey, the household gun ownership rate in rural white areas was 2.11 times greater than in urban areas ("Why Own a Gun? Protection is Now Top Reason," PEW Research Center, March 12, 2013). Suburban households are 28.6 percent more likely to own guns than urban households. But despite lower gun ownership, urban areas experience much higher murder rates. It is thus interesting to note that in many traditional areas of the United States there are both very high gun ownership rates and zero murders. Studies show that murders in the US are heavily concentrated in very small minority-dominated areas, and not a nationwide problem.

The spray and pray method isn't effective as it used to be. Via Guns Despite yet another violence-filled weekend in the Windy City, statistics released from the police department last week suggest that while shootings are on the rise in Chicago, homicides are actually down for the first half of 2014, the Associated Press reports. Over the Independence Day weekend, from Friday to Sunday, Chicago saw at least 50 people shot, seven fatally, bringing the total tally for the year so far to 1,129 shooting victims in the city - an 8 percent increase from this time last year. Over this same weekend last year, more than 70 were shot, 12 fatally. Yet even as astounding as those numbers are, there still remains a positive side -- the city reports a 5 percent decrease in murders, the fewest in the first half of the year for more than 50 years. Nonetheless, there are some communities within the city that are more plagued with violence than others, and those cities have been part of the focus in an attempt to reduce the ever-growing violence. "We looked at these communities, and we've put additional resources into these communities," Robert Tracy, chief of crime control strategies for Chicago Police, told the Chicago Sun-Times. Those resources include not only additional law enforcement, but social services as well, Tracy said. "We will keep building on our strategy, putting more officers on the street in summer months, proactively intervening in gang conflicts, partnering with community leaders," Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said in a statement.

In Los Angeles, police say someone spray-painted the N-word on a gate outside the home of NBA superstar LeBron James Wednesday. The hate crime came just one day before James and his Cleveland Cavaliers are set to take on the Golden State Warriors in the NBA finals. Speaking to reporters in Oakland, James said the incident was a reminder that being black in America is "tough." LeBron James : "And I think back to Emmett Till's mom. Actually, it was kind of one of the first things I thought of. And the reason that she had an open casket is because she wanted to show the world what her son went through as far as a hate crime and being black in America. So it's like it doesn't--no matter how much money you have, no matter how famous you are, no matter how many people admire you, being black in America is--it's tough."

Rahm is a genius, how does he come up with this stuff? Via Guns Speaking of what he terms the city's, "model gun control legislation," Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is scrambling to defend a rising murder rate less than a week away from a crucial election. The move comes just a day after the Chicago Police Department released its first quarter crime data that, although notes a slight overall decrease in crime rates, also highlight the fact that the number of shootings has risen some 40 percent over the same period last year. Overall, Chicago authorities recorded 18 more homicides and 102 more shootings in the first three months of 2015 when compared to the first quarter of last year. Averaged out over the period, there was a shooting in the city roughly every five hours. The Mayor, speaking Wednesday, said he was proud of the overall decrease in crime and cited that illegal gun seizures in city are also up. However when the number shootings comes into play, Emanuel explained that while the city has very strict gun control policies, the rest of the state needs to follow its lead to prevent illegal firearms from finding their way to Chicago's streets. "That means, while we have model gun control legislation here -- at gun stores, it's now filmed. There are further background checks," Emanuel said to the Sun Times . "[But] to get the gains we need, you need to change the gun laws. Which means Springfield has to step up."[...] The police department, weighing in on crime numbers, promised more interaction between law enforcement and residents, but added weight to Emanuel's call for even more gun laws. "We will continue building on our community policing philosophy, putting more officers in high crime areas, intervening in gang conflicts, and fostering stronger relationships with the communities we serve," Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said. "Yet even with the strongest partnerships and best policing in the world without better state and federal laws to help keep illegal guns off the streets we will continue to face an uphill battle."

Of course the gun nuts, their lobby, and the elected officials who have traded their souls for the money trot out the platitude that mass shootings demonstrate the need for better mental health care, not gun control. On Saturday morning , a young man with a background full of warning signs walked into the public library in Winchester, Massachusetts, armed with a large knife, and fatally stabbed a young woman who was reading at a table. Bystanders, including a 77-year-old man, rushed to help and were able to keep the man at bay until the police arrived. One is dead, another injured. It's awful. But it's not another 17 dead bodies. Jeffrey Yao lived in Massachusetts where it's a lot harder to get a gun and there is much less "rah rah, we love guns" in the culture. When the madness seized him, he had only a knife. Certainly we need a better system for dealing with mentally ill people who behave like Jeffrey Yao and Nikolas Cruz. Perhaps we could ask the psych experts instead of the police and courts to work on a system that protects the public and the individual. That will be a hard task. Gun control is not a hard task. Get it done.

The doors of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) are open to all Kurds without any conditions or descriptions in the upcoming period of local and general elections, MHP Deputy Chairman Celal Adan said. Speaking in a televised interview Thursday, MHP Deputy Chairman Adan said his party has never hurt any Kurdish person. "The doors of the MHP are open to them. The doors of the MHP are open to Kurds without any description," he said, underscoring that the MHP is the most dynamic political party in the southeastern and eastern region. Stressing that the MHP will get many votes from the region in the 2019 local and general elections, Adan said the party has branches in southeastern Diyarbakir and Sirnak provinces as well as in eastern Agri province. "We had a deputy from Bingol in 1999. We had deputies in Van and Bitlis. As long as there is the MHP, there will not be any Turkish-Kurdish conflict. The MHP is the assurance for that." There has been recent criticism that an alliance between the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the MHP would not be able to garner votes from Kurds due to the latter. Responding to these comments, Adan said that such words are uttered by those who are against Turkey's Operation Olive Branch fighting the PKK-affiliated People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria's Afrin region. "The MHP is not perceived by any Kurdish citizen in such a way," he said. Commenting on the recent talks between the AK Party and the MHP to forge an alliance in the 2019 elections, Adan said authorities from both parties work on the issue around the clock. "They carry out their works under chairmen. This alliance is a grand alliance. It is an alliance that will cruise Turkey to welfare," he said. Asserting that citizens lend great support to the idea of the alliance, Adan said cooperation between the AK Party and the MHP gives comfort to people. The two parties have been on the same page on several issues for a while, and they agreed to form an alliance in the 2019 local and general elections as well as the presidential elections. MHP Chairman Devlet Bahceli has called it a "people's alliance," while President and AK Party Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan termed it a "domestic and national alliance." The alliance has recently been termed the "national agreement." MHP Chairman Bahceli previously made it publicly known that his party would not nominate a candidate and instead support President Erdogan's re-election, which became the first step toward a political alliance for the 2019 presidential elections. Adan reiterated that the MHP's candidate would be President Erdogan. "Every party will enter the elections with their own identity, but the allied party, namely the AK Party and the MHP, will enter the elections with their own emblems on the ballots," he said, adding that those voting for the AK Party would automatically vote for the MHP as well. The MHP deputy chairman also said the alliance of the two parties would be implemented in the March 2019 local elections without a problem.

Turkish Chief of General Staff General Hulusi Akar said on Tuesday that Turkey "would not and will not allow" arming the Kurdish terrorist group YPG in Syria, news agencies reported. Speaking at a NATO meeting in Brussels, Akar said that "it is unacceptable to support the [Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units] (YPG) under the guise of being an 'operational partner.'" He stressed that the YPG is an extension of the PKK and called for the US to "return from its mistake" in supporting the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Several top Turkish officials have announced their anger with the US plan to form a border security forces in the north of Syria in cooperation with the YPG. On Monday, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country is ready "at any moment" to start an operation in the besieged border area of Syria. He described the forces formed by the US as a "an army of terrorists created by the US on the Turkish borders," vowing to destroy it. Speaking at a Justice and Development (AK) Party parliamentary group meeting in Ankara, he said: "NATO, you are obliged to take a stand against those who harass the borders of one of your partners." Then, he asked: "To date, what position have you adopted?" He also said that the Turkish army would conduct its operations in the north of Syria with the assistance of the Syrian opposition. "This fight is made for them. We are helping our brothers there so that they can protect their own territories," said Erdogan, stressing that the Turkish army would "destroy" all terror spots in Syria one by one, starting with the Afrin and Manbij regions. Last Thursday, the Turkish foreign minister told his American counterpart that keeping FETO's leader in the US and arming YPG would negatively affect mutual relations between the two countries. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Economic realities must be taken into account in any global agreement on tackling ever-threatening climate change, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said. In a speech at the U.N. Climate Change Summit in New York on Tuesday, Erdogan said Turkey was "ready to do its part" in the fight against global warming. He said: "A new binding agreement should include certain flexibilities for countries, within the scope of common but differentiated responsibilities." The president also emphasized that the rights of the least-developed countries should be protected in creating new policies, as they are not the cause of climate change, but the most-affected by its results. "Developed countries should assume more responsibility in the fight with climate change, with regard to reducing carbon emissions and financial and technological support," Erdogan added. - 'Comprehensive projects' The current climate change summit is to shape next year's Paris conference, which has been billed as the most important climate change meeting since Kyoto in 1997. The treaty is expected to include new measures to limit the rise in global warming. Mentioning Turkey's individual contributions in the fight against climate change, Erdogan said Turkey had reduced its carbon emissions by 21 per cent between 1990 and 2012. "This figure excludes Turkey's comprehensive projects on forests," Erdogan said. Erdogan said Turkey is continuing its efforts within the scope of the 2011-2023 Climate Change Action Plan, aimed at increasing the share of renewable energy in total energy production to 30 per cent, and decreasing the size of energy in the economy by 20 per cent.

Reacting to the deployment, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi says his country will consider Turkey an "enemy" if there is a confrontation. The 30-vehicle convoy included tanks, tank rescue vehicles and construction vehicles, according to Turkish military sources. ( TRT World and Agencies ) Turkey's armed forces deployed tanks and other armoured vehicles to the town of Silopi near the Iraqi border. Ankara fears that both PKK terrorists and Shia militias, which the Iraqi army has relied on in the past, will be used in the anti-Daesh operation in Mosul and stoke ethnic blood-letting. "We are right now in a serious fight against terrorist groups, both inside Turkey and just outside our border," Turkey's Defence Minister Fikri Isik said in Ankara on Tuesday. "Turkey must be ready for all possibilities, the deployment is part of these preparations. We will not allow the threat to Turkey to increase." The deployment coincides with an offensive by the international coalition to expel Daesh from its stronghold in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi warned Turkey against provoking a confrontation. Sirnak province, where Silopi is located, is one of the main areas of conflict between the Turkish army and the PKK. ( TRT World and Agencies ) Al-Abadi said he does not want war but that "the invasion of Iraq will lead to Turkey being dismantled." "If a confrontation happens, we are ready for it. We will consider [Turkey] an enemy and we will deal with it as an enemy," he said. Ties between the two neighbours have been strained over Turkey's military base located in Bashiqa, northeast of Mosul. Turkey is training peshmerga and other local forces in the fight against Daesh. Iraq accuses Turkey of violating its territory. But Turkey argues that it had prior permission from both Baghdad and the autonomous Iraqi regional government (KRG). Ankara is also concerned that the PKK will take advantage of a security vacuum which may emerge after the end of the Mosul offensive, and use parts of northern Iraq, including Sinjar, as bases to launch attacks on Turkish soil. Last week, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara is considering a ground offensive if it feels threatened by developments in Iraq. Turkish troops stationed at the Bashiqa camp train peshmerga and other local forces in the fight against Daesh. ( TRT World and Agencies ) On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara will have a "different response" for Shia militias if they "cause terror" in Iraq's northwestern city of Tal Afar. The city is home to a sizeable ethnic Turkmen population with historic and cultural ties to Turkey. Erdogan's statement came days after Hashd al Shaabi, Shia militias aligned to the Iraqi government, torched two mosques, several homes and private vehicles in the country's town of Rutba, which is mainly inhabited by Sunni Muslims. Source: TRTWorld and agencies

A U.S. State Department official held direct talks for the first time last weekend with a Syrian Kurdish group involved in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in Syria, including the besieged town of Kobani, the State Department said on Thursday. Following the talks, the last three days saw an upsurge in U.S. airstrikes on ISIS militants besieging the town, and Kurdish spokesmen said their forces were giving coordinates of the militants' positions to the U.S. "We have for some time had conversations through intermediaries with the PYD [Democratic Union Party]. We have engaged over the course of just the last weekend with the PYD," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in Washington. A senior administration official said the talks, which involved a State Department official, took place in Paris. U.S. officials consider the talks legal as the PYD and its armed forces - People's Protection Units (YPG) - battle against ISIS, even though the PYD is the Syrian affiliate of the PKK, which is on the terror list of many countries, including the U.S., EU and Turkey. The PKK has been in a long war against Turkey with the aim of separating the southeast of Turkey to establish an independent Kurdistan that will contain Kurdish areas in Syria, Iraq and Iran. Turkey has started a reconciliation process by making investments in the area and presenting democratization packages. Despite the ongoing peaceful era, which has recently run into trouble by the PKK organizing violent protests and killing innocent people, Turkey considers the PKK and its factions as a threat and demands its allies regard its concerns of the organization. The U.S. approves of a tactic to consolidate relations with Kurdish factions, as President Barack Obama has refused to send troops on the ground. Also, last week the Pentagon said that the airstrikes are insufficient to beat ISIS. The U.S.-backed Kurdish factions say they are defending their homeland. The U.S. is seemingly trying to please both sides, as a Pentagon spokesman on Thursday, touching on how talks over cooperation with Turkey went, said, "Very, very well." Rear Admiral John Kirby also said, "The discussions were positive, we think [...] our team's coming away with, I think, a general good report here, but I wouldn't get ahead of anything Turkey may or may not do."

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) ended its ceasefire with Turkey on Thursday after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development (AKP) Party swept parliamentary elections. "The unilateral state of inaction has ended due to the AKP (Justice and Development Party) government's latest attacks," declared the organization . "After the election, the AKP has demonstrated it is going to be a war government." On Wednesday, Erdogan told Turkey he seeks to promote a new constitution for the NATO country and "vowed to annihilate Kurdish separatists." Turkey, along with the U.S., EU, and NATO, consider the communist organization a terrorist group. "We will continue this fight until the terrorist organization lays down weapons, buries them in the ground, and pours concrete over them--until all its members surrender or are eliminated," he exclaimed. "The period ahead of us is not one of talks and discussions; it's a period to achieve results." The Turkish government executed airstrikes on the PKK in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq shortly after the elections. Officials stated two soldiers and fifteen militants died in these attacks. The relative peace between the PKK and Turkey collapsed in July when Erdogan finally joined the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL). But the PKK and Kurds claimed he used it as an excuse to target them. Evidence showed Turkish forces bombed areas in northern Iraq, miles away from the designated ISIS targets in Syria. "We have always made it clear that we are ready for a bilateral ceasefire," stated their executive committee . "But it's not possible to maintain a state of inaction in the face of the AKP's current policies." In August, the PKK declared an autonomous region in the Dersim province. Rudaw reports : "We declare our self-management," said Muhsin Kula, who claimed to be part of the new government. "Our villages and cities have been turned into ruins. The latest Varto case is proof that humanity is dead." Varto is a town in eastern Turkey where on or around August 10 a female PKK fighter named Ekin Van was allegedly raped and killed before her naked body was dragged through the streets by Turkish security forces. The incident has outraged Kurds throughout the region. "We will not recognize state institutions in this region. We hereby declared that we manage ourselves," Kula said. In July, Rudaw and Turkish outlet Zaman reported that Turkish forces struck Iraqi Kurdistan, far from Turkey's original targets. A few days later, PKK claimed Turkish airstrikes destroyed a health clinic, and 30 Turkish F-16s killed 200 Kurdish militants.

Marc Levy, AP ACLU lawyer Witold J. Walczak speaks alongside many of the 23 men, women and children who are plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to overturn Pa. ban on same-sex marriage. MARC LEVY [ap] Updated, 9:00 p.m. EDT HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Civil rights lawyers filed the first known legal challenge Tuesday on behalf of 23 men, women and children seeking to overturn a 17-year-old state law effectively banning same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania, the only northeastern state that doesn't allow it or civil unions. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Harrisburg, also asks a federal judge to prevent state officials from stopping gay couples from getting married. It names Gov. Tom Corbett, Attorney General Kathleen Kane and three other officials. Marc Levy, AP ACLU lawyer Witold J. Walczak speaks alongside many of the 23 men, women and children who are plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to overturn Pa. ban on same-sex marriage. Marc Levy, AP The Whitewoods _ Landon, 2, Susan, 49, Abbey, 16, Katie, 14, and Deb, 45, after a news conference to announce that they are the lead plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to overturn a state law banning same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania. The plaintiffs are a widow, 10 couples and one of the couples' two teenage daughters. They include four couples who were legally married in other states but whose marriages go unrecognized by Pennsylvania. Same-sex marriage is legal, or soon will be, in 13 states. The lawsuit seeks to legalize it in Pennsylvania and to force the state to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples who wed in other jurisdictions. Lawyers in the case believe it is ultimately bound for the U.S. Supreme Court, probably along with similar cases that are cropping up in other states, and could force the high court to rule on the core question of whether it is unconstitutional to deny same-sex couples the right to marry. The plaintiffs, some of whom spoke during a news conference in the state Capitol after the lawsuit was filed, said their willingness to join was driven partly by a desire to have the legal and financial protections afforded to opposite-sex couples, but mostly by the emotional satisfaction of seeking social justice. "Everyone in our world recognizes us as a true family," said Deb Whitewood, 45, who lives in the Pittsburgh suburb of Bridgeville with her partner of 22 years, Susan Whitewood, and their three children. "We feel that it's time that the commonwealth of Pennsylvania did, too." Another couple, Dara Raspberry and Helena Miller, who were cradling their 6-week-old dau ghter, said they married in Connecticut before moving to Philadelphia to be closer to family. But, Raspberry said, they were forced "to become unmarried and less of a family" under Pennsylvania law. Isabel Rieser, the 21-year-old adopted daughter of plaintiffs Len Rieser and Fernando Chang-Muy of Philadelphia, said her two fathers should be able to marry after 32 years of commitment. "Besides, I am so over being a child out of wedlock," Rieser joked. "I look forward to my parents finally getting married. I have so many ideas for their wedding: food, location, decorations." The plaintiffs are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Philadelphia law firm of Hangley, Aronchick, Segal, Pudlin and Schiller. Spokesman for Corbett and Kane would only say that their offices are reviewing the lawsuit. Corbett has said he opposes gay marriage; Kane has said she supports it. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs said banning gay marriage satisfi es no legitimate government or child welfare concerns, since Pennsylvania judges routinely grant adoptions to same-sex couples that are viewed as in the best interest of the child. "It serves only to disparage and injure lesbian and gay couples and their families," the lawsuit said. For instance, the suit says, same-sex couples do not have access to a long list of legal and financial protections. Those include an inheritance tax exemption for widows; an automatic power of attorney for spouses in health care decisions; damages and legal recourse under workers' compensation laws for a spouse; assistance programs for same-sex widows and widowers of military personnel and veterans; pension and survivor benefits for widows and widowers of public employees; Family Medical Leave Act provisions; and a spouse's Social Security retirement benefits. The lawsuit, in the works since January, was not spurred by the U.S. Supreme Court's 3-week-old decision that the federal government must grant federal benefits to same-sex couples who were married and live in states that allow same-sex marriage. But the ACLU's legal director in Pennsylvania, Witold J. Walczak, said the nation's changing laws and evolving public opinion made it the right time to challenge the law after 17 years on Pennsylvania's books. Federal courts in California are so far the only ones that have said a state same-sex marriage ban violates the U.S. Constitution. Meanwhile, federal court challenges are emerging in other states, including Nevada, Hawaii and Michigan. In the coming days and weeks, the ACLU plans to lodge same-sex marriage challenges in North Carolina and Virginia. It is also pursuing same-sex marriage legislation in several other states and referenda in Oregon and Nevada in the coming years, ACLU lawyers said. Every state except Pennsylvania in the northeastern United States allows same-sex marriage except New Jersey, which allows civil unions. A 1996 Pennsylvania law defines marriage as a civil contract in which a man and a woman take each other as husband and wife, and it says same-sex marriages, even if entered legally elsewhere, are void in Pennsylvania. State law does not allow civil unions. (c) 2013, Associated Press, All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Marc Levy, AP ACLU lawyer Witold J. Walczak speaks alongside many of the 23 men, women and children who are plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to overturn Pa. ban on same-sex marriage. MARC LEVY [ap] Updated, 9:00 p.m. EDT HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Civil rights lawyers filed the first known legal challenge Tuesday on behalf of 23 men, women and children seeking to overturn a 17-year-old state law effectively banning same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania, the only northeastern state that doesn't allow it or civil unions. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Harrisburg, also asks a federal judge to prevent state officials from stopping gay couples from getting married. It names Gov. Tom Corbett, Attorney General Kathleen Kane and three other officials. Marc Levy, AP ACLU lawyer Witold J. Walczak speaks alongside many of the 23 men, women and children who are plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to overturn Pa. ban on same-sex marriage. Marc Levy, AP The Whitewoods _ Landon, 2, Susan, 49, Abbey, 16, Katie, 14, and Deb, 45, after a news conference to announce that they are the lead plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to overturn a state law banning same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania. The plaintiffs are a widow, 10 couples and one of the couples' two teenage daughters. They include four couples who were legally married in other states but whose marriages go unrecognized by Pennsylvania. Same-sex marriage is legal, or soon will be, in 13 states. The lawsuit seeks to legalize it in Pennsylvania and to force the state to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples who wed in other jurisdictions. Lawyers in the case believe it is ultimately bound for the U.S. Supreme Court, probably along with similar cases that are cropping up in other states, and could force the high court to rule on the core question of whether it is unconstitutional to deny same-sex couples the right to marry. The plaintiffs, some of whom spoke during a news conference in the state Capitol after the lawsuit was filed, said their willingness to join was driven partly by a desire to have the legal and financial protections afforded to opposite-sex couples, but mostly by the emotional satisfaction of seeking social justice. "Everyone in our world recognizes us as a true family," said Deb Whitewood, 45, who lives in the Pittsburgh suburb of Bridgeville with her partner of 22 years, Susan Whitewood, and their three children. "We feel that it's time that the commonwealth of Pennsylvania did, too." Another couple, Dara Raspberry and Helena Miller, who were cradling their 6-week-old dau ghter, said they married in Connecticut before moving to Philadelphia to be closer to family. But, Raspberry said, they were forced "to become unmarried and less of a family" under Pennsylvania law. Isabel Rieser, the 21-year-old adopted daughter of plaintiffs Len Rieser and Fernando Chang-Muy of Philadelphia, said her two fathers should be able to marry after 32 years of commitment. "Besides, I am so over being a child out of wedlock," Rieser joked. "I look forward to my parents finally getting married. I have so many ideas for their wedding: food, location, decorations." The plaintiffs are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Philadelphia law firm of Hangley, Aronchick, Segal, Pudlin and Schiller. Spokesman for Corbett and Kane would only say that their offices are reviewing the lawsuit. Corbett has said he opposes gay marriage; Kane has said she supports it. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs said banning gay marriage satisfi es no legitimate government or child welfare concerns, since Pennsylvania judges routinely grant adoptions to same-sex couples that are viewed as in the best interest of the child. "It serves only to disparage and injure lesbian and gay couples and their families," the lawsuit said. For instance, the suit says, same-sex couples do not have access to a long list of legal and financial protections. Those include an inheritance tax exemption for widows; an automatic power of attorney for spouses in health care decisions; damages and legal recourse under workers' compensation laws for a spouse; assistance programs for same-sex widows and widowers of military personnel and veterans; pension and survivor benefits for widows and widowers of public employees; Family Medical Leave Act provisions; and a spouse's Social Security retirement benefits. The lawsuit, in the works since January, was not spurred by the U.S. Supreme Court's 3-week-old decision that the federal government must grant federal benefits to same-sex couples who were married and live in states that allow same-sex marriage. But the ACLU's legal director in Pennsylvania, Witold J. Walczak, said the nation's changing laws and evolving public opinion made it the right time to challenge the law after 17 years on Pennsylvania's books. Federal courts in California are so far the only ones that have said a state same-sex marriage ban violates the U.S. Constitution. Meanwhile, federal court challenges are emerging in other states, including Nevada, Hawaii and Michigan. In the coming days and weeks, the ACLU plans to lodge same-sex marriage challenges in North Carolina and Virginia. It is also pursuing same-sex marriage legislation in several other states and referenda in Oregon and Nevada in the coming years, ACLU lawyers said. Every state except Pennsylvania in the northeastern United States allows same-sex marriage except New Jersey, which allows civil unions. A 1996 Pennsylvania law defines marriage as a civil contract in which a man and a woman take each other as husband and wife, and it says same-sex marriages, even if entered legally elsewhere, are void in Pennsylvania. State law does not allow civil unions. (c) 2013, Associated Press, All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Gay couples in Wisconsin swooped into courthouses last night and early this morning to take advantage of the temporary lift of the state's same-sex marriage ban, which U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb ruled on yesterday. The judge didn't order Wisconsin to legalize such unions yet, but she gave the couples who sued the state time to specify what they wanted taken out of the gay marriage law. Their attorney, Larry Dupuis, told the Associated Press that the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the law on behalf of the couples, would answer Crabb's request by next week and that he expected the judge's final decision soon after. At least 120 couples in Milwaukee and Madison, including Pamela Dietzler and Jill Winkler in the video above, wed on the day of Crabb's declaration. Many others, like Rachel Arbit and Ashley Norris, married the next morning. "We don't know how long it's going to last, this ruling," Norris told the AP, "and we don't want to miss out." When Craig Cook and Marshall Draper arrived at the courthouse at 8:30 a.m., two dozen couples were already in line. "Had this been legal, we probably would have done this 20 years ago," Cook told the AP. "This was as formal a wedding as I've ever wanted." Another pair, 49-year-old Jean Salzer and 52-year-old Linda Kapheim, also tied the knot Saturday morning. They've been together for 14 years, but Kapheim said that marriage "just makes it so real for family." "I think there's that legitimacy piece," said Salzer. "You are the same as everyone else. Someone with power says we are married."

BRUCE SMITH [ap] CHARLESTON, S.C. -- A federal judge should dismiss a challenge to South Carolina's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage following last week's federal appeals court ruling upholding such bans in other states, Attorney General Alan Wilson says in legal arguments filed Monday. "The recent tide of same-sex marriage cases has run squarely into the extremely well-reasoned opinion" by the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Wilson wrote in a motion filed in federal court in Charleston . Colleen Condon and Nichols Bleckley, who last month applied for a same-sex marriage license in Charleston County, want U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel to issue an injunction preventing South Carolina from enforcing its ban, effectively opening the way for same-sex marriages in the state. But Wilson wrote that the decision by the appeals court in Cincinnati supports "the clear constitutionality of same-sex marriage bans under the Constitution." He added that the decision "emphasizes that marriage is inherently a union of a man and a woman, and that whether that definition is expanded to include same-sex couples is a decision for the states including their people and their legislatures." Wilson said the ruling, which conflicts with other federal appeals court decisions, will ultimately lead the way to the U.S. Supreme Court deciding the issue. Condon and Bleckley have asked Gergel to rule in their favor without a trial. Wilson's filing on Monday responded to that request. Attorneys for the couple have until Nov. 20 to reply. Article continues below The U.S. Supreme Court last month refused to hear an appeal of a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision allowing same-sex marriage in Virginia. That development opened the way for same-sex marriages in other states in the Fourth Circuit. South Carolina remains the only state in the circuit still enforcing it's same-sex marriage ban. The Charleston case is one of four federal lawsuits challenging South Carolina's ban. In a Columbia case, Highway Patrol Trooper Katherine Bradacs and U.S. Air Force retiree Tracie Goodwin are suing to have the state to recognize their marriage performed in Washington, D.C. In the two other cases, one in Columbia and one in Greenville, four people who changed their surnames after same-sex marriages in other states want the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles to issues licenses with their new names. (c) 2014, Associated Press, All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Brianne Bowen, The Ann Arbor News (AP) Mark Thiesmeyer and Matt Hook of Ann Arbor get married by Rev. Roger Pohl after more than 12 years together outside the Washtenaw County Administration Building in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, March 22, 2014, the day after a federal court struck down Michigan's ban on gay marriage. LGBTQ Nation Brianne Bowen, The Ann Arbor News (AP) Mark Thiesmeyer and Matt Hook of Ann Arbor get married by Rev. Roger Pohl after more than 12 years together outside the Washtenaw County Administration Building in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, March 22, 2014, the day after a federal court struck down Michigan's ban on gay marriage. Updated: 1:30 p.m. EDT DETROIT -- The American Civil Liberties Union is asking a judge to force the state of Michigan to recognize more than 300 same-sex marriages performed in March. The ACLU filed a lawsuit Monday on behalf of couples who say their constitutional rights are being violated by Gov. Rick Snyder. He won't recognize the marriages for the purpose of benefits until federal courts decide the status of Michigan's ban on gay marriage. Article continues below More than 300 couples were married in the hours after a judge struck down the ban on March 21. But the decision was suspended by a federal appeals court the next day while it takes an appeal from the state. The federal government is recognizing the same-sex marriages. An email seeking comment was sent to Snyder's spokeswoman. (c) 2014, Associated Press, All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

MARYCLAIRE DALE [ap] PHILADELPHIA -- When U.S. District Judge Mary McLaughlin decides this year whether Pennsylvania must recognize same-sex marriages from other states, she'll do so from her perch above Independence Mall, where about 40 people staged an early gay rights protest in 1965. For decades afterward, little changed on the marriage equality front. But the cultural and legal landscape has shifted rapidly since 2000, leaving Pennsylvania the last state in the northeast region to ban same-sex marriage. That could soon change as three high-profile lawsuits move through the courts. In Philadelphia, McLaughlin is weighing the "marriage recognition" issue, which could reach the U.S. Supreme Court before the broader issue of marriage equality. Her case is set for oral arguments May 28. "The laws have not caught up to where people actually are on this issue," said lead plaintiff Cara Palladino, 48, of Philadelphia, a Bryn Mawr University fundraiser who married Isabelle Barker, 42, in Massachusetts in 2005. "When you look around at all the challenges that we have, I think people are increasingly looking at gay marriage as ... a nonissue." A Quinnipiac University poll last month showed that 57 percent of about 1,400 Pennsylvania voters surveyed approve of same-sex marriage, compared to 37 percent who are opposed. Lawyers for Republican Gov. Tom Corbett believe the issue comes down to states' rights -- and that neither Massachusetts, nor McLaughlin, should tell Pennsylvania how to define marriage. "This court should ... leave to the individual state legislatures their traditional power, long recognized under the U.S. Constitution, to define the nature and character of the marital relationship within their boundaries," they wrote in a brief last month in the Palladino case. It's not clear whether McLaughlin will rule right away. However, in June, U.S. District Judge John E. Jones is scheduled to hear a broader challenge to the state's same-sex marriage ban during a two-week trial. The American Civil Liberties Union represents 25 plaintiffs, including same-sex couples, their children, and a woman who lost her same-sex spouse. They say they have been denied financial and legal benefits that others enjoy. The ACLU plans expert testimony on such subjects as child rearing and the history of marriage, to build a record for the expected appeals. "We think (they) will demolish any conceivable argument against marriage equality the other side could present," said Witold "Vic" Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. In a third key case pending in Commonwealth Court, Corbett's administration has asked a judge to void scores of marriage licenses issued to gay and lesbian couples last year by Democratic local officials in Montgomery County. "Same-sex marriage is not deeply rooted in our nation's history ... (and) cannot be considered a fundamental right," attorneys for the state have argued in court papers. In the Palladino case, Corbett's lawyers also say the statute of limitations has run, since the couple moved to Pennsylvania eight years ago. In other ways, though, the couple's timing may be good. The U.S. Supreme Court last year outlawed parts of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as the union of a man and woman. And several federal judges this year have knocked down state bans on same-sex marriage. Malcolm Lazin, executive director of the nonprofit Equality Forum, which is backing the Palladino lawsuit, said there's been a "sea change" in attitudes toward same-sex marriage. He nonetheless expects any progress in Pennsylvania to come through the courts, not the Republican-controlled legislature. "Societal changes are happening very, very quickly," he said, "and they're all trending in one direction." (c) 2014, Associated Press, All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

In his televised Nowruz address, President Rouhani described year 1396 as the year of success for the great Iranian nation in various fields despite the wish of the enemies and said: "The unity among the Iranian nation has surprised all enemies and they admitted to the greatness of our people". Kermanshah province, President Hassan Rouhani said: "As the Supreme Leader said, the new year is the year of national production, supporting Iranian goods and the year of employment and progress". He also went on to say: "I congratulate the great Iranian nation in every corner of this country and all Iranians around the world, as well as those neighbouring countries that celebrate Nowruz". Congratulating the new year to the families of the martyrs and veterans, the President said: "We must remember those who have chosen to serve the people instead of sitting at home, doctors, nurses, pilots, drivers, border guards, the police and all those who are at the oil wells, control rooms of the ambulances, firefighter trucks and on the roads to serve the people". Our people sympathise with those who have mourned for their loved ones because of the floods, earthquake or incidents in the air or water, said the President, adding: "Last year was the year of victory and success of the Iranian nation, especially during the elections". Stating that the great Iranian nation were the true victorious of election, he said: "At the time when the tragic incidents happened in the country, the great Iranian nation displayed another victory to the world". "When our people saw unrest on the streets and felt that the security of their society was in danger, they came on the stage and announced it clearly that criticism and protest are people's right but they would not tolerate violence and unlawfulness," continued Dr Rouhani. He also said that the enemies wanted to use the pretext to break the Iranian nation, adding: "But the unity of the Iranian nation surprised them and they admitted to the greatness of this nations". The President also went on to say: "Our great nation, who have been promoter of peace in the region, were able to bring about more security and stability for the region by standing by the people of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon with the attempts of their sincere soldiers and hard-working diplomats". Saying that during the last year, great steps have been taken in various fields such as agriculture, Dr Rouhani added: "Although we had shortage of water, but our farmers achieved self-sufficiency in wheat production and will do the same in the new year". "Our engineers and workers, and those who have been working in the railway projects in different provinces throughout the country, connected Hamedan and Kermanshah to the nationwide railway network and will do the same for three other provinces as well," added the President. He also went on to call on the great Iranian nation to help in the advancement of the country, saying: "Although there are still many problems remaining, we have time to compensate for the past shortcomings". Stressing the importance of employment, he said: "Last year, our employment rate was unparalleled in the history of our country, and in the new year, we must mark a higher rate". On fighting absolute poverty, President Rouhani said: "The 12th Government will continue to fight poverty. For all occupations, employees and workers we have worked towards balancing the minimum wages and will continue this programme". Making a request from the great Iranian nation, he said: "The new year is the year of investment and production. We must all attempt to increase production. Our power will be alongside our production and it is our entrepreneurs who can take significant steps in the new year". "My next request is from our dear young generation, whom the future of the country belongs to, to continue working on the path of making the country proud. What is important for all of us is the pride of Islam and Iran, and the welfare and the Iranian nation," the President added. Stressing that the government will carry out its commitments, Dr Rouhani added: "The government is committed to the employment, vitality and freedom for the young generation, and their continued access to information". "Of course, we need a secure, easy and inexpensive cyberspace with morality and spirituality," he said adding that the people will witness more transparency in the new year. At the end of this address, President Rouhani prayed for blessings, morality, tolerance, unity and integrity for the Iranian nation, as well as progress and development for the country. (Source: president.ir)

"Our policy is to increase close interactions with our neighbors, especially in the Caucasus and the Central Asia," said Hassan Rouhani, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on Monday. He made the remarks while visiting Iranian north eastern province of Khorasan Razavi which shares borderlines with Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. Reiterating that Iran is after expanding relations with neighboring countries, especially in the Central Asia, he added, "to this cause we have put new programs of opening new free trade zones and developing rail tracks on top of our agenda." Touching upon Iran nuclear deal, Mr. President described the government's goal in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as eliminating unjust sanctions against Iran and said, "if our goals in the JCPOA can be achieved without the United States, that's better. Otherwise, we will make our decision." Speaking at the meeting of Administrative Council, Development and Elite of Khorasan Razavi Province, Mr. Rouhani said, "our priority in foreign currency is to supply people's basic needs." Stating that "A province with 30m pilgrims and tourists mustn't have any jobless person," he continued, "one of the reasons that the government is emphasizing that high-speed Internet must be transferred to villages is to increase employment rate in the country." "There are issues in Internet and messengers but people's communication mustn't be interrupted," he continued saying. He also said that "Let's trust the people who managed the revolution and the war," adding, "Coercion destroys values. Cyberspace and its opportunities should be tapped properly." The President continued, "the aim of the government and executive authorities of Imam Reza's (AS) province is to absolutely eliminate unemployment." The government's goal in the JCPOA was to eliminate unjust sanctions against the country, he said, adding, "after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), agriculture and health sectors improved." He continued, "we have proved to the world that Iranophobia is a lie and conspiracy and Iran's use of atomic bomb are propaganda against the Iranian nation." "Trust in foreign relations is relative and never absolute and in today's world, we acted based on a set of principles and reached an agreement which in addition to the negotiating parties, the United Nations endorsed," added Rouhani. Stating that "JCPOA completely assures that Iran does not seek nuclear weapons," he continued, "today, we tell the world that if you are worried about Iran achieving nuclear weapon, we have fully eliminated this concern in the JCPOA." The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran also said, "the main purpose of the US government was to restrict Iran's independence, power and regional influence." Mr. Rouhani said that Iran's influence in the region was against the interests of the Americans and added, "they never want any country to be independent and stand on their own feet. This is the reason why they are always upset about Iran's independence, because during a period in the past regime, they used to interfere in all affairs of the country, including the election of the prime minister, but today, they have no place in Iran." Stating that the Iranian nation stands against US' goals with all its might, he continued, "if the goal of the US is to not let our country have autonomy and influence in the region, our people will stand against them as in the past 40 years." Mr. Rouhani remarked, "if today Americans take a step contrary to their commitments, the public opinion and the governments around the world, with the exception of a few countries, will condemn the US and not blame Iran." "Also, if the US takes a step today, this is the only US action, and it is not a move that the Security Council will support like the past," he continued. The president added, "the public opinion of the Iranian nation always knows that America is acting cruelly against us, but today it's clear that we have been committed and adhered to commitments." Mr. Rouhani said that people may be concerned about what the United States is going to do in the coming weeks about the JCPOA, adding, "People must be sure that we are considering the necessary decisions for different US scenarios and that US will suffer serious damage in this." "In this regard, either what we want from the JCPOA will be provided without the US, or if we see what we are want has not been achieved, we will have our plans," the president said. He continued, "this problem can never be long-term, and if the United States makes a mistake, it will later regret it and realize that it has made a strategic mistake." The president said that the government's foreign currency policy is based on being prepared to deal with such actions, saying that people must be sure of their lives and their economic life.

Speaking among the people of West Azerbaijan province, during his 28th provincial visit on Monday, Rouhani noted that his government's priority is economic growth and youth employment. He underlined the efforts has been made to pave the way for prosperity and development for youth which is provided with internal detente for minor issues. President stressed the need for unity and consistency among the people with any religion, race, language, or sect. Rouhani touted the security and stability is best established across the country, while all around us is engulfed in insecurity, divisions, extremism, nepotism and sectarianism. "Iran is the land of brotherhood and unity among all ethnic groups," Rouhani stressed. He described Iran's Azerbaijan provinces, especially West Azerbaijan province, a symbol of peaceful coexistence between Muslims and non-Muslims, Shias and Sunnis and Turks and Kurds. West Azerbaijan province with 967 Km border with neighboring countries, including Turkey, Iraq, and Azerbaijan Republic must be the main terminal of Iran's exports to the countries in the region, he added. Rouhani underlined his government highly regards economic prosperity. "Here we will do the necessary to encourage agricultural exports; the National Development Fund will allocate 33 million dollars with 10% of interest for the province's exports." The region enjoys 1 million hectares of arable land with proportional rainfall, Rouhani underlined, it has great potential for export of agricultural crops to the regional countries. "Projects in the field of agriculture, will create 12,000 direct employment and thousands of indirect employment," Rouhani said, adding the projects will account for a 200,000 tons increase in agricultural crops. "I promised during the presidential eletion campaign that my government will start working to save Lake Urmia on the first day," Rouhani addressed the people. "I've been faithful to my promise; now Urmia Lake has seen a 10 cm increase in water, thanks to the implemented projects and efforts as well as people's help," Rouhani noted. Officials have said if the current restoration efforts were not effective, the lake would turn into a swamp within four years, he underlined.

Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari made the remarks on Sunday among students in Imam Reza Holy Shrine, Mashhad. "Today, the enemy constantly speaks of imposing sanctions on Iranian oil exports, and we should emphasize that we can solve all problems by relying on domestic capacities," he said, adding, "oil sanctions are an opportunity to get rid of the country's oil-based economy." According to Holy Quran, intrigue is more damaging than war, the commander highlighted, adding, the enemy who has recognized the power of Islamic Revolution is after harming the country through intrigues. The enemy gets weaker each year while their media propaganda shows this weakness as power, he added. "None of the enemy's plans in the region is yet realized." Economic pressures and domestic mismanagement have caused dissatisfaction among people, but there is no insecurity in the country, Jafari highlighted. Enemies, including Saudis, have dedicated massive funds to cause insecurity in the country and even had devised various plans in last few months, but people's belief and love towards Islamic Revolution has ruined their plans, the Major General noted.

"In the course of the last year the Iranian nation has garnered numerous victories and successes," said Hassan Rouhani, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He made the remarks on Sunday addressing the thousands of people on the streets of Tehran who were attending the annual rallies of February 11 to mark the victory anniversary of the Islamic Republic of Iran. "The first victory of the last year was the election of May 19 where the all got before the ballot boxes to show that they love their future and destiny. Seventy three percent of the nation attended at the election to stage a glorious event. This election and the huge turnout was a big success for our nation," asserted Mr. Rouhani. "In the course of the last year, we overcame terrorism. We achieved great victories over ISIL in the region. Our help to the people of Iraq and Syria fruited good results and the people of the region got rid of the evil of terrorists," recounted the Iranian president. 'We did not let the conspirators to disintegrate the countries of the region. They wanted to divide Iraq into two parts but the vigilance of the Iraqi nation and the help of neighboring countries guaranteed the unity of friendly country of Iraq," asserted the Iranian head of state. "They were after creating lasting insecurity and unrest in Lebanon but the vigilance of the Lebanese nation and the support of the friendly countries foiled the plots of Zionism," said Mr. Rouhani. "The solution to the problems of the region is political settlement and we have to establish security and stability across the country with the help of other countries," said Mr. Rouhani.

Kermanshah province, President Hassan Rouhani said "as the Supreme Leader said, the new year is the year of national production, supporting Iranian goods and the year of employment and progress." He also went on to say "I congratulate the great Iranian nation in every corner of this country and all Iranians around the world, as well as those neighbouring countries that celebrate Nowruz." Congratulating the new year to the families of the martyrs and veterans, the President said "we must remember those who have chosen to serve the people instead of sitting at home, doctors, nurses, pilots, drivers, border guards, the police and all those who are at the oil wells, control rooms of the ambulances, firefighter trucks and on the roads to serve the people." Our people sympathise with those who have mourned for their loved ones because of the floods, earthquake or incidents in the air or water, said the President, adding "last year was the year of victory and success of the Iranian nation, especially during the elections." He also said that the enemies wanted to use the pretext to break the Iranian nation, adding: "But the unity of the Iranian nation surprised them and they admitted to the greatness of this nations." The President also went on to say "our great nation, who have been promoter of peace in the region, were able to bring about more security and stability for the region by standing by the people of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon with the attempts of their sincere soldiers and hard-working diplomats." Saying that during the last year, great steps have been taken in various fields such as agriculture, Dr Rouhani added "although we had shortage of water, but our farmers achieved self-sufficiency in wheat production and will do the same in the new year." "Our engineers and workers, and those who have been working in the railway projects in different provinces throughout the country, connected Hamedan and Kermanshah to the nationwide railway network and will do the same for three other provinces as well," added the President. He also went on to call on the great Iranian nation to help in the advancement of the country, saying "although there are still many problems remaining, we have time to compensate for the past shortcomings." Stressing the importance of employment, he said "last year, our employment rate was unparalleled in the history of our country, and in the new year, we must mark a higher rate." On fighting absolute poverty, President Rouhani said "the 12th Government will continue to fight poverty. For all occupations, employees and workers we have worked towards balancing the minimum wages and will continue this programme." Making a request from the great Iranian nation, he said: "The new year is the year of investment and production. We must all attempt to increase production. Our power will be alongside our production and it is our entrepreneurs who can take significant steps in the new year." "My next request is from our dear young generation, whom the future of the country belongs to, to continue working on the path of making the country proud. What is important for all of us is the pride of Islam and Iran, and the welfare and the Iranian nation," the President added. Stressing that the government will carry out its commitments, Dr Rouhani added "the government is committed to the employment, vitality and freedom for the young generation, and their continued access to information." "Of course, we need a secure, easy and inexpensive cyberspace with morality and spirituality," he said adding that the people will witness more transparency in the new year. At the end of this address, President Rouhani prayed for blessings, morality, tolerance, unity and integrity for the Iranian nation, as well as progress and development for the country.

Is Hamas Rhetoric A Natural Outgrowth of Israel's Genocide? By Dennis Trainor Jr, www.PopularResistance.org August 1, 2014 Is Hamas Rhetoric A Natural Outgrowth of Israel's Genocide? 2014-08-01 2014-08-02 https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.png PopularResistance.Org https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2014/08/atv-Gaza-Disporportionate-150x100.jpg 200px 200px The Hamas charter, widely cited by defenders of the Israeli siege on Gaza, contains some passages that hard to reconcile for many allied with Palestinian liberation. Specifically, the charter states : "The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: ' The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.'" According to Kash Nikazmrad of Students for Justice in Palestine, one should view passages from the Hamas charter like the one above as hyperbolic political rhetoric meant to stoke a political base, and not, he says, as something to be taken literally. The focus, he says should be on the genocidal conditions imposed by Isreal that give birth to the resistance. "The UN recognizes Genocide as anything deterring the progression of human life," says Nikazmrad, "and that is what (Israel) does in Gaza. They don't allow them to fish. Settlers come and cut down Oliver trees and put concrete on the olive trees. And (Israel) is all outside, and they blame Palestinians for building tunnels to try to bring medical supplies in. What do you think will happen when you build a prison (Gaza) and you prevent people from having any kind of right to life? They are going to try and build tunnels and they are going to try and resist the occupation that is there."

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"'I don't want this life': 10 Palestinians shot dead by Israeli army on Gaza border," read a Washington Post headline from Friday. That headline--later changed with updated figures to a more neutral: "Fifteen Gazans dead after Israeli army, Palestinians clash at border fence, officials say"--used part of a quote from 22-year-old Yahya Abu Assar, a Palestinian living in the Gaza Strip who added, "I want to be shot." It is a sad irony that an organization founded in the wake of the Holocaust to prevent war and protect human rights now helps advance the cause of terrorist groups seeking to destroy the Jewish state.

On December 27, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead, a full scale military assault on the Gaza Strip. The apparent goal, according to Richard Goldstone, who headed U.N. investigation into the assault, was to collectively punish the Palestinians of Gaza for having Hamas as their government. But if the intent was to cause the people of Gaza to turn against their elected representatives, it failed. Hamas remains a force to be reckoned with. Read More The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on Tuesday on a resolution calling on President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "to oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the 'Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict' in multilateral fora." Read More

The Bethlehem side of Israel's security wall is covered top to bottom with anti-Western graffiti. Israelis say they approve of this, as an expression of "democracy" and "freedom of expression," but of course those are values the "Palestinians" wouldn't extend to the other side. While Israel talks about "a solution" and even "love," I don't believe these two sides will every stop fighting. PS: WATCH more reports from The Rebel Media's mission to Israel HERE . Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

A geographer has listed the attractions in Gaza City in a bid to show how friendly its people are. Read more about Sightseeing under siege: a "tourist map" for Gaza Israel's siege is a contributory factor in one fifth of maternal deaths in Gaza. Read more about Women "carry all" of Palestine's suffering A restaurant worker who served officials in the Gaza administration has been abducted at sea. Read more about Gaza fisherman jailed for serving Hamas coffee Fertility specialist can't find equipment he needs in Gaza but feels he has no choice than to resume work. Read more about Gaza doctors rebuild medical center destroyed by Israel

Can Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman drag his fundamentalist country into the 21st Century? He told reporters gathered for the introduction of the Kingdom's NOEM project (we'll get to that shortly) that two-thirds of his countrymen are under the age of 30 and want a "life in which our religion translates to tolerance." He also promised to "eradicate the remnants of extremism very soon." You can color me a skeptic on both of those quotes, even if the Crown Prince truly meant them. Changing a religion is hard. Doing it from the top is harder still. Doing it without serious bloodshed is almost impossible -- remember what followed in Luther's wake? But I do take Salman at his word that he actually wants to make the attempt, because otherwise the Kingdom he inherits is going to look an awful lot like the Arabian desert before the oil money started flowing in. You know: Poverty-stricken and ungovernable. Oil is trading in the $40-$60 range, and there's not much outside of an unpredictable (and likely temporary) crisis that's going to change that. The Saudi state can't stay solvent at those prices. More importantly, the House of Saud won't have the money it needs to stay in power. And it's a safe bet to think Salman wouldn't be satisfied being crowned King of This Really Nice Condo in Monte Carlo. Which brings us to NOEM. Salman announced his ambitious plan to build a new, half-trillion-dollar super-high-tech city in the country's northwest -- a huge part of his program to modernize the Kingdom. The Prince claims it will be the "safest, most efficient, most future oriented, and best place to live and work." NEOM would also be an international city, spreading to Jordan by land, and to Egypt by a new bridge to the Sinai. NEOM would also be something of a free enterprise zone, far less restrictive on imports, dress, women's rights, etc. than anywhere else in Saudi. In other words, NEOM's primary function (other than helping to ween S.A. off of oil) is to create a big enough cultural, technological, and economic hub to drag the entire kingdom -- kicking and screaming, if necessary -- into the 21st Century. But Salman/NEOM can't do that without first attenuating Wahhabi Islam's worst tendencies. Or as Liam Denning noted for Bloomberg, "The fact is, Saudi Arabia's plans to remake itself are ambitious in the extreme." He goes on to note that "Saudi Arabia has made some moves toward shifting societal norms away from ossified traditions, such as removing the ban on women driving. Even so, the country has also shown signs of watering down the reform program announced only last year," and that Saudi Aramco "has clearly run into some difficulties despite the public pronouncements that all is well." Salman has the land and he certainly has the ambition. But his country might not have enough cash to build it, and his countrymen might not have the willingness to adopt the necessary changes. Parallel Universe Hillary is here, and she's as drunk as the one from this world:

0bama doesn't know which side to back. Via JPost Islamic State lists the capture of Saudi Arabia, home to the holy Muslim grounds of Mecca and Medina, as a key goal. Just over a week ago, IS militants launched an attack on a Saudi border post, killing a senior Saudi general and two border guards, marking the first direct IS assault on Saudi grounds, The Telegraph reported. In an effort to defend itself from the IS threat and further attacks, the kingdom launched a massive project to construct a "Great Wall" along it's northern border with Iraq, where IS presence is heavy.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has vowed to destroy extremist ideologies in the Kingdom. The 32-year-old crown prince was speaking at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh. "We want to lead normal lives, lives where our religion and our traditions translate into tolerance, so that we coexist with the world and become part of the development of the world," he said. The prince's remarks are the first of their kind by a high-ranking Saudi official against Saudi hardliners. "We are returning to what we were before; a country of moderate Islam that is open to all religions and to the world," he said. "We will not spend the next 30 years of our lives dealing with destructive ideas. We will destroy them today," he added. "We will eliminate extremism soon." This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Saudi Arabian authorities have detained a woman who wore a skirt and a crop top in a social media video in Ushayqir, CNN reports . The woman told Riyadh authorities that, "the viral videos were published by an account attributed to her without her knowledge," according to a police statement. The statement also said the woman's case was referred to the general prosecution department in the Saudi capital. On Sunday, the spokesperson for the Presidency of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (religious police) said the group was on the case, and would be taking, "necessary steps" over the video of a, "girl in offensive clothing." The video showed the woman walking along an empty street in Ushayqir, according to the police statement. Local media say Ushayqar officials want the provincial governor and police to punish the woman. Ushayqir is the birthplace of Wahhabism, a pervasive, ultra-conservative Islamic tradition that Saudi Arabia has exported all over the world and continually enforces. (image via Twitter)

Saudi Arabia's northern border with Iraq is safe and equipped with the latest security equipment including infrared cameras, the spokesman for the Saudi border guards, General Mohammad Saad Al-Ghamdi said. During an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Al-Ghamdi pointed out that the border patrol security units did not spot any unusual movements near the Saudi-Iraq border, in reference to having ISIS. He added: "The security presence on the Kingdom's borders increases during holidays and certain seasons which are often exploited by others to infiltrate into the Kingdom or conduct criminal acts." Al-Ghamdi said the border guards caught an infiltrator recently near the Kuwaiti border compared to a daily rate of 400 infiltrators caught from different nationalities in the Kingdom's southern border. He emphasised the high level of security coordination between the military's various units as well as the rapid intervention teams supported by the Saudi Air Force that are employed at the border crossing points. Al-Ghamdi did not speak of any security coordination with the Iraqi government on the border issue which stretches for more than 814 kilometres. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Riyadh: A majority of Saudi Arabia's Council of Senior Ulema religious scholars on Wednesday expressed support for a royal decree allowing women to drive. The Islamic clerics said that King Salman bin Abdulaziz made the right and proper decision based on the interest of the citizens. Representational image. Reuters "God save the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques who seeks the interests of his country and his people in light of Islamic Sharia," the Council said in a tweet. According to the clerics, the majority of Council members saw no problem with women driving as long as there were guarantees and laws to maintain the respect and dignity of women, Efe reported. King Salman on Tuesday paved the way for Saudi women to receive driving licenses after increasing demands from women and criticism from human rights groups over the prohibition. This new decree comes in the context of new reforms that the King has ordered since his accession to the throne in 2015, including more freedom for women to carry out administrative procedures on their own, despite many procedures and activities still requiring the presence of a male guardian.

Religion In The Comics - 013 Are you familiar with the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers ? Its premise is that a town is overtaken by alien seed pods that assimilate the physical characteristics, memories, and personalities of each sleeping person placed near it. Such a fate befell the citizens of Riverdale when the publishers of Spire Comics visited their evil upon it. Witness these pages of horror: I suppose the real villain here is Archie Comics for letting Spire usurp the minds of characters that have become friends to the comic reading public. I've read Archie comics all my life and while they aren't Literature , they have provided me with humor and a feeling of what it is to be part of America. White America, to be sure, but a secular version that treated everyone in its pages as free to believe what they will. This kind of heavy handed evangelizing is an insult to the generations of readers that enjoy Archie comics. A tip of the Papal Mitre to onager for directing me to these pages. Religion In The Comics - 013 (Original post) Cartoonist Feb 2015 OP Good. Curmudgeoness Feb 2015 #10 Sat Feb 14, 2015, 03:11 PM Lordquinton (6,963 posts) 1. They absorb any kind of water! I mean, it'll absorb heavy metals right along with it, and other kinds of nastyness, but hey if G_d says it's ok, then surely a little lead between friends won't hurt! Reading these is so surreal. It's like an episode of a TV show where they are in an alternate reality where everyone is their stereotype. Sat Feb 14, 2015, 03:25 PM AtheistCrusader (32,686 posts) 2. Yeah, you really dont want to eat melons in india. In some cases, they're watered with untreated sewage water. Went there to teach, learned a lot myself. Sat Feb 14, 2015, 04:02 PM onager (9,356 posts) 7. Same in Egypt. The Nile Delta is very rich farmland, watered by a huge, complex network of irrigation canals dating back to the days of the Pharaohs. Many times, on my work commute, I saw the rotting carcasses of donkeys and horses being pulled out of those canals. Let alone the...human element. No dead bodies I know of, but humans tend to relieve themselves in the nearest large body of water, so... Still, I ate lots of tasty veggies and fruits raised by the local folks. And just tried not to think about how they were watered. One of my favorite meals in Alexandria was a roast chicken dinner, sold by street vendors all over the place. A whole roast chicken, a bunch of delicious pickled vegetables, and a pile of fresh, hot flatbread. All for about three dollars US. Couldn't beat it. Having eaten food all over Asia, Europe, Central America and the Middle East: the only place in the world I ever got food poisoning, weirdly, was in Italy - a nation that worships food. That was in Venice, and I suspect it was water-related too. I was eating a lot of raw oysters there, and I'm pretty sure that's what did me in. It sure was an epic attack. Every joint in my body ached and I not only felt like I was going to die, I was almost looking forward to it. Sat Feb 14, 2015, 03:35 PM AlbertCat (17,505 posts) 4. They absorb any kind of water! Even Heavy Water? Anyway, I thought a combination of evolution and selective breeding made melons so good. I wonder what a "vulgar" cantaloupe looks like. (y'know, in nature). To Wikipedia! "Although truly wild forms of C. melo have not been found, several related wild species have been noted in those regions." Sat Feb 14, 2015, 03:27 PM AlbertCat (17,505 posts) 3. "Y'mean he keeps you from blowing..... er.... your top. yeah that's it... Your top.... That explains it....damnit!" Sat Feb 14, 2015, 03:43 PM mr blur (7,753 posts) 5. Archie never meant much to us in the UK - even when I used to read them in the '60s it always seemed to be about an alien world from a time gone by. I mean, why is that jerky one always wearing a paper hat from a Christmas cracker? Why is Archie such a dick head? I suppose it's a cultural thing; when I was growing up our cities still had the debris of bomb sites and Anderson shelters and even in the country you would still see the occasional old machine gun bunker. Archie was...unreal. Archie and God always seemed the perfect fit, to me. Though I understand that they recently featured a gay marriage. Sat Feb 14, 2015, 04:00 PM 6. The whoopee cap From Wikipedia A whoopee cap is a style of headwear popular among youths in the mid 20th century in the United States. It was often made from a man's felt fedora hat with the brim trimmed with a scalloped cut and turned up. In the 1920s and 1930s, such caps usually indicated the wearer was a mechanic. Sun Feb 15, 2015, 12:55 PM Warren Stupidity (48,181 posts) 11. No it was unreal here too. The only place I got to read comics was the barber shop, and if the only comics left were archies it was a real bad hair day. Superman, batman, fantastic four - ok. Archie was lame. Sat Feb 14, 2015, 05:27 PM Curmudgeoness (18,217 posts) 8. That is incredible. Since I was just a kid when I read Archie comics, I cannot recall the preaching. Then again, I didn't think much about it at that time, since I was going to church when I was young. Looking at it now, my mouth is agape. Sat Feb 14, 2015, 05:31 PM 9. This was just a phase Spire Comics got permission to use the Archie characters to spread their gospel. They were not distributed as widely as the other titles, and you probably never saw them. Sat Feb 14, 2015, 05:36 PM Sun Feb 15, 2015, 01:25 PM this makes me a little ill. I guess they realized their mistake. Sun Feb 15, 2015, 01:43 PM

WillParkinson (16,735 posts) More fun atheistic things....Some cartoons, some not Something Fishy I wish I had thought of this when I was in school... Bah, Humbug It's true, it's really, really true! Don't be a hater... I doubt they'd ever be satisfied! Extinction bursts What did your kids learn in school? Oh, the power we wield... They like them illiterate! What are those atheists up to? Atheist missionaries The Resurrection Explained (Scientifically) Too Much Coffee Man Heaven is for Atheists God doesn't like smart-alecks (this is my favorite one) Don't worry, be a.... What atheists want Blond Faith More fun atheistic things....Some cartoons, some not (Original post) WillParkinson Dec 2011 OP

Religion In The Comics - 013 Are you familiar with the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers ? Its premise is that a town is overtaken by alien seed pods that assimilate the physical characteristics, memories, and personalities of each sleeping person placed near it. Such a fate befell the citizens of Riverdale when the publishers of Spire Comics visited their evil upon it. Witness these pages of horror: I suppose the real villain here is Archie Comics for letting Spire usurp the minds of characters that have become friends to the comic reading public. I've read Archie comics all my life and while they aren't Literature , they have provided me with humor and a feeling of what it is to be part of America. White America, to be sure, but a secular version that treated everyone in its pages as free to believe what they will. This kind of heavy handed evangelizing is an insult to the generations of readers that enjoy Archie comics. A tip of the Papal Mitre to onager for directing me to these pages. Religion In The Comics - 013 (Original post) Cartoonist Feb 2015 OP Good. Curmudgeoness Feb 2015 #10 Sat Feb 14, 2015, 03:11 PM Lordquinton (6,963 posts) 1. They absorb any kind of water! I mean, it'll absorb heavy metals right along with it, and other kinds of nastyness, but hey if G_d says it's ok, then surely a little lead between friends won't hurt! Reading these is so surreal. It's like an episode of a TV show where they are in an alternate reality where everyone is their stereotype. Sat Feb 14, 2015, 03:25 PM AtheistCrusader (32,686 posts) 2. Yeah, you really dont want to eat melons in india. In some cases, they're watered with untreated sewage water. Went there to teach, learned a lot myself. Sat Feb 14, 2015, 04:02 PM onager (9,356 posts) 7. Same in Egypt. The Nile Delta is very rich farmland, watered by a huge, complex network of irrigation canals dating back to the days of the Pharaohs. Many times, on my work commute, I saw the rotting carcasses of donkeys and horses being pulled out of those canals. Let alone the...human element. No dead bodies I know of, but humans tend to relieve themselves in the nearest large body of water, so... Still, I ate lots of tasty veggies and fruits raised by the local folks. And just tried not to think about how they were watered. One of my favorite meals in Alexandria was a roast chicken dinner, sold by street vendors all over the place. A whole roast chicken, a bunch of delicious pickled vegetables, and a pile of fresh, hot flatbread. All for about three dollars US. Couldn't beat it. Having eaten food all over Asia, Europe, Central America and the Middle East: the only place in the world I ever got food poisoning, weirdly, was in Italy - a nation that worships food. That was in Venice, and I suspect it was water-related too. I was eating a lot of raw oysters there, and I'm pretty sure that's what did me in. It sure was an epic attack. Every joint in my body ached and I not only felt like I was going to die, I was almost looking forward to it. Sat Feb 14, 2015, 03:35 PM AlbertCat (17,505 posts) 4. They absorb any kind of water! Even Heavy Water? Anyway, I thought a combination of evolution and selective breeding made melons so good. I wonder what a "vulgar" cantaloupe looks like. (y'know, in nature). To Wikipedia! "Although truly wild forms of C. melo have not been found, several related wild species have been noted in those regions." Sat Feb 14, 2015, 03:27 PM AlbertCat (17,505 posts) 3. "Y'mean he keeps you from blowing..... er.... your top. yeah that's it... Your top.... That explains it....damnit!" Sat Feb 14, 2015, 03:43 PM mr blur (7,753 posts) 5. Archie never meant much to us in the UK - even when I used to read them in the '60s it always seemed to be about an alien world from a time gone by. I mean, why is that jerky one always wearing a paper hat from a Christmas cracker? Why is Archie such a dick head? I suppose it's a cultural thing; when I was growing up our cities still had the debris of bomb sites and Anderson shelters and even in the country you would still see the occasional old machine gun bunker. Archie was...unreal. Archie and God always seemed the perfect fit, to me. Though I understand that they recently featured a gay marriage. Sat Feb 14, 2015, 04:00 PM 6. The whoopee cap From Wikipedia A whoopee cap is a style of headwear popular among youths in the mid 20th century in the United States. It was often made from a man's felt fedora hat with the brim trimmed with a scalloped cut and turned up. In the 1920s and 1930s, such caps usually indicated the wearer was a mechanic. Sun Feb 15, 2015, 12:55 PM Warren Stupidity (48,181 posts) 11. No it was unreal here too. The only place I got to read comics was the barber shop, and if the only comics left were archies it was a real bad hair day. Superman, batman, fantastic four - ok. Archie was lame. Sat Feb 14, 2015, 05:27 PM Curmudgeoness (18,217 posts) 8. That is incredible. Since I was just a kid when I read Archie comics, I cannot recall the preaching. Then again, I didn't think much about it at that time, since I was going to church when I was young. Looking at it now, my mouth is agape. Sat Feb 14, 2015, 05:31 PM 9. This was just a phase Spire Comics got permission to use the Archie characters to spread their gospel. They were not distributed as widely as the other titles, and you probably never saw them. Sat Feb 14, 2015, 05:36 PM Sun Feb 15, 2015, 01:25 PM this makes me a little ill. I guess they realized their mistake. Sun Feb 15, 2015, 01:43 PM

Salt Lake Tribune loses its Faith, but not its @religiongal Peggy Fletcher Stack ... the state. Award-winning religion reporter Peggy Fletcher Stack retains her job, and her stories will ... . http://t.co/71UjhGGYzp -- Peggy Fletcher Stack (@religiongal) April 10, 2014 From the Tribune's story ... . http://t.co/71UjhGGYzp -- Peggy Fletcher Stack (@religiongal) April 10, 2014 The Salt Lake Tribune cut ... Five for Friday: Zombies and other Godbeat headlines that you may have missed Peggy Fletcher Stack ... Fletcher Stack of the Salt Lake Tribune? The lede: These days, you can see those lumbering, blood-drenched ... Fletcher Stack of the Salt Lake Tribune? The lede: These days, you can see those lumbering, blood ... your Friday than with a faith angle on zombies, courtesy of award-winning religion writer Peggy ... Pod people: More on Mormon church founder Joseph Smith's 40 wives and the media's delayed bandwagon Peggy Fletcher Stack ... "Belief Blog": Peggy Fletcher Stack , the Salt Lake Tribune's Godbeat pro, replied: As my post noted ... " like him to The New York Times' Laurie Goodstein and the Salt Lake Tribune's Peggy Fletcher Stack . Stack ... Peggy Fletcher Stack is typically on top of breaking news in the Mormon world, and that's true in this ...

Michael Moore stated that the wealthy have no rights to their money. That it's a resource that belongs to the people. Political Cartoon by A.F.Branco... Political cartoon by A.F.Branco (c) 5/01/2012 Conservative Daily News.com Political cartoon by A.F.Branco (c) 10/23/13 NetRightDaily.com ComicallyIncorrect.com For a brief moment I almost believed the mainstream media when I read: 'Oklahoma Execution of Murderer Went Horribly, Horribly Wrong.' 'Oklahoma Governor Calls... I get into a little light religion here and there, and really enjoy going on YouTube and watching the denominations tear each other up.... By Craig Andresen on July 13, 2014 at 6:20 am I have an idea. As Obama and his absurd ilk have absolutely NO intention of deporting... I watched a video last night. By the time it was over I had come to believe that Hitler was a wonderful guy! No... Cocaine is commonly recognized as the baseline for degradation cliches in the US. A product, pastime or vice has made it big when an... Political cartoon by A.F.Branco (c) 11/21/12 NetRightDaily.com Political cartoon by A.F.Branco (c) 4/17/2012 Conservative Daily News.com Political cartoon by A.F.Branco (c) 11/27/12 NetRightDaily.com Political cartoon by A.F.Branco (c) 09/16/13 NetRightDaily.com ComicallyIncorrect.com Michelle Obama pushes her "No Bullying" campaign. Political cartoon by A.F.Branco (c) 3/15/2011 Conservative Daily News.com Political cartoon by A.F.Branco (c) 01/31/14 NetRightDaily.com ComicallyIncorrect.com 1 ... 9 10 11 ... 77 Page 10 of 77

petzl 2016-04-14 08:39:10 UTC #61 All together now: Can you make me One with Everything? Chesterfield: When my kids were in preschool, they were friends with a kid whose first name was Buddha. I actually met a living Buddha once - she was a teenage girl in China who got fed up of that life and quit Buddhism. (I have no idea how authentic this claim was, I just know that this is how she was being raised until she got out and moved to our city). samthepea 2016-04-14 11:22:28 UTC #65 Buddhists aren't necessarily nonviolent. Several sects are rather notably violent. Ito Ittosai was a Japanese Zen Buddhist, and his name mostly means "the guy who will kill you instantly without even thinking about it". The country's Rohingya minority is one of the most persecuted groups in the world

WHEN, not if, has long been the mantra of those charged with keeping this country safe from Islamist-inspired terrorism. They have been all too aware that no matter how many plots they foil, the terrorists only had to get lucky once. Getty Images 10 The threat of terrorism isn't going to go away any time soon, and we need to handle it more intelligently But Wednesday's attack shows how much the security services have pushed the terrorists on to the back foot. The worry of senior members of the Government has, for years, been the possibility of a British version of the Mumbai or Paris attacks. They feared multiple groups of heavily armed men carrying out co-ordinated, simultaneous attacks. What happened on Wednesday was that a fifty-something man armed with a car and a couple of kitchen knives did his evil worst . PA:Press Association 10 Police knew the attack on Westminster was a matter of when, not if Privately, the security services admit that the one thing that has surprised them about this attack is the age of the terrorist. Up to now, their focus had been on angry young men. No one was expecting a 52-year-old terrorist . There are things that need to change, though, if we are to combat this terrorist threat more intelligently. SEX DUNGEON Four people caught having 'orgy' next to Cardiff Castle as kids played nearby drug nightmare Mum paralysed after weekend hippy crack binges while son, 3, was with dad BANGED UP ABROAD Brit, 26, arrested for 'tying up, raping & beating woman in Majorca' HOT CAR TRAGEDY Baby dies after granddad left her in car for 8 hours in 30C heat in Majorca 'WHO'S MAEVIS?' Woman realises she has called her neighbour the wrong name for 14 YEARS A CANDLE FOR SAMMY Heartbroken ex-fiance's tribute to 'murdered' midwife Samantha Eastwood But the security services, who have thousands of Islamist extremists to be worried about, had not deemed him a priority. They simply don't have the manpower to follow everyone who they identify as a possible danger. Keeping one person under close surveillance requires a team of at least 12. We can, though, help the security services by removing the most obvious threats from our streets. 10 Terrorist Khalid Masood was 52 -- not the angry young man police may have expected It is crazy that those convicted of trying to go and join Isis can be sentenced to as little as two years in prison. Anyone who wants to sign up with this throat-slitting terrorist group is a clear threat. They should be locked away until they are no longer a danger to the public, which, in many cases, will mean they spend the rest of their lives behind bars. The technology companies need to face up to their responsibilities too. It is crazy that those convicted of trying to join Isis can be sentenced to as little as two years in prison If their platforms are being used to encourage people to commit acts of terror , or to instruct them on how to do it, they need to act. It is absurd for them to claim they can't be expected to be responsible for what is posted up on their sites. Senior security figures are furious at the intransigence of some technology companies . I understand that one was reluctant to remove an online guide to what truck to rent to cause the most deaths in a vehicle attack. 10 We're going to need more armed officers to combat terrorism The steps they have taken to deal with child sexual exploitation online, where information is routinely handed to the authorities if accounts are shut because they are believed to be using them for this purpose, show that they can do more. And they must. The internet cannot be allowed to be the new training ground for jihadis, and others who wish us harm. We also need to accept that we are going to need far more armed police officers. 10 Technology companies need to take responsibility for the role their sites play in terrorism One of the security services' great worries is a terrorist trying to shoot as many people as possible in a small town. In far too many cases, the nearest armed response team would be more than 100 miles away. The terrorist threat isn't going to go away anytime soon and we shouldn't change our way of life in response to it. But we can handle this threat more intelligently. Memorial should honour Palmer EVERY MP who has died in post is memorialised in Parliament. The same should go for Keith Palmer, who died protecting this place. The memorial should be to him. But it should remind us of the service of all of those prepared to put their lives on the line to protect the institutions of our democracy. Italy looks EU's biggest threat THE EU - minus Britain - have gathered in Italy to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. But it won't just be Brexit casting a shadow over events. 10 Pope Francis addresses an audience of EU leaders the day before the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome The euro is the ultimate expression of the European political project. But it isn't functioning properly. Italy is one of the countries that has been hit hardest by the euro's imperfections. Living standards in southern Italy are now lower than in Poland and manufacturing in the north struggles to compete with its German rivals, who have the advantage of a currency that is worth far less than the Deutsche Mark would be. Four parties in Italy now want to bring back the lira. They are polling at a combined 62 per cent of the vote. 10 The Pope greets European Parliament President Antonio Tajani When Italy goes to the polls, which it must do by mid-next year, it may well elect the Eurozone's first anti-euro government. This would be a far greater threat to the European project than Brexit. Schengen, the borderless zone, is meant to be another great European achievement. But faced with the current terrorist threat, a treaty condoning border controls does not seem to be such a sensible idea. Tellingly, Italy has suspended Schengen for security reasons during these anniversary celebrations. If this was not enough, the EU is also facing a growing split between the new Eastern European members and some of the original members who want to push on with much greater integration on their own. Brexit might not be the EU's biggest problem for much longer. Set sights on dangers from Syria THE anti-IS coalition, which met in the US this week, has concluded that it can be pushed out of Iraq within the next nine months. Dealing with it in Syria will take longer. But as long as this so-called caliphate exists, it will be able to call on extremists to carry out attacks in its name. That is why it must be taken out both on the ground and online. Now back to business of Brexit NEXT week, attention shifts back to the Brexit debate. Theresa May will continue her UK tour before triggering Article 50 on Wednesday . 10 Theresa May will send a letter to the EU triggering Article 50 on Wednesday The Government expects Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, to respond to the letter on Friday. They aren't holding out hope for a warm reception, either. I'm told the EU response will be "pretty robust". There will be "other noises off" from the Commission about how unrealistic Britain's negotiating aims are, one Government source warns. This doesn't mean talks are destined to fail. 10 Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, is expected to respond to the letter on Friday Rather, the EU wants to give nothing away before negotiations properly start at the end of April. Even then, a reciprocal rights deal for EU citizens already living in the UK, and vice versa, is probably the only thing that will get done before the German elections in the autumn. Without Angela Merkel - in a close election race against a left-wing, pro-EU populist - there will be no one with the influence to break the deadlock between Brussels' demand that the "divorce bill" be settled before anything else is discussed, and London's insistence it will only talk about that if future trading relations are also on the table. 10 German Chancellor Angela Merkel is battling for a fourth term with a general election slated for September Once Article 50 has been triggered, the Government will also publish the white paper for the so-called Great Repeal Bill, which will put current EU law into UK law, and under the control of Parliament. The Government simply intends to copy across EU law. But as some ministers argue, it would surely be sensible to use this bill to demonstrate how much more friendly to technological and medical innovation the UK will be post-Brexit. -- James Forsyth is political editor of The Spectator.

MEPs in the European Parliament have approved a toughly worded resolution assessing the current state of Brexit negotiations. The outcome is important since any withdrawal agreement will have to be ... In his annual State of the European Union address on 13 September, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker hardly mentioned Brexit. "On 29 March 2019, the United Kingdom will leave the European ... This is the Brexit general election. Whatever the outcome, it will be crucial in deciding the way negotiations on Britain's future relationship with Europe are conducted. Of course, senior representatives ... Accusations and counter-accusations about the devastating terrorist attacks that brought Brussels to a standstill and who was to blame for security failures are still in full swing at national, European ... Trade unions representing public service workers in Europe have enthusiastically welcomed European Parliament support for their demand that water and sanitation should be legally defined as a human right. Facebook has revealed the lying Brexit ads targeted at British voters by Vote Leave and delivered by a Canadian firm funded by right-wing American billionaires. The adverts, many with racist ... A document leaked in Brussels accuses Britain of stealing security information from the EU's Schengen Information System. The Home Office is said to be allowing privatised contractors to circulate dangerously ... Donald Trump was driven by embarrassment to order largest expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in US history, according to White House sources. The President joined his European allies in expelling ... Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has signalled he would back a ring-fenced tax solely for the NHS and social care. He said Britain's ageing population meant more cash was needed for ... Owen Smith insisted he "stood by his principles" in calling for a second EU referendum, even though it led to his sacking as Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary. Scotland Yard has admitted Special Branch officers passed information to a business network that blacklisted construction workers. The admission followed follows a six-year battle to find out if the Metropolitan ... The Italian restaurant business Prezzo is planning to close 92 UK outlets - about a third of the chain - putting up to 1,800 jobs at risk. The chain, which ... Unemployment posted a second increase in as many months. The number of unemployed people in the UK increased by 24,000 to 1.45 million in the three-month period ending January 2018 ... Russia is supplying arms to the Taliban, according to the head of US forces in Afghanistan. General John Nicholson (pictured) told the BBC he had seen "destabilising activity by the ... Donald Trump has replaced US National Security Adviser HR McMaster with former United Nations ambassador John Bolton (pictured). Bolton, a Bush-era hawk who has backed attacking North Korea and Iran, ... The Conservative Party turned down an approach from Cambridge Analytica, the firm accused of illegally harvesting personal data to win elections both sides of the Atlantic. Campaigners and victims of political policing withdrew en masse from the Mitting Inquiry yesterday, frustrated at the judge's insistence on protecting the identity of police officers involved in deceptive relationships ... Eight out of ten Academy Schools are now in deficit say accountants Kreston UK, unlike council-run schools which are being managed better. Since staff make up 72% of the costs ... The lifting of the pay cap on NHS staff is insufficient in compensating for eight years of real-terms pay cuts, according to health trade unions. The Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt ... The Facebook data scandal has deepened in the wake of an admission by an academic that he was responsible for collecting information on an unknowing public that could have swayed ...

The United Kingdom has suffered two terrorist attacks within 12 days of each other. On May 22, a suicide bomber attacked Manchester Arena, where an Ariana Grande concert had ended. Twenty-two people were killed, mostly teenagers, with another 116 injured. The bomber, Salman Abedi, was a radical Islamic terrorist . Then, on June 3, three Muslim radicals ran over pedestrians on London Bridge , crashed in nearby Borough Market, and proceeded to go on a stabbing spree. All three were shot and killed by police, but not before killing seven people and wounding 46 others. Police fired 50 shots at assailants during the June 3 attack to stop them. Two years ago, this shoot-to-kill protocol was found to be problematic for UK Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn (via Telegraph ): Jeremy Corbyn has said he is "not happy" with letting Britain's security services adopt a "shoot-to-kill policy" if terrorists were loose in the UK. The Labour leader said he thought the policy could be "quite dangerous" and "counterproductive", warning that it could lead to "war on the streets". The remarks come just days after the French military were deployed in Paris amid fears terrorists who had launched a series of attacks in the French capital were still at large. Mr Corbyn is likely to come under pressure to explain how he would want the security services to take out terrorists if they were on the loose in Britain. So, what are authorized firearm officers supposed to use? Strong language? Well, it appears Mr. Corbyn has done a 180-degree turn on this issue : Jeff Crouere Mr Corbyn said in 2015 that he was "not happy" with the policy, which enabled the Metropolitan Police to kill the three terrorists just eight minutes after their rampage began on Saturday night. He subsequently changed his stance, saying he would "support the use of whatever proportionate and strictly necessary force" was needed to save lives. What should armed police do when they come across terrorists? That's not a hard question to answer, sir.

When we handed in our Article 50 papers, Theresa May made it clear that unless we get a favourable deal, we would passively collaborate with ISIS to ensure the deaths of mainland Europeans withhold security information. That plan didn't work, however. And so the PM has been forced to bring out the big guns. Period drama If there's one thing that Britain is known for, it's all that period drama bollocks we pump out. Which is why May threatened to withhold the next series of 'Downton Abbey' from our continental cousins. The only problem, as the EU's trained negotiators pointed out, is that 'Downton Abbey' has finished. And so May threatened to withhold some other things. The list of such things including: The Beatles. David Beckham. Music Hall. The Teletubbies. Rick Astley. Prawn Cocktails. Once more, the negotiators were quick to point out that these were things that alternatively were: Not really things anymore. Never that desirable in the first place. Probably not even British (in the case of prawn cocktails, which were also no longer a thing and undesirable). Made in Britain After failing to name anything the Europeans might want, the PM shouted: Do we not make anything worthwhile in this country anymore? At which point someone passed her a red baseball cap that said 'MAKE BANANAS BENDY AGAIN'. And all at once the reality of her bargaining hand sunk in. Get Involved! - For more satirical news, you can also follow Off The Perch on Facebook and Twitter . Featured image via Flickr / Wikimedia

WHEN, not if, has long been the mantra of those charged with keeping this country safe from Islamist-inspired terrorism. They have been all too aware that no matter how many plots they foil, the terrorists only had to get lucky once. Getty Images 10 The threat of terrorism isn't going to go away any time soon, and we need to handle it more intelligently But Wednesday's attack shows how much the security services have pushed the terrorists on to the back foot. The worry of senior members of the Government has, for years, been the possibility of a British version of the Mumbai or Paris attacks. They feared multiple groups of heavily armed men carrying out co-ordinated, simultaneous attacks. What happened on Wednesday was that a fifty-something man armed with a car and a couple of kitchen knives did his evil worst . PA:Press Association 10 Police knew the attack on Westminster was a matter of when, not if Privately, the security services admit that the one thing that has surprised them about this attack is the age of the terrorist. Up to now, their focus had been on angry young men. No one was expecting a 52-year-old terrorist . There are things that need to change, though, if we are to combat this terrorist threat more intelligently. SEX DUNGEON Four people caught having 'orgy' next to Cardiff Castle as kids played nearby drug nightmare Mum paralysed after weekend hippy crack binges while son, 3, was with dad BANGED UP ABROAD Brit, 26, arrested for 'tying up, raping & beating woman in Majorca' HOT CAR TRAGEDY Baby dies after granddad left her in car for 8 hours in 30C heat in Majorca 'WHO'S MAEVIS?' Woman realises she has called her neighbour the wrong name for 14 YEARS A CANDLE FOR SAMMY Heartbroken ex-fiance's tribute to 'murdered' midwife Samantha Eastwood But the security services, who have thousands of Islamist extremists to be worried about, had not deemed him a priority. They simply don't have the manpower to follow everyone who they identify as a possible danger. Keeping one person under close surveillance requires a team of at least 12. We can, though, help the security services by removing the most obvious threats from our streets. 10 Terrorist Khalid Masood was 52 -- not the angry young man police may have expected It is crazy that those convicted of trying to go and join Isis can be sentenced to as little as two years in prison. Anyone who wants to sign up with this throat-slitting terrorist group is a clear threat. They should be locked away until they are no longer a danger to the public, which, in many cases, will mean they spend the rest of their lives behind bars. The technology companies need to face up to their responsibilities too. It is crazy that those convicted of trying to join Isis can be sentenced to as little as two years in prison If their platforms are being used to encourage people to commit acts of terror , or to instruct them on how to do it, they need to act. It is absurd for them to claim they can't be expected to be responsible for what is posted up on their sites. Senior security figures are furious at the intransigence of some technology companies . I understand that one was reluctant to remove an online guide to what truck to rent to cause the most deaths in a vehicle attack. 10 We're going to need more armed officers to combat terrorism The steps they have taken to deal with child sexual exploitation online, where information is routinely handed to the authorities if accounts are shut because they are believed to be using them for this purpose, show that they can do more. And they must. The internet cannot be allowed to be the new training ground for jihadis, and others who wish us harm. We also need to accept that we are going to need far more armed police officers. 10 Technology companies need to take responsibility for the role their sites play in terrorism One of the security services' great worries is a terrorist trying to shoot as many people as possible in a small town. In far too many cases, the nearest armed response team would be more than 100 miles away. The terrorist threat isn't going to go away anytime soon and we shouldn't change our way of life in response to it. But we can handle this threat more intelligently. Memorial should honour Palmer EVERY MP who has died in post is memorialised in Parliament. The same should go for Keith Palmer, who died protecting this place. The memorial should be to him. But it should remind us of the service of all of those prepared to put their lives on the line to protect the institutions of our democracy. Italy looks EU's biggest threat THE EU - minus Britain - have gathered in Italy to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. But it won't just be Brexit casting a shadow over events. 10 Pope Francis addresses an audience of EU leaders the day before the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome The euro is the ultimate expression of the European political project. But it isn't functioning properly. Italy is one of the countries that has been hit hardest by the euro's imperfections. Living standards in southern Italy are now lower than in Poland and manufacturing in the north struggles to compete with its German rivals, who have the advantage of a currency that is worth far less than the Deutsche Mark would be. Four parties in Italy now want to bring back the lira. They are polling at a combined 62 per cent of the vote. 10 The Pope greets European Parliament President Antonio Tajani When Italy goes to the polls, which it must do by mid-next year, it may well elect the Eurozone's first anti-euro government. This would be a far greater threat to the European project than Brexit. Schengen, the borderless zone, is meant to be another great European achievement. But faced with the current terrorist threat, a treaty condoning border controls does not seem to be such a sensible idea. Tellingly, Italy has suspended Schengen for security reasons during these anniversary celebrations. If this was not enough, the EU is also facing a growing split between the new Eastern European members and some of the original members who want to push on with much greater integration on their own. Brexit might not be the EU's biggest problem for much longer. Set sights on dangers from Syria THE anti-IS coalition, which met in the US this week, has concluded that it can be pushed out of Iraq within the next nine months. Dealing with it in Syria will take longer. But as long as this so-called caliphate exists, it will be able to call on extremists to carry out attacks in its name. That is why it must be taken out both on the ground and online. Now back to business of Brexit NEXT week, attention shifts back to the Brexit debate. Theresa May will continue her UK tour before triggering Article 50 on Wednesday . 10 Theresa May will send a letter to the EU triggering Article 50 on Wednesday The Government expects Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, to respond to the letter on Friday. They aren't holding out hope for a warm reception, either. I'm told the EU response will be "pretty robust". There will be "other noises off" from the Commission about how unrealistic Britain's negotiating aims are, one Government source warns. This doesn't mean talks are destined to fail. 10 Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, is expected to respond to the letter on Friday Rather, the EU wants to give nothing away before negotiations properly start at the end of April. Even then, a reciprocal rights deal for EU citizens already living in the UK, and vice versa, is probably the only thing that will get done before the German elections in the autumn. Without Angela Merkel - in a close election race against a left-wing, pro-EU populist - there will be no one with the influence to break the deadlock between Brussels' demand that the "divorce bill" be settled before anything else is discussed, and London's insistence it will only talk about that if future trading relations are also on the table. 10 German Chancellor Angela Merkel is battling for a fourth term with a general election slated for September Once Article 50 has been triggered, the Government will also publish the white paper for the so-called Great Repeal Bill, which will put current EU law into UK law, and under the control of Parliament. The Government simply intends to copy across EU law. But as some ministers argue, it would surely be sensible to use this bill to demonstrate how much more friendly to technological and medical innovation the UK will be post-Brexit. -- James Forsyth is political editor of The Spectator.

EURO chief Guy Verhofstadt has revealed he is more optimistic than ever of a successful Brexit deal for both Britain and the EU. But he warned that hardliners on both sides could force bare bones agreement if they make too many rigid demands. PA:Press Association 3 Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhoftstadt: 'I am more hopeful than I have ever been that there will be a deal' The European Parliament's Brexit co-ordinator says the most important issue to settle is finding a "serious" solution to fears of a hard border in Ireland . Sources say Britain has a "matter of weeks" to secure an Irish deal so it can be approved at a European Council meeting of EU leaders in June. He believes the nerve agent attack in Salisbury has highlighted the need for Britain to forge close security and defence links. Mr Verhofstadt said: "Much time has been wasted over the last year, but I am more hopeful than I have ever been that there will be a deal. Getty - Contributor 3 Mr Verhofstadt believes Vladimir Putin is testing the West and 'if we fail to stand up to him, he will be emboldened' Of course, we cannot afford to be complacent. It will be a rush against the clock. "There is a risk that hardliners on either side of the channel drive us to a bare bones deal, but ideology mustn't get in our way." PA:Press Association/PA Images 3 The EU chief believes PM Theresa May needs to forge close security and defence links in the wake of the Salisbury nerve agent attack He added: "Events in Salisbury show there is a need for us to stand shoulder to shoulder against common threats to our values. Despite Jean Claude Juncker's letter of congratulations to Russian President Putin , EU countries have shown absolute solidarity with the UK. "Putin is testing the West and if we fail to stand up to him, he will be emboldened. PM Theresa May promises more money for NHS and schools after Brexit MOST READ IN POLITICS WREATH OF SHAME Corbyn with wreath for Palestinian 'martyrs' near Munich terrorist's grave PM'S HALAL ROW No10 accused of trying to censor photo of PM visiting halal butcher IDS RAPS FIRMS IDS blasts bosses not 'bothering' to find Brits for jobs given to EU workers 'HAMAS HQ' Corbyn pranked by Jewish activists with sign on his fence of extremist links JEZZA'S NAZI JIBE Shocking video emerges of Jeremy Corbyn comparing Israel to Nazi Germany A BIZ BREXIT Kick out EU migrants after 3 months if they can't find jobs, businesses say "We must be prepared to work quickly after the European Parliament elections in 2019 to develop a close post-Brexit security and defence partnership. "The most pressing issue is to secure an agreement on a backstop solution to prevent any hardening of the Irish border before the summer." Mr Verhofstadt, an ardent Federalist who owns a Union Jack fridge, said: "There are many circles that still need to be squared. "We look forward to more serious proposals from the UK Government on how to implement the commitments they have already made." European Parliament chief negotiator Guy Verhofstadt mocks Theresa May's Brexit speech

U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran (D-Miss.) greets supporters during his victory party at the Mississippi Children's Museum on June 24, 2014. The 36-year incumbent won the GOP primary over Tea Party-backed candidate, Mississippi State Sen. Chris McDaniel, in a tight runoff race. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images The black electorate is back en vogue. After saving Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran from defeat in the Republican primary just months after propelling Democrat Terry McAuliffe to Virginia's governorship, black America has demonstrated that it indeed can determine the outcome of elections. More important, perhaps, is the subtext of these results: The black vote is demonstrably in play. In recent weeks, the New York Times' Nate Cohn has argued that Southern black voters will determine whether or not the GOP will control the next Congress. And the Times' Jeremy Peters has reported on the outreach efforts of prominent Republicans like Sen. Rand Paul. Since it already has an iron grip on the black vote, the Democratic Party has a strategy to simply increase turnout. In response, the GOP can either suppress the black vote, which is a goal so immoral and un-American that it will result in increased turnout for Democrats, or it can undertake the large project of actuating a contended black electorate. Republicans have been roundly--and rightly--disparaged for their poor and inconsistent efforts to attract black voters. But what usually follows such criticism is nebulous advice about clear messaging and community engagement. This sort of counsel is good-natured, but so unclear and imprecise that it is almost wholly unhelpful. A more fruitful approach would be for the GOP to turn to a component of the party platform that some believe is passe: social conservatism. When packaged with other government and economic-reform policies, this ideology could be the key to garnering support from just enough of the black electorate to become the nation's majority party. Social conservatism is sometimes considered nothing more than a euphemism for opponents of abortion and and same-sex marriage, but social conservatism is fundamentally about traditional family values, the role of religion, the importance of community, and the intergenerational transfer of morals and beliefs. These are principles integral to the American culture--and a recent Gallup poll confirms that more Americans identify as socially conservative. Among black Americans, however, social conservatism is more pronounced. Research highlighted by professors Sherri Wallace and Angela Lewis in the paper " Compassionate Conservatism and African Americans " shows that though black voters routinely support the Democratic Party, black Americans identify with conservatives on a wide range of social issues. The Pew Research Center found that black Americans are the most religious race or ethnicity in the nation, whether the measure is church attendance, frequency of prayer or reliance on religion in daily life. Black Americans are the least accepting of changes to the traditional family structure--there's a reason President Barack Obama's and both Bill and Hillary Clinton's views on gay marriage took so long to evolve. Black parents have the most socially conservative views about premarital sex and abstinence (pdf). Even the prevalence of homeschooling, a sacred cow of the socially conservative crowd, doubled (pdf) among black families between 2007 and 2011. These trends especially hold true for older black Americans, who also possess the majority of black wealth and income. And a number of statistics come together to show why this should be music to Republican ears. There are around 10 million more voting-age black Americans over 35 than under, accounting for two-thirds of the voting population. The 2012 black voter-participation rate (pdf)--now the highest in the nation--was driven by black voters over 35, whereas under-25 black voter participation dropped significantly. In short, older, socially conservative black Americans are voting more, and younger, liberal-leaning black voters are voting less. Why, then, do black Americans vote for Democrats in such large numbers? The answer is fairly straightforward: black Americans are pro-government. The Washington Post categorizes many black Americans as "God and government" Democrats who are essentially social conservatives who vote for larger government because, on the whole, they experience more economic distress. Black Americans, especially, look to the government to create jobs, provide financial safety nets in times of need and protect hard-won civil rights gains. Taken together, the message to Republicans should be clear. But if recent history is any indication, it still needs a more explicit explanation, and there are two primary takeaways. First, though social conservatism resonates with many black voters, attempting to win elections with campaign promises of policy and legislation that turn conservative morals into legal mandates is a losing endeavor. The socially conservative black man who is underemployed isn't nearly as concerned with legalizing school prayer as he is with finding employment and increasing his income. The socially conservative black woman is less worried about passing laws on marriage than ensuring that schools are safe and academically sound. Second, the GOP can establish a connection with black voters by promoting traditional values, but to win their votes, the party will need to offer reassurances that smaller government and more reliance on the free market economy does not mean government will abandon civil rights protections and economic safety nets. This is where historical context is paramount. Black Americans' introduction to market forces and small government came by way of slavery. Thanks to the resolve of remarkable men and women, it was the government that secured our rights, not the free market or even the Christian sensibilities of the social conservatives. But encouraging black Americans to entrust our fate to goodwill and markets is wasted energy. When the government refused to protect its black citizens, lynching happened. When it abstained from ensuring liberty for blacks, Jim Crow happened. When the government was improperly regulated with little oversight, the Tuskegee experiment and housing fraud happened. Black Americans trust a larger government role because that was how our rights were secured. So the GOP's message of reduced government is tone-deaf to the black experience in America. Yet it remains true that even if Republicans did all of the above perfectly, they would not come close to winning even half the black vote. But they don't have to. All that's needed is 1 in 5 black votes for the GOP to consistently win general elections. In a paper titled " Blacks and the Republican Party: The 20 Percent Solution ," the authors test the theory of former Republican National Committee Chairman Lee Atwater that claimed 20 percent of the black vote would make the GOP the majority party. The soundness of the math is evinced in gubernatorial races in deep-red states like Haley Barbour's in Mississippi, Mike Huckabee's in Arkansas and even George W. Bush's in Texas--each won more than 20 percent of the black vote on the way to victory at the ballot box. The authors found that the 20 percent was probably correct but the Republican Party was not postured to achieve it. Social conservatism is the answer. As the 2014 midterm elections approach, the nation will witness the power of the black electorate. And with the 2016 presidential election looming, the black electorate is poised to be the fashionable choice for intense demographic engagement. By connecting to older black Americans through shared socially conservative views, the GOP can truly contend for the black vote in a general election for the first time in decades. Theodore R. Johnson III is a writer based in the Washington, D.C., area. He's been a military professor at the Naval War College and was a 2011-2012 White House fellow. Follow him on Twitter . Theodore R. Johnson III is a former White House fellow. His writing focuses on race, society and politics. Follow him on Twitter .

The unemployment rate, the duration of unemployment, average income, and median family wealth are all worse for the black community. In June, while the overall unemployment rate remained stuck at 8.2 percent, the unemployment rate for African Americans actually went up, from 13.6 percent to 14.4 percent. Republicans love this statistic -- iron-clad proof that the first black president has been a disaster for blacks. What's usually left unsaid is the the role that public sector lay-offs have had in pumping up those numbers. Black Americans tend to seek government jobs, historically more stable than the private sector, at a higher rate than other Americans.* In 2011, UC-Berkeley's Labor Center looked at those numbers.

U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran (D-Miss.) greets supporters during his victory party at the Mississippi Children's Museum on June 24, 2014. The 36-year incumbent won the GOP primary over Tea Party-backed candidate, Mississippi State Sen. Chris McDaniel, in a tight runoff race. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images The black electorate is back en vogue. After saving Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran from defeat in the Republican primary just months after propelling Democrat Terry McAuliffe to Virginia's governorship, black America has demonstrated that it indeed can determine the outcome of elections. More important, perhaps, is the subtext of these results: The black vote is demonstrably in play. In recent weeks, the New York Times' Nate Cohn has argued that Southern black voters will determine whether or not the GOP will control the next Congress. And the Times' Jeremy Peters has reported on the outreach efforts of prominent Republicans like Sen. Rand Paul. Since it already has an iron grip on the black vote, the Democratic Party has a strategy to simply increase turnout. In response, the GOP can either suppress the black vote, which is a goal so immoral and un-American that it will result in increased turnout for Democrats, or it can undertake the large project of actuating a contended black electorate. Republicans have been roundly--and rightly--disparaged for their poor and inconsistent efforts to attract black voters. But what usually follows such criticism is nebulous advice about clear messaging and community engagement. This sort of counsel is good-natured, but so unclear and imprecise that it is almost wholly unhelpful. A more fruitful approach would be for the GOP to turn to a component of the party platform that some believe is passe: social conservatism. When packaged with other government and economic-reform policies, this ideology could be the key to garnering support from just enough of the black electorate to become the nation's majority party. Social conservatism is sometimes considered nothing more than a euphemism for opponents of abortion and and same-sex marriage, but social conservatism is fundamentally about traditional family values, the role of religion, the importance of community, and the intergenerational transfer of morals and beliefs. These are principles integral to the American culture--and a recent Gallup poll confirms that more Americans identify as socially conservative. Among black Americans, however, social conservatism is more pronounced. Research highlighted by professors Sherri Wallace and Angela Lewis in the paper " Compassionate Conservatism and African Americans " shows that though black voters routinely support the Democratic Party, black Americans identify with conservatives on a wide range of social issues. The Pew Research Center found that black Americans are the most religious race or ethnicity in the nation, whether the measure is church attendance, frequency of prayer or reliance on religion in daily life. Black Americans are the least accepting of changes to the traditional family structure--there's a reason President Barack Obama's and both Bill and Hillary Clinton's views on gay marriage took so long to evolve. Black parents have the most socially conservative views about premarital sex and abstinence (pdf). Even the prevalence of homeschooling, a sacred cow of the socially conservative crowd, doubled (pdf) among black families between 2007 and 2011. These trends especially hold true for older black Americans, who also possess the majority of black wealth and income. And a number of statistics come together to show why this should be music to Republican ears. There are around 10 million more voting-age black Americans over 35 than under, accounting for two-thirds of the voting population. The 2012 black voter-participation rate (pdf)--now the highest in the nation--was driven by black voters over 35, whereas under-25 black voter participation dropped significantly. In short, older, socially conservative black Americans are voting more, and younger, liberal-leaning black voters are voting less. Why, then, do black Americans vote for Democrats in such large numbers? The answer is fairly straightforward: black Americans are pro-government. The Washington Post categorizes many black Americans as "God and government" Democrats who are essentially social conservatives who vote for larger government because, on the whole, they experience more economic distress. Black Americans, especially, look to the government to create jobs, provide financial safety nets in times of need and protect hard-won civil rights gains. Taken together, the message to Republicans should be clear. But if recent history is any indication, it still needs a more explicit explanation, and there are two primary takeaways. First, though social conservatism resonates with many black voters, attempting to win elections with campaign promises of policy and legislation that turn conservative morals into legal mandates is a losing endeavor. The socially conservative black man who is underemployed isn't nearly as concerned with legalizing school prayer as he is with finding employment and increasing his income. The socially conservative black woman is less worried about passing laws on marriage than ensuring that schools are safe and academically sound. Second, the GOP can establish a connection with black voters by promoting traditional values, but to win their votes, the party will need to offer reassurances that smaller government and more reliance on the free market economy does not mean government will abandon civil rights protections and economic safety nets. This is where historical context is paramount. Black Americans' introduction to market forces and small government came by way of slavery. Thanks to the resolve of remarkable men and women, it was the government that secured our rights, not the free market or even the Christian sensibilities of the social conservatives. But encouraging black Americans to entrust our fate to goodwill and markets is wasted energy. When the government refused to protect its black citizens, lynching happened. When it abstained from ensuring liberty for blacks, Jim Crow happened. When the government was improperly regulated with little oversight, the Tuskegee experiment and housing fraud happened. Black Americans trust a larger government role because that was how our rights were secured. So the GOP's message of reduced government is tone-deaf to the black experience in America. Yet it remains true that even if Republicans did all of the above perfectly, they would not come close to winning even half the black vote. But they don't have to. All that's needed is 1 in 5 black votes for the GOP to consistently win general elections. In a paper titled " Blacks and the Republican Party: The 20 Percent Solution ," the authors test the theory of former Republican National Committee Chairman Lee Atwater that claimed 20 percent of the black vote would make the GOP the majority party. The soundness of the math is evinced in gubernatorial races in deep-red states like Haley Barbour's in Mississippi, Mike Huckabee's in Arkansas and even George W. Bush's in Texas--each won more than 20 percent of the black vote on the way to victory at the ballot box. The authors found that the 20 percent was probably correct but the Republican Party was not postured to achieve it. Social conservatism is the answer. As the 2014 midterm elections approach, the nation will witness the power of the black electorate. And with the 2016 presidential election looming, the black electorate is poised to be the fashionable choice for intense demographic engagement. By connecting to older black Americans through shared socially conservative views, the GOP can truly contend for the black vote in a general election for the first time in decades. Theodore R. Johnson III is a writer based in the Washington, D.C., area. He's been a military professor at the Naval War College and was a 2011-2012 White House fellow. Follow him on Twitter . Theodore R. Johnson III is a former White House fellow. His writing focuses on race, society and politics. Follow him on Twitter .

Rebecca Jones, of North Hampton, Mass., center, and Veronica Thoms, of Pelham, NY right, celebrate the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York State outside the Stonewall Inn on Christopher St, Friday, June 24, 2011, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) A new Gallup survey , the largest of its kind, found that people of color are more likely to identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT). In fact, the poll showed that 4.6 percent of African-Americans identify as LGBT along with 4 percent of Latinos and 4.3 percent of Asian-Americans. Only 3.2 percent of white Americans say they are LGBT. The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) , the nation's leading black LGBT civil rights organization, has been at the forefront advocating on behalf of black LGBT people and their families. The findings in the Gallup survey reiterate that black LGBT people are Black, too, and LGBT people are not only black, but predominantly so. The data tells us the truth that we see daily in our lives, families, churches and communities--a narrative quite different from the ones we witness in the media and in the political arena. While it is easy to get lost in the rhetoric that pits "black" against "gay" or depicts the LGBT community as wealthy white gay men, failing to recognize that our black families are comprised of black LGBT parents, siblings, children, co-workers and friends is a failure to recognize the full Black narrative and our collective power. Radical right wing groups have been working overtime to "divide and conquer" the black vote during this critical election year, attempting to make marriage equality a "wedge issue." But research continues to show that these groups are fighting a losing battle. Not only does the Gallup poll reinforce that NBJC and our programming like the annual OUT on the Hill Black LGBT Leadership Summit are needed more than ever, it supports previous data that communities at the intersection are largely underrepresented. According to the report LGBT Families of Color: Facts at a Glance , when compared with white same-sex couples, Black same-sex couples are more likely to parent children and earn a lower annual income. Additionally, the 2000 U.S. Census reported that there are almost 85,000 black same-sex couples in the United States (African Americans make up 13 percent of the United States population, while Black same-sex households are 14 percent of all same-sex households in the U.S.). The proof is in the pudding. Black LGBT people are here and they're here to stay. However, nothing is more important for full equality than being out, particularly if you're black and gay. We have the data, now it's time to have the dialogue. The black LGBT community needs to be visible, be proud, and live their lives--authentically and unapologetically. It is up to black America to start the often hard-to-have conversations within our homes, churches, schools and workplaces. There's a proud and out family of tens of thousands of black LGBT people and allies ready and waiting to welcome our black LGBT brothers and sisters home. Sharon J. Lettman-Hicks serves as the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), which is a national civil rights organization, dedicated to empowering Black LGBT people. NBJC's mission is to eradicate racism and homophobia. For more information about NBJC, visit www.nbjc.org .

"Capitalism is the problem, not less or more tariffs." The Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that the black unemployment reached record lows in January at 6.9%. For whites, it was 3.7%. Currently, the Black rate is still hovering near 7.7%. President Trump quickly took credit for its drop. Together with Trump's increasing tariffs and with his promise to create more jobs, do blacks need to jump for joy? The gap between black and white unemployment lingered at the same gap for over 25 years, said the Harvard Business Review. The Harvard Review said bias and discrimination cause the gap. Black folks say racism. Capitalism breeds racism. White families have 13 times the wealth of blacks. The Institute for Economic Policy says that it would take 228 years for black families to obtain the same amount. More blacks live below the poverty line according to the Pew Research Center. Blacks receive less pay than whites. More experienced blacks with higher education still get paid less than whites. Overall, blacks are the last to be hired in upward business cycles and the first to be fired off during downturns. President Trump says more tariffs and former president Obama was a so-called free trade advocate promoting fewer tariffs. Trump and Obama's aims are the same. Both sought to stabilize and increase the U.S. hold on its world turf. It is about the drive for profits. "The Institute for Economic Policy says that it would take 228 years for black families to catch up to whites." Obama's TPP was meant to limit China's trade penetration in the Pacific and knock down tariffs. Trump's strategy was to hammer China for so-called dumping steel on the U.S. Imperialism continues to batter semi-colonial countries. According to the UN, over half of the least developed 47 nations come from the African continent. Interest rates and perpetual trading inequalities will keep them in perpetual debt. No, Black folks should not jump for joy. Either way, working people get screwed, and the black working class gets doubly screwed. Plus workers still get sent to kill and die to fight U.S. world imperialism's turf wars. It is capitalism that is the problem, not less or more tariffs. It is clear that Trump won the presidency because the white working class thought Trump, the rich white man, had the answer to restoring and increasing jobs. These workers are backward, clinging to notions of white privilege, relying on one of the ruling class parties, the GOP, to save them. Blacks still rely on the Democrats for salvation. Struggles of the post-WWII civil rights and black rights movements lessened the employment gap. Clinton or Bernie Sanders would have been no better in curing capitalism's ills. What Black people need is an independent, struggle-action oriented, Black worker-led party and an independent working-class party -- both anti-capitalist. Dr. Morgan is a black internationalist activist scholar. Contact him at [email protected]

It can be argued that one of the most important and treasured cultural aspects in the Black community is our faith. We are overwhelmingly Christian. The church has played a key role in our cultural and spiritual development almost from the time our ancestors were first dragged here in chains. At times, God and His church were all Black Americans had to cling to in the darkest oppressions. Even as we have moved from segregation to freedom we have always held fast to the tenants of God's Word, and as a result we are largely socially conservative as a group. However, when it comes to our votes we don't seem to carry that same adherence to our faith to the polls. The official platform of the Democrat party embraces gay marriage, while the Black community sees this as antithetical to God's Word. Despite being only 12% of the population and representing over 35% of abortions, the majority of Black Americans still believe life is God-given; and yet the Democrat platform endorses abortion. Record unemployment in Black communities and America in general, 47 million Americans receiving food stamps, skyrocketing energy prices and a debt that threatens to topple the country seem to have very little effect on Black Christians - by all indications they are still solidly in Obama's camp. Some say it is because they are uncomfortable with Romney's Mormon faith, some genuinely believe that he (and his party) is racist and would roll back civil rights. Some say that things really will get better if we just hang on a little longer and don't change horses mid-race. My father-in-law, Victor Davis (a conservative Black pastor who served his community of Gary, IN for over 40 years) told me this: "I had coined the phrase "Chocolate Covered Pretzels" to describe many of the "African-American church folk" after Obama made his endorsement of Homosexual Marriage. That represented to me the theological twisting and bending that they would go through to find a way to support their "black president-brother-man" and sadly that is what I hear and see more and more of. Some are not able to differentiate between what a man "says he believes" and what a man legislates or enforces in the way of policies and laws. Even the unbeliever (Cyrus Ezra 6:4) can lead a nation in righteous decrees and provide an atmosphere in which the Gospel has freedom to be proclaimed and practiced (1 Tim 2:1-4) without restraint. However to contrast that, is when the "so-called believer" legislates Antichrist/laws, along with upholding the killing of God conceived babies and then work to restrict the "faith practices" of clear scriptural teaching, then that " believer" is in direct conflict with the Kingdom purpose of God (that His will would be done on earth as it is in Heaven)" I want to ask this question specifically to my Black Christian brothers and sisters: Do your political loyalties represent your faith? When you go vote on Tuesday, will you be voting as a "Chocolate-covered pretzel" or a participant in the Kingdom of God? I know what' I'll be doing. crossposted at kiradavis.net Wake up Right! Subscribe to our Morning Briefing and get the news delivered to your inbox before breakfast!

Walid Shoebat was on with Dennis Miller today in what ended up being a pretty lame interview, primarily because Dennis Miller isn't really interested in the uncomfortable truth about Obama and his . . . I decided to go back and watch Walid Shoebat's lecture on Bible Prophecy that he did at the 2008 SoCal Prophecy Conference. It's amazing. I've seen it once before some time back, . . . As many of you know, Walid Shoebat has uncovered stunning evidence that ties Obama's family members directly to Islamic terrorism and has also connected one of his terrorist family members directly to . . . The church in Germany built as a monument of the Protestant Reformation to honor Martin Luther actually allowed a Muslim Imam to perform the call to prayer at an interfaith service there . . . Isn't this grand. The UK Muslim Brotherhood leader Anas Al-Tikriti came along in the delegation of the Speaker of the Iraqi Council of Representatives and met with the President and Vice President, . . . Walid Shoebat has been under federal surveillance because of his reporting and yet he continues to expose the truth about the Obama family and their ties to terrorism. And below is a . . . Walid Shoebat has been doing some more digging and has uncovered something BIG. Allow me to distill it down for you: In 2008 an umbrella organization known as the "The Union of . . . A few days ago Walid Shoebat revealed a photo of Obama's brother (half-brother) Malik Obama wearing a Hamas scarf called the "keffiyeh". Here is what Shoebat says about the keffiyeh: [It] bears . . . When I became Christian they told me I needed to go to a Bible believing church. I wandered to find such a church, but as I wandered for two decades in America . . . By Walid Shoebat and Ben Barrack Shocking documents (screen shots at bottom of this post) by Egyptian security forces monitoring the movements of Malik Obama's Islamic Da'wa Organization (IDO) and the father . . . When plugging "Patriarch" or "Bishop" in Arabic on Google, what type of spiritual prostitution that is found should surprise western Catholics, but is of no surprise to us from the Middle East . . . This is very similar to a post I did the other week on why Rome cannot be the iron legs on the statue in Daniel 2. But as you might expect, Joel . . . Yeah let's just neuter law enforcement so they can't fully do their jobs. That makes a lot of sense, especially since one religion, Islam, is behind the uber majority of terrorist attacks. . . . You don't go to 'church' in these rebel-captured communities, you pay the price: ISRAEL NATIONAL NEWS - Syria is undergoing an accelerated process of Islamization, which is led by extremist Islamist rebel . . . Below is the World Watch List by Open Doors of the top 50 countries when it comes to Christian persecution around the world. And once again N. Korea tops the list. According . . . I hope you don't mind, but we're going to take a slight detour from politics for a moment to bust a fallacy held by many regarding the iron legs on the statue . . . This is from Walid Shoebat. There was a complaint filed in Egypt with the Attorney General, Hisham Barakat, that the wife of ousted President Mohammed Mursi admitted in an interview with Turkey's . . . As some of you know I love Bible prophecy but I'm by no means an expert. But Walid Shoebat and Joel Richardson are and the other day they were on the same . . . We often hear about Christians who are under siege in other countries, victims of brutal terrorist attacks by a relentless enemy. We see pictures and we read articles and we think we . . . On the Kuhner Report yesterday, Walid Shoebat told of he is now being harassed and spied upon by the Obama administration over the work he has done uncovering Obama's familial Islamist ties, . . .

As the Western world becomes more secular, religious knowledge is on the decline. At Intellectual Takeout, however, we feel that educated people should possess some basic knowledge of each of the world's religions--even if they aren't practicing members of any particular faith. To get an idea of how up-to-speed you are on the topic of religion, we invite you to answer 10 questions that we put together in the quiz below. Let us know how you do! Get thought-provoking content delivered to your inbox every day! Subscribe to IT's newsletter.

Obama's Appointment for Attorney General Eric Holder Thank you, Conservative Byte - http://conservativebyte.com/2012/06/fast-and-furious-holder/ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO "FILED UNDER" CLICK ON ANY OF THOSE TOPICS TO TAKE YOU TO SIMILAR POSTINGS Posted by Donna Calvin -- Thursday, June 21, 2012 Please share this Watchwoman post on your Facebook page, Linkedin, Google+1, Twitter to all your friends. Please click "Like", Share, and Leave Comments. Visit Word Warriorette, a free Yahoo Group, and subscribe to be notified (one email a day) of new posts on Watchwoman. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WordWarriorette/ DISCLAIMER: Beliefnet puts paid advertisements on "Watchwoman on the Wall" blog site including some that would never be approved of by the King James Bible, Pastor Ernie Sanders of Doers of the Word Church, What's Right-What's Left Radio Ministry, the Voice of the Christian Resistance, Geauga County Right to Life and Donna Calvin. We at www.WRWL.org do not condone, endorse, adhere to, practice or believe in many of the topics and some of what other bloggers promote or their religions at Beliefnet. However, Mrs. Calvin has no control of what Beliefnet displays. She blogs at Beliefnet because she is in the missionary field ministering to true believers posting articles and commentaries informing pro-life, conservative Christians of recent anti-Christian acts and hostile legislation to God's Agenda and His Will for the world. Hopefully, unbelievers will read these along with the salvation message of Jesus Christ as written in the Gospel of John, Chapter 3, according to the King James Bible, and be saved. A missionary must go into the unbelievers' territory to reach them. Her mission is to Proclaim Warning to a Nation that has forgotten their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the only Truth, the Life, and the only Way to the One God the Father.

(GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE) -- These are some of the key findings of a new report released by the Pew Research Center, called Global Christianity: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population, which provides data on the world's Christian population by region, country and tradition. * Almost half (48 percent) of all Christians live in the 10 countries with the largest number of Christians. Three of the top 10 are in the Americas (the United States, Brazil and Mexico). Two are in Europe (Russia and Germany); two are in the Asia-Pacific region (the Philippines and China); and three are in sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia), reflecting Christianity's global reach.

This is the first in a series of posts presenting segments of ACLJ Films' latest project, "Let My People Go," which highlights the plight of persecuted Christians across the globe and what the ACLJ is doing to fight the global genocide against the Christian Church. Americans may face religious discrimination from time to time, but we don't face religious persecution like other Christians around the world. Religious persecution is when your life is at risk and your family is endangered simply because of what you believe and how you live your faith. Religious persecution around the world is a matter of life and death for many Christians. "Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him... Let my people go, so that they may worship me." - Exodus 9:1 The scarier thing than the rise of religious persecution is the extreme and radical nature of this persecution - beheadings, crucifixions, mass executions, sex trafficking, and more. What is the root of this rising persecution? The rise of radical Islamic jihad. ISIS, Boko Haram, and other Islamic militant groups targeting Christians and other religious minorities is not just persecution, but genocide and religious cleansing. In a dangerous world where there's growing chaos and conflict, there is still hope. We take a look at what can be done. And we shine a spotlight on the defenders of the faith - the men and women who are putting their own lives at risk to stand-up for the persecuted Church.

The question of homophobia in historically Black churches is way more nuanced than conversations about Christianity and queerness often take into account. If the Black church and LGBTQ movements joined forces, they would be a force to reckon with. By Helen | March 19, 2014 | 12 Comments Ever since I went to a Halloween party at my friend's church youth group in 6th grade, I've been almost inseparable from my Christian identity. But on November 4th, 2012, my heart was all the way down in my toes as I got ready to go to church for the first time as a transgender lesbian. By Mey | October 3, 2013 | 40 Comments Mandi is the creator of Queerituality.com, a project we told you about a few months ago. She shared the inspiration behind that project, more about her own spiritual journey and how it intersects with her queer identity, and her favorite writers, books, and news sources. By Vanessa | September 23, 2013 | 10 Comments

Photo by Jenny Graham During a post-show panel discussion with the actors in the Guthrie Theater production of Romeo and Juliet , Candace Barrett Birke talked about how the Guthrie Theater cast interacted and responded on "teenage time." This may explain why director Joseph Haj's staging moves so briskly and passionately. It is, after all, a fateful story about two teens who react with inflamed volatility to the rigid codes engrained, upheld, and enforced in their hometown of Verona, Italy once upon a time. William Shakespeare's tragedy is surely the most popular drama ever and legendary for its heartbreaking nature. However, Haj's ensemble has found inherent humor that springs largely from the impetuosity of the youth characters in the first half of the play--something overlooked and, therefore, unmined in many productions. Photo by Jenny Graham Paradoxically, this in turn sets up the play's tragic culmination of bad judgment, bad luck, and bad timing (inherent in the play, not in Haj's staging which is sharply timed). This makes for a truly engaging and entertaining experience. Moreover, one of this particular production's revelations occurs in the way in which the scenes that reflect on banishment are uniquely interlocked The older characters on the thrust stage are uniformly well played with standouts. These include Birke as the sentimental nurse, James Williams as do-gooder Friar Laurence, a splendid Sha Cage as the dignified Lady Capulet, and Charity Jones as Montague. Jones, as she demonstrated earlier this year in Haj's King Lear, is the best speaker of classical language in Twin Cities theater. She is consistently clear and sensitive to rhythms while always being naturally and organically in the moment. Another older actor who exemplifies the depth, voice, and centering of strong stagecraft is Bil McCallum as the city's Prince. Performances by younger actors are uneven and this partly owes to to Haj and costume designer Jennifer Moeller whose transhistorical choices are beautiful. However, there is a trade off when you go off the grid, so to speak. These choices put actors in a muddle as to who they are in time and place, and turn the show into "guess which period that costume is from" rather than tuning into the play itself. After all, the play's the thing. Faring best out of this is Ryan-James Hatanaka as Romeo. He finds the genuine naivete of an innocent young man who doesn't realize how intensely his openness rattles the cages of the elders, hence, Verona's social system. He and Kate Eastman interact with warmth and the mutual attraction germane to the play. However, Eastman is too knowing, as if she were a contemporary Western teenager and not an innocent maiden of the late medieval or early Renaissance period. Eastman speaks well and certainly understands the role but her rendering is too emotionally advanced. To be sure, this actress certainly has a career ahead of her as a classical actress if she hews to the craft. But older roles are in order. Another actor who goes contemporary is Lamar Jefferson as Benvolio. He finds the character's kinetic volatility but he pushes it so that he overwhelms too much of the focus in scenes he is in. However, Kelsey Didion's crackling turn as Mercutio is fine example of a cross-gender turn that captures the Shakespeare spirit. In Elizabethan times only men were allowed to play women's roles. Four centuries later Didion returns the favor. Romeo and Juliet Through Oct. 28 Guthrie Theater, 818 So. Second St., Minneapolis (612) 377-2224 www.guthrietheater.org Photo by Jenny Graham October 4, 2017 by Kassidy Tarala

As the Western world becomes more secular, religious knowledge is on the decline. At Intellectual Takeout, however, we feel that educated people should possess some basic knowledge of each of the world's religions--even if they aren't practicing members of any particular faith. To get an idea of how up-to-speed you are on the topic of religion, we invite you to answer 10 questions that we put together in the quiz below. Let us know how you do! Get thought-provoking content delivered to your inbox every day! Subscribe to IT's newsletter.

The free exercise of religion is a constitutionally protected right. That right, however, is being infringed upon when a woman is not permitted to choose how, where and with whom she gives birth. There are many who view childbirth as not only non-medical, but religious and spiritual in nature. This understanding of birth as primarily religious in nature can be found to span many, if not most religious thought and dogmas. However, it is not incumbent on the individual to prove the validity of their religious conviction, but rather on the government to show a compelling interest in interfering with an individual's free exercise of religion. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM APPLIES TO CHILDBIRTH CHOICES!

VERSE OF THE DAY Be blessed and be a blessing October 3, Tuesday Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Colossians 1:13 For He rescued us... Read More Faith Colossians , Romans Leave a comment Las Vegas police have identified Stephen Paddock, 64, from Mesquite, Nevada, as the gunman in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Authorities believe Paddock shot into a crowd of 22,000 people attending an outdoor concert, killing 58 and wounded hundreds more before before he killed himself in a... Read More News Las Vegad shooting , Stephen Paddock Leave a comment

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President Donald Trump delivered his fiscal year 2019 budget request to Congress on Monday, officially kicking off the 2019 budget season. Congress must now do its job and build off the president's budget and craft its own budget resolution. In light of last week's budget-busting deal , now more than ever it is crucial for Congress to pass a budget resolution and include reconciliation instructions that call for meaningful and permanent spending reforms. Lawmakers should incorporate the many positive reforms included in the president's budget in crafting their proposal. 1. Continues the president's commitment to national defense. The president's 2019 budget calls for continued investment in national defense. The proposal provides more than $700 billion for defense in 2019 and over the next 10 years it would invest a total of nearly $7.5 trillion. The plan also calls for phasing out Overseas Contingency Operations funding, and would instead budget for those needs within the Defense Department and State Department's base budgets. This is a much-needed step toward ending the misuse of the Overseas Contingency Operations designation and presenting a more transparent defense budget. 2. Fails to balance. Last year, the president's budget reached a balance of $16 billion by 2027. By contrast, the 2019 proposal never balances. This is a stark departure from the past several Republican budget proposals. Since 2011, the House Budget Committee has put forth seven budget proposals, all of which balanced within 10 years. Cumulatively, the proposal would add more than $7 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years. Simply put, the president's budget does not go far enough on reducing spending and reforming entitlement programs. Last year's House budget resolution cut spending by nearly $5.5 trillion. The Heritage Foundation's Blueprint for Balance and Republican Study Committee budget laid out more than $10 trillion in budget cuts over 10 years. Deficit reduction, tax reform, welfare and entitlement reform, and regulatory reform are critical for economic growth, but are only part of the picture. Unless Congress and the president reduce spending, the benefits of growth will not be fully realized. 3. Reduces the size and scope of the federal government. The budget cuts more than $1.5 trillion in non-defense discretionary spending over the next 10 years. This represents a significant reduction to agencies and programs that are inefficient, ineffective, and are not constitutional responsibilities of the federal government. These include eliminating numerous energy subsidies to the private sector, ineffective grant programs such as the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, and Obama-era climate change funding. It would also ban the use of Changes in Mandatory Programs. This is a commonly used budget gimmick which allows Congress to spend billions of additional dollars each year without any real savings and has been used to circumvent spending limits. While the president's approach to reducing the federal bureaucracy is appropriate, his signing of the latest budget deal raises questions about his level of commitment to smaller government. The administration estimates that spending increases from the Bipartisan Budget Act would add nearly $700 billion to the already $7.1 trillion in additional debt that the country would accrue under this proposal. 4. Calls for limited mandatory and entitlement reforms. The president's budget would repeal and replace Obamacare, generating nearly $700 billion dollars in health care savings over the next 10 years. On top of these savings, the proposal identifies another $278 billion in Medicare savings. These are real cuts, many of which are based on existing bipartisan proposals. These have a strong chance to become law if lawmakers seize them for their budget to cut through reconciliation. Other savings proposals include reforming Social Security's Disability Insurance program and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The fact that the president acknowledges that these programs are in need of reform is important. It is important, though, that the administration work with Congress to continue to develop these proposals. Despite these high points, the budget does fall short in other areas. It fails to address Social Security's Old Age and Survivors Insurance program, which makes up the vast majority of Social Security costs. The program is unsustainable in its current form and will continue to eat up more of the overall budget if it is allowed to run growing cash deficits. Like last year, the plan also calls for a federal paid family leave benefits, a new entitlement program which Congress should abstain from pursuing. 5. Spends $200 billion on infrastructure. The budget would provides $200 billion in funding for the president's infrastructure plan . According to the administration, this initial down payment would be used to spur at least $1.5 trillion in state, local, and private investment over the next 10 years. The question is, is this federal investment really warranted? Data shows that only 9 percent of U.S. bridges are "structurally deficient," less than half the number 25 years ago. Moreover, 93 percent of the nation's roads are considered to be in fair or better condition, and the nation's airports are moving more people, more safely, than ever before. Instead of spending hundreds of billions of dollars on infrastructure projects, the federal government should focus on structural reforms and remove impediments that hamper infrastructure deployment . Overall, the president's proposal is a mixed bag. The budget makes progress by investing in the military, eliminating numerous ineffective agencies and programs, and beginning the process of welfare and entitlement reform. However, the budget fails to ever balance, and does not sufficiently move the country away from its currently unsustainable fiscal path. Last week, Congress and the president agreed to a plan that could add up to $2 trillion to the national debt. Congress must build off the president's proposal and craft a budget that not only balances but puts forth reconciliation instructions to ensure that the budget is more than just a vision document, but actually turns reforms on paper into fiscal reality. Continuing to put off necessary budget reforms is being fiscally reckless and undermines the American economy's growth potential.

FreedomWorks is proud to announce that our bill of the month for June 2018 is H.Res. 919, sponsored by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.). The resolution, which has 36 cosponsors, would recognize that our unsustainable national debt poses a true threat to the security of our country. This simple fact is too often ignored by those who claim to be fiscal conservatives, yet use increased defense funding as an excuse to vote for higher and higher spending levels each year. On behalf of FreedomWorks activists nationwide, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to support the Penny Plan Balanced Budget, S.Con.Res. 36, introduced by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). The budget would repeal the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, utilize the penny plan for bringing federal spending under control, expand health savings accounts, and implement true budget process reform. Every one of these proposals is desperately needed when our country is staring down a debt-to-GDP ratio in 2028, in which debt held by the public nearly eclipses the size of the economy. This type of spending growth is unsustainable and the Penny Plan Balanced Budget proposes a way to rightsize the fiscal outlook of our country. This summer, America will mark the 22nd anniversary of the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act. Reforming welfare was a prominent part of then-Speaker Newt Gingrich's "Contract With America" as well as President Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. After lengthy negotiations and a couple of vetoes by President Clinton, the measure was passed with bipartisan support. It promised to overhaul the way America handled welfare and government assistance for years to come. Ten years ago, the United States Supreme Court effectively scratched the line "for public use" from the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause, which allows the government to take and repurpose private property. The 5-4 decision in Kelo v. New London said that property may be taken from one private owner and given to another private owner if it will generate more revenue for the city. Being tasked with a response to the State of the Union address isn't easy. The message, usually given by a fresh face, is carefully crafted to fluff up a party's priorities for the coming months, as well as offer Americans a distinction between their agenda and what the president offered them earlier in the evening.

(The Daily Signal) The first payment for President Donald Trump's long-promised border wall will be $1.5 billion, said Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget. Mick Mulvaney Photo by Gage Skidmore (CC) Mulvaney spoke to reporters Wednesday about the Trump administration's next proposed budget that would slash more than a quarter of total funding from the State Department, primarily in foreign aid, and provide a 10 percent budget hike for the Pentagon. The Trump budget proposal also increases funding for the Department of Homeland Security by 6 percent, Mulvaney told reporters, in a briefing that was embargoed until after midnight. "This is an America-first budget," Mulvaney said. He noted the president's campaign promises and added, "We turned those words into numbers." The budget proposal would essentially divest taxpayers from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which runs National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service. "We proposed ending funding," he said. "It's an elimination, but you'll see an amount in the budget, some amount of money that is necessary for us to unwind our involvement with the [Corporation for Public Broadcasting.]" The budget blueprint--set for release at 7 a.m. EST Thursday--deals only with discretionary spending. So, while Mulvaney says the spending plan doesn't add to the federal deficit, the White House doesn't have a projection as to when or if the budget could be balanced over the next decade. The U.S. government is projected to spend $4 trillion next year--two-thirds mandatory spending going to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and interest on the national debt. This spending will reportedly stay in place. Mulvaney further explained individual departments and agencies would determine the budget line items in a proposal to be released in May....

Negotiations over President Trump's "America-first" budget are just beginning, said Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget. During a Tuesday interview on CBS News , Mulvaney reiterated that the plans he laid out Monday during the White House press briefing are a "budget blueprint." Delays by Democrats led to the full budget not being finished yet, Mulvaney said. "Ordinarily in an administration you wouldn't even see the budget until we were much farther along in the process. Because of the delay in my confirmation and other confirmations, because of the obstruction the Senate, we decided to come out and say, 'Here's where we are,'" the former South Carolina congressman told CBS. The blueprint was created based on Trump's plans. "You have an America-first candidate, you have an America-first budget," Mulvaney said. "We looked at his speeches, what he believed, what he told people when he was running for office. We took those policies and turned them into numbers. "What you see is increase in defense, increase in border security, and increase in enforcing laws that are already on the book, an increase in school choice, and decreases, for example, in money sent to other countries," Mulvaney said. Trump does not want to make the deficit worse, Mulvaney said. "His charge to me was, 'Do what I said I would do, but don't impact the deficit.'" Negotiations about the budget will take place over the next two weeks, and budget cuts could take place at any government agency, Mulvaney said. "We look at everything. That's our job. We look at every single program. We know the agencies as well as they know themselves. That's what the professionals at OMB do. People go line-by-line through all the programs and say this is effective, that one is not," Mulvaney said. The budget sends an important message from the president, Mulvaney said. "This president is doing what he said he'd do when he ran," the budget director said in another interview Tuesday on ABC News .

The Facts on Tax Reform As the tax debate on Capitol Hill heats up, this series from the Center for American Progress provid es easy-to-understand information about the tax system in the United States , including its major issues and proposals to change it. This table presents a state-by-state comparison of TCJA tax cuts for the top 1 percent and SNAP spending. By Galen Hendricks and Alex Rowell Congressional leadership and President Donald Trump promised tax reform that would make the tax code simpler and fairer, would create more jobs, and would not protect the wealthy and well-connected. But the tax law they passed will do just the opposite. By Alexandra Thornton The president's budget pays for his tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations by slashing health care, education, and other critical investments. By Seth Hanlon, Rebecca Vallas, Rachel West, Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Eliza Schultz, Heidi Schultheis, Kevin DeGood, Annie McGrew, Thomas Huelskoetter, Angela Hanks, Erin Auel, Stephenie Johnson, Ben Miller, Antoinette Flores, Michela Zonta, Rejane Frederick, Alex Rowell, Alan Cohen, and John Norris In 2019, foreign investors would bring home $5 billion more from the tax bill than every working- and middle-class family in states that voted for President Trump, combined. By Alex Rowell and Seth Hanlon Using a current policy baseline means that the cost of temporary tax cuts must be taken into account in the Senate tax bill. By Seth Hanlon and Alex Rowell This week, Michele and Igor sit down with Helaine Olen, author and contributor to the Washington Post's Plumline blog, to discuss the congressional GOP tax bill. By Michele L. Jawando, Igor Volsky, Sally Tucker, and Rachel Rosen Foreign investors would gain a larger benefit from the congressional tax plans in 2019 than working- and middle-class families in every state that voted for President Donald Trump, combined. By Alex Rowell and Seth Hanlon On average, about 29,800 fewer people in each congressional district would have coverage by 2025. The Senate tax bill squeezes the middle class, wastes America's fiscal resources, set up fiscal cliffs, cut off federal revenues needed to support economic and national security priorities, and further concentrates economic and political power. By Andy Green State data estimate how many Americans will be hurt under the Senate tax plan by 2027. By Alex Rowell and Andrew Schwartz We went to Indiana to ask a Carrier worker--who has seen his company slash jobs despite receiving a $7 million tax break on top of $57 billion in profits in 2016--whether corporate tax cuts help American workers. By Andrew Satter and Jeremy Slevin Under congressional Republican leadership's unified framework tax plan, some families with expensive medical bills would see tax hikes. By Alexandra Thornton and Alex Rowell The effort by President Trump and congressional Republican leaders to push through huge tax cuts looks and sounds a lot like the colossal failure of the 2012 Kansas state tax cuts. By Alexandra Thornton and Galen Hendricks Andy Green discusses the effects of corporate tax cuts on jobs, wages, and the American people. By Alexandra Thornton, Seth Hanlon, Andy Green, and Andrew Satter In light of the Trump administration's and congressional Republicans' proposed massive tax cuts, this fact sheet explains how Congress should avoid various gimmicks to hide the true cost of tax cuts. By Seth Hanlon Tuesday Aug 14, 2018 10:00 AM From Community Schools to Community Districts: Building Systems for Student Success Tuesday Sep 25, 2018 08:30 AM 2018 Smart on Crime Innovations Conference

The number of Americans dependent on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) dropped by 2.8 million users as President Donald Trump's economy continues to grow. SNAP, sometimes referred to as food stamps, is a program under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides assistance to low-income families in purchasing groceries. Millions drop off food stamps https://t.co/uNRCPzIpz4 -- Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) August 6, 2018 SNAP has been on a downward trend for a few years, but membership has declined significantly since the president's first full month in office. Most of the decline in SNAP participation is believed to be from U.S. economic growth. President Trump's administration has seen record job numbers and low unemployment , greatly reducing American dependence on government programs like SNAP. The U.S. productivity has grown, too, leading to a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4.1 percent -- a number some economists didn't think was possible. Much of the job growth under President Trump is connected to his reduction in regulation and his cutting of corporate taxes under the GOP's Jobs and Tax Cuts Act . 2.8 million less people are on food stamps since Donald Trump took the oath of office! America is working again! -- Students For Trump (@TrumpStudents) August 6, 2018 Although House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) only saw the tax cuts as " crumbs ," many Americans reduced their dependence on government and found work to feed their families. Those crumbs must be adding up. https://t.co/oTuUjlzxkU -- Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) August 6, 2018 Proposed Policy Changes May Have Impacted SNAP Users Although much of the SNAP reduction is believed to be from economic growth, there have also been many proposed changes to the program itself that may have encouraged users to find an alternative. Early in 2018, the president proposed reforming the food stamp program. Currently, SNAP users do their own purchasing using a preloaded card. The president proposed a program that would directly send SNAP users boxes of food . This proposal received a lot of criticism because it limited the choices for people on the program. President Trump also proposed letting states implement a drug policy connected to stamps, forbidding the distribution of assistance to anyone who could not pass a drug test. Recently, the president encouraged the Senate to leave a requirement in the Farm Bill to include a work requirement for food stamps nationwide. When the House and Senate meet on the very important Farm Bill - we love our farmers - hopefully they will be able to leave the WORK REQUIREMENTS FOR FOOD STAMPS PROVISION that the House approved. Senate should go to 51 votes! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 2, 2018 On the state level, several states already implemented work requirements for food stamps and saw participation levels drop rapidly. Either way, more people are at work, and fewer people are dependent on the government to feed their families.

"He was down already," said the bystander who filmed the arrest. "He was not resisting arrest he got on his knees and put his hands on his head." A day after police officers in Indiana, were caught on camera assaulting a schizophrenic African-American during a violent arrest, an officer in Florida was filmed brutally kicking a black man in the head -- even though the victim was lying on the ground with his hands restrained behind his back. The appalling incident took place in Miami and recorded by a bystander named Lisa Harrell. The footage showed a police officer approaching a black man, who was lying on his stomach, to put him in handcuffs. Moments later, another officer, later identified as Mario Figueroa, ran toward the victim and kicked him in the head so hard he almost lost his own balance. He then proceeded to grab the man's head and push it down. "He was down already. Didn't have to kick him!!! I will not let this go unnoticed," Harrell wrote on Facebook. "He was not resisting arrest he got on his knees and put his hands on his head. He WILLINGLY LAID DOWN." The victim has been identified as David Vladim Suazo, 31, who allegedly stole a Jeep Cherokee before crashing it into a concrete wall and trying to run away from the officers, according to BuzzFeed News. Police said Suazo "took a fighting stance" when the officers ordered him to get on the ground, which led an officer to deploy his taser. The officials said Suazo was "placed at taser point and was given verbal commands to get on the ground." This was shortly before Figueroa, a 2-year police veteran, kicked him, as show in the video above. Read More "He ran around and then he was face-to-face with police," Harrell told the Miami Herald. "He put his hands on his head. The police said lay down. He did. And then the police just came and kicked him." After Harrell posted the video online and sent a copy to the city of Miami, the Miami Police Department released statement, saying the footage "depicts a clear violation of policy." Figueroa has been suspended, with pay, while the case is being investigated. "On today's date, the City of Miami Police Department received a video on an incident involving one of my officers. The video depicts a clear violation of policy," Miami Police Department Chief Jorge Colina explained . "The officer has been relieved of duty and the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office has been contacted." The city's mayor applauded the department for taking the matter seriously. "I'm very happy the chief took swift, immediate action," said Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle also released a statement. "I have watched today's Culmer Place video involving a uniformed City of Miami Police Officer and I was shocked and appalled by what I saw," she stated . "Assistant State Attorney Johnette Hardiman, of my Public Corruption Unit, has been assigned to immediately open an investigation." Meanwhile, Suazo faces a number of charges from grand theft to fleeing an officer. Read More

Video | Ammoland Inc. Posted on December 22, 2014 by Ammoland In May of 2011, Buckeye, Arizona police officers Chris Paz and Rolando Tirado were working off-duty security detail at a popular Phoenix event when an altercation with a reckless driver turned deadly. Read More >>> Wild Bill : Author David Limbaugh, quite correctly, used the word "consuming". I say let the libtards frenzy, let the libtards riot,... Wild Bill : Dear Mrs Hodges, engage a skilled criminal defense attorney to nail down witnesses, statements, and other evidence, anyway! Don't wait.... Rattlerjake : God gave three instances where the killing of a man has no "bloodguilt" - 1)War, 2)Judicial punishment, 3)Self defense Wild Bill : @Mark, I concur, and thank God that she is an uncivilized, discourteous, and obvious loser. She makes her own ideas,... allan King : she would be the first one to scream armed police to come to her aid when her home is being...

8 December 2016 London, UK - Video footage has emerged of four police officers beating a shirtless man in Ruislip. The incident is believed to have taken place in Ruislip, north-west London, earlier this year. The footage, obtained by the Daily Mail, is understood to have started after officers rugby-tackled the man to the ground. Three officers can be seen holding down the man, who was naked from the waist up, while a fourth hits him several times. You can hear the officers screaming "Get your hands out" and "You spit and I'll f****** hurt you" as the man is pinned to the ground. The Met Police told LBC: "We are aware of footage running in the media online today, Thursday 8 December. "Every officer is fully aware of the legal requirement to account for any use of force. "The footage only captures a snapshot of the officers actions; it would be inappropriate to comment further until the fulll circumstances of the incident have been established. "The footage will now be subject to a review by officers from the Directorate of Professional Standards."

A YOUNG child has been found in the back seat of a stolen car that was involved in a police chase through the streets of Adelaide's east in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Police spotted the car in Kensington where a registration check revealed the vehicle was stolen. Officers flagged the car but it refused to stop for police, sparking a chase for several minutes through Kensington and Magill. It was caught after turning into a dead-end street where officers found the child in the back seat. A 28-year-old woman and 33-year-old man were arrested without incident. Reporter Elizabeth Henson has more: http://bit.ly/2bRiz3s Read our live blog below for more details

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A bystander filmed it all with her cell phone, and put it on Facebook , and now the attention the situation is getting has exploded. In this anti-cop environment that has been encouraged by some political figures, accompanied by accusations of racism and police brutality, it is easy to jump to conclusions. Colin Kaepernick, an NFL football player for the San Francisco 49ers, made headlines by refusing to stand for the National Anthem at an NFL game, claiming his decision was based on the racist and oppressive nature of this country. He was also spotted wearing anti-cop socks during practices, portraying pigs with cop hats on them. After a lengthy conversation with a Murrieta City official this afternoon, I was assured that at this moment the incident is being investigated, and there is more to the story than the small portion of it we get to see on the video. We must ask, "What happened before, and after, that caused the situation to be such a violent one? Are there factors we are unaware of that may explain what happened? Were the police simply being overly forceful in their apprehension of the young Hispanic individual?" The officer(s) in question has not been placed on administrative leave, possibly an attempt not to portray guilt on the part of the police department. Personally, I believe that to be a mistake. Administrative leave is a necessary tool to protect the police officer(s) in question. Alejandro Rojo was hit with a taser at one point during the confrontation, but did not respond as expected, leaving witnesses and officials to believe Rojo may have been high on some kind of drugs. Rojo was immediately combative, and tried to run. One of the officers, it has been reported, broke his hand during the altercation. Family members have indicated a lawsuit against the City of Murrieta is forthcoming. A special meeting between the police and local city officials is scheduled for Friday Morning, and I will have an exclusive interview with one of those officials after that city official's assembly with police takes place. I will report to you what I find out through that exclusive interview. Stay tuned. Please SHARE this story as the only way for CFP to beat Facebook anti-Conservative Suppression.

Is Princess Caroline set to welcome another grandchild? Daughter-in-law Beatrice 'debuts a baby bump' amid rumours she is expecting her second child with husband Pierre Casiraghi Princess Caroline's daughter-in-law appeared to show off a baby bump last night Beatrice Borromeo, 31, was seen with a blooming belly in a figure-hugging gown She already has a son with her husband, Caroline's son Pierre Casiraghi, 30 Speculation that the couple are expecting has intensified over the last week Published: 08:40 EDT, 25 March 2018 | Updated: 15:32 EDT, 25 March 2018 Princess Caroline of Hanover could soon become a grandmother for the fifth time after her daughter-in-law appeared to debut a baby bump. Beatrice Borromeo, 31, was seen displaying a blooming belly in a figure-hugging gown as she joined husband Pierre Casiraghi, 30, at Monaco's Rose Ball on Saturday night. The mother-of-one was seen resting her hand on the apparent bump as she posed for photos ahead of the glittering charity gala. Beatrice Borromeo appears to be expecting her second child with husband Pierre Casiraghi. The mother-of-one showed off a bump at the glittering Rose Ball in Monaco last night Beatrice appeared to be holding her baby bump as she posed for photos with her husband and his half-sister, Princess Alexandra of Hanover, 18, pictured Beatrice and Pierre looked loved-up as they posed for photos at the ball. Pictured l-r, Princess Caroline, Karl Largerfeld, Charlotte Casiraghi, Pierre and Beatrice, Princess Alexandra According to reports in Hola! and Match , Beatrice's bump was easily discernible. Beatrice and Pierre tied the knot in the summer of 2015 and welcomed their son Stefano in February last year. He is the youngest grandson of Princess Caroline. Rumours of a second pregnancy first started swirling at the beginning of this year when Italy's Chi magazine reported the couple were ready for another child. They intensified when Pierre arrived without his wife for the wedding of his step-brother Prince Christian of Hanover in Lima, Peru, last weekend. The former journalist looked radiant as she joined her husband at the annual charity gala, pictured, which was also attended by Caroline and Pierre's sister, Charlotte, 31 Beatrice and Pierre, pictured last night, tied the knot in the summer of 2015 and welcomed their son Stefano in February last year. He is the youngest grandson of Princess Caroline On Saturday night Beatrice was glowing as she joined Monaco's royal family and high society at the charity ball, which benefits the Princess Grace Foundation. It was a night of exciting news for Princess Caroline, with her daughter Charlotte Casiraghi appearing to announce her engagement to Dimitri Rassam, her boyfriend of a year. Charlotte, who has a son from a previous relationship, debuted a sparkling diamond on her engagement finger. Glowing: Charlotte Casiraghi, 31, announced her engagement to film producer Dimitri Rassam at the Rose Ball in Monaco last night. Pictured, the couple arriving for the glittering gala Proud mother: Princess Caroline of Hanover, 61, arrived for the event with designer Karl Largerfeld. She couldn't help but smile at the happy news of her daughter's upcoming nuptials Hola! reported the couple were engaged earlier this month, however this is the first time Charlotte and Dimitri have confirmed the speculation, according to Hello! The couple are reportedly keen to marry quickly and are planning to wed in a ceremony this summer. There is speculation they could marry in Sicily, where Dimitri's mother, French actress Carole Bouquet, owns a villa. Bouquet is a long-time friend of Caroline. Monaco's finest: Princess Caroline with Karl Largerfeld and children Charlotte Casiraghi, Pierre Casiraghi, pictured with wife Beatrice Borromeo, and Princess Alexandra of Hanover Share or comment on this article: Princess Caroline's daughter-in-law Beatrice Borromeo 'debuts a baby bump'

Room for a little one? This baby reindeer wobbled around her parents' feet when taking her first steps. The little female calf was spotted bouncing around at just 10 days old as protective mum Prancer and dad, Rudolph, watch on. Crowds enjoying the sunshine at Birdland Park and Gardens, Bourton on the Water, Glos., watched as she took her very first shaky steps. The yet to be named calf is sure to be the star of the show this summer. Since you're here ... It may worry you that most of our press is owned by a handful of offshore billionaires. News is increasingly biased, corrupt, or agenda driven. More worrying is the staggering decline in independent, investigative journalism. It costs a lot to produce, so many publications facing an uncertain future can no longer afford to fund it. With nobody to hold the rich and powerful to account, or report on the issues that don't fit with their 'narrative', your help is needed. You can help support free, independent journalism for as little as 50p. Every penny we collect from donations supports vital investigative and independent journalism. Joe Mellor Head of News at The London Economic. Joe is a also freelance journalist who writes news and features for national newspapers and a variety of magazine titles.

Fifteen-year-old gorilla Kiondo regularly wows crowds by doing what looks like ballet dancing at Paignton Zoo in Devon, England. A zoo spokesperson said the gorilla is a "bit of a showoff" who loves performing for amazed crowds from his enclosure at the zoo, The Mirror reported . Zoo staff took pictures of Kiondo dancing that show the gracefulness and poise of the large animal, which weighs over 400 pounds. Kiondo has been living at the zoo since 2006 when he came from Stuttgart Zoo in Germany. He was first spotted dancing last September, zoo officials said. Besides ballet dancing, Kiondo also can juggle, the zoo said in a news release . Kiondo is a Western lowland gorilla, which is a critically endangered species. He lives with a group of other male gorillas, some of whom may go on to become dominant males in other bachelor or family groups of gorillas as Europe attempts to breed the animals and increase their population, the Daily Mail reported . Kiondo has been described as "graceful" and "elegant" and is a top attraction at the zoo, The Mirror reported.

Share on Facebook Twitter Google+ E-mail Reddit Comedian Russell Brand speculates that Fred Phelps, along with other members of the Westboro Baptist Church, are all secretly gay. Brand goes on to suggest that people should attend his funeral and act very respectful. The clip is part of an ongoing series of videos published by Brand [...] Share on Facebook Twitter Google+ E-mail Reddit According to family members and multiple news sources, the founder of the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), Fred Phelps, died late Wednesday night at the age of 84. Timothy Phelps reported on Kansas' WIBW that Fred Phelps died "before midnight" on Wednesday. Fred Phelps founded WBC in 1955 when he [...] Share on Facebook Twitter Google+ E-mail Reddit Nate Phelps announced on his Facebook page that his father, founder of the hate group Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) Fred Phelps, is on the "edge of death." Rumors have been swirling for a while and it is now confirmed: I've learned that my father, Fred Phelps, Sr., [...] Share on Facebook Twitter Google+ E-mail Reddit The Westboro Baptist Church staged protests at Missouri's basketball game against Tennessee on Saturday to protest the Tiger's support of defensive end Michael Sam's recent announcement that he is gay. However, the group was met by hundreds of students who formed a human wall to counter-protest the WBC's [...]

A DESPERATE Australian family has hired a former Belgian soldier and father dubbed the "Jihadi Hunter" to help rescue their son from Islamic State in Syria. According to The Sunday Telegraph , Dimitri Bontinck has been advising the family for about a year on how to establishing a negotiating and/or rescue position. The identity of the family has not been revealed due to security reasons. Bontinck has been flooded with requests from help ever since he successfully rescued his son Jejoen from Syria in October 2013. He said governments could not help so families contacted him to speak to the right people to find their children and help them set up a meeting. The complicated process involves paying smugglers to get their loved ones to the Turkish border where they can be met by officials from their respective governments. Mr Bontinck did not want to reveal how much this cost but said it was up to the families to find the cash. His efforts have seen Mr Bontinck nicknamed the Jihadi Hunter. Jejoen Bontinck managed to escape from ISIS with help from his dad.

The Kremlin says U.S. President Donald Trump has called Russian President Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on re-election. The Kremlin said in a statement that the two presidents also spoke Tuesday about the need to coordinate efforts to limit the arms race and closer cooperation on strategic stability and counter-terrorism. The statement says they also expressed satisfaction with the apparent easing of tensions over North Korea's weapons program. The Kremlin said the two leaders also discussed the Ukrainian crisis and the 7-year Syrian war and talked about a possible bilateral meeting. Russia has repeatedly said it hoped for better ties with the U.S. under Trump. Relations between the two countries instead have remained tense amid the allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the investigations of whether there was collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia.

An anchor on Glenn Beck 's video version of The Blaze is upset over Beyonce 's half-time show at Sunday's Super Bowl. Today, across the Internet, people are finding it shocking to watch a white woman so confidently tear into the performance for being "unfair" to white people while also insisting that Beyonce and her fellow black entertainers are the reason America "can't heal" from racism she doesn't think is a problem anymore. Tomi Lahren 's points seem to be that racism isn't a big deal anymore since professional football is "a game where black fans cheer next to white fans," and, "white people like [Beyonce's] music too, white people buy [her] songs on iTunes, memorize [her] lyrics and admire [her] talent and beauty." Her grievance seems to be that white people watching the performance couldn't be entertained by Beyonce embracing her heritage. (I would like to point out that Coldplay was also there, so the argument that Roger Goodell and Co. weren't looking out for white people holds very little water.) Certainly, this rant was meant to generate headlines and attention. She's tweeted about it about 16 times, even hashtagging some of her tweets #TeamTomi as if she is actually trying to position herself as being involved in an active feud with Beyonce. If Beyonce ever responded to her dramatics, Lahren's career would be toast, which she knows. She's counting on her fans' perception that she took the millionaire and Grammy winner down a notch and the entire histrionic display, which came a week after she launched her own show on the channel, should be viewed with all of that in mind. It might have been more realistic for Lahren to level her attack at someone like Jessica Williams , but the assumption here is that she didn't want to go after anyone who might actually fight back. Over at HipHollywood , someone is fighting back . Eric D. Berry wrote a piece that calls her diatribe "lunacy." He writes: According to Tomi, the "Formation" artist is a contemporary Benedict Arnold for using her halftime performance to push a "Black lives MATTER MORE" agenda instead of shucking and jiving for White people. What Tomi gets, but will not admit because she's a paid GOP troll, is that the #BLM message has always been "Black lives matter". Not more. Just matter. The protests, the marches, they've never been orchestrated to proclaim that Blacks as an ethnic group are MORE valuable than any other, but that they're just as valuable as any other. His statements on Black Lives Matter do dovetail with the group's description of their activities and goals. However, there was a part of Lahren's speech that stuck out, but hasn't received much blowback. It is this: What is the political message here? What is they are trying to convey here? A salute to what? A group that used violence and intimidation to advance not racial equality, but an overthrow of white domination? She actually admitted that the Black Panther Party, which Beyonce's dancers were dressed similarly to in honor of the 50th anniversary of the group's founding, was created because of "white domination." There are arguments to be had about their tactics, as even Martin Luther King, Jr. , and Malcolm X disagreed about the role of violence in the movement, but that is not the point at this moment. The point is that she acknowledged that the group was created to end white supremacy in the United States, which is apparently not something that should be commemorated when there are "little white girls" who might not like it. And now, she would like Beyonce to stop talking and continue dancing for her entertainment. [image via screengrab] For more from Lindsey, follow her on Twitter . This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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A grand jury on Wednesday voted not to indict a New York City police officer in the apparent chokehold death of Staten Island resident Eric Garner last July. Richmond County District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan Jr. released a statement announcing the decision, saying "After deliberation on the evidence presented in this matter, the grand jury found there was no reasonable cause to vote for an indictment." Daniel Pantaleo, the white NYPD officer who placed Garner in the chokehold after he was detained for apparently selling untaxed cigarettes, will not face charges in the death of the black 43-year-old father of six. The incident was caught on video by a cell phone camera and published nationally, fueling claims of police brutality and unfair treatment of black men by law enforcement.

It's been a while since the hooligans in Black Lives Matter grabbed a headline. Unlike last year, when you couldn't go a week without someone being beaten or something being burned in the name of racial equality. You may have been thinking BLM's incendiary shenanigans had finally died down. Then, this happened ... But, before you boil over with rage, read this... A college professor who recently appeared on Fox News to defend a Black Lives Matter event in which only black people were invited has been fired. It was announced Friday that Lisa Durden, a former adjunct professor at Essex County College in New Jersey, would be let go from her job following a heated argument on the June 6 episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight . While speaking about an "all-black Memorial Day celebration" hosted by a Black Lives Matter group, Durden, who is black, told the host "you white people are angry because you couldn't use your white privilege card" to attend the event. The former professor, who taught communications and pop culture classes as an adjunct according to the Newark Star-Ledger , also called America a "racist society." Well, Lisa... If we flipped things around and a white person made those remarks, Black Lives Matter would have put a boot up his lily-white rectum, without a second thought. But, since the remarks we're made by an African American person of color, she cool. Because whitey is the devil, or something. But, even a member of a protected group can only go so far before their superiors can't look the other way anymore. Hence, Lisa being fired and on her way to the unemployment line. Remember also, this wench is a college professor. Or rather, was. Before the administrators caught on to her anti-honky worldview, Lisa had already transmitted this "wisdom" to hundreds, if not thousands, of impressionable youngsters. Even worse, she's not the only one to dispense that brand of education (read Connecticut College Professor Calls for Death of White People and University Professor Says Attempted Murder of GOP Congressman... is Self-Defense?! ). The truth is Black Lives Matter are the actual bigots running amok. No amount of excuses or mental gymnastics will hide their hatred of the pale man and their violent tendencies. If they truly want to rid the world of the racism, they should start with themselves. And, when they're done with that, they can start speaking out against actual hate crimes... NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST? FIX THAT ! IT'S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH ITUNES HERE AND SOUNDCLOUD HERE .

A conservative student at the University of Missouri was the target of racially motivated attacks on Twitter Tuesday evening, merely for defending a statue of Thomas Jefferson. "My political beliefs should not be determined by my race, as was suggested by the tweets received today," Jasmine Wells, the subject of the tweet, told Campus Reform . "For a movement that wants to end racism on campus, their response to the event and my participation in it, was very racist and hurtful." Members of the Mizzou College Republicans hosted a "Stand With Jefferson" rally Tuesday to show support for an on-campus statue of Thomas Jefferson. Campus Reform first covered the uproar on Oct. 13 after students defaced the Jefferson statue with post-it notes with phrases such as "Racist," "Rapist," and "Slave Owner." Today's event was organized as a direct response to those activities, and somewhat predictably, sparked outrage on Twitter. Along with the tweet directed at Wells, Twitter users complained that "#StandWithJefferson is fighting for a slave owning rapist's statue instead of fighting for the ACTUAL RIGHTS of ACTUAL PEOPLE on campus," and declared, "#StandWithJefferson because white people would rather celebrate a predatory slave owner than admit that #BlackLivesMatter." Another person tweeted, "#StandWithJefferson because, ya know, who cares that our founding fathers [sic] are a symbol of racism, genocide, and colonization (among others)." The tweeters may have been upset about today's "Stand With Jefferson" event because the group had asked students to sign a petition to keep the statue at Mizzou, resulting in over 140 signatures--in contrast to an opposing Change.org petition calling for the statue's removal, which has garnered 86 supporters in the 2 months that it has been on the site (it's stated goal appears to be 100, at which point it was presumably to be taken to the university administration). Wells, who is the social media chair of the Mizzou College Republicans, attended the event, only to be treated with a scornful tweet from one of her classmates for simply appearing in a photo. "And a black girl got the nerve to have been in a picture and sign the petition #UncleTom," a twitter user with the handle @Kennedyxpress tweeted. "That would be me," Jasmine responded, under the twitter handle @all_that_jaz17. "And I can assure you that I am quite proud to be in that picture. #StandWithJefferson." @Kennedyxpress came back with, "You're a joke read YOUR history educate yourself." She also tweeted in response to Jasmine's tweet, "{laughing emojis} I cannot breathe right now". "For a movement that wants to end racism on campus, their response to the event and my participation in it, I felt, was very racist and hurtful," observed Wells. Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @ChrisNuelle

To cleanse the palate, watching this makes me feel like half a man. Not because I'm a candy-ass beta male who couldn't complete the course, although I am and I couldn't. It's because I'd never heard of "American Ninja Warrior" until today. I've spent years boring myself with "The Walking Dead" when I could have been bro-ing out, watching people running up walls? How did this blind spot happen? Why wasn't I aggressively marketed to? The clip is postworthy because Catanzaro's the first woman to complete this course and qualify for the show's final "Mt. Midoriyama" challenge in Vegas. Her agility isn't surprising -- she's a trained gymnast -- but some of the upper-body endurance tasks are grueling. Stick with it. On the Internet, no one knows you're a dog. "...the sort of free speech absolutism that says absolutely anything goes"

Instead of treating it as a matter of life or death importance for the planet and all creatures that inhabit it, former The Apprentice star Donald Trump has been playing up his decision whether or not to keep America in compliance with the Paris Climate Accord as the big "reveal" in yet another reality TV show. President Trump has no shortage of cover from conservative politicians and pundits, who still have their heads in the sand about the reality of climate change. Former Republican Senator Tom Coburn recently appeared on Fox Business News and made a mind-bogglingly absurd and false comment about scientists' approach to climate change. In speaking about the Paris Climate Accord, Oklahoman Coburn expressed his view to host Stuart Varney that the pact was crafted by "emotional" leftists. Said the former senator about why the United States should withdraw from it, "The studies right now would tell you that we're not warming right now." This caught Varney, a fellow conservative, off guard. "Really?" he shot back. "What's this, 'Nine-nine percent of all the scientists [accept that man-made climate change is real]?'" Coburn then let loose his big fib, saying, "If you go and poll, what does the actual data say? I don't think you'll see 99 percent. You may see 75-25. You may see 25-75. You don't know that. Nobody knows because we have had this political mantra out there that say that if you doubt what we said, you're a flat Earther." He added, "You know, I went into the Congress in 1995 and they told me the same thing, the oceans are rising. Here we are some 22 years later, right? And what's the difference? One millimeter? Two millimeters?" Asked an incredulous Varney, "Is that it?" Conceded Coburn, "I don't know. But the fact is we have not seen a major encroachment. The ice storage in Antarctica is greater than it's ever been. They had more ice this year in the Arctic than we've seen in 30 years. So, tell me where this is." Coburn went on to claim that the Paris Climate Accord did not consider "all the facts." Said Tom, "I'm just a skeptic. I've actually read all of it while I was a U.S. senator. I read all the science. I read everything that was out there. I don't agree." Are you disturbed by the attitude of Republicans like Tom Coburn toward climate change? Watch the full conversation below:

President Obama talked a lot about American scientific achievements and our "spirit of discovery" tonight, but he got in a few jabs at Republican climate denial during his State of the Union tonight. "Look," Obama said, "if anybody still wants to dispute the science around climate change, have at it." But, he continued, anyone who does that will be "pretty lonely" on that score. He touted how the U.S. military, much of corporate America, "the majority of the American people, [and] almost the entire scientific community" are on the same page here. And yes, he even invoked that historic climate deal that roughly 200 nations agreed to just weeks ago. The president even attempted to argue that climate change should be important regardless of record temperatures because "why would we want to pass up the chance for American businesses to produce and sell the energy of the future?" Watch above, via CNN.

(CLIMATEDEPOT) -- Actor George Clooney declared the arguments of global warming skeptics to be "stupid" and "ridiculous." Clooney made the remarks to reporters on the eve of Typhoon Haiyan hitting the Philippines. He was attending the BAFTA Britannia Awards in Beverly Hills on Saturday night November 9. "Well it's just a stupid argument," Clooney said on the red carpet, referring to the dissenters of man-made global warming. "If you have 99 percent of doctors who tell you 'you are sick' and 1 percent that says 'you're fine,' you probably want to hang out with, check it up for the 99. You know what I mean? The idea that we ignore that we are in some way involved in climate change is ridiculous. What's the worst thing that happens? We clean up the earth a little bit?"

by Rollin Bishop Feb 14th In case you weren't already aware, Tesla Motors' Elon Musk and The New York Times ' John M. Broder have been involved in something of a brouhaha ever since Broder published a rather damning evaluation of Tesla's Supercharger network , and therefore their Model S electric vehicles, on the East Coast last Friday. Essentially, Musk and Tesla contend that Broder essentially sabotaged his own review, and Broder argues that everything he did during the review was justified. Musk has since come forward with a whole mess of data on the trip, but the reality of the situation is still rather murky . Read More

The "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" host used seven minutes of his Monday show to mock a climate skeptic's film he obviously hadn't seen - since he repeats the very alarmist talking points the film debunks. Kimmel bashed "Climate Hustle," a climate skeptic film that aired in 400 theaters nationwide Monday, by making misleading, unsupportable, and inaccurate claims, and personally attacking Gov. Sarah Palin for supporting the film. He then aired a two-minute climate change advocacy "message" featuring scientists dropping the "F-Bomb" to insult anyone skeptical of man-made climate change. Read More... Please SHARE this story as the only way for CFP to beat Facebook anti-Conservative Suppression.

Marc Morano of Climate Depot joined Dana Loesch on "Dana" today to discuss the possibility of President Donald Trump pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord . Secretary of State and former Exxon-Mobile employee Rex Tillerson prefers the United States stays in, and Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are pushing the President to embrace climate change agreements with other nations. Morano believed the United Nations bureaucracy will use the $100 trillion dollar climate fund to redistribute wealth to poor countries whose governments keep their citizens poor. Trump met with Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt today, who is a strong advocate for "Clexit", or a climate exit. To see more from Dana, visit her channel on TheBlaze and watch full episodes of "Dana" live weekdays 6-7 p.m. ET or anytime on-demand at TheBlaze TV . Community Rules Speak your mind. Please be respectful of our rules and community. No spam, abuse, obscenities, off-topic comments, racial or ethnic slurs, threats, hate, comments that incite violence or excessive use of flagging permitted. Please be respectful of our community and spread some love. Any of the following may result in a permanent ban: Spam Abusive Obscene language Obscene photos Off-topic comments Racial or ethnic slurs Threats of any kind Hate messages Excessive use or the flagging (report as spam) feature For more information, please see our Terms of Use. Now, go have fun and speak your mind!

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lahore, Pakistan, said Christians and Muslims working together to "slowly, slowly" make the troubled Islamic republic a "more harmonious society." "We always tell that God has given us this planet to live," Archbishop Sebastian Francis Shaw told Newsmax TV 's "" America Talks Live " with host Bill Tucker on Wednesday. "And if we live in a peaceful way, and work for the rights of one another and also for the progress of the country, then I think, ultimately, all people living in Pakistan will live in peace and harmony -- and use the talents of one another for the betterment of society. "We are moving towards for a better society." Watch Bill Tucker on Newsmax TV beginning at 12 PM ET to see "America Talks Live" -- on FiOS 615, YouTube Livestream, Newsmax TV App from any smartphone, NewsmaxTV.com , Roku, Amazon Fire -- More Systems Here Shaw -- appointed to his position by Pope Francis in 2013, after having been auxiliary bishop there since 2009 -- explained Pakistan began as a republic inclusive of all. "The founder of Pakistan, Mr. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, believed that Pakistan would be, or is, a country for all people," Shaw said. "He said in his address to the assembly that the Christians will go to their churches and Muslims will go to their mosques . . . "The state will have no business with the personal faith of people, so all will work for the progress and the fortification of Pakistan." But decades after Pakistan was created in 1947, it began drifting toward religious intolerance. "During the time of General Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s, the country started moving toward more Islamic-like laws that were introduced," Shaw told Tucker. "Witnessing law, blasphemy law, and some laws like that, and then society was more divided in compartments based on religion." In blasphemy law, anyone making statements against the Prophet Muhammad can be charged with a crime. "Actually people live in Pakistan, [have lived] for centuries together, Christians, Muslims, and Hindus. So, normal day-to-day life we have a good relation with everybody," Shaw said. "We understand that we should respect the leader and especially the prophets of all religion like Christianity and Muslims. We respect one another. But some people are victims of blasphemy law. "Through interfaith dialogue we are trying to come together to help one another to understand and give more respect to the beliefs and dogma of people of other faith." Through this dialogue, Shaw said, "slowly, slowly society is once again moving toward making more efforts for a more harmonious society. "It is a very slow process, but I hope that through interreligious faith people will understand and will respect." Part of Shaw's efforts were the result of two Vatican documents written in the 1990s that urged parishes "to have a better relationship with all people of different faith." "We were not really sure where we were heading, but we started after 9/11, we had a problem in Pakistan . . . Many churches were attacked right after 9/11," he said. "We really worked very hard. Many Muslim scholars and imams joined us. Then, we also invited Hindu leaders and Sikh leaders [for] a dialogue. "For example, when I explain to our Muslim brothers -- and also Hindu and Sikh -- that we are given a mandate from Christ: 'Love one another.'" That love, he said, is not only for Christians, but everybody. "We explained the parable of the Good Samaritan," Shaw said. "All human beings are our neighbors so we have to work for progress. The same way Muslim brothers explained the peace notion in Islam and the same with Hindus and Sikh. In this way, we find some commonalities between all people of different faith. "Then we think, how do we implement that? One of the big progresses is we celebrate all religious feasts together." In addition to his position in Pakistan, Shaw has been a member of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue since 2013. The 59-year-old archbishop was born in Padri-Jo-Goth, Sindh, Pakistan .

First Baptist Church of Dallas Metroplex Atheists will be rallying outside First Baptist Church in Dallas on Sunday, June 24, from 10-11 a.m. in protest of the pastor's upcoming sermon series, "America is a Christian Nation." Metroplex Atheists President Courtney Stewart said her organization planned the protests because "The claim that America is a Christian nation is a lie," and "Propagating this exclusionary, divisive and false message only serves to divide our nation even further." Jeffress has a record of inflammatory and bigoted statements about other religions. In 2010, he called Catholic Church an instrument of Satan, calling it "a cult-like, pagan religion" that had been corrupted. In 2011, he told reporters that Mormonism is a "cult" and that voting for Mitt Romney would "give credibility to a cult." Jeffress has also said that Jews, Muslims and Hindus are going to hell. Stewart said, "Jeffress is the worst kind of authority with a platform because he does not respect that it should require accuracy. By claiming to value religious freedom, he misleads the public while actually propagating his own privilege in this nation. "The United States is a secular nation founded with a secular constitution," Stewart added. "That means that it protects the rights of all Americans, not just those who adhere to his narrow definition of 'Christianity.' No matter how many times Jeffress repeats the lie that America is a Christian nation, it will never be true." Metroplex Atheists, founded in 1991 and an American Atheists local partner, is an "educational and advocacy group that protects the separation of religion from government and the rights of atheists." It is based in the DFW Metroplex and has more than 1,400 members. -- Tammye Nash

NEW YORK (AP) -- Former President Jimmy Carter is working on a book about his religious faith. Simon & Schuster announced Wednesday that Carter's "Faith: A Journey for All" will tell of how religion has sustained him and what role it plays in society. Carter, 93, said in a statement that he wanted to explore faith's "far-reaching effect." Carter has been a prolific author since leaving the presidency in 1981. He has written memoirs, fiction, poetry and policy books. His memoir "An Hour Before Daylight" was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2002. Beth Baumann

A few hours before Donald Trump took the oath of office, he participated in long-standing tradition of going to a church service. While the premise of going to church in the morning is not unusual, the selection of the pastor who delivered the sermon was. Here is a little background on Rev. Robert Jeffress. But to many Americans, he may be best known for his frequent condemnations of Mormonism as a "cult" during the 2012 presidential campaign. He urged Christians not to vote for Mitt Romney, a Mormon, during the Republican primary. Jeffress has also called Islam and Mormonism heresies "from the pit of hell," suggested that the Catholic church was led astray by Satan , accused Obama of "paving the way" for the Antichrist and spread false statistics about the prevalence of HIV among gays , who he said live a "miserable" and "filthy" lifestyle. In recent years, Jeffress has frequently denounced Islam, calling it an "evil religion" that " promotes pedophilia" because the Prophet Muhammed married a 9-year-old girl. (Many modern Muslim scholars disagree about her age.) The pastor has also said that Mormons, Muslims and Hindus "worship a false god." - CNN As usual, even an event that should go off with hardly anyone noticing becomes something else in the new Trump era. This is only day 1, so you can be sure it won't be the last time.

In a segment Monday, Fox News anchor Shepard Smith highlighted the past controversial claims made by the pastor President Trump sent to the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, noting that Robert Jeffress has said "all Jews are going to hell," and "Islam is a false religion." "One of the men who gave a prayer before the ceremony in Jerusalem today says he believes all Jews are going to hell," Smith told his viewers. "Robert Jeffress is the pastor at the first Baptist church in Dallas. His views on other religious groups, and Judaism, as well as the LGBT community, are well-documented," he continued. "Among those railing against the decision to include him is Gov. Mitt Romney," said Smith, who then highlighted the former Massachusetts governor and Utah Senate candidate's tweet about Jeffress. In that tweet, Romney wrote: "Robert Jeffress says 'you can't be saved by being a Jew,' and 'Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell.' He's said the same about Islam. Such a religious bigot should not be giving the prayer that opens the United States Embassy in Jerusalem. Robert Jeffress says "you can't be saved by being a Jew," and "Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell." He's said the same about Islam. Such a religious bigot should not be giving the prayer that opens the United States Embassy in Jerusalem. -- Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) May 14, 2018 "Jeffress said Mormonism has never been part of Christianity. Islam is a false religion and if you follow the tenants of it, you will end up in hell when you die," he said. "He's accused gays of being engaged in the most unclean acts you can imagine and said the Supreme Court decision on marriage equality is the greatest, most historic landmark blunder ever in the court's history," "Reporters at the White House briefing today asked why he was chosen to bless this event," he added. "The spokesman [Raj Shah] said the pastor has a longstanding relationship with people on both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill and his remarks are one with which the president does not disagree." "Full disclosure, [Robert] Jeffress is a Fox News contributor," Smith concluded.

You are not signed in as a Premium user; we rely on Premium users to support our news reporting. Sign in or Sign up today! Hindu nationalists in India want to rid the country of Catholics. A few dozen Hindus recently staged a protest near Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi. Video from the end of May shows the protestors chanting "Down with Pope Francis" and stomping on images of the Holy Father. The protest was a response to a statement from mid-May by the archbishop of Delhi calling on the nation's faithful to join a year-long patriotic prayer campaign. --- Campaign 31546 --- But some Hindus pushed back and called the prelate's move "divisive." One man leading the protest has been identified as Swami Om Ji Maharaj, a Hindu religious leader and former contestant on reality TV show Bigg Boss . Maharaj has a long criminal record of stealing bicycles and hoarding weapons. He once hit a woman on live television during an altercation. In the recent protest, he accused India's Catholics of importing communism and terrorism. Christians are a minority in India and anti-Christian violence this year has skyrocketed. In some parts of India, Christians get arrested for drummed-up charges of "forced conversion."

Interesting that Rep. Cummings would go off on some tangent about internment camps during the #IGHearing ... it's almost as if they're trying to distract from the issue at hand. Hrm. "Are we really going to sit here, 70 members of the Congress of the United States of America in 2018, and have a hearing that just repeats the hearings the Senate had yesterday on Hillary Clinton's emails?" Rep. Cummings says https://t.co/QFYDvsewoA pic.twitter.com/5XHG9q6hcn -- CBS News (@CBSNews) June 19, 2018 "Hey guys, we know there are some seriously screwed up facts in this IG Report SO I think it's a good idea for us to change the subject and talk about immigration because wow, the report is fairly damning for Democrats." That's what we heard. Rep. Cummings emotionally condemns policy of separating families at border: "We all should be able to agree that in the United States of America, we will not intentionally separate children from their parents. We will not do that, we are better than that. We are so much better." pic.twitter.com/SXedRGEszF -- CBS News (@CBSNews) June 19, 2018 FFS Elijah. Stick to the topic at hand. Someone get the faker a tissue, would ya'? Rep. Cummings to his House colleagues: "Mr. Chairman, we need you, those children need you, and I'm talking directly to my Republican colleagues: We need you to stand up to President Trump." https://t.co/QFYDvsewoA pic.twitter.com/x63wywaN8u -- CBS News (@CBSNews) June 19, 2018 Republicans, please don't hold the FBI accountable for working to keep Trump from winning the 2016 election. Sad. Rep. ELIJAH CUMMINGS says Trump administration has created "child internment camps." -- Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 19, 2018 Dumb. Wow - Rep. Elijah Cummings is worthy of an Emmy nomination for his nearly tearful opening statement in the Congressional hearing on the IG's report. It's all about "the children". -- James Taylor (@James_a36445466) June 19, 2018 UNHINGED!!! Elijah Cummings is ranting like a RAVING LUNATIC about "child internment camps" during a hearing about the FBI & DOJ actions surrounding the 2016 Elections. Good God. -- Lisa Mei Crowley (@LisaMei62) June 19, 2018 Raise your hand if you're NOT surprised. Turns on tv...Elijah Cummings is fake crying in hearing on IG report... pic.twitter.com/a6Hh7TwcDN -- Jim "Jim" Jamitis (@anthropocon) June 19, 2018 That's the exact face we made. OMG I haven't laughed so hard in awhile... Rep Mr Cummings just did a huge speech on immigration... I could've swore he was gonna squirt tears. But man you can tell he goes to a rather soulful church with a soulful preacher bf that man was preaching it -- Truth is out there, just not on msm (@MarshaHolland01) June 19, 2018 Anything to keep us distracted from the FBI's actions. Well, there's that AND we assume he wants to keep this immigration drama going because at this point it's really about all the Democrats have to run on for the midterms. It would be hilarious if it wasn't so pathetic.

Translation? Once again the crazy extremism from the left benefits Trump and the GOP. Democrats' advantage over Republicans going into November's midterm election has narrowed to four points, according to a poll conducted shortly after the peak of the family separation crisis at the Southern border. More than 36 percent of those surveyed in a CBS poll published Sunday said they want to see Republicans maintain control of Congress in 2018. Another 40 percent of those surveyed told pollsters they prefer to see Democrats come out ahead on Election Day. The numbers are surprising considering the significant outcry against President Donald Trump's zero tolerance policy, which resulted in the separation of families seeking illegal entry across the border. Nearly 73 percent of Americans oppose splitting up children from parents as a form of deterrence, the poll notes.

June 20, 2018 5:25 pm President Donald Trump signed an executive order halting the practice of separating children from parents who enter the United States illegally after a nationwide outcry opposing the policy and pressure from Republicans in Congress trying to find a solution to end it. May 5, 2018 5:00 am Apprehensions and attempted entry by inadmissible persons at America's southwestern border rose slightly in April of 2018, but was more than three times higher than the same month in 2017, new data from the Customs and Border Protection Agency show.

The immigration reform debate shifts focus to border security at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill. In the opinion pages: The New York Times' David Brooks details the argument made by opponents of immigration reform . The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board looks into what the United States can do now that the conflict in Syria is affecting the surrounding region. Secretary Kerry is in Moscow hoping to finally convince President Vladimir Putin that his links to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad must be broken.

Thursday at a field hearing in Texas pertaining to the surge of unaccompanied minors at the U.S.-Mexico border, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) balked at the suggestion of Homeland Security Chairman Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX) that the children filling the border facilities need to be detained and deported by holding up a bag of lollipops to demonstrate her view that compassion not deportation is in order. Referring to the illegal immigrant minors as "homeless children," Jackson Lee said, "I took lollipops along with my colleagues into the detention center where children were. I wasn't armed. I wasn't fearful for my life. This is not a national security crisis this is a humanitarian crisis." The Texas lawmaker added, "The children should be given the basic covered of the law that is in existence today that will allow us to treat them in a humane way." Click here for the full story

Under the Trump administration, pregnant women apprehended and detained by CBP and ICE are being shackled around their stomachs, hands, and legs and denied routine medical care--even during miscarriages, according LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles Police Department officer has been arrested and federally charged after allegedly attempting to smuggle two people through an immigration checkpoint in Southern California. Mambasse A San Diego father has filed a complaint against the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, alleging officers strip-searched his 16-year-old daughter at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Scott Caitlin Three Customs and Border Protection officers working at Newark Liberty International Airport were arrested on Wednesday over a disturbing ritual dubbed a "rape table." Tito Catota, 38, Parmenio I. Perez,

I TRULY wish that I was not relegated to hen pecking on this phone. You. My liberal leaning friend, hero of Old Mexico have taken one or two or fifty too many shots of Tequila. Ir maybe you just ate a bad worm. Cause YOU are CLEARLY HALLUCENAGINATING! LOL No points. Just jabs. So, ON GUARD! What medical condition does he have that he is self medicating for? What is he USING to self medicate? Your lame insult type opinion please withhold. You know us DAMN CONSERVATIVES and our little hangup on facts! Sorry. And he is CLEARLY not "delusional" as he does not meet the dictionary definition nor the medical/psychological definition (there are those damned pesky facts again poking more weird holes through your argument.....OLE! ) SO, it has nothing to do w media bias eh? What hard questions did you EVER hear the media ask of the Terrorist in Chief" Obama during EITHER campaign? Not that they aren't allowed a tough question for Carson but just give me ONE hard ball question they EVER gave to Hussein? Even while he's been PRESIDENT?! Also to quote Hillary, "WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?!" "It has to do with his "complete insanity." Ok. Define insanity, as well tell me who is qualified to render a verdict of insanity and what official (not your lame assed opinion of him) ruled him insane? Why does he still have license to practice? If he is so clearly insane, such a condition would appear in his testings and continuing education that doctors often take. IS YOUR DOCTOR one of those doctors he works with and answers to that never bothered to render him insane? And you put your life in such hands? My my. As for his claims regarding the pyramids, were you there? Have you studied them yourself? Or are you simply believing something someone told you? Let me ask you this...are the pyramids large enough to house 7 years worth of grain production? How much earlier or later did Joseph's reign in Egypt take place than the building of the pyramids? Would you need to hermetically seal a container of enough grain to last 7 years? Would you REALLY need it hermetically sealed to bury someone? Could they be used later for burial or could they have been used later for storage than what their initial purpose was? Given all these possible equation variations that you obviously do not have, how is such a idea "insane" and does holding to such a idea actually QUALIFY one as "insane"? Remember, I deal in fact alone here, not your opinion. I already know that and so far you are not qualified to express it. So, the other point was his view that the theory of evolution is from Satan or Lucifer. You say that is an insane postulation. Well, let's look at some facts. Fact one. Does the theory of evolution allow for a Creator. Especially the Biblical narrative? Is the theory of evolution open to intelligent design? Both answers are no. Do atheists use evolution as a tool to steer children or adults away from Christian belief? That answer is yes. Considering ALL of that, would it surprise you to learn that Darwin was a devout LUCIFERIAN and close personal friends with the Rothschild patriarch who's descendants own every government in the world almost? Therefore, with this new information, is it so far out of the realm of posibility that Darwin, a devout enemy of God, through the superior (to man) intelligence of the fallen one, come up with a theory to explain away Creation and drive young minds to atheism? Thus opening the door to satanic and luciferian doctrines? You may not BELIEVE in such a thing but it is no way a non-linear conclusion to come to. Thus, not a example of insanity. So, who told us he was smart? How about his college degrees? How about his medical accomplishments. Especially being the first NEUROSURGEON (hint of intelligence alone) to separate conjoined twins whose connection was the BRAIN. Something that never had been attempted before. Nobody NEEDS to tell me he is smart. I can tell just listening to him. Sadly, so far, I cannot find the same marks of intellect in YOU. I'M MORE FRIGHTENED OF OBAMA DOING JUST THAT. It IS Obama that WAS the Trojan Horse! Letting in 100k Islamic "refugees" into this country and millions upon millions upon millions of illegal aliens from south America and no doubt China, Saudi Arabia, etc. charge our border and give them place. Your leader is the threat and he's a damn disgrace to the office of POTUS!

Mr. Hawking was remarkable in many ways-including his brilliant mind and his survival for so many years with ALS. It also appears that, unlike some atheists, he was willing to admit that he had a problem with the fact that he could not explain everything; so perhaps there is hope that he reconsidered his atheistic stance before he died. While it may be tempting to discount the scientific discoveries of someone who is an atheist or agnostic, I think it's probably unwise to automatically assume they are less valid than those of believing scientists, though an atheist certainly may be looking for different information and may interpret the data he or she finds in a different way. (Ongong scientific discoveries have always cast new light on the current state of knowledge, and it's interesting to me that both Christians and non-believers seem to feel threatened by that at times.) I once read a quote about the nightmare of the scientist who has lived "by his faith in the power of reason" and is scaling the "mountains of ignorance" and who finally reaches the highest peak of knowledge only to find that a group of theologians has been sitting at the top for centuries. (Apparently the original quote was by Robert Jastrow and I did not quote it all exactly.) The quote has brought me a lot of comfort and confirmation because I have debated a number of atheists who claimed to use science as a weapon against God. I found that many of the scientific theories that were used most vehemently to argue against God (such as multiverse theory-which Mr. Hawking apparently supported) could be used to argue in FAVOR of his existence-and they were very difficult to refute since they were put forth by the atheists themselves! (I realize the multiverse is based on a theory and I don't know if it is real. The only thing we know for sure is God's word. But we can always continue to seek knowledge about this awesome universe God has given us.)

In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for "2016 Presidential Politics". Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Presidential Race and/or any of the candidates therein. This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread. The Obama administration has been negotiating with the Taliban on a power sharing arrangement in Afghanistan. The Taliban control ever increasing amounts of Afghanistan. Indeed this father fancied himself a future Afghan president. In short, the father who radicalized his son was favorably treated by the Obama government. That's a very close connection. And did the father's involvement with our government also play a role there?

I TRULY wish that I was not relegated to hen pecking on this phone. You. My liberal leaning friend, hero of Old Mexico have taken one or two or fifty too many shots of Tequila. Ir maybe you just ate a bad worm. Cause YOU are CLEARLY HALLUCENAGINATING! LOL No points. Just jabs. So, ON GUARD! What medical condition does he have that he is self medicating for? What is he USING to self medicate? Your lame insult type opinion please withhold. You know us DAMN CONSERVATIVES and our little hangup on facts! Sorry. And he is CLEARLY not "delusional" as he does not meet the dictionary definition nor the medical/psychological definition (there are those damned pesky facts again poking more weird holes through your argument.....OLE! ) SO, it has nothing to do w media bias eh? What hard questions did you EVER hear the media ask of the Terrorist in Chief" Obama during EITHER campaign? Not that they aren't allowed a tough question for Carson but just give me ONE hard ball question they EVER gave to Hussein? Even while he's been PRESIDENT?! Also to quote Hillary, "WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?!" "It has to do with his "complete insanity." Ok. Define insanity, as well tell me who is qualified to render a verdict of insanity and what official (not your lame assed opinion of him) ruled him insane? Why does he still have license to practice? If he is so clearly insane, such a condition would appear in his testings and continuing education that doctors often take. IS YOUR DOCTOR one of those doctors he works with and answers to that never bothered to render him insane? And you put your life in such hands? My my. As for his claims regarding the pyramids, were you there? Have you studied them yourself? Or are you simply believing something someone told you? Let me ask you this...are the pyramids large enough to house 7 years worth of grain production? How much earlier or later did Joseph's reign in Egypt take place than the building of the pyramids? Would you need to hermetically seal a container of enough grain to last 7 years? Would you REALLY need it hermetically sealed to bury someone? Could they be used later for burial or could they have been used later for storage than what their initial purpose was? Given all these possible equation variations that you obviously do not have, how is such a idea "insane" and does holding to such a idea actually QUALIFY one as "insane"? Remember, I deal in fact alone here, not your opinion. I already know that and so far you are not qualified to express it. So, the other point was his view that the theory of evolution is from Satan or Lucifer. You say that is an insane postulation. Well, let's look at some facts. Fact one. Does the theory of evolution allow for a Creator. Especially the Biblical narrative? Is the theory of evolution open to intelligent design? Both answers are no. Do atheists use evolution as a tool to steer children or adults away from Christian belief? That answer is yes. Considering ALL of that, would it surprise you to learn that Darwin was a devout LUCIFERIAN and close personal friends with the Rothschild patriarch who's descendants own every government in the world almost? Therefore, with this new information, is it so far out of the realm of posibility that Darwin, a devout enemy of God, through the superior (to man) intelligence of the fallen one, come up with a theory to explain away Creation and drive young minds to atheism? Thus opening the door to satanic and luciferian doctrines? You may not BELIEVE in such a thing but it is no way a non-linear conclusion to come to. Thus, not a example of insanity. So, who told us he was smart? How about his college degrees? How about his medical accomplishments. Especially being the first NEUROSURGEON (hint of intelligence alone) to separate conjoined twins whose connection was the BRAIN. Something that never had been attempted before. Nobody NEEDS to tell me he is smart. I can tell just listening to him. Sadly, so far, I cannot find the same marks of intellect in YOU. I'M MORE FRIGHTENED OF OBAMA DOING JUST THAT. It IS Obama that WAS the Trojan Horse! Letting in 100k Islamic "refugees" into this country and millions upon millions upon millions of illegal aliens from south America and no doubt China, Saudi Arabia, etc. charge our border and give them place. Your leader is the threat and he's a damn disgrace to the office of POTUS!

After 9 years of being a pioneer and leader in alternative news aggregation, RedFlagNews.com closed its doors on December 31, 2017. With more than 10M readers who visited both our app and website, we had built a community of trust and loyalty in online news media; something rare to find in 2018; nevertheless, it was clearly not enough to sustain the onslaught of suppression by Google and Facebook after the 2016 election. To our amazing community, thank you for your generous support and daily visits over the years. It was a good run with you by our side. Thousands have asked us where we will be getting our daily fix. As you continue your journey of seeking both balance and truth in your news diet, we strongly recommend the following two independent and trusted news aggregation websites. In the end, independent thinking is a battle that we cannot afford to lose.

It seems like everyone in Washington has a plan, or at least an idea, as to how best to deal with the marching terrorist army known as ISIS...except the one man whose vote matters - Barack Obama. Senator Rand Paul has one . Senator John McCain and Lindsey Graham have one . Senator Bill Nelson has one . Senator Dianne Feinstein has even been critical . Hell, even the old guy from Duck Dynasty has some thoughts on the subject . In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone outside of the most progressive Members of Congress without a thought or two on how the United States should respond to the continued and growing ISIS threat to our citizens and interests. Unless you drive from Capitol Hill to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and talk to President Obama. The person whose opinion matters most? He's still weighing his options . Unfortunately for the those held hostage, enslaved, or generally being hunted to extinction by ISIS, hoping to raise the minimum wage or planning on using a magic pen to grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens are Obama's priorities. Their lives? Not so much. As such, the man who thought his agenda was so important he instituted a domestic policy plan called " We Can't Wait ," seems to have found the second hand on his watch. And it's ticking...

Have you heard about the latest outrage being committed by the Trump administration? Yes, yes... I know it can be hard to keep track of all the outrages these days. But this one involves another immigration question which is always a reliable method to get the left up in arms. Nick Miroff at the Washington Post has the details of Trump's plan to cruelly kick thousands of citizens of Nepal out of the United States, in his " latest move to expel foreigners ." What a monster, right? Of course, that's not remotely close to what's actually going on (as you'll see below), but let's see how Nick chooses to describe it. The Department of Homeland Security is preparing to cancel the temporary residency permits of about 9,000 immigrants from Nepal, the Trump administration's latest move to expel foreigners living in the United States with some form of provisional status. According to internal planning documents viewed by The Washington Post, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen will give the Nepalis a one-year grace period to prepare their departure, but they would face deportation after June 24, 2019. The Nepalis were granted temporary protected status (TPS) -- allowing them to remain in the United States legally -- after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake devastated the country three years ago, on April 25, 2015, killing nearly 9,000. First of all, the White House isn't looking to " cancel the temporary residency permits " of anyone. These are people who applied for Temporary Protected Status through the office of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The word "Temporary" should have given you a clue, but let's see what that program is designed to do as described on the agency's website . The Secretary of Homeland Security may designate a foreign country for TPS due to conditions in the country that temporarily prevent the country's nationals from returning safely, or in certain circumstances, where the country is unable to handle the return of its nationals adequately. USCIS may grant TPS to eligible nationals of certain countries (or parts of countries), who are already in the United States. Eligible individuals without nationality who last resided in the designated country may also be granted TPS. The Secretary may designate a country for TPS due to the following temporary conditions in the country: - Ongoing armed conflict (such as civil war) - An environmental disaster (such as earthquake or hurricane), or an epidemic - Other extraordinary and temporary conditions So the program is only designed to provide relief from various crisis situations on a temporary basis. The TPS was set up for Nepal on June 24, 2015 after the severe earthquake they suffered. It was originally set to expire December 25, 2016. But in October of that year, owing to the extensive damage from the earthquake, DHS issued an extension of the TPS to run through June 24, 2018 (posted in the Federal Register at that link). Remind me again who was president then? That's right. The Obama administration originally only thought a TPS was needed for a period of 18 months. They already gave them one extension of an additional 18 months, and the TPS was always set to expire this June . In other words, Trump isn't "canceling" anything, but simply following through on what the Obama era DHS determined was appropriate. And to top it off, Trump is giving them another entire year to get their affairs in order and head home. As USCIS notes on the page I linked above, there was nothing preventing anyone who wished to apply for citizenship or longer resident legal alien status from doing so. If they qualified, they could remain. But for everyone else, this was always meant to be an emergency relief measure while the worst of the initial damage was shoveled out. It's been nearly three years since the earthquake. At some point, it becomes Nepal's responsibility to finish cleaning up and providing shelter for their own people. So go ahead and blame Trump if that's your instinctive reaction, but he's simply carrying out a policy put in place by Barack Obama.

New revelation about Carter Page comes just as Special Counsel subpoenas go out in Trump-Russia scandal Read More When you read these new details, you'll want to throw things at your computer screen Read More The signs are increasingly apparent that Trump honestly believes he's back on his old TV show Read More What Trump just did to Scaramucci - and to himself - is a whole new level of madness Read More Trump is just getting started with his reshuffling and scapegoating. Here's who's next. Read More

Kellyanne Conway got her hazmat suit on and went to mop up the absolute screwup that Trump has made of his immigration plan on "Face the Nation" today. While saying with a straight face that Trump has been "consistent" about immigration, she denies that he's talking about a "deportation force" when he specifically said that earlier. Watch below: Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

By Sharon Rondeau on Saturday, November 8, 2014 Editorials WILL REPUBLICANS UPHOLD ARTICLE II, SECTION 1, CLAUSE 5 IN 2016? by Paul R. Hollrah, (c)2014 (Nov. 8, 2014) -- On October 31, 2014, MinuteManNews.com published an article by Greg Conterio titled, "Yes, Ted Cruz is Eligible to Serve as President," Over the past seven years, since the day Barack Obama crawled out of the political [...] By Sharon Rondeau on Friday, October 17, 2014 Editorials "MR. BARACK INSANE OBAMA" by Dwight Kehoe, Editor, TPATH, (c)2014 (Oct. 17, 2014) -- Over the past five years this country has endured some of the most outrageous, incompetent, racially divisive, unbelievably stupid and downright incomprehensible actions that even the most cynical among us could ever have imagined. Until these past several months, the arrogance, the childish blaming of his [...]

Ted Cruz against 'deportation force,' accuses Jake Tapper of sensationalizing [FULL INTERVIEW] In an interview with Jake Tapper, the Cruzinator denied that his immigration plan to kick out all 11 million illegal aliens would need a "deportation force." Watch below: . @tedcruz rules out a "deportation force" to boot undocumented immigrants https://t.co/lL4Xw2YjZZ #CNNSOTU https://t.co/xysV2mnx4f -- CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 10, 2016 He also went after Jake Tapper for asking the question in which he did, but Tapper interrupted to explain why he was asking. Here's the entire interview for the full context of the remarks: And the second part: Cruz has tried to land to the right of Trump on immigration so this might be a setback if Trump pounces on it... Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

President Donald Trump's administration has sent out a memo to his Capitol Hill supporters that makes it clear that, when it comes to the Dreamers targeted by his impending repeal of DACA, the president very much wants to deport them. According to the memo , "The Department of Homeland Security urges DACA recipients to use the time remaining on their work authorizations to prepare for and arrange their departure from the United States -- including proactively seeking travel documentation -- or to apply for other immigration benefits for which they may be eligible." A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security told CNN: "Of course we would encourage persons who are in the country illegally to depart voluntarily, or seek another form of immigration benefit for which they might qualify. No one has an entitlement to live in the United States illegally." A report from McClatchy indicates that Trump was initially uncertain about how to handle DACA, as he was torn between his promises to show "heart" toward Dreamers and his vows to crack down on illegal immigration. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and senior policy adviser Stephen Miller both pressured the president to repeal DACA but were eventually stopped by Chief of Staff John Kelly. His proposal was that the president end the program in six months and during that time allow Congress to offer a solution that would help Dreamers stay in the country. This move may prove politically expedient as well as humane. A new Politico/Morning Consult poll found that 57 percent of Republicans support giving Dreamers permits to work in the United States, while only 37 percent of Republicans, 39 percent of Trump voters and 45 percent of voters who strongly approve of Trump's presidency believe undocumented immigrants should be removed. Among all voters, nearly half (49 percent) believe undocumented immigrants should be allowed to remain in the United States as legal residents, though not citizens.

Iraqi Assyrian families took refuge in the mountaintop Mar Matta Monastery, 30 miles east of Mosul, to flee ISIS. BEIRUT -- Despite the war, 53-year-old Syrian Khami Haydo was obstinately clinging to her dream to "stay on my land." She thought her only son was safe with her in the village of Tall Nasri, in northeastern Syria, after he dropped his studies at the University of Aleppo because of the fighting. An Assyrian Christian, she didn't want to concern herself with politics or be influenced by the threats. "ISIS was occupying the mountain south of our villages," she says. "But we felt protected by the Khabur River that was separating us from them, and by the Kurdish and Christian militias in the area." But in the wee hours between Feb. 22 and 23, her plan fell apart. First, there were "bombings, getting louder and louder," she recalls from the Saint George Assyrian Church in Beirut's eastern suburbs, where she fled in early March. Then came the "militiamen's orders" to the people living along the Khabur River to leave because ISIS jihadists were marching forward. Leaving everything behind, Khami Haydo took refuge with her sick husband and her son in the neighboring town of Al-Hassakah. There, she learned that Sunni extremists had abducted one of her cousins and the rest of her family back in her home village. In just a few days, ISIS kidnapped almost 220 Assyrian Christians in the Khabur valley. About 20 of them were released in exchange for a ransom. "The abductors can make all the claims they want, but they should release our loved ones," says Khami Haydo, who is still in a state of shock. ISIS knew that attacking Christians would provoke Western outrage. The assault took place two days after an offensive from the Kurdish People's Protection Units against the jihadists. The villages in the Khabur valley occupy a strategic position close to Turkey and Iraq, on the road from Aleppo to Mosul. The ISIS attacks mark a turning point. "It's the first time since 2011 [when the Syrian uprising began] that our region has been affected," says 35-year-old Syrian Roland Icho, who fled with his children. "I didn't see the assailants' faces. I can't be certain they were from ISIS. But these raids are in keeping with what the jihadists have been inflicting on minorities in Iraq since last summer, reducing Yazidi people to slavery, submitting Christians from Mosul to their law and forcing them to flee." Fear of mass murder All Syrians are in danger, Icho says, and Christians feel threatened by extermination in Syria and Iraq. This storekeeper swears he will never again set foot in his home country. The fate of the hostages is still unknown to this day, but fear of mass extermination haunts everyone, especially after ISIS beheaded 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya. The latest ISIS assault is forcing Christians to exile, once again. The Iraq villages where survivors settled after the 1933 anti-Christian massacre of Simele are empty now. Many thousands of Assyrians have fled to Al-Hasakah, the Syrian region's capital. Some 15 families have been taking refuge in Lebanon since early March. A small Assyrian community now calls this home, and more are expected to arrive. Beirut closed its borders to Syrian refugees in January, but it has made an exception for the Assyrians and has been granting them short-term visas. To cross the Lebanese border, Roland Icho showed a baptism certificate. His journey took him to Qamishli, where he boarded a plane to Damascus with his family before making for Beirut by road. Since he left, his Syrian village of Tall Tamer has been at the heart of violent fighting between Kurdish militiamen and ISIS jihadists. The Assyrian refugees in Lebanon don't want to talk about it, but Christian militiamen are also fighting with the Kurds to defend their villages. "Since a little more than a year ago, when ISIS grew in power and took control of Raqqa [southwest of Al-Hassakah], self-defense groups were created to protect our houses," Icho says. At that time, there was already an influx of Christians scared by ISIS expansion, coming from northeastern Syria to Lebanon, says Monsignor Yatroun Coliana, an Assyrian religious dignitary. In the Saint George Church, together with other Syrian priests, he tries to help the displaced who lack everything. But most of the refugees want to see Beirut only as a way station before going to Europe or America. In the past year, dozens of families have left for the West. Others live sparingly in small buildings near the church, waiting to emigrate. Young Chaldean Iraqis are also attending the Assyrian school. Indeed, the exodus of Iraqi Christians heightened after ISIS took Mosul in June 2014. Baghdad native Rafa el-Nawfali is 35, though she looks much older. Since the chaos created by the U.S. invasion of her country in 2003, her life has been a never-ending struggle: Syria, Iraqi Kurdistan, Lebanon. She cries when she talks of her "destroyed country." She doesn't know either whether she'll stay in the Middle East. "ISIS people have no religion," she says. "They eradicate other people, people who are different, whether they're Christians or Muslims." Monsignor Coliana would like to keep these Christians in Lebanon, but he can't. "For them to stay, they need to be helped, to feel protected," he explains. "Not a single Western embassy in Beirut came to ask us what the Assyrians needed. The West support the Kurds in Syria and Iraq, so why don't they do the same for the Christians?"

Posted 2018-02-13 18:27 GMT Assyrian family in north Iraq. ( Aid to the Church in Need) Christians forced out of their ancestral lands in northern Iraq are rejoicing after a leading Catholic charity announced an urgent injection of aid to rebuild an extra 2,000 homes. The US$5 million (PS3.6 million) package from Aid to the Church in Need will support projects renovating 2,000 houses on the Nineveh Plains --1,500 in Qaraqosh and 500 in Bartella, Bashiqua and Bahzani. ACN's international executive president Baron Johannes von Heereman, who has met with displaced families in the Iraqi Kurdish capital Erbil, stressed the urgent need to provide help. He said: "If we do not do everything in our power to support this first third of returning Christians, they will leave their towns again -- and perhaps even the country -- for good." ACN Middle East projects head Father Andrzej Halemba said he was encouraged that up to 35 percent of Iraq's Christian had already returned to their homes. He said: "More than 30,000 Christians have in the meantime gone back to where they lived before the Islamist terrorist groups invaded. "However, their situations are anything but easy." Father Halemba said that Christians are facing high heating and electricity costs due to a severe winter. He added that although Daesh (ISIS) had been defeated in the region, their extremist ideas had taken root in some sections of society. Rebuilding is being overseen by the Nineveh Reconstruction Committee (NRC), which was formed by the Chaldean, Syriac Orthodox and Syriac Catholic Churches. Since it was set up in late March 2017, the NRC has rebuilt nearly 3,000 houses -- with ACN providing support for the renovation of 784 homes. The latest aid package is a stopgap measure until more charities, governments and NGOs back the NRC scheme. Assyrian family in north Iraq. ( Aid to the Church in Need) Father Halemba said: "It will be possible to achieve the greater objective -- namely, to restore 6,000 houses -- only if we provide concrete aid together with other players and only if this region is not left to its own devices. "This would enable at least each second displaced person of the Christian minority to return. "Otherwise, we have to fear a reversal of the currently still tangible homecoming process." Father Halemba added that to keep people from emigrating from the area, further steps needed to be taken to ensure long-term security. Since 2014, when Daesh seized the Nineveh Plains, Aid to the Church in Need has provided more than US$40 million (PS28 million) for Iraq's Christians. ACN provided nearly half of all emergency aid -- food, medicine, shelter and schooling -- for displaced families supported by the Chaldean Archdiocese of Erbil. Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has stated that his country needs more than US$97 billion (PS70 billion) to fix crumbling infrastructure. There were more than 1 million Christians living in Iraq before the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003. Numbers have declined to between 200,000 and 250,000 today.

Posted 2016-04-23 16:30 GMT "We will only go back to Sinjar if the Iraqi government reclaims Mosul and destroys ISIL. Until that happens, we will stay here," said Khuder Kanan, the 54-year-old father of Rosa. ( Diego Cupolo) Displaced by war and unable to find room in overcrowded refugee camps, Iraq's Yazidis are increasingly taking shelter in abandoned buildings. Living in the concrete skeletons of unfinished structures and shielded from the rain by little more than a patchwork of tarps, countless families from this embattled ethnic minority struggle daily for access to clean water and basic services. In Sharya, Iraq, where a refugee camp of 17,000 is filled to capacity, displaced Yazidi families can be found living throughout the ruined town, occupying everything from handmade structures to a large school building that was never completed. At least 500 people now live in the school, whose owner is rumored to have fled to Europe. These scenes of despair are a result of the 2014 ISIL occupation of Iraq's Sinjar area, the ancestral homeland of Yazidis. Overnight, nearly 200,000 members of this religious minority fled as the Islamic State conducted mass executions. Thousands of hostage young women have been forced into sexual slavery. Though ISIL has since been pushed out of much of the area, heavy bombing rendered most towns and cities uninhabitable. Now, faced with closing migration routes to Europe and no place to go, the Middle East's most vulnerable people have turned to squatting as a means for survival in a country where many feel they can no longer trust their neighbors. Abas Sarnan and Sevy Khider, take care of three-year old Shanas, after her parents were killed during the ISIL occupation of Sinjar. "Her parents were our neighbors," Abas Sarnan (right) said. "We try to help, but we don't have any clothes for her and don't know if can afford sending her to school." ( Diego Cupolo) Hussin Namat, a 70-year-old man (with and without his family), who has been living in a hand-built structure outside the Sharya Refugee Camp for more than one year. "Every day we sit here and do nothing," he said. "We think about our relatives who are still in ISIL captivity and nothing else." ( Diego Cupolo) Often denied access to schools, Yazidi children pass the days playing near an abandoned house their families have occupied. ( Diego Cupolo) The unfinished school where at least 500 Yazidis have taken shelter. ( Diego Cupolo) Rosa Kanan, a 19-year-old medical student, studies in the hallways of the unfinished school. "The children are always making noise and it's hard to concentrate on my homework, but what else can I do?" asked Kanan. ( Diego Cupolo) Children walk in front of a cluster of tents inhabited by Yazidis. In the background, the school building is visible. ( Diego Cupolo)

Ghazan can provide for his family after finding a job at a bakery. ( World Watch Monitor) Remarkable stories of how refugees who lost everything are now rebuilding their lives from scratch have emerged from Iraq. There are many Christians among the many thousands of Iraqis and Syrians living in displacement camps in Iraq after fleeing Islamic State, according to World Watch Monitor which reports on Christian persecution around the world. It is estimated that 3.3 million Iraqis have been displaced within their own country. Nearly 100,000 have sought refuge in Erbil, in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, since June. Even when Mosul is liberated from Islamic State after the push to take it back begins later this year, there are growing fears that Christians will struggle to return to their ancient homelands because so much has been appropriated and there will be many people competing for the same properties. One of those who has begun to make a new life for himself, his wife and his three children in Erbil is Ghazan, 47. He ran his own transport company in Mosul and was wealthy and successful. He began attending church in Erbil and the Christian community there found him a job in a bakery, with his income now a tenth what it was. "We had a good life until IS came and forced us out. I heard that IS stole all our cars and are using them in Mosul right now. It was hard to see my family displaced. We lost our home, our place to stay," he said. "Although I don't earn much here and I have to work much longer hours than I did in my last job, I can at least pay rent so my family doesn't have to live in a camp. I have lost everything, but I thank God that my family is still with me." Jonas lost his farm in Syria to an Islamic State assault where he was himself shot and his caretaker was murdered in front of his eyes. "They took all my cows and I heard they sold them in Turkey," he said. "I had about 2,000 olive trees here too. They're now all gone. IS destroyed everything -- the house, the buildings, they cut down all the trees. I lost everything there." He fled with his family to Lebanon where they live in a small flat and he helps with building work in refugee camps. "The first year here I became depressed. But I started to pray more to God and that has helped me. I pray very often but have all these questions about why (this) happens to Christians." Even when the war ends, he fears more bloodshed in revenge attacks in Syria. "If the Christians really disappear from Syria it will be a disaster for Christianity all around the world. You know, we Christians love our country, we would love to stay, would love to return, but we need the basic conditions to live there."

Assyrians attending Easter service in Alqosh, Iraq. ( Rudaw) Alqosh, Iraq -- Christians in this predominantly Christian town in northern Iraq that has lived in the shadow of the Islamic State group ever since the militants swept across Iraq in June 2014, celebrated Easter with fellow Christians from surrounding villages who were made homeless by the ISIS sweep. Father Ghazwan Yusuf Baho celebrated the resurrection of Jesus with his congregation of some 600 Christians, many of them classified as displaced persons marking the holy day away from their homes for a second year. With the frontline of the war with ISIS less than 20 kilometers away, the faithful came together in a town church for Easter on Saturday. "Yes, we are celebrating today in Alqosh and we are only 15 kilometers away from the frontlines of the war," said Baho. "But we tried to show that we are far from the war, because we have hope and we ask God to save us and everyone else from wars, especially in our areas." ISIS has come as close as three kilometers from the Alqosh district, but the militants were driven away by the Kurdish Peshmerga forces. Residents of Alqosh had feared a fate similar to the Kurdish Yezidi town of Shingal, where in August 2014 ISIS went on a spree of murder and mayhem against the minority Yezidis. Alqosh, in a region that houses one of the world's oldest Christian communities, saw its population thin out after the attack by ISIS, which has been bent on killing or enslaving all non-Muslims. But most families returned after the militants were pushed back by the Peshmerga. The Alqosh district lies 44 kilometers from the center of Mosul, which has been the ISIS stronghold in Iraq since it was captured by the militants in June 2014. Iraqi forces, backed by coalition air strikes and artillery, and with the Peshmerga playing a supporting role, began an offensive on the Makhmour front Thursday, seen as a first step of an anticipated operation to liberate Mosul. After the ISIS attack on Christians in Telkef and Telsqof, Alqosh residents had deserted their homes and sought shelter in the city of Duhok in the Kurdistan Region. Residents say the majority returned after the Peshmerga offensive against the militants. Alqosh is an old town where Christians have lived since ancient times. Northern Iraq -- including Alqosh -- housed the largest concentration of Christians who still spoke Aramaic -- the language spoken by Jesus. But villages and town scattered around Mosul have been deserted or destroyed over the course of time, most notably by ISIS. In Alqosh, five Christian places of worship remain, one of them 1,500 years old. There are still 100 families that have not returned to Alqosh, because they left for Turkey and Jordan in the face of ISIS advances. But residents believe that those families also will eventually return.

I'm reporting from the ancient city of Telskuf, Iraq, that is 100 per cent Christian. Some 1,400 people lived in this town before it was invaded by ISIS-- not once, but twice. Thanks to the generosity of donors to our SaveTheChristians.com campaign, we're here handing out food to families in this former ISIS front-line stronghold. They're finally getting help, however, the future of this Christian town is in doubt. I spoke with one official on the ground who said this is the final chapter for Christians in Iraq and he has no hope that peace will come to the land, even if ISIS goes away . He worries about what's waiting in the wings after ISIS is gone, especially because their numbers have plummeted so much that after this, there will be no more Christians in Iraq. While the despair is understandable, that's why we're here and why we're asking for your help too. To support The Rebel's journalistic and humanitarian mission on the ground in Iraq, please visit www.SaveTheChristians.com . Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

Floyd Reese, the general manager of the Tennessee Titans from 1994 to 2006, has a brutal message about why the franchise didn't pick up quarterback Colin Kaepernick and instead signed Brandon Weeden. The first reason Reese offers is that Kaepernick doesn't fit the team because he is most comfortable "moving to run," while they are looking for someone who moves to throw. "He is not a pocket passer. Neither is RG3 (Robert Griffin III), and probably neither ever will be. And that's what we're looking for from Marcus. That's what you're looking for in an NFL quarterback. Pocket passer. Everything else is window dressing. If you're a pocket passer, you've got a chance to be a quarterback." Next, Kaepernick does not stay in the pocket and is not a "pocket passer," so it would be easier for the Titans to get Weeden up to speed and integrated into its program. Reese explains that Weeden knows he has to "conform exactly to whatever it is they want," while Kaepernick would need the offense to adjust to him. Reese says: "This is what people that want you to sign Kaepernick always go to -- always the numbers, the stats. They go, well, he completed this many and he's got this many wins. They have no idea how hard it is to adjust your offense for somebody like that." This is a concept Shaun King, Black Lives Matter leader and activist, who is also Kaepernick's good friend, has a hard time wrapping his brain around: Colin Kaepernick's worst season was better than Brandon Weeden's best. He never started a single playoff game. This isn't about football. -- Shaun King (@ShaunKing) October 3, 2017 Reese's final reason for teams not hiring Kaepernick is the politics he will drag with him everywhere he goes. Reese says that Kaepernick isn't worth the "circus." "You don't want this circus. We just talked last week about how you thought Delanie Walker getting a death threat cost them the game. Well, you can imagine what's coming with this." Kaepernick has arguably become more known for his political antics than his football career, as he famously wore socks depicting cops as pigs and protested the national anthem .

No! Tackle the other team! Photo: Elsa/Getty Images The Giants won a game ! They scored more points than the Minnesota Vikings! Mostly because the Vikings are awful! But also because the Giants were competent! Eli Manning didn't throw an interception for the first time this season! He looked like a sad little baby after this crazy one-handed "reach-around" sack, but it didn't matter, because the Giants won a game! Now they just need to win every other game and maybe build a time machine and win some games that already happened and they'll make the playoffs!

The Genesis Awards, a Humane Society-sponsored event which celebrates those in media and entertainment who draw attention to issues surrounding animal rights, took place last night in Los Angeles, and the stars came out to show their support: Kelly Carlson has a bit of an Elizabeth Taylor 'do going on here, no? Kristen Bell goes for the sheer trend... Melanie Griffith and her mom, Tippi Hedren , showing off a little multi-generational glam. Pierce Brosnan and wife Keely Shaye Smith decided to wear matching black ensembles. Is Charlotte Ross wearing...jelly shoes?! I'm guessing that they're perhaps animal-free, which is fitting, considering the event. "The Project Runway Junior Prom Challenge is this way, Ms. Hatcher." Fittingly enough, however, this adorable little doggie stole the show. [All Images Via Getty .]

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Senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, and is author of "Shame: How America's Past Sins Have Polarized Our Country" (Basic Books, 2015). We've got the great Shelby Steele on the podcast this week (read him fantastic WSJ column Black Protest Has Lost Its Power ) to discuss the NFL and (the lack of) racism in the culture. Then, the indispensable Jim Geraghty guides us through the politics of shut down. Finally, finally, a real sports discussion: Vikings fan boy James Lileks on his home town team. Music from this week's episode: Shut Down by The Beach Boys Please Support Our Sponsors! Quip is the NEW electric toothbrush that packs just the right amount of vibrations into an ultra slim design with guiding pulses to simplify better brushing - at a fraction of the cost of bulkier brushes. Quip starts at just $25 and right now, you can go to getquip.com/ricochet to get your first refill pack FREE with a QUIP electric toothbrush. The Great Courses Plus is offering our listeners a chance to stream hundreds of their courses for FREE by going to thegreatcoursesplus.com/ricochet.

Wild Bill : @Tcat, He must have gotten the wrong idea and made himself fit the hard core unemployable profile. Now, his career... VT Patriot : Hah, you used the words 'thought, facts and truth' and 'left' in the same sentence. That is a mistake.... VT Patriot : Saul, I read your comment and was ready to applaud it until the last part. Those that are rioting... Graystone : Now If FLIR is interested in marketing - and good will - they should "donate" a unit to the ECPD. tomcat : @ Wild Bill this liberal POS xander13 fits the profile you described in one post you made on this...

Much of the immigration debate has taken place on Capitol Hill, but a group of immigration activists are looking to show average Americans that reform is important for them, too. The Bridge Project aims to bridge the gap between parties, and connect Americans from across the political spectrum to push immigration reform. The group is kicking off a nationwide tour today called "Lets Talk: Immigration Reform" in California in an effort to bring the public into the debate. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below "We want to talk to everyday Americans and get their sense of where they are at on immigration and demystify and correct any misconceived notions they may have," says nationally renowned Dreamer Gaby Pacheco, Director of The Bridge Project, to NBC Latino. "We're doing that because we feel that they are as important to the debate as community leaders and advocates." The tour will stop at 10 cities across the nation, where the group will hold listening sessions and invite members of the community to start a dialogue about and garner support for reform. Pacheco says she hopes to motivate people to support reform in any way possible. "More than anything we want to show that this is an issue that affects more than the 11 million undocumented immigrants, but rather the 330 million people in our country," she says. The Bridge Project's tour comes at a crucial time as legislators have left D.C. to go to their home towns for a five-week break. Just before lawmakers left, immigration reform had languished in Congress since the Senate passed its sweeping bill in June. The chamber is only in session for nine days in September, during which it will have to deal with spending bills to avoid a government shutdown. The Project is not the only group that is stepping up its activism in August. In late July, Latino groups on different sides of the political aisle announced their groups' intentions to keep the pressure on Congress while legislators leave D.C. to go to their home towns. The Alliance for Citizenship, an umbrella group composed of different organizations, held a press conference on their plans for what they are calling immigration reform summer. "In August, Republicans will be hearing from their constituents, from business owners, from law enforcement, from clergy, from their voters and their campaign contributors that sensible immigration reform absolutely has to pass this year," Illinois Democratic Congressman Luis Gutierrez said on the call. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Meanwhile, legislators have hinted at signs that the House may vote on reform measures come October. Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee Chairman, hinted at an immigration timetable at a district town hall in his home state of Wisconsin. The former vice presidential candidate said that the House is tentatively scheduled to start voting on immigration bills in October . Senator Chuck Schumer said he wouldn't be opposed to a piecemeal approach by the House, as long as it provides a pathway to citizenship. Related:

On this week's Fox News Sunday , panel took a look at President Obama 's new immigration policy, debating both the policy and the politics. While The Weekly Standard 's Bill Kristol expressed preference for going through Congress, he conceded that Obama made a good move. "I think it's a sensible policy," Kristol said. It would be "much better if that were the law of the land," he added, saying Obama is pushing the "edges of the limits of prosecutorial discretion" by saying they won't enforce the law in order to keep those immigrants in the country. Nonetheless, he said, "It's the right thing to do actually." Joe Trippi , former Howard Dean campaign manager, also agreed with the policy, saying it's good to put focus on criminals -- rather than those who are children of immigrants and "see themselves as Americans." Karl Rove promptly disagreed. He began by thanking Obama for continuing President George W. Bush 's legacy of "prioritizing investigations and removals of criminals, criminal aliens." During the Bush years, he said, the examined the issue and concluded they had no statutory authority to issue a blanket exemption from deportation, without going through the legislative route. Take a look, via Fox: Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com

Sarah Palin said on Sunday that when it comes to securing America's borders, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer "has the cojones that our president does not have to look out for all Americans." Speaking to Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday," Palin addressed this week's decision by a federal judge to block much of the anti-illegal immigration law passed by Arizona earlier this year. "Well, this is a temporary suspension of some of the key elements in the law that Jan Brewer pushed hard for Arizonans and for the rest of the country to have the result of us being more secure," said Palin. That's when she really took aim at the White House (video follows with transcript and commentary): Please support NewsBusters today! (a 501c3 non-profit production of the Media Research Center) DONATE Immigration Arizona law FOX Fox News Sunday Sarah Palin Jan Brewer

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, says he is refusing to send The Bay State's National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border, charging that the Trump administration's zero-tolerance policy which separates children from their parents as they cross over is "cruel and inhumane." "We told the National Guard to hold steady and to not go down to the border -- period. We won't be supporting that initiative unless they change the policy," Baker said, according to NBC Boston. "I'm hopeful that with the voices that are coming out at this point and making that case to them, that they will consider alternatives to deal with border security. Border security is important -- no one disputes that -- but separating kids from their families is not." A National Guard helicopter crew from Massachusetts had been scheduled to fly down to help federal officials to help track illegal activity along the border with Mexico. Baker's anger over the separation policy echoes that of a growing number of politicians taking issue with children being yanked from their parents who enter the U.S. illegally. Nearly 2,000 kids have been separated from their families over a six-week period in April and May after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a new "zero-tolerance" policy for immigrants.

Arizona Immigrant Rights Activist Celso Mireles Dies at 30 And in Phoenix, Arizona, Celso Mireles, a "DREAMer" known as an innovator and artist, has died at the age of 30 after he was struck in a motorcycle accident on his way to work. Mireles co-founded the Arizona DREAM Act Coalition and was known for his kindness, insight and passion and as the "guy behind the scenes" of local and national online campaigns to stop deportations. His latest project involved developing a web application to alert migrants of raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License . Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Trey Gowdy told BillO tonight that it's ridiculous that Obama can't wait six or nine months for the new Congress to act on immigration, pointing out that when Obama had the House and Senate for two years he didn't do a damn thing about immigration. He said Republicans need to convince people of this in order to counter Obama's plans for amnesty. There's more he says Republicans need to do in the video below: When asked about impeachment Trey Gowdy simply said Joe Biden isn't the answer and that the only people talking about impeachment are Obama and his allies. Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

Instead of the Daily Show's usual targets - conservatives and Christians - atheists were the surprising villains on the Dec.9 episode of the left-leaning comedy show. Daily Show correspondent Jordan Klepper pulled no punches, calling the atheist group Freedom from Religion Foundation "petty a**holes," and "trolls" who needed to "lighten the f*ck up" for making a fuss over a diner offering small discounts to customers who pray before they eat. Klepper spoke with the Freedom from Religion Foundation's co-President Dan Barker about the group's issue with Mary's Gourmet Diner, a small business whose owner, Mary Haglund offers 15 percent discounts for customers who pray before meals. Klepper asked Barker why didn't he just fake pray to get the discount, but Barker insisted it would be against his beliefs to do so. Klepper mocked, "Well what's going to happen if you're a hypocrite atheist? You going to go to 'not-Hell?'" Barker didn't do himself any favors by continually comparing his "fight" with the diner to fights over civil rights and even genocide." In one case it's race or skin color, in another case it's religion," Barker insisted. At the news that the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent "a threatening note" to Mary's Gourmet Diner saying she was in violation of the Civil Rights Act, Klepper laughed and said, "Are you kidding me?" After interviewing actual atheist customers of the diner who said they received discounts for things like telling like the cook "thank you," Klepper decided that no one was being discriminated against and the atheist group was complaining about nothing. Barker's groups' actions were those of "petty a**holes," Klepper concluded. "In the end, maybe we'd all be a little better off if Dan would just lighten the f*ck up." -- Kristine Marsh is Staff Writer for MRC Culture at the Media Research Center. Follow Kristine Marsh on Twitter.

Just one day after a major U.S. city hiked its minimum wage to $15 per hour, fast-food workers rallied outside of the McDonald's annual shareholder meeting in Oak Brook, Illinois, Wednesday to advocate for higher wages. How much do you know about America's minimum wage battle? Take this quiz and find out. More on the town that inspired the $15 per hour minimum wage movement: ' SeaTac is proving trickle-down economics wrong' "People like me, who work hard for multibillion-dollar corporations like McDonald's, should not have to rely on food stamps to survive," said Albina Ardon, a McDonald's worker from Los Angeles and a member of the Fight for 15 campaign. Read more. The company's announcement came one day after plans became public for the biggest-ever strikes by fast-food workers with walkouts in 200 cities. Massive crowd fighting for $15 outside McDonalds HQ. pic.twitter.com/JBzb4AHObU -- Zachary Roth (@zackroth) May 20, 2015

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SAS team saved from ISIS in Iraq when Alsatian attacks ISIS fighters https://t.co/nyGG7dwmKp pic.twitter.com/Ln7T8irlJo ASimplePatriot (@ASimplePatriot) May 8, 2016 The Daily Star reports that one of the vehicles was destroyed by a homemade bomb. The group had to abandon their vehicles and take cover, as about 50 Islamic members attacked. The SAS had split into three groups, and when the British soldiers tried to move out, the jihadists attacked them from behind. The Daily Star reported that the soldiers were surrounded. http://www.inquisitr.com/3075699/german-shepherd-military-dog-puts-the-run-on-isis-during-ambush-in-iraq/ http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/5/9/1524791/-German-shepherd-saves-British-troop-convoy-from-ISIS-ambush-in-Iraq

Welcome to Saturday Morning Cartoons, a segment where four artists take turns delighting you with their whimsy, facts and punchlines on Saturday mornings! Our esteemed cartoon critters are Cameron Glavin , Anna Bongiovanni , Megan Praz and Yao Xiao . Today's cartoon is by Megan! A brief reminder that any and all opinions expressed regarding the Dem candidates for the 2016 presidential election are solely the opinions of the writer of the individual piece in question and should not be considered an official opinion of Autostraddle the website.

By Haley Halverson | March 13, 2015 10:29 AM EDT By Haley Halverson | March 6, 2015 9:53 AM EST The Thursday night series premier of Dig (USA) delivers on its promise of murder, conspiracy, and religion. Dig wastes no time in making its religious undertones as blatant as possible. The show opens quoting a verse from Numbers 6 about bringing a red heifer to sacrifice, and then shows the red cow in Norway with one character stating cryptically: "It has started." Another announces: "The prophecy has begun."

The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) discussed Israel's State Report on its compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at its recent session (14 November to 2 December 2011). The Israeli report dates from November 2008. Several international, Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations provided additional information to CESCR. All documents are published on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights . Based on the available information, CESCR formulated its "principal subjects of concern" and recommendations in the concluding observations. The document can be found in the last column of the table . Three out of the 35 concerns are about Israel's destruction of Palestinian property. In paragraph 26, CESCR expresses its deep concern about home demolitions and forced evictions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, by Israeli authorities, military personnel and settlers. It calls on Israel to stop home demolitions forthwith. In paragraph 27, CESCR recommends to Israel that it officially regulate the unrecognized villages and cease the demolition of buildings in those villages. Furthermore, CESCR is concerned about the continuing destruction of the water infrastructure in Gaza and the West Bank, including in the Jordan Valley (paragraph 29). JCB machines used as tool of Israeli army in demolition of Palestinian property While CESCR was discussing the human rights situation, Israeli forces used machines produced by British manufacturer JCB in the village of Umm Fagarah on 24 November. The company's headquarters is based in Rochester in the United Kingdom. It has factories in the UK, Germany, Brazil, China, India and North America. JCB equipment was used to demolish two homes, a mosque and a barn in Umm Fagarah. The village is located in the South Hebron Hills in the occupied West Bank. The Electronic Intifada's Ali Abunimah reported on the event. Video screenshot shows JCB machine demolishing Palestinian property in occupied Umm Fagarah on 24 November. Video screenshot shows JCB equipment being used to demolish Palestinian property in occupied Umm Fagarah on 24 November. On 20 June, JCB machines were seen in action destroying the village of Bir el-Eid in the South Hebron Hills: During the course of one morning the [Israeli] forces demolished six residential structures and tents, and one toilet structure. The forces also uprooted fruit and vegetable patches, and cut the wires of the electrical system that was installed by the Comet-ME organization, which builds wind-turbines and solar panels to provide energy to villages that Israel did not connect to a grid. According to residents, the soldiers told them that they do not deserve to have electricity. In addition, the soldiers also damaged a water tank and sacks of animal food. (Dolev Rahat for Rabbis for Human Rights ) Video screenshot shows JCB machines used in demolition at Bir al-Eid village in the occupied West Bank. In " Putting occupation's profiteers in the dock ", David Cronin reviews the transcript of the Russell Tribunal session on corporate complicity in Israel's occupation held in November 2010 in London. Caterpillar is probably the first name that springs to mind for Western human rights activists when the subject of corporate crimes in Palestine is broached. We remember, in particular, the courage of American peace activist Rachel Corrie, who was crushed to death by an Israeli soldier driving a Caterpillar bulldozer in 2003. Corrie was trying to save a home from demolition in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. This book alerts us to how vehicles made by that firm (and exported as US military aid to Israel) are still enabling war crimes. The aforementioned Caterpillar, as well as other suppliers of heavy vehicles to the Israeli military (such as Volvo and Daewoo), would be well-advised to read the contribution of Hocine Ouazraf, a political scientist based in Belgium. It makes clear that -- under the Fourth Geneva Convention -- civilian property can only be damaged by an occupying power when doing so is "rendered absolutely necessary by military operations", he writes. JCB can be added to the list and should be held to account by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Permalink Kevin Neish replied on Mon, 12/19/2011 - 21:22 I once worked for Finning Tractor, the largest Caterpillar dealer in the World, and I know that Finning sells JCB equipment and so they likely supplied the JCB dozers used to destroy the Palestinian homes noted in the article. The Finning UK website documents that they sell JCB equipment. http://www.machinerytrader.com...

Published Mar 12, 2009 8:29 PM WW photo: Alan Pollock Protesters from the Gaza Committee in Dearborn, Mich., picketed Starbucks on March 7 over its connections to Israel. The coffee shop chain is also viciously anti-union. The protesters denounced U.S. support for the Zionist settler state, which has been waging a genocidal war against the Palestinian people. An international boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign is targeting Starbucks, whose CEO, Howard Schultz, received the Israeli 50th Anniversary Tribute Award in 1998 from a Zionist group that promotes settlements on Palestinian land. The campaign is also targeting all institutions and corporations that do business with Israel. The southeastern Michigan-based Gaza Committee is building future actions with this campaign and others that support the Palestinian people. -- Bryan G. Pfeifer Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved. Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011 Email: [email protected] Subscribe [email protected] Support independent news DONATE

Israel's trade deficit reached 1.8 billion shekels ($467 million) in September, a new report revealed. The report issued by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics said trade has registered a decline of 33.4 per cent compared with the same period last year. The total value of Israel's imports in September amounted to $4.129 billion compared with exports amounting to $3.662 billion. According to the report, 46 per cent of the imports included raw materials for industry, 20 per cent was consumer goods, 12 per cent machinery and investment equipment and 22 per cent in rough diamonds and fuels. Some 85 per cent of Israeli exports included weapons, drugs, technology and manufacturing, 14 per cent polished diamonds and one per cent were in agricultural exports and fish. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) discussed Israel's State Report on its compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at its recent session (14 November to 2 December 2011). The Israeli report dates from November 2008. Several international, Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations provided additional information to CESCR. All documents are published on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights . Based on the available information, CESCR formulated its "principal subjects of concern" and recommendations in the concluding observations. The document can be found in the last column of the table . Three out of the 35 concerns are about Israel's destruction of Palestinian property. In paragraph 26, CESCR expresses its deep concern about home demolitions and forced evictions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, by Israeli authorities, military personnel and settlers. It calls on Israel to stop home demolitions forthwith. In paragraph 27, CESCR recommends to Israel that it officially regulate the unrecognized villages and cease the demolition of buildings in those villages. Furthermore, CESCR is concerned about the continuing destruction of the water infrastructure in Gaza and the West Bank, including in the Jordan Valley (paragraph 29). JCB machines used as tool of Israeli army in demolition of Palestinian property While CESCR was discussing the human rights situation, Israeli forces used machines produced by British manufacturer JCB in the village of Umm Fagarah on 24 November. The company's headquarters is based in Rochester in the United Kingdom. It has factories in the UK, Germany, Brazil, China, India and North America. JCB equipment was used to demolish two homes, a mosque and a barn in Umm Fagarah. The village is located in the South Hebron Hills in the occupied West Bank. The Electronic Intifada's Ali Abunimah reported on the event. Video screenshot shows JCB machine demolishing Palestinian property in occupied Umm Fagarah on 24 November. Video screenshot shows JCB equipment being used to demolish Palestinian property in occupied Umm Fagarah on 24 November. On 20 June, JCB machines were seen in action destroying the village of Bir el-Eid in the South Hebron Hills: During the course of one morning the [Israeli] forces demolished six residential structures and tents, and one toilet structure. The forces also uprooted fruit and vegetable patches, and cut the wires of the electrical system that was installed by the Comet-ME organization, which builds wind-turbines and solar panels to provide energy to villages that Israel did not connect to a grid. According to residents, the soldiers told them that they do not deserve to have electricity. In addition, the soldiers also damaged a water tank and sacks of animal food. (Dolev Rahat for Rabbis for Human Rights ) Video screenshot shows JCB machines used in demolition at Bir al-Eid village in the occupied West Bank. In " Putting occupation's profiteers in the dock ", David Cronin reviews the transcript of the Russell Tribunal session on corporate complicity in Israel's occupation held in November 2010 in London. Caterpillar is probably the first name that springs to mind for Western human rights activists when the subject of corporate crimes in Palestine is broached. We remember, in particular, the courage of American peace activist Rachel Corrie, who was crushed to death by an Israeli soldier driving a Caterpillar bulldozer in 2003. Corrie was trying to save a home from demolition in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. This book alerts us to how vehicles made by that firm (and exported as US military aid to Israel) are still enabling war crimes. The aforementioned Caterpillar, as well as other suppliers of heavy vehicles to the Israeli military (such as Volvo and Daewoo), would be well-advised to read the contribution of Hocine Ouazraf, a political scientist based in Belgium. It makes clear that -- under the Fourth Geneva Convention -- civilian property can only be damaged by an occupying power when doing so is "rendered absolutely necessary by military operations", he writes. JCB can be added to the list and should be held to account by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Permalink Kevin Neish replied on Mon, 12/19/2011 - 21:22 I once worked for Finning Tractor, the largest Caterpillar dealer in the World, and I know that Finning sells JCB equipment and so they likely supplied the JCB dozers used to destroy the Palestinian homes noted in the article. The Finning UK website documents that they sell JCB equipment. http://www.machinerytrader.com...

Kathryn Moody : Investors, Are You Ready for the Next Global Crisis? Manuel Schiffres Mutual Fund Rankings, 2014 Meghan Streit : Pitching In When Caregivers Need Help Janet Bond Brill, Ph.D., R.D.N., F.A.N.D : How to prevent a second (and first) heart attack thru diet The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington : Caprese is a light, fresh salad; the perfect quick and easy accompaniment to any summer meal Mark Steyn : You Want Nazis? Jonathan Tobin : Care about the Jewish state's future? Obama, in interview, reveals even more reasons to worry Alan M. Dershowitz : Confirmed: Needless death and destruction in Gaza Katie Nielsen : As a mother, I'm all I need to be Cameron Huddleston : 18 Retailers That Offer Price Adjustments Nellie S. Huang : The Best Health Mutual Funds to Buy Now Brierly Wright, M.S., R.D. : Try these 'secret-weapon' foods to boost your changes of losing weight The Kosher Gourmet by Jessica Yadegaran : Take some relish in pickled goodies (5 recipes!) Kimberly Lankford : 50 Ways to Cut Your Health Care Costs James K. Glassman : Investors, Are You Ready for the Next Global Crisis? The Kosher Gourmet by Nick Malgieri : Chocolate molten delight with creme anglaise is a simple yet elegant make-ahead dessert Amazon.com is selling T-shirts that say "Make Israel Palestine Again," a not so subtle endorsement of ending the State of Israel. The shirts are listed as "In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com." This stands in contrast with some merchandise Amazon sells that comes from third-party sources. Similar shirts are available on Etsy.com. The slogan "Make Israel Palestine Again" is used often on social media, including a Twitter page and an Instagram account . An image on the Twitter feed shows President Trump wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat Photoshopped to say "Make Israel Palestine Again." Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activist Miko Peled used the Trump-style "Make Israel Palestine Again" hat as his Twitter avatar and in a November 2016 post . Peled linked to a petition that calls Israel's existence into question. The BDS movement aims to isolate Israel politically and economically using sanctions and boycotts of Israeli goods. Zazzle.com, a website that allows people to create items with their own messages and sell them, hosts a store belonging to the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR). Its store lets people buy merchandise emblazoned with the USCPR's logo. Tax records show the USCPR acts as the U.S.-based financial agent for the BDS National Committee - the group responsible for coordinating the BDS movement worldwide. The BDS National Committee counts a group called the Council of National and Islamic Force in Palestine -a coalition that includes representatives from Hamas and other terrorist groups - as a member organization. Amazon corporate communications did not respond to an email seeking comment. John Rossomando is a Senior Analyst at The Investigative Project on Terrorism.

Millions of Muslims chanted "Death to Israel" in rallies across the globe Friday at which they also burned U.S., U.K., Israeli and Islamic State group flags. The marches marked Al-Quds Day, which was declared by Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and is held on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Opposition to Israel is a touchstone of belief among many in the region, especially the Shia organizations resisting U.S., Israeli and Saudi designs in the Middle East and Asia.

Nuns Against Fracking: The 'Sisters Of Loretto' Oppose Pipeline By Hunter Stuart, www.huffingtonpost.com August 17, 2013 Nuns Against Fracking: The 'Sisters Of Loretto' Oppose Pipeline 2013-08-17 2013-08-17 https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.png PopularResistance.Org https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2013/08/Loretto-Forum-150x109.jpg 200px 200px Above: Loretto Forum: Back row, from left, are Maureen O'Connell SL, Lillian Moskeland CoL, Vicki Schwartz SL, Brian Hammond CoL, Mary Helen Sandoval CoL, and Maureen Fiedler. Front row, from left, are Karen Cassidy CoL, Susan Classen CoL, Pearl McGivney SL, Marlene Spero SL, and Buffy Boesen SL. For more information visit: http://www.lorettocommunity.org/ What would Jesus frack? That's a question you might ask a group of nuns in rural Kentucky who are fighting a fracking pipeline proposed on their land. The 200-year-old Sisters of Loretto has refused to allow energy companies to survey their 780 acres in order to build a natural gas pipeline that would connect fracking operations in Pennsylvania with an existing pipeline that runs from Kentucky to the Gulf Coast . "This has the potential for danger and for pollution of this very precious resource," said Sister Maria Visse in a video report by the environmental news project Climate Desk , gesturing at the lush Kentucky hills where she her fellow nuns live. Visse has been a member of the Sisters of Loretto since 1955. The Sisters of Loretto Roman Catholic community is based in Marion County, K.Y., about 55 miles south of Louisville. The group was founded in 1812 with a social mission. In addition to religious duties, the nuns helped to educate poor children in the area in the 19th century, according to their website. The proposed Bluegrass Pipeline, which the nuns recently protested by singing at an open house information session before being asked to be quiet , is being overseen by Williams Partners L.P., based in Tulsa, Okla., and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, based in Houston. The pipeline would carry pressurized natural gas liquids, which are flammable and have exploded in pipeline accidents in the past . According to Climate Desk's video, which you can watch above, a spokesman for Boardwalk Partners said the company had already received permission to survey 90 percent of the pipeline route. (hat tip Josh Fox )

Support Crooks and Liars: "North Dakota, the nation's No. 2 oil producer behind Texas, recorded nearly 300 oil pipeline spills in less than two years, state documents show. None was reported to the public, officials said. According to records obtained by The Associated Press , the pipeline spills -- many of them small -- are among some 750 "oil field incidents" that have occurred since January 2012 without public notification. "That's news to us," said Don Morrison, director of the Dakota Resource Council, an environmental-minded landowner group with more than 700 members in North Dakota." The Young Turks hosts Cenk Uygur breaks it down.

On Thursday, April 5, opponents of the Bayou Bridge pipeline attempted to shut down its construction by blocking an industrial supply company's facility in Iowa, Louisiana, just outside of Lake [...] By Steve Marroni for Penn Live - Five more members of the Lancaster Against Pipelines organization were arrested on Saturday, bringing the total number of arrests to 45. The organization said on [...] By Staff of RAN - NEW YORK - This morning, activists from Rainforest Action Network (RAN) dropped a 35 ft. banner from the headquarters of JPMorgan Chase to protest the bank's investments in [...] By Julie Zauzmer for The Washington Post - In a dramatic showdown in a cornfield, owned by Catholic sisters of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, 23 people stood holding hands and singing hymns [...] By Jessica Corbett for Common Dreams - Harris and his friends--who helped him escape the violent attack to seek medical attention--were in the area to protest a gathering of white supremacists who [...] Daily movement news and resources. Popular Resistance provides a daily stream of resistance news from across the United States and around the world. We also organize campaigns and participate in coalitions on a broad range of issues. We do not use advertising or underwriting to support our work. Instead, we rely on you. Please consider making a tax deductible donation if you find our website of value.

Our climate is changing, and our approaches to activism and politics have to change with it. From the farms of Puerto Rico to the tar sands of Canada, from the streets of Los Angeles to Kentucky coal country, communities are coming together to fight for a just transition to a greener and more equitable economy. Taking Heat , a project of The Nation and the Food & Environment Reporting Network , features regular dispatches from the front-lines of the climate justice movement by journalist Audrea Lim.

Last week, the special election in Pennsylvania's 18th District made national headlines when the Democratic candidate for the state legislature, Conor Lamb, beat incumbent Republican Rep. Rick [...] A busload of fifty local residents took over the field offices of Williams/Transco at 805 Estelle Drive, Suite 101, in Lancaster. We dropped a 12 foot stretch of pipeline in Williams's meeting [...] TITUSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA -- Shoehorned between the state line and the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania's northwest corner, the city of Titusville is as red as America gets, a place where virtually [...] Today, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) suspended construction permits for the Mariner East 2 pipeline due to a number of safety and environmental violations.1Mariner [...] By Julie Zauzmer for The Washington Post - In a dramatic showdown in a cornfield, owned by Catholic sisters of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, 23 people stood holding hands and singing hymns [...] By Anne Meador for DC Media Group - Greedy pipeline companies in league with complicit government officials are the driving force behind two gas pipelines intended to deliver Pennsylvania gas to [...] Daily movement news and resources. Popular Resistance provides a daily stream of resistance news from across the United States and around the world. We also organize campaigns and participate in coalitions on a broad range of issues. We do not use advertising or underwriting to support our work. Instead, we rely on you. Please consider making a tax deductible donation if you find our website of value.

The accident, the cause of which is unknown, appears to be the most severe of its kind within the United States since transportation of crude oil by train increased three years ago with the U.S. fracking boom, Reuters reports . Bill Jasper, president of the rail company Genesee & Wyoming, said each of the train's 90 cars was carrying 30,000 gallons of crude oil when approximately 25 cars and two locomotives derailed. The crash and explosion shot 300-foot flames into the sky, Reuters reports . No immediate injuries were reported, but the company still does not know how much oil has been spilled or what the long-term effects will be. This means it may have been carrying the same fracked oil transported by the train that sparked the Lac Megantic tragedy this summer when it derailed in this Quebec town and killed nearly fifty people. With crowds outside chanting, "Jail to the Chief!" and caught in the sordid turmoil of Watergate, Richard 'I Am Not A Crook' Nixon resigned the presidency 44 years ago today in the name of hastening "the start of that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America." Revisiting his final speech, most startling in this crudest of eras is his relative gravitas; for those pining for history to repeat itself, Borowitz suggests, "Imagine this, only without the complete sentences."

Photo by Dennis Jarvis | flickr W hat living and growing up in Canada has taught me is that the notion of "acceptance of all" is not a concept that is introduced or implemented everywhere in the world. This was not something that I ever even considered during my time in Sri Lanka. On the other hand, I never thought about being judged negatively due to my skin colour until I was exposed to it by moving to Vancouver. I understand why it is different in North America though. I was only a baby when the attacks of September 11, 2001 happened. Yet, I feel the repercussions of it when I walk into a group interview. I feel them when I visit my sister up north because suburbia does not give grave looks to just anyone. I feel them every time I walk into an airport or down the street. It just means that I have to smile twice as hard. They say that you don't know what you have until you don't have it anymore. This is true. Undeniable acceptance of all cultures is great, so long as it is not paired with assumptions. It is irritating when people assume that I am Indian, or when they label me as "brown," because "it's basically the same thing anyways." It is not the same thing, and I'm a proud Sri Lankan-Canadian. The worst case of assumptions I've ever experienced was when I visited Saskatoon with my family last summer. Let me set the scene for you. It was thirty-one degrees in mid-August 2015, and we were heading home from our big Vancouver-to-Winnipeg family road trip. We had been stuck in the car until, finally, we stopped at a restaurant. They had Wi-Fi, and after hours of endless fields, we were grateful. The waitress at the restaurant handed us menus for samosas, biryani and other Indian foods. I was confused because I wanted what the (Caucasian) man eating at the next table had: a burger and a plate of fries. I waited ten minutes and asked the waitress if I could have what he was having, to which she replied, "Oh, you wanted the Canadian menu?" Thinking about it now, I would say that maybe I overreacted just a tiny bit. That is what living in a city like Vancouver does. I am not saying that multiculturalism does not exist in Saskatoon, I am sure it does, but I had never been in a situation like that before. Let's just say that in a partially calm manner, my sister and I spoke to her and the manager (who was Punjabi, which left me even more surprised). Then we proceeded to leave and eat at KFC, which didn't make me feel any better. The moral of this story is simple. This was not an act of racism. The colour of my skin should not determine how I get treated. This experience made me more thankful for living in Vancouver. We take our diversity for granted, but it is important to realize that diversity varies everywhere. Unfortunately, not everyone gets to live in a city that is so enriched with culture like Vancouver is. Multiculturalism and acceptance are two things that you do not get to fully recognize until you are put in a situation in which they are not as apparent. I can honestly say that I have spent half my life growing up in Sri Lanka and the other half here, in Vancouver, Canada. Admittedly, I am glad that my parents chose Vancouver, Canada as opposed to anywhere else. Share this:

Sokrates: If you can say that we "exist" at all, being simply of figments of Brad DeLong's imagination, as he sits at Espresso Roma, drinking coffee, trying to wake up, writing this dialogue, intermittently watching lectures from the "Reason and Persuasion" MOOC of John Holbo , and waiting for Nicholas Lemann... Why a complex, unjust, expensive, error-prone system might end up providing the best health care : Should Be Aware of: The purpose of this weblog is to be the best possible portal into what I am thinking, what I am reading, what I think about what I am reading, and what other smart people think about what I am reading... "Bring expertise, bring a willingness to learn, bring good humor, bring a desire to improve the world--and also bring a low tolerance for lies and bullshit..." -- Brad DeLong "I have never subscribed to the notion that someone can unilaterally impose an obligation of confidentiality onto me simply by sending me an unsolicited letter--or an email..." -- Patrick Nielsen Hayden "I can safely say that I have learned more than I ever would have imagined doing this.... I also have a much better sense of how the public views what we do. Every economist should have to sell ideas to the public once in awhile and listen to what they say. There's a lot to learn..." -- Mark Thoma "Tone, engagement, cooperation, taking an interest in what others are saying, how the other commenters are reacting, the overall health of the conversation, and whether you're being a bore..." -- Teresa Nielsen Hayden "With the arrival of Web logging... my invisible college is paradise squared, for an academic at least. Plus, web logging is an excellent procrastination tool.... Plus, every legitimate economist who has worked in government has left swearing to do everything possible to raise the level of debate and to communicate with a mass audience.... Web logging is a promising way to do that..." -- Brad DeLong "Blogs are an outlet for unexpurgated, unreviewed, and occasionally unprofessional musings.... At Chicago, I found that some of my colleagues overestimated the time and effort I put into my blog--which led them to overestimate lost opportunities for scholarship. Other colleagues maintained that they never read blogs--and yet, without fail, they come into my office once every two weeks to talk about a post of mine..." -- Daniel Drezner

Paul Krugman (September 2008): Larry King Not So Live - NYTimes.com : "So last night I was on Larry King Live... This metaphor has run away with me... Suresh Naidu : Capital Eats the World : The purpose of this weblog is to be the best possible portal into what I am thinking, what I am reading, what I think about what I am reading, and what other smart people think about what I am reading... "Bring expertise, bring a willingness to learn, bring good humor, bring a desire to improve the world--and also bring a low tolerance for lies and bullshit..." -- Brad DeLong "I have never subscribed to the notion that someone can unilaterally impose an obligation of confidentiality onto me simply by sending me an unsolicited letter--or an email..." -- Patrick Nielsen Hayden "I can safely say that I have learned more than I ever would have imagined doing this.... I also have a much better sense of how the public views what we do. Every economist should have to sell ideas to the public once in awhile and listen to what they say. There's a lot to learn..." -- Mark Thoma "Tone, engagement, cooperation, taking an interest in what others are saying, how the other commenters are reacting, the overall health of the conversation, and whether you're being a bore..." -- Teresa Nielsen Hayden "With the arrival of Web logging... my invisible college is paradise squared, for an academic at least. Plus, web logging is an excellent procrastination tool.... Plus, every legitimate economist who has worked in government has left swearing to do everything possible to raise the level of debate and to communicate with a mass audience.... Web logging is a promising way to do that..." -- Brad DeLong "Blogs are an outlet for unexpurgated, unreviewed, and occasionally unprofessional musings.... At Chicago, I found that some of my colleagues overestimated the time and effort I put into my blog--which led them to overestimate lost opportunities for scholarship. Other colleagues maintained that they never read blogs--and yet, without fail, they come into my office once every two weeks to talk about a post of mine..." -- Daniel Drezner

Hoisted from 2007 : [Tim] Burke on [Edmund] Burke's Political Philosophy http://www.bradford-delong.com/2007/03/burke_on_burkes.html : I see two strands in Burke relevant to Burke's comment here: The purpose of this weblog is to be the best possible portal into what I am thinking, what I am reading, what I think about what I am reading, and what other smart people think about what I am reading... "Bring expertise, bring a willingness to learn, bring good humor, bring a desire to improve the world--and also bring a low tolerance for lies and bullshit..." -- Brad DeLong "I have never subscribed to the notion that someone can unilaterally impose an obligation of confidentiality onto me simply by sending me an unsolicited letter--or an email..." -- Patrick Nielsen Hayden "I can safely say that I have learned more than I ever would have imagined doing this.... I also have a much better sense of how the public views what we do. Every economist should have to sell ideas to the public once in awhile and listen to what they say. There's a lot to learn..." -- Mark Thoma "Tone, engagement, cooperation, taking an interest in what others are saying, how the other commenters are reacting, the overall health of the conversation, and whether you're being a bore..." -- Teresa Nielsen Hayden "With the arrival of Web logging... my invisible college is paradise squared, for an academic at least. Plus, web logging is an excellent procrastination tool.... Plus, every legitimate economist who has worked in government has left swearing to do everything possible to raise the level of debate and to communicate with a mass audience.... Web logging is a promising way to do that..." -- Brad DeLong "Blogs are an outlet for unexpurgated, unreviewed, and occasionally unprofessional musings.... At Chicago, I found that some of my colleagues overestimated the time and effort I put into my blog--which led them to overestimate lost opportunities for scholarship. Other colleagues maintained that they never read blogs--and yet, without fail, they come into my office once every two weeks to talk about a post of mine..." -- Daniel Drezner

The purpose of this weblog is to be the best possible portal into what I am thinking, what I am reading, what I think about what I am reading, and what other smart people think about what I am reading... "Bring expertise, bring a willingness to learn, bring good humor, bring a desire to improve the world--and also bring a low tolerance for lies and bullshit..." -- Brad DeLong "I have never subscribed to the notion that someone can unilaterally impose an obligation of confidentiality onto me simply by sending me an unsolicited letter--or an email..." -- Patrick Nielsen Hayden "I can safely say that I have learned more than I ever would have imagined doing this.... I also have a much better sense of how the public views what we do. Every economist should have to sell ideas to the public once in awhile and listen to what they say. There's a lot to learn..." -- Mark Thoma "Tone, engagement, cooperation, taking an interest in what others are saying, how the other commenters are reacting, the overall health of the conversation, and whether you're being a bore..." -- Teresa Nielsen Hayden "With the arrival of Web logging... my invisible college is paradise squared, for an academic at least. Plus, web logging is an excellent procrastination tool.... Plus, every legitimate economist who has worked in government has left swearing to do everything possible to raise the level of debate and to communicate with a mass audience.... Web logging is a promising way to do that..." -- Brad DeLong "Blogs are an outlet for unexpurgated, unreviewed, and occasionally unprofessional musings.... At Chicago, I found that some of my colleagues overestimated the time and effort I put into my blog--which led them to overestimate lost opportunities for scholarship. Other colleagues maintained that they never read blogs--and yet, without fail, they come into my office once every two weeks to talk about a post of mine..." -- Daniel Drezner

Andrew Kaczynski : "Smoking Doesn't Kill", and Others : Corey Robin : When Conservatives Didn't Get Tough on Crime: National Review on the Eichmann Trial (Updated) : "The piece also made me think... Paul Krugman (September 2008): Larry King Not So Live - NYTimes.com : "So last night I was on Larry King Live... This metaphor has run away with me... The purpose of this weblog is to be the best possible portal into what I am thinking, what I am reading, what I think about what I am reading, and what other smart people think about what I am reading... "Bring expertise, bring a willingness to learn, bring good humor, bring a desire to improve the world--and also bring a low tolerance for lies and bullshit..." -- Brad DeLong "I have never subscribed to the notion that someone can unilaterally impose an obligation of confidentiality onto me simply by sending me an unsolicited letter--or an email..." -- Patrick Nielsen Hayden "I can safely say that I have learned more than I ever would have imagined doing this.... I also have a much better sense of how the public views what we do. Every economist should have to sell ideas to the public once in awhile and listen to what they say. There's a lot to learn..." -- Mark Thoma "Tone, engagement, cooperation, taking an interest in what others are saying, how the other commenters are reacting, the overall health of the conversation, and whether you're being a bore..." -- Teresa Nielsen Hayden "With the arrival of Web logging... my invisible college is paradise squared, for an academic at least. Plus, web logging is an excellent procrastination tool.... Plus, every legitimate economist who has worked in government has left swearing to do everything possible to raise the level of debate and to communicate with a mass audience.... Web logging is a promising way to do that..." -- Brad DeLong "Blogs are an outlet for unexpurgated, unreviewed, and occasionally unprofessional musings.... At Chicago, I found that some of my colleagues overestimated the time and effort I put into my blog--which led them to overestimate lost opportunities for scholarship. Other colleagues maintained that they never read blogs--and yet, without fail, they come into my office once every two weeks to talk about a post of mine..." -- Daniel Drezner

11 December, 2015 WSWS.org T he US Defense Department (DOD) is preparing to expand its global network of military bases by establishing a new "string" of bases in countries stretching from Africa to East Asia, unnamed Pentagon officials told the New York Times Wednesday. The enlarged US basing arrangements will include at least four new large-scale bases or "hubs," including new facilities in East Africa and West Africa and Afghanistan, along with a greater number of smaller camps or "spokes," sources told the Times . The new bases, which the Pentagon describes as "enduring" bases, will host forces ranging from dozens of commandos up to 5,000 soldiers at the largest hubs, the unnamed military officials said. West Africa is a main focus of the expanded basing plans, and will host one of the larger hubs. The West African countries of Niger and Cameroon are the only countries set to host smaller "spoke" bases listed by the Times report. The Pentagon plans to build a large "hub" near Erbil in northern Iraq, where US special forces have already been conducting combat operations for months. US Special Forces commandos affiliated with the "expeditionary targeting force" announced last week by US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter are already setting up operations in the same area, according to reports. The new bases are only the latest development in the metastatic growth of Washington's global military apparatus. According to the official list of US overseas bases, US forces are stationed in Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, Bulgaria, Cuba, Djibouti, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Honduras, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Romania, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom. Taking into account non-officially acknowledged bases, "forward operating posts," and other long-term deployments, the list of US bases expands to include the majority of the countries in the world. Recent weeks have made clear that the US is launching yet another expansion of its wars in the Middle East. Wednesday announcement, transmitted by the Pentagon through the semi-official mouthpiece of the Times, demonstrates that the escalation of the US-led imperialist wars in Iraq and Syria will be accompanied by a generalized military build-up encompassing far wider areas of the globe. The new bases will facilitate a further expansion of manhunts, kidnapping, and other counter-insurgency operations which have been orchestrated by US military-intelligence cadres across ever-expanding areas of the planet since 2001 under the banner of the US "Global War on Terrorism." Working from the new "hubs," Special Force troops and intelligence operatives will orchestrate supposed "counterterrorism" missions, according to the description offered by the Times. Operations launched from the new bases will enable close collaborations between "regional American commanders, diplomats and spies," US officials said. In other words, the bases will provide launching pads for a further expansion of US military and intelligence activities in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, along the entire Indo-Pacific rim, and in every significant corner of Africa. In statements defending the basing expansion, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter claimed that the all-pervasive nature of the ISIS threat requires permanent global presence that reaches easily into every corner of the world. "Because we cannot predict the future, these regional nodes--from Moron, Spain, to Jalalabad, Afghanistan--will provide forward presence to respond to a range of crises, terrorist and other kinds," US Defense Secretary Carter said in reference to the basing expansion. "The new bases will enable unilateral crisis response, counter-terror operations, or strikes on high-value targets," he added. US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford similarly claimed earlier this month that ISIS is based on a "global dynamic" that makes it impossible to combat the group within any limited list of countries. In reality, rather than "fighting terrorism," the real purpose of the bases is to shape the world political order in accordance with needs of US imperialism, subjecting ever wider areas of the globe to military violence and repression by US forces. Recent operations in Eastern Europe have given a taste of what is planned for the new US military "hubs" and "spokes." Some 400 US troops have been deployed to forward operating bases in western Ukraine, where they are reportedly gathering information about Russian forces stationed near the eastern border with Russia, Military Times reported Thursday. Intelligence gathered from the military spying is already being used to develop new training programs for the main US Army infantry school on the European continent, located in Germany.

By Juan Cole Hisham Melhem has a piece on what he calls the collapse of Arab civilization. The piece is riddled with contradictions and fuzzy thinking and with all due respect to Milhem, who is a knowledgeable and experienced correspondent, I am going to disagree with it vehemently. I think he is arguing that Arabs [...] by Juan Cole Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that Iran has a role to play in defeating ISIL. Addressing a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, he said that the military alliance put together by the US and its allies is only one part of the task, and that the other [...] by Juan Cole The US media coverage of the Scottish referendum is oddly lacking in any reference to actual politics. As usual, the corporate media concentrates on issues in ethnicity to cover up issues in social class and social policy. The "Washington consensus" of Neoliberalism, substituting blind so-called "market forces" for good governance, has been [...] By Juan Cole The pan-Arab, London-based daily, "Al-Sharq al-Awsat" (The Middle East) reports that the major Shiite militias of Iraq are denouncing Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi for welcoming US air support in the fight against the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Prime Minister al-Abadi himself rejected conventional US ground troops for [...] By Juan Cole The US launched air strikes on Tuesday on ISIL targets, south of Baghdad and also in the north. The ones south of Baghdad were in support of the Iraqi Army, for the first time since the ISIL crisis broke in early June. US close air support to the Iraqi army and the [...] By Juan Cole During the recent Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, a controversy broke out in Turkey about whether Turkish Jews were required to condemn Israel's actions, as some pro-Palestinian Turks suggested. Turkish Jewish intellectuals wrote in an open letter to the newspaper Hurriyyet ["Liberty," Istanbul]: ""Israel's latest attack on Gaza led, once again, [...] By Juan Cole In the past week, Secretary of State John Kerry has marshaled support of some sort from both European nations and from countries in the Middle East for the US push against ISIL. Unfortunately, the resulting coalition is riddled with contradictions that may well cripple it. Here a some of the more important [...] By Juan Cole Ever since George W. Bush invaded Iraq and created the circumstances under which al-Qaeda could take root and flourish there from 2003 forward, al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia (which later styled itself the "Islamic State of Iraq") has taken captives and has beheaded them on film. It was doing this in 2004 These acts [...] By Juan Cole US Secretary of State John Kerry's meeting in Jedda with ten Middle Eastern foreign ministers produced a communique on Friday, but little more. The regional states promised to do more to stop the transit across their territory of volunteer vigilantes seeking to join the so-called "Islamic State" of Iraq and the Levant [...]

Iraqi's Prime Minister-designate Haider Al-Abadi yesterday "stressed the need to dry up terrorists resources in Iraq and the region in order to maintain stability as Iraq is currently facing an enemy that uses all criminal and inhuman methods," and called on the international community to cooperate with his country against Islamic State (IS) fighters. Al-Abadi's statements came during his meeting in Baghdad with the US Central Command Gen. Lloyd Austin, wherein they discussed the security situation in Iraq and the region in general and IS's threat in particular, according to a statement issued by the prime minister's office. He added that Iraq "is currently facing an enemy that uses all criminal and inhumane methods, which requires international cooperation as well as the formation of an international system for tracking down and eliminating terrorism." The US General expressed his country's "readiness to help Iraq in the security field and in training Iraqi forces." "There is a noticeable improvement in the Iraqi forces' performance and their ability to launch successful attacks on IS positions," Austin said. Turmoil has prevailed in areas across the north and west of Iraq since the Islamic State, along with Sunni insurgents allied with it, seized control of large parts of the province of Nineveh on June 10 after the Iraqi army withdrew without resistance, leaving behind large quantities of weapons and equipment. The same was repeated in cities in the Salahuddin province, the city of Kirkuk, the Diyala province, and the Anbar province in western Iraq which had fallen to IS fighters months earlier. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

U.S. President Donald Trump discussed Iran's "destabilizing activities" and other security and economic issues in separate telephone calls with senior Saudi and Emirati leaders on Tuesday, the White House said. In calls with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates, Trump thanked them for highlighting ways that Gulf Arab states "can better counter Iranian destabilizing activities and defeat terrorists and extremists," the White House said in a statement. Thursday, 09 Aug 2018 15:51 PM Tuesday, 07 Aug 2018 22:14 PM

The Pentagon has denied claims that US operations at Incirlik airbase in Turkey have been reduced due to tensions between Ankara and Washington, according to Hurriyet Daily News . Johnny Michael, the spokesperson for the United States European Command (EUCOM), said the claims were "just a speculation", and that all military activity was continuing at the airbase uninterrupted. The clarification came after the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the US was considering permanent cutbacks at the Turkish base due to tensions between the two countries over the Syrian conflict. Turkey is currently undertaking an air and ground offensive as part of "Operation Olive Branch" against the People's Protection Unit (YPG) in Syria, Kurdish militias that have been affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a designated terror organisation that has launched continual attacks against Turkey. The YPG make up a large proportion of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which the US has backed in the fight against Daesh. The operation was launched in response to the US announcing its intention to establish a permanent, 30,000 strong patrol along the Turkish-Syria border, much of which would be made up of SDF fighters. The offensive has opened a new front in the long-running civil war. The US response comes amid reports that the SDF has redeployed some 1,700 fighters from fronts against Daesh to the Afrin region to help fend off the Turkish offensive. The Syrian government of President Bashar Al-Assad had also announced last month that regime forces will support Kurdish militias against Turkish soldiers, with several units deployed to the north of country. In an effort to reduce tensions, Washington and Ankara have announced their intention to establish "working groups" to tackle some of the most contentious issues, including the YPG presence in the SDF. The first meeting of the respective groups concluded last Friday, with diplomatic sources describing it as "positive". Incirlik Base, which maintains an American and Turkish presence, has been used to launch combat operations against Daesh militias since 2015 and is the permanent residence of the 39th Air Base Wing of the US Air Force. The base is also the storage site for Turkey's share of the US' tactical nuclear weapons. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Baghdad (AFP) - Nationalist Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr's alliance won Iraq's May parliamentary election according to a manual recount, the electoral commission said Friday, paving the way for a government to be formed nearly three months after the vote. Allegations of fraud prompted the supreme court to order a partial manual recount, but Sadr's joint [...] Baghdad (Niqash.org) - There are anti-government protests in Iraq every summer. But the recent batch are different, and in ways that could hinder any resolution. The protests that have been rocking the Iraqi political establishment for almost a month now began when dozens of unemployed young men from the village of Bahila, on the outskirts [...] Baghdad (AFP) - Iraq has raised more than $700 billion from oil since 2005, but almost the entire amount has been spent, the central bank announced Tuesday. "Between 2005 and 2017, the finance ministry has taken in $706.23 billion dollars in foreign exchange" from oil, it said in a statement. "A total of $703.11 billion, [...] Baghdad (Niqash.org) - A few days ago, a resident in the northern city of Mosul posted a comment about ongoing protests in southern Iraq on Facebook. "We greet you from Mosul," wrote Imam al-Qaysi. "Our hearts are with you and we know what it's like to live in these tragic conditions. We don't have state [...] Doha (AFP) - The US and Qatar plan to expand Al-Udeid airbase, the biggest military facility used by Washington in the Gulf as it battles jihadists, Qatari state media said Tuesday. The two countries have also discussed making Al-Udeid a "permanent" base, the official QNA news agency said, as Doha seeks to bolster ties with [...]

Remember when Europe welcomed tons of un-vetted migrants into its countries with open arms (see Europe Welcomes 'Innocent' Refugees... Who Turn Out to be ISIS Jihadists )? It was probably one of Europe's most selfless acts of dumb-assery the world has seen. So far this massive cultural experiment has resulted in a lot of violence and rape . At the hands of migrants. Rape and violence is bad enough. But apparently there are terrorists aplenty shacking up in Germany . German authorities are investigating 40 cases in which Islamic militants are suspected of having entered the country with the recent flood of refugees from the Middle East, the federal police said on Wednesday. [T]he German government has played down the risks of Islamic State fighters entering Europe with the tide of migrants, in part to avoid exacerbating public concerns about the influx, which hit a record 1.1 million last year. "German security officials have indications that members and supporters of terrorist organisations are beings smuggled in with refugees in a targeted, organised way in order to launch attacks in Germany," the BKA spokeswoman said. #NotAllMuslims? No. But at least 40 of them. Not that size matters. A little C-4 goes a long way. Here's the thing, though. Leftists peddle gun control under the ruse of "if it only saves one life, it should be implemented." But that magic logic doesn't apply to refugees with a proven track record of violence and/or terrorism. Nobody says "If it saves one life, even if only one refugee is a terrorist, no refugees should be accepted." Instead, we can't even say " Muslim" and "terrorism" in the same sentence lest it offends someone. Well, if the suicide vest fits... Germany sucks right now. Yet the left continues to put it on a pedestal. How can they ignore all that raping and rioting, you ask? Via the notorious liberal disconnect. In other words, the left doesn't actually care about human beings... Just FEELINGS (i.e.: Zimbabwe Sells Exotic Animals to Survive Drought... Leftists Freak and Bernie on Abortion: 'Anytime, Anywhere.' Why He's an Evil Bastard ). Political correctness, bowing to "Islamophobia," it all takes precedent over the lives of real people living in Germany. Europe has fallen. The nations which comprised it no longer are what they used to be ten, twenty, thirty years ago. No that's not racism. Islam is swallowing it country by country. Just take a look at the UK rape epidemic. I rest my case. NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST? FIX THAT ! IT'S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH ITUNES HERE AND SOUNDCLOUD HERE .

However some 56 per cent Turkish immigrants agreed with the statement: 'No matter how hard I try, I am not accepted as part of Germany society.' The results come amid an increasingly fractious debate over radical Islam in Germany , sparked by Angela Merkel's open door asylum policy. This has pushed voters into the embrace of right-wingers like the anti-immigrant AfD party which scored big in regional elections in March and which now threatens Merkel's CDU conservatives at the general election in the autumn of next year. Shocking opinion polls delivered a crushing blow to the German Chancellor as it was revealed Merkel's conservatives lost in two out of three state elections. Germans appear to be punishing her for her accommodative refugee policy. More than 1.1 million migrants entered Germany last year, with most coming from Middle Eastern and North African countries. But Merkel's grip on power is growing ever weaker, with rebellion across the country against her controversial immigration policies. She has consistently berated other EU states for introducing border controls to bring the migrant flow under control, ever since she made a pledge last summer to welcome all Syrians with open arms. But growing cracks appeared and members of her own movement are beginning to openly question her stance on immigration following the horrific Cologne sex acts, forcing her to back down.

Germany's federal police say authorities are investigating multiple cases in which suspected Islamic terrorists entered the country while it was letting in massive amounts of refugees. According to Reuters , the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency Hans-Georg Maassen, said that ISIS sent terrorists through the Balkan route from Greece in order to "send a political signal" and increase fears about refugees. WATCH: Teenage German girl tells Merkel "you have killed Germany" after what Muslim refugees did to her He claimed that ISIS has "more efficient ways" to smuggle in terrorists. Because that's really reassuring. "I am not telling you a secret when I say that I am concerned about the high number of migrants whose identities we don't know because they had no papers when they entered the country," Maassen said. A spokeswoman for the federal police said there had been 369 warnings about possible extremists entering the country. 40 of which were serious enough to warrant federal and state authorities to investigate. MUST WATCH: German mayor tells worried grandfather "don't provoke refugees" after they sexually harass school girls. Then this happens... "German security officials have indications that members and supporters of terrorist organisations are being smuggled in with refugees in a targeted, organised way in order to launch attacks in Germany," the spokeswoman added. Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

Via Gulf Today : German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said although "radical extremists" are perpetrating acts of terror in Europe, she still believed that "Islam belongs to Germany." Merkel made the remarks on Sunday at the TV duel with Martin Schulz, chancellor candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), her major rival in the upcoming federal elections, as refugee and immigration issues are some of the prime focuses in the debate, Xinhua news agency reported. Both Merkel and Schulz see no issue with Muslim immigration to Germany, but Merkel said the 2015 refugee crisis has left Germany with a "difficult task" of integrating new arrivals into society, making sure they find places in educational institutions and the labor market. "People who don't have the right to be in our country should leave it -- people have already been deported," said Merkel, defending her open-door immigration policy, calling for fighting the causes of such crises, like the violence in Syria.

Patrisse Khan-Cullors' harrowing and yet uplifting work demonstrates that collective organising is the only thing that has truly changed the world for the better, and the only thing that ever will A smashed window here, a non-white person accosted there: how long can this liberal city incubate itself from extremism after the Christmas market terrorist attack? Hsiao-Hung Pai's Angry White People asks what draws people to organisations such as the English Defence League - and finds a long-felt disaffection. Let's just keep sticking up for the women. As far as being a black man of African descent goes, the racists in Germany and elsewhere hate us anyway. Musa Okwonga attends the burial of a Syrian man, lost trying to cross the Mediterranean, organised by Berliners. The launch of the Media Diversified directory aims to address the lack of diversity in the mainstream media.

Migrants now account for 8.6 percent of all crime suspects in Germany, up from 5.7 percent in 2015, while the number of German suspects declined by 3.4 percent. Federal Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maiziere blamed the high crime rate among migrants on migrant "housing", saying that many were living in makeshift shelters or sharing crowded rooms in 2016. The overall crime statistics saw a significant rise in especially two areas: murder and manslaughter as well as rape and sexual assault. A separate report from February also revealed that the number of Islamic extremists has grown from 100 people in 2013 to 1 600 three years later. Suspected crimes by refugees, asylum-seekers and illegal immigrants rose to 174 438 in 2016, according to the interior ministry. Crimes motivated by Islam increased by 13.7 percent last year. Most crimes are committed by repeat offenders, and just 1 per cent of migrants account for 40 per cent of migrant crimes, according to German federal statistics. Refugees fleeing the ISIS onslaught in Syria are statistically less likely to commit crimes than rejected asylum-seekers and illegal immigrants from elsewhere. The highest crime rate was among migrants from the Balkans, Morocco and Algeria. From 2015 to 2016, the number of migrant criminals have increased by 52.7 percent, with politically or ideologically motivated transgressions by foreigners up by 66.5 percent, totalling 3 372 cases in a year. "There is nothing here to sugarcoat," the minister remarked, Deutsche Welle reported. "There is an overall rise in disrespect, violence, and hate." De Maiziere presented the figures issuing a warning: "Those who commit serious offences here, forfeit their right to be here." He added that the "proportion of foreign suspects, and migrants in particular, is higher than the average for the general population". Violence between ethnic groups of foreigners is another worrying trend, particularly recurring conflict between Turks and Kurds. Germany has suffered a series of jihadist attacks in 2016, including a truck massacre at a Christmas market in Berlin and the latest findings on migrant crime is a blight on chancellor Merkel's open border policy just five months ahead of national elections. Attacks on refugee shelters decreased from 2015, the first drop recorded since data started being collected in 2014.

On Wednesday, June 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that he said is meant to keep migrants families together at the United States southern border. Since issuing the order, political commentators have debated the extent to which the order actually accomplishes its stated goal, with some asserting that it's unclear what will happen to families who have already been separated. What is clear, though, is that the signing of the executive order came afters numerous occasions during which Trump lied about not being able to end family separation and his administration's decision to enforce the "zero tolerance" policy that led to it. That was never the case. What the president has called "forced family breakup" is the result of a new policy that was announced by the U.S. Department of Justice in early April. Since then, the Department of Homeland Security has revealed that over 2,300 children were separated from their parents in the period between May 5 and June 9. The administration, however, was never bound by law to continue the policy, and members of the president's party publicly reminded him of that fact as well. "There is no federal law requiring the seperation of children and parents at the border," reads an open letter to the president from Joe Straus , the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. "While it is certainly true that there have been family separations under previous presidents, [Attorney] General Sessions' decision to criminally prosecute all adults trying to enter the United States has caused the number of separations to increase." Straus' letter was released on Tuesday, June 19. Days before, the president had insisted that the seperation of families was the result of Democrats' law. Joe Raedle/Getty Images News/Getty Images "The Democrats are forcing the breakup of families at the Border with their horrible and cruel legislative agenda," the president tweeted on June 15 . "Any Immigration Bill MUST HAVE full funding for the Wall, end Catch & Release, Visa Lottery and Chain, and go to Merit Based Immigration. Go for it! WIN!" That same day, during an on-the-fly press conference delivered while walking outside of the White House, the president echoed the same sentiment. "I hate the children being taken away," Trump told reporters . "The Democrats have to change their law. That's their law." Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News/Getty Images The next day, the president took to Twitter to repeat the same message. "Democrats can fix their forced family breakup at the Border by working with Republicans on new legislation, for a change!" he said in a post on June 16 . "This is why we need more Republicans elected in November. Democrats are good at only three things, High Taxes, High Crime and Obstruction. Sad!" In addition to the numerous occasions on which Trump asserted that only a comprehensive change of immigration laws could end "forced family breakup," officials within his administration have denied that the policy exists. "This misreporting by Members, press & advocacy groups must stop. It is irresponsible and unproductive. As I have said many times before, if you are seeking asylum for your family, there is no reason to break the law and illegally cross between ports of entry," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen tweeted on June 17 . "We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period." On Wednesday, as President Trump signed his latest executive order, Nielsen stood by his side. Win McNamee/Getty Images News/Getty Images "So we're going to have strong -- very strong borders, but we're going to keep the families together," the president said at the signing . "I didn't like the sight or the feeling of families being separated. It's a problem that's gone on for many years, as you know, through many administrations." That the signing came after days of insisting that his administration's hands were tied is worth remembering.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday to end family separations at the United States southern border, a policy reversal after days of urging Congress to fix the issue. "We're signing an executive order. I consider it to be a very important executive order. It's about keeping families together, while at the same time being sure we have a very powerful very strong border and border security will be equal, if not greater than previously," the president said at the White House. Trump made the announcement in the Oval Office with Vice President Mike Pence on his left and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on his right. "You're going to have a lot of happy people," the president said as he signed the order. Watch the president's announcement here: "We're going to have strong, very strong borders, but we're going to keep the families together," Trump said. "I didn't like the sight or the feeling of families being separated." According to the text of the executive order, it is now the policy of the Trump administration to "maintain family unity, including by detaining alien families together where appropriate and consistent with law and available resources." The order also calls out Congress' "unfortunate ... failure to act," arguing that "court orders have put the Administration in the position of separating alien families to effectively enforce the law." The president and the administration have defended the policy at the border for days as pressure continued to mount for him to address it himself. "Congress and the courts created this problem, and Congress alone can fix it," Nielsen said Monday. Both Republicans and Democrats had called on Trump to end the policy, with over a dozen Republican senators signing a letter asking him to stop the separating families at the border, while the president has called Congress to come up with a legislative fix. The House on Thursday will vote on a bill that would permanently end the policy, but the prospects it's not likely to ever make its way to the Senate.

On Wednesday, June 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that he said is meant to keep migrants families together at the United States southern border. Since issuing the order, political commentators have debated the extent to which the order actually accomplishes its stated goal, with some asserting that it's unclear what will happen to families who have already been separated. What is clear, though, is that the signing of the executive order came afters numerous occasions during which Trump lied about not being able to end family separation and his administration's decision to enforce the "zero tolerance" policy that led to it. That was never the case. What the president has called "forced family breakup" is the result of a new policy that was announced by the U.S. Department of Justice in early April. Since then, the Department of Homeland Security has revealed that over 2,300 children were separated from their parents in the period between May 5 and June 9. The administration, however, was never bound by law to continue the policy, and members of the president's party publicly reminded him of that fact as well. "There is no federal law requiring the seperation of children and parents at the border," reads an open letter to the president from Joe Straus , the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. "While it is certainly true that there have been family separations under previous presidents, [Attorney] General Sessions' decision to criminally prosecute all adults trying to enter the United States has caused the number of separations to increase." Straus' letter was released on Tuesday, June 19. Days before, the president had insisted that the seperation of families was the result of Democrats' law. Joe Raedle/Getty Images News/Getty Images "The Democrats are forcing the breakup of families at the Border with their horrible and cruel legislative agenda," the president tweeted on June 15 . "Any Immigration Bill MUST HAVE full funding for the Wall, end Catch & Release, Visa Lottery and Chain, and go to Merit Based Immigration. Go for it! WIN!" That same day, during an on-the-fly press conference delivered while walking outside of the White House, the president echoed the same sentiment. "I hate the children being taken away," Trump told reporters . "The Democrats have to change their law. That's their law." Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News/Getty Images The next day, the president took to Twitter to repeat the same message. "Democrats can fix their forced family breakup at the Border by working with Republicans on new legislation, for a change!" he said in a post on June 16 . "This is why we need more Republicans elected in November. Democrats are good at only three things, High Taxes, High Crime and Obstruction. Sad!" In addition to the numerous occasions on which Trump asserted that only a comprehensive change of immigration laws could end "forced family breakup," officials within his administration have denied that the policy exists. "This misreporting by Members, press & advocacy groups must stop. It is irresponsible and unproductive. As I have said many times before, if you are seeking asylum for your family, there is no reason to break the law and illegally cross between ports of entry," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen tweeted on June 17 . "We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period." On Wednesday, as President Trump signed his latest executive order, Nielsen stood by his side. Win McNamee/Getty Images News/Getty Images "So we're going to have strong -- very strong borders, but we're going to keep the families together," the president said at the signing . "I didn't like the sight or the feeling of families being separated. It's a problem that's gone on for many years, as you know, through many administrations." That the signing came after days of insisting that his administration's hands were tied is worth remembering.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Wednesday that the House will vote on a comprise immigration package that would, among other things, end the Trump administration's policy of separating families at the southern border. "We do not want children taken away from their parents. We can enforce our immigration laws without breaking families apart. The administration says it wants Congress to act and we are. Tomorrow, the House will vote on legislation to keep families together." Ryan told reporters. However, the bill is not a narrow piece of legislation that only addresses the family separation issue, instead, the House will try to pass a so-called compromise bill that was drafted by White House staffers, Republican leadership, and some moderates last week which also addresses the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program among other contentious immigration policies. The likelihood of such a bill getting any Democrat support remains low, meaning it probably will never get to President Donald Trump's desk unless Republicans vote overwhelmingly in favor of the measure. Even then it has a rough path through the Senate. Watch Paul Ryan's comments: Ryan was also asked if he's concerned that it looks like Republicans and the president are using these children as leverage in order to get a more favorable immigration policy passed. "That's a ridiculous assertion. I said this last week in my press conference, we don't think families should be separated at the border," Ryan replied, adding that he wants to make sure the government doesn't have to choose between supporting a law and keeping families intact. The president took a trip to Capitol Hill Tuesday night and urged Republicans to back the compromise immigration bill. When asked if he told the president to stop the family separation policy, Ryan said during Wednesday press conference: "He asked us to pass this legislation which stops this policy for good." Other members of Congress have called on the president to pause the policy himself until Congress can work on a fix. Over a dozen Republican senators on Tuesday signed a letter to Trump asking him to stop the separation of immigrant families at the border. "The president clearly should suspend his zero-tolerance policy until Congress can act on this issue," Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told IJR , calling the policy "inhumane and inconsistent with American values."

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump is falsely claiming that "bad legislation passed by the Democrats" has forced his administration to separate children from their families at the border, even though no such law exists. TRUMP'S TWEET Trump tweeted Tuesday: "Separating families at the Border is the fault of bad legislation passed by the Democrats. Border Security laws should be changed but the Dems can't get their act together! Started the Wall." THE FACTS No law mandates that parents must be separated from their children at the border, and it's not a policy Democrats have pushed or can change alone as the minority in Congress. Children are probably being separated from the parents at the border at an accelerated rate because of a new "zero tolerance policy" being implemented by Trump's own administration. Announced April 6 by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the policy directs authorities to prosecute all instances of illegal border crossings, even against people with few or no previous offenses. Administration officials are quick to note that Sessions' policy makes no mention of separating families. That is correct. But under U.S. protocol, if parents are jailed, their children are separated from them because the children aren't charged with a crime. So while separating families might not be official U.S. policy, it is a direct consequence of Sessions' zero-tolerance approach. (Worth noting too is that John Kelly, now Trump's chief of staff, spoke in 2017 about possibly separating parents from children as a way to dissuade parents from trying to cross the border.) According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, more than 650 children were separated from parents at the border during a two-week period in May. Jeff Crouere The U.N. human rights office has called on the Trump administration to "immediately halt" the separations, saying "detention is never in the best interests of the child and always constitutes a child rights violation." Trump might be referring to a 2008 law passed unanimously by Congress and signed into law by Republican President George W. Bush, but that legislation is focused on children who illegally cross the border without a guardian, known as unaccompanied minors. That law calls for releasing children into the "least restrictive setting" -- often to family or a government-run shelter -- while their cases slowly wind through immigration court. Find AP Fact Checks at http://apne.ws/2kbx8bd Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck

The Trump administration can't seem to stick to their story about the U.S. child detention policy. Jeff Sessions said it was a new policy by the administration, stating via NBC News, "I have put in place a zero-tolerance policy for illegal entry on our southwest border. If you cross the border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you. It's that simple. If you are smuggling a child, then we will prosecute you. And that child may be separated from you as required by law." Trump, however, blamed the policy on the Democrats, stating on June 15th, "I hate the children being taken away. The Democrats have to change their law. That's their law. That's the Democrat's law. We can change it tonight. We can change it right now." And Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen claimed there is no such policy in place, stating, "We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period." Despite the differences in opinion on where the blame should be placed, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham stated on CNN that the president could stop the policy with a phone call, stating, "If you don't like families being separated, you can tell DHS stop doing it."

Saeti Tobin, of Grafton, N.H., looks at a photo of her fiance Jesse Champney, who was fatally shot by a New Hampshire State Trooper in Canaan, N.H., on the night Saturday, Dec. 23, 2017. Canaan, New Hampshire -- A 26-year-old Enfield man was attempting to avoid being arrested on an outstanding warrant when he was shot by a state trooper in a field, according to his fiancee, who was a passenger in the car that police had tried to stop along Route 4 in Canaan Saturday night. In an interview on Wednesday, Saeti Tobin said she and Jesse Champney had set out on Saturday to go to a convenience store in Canaan and return a car they had borrowed. Before they could do so, the pair noticed they were being followed by police, so Champney turned onto Switch Road. But when he did, the car plowed into a snow-covered field, Tobin said. Champney told her to run and he himself fled toward the woods, she said. "He was never trying to advance on anyone, he was trying to get away," said the 23-year-old Tobin, who also has had run-ins with police. "There was no high-speed chase, there were no drugs involved, there were no weapons involved, there was no stolen car and there was no serious crime committed. "He was scared and wanted to be with his family for the holidays. That's it." A memorial to Champney was set up in the field where the car came to rest, and several friends and relatives stopped by on Wednesday to pay their respects. The New Hampshire Attorney General's Office has confirmed that Champney was shot four times, and on Wednesday identified New Hampshire State Trooper Christopher O'Toole as the officer who fired the fatal round. Authorities also said Canaan police officer Samuel Provenza was at the scene during the incident. He did not discharge his firearm, according to a news release. Tobin was more specific about the circumstances surrounding the stop than she was about the shooting itself. The incident took place around 6:30 p.m., when it was dark, and Tobin stayed with the vehicle after Champney fled, placing her some distance from where the shooting occurred. She said she believes Champney was not armed at the time. (Champney's brother, Josh, who also was present for the interview at a home in Danbury, N.H., said Jesse Champney sometimes carried a pocketknife.) The state Attorney General's Office hasn't said what led up to the shooting, but Associate Attorney General Jane Young said on Wednesday night that the investigation remains open and active. O'Toole has been interviewed, she confirmed. Tobin and Josh Champney both asserted that Provenza had it out for Jesse Champney. They said they feel he was targeted. Reached by email on Wednesday night, Provenza referred all comment to the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding the shooting, Champney didn't deserve to be shot, Tobin said. "It needs to be known that Jesse wasn't a bad person. He wasn't doing anything wrong. He wasn't committing some massive crime and he didn't deserve that," she said. Josh Champney recalled his brother as a man with a big heart who would be the first to help those in need. "He would give his shirt to anybody," Josh Champney said. The Champney brothers, who were born a little over a year apart, had a tough childhood. Their father, Jody Champney, died by suicide at age 34, and they grew up poor, though Josh Champney contends they tried to make the best of both situations. Both Tobin and Josh Champney acknowledged that Jesse Champney had his run-ins with the law. In May 2016, Champney was arrested in Lebanon on a felony charge of possession of heroin with intent to sell and resisting arrest. He failed to appear for a court date in that case, which prompted the warrant to be issued for his arrest. Champney also was convicted of a few other nonviolent crimes, including theft in 2012, for which he served prison time, Tobin said. Prison changed him, and although he took some college courses while there, he left addicted to opiates, Tobin said. He had, however, recently turned his life around and had been in a Suboxone program -- medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction -- for the last few months, she said. "He was a tough kid because he was made to be that way," Tobin said. "But he was the biggest sweetheart." Tobin, too, has had encounters with police, including as recently as April, when she was arrested in Canaan on charges of possession of cocaine -- subsequent offense and transporting drugs in a motor vehicle. It wasn't immediately known how that case was adjudicated, or if it is still pending. A Champney cousin, Carmen Champney, also spoke highly of Jesse Champney, who worked as a handyman and was known for his tattoo art. "He had a really big heart," Carmen Champney said. "He always tried to make people laugh and when he was around, he was always cheerful. Even if he was having a hard time, he would still try and make you laugh."

An interesting event happened in a town in Buckinghamshire England this month, when a man was pulled over by a police officer and subsequently accused of smoking marijuana in his car. An interesting event happened in a town in Buckinghamshire England this month, when a man was pulled over by a police officer and subsequently accused of smoking marijuana in his car. But the suspect, Irfan Mehrban, immediately thought he smelled alcohol on the officer's breath and accused him of being drunk -- prompting the officer to call for back up. According to various reports, when other officers arrived they discovered that the officer, Andrew Seston, was indeed drunk and had not only been driving around while intoxicated but also pulled over Mehrban with no probable cause (Mehrban had no marijuana in the car, in fact he'd just picked up his kid from school). Luckily for us, Mehrban caught it all on camera.

Leave this field empty if you're human: Saskatchewan RCMP have updated the investigation nearly two weeks after a semi truck and bus collided killed 16. The accident could have a large impact on the future of truck training some say, in this case the driver was briefly detained at the scene then released. After two weeks RCMP concluded the semi truck was inside the intersection during the crash. Via CBC: "It's too early to comment on any criminal involvement," RCMP assistant commissioner Curtis Zablocki said at a news conference Thursday. He also said investigators are still looking into why the truck was in the intersection. The collision occurred April 6 at the intersection of Highways 335 and 35, between Tisdale and Nipawin, on a clear and sunny day. The semi was travelling west on Highway 335 and had a stop sign, while the bus was travelling on the busier highway.

Travis Reinking was arrested on Monday, six days after he stole a vehicle from a dealership, and just 34 hours after he killed four customers at a Waffle House. The suspect who shot and killed four customers at a Waffle House near Nashville, Tennessee, also led authorities on a high-speed chase before the shooting when he stole a BMW last week. Travis Reinking stole the vehicle from a dealership in Brentwood, Tennessee, last Tuesday. He was pursued by authorities following his stealing the vehicle, but they lost him in the midst of rush hour traffic. The vehicle was recovered at his Antioch, Tennessee, apartment after Reinking was identified as the Waffle House shooter. Antioch, a suburb of Nashville, is also home to the Waffle House that Reinking ultimately targeted over the weekend. Police apprehended Reinking on Monday afternoon, 34 hours after he committed his heinous crime. Although the motivation behind his shooting hasn't yet been determined, Reinking is an admitted domestic terrorist . It's heartbreaking that this man was not stopped from committing his acts of violence at so many junctures of his life. In addition to not being apprehended last week during his car chase, authorities who came to confiscate his guns last year instead allowed his father to hold onto them -- including the very gun Reinking used to carry out the shootings over the weekend. This crime could have been stopped a year ago. It also could have been prevented last week, had authorities been successful in stopping Reinking when he had stolen a vehicle. Read More

"Sheriffs and the cops come in and out all the time because they loved him, you know? Everybody did. So it's a tragic thing that happened." In a tragic turn of event, an owner of a popular gun store was shot dead by a stray bullet while preaching gun safety. James Baker, a gun store owner at Amelia, Ohio, was fatally shot in the neck just before 1 p.m. at his KayJay Gun Shop, police reported. He was struck by a bullet that was accidentally discharged by a student while practicing malfunction drills -- a program designed to teach members about gun safety. Ten students were taking the class at the time the incident occurred. The bullet passed through a wall and struck Baker, who was standing in the adjacent room. The gun shop owner was pronounced dead on the scene and the student who fired the weapon was not immediately identified. Soon after the tragic incident, the gun shop witnessed over a dozen people gathered at the gravel lot, grieving and comforting each other. About a dozen people have gathered outside KayJay Gun Shop after reports of an accidental shooting. @Enquirer pic.twitter.com/YOdTEygArS -- Cameron Knight (@ckpj99) June 18, 2016 At the scene of a reported accidental shooting in Clermont County. @Enquirer pic.twitter.com/b3jDE5uZ19 -- Cameron Knight (@ckpj99) June 18, 2016 "I can't say enough about him -- how much he was loved by the whole community -- and we lost someone really special. He loved and wanted to protect. That's why he did what he did," Anita Fritz, a neighbor of Baker's, told the press. "He was a friend to everybody. If it snowed, he'd get everybody's driveway." Fritz also said Baker was formerly a member of the law enforcement agency and was acquainted with the local police. "Cops were always coming in and out, and he told me, 'Don't worry, I'm not in trouble,'" she said . "They came and looked at his guns, get their guns fixed and cleaned and get their ammo." KayJay Gun Shop could not be reached for a statement. Its website announced concealed carry permit classes along with defensive pistol classes during this summer once a month. Read More

IF you're going to carrying gun ammunition, a knife and machete illegally in your car, it's probably best not to draw attention to yourself. But a Davoren Park man has done exactly that; allegedly using fake number plates which prompted police to search him and his car early on Thursday morning. Officers pulled over the car on Bolivar Road in Paralowie just after 4am on Thursday after noticing the car had unassigned plates attached to it. The fake plates prompted a search of the vehicle where they found ammunition as well as a knife in the driver's door and a machete hidden underneath his seat. The 48-year-old was charged with two counts of carry offensive weapon and insecure ammunition. He was also issued with an on the spot fine unassigned plates, unregistered, uninsured and possession of cannabis and his car was defected. He has been bailed to appear in the Elizabeth Magistrates Court in December.

By Spengler Egypt has enough foreign exchange on hand to cover six weeks' of its imports (US$7.8 billion in liquid reserves, against a $5.5 billion monthly import bill). It would have run out of cash in June except for emergency loans from Saudi Arabia, which backs the Egyptian military but abhors the Muslim Brotherhood, whose candidate Mohammed Morsi won Egypt's presidential election last month. Total reserves are listed at $15 billion, but this includes gold, International Monetary Fund (IMF) drawing rights and other non-liquid items. The economic context is necessary to make sense of Egypt's politics: it points to an important conclusion, that no path exists to stable rule by the Muslim Brotherhood. Saudi help has kept Egypt's economy away from the brink of collapse, but only just. A paralyzing fuel shortage threatens to shut down essential functions, including bread supplies. If the Muslim Brotherhood were to push the military out of power, the Saudis almost certainly would pull the plug and leave Egypt in chaos. Figure 1: Egypt's Liquid Reserves Cover Six Weeks of Imports A situation of dual power, to use the old Bolshevik term, prevails between the Brotherhood and the military. At this writing the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) had called an emergency meeting to respond to President Morsi's attempt to revoke the military's earlier decree dissolving Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament. Morsi announced that the dismissed parliament would meet within hours; some news reports from Cairo expect the military to refuse entry to members of parliament. The speed with which Morsi moved to confront the military surprised most analysts, who expected a few months of regroupment before the Islamists tested the military's resolve. There are two likely explanations for the Muslim Brotherhood's gamble. One is that economic distress requires the Brotherhood to rally its base in a dramatic action; another is that the Brotherhood has been emboldened by the perception that it enjoys the tacit support of the White House against the military. A test of wills between the military and the Muslim Brotherhood, though, would lead to disaster. A number of observers, for example Ilan Berman of the American Foreign Policy Council, and ex-CIA official Robert Grenier, predict that the military will crush Egypt's Islamists like Algeria's military regime two decades ago. By supporting the Muslim Brotherhood against the military, the Obama administration has raised the probability of bloodshed. It is not clear, moreover, whether Saudi generosity can stabilize Egypt even under the best of circumstances. With its trade deficit running at $3 billion a month, and other sources of revenue much reduced, the country's annual financing needs probably exceed $20 billion. Egypt is the world's largest importer of wheat and depends on imports for half its caloric consumption. Exhibit 2: Egypt Imports and Exports Source: Bloomberg President Morsi will visit Saudi Arabia later this week, presumably to persuade the Saudis to support his regime (and perhaps to threaten them if they do not). It will be a difficult dialogue, after the Muslim Brotherhood staged riots against Saudi diplomatic installations in Egypt late in April (see The horror and the pita, Asia Times Online, May 1, 2012), and a senior Saudi advisor told Egypt's largest daily al-Ahram June 21 that the Muslim Brotherhood lacks the vision and experience to govern the country. The Saudi-sponsored Islamist party in Egypt, the Salifi Nour Party, has threatened to boycott Morsi's cabinet on a number of religious grounds that probably express Saudi discontent. The volume of aid for which Egypt present is negotiating is tiny relative to its financing requirements. On June 2, the Saudis put $1 billion into Egypt's foreign exchange reserves and bought $500 million in Egyptian government bonds on June 4. And on June 8, the Saudis announced that Egypt could use a $750 million credit line to import fuel "based on the severe oil-products shortage faced by Egypt," according to an e-mailed statement from the Saudi Embassy in Cairo. In addition, Egypt is expected to receive a US$1 billion loan to finance energy and food imports from the Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB). Almost as soon as the checks cleared, the Egyptian military dissolved the Islamist-dominated parliament. It appears that the authorities are trying to skimp on foreign exchange by restricting fuel imports. Diesel fuel and gasoline have been in chronic short supply for the past year, and the shortage appears to be getting worse. As the Egypt Independent reported July 3: "This summer season, already hectic with election fever, has only seen worse shortages and longer lines, with diesel, the gasoline 80 that is commonly used by taxis, and other fuels all but disappearing from many pumps. ...In the Upper Egypt city of Minya, on the first day of the presidential runoff, gas stations had longer lines than polling stations." Egypt is also negotiating with the International Monetary Fund for a $3.2 billion loan, which presumably will open up other possible funding sources. The IMF loan is contingent upon the president's negotiations with the SCAF on a new government. Evidently the Saudis are keeping Egypt on a short leash. They do not want to let the country slide into financial distress as long as the military remains in charge, but neither do they want to provide resources to a Muslim Brotherhood regime that might subvert the monarchy. The problem is that Egypt's economy is a dog that cannot hunt now and cannot be made to hunt in the future. Without the Saudi lifeline, Egypt will stop some essential imports in a matter of weeks. Why, then, is Mohamed Morsi picking a fight with the military? As Jackson Diehl put it in the Washington Post July 8, "Last month the administration leaned heavily on the ruling military council to recognize Morsi's victory in a runoff election. Lobbying by [US Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta may have prevented the council from handing the presidency to its favored candidate, a former prime minister. But it infuriated the generals, Egyptian Christians and some US supporters of Israel, who fear the Islamists more than the old regime." With backing from the Obama administration, and enormous pressure from his political base, Morsi has rolled the dice with the military. The result is likely to blow up in his face as well as the Obama administration's. At best, international aid will allow the status quo to continue a while longer. But the status quo involves a barely-adequate supply of bread, a dreadfully inadequate supply of fuel, and no outlook for the future except poverty and insecurity. It seems most unlikely that a political or economic equilibrium can be established on such a wobbly base. The uneasy modus vivendi between the Muslim Brotherhood and the military most likely will fail, and probably sooner than later. Spengler is channeled by David P Goldman. His book How Civilizations Die (and why Islam is Dying, Too) was published by Regnery Press in September 2011. A volume of his essays on culture, religion and economics, It's Not the End of the World - It's Just the End of You, also appeared this fall, from Van Praag Press. (Copyright 2012 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

Egypt raised fuel prices by up to 50 per cent, the oil ministry said on Saturday, under an IMF reform plan that calls for the slashing of state subsidies on some consumer products, reports Reuters . Oil Minister Tarek El Molla said the price rises will help Egypt save up to 50 billion pounds ($2.8 billion) in allocations for state subsidies in the 2018-19 state budget. The price hike, the third since Egypt floated the pound currency in November 2016, is expected to add more pressure on Egyptian consumers struggling to make ends meet amid high unemployment and price volatility. The ministry said that the price for 95 octanes of gasoline was increased to 7.75 Egyptian pounds a litre from 6.60 pounds; 92 octanes was increased to 6.75 pounds a litre from 5 pounds and 80 octanes was raised to 5.50 pounds a litre from 3.65 pounds. The ministry also raised the price for a canister of gas for Egyptian households to 50 pounds from 30, while a bottle of gas for commercial purposes was raised to 100 pounds from 60. Molla said the price rise will cut the funds allocated for fuel subsidies to 89 billion pounds from 139 billion pounds. "Moving fuel prices will help reduce petroleum products consumption by about 5 per cent," Molla said. Halfway into a three-year, $12 billion International Monetary Fund loan programme signed in late 2016 which is tied to tough austerity measures, Egypt hopes painful reforms such as tax hikes and subsidy cuts will lure back foreign investors and kickstart an economy that crashed after its 2011 Arab Spring uprising. IMF First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton told government officials in May that Egypt will have to deepen reforms and better encourage private sector growth if it wants to cash in on a wave of global expansion. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

The French bank BNP Paribas stated yesterday that the Qatar siege crisis is a "potential economic threat to Egypt, given its strong presence in Doha". The Egyptian community in Qatar numbers around 300,000, according to Nabila Makram, the minister of immigration and Egyptian expatriate affairs. The French bank said in a research report that the political crisis between the Gulf countries currently "has only a limited impact on the Egyptian economy". The report added that "the tightening of sanctions by the countries that have imposed a blockade on Qatar may prompt the latter to respond," though it did not clarify how or when this may happen. On 5 June Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar and imposed a series of punitive measures on the Gulf state on the grounds that Qatar "supports terrorism". Doha dismissed these accusations, which it views as "a campaign of fabrications and lies". At the time Egypt stressed that Qatari investments were "safe and secure". Qatar ranks ninth among investors in Egypt with 210 companies in the country, according to the Egyptian General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI). According to official data Egypt's imports from Qatar amounted to approximately $1.5 billion and exports were around $ 275.6 million in 2016. BNP Paribas is of the view that "it is difficult for the Egyptian Government to meet the goal of reducing the budget deficit to less than 10 per cent of GDP" and predicted that it would reach "10.2 per cent in the current financial year 2017/2018". The Egyptian government aims to reduce the budget deficit to 9.1 per cent in the current financial year compared to a target of 10.9 percent in 2016/2017. The financial year in Egypt begins in early July until the end of June the following year in accordance with the General Budget Law. The report predicts that "consumer price inflation in Egypt will remain high". Consumer price index (CPI) inflation stood at 23.7 per cent last year and is expected to reach around 25 per cent this financial year. It pointed out that "factors behind the continuous reduction in subsidies and the continued inflation in imports, and the possibility of a rise in domestic demand, will lead to a rise in inflation rates in Egypt". Annual inflation in Egypt stabilised at 30.9 percent year-on-year in June compared to the previous month. In the past two months, Egypt has partially removed subsidies on fuel such as domestic gas by up to 100 per cent and increased electricity prices by 42.1 percent. This piece was first published in Arabic in Mugtama on 26 July 2017. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Egypt yesterday signed an agreement to receive the third $500 million tranche of a $1.5 billion loan package from the African Development Bank (AfDB). The loan agreement, which was approved by AfDB's board of directors on 18 January, was signed in an official ceremony between the Egyptian Minister of Investment and International Cooperation, Sahar Nasr, and the AfDB's Egypt Country Manager, Malinne Blomberg. During the ceremony, Blomberg said that the funding package was designed to support Egypt's sustainable growth as well as enhancing governance and offering job opportunities for the young. She pointed out that the AfDB is currently funding 30 multi-sectoral projects in Egypt worth $2.4 billion in total. On her part, Nasr noted that the deal affirms that "the Egyptian economy is moving firmly along the path to sustainable and comprehensive development," adding the last tranche is expected to fund the country's social-security system needs. In December 2015, Egypt signed an agreement with AfDB to receive a $1.5 million loan to be disbursed on three equal tranches. The loan is expected to be repaid within 25 years with a five-year grace period and an interest of 1.2 per cent. The first tranche was received in late December 2015, while the second was received in late March 2017. Egypt has been negotiating billions of dollars in aid from various lenders to help revive an economy battered by political upheaval since the 2011 revolt and to ease a dollar shortage that has crippled import activity and hampered recovery. In November 2016, Egypt won a $12 billion IMF loan for a three-year bailout programme that aimed at reviving a struggling economy, bringing down public debt and controlling inflation while seeking to protect the poor. According to recent statistics issued by Fitch Ratings, Egypt's foreign debt rose to $100 billion in December, representing 44 per cent of the country's total Gross Domestic Product (GDP), compared to 23 per cent in late 2016. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Sudan says it intends to lodge official complaints against Egypt with several international organisations including the United Nations for Cairo's alleged military support of rebel groups in Darfur, the Anadolu Agency reported. Last week, Sudan's President, Omar Al-Bashir, accused Cairo of supplying armoured vehicles and weapons in a recent attack launched by armed rebel groups in the western region of Darfur fighting to overthrow the government in Khartoum. Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi has strenuously rejected the claims . In a statement to the Andalou Agency , Sudan's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Garib Allah Al-Khidir, said Sudan would make formal complaints to the United Nations Security Council, the African Union and the Arab League. He also accused Egypt of "intentionally dragging its feet" on implementing a de-escalation agreement signed between the foreign ministers in April, which committed the two sides not to support each other's opposition groups and called for a halt to hostile media coverage against one another. The Egyptian media continues to engage in provocation and insults against Sudan. This is unacceptable and must stop immediately Al-Khidr said. In another development, the New Arab news outlet reported that Sudan has rejected an offer by Egypt to normalise relations and reactivate a bilateral agreement in the disputed area Halayeb Triangle. The official offer made yesterday by an Egyptian government official proposes to reactivate the 2004 Four Freedoms Agreement permitting the free movement, residence, work and ownership by both countries in the area; an agreement that Egypt previously refused to implement in the disputed territory. The news outlet reports that Khartoum has rejected the offer and is continuing to insist that Egypt ends its "military occupation" and formally return the area to Sudanese sovereignty or accept binding international border arbitration to resolve the issue. Tensions between the two countries were further intensified this week when Sudan's cabinet ratified Tuesday a total ban on imports of Egyptian agricultural and animal produce. The two foreign ministers are expected to meet in Egypt's capital, Cairo, this weekend. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Even so, it's clear that there's a steep price to pay for political upheaval. We won't know for a while whether it was worth it. It also seems like the benefits would go both ways. If monotheism helps political leaders gain legitimacy, these political authorities also help spread monotheistic faiths like Christianity and Islam through conversion and conquest. Zarif is reportedly planning to offer a deal under which Iran would halt the enrichment of weapons-grade uranium and open nuclear facilities to more intrusive inspections. Whether or not Western countries take the deal, the coverage is likely to get a lot nastier. The New York Times reports on a likely forthcoming announcement that the U.S. will be suspending part of its aid to the Egyptian government: The decision, which is expected to be announced in the coming days, will hold up the delivery of several types of military hardware to the Egyptian military, these officials said, including tanks, helicopters and fighter jets. But it will not affect aid for counterterrorism operations or for border security issues involving the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza. The administration's move follows a lengthy review that began in August after days of bloody attacks on supporters of Egypt's ousted president, Mohamed Morsi , which left hundreds of people dead. The administration had already frozen the shipment of four F-16 fighter jets and canceled joint military exercises with the Egyptian Army. The United States will also suspend nonmilitary aid that flows directly to the government, but not support for other activities like education or hospitals, the officials said. Officials tell the Washington Post that "the primary focus will be a hold on the shipment of a dozen AH-64D Apache helicopters from an order placed four years ago." The move comes amid a harsh crackdown by the Egyptian military , three months after the coup that brought down Morsi--though of course U.S. officials still won't be using the c-word to describe events in Egypt, which would entail a full cut-off of aid according to U.S. law. The cut is certainly likely to be less than what some members of President Obama's national security team have been pushing for . The White House had already requested $1.55 billion in total assistance for Egypt--$1.3 billion in military aid and $250 million in economic aid--before the rview began. When the announcement does come, and officials are suggesting it could still be postponed, the dollar figure is likely to matter less than the actual hardware being cut. Yes, U.S. financial support is symbolically important to Egypt: it has historically received the second most U.S. aid after Israel, though Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq now receive more on a year-to-year basis. But the U.S. has already been eclipsed as the Egyptian government's primary patron, a fact underlined by Interim President Adly Mansour's just concluded trip to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has already pledged $5 billion in grants and loans to Egypt's government, with the United Arab Emirates kicking in $3 billion . Saudi Arabia has also promised to compensate Egypt for any aid Western countries might withdraw as a result of the government's crackdown on supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. So, the money will keep flowing into Cairo's coffers, but as Eric Schmitt of the New York Times reported in August, the U.S. does still have leverage thanks to the Egyptian's military penchant for American battle tanks, attack helicopters and fighter jets, which require continuing shipments of American-made parts to operate: Even if Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf monarchies make up for any aid the United States may suspend, Washington would block Egypt from buying American weaponry with that money -- a serious long-term problem for a military that is already viewed as sclerotic and has neglected pilot training so badly that the Egyptian air force has one of the worst crash rates of any F-16 fleet in the world. What Egypt's generals fear most is the cutoff of hundreds of millions of dollars in mundane but essential maintenance contracts that keep the tanks, fighter jets and helicopters running, American officials and lawmakers said. In the past, maintenance costs have represented roughly 15 percent of total American military aid to Egypt, according to the Government Accountability Office. So while this isn't the full aid cut-off that some were hoping for, and it monetary terms it's not going to make a huge impact, the White House does have the ability to inflict some discomfort on Egypt's generals if it wants to. With the Saudi government already irked by the U.S. government's reluctance to fund rebels in Syria, tentative steps toward rapprochement with Iran, and lack of support for the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, it should also be interesting to watch the reaction to this latest development from Riyadh.

Afghan women carry the coffin of Farkhunda, 27, who was lynched by an angry mob for allegedly burning the Koran, in central Kabul on March 22, 2015 (AFP Photo/Wakil Kohsar) Afghan women carry the coffin of Farkhunda, 27, who was lynched by an angry mob for allegedly burning the Koran, in central Kabul on March 22, 2015 (AFP Photo/Wakil Kohsar) An Afghan woman who was beaten to death and set on fire by a mob for allegedly burning a copy of the Koran was "innocent", the interior minister said Monday. The woman named Farkhunda was lynched on Thursday by an angry crowd in central Kabul for allegedly burning a copy of the Islamic holy book. "The accusation against her is completely invalid. Farkhunda was a religious girl, she was not involved (in burning the Koran), she was innocent," interior minister Noorulhaq Ulumi told MPs during questioning in parliament. "It is very painful that we were not able to protect a pious young person. We hope this will not be repeated again." Footage of the attack on social media shows several uniformed police watching as the crowd beat 27-year-old Farkhunda to death before burning her body, then dumping it into the Kabul river. In a statement on Sunday the interior ministry said 13 police officers had been suspended, including the police chief responsible for the area. More than a dozen other people were arrested over the incident. Afghan relatives of Farkhunda -- who was lynched by an angry mob for allegedly burning the Koran -- mourn during her funeral in Kabul, on March 22, 2015 (AFP Photo/Wakil Kohsar) Scores of people protested against the lynching in Kabul on Monday, demanding the government bring the killers to justice. The protesters marched in front of the mosque and along the river near where Farkhunda was beaten to death. "We ask the government to detain and bring to justice every individual who was involved in the murder of Farkhunda," protester Maliha Akhawan told AFP. Many women in the crowd wore masks bearing an image of Farkhunda's bloodied face that has been circulated on social media. Farkhunda's body was carried to the graveyard by women amid crowds of men and laid to rest in Kabul on Sunday. Her father has said his daughter had a diploma in Islamic studies and could recite the Koran by heart, insisting she was not involved in burning the Muslim holy book. Allegations of Koran burnings have sparked violent incidents before in Afghanistan, a deeply conservative religious nation. In 2012 the revelation that copies of the Koran had been burnt at the US-run Bagram prison sparked five days of violent anti-US riots and attacks across the country, in which 30 people died.

by Teresa Jusino Jan 11th by Teresa Jusino Oct 12th 14-year-old Fareeha Tafim is a Muslim girl from Hyderabad in India. While Hindus comprise the majority of people in Hyderabad, Muslims are a large minority, and Fareeha attends a Muslim school. That school began giving female students lessons in wushu, a full-contact sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts that has become increasingly popular in India. Why teach it to schoolgirls? Because of the epidemic of violence against women and girls they face. Read More

The Human Rights Campaign has accused the Trump administration of pushing "anti-transgender prejudices onto the military." "My goal was to protect our children and I feel like my mission has been accomplished. This is not about me. I survived." A social studies teacher barricaded himself inside a classroom at a high school on Wednesday, firing one shot. His wife Vanessa was taken to the hospital earlier this week after opening a letter with white powder. Brian Roberto Varela was charged last week with manslaughter, second-degree rape, and controlled substance homicide.

In Kansas, a white man who is accused of opening fire on two Indian men last week, killing one, appeared in court on Monday via video link on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder. Adam Purinton is accused of killing Srinivas Kuchibhotla and wounding Alok Madasani last Wednesday after he reportedly yelled "Get out of my country" and then opened fire. New reports suggest Purinton believed the two Indian men were Iranian. A bartender at an Applebee's where Purinton went after the shooting told a 911 dispatcher that Purinton said he "shot and killed two Iranian people." Authorities have not yet said whether they are investigating the murder as a hate crime.

Abyar's film production Track 143 will be screened simultaneously at two international festivals including Aichi International Women's Film Festival in Nagoya, Japan that will be held from September 1-6, 2015; and Kazan International Muslim Film Festival, the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, from September 1-11, 2015. Track 143 , directed by Narges Abyar, is a screen adaptation of Abyar's novel titled The Third Eye that narrates the story of a woman during Iran's Sacred Defense against the invasion of Iraq. The movie tells the story of a mother waiting for her son who has been missing in Pre-operation Valfajr during Iran-Iraq war in 1980-88. She looks forward to the return of his son for many years until she finally receives his bones brought to her in a coffin instead. The film has already won Special Jury Award for Best Actress at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival in Australia, as well as the Audience Award for Best Film at annual Reel Sydney Festival of World Cinema. Abyar is currently directing her third feature film, Nafas (Breath.)

A number of foreign ambassadors and diplomats in Islamabad and a number of Pakistani officials were present at the Iranian Embassy to sign the memorial service guest book and express condolences and sympathy to the Iranian government and nation over the martyrdom of ten Iranian border guards by Takfiri militants on April 26 in a cross-border attack on the frontier with Pakistan at Mirjaveh in Sistan-Baluchestan province. A terrorist group calling itself Jaish al-Adl claimed responsibility for the deadly attack. Following the attack, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addressed the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a message to express his deepest concern and regret over the repeat of terrorist attacks launched from Pakistan inside the Iranian territory, calling on the Pakistani government to order the prosecution of the perpetrators of the attack to preserve and promote the good and friendly ties between the two countries.

Justice departments say it can hold children for as long as it takes to resolve their immigration cases after a recent California court injunction prevents the government from detaining just the parents and separating them from their offspring. Demonstrators calling for "an end to family detention" and in opposition to the immigration policies of the Trump administration rally at the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, US. June 29, 2018. ( Jonathan Ernst / Reuters ) The US government said in a court filing on Friday that it has the right to detain children and parents caught crossing the US border illegally for the duration of their immigration proceedings. A 1997 court settlement known as the Flores agreement has generally been interpreted to require the Department of Homeland Security to release illegal immigrant children from custody after 20 days. But justice department lawyers said in the filing in US District Court in California on Friday that they now have no choice but to hold children for as long as it takes to resolve their immigration cases, because of a preliminary injunction issued on Tuesday in a separate immigration case. That case, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego, challenged the recent government policy of separating families in order to detain parents for as long as necessary under President Donald Trump's "zero-tolerance" policy. Since that policy was implemented in May, families have been routinely separated after apprehension. Some 2,000 separated children are currently under government care. An executive order issued by Trump this month reversed the policy, and the subsequent injunction in San Diego ordered the government to immediately stop separating parents and children and said families must be reunited in 30 days or less. To comply with the injunction, the government said Friday it "will not separate families but detain families together during the pendency of immigration proceedings." Cases can sometimes take months or years to resolve. Under previous administrations, parents and children were often released to pursue immigration claims at liberty in the United States. Trump has decried that so-called catch-and-release policy, and vowed to detain immigration violators.

With the sticker shock of the Affordable Care Act continuing to make headlines, some doctors tired of existing red tape let alone the additional regulations under ObamaCare, are finding ways to bring truly affordable health care back to the people. Two such individuals are Doctors Nunamker, M.D. and Umbehr, M.D who prefer their patients be on a first-name basis utilizing the monikers of Dr. Doug and Dr. Josh. The duo's family practice, aptly named Atlas MD based on their affinity for Ayn Rand, is located in Wichita, Kansas. Since 2010, the burgeoning family practice chose to operate on a cash only basis, by charging patients a monthly fee that includes both unlimited appointments and house calls if necessary. However, even more jaw dropping than the notion of doctors making house calls circa 2013, are the prices for the monthly memberships: $10.00 for children and $50 for adults up to age 44.... Read More Affordable Care , Health Care

Justice departments say it can hold children for as long as it takes to resolve their immigration cases after a recent California court injunction prevents the government from detaining just the parents and separating them from their offspring. Demonstrators calling for "an end to family detention" and in opposition to the immigration policies of the Trump administration rally at the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, US. June 29, 2018. ( Jonathan Ernst / Reuters ) The US government said in a court filing on Friday that it has the right to detain children and parents caught crossing the US border illegally for the duration of their immigration proceedings. A 1997 court settlement known as the Flores agreement has generally been interpreted to require the Department of Homeland Security to release illegal immigrant children from custody after 20 days. But justice department lawyers said in the filing in US District Court in California on Friday that they now have no choice but to hold children for as long as it takes to resolve their immigration cases, because of a preliminary injunction issued on Tuesday in a separate immigration case. That case, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego, challenged the recent government policy of separating families in order to detain parents for as long as necessary under President Donald Trump's "zero-tolerance" policy. Since that policy was implemented in May, families have been routinely separated after apprehension. Some 2,000 separated children are currently under government care. An executive order issued by Trump this month reversed the policy, and the subsequent injunction in San Diego ordered the government to immediately stop separating parents and children and said families must be reunited in 30 days or less. To comply with the injunction, the government said Friday it "will not separate families but detain families together during the pendency of immigration proceedings." Cases can sometimes take months or years to resolve. Under previous administrations, parents and children were often released to pursue immigration claims at liberty in the United States. Trump has decried that so-called catch-and-release policy, and vowed to detain immigration violators.

Headline Jul 26, 2018 At least 900 children forcibly separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border have yet to be reunited, as the Trump administration faces today's deadline for family reunification set by a federal judge. Federal officials say some 463 separated parents have been deported since Trump launched his "zero tolerance" border policy--even as their children remain in U.S. detention centers. Administration officials say the parents voluntarily agreed to leave their children behind. But in court papers filed Wednesday, the ACLU argued many parents say they were coerced or misled into signing forms they could not read, and were confused about what they were agreeing to. After headlines, we'll speak with two immigration lawyers who've been representing immigrant parents separated from their children.

Holocaust survivors Jack and Rachelle Goldstein spoke out to condemn Trump's child separation policy. "It's cruel, it's bad," said Jack. "And I think it sets us back in the eyes of the rest of the world that we allow this to happen." According to estimates, nearly 2,000 children were taken from their parents at the U.S. border during a six-week period, as part of the Trump administration's zero tolerance border policy. "Separation of the family, for us, is probably the worst thing that ever happened to us," said Rachelle. "The Hidden Children are children who survived the Holocaust in hiding. And 'in hiding' many times meant that they were alone without their parents. And this is what we see now. You take a child away from their parent, from the home, from everything that they know, they are never the same." Although the border crisis casts shadow on the country, the two still believe that it can rise above the inhumanity. "I have a lot of faith in this country," explained Jack. "I think that democracy's a wonderful institution and it is a wonderful country, but right now it is not. Let's get back to our values because this is not what America stands for."

Easier to deport the family unit at one time. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government said in a court filing on Friday that it has the right to detain children and parents caught crossing the U.S. border illegally for the duration of their immigration proceedings. A 1997 court settlement known as the Flores agreement has generally been interpreted to require the Department of Homeland Security to release illegal immigrant children from custody after 20 days. But Justice Department lawyers said in the filing in U.S. District Court in California on Friday that they now have no choice but to hold children for as long as it takes to resolve their immigration cases, because of a preliminary injunction issued on Tuesday in a separate immigration case. That case, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego, challenged the recent government policy of separating families in order to detain parents for as long as necessary under President Donald Trump's "zero-tolerance" policy. Since that policy was implemented in May, families have been routinely separated after apprehension. Some 2,000 separated children are currently under government care. An executive order issued by Trump this month reversed the policy, and the subsequent injunction in San Diego ordered the government to immediately stop separating parents and children and said families must be reunited in 30 days or less. To comply with the injunction, the government said Friday it "will not separate families but detain families together during the pendency of immigration proceedings." Cases can sometimes take months or years to resolve.

President Donald Trump boasted to reporters that he was a better presidential candidate than Hillary Clinton on Wednesday in response to questions about whether he or members of his campaign colluded with Russians in an effort to influence the 2016 presidential election. Trump complained that journalists have failed to praise his strength as a candidate while railing against his Democratic opponent, nearly 442 days since his electoral victory. "The fact is -- you people won't say this, but I'll say it: I was a much better candidate than her," Trump told a group of White House reporters in an impromptu presser Wednesday evening before departing to Davos, Switzerland. "You always say she was a bad candidate. You never say I was a good candidate. I was one of the greatest candidates. Nobody else would have beaten the Clinton machine, as crooked as it was. But I was a great candidate. Someday you're going to say that." Hours after Trump's remarks, the White House confirmed to The Washington Post that a 24-year-old former Trump campaign worker who was given a senior post in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) will step down at the end of the month because of controversy surrounding his appointment. The only professional experience Taylor Weyeneth had before assuming the position of Deputy Chief of Staff for the ONDCP was working on the Trump 2016 presidential election campaign. Prior to joining the Trump campaign, Weyeneth attended New York's St John's University, where he graduated in May 2016. "Mr Weyeneth has decided to depart ONDCP at the end of the month," the White House told The Post. The ONDCP oversees the government's billion-dollar anti-drug campaigns and is tasked with combating the opioid epidemic in the U.S. Trump has been criticized for failing to adequately address the nation's Opioid emergency, despite vowing to "spend the money" to lower "the number of drug users" on the campaign trail. As Vox notes : If you look at Trump's actions, well, it's a very different story. There has been no move by Trump's administration to actually spend more money on the opioid crisis. Key positions in the administration remain unfilled, even without nominees in the case of the White House's drug czar office and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). And although Trump's emergency declaration was renewed last week, it has led to essentially no action since it was first signed -- no significant new resources, no major new initiatives. "A lot of talk, little action. It's great that the president says this is a priority. It's great that he convened a task force so we have another paper that says the opioid crisis in America needs attention. But too little has happened to actually do anything about it," said Chuck Ingoglia, a senior vice president at the National Council for Behavioral Health.

A senior U.S. Secret Service agent has come out and claimed that she won't "take a bullet" for Donald Trump. Kerry O'Grady just couldn't put... by Antiphon Freeman 2 years ago 2 years ago The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has just concluded that President-elect Trump did, indeed, pay actors to attend his very first campaign event. Why it took them... by Antiphon Freeman 2 years ago 2 years ago According to Trump's new White House press secretary Sean Spicer, Trump just signed a proclamation calling for a National Day of Patriotism. It's not yet... by Antiphon Freeman 2 years ago 2 years ago

The Libertarian does not know, which suggests Donald Trump is merely the second least informed Presidential candidate. September 8, 2016 You were born on December 31, 1981, and I on January 1, 1982. For a long time, I didn't think it was a big deal. September 8, 2016 (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices

Key swing states that helped propel President Donald Trump to victory on Election Day have experienced substantial drops in unemployment during the first several months of his administration, according to data released Friday by the Department of Labor. After nearly seven full months in office, Trump is presiding over a... Read More News Donald Trump Leave a comment On Thursday, the second day of his "Rural Road Trip Tractor Tour," Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee stopped in Johnson City, Tennessee, where WJHL TV asked him where he stands on the removal of the bust of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Tennessean, from the State Capitol. "It... Read More News Leave a comment

Liberty Talk FM broadcasts 24 hours per day, seven days per week and features continuous live content Monday through Friday and a mix of the best syndicated podcasts and shows during the weekend.Our current line up of hosts includes the best and brightest voices fervently advocating for Liberty, such as: Ernest Hancock, Alex Jones, Todd "Bubba" Horwitz, Edward Woodson, and Robin Koerner.While the primary focus is on news, politics, and government, Liberty Talk FM also regularly features discussions on the economy, privacy enhancing and emerging technology. [Read More]

"It won't be a landslide, but he'll get confirmed." "As for democracy, these leftists viewed it as fundamentally flawed by its association with 'bourgeois capitalism' and looked forward to something 'better.'" "...the sort of free speech absolutism that says absolutely anything goes" "One would have to label this 11th hour approach to be a long shot..." "there is a sizable population of reasonable and decent people who are bothered by her tweets and don't excuse them as 'ironic' or 'performative.'" Who knew a Texas state senator could end Russian meddling in American elections? "Are Democrats concerned that their irresponsible and baseless attacks against @ICEgov are inciting violent threats..."

No sooner had Missouri congressman Todd Akin revealed his curious theories on rape and reproduction than I started getting calls, texts, and e-mails from readers offering insights along the lines of: what a fucking dumbass! Not that I necessarily disagree, but it got me wondering--just how different are our esteemed legislators? After all, we live in a blue city in one of the bluest states in the union--a place where voters in 2010 decided they'd rather their governor be a weak pro-choice Democrat who served under Rod Blagojevich than a Republican with a record of opposing reproductive rights and abortion. After reviewing the legislative history and recent debates over these issues, I'm happy to report that our politicians are way more sophisticated than those rubes in the Show Me State. That is to say, we don't have any politicians who contend that vaginas are equipped with high-tech weaponry that zaps invading rape sperm, which essentially sums up Akin's understanding of women's health. On the larger matter of abortion, however, the Land of Lincoln has quite a few elected officials who see eye to eye with Akin. Several share his belief that abortion should be banned even in instances of rape and incest, according to a survey by Illinois Citizens for Life, an antiabortion group. That list includes three Chicago-area congressmen--Dan Lipinski, Peter Roskam, and Joe Walsh--and state rep Michael McAuliffe from the northwest side. All are Republicans except for Lipinski, who inherited his seat when his father, Democratic Party powerhouse Bill Lipinski, suddenly retired after winning the primary in 2004. Papa Lipinski used his clout to have his son--then a professor in Tennessee--replace him on the ballot. And Dan Lipinski's been walloping the hapless opposition ever since. I suspect he'll continue to wallop the opposition for years to come. Not just because constituents in his socially conservative district agree with his rigidly antiabortion views, but because Chicagoans seem physiologically incapable of voting against incumbents--a condition afflicting voters across the state and regardless of ideology. In 2011 Lipinski, Roskam, and Kankakee-area congressman Adam Kinzinger teamed up with Akin and vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan to propose "The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act." Initially, the bill would have restricted the exemption for rape so that only abortions following "forcible rape" would be eligible for Medicaid funding. They never got that far because of opposition in the Democratic-controlled Senate. But look for the bill to be revived should the Republicans retain the House, seize the Senate, and send the Romney/Ryan ticket to the White House. Gulp. For its part, the Illinois General Assembly has been mercifully quiet on the whole rape/reproduction thing. If they fight over abortion law, it's generally over attempts to make the procedure unavailable through overregulation. That's what happened in March when state rep Joe Lyons , a Democrat from the northwest side, introduced the "Ultrasound Opportunity Act." Lyons's proposal required doctors to offer ultrasounds to women seeking abortions. The idea is that if women see an image of the fetus, they won't go through with the abortion. Or, as Lyons put it in debate, they'll realize "it's not a procedure like getting your tonsils out." Because no one knew that already. Women who opted not to have an ultrasound were required to fill out a form that would be filed with the state health department. As expected, Lyons's proposal generated strong opposition from doctors, civil libertarians, and women--lots and lots of women. Once on the floor, he ran into a roadblock from several fellow Democrats, including Kelly Cassidy, who represents Edgewater and Rogers Park. Applying the old principle that what's good for the goose is good for the gander, Cassidy proposed an amendment that required men seeking erectile-dysfunction pills to sign and submit a form acknowledging that such pills have side effects including priapism. Priapism is the condition where the penis remains erect for several hours. And I thought tax increment financing was tough to explain. Cassidy's amendment also required doctors to offer men the opportunity to watch a graphic video that shows a common treatment for priapism, which, as I understand, involves lancing. Hey, you've got to get the blood out somehow. Eventually, Cassidy's proposal went before the full house, where it was defeated by a vote of 32 to 68. Not surprisingly, most of the men in the house voted against it. But Lyons had to retreat because he didn't have the votes to pass his ultrasound measure. Finally, there's the hubbub over the sex-education bill, which proposes to amend the state's sex-education laws so that the stuff teachers teach about sex, pregnancy, and AIDS prevention is "medically accurate." As opposed to the medically inaccurate stuff you hear from, oh, Congressman Akin. I must confess that until doing my research, I didn't know the state had a sex-education code. But it's there--stipulating, among other things, that "all sex education classes that discuss sexual intercourse" must include "course material and instruction" that "teach honor and respect for monogamous heterosexual marriage." Like one has anything to do with the other. The law also requires that students be taught "it is unlawful for males to have sexual relations with females under the age of 18 to whom they are not married pursuant to Article 12 of the Criminal Code of 1961." The theory here being that nothing puts a damper on teenage horniness like good old Article 12 of the Criminal Code. The sex-ed bill was sponsored by north-side state senator Heather Steans, who's also known as the senate's champion of charter schools. So it's good to see that we agree on something , Senator Steans. Despite strong resistance from conservative groups, the bill squeaked through the senate by a vote of 30 to 28. But it's languishing in the house because there aren't enough votes to get it approved. There's a good chance that its house sponsor, west-side state rep Camille Lilly, will bring it up in January, in the postelection session that will feature plenty of lame ducks--including Rep. Lyons, who decided not to run for reelection. As a swan song, Lyons might bring back his ultrasound bill, if only to get back at Cassidy for having outfoxed him in the first go-round. Apparently, in politics as in sports, there are few things more embarrassing for a boy than losing to a girl.

There's a battle underway in Nebraska between Omaha City Councilmember Ben Gray, who introduced an Equal Employment Ordinance to protect the city's LGBT workers, and Beau McCoy (below), a state senator who introduced a bill intended to stop Gray's ordinance at the state level. I've written about it here before . McCoy's bill would prevent LGBT anti-discrimination ordinances at the local level and be retroactive, repealing those already in place, while defining who is a "protected person" under Nebraska state law. LGBT people would be excluded from that definition in McCoy's bill. Today, some hopeful news . State Sen. Brad Ashford of Omaha, the Judiciary Committee chairman said it does not appear that the panel will act on McCoy's bill. Gray's proposal will be on the council's agenda for the first time Tuesday, with a public hearing set for March 6 . Hear him talk about it, AFTER THE JUMP ...

On Wednesday, the Louisiana state Senate voted 24-1 to outlaw abortions after 15 weeks. Once signed, the bill will only go into effect if federal courts uphold Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban -- which, fingers crossed, seems pretty unlikely. Abortion rights advocates in the state, of course, are not pleased: "Banning access to abortion at 15 weeks is a flat-out violation of Roe v. Wade and Louisiana knows it," said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, referencing the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized abortion. "So little faith does Louisiana have in the constitutionality of their abortion ban that it won't go into effect unless they get an OK from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit." The bill's state Senate sponsor is one John Milkovich, who hopes to see a prison term of two years given to any doctor who performs an abortion after this point, and would like to make abortion completely illegal to begin with. Milkovich (not Malkovich) is rabidly pro-life, pro-gun and a small government enthusiast. He voted against including LGBT-friendly language in marriage laws. He once killed a bill for a sexual survey of teenagers meant to assist the state in understanding what risks teenagers in the state were taking, on account of how it would make them slutty. "Is this destroying the innocence of our children or grandchildren?" he said, rhetorically. "Our children are already in a toxic maelstrom of immorality," and lawmakers shouldn't make it worse, he said. Teenagers having babies account for nine percent of the births in the state of Louisiana, which ranks seventh overall in teen pregnancies, so it's hardly not as if they don't have a bit of a problem there. Milkovich has also voted in favor of bills requiring schools to put up signs saying "In God We Trust," allowing teachers to pray with students, and requiring creationism to be taught in schools. He is also, inexfuckingplicably , a Democrat. One who apparently did not get the memo about the whole Dixiecrat thing having run its course decades ago. Oh, and so is Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, who is about to sign the damn thing. How is that for burying the lede? Get it? It's from "Being John Malkovich." Also I need a drink now. Both of them are up for re-election in 2019. Now, I am not opposed to people who oppose abortion, personally, running for office as Democrats -- so long as they don't try to do anything legislatively about it. I think that it is entirely possible for someone to oppose abortion on a personal basis, and also not think that the government should interfere with the right to choose. In fact, I think a lot of people feel that way. However, when we have a situation like this, where Democratic officials are proposing anti-choice laws as strict or stricter than Republicans are ... what the hell is the point of them not being Republicans? Literally any Democrat who voted for this bill must be primaried. Especially Milkovich who, clearly, is ideologically a very conservative Republican. I looked and looked and could not find one single instance of him supporting one single thing that anyone, in the broadest reading, would associate with the Democratic Party. He is appalling. This bill is appalling, and it is unacceptable. It would be unacceptable coming from Republicans, and it's extremely unacceptable coming from Democrats. [T alking Points Memo ] Wonkette is independent and fully funded by readers like you! Click here to tip us!

During a Wisconsin Assembly debate about a bill that would make it illegal to offer abortions through state health insurance plans, GOP Wisconsin state lawmaker Scott Allen suggested that making abortions illegal would help add to the state's labor force. "Labor force shortages are tied to population declines. And labor force shortages are a limiting factor in economic growth. And limited economic growth poses a problem when government tries to pay for public services and infrastructure," Allen said. "In spite of this Mr. Speaker, ironically, the Democrats continue their effort to support the abortion industry." Allen also called abortions "wrong." "Often in public debates, people are afraid to say it, but let me just say it: Abortion is wrong," he said. "Although it may be legal we should in no way, shape or form should we provide public funding for abortion." WOW. WI Rep. Scott Allen thinks women should be forced to procreate for the sake of the labor market. Women are PEOPLE, not incubators. pic.twitter.com/I189JGSoqp -- NARAL (@NARAL) November 3, 2017 The bill, which was passed by the assembly on Thursday, blocks state health-care plans from covering abortions except in the case of rape, incest or to save a mother's health or life, according to WZIM . The Hill notes that Wisconsin's labor force reached an all-time high in September.

No sooner had Missouri congressman Todd Akin revealed his curious theories on rape and reproduction than I started getting calls, texts, and e-mails from readers offering insights along the lines of: what a fucking dumbass! Not that I necessarily disagree, but it got me wondering--just how different are our esteemed legislators? After all, we live in a blue city in one of the bluest states in the union--a place where voters in 2010 decided they'd rather their governor be a weak pro-choice Democrat who served under Rod Blagojevich than a Republican with a record of opposing reproductive rights and abortion. After reviewing the legislative history and recent debates over these issues, I'm happy to report that our politicians are way more sophisticated than those rubes in the Show Me State. That is to say, we don't have any politicians who contend that vaginas are equipped with high-tech weaponry that zaps invading rape sperm, which essentially sums up Akin's understanding of women's health. On the larger matter of abortion, however, the Land of Lincoln has quite a few elected officials who see eye to eye with Akin. Several share his belief that abortion should be banned even in instances of rape and incest, according to a survey by Illinois Citizens for Life, an antiabortion group. That list includes three Chicago-area congressmen--Dan Lipinski, Peter Roskam, and Joe Walsh--and state rep Michael McAuliffe from the northwest side. All are Republicans except for Lipinski, who inherited his seat when his father, Democratic Party powerhouse Bill Lipinski, suddenly retired after winning the primary in 2004. Papa Lipinski used his clout to have his son--then a professor in Tennessee--replace him on the ballot. And Dan Lipinski's been walloping the hapless opposition ever since. I suspect he'll continue to wallop the opposition for years to come. Not just because constituents in his socially conservative district agree with his rigidly antiabortion views, but because Chicagoans seem physiologically incapable of voting against incumbents--a condition afflicting voters across the state and regardless of ideology. In 2011 Lipinski, Roskam, and Kankakee-area congressman Adam Kinzinger teamed up with Akin and vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan to propose "The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act." Initially, the bill would have restricted the exemption for rape so that only abortions following "forcible rape" would be eligible for Medicaid funding. They never got that far because of opposition in the Democratic-controlled Senate. But look for the bill to be revived should the Republicans retain the House, seize the Senate, and send the Romney/Ryan ticket to the White House. Gulp. For its part, the Illinois General Assembly has been mercifully quiet on the whole rape/reproduction thing. If they fight over abortion law, it's generally over attempts to make the procedure unavailable through overregulation. That's what happened in March when state rep Joe Lyons , a Democrat from the northwest side, introduced the "Ultrasound Opportunity Act." Lyons's proposal required doctors to offer ultrasounds to women seeking abortions. The idea is that if women see an image of the fetus, they won't go through with the abortion. Or, as Lyons put it in debate, they'll realize "it's not a procedure like getting your tonsils out." Because no one knew that already. Women who opted not to have an ultrasound were required to fill out a form that would be filed with the state health department. As expected, Lyons's proposal generated strong opposition from doctors, civil libertarians, and women--lots and lots of women. Once on the floor, he ran into a roadblock from several fellow Democrats, including Kelly Cassidy, who represents Edgewater and Rogers Park. Applying the old principle that what's good for the goose is good for the gander, Cassidy proposed an amendment that required men seeking erectile-dysfunction pills to sign and submit a form acknowledging that such pills have side effects including priapism. Priapism is the condition where the penis remains erect for several hours. And I thought tax increment financing was tough to explain. Cassidy's amendment also required doctors to offer men the opportunity to watch a graphic video that shows a common treatment for priapism, which, as I understand, involves lancing. Hey, you've got to get the blood out somehow. Eventually, Cassidy's proposal went before the full house, where it was defeated by a vote of 32 to 68. Not surprisingly, most of the men in the house voted against it. But Lyons had to retreat because he didn't have the votes to pass his ultrasound measure. Finally, there's the hubbub over the sex-education bill, which proposes to amend the state's sex-education laws so that the stuff teachers teach about sex, pregnancy, and AIDS prevention is "medically accurate." As opposed to the medically inaccurate stuff you hear from, oh, Congressman Akin. I must confess that until doing my research, I didn't know the state had a sex-education code. But it's there--stipulating, among other things, that "all sex education classes that discuss sexual intercourse" must include "course material and instruction" that "teach honor and respect for monogamous heterosexual marriage." Like one has anything to do with the other. The law also requires that students be taught "it is unlawful for males to have sexual relations with females under the age of 18 to whom they are not married pursuant to Article 12 of the Criminal Code of 1961." The theory here being that nothing puts a damper on teenage horniness like good old Article 12 of the Criminal Code. The sex-ed bill was sponsored by north-side state senator Heather Steans, who's also known as the senate's champion of charter schools. So it's good to see that we agree on something , Senator Steans. Despite strong resistance from conservative groups, the bill squeaked through the senate by a vote of 30 to 28. But it's languishing in the house because there aren't enough votes to get it approved. There's a good chance that its house sponsor, west-side state rep Camille Lilly, will bring it up in January, in the postelection session that will feature plenty of lame ducks--including Rep. Lyons, who decided not to run for reelection. As a swan song, Lyons might bring back his ultrasound bill, if only to get back at Cassidy for having outfoxed him in the first go-round. Apparently, in politics as in sports, there are few things more embarrassing for a boy than losing to a girl.

Georgia is just a governor's signature away from totally banning abortions that occur after 20 weeks of pregnancy under the dubious assertion that at that point, fetuses can feel pain. Anti-abortion advocates crow that this is a positive step toward protecting life, but where this law is totally and irredeemably fucked up is in its requirement that women carry fetuses that couldn't possibly survive outside the womb give birth. The caring, life-protecting guardian angels in the Georgia state legislature compassionately refused to offer any mental health exceptions to the ban, either, so if you're in Georgia, pregnant, and mentally ill, tough shit. You should have thought about the possibility of state-enforced health endangerment before you opened your legs. The journey of HB 954 from terrible idea to unbelievably shitty law was a long and twisted one. When the 20-week abortion ban was initially proposed, one legislator explained that because livestock carrying nonviable or stillborn baby livestock give birth to dead baby pigs and cows and stuff, women must also carry the dead babies they're carrying, because, uh, that's just the way things are. Another legislator proposed sarcastic counter-legislation, suggesting that vasectomies should be banned in the state of Georgia because the male sterilization procedure prevents babies from being conceived. There was a fistfight in the lobby of the state capitol. Female legislators walked out in disgust and joined protesters in the hallway during the vote. The law that eventually passed was a "compromise" version of the original proposed law, which didn't offer any exemptions for fetuses with abnormalities that would make it impossible to survive outside of the womb. In the previous version, women would have to carry their completely nonviable fetus to term, giving birth to a baby that would inevitably die. But now, under the compromise, women carrying nonviable fetuses will be allowed to have abortions after 20 weeks but before the woman would otherwise give birth naturally, provided the abortion procedure occurs outside of the woman's body. So, in other words, the law will require women to give birth to their nonviable fetuses rather than have the abortion occur internally. Maybe it's just me, but I was under the impression that a "compromise" was a word that meant, roughly, "an agreement between two opposing sides that renders the solution slightly more acceptable for both parties," not "a steamrolling by one side that makes the solution more horrible in a totally new way." A proposed 20-week abortion ban exception for the mental health of the mother was voted down. Because fetuses can feel pain, but not women. The state's Republican governor, Nathan Deal, is expected to sign the bill into law. After all, he's pro-life, and there's nothing more pro-life than forcing women to give birth to dead babies.

By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots on American Political Radio bit.ly/2cpXuRd So it seems Hillary Clinton is salivating over Donald Trump's very bad week...a week where he lost focus of the issues and unfortunately chose to concentrate on a former Miss Universe turned ugly...ugly both inside and out...and now with the uber liberal, Hillary-loving rag The New York Times reporting on Trump's taxes from 21 years ago...a tax report questionably gotten I might add...the 'Butcher' is rubbing her hands together like an evil witch plotting to come in for the kill. But what Hillary forgets is that most people really do not care what happened 21 years ago with someone's personal business dealings and taxes...most especially when no one was physically hurt. So here's a little bit of advice for Trump...sort of my little gift to him and his campaign...whenever Hillary brings it up at next Sunday's debate...and you know that she will every chance she gets (and those chances will be many what with yet another liberal moderator at the debate helm)...whenever she utters the word 'taxes' or even brings up his tax returns Donald Trump should look straight at the camera and say with all seriousness and conviction the words 'Christopher Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.' And if that does not stop Hillary cold in her tracks Trump can then add in the words 'Shahram Amiri'...the Iranian nuclear scientist aiding the U.S...the Iranian scientist who her email so-called by the F.B.I. 'recklessness' directly lead to his execution for treason...hung by the neck until dead in front of his family some reports have said. Nothing...and I mean nothing...trumps the list of dead bodies Hillary Clinton has left in the wake of her 30 years in politics and that is something that Trump needs to remind people of and the sooner he does it...and the sooner he returns to the issues and the issues alone...the sooner he can turn his very bad week around. Just saying... I'm an American Patriot who refuses to let our beloved country be changed into something unrecognizable by a man who wants to radically alter and destroy our America and take away our children's future. We patriots ARE the grassroots movement and we bloggers must spread the truth about the corrupt and traitorous Obama regime and his sanctioned islamization of America before it's too late.

In Russia, as many as 600 people were arrested amid nationwide anti-corruption demonstrations on Sunday. The tens of thousands of protesters were demanding the resignation of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Among those arrested was anti-corruption activist and opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who revealed the prime minister used a web of charities to conceal that he owns a slew of luxury real estate, yachts and an Italian vineyard. The demonstrations were among the biggest protests in years in Russia. Topics: Russia Protests

Diez mil personas firmaron una peticion que hizo circular la congresista de California Karen Bass, en la que se solicita que profesionales especializados en salud mental determinen si Donald Trump esta en condiciones de ser presidente. Bass sostiene que Trump exhibe todos los sintomas de un trastorno narcisista de la personalidad. La peticion dice: "Es totalmente posible que algunas personas con trastorno narcisista de la personalidad funcionen en muchas carreras, pero no en la presidencia de Estados Unidos. Merecemos conocer lo mejor posible el estado de salud mental de Trump antes de ir a votar". Reciba las ultimas noticias en su correo electronico Democracy Now! es una organizacion sin animo de lucro 501(c)3 dedicada a la produccion de noticias. No aceptamos financiamiento publicitario, corporativo o gubernamental. Dependemos de las contribuciones de nuestros oyentes y televidentes para hacer nuestro trabajo. Por favor, haga su contribucion hoy. Donar

Liberty Talk FM broadcasts 24 hours per day, seven days per week and features continuous live content Monday through Friday and a mix of the best syndicated podcasts and shows during the weekend.Our current line up of hosts includes the best and brightest voices fervently advocating for Liberty, such as: Ernest Hancock, Alex Jones, Todd "Bubba" Horwitz, Edward Woodson, and Robin Koerner.While the primary focus is on news, politics, and government, Liberty Talk FM also regularly features discussions on the economy, privacy enhancing and emerging technology. [Read More]

An interesting series of personal recollections of individuals participation and experiences of the poll tax riot in London's Trafalgar Square in 1990, which marked the beginning of the end... The far-right in Ukraine are acting as the vanguard of a protest movement that is being reported as pro-democracy. The situation on the ground is not as simple as pro-EU and trade versus pro-... Pannekoek hammers at the idea that party and class must be antagonistic, as the history of German and Russian parties had shown by 1936. Rather, the working class must self-actuate and self-... Click here to register now. Logged in users: > Can comment on articles and discussions > Get 'recent posts' refreshed more regularly > Bookmark articles to your own reading list > Use the site private messaging system > Start forum discussions, submit articles, and more...

Hillary Clinton's greatest strength, the candidate explained in an interview with the morning newsletter The Skimm, is her "passionate commitment to helping people." The passion was on display in 2009, for example, when Clinton personally intervened to help Swiss bank UBS settle a lawsuit with the IRS and thus protect the identities of tens of thousands of Americans who may or may not be evading U.S. taxes through Swiss bank accounts. Clinton was also asked about her greatest weakness. Here's what she said: Most people who run for president lay out a clear agenda that reflects their party's values, and take firm positions on important policy issues. Hillary Clinton does not. She equivocates. In some cases, she refuses to take a position altogether, especially when her actual stance on a given issue is at odds with liberal voters. Here's where Hillary stands on several key issues:

Family and marriage are historical categories. phenomena which develop in accordance with the economic relations that exist at the given level of production. The form of marriage and of the family is thus determined by the economic system of the given epoch, and it changes as the economic base of society changes. The family. in the same way. as government, religion. science, morals. law and customs, is part of the. superstructure which derives from the economic system of society. The fact that with the consolidation of the capitalist system of production, the marital/family union develops from a production unit into a legal arrangement concerned only with consumption, leads inevitably to the weakening of marital/family ties. In the era of private property and the bourgeois-capitalist economic system, marriage and the family are grounded in (a) material and financial considerations, (b) economic dependence of the female sex on the family breadwinner the husband rather than the social collective, and (c) the need to care for the rising generation. Capitalism maintains a system of individual economies: the family has a role to play in performing economic tasks and functions within the national capitalist economy. Thus under capitalism the family does not merge with or dissolve into the national economy but continues to exist as an independent economic unit, concerned with production in the case of the peasant family and consumption in the case of the urban family. The individual economy which springs from private property is the basis of the bourgeois family. Alexandra Kollontai Theses on Communist Morality in the Sphere of Marital Relations http://www.marxists.org/archive/kollonta/1921/theses-mo... It is perhaps too much to expect a church obsessed with sex to place the threat to human survival with the waste and depletion of the earth, living as though there were no tomorrow (either terrestrial or celestial), but to seek to equate environmental degradation with the spoiling of the formulaic "lifetime bond between a man and a woman, as a sacrament of creation which the Creator instituted and Christ then welcomed into the story of his covenant with humanity". It is also unlikely that a religion that gave human beings dominion over nature, the conquest of which has been one of its proudest achievements, is going to contribute anything very helpful to the discussion of the relationship either between humanity and the earth, or the social and economic (as opposed to sexual) relationships between people on it. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/24/pop...

In advance of the World Meeting of Families, a new organization is working to raise awareness about LGBT issues and other matters important to 'social justice Catholics.' March 20 2015 6:50 AM Opponents call the bills a 'license to discriminate' and say they prioritize an adoption agency's beliefs over the best interests of the child seeking a home. March 19 2015 4:29 PM Updated Nondiscrimination laws that require businesses to serve everyone equally are a 'nail in the coffin of the morality of this nation,' says the right-wing preacher. March 19 2015 1:29 PM

Peter LaBarbera Peter LaBarbera a social conservative activist and the president of the antigay organization Americans for Truth about Homosexuality (AFTAH), a nonpartisan, nonprofit group. Learn the truth about AFTAH and what they believe to be a "radical homosexual agenda," advocating for God-ordained sexuality and the natural family as countless. The group claims to stand up against LGBT groups they think promote an agenda "threatening to criminalize Christian opposition to behavior that most Americans believe is wrong." Read more about Peter LaBarbera and his antigay activist group.

In this frank, thoughtful, enlightening, and wide-ranging interview first published online by the Friends of Science Society in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Dr. Willie Soon addresses many of the most common climate change themes, including: the health and welfare of polar bear populations; natural climate change cycles; sea-level rise; "the Earth in the solar system in the galaxy in the universe;" the importance of the Sun as a driving force of climate warming; the Maunder Minimum sunspot period; and the philosophy of science. Soon concludes, I have simply shared my humble but sincere premise that the search for the truth in science must prevail. No religious, social, political or philosophical convictions must be allowed to confuse, corrupt or deny the inherent beauty and purity and truth that subsist in the scientific method to which I have devoted and shall ever devote my life. Dr. Willie Soon is an independent solar physicist at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who has been studying the Sun and its influence on Earth's climate for more than a quarter century. Gregoire Canlorbe is an independent journalist and vice president of the French Parti National-Liberal ("National-Liberal Party," conservative, nationalist, and free-marketist).

How to raise an alien child How can parents can help their children trade the comfort of "fitting in" for the calling of standing out? Jen Wilkin calls on parents... Contraception and Christian ethics 50 years after Humanae Vitae On this episode of Countermoves, Andrew Walker talks with ethicist Evan Lenow about the use of contraception and its implications... Will Complementarianism Survive After the #MeToo Movement? I have had many people ask me over the last several months about the future of complementarianism. In recent months,... The Way Home: Russell Moore on being created in the image of God This episode is part of a special series of podcasts in conjunction with the release of The Dignity Revolution: Reclaiming... Ambassador Sam Brownback and Commissioner Kristina Arriaga In this summer of international religious freedom, Matt Hawkins and Travis Wussow visited the State Department to speak with Ambassador...

Book Content: ForewordPrefaceEditor's Note Irving Kristol Seymour Martin Lipset Peter Berger Michael Novak Muhammed Abdul-Rauf Ben J. Wattenberg Penn Kemble BibliographyContributors Paperback Available Paperback DIM: 9.25'' x 6.25'' Paperback ISBN: 0-8447-2154-9 Paperback Pages: 193 Paperback Price: $19.50 Buy the Book This book addresses the problems posed for the world religions by rival economic systems. Under the auspices of Syracuse University's Department of Religion and AEI, some 35 theologians, professors of the humanities, and graduate students gathered for a week to sharpen their understanding of the religion values at stake under capitalism and socialism. Michael Novak is the George Frederick Jewett Scholar in Religion, Philosophy, and Public Policy at AEI. Capitalism Socialism

French police clash with protesters while trying to evacuate refugees and migrants from Paris school that is under renovation. French CRS riot police secure a position as clouds of tear gas fill the Place de la Nation during clashes with youths who protest against the French labour law proposal during the May Day labour union march in Paris, France, May 1, 2016. ( Reuters ) French police dispersed protesters by using tear gas on Wednesday while evacuating a high school in Paris that has been used by refugees and migrants for two weeks. Early that morning, protesters had formed a human chain around the high school under renovation to prevent police entering and pelted the police with objects, chanting "everyone hates the police." Masked youths face off with French police during a demonstration against the French labour law proposal in Paris, France, as part of a nationwide labour reform protests and strikes, April 28, 2016. ( TRT World and Agencies ) Police entered the school by forcing their way in through another door where tables and chairs were piled up to try to block their passage. "This morning the police gassed us and pushed us out of the way. At midnight we built a barrier of tables and chairs, but they moved it all out of the way," said Emmanuel, a Ghanaian in his 20s who left the school when the police entered. "It's better here than being on the street," he said. "I don't know where they want to take us." The refugees and migrants who are mainly from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia and Yemen settled into a part of the school building, which is currently closed for renovation works, on April 21-22. Clementine Verschave, from a charity which helps refugees and migrants, said: "There are a lot of women among the migrants in the school, including two who are pregnant." Eric Coquerel, from the far-left Left Party who was among the demonstrators, said the police had used "unjustified force". "This school is empty and has no purpose. These people are better off here than on the road," he said. The evacuation of the school was the second time this week that authorities in Paris have taken action against refugees and migrants. On Monday, riot police evacuated a makeshift camp set up around a metro station and took 1,600 refugees and migrants to an accommodation centre. Source: TRTWorld and agencies

As one of the richest countries in the world, you would have thought that Norway could escape austerity. Not so! The bourgeoisie and its new right-wing government are preparing massive attacks against the working class. Norway, until recently was seen as one of the most politically stable countries in Europe. That was before the dramatic events of this summer, when Anders Breivik, an ultra-right-wing fascist killed 69 youth at the Labour Youth Organisation's summer camp. Yesterday, his appearance in court reiterated how much Norway has changed in the recent period. Already in September an article in "Bloomberg " pointed out that the deepening global crisis of capitalism is beginning to come to the fore in countries that seemed to have escaped it, such as Norway. The recent brutal and outrageous attack in Norway on the Scandinavian and international workers' movement was a huge shock, not only for those members of the Norwegian Labour Party Youth (AUF) who were at the summer cap at the island of Utoya, but also for the whole population of Scandinavia.

The last time Trump was in Brussels it was for the inauguration of the new Nato headquarters, when his visit was marked by the rough handling of the Macedonian prime minister, as well as his rebuke to fellow Nato members over their defence spending. Some 70 organisations took part in organising the march, representing human rights, feminist and peace movements. "We are opposed to the policies Trump is currently implementing, particularly his sexist, racist and anti-social policies," one participant told the Flemish broadcaster VRT. Major themes represented by the marchers included peace, climate change and migration. "This is not about the man himself," one of the organisers said. "It's about the policies he stands for. "A world where guns are welcome, but refugees and migrants are not. A world where children are being locked up. We are calling for a different kind of society." Relating to the last point, the march featured a row of children, all dressed in white and carrying a soft toy, representing the children of asylum-seekers who have been separated from their parents at the US border and are still being held in detention centres. The Nato summit takes place on 11 and 12 July, and is expected to be a major security operation, as well as a serious cause of traffic disruption in the city.

April 26, 2016 4:00 pm Children of refugees receive more government benefits like food stamps, cash assistance, and Supplemental Security Income than children of non-refugee parents, according to a report from the Migration Policy Institute. April 26, 2016 3:30 pm A watchdog group said on Tuesday that the State Department withheld a document that would have revealed Hillary Clinton's use of a private email address two years ago, before finally agreeing to release it earlier this month. April 26, 2016 2:30 pm Harvard University's undergraduate dean has been asked to voluntarily remove himself from talks with the school's unrecognized all-male clubs because of conflicts of interest and apparent "ethical impropriety." April 26, 2016 12:50 pm The cost of U.S. regulations is now larger than Germany's economy, amounting to a $4 trillion loss to the American economy, according to a new study by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, was accused of breaching the Virginia constitution after issuing an executive order restoring the voting rights of more than 200,000 felons in the state.

She said Mr Macron, who at 39 is to become France's youngest ever president, carried the hopes of "millions" of French people, but also of "many" Germans, and she hoped the two would be able to tackle mass unemployment in Europe. Mr Macron, who was an economy minister under outgoing president Francois Hollande, had a 10-minute phone conversation with Mrs Merkel just minutes after learning of his landslide victory, during which he promised her that he would visit Berlin "very quickly". And 11.5 per cent of votes cast, however, were either blank or spoiled, a record number, while a total of 25.8 per cent of registered voters abstained, official figures showed. Mr Macron is expected to step down as leader of his newly founded political movement En Marche! - translated to Onwards! - on Monday to focus on the presidency, a source close to the president-elect told the AFP.

The Danish government has indefinitely stopped the entry of refugees via the UN programme, the country's immigration minister announced today. Inger Stojberg said: "Denmark is full of refugees, that is why we have had to make this decision." Under the UN quota, Denmark is expected to accept the entry of 500 refugees each year, however it rejected the entry of 491 this year. Denmark has come under fire after it introduced a "jewellery bill" which allows immigration authorities to confiscate valuables from refugees in order to cover the cost of their accommodation. In 2015 it placed advertisements in four Lebanese newspapers announcing tighter regulations and cuts in provisions for asylum seekers. Warning that those granted temporary protection would not have the right to family reunification for the first year of their residence. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Vancouver's Chinatown has seen its share of change in the course of the past century, but Modernize Tailors has remained the go-to place for a first-class custom-tailored suit throughout the last 100 years. Owner Bill Wong, 91, still works full-time in the tailor shop his father opened in 1913. The City of Vancouver recently honoured this remarkable centennial by declaring Nov. 3 Modernize Tailors Day. In addition, throughout November, the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is hosting Modernize Tailors: 100 Years of Dressing the Modern Man , an exhibit commemorating the family-run business. Changing with the times A collection of Modernize Tailors artifacts dating back to the early 1900's on display at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. | Photo by Caroline Y.M. Ng To walk through the doors of Modernize Tailors is to take a swift breath of history. The shop contains an iron and a button-hole machine that are 80 years old, and the work space conjures the charm of an era when it was unthinkable for kids to attend school without made-to-measure pants. Yet, the business is keenly aware of modern consumer tastes and has survived due to its owners' uncanny ability to adapt to change. In the last five years, Bill's son Steven has joined the business as well, and worked to augment its online presence. "In the earlier era, we would serve all levels of the city. It's really a younger generation that's finding us now - our blog has quite a young voice," Steven explains. Even though we no longer live in an era where custom-made suits - Modernize Tailors' specialty - are the norm for everyday wear, the shop keeps busy with suits made for milestone occasions such as weddings and first job interviews. "The fashion business is always up and down, but because of the internet, people always seem to find us," says Bill. Transforming limitations into success Though starting a business as an immigrant in Vancouver is still not easy, today's newcomers are in an unquestionably better position than Bill's father Kung Lai Wong was a century ago. Eliza Chang is the program director of Settlement Services at S.U.C.C.E.S.S., a local social service agency. With funding from the B.C. Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. offers a Business Immigrant Integration Support (BIIS) program to newcomers who have been in Canada for less than five years. "BIIS is [here] to increase business immigrants' knowledge, expand their business network, help further refine a business or an investment, so that immigrants would be able to confidently make informed decisions," says Chang. In Kung Lai Wong's era, incentives such as BIIS were sadly unimaginable because business loans to Chinese-Canadians were prohibited because of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Modernize Tailors was started with cash capital earned through hard work and solidarity within the Wong family. Bill Wong earned an engineering degree in the mid-1940s, but he says racial discrimination made it impossible for him to find a job in that field. Still, he doesn't regret his alternate career path. "I have no resentment that I never got to go into engineering. You can do all kinds of things with fabric that you can't do with a piece of wood or steel, and [tailoring] also consists of a lot of art," he says. His father's emphasis on artistry is one of the things that drew Steven to the business after a career in teaching art. "There's a long tradition of good craftsmanship, good materials. We use the language of art and education, and people learn a lot here," Steven explains. History personified Modernize Tailors: 100 Years of Dressing the Modern Man celebrates the shop's unique place in Chinatown's history. Shayla Perreault, visitor experience and operations manager at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, says that the exhibit opening - part of the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival - was a vibrant event whose highlight was Bill Wong reading from his diary, written when he was 14. "A lot of the time with history, you have all these objects, but the story is missing...but if you've got the diary, then you've got the story of the person," says Perreault. Steven believes that his father's story is universally inspirational. "If we do what we love, that's energizing and it keeps us going," he says. And for his part, Bill is not showing any signs of slowing down. On top of full-time work at the shop, he gardens and practices SunDo Taoist Yoga with Steven, embodying the kind of vitality that has made Modernize Tailors an enduring sartorial presence in Vancouver. To contact Modernize Tailors and find out more about the business, visit http://www.modernizetailors.blogspot.ca . And for more info on Modernize Tailors: 100 Years of Dressing the Modern Man exhibit, visit http://www.vancouverchinesegarden.com/events . To register for A Stretch With the Tailors, a SunDo Taoist Yoga class taught by Steven Wong at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, call 604-662-3207. Bill Wong with his son Steven Wong at their Modernize Tailors shop. | Photo by Sonja Grgar

Vancouver's Chinatown has seen its share of change in the course of the past century, but Modernize Tailors has remained the go-to place for a first-class custom-tailored suit throughout the last 100 years. Owner Bill Wong, 91, still works full-time in the tailor shop his father opened in 1913. The City of Vancouver recently honoured this remarkable centennial by declaring Nov. 3 Modernize Tailors Day. In addition, throughout November, the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is hosting Modernize Tailors: 100 Years of Dressing the Modern Man , an exhibit commemorating the family-run business. Changing with the times A collection of Modernize Tailors artifacts dating back to the early 1900's on display at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. | Photo by Caroline Y.M. Ng To walk through the doors of Modernize Tailors is to take a swift breath of history. The shop contains an iron and a button-hole machine that are 80 years old, and the work space conjures the charm of an era when it was unthinkable for kids to attend school without made-to-measure pants. Yet, the business is keenly aware of modern consumer tastes and has survived due to its owners' uncanny ability to adapt to change. In the last five years, Bill's son Steven has joined the business as well, and worked to augment its online presence. "In the earlier era, we would serve all levels of the city. It's really a younger generation that's finding us now - our blog has quite a young voice," Steven explains. Even though we no longer live in an era where custom-made suits - Modernize Tailors' specialty - are the norm for everyday wear, the shop keeps busy with suits made for milestone occasions such as weddings and first job interviews. "The fashion business is always up and down, but because of the internet, people always seem to find us," says Bill. Transforming limitations into success Though starting a business as an immigrant in Vancouver is still not easy, today's newcomers are in an unquestionably better position than Bill's father Kung Lai Wong was a century ago. Eliza Chang is the program director of Settlement Services at S.U.C.C.E.S.S., a local social service agency. With funding from the B.C. Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. offers a Business Immigrant Integration Support (BIIS) program to newcomers who have been in Canada for less than five years. "BIIS is [here] to increase business immigrants' knowledge, expand their business network, help further refine a business or an investment, so that immigrants would be able to confidently make informed decisions," says Chang. In Kung Lai Wong's era, incentives such as BIIS were sadly unimaginable because business loans to Chinese-Canadians were prohibited because of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Modernize Tailors was started with cash capital earned through hard work and solidarity within the Wong family. Bill Wong earned an engineering degree in the mid-1940s, but he says racial discrimination made it impossible for him to find a job in that field. Still, he doesn't regret his alternate career path. "I have no resentment that I never got to go into engineering. You can do all kinds of things with fabric that you can't do with a piece of wood or steel, and [tailoring] also consists of a lot of art," he says. His father's emphasis on artistry is one of the things that drew Steven to the business after a career in teaching art. "There's a long tradition of good craftsmanship, good materials. We use the language of art and education, and people learn a lot here," Steven explains. History personified Modernize Tailors: 100 Years of Dressing the Modern Man celebrates the shop's unique place in Chinatown's history. Shayla Perreault, visitor experience and operations manager at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, says that the exhibit opening - part of the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival - was a vibrant event whose highlight was Bill Wong reading from his diary, written when he was 14. "A lot of the time with history, you have all these objects, but the story is missing...but if you've got the diary, then you've got the story of the person," says Perreault. Steven believes that his father's story is universally inspirational. "If we do what we love, that's energizing and it keeps us going," he says. And for his part, Bill is not showing any signs of slowing down. On top of full-time work at the shop, he gardens and practices SunDo Taoist Yoga with Steven, embodying the kind of vitality that has made Modernize Tailors an enduring sartorial presence in Vancouver. To contact Modernize Tailors and find out more about the business, visit http://www.modernizetailors.blogspot.ca . And for more info on Modernize Tailors: 100 Years of Dressing the Modern Man exhibit, visit http://www.vancouverchinesegarden.com/events . To register for A Stretch With the Tailors, a SunDo Taoist Yoga class taught by Steven Wong at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, call 604-662-3207. Bill Wong with his son Steven Wong at their Modernize Tailors shop. | Photo by Sonja Grgar

Architect of the Capitol, Screenshot/YouTube/Ancestry.com Most Americans are familiar with the painting entitled "Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776." The painting by John Trumbull was commissioned in 1817 and features 42 of the 56 signers of the Declaration including John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Hancock. The artist painted from real life when possible, making this portrait the most accurate modern depiction of the signing in existence. Architect of the Capitol The original giant painting hangs in the U.S. Capitol rotunda, and the work can also be found on the back of the 2 dollar bill. Today, in 2017, we are more than 200 years removed from America's founding. Yet the imagery of these men signing their "sacred blood and honor" is still powerful, many generations later. This Independence Day, Ancestry.com, the genealogical tracing website, brought together a group of direct descendants of the founders in a similar arrangement to Trumbull's painting. The colorful, diverse tapestry of faces tells a tale of a country which has been the imperfect, beautiful birthplace of the most fascinating range of human experience and ingenuity in history. Behold, what the sons and daughters of the Founding Fathers look like today: America, you beautiful land, you. Ancestry.com goes a step further, detailing in a printout what founding lineage each person in the assembly comes from: Some founders certainly are represented better than others in the assembly. Here are Thomas Jefferson's descendants: Here are Ben Franklin's: All in all, a proud assembly of what modern-day America looks like -- and how we are stronger in our shared lineage of freedom.

This year, in Vancouver and throughout much of the world, there has been a vigorous drive to build momentum and create movement towards positive change. From coverage of local groups promoting the integration of diversity, to reflection on larger political issues, throughout the year the Source Newspaper provided readers with a front row view of change in our community. Let's take a look back. Cover Story Moving to Vancouver was surreal. It was also not an easy decision to make. You see, I was born and raised in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) - my family still lives there. I came to Vancouver to be with my husband, whose job and life are now here, and whose roots are in British Columbia. I've now been here now for almost five years, and each year it feels more like home. Columns , Verbatim "[The PSFS]... is very much connected to the history of Japanese-Canadians... Powell Street is the heart of the Japanese-Canadian community in Vancouver, so the festival was started there and it speaks to that history." Culture , Festivals

To many, Heath Ledger had it all --baby and burgeoning career, but this episode reveals things are not as they seem. Ledger finished filming his Oscar-worthy performance of his gritty portrayal of the Joker in the "The Dark Knight." Ledger's body was found in his apartment and investigators were led to discover bizarre drawings and puzzling clues, including a diary Ledger created detailing his immersion of the Joker persona. Did this dark role impact his real life and what was his connection to Mary-Kate Olsen? Airs: April 14, 2017 at 9p ET on HLN

As times change, so does the experience of newcomers integrating into Canadian life. Farid Rohani, chair of the Laurier Institution, a foundation dedicated to understanding Canadian diversity, shares his point of view. "We were very much welcomed by those that appear to not be welcoming," says Rohani about his neighbours in an upper-middle class area... I had only lived in Vancouver for three months and yet, when I returned to Paris, I required a certain amount of time to readapt. I had hardly set foot outside, but quickly found myself immersed in the hustle and bustle of Parisian life and the bad humoured spirit that accompanies it. At first I... Columns , Verbatim

Mindanao religious leaders endorse Binay over Duterte Leaders of the Sabiel Almuhtadeen Foundation-Philippines believe Vice President Jejomar Binay can bring peace to Mindanao Published 2:28 PM, April 16, 2016 Updated 4:07 PM, April 16, 2016 MEETING WITH RELIGIOUS LEADERS. Religious leaders in Mindanao back the candidacy of Vice President Jejomar Binay on April 16, 206. Photo from the United Nationalist Alliance ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - A group of religious leaders from Mindanao endorsed the presidential bid of Vice President Jejomar Binay on Saturday, April 16. The leaders of the Sabiel Almuhtadeen Foundation-Philippines, Incorporated met with the United Nationalist Alliance standard-bearer in Zamboanga City to present their manifesto of support for his candidacy. The representatives came from Zamboanga City, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. The main functions of the foundation, composed of about 1,000 members, include supervising 200 mosques across the country, conducting religious ceremonies, and organizing Islamic seminars and symposia. "[Binay] can help solve the Mindanao agenda for lasting peace and he can erase the issue of discrimination and injustices against Muslims in the southern Philippines," said the group's secretary-general Sahie Udjah. "And we know that with his administration, and backed up by his senators-to-be, that the Muslim agenda in Senate or in the House of [Representatives] will be addressed politically, administratively and religiously so that peace in Mindanao will be in the hands of the Filipinos," Udjah added. Sulu Princess Jacel Kiram, who is advocating the Philippine claim on Sabah, is one of the senatorial bets of UNA. Udjah said the leaders have "categorically assessed and evaluated" their choice of supporting Binay instead of Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who hails from Mindanao and is the most preferred candidate in the region. "If we endorse someone publicly, it isn't for the interest of us Muslims alone, but for the interest as well of the the Lumads and the non-Muslims in the country because we can no longer afford that thousands of filipinos will die extrajudicially or through other means of execution or other means of killing people in disguise of peace," said Udjah. "We really want to preserve the life of the Filipinos, specifically the Muslims through peaceful way of shaping life, not the peaceful way of killing life," he added. It was a swipe against Duterte, whom Binay accused of committing extrajudicial killings even after the tough-talking mayor already denied the claim. Duterte, the current poll frontrunner, has been receiving flak among his presidential rivals over his plan to suppress crime within 3 to 6 months. 'That is anarchy' Binay once again warned against a Duterte presidency after one religious leader, who asked not to be identified, claimed that his cousin was killed by Duterte's men in 2001 over suspected involvement in illegal drugs. But he conceded that he did not have any evidence to prove his allegation. Still, the Vice President said this is yet another instance why the people should not allow Duterte to be elected. " Gawain ho ni Duterte 'yung ganun. All of us, Muslims, Christians, all of us have the moral responsibility na hindi ho maging presidente si Duterte kasi kapag dumating ho ang punto sabi ni Duterte na 'wag kayong magrally-rally sa Davao, ibig sabihin kapag hindi mo sinunod 'yun, papatayin ka noon ," said Binay. (That's the kind of thing Duterte does. All of us, Muslims, Christians, all of us have the moral responsibility to stop Duterte from being president because when we reach a point when Duterte stops people from rallying in Davao, for example, going against that might mean he would kill you.) " Nakakatakot naman ho 'yun (That's scary). That is anarchy," he added. - Rappler.com Who won in the 2016 Philippine elections? Check out the 2016 official election results through the link below: 2016 official election results for Presidential, Vice Presidential, Senatorial, and Party list elections Check out the 2016 unofficial election results for the national and local races through the links below 2016 Philippine Presidential Elections 2016 Philippine Vice Presidential Elections 2016 Philippine Senatorial Elections 2016 Philippine Congressional Elections 2016 Party List Elections 2016 Philippine Local Elections For live updates on the aftermath of the May 9 elections, check out our extensive 2016 Philippine elections coverage! We are agents of change! Join us in our mission to make our country truly wonderful. Learn more about Sustainability with Globe through #WonderfulPH. 7-Election is the fun way to vote. Show your support and go to any 7-Eleven stores and cast your GULP. Visit our website and be updated on the latest tally of the presidential Gulp. #HalagaNgBotoMo is a campaign that encourages Filipinos to vote wisely during the 2016 National Elections. This emphasizes that the power to affect change and progress comes with being an informed voter, not a paid one.

Most Filipinos still believe that religion plays an extremely important role in their lives. (PHOTO: REUTERS/ROMEO RANOCO) Catholic devotees in the Philippines attend mass. A recent survey conducted by the Social Weather Station, a Philippine-based research firm, showed that 85 percent of Filipinos belonging to different faiths believe that religion still plays a "very important" role in their lives. The results dipped 5 percent from the last recorded rating of 90 percent in December 2016. The latest survey also showed that 15 percent regard religion as "not very important" and "not at all important." SWS conducted the survey from March 25 to 28 on 1,200 respondents from various regions and faiths, including Catholics, Muslims, members of the Iglesia NI Cristo, and other Christian groups. Among the respondents, those belonging to the Iglesia Ni Cristo ranked highest, with 96 percent of them saying that religion is extremely important in their lives. Christians, composed of Catholics and members of other denominations, came in second at 85 percent. Muslims were in third place at 71 percent. The survey also measured the percentage of people by religion who attend weekly services consistently. Though the Philippines is a predominantly Catholic nation, results from the survey showed that only 4 percent of those who adhere to the Roman Catholic faith attend weekly masses consistently. In sharp contrast, 71 percent of Christians belonging to other denominations attend weekly worship services. Once again, Iglesia ni Cristo followers ranked highest with 90 percent attending weekly meetings routinely while Muslims had an 81 percent attendance rate. Among those who attend monthly masses, Catholics are the highest at 39 percent followed by Christians at 18 percent. Those who do not attend any services ranked a very low 0.4 to 1 percent spread across all faiths. Since SWS started conducting the survey in 1991, Catholics have consistently remained as the religious group with the lowest weekly church attendance compared to other faiths.

As the Western world becomes more secular, religious knowledge is on the decline. At Intellectual Takeout, however, we feel that educated people should possess some basic knowledge of each of the world's religions--even if they aren't practicing members of any particular faith. To get an idea of how up-to-speed you are on the topic of religion, we invite you to answer 10 questions that we put together in the quiz below. Let us know how you do! Get thought-provoking content delivered to your inbox every day! Subscribe to IT's newsletter.

8 POSTS 0 COMMENTS Jack Jenkins is the Senior Religion Reporter for ThinkProgress. He was previously the Senior Writer and Researcher for the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative at the Center for American Progress, and worked as a reporter and blogger for the Religion News Service. His stories and analysis have appeared in the Washington Post, Huffington Post, Real Clear Politics, National Catholic Reporter, and Christian Century, among other publications. Jack got his bachelor's in history and religion/philosophy from Presbyterian College and holds a Master's of Divinity from Harvard University. He also plays harmonica and ukulele.

As Islamic State (ISIS) militants pummel Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, and other conflicted Middle East countries, Islamic terror is synchronously growing across Southeast Asia. In recent months, the Philippines has seen an uptick in jihadi violence, with Muslim extremists in the country's restive south claiming a spate of bombings, abductions, and ISIS-style decapitations. In a fifth day of clashes, Islamic rebel group Abu Sayyaf on Monday killed 15 Filipino soldiers, marking the army's highest single-day death toll since President Rodrigo Duterte claimed the presidency in June. The bloodshed began last week, when Abu Sayyaf beheaded an 18-year-old kidnapping victim whose family was too poor to pay ransom. Duterte swiftly branded the rebels "enemies of the state" and ordered government troops to "destroy them." Abu Sayyaf, which translates to "bearer of the sword," is a terror group blacklisted by the United States and the Philippines. It's small, estimated at 400 members, but quickly gaining notoriety as one of the most brutal rebel organizations in Southeast Asia. Based in the mountainous Sulu province, Abu Sayyaf rebels are less classic militants and more jungle guerrilla fighters. Local Filipino forces consider them rogue brigands. "At the tactical level, the bandits have the edge on mastery of the terrain," Col. Restituto Padilla Jr., a spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, told The New York Times . "They have clearly mapped the whole area and know every nook and cranny." The militants sometimes distribute ransom earnings in their home villages, Padilla added , buying allies and goodwill: "They have become local Robin Hoods." In recent months, Abu Sayyaf has garnered profit through piracy, kidnapping Indonesian and Malaysian tugboat crewmen and snatching cargo along the maritime trade route. For countries sharing a sea border with the Philippines, the new wave of piracy raises concerns. "We don't want to see this become a new Somalia," said Indonesia's chief security minister, Luhut Pandjaitan. The Abu Sayyaf clash with Filipino troops came a day after some 70 Maute rebels raided a provincial prison in Marawi city, releasing eight Islamic fighters arrested for possession of a homemade bomb. Earlier this year, Maute militants abducted a soldier and two civilians, draping them in orange shirts before beheading them. The Maute group claims links with ISIS, mimicking the jihadists' all-black garb and flying a black flag emblazoned with the ISIS insignia. But analysts say the Filipino connection to ISIS is shaky at best. While both Abu Sayyaf and Maute militants have pledged allegiance to Syrian-based terrorists, ISIS has never officially acknowledged either group. Local government officials say so-called jihadists in the Philippines are motivated by money, not religious ideology, and claim ISIS affiliation purely for prestige. The Muslim-majority south stands in stark contrast to the rest of the country, where 8 in 10 Filipinos practice Roman Catholicism. Some blame the outgrowth of Islamic extremism on marginalization of religious minorities. "As long as Muslims continue to be oppressed, there will always be Abu Sayyaf," said Ghazali Jaafar, vice-chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a Filipino separatist group. According to the BBC, close to 1,000 Filipinos, Indonesians, and Malaysians have left their home countries to join jihad in Syria and Iraq. Share this article with friends.

7 MATCH URL: https://assets.rappler.com/2F2F50F45B374D8AA48B11FBC6CA6A59/img/40EEA62EAA9C4AAAA8AB3E8E0D212E11/Edsa-Shrine-People-Power-Monument-november-5-2017-005.jpg Thank you for voting We hope everyone is up and about this morning! A gunman wielding an assault rifle opened fire on a small-town Texas church on Sunday morning, November 5, killing 26 people and wounding 20 others in the latest mass shooting to hit the United States. The Philippine National Police (PNP) said Monday, November 6, that Amin Baco is the new leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Southeast Asia, and is leading the remaining Maute Group fighters. Meanwhile, a vast leak of financial documents - the Paradise Papers - was released by the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The ICIJ was behind the 2015 Panama Papers. These, and more stories, in today's wRap. Gunman kills 26 at Texas church service (UPDATED) The worshippers are gunned down at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, a small rural community about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of San Antonio Catholics return to EDSA as bishop warns of 'curse' 'A curse awaits a nation that kills its own people,' says Archbishop Socrates Villegas on 'Lord, Heal Our Land' Sunday at the EDSA Shrine Amin Baco is new ISIS Southeast Asia leader - PNP Amin Baco is seen as 'one of the most experienced terrorists' in the Philippines 2018 barangay, SK polls voter registration set Nov 6 to 30 The Commission on Elections resumes the registration of voters following the postponement of the village and youth council elections to May 2018 Leaks show U.S. commerce chief, UK queen's offshore investments The findings emerge as part of the Paradise Papers released by the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which was behind the 2015 Panama Papers Fewer Filipinos expect Duterte to fulfill promises - SWS Only 35% of Filipinos expect President Rodrigo Duterte to fulfill 'all' or 'most' of his promises. Declines are recorded across areas, socioeconomic classes, and age groups. [EDITORIAL] AnimatED: Saan pumalpak ang Facebook? Hindi naka-optimize ang Facebook para sa katotohanan. Narito ang limang sablay ng social media giant. Top Photo: Catholics return to EDSA on November 5, 2017, to denounce the killings in President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs. Photo by Angie de Silva/Rappler

With just a week until President Barack Obama flies to Strasbourg, France, for his first NATO conference, his top advisers are still divided over what U.S. policy should be on the summit's No. 1 issue: how to fight the war in Afghanistan. It's a debate that the Bush administration never seriously had in the seven years following the post-9/11 invasion. Now, by contrast, in the wake of three major strategic reviews , Obama is extending and deepening the discussion of Afghanistan, because the outcome of this debate may set the course of American foreign policy for the remainder of his presidency. In the first days of his term, Obama placed strict limits on the war's objectives, shedding Bush's utopian rhetoric about turning Afghanistan into a Western-style democracy and focusing instead on merely keeping the place from reverting to a haven for global terrorists. But though he may initially have thought otherwise, this didn't settle questions of military strategy: how many troops should be deployed, what they should do when they get there, and how victory or defeat will be measured and appraised. This is what the debate inside the White House is about. According to close observers, the key debate in the White House is whether the United States and NATO should wage a counterinsurgency campaign--securing the Afghan population, helping to provide basic services, and thus strengthening support for the government--or whether we should devote most of our resources to going after al-Qaida terrorists directly. Obviously, any plan will wind up doing at least a bit of both; the debate is over priorities and emphasis. The advocates for a more purely counterterrorist (or CT) approach--led forcefully by Vice President Joe Biden--point out that, after all, we're in Afghanistan only because of al-Qaida and therefore we should focus on that threat and leave the rest to the Afghans. Yes, we should offer them aid and assistance, but neither their economic development nor the survival of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's regime should be what our troops are fighting and dying for. The counterinsurgency (or COIN ) advocates argue that only through their approach can al-Qaida and the Taliban be defeated. Hunting and killing terrorists has its place, but in the long run it only gives the enemy the initiative, lets them melt away into the landscape, and does little to stop new recruits from taking their place. The best way to keep al-Qaida at bay is to dry up its support by earning the trust of the civilian population, building roads, creating jobs, and striking power-sharing deals with tribal elders. Some in the CT camp realize that the COIN-dinistas (as critics call them) have a point. Their real gripe with counterinsurgency is that it costs too much and promises too little. Even most COIN strategists acknowledge that a successful campaign, especially in Afghanistan, would require lots of troops (way more than President Obama has committed so far), lots of time (a decade or so), and lots of money (wiping out most or all of the savings achieved by the withdrawal from Iraq)--and even then the insurgents might still win. A "targeted" CT campaign, its advocates say, would at least demonstrate the West's resolve in the war on terrorism and keep al-Qaida jihadists contained. It's a type of fighting that we know how to do, and its effects are measurable. One might also argue (I don't know if anyone on the inside is doing so) that it could serve as a holding action--a way of keeping Afghanistan from plunging deeper into chaos--while we focus more intently on diplomatic measures to stabilize neighboring Pakistan. If Pakistan blows up, curing Afghanistan of its problems will be irrelevant and, in any case, impossible. Some in the COIN camp have sympathy for this argument--especially for the part about the high cost and the uncertainty of success--but they would argue back that a purely CT approach is sure to fail in the long run. In short, it's a messy plate that President Obama's been handed, and his advisers' debate only highlights the dearth of good choices and the real chance that things might get still worse, no matter what he does. He scaled back the war's objectives, but the task is daunting all the same. Obama has to choose one approach or the other this week, if he hasn't done so already. Afghanistan will fill the agenda at next week's NATO conference. He has said that he'll ask the allies to step up their involvement. But he can't expect them to accede unless he requests specific measures and explains how they fit into a clear strategic context, and he can't do that unless he decides what the strategy is.

Monday night, Donald Trump delivered his most consequential military speech to date. The president outlined his administration's strategy on Afghanistan and the ongoing, decades-long American military engagement in the nation. Trump will increase troops in Afghanistan, which has seen a resurgence in radical Islamic terror and terror attacks. The speech outlined greater overarching strategies in an approach to fighting terrorism and radical regimes across the region, most notably eliminating the concept of democracy and nation-building and enabling military leaders to act decisively to kill the enemy. At one point Trump even called the terrorists "losers." Scott Nelson/Getty Images The candor and force of the speech were very different from Barack Obama, whose measured, beta-tested approach to discussing terrorism and U.S. military engagement in the region frustrated even his closest advisers. However, there was one point in the speech where Trump broke away from Obama-era military strategy the harshest. It has to do with outlining our military strategy to the enemy. Here is Obama in 2011 outlining in a live television broadcast his Afghanistan withdrawal strategy: Win McNamee/Getty Images "Thanks to our extraordinary men and women in uniform, our civilian personnel, and our many coalition partners, we are meeting our goals. As a result, starting next month, we will be able to remove 10,000 of our troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year, and we will bring home a total of 33,000 troops by next summer, fully recovering the surge I announced at West Point. After this initial reduction, our troops will continue coming home at a steady pace as Afghan security forces move into the lead. Our mission will change from combat to support. By 2014, this process of transition will be complete, and the Afghan people will be responsible for their own security. We're starting this drawdown from a position of strength." Here is Trump describing how he will approach strategy in Afghanistan: Mark Wilson/Getty Images "Conditions on the ground -- not arbitrary timetables -- will guide our strategy from now on. America's enemies must never know our plans or believe they can wait us out. I will not say when we are going to attack, but attack we will. [...] I have already lifted restrictions the previous administration placed on our warfighters that prevented the secretary of defense and our commanders in the field from fully and swiftly waging battle against the enemy. Micromanagement from Washington, D.C., does not win battles. They are won in the field drawing upon the judgment and expertise of wartime commanders and frontline soldiers acting in real time, with real authority, and with a clear mission to defeat the enemy. That's why we will also expand authority for American armed forces to target the terrorist and criminal networks that sow violence and chaos throughout Afghanistan. These killers need to know they have nowhere to hide; that no place is beyond the reach of American might and Americans arms. Retribution will be fast and powerful." The transmitting and timetabling of our military strategy by the Obama administration was always a very sore point for members of the military who were frustrated with this style of war fighting. Darren McCollester/Getty Images It also equally frustrated members of the Afghan government. Earlier this year, the Afghan ambassador described to Independent Journal Review the difference between the Obama administration and the Trump administration as it pertains to war fighting in Afghanistan: Trump continually asked "How can you win? What does Afghanistan need to win?" in reference to our fight with terrorism. Trump wants to win. Sincerely. All the Obama administration wanted to do was not lose. The Obama administration was hesitant with us. The enemy could sense that. When the Obama administration announced its plans to pull troops out of the region, they announced the exact date they would do it. All our enemies had to do was wait [Obama] out. They knew the date they had to hang on until -- which gave them the will to fight. They used that time to recruit and build up resources. The policy to not transmit to America's enemies what our military intentions are and when we will execute them might be the most consequential change Trump has made since the Obama era. America's military allies certainly seem to think so.

(Washington Times) American bombers deployed one of the largest, non-nuclear munitions in the U.S. arsenal on an Islamic State tunnel complex in eastern Afghanistan for the first time, possibly indicating an uptick in operations against the terror group's faction in the country. Photo by gvgoebel (CC) An MC-130 Combat Talon assigned to U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command dropped a GBU-43, known as the "mother of all bombs," Thursday on the tunnel complex in the Achin district in eastern Afghanistan 's Nangahar province, which is home to Afghan Islamic State faction, known as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria-Khorasan province, or ISIS-K . "The strike was designed to minimize the risk to Afghan and U.S. Forces conducting clearing operations in the area while maximizing the destruction of ISIS-K fighters and facilities," according to a statement from U.S. Forces- Afghanistan . The attack comes as President Trump announced Wednesday that National Security Adviser H.M. McMaster would be heading to Afghanistan , to assess the current state of U.S. operations in the country. Since his stunning electoral in last November, Mr. Trump and his national security team have been mum on the way ahead for the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. The last visit by a sitting national security adviser to the country was in 2009. Then-President Barack Obama sent then National Security Adviser Jim Jones to Afghanistan , shortly before announcing his surge strategy for the country. Washington officially ended combat operations there in 2014, taking on a train-and-advise mission shortly thereafter. At 22,000 pounds with a blast yield equivalent to 11 tons of TNT, the bomb was initially built to destroy heavily fortified underground enemy bunkers. It is the most powerful conventional weapon in the U.S. armory....

In February, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. John Nicholson, shockingly told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the nearly 16-year old war in South Asia with the Taliban was essentially a "stalemate." Not exactly what anyone wanted to hear -- including Team Trump. So it's no surprise that some elements of a new Afghanistan strategy started to emerge in the press this week as the result of an internal review, including bumping up U.S. forces there by 3,000 beyond the (approximate) current troop level of 9,000. The new policy would end the Obama administration's limitations on the air campaign, U.S. troop numbers in country as well as the involvement of American advisers in their role assisting Afghan security forces in the field, reports The Washington Post. After years of seesawing U.S. troop levels and commitment, the purpose of the new strategy -- beyond rooting out al-Qaeda and ISIS -- seems to be to exert more military pressure on the Taliban to force negotiations, bringing some peace to the long-troubled land. No easy task. It's important to note that President Trump reportedly hasn't yet signed off on the new plan, though he is expected to make a decision soon, at a minimum before he attends the NATO mini-summit in Brussels at the end of the month. While in Brussels, he'll likely ask NATO partners to pony up additional resources for the alliance's Resolute Support mission. (NATO and other partners currently provide 6,500 troops for training, advising and assisting the Afghan security forces.) In the meantime, according to White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday, the president is asking hard questions: "... one of the things that he [Trump] has asked his national security team to do is to actually ... rethink the strategy. What are we doing to achieve the goals that you are asking about, how do we actually ... win? How do we eliminate the threat?" Those are all critical queries. Eventually, we'll all want to know more about the new plan -- if approved -- such as, how the strategy deals with the continuing challenge of Pakistan, where Taliban fighters have been able to find a safe haven across the border for years. What about al-Qaeda and ISIS in Afghanistan? And how does the new approach address the problem of the Russians and Iranians, who, by some reporting, are involved in Afghanistan, including allegedly backing our main adversary, the Taliban? What about good governance from Kabul? These are all important parts of any comprehensive strategy. There's a long-standing anecdote -- perhaps apocryphal, but telling -- involving the Taliban, where one fighter is reported to have said that, while the Americans have the watches, we (the Taliban) have the time. In other words, all the Taliban has to do is really survive U.S. intervention as a movement among the people, waiting out the foreign "invaders" who will eventually grow weary of the fight and then go home like the Brits and Russians did before them. Hopefully a new strategy -- with new international energy from NATO and other partners -- will help the Taliban, al-Qaeda and ISIS accept that their time as a force for violence and repression in Afghanistan is finally running out

Under the current plan, the United States will halve the number of troops in Afghanistan to just over 5,000 this year, gradually winding down to a "normal" US embassy presence by the end of 2016. That schedule could now change, at least in part, suggested Carter on his first trip abroad since swearing in as the Pentagon chief on Tuesday, as the United States also rethinks the future of its counter-terrorism mission in Afghanistan. His remarks set the stage for talks next month when the Afghan president is expected in Washington. "Our priority now is to make sure this progress sticks," Carter said at a joint conference with President Ashraf Ghani, hours after landing in Kabul. "That is why President (Barack) Obama is considering a number of options to reinforce our support for President Ghani's security strategy, including possible changes to the timeline for our drawdown of US troops." Ghani said he expected to discuss US troop numbers with Obama "in the context of the larger partnership." US General John Campbell, who leads international forces in Afghanistan, suggested his focus for now was sustaining enough US trainers, advisors and counter-terrorism forces in Afghanistan during 2015 and 2016, not what happens later. "Right now I think we're comfortable looking at '15 and '16," Campbell told reporters traveling with Carter. The current strategy has drawn sharp criticism from Republicans in Congress, who say that hard-won gains made against the Taliban could be lost in much the same way that violence returned to Iraq after the US withdrawal, Reuters reported. Afghanistan's national army and police suffered heavy losses last year, the bloodiest since the war against Taliban militants began in 2001.

New York (Tomdispatch.com) - A U.S. drone strike in Yemen. (I could be talking about 2002 or 2018.) Missions by Green Berets in Iraq. (I could be talking about 2003 or 2018.) While so much about the War on Terror turned Global War on Terrorism turned World War IV turned the Long War turned "generational [...] The Afghanistan government controls only about half of Afghanistan, 229 of 407 districts. Maybe because it is a bad news story, our Afghanistan War, the longest in our history, keeps slipping our minds, along with thoughts of the Americans still fighting there. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, has issued a report [...] By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - This year, the merriment of Now-Ruz in Kabul was marred by a suicide bombing that killed at least 33 persons and wounded 68, according to the Afghani Ministry of Health. The perpetrator was allegedly a member of ISIL (which really needs another name, since it isn't [...] TeleSur | - - A bomb attack also took place in the capital Kabul killing at least one person. Islamic State group in Afghanistan claimed responsibility. Taliban militants have attacked an Afghan army post and killed 18 government soldiers, the defense ministry said Saturday, while a suicide bomber in the capital killed one person and [...] By Nick Turse | (Tomdispatch.com) | - - 2017 was a year of investigations for U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). There was the investigation of the two-star commander of U.S. Army Africa who allegedly sent racy texts to an enlisted man's wife. There was the investigation into the alleged killing of a Special Forces soldier by [...]

A white Ohio mom is suing a sperm bank for sending her vials from a black donor, saying her biracial 2-year-old daughter will be stigmatized by her family and the "intolerant" town where they live and has to travel to get her hair done. Untangling the grievances here is daunting: Is the woman racist for objecting to a black sperm donor? Is the sperm bank homophobic for providing poor service to a lesbian? Should the town be razed for being racist, homophobic and offering inadequate sperm classification? How exactly are the Koch brothers to blame? Jennifer Cramblett thought she was being inseminated with a white man's sperm in 2011 and only discovered after she was pregnant that the Midwest Sperm Bank sent the wrong batch, according to the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court. The child, Payton, is now 2 years old and already experiencing prejudice in Uniontown, where 98 percent of the residents are white, court papers say. Excuse me, but what prejudice does a biracial two-year-old face? Segregated sippy cups? Being sent to the back of the Big Wheel? As an sleep-deprived parent of former two-year-olds, one of the few redeeming features of that age is a complete lack of preexisting biases. As an example of the difficulties the family faces, the suit cited hair care for the toddler. This is Selma all over again. "Getting a young daughter's hair cut is not particularly stressful for most mothers, but to Jennifer it is not a routine matter, because Payton has hair typical of an African American girl," the suit says. "To get a decent cut, Jennifer must travel to a black neighborhood, far from where she lives, where she is obviously different in appearance, and not overtly welcome." Eek -- not a black neighborhood! The struggle is real. And, for the record, getting a two-year-old girl's hair cut is a harrowing nightmare for every parent. My eardrums are just beginning to heal. Cramlett's lawyer, Thomas Intili, told NBC News his client "lives in an all-white community in eastern Ohio. She did not encounter any African-American people until she entered college. Not all her friends and family members are racially sensitive." No offense, mom, but it sounds like you're the one freaking out about race, not your friends or family members -- and certainly not your innocent child. No one else in Uniontown is suing over sperm being insufficiently Aryan. The only person making race an issue is Cramlett. What do you think her child will think when she learns how disappointed mom was over her racial makeup? Not only that she sued over this "mistake," but that she ran to the national media to publicize her anger over her daughter's unacceptable melanin count? Meanwhile, Cramlett's hometown is bewildered at her allegations of intolerance. John Arnold, a town trustee, says the community accepts everyone . "We have a large Mennonite community and a lot of the members have adopted African-American children and babies from all over the world and those kids have been treated fine," he said. Speaking of Cramlett and her partner, he adds, "they obviously have a beautiful, healthy 2-year-old." This guy sounds like a monster. In this age of designer babies and in light of the sperm bank's legitimate error, this ungrateful mom probably has a legal case. But Cramlett's plan to make money by making her kid feel unloved and calling everyone in her family and community a racist makes her the true culprit in this story. Image via NBC News .

Laura Collins, in Cincinnati writing for the Daily Mail , published an absolutely despicable piece on the young boys parents, including every detail of his fathers criminal history . The actual lede and headline for her piece was all about how the young boys father, Deonne Dickerson, had committed crimes before. A writer for the daily mail published the racist material, not the New York Daily News. NYDN is reporting ON the racism, and the general turn of focus of the narrative of the zoo story, via 'news' sources like the Daily Mail. This NYDN piece is ABOUT a Daily Mail article and the racist narrative thereof.

I saw this on the news crawl yesterday morning, but there was no mention of the kid's condition. Glad he'll be OK. And fuck you fucking racists in whitebread fucking Rochester Hills. PM accepts Rudd's resignation after 200 MPs sign letter accusing her of making up immigration policy 'on the hoof' What makes this even worse is that there is no similar investigation into white identity extremists, who actually ARE a threat to the safety of many Americans. Depressing. Samaria Rice plans to renovate the St. Clair Avenue building the Tamir Rice Foundation purchased and open a center honoring her son in 2019.

What makes this even worse is that there is no similar investigation into white identity extremists, who actually ARE a threat to the safety of many Americans. Depressing. Samaria Rice plans to renovate the St. Clair Avenue building the Tamir Rice Foundation purchased and open a center honoring her son in 2019. Wanderfound 2018-05-26 03:34:23 UTC #175 Could've posted this in the Undocumented Americans or Drums of War thread, too. History time again: The Rosewood massacre was a racially motivated massacre of black people and destruction of a black town that took place during the first week of January 1923 in rural Levy County, Florida. At least six black people and two white people were killed, though eyewitness accounts suggested a death toll as high as 150. The town of Rosewood was abandoned and destroyed in what contemporary news reports characterized as a race riot. Racial disturbances were common during the early 20th century in the Unit... Y'all notice that most of what US history describes as "race riots" are actually white lynch mobs on the rampage?

A white Ohio couple unwittingly sparked a national debate about race and parenting after news broke that they are suing a sperm bank for mistakenly sending them several samples from a black male donor. Uniontown residents Jennifer Cramblett and her partner, Amanda Zinkon, say they were "mad," "upset," and "couldn't think straight" when they learned that in 2011 Midwest Sperm Bank in Downer's Grove, Ill., gave them sperm from donor No. 330, a black man, instead of donor No. 380, a white man. The mix-up by the Chicago-area bank resulted in Cramblett giving birth to a biracial--half black, half white--child. Although she says she's happy to have her now-two-year-old daughter, Payton, Cramblett filed a $50,000 lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court, claiming the mix-up has resulted in "personal injuries, medical expense, pain, suffering, emotional distress, and other economic and non-economic losses." "Jennifer was crying, confused and upset. All of the thought, care and planning that she and Amanda had undertaken to control their baby's parentage had been rendered meaningless," the suit alleges. "In an instant, Jennifer's excitement and anticipation of her pregnancy was replaced with anger, disappointment and fear." The court documents go on to cite Cramblett's "intolerant" family, "all-white" rural community, and even Payton's "typical" African American hair as potential hardships in raising the girl. While Cramblett says she's happy she has a healthy child, she told NBC News , "I'm not going to let [the sperm bank] get away with not being held accountable." Cramblett insists that she doesn't want Payton to "feel like an outcast" in their 98 percent white town, which is about 20 minutes south of Akron. But it's hard to see how the child won't feel like an outsider once she learns her parents sued over her very existence and listed their extended family's bigoted views as grounds for the complaint --which notes that one of Cramblett's uncles "speaks openly and derisively about persons of color" and that Cramblett "did not know African Americans until her college days at the University of Akron." Typically, most people would be sympathetic to Cramblett's case. However, the issue of the little girl's race has turned what appeared to be a clear-cut case of negligence on the part of the sperm bank into a debate over whether Cramblett and her wife are even fit to parent their biracial daughter at all. While it's true that raising a black, or biracial, child in America ain't no crystal stair (just ask Trayvon Martin's and Michael Brown's parents), it's not impossible--even for white parents. As writer and cultural critic Robert Jones Jr., also known as Son of Baldwin, put it, although Cramblett and her wife have experienced discrimination when it comes to their sexuality, they were OK with cloaking themselves in the privilege of whiteness until it was stripped away. "[Cramblett and Zinkon] were just fine with living in a racially intolerant, antiblack town when they then could be racially intolerant and antiblack right along with everybody else and pretty much blend in," Jones wrote . "But the moment they became raced as a result of a child who is a part of a race that they didn't even come in contact with except through television and college; the moment THEY were fitting to be the victims of the town's racial intolerance, THEN it became a problem." Meanwhile, some area residents are speaking out against Cramblett's claims. John Arnold, a trustee for Lake Township, of which Uniontown is a part, told NBC News that residents are more welcoming and open-minded than the suit alleges. "We have a large Mennonite community, and a lot of the members have adopted African American children and babies from all over the world, and those kids have been treated fine," Arnold said. "I hope that [Cramblett and Zinkon's] perception of how they might be treated in Uniontown is not the reality." Whatever the reality in the town may be, instead of seeing their daughter's African American heritage and hair--yes, her hair--as some sort of Herculean task that must be overcome, Cramblett and her wife would be better off taking a moment to school themselves and their families and address their, as the suit claims, "limited cultural competency relative to African Americans." In the long run, doing exactly that is what's in the best interest of their daughter.

A white Ohio mom is suing a sperm bank for sending her vials from a black donor, saying her biracial 2-year-old daughter will be stigmatized by her family and the "intolerant" town where they live and has to travel to get her hair done. Untangling the grievances here is daunting: Is the woman racist for objecting to a black sperm donor? Is the sperm bank homophobic for providing poor service to a lesbian? Should the town be razed for being racist, homophobic and offering inadequate sperm classification? How exactly are the Koch brothers to blame? Jennifer Cramblett thought she was being inseminated with a white man's sperm in 2011 and only discovered after she was pregnant that the Midwest Sperm Bank sent the wrong batch, according to the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court. The child, Payton, is now 2 years old and already experiencing prejudice in Uniontown, where 98 percent of the residents are white, court papers say. Excuse me, but what prejudice does a biracial two-year-old face? Segregated sippy cups? Being sent to the back of the Big Wheel? As an sleep-deprived parent of former two-year-olds, one of the few redeeming features of that age is a complete lack of preexisting biases. As an example of the difficulties the family faces, the suit cited hair care for the toddler. This is Selma all over again. "Getting a young daughter's hair cut is not particularly stressful for most mothers, but to Jennifer it is not a routine matter, because Payton has hair typical of an African American girl," the suit says. "To get a decent cut, Jennifer must travel to a black neighborhood, far from where she lives, where she is obviously different in appearance, and not overtly welcome." Eek -- not a black neighborhood! The struggle is real. And, for the record, getting a two-year-old girl's hair cut is a harrowing nightmare for every parent. My eardrums are just beginning to heal. Cramlett's lawyer, Thomas Intili, told NBC News his client "lives in an all-white community in eastern Ohio. She did not encounter any African-American people until she entered college. Not all her friends and family members are racially sensitive." No offense, mom, but it sounds like you're the one freaking out about race, not your friends or family members -- and certainly not your innocent child. No one else in Uniontown is suing over sperm being insufficiently Aryan. The only person making race an issue is Cramlett. What do you think her child will think when she learns how disappointed mom was over her racial makeup? Not only that she sued over this "mistake," but that she ran to the national media to publicize her anger over her daughter's unacceptable melanin count? Meanwhile, Cramlett's hometown is bewildered at her allegations of intolerance. John Arnold, a town trustee, says the community accepts everyone . "We have a large Mennonite community and a lot of the members have adopted African-American children and babies from all over the world and those kids have been treated fine," he said. Speaking of Cramlett and her partner, he adds, "they obviously have a beautiful, healthy 2-year-old." This guy sounds like a monster. In this age of designer babies and in light of the sperm bank's legitimate error, this ungrateful mom probably has a legal case. But Cramlett's plan to make money by making her kid feel unloved and calling everyone in her family and community a racist makes her the true culprit in this story. Image via NBC News .

The armed occupation of Malheur Wildlife Refuge has gone on too long. One day was too long, and now its three weeks and counting. Its time to show our solidarity with the people of Occupied Burns. The intimidation tactics being deployed in Harney County by various right wing militias, whether its Ammon Bundy and crew, or the Idaho 3%ers, or the so-called Oath Keepers, are not new to us, nor confined to the Burns area. ROP staff has been subject to these tactics of surveillance, trespassing, threats, and sabotage. The people of Josephine County experienced much of the same in April, during the Oath Keepers armed encampment at the Sugar Pine Mine. In October just days after the UCC gun massacre, Roseburg residents were subjected to an armed response to President Obamas visit to pay his respects. Even worse, various elected officials, such as Yamhill County Commissioner Mary Starrett and Roseburg State Representative Dallas Heard have begun to lend support to the armed takeover. Time to draw a line! The Rural Organizing Project calls for a Day of Action across Oregon on Saturday, January 30th. ................ The Rural Organizing Project (ROP) is a statewide organization of locally-based groups that work to create communities accountable to a standard of human dignity: the belief in the equal worth of all people, the need for equal access to justice and the right to self-determination. Starting in 1992, ROPs challenges to the anti-democratic right have earned ROP a national reputation for being an effective grassroots organization that takes on the hard issues. We believe in 3 guiding principles: Every human being matters Every issue is interconnected Its all about transformational organizing The catalyst for ROP was the Oregon Citizens Alliances outrageous Abnormal Behaviors Initiative, which targeted gay and lesbian Oregonians for legalized second-class citizenship. Oregonians in small towns across the state were mobilized, many for the first time, as basic tenets of the Constitution were at risk through this ballot initiative. ROP stepped into this organizing opportunity to fill a niche the radical right was trying to claim. ROP is not your typical organization. We work with an organized grassroots base ............. [center]

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Wild Bill : @Tcat, He must have gotten the wrong idea and made himself fit the hard core unemployable profile. Now, his career... VT Patriot : Hah, you used the words 'thought, facts and truth' and 'left' in the same sentence. That is a mistake.... VT Patriot : Saul, I read your comment and was ready to applaud it until the last part. Those that are rioting... Graystone : Now If FLIR is interested in marketing - and good will - they should "donate" a unit to the ECPD. tomcat : @ Wild Bill this liberal POS xander13 fits the profile you described in one post you made on this...

In The Tank (ep152) - AFEC 2018, and Universal Health Care Debate! Podcast Donny Kendal, with the help of Director of Communications Jim Lakely and State Government Relations Manager Charlie Katebi, presents episode #152 of the In The Tank Podcast. Fulfilling the Promise of American Energy Dominance at AFEC (Guest: Joe Balash) Podcast Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Land and Minerals Management Joe Balash gave a passionate and hopeful speech at AFEC 2018 on the strategy the Department is using to establish American energy dominance across the world. Heartland Institute co-founder Joe Bast discusses The Heartland Institute's history, it's accomplishments and what it hopes to achieve under new leadership.

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VT Patriot : Saul, I read your comment and was ready to applaud it until the last part. Those that are rioting... Graystone : Now If FLIR is interested in marketing - and good will - they should "donate" a unit to the ECPD. tomcat : @ Wild Bill this liberal POS xander13 fits the profile you described in one post you made on this... VT Patriot : Amen Mrs. Hodges. I believe we are all here to help you and your heroic son. Please keep us... JP : Dumber in the head than a hog is in the a$$... Just say'n.... JP ...

President Trump signed the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending deal on Friday, averting another government shutdown. Written largely in secret and passed without any time to read its 2,232 pages, the bill violated pretty much everything the GOP had promised about reforming the process of legislating. But the sausage was even uglier than the sausage-making. For conservatives, with the exception of a large increase in defense spending, the bill is a hot mess. It raises discretionary spending 13 percent, advances almost no GOP domestic priorities while fulfilling many Democratic ones. There's a pittance for border security and some new fencing, but nothing for the president's coveted "big, beautiful wall." It was reportedly this fact that prompted Trump to tweet a veto threat on Friday morning, sending White House and Hill staffers scrambling. Then, in a shambolic press conference cum signing ceremony later that day, he grudgingly said he'd sign what he called "crazy" legislation. But, he added, he would "never" sign another bill like this again. The key message of the day: It's not my fault! So whose fault was it? Those backstabbing blackguards of the Beltway. "Total betrayal by the Senate and House leadership," said Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, one of Trump's most reliable unofficial spokeswomen. "The president and the people who voted for him have been betrayed by Speaker Paul Ryan and Leader Mitch McConnell. And the people in Kentucky and Wisconsin need to make sure that these guys are defeated in the next election so this president can carry on the agenda that we elected him to do." Pirro went on: "Folks, I want to be real clear. This is not on Donald Trump. This is on the leadership of the Republican Party, the very people this president should be able to count on. In truth, the president is surrounded by inept, incompetent warriors. And this bill is a reflection of just that . . ." It's interesting when people who insist that Trump is the greatest negotiator in history and the most farsighted three-dimensional chess player since Commander Spock also insist that he got rolled. But that is the new party line, apparently, and it must be toed. "The president was really sold a bill of goods here," Trump confidante Chris Ruddy told the Washington Post. There's just one problem: It's a lie. Or, to be more charitable, it's untrue, even if those saying it believe it (in some cases, no doubt, because that's what Trump tells them). A source who was involved in drafting the bill tells me that the White House was in the loop on the negotiations. Trump's legislative affairs director, Marc Short, signed off on the deal -- and seemed to be as surprised as anyone by the veto threat. The president was briefed on the major pieces all along. And let's not forget: Trump agreed to, lobbied for and signed into law the budget framework for the legislation in February. Why the lie? Undoubtedly for some people, it's too hard to process the idea that the president deserves blame or is out of his depth. Many of the same people decrying all the wasteful spending in the bill haven't noted that Trump's stated reason for threatening a veto was that it didn't spend more on a wall or include a fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. But cognitive dissonance is only part of the story. This stabbed-in-the-back narrative -- Dolchstoss in German -- is not merely a cynical excuse for letting Trump off the hook. It also lays essential groundwork for Trump to escape blame if the GOP loses the House in the 2018 midterms. It's worth recalling the political climate the week before the omnibus was released. Democratic Rep. Conor Lamb had just won a special election deep in Pennsylvania's Trump country, and the air was thick with predictions that the GOP would get crushed in November. Despite a booming economy, anti-Trump sentiment was fueling a Democratic wave. The Dolchstoss myth solves that problem. Amy Kremer, co-founder of the super PAC Women Vote Trump, and countless others have insisted that betrayal -- not Trump -- is why the GOP will lose in November. "Democrats just won November #midterms," Kremer tweeted when the bill was passed. "No point in wasting my time between now and then." Conservative discontent over the omnibus spending bill will surely make things harder for the GOP, and for the president. But the most important priority has been saved: the ability to say Trump is not to blame. Jonah Goldberg is a syndicated columnist and author. He explores politics and culture for National Review as a senior editor. He is the author of "Liberal Fascism" and "The Tyranny of Cliches: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas." For more of his reports, Go Here Now .

An unlikely alliance between a top Democrat, and a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, has cast a trip line in front of the House's "running start" on the appropriations process. Last night, House Republicans delayed a vote on the first spending bill of the new session. The bill would have provided... This week has been very revealing in terms of what conservatives actually think and what progressives imagine we think. The "big" question that kicked it all off was "would you attend a gay wedding?" This was, apparently, supposed to separate the knuckle-dragging haters on the right from the sophisticated and pious...

They said it couldn't be done. The Liberal Party led by Paul Martin were, I was assured when I went to work on Parliament Hill, guaranteed to win a huge majority. Instead, Stephen Harper became Prime Minister and served for almost 10 years. I've criticized Harper from the right, and we all know how much Canada's left despises him. But today, let's look back at the man's accomplishments and acknowledge that, say what you will, he clearly loved his country. Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

Arnold Ahlert is a former New York Post op-ed columnist currently writing for Front Page Magazine and the Patriot Post . Few things require a more willing suspension of common sense than a single statistic pounded into the heads of the public by progressives and their media collaborators. Daily Signal columnist William Campenni gets right to the heart of the matter. "Call any journalist, pundit, anchor, strategist or lobbyist and ask: 1. How many illegal immigrants [...] Unless a trio of columnists from two major newspapers lied, the scope of President Obama's foreign-policy fecklessness has now been revealed. According to the Washington Post's David Ignatius, Obama has reduced the fight against ISIS to a "cost-benefit calculus" because the president "does not think this is an existential battle that is worth the cost [...]

What happens when Donald Trump runs for president on a racist platform, aligns himself with racists in congress, fills his White House with racists, spends his first eight months in office openly promoting racism, and then suddenly flip flops on a core racist issue? The pushback from his base and allies is arriving with a... Read More Last week, Facebook finally acknowledged what it had long been denying: Russia used fake accounts to run paid ads on Facebook with the intention of getting Donald Trump elected. The ads didn't mention Trump by name, but they advocated for his key political issues. Now comes another stunning revelation: the Russians paid for their Facebook... Read More Last night Donald Trump told Democratic leaders that he was willing to cave to them on DACA, while also abandoning his long running idea for a border wall. After the Democrats announced this, the backlash against Trump from his own base came so swiftly and harshly that he quickly denied he'd caved. Now he's unraveling... Read More

(Article changed on September 5, 2013 at 11:39) (Article changed on September 5, 2013 at 11:35) (Article changed on September 1, 2013 at 14:26) We tend to discount our unrequited loves, but not getting our way with someone is as important to the narrative of our lives as the outcome we so ardently desire. As in all walks of life, so, too, in courtship: discovering what doesn't work, provides the clues we need to change, and changed, to cap failure with success. The next time you raise a glass to a lover, pause for a moment and recall someone who refused your court. Then offer up a silent toast to the lessons of love unrequited. - Advertisement - Originally appeared at The Good Men Project as part of their original series 100 Words on Love .

BILOELA, Australia Apr 21, 2018 -- This is urgent. I need you to join me in showing your support for Priya, Nades and their two beautiful little girls, Kopika and Tharunicaa by Wednesday 2 May. In March, Peter Dutton's Border Force took this beautiful family from their home in Biloela, central Queensland. Since last minute legal action postponed their removal from Australia, Priya, Nades and their two little Australian-born girls have been isolated in a Melbourne detention centre. But time is running out for this much-loved family. On Wednesday 2 May, the family's lawyers will appear before the Federal Circuit Court in Melbourne. I'm coming to Melbourneto support Priya and Nades as they face the terrifying possibility that they and their beautiful daughters could be forced back to a life of danger and uncertainty. If you live in Melbourne, I urgently need your help to bring Biloela to Melbourne for Priya, Nades and their two little girls. Please join me at the Flagstaff Gardens on the morning of Wednesday 2 May. I'll have dozens of "Welcome to Biloela" signs and cardboard cockatoos (the symbol of our town) and I'll need your help to hold them on the day. Find out more and tell me you're coming at: https://www.facebook.com/events/368013960367348/ No matter where you live, please help me to bring the spirit of Biloela to your town or suburb by taking a photo with your own, home-made "Welcome to Biloela" sign at a local landmark before 2 May. Please send your photos to me at hometobilo@gmail.com and share them on social media with the hashtag #hometobilo. Priya and Nades' lawyers are doing everything they can to protect this family from being forced from Australia to danger. But the courts can only make a decision on narrow legal questions. I wish that the courts were allowed to consider how Priya use to bring her home-made curries to the doctors up at the local hospital. I wish they could know how Nades volunteered for Vinnies before getting his job at the meat works. And I wish they were permitted to hear how little Kopika asks constantly to see her friends from Biloela, unable to understand that she is far, far away from home. Unfortunately, that's not how our legal system works when it comes to people seeking safety. But Mr Dutton is allowed to listen. Under Australian law, the Minister for Immigration has the power to intervene at any time. Mr Dutton can allow this beautiful family to remain here in Australia, where they are welcome and wanted. Over the last few weeks, I've learned that when it comes to standing up for people seeking safety, it doesn't matter if you live in a big city or a little town. Biloela has a population of less than 6,000, but over 95,000 people have signed our petition, thousands have responded to a call to send-hand written letters to Prime Minister Turnbull and we've seen peaceful protests, vigils - and even a mural! - right around Australia. I know that with your help, we can show Mr Dutton how much we care for this beautiful family. On behalf of Priya, Nades and the people of Biloela - thank you. Angela Fredericks Keep fighting for people power! Politicians and rich CEOs shouldn't make all the decisions. Today we ask you to help keep Change.org free and independent. Our job as a public benefit company is to help petitions like this one fight back and get heard. If everyone who saw this chipped in monthly we'd secure Change.org's future today. Help us hold the powerful to account. Can you spare a minute to become a member today? I'll power Change with $5 monthly We were unable to post your comment. Please try again.

Keep fighting for people power! Politicians and rich CEOs shouldn't make all the decisions. Today we ask you to help keep Change.org free and independent. Our job as a public benefit company is to help petitions like this one fight back and get heard. If everyone who saw this chipped in monthly we'd secure Change.org's future today. Help us hold the powerful to account. Can you spare a minute to become a member today? I'll power Change with $5 monthly We were unable to post your comment. Please try again.

BILOELA, Australia Jun 29, 2018 -- Last night I spoke with Priya. After days of fear and terror, I was so glad to hear some lightness in her voice. We may need to call urgently for help again. But for now I have just request. Please sign our new petition urging Qantas and other airlines to fly this family home, and share it with your friends: https://www.change.org/HomeToBiloela It has been an emotional rollercoaster of a week. On Friday night, Priya and Nades were given notices telling them they could be forced from Australia as soon as the following Monday. So we put out a call for help. Your response was amazing. As Priya and Nades' incredible legal term moved heaven and earth to prepare an urgent injunction, you flooded Mr Dutton's voicemail and facebook page with messages and comments. By Sunday, we had written confirmation that no deportation would be attempted before Tuesday. We knew we had to do more. Inspired by the US airlines refusing to fly children far from their parents, we launched a new petition calling on Qantas and eleven other airlines to refuse to fly Priya, Nades, Kopika and Tharunicaa anywhere but home, to Biloela: https://www.change.org/HomeToBiloela That night, we came together for a candlelit vigil in the Biloela Lions Park. It was an evening full of love and community spirit, and we watched the children of Biloela run around the park in their home-made, "DESTINATION: BILOELA" aeroplanes, wishing that three year old Kopika was here to join them. Monday morning brought huge relief as the courts granted an injunction to stop Priya and Kopika's deportation, giving lawyers a precious few weeks to prepare an appeal. But with the relief came fear. I can't hope to explain the legal technicalities, but the complexities of our immigration system mean that Nades and Tharinucaa are not protected by the injunction. Government lawyers said that they don't usually split up families. But after everything else Border Force has put Priya, Nades, Kopika and Tharunicaa through, we need to stay alert. Priya and Nades both send their love and tremendous thanks to each and every one of you, for taking them into your hearts and standing up for their safety. With eternal thanks, Angela PS I want to add my own heartfelt thanks. I have been strengthened by the number of messages I have received from people. I apologise if I haven't gotten back to you personally, but please know it means the world to me to have your support. Keep fighting for people power! Politicians and rich CEOs shouldn't make all the decisions. Today we ask you to help keep Change.org free and independent. Our job as a public benefit company is to help petitions like this one fight back and get heard. If everyone who saw this chipped in monthly we'd secure Change.org's future today. Help us hold the powerful to account. Can you spare a minute to become a member today? I'll power Change with $5 monthly We were unable to post your comment. Please try again.

Melbourne's Royal Women's Hospital (RWH) has decided to halve its funding for the Pregnancy Advisory Service (PAS), a vital Melbourne service. This decision is particularly baffling in the light of the health minister's commitment to fund a state-wide service which, by all accounts, would have gone to the RWH. Tragically, the RWH has backed away and instead decided to reduce the service. The funding was picked up by Women's Health Victoria to develop 1800 My Options, an online, state-wide phone service providing information on sexual and reproductive health service. At the time of writing almost 60,000 people had signed a change.org petition asking immigration minister Peter Dutton to allow a young family of Tamil asylum seekers, snatched from their home at 5am and detained by the Australian Border Force, to stay in Australia. The family, Priya, her husband Nadesalingam and their daughters, 9-month-old Dharuniga and 2-year-old Kopiga, were woken on March 5 at their home in Biloela, central Queensland, by police, Border Force officers and Serco guards. A group of 29 refugees, including eight children, became the fifth group of refugees to escape detention when they left Nauru on March 4 for resettlement in the US. The group consisted of Sri Lankan, Rohingyan and Afghan families, and single men from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Since the US resettlement deal began in September a total of 139 refugees have left Nauru and 85 have left Manus Island. More than 500 people gathered at the Coonamble Bowls Club on February 10 to declare they do not want a gas pipeline across NSW's western slopes and would fight to protect the Great Artesian Basin. The meeting expressed deep-seated concern about the potential threat of coal seam gas (CSG) mining to the Great Artesian Basin. APA has been contracted to build a gas pipeline through the NSW slopes and plains for gas giant Santos, which wants to sink 850 CSG wells in a 95,000-hectare project area in the Pilliga State Forest. Socialist Alliance councillor Sue Bolton reported that on February 14 Moreland City Council in Victoria passed her motion calling for an increase in the Newstart allowance. This follows similar decisions by 10 South Australian local councils prompted by campaigners from the Anti-Poverty Network. The motion called for Newstart to be increased to the Henderson poverty line. Newstart is currently $177 below the poverty line.

Argentine activists and feminists organised in the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion have vowed to continue their fight after the Senate rejected the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Bill on August 8, TeleSUR English said. This bill, passed by Congress in June, would have ended the criminalisation of women seeking to terminate a pregnancy within the first 14 weeks. The Tasmanian Liberal government might have hoped that by announcing on July 2 that it had secured an abortion provider whose services are due to open in October, the "abortion issue" might have gone away. It is a vain hope. Cricket Australia's decision to sack Angela Williamson on June 29 because of her tweets campaigning for abortion access in Tasmania, and her subsequent decision to go public and appeal to the Fair Work Commission, has reignited the issue. Melbourne's Royal Women's Hospital (RWH) has decided to halve its funding for the Pregnancy Advisory Service (PAS), a vital Melbourne service. This decision is particularly baffling in the light of the health minister's commitment to fund a state-wide service which, by all accounts, would have gone to the RWH. Tragically, the RWH has backed away and instead decided to reduce the service. The funding was picked up by Women's Health Victoria to develop 1800 My Options, an online, state-wide phone service providing information on sexual and reproductive health service.

Mar 26, 2015 -- Thanks to your signatures and support, the U.S. Department of State has agreed to recommend my application to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for approval. There's just one more step to take as far as immigration officials are concerned, and that's getting the DHS to approve my application and allow me to come home. This week, my friends and community members are making phone calls to Carlos Guevara, the Special Assistant at DHS who is handling our case, to ask him to please grant me the waiver that will allow me to return to the U.S. Can you join them and make a call, too? Here's his number: 202-447-3867 Your signatures on my petition made a huge difference in getting me this far, and now I need your voice to bring me all the way home. Knowing that you are standing with me is what keeps my spirits high and my hope alive. - Angelo Keep fighting for people power! Politicians and rich CEOs shouldn't make all the decisions. Today we ask you to help keep Change.org free and independent. Our job as a public benefit company is to help petitions like this one fight back and get heard. If everyone who saw this chipped in monthly we'd secure Change.org's future today. Help us hold the powerful to account. Can you spare a minute to become a member today? I'll power Change with $5 monthly We were unable to post your comment. Please try again.

Click to enlarge full text of Attorney General's letter to Dominic Grieve, his Tory shadow. Andrew Tyrie asked some sharp questions of the Lord Chancellor back in April when he was giving evidence to the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee. Fatty Falconer seemed to think the Attorney General should step aside and not interfere: Mr Tyrie: Could I ask a number of detailed questions about your understanding of the Honours Act, another piece of legislation that was put on the statute book at around the same time. For example, can you give the public an assurance that the Attorney General will not interfere in any way with the conclusions of the DPP and that the DPP would be permitted, were there to be something brought to him, to take any decisions for prosecution wholly independent of the Attorney General? Lord Falconer of Thoroton : Of course. It is a matter for the DPP and the Crown Prosecution Service to make decisions in relation to this in the normal way and, of course, the Attorney General would not interfere in the normal course of decisions being made. Mr Tyrie : I am glad you are able to give that assurance. Do you know of any bar to the bringing of a private prosecution under the Honours Act? Lord Falconer of Thoroton : None that I am aware of. Guido was unaware that it is possible to bring a private prosecution... November 7, 2006 at 9:48 am Since so many asked, Guido took Miss Fawkes and Mrs Fawkes to the Zoo to see the monkeys on 5/11. Sadly Guy the Gorilla is no longer there. It is a bit tricky for Guido at this time of year under the terms of the new Terrorism Bill. The creation of a new offence of the "glorification" of terror - for people who "praise or celebrate" terrorism makes life a bit complicated. So if, as I do, you celebrate the valiant attempt by Catholic freedom fighters to blow up parliament and the tyrants in it, you face arrest. No need for a trial, 28 days in jail without charge is the new way. Guido at least had a trial in 1605... Remember, remember, the 5 th of November The Gunpowder Treason and plot ; I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason Should ever be forgot. If we don't need trials, maybe we no longer need the Old Bailey? See and enjoy the fireworks ... So much for principle... Zac Goldsmith edits the Ecologist magazine when he isn't shagging his sister-in-law, this month's issue attacks Nigel Lawson as "dishonourable" for daring to suggest that the Green Emperor has no clothes. The right honourable Nigel Lawson has dared to question the looming Green consensus being forged around the Stern Report. The Chancellor who dared to fight inflation and socialism to the death certainly won't be bothered by the enviromentalists getting into a lather, he says: In fact, the voluminous Stern Report adds disappointingly little to what was already the conventional wisdom - apart from a battery of essentially spurious statistics based on theoretical models and conjectural worst cases. This is clearly no basis for policy decisions which could have the most profound adverse effect on people's lives, and at a cost which Stern almost certainly underestimates. It is, in a very real sense, the story of the Iraq war, writ large. Scratch the surface of even the most harmless cuddly Green and you find an agenda which is a totalitarian and based on "Gaia" mysticism cloaking an essentially anti-human tendency which values "Gaia" as more important than humanity. Lawson has an explanation for that as well: It is, I suspect, no accident that it is in Europe that climate change absolutism has found the most fertile soil. For it is Europe that has become the most secular society in the world, where the traditional religions have the weakest popular hold. Yet people still feel the need for the comfort and higher values that religion can provide; and it is the quasi-religion of Green alarmism and what has been termed global salvationism - of which the climate change issue is the most striking example, but by no means the only one - which has filled the vacuum, with reasoned questioning of its mantras regarded as a form of blasphemy. Third World Poverty is picturesque and simple as well as low in carbon emissions, but harsh on the human condition... These Labour MPs did not backed the motion, which is based on EDM 1088 which they backed before: Colin Challen, Ronnie Campbell, Michael Clapham, Jim Cousins, Ann Cryer, Jim Devine, Neil Gerrard, Ian Gibson, Jim McGovern, Austin Mitchell, Linda Riordan, Jon Trickett. Guido believes a couple of Tories abstained, including a front-bencher. The Whip doesn't have the voting records up as yet. If true and the vote had been closer, they would have denied the Opposition a victory. Any co-conspirators know the names?

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By Sheila Kennedy [Originally published at SheilaKennedy.net on October 28, 2014] A friend recently shared one of Andrew Sullivan's "Quotes of the Day"-this one by Isaiah Berlin, in "A Message to the 21st Century." Justice has always been a human ideal, but it is not fully compatible with mercy. Creative imagination and spontaneity, splendid in themselves, cannot be fully reconciled with the need [...] Continue reading >> October 28, 2014 Tim Peacock News Leave a comment By Sheila Kennedy [Originally published at SheilaKennedy.net on October 27, 2014] Question: What's more dangerous than Ebola? Answer: How about ignorance, racism, hysteria...Not to mention that most of us face an immensely greater chance of dying from flu, guns, automobiles, obesity and other causes about which we don't panic and against which we don't even take reasonable precautions. Ebola is one of [...] Continue reading >>

Comedy actor Seth Rogen can make almost any story sound funny, but it helps when you have great material to work with. One personal story he told... A mom shared a photo on Instagram in which she is nursing her three year old daughter. The mom reveals she is an extended nurser, and her older... A little boy who was having a meltdown at school collapsed in a heap on the floor. The boy sat with his back against the wall and his head in his... There was a time when people kept photo albums for their precious memories. Now, we have Instagram. One young couple on a date at a football game... A Missouri couple has been arrested after it was discovered that they kept four children locked up in plywood boxes for weeks. The children were... A father was sentenced to 75 years in prison for sexually abusing his daughter. The 12-year-old perished in a house fire with her 16-year-old... A North Carolina man is feeling vindicated after successfully suing his wife's lover. The wife was having an illicit affair with another man... Angelina Jolie filed papers with court on Tuesday alleging that her estranged husband hasn't paid any 'meaningful' child support since the couple... A flight cleaning crew in LaGuardia Airport in New York were shocked on Tuesday morning when they discovered a dead fetus on an American Airlines... A woman who worked in a Mexican restaurant more than 20 years ago stole from her boss. She has carried a guilty conscience ever since, and finally... (c)2014-2017 AllThatsFab All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of AllThatsFab terms of service and privacy policy. The material on this site is for informational and entertainment purposes only. (c)2017 B3 Media

#PopeFrancisPH: Mass in Manila Cathedral Watch as Pope Francis holds mass in Manila Cathedral Published 10:46 AM, January 16, 2015 Updated 11:18 AM, January 18, 2015 MANILA, Philippines - Pope Francis makes a historic first trip to the Philippines. Rappler is livestreaming the events of his 5-day visit which includes a meeting with President Benigno Aquino, and meetings with priests, the youth and families in the country's capital, Manila. He will also spend a day in Leyte to meet the survivors of Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan). The charismatic pontiff is expected to draw crowds of thousands to millions, possibly rivaling the 5-million-strong crowd of Pope John Paul II's visit in 1995. For more stories on the Pope, visit #PopeFrancisPH . VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS FROM HIS MASS IN MANILA CATHEDRAL Click on the thumbnails below to see the videos. Pope Francis arrives at Manila Cathedral Pope Francis' processional at Manila Cathedral Pope Francis asks, "Do you love me?" Pope Francis' homily at Manila Cathedral Cardinal Tagle's speech to the Pope Archdiocesian Choir of Manila sings 'Tell the World of His Love'

Jeffrey Tucker is the Chief Liberty Officer and founder of Liberty.me, the global liberty community with advanced social and publishing features. He is Director of Digital Development for the Foundation for Economic Education, executive editor of Laissez-Faire Books, research fellow at the Acton Institute, policy advisor of the Heartland Institute, founder of the Crypto Currency Conference, member of the editorial board of the Molinari Review, an advisor to the blockchain application builder Factom, and author of five books.

Israel's Prime Minister, Defence Minister and Army Chief of Staff have said that its army has lost its best officers and soldiers in the battles with the Hamas military wing in the Gaza Strip. "We knew we will have tough days ahead of us and today is one of them," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a joint press conference on Monday evening. He expressed his regret for the death of Israeli soldiers, admitting that the army faces a fierce enemy in Gaza and said "there is no war without casualties". Netanyahu called on the Israelis to prepare for a long battle, stressing that he will not accept any agreement that does not guarantee the disarming of the Gaza Strip. "The removal of the Palestinian factions' arms and preventing their getting arms in the future must be part of any solution," he insisted. Calling on the international community to insist on this demand, he said that this should be done "instead of allowing money and cement to enter Gaza to build the tunnels". The prime minister claimed that Hamas has violated all ceasefire agreements. Defence Minister Ya'alon, meanwhile, described last night as "difficult" and pointed out that "Israel will continue to work vigorously in Gaza and will not accept any future settlement that does not guarantee the security of Israelis." He admitted to losing Israel's "best sons at the hands of Hamas", adding that he "will order the army to expand and deepen the operations against the Islamic resistance" in the days to come. "We will direct strong blows against Hamas in the coming days," claimed Ya'alon. The minister stressed that the military assault will have an impact on Israel's future. "We stand behind the army commanders and soldiers who are taking part in this sacred operation," he said, adding that he will work to prevent Hamas arming in the future. "We will be patient and continue this operation until we restore calm and security." According to Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, he had lost "leaders and friends during the operation in the Gaza Strip... But we understand this pain." Gantz pointed to the seriousness of the tunnels scattered along the border with the Gaza Strip, saying that Israel is dealing with a wide range of "offensive" tunnels and insisted on inspecting every tunnel. The level of operations against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, said Gantz, will be raised "where necessary". This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Not the peaceful protests being portrayed in the media. GAZA (Reuters) - The Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group said four of its members were killed in an apparent accidental blast in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. The group said in a statement that it was "mourning its fighters who were martyred during preparations". It usually employs those terms to refer to casualties caused by the accidental detonation of weapons or explosives used in attacks against Israel. The Gaza Health Ministry confirmed four fatalities in the incident. Medics at the scene in the Rafah area said the explosion was caused by Israel. But an Israeli military spokesman said the army was not involved. "Contrary to reports currently circulating I can tell you that the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) is not aware of any IDF fire in the area surrounding Rafah," the spokesman said. [...] Protesters have set up tented camps near the frontier as a protest dubbed "The Great March of Return" - evoking a longtime call for refugees to regain ancestral homes in what is now Israel - moved into its third week. Israel has declared a no-go zone close to the Gaza border fence. Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005. The Palestinian enclave is ruled by the Islamist Hamas movement, designated by Israel and the West as a terrorist group. Citing security concerns, Israel maintains a naval blockade of the coastal territory, keeping tight restrictions on the movement of Palestinians and goods across the frontier. Egypt, battling an Islamist insurgency in neighboring Sinai, keeps its border with Gaza largely closed.

Egypt Ready to Protect Israel, Sisi Says Sisi: I told [Netanyahu] a courageous step was needed. Egyptian President Abdul-Fattah Al-Sisi told an Italian newspaper that his country is ready to send troops to Palestine in order to guarantee Israel's security and work jointly against terrorism. In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera , Al-Sisi said: "We are prepared to send military forces inside a Palestinian state. They would help the local police and reassure Israelis in their role as guarantors." The former military general stressed that any such troop deployment would only be for the time needed to restore trust between the two sides. According to Reuters , Al-Sisi added that he has spoken about this idea 'at length' with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. "I told [Netanyahu] a courageous step was needed otherwise nothing would be resolved," he said. - Read more: Egyptian President Says His Regime is Ready to Protect Israel - Middle East Monitor Help the Palestine Chronicle Build a Movement of Truth Please help us continue with this vital mission. To make a contribution using your Paypal account or credit card, please click HERE Or kindly send your contribution to: PO Box 196, Mountlake Terrace, WA, 98043, USA

Israeli warplanes dropped bombs in central Gaza on Tuesday after militants in the territory fired more than 25 mortar shells on southern Israeli communities. The bombing marked the largest single attack since the 2014 Israel-Hamas war. Security officials in Gaza said the bombing targeted an Islamic Jihad militant training site. Earlier in the day, the Israeli military said it intercepted a majority of the mortar shells and reported no casualties. "Israel will exact a heavy price from those who seek to harm it, and we see Hamas as responsible for preventing such attacks," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The latest unrest comes amid high tensions along the Gaza border, where Palestinians have staged weeks of protests calling for an end to the Israeli blockade. Read more from The Sift Share this article with friends.

Glad Israel responded so quickly: ARUTZ SHEVA - The Air Force hit several terror targets in Gaza on Thursday afternoon, following a wave of rocket attacks on southern Israel on Thursday morning. Israel denied Gaza terrorists' claims that a ceasefire had been successfully negotiated. IAF commanders reported that all warplanes involved had returned safely to their bases. "The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israel's citizens or soldiers, and will continue to take determined action against any party that uses terrorism against the state of Israel," IDF spokespeople said. The IAF previously hit dozens of terror-linked targets late Wednesday night, following a day in which Gaza terrorists launched roughly 90 rockets at Israel. Just under 60 hit southern Israel, while the rest apparently struck within Gaza. At the same time that the IAF announced it had carried out further strikes, Islamic Jihad declared a ceasefire. A spokesman for the terrorist group told AFP, "An Egyptian-brokered truce went into effect at 2 p.m." However, Israel denied this claim. Israeli sources said only that "quiet will be answered with quiet." Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

Israel Continues to Bomb Gaza, Kills Two Palestinian Teenagers Two Palestinian teens were killed by Israel in Gaza. (Photo via Days of Palestine) Two Palestinian teenagers were found dead in the southern area of the besieged Gaza Strip, following two waves of Israeli air raids. The two bodies of the two 17-year-old boys were retrieved in the city of Rafah on Sunday morning, Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for Gaza's health ministry, confirmed. At least two other Palestinians have been wounded, one of whom is in critical condition, and are currently treated in a medical facility in Rafah. #Photos || 2 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrike on #Rafah last night. pic.twitter.com/lCEaxiyxiq -- Days of Palestine (@DaysofPalestine) February 18, 2018 In the past 24 hours, Israel said it had targeted 18 Hamas positions, in response to an "improvised explosive" device that detonated near the border with Israel early on Saturday, wounding four Israeli soldiers. According to the Israeli army, six "large-scale attacks" were carried out on Hamas positions, including a tunnel that extends from Gaza to Israel. Attacks that followed targeted positions in the town of Beit Hanoun, Rafah, Deir el-Balah, and Khan Younis in the southern part of the strip - on what Israeli media described as Hamas military installations. #Video | Palestinian medics evacuated the bodies of 2 Palestinian teenagers killed in Israeli airstrike on #Rafah last night . pic.twitter.com/Zh4yXO12Y7 -- Days of Palestine (@DaysofPalestine) February 18, 2018 "The Palestinian resistance will not turn its back on protecting Palestinian people and will continue to do defend it and confront enemy aggression," the movement governing the Gaza Strip said on Saturday night. The encounter is the biggest of its kind since 2014, when Israel waged an assault on the strip that lasted for 51 days. More than 2,250 Palestinians, including nearly 1,500 civilians, were killed and a further 11,000 were wounded in the July-August 2014 assault. (Aljazeera, PC, Social Media) Help the Palestine Chronicle Build a Movement of Truth Please help us continue with this vital mission. To make a contribution using your Paypal account or credit card, please click HERE Or kindly send your contribution to: PO Box 196, Mountlake Terrace, WA, 98043, USA

Aaron Blake sees at least a couple of glimmering hope-rays in today's unemployment numbers. [F]or a Democratic Party in search of some (or really ANY) motivation for its base, Friday's jobs report helps. And, upon closer examination, it might help even more than the national numbers suggest. That's because the unemployment picture in the states holding key Senate races is actually quite a bit better for Democrats than the national picture. It certainly sounds right, and Democrats would be worse off if the economy were flatlining--this would validate more of what Republicans say about the Affordable Care Act. But I'd caution Democrats to remember how the employment situation looked in 2006, right as the party won the House and Senate for the first time in 14 years. This is the unemployment rate chart from the BLS. The unemployment rate was not just low--it fell from 4.8 percent in the winter before the election to 4.4 percent right in the final stretch.

Remember Lincoln Chafee , the former Republican senator-turned-independent governor-turned-Democratic candidate for president? On Friday, he came out and said what we all knew to be true about the Democratic Party and immigration. "We're right on immigration," he said at the Democratic National Committee's summer meeting. "The fastest growing voting bloc in the country," he continued. "Of course we want that people to be treated with respect and to vote Democratic." As The DC notes, this statement runs counter to what the Democrats have claimed --that lax immigration policies are necessary to help people for humanitarian reasons.

July 17, 2015 5:35 pm The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) marketplace approved coverage for fictitious applicants and granted about $30,000 in premium tax credits to those accounts, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. The federal government collected a record amount of taxes in the first three quarters of fiscal year 2015, exceeding $2.4 trillion in revenue, according to the latest monthly Treasury Department statement. Despite the record revenue, the federal government ran a deficit of $313 billion. July 8, 2015 3:14 pm Presidential candidate and self-identified socialist Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) expressed his concern over Americans who have dropped out of the labor force, saying "real unemployment is 10.5 percent," at a presidential campaign rally in Portland, Maine, the Daily Caller reported.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' new employment numbers for October alongside revised jobs data for August and September show that job creation is not gaining enough traction. Last month 80,000 jobs were added to our economy, and revisions to the data from the two previous months added another 102,000 jobs. But that is not the kind of sustained job creation our economy needs to leave the Great Recession of 2007-2009 behind us. (see chart) What explains the slow job creation? Well, the L-shaped recovery is due in large part to conservatives in Congress refusing to support President Barack Obama's American Jobs Act. The connection is explained in my column at MarketWatch . Heather Boushey is the Senior Economist at American Progress.

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Campaign spending by Super PACs in this election cycle topped $1 billion - nearly four times the amount spent by such groups in 2008. Looking back now, how much impact did that money have on the race? Former White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill... Andrea Mitchell Reports - 7:00 PM 11/05/2012 Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks about the key factor that should be driving voters to the polls - the economy. McCarthy stresses that a Romney-Ryan win will "drastically" change the economy from the Obama administration. David Walker, CEO of the... Morning Joe - 7:00 PM 11/05/2012 Buzzfeed's Ben Smith, MSNBC's Karen Finney, The New Yorker's Hendrik Hertzberg, and Executive Editor of MSNBC.com Richard Wolffe talk polls, predictions, and percentage chance of winning for both President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. NOW With Alex Wagner - 7:00 PM 11/05/2012 Morning Joe - 7:00 PM 11/05/2012

Even people who didn't vote for Jonah Schein agree it wasn't his fault he lost the election in Davenport. The one-term NDP MPP was unable to hold onto his seat Thursday night, falling to Liberal challenger Cristina Martins by just over 2,000 votes as the Grits rolled to a majority government. As the results began to trickle in shortly after 9 pm, supporters at both candidates' election night parties blamed the result on NDP leader Andrea Horwath, who has faced intense criticism for triggering the election by opposing the Liberal budget, widely considered among the most progressive in recent memory. At Schein's gathering at Kitch, a trendy bar just north of Dupont and Dufferin, NDP supporter Eoin Harris said Horwath's populist turn had hung Schein and other Toronto New Democrats out to dry. Davenport wasn't the only Toronto riding lost by the NDP, who held five seats in the city going into the night. The Liberals took both Trinity-Spadina and Beaches-East York from the New Democrats, while in Parkdale-High Park NDP incumbent Cheri DiNovo held on by less than 600 votes. "People were very angry that they didn't pass the budget," Harris said as Motown songs pumped over the sound system and a crowd dotted with bearded and tattooed thirthy-somethings did shots or drank tall cans of beer. "I talked to a lot of people who wanted to vote for Jonah, but wanted to punish the party." Davenport is historically Liberal territory, but Schein took it in 2011 over Martins by 1,414 votes. In his three years in office he's championed issues like the electrification of the Union-Pearson Express line, voting reform, and unpaid internships. In his brief concession speech, he told the crowd he was disappointed in the election results but was "exceptionally proud of the work that we've been doing." "Sometimes people say campaigns are not about anything. I think campaigns are about something. I think they're about people's hopes and aspirations and dreams, and I think those things last way longer than a six-week election cycle," Schein said, his partner Kristin and baby daughter Hope at his side. Around the corner at the Casa do Alentejo community centre, dozens of Martins's supporters gathered in a banquet hall decorated with the flags of World Cup countries. The family-friendly crowd included grandparents and bored children playing on smartphones. As they ate from a buffet of Portuguese chicken and rice and watched the election coverage, few had bad things to say about Schein. "He was great, I really liked him. But unfortunately I couldn't agree with what Andrea did" when she opposed the budget, said Paula Caetano. Caetano said Martins, who speaks four languages, can relate to families in the ethnically-diverse riding. In her victory speech, Martins said she had heard from many traditional NDPers who'd decided to vote Liberal. "Today our community chose Kathleen Wynne's positive, progressive vision for Ontario," Martins said. "Ontarians want to see the Liberal budget passed... I'm so glad that I'm going to be a part of that." Despite his loss, Schein's popularity in west Toronto has prompted speculation that he could run for council in the October election, which will remain open for nominations until September 12. He told reporters Thursday that it was too early to think about that, but Councillor Joe Mihevc, who attended Schein's party, said he wouldn't be out of place at City Hall. "He would do a great job at any order of government, anywhere," Mihevc said. "He's just such a solid candidate, a solid progressive guy. He's a leader in this city and will be. He'll find his place." Sections News Life Food & Drink Music Movies & TV Culture Events Classifieds Discover Contests NOW in the Media NOW's Archive F.A.Q. Company About Us Contact Us Our People Jobs Advertise with us Connect with Us Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube RSS NOW

Periscope is a live-streaming video app available for both Android and iOS devices. Twitter acquired the app in 2015, but it was developed earlier (before being launched) by Kayvon Beykpour and Joe Bernstein. In 2013, Beykpour witnessed political protests in Istanbul but could only read about them on Twitter, not see them. This experience motivated the development of the app, which was originally called Bounty. In June 2016, Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives staged a sit-in on the floor of the capital to protest the House's decision not to vote on a gun control bill, and members used Periscope to live stream the protest. Visiting the Periscope site, pspc.tv, shows a broad range of live-streamed videos from accounts varying from local news stations to the personal accounts of exercise personalities and mental health therapists. The number of viewers watching is displayed on the bottom of each streamed video.

Democrat Phil Murphy won the New Jersey gubernatorial race Tuesday night, according to The New York Times. Murphy won the governor's race in New Jersey, beating out his opponent Republican Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, the outlet reported. Murphy won 55.4 percent of the vote while Guadagno garnered 42.5 percent of the vote. Murphy ran on a platform for a $15 minimum wage as well as calling for tougher gun laws and the legalization of marijuana. Murphy used to work as a Goldman Sachs executive and served as an ambassador during the Obama administration. He has been the favored winner by both sides throughout the race, mainly due to former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's low approval rating hurting the Republican candidate. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org .

Kevin McAleenan was confirmed Monday to lead Customs and Border Protection, putting him in charge of building President Donald Trump's border wall and halting illegal immigration, The Washington Times reported. The Senate confirmation, in a 77-19 vote, came despite complaints by immigrant-rights groups -- and even included advocates Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, according to the Times. Some immigrant-rights groups seemed resigned to the pick, the Times reported, ahead of a likely fight over other Homeland Security agency heads -- including Thomas Homan, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement. CBP oversees the air, land, and sea ports of entry, as well as the Border Patrol which controls the territory in between those ports. McAleenan will also oversee building of the border wall if Congress approves funding for it, according to the Times.

Yesterday, leaders of both houses of the legislature introduced measures to protect undocumented immigrants in the state from efforts by a Donald Trump administration to deport them once the billionaire businessman takes office January. 20. The bills followed closely on Democratic Governor Jerry Brown's nomination of Representative Xavier Becerra, 58, as attorney general, a high-ranking Democrat who challenged the incoming administration to "come at us" on such issues as climate change, immigration and worker protections. "Immigrants are a part of California's history, our culture, and our society," said Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, a Democrat from Los Angeles, responding to Trump's calls to deport undocumented immigrants and build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. "Democrats stole a page out of President-Elect Trump's campaign playbook and pushed a rhetorical, divisive agenda designed to inflame tensions many of us seek to soothe," Mayes said.

PHILADELPHIA--In 1976, Congress passed the Hyde Amendment, a law that prohibits the use of taxpayer money for abortion, except in the case of rape, incest, or when the mother's life is at stake. For decades, the measure maintained bipartisan support when it came up in Congress. But recently, the status quo took a turn, when the Democrat Party platform officially called to repeal the 40-year-old amendment. To find out where voters stand on the issue of using public funds for abortion, The Daily Signal took to the streets at the Democratic National Convention.

I'm a comedian. I want to make you all laugh first and foremost. But pardon my candor and minor traipse into soap-boxing, would you, because I keep seeing Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) pilloried by uber-PC, super-misguided liberals over his use of the word "ghetto" in the CNN Democratic Debate with Hillary Clinton last night. Firstly, let's get the direct quote from Sanders, so we can make sure we're reacting to what he actually said, and not what some douchebag in the press or some hand-wringing concern troll is inferring, shall we? "When you're white, you don't know what it's like to be living in a ghetto," Sanders concluded. "You don't know what it's like to be poor. You don't know what it's like to be hassled when you walk down the street or you get dragged out of a car. And I believe that as a nation in the year 2016, we must be firm in making it clear, we will end institutional racism and reform a broken criminal justice system." ( source ) Look, I get it, that first sentence seems to imply that poor white people don't know what it's like to live in a ghetto, and that's definitely problematic, because by the dictionary definition you could technically have anyone of any race living in a "ghetto." A part of a city in which members of a particular group or race live usually in poor conditions ( source ) However, I genuinely don't see how what Sanders said was even an insult to anyone. He didn't say that all people of color live in squalor or the ghetto. He said that white people don't know what it's like to live in a ghetto, and I would say that is probably inarticulate and not quite accurate because there are certainly very poor, mostly white areas too. But let's cut the shit, shall we? The term "ghetto" has traditionally meant a predominantly non-white, extremely poor area. All Sanders was saying is that your average white person doesn't ever get exposed to that unique situation. "Ghetto" isn't even a fucking racial slur, either. That's, to me, the most insulting part of the reaction to Sanders' choice of words. It's as if every human being forgot where the term "ghetto" originated from. It was where European Jews were forced to live in the 15th century and some dude with a shitty mustache brought that concept back in 1930's Germany. Here, let me give you all a hint: Can you make out that word there, on that sign? It says "getto." Yes, that's right, Jewish people were forced to live in abject squalor in "gettoes." That wasn't a typo either -- they were forced by law to live in this shit hole neighborhoods in shit hole buildings. Now, let's just stop and think for a second here, where oh where would Bernie Sanders have been exposed to the word "ghetto" in his life? Did he have any Jewish relatives? Checking the ol' Google machine, it looks like Senator Sanders' family tree does in fact have several branches on the paternal side that were pruned by Hitler's Holocaust. While Bernie's parents fled to America in the early 1920's and escaped both the Final Solution and the ghetto, do we really have to stretch our imagination so far to divine that he might have still been told about them? This primary fight is important, and there are a lot of interested parties that want Hillary to win it all. But you can't go around accusing Sanders of being racist or out of touch on this one, sorry. Firstly, he didn't really imply white people aren't poor, he implied white people don't generally live in racially segregated, supremely poor neighborhoods. He didn't even imply that all people of color live in the ghetto. There is literally nothing offensive about what Sanders said, other than he used a word that make some unformfortable. But he didn't use the "N" word. He didn't try to imply that black people are more violent or poor simply by their nature. He didn't say black people just "need to get over it." That's what it looks like when racism is given cover in this country. When Bernie has been interrupted at speeches by Black Lives Matter protesters, he's folded his hands, and ceded the podium. The man was fucking arrested for standing up to racism; how dare anyone latch onto his use of a completely valid, if not slightly taboo word as means to prove he doesn't care about racial equality? It's this kind of shit that makes me wish I could be okay with Donald Trump winning. Because idiotic Democrats who would trash Sanders over this deserve to have their asses handed to them in an election. You can't run off someone with over 50 years of "in the trenches" experience fighting for equality because he used one word you found offensive, when he didn't mean in any offensive ways and is actually completely correct. Go after the math in his proposals if you want. Make a rightful claim that his age should at least be a consideration in his VP pick. But don't spit in the face of a man who was handcuffed and dragged by cops as he was chained to an African-American woman in protest of segregation by telling him a word that has deep impact to people of his faith is off-limits to him because you don't like how it sounds. Share this:

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks to mostly African American voters at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina, on Saturday September 12, 2015. (Photo by Melina Mara/The Washington Post) Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders stepped into a minefield when he talked about "the ghetto." And he only made it harder on himself when he tried to explain his remarks. It all started at last Sunday's CNN debate in Flint, Michigan, when the Vermont senator was responding to a question about whether he had any racial blind spots. "When you're white, you don't know what it's like to be living in a ghetto. You don't know what it's like to be poor. You don't know what it's like to be hassled when you walk down the street or you get dragged out of a car," Sanders said at the debate. The next day, he attempted to explain what he meant: https://twitter.com/DannyEFreeman/status/706924029429555201/photo/1 "What I meant to say is when you talk about ghettos traditionally, what you're talking about is African-American communities," Sanders told reporters. "I think many white people are not aware of the kinds of pressures and the kind of police oppression that sometimes takes place within the African-American community," he added, noting that no other candidate has talked more about poverty, whether black, white or Latino, than he has. "We have 47 million people living in poverty in America, and in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, that is a disgrace, absolutely." "Senator Sanders is from Burlington. He grew up in old Brooklyn, he knows white folks live in ghettos," said Ben Jealous -- former president and CEO of the NAACP and a Sanders supporter -- coming to the senator's defense. Aside from the fact that no one even talks about "the ghetto" anymore -- it sounds like something out of an old episode of Good Times or something -- Sanders' comment and troublesome clarification points out the pitfalls facing white allies of African-Americans. Simply put, you cannot simplistically box black people or other people of color in like that. To do so is to perpetuate racial stereotypes and assume that only people of color live in the poverty . Some of us did not grow up in the ghetto , and even if we were born in the ghetto, the ghetto might not have been born in us. Not sure how the Sanders line that white people in America "don't know what it's like to live in the ghetto" will land. #DemDebate -- Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) March 7, 2016 Of course, many white Americans know exactly what it's like to "live in the ghetto." Many, including immigrants have, do and did. -- Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) March 7, 2016 And most African-Americans are not poor. The AA poverty rate is too high, of course, at about 28%, but that's not most or all. -- Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) March 7, 2016 Besides Bernie's comment about "living in the ghetto," I thought his answer re: white privilege was solid. #DemDebate -- deray mckesson (@deray) March 7, 2016 We have to end the view that black=ghetto=poor. And that was implied in the comments of a Democratic presidential candidate. (Sanders.) -- Perry Bacon Jr. (@perrybaconjr) March 7, 2016 The fact is that there are many poor white people in America -- more than anyone else, but that's because there are more white people in America. The issue is that black folks are disproportionately so -- 10 percent of whites live in poverty , but over a quarter of blacks and nearly a quarter of Latinos do -- in addition to the doubly high unemployment, high mortgage rates, and many roadblocks that institutional racism erects to wipe out our hopes and stifle our aspirations. Now that is a conversation we need to have. Unfortunately, many white liberals engage in what Republicans once referred to as "the soft bigotry of low expectations." The idea that blacks are all poor, helpless, and in need of a white sympathizer who understands their pain. This is an old notion that Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and countless other white liberal candidates have played to in their outreach to African-Americans. It's unfortunate, because they fail to see the full dimension of African-Americans; the majority of which live above the poverty line. If the "ghetto" is Sen. Sanders' default reference point for how he views black people and their economic reality, it also reflects his difficulties in separating racial and economic issues . And it also speaks to the tone deafness of many whites in addressing race. And Hillary Clinton has faced her own issues of late for her 1996 "super predators" remark. At a time when white politicians, perhaps for the first time, are forced to deal with race, they are finding that black voters, like black moviegoers, are a tough crowd. Sanders and others should continue to talk about poverty, race and other issues of importance, but in an informed and thoughtful manner. Because there's far more to black people than the ghetto. Follow David A. Love on Twitter at @davidalove

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont came under fire Sunday when he suggested during the Democratic presidential debate in Flint, Michigan that white Americans don't know what it's like to be poor or live in the "ghetto." Free sign up cp newsletter! "When you're white, you don't know what it's like to be living in a ghetto," said Sanders. "You don't know what it's like to be poor. You don't know what it's like to be hassled when you walk down the street or you get dragged out of a car. And I believe that as a nation in the year 2016, we must be firm in making it clear, we will end institutional racism and reform a broken criminal justice system." Sanders' comments came in response to a question on racial blind spots from CNN's Don Lemon who asked: "In a speech about policing, the FBI director borrowed a phrase from ' Avenue Q ' saying, 'Everybody is a little racist.' So on a personal front, what racial blind spots do you have?" The senator for Vermont had also prefaced his poverty comments with a story from his time as a newly elected congressman in Washington, D.C., about 20 years ago. Sanders said he was shocked to learn that a fellow congressman, who was black, would avoid taking cabs to escape the humiliation of drivers going past him because of his race. He also shared a story about an interaction with a young female Black Lives Matter activist who told him that he had no idea what happens on a regular basis between law enforcement and black communities. "You don't understand the degree to which we are terrorized. ... I'm just talking about everyday activities where police officers are bullying people," Sanders said the woman told him. Sanders' clumsy bleeding heart moment, which some have branded as racist, did not go down well with many watching the debate. "Pretty sure Bernie Sanders just said white people don't know how to be poor -- 70% of US poverty is rural/white," tweeted Pittsburgh Tribune political reporter, Salena Zito. Washington Post reporter Janell Ross went a bit deeper in her analysis of Sanders' response explaining that the question asked by Lemon is not one he could have truthfully answered because "a true personal blind spot is typically not known to the holder." "That answer is all kinds of bad. First, there are the simple but not widely known facts that happen to contradict about several stereotypes. Numerically, there are more poor white Americans than any other group. That's largely because white Americans comprise a shrinking majority of the population. Still, blacks and Latinos are disproportionately poor and more likely to live in a high-poverty neighborhood," she said. "Additionally, more than 70 percent of black Americans are not poor, and some share of these people have never lived in a ghetto either. Yet black Americans are more likely to live in a neighborhood with lower-quality public facilities (think parks, libraries, schools, stores, etc.) than white Americans with less income," she explained. "This pattern points directly to the continued existence of housing discrimination, and it's many forms." Contact: leonardo.blair@christianpost.com Follow Leonardo Blair on Twitter: @leoblair Follow Leonardo Blair on Facebook: LeoBlairChristianPost

There have been a lot of disturbing poll results over the past several years, but none more than this one: According to a 2016 survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute, 57 percent of white Americans believe that discrimination against white people is "as big a problem" in America as discrimination against minorities. Several months after the survey was conducted, of course, Donald Trump went on to win the presidency by getting well over half of the white vote. In a new book called White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, Robin DiAngelo examines how a large chunk of white America got to a place where it is constantly feeling besieged and victimized, and why she thinks even white progressives are so unwilling--or unable--to acknowledge their own racism. I spoke recently by phone with DiAngelo, a lecturer affiliated with the University of Washington who has been conducting workshops about diversity and racism for two decades. During the course of our conversation, which has been edited and condensed for clarity, we discussed racism on the left, whether there is value in scolding people for their bigotry, and whether the word racist should only apply to people who intend to discriminate.

"When you're white, you don't know what it's like to be living in the ghetto. You don't know what it's like to be poor." According to Census figures in 2013, 18.9 million whites are poor. That's 8 million more poor white people than poor black people, and more than 5 million more than those who identify as Latino. A majority of those benefiting from programs like food stamps and Medicaid are white, too. I guarantee that no one will challenge that statement by Clinton because it doesn't play into the narrative. It's not about monetary value, it's about racial equality. You state those facts as if democrats haven't been saying that whites make up the majority on wellfare. Entitlement programs aren't the issue, it's the racial disparities within communities, prison, and education that they are addressing. I think CG Waterbound is correct in what they're framing the issue as and what's important to address, but I agree with you that it was phrased poorly. The focus on the word poor makes it seem like white people can't be poor, which is patently false. However, don't let that distract from the issue that has been coming up in the Dem debates, which is that there are some aspects of poverty that white people do not have experience in. These are the aspects that are born of institutionalized racism such as increased traffic and pedestrian stops, overrepresentation in prison populations, subconscious hiring discrimination, etc. Just because a candidate phrases something poorly doesn't mean that the entire discussion they've been having should be derailed and tossed out. That quote immediately stood out to me as well. I understand the disparities regarding the justice system, the economy, education, etc. But I commonly hear liberals complaining about poor white people being idiots who support Republicans to their own detriment. Or simply because poor whites are all racist hillbillys. That sort of reasoning has been killing Democrats with whites for a long time. It's not as simple as white=racist. Democrats have been pandering hard to some minorities while Republicans have been doing the same with whites. There's a lot of racial politics at work, but the endless refrain of negative comments regarding white people does turn off a lot of white voters. I'm not crying victim, I roundly hate both parties but I see it for what it is. Add in the fact that Democrats have been excellent at transferring jobs overseas and helping to eliminate unions and it starts to make sense. "When you're white, you don't know what it's like to be living in the ghetto. You don't know what it's like to be poor." What a joke. I had a friend growing up whose family was so white and wealthy that when I spent the night over, we could expect grand feasts such as "Pot of Boiled Corn."

I really do think sometimes people just check their brains at the door when they start discussing politics. In last night's Democratic debate, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Hillary Clinton were both asked about whether they have any "racial blind spots." Sanders has found himself in hot water with angry white Democrats that support Hillary today because of his answer, provided below, in its entirety and with all of its proper subtext and context left intact: LEMON: Thank you, Secretary. Senator Sanders, on a personal front, what racial blind spots do you have? SANDERS: Well, let me just very briefly tell you a story. When I was in one of my first years in Congress, I went to a meeting downtown in Washington, D.C. And I went there with another congressman, an African-American congressman. And then we kind of separated during the meeting. And then I saw him out later on. And he was sitting there waiting and I said, well, let's go out and get a cab. How come you didn't go out and get a cab? He said, no, I don't get cabs in Washington, D.C. This was 20 years ago. Because he was humiliated by the fact that cabdrivers would go past him because he was black. I couldn't believe, you know, you just sit there and you say, this man did not take a cab 20 years ago in Washington, D.C. Tell you another story, I was with young people active in the Black Lives Matter movement. A young lady comes up to me and she says, you don't understand what police do in certain black communities. You don't understand the degree to which we are terrorized, and I'm not just talking about the horrible shootings that we have seen, which have got to end and we've got to hold police officers accountable, I'm just talking about every day activities where police officers are bullying people. So to answer your question, I would say, and I think it's similar to what the secretary said, when you're white, you don't know what it's like to be living in a ghetto. You don't know what it's like to be poor. You don't know what it's like to be hassled when you walk down the street or you get dragged out of a car. And I believe that as a nation in the year 2016, we must be firm in making it clear. We will end institutional racism and reform a broken criminal justice system. ( source ) This morning, I saw some criticism coming Sanders' way because he used the word "ghetto," and I wrote this in response: I was immediately told I wasn't understanding what the outrage was over. Apparently, a bunch of white people are now convinced Sanders is out of touch with their plight. This is truly mind-bending to me. Last week we were told Bernie can't win because he doesn't focus enough on African American issues (funny thing to say to a guy who was literally arreste d for resisting institutional racism). Now, because he misspoke at the end of a long, nuanced answer to a similarly nuanced question about "racial blind spots" he's got one, but towards white people? Are Hillary supporters out of their fucking minds on this one? Bernie has been crisscrossing the country for months, even going into hardcore red states and has been meeting a shit load of poor white people. Are we really so simple-minded that we can't infer, from the larger context of Bernie's answer, that he meant that white people's squalor and poverty may not be the same as people of colors' because of the added pressure of institutionalized racism? Because that's what the actual context and subtext of the question and answer were. But beyond that, I think what we're seeing is that certain Hillary Hawks have done absolutely no research on Sanders. He grew up in poverty, as a white person. Of course he fucking knows poor white people exist, he used to be one! It's just the height of cynical political bullshit rhetoric to imply he's not in touch with poor white folks. Of course he is. Pick a lane, Hillary Hawks. Is he going to lose because he's not focused on black people enough, or is he going to lose because he doesn't connect with poor white people? Tell you what -- go down to Kansas. Go to Oklahoma. There, I think, you'll find a whole shit-ton of poor white people who just voted to hand Bernie Democratic primary victories in those states. So maybe, just maybe you all should calm down about one sentence in a long answer and look at what Bernie really meant, which is no way hard to divine if you try. Here's what he meant: "It's harder being poor and black because of all the other systemic racism black people face that white people don't." If that sentence offends you -- build a bridge and get over it. It doesn't make Bernie out of touch or blind to anything. It just makes you an obvious concern troll, which is fine, but none of us have to take you seriously anymore now, is all I'm saying. Share this:

N o one likes a grass. Especially one who snitches to an international audience. This is the news that, last week, Lena Dunham, writer, actress and perpetual PC warrior, eavesdropped on two flight attendants at the airport and snitched on them online. What was their crime? Engaging in 'transphobic talk'. Dunham was irritated already - her flight was delayed. And to pass the time waiting in the airport, she decided to do a little snooping. 'Not gonna call out the airline who delayed cuz shit happens BUT I did just overhear 2 @AmericanAir attendants having a transphobic talk', she tweeted. That is, she chose to save a company from public shame while publicly shaming two workers. After American Airlines got in contact to find out who the offending attendants were, Dunham posted her conversation with them - complete with directions to where they were standing. 'I heard two female attendants walking talking about how trans kids are a trend, they'd never accept a trans child and transness is gross', Dunham said. Hardly a hanging offence. The two attendants weren't stopping trans people from getting on a flight, they were simply having a conversation. That Dunham made these women's private conversation the business of her 5.54million followers is pretty outrageous. If she was so upset by what they were saying, she should have confronted them in person. Instead, she took the coward's option. Dunham is no stranger to putting her foot in it in her attempts to 'call out' people. In September 2016, she posted a long moan about what she imagined US footballer Odell Beckham Jr thought of her. She was sat next to him at the Met Gala, and when he didn't speak to her, she imagined it was because he didn't fancy her (she was wearing a particularly unflattering tuxedo). 'He was like, "That's a marshmallow. That's a child. That's a dog"', she said. In fact, Beckham Jr hadn't said or thought anything of the sort. Dunham had just decided that, because a good-looking black guy didn't want to 'f**k' her, that she was being slighted. Similarly, Dunham's latest attempt to call out prejudice reveals her own prejudice. She felt comfortable ratting out workers to their boss because left-liberals like her no longer have any interest in expressing solidarity with working people. They also have no interest in free speech. The idea that your employer should punish you for what you say and believe is apparently fine. As a result of the impact of Dunham's tweet, it wouldn't be surprising if the two American Airlines attendants soon found themselves out of work.

'Mockingbird' author Harper Lee to publish second novel The book is set to be out in July 2015 Published 12:39 AM, February 04, 2015 Updated 12:42 AM, February 04, 2015 Photo by Mandel Ngan/Files/AFP NEW YORK, USA - American author Harper Lee is to publish a second novel, 55 years after the release of her US classic To Kill a Mockingbird , HarperCollins announced Tuesday, February 3. The novel - Go Set a Watchman - would be released in July, the publishing house said. To Kill a Mockingbird , about racism in the Great Depression-era South, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and has been translated into more than 40 languages. - Rappler.com

This is the side of racism, which IMO, is the face many, many white people simply "don't get it" because they don't see it! Every time there is a discussion like this, white people (generally men) are going to chime in about how they were stopped or their parents had the same conversation with them. IT IS NOT THE SAME THING. Diminishing institutional racism denies the need for correction, for the structural and cultural changes that must occur if we are going to achieve equality, even "fair" treatment for people of color.

Besides keeping up with Iris Ophelia's Downton Abbey / The Sims 3 experiment (catch up and read Part 8 here ), I've mostly had the British series out of my mind. That's mostly due to me being uber annoyed with the Season 3 finale but that's neither here nor there. The YouTube account for The Chris Matthews Show posted this video a while back which compares Downton with the White House. Something I never would have thought of before but that now makes perfect sense. And if you need another Downton injection, might I suggest hitting the jump for an eye-opening experience? Get it? Eye-opening. Cuz, googly eyes. I'm going to go watch Season 1 again... (via BBC America )

Jason Weisberger / 4:25 pm Thu, Nov 17, 2016 The United States of America interned citizens of Japanese descent during World War II. The 1988 Civil Liberties Act signed by President Ronald Reagan issued a formal apology and $20,000 to each surviving victim of this racist program. It was a dark chapter in American history. Trump surrogate Carl Higbie believes that bringing back internment camps for Muslim citizens would Make America Great Again. The Obama administration asserted the power to raid the massive databases of peoples' private, sensitive information that ad-based tech companies have assembled; the Trump administration has promised to use Obama's powers to effect the surveillance and deportation of 11 millions undocumented migrants, and the ongoing, continuous surveillance of people of Muslim heritage. Read the rest

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Morning Wonketariat! EVERYTHING IS BREAKING. HOLY SHIT -- Trump just You're Fired REXXON, and is putting Mike Pompeo in his place, and Gina Haspel will head the CIA. British Prime Minister Theresa May told Parliament that it was "highly likely" Moscow was behind the poisoning of a former spy, warning Russia that if there was no "credible response" by the end of Tuesday, the UK would consider this to be a "unlawful use of force," potentially triggering a response from NATO allies. In a rare move of Russian criticism, REXXON stated that the US stood "in solidarity" with the UK. This morning, Russia is denying the allegations, essentially telling the UK to piss off. Shame Trump can't fire Theresa May. House Republicans decided to kill their Trump-Russia investigation, concluding that Russia DID screw around in the 2016 election, but Trump & Co. had nothing to do with it. Texas Republican Rep. Mike Conaway further suggested that the Russian attack was actually intended to help Hillary Clinton. Rep. Adam Schiff said, "history will judge [Republican] actions harshly." Last night on CNN, Republican Rep. Tom Rooney griped to Erin Burnett that the investigation had "gone completely off the rails," and "lost all credibility." In a new interview, Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein says he sees no reason to "You're Fired" Robert Mueller's team for investigating Russian fuckery and possible obstruction of justice, adding, "I believe much of the criticism will fall by the wayside when people reflect on this era and the Department of Justice." David Corn and Michael Isikoff were on Rachel Maddow to talk about their new Trump-Russia book, and noted that people noticed A LOT of sketchy shit early in the campaign. Also worth mentioning: it's 50-50 if the pee hooker tape is real. [ Morning Maddow ] Someone (definitely not Sam Nunberg) has told WaPo that Roger Stone was talking to Wikileaks about sliming Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election, despite Stone's and Wikileaks' repeated denials. Speaking of Sam Nunberg, Ari Melber let him back on TV last night to talk about all the fun he had last Monday. [ Video ] Mike Pence went on Hannity to nail himself to a cross and bitch about Joy Behar saying mean things about his blind religious zealotry. As another spending deadline looms, a number of congressional Democrats are rolling over for Republicans while leaders bitch about another trillion dollar "omnibus" funding bill before March 23. Trump wants to tap TV talking head Larry Kudlow as his new economic policy advisor, even though Kudlow has bitched about Trump's trade war. Even though Equifax lost highly personal information on half of the country, AND executives profited from that loss, the Senate's new banking bill will protect credit agencies like Equifax from lawsuits on free credit monitoring, and allow them to expand into the housing market. Thanks, dicks. Mitch McConnell is retreating into his shell, a signal that any attempt to block Trump's tariffs will be met with a full-throated "Meh." The PR guy for ICE in San Francisco has quit, after he was asked to report false information about a series of raids in Northern California, telling the San Francisco Chronicle, " I've never been in a situation when I've been asked to ignore the facts because it was more convenient. It was my first time being asked to do that. " A law to make it easier to "You're Fired" federal workers for screwing up the VA has had the opposite effect as civil servants are being purged for minor infractions. A new government-wide survey has found that federal workers are much happier and more productive when they don't have to show up to the office, but the Office of Personnel Management is downplaying the report because they hate fun. Trump looks like a big, fat hypocritical pussy after bowing to the NRA and agreeing to put a gun in every classroom, but some congress critters are telling reporters that the NRA fever dream is never going to happen. Marco Rubio sank to a new career low when he babbled his way through an interview on gun control with Jake Paul, a Youtube star and gun fetishist best known for taking a bath in Icy Hot. Rubio, that's not going to keep the teens from dunking on you, dude. The NRA has been using iconic works of art from major cities in attack ads without permission, and there isn't a lawyer willing to sue the NRA for copyright infringement. As polls open for the special election in Pennsylvania's 18th, a new Monmouth University poll shows Democratic Rep. Conor Lamb leading Republican used car salesman Rick Saccone, 51 to 45. Interestingly enough, Republicans are mum on the Trump tax cuts (for the super rich). While Republicans nervously watch Pennsylvania today, Trump is headed to California to look at prototypes for his stupid wall meant to keep out all the "bad hombres" from "shithole countries," and Californians couldn't be more excited to see President Puss-Grab. Everyone seems to be getting ready for Trump's talk with North Korea, except Trump and North Korea. Steve Bannon has been running around Europe encouraging all the racists to come out of the basement, even appearing with Marine Le Pen and telling a bloodthirsty crowd of racist xenophobes that they should wear their fascist pride on their sleeves. Syrian opposition forces have asked the UN Security Council to uphold a ceasefire, and to use force if necessary, adding that countries should consider measures outside the council if Russia continues to screw around. If you're planning your summer vacay you'll find a lot of cheap flights, but make sure to read the fine print as "basic economy" flights are a new scam being pushed by major carriers. Space nerds are poring over data on astronaut twins Scott and Mark Kelly, after the former's year in space showed some genetic changes. Absolutely fascinating. And here's your morning Nice Time ! Tree kangaroos of Papua New Guinea!

This morning, Kurdish forces are claiming victory in the offensive to retake the town of Sinjar in Northern Iraq from ISIS. Video released Friday showed Kurdish forces celebrating. AP reporter Susannah George discusses what she's seeing in the region. MSNBC Live with Tamron Hall - 11:04 AM 11/13/2015 MSNBC Live with Jose Diaz-Balart - 10:53 AM 11/13/2015 A giant piece of space debris is hurtling towards Earth, and while the object is not expect to be hazardous, scientists aren't completely sure what it is. It's been named WT1190F, leading many to name it "WTF." Former astronaut Leroy Chiao describes... MSNBC Live with Jose Diaz-Balart - 10:43 AM 11/13/2015 Luke Russert speaks with Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who, along with Senator John McCain (R-AZ), exposed in a recent report that the Department of Defense had been spending millions of dollars to professional sports teams in order to honor veterans and... The Briefing - 10:04 AM 11/13/2015 Lebanese officials are investigating a pair of suicide bombings in Beirut that killed more than 40 people and wounded at least 200. ISIS has claimed credit for the attack, indicating the area was targeted because of its Hezbollah presence. NBC Foreign... MSNBC Live with Jose Diaz-Balart - 10:04 AM 11/13/2015

The Russian mining company Uralasbest has begun putting President Donald Trump's face and a seal that reads "Approved by Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States," on pallets of its chrysotile asbestos products. The Guardian reported on Wednesday that the move came after Trump's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided against banning the new asbestos product. "Donald is on our side!" Uralasbest announced in a Facebook post accompanied by photos of the products with Trump's face stamped on them. The post thanked Trump for supporting former EPA chief Scott Pruitt and adds that Trump called asbestos "100% safe after application." Environmental groups have criticized Uralasbest and the decision from the EPA not to ban asbestos products. "Vladimir Putin and Russia's asbestos industry stand to prosper mightily as a result of the Trump administration's failure to ban asbestos in the US," Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, told The Guardian. The Hill adds : Uralasbest is located in Asbest, a mining city in the Ural Mountains of Russia. The Guardian notes that previous reports have said the company has ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom Trump is set to meet in Finland this month. Asbestos is classified by the U.S. government as a "known carcinogen" because of the evidence that suggests asbestos fibers can become lodged in the lungs and cause mesothelioma. It can also reportedly cause cancers of the lung, larynx and ovary. Using asbestos for clothing and roofing is still allowed in the U.S., but the EPA in June announced that it would take further action on the product by using the "best available science" to evaluate its effects.

Details have emerged about a December meeting between President Trump's close adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and the head of a U.S.-sanctioned Russian state development bank known as VEB . President Obama imposed the sanctions in 2014 over Russia's military actions in Ukraine. The bank disclosed the meeting on Monday and said Kushner was acting as "the head of Kushner Companies." This information contradicts the statements of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who said Monday Kushner was acting as a Trump adviser during the meeting, not as a private developer. The revelations came on the same day Kushner agreed to testify to the U.S. Senate committee investigating ties between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. Topics: Donald Trump Russia

President Trump made up with the European Commission President just one day after criticizing the EU at a rally. Stephanie Ruhle breaks down how this is just one example of the Trump administration trying to change the narrative on some of the most MSNBC Live with Stephanie Ruhle - 10:14 AM 7/26/2018 The Atlantic's Natasha Bertrand joins Morning Joe to discuss new reporting on Brian Benczkowski, Trump's appointee to run the Justice Department's criminal division. Benczkowski represented Russia's Alfa Bank, and Senate Democrats have questions about... Morning Joe - 8:37 AM 7/26/2018 Morning Joe - 6:43 AM 7/26/2018

Radio star Charlamagne Tha God, talks to Ari Melber about Kanye West's praise for Trump, saying it's likely more about Trump's style than his policies. Charlamagne also discusses the value of therapy and how "black masculinity" has been harshly... The Beat With Ari Melber - 8:07 PM 4/24/2018 In a Beat special report, former prosecutor Seth Waxman reveals how Mueller can use federal law to charge bribery for potential Trump campaign activity in 2016. Watergate Prosecutor Nick Akerman says he thinks there's a potential "quid pro quo" in the... The Beat With Ari Melber - 8:04 PM 4/24/2018 A new filing from Special Counsel Bob Mueller reveals a secret hunt for evidence on the 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russians. The motion is signed by Mueller's deputy chief, a top prosecutor and known witness flipper, Andrew Weissmann, which could... The Beat With Ari Melber - 8:02 PM 4/24/2018

EarlG (15,929 posts) Pic Of The Moment: The Vanilla ISIS Crisis: This Week's Headlines Pic Of The Moment: The Vanilla ISIS Crisis: This Week's Headlines (Original post) EarlG Jan 2016 OP Fri Jan 8, 2016, 02:27 PM Spitfire of ATJ (32,723 posts) 1. Keep in mind they claim they were going to be there "for years". Fri Jan 8, 2016, 02:48 PM L. Coyote (47,112 posts) 9. Translation: "... until the election." Meanwhile, Harney County, 100% home-schooled children? Something tells even Harney County won't be that patient. Anyone who thinks a Registered Republican pulling a publicity stunt on global media isn't one of the tails wagging the 2016 dog hasn't been in politics long enough to know what a ratfuck feels like. Fri Jan 8, 2016, 02:31 PM NoMoreRepugs (1,589 posts) 2. I sure feel safe knowing that there are militiamen out there ready to protect the rest of us 'Mericans from whatever horde chooses to invade - as long as the snacks hold out Fri Jan 8, 2016, 02:33 PM Fri Jan 8, 2016, 04:50 PM Fri Jan 8, 2016, 02:34 PM L. Coyote (47,112 posts) 4. Saturday! Trump's staffer teachs terrorists to file Chap. 11, to protect remaining #snacks Last edited Sat Jan 9, 2016, 03:13 PM - Edit history (3) Fri Jan 8, 2016, 02:36 PM SeattleVet (2,579 posts) 5. This week, the SNL writers might not have much to do. These guys are doing the writing for them. All NBC has to do is have a 90-minute live-feed from the cowliphate, and watch the comedy roll in. Fri Jan 8, 2016, 02:44 PM Fri Jan 8, 2016, 03:29 PM Fritz Walter (1,858 posts) 13. I was thinking more along the lines of a Showtime mini-series This story keeps changing and evolving by the hour. Hell, I'll even help with the casting: Randy Quaid as Ammo N. Bundy John Goodman as Fluffy Eunuch-Corn ... Fri Jan 8, 2016, 04:54 PM LynneSin (95,337 posts) 19. Showtime? I'm thinking this is more like a TLC series Fri Jan 8, 2016, 04:51 PM Fri Jan 8, 2016, 02:41 PM Fri Jan 8, 2016, 02:42 PM Fri Jan 8, 2016, 02:55 PM Dawgs (14,755 posts) Fri Jan 8, 2016, 03:21 PM Jim Lane (10,868 posts) 12. I prefer Vanilla ISIS. Maybe we need a poll. There were a couple others floating around that I can't remember right now, though I think one was a pun on "Taliban". Fri Jan 8, 2016, 04:58 PM pansypoo53219 (15,477 posts) 20. since both are media attention whores, vanilla isis is better. now behead something jerky boys. Initech (70,710 posts) 14. I've got my own nickname - "The Hillbilly Beatles". Fri Jan 8, 2016, 05:49 PM 22. Trailer Daesh is my favorite I've been trying to morph "tea bag" into "Daesh bag" but this'll do. Sun Jan 10, 2016, 11:30 AM livingonearth (728 posts) Sun Jan 10, 2016, 12:56 PM Fri Jan 8, 2016, 08:42 PM Fri Jan 8, 2016, 02:59 PM Initech (70,710 posts) Fri Jan 8, 2016, 03:47 PM Roland99 (40,938 posts) 15. That last guy...Relative of Jim Robinson? Or just a regular Freeper? Fri Jan 8, 2016, 04:17 PM juxtaposed (2,337 posts) Fri Jan 8, 2016, 05:03 PM DhhD (4,695 posts) 21. The Bundy's are there for the same reason that they are in Nevada; mining or prospecting. http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2012/01/malheur_county_targeted_for_go.html There are diamonds, gold and apparently uranium that is worth a lot more than gold, around extinct small volcanoes or vents. There are craters and butts all over the area. Sat Jan 9, 2016, 03:34 PM Fri Jan 8, 2016, 06:08 PM Kaleva (19,360 posts) 23. Middle class white guys with guns need to leave terrorism to the professionals. Fri Jan 8, 2016, 08:16 PM pediatricmedic (397 posts) 24. Failures at being terrorists, they haven't harmed anyone or anything The real ISIS murdered hundreds of people in the last 24 hours, no comparison. I honestly don't have a problem with them being just a lot of noise. The weather is pretty cold and it will eventually drive them away. Fri Jan 8, 2016, 08:54 PM Sun Jan 10, 2016, 11:23 AM Sun Jan 10, 2016, 12:58 PM Sat Jan 9, 2016, 06:21 AM Bad Dog (2,025 posts) 27. Registered Republican pulling a publicity stunt on global media Not so global, this is not newsworthy enough to be broadcast. The BBC has a small item hidden away on its America and Canada webpage but that's about it. And even then I had to hunt it out. If it was not for DU I would be completely unaware of this. Sat Jan 9, 2016, 11:24 AM DhhD (4,695 posts) 28. Republicans are wanting to engage in mining and minerals also. Scraping up and flattening the surface could render enough soil for an assay. Then a federal solar field could be placed at the site if there is nothing under it (like copper or uranium). This is another third way issue. There has been no shooting. Sat Jan 9, 2016, 04:28 PM PatrickforO (6,954 posts) 30. While this particular batch of pathetic idiots deserves the ridicule we mete out to the immature and ignorant, we still need to take this seriously. Kpete has another one that we can look at that clearly shows the difference between right wing 'protests' and true populist (left wing) protests. Consider the blood, pepper spray and physical force used in the occupy movement as well as in Ferguson, and then look at the bottom right corner of the picture. Basically, like the Wiemar Republic, the United States seems to either wink or turn a blind eye to the right wingers when they act militantly, but be on the left wing advocating something that will actually make peoples' lives better...and it's bloody truncheon city. Think about that for a minute and allow the anger to flow through you. Now channel that anger into making sure you're registered to vote in the primary or caucus in your state, and then SHOW UP. Its the only way we can get rid of the bullshit and take back what is ours - which is OUR government that is supposed to be OF, BY and FOR us, the people. livingonearth (728 posts) 32. I couldn't agree more with your post. Well said.

Looking for a way to talk to young kids about LGBTQ issues? The fantastic web series Queer Kid Stuff is here to help! Along with her teddy bear friend Teddy, host and creator Lindsay Amer breaks down complex LGBTQ issues in language that even really young kids can understand. From sexuality to gender to marriage equality to homophobia, Queer Kid Stuff tackles issues that affect the lives of both gay and straight kids. And in doing so, the series makes the world a little safer and easier for everyone. New episodes of Queer Kid Stuff are released every Wednesday on YouTube . And you can support the series on Patreon too.

In episode 57 of Primary Concerns, Ron Klain and Brian Beutler discuss Byron White, Kevin Spacey, Ebola, Donald Trump, James Comey and more. With his name attached to a "mean" proposal, the president is vulnerable to Democratic attacks that he helps the rich at the expense of the poor. The glorious world-building in the first Harry Potter spin-off isn't enough to keep viewers coming back. One Republican senator's honesty about the GOP health care plan has raised an uncomfortable moral question for party leaders.

As we speak, Yazidi women are being violated. Little girls. Simply because these girls follow a certain religion, ISIS militants are kidnapping them from their homes and using them as sex slaves, gifts and wives to their own soldiers. They are seen as nothing but a product, merchandise. Like pets. How would you - the reader - feel if you were stripped of everything that meant something to you. Stripped of your dignity. It is a disgusting violation of our universal human rights that is being unseen by the majority of the population. We need to take the fight directly to the United Nations Human Rights Council . With enough support, we can show both the United Nations and the Yazidis themselves that we genuinely care for their wellbeing. I urge you to sign this petition. One minute of your time will save a Yazidi from years of sexual violation, rape and torture.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham strongly condemned the deadliest act of anti-Shia violence in two years in a Shia mosque in the northeastern Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, claiming the lives of over 60 Shia Muslims and wounding dozens more. Afkham, while expressing condolences and sympathy to the families of victims and Pakistani government, said Islamic Republic of Iran condemns terrorist act against innocent people of every race and religion in Pakistan, calling it against the teachings of Islam and human values. Stressing the need to deal with extremism and terrorist movements, Afkham highlighted regional cooperation and solidarity in the fight against extremism and terrorism as well as maintaining unity among world Muslims against the divisive measures by enemies of the Islamic Ummah. Over 50 people, including children, were killed on Friday in a suicide bombing during Friday prayers at a packed minority Shia mosque in Pakistan's Sindh province, the deadliest sectarian attack to hit the country in recent times. LR MNA END 2478820

This is the truth that President of the United States is bringing a real change in the shape of world politics through his truth and this is the reason that now people of tribal areas situated on Pak-Afghan border are fully supporting him. Actually corrupt rulers of Pakistan are still using the menace of terrorism for earning dollars. While the rumors of America's impending return to active hostilities in the Middle East have been getting louder by the day, I continued to hold out hope that the President would resist the headwinds and use his prime time address to educate the nation how it is impossible to defeat an ideology with bombs and missiles alone.

This is a short, readable guide to the realities of life for Palestinian citizens of Israel. Notionally equal, they suffer widespread discrimination. It is, White argues, systematic, not accidental - built into the fabric of the so-called 'Jewish and democratic' state. The burdens to which Palestinian citizens of Israel are subject are explored under five headings: the nature of the state; the land regime; the 'demographic threat'; discrimination in other aspects of daily life; and how the system in Israel thwarts democratic change. When the Jewish and democratic aspects of the state are perceived to be in conflict, it is the former that trumps the latter. Any attempt to advocate change to make Israel into a state of all its citizens is widely perceived as a threat to the very existence of the state itself. Discrimination is seen most clearly in the areas of citizenship and land rights, but it expresses itself in almost every aspect of daily life - education, government and private employment, and a pervasive racism on the streets. All Jews, no matter where they live, are by definition entitled to Israeli citizenship; most Palestinians are not. Following 1947, the Palestinians that remained as notionally 'full citizens' of the state of Israel cannot in reality live in over 90 per cent of the country. Efforts to Judaise the Galilee and the Negev have been intensified in response to Palestinian population growth - perceived as a 'demographic threat' - with Jewish settlements built up around the Palestinian population or Palestinians forced off their land entirely. The book also outlines how Palestinian citizens are on average much poorer and less well-educated, and have a much lower percentage of state and municipal funding directed their way than do Jewish citizens. Israel is, White shows, not a genuine democracy but an ethnocracy: 'The truth is that policies that would be considered grotesquely racist applied in other contexts are routine and institutionalised in Israel.' This is an important book, dealing with a much-neglected but key aspect of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Long overdue." From the BBC : President Donald Trump has announced that the US now recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital, overturning decades of official US policy. Mr Trump described the move as "a long overdue step" to advance the Middle East peace process. The president said the US would support a two-state solution, if approved by both the Israelis and the Palestinians. There will be those who declare that this is the ruination of peace talks for the region but the question must be asked, "why this and not the Palestinian Charter, which includes the following: Article 17: The partitioning of Palestine, which took place in 1947, and the establishment of Israel are illegal and null and void, regardless of the loss of time... Article 18: The Balfour Declaration, the Palestine Mandate System, and all that has been based on them are considered null and void. The claims of historic and spiritual ties between Jews and Palestine are not in agreement with the facts of history or with the true basis of sound statehood. Judaism... is not a nationality (and) the Jews are not one people with an independent personality... Article 19: Zionism is a colonialist movement in its inception, aggressive and expansionist in its goal, racist in its configurations, and fascist in its means and aims...

A member of the Knesset (Israel's parliament) for the ruling Likud party, Anat Berko has presented Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with plans to change the status of 300,000 Palestinians in Jerusalem. If implemented, Jerusalem would be formally divided and a group, similar in number to that of Wollongong would suddenly find itself stripped of permanent residency within Israel's formal borders, as well as associated rights. The 300,000 would instead be considered residents of the Occupied Palestinian Territory of the West Bank. Israel's "security measures", including installing metal detectors at Haram Al Sharif -- which contains the Al Aqsa mosque, one of Islam's holiest sites -- were finally rescinded on July 27 amid growing protests. But Palestinians continue to face unprecedented levels of surveillance and harassment. On the night of July 27, Israeli security forces clashed with Palestinians who returned to the site to pray for the first time in nearly two weeks since Israel shut down the mosque. Two days before the July 19 show, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Mike Leigh condemned Radiohead's intransigence towards Palestinians. Free and open to the public, the conference will be the largest ever held on BDS in Australia, with three keynote lectures, four discussion panels and more than 30 separate talks on a wide array of topics.

The Trump administration issued an unexpected statement Thursday to the Israeli government, following the announcement that Israel plans to build the first entirely new Jewish-only settlement in the occupied West Bank in 20 years. In response, the White House said, "While we don't believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal." Trump's pick for U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, is a longtime supporter of Israel's settlements and raised millions of dollars to support them. Topics: Israel

Effort to suspend FIFA has failed for now, but campaign to isolate Israel will continue, campaigners say. Read more about Palestinians disappointed but determined after FIFA betrayal The European football federation should not award the Euro 2020 competition to the Israeli Football Association. Read more about UEFA punishes football fans for Palestine solidarity More countries join the campaign against UEFA's choice of Israel as location for the European Under-21 tournament. Read more about Move football tournament out of Israel, says growing campaign

After 9 years of being a pioneer and leader in alternative news aggregation, RedFlagNews.com closed its doors on December 31, 2017. With more than 10M readers who visited both our app and website, we had built a community of trust and loyalty in online news media; something rare to find in 2018; nevertheless, it was clearly not enough to sustain the onslaught of suppression by Google and Facebook after the 2016 election. To our amazing community, thank you for your generous support and daily visits over the years. It was a good run with you by our side. Thousands have asked us where we will be getting our daily fix. As you continue your journey of seeking both balance and truth in your news diet, we strongly recommend the following two independent and trusted news aggregation websites. In the end, independent thinking is a battle that we cannot afford to lose.

They all go logically together like bees at a garden party. Some promoted Bernie Sanders even after the election was over, according to Politico's sources. Bernie Sanders, currently under investigation for bank fraud with his wife Jane. One source said the ad for Stein read: "Choose peace and vote for Jill Stein," the ad reads. "Trust me. It's not a wasted vote. ... The only way to take our country back is to stop voting for the corporations and banks that own us. #GrowaSpineVoteJillStein." The left has insisted these ads were proof of Russian collusion aimed at getting Trump elected, however, Politico, hardly a left-wing publication, said something quite different based on their source(s): The ads show a complicated effort that didn't necessarily hew to promoting Trump and bashing Clinton. Instead, they show a desire to create divisions while sometimes praising Trump, Sanders and Stein. A number of the ads seemed to question Clinton's authenticity and tout some of the liberal criticisms of her candidacy. There is no indication Stein, Sanders or Trump was aware of the advertisements, which were described to POLITICO by people with knowledge of them. Previously, Facebook wrote: The vast majority of ads run by these accounts didn't specifically reference the U.S. presidential election or voting for a particular candidate. Rather, the ads and accounts appeared to focus on amplifying divisive social and political messages across the ideological spectrum -- touching on topics from LGBT matters to race issues to immigration to gun rights." The news about Russia hoping to get Trump elected appears to be fake news. Let's face it, why would they want Trump? Wanting Sanders and Stein elected is more believable, but Russia likely just wants to disrupt our electoral process with fake news. There weren't even effective ads after all the carrying on by the conspiracy theorists: The number of ads bought by Russians on the site is far less than 1 percent of all election spending, and it is unclear how many people even saw the advertisements. The social network has estimated the total cost of the ads at $150,000. Stein was an insignificant candidate and no one could reasonably believe she would win. However, Clinton, who has blamed everyone for her failure to win, also blamed Stein for costing her votes. Some ads supported tough immigration laws, others supported Black Lives Matter and ran the spectrum of right-left issues. At least one of the Facebook ads bought by Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign referenced Black Lives Matter and was specifically targeted to reach audiences in Ferguson, Missouri and Baltimore, sources with knowledge of the ads told CNN. The left is now saying the pro-Black Lives Matter ads were to help Trump. Their aim was to sow chaos," said Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. "In many cases, it was more about voter suppression rather than increasing turnout." They were ads of no import: Many of the 3,000 Russian-bought advertisements Facebook has identified were riddled with poor grammar and spelling and contained outlandish assertions, according to a person with knowledge of them. Democrats have made up all kinds of stores about this being the tip of the iceberg when in fact it's a nothing burger.

Source Pravda.Ru 07 Sep 2017 at 16:23 US security services blame Russian Internet trolls for Trump's victory From June 2015 to May 2017, as many as 470 unreliable accounts and pages paid for advertising messages about 100,000 dollars, Facebook Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos said. According to him, those accounts bought about 3,000 advertising messages on social and political issues, from LGBT people to migrants and gun rights. Facebook believes that those accounts are related to Russia and attempted to show influence on the American political system. In many of those cases, advertising messages were not related to US presidential candidates, but they were called to split the Americans, reports CNN. As representatives of the social network said, the names of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were mentioned in some of those messages. The messages that were not related to the subject of elections touched upon controversial issues, such as the rights of LGBT people, the right to own weapons and other moot questions. They may have not either helped or harmed any of the candidates, but they involved them in heated discussions during the election campaign. Pravda.Ru asked an expert opinion on the subject from ombudsman Dmitry Marinichev. "If they say that Russian "trolls" or Russian companies affected the outcome of the vote, then they make an absolutely unproven statement. Those are just words and nothing else. It is impossible to change a person's opinion with the help of Internet "trolls." I do not believe that people can change their minds and vote for Donald Trump just because some "trolls" were saying something in the comments. Electors are free to receive information and they have a variety of opportunities for it to come to their own conclusions and make their own decisions. Claiming that Internet "trolls" exerted influence on the outcome of the US presidential election is absurd." Pravda.Ru

This is crazy. Apparently Russia was pushing the Black Lives Matter narrative on Facebook in order to amplify political discord and chaos. No, really. At least one of the Facebook ads bought by Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign referenced Black Lives Matter and was specifically targeted to reach audiences in Ferguson, Missouri and Baltimore, sources with knowledge of the ads told CNN. Ferguson and Baltimore had gained widespread attention for the large and violent protests over police shootings of black men. The decision to target the ad in those two cities offers the first look at how accounts linked to the Russian government-affiliated troll farm known as the Internet Research Agency used geographically targeted advertising to sow political chaos in the United States, the sources said. Facebook has previously said that roughly one-quarter of the 3,000 ads bought by the agency were geographically targeted, but it has not revealed any specific locations. Facebook has also not revealed which demographic groups and interest groups were targeted by the ads. So, Russia was definitely trying to meddle in our elections, and were using race to divide us. But what does that say about "Black Lives Matter" as a movement? Hmmmm.... Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

Democratic leaders are making claims of Russian influence in U.S. politics - in particular hacking emails - with the goal of hurting Donald Trump, says a national defense analyst. Bob Maginnis, senior fellow for national security at the Family Research Council , says Democrats are "spinning" the issue to "mitigate" their surprise loss to Trump on Election Day. "And that's just part of it," says Maginnis, who says President Barack Obama is pulling intelligence agencies into the controversy. President-elect Trump said Sunday it was "ridiculous" that Russian computer hackers were trying to help his candidacy. But two U.S. Senate Republicans -- John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina - have joined with two Democrats in seeking a bipartisan investigation into the Kremlin's activities during the election. Hillary Clinton's campaign is also calling on the Obama administration to declassify information around Russia's role in the election. Writing at dailywire.com , Ben Shapiro says the left-wing effort to undermine Trump with allegations of Russian hacking, and more recently with claims of "fake news," are really an effort to make excuses for their own failures. "(Clinton) lost because she was an awful candidate, and because Barack Obama has devastated his party at every level of government," Shapiro, a sharp critic of Trump, wrote. "But Obama must find an excuse aside from his own arrogance and Hillary's own incompetence for the destruction of his legacy. And Putin's as good an excuse as any." In addition to blaming the Russians and "fake news," OneNewsNow has reported that the Clinton campaign is blaming racism and "white nationalism" for Trump's successful campaign. It's the Clinton campaign team, says Maginnis, that is accountable for what they wrote in their emails, expecting their communication to remain secret. "And so they have mud all over their face and it's well deserved," Maginnis tells OneNewsNow.

The public will soon be able to see the approximately 3,000 Facebook ads a Russian company is believed to have purchased during the 2016 election. The House Intelligence Committee is reportedly going to release the Facebook ads after congressional hearing with social media figures in November. The suspected Russian-linked ads focused on immigration issues, with one page called, "Secured Borders." Others focused on racial issues like Black Lives Matter, with one page called "Blacktivist" suspected of being linked to the Kremlin. LGBT issues, veterans issues, and Islamophobia were also highlighted. American Muslims were shown Russian content that claimed to show anti-Muslim discrimination. One page called "United Muslims of America" displayed memes that were anti-American and anti-Israel. (RELATED: Russia Exploited Key Element Of Modern American Politics) However, the reach of such ads may have been minimal. Most of those who viewed the ads saw them after election day 2016. (RELATED: Russian-Linked Ads Didn't Reach Most Facebook Users Until AFTER Election Day) Moreover, Russian ads were a very small percentage of political ads on Facebook, and made up only 0.0000037% of Facebook's 2016 ad revenue. (RELATED: Russian Election Ads Made Up 0.0000037% Of Facebook's 2016 Ad Revenue, 0.00027% Of Political Ads)

Public Domain More details are beginning to emerge from the probe into how Russians, posing as Americans, utilized social media to influence the 2016 presidential election in favor of then-candidate Donald Trump. Among those revelations is the creation of Facebook and Twitter accounts aimed at LGBTQ voters , called LGBT United, The New York Times reports. "We speak for all fellow members of LGBT community across the nation," the profiles read, in broken English. "Gender preference does not define you. Your spirit defines you." This fact is particularly interesting in light of the fact that Russia enacted a so-called "gay propaganda law" in 2013, banning anything it considers to be promoting homosexuality. Other accounts included a Black Lives Matter page, one about gun rights, and another centering around dogs, which experts think was used to build a large fan base before slowly introducing political posts. Paid posts were a part of getting their pages to grow quickly, and Facebook has turned over 3,000 Russia-linked ads to Congress . The social media giant allows publishers to narrowly target audiences with ads, including by geography, age, gender, and state interests. "We're obviously deeply disturbed by this," said Joel Kaplan, Facebook vice president for United States public policy. "The ads and accounts we found appeared to amplify divisive political issues across the political spectrum." Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive officer, posted on Saturday, as Yom Kippur concluded, asking for forgiveness. Yom Kippur is the Jewish "Day of Atonement." "For the ways my work was used to divide people rather than bring us together, I ask forgiveness and I will work to do better," he wrote on Facebook.

A government shutdown is in the rearview mirror, but the outlines of a looming immigration deal remain murky with the sides still far apart -- though the latest polling suggests President Trump's bargaining position may be strong. A Harvard-Harris poll taken in the run-up to the shutdown found Americans strongly support granting citizenship rights to illegal immigrant Dreamers. But they also back Mr. Trump's three demands for a border wall, limits to the chain of family migration and an end to the Diversity Visa Lottery. Most striking of all is the public's demand for lower overall legal immigration -- a position that has little traction on Capitol Hill but one that is overwhelmingly popular across the country. The poll found that most Americans want annual legal immigration capped at 500,000 a year or less -- far lower than the current annual rate of 1.3 million. Those findings challenge what many lawmakers say is the bipartisan consensus on Capitol Hill that while illegal immigration is to be discouraged, high levels of legal immigration are necessary for the nation's image and its economy. You Might Like That is one of the positions likely to be tested as Congress begins a sprint to find an immigration compromise, potentially by Feb. 8 -- the deadline for spending set Monday -- but definitely by March 5, which is when Dreamers could begin losing legal protections in large numbers. "For the first time in five years, we will have a debate on the floor of the Senate on the Dream Act and immigration," said Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat. Mr. Durbin has been leading the push for legalization and partnering with Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, on the plan that has drawn the most attention. The Graham-Durbin outline would grant eventual citizenship rights to the 690,000 Dreamers protected by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and would include more than 1 million others who either didn't apply for the Obama-era program or who were too old to qualify. The plan would also create legal protections, though not citizenship, for their parents. The White House said it also is willing to talk about the broader immigrant population and more security and enforcement. "If they're willing to do the things we've asked to on visa, chain migration, border security, then we're willing to consider a broader population, but we have not gone there," Marc Short, the White House's chief liaison to Congress, told reporters. On the White House priorities, Mr. Graham and Mr. Durbin called for a 10 percent down payment on the Homeland Security Department's $18 billion border wall proposal. Mr. Short said the White House needs more of a commitment to make sure future congresses don't cut the money from the budget. The Graham-Durbin plan did eliminate the Diversity Visa Lottery but recaptured those 50,000 annual visas and plowed them into a new amnesty program for would-be illegal immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and other countries struck by natural disasters who have been living in the U.S. under special humanitarian protections for years. Mr. Short said the White House was pleased that Mr. Graham and Mr. Durbin accepted the end of the visa lottery but that the administration does not want those visas used for another program. That is likely to be a tough sell for Congress, where support for a high level of legal immigration spans both parties. Indeed, on Monday Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, emerged from a meeting with Mr. Trump to float the idea of using visas from both the lottery and chain migration and pumping them back into the system to reduce backlogs of people waiting to immigrate legally. "We ought to reward them," he said. The public may see the issue differently, according to the Harvard-Harris poll of American adults, taken Jan. 17-19. The survey asked respondents what level of overall legal immigration they would like to see. A stunning 35 percent said the level should be fewer than 250,000 a year, while another 19 percent said it should be 250,000 to 500,000. Combined, they make up a majority looking for a cut of at least 50 percent over current annual levels. Another 18 percent said they want to see 500,000 to 1 million. Just 19 percent of respondents said they want an increase over 1 million. Mr. Trump hasn't said recently what legal immigration number he wants to see, but he has been vocal on changing the way the U.S. picks immigrants. He said skills and ability to assimilate in the U.S. should be weighted over extended family ties. The poll says voters agree by a 79 percent to 21 percent margin. That is even bigger than the 77 percent to 23 percent margin that supports legalization for Dreamers. More than 60 percent of voters said current border security is inadequate, and 54 percent said they support "building a combination of physical and electronic barriers across the U.S.-Mexico border." That could boost Mr. Trump's call for a border wall system, which according to a proposal sent to Capitol Hill this month would build or revamp 722 miles of fencing along the border. (c) Copyright (c) 2018 News World Communications, Inc. This content is published through a licensing agreement with Acquire Media using its NewsEdge technology. Rating: 8.7/ 10 (3 votes cast) Listen up, Congress! Americans want massive cuts to legal immigration , 8.7 out of 10 based on 3 ratings

The Senate voted down an amendment that would have prevented illegal aliens from receiving taxpayer-funded health care if they are granted legal status in an immigration reform package. The 43-56 vote -- taken during the Senate's so-called budget vote-o-rama Friday and the early hours of Saturday -- split along party lines the "gang of eight" senators currently working on an immigration reform package. Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, the sponsor of the amendment, said that the vote put "immigration reform in jeopardy." "The core legal and economic principle of immigration is that those seeking admission to a new country must be self-sufficient and contribute to the economic health of the nation," Sessions said in a statement. "But, for years, the federal government has failed to enforce this law. This principle is even more urgent when dealing with those who have illegally entered the country." (RELATED: Bombshell documents show Homeland Security department not paying attention to immigrants likely to become welfare dependent) According to Sessions, the ranking member of the Senate budget committee, the Democratic majority's vote "will dramatically accelerate the insolvency of our entitlement programs and is unfair to American workers and taxpayers." The amendment would specifically have prohibited illegal immigrants who gain legal status from accessing health care in the form of Medicaid or Obamacare. Republican "gang" members -- Sens. Marco Rubio, John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Sen. Jeff Flake -- all voted in favor of the amendment. Democratic members of the gang of eight -- Sens. Dick Durbin, Charles Schumer, Bob Menendez and Michael Bennet -- voted against it. Menendez said that the amendment is unnecessary, because any new immigration package would need to be voted on in the Senate, according to a Roll Call report . He reportedly added that the amendment could get in the way of current bipartisan immigration negotiations. "The last thing we need to do in this budget process is to try muck that up," Menendez said, according to Roll Call. "This is not a great way to try to do your out reach to the Hispanic and immigrant community."

White House softens DACA rhetoric President Donald Trump, in an impromptu press conference Wednesday night, said he's willing to give up some immigration concessions to protect recipients under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Before the president departed for Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, he told reporters he's willing to grant DACA holders a pathway to citizenship. "Over a period of 10 to 12 years if someone does a great job, they've worked hard, it gives incentive to do a great job," Trump said when asked about granting citizenship. "If they do a great job, I think it's a nice thing to have the incentive of after a period of years being able to be a citizen." Trump's unplanned comments came hours after the White House announced it would release its own immigration plan on Monday to help shape debate on Capitol Hill. Just a few days ago, lawmakers briefly shut down the government after they failed to reach a compromise on immigration. Both Republicans and Democrats have criticized the White House for sending mixed messages on what it wants in a final immigration bill. Two weeks ago, the president signaled he would sign whatever lawmakers from both sides could agree to--even saying he would "take the heat" if some voters soured on the deal. But a few days later, he rejected a draft plan from six bipartisan senators. One of those lawmakers, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said he appreciated Trump's latest comments. "The president is headed in the right direction here," he tweeted . Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday night he had rescinded his offer to the White House for Democrats to support $25 billion in border wall funding. Schumer made the offer to the president on Friday in a last-ditch effort to avoid a government shutdown. Since reopening the government, Schumer and other Democrats have taken heat from liberal groups for caving on immigration. Trump said Wednesday he does not believe Schumer really took wall funding off the table and remained adamant a final deal must include a plan for a wall at the U.S. southern border. GOP leaders agree. "If you want a permanent solution for the DACA recipients, you're going to need a permanent solution for the border, which means a plan and funding," Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, tweeted Thursday. Lawmakers have through Feb. 8 to find a deal on immigration and other partisan sticking points or risk a second government shutdown. DACA recipients begin losing their status after March 5. -- E.W.

Trey Gowdy told BillO tonight that it's ridiculous that Obama can't wait six or nine months for the new Congress to act on immigration, pointing out that when Obama had the House and Senate for two years he didn't do a damn thing about immigration. He said Republicans need to convince people of this in order to counter Obama's plans for amnesty. There's more he says Republicans need to do in the video below: When asked about impeachment Trey Gowdy simply said Joe Biden isn't the answer and that the only people talking about impeachment are Obama and his allies. Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

Sen. Jeff Flake on Thursday suggested that lawmakers might need to kick the can down the road on Dreamers legislation if Democrats and Republicans can't hit the March 5 deadline, Politico reports. The Arizona Republican said lawmakers might need to compromise on an immigration stopgap to extend protections for undocumented immigrants in exchange for some border security funding, Politico reported. "That would be considered a failure by all of us to not do something permanent now," Politico quoted Flake. "This has been far too long for us and others to wait. But I do think, in the end, (Democrats) would take that." Especially since Democrats likely want to make immigration a chief political issue ahead of the midterms. "A lot of Democrats, a lot of the base, from what I hear, is just saying: 'Forget it. Wait for the midterms,'" Politico quoted Flake. "It's not as if we hold all the cards here as Republicans." Protections for Dreamers -- as well funding for a border wall - were excluded from the bipartisan Senate stopgap funding bill ahead of Thursday's midnight deadline to fund the government.

Mitt Romney said during the Republican primary that he would veto the DREAM Act, the law that would allow children of illegal immigrants legal status if they completed some college or military service. But when President Obama used an executive order this year to enable qualifying young immigrants to avoid deportation, Romney accused Obama of playing politics just months before the election. That was then. Now, in an apparent bid to win Latino support, Romney says he would let Obama's temporary work visa plan stand. That means up to 1.7 million young immigrants who qualify for Obama's program would not be deported under President Romney. Romney is promising comprehensive immigration reform, though he hasn't offered details. His decision to let Obama's stopgap policy stand will likely cost him the support of conservatives, who consider it "amnesty." And it's not likely to change the minds of those who already see him as a flip-flopper who will do whatever it takes to get elected.

The establishment press, which never seems to miss a chance to highlight conflict among Republicans and conservatives, is ignoring a major dispute involving two of the left's most prominent organizations: The SEIU and Planned Parenthood. The union has tried to organize workers at the Rocky Mountains affiliate of the nation's largest abortion provider. Planned Parenthood is not pleased with the unionization effort, and has run to -- get this -- the Trump administration's National Labor Relations Board in an attempt to stop it. None of this is news at national establishment press outlets, or even at the local Denver Post . The conflict first became visible in late May at Payday Report, a blog run by Mike Elk , a longtime organized labor-supporting reporter. Elk quickly identified leftists' central philosophical conflict ( "Planned Parenthood Group Moves to Use Trump's NLRB to Bust Union" ): Elk considers Planned Parenthood's run to the NLRB to broaden what an employer considers the correct scope of an employee group -- while publicly claiming that it is "not currently opposing efforts to organize our affiliate" -- a common union-busting tactic. Elk then described how the controversy has spilled into electoral politics in the Centennial State: On Thursday, a PPRM employee reported on Facebook (HT Twitchy ) that the clinic resorted to strong-arm tactics to keep their dispute away from donors and supporters: This move certainly undercuts PPRM's claim that it's "currently not opposing" the union. On Monday, longtime leftist pundit David Sirota, Emily Sirota's husband, tweeted that Planned Parenthood's political arm has spent $50,000 -- in a State Senate race -- to defeat his wife: This is obviously a newsworthy conflict, demonstrating once again that the interests of organized labor are being sacrificed to further other agenda items the left considers more important. The left wants PPRM to keep performing as many abortions as possible, and thus opposes the union to ensure that it will be able to perform its sacred (in their view) but heinous rite at the lowest prices possible. Organized labor has also taken it on the chin in recent decades from environmentalists determined to stop any and all pipeline and other energy-related construction, thereby keeping often union-represented workers from gainful employment, and from aggressive immigration activists who have helped flood the country with cheap blue-collar labor, causing otherwise competitive union-represented factories and other operations to shut down. It's clear that the establishment press considers noticing conflicts on the left counterproductive. That explains why, despite several instances of coverage and commentary at leftist blogs, early Tuesday evening searches on "Planned Parenthood" (in quotes where helpful, all going back to before Elk's post excerpted above) at the Associated Press , the New York Times , and even the Denver Post all returned no the PPRM-SEIU dispute-related results. Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com .

Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders apologizes for his campaign worker James T Hodgkison and the attempted mass murder of republicans in congress. Bernie's campaign worker James T Hodgkison (66) [pictured left] shot five people: House GOP Whip Steve Scalise Zak Barth (congressional aide) Matt Mika (lobbyist) David Bailey (capitol hill police) Krystal Griner (capitol hill police) It will be interesting to see if the Democrats on Capitol Hill continue supporting political violence against President Trump and Republicans now that their supporters have started shooting people.

John Fugelsang believes John Boehner suing President Obama to appease the Tea Party Most thinking people understand that Congress has no standing in suing the President when one cannot identify a harm done to someone. Attorney General Eric Holder said the following on ABC News on Sunday. "For whatever reason, [some] Republicans decided early on [...] John Fugelsang wants Democrats to project GOP 'Socialist' attack back at them John Fugelsang was on his political game on Friday's The Ed Show. It is almost like he had a couple of answers ready waiting for a question. If the issue of ensuring all Americans had access to healthcare was not so serious, it [...]

There was much heckling at President Barack Obama's Cincinnati rally Sunday night, despite his campaign's attempts to make sure only supporters got in. First one guy started yelling about abortion and kept it up for two minutes while the crowd shouted him down; then when he was escorted out another heckler piped up , but by then security was on it and hustled him out as well. "These might have been some Tennessee Titans fans mad about the Chicago Bears," the president said, because he's probably too exhausted to think of anything else.

by Jon Miltimore In 2017, the data website FiveThirtyEight declared that the U.S. had become more polarized on the issue of guns that at any time in the nation's history. Because of the emotional nature of the debate, both gun control advocates and Second Amendment proponents increasingly resorted to violent rhetoric ("burn... Read More News 2nd Amendment 1 Comment President Trump shrugged off the latest staff resignations in the West Wing Saturday night with a big dose of humor, calling it "another calm week at the White House." In a speech at the annual Gridiron dinner in Washington, Mr. Trump took self-deprecating aim at his management style, and also... Read More News Leave a comment

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Looks like Jared Leto's not gonna be the only straight dude picking up awards for gender-bending this year. Burly, studly actor Sean Bean, last seen (SPOILER ALERT) being beheaded in Game of Thrones and slaying Orcs throughout Middle Earth in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, has just won an international Emmy award for the drama series Accused . The actor played a teacher with a transvestite alter ego in the second season of the BBC One drama, which was previously awarded the best drama series international Emmy award in 2011. Bean also picked up the Best Actor award for the role from the Royal Television Society back in March. With all the gold being passed around these days for playing with gender, it's only a matter of time before going trans becomes the hottest way for an actor to take his career to the next level. Just be careful in those heels, boys.

Looks like Jared Leto's not gonna be the only straight dude picking up awards for gender-bending this year. Burly, studly actor Sean Bean, last seen (SPOILER ALERT) being beheaded in Game of Thrones and slaying Orcs throughout Middle Earth in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, has just won an international Emmy award for the drama series Accused . The actor played a teacher with a transvestite alter ego in the second season of the BBC One drama, which was previously awarded the best drama series international Emmy award in 2011. Bean also picked up the Best Actor award for the role from the Royal Television Society back in March. With all the gold being passed around these days for playing with gender, it's only a matter of time before going trans becomes the hottest way for an actor to take his career to the next level. Just be careful in those heels, boys.

The LGBT newspaper The Advocate is reporting the number of murders of transgender people in 2016 is officially the highest on record. At least 22 transgender people have been murdered so far this year. This figure does not include transgender people who have been murdered but whose deaths have not been reported, or who have been misgendered by local newspapers, meaning the real death toll is likely even higher. This comes after 30-year-old transgender woman Jazz Alford was found murdered in Birmingham, Alabama, in late September. Alford's sister said, "Her death was a huge hit for the LGBT community." Topics: LGBT

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The comparison of the two actors in middle age doesn't just make light of one's premature fogeydom and the other's eternal youthfulness; it also highlights how the mores, signifiers, and very science of aging have changed. By Ian Crouch Aug. 11, 2018 By Jelani Cobb Aug. 10, 2018 In the documentary "Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood," a man known as a "pimp to the stars" tells X-rated tales of Old Hollywood, as if fondly recalling childhood fishing trips. By Michael Schulman Aug. 09, 2018

When the Washington Post featured a story about a transgender five-year-old last week, online commenters accused the parents of overreacting to harmless "tomboyishness." But parents who listen to their kids, allow their kids to live as their preferred gender, and guide them through... Read more >> Lez face it: when you're a ladygay like myself, cruising the internet for something to watch, you realize very quickly that there are a whole... Read more >> You're a Bolshevik feminist jewess that hates white people... and you expect to be taken seriously when you're "critique-ing" ... Read more >> Last name

Dogs and cats are vaccinated routinely against the rabies virus every 1 to 3 years in the United States, even though the Rabies Challenge Fund researchers, Dr. Jean Dodds, and Dr. Ron Schultz have proven that even a single dose of rabies vaccine can provide lifetime immunity! We seek to reach out with this petition to the American Veterinary Medical Association, vaccine manufacturers, and lawmakers to show them that pet parents and the veterinary world wants to change improve the current laws regarding frequency of rabies vaccination. We recommend that legislators replace current vaccination requirements and allow waivers for ill pets or those who have had a reaction and allow a protective rabies titer level to be accepted for pet licensure. YOU can help by signing this petition and by having a rabies titers performed on YOUR pets to show that they have a long-lasting immunity! Here is more explanation about titers...and risks associated with unnecessary vaccination... A lot of research has been performed on dog and cat serum to establish what antibody titer levels are protective against distemper/parvo and distemper/rhino/calici respectively. Very new research does now exist to assert what titer levels are protective against the rabies virus as well. Challenge studies based on time interval since last vaccination have been performed for rabies. This is what dictates the 1 year initial, 3 year booster rule. A soon to be published new study proves that "3 year" vaccine for rabies actually protects for 7 or more years. This study also showed that any titer level is protective for rabies as well. There are a small percentage of dogs however, which are non-responders to rabies vaccination. This is why a titer is especially important! It is not safe to assume that vaccinated dogs are protected, some are not. Currently, legal guidelines for administration of rabies vaccine are based on duration of immunity to challenge studies, not on titer levels. Therefore performance of titer testing for rabies protection does not yield results accepted for licensure. This archaic law needs to change! Keep in mind, vaccine manufacturers state that a vaccine should only be administered to "healthy dogs and cats." Efficacy could be affected by "stress, weather, nutrition, disease, parasitism, concurrent treatments, individual idiosyncrasies or impaired immunological competency." Therefore the administration of a vaccine does not guarantee protection. Public health laws should be based on current science. Because some pets do not respond to vaccination, all pets should be titered. If they are protected, then no vaccine should be administered. If they are not protected, despite having been vaccinated, then we will have that awareness and not falsely assume that they are protected. Every time a pet is vaccinated they are put at risk for minor reactions and more serious, such as anaphylaxis or immune-mediated diseases, such as bleeding disorders or even vaccine-site tumors. This does not need to be the case where one needs to suffer in order to protect the group; a titer test will solve all concerns!

August 1, 2018 3:44 pm The government watchdog group Cause of Action filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Department of Justice claiming that the agency has not responded to three Freedom of Information Act requests, one of which is seeking emails from former FBI Director James Comey's personal email accounts that deal with government business. August 1, 2018 5:00 am Jared Polis, one of the 10 richest members of Congress and the Democratic nominee for governor of Colorado, saw his wealth double during his 10-year run in the House of Representatives according to one benchmark estimation, and the congressman had the ability to actively manage the vast majority of his wealth in that time despite boasting about creating a blind trust "to avoid even the appearance of impropriety."

Check out new video from Talib Kweli and the 9th Wonder, "Which Side Are You On?"... ...featuring Tef Poe and Kendra Ross, released on October 22 in recognition of the 20th anniversary of thel National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and Criminalization of a Generation. Updated October 5, 2015 What REALLY Changes Things? Why Economic Boycotts Will Not STOP Murder by Police Codifying Racism into the Law Who Are You? Crime Among the People and the Police: A Revolutionary View A Point to Media Mouthpieces Check this out and share it all over on social media

In The Tank (ep152) - AFEC 2018, and Universal Health Care Debate! Podcast Donny Kendal, with the help of Director of Communications Jim Lakely and State Government Relations Manager Charlie Katebi, presents episode #152 of the In The Tank Podcast. Fulfilling the Promise of American Energy Dominance at AFEC (Guest: Joe Balash) Podcast Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Land and Minerals Management Joe Balash gave a passionate and hopeful speech at AFEC 2018 on the strategy the Department is using to establish American energy dominance across the world. Heartland Institute co-founder Joe Bast discusses The Heartland Institute's history, it's accomplishments and what it hopes to achieve under new leadership.

A new recruitment video from the National Rifle Association (NRA), a part of their new campaign "Freedom's Safest Places" initiative, is attracting negative responses from people on... Just this week, President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The French President Emmanuel Macron gave a three-minute statement... So for years, under the Bush administration, governmental interference in scientific research that didn't fit the administration's agenda regarding environmental issues was a pretty big problem. College's... President Donald Trump has barred the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from sending out things on social media and giving information to reporters. They also can't award any...

TEHRAN - Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri said on Monday that the country is suffering from economic mismanagement, urging all branches of the government to cooperate in order to boost the economy. Referring to employment as one of the country's toughest problems, Jahangiri said the government should stimulate the economy to create more job opportunities. He also said one of the roots of slow pace in economic development is the change of policies in different administrations that caused the country to fall behind countries like South Korea.

Amy Brenneman, the actor and producer known for TV roles in The Leftovers , Private Practice , and Judging Amy , was a 21-year-old Harvard student when she made the decision to have an abortion. Kate Banfield, a childhood education specialist, was a 19-year-old undergraduate at Stanford University when she had an abortion. Suzanne Poppema, a family physician and published author, was a 27-year-old intern just starting her medical residency when she decided to terminate her unintended pregnancy. They are just three of the 10 women who shared their abortion stories in an amicus brief filed in support of what Brenneman described as "the most significant abortion case before the Supreme Court in 25 years," in an essay for Cosmopolitan on Monday. All of them chose to have abortions because they weren't yet ready to become mothers--a role they've since fully embraced. "The case challenges a Texas law that targets abortion providers with onerous and unnecessary restrictions, and would force more than three-quarters of the state's clinics to close their doors," Brenneman wrote in the essay, which she penned ahead of the hearing on Wednesday. "If this law were allowed to stand, it would leave only 10 clinics remaining in a state with 5.4 million women of reproductive age, many of whom will find themselves in the same position that I was in at age 21," she wrote. Passed in 2013, House Bill 2 requires every clinic that offers abortions to maintain the same building standards as surgical operating rooms in hospitals. It also mandates that doctors who perform the procedure have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their office. The Texas Republicans who drafted the law defended it as a means of protecting women's health, safety, and welfare. More than 3,300 women have sought to support the Texas law by lending their names to a separate brief in which they say they suffered psychological injuries from their abortions. The law has also resulted in a drastic reduction in abortion providers throughout the state. Of the 41 licensed abortion facilities that were open in Texas in April 2013, just 18 remained open as of last November, according to the Texas Policy Evaluation Project, a research group based out of the University of Texas at Austin. The group's latest research, released on Monday, shows a 42-percent decline in the number of physicians providing abortions in Texas since the law went into effect. In June, the Supreme Court decided to allow 10 clinics in the state to stay open while it considered whether to hear the appeal filed by Whole Woman's Health and three other reproductive health clinics. The court agreed to hear arguments in November. If the court upholds the law, health advocates say it could set a dangerous precedent for antiabortion laws nationwide. Fourteen states have already passed laws or policies to regulate physicians' offices where abortions are performed, and 17 states have passed laws or made policies to regulate how medication for abortions is provided, according to the reproductive-health research group Guttmacher Institute. "If you start delving into your family and friends, you're going to find a woman that's terminated a pregnancy. So, therefore, it's in everyone's life," Brenneman said in a video campaign produced by the Center for Reproductive Rights. The legal advocacy group is representing Whole Woman's Health, one of the abortion providers that sued the state over its strict antiabortion law, in this week's case. "I look back at my 21-year-old self, and I applaud her," Brenneman said, "and I feel so blessed that I was in a place where I wasn't shamed and I was supported, and it didn't scar me for life."

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against the state of North Carolina this week who tried to revive its law requiring doctors to conduct ultrasounds and describe the fetuses to women wanting an abortion. The ruling, which was made Monday, comes as a win for pro-choice advocates in the state, while others have recently fallen to anti-choice rulings. Texas is expected to close 11 abortion clinics in July after the state passed an omnibus anti-abortion law earlier this month, while Tuesday, the state of Ohio approved a bill that would ban abortions on fetuses that have been diagnosed with Down syndrome. The North Carolina Women's Right to Know Act that was struck down by the Supreme Court this week, required doctors to provide "an explanation of what the ultrasound is depicting, which shall include the presence, location, and dimensions of the unborn child within the uterus and the number of unborn children depicted." The doctor would be obliged to offer this information even if the woman does not want to hear it. RELATED: Women Resist The Supreme Court's decision left in place an earlier appeals court ruling that deemed the law to be unconstitutional and against the First Amendment for violating doctors' rights to free speech. "The state cannot commandeer the doctor-patient relationship to compel a physician to express its preference to the patient," judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III wrote in December for the United States Court of Appeals, adding the law "imposes a virtually unprecedented burden on the right of professional speech." Roy Cooper, the state's attorney general, disagreed with the ruling saying "the law is perfectly consistent with the First Amendment as a reasonable regulation of medical practice." He added that 24 states currently require an ultrasound to be performed or offered before performing an abortion. The Supreme Court ruling will only be applied to the state of North Carolina and will not affect the validity of any similar laws in other states. WATCH: teleSUR's Laura Flanders Show - Fighting for Abortion Rights

A federal judge Friday ruled against new abortion restrictions set to go into effect in Texas this Monday. The ruling blocks a requirement that abortion centers in Texas have hospital-like facilities with operating rooms, air filtration systems, and other standards that are typically only mandated in surgical settings. Supporters of the measure said it would protect women's health, but U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel said it created an "impermissible obstacle as applied to all women seeking a previability abortion." The rules were part of the sweeping abortion reform law called HB2 that Gov. Rick Perry signed in 2013. HB2 has already withstood a legal challenge to another part of the law that required abortionists to have privileges at a nearby hospital. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in March that the privileges requirement did not place an undue burden on women seeking abortions. Only 19 abortion providers remain open in Texas since the privileges requirement went into effect--down from more than 40 just two years ago. The plaintiffs in the suit, a group of abortion facilities, argued the new requirements for surgical capabilities would have closed more than a dozen centers, leaving no abortion providers in the western half of the state. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican who is the favorite to become governor next year, vowed to seek an immediate appeal to try to preserve the new clinic rules. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Share this article with friends.

CBS 11 News Wendy Davis' filibuster may not have been in vain: On Monday, a federal judge in Texas will hear arguments as to whether the new abortion limits passed this past summer in Texas should be put on hold until their legality can be fully challenged with a trial. If U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel, the one hearing the aforemetnioned arguments, doesn't decide to delay enforcement of the laws, the following will take place: 1. On October 29, the law will require abortion doctors to have admitting privileges -- i.e. the right to admit patients to a particular hospital or medical center for providing specific services -- within 30 miles of their clinic. If this mandate goes into effect, abortion clinics in the cities of Fort Worth, Harlingen, Killeen, Lubbock, McAllen and Waco will have to close. (Either these clinics aren't close enough to a hospital or their doctors are unable to get admitting privledges, a very lengthy and complicated process , in time.) 2. Also on October 29, the law mandates that doctors can only perform abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy if health of the mother is in danger or the fetus is not viable (which could refer to the fetus not being able to survive outside of the womb or the fetus no longer being alive, depending on the situation). 3. In October 2014, the law will require that all abortions take place in an ambulatory surgical center -- in order for existing clincs to comply, they'd need to have an operating room and specialized equiptment, upgrades many cannot afford. Only a handful of clinics are predicted to remain open in the whole state after this goes into effect. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below These laws are opposed by Texas Medical Association, Texas Hospital Association, and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, as well as Planned Parenthood, which is working with other abortion providers to keep them from going into effect. They argue that these laws violate a woman's lawful right to an abortion, not to mention a doctor's right to perform the procedure. Because just in case all this arguing has confused anyone out there, it is still in fact FULLY LEGAL for a woman to have an abortion, and FULLY LEGAL for a doctor to perform one. Want more from Natasha? Follow her on Twitter or find her on Facebook . Photo: CBS 11 News

Although the federal court declared the new set of proposed abortion restrictions by the Texas legislature unconstitutional on Monday -- a big win for gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis, other Lone Star State pro-choicers and basically anyone with a vagina -- the decision has been reversed, and the laws will be taking effect while the case is argued, according to the New York Times. . Which will take months, because that's how this goes. So... Oh. Cool. (Not cool.) What this means: Abortion providers must have admitting privileges within 30 miles of the clinic and only perform abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy if health of the mother is in danger or the fetus is not viable. It also required that all abortions to be performed in an ambulatory surgical center -- which only five out of the 42 existing abortion clinics in the state possess. Quoth Texas governor Rick Perry (above), "Today's decision affirms our right to protect both the unborn and the health of the women of Texas." Follow Anna on Twitter .

A federal judge ruled on Monday that parts of Texas' strict anti-abortion law were unconstitutional. The question before the court was whether Texas' new abortion laws-requiring that abortion providers get admitting privileges to hospitals, imposing a less safe and outdated regimen for the administering of the abortion pill-constituted an undue burden on women seeking an abortion. (A third provision in the omnibus abortion bill, the 20-week ban, has not been challenged for fear it would force an unfavorable Supreme Court decision.) The provisions were set to go into effect on Tuesday. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel ruled that the "admitting-privileges provision is without a rational basis," and thus unconstitutional, but the judge had an ambiguous ruling on the medication abortion provision, saying it is constitutional "except when a physician finds such an abortion necessary, in appropriate medical judgment, for the preservation of the life or health of the mother." The admitting privileges provision was purportedly to protect women's health, but the court found that to be a trumped-up reason. Although the court did not buy that the medication abortion restrictions were actually intended to protect women's health, and would even have the opposite effect, the judge ruled that didn't make them unconstitutional. The decision noted that another provision, the off-label protocol, is endorsed by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and that it presents fewer risks and fewer burdensome visits for women. The off-label protocol also allows for use two weeks later into pregnancy. The off-label protocol means more options for women who prefer to end their pregnancy at home, rather than in a surgical procedure at a clinic. Despite the fact that "the court finds that the FDA protocol is assuredly more imposing and unpleasant for the woman," that doesn't make it unconstitutional, according to Judge Yeakel. The Supreme Court opened the door to that interpretation in Gonzalez v. Carhart, where it ruled that it was constitutional to ban a certain abortion procedure (so-called "partial birth abortion") if others were still available. Yeakel did say there should be an exception if the woman has medical reasons why surgery isn't the best option for her. The case is likely to have an impact on the forthcoming Texas governor's race: the declared Democratic candidate, Wendy Davis, made her name nationally by standing against it, and her expected Republican opponent, Greg Abbott, happens to be the attorney general defending the law in court. Davis commended the ruling in a statement: "Texas families are stronger and healthier when women across the state have access to quality healthcare. I'm not surprised by the judge's ruling. As a mother, I would rather see our tax dollars spent on improving our kid's schools rather than defending this law." Abbott has said he will appeal the decision to the Fifth Circuit. The last Texas abortion restriction that came before the Fifth Circuit, the forced-ultrasound and viewing law, was struck down as unconstitutional in the district court but upheld by the famously conservative higher court. Texas Gov. Rick Perry responded to the ruling, saying, "Today's decision will not stop our ongoing efforts to protect life and ensure the women of our state aren't exposed to any more of the abortion-mill horror stories that have made headlines recently. We will continue fighting to implement the laws passed by the duly elected officials of our state, laws that reflect the will and values of Texans." The law went to court in September after Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights and the ACLU of Texas filed suit against parts of the legislation. The Supreme Court has expressed interest in hearing a challenge to a similar law out of Oklahoma restricting medication abortion. David Taintor also contributed to this report.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted last week to update the church's guide on making conscience-driven choices at the voting booth to reflect Pope Francis' teachings. The vote was 144-41 among the bishops, with two abstentions, to have "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship" ready before the 2020 presidential election. The USCCB currently issues guidelines that advise parishes and Catholic organizations how not to run afoul of rules that prohibit participation or intervention in a political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate. If candidates are invited to a church forum , all must be invited and topics must cover a broad range of issues because "focusing on one issue will create the appearance of endorsing some candidates over others." Parishes are allowed to encourage voter registration, conduct nonpartisan voter education, and support or oppose ballot measures if they fall within 501(c)(3) permitted lobbying activities. The USCCB has suggested the following notice for church bulletins: "We strongly urge all parishioners to register, to become informed on key issues, and to vote. The Church does not support or oppose any candidate, but seeks to focus attention on the moral and human dimensions of issues. We do not authorize the distribution of partisan political materials on parish property." The current version of "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship" is described by the USCCB as a "teaching document on the political responsibility of Catholics" that "represents our guidance for Catholics in the exercise of their rights and duties as participants in our democracy." "Catholic voters should use the framework of Catholic social teaching to examine candidates' positions on issues affecting human life and dignity as well as issues of justice and peace, and they should consider candidates' integrity, philosophy, and performance. It is important for all citizens 'to see beyond party politics, to analyze campaign rhetoric critically, and to choose their political leaders according to principle, not party affiliation or mere self-interest,'" the guide states. "As Catholics we are not single-issue voters. A candidate's position on a single issue is not sufficient to guarantee a voter's support." The guide, which has been used since 2011, was last updated in 2015. At the bishops' conference last week, supporters of revising the document said it should reflect Pope Francis' teachings on hot-button issues "such as restrictive immigration policies, the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement and the renewed threats posed by nuclear weapons" as well as economic inequality and "the USCCB statements on gun control and access to health care." Chicago Cardinal Blase J. Cupich said there was a "new body of teaching" from Pope Francis and "the way he presents those topics seems to be a body of teaching we ought to integrate."

ROME, October 19, 2015 ( LifeSiteNews ) -- While some say a majority of Synod Fathers support allowing different national regions to establish their own ways of dealing with contentious issues such as homosexuality and divorce, Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria has stated that the proposal is impossible for the Catholic Church to adopt. "The Ten Commandments are not subject to national frontiers. A bishops' conference in a country cannot agree that stealing from a bank is not sinful in that country, or that divorced persons who are remarried can receive Holy Communion in that country, but when you cross the boundary and go to another country it now becomes a sin," he told LifeSiteNews in an exclusive interview in Rome on Saturday. "You can see you then, if we did that, we have made the Ten Commandments a matter of decision according to sensitivities in each country. It cannot be so," he added. Arinze, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, said that the Catholic Church is "one" in her faith and morals. "In matters of faith and morals, the Catholic Church is known for her unity, a unity which is not invented by the Vatican, is not invented by the theologians. It is Christ himself who said, 'Teach them to observe whatever I have said to you.'" "So, we don't have power to modify [what Scripture teaches us]. For example, St. Paul says that those who receive Holy Communion should look into themselves because the person who receives unworthily receives judgment against himself. This is Holy Scripture. This cannot be subject to voting at the level of bishops' conferences or even voting across continental frontiers." "You can see, the Church is not actually a national Church, it is one body in Christ. The Son of God came down from heaven and gave us this way of salvation and prayed that all his followers may be one, as he and his Father are one," he said. Arinze said that while bishops conferences "are important" for examining particular "national situations" facing the local church, such as respecting local culture in liturgy or providing solutions for the poor and the sick, they do not have the power to change "faith and morals, what we are to believe and what we are to do or not to do." Click "like" to support Catholics Restoring the Culture! "When it comes to practical details that don't affect faith and morals, bishops' conferences can look into that and should," he said. Last week during a Synod press briefing , German Abbot Jeremias Schroder mentioned both "the social acceptance of homosexuality" and dealing with "divorced and remarried persons" as examples "where bishops conferences should be allowed to formulate pastoral responses that are in tune with what can be preached and announced and lived in a different context." The announcement drew strong criticism from Church heavyweights such as Cardinal Burke who called the proposal "simply contrary to Catholic Faith and life." "What it actually means is that the Church is no longer Catholic [universal]. It means that it's no longer one in its teaching throughout the whole world. We have one faith. We have one [collection of] sacraments. We have one governance throughout the whole world. That's what it means to be 'Catholic,'" he said in an exclusive interview with LifeSiteNews.

MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry, The Hill's Karen Finney and Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart preview how much Bill Clinton's convention speech means to President Barack Obama's re-election chances; then delve into how valuable VP Biden's Paul Ryan... Martin Bashir - 8:00 PM 9/03/2012 Hardball's Chris Matthews joins Rev. Al Sharpton to share details from the MSNBC documentary: "Barack Obama: Making History." The documentary will air on MSNBC, Monday night at 10 p.m. ET. Matthews and Sharpton also talk about the high expectations set... PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton - 8:00 PM 9/03/2012 Rev. Al Sharpton highlights how Mitt Romney's inability to connect with voters extends to how he would address issues that matter most to the poor and middle class. MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry and Sister Simone Campbell of "Nuns on the Bus" join to... PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton - 8:00 PM 9/03/2012 On the eve of the Democratic National Convention, MSNBC's Rev. Al Sharpton covers what liberals must do to unite the party during their three days in the national spotlight. DNC Chairwoman, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Democratic strategist Bob... PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton - 8:00 PM 9/03/2012 The progressive Web site Change.org has set up an online petition to have actress and nonagenarian Betty White be their version of Clint Eastwood (minus the odd chair thing) and introduce President Obama at the DNC. And in other water cooler news,... Way Too Early - 8:00 PM 9/03/2012 Top Talkers: The Morning Joe panel - including New York Magazine's John Heilemann, Time's Mark Halperin and Mike Barnicle - is live in Charlotte for the DNC, and they discuss new polls that has Romney leading in N.C., the Democratic Party platform, and... Morning Joe - 8:00 PM 9/03/2012 First Lady Michelle Obama previewed her speech this morning during a radio interview, saying she would effectively reintroduce the country to the president before he was president. Politico's Maggie Haberman and the Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart... NOW With Alex Wagner - 8:00 PM 9/03/2012 NOW With Alex Wagner - 8:00 PM 9/03/2012

U.S. Roman Catholic bishops issued an election-year guide stressing a moral imperative to evaluate candidates according to their position on marriage and abortion. The decision Tuesday followed a brief debate at their national assembly over whether the document reflected the priorities of Pope Francis. The guide, called "Faithful Citizenship," addresses a broad range of issues in Catholic social teaching, including protecting immigrants and the environment, fighting racism and poverty, and opposing the death penalty. However, the bishops said they consider opposition to gay marriage and abortion rights paramount in this presidential election season and beyond. "Some issues involve principles that can never be abandoned such as the fundamental right to life and marriage as the union of one man and one woman," the bishops said. They said voting for a candidate specifically because the politician favors a "grave evil" such as abortion rights amounts to "formal cooperation" with that evil by the voter. The document was approved overwhelmingly on a vote of 210-21 with five abstentions. For decades, the bishops have issued guidance to Catholics ahead of presidential elections. The document is viewed as a barometer of church leaders' top concerns as they apply Catholic teaching to modern-day policy concerns. This year's guidance was especially watched for signs of the influence of Francis, who has upended the priorities of the church in his two years as pope, shifting focus from divisive social issues to protecting the environment and immigrants and helping the poor. The U.S. bishops had decided to slightly revise the document, which was largely written in 2007, instead of drafting a new one. Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego, California, said the document was "gravely hobbled" and did not reflect the pope's agenda. "Global poverty and degradation of the earth" are "at the very center and core" of Francis' pontificate and Catholic social teaching, McElroy said. "This is not reflected in this document," the bishop said. But Archbishop Leonard Blaire of Hartford, Connecticut, who helped draft the document, said "there is a kind of rhetoric of regime change that's going on in the church, and I think we have to be very wary about that." He said Francis "certainly has a dynamic and new insight that he's given to us," but Blaire said Francis wants bishops to promote "the totality of issues of Catholic teaching," including opposition to abortion, "holding up what's right and true and just." About one-quarter of U.S. voters are Catholic, but they do not vote as a bloc and it's not clear what, if any, influence the bishops' teaching document will have at the ballot box. The document heavily emphasizes the need for religious liberty protections for conscientious objectors to gay marriage, abortion and other laws the bishops consider immoral. The U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide five months ago. "Thousands of laws are being affected by this," said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, Texas, who helped draft the guide. "Our intent is to make sure that Catholic citizens understand where we are and what we understand about the sacrament of marriage." Separately, the head of the bishops' migration committee urged public officials to continue providing "safe haven to vulnerable and deserving refugees" from Syria as many U.S. governors, federal lawmakers and others urge a halt on resettlement for now after the Paris attacks. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility and there were indications that one of the perpetrators might have entered France with a Syrian passport. "These refugees are fleeing terror themselves_violence like we have witnessed in Paris," said Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio Elizondo of Seattle, who leads the bishops' committee. "They are extremely vulnerable families, women, and children who are fleeing for their lives. We cannot and should not blame them for the actions of a terrorist organization."

By Associated Press | November 18, 2015, 12:45 EDT Printed from: http://newbostonpost.com/2015/11/18/catholic-bishops-tout-abortion-marriage-as-key-election-issues/ Bishops gathered at the Vatican for the synod on the family. (File photo courtesy Religion News Service, Rosie Scammell) BALTIMORE -- U.S. Roman Catholic bishops issued an election-year guide stressing a moral imperative to evaluate candidates according to their position on marriage and abortion. The decision Tuesday followed a brief debate at their national assembly over whether the document reflected the priorities of Pope Francis. The guide, called "Faithful Citizenship," addresses a broad range of issues in Catholic social teaching, including protecting immigrants and the environment, fighting racism and poverty, and opposing the death penalty. However, the bishops said they consider opposition to gay marriage and abortion rights paramount in this presidential election season and beyond. "Some issues involve principles that can never be abandoned such as the fundamental right to life and marriage as the union of one man and one woman," the bishops said. They said voting for a candidate specifically because the politician favors a "grave evil" such as abortion rights amounts to "formal cooperation" with that evil by the voter. The document was approved overwhelmingly on a vote of 210-21 with five abstentions. For decades, the bishops have issued guidance to Catholics ahead of presidential elections. The document is viewed as a barometer of church leaders' top concerns as they apply Catholic teaching to modern-day policy concerns. This year's guidance was especially watched for signs of the influence of Francis, who has upended the priorities of the church in his two years as pope, shifting focus from divisive social issues to protecting the environment and immigrants and helping the poor. The U.S. bishops had decided to slightly revise the document, which was largely written in 2007, instead of drafting a new one. Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego, California, said the document was "gravely hobbled" and did not reflect the pope's agenda. "Global poverty and degradation of the earth" are "at the very center and core" of Francis' pontificate and Catholic social teaching, McElroy said. "This is not reflected in this document," the bishop said. But Archbishop Leonard Blaire of Hartford, Connecticut, who helped draft the document, said "there is a kind of rhetoric of regime change that's going on in the church, and I think we have to be very wary about that." He said Francis "certainly has a dynamic and new insight that he's given to us," but Blaire said Francis wants bishops to promote "the totality of issues of Catholic teaching," including opposition to abortion, "holding up what's right and true and just." About one-quarter of U.S. voters are Catholic, but they do not vote as a bloc and it's not clear what, if any, influence the bishops' teaching document will have at the ballot box. The document heavily emphasizes the need for religious liberty protections for conscientious objectors to gay marriage, abortion and other laws the bishops consider immoral. The U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide five months ago. "Thousands of laws are being affected by this," said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, Texas, who helped draft the guide. "Our intent is to make sure that Catholic citizens understand where we are and what we understand about the sacrament of marriage." Separately, the head of the bishops' migration committee urged public officials to continue providing "safe haven to vulnerable and deserving refugees" from Syria as many U.S. governors, federal lawmakers and others urge a halt on resettlement for now after the Paris attacks. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility and there were indications that one of the perpetrators might have entered France with a Syrian passport. "These refugees are fleeing terror themselves - violence like we have witnessed in Paris," said Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio Elizondo of Seattle, who leads the bishops' committee. "They are extremely vulnerable families, women, and children who are fleeing for their lives. We cannot and should not blame them for the actions of a terrorist organization." - Written by Rachel Zoll for Associated Press

Pope Francis said Thursday that Donald Trump's desire to build border walls is not in line with the gospel, and renders the billionaire "not Christian." "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian ," Pope Francis said Thursday when a reporter asked him about Trump. "This is not in the Gospel." "I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that," Francis added. "We must see if he said things in that way and in this I give the benefit of the doubt." The comments sent shockwaves through the American political system, and drew new international scrutiny to the presidential race. Gathered below are five other times a sitting pope has stirred political controversy in the U.S. ALERT: When Do You Think Christ Is Returning? Vote Now 1. Pope Francis gets political during address to Congress -- "If the Pope stuck to standard Christian theology, I would be the first in line," Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Arizona, wrote in announcing he would boycott the pope's address to Congress in Sept. 2015. "Media reports indicate His Holiness instead intends to focus the brunt of his speech on climate change -- a climate that has been changing since first created in Genesis. More troubling is the fact that this climate change talk has adopted all of the socialist talking points." The pope did talk about climate change during his address to Congress, among other politically-charged subject matter that irked many conservatives. 2. Pope Francis visits nuns suing Obama over birth control -- "Pope Francis made an unscheduled visit to a convent of the Little Sisters of the Poor, an order that is suing the Obama administration over its birth control rules on employers," The Washington Times reported in Sept. 2015. "Although Pope Francis has focused on climate change -- an issue dear to President Obama -- during his U.S. tour, his visit with the Little Sisters made it clear that he would push back at the administration over its birth control mandate." 3. Pope Benedict XVI condemns Obama's abortion stance -- "Pope Benedict XVI stressed the church's opposition to abortion and stem cell research in his first meeting with President Barack Obama on Friday, pressing the Vatican's case with the U.S. leader who is already under fire on those issues from some conservative Catholics and bishops back home," The Huffington Post reported in July 2009. URGENT: Who Should the GOP Nominate in 2016? Vote Here Now 4. Pope John Paul II rebukes Iraq War during Bush Visit -- "At President George W. Bush's last meeting with John Paul, at the Vatican in June 2004, he presented the pope with the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor," Deseret News reported . "The pontiff responded by reading a statement about his 'grave concern' over events in Iraq, where the U.S.-led war had been going on for just over a year." 5. Pope John Paul II condemns President Clinton's abortion stance -- "If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then, America, defend life," the pope told Clinton while visiting the U.S. in 1993 for an international Catholic youth festival, The Washington Post reported . "All the great causes that are yours today will have meaning only to the extent that you guarantee the right to life and protect the human person." It would not be the last time the two would clash over abortion, as they had an open disagreement about the issue a year later at a United Nations summit in Cairo. VOTE NOW: Do You Support Prayer in Public Schools? (c) 2018 Newsmax. All rights reserved. Click Here to comment on this article

Everything is a travesty with you , Congress. Last Thursday, the House Oversight Committee held a hearing to rehash long-discredited claims that vaccines cause autism. The bullshit was bipartisan. Reps Dan Burton (R) and Dennis Kucinich (D) joined forces to argue for the discredited claim that mercury in vaccines causes autism. Phil Plait of Slate writes: In the latest hearing, Burton sounds like a crackpot conspiracy theorist, to be honest, saying he knows--better than thousands of scientists who have spent their careers investigating these topics--that thimerosal causes neurological disorders (including autism). He goes on for some time about mercury (as does Rep. Dennis Kucinitch (D-Ohio) starting at 21:44 in the video ), making it clear he doesn't have a clue what he's talking about. For example, very few vaccines still use mercury, and the ones that do use it in tiny amounts and in a form that does not accumulate in the body. Talking about the danger of mercury in vaccines is like talking about the danger of having hydrogen--an explosive element!--in water. It's nonsense. Not to be outdone, Rep. Bill Posey (R) took a page from the Jenny McCarthy playbook, and asked a CDC expert why her agency hasn't tried vaccinating some kids and not others and comparing their autism rates. As Steven Salzberg notes in Forbes, it would be unethical to prospectively deprive children of life saving vaccines just to see what happens. Furthermore, there's no reason to do such a study because the link between autism and vaccines has been exhaustively studied and discredited at every turn. On the bright side, Posey's question suggests that the concept of a control group is taking hold even among the nation's dumbest people. Score one for the skeptics movement. Now, if only we could put the vaccine denialism to bed.

The Fungus Dilemma Image: Zombie Logic Examining the piece of fruit, it was determined that the red streaks in the banana were from a fungus called Nigrospora. Although the fungus looks dangerous, it actually is harmless when it comes to humans ingesting it. Join the conversation! We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, vulgarity, profanity, all caps, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain a courteous and useful public environment where we can engage in reasonable discourse.

Immune Response Corp., maker of the experimental HIV vaccine Remune, last week announced the appointment of John Bonfiglio as the company's new chief executive officer. He will be charged with spearheading the company's development of Remune, currently in clinical trials for possible use in combination with antiretroviral drugs to slow or stop HIV replication in people infected with the virus. "A significant factor in any HIV treatment development is the importance of the HIV activist and medical communities, whose long-term advocacy and input have been instrumental in the advancement of new treatments," Bonfiglio said. "I look forward to working closely with these groups as we pursue the ongoing development of Remune."

Viewers brand the BBC 'dangerous' for burying a gamechanger in the Russian spy case Viewers have branded the BBC "dangerously irresponsible" for apparently burying a gamechanger in the Russian spy story in its broadcast coverage: https://twitter.com/Trickyjabs/status/981215677481615361 The gamechanger More than 20 countries have expelled Russian diplomats over the UK's position that Russia poisoned former double... (c) Canary Media Limited 2015-18. All rights reserved. Canary Media Ltd, PO Box 3301, Bristol, BS5 5GD. Registered in England. Company registration number 09788095. Please contact us .

In more climate change news, a federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit in which the cities of Oakland and San Francisco were suing fossil fuel companies for the costs of dealing with climate change. The cities had sued to force companies, including BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell, to pay for the cost of projects like protecting coastlines from flooding due to sea-level rise. But Judge William Alsup ruled, "The problem deserves a solution on a more vast scale than can be supplied by a district judge or jury in a public nuisance case." Topics: Climate Change

More than $7 trillion has now been added to the federal deficit under Barack Obama's watch, and it's not rocket science figuring out where most of that money goes. CNSNews reports that means-tested and non-means tested government programs provided $2 trillion to Americans in fiscal year 2013. "Most of the benefits doled out from the total of $2 trillion, or 69.7 percent, came from non-means tested government programs that, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, provide benefits to recipients who qualify regardless of income," they found. "Means-tested government programs, which require income to be below a certain level to be eligible for receipt, contributed to 30.3 percent of the total amount in benefits." How does this compare to the total budget? "[T]he federal government totaled $3,454,253,000,000 in outlays for fiscal year 2013," CNSNews continues. "This means that benefits, totaling $2,007,611,200,000, amounted to 58.1 percent of the total spending." Meanwhile, military budget cuts have prompted layoffs at the front lines . What a despicable example of priorities. More...

This article is part of the FrackSwarm portal on SourceWatch, a project of CoalSwarm and the Center for Media and Democracy . To search by topic or location, click here . The New Albany Shale is an organic-rich geologic formation of Devonian and Mississippian age in the Illinois Basin of the United States. It is a major source of hydrocarbons. The New Albany formation consists of brown, black, and green shale with minor beds of dolomite and sandstone. It was deposited under anoxic marine conditions. Pyrite is a common accessory mineral, and parts of the shale have greater than 4% by weight of organic carbon. The black shale layers have anomalously high radioactivity (due to uranium), phosphorus, and heavy metals. [1] The formation was named for outcrops near New Albany, Indiana. It is one of a number of organic-rich shales of upper Devonian and lower Mississippian age in North America. It is correlative with the Antrim Shale of the Michigan Basin, the Ohio Shale of Ohio and eastern Kentucky, and the Chattanooga Shale of Tennessee and central Kentucky. The formation is composed of six members. These members in ascending stratigraphic order are the Blocher, the Selmier, the Morgan Trail, the Camp Run, the Clegg Creek and the Ellsworth. The Blocher consists of brownish-black to grayish-black, slightly calcareous pyritic shale. The Selmier is a greenish-gray to olive-gray shale. The Morgan Trail is a brownish-black to olive-black fissile siliceous pyritic shale. The Camp Run is a greenish-gray to olive-gray shale interbedded with brownish-black shale. The Clegg Creek is a brownish black pyritic shale that is rich in organic matter. The Ellsworth is composed of a lower part of interbedded brownish-black shale and an upper part of greenish-gray shale. [2] | Frank R. Ettensohn and Lance S. Barron, 1981, Depositional model for the Devonian-Mississippian black-shale sequence of North America: a tectono-climatic approach , US Dept. of Energy, DOE/METC/12040-2, PDF file. | Indiana Geologic Survey, 1997, "New Albany Shale" Wikipedia also has an article on New Albany Shale . This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL .

In this opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, (page A18), Fred Siegel asserts that, The transformation of American liberalism over the past half-century is nowhere more apparent than in the disputes now roiling a relatively obscure section of upstate New York. In 1965, as part of his "war on poverty," President Lyndon Johnson created the Appalachian Regional Commission. Among the areas to be served by the commission were the Southern Tier counties of New York state, including Broome, Tioga and Chemung. The commission's central aim was to "Increase job opportunities and per capita income in Appalachia to reach parity with the nation." However, states like New York have not gotten into the new energy discoveries, and the state is suffering as a result.

Standing on the banks of the Ohio River President Trump outlines his proposal for a major infrastructure initiative to rebuild aging U.S. transportation networks and systems of public commerce. "As long as I am President, America's labor leaders will always find an open door at the @WhiteHouse ." @realDonaldTrump Cincinnati, Ohio pic.twitter.com/GA8C4JnyFy -- Dan Scavino Jr. (@Scavino45) June 7, 2017 Trump promises $1 TRILLION in new infrastructure spending https://t.co/HcHPZ6bN6T via @MailOnline

The University of Maryland School of Public Health published a study in July, 2014 for the Maryland Department of the Environment which concluded that the likelihood for negative public health impacts for Maryland communities in the areas currently targeted for hydraulic fracturing to be moderately-high to high in seven of the eight areas they studied. These areas range from "cumulative exposures/risks" to "air quality." This assessment agrees with the great majority of scientific studies published nationally on the question of the health hazards posed by fracking. Opening up western Maryland to fracking would also spoil the natural beauty of the landscape, and thereby negatively affect outdoor recreation in the area. Thus, we call upon State Senator Joan Carter Conway, Chair of the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, to support a bill that would ban the hazardous practice of fracking in the State of Maryland.

Mientras se reune el comite de elaboracion de la plataforma del Partido Democrata en Washington, hablamos con Michelle Chan, vocera de la organizacion Friends of the Earth Action. Chan es asesora del ambientalista y co fundador de la organizacion 350.org Bill McKibben, una de las personas que Sanders eligio para conformar el comite de elaboracion de plataforma del Partido Democrata. Los activistas contra el cambio climatico entregaron mas de noventa mil petitorios a la Convencion Nacional del Partido Democrata, para exigir que la plataforma del partido de la campana 2016 incluya la prohibicion del fracking a nivel nacional, pedido que fue respaldado por Sanders, mientras que Clinton se concentro en la necesidad de regular la industria.

In 2010, a moratorium was placed on fracking in Pennsylvania public lands because an exhaustive scientific study concluded that further drilling would irreparably harm the state forests and parks. By lifting this moratorium, Governor Corbett has proven yet again that he's willing to give away our state's natural resources to big oil and gas companies at the expense of the environment, our state constitution, and the people of Pennsylvania. If you believe public lands should be protected from fracking, then you need to sign Tom Wolf's petition to keep gas drilling out of Pennsylvania state parks and forests.

Democrats in Congress demand the end of the special House panel charged with investigating allegations of the illegal buying and selling of aborted baby body parts, and, most recently, the practices of notorious late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart , who has allegedly sent at least five of his abortion patients to the hospital from his Maryland clinic since December alone. "There is little that separates late-term abortionists like LeRoy Carhart from someone like Kermit Gosnell," Rep. Diane Black (TN), a Republican member of the House panel, tells Breitbart News. Friday, May 13 was the third anniversary of the murder conviction of Gosnell, who was discovered to have severed the spinal cords of aborted babies born alive in his Philadelphia "House of Horrors" abortion clinic. Gosnell was also found guilty in the death of one of his patients due to an anesthesia overdose. Black adds: Carhart's clinic is one of the few in the nation that performs abortions during the third trimester - despite the overwhelming evidence of health risks to the mother and fetal pain for the unborn child - and public records indicate that at least five women have been sent to the hospital since December while seeking an abortion at this facility. This total disrespect for human life should concern all people of conscience. An investigation is truly the least we can do at this point. Black, a nurse for more than 40 years, has made pro-life legislation a priority of her service. She authored the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 - which was approved by the House last September - and voted against the continuing resolution to fund the government because it included funding for Planned Parenthood. National Right to Life - which has given Black a 100 percent pro-life vote rating, has also endorsed her in her re-election bid this year. During a news conference, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi referred to the House panel as the "Select Committee to Attack Women's Health," and added : Ever since its creation, the Republicans of the Select Committee to Attack Women's Health sole purpose has been to drive an outrageous campaign of misrepresentation and intimidation. As our Democrats on the Committee documented in their letter to Speaker Ryan yesterday, Republicans' actions are endangering women, researchers, and doctors. The Republican Select Committee is engaging in abuses that have not been seen on Capitol Hill since the days of Joseph McCarthy. It is a clear violation of House Rules; it should be disbanded immediately. All six of the Democrat members of the House panel received funding for their campaigns from the abortion industry, including Rep. Jackie Speier, who tweeted out her solidarity with fellow Democrats against the House panel: Standing with @HouseDemocrats @NancyPelosi in calling for the END of the Select Committee to attack women's health pic.twitter.com/YLXYI5TpDH -- Jackie Speier (@RepSpeier) May 13, 2016 Black observes that while Congress allowed Planned Parenthood to receive taxpayer funding this year, more states are coming forward to eliminate the abortion business' support. "We must safeguard the rights of states to protect life and taxpayer dollars by defunding Planned Parenthood," Black says. "As a state legislator, I was proud to lead this charge in Tennessee and I hope that more states will follow suit. Women deserve better than Planned Parenthood and Tennessee has shown that it is indeed possible to provide high quality care to women in need without resorting to the services of this scandal-ridden abortion giant." Last September, the House passed H.R. 3495, the Women's Public Health and Safety Act, ensuring that states have the right to terminate Medicaid contracts with Planned Parenthood without fear of reprisal from the federal government. Black voted for the measure and spoke in support of it on the House floor. The Obama administration, however, has shown it will protect the abortion business - even to the extent of threatening to withdraw federal funds from states that eliminate Planned Parenthood's taxpayer funding. "We shouldn't be surprised at the lengths this President will go to protect his political allies at Planned Parenthood," Black notes. "After all, this is the man who attended their annual fundraising gala and uttered the words, 'God Bless you.' The President, like most in his party, is completely beholden to the big abortion industry and no scandal is too big to sever their unholy alliance." The special House panel has already uncovered documents that point to Planned Parenthood's illegal profiting from the sale of body parts of babies aborted in its clinics. During the panel's initial hearing, Black said about the baby parts scandal: "This is not dignity. This is not respect for human life. I want to ask the panelists - have we reached a point in our society where there effectively is an Amazon.com for human parts, including entire babies?" Other pro-life leaders echo Black's comments about the investigation into Carhart and the Democrats' call to disband the House panel. "It's about time that Leroy Carhart is under scrutiny for his crimes as a late-term abortionist," says Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America. "It is our hope that he be investigated for the many deaths of mothers and babies that occurred on his watch." "These Democrat Members of Congress are puppets of the abortion industry, which has donated heavily to their campaigns, and are trying to quickly get rid of the damning evidence that shows how deep the roots of the illegal fetal tissue trade go," she adds. "It's a disgrace." Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, praised the House panel's decision to probe the practices of Carhart. "LeRoy Carhart is one of the public faces of the abortion industry," said Pavone in a statement. "He's attacked partial birth abortion laws in court and even starred in a documentary that celebrated third-trimester abortionists." "But Carhart has also sent 12 women to the hospital in the last four years, five since December, and he's killed at least two women after botched abortions," he continues. "The fact that pro-aborts hail him as a hero speaks volumes about the abortion business itself."

You are not signed in as a Premium user; we rely on Premium users to support our news reporting. Sign in or Sign up today! WASHINGTON , D.C., May 14, 2015 ( Dr. Susan Berry ) - Following several months of intense controversy, the House of Representatives passed the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act , a measure that would restrict abortions in the United States after the fifth month of pregnancy. The bill was approved on Wednesday, the second anniversary of the conviction of abortionist Kermit Gosnell, who was found guilty of murdering infants born alive during abortion procedures, and of negligence in the death of an abortion patient. The bill passed by a vote of 242-184. Four Democrats voted in favor of the bill and four Republicans voted against it. The measure now heads to the Senate. Its passage comes as a recent New York Times article revealed results of a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that found more very premature babies are surviving outside the womb with fewer health problems due to medical advances. In 2013, the measure passed the House easily, but was never taken up by the Democrat-led Senate. Pro-life lawmakers were anxious to reintroduce the bill at the start of the new Congress in January -- now with a Republican-controlled Senate in place that could make passage in that chamber more likely. The legislation, however, was upended and pulled from the House floor abruptly on the eve of the March for Life later that month, when a group of Republicans -- mostly women and moderates -- led by Rep. Renee Ellmers ( R-NC ), objected to rape and incest reporting requirements that mandated the crimes be reported to law enforcement in order for a late-term abortion to take place. Read the rest here . Originally published at Breitbart.com .

Hiral Tipirneni, the Democratic candidate for Arizona's eighth congressional district, believes partial-birth abortion should be legal and said she doesn't think abortion should be limited in any way, Sunday on MSNBC's "Kasie DC." "I'm a physician, and I have seen and witnessed women making -- or having to face that choice. That hard-breaking, gut-wrenching choice," she told host Kasie Hunt. "And I truly do believe that, that is a decision that should be between a woman, her partner, her physician, and her faith." "Our goal should be to keep abortion safe, legal, and rare," she added. "We don't want it to go back to the days where women are bleeding out in the alleyways. We know that we have Roe v. Wade in place, and we want all of our legislation to be in alignment with that." WATCH: Hunt asked if Tipirneni believed in any restrictions on abortion . The special election candidate thinks it's an issue the government should not be involved in regulating. "Right now we know that those decisions are made based on, you know, if you're talking about late-term abortions, those are based on medical input from very experienced physicians, and it's usually related to a risk to the woman's life. It is not something that is made frivolously," Tipirneni concluded. "It is something that is very critical. And I don't think that, that is something we should be legislating. We need to let medical professionals make that decision." You can Follow Nick on Twitter and Facebook Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

"We are proud of the accomplishments of the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives and thank them for their tireless investigation, which has vindicated much of Operation Rescue's work that has raised the alarm about abortion abuses over the past few years," said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue, whose staff members cooperated with Congressional investigators. Newman also served as a founding member of the Center for Medical Progress, whose undercover videos revealing Planned Parenthood's involvement in the sale of aborted baby parts served as the basis for the Select Panel's investigation. "Every word of those videos has been validated as true," said Newman. "It is gratifying to see our allegations verified by the Panel's investigation." Planned Parenthood's Financial Sources In addition to the Planned Parenthood criminal referrals related to illegal trafficking in aborted baby organs and tissue, some of the referrals were made for abortion providers that were uniquely projects of Operation Rescue. Since 2010, Operation Rescue has worked with local activists in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to expose abuses at Southwestern Women's Options (SWO), the largest late-term abortion facility in the U.S. We have repeatedly exposed the link between SWO and the University of New Mexico (UNM), which used tax dollars to expand abortion in New Mexico. Both SWO and UNM had been referred to New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas for prosecution on charges they violated the state anatomical gift act and failed to provide legally-required informed consent to women. Operation Rescue also first discovered that Houston late-term abortionist Douglas Karpen had likely engaged in illegal conduct and worked with former employees of his two abortion facilities who still stand by their allegations that he murdered viable babies "Gosnell-style" who were born alive during illegal late-term abortions. Karpen evaded indictment by a 2013 grand jury due to political corruption in the Harris County District Attorney's office - corruption that Operation Rescue helped expose. Karpen has now been referred the Texas Attorney General's office and the U.S. Department of Justice for a laundry list of crimes including murder, infanticide, violation of the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, and fraudulent concealment of criminal conduct from government authorities, among others. "Now we pray these abortionists, who have made their livings exploiting women and killing innocent babies, will receive proper justice in a court of law," said Newman.

WASHINGTON--The House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives referred Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast for criminal prosecution to the Texas attorney general Thursday over allegations it sold aborted babies' body parts. "There is so much that we the American people didn't understand and still don't understand about this industry," said Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, on the House floor Thursday. "However, since then, the panel's investigation has uncovered alarming revelations about the fetal tissue industry." The House panel accused the Houston Planned Parenthood affiliate of engaging in illegal sale of fetal tissue to the University of Texas and encouraged the attorney general to open a criminal investigation. The referral is one of multiple violations from abortion providers and businesses involved in fetal tissue commerce uncovered by the select panel. Current law allows for the voluntary transfer of tissue with consent, but profiting from human fetal tissue sales it is a felony punishable up to 10 years in prison. Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast is just one of the entities the panel suspects of wrongdoing. "Over the last year, we have held hearings that explored the bioethics surrounding fetal tissue use, and that revealed the sobering reality of how some bad actors seek to profit from the sale of fetal tissue in violation of federal law," said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., chairwoman of the panel. The 14-member panel formed in October 2015 in response to undercover videos by the Center for Medical Progress showing the grim nature of the fetal procurement industry. In the last year, the panel found evidence of StemExpress, a tissue procurement company that does business with Planned Parenthood, profited as much as 400 percent for each sale of fetal tissue. On the company's website, researchers could purchase individual aborted body parts at whatever gestational period they wanted. StemExpress also employed "tissue-technicians," paid an hourly wage with a commission per sale, to stake out abortion centers--matching online orders with scheduled abortions for the day. In September , the panel voted to hold StemExpress in criminal contempt for not complying with multiple requests for complete accounting records. In addition, the panel found Planned Parenthood used misleading consent forms which stated fetal tissue "has been used to treat and cure" Alzheimer's disease, cancer, and AIDS. The six Democrats on the panel walked out of the last committee meeting in September, refusing to participate in what they called a "witch hunt" against abortion providers and researchers. After heated debate yesterday, the House voted 234-181 to allocate an additional $800,000 to aid the panel in its investigation. Democrats argued the panel's work was having a chilling effect on research to find cures for illnesses such as multiple sclerosis and diabetes. Republicans disagreed and detailed the violations of Planned Parenthood and StemExpress as examples for why the panel needed more funding. "The Select Panel's investigation has been worth every dime of money it has spent pursuing the truth," said Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue. "It has caused the breakup of several illegal aborted baby-tissue trafficking schemes and launched investigations around the country." The House Energy and Commerce Committee commissioned the panel to submit a final report on the investigation due at the end of the year. Share this article with friends.

The House voted Tuesday, 228-196, to pass a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy--a bill that the White House has already promised to veto. The bill, which Republican leaders have acknowledged stands no chance at becoming law, was proposed last week by Arizona Congressman Trent Franks under the title " Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. " The measure argues that, by eight weeks after fertilization, a fetus can react to touch; after 20 weeks, the bill says, a fetus can feel and react to pain. "It is the purpose of the Congress to assert a compelling governmental interest in protecting the lives of unborn children from the state at which substantial medical evidence indicates that they are capable of feeling pain." However, studies have repeatedly stated that the science behind the GOP's bill is false, and fetuses cannot feel pain until the third trimester. Rep. Franks incited outrage last week when he said that a "very low" number of rapes result in pregnancies. His comments drew comparisons to former congressman Todd Akin, who argued last year that women's bodies have the capability of avoiding pregnancy if the rape is "legitimate." Republicans then modified the bill to include exceptions for cases of rape and incest--an exception that betrays the official Republican Party's stance on abortion as defined by the GOP's 2012 platform, which called for a Constitutional ban on abortion without exception for rape or incest. Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, one of the leading voices in support of the bill, told msnbc Tuesday that the purpose of the legislation was to criminalize abortion providers. Blackburn has been at the front of the GOP's effort to end accusations of the party's "war on women." "We have a very narrowly drafted bill that deals specifically with late-term abortions," Blackburn told msnbc. "My hope is that we can show tremendous compassion to anyone who has been a victim of rape, a victim of incest, and that we can rid our society of the perpetrators who carry out [abortions]." Blackburn cited the case of Philadelphia doctor Kermit Gosnell, who was convicted last month for the murder of three born-alive infants--which is already illegal, as a primary motivator behind Franks' bill. House Speaker John Boehner told reporters last Thursday that, while jobs continue to be Republicans' top priority, "there are other important issues that we have to deal with. And after the Kermit Gosnell case and the publicity that it received, I think the legislation is appropriate." The bill now makes its way to the Democratic-led Senate where it is expected to fail.

It sounded logical. Legalizing pot might destroy the drug's black market. All frontline indicators point in the opposite direction, as the legal market provides camouflage for foreign cartels and illegal grows in homes and warehouses throughout the state. Pro-legalization politicians double down, without regard for what law enforcement reports. Gov. John Hickenlooper said recently the black market is shrinking and "will be largely gone" in a few years. We have sought and await more explanation. The National Forest Service reports on cartels running hundreds of pot plantations throughout Colorado's mountains, in unprecedented volume. City and county officials report hundreds of illegal grows throughout Colorado Springs and El Paso County. Other black market pot activity operates in plain view, every day. You Might Like A Feb. 24 Gazette expose by Tom Roeder examined a thriving storefront pot market in downtown Trinidad, just north of New Mexico's border, that sells mostly to buyers who transport the products out of state. "Your legal market is still our black market," explained Ryan Spohn, who heads the Center for Justice Research at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Trinidad, population 8,100, sells pot at 15 times the rate of famously pot-friendly Boulder County -- home to 320,000 residents, but far from Colorado's borders. Trinidad's shops sell $300 worth of marijuana for each of the 55,000 people living in the city and surrounding La Plata County. Colorado allows a retailer to sell each customer up to 1 ounce of pot. In Trinidad, Roeder observed buyers with out-of-state plates going store to store, buying an ounce at each stop. An ounce that costs $99 at a Colorado store sells for up to $350 across the state line in Kansas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Utah, Wyoming and other states. For a lone entrepreneur willing to break the law, this business model is simple: Travel, purchase, turnaround, markup, and sell. A Washington State University study found marijuana arrests, coinciding with legalization, are up by a third in states that border Colorado. Pot sales generated $2.8 million in marijuana sales taxes for Trinidad in 2017. Pot taxes and licensing fees totaled $247 million statewide in 2017. Trinidad is not the only community making big money selling pot to out-of-state dealers and users. It happens all over Colorado, with cities and towns closest to state borders selling marijuana at rates dramatically disproportionate with their populations. Voters and elected leaders of neighboring states don't want our growing number of traffic fatalities involving drivers under the influence of pot. They don't want classrooms full of stoned kids, who obtain marijuana like it is gum. They don't want more children rushed to emergency rooms after overdosing on THC. They don't want lowered IQs and other brain-related problems associated with young people consuming THC in high doses. In the view of nearby states, Colorado is the dope-peddling menace down the street, getting rich off a Schedule 1 narcotic because other states obey federal law. Attorney General Jeff Sessions could bring it to a halt. "It is the mission of the Department of Justice to enforce the laws of the United States, and the previous issuance of guidance undermines the rule of law and the ability of our local, state, tribal and federal law enforcement partners to carry out this mission," Sessions said in a statement, after rescinding the Obama administration's nuanced and cautious nod to state legalization. There is a reason federal law doesn't allow pot to cross state lines. States have rights not to suffer from a neighbor's poor judgment. Colorado should enjoy the money while it lasts. If bordering states get their way, our drug-dealing days won't last long. The Gazette editorial board (c)2018 The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Visit The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) at www.gazette.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This content is published through a licensing agreement with Acquire Media using its NewsEdge technology. VN:D [1.9.6_1107]

California Governor Jerry Brown warned Americans on Sunday morning that California's drought was a sign of climate change. However, in his appearance on ABC News' This Week , with guest host Martha Raddatz, Brown also defended California farmers from charges that they are overusing water, arguing that they feed the rest of the country. "They're providing most of the fruits and vegetables of America," Brown told Raddatz. "....Of course we could shut it off, if you don't want to be produce any food and import it from some other place, theoretically you could do that. But that would displace hundreds of thousands of people. I don't think that's needed," he added. Brown warned that other water users who exceed their needs-including long, indulgent showers-could face $500 fines from the state.

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments today on the most important abortion rights case in more than 20 years. Texas abortion providers are challenging provisions of a sweeping anti-choice law passed in 2013 that has already shuttered about half of the state's roughly 40 abortion clinics. With Justice Antonin Scalia's death, the case faces the possibility of a 4-4 deadlock, which would leave a lower court's decision upholding the restrictions in place, although it would not set a national precedent. Topics: Abortion

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Nothing beats seeing the economic results. Rasmussen's daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday showed a significant spike in support from the black community, nearly doubling President Trump's support among that demographic from this time last year. Trump hit a 29% approval rating among blacks, up from just 15% in August of 2017. Just this week, the president was praised by some black leaders for his initiatives regarding prison reform and his "pro-black" policies. Black unemployment has dropped considerably under Trump, hitting a record low of 5.9% in May. "This is probably the most pro-active administration regarding urban America and the faith-based community in my lifetime," said Pastor Darrell Scott, an early supporter of Trump's.

Safety agents and cops have confiscated over 17,000 guns, meat cleavers and daggers from students in city schools in past year. At a time when New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is on a quest for lengthy extension of mayoral school control -- and desperately wants people to believe crime in schools has declined -- a compromising new report has shed him and his administration in an unflattering light. As it turns out, despite what the government claims, violence in schools has been on a rise. From July 2015 to May 2016, school safety agents and police officers confiscated about 1,751 dangerous weapons, including loaded guns, meat cleavers, daggers and different knives, from schoolchildren. Last school year, NYPD had recovered about 1,394 weapons. Interestingly, most of the arms were seized from schools with no metal detectors, according to the New York Post. However, instead of commending the unarmed security officials, the NYPD is threatening to dock their vacation days. Reason: the police want to keep the information secret. They don't want parents to know what their kids are walking into everyday. "If there's no information to report, de Blasio can come out with his skewed numbers that crime is down and schools are safe, and parents don't get a true picture of what's going on," Gregory Floyd, president of school safety agents union, told the Post. "We shouldn't be in the secrecy business. We should be in the business of making sure weapons brought to school doesn't happen." The authorities are trying to intimidate the agents and make an example out of them so that others would refrain from sharing the photos of the weapons with the media as well. As for the role of New York City Schools, they have responded to the growing wave of violence by refusing to arrest or suspend these children -- as it would undermine de Blasio administration's claims of just how peaceful the schools are, critics claim. "In many cases, the children aren't arrested, so the crime statistics are down, but it's just not being reported," Floyd added, noting his disdain towards Department of Education's new discipline that discourages student suspension after disorderly conduct, according to the Post. In addition to that, the NYPD stats show only 40 percent of confiscated weapons came from school with metal detectors, while the rest were caught in schools unequipped with the technology. The latest data has also alarmed a number of organizations about the growing bullying and violence in schools. A pro-charter school group, Families for Excellent Schools, recently filed a lawsuit against the city schools, voicing its fear that "more and more weapons are being brought into classrooms and endangering students." "It's a cover-up, while putting the lives of our children and school staffs at risk," said Mona Davids, president of the New York City Parents Union. The report also cited a number of incidents where kids as young as 11 were caught flashing their weapons during a conflict with their peers. Meanwhile, the NYPD has defended its rather disturbing actions with a statement. "Members of the NYPD, whether uniformed or civilian, are subject to department guidelines in making any statements to the media," a representative said. "Disseminating official photos of potential evidence must be approved by the public-information office."

Safety agents and cops have confiscated over 17,000 guns, meat cleavers and daggers from students in city schools in past year. At a time when New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is on a quest for lengthy extension of mayoral school control -- and desperately wants people to believe crime in schools has declined -- a compromising new report has shed him and his administration in an unflattering light. As it turns out, despite what the government claims, violence in schools has been on a rise. From July 2015 to May 2016, school safety agents and police officers confiscated about 1,751 dangerous weapons, including loaded guns, meat cleavers, daggers and different knives, from schoolchildren. Last school year, NYPD had recovered about 1,394 weapons. Interestingly, most of the arms were seized from schools with no metal detectors, according to the New York Post. However, instead of commending the unarmed security officials, the NYPD is threatening to dock their vacation days. Reason: the police want to keep the information secret. They don't want parents to know what their kids are walking into everyday. "If there's no information to report, de Blasio can come out with his skewed numbers that crime is down and schools are safe, and parents don't get a true picture of what's going on," Gregory Floyd, president of school safety agents union, told the Post. "We shouldn't be in the secrecy business. We should be in the business of making sure weapons brought to school doesn't happen." The authorities are trying to intimidate the agents and make an example out of them so that others would refrain from sharing the photos of the weapons with the media as well. As for the role of New York City Schools, they have responded to the growing wave of violence by refusing to arrest or suspend these children -- as it would undermine de Blasio administration's claims of just how peaceful the schools are, critics claim. "In many cases, the children aren't arrested, so the crime statistics are down, but it's just not being reported," Floyd added, noting his disdain towards Department of Education's new discipline that discourages student suspension after disorderly conduct, according to the Post. In addition to that, the NYPD stats show only 40 percent of confiscated weapons came from school with metal detectors, while the rest were caught in schools unequipped with the technology. The latest data has also alarmed a number of organizations about the growing bullying and violence in schools. A pro-charter school group, Families for Excellent Schools, recently filed a lawsuit against the city schools, voicing its fear that "more and more weapons are being brought into classrooms and endangering students." "It's a cover-up, while putting the lives of our children and school staffs at risk," said Mona Davids, president of the New York City Parents Union. The report also cited a number of incidents where kids as young as 11 were caught flashing their weapons during a conflict with their peers. Meanwhile, the NYPD has defended its rather disturbing actions with a statement. "Members of the NYPD, whether uniformed or civilian, are subject to department guidelines in making any statements to the media," a representative said. "Disseminating official photos of potential evidence must be approved by the public-information office."

What's going on? Teacher union leaders want to meet with President Donald Trump to talk guns ... specifically, why they don't want guns in their classrooms. Tell me more: American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten wrote to Trump to ask for a meeting and hope they could find "common ground" on school safety solutions. She said she found a "universal" response from students and educators when they were asked if teachers should be armed. "Schools need to be safe sanctuaries, not armed fortresses," the letter read. "Your proposal to arm teachers not only would make our children's classrooms less safe, but also is not what educators and students want." You can read the full text of the letter here . Doc's take: Doc applauded Weingartern for reaching out to Trump and trying to start a conversation: "Good for you." But the idea that there is "universal" opposition to allowing teachers to arm themselves just isn't accurate. To see more from Doc, visit his channel on TheBlaze and listen live to "The Morning Blaze with Doc Thompson" weekdays 6 a.m. - 9 a.m. ET, only on TheBlaze Radio Network .

President Donald Trump's willingness to side with Democrats and talk gun control did not exactly go over well with the far-right blogosphere and the NRA, who responded with scathing headlines and a statement decrying the president's remarks. Yet according to Kellyanne Conway, the conservatives had just got things wrong because the meeting about gun control simply wasn't about gun control after all. "The president has taken a leadership role from day one that we all learned about this terrible tragedy 15 days ago. He has had listening sessions with the affected families and also with public safety and education officials," Conway spinned on Fox News. "Then, yesterday, with those who ultimately will put something on his desk -- one would hope. The Congress -- a bicameral, bipartisan meeting. This meeting was not about gun control. This meeting -- let's not forget -- is about school safety. " Watch below:

President Barack Obama's pressure on public schools to limit the number of suspensions and expulsions for minorities has resulted in a sharp increase in violence for a school district in Wisconsin. Since the Milwaukee schools decided to abide by the president's mandate, there have been 31,000 reports of fighting or aggressive behavior . Stacy Washington of Project 21 (The National Leadership Network of Black Conservatives) argues that the White House never bothered to investigate the situation before directing schools to follow the president's alleged "anti-discrimination" policy. "And to have [him] make comments about what local taxing authorities [and] school districts should do with their students without first studying the issues and then having recommendations made to him by the affected parties is short-sighted -- and it's an overreach," she asserts. The conservative activist, who serves on the National Advisory Council Project, contends that in addition to the above statistics, there have also been 646 referrals concerning sexual assault and 399 for weapons. "The president is [jeopardizing] the lives of teachers and other students who aren't violent ... by basically just speaking out of the side of his neck and being very short-sighted -- and reaching into areas where he has zero competency," Washington continues. Student behavior has gotten worse as suspensions have dwindled from approximately 26,000 during the 2007-2008 school year to just over 8,000 last year. Copyright OneNewsNow.com . Reprinted with permission. VN:D [1.9.6_1107]

The Miami Herald has this description of the incredibly slow response from the Broward Sheriff's office. While Broward Deputy Scot Peterson arrived at the building one minute after the attack started, it was another 10 minutes before any officers attempted to enter the building. From the Miami Herald: UPDATED August 7, 2018: After the Parkland, Florida high school shooting, a number of states have considered allowing teachers and staff to carry concealed handguns. The obvious question is how has it worked in the states that allow guns to be carried. For example, here is information on accidental shootings. There are no known cases where a teacher or staff member has had their gun taken from them.... The data below show the changes over time in both deaths from shootings at K-12 through college and also deaths from mass public shootings. This data updates an earlier report that we had put out on deaths from school shootings in June 2014. Shooting deaths at K-12 schools make up over 78% of deaths at all schools, but despite an unusually large number of deaths so far this school year, both the number of deaths and the number of shooting incidents at K-12 schools has been declining over time. ...

An Argentine minister issued a public apology after he gleefully ate a piece of a cake shaped like the body of Jesus Christ at an art exhibition in Argentina, Newsweek reported. Enrique Avogadro, the Minister of Culture for Buenos Aires, took to Facebook to apologize, saying he "sincerely regrets" offending people's "most intimate beliefs" by eating the life-size cake. From May 26-27, the Contemporary Art Fair took place at the Hippodrome of Palermo in Buenos Aires, where the "Body of Christ" cake was featured. The cake depicted a crucified Christ, with red velvet "wounds" covering the body. The Jesus cake was created by the artist duo Pool & Marianela. According to both videos and photography, Avogadro smiled widely while indulging in a piece of Jesus's "arm." Images and videos of the controversial moment were posted online and quickly gained viral traction. Avogadro's action triggered outrage from Christians in Argentina and around the world. Many people from the largely Christian nation denounced the act as disrespectful and thoughtless. Avogadro took to Facebook to issue a minor apology, stating , "I regret the discomfort that many people that I love and respect have transmitted to me, which surely reflects a similar feeling in many other people." -- Enrique Avogadro (@eavogadro) May 29, 2018 He then backtracked on his apology, adding, "I have a very clear opinion in favor of freedom of expression, particularly when it is linked to issues that challenge us, make us reflect, or are opposed to our own convictions. I also think that the place of art is often precisely that of making us uncomfortable and shaking us." It is unknown whether or not the artists that created the cake depicting the crucified Jesus Christ have ever created other cakes depicting religious leaders. Michael W. Chapman, a writer for CNS news, posed the following question: It is not known whether the "artists" Pool and Marianela have ever made a life-size cake for consumption of the Islamic leader Mohammed or of the Quran, but if they had, it seems highly unlikely that the Buenos Aires culture minister would have unhesitatingly tried a slice, on video, with a big smile on his face. Chapman ventured to guess that the Argentine minister would not have taken a slice because it would be deemed offensive. "Yet many politicians and 'cultural' leaders are absolutely giddy with delight in belittling Christianity and offending its followers," heconcluded. (H/T: Newsweek )

An Argentine minister issued a public apology after he gleefully ate a piece of a cake shaped like the body of Jesus Christ at an art exhibition in Argentina, Newsweek reported. Enrique Avogadro, the Minister of Culture for Buenos Aires, took to Facebook to apologize, saying he "sincerely regrets" offending people's "most intimate beliefs" by eating the life-size cake. From May 26-27, the Contemporary Art Fair took place at the Hippodrome of Palermo in Buenos Aires, where the "Body of Christ" cake was featured. The cake depicted a crucified Christ, with red velvet "wounds" covering the body. The Jesus cake was created by the artist duo Pool & Marianela. According to both videos and photography, Avogadro smiled widely while indulging in a piece of Jesus's "arm." Images and videos of the controversial moment were posted online and quickly gained viral traction. Avogadro's action triggered outrage from Christians in Argentina and around the world. Many people from the largely Christian nation denounced the act as disrespectful and thoughtless. Avogadro took to Facebook to issue a minor apology, stating , "I regret the discomfort that many people that I love and respect have transmitted to me, which surely reflects a similar feeling in many other people." -- Enrique Avogadro (@eavogadro) May 29, 2018 He then backtracked on his apology, adding, "I have a very clear opinion in favor of freedom of expression, particularly when it is linked to issues that challenge us, make us reflect, or are opposed to our own convictions. I also think that the place of art is often precisely that of making us uncomfortable and shaking us." It is unknown whether or not the artists that created the cake depicting the crucified Jesus Christ have ever created other cakes depicting religious leaders. Michael W. Chapman, a writer for CNS news, posed the following question: It is not known whether the "artists" Pool and Marianela have ever made a life-size cake for consumption of the Islamic leader Mohammed or of the Quran, but if they had, it seems highly unlikely that the Buenos Aires culture minister would have unhesitatingly tried a slice, on video, with a big smile on his face. Chapman ventured to guess that the Argentine minister would not have taken a slice because it would be deemed offensive. "Yet many politicians and 'cultural' leaders are absolutely giddy with delight in belittling Christianity and offending its followers," heconcluded. (H/T: Newsweek )

Wedding cakes used to have some pretty weird things inside them. Modern wedding cakes have origins dating back thousands of years. According to Smithsonian Magazine, they are derived from a Roman tradition, where a wheat cake would basically be smashed over the bride's head for good luck. This tradition was brought to Britain -- they took it one step further by throwing bread at the bride. But this eventually evolved into stacking buns in a pile that the bride and groom would kiss over. "Bride Pye" was the first wedding pastry to show up in cookbooks. The traditional "pye" was filled with lamb testicles, oysters, sweet breads and spices. Even if you weren't a big fan of lamb testicles, it was considered bad luck if you didn't take a piece. Fortunately, this paved the way for "Bride Cake." The 1500s brought the golden age of sugar -- which meant some seriously sweet cakes. They also started to be iced with white icing, as a symbol of purity. In the late 1700s, tiered cakes became trendy because of Queen Victoria. Today's wedding cakes can be whatever the happy couple wants them to be -- some even deviate and opt for pies, donuts and cupcakes.

While some celebrated Easter Sunday by attending church services--or sitting on the couch stuffing Cadbury Creme Eggs into their faces--others took to the streets of New York City to revel in the holiday spirit. Each year, New York City's Easter Parade draws thousands of participants--some religious, but many not--to Fifth Avenue between 49th and 57th Streets. Attendees typically wear whimsical costumes that take "Easter Finery" to an extreme (think three-foot-tall hats made of wicker baskets, eggs, and pastel-colored flowers). "New York's celebration of Easter was an example of counter-culture at its best, mixing Sunday best with Manhattan modern art," said Steve Williams, who attended yesterday's parade. He also described the event as "couture meets fairytale whimsy blended together in a fashion only true New Yorkers could pull off." In case you missed your chance to observe yesterday's Fifth Avenue Easter chic, you can check out these snapshots of the parade.

In this Facebook Live interview, Kelsey Harkness from The Daily Signal sat down with Ryan Bomberger, founder and chief creative officer at The Radiance Foundation, and Jonathan Alexandre, director of Public Policy at Liberty Counsel, to discuss why comparing those who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman to racists is a false analogy. When it comes to marriage, the government should not compel artists to communicate messages against their convictions. Ryan Bomberger said, "As a creative professional, the government should not dictate what I can create, where I can create it. And that's what they're doing with Jack Phillips." Rreligion and civil rights go hand in hand. Alexandre noted, "[D]uring the 60's and even through today, we relied on religious liberty principles." In discussing marriage, "certainly the First Amendment should be the bedrock in this discussion."

A Turkish court on Wednesday again rejected a request to release a detained American pastor from jail as his trial on terrorism and espionage charges continues. Turkish authorities arrested Andrew Brunson, a 50-year-old pastor from North Carolina, following a failed coup in 2016. Brunson lived in Turkey for 23 years and pastored Izmir Resurrection Church. He faces up to 35 years in prison if found guilty. The case was adjourned until Oct. 12. Turkish judges previously denied his requests for release on April 16 and May 7. In the courtroom, Brunson said the court had no concrete evidence as he denied the testimony of two witnesses who claimed he supported Kurdish militants. "The disciples of Jesus suffered in his name, now it is my turn," he said , Reuters reported. "I am an innocent man on all these charges." Brunson's case has further damaged relations between the United States and Turkey. Outside the courtroom, U.S. Embassy Charge d'Affaires Philip Kosnett said there is no indication that Brunson committed any offense. "Our government remains deeply concerned about his status," Kosnett said. Read more from The Sift Share this article with friends.

Looking for unusual facts about London? London is one of the most popular cities in the world,with millions of people across the globe recognising its most iconic features such as Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. With such success, London is bursting to the seams with strange statistics and unusual laws. Here are the Top 10 unusual facts about London : Top 10 unusual facts about London that will blow your mind 10. Harrods, a luxurious shop based in London, used to sell cocaine over the counter up until 1916. The now class A drug was labelled as " a welcome present for friends at the front". This could be directed at soldiers from World War 1. However, one thing is for certain; if Harrods were to reintroduce the product, it would not be received nearly as well as it was almost 100 years ago. 9. It is estimated 8.778 million people call England's capital their home. Although this may seem a big number, it shrinks in comparison to the juggernaut that is Tokyo, which holds 37 million people, making it the most densely populated urban area. This would mean the whole population of London could fit into Tokyo four times and still have room left. 8. From 2007 onward, over 300 languages have been used across London, making it one of the most multi ethnic cities in the world. Throughout the history of the world, there have been 6,909 languages recorded in the world, with only 6% of them having more than a million speakers. This means London has around 4% of those languages being spoken within the capital. 7. 45% of London is made of a white British population, and another 15% come from white heritage not originating in England. The rest is filled by a diverse population ranging from African American to Jamaican. By Chesdovi CC 6. It is illegal to fly a kite in any street in London. According to the town police clauses, 1847," it is illegal to fly a kite in " any street, to the annoyance, obstruction or danger, to the residents or passengers". Although London holds many great experiences for residents and visitors alike, flying kites is most certainly not one of them. 5. Big Ben is arguably the most iconic part of London, making it very well known not only throughout the rest of England, but across Europe and even into other continents. Because of this, it has become a landmark many wish to see, but people mistake the clock tower and Big Ben himself. Ben is the bell that resides with the chassis of the clock tower, not the tower itself. 4. More than half of The underground network in fact is above ground. This contradicts the famous name. As it turns out, 55% of the so called "underground" is actually based above ground. This is very misleading and this scarce fact is unknown even by some of London's born and bred. 3. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament . This is a very bizarre law, to be sure, as their is obviously no way to prosecute a dead person. And even if there was, who knows what the punishment would be? Hanging? 2. The London underground is the oldest railway network in the world, at a hefty 154 years old. It has definitely aged well! The first journey of the tube train took place in 1863. However old the tube is, it continues to serve the people of London just as well as it did all that time ago. 1. At one point during World War 2, London was the capital of six countries. It may be hard to believe, but its true. Over 70 years ago, in the middle of the rampaging Second World War, London was one of the only "safe" cities that resisted the regime of Hitler. Because of this,it became the safe haven of governments that couldn't stand up to the Nazi party, and therefore became the capitals of those countries. These countries included Poland, Belgium, Norway, Holland and France. If you have a mind-blowing fact that you think should be in the ' Top 10 unusual facts about London ' please contact us.

A bit of caution here. I don't know if they are too far right and are extremists but they just want to give a speech. Antifa, the Anarcho-Communists threatened violence if they spoke. Authorities were concerned about violence. Under the UK Prevention of Terrorism Act, individuals can be detained for up to 7 days without charge. That's possibly the law they are holding them under. The U.K. has allowed returning jihadists to come into the U.K., but right-wingers who simply want to speak are banned? Sellner wanted to give a speech at Speaker's Corner in London. It is supposed to be an open space where anyone can speak. But in the UK, if you criticize Islam, you are at risk of being put in jail. 'Thoughtcrimes' are punishable and considered hate speech. It's all very confusing because they allow the head of the Labour Party, Communist Jeremy Corbin, to rail away about taking down the government. This is what British democracy looks like? Brittany Pettibone: We have a terror watchlist in the tens of thousands but authorities are focusing their time on detaining conservative activists such as @BrittPettibone . They want to suppress anyone who holds an alternative view to the Establishment. It would be a shame then if you RT'd this... pic.twitter.com/3LY13XIXNq -- LEAVE.EU (@LeaveEUOfficial) March 11, 2018

Requistion is both a possible and preferable solution to housing the now homeless victims of the Grenfell Tower fire; an entirely preventable tragedy. Any decent society, especially one of the richest in the world should ensure the safety of its citizens and enable decent housing for all, regardless of means. The voices of the victims must and should be heard and their not unreasonable wishes are to be housed within the borough that they live, work, go to school and have their support networks. According to the Governments own statistics; there are 2,062 vacant dwellings in the borough of Kensington & Chelsea; one of the highest amounts by both number and % of total dwellings, of any borough in the whole country. These vacant dwellings also rate amongst the highest in the country for being 'long-term vacant' (meaning being unoccupied for 6 months or more). These properties are sitting empty and are not being used; whilst people, through no fault of their own are homeless and traumatised - in many cases having lost family, friends and many, if not all of the possessions. Whilst it is not possible to requisition properties under the current rules - it is possible to change this legislation to make it possible in the event of a crisis - this is the objective of this petition. There is a precedent for requisition, during the 2nd world war and it required 'emergency legislation' to be pushed through parliament. Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party has said that they would be willing to "find a way" to requisition properties and there is no reason why the prevailing Government and other parties couldn't also support this view and join together in Parliament to support such legislation. Whilst requisition would no-doubt be difficult and would likely face a legal challenge from property owners; it is both a possible and a practical solution to the crisis. A provision could be made to compensate owners and there is also no reason why these properties could not be returned to the original owners, should more suitable, decent and safe housing be found within the borough, in the future. Empty homes in the midst of a housing, homelessness and human crisis like this, should not be acceptable in a civil society.

A Labour Party councillor from Birmingham, representing a ward that was hit by the "Trojan Horse" scandal, has been put in charge of stopping local children from being radicalised. The scandalous part? This councillor once claimed that there is no proof ISIS even existed. Not only that, but this same woman also said that we must "stop pointing fingers," following the Westminster attack. Why are people like this being put in charge of children? Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

The English Defence League have announced plans to march to Altab Ali Park* for a rally on 7th September. This is clearly an arrogant and incendiary declaration even by their own (sub) standards. London Anti-fascists , part of The Anti-Fascist Network are calling on every militant anti-fascist to join them on the streets on Saturday with the good people of Tower Hamlets in ensuring that the EDL do not set foot in the area and are effectively opposed! As part of the build up to the Tower Hamlets demo, over 250 people attended London Anti-Fascists' event 'Resistance to fascism and racism in the East End' on Saturday. Thousands of leaflets have been distributed, as anti-fascists move to mobilise the local community, as well as being joined by anti-fascists from across the country. The Anti-Fascist Network is calling for all anti-fascists to gather at Altab Ali Park, Whitechapel High Street at 11am. Look for the Anti-fascist Network flags and banners, and be ready to react to the EDL and Police plans on the day. London Anti-fasicsts have issued guidance and advice for those planning to attend the demo. For updates on the day, follow @THStopEDL on Twitter. *The park is named for Altab Ali, a young Bengali textile worker who was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack in 1978 and whose murder inspired a mass movement against racism, which eventually kicked the National Front out of the area.

British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks to the media following the terrorist attack in London last night. Mrs. May outlines the latest casualty count and expresses thanks for the rapid response of law enforcement. We must stop being politically correct and get down to the business of security for our people. If we don't get smart it will only get worse -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2017 Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there - WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2017 That's part of their game where they lump all religions as the same. they don't want to say Islam is a problem.. .they want to say religion at all is a problem.

Parents magazine published my latest article today: When I dropped my daughter off at an inner city Philadelphia School for kindergarten, I tried to keep my emotions in check. It was the first time in five years I'd been separated from my daughter, but I didn't want to cry in front of the other latte-sipping parents. After all, the school looked welcoming enough, and the teachers were kind. But I really got a lump in my throat when they divided up the kids by class, and I counted the little heads in my daughter's first kindergarten class. 40. There's nothing quite like the feeling of helplessness a mom feels when sending a child into a less than ideal situation. But mothers all across the nation feel that trepidation every single day, because American public schools are failing in almost every measurable way. This was dramatically demonstrated when Chicago teachers -- who make on average $74,839 per year -- demanded more pay, refused to lengthen their already short school day, and didn't want evaluations tied to performance. And this when 80 percent of Chicago eighth graders don't meet reading or math grade level requirement and 40 percent drop out before graduating.Some parents have given up on public school for the greener (and more expensive) grass of private schools. Others have opted for homeschooling. But a new movie called "Won't Back Down," explores what parents and teachers at public schools can do to help change the public schools from within. The film, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis, definitely makes moviegoers feel -- in the gut -- what we know in our heads: far too many schools aren't teaching subjects, delivering reasonable results, or prioritizing students. Five days before the 2016 election, after campaigning for Hillary Clinton in Florida, President Obama boarded Marine One. Aides flagged an email from the White House political director relaying the Clinton campaign's final requests of the incumbent: Would he, the day before the election, stump in Pennsylvania ... Read More

Washington: President Barack Obama is urging a divided Congress to boost job creation and strengthen the middle class through a package of government-backed proposals. In his State of the Union address, Obama is calling for increasing the federal minimum wage, spending more to fix the nation's roads and bridges, and expanding early childhood education. The president is also pledging to cut the number of US troops in Afghanistan in half within a year. Obama says his proposals would not increase the deficit "by a single dime." But with unemployment persistently high and consumer confidence falling, he is pressing a progressive case for Washington's role in reigniting the economy.

October 1, 2012 Free Teaching Guide Bring America's most incisive writers and editors to your classroom with free teaching material from The Nation. * FREE Weekly Teaching Guides and Educator Email Newsletter * Discounted subscriptions. To download the teaching guide click here Sign up to receive The Nation's FREE Educator Newsletter. We'll let you know when each new weekly guide has been posted, and highlight articles of special interest and stories that will help you and your students get the most out of The Nation.

Ammoland Inc. Posted on May 6, 2016 by Ammoland Ammoland Inc. Posted on October 26, 2015 by Ammoland Wild Bill : @Tcat, He must have gotten the wrong idea and made himself fit the hard core unemployable profile. Now, his career... VT Patriot : Hah, you used the words 'thought, facts and truth' and 'left' in the same sentence. That is a mistake.... VT Patriot : Saul, I read your comment and was ready to applaud it until the last part. Those that are rioting... Graystone : Now If FLIR is interested in marketing - and good will - they should "donate" a unit to the ECPD. tomcat : @ Wild Bill this liberal POS xander13 fits the profile you described in one post you made on this...

November 26, 2012 Free Teaching Guide Bring America's most incisive writers and editors to your classroom with free teaching material from The Nation. * FREE Weekly Teaching Guides and Educator Email Newsletter * Discounted subscriptions. To download the teaching guide click here Sign up to receive The Nation's FREE Educator Newsletter. We'll let you know when each new weekly guide has been posted, and highlight articles of special interest and stories that will help you and your students get the most out of The Nation.

November 29, 2010 Teaching Guide Bring America's most incisive writers and editors to your classroom with free teaching material from The Nation. * FREE Weekly Teaching Guides and Educator Email Newsletter * Discounted subscriptions. To download the teaching guide click here Sign up to receive The Nation's FREE Educator Newsletter. We'll let you know when each new weekly guide has been posted, and highlight articles of special interest and stories that will help you and your students get the most out of The Nation.

It's a very special Tuesday night edition of HWX, with Brian Ward and Paul Happe reconvening to discuss the crucial issues of the day. Topics addressed include: Santa Claus is coming to town! Should he be concerned about entering households in states with the Castle Doctrine? Lindsey Graham withdraws from the GOP Presidential race. Will the kid's table debates ever be the same? Including a special tribute to the highlights of his campaign, with an exciting new commercial sponsor. Hillary Clinton and the state of the Democrat party Presidential race, including Hillary's reaction to Donald Trump's recent comments that she was " schlonged " in 2008. A musical tribute to the magical mix that is Christmas and Presidential comments, featuring carols from Bobby Jindal, Bernie Sanders, Barack Obama, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. A preview of the release of a new holiday music classic, The Hillary and the Ivy, featuring the former first lady's special touch on your favorite holiday music. The release of the latest Star Wars movie, and it's cultural significance. Also, an analysis of the recent Ipsos poll on how Star Wars characters would do if they were running for President. HWX is brought to you by Harry's Shave . For the finest in shaving products, with the ultimate in convenience, and at an amazingly low price, check out Harry's . It the perfect gift for anyone who grows hair on their face in your family. Enter HWX at checkout for an additional $5 off. * The state of the GOP Presidential race and whatever happened to that deep bench, including a special tribute to the magic that was the Bobby Jindal campaign. It's a special Friday night edition of HWX, with Brian Ward of Fraters Libertas and Paul Happe of Nihilist in Golf Pants reconvening to discuss the critical issues of our times. Topics addressed include: Viewer mail, responding to the Ricochet commenters and critics of our controversial last broadcast. Donald Trump, the secret to his staying power and what the mainstream conservative commentariat has wrong about him. Also, special bonus dramatic representations of how he might respond to future world crises. Jeb Bush, the essence of his lack of appeal on full display at his immigration press conference this week at the Mexican border. Also, special exclusive translations of his curious Spanish answers to Spanish questions. This Week in Gatekeeping - back to the future with an ABC report from 7 years ago on the dystopian future that awaited us in 2015. HWX is brought to you by the fine folks at Harrys.com . For a great shave, at a low price, with the incredible convenience, order from Harry's. Enter the code HWX at check out for $5 off your purchase price. All member feedback in the comments section is welcome. Hope you enjoy. All member feedback welcome in the comment section. Hope you enjoy. It's a special Monday edition of HWX, with Brian Ward of Fraters Libertas and Paul Happe of the Nihilist in Golf Pants who reconvene to discuss the important issues of the day. Topics addressed include: The meaning of Bruce and/or Caitlyn Jenner, including a preview of this summer's blockbuster biopic starring Jack Nicholson Hurricane Hillary Clinton hits Houston with her conspiracy theory of the moment: systematic disenfranchisement of the poor, people of color, and young people by Republicans from coast to coast. We pick through the rubble, with an assist from the X Files. The meaning of black and/or white NAACP activist and Africana Studies professor Rachel Dolezal. The latest vocal stylings of Democrat Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, including return appearances of Jackie Mason, the Anteater from Pink Panther, and special appearance by Bob Marley. This Week in Gate Keeping, and the newspaper the East Oregonian heralding yet another societal barrier falling with the triumph of an Amphibian American. HWX is brought to you by Harry's, the finest shaving implement and accessories provider on the Internet. For the perfect Father's day gift, check out Harry's fine selection of products, and get additional, big savings by entering HWX as the coupon code at check out. HWX returns for a special pre-Presidential election broadcast (now only 17 months away). Brian Ward of Fraters Libertas and Paul Happe of the Nihilist in Golf Pants reconvene to discuss he important issues of the day. Topics include: The theological and political meaning of Hillary Clinton quoting bible verses in a bakery in South Carolina, with exclusive audio of the exchange. Further discussion of Presidential campaign theme songs, with the exciting debut of a new HWX album, Campaign Gold. Sepp Blatter and FIFA, how corrupt are they and should the United States care? Including the announcement of the release of a new HWX pharmaceutical product, FIFAmax. Bernie Sanders, distinguished Senator, Presidential candidate, and sex essayist, including an interpretational reading of the controversial text. This Week in Gate Keeping, with a disturbing story that may mean your recent weight gain is the fault of the mainstream media. This broadcast is brought to you by the fine folks at Harry's . Summer is here and now is the chance to start making smarter decisions. Overpaying for drugstore razor blades is a bad habit that you should leave behind. Make the smart switch to Harry's. And use the coupon code HWX for big, big savings. It's a special midweek edition of HWX, with Brian Ward of Fraters Libertas and Paul Happe of the Nihilist in Golf Pants reconvening to discuss the critical issues of our times. Topics addressed include: Spring has finally sprung in Minnesota, info on pre-emergent crabgrass herbicide, a poetry reading, and questions about where the new leaves on the trees come from. Positive evidence of global warming (and we feel fine about it). Hillary Clinton officially announces her presidential run, and we offer our advice and demos for campaign theme song (with strategic appearances by Tammy Wynette, the Smiths, and Nine Inch Nails). This Week in Gate Keeping - featuring PBS and the cover up of Ben Affleck's notorious relatives -- plus the New York Times blows an obituary. A celebrity salute to Earth Day, with Mike Nelson. All feedback from Ricochet members welcome in the comments section. Did you love the show? Did you hate it? Did it inspire boundless waves of apathy? We want to know! Hope you enjoy (but we can't be sure). It's a special midweek edition of HWX, with Brian Ward of Fraters Libertas and Paul Happe of the Nihilist in Golf Pants reconvening to discuss the critical issues of the day. Topics addressed include: The looming tax deadline and the odds that we got our returns correct. The looming announcement of Hillary Clinton's presidential candidacy and our attempt to play by the Hillary rules of appropriate discourse. the Indiana religious freedom imbroglio and the rapidly changing, and quickening pace of societal change. The return of This Week in Gate Keeping with the Rolling Stone correction and lack of contrition. We also talked some baseball with Minnesota's grand man of the game, former Twins co-owner Clark Griffith. He opines on the current state of the game and reminisces about the old days with the Washington Senators and stealing items from Harry Truman's desk It's a very special episode of HWX (or the Brian Ward Happe Hour, or the Jerktown Romeos, or something TBD), with Brian Ward of Fraters Libertas and Paul Happe of the Nihilist in Golf Pants reconvening to discuss the vital issues of the day. In particular, the 87th Academy Awards are this Sunday and we bring together two of this generation's finest critics of cinema to discuss the year in movies. * Mike Nelson, of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame, and now of RiffTrax.com (and on Twitter, @michaeljnelson ). He fills us in on the latest goings on at Rifftrax (including Sharknado and Teenage Mutant Turtle riffs), and gives us his thoughts on the most riff worthy Oscar nominees.

In The Tank (ep152) - AFEC 2018, and Universal Health Care Debate! Podcast Donny Kendal, with the help of Director of Communications Jim Lakely and State Government Relations Manager Charlie Katebi, presents episode #152 of the In The Tank Podcast. Fulfilling the Promise of American Energy Dominance at AFEC (Guest: Joe Balash) Podcast Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Land and Minerals Management Joe Balash gave a passionate and hopeful speech at AFEC 2018 on the strategy the Department is using to establish American energy dominance across the world. Heartland Institute co-founder Joe Bast discusses The Heartland Institute's history, it's accomplishments and what it hopes to achieve under new leadership.

NBC's Community has somehow been on the chopping block since it debuted, and now it has new show runners of whom not everyone is a fan . Yet every year it returns to our televisions with its own fresh brand of comedy. We'd like to think our little feature has had something to do with it, so here are this week's testaments to the show's staying power. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Season 4, Episode 8: "Herstory of Dance" Dean Pelton announcing Greendale's upcoming sock hop. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Pierce's Inspector Spacetime (the American version) t-shirt. The quirky girl Annie set Abed up with. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Advertisement - Continue Reading Below And the religious girl Shirley set up him up with. Abed checking his Bible and jelly-bean kaleidoscope, props to help him pull off his two dates at once. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Annie hiding the weird stuff stuck in her teeth. Hawthorne Wipes, sponsor of both the Sadie Hawkins and Sophie B. Hawkins dances, with slogans appealing to both demographics. Coat-check girl helping Abed with his hijinks by distracting quirky girl with bubbles. And by delivering a telegram while he's with Jesus girl. The water wings quirky girl left in coat check. All the denim and flannel that really wants to see Sophie B. Hawkins. Making Sophie B. Hawkins sing custom versions of her song "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover."

In episode 57 of Primary Concerns, Ron Klain and Brian Beutler discuss Byron White, Kevin Spacey, Ebola, Donald Trump, James Comey and more. With his name attached to a "mean" proposal, the president is vulnerable to Democratic attacks that he helps the rich at the expense of the poor. The glorious world-building in the first Harry Potter spin-off isn't enough to keep viewers coming back. One Republican senator's honesty about the GOP health care plan has raised an uncomfortable moral question for party leaders.

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One is a liberal talk show host. The other is the 'Science Guy' whose 90s TV show entertained children with songs like "Can't Eat This" and "Baby I Love Your Wave." So, of course they're qualified to lecture us about the universe. Nevertheless, when Bill Nye went on Bill Maher's show, Real Time With Bill Maher , the two took the opportunity to mock Republicans and people of faith for their belief in God and creationism. Some of Maher's other brilliant analysis: conservatism causes Alzheimer's disease .

Donald Trump's running mate Mike Pence drew cheers for his speech Wednesday, but when the third night of the Republican National Convention was over, the topic that dominated conversation was the churlish performance of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. The crowd in the Quicken Arena loudly booed Cruz for failing to endorse Trump during his primetime speech. Cruz only mentioned the party's nominee once, and it was not an endorsement. "I want to congratulate Donald Trump for winning the nomination last night," Cruz said. "And like each of you I want to see the principles of our party prevail in November." However, Cruz did not say that Trump represented "the principles of our party," and telling viewers to "vote their conscience" didn't clarify matters. "To those listening, please, don't stay home in November," Cruz said. "If you love our country, and love your children as much as I know you do, stand, and speak, and vote your conscience; vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution." At that point in Cruz's speech, some delegates began shouting angrily, prompting the Texas senator -- who fought a bitter primary campaign against Trump for the GOP nomination -- to remark, "I appreciate the enthusiasm of the New York delegation." By the time he finished, the crowd was booing loudly. "BOOS CRUZ" was the front-page headline of Thursday's Boston Herald , sent out via Twitter not long after Cruz's speech ended. The loser of the Republican primaries, by his spoilsport gesture, cast a shadow over the entire night's proceedings. State Sen. Ralph Alvarado, the first Hispanic elected to the Kentucky legislature, gave a strong speech that ended with him saying in Spanish: "Vote with me. Vote Republican. And for Donald Trump." The crowd was energized by Pastor Darrell Scott, of New Spirit Revival Center Ministries in Cleveland Heights. Delegates cheered as Scott said Trump will "rebuild the broken trust that now exists between our citizens and our government, which over the last eight years has brought the rhetoric of hope, but the reality of higher minority unemployment, crime, drug use, with more civil unrest and national distress." Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker led the crowd in a call-and-response on the theme, "America deserves better." After Cruz's bummer of a speech, it fell to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to try to get the evening back on track. "Ted Cruz said you can vote your conscience for anyone who will uphold the Constitution," Gingrich said. "In this election there is only one candidate who will uphold the Constitution. So to paraphrase Ted Cruz, the only way to protect that is to vote for the Trump/Pence ticket." Gingrich went on to praise the party's nominee, especially for taking seriously the threat of Islamic terrorism. "Donald Trump is right. We are at war with radical Islam, we are losing the war, and we must change course to win the war," Gingrich said, and concluded his speech by reiterating the convention theme: "We can make America safe again. We can make America work again. We can make America first again, and together, we can make America great again." The evening ended with the vice-presidential nominee in the spotlight, as Pence introduced himself to America with self-deprecating humor. "You know, he's a man known for his large personality, a colorful style, and lots of charisma, and so, well, I guess he was looking for someone to balance the ticket," Pence said. "Well, for those of you who don't know me, which is most of you, I grew up on the front row of the American dream." Pence repeated his often-used self-description - "I'm a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order" and invoked Ronald Reagan's famous "rendezvous with destiny" line to summon the nation to make a choice in November. "The choice could not be more clear," Pence said. "Americans can elect someone who literally personifies the failed establishment in Washington, D.C., or we can choose a leader who will fight every day to make America great again. It's change versus status quo and, my fellow Republicans, when Donald Trump becomes President of the United States of America the change will be huge!" Pence's impressive performance -- calm and serious, but also confident and optimistic -- was more important than anything Cruz said. The delegates erupted in a spontaneous chant of "We like Mike!" The Indiana governor presented himself well and his wholehearted praise for Trump was the kind of endorsement that really matters.

In Tennessee, Christian minister Robert Doggart has been sentenced to 20 years in prison over his plot to massacre Muslims at a New York mosque. Doggart was also a 2014 congressional candidate. In 2015, FBI agents discovered Doggart was stockpiling weapons and plotting to travel to upstate New York to kill Muslims using explosives, an M-4 assault rifle and a machete. According to a federal investigation, Doggart saw himself as a religious "warrior" and wanted to kill Muslims to show his commitment to his Christian god. Doggart was not charged with terrorism, and at his sentencing Wednesday, Judge Curtis Collier told him, "You are not a monster. ... In many respects, you lived a life of honor." The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License . Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Although some 80 percent of Americans say they believe in God, only a slim majority of the nation's approximately 327 million people believe in God as described in the Bible, according to results of a new study released by the Pew Research Center. And among those younger than 50, belief in the God of the Bible drops lower than 50 percent... Only 56 percent of the people surveyed indicated that they believe in God "as described in the Bible" and the strongest supporters of this response were Christians who self-identified as members of the historically black Protestant and evangelical traditions. Some 92 percent of those who identified with the historically black Protestant tradition said they believe in God as described in the Bible while 91 percent of those who identified as evangelicals support that position. These groups also overwhelmingly supported the view that God is all-loving, all-knowing and all-powerful.

Donald Trump's running mate Mike Pence drew cheers for his speech Wednesday, but when the third night of the Republican National Convention was over, the topic that dominated conversation was the churlish performance of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. The crowd in the Quicken Arena loudly booed Cruz for failing to endorse Trump during his primetime speech. Cruz only mentioned the party's nominee once, and it was not an endorsement. "I want to congratulate Donald Trump for winning the nomination last night," Cruz said. "And like each of you I want to see the principles of our party prevail in November." However, Cruz did not say that Trump represented "the principles of our party," and telling viewers to "vote their conscience" didn't clarify matters. "To those listening, please, don't stay home in November," Cruz said. "If you love our country, and love your children as much as I know you do, stand, and speak, and vote your conscience; vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution." At that point in Cruz's speech, some delegates began shouting angrily, prompting the Texas senator -- who fought a bitter primary campaign against Trump for the GOP nomination -- to remark, "I appreciate the enthusiasm of the New York delegation." By the time he finished, the crowd was booing loudly. "BOOS CRUZ" was the front-page headline of Thursday's Boston Herald , sent out via Twitter not long after Cruz's speech ended. The loser of the Republican primaries, by his spoilsport gesture, cast a shadow over the entire night's proceedings. State Sen. Ralph Alvarado, the first Hispanic elected to the Kentucky legislature, gave a strong speech that ended with him saying in Spanish: "Vote with me. Vote Republican. And for Donald Trump." The crowd was energized by Pastor Darrell Scott, of New Spirit Revival Center Ministries in Cleveland Heights. Delegates cheered as Scott said Trump will "rebuild the broken trust that now exists between our citizens and our government, which over the last eight years has brought the rhetoric of hope, but the reality of higher minority unemployment, crime, drug use, with more civil unrest and national distress." Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker led the crowd in a call-and-response on the theme, "America deserves better." After Cruz's bummer of a speech, it fell to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to try to get the evening back on track. "Ted Cruz said you can vote your conscience for anyone who will uphold the Constitution," Gingrich said. "In this election there is only one candidate who will uphold the Constitution. So to paraphrase Ted Cruz, the only way to protect that is to vote for the Trump/Pence ticket." Gingrich went on to praise the party's nominee, especially for taking seriously the threat of Islamic terrorism. "Donald Trump is right. We are at war with radical Islam, we are losing the war, and we must change course to win the war," Gingrich said, and concluded his speech by reiterating the convention theme: "We can make America safe again. We can make America work again. We can make America first again, and together, we can make America great again." The evening ended with the vice-presidential nominee in the spotlight, as Pence introduced himself to America with self-deprecating humor. "You know, he's a man known for his large personality, a colorful style, and lots of charisma, and so, well, I guess he was looking for someone to balance the ticket," Pence said. "Well, for those of you who don't know me, which is most of you, I grew up on the front row of the American dream." Pence repeated his often-used self-description - "I'm a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order" and invoked Ronald Reagan's famous "rendezvous with destiny" line to summon the nation to make a choice in November. "The choice could not be more clear," Pence said. "Americans can elect someone who literally personifies the failed establishment in Washington, D.C., or we can choose a leader who will fight every day to make America great again. It's change versus status quo and, my fellow Republicans, when Donald Trump becomes President of the United States of America the change will be huge!" Pence's impressive performance -- calm and serious, but also confident and optimistic -- was more important than anything Cruz said. The delegates erupted in a spontaneous chant of "We like Mike!" The Indiana governor presented himself well and his wholehearted praise for Trump was the kind of endorsement that really matters.

Cuban Americans are an amazing group of people with an incredible work ethic. As mentioned in many previous posts, the GOP has a pretty full bench this go around... no favorites here, just facts. Some argue that Marco Rubio could be the best man for the job. Let's look to the facts. Here's 5 reasons why: 1. Immigration - so the Gang of Eight bill wasn't his brightest moment. In fact, it was a bad one. But he says he's learned from it (he's human, just like us), and now heartily proclaims we must secure the border and enforce the laws we already have before looking at other "reform". Willing to admit mistakes and improve? I can dig it. 2. Relatable - he speaks Spanish, fluently. He played football in college - and has caught passes from both Dan Marino and Tim Tebow. He has a young, growing family. He's a practicing Christian. Oh, and Marco Rubio is also the only GOP candidate who has said he will not run for re-election in his current position in order to run for President. How refreshing is that ? 3. Foreign policy - of the 2016 GOP contenders in the race thus far, Rubio is a member of the Senate Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees, and has been the most solid on foreign affairs . He stands with Israel, denounces Iran, and with the latest Obama declaration on improving Cuban relations, Marco Rubio will have a huge platform... hopefully, he takes it. 4. Accomplishments - unlike several other 2016 contenders, Marco Rubio has accomplished things . Like, real things. Rubio is a real life example of what can be accomplished with a little hard work and the American dream. The son of Cuban immigrants, a stand out athlete, a law degree coupled with political experience on the local, state, and federal level... that's hard to beat. (Especially if your name is Hillary Clinton.) 5. Uniter - Marco Rubio has the element possibly most needed in this vast GOP field. He may be the only candidate that both Tea Party conservatives and establishment Republicans can unite behind . If the right splinters, Hillary Clinton will be our President. Marco Rubio has the potential to ensure that doesn't happen. Agree? Disagree? Is Marco Rubio the man for the job? Sound off in the comments below!

Donald Trump delivered his first commencement address as president Saturday at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Before a record crowd of 50,000, Trump appealed to the graduates and other attendees by portraying himself as an underdog outsider fighting for the common man -- a real David versus Goliath. "In my short time in Washington, I have seen firsthand how the system is broken," Trump told the largely-evangelical crowd. "A small group of failed voices who think they know everything and understand everyone want to tell everybody else how to live and what to do and how to think, but you aren't going to let other people tell you what you believe, especially when you know that you are right." Throughout the speech, the president suggested that he has been under attack by Washington insiders and a "chorus of critics." "The fact is, no one has achieved anything significant without a chorus of critics standing on the sidelines explaining why it can't be done," Trump said. "Nothing is easier or more pathetic than being a critic . . . The future belongs to the people who follow their heart no matter what the critics say because they truly believe in their vision." Understanding his audience, Trump dropped a lot of football and religious references in his speech. He gave a shout out to Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, for example, who was in the crowd for his daughter's graduation. Trump also gave resounding support to the religious right, hinting that he would be in favor of religious liberty laws . "In America we don't worship government, we worship God," Trump said Saturday. "As long as I am your president, no one is ever going to stop you from practicing your faith or from preaching what is in your heart," he later added. . @POTUS : "In America, we don't worship government. We worship God." https://t.co/DqKnHKaseP pic.twitter.com/zlbi5PEsDv -- Fox News (@FoxNews) May 13, 2017 Overall, the speech was met with support from the evangelical audience at Liberty University. The school's founder, Jerry Falwell Jr., was an early backer of Trump's bid for the presidency and helped his campaign secure 80 percent of the white evangelical vote, the Associated Press reported. ''I really don't think any other president has done more for evangelicals and the faith community in four months than President Trump has,'' Falwell recently told the AP in an interview.

Is the Trump administration laying the internal groundwork for an immigration reform package? According to McClatchy , a compromise is taking shape under which the president would offer Democrats a codified amnesty for so-called "DREAMers" in exchange for the construction of his oft-touted border wall . The report says that Trump's son-in-law and daughter favor the plan, with several key advisers warming to it as well -- including Vice President Pence and HR McMaster: Kelly & Javanka want an immigration deal that preserves DACA. Pence, McMaster, and Cohn reportedly warm to the idea https://t.co/zyGvdgEoV7 -- Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) August 22, 2017 Some details : White House officials want Trump to strike an ambitious deal with Congress that offers Dreamers protection in exchange for legislation that pays for a border wall and more detention facilities, curbs legal immigration and implements E-verify , an online system that allows businesses to check immigration status, according to a half-dozen people familiar with situation, most involved with the negotiations. The group includes former and current White House chiefs of staff, Reince Priebus and John Kelly, the president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, who both serve as presidential advisers, they said. Others who have not been as vocal publicly about their stance but are thought to agree include Vice President Mike Pence , who as a congressman worked on a failed immigration deal that called for citizenship, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and Gary Cohn, a Democrat who serves as director of the National Economic Council. Other members of the administration -- including Attorney General Sessions and Stephen Miller -- are said to oppose the idea. Polling suggests that most Republicans, including most Trump supporters , are in favor of legitimizing President Obama's unilateral, legally-dubious 'DREAM' maneuver (DACA) by enshrining it as law. Indeed, back in June , the Trump administration canceled Obama's expanded, unpopular , and patently illegal amnesty (DAPA) while preserving DACA, at least temporarily. This marked a policy reversal for Trump, who explained his ( totally predictable ) change of heart on the issue at the time: During the presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly said he would end the deferred deportation policy, calling it "amnesty" and an abuse of the president's powers. But after inauguration, he not only failed to act but pledged to treat Dreamers with "great heart." "DACA is a very, very difficult subject for me," he said in February. "To me, it's one of the most difficult subjects I have because you have these incredible kids, in many cases not in all cases. In some of the cases they're having DACA and they're gang members and they're drug dealers too. But you have some absolutely incredible kids, I would say mostly."... The administration has continued to allow Dreamers to apply for the program and even renew their permits -- at nearly the rate of the Obama administration -- much to the dismay of some of his own supporters who want him to make good on his campaign promise. On paper, offering Democrats the formalization of DACA in return for concessions on immigration enforcement measures is a reasonable gambit. But if the White House believes Democratic leadership will go for it, they're -- well -- dreaming. Democrats have moved hard left on immigration, in service of both their identity politics obsession and their zeal to thwart Trump on his signature campaign issue. Their "resistance" base will angrily demand that they stop at nothing to prevent the president from fulfilling his most memorable electoral promise: Building the wall. Even if Trump offered them a clean trade -- DACA for the wall -- Democrats would almost certainly rebuff the proposal. Asking them to sign on to additional immigration enforcement items and to curtail legal immigration (even if some Trump-endorsed policies garner wide support ) will be back-handed away as a non-starter. Democrats aren't willing to do anything that might be construed as delivering a "win" to Trump at the expense of their hardcore voters. There's another element to this equation, too. Democrats don't view making the DREAM Act permanent as a political win because they believe (a) they've already won the PR and policy battle on this front, and (b) it's probably more valuable to them as a plausibly "live" issue. The fact that Trump extended Obama's executive foray means that it's now a fact of life in Washington, so they see little practical risk that DREAMers' legal status will be revoked in the future. Meanwhile, using DREAMers as a talking point on immigration, and raising the specter of what those heartless Republicans might do to those poor kids, is a strong demagogic temptation. From a cynical perspective, taking the issue off the table (with a Republican president getting credit, no less) would be something of a lose-lose for Democrats -- especially if they help Trump implement even more of his agenda in the process. That's why you're seeing immediate, faux-indignant rejections like this from Democratic leaders: It is reprehensible to treat children as bargaining chips. America's DREAMers are not negotiable. #DefendDACA https://t.co/wErMfpWBlh -- Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) August 22, 2017 Please recall that Nancy and friends did exactly nothing to legalize DREAMers through the legislative process when they controlled everything in Washington, not too long ago. Doing so would have been a layup; many Republicans, terrified by Obama's sweeping victory coalition, would have been champing at the bit to sign onto a politically-palatable, 'small ball' immigration reform item. Yet Pelosi didn't act. A few years later, after Republicans had made major electoral gains, Obama allegedly sought to undermine Marco Rubio's DREAM Act efforts, further suggesting that Democrats prefer to exploit DREAMers as political pawns, rather than genuinely resolve their status. That's what makes Pelosi's crocodile tears about "treating children as bargaining chips" so unconvincing. There's a serious case to be made that she wants them to feel like vulnerable potential bargaining chips in perpetuity, in order to help Democrats shore up certain voting constituencies and win elections. Where does that fall on the scale of "reprehensibility"? I'll leave you with another issue on which Pelosi never lifted a finger when she was in power: "The Confederate statues in the halls of Congress have always been reprehensible," Nancy Pelosi said https://t.co/DXXvwXXodU pic.twitter.com/8dOwsn7FlR -- NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) August 17, 2017 So very "reprehensible," in fact (her staff might want to buy her a thesaurus if she uses that word again this month), that she did absolutely nothing about it throughout her reign. By the way, Pelosi's base may love this posturing, but the public does not .

Boom boom boom POW! Schumer comms director gets pissy with Trump over DACA promise Remember the story about a month ago when President Trump and Chuck Schumer/Nancy Pelosi got into a spat over an alleged DACA deal between the President and Congressional Dems? Schumer's comms director Matt House tweeted last night that Trump had broken the deal, which Trump never said he made in the first place: The @POTUS is going back on his agreement with Schumer and Pelosi. Period. Full stop. -- Matt House (@mattwhouse) October 9, 2017 House's pissy tweet came after the NYT and others reported that Trump was going to tie DACA to his immigration priorities, which is what any normal politician would do: Trump lays out hardline immigration policies as price of legalizing DACA. Start of negotiations or the end? @shearm https://t.co/y5DSWqSfAT -- Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) October 9, 2017 But like we said earlier, Trump never said there was a deal despite the Schumer/Pelosi press release about a month ago: Pelosi, Schumer on dinner with Pres. Trump: Both sides have "agreed" to immigration reform package and border security, "excluding the wall" pic.twitter.com/C7z36lwPTW -- ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 14, 2017 The President made clear he would continue pushing the wall, just not as part of this agreement. https://t.co/KD1SdLAnIF -- Matt House (@mattwhouse) September 14, 2017 No deal was made last night on DACA. Massive border security would have to be agreed to in exchange for consent. Would be subject to vote. -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 14, 2017 And a week before the non-deal, Pelosi took credit for encouraging Donald Trump to tweet this about DACA: For all of those (DACA) that are concerned about your status during the 6 month period, you have nothing to worry about - No action! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 7, 2017 Pelosi later bragged to reporters how she convinced the president to protect DACA recipients with a "boom boom boom": Pelosi on this morning: "I was telling my colleagues, this is what I asked the president to do, and boom boom boom, the tweet appeared." -- Mike DeBonis (@mikedebonis) September 7, 2017 Boom boom boom ... POW! Trump's not going to let Dems walk over him ... hopefully. Related: Is this a JOKE? Nancy Pelosi reportedly asked Trump to tweet THIS about DACA (and he did) https://t.co/2xF908XiSv -- Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 7, 2017 NO DEAL! Trump denies Schumer-Pelosi claim that he gave up wall for DACA https://t.co/cfOUtClXN9 -- Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 14, 2017

To the surprise of absolutely no one, a leaked document from the Center For American Progress (CAP) Action Fund shows what most of us have always known, but what Democrats like to pretend isn't their reality. Namely, the memo, in great detail, maps out how Democrats are relying on illegal immigration to prop up their political future. In approaching the debate regarding "Dreamers," and former President Obama's executive order on DACA: The memo , co-authored by former Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri, was sent around to allies calling on Democrats to "refuse to offer any votes for Republican spending bills that do not offer a fix for Dreamers and instead appropriate funds to deport them." I don't know how much of a concern that is going to be. President Trump has already sat in agreement with Senators Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi to protect illegals already living here, but still, Democrats are building their base. Kimberly Ross The latest efforts in the House have come in the form of compromise bill on DACA, with the focus being on a worry over chain migration. The memo makes it clear that Democrat interest in the poor, shadow-dwelling illegals isn't simply from the goodness and mercy in their hearts. "The fight to protect Dreamers is not only a moral imperative, it is also a critical component of the Democratic Party's future electoral success," reads Palmieri's memo, obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation. Note to Democrats: If you must qualify any statement about "moral imperative" by adding what's in it for you, then it is no longer a moral issue. "If Democrats don't try to do everything in their power to defend Dreamers, that will jeopardize Democrats' electoral chances in 2018 and beyond," reads the memo. "In short, the next few weeks will tell us a lot about the Democratic Party and its long-term electoral prospects." It's a lot of emotional nonsense, regarding a problem with no easy fix. What this memo does, however, is remove the mask of altruism from the Democrat party. It really is all about votes, to them, and they don't care how they get them. LEAKED MEMO: The Center For American Progress (CAP) Action Fund admits that "DREAMers" are a "critical component of the Democratic Party's future electoral success." pic.twitter.com/J5x69BCQCW -- Ryan Saavedra ?? (@RealSaavedra) January 9, 2018

The president actually made a bold decision in allowing cameras into the meeting to film the whole negotiating session. Those who cover Congress marveled at the rare opportunity to "watch the sausage being made." Trump supporters have spent the last 48 hours pointing to the video saying "SEE! He's not crazy! He knows exactly what's going on!" while his detractors claimed that Trump basically echoed whatever any person in the room said and agreed to every conceivable position on DACA. But the important message to both parties was that the president was not going to insist on any particular points. He would sign whatever bill Congress could agree to. "I think my positions are going to be what the people in this room come up with," Trump said "If they come to me with things that I'm not in love with, I'm going to do it, because I respect them." and ""I'm not saying I want this or I want that. I will sign it," Everyone is having a field day over the president referring to Haiti and others as "shithole countries." Which is bad. But hey, "Trump said something really offensive!" has been a daily headline for 2 1/2 years now. The bigger problem is that the president told Congress - in front of cameras no less - that he did not care what they put in the bill he would sign it. And miraculously, they managed to hammer out a reasonable compromise, that Trump then told them was a no go. It should be noted that we have been having the same inane argument over immigration for over a decade now. Democrats and Republicans squabble like kindergartners over this. "We have to grant amnesty to these honest, hard-working people!" "No way! We fell for that last time. First we have to secure the border." "Not until we get amnesty!" "Not until we get our wall!" And yet our much maligned Congressmen managed to DO THEIR JOBS and work out a compromise most people (Ann Coulter not withstanding) would consider reasonable. But the president just pulled the rug out from under them. So, why should they bother trying again? For that matter, why should they bother trying ANYTHING again? Why pass a budget the president won't sign or comprehensive immigration reform even a bill to rename the local post office if they can't be sure the president will sign it? You wonder why Republicans couldn't push through repeal of Obamacare? THIS IS EXACTLY WHY! They got no direction from the president and couldn't work out an agreement amongst themselves (and of course, they weren't going to get any help from the Democrats.) I am not asserting that this was the best deal. I have no way of knowing whether the president made the controversial comment or not. I agree that Republicans should not approve DACA without concessions on security. BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT TRUMP SAID ON TUESDAY. He said repeatedly that he would let Congress pass the bill and he would sign it. No matter what. That was my only point here. Senators Cotton and Perdue don't recall Trump using the offensive language in the private meeting, so far only Durbin has said he heard it. Six senators and no reps is not congress. Micheal Wolff has now admitted his book, "Eire and Fury" is not all fact. Just more anti-Trump message without backing.

The Senate is looking toward bringing back the Dream Act, even though the Senate is being run by Republicans. The Hill reports that Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) will be bringing forth the bill on Thursday as Barack Obama's executive amnesty, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), hangs in the balance of the federal courts. Here are more details about the upcoming proposal: Under the 2017 Dream Act, immigrants would qualify for permanent residence and a path to citizenship if they are longtime residents who came to the United States as children; earn a high school diploma or GED; pursue higher education, have lawful employment for three years or serve in the military; pass a background check and pay a fee; show proficiency in English and U.S. history; and have not committed a felony or pose a threat to the country. Earlier versions of the bill and the DACA program had similar guidelines, but in most cases had cut-off dates for final entry, making only certain childhood immigrants eligible for benefits. It's worth noting that Graham and Durbin were both part of the infamous Gang of Eight that produced an abysmal piece of amnesty legislation that failed in the House. The Hill report quotes Marc Short, the White House legislative director, as saying that the administration is "likely to be consistent in" their opposition to the Dream Act, but President Trump has kept DACA in place and previously stated that Dreamers can "rest easy" under his administration. The president has also expressed a willingness to support "a comprehensive immigration plan." It is actually possible that the Dream Act could pass the Senate given that there are a number of Republicans who are weak on immigration, such as Graham, which would be unwise from both a policy and political standpoint. On policy, the Dream Act would increase welfare spending on illegals and incentivize more people to enter the United States illegally, as Daniel Horowitz has argued . It would be disastrous from a political perspective since one of the main issues that Trump rode to the White House on was his hardline immigration stance. Passing the Dream Act and signing it into law would be a major betrayal of the Republican base. Parting thought: Remind me...which party controls the Senate? Seems like it's still Democrats. https://t.co/UedTrA8tT9 -- Kelly Campagna (@warriorwoman91) July 19, 2017

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) dismissed President Trump's new hard-line immigration proposals as "a complete non-starter" Monday, adding that her caucus may withhold support for must-pass spending bills later this year if Congress can't reach agreement on how to protect "dreamers" from deportation. "I fully intend to use every possibility" to strike a deal on the status of young immigrants protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Pelosi said. But, she added: "We're not at that place yet. Right now, we're trying to get Republicans to vote on what we believe." House Democrats are pushing an up-or-down vote on a bill that would grant eligible dreamers legal status in the United States and set many of them on a path to U.S. citizenship. But they have so far failed to persuade enough Republicans to join them in using procedural tactics to force a vote on the legislation. On Monday, Pelosi dismissed the fresh immigration policy ideas unveiled by the White House. Based on documents released Sunday night, the Trump administration is demanding full construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, restrictions on legal immigration and a plan to curb young migrants from leaving Central American nations to cross illegally into the United States. The new proposals came after Trump last month decided to end DACA and gave Congress six months to pass a solution he could sign into law. [...] Pelosi said that the administration's new plan is "un-American" and that "there's nothing in it to negotiate because it does not have shared values of who we are as Americans. As long as we understand that, let's go on with what we can agree on."

Who will determine the result of the EU referendum? Whether it's immigrants, students or women, The Guardian never lets an election pass without a sweeping statement about the emerging strength of a segment of the electorate. I have always doubted this rhetoric: first because it suggests one person's vote counts more than someone else's; and second, because it reeks of identity politics. Left-wing parties have always assumed that they represent the values and aspirations of disadvantaged groups. Harnessing 'block votes' is a vital strategy of the Democrats in the USA. In kaleidoscopic London, Sadiq Khan will prosper in the mayoral contest, regardless of his links to extremism, because he readily appeals to migrant communities and particularly the vast Muslim populace (while his rival may be cast not only as a Tory toff, but also a latent Jew). Voting may be individual choice, but it is laden with loyalties to one's kind. Hillary will warn of a special place in hell for women who defy her bid for the presidency. Constituting significantly over 50 per cent of the electorate, women are often prioritised in pursuit of a democratic mandate. They are thought to be more concerned than men with public services, particularly health, welfare and schools, with an implied orientation to the social justice policies of the Left. Of course, this is simplistic, and gimmicks like Labour's pink bus at the last general election are patronising to womankind, which spreads across the political spectrum as much as the male electorate. Nonetheless, the pro-EU camp thinks that female voters will sway the result in their favour. We are told that women think more carefully about the risks of Brexit and how it would destroy rights for equality in the workplace, and harm their children's future. Such faith in a bureaucratic empire that subverts parliamentary democracy may be expected from voters on the Left, who would instinctively prefer the EU to our own (Tory) government. But are women on the centre or right also being persuaded to remain? Polls indicate that people are prone to Project Fear, which has dominated the EU debate. As positive messages for Britain unleashing itself from Brussels do not seem to get through, the case must be made that staying in the EU is actually the riskier option. And this is where older, socially conservative women will play a leading role. The generational divide is illustrated by this typical scenario. The mother struggling to get her children into the local primary school thinks that the obvious answer is to expand capacity. Her mother suggests that we would not need those Portakabins on the sports field if immigration were reduced. And perhaps we wouldn't hear so much east European language at the school gate. How embarrassing, thinks her daughter, of such prejudice. Yet while the younger women's view is idealistic, her mother speaks of a glaring reality. Free movement of people may suit virtue-signalling, but it has severe impact on the sustainability of schools and hospitals. Expanding the European project to Turkey, with its border deep into Asia, will bring great swaths of incomers riding on their EU ticket. The risk of terrorism will undoubtedly rise. Meanwhile, as the tentacles of the EU strangle sovereignty in the relentless march to supranational uniformity, it seems unlikely that our National Health Service model will be chosen over that of the 27 other member states. Is remaining really the safer option? In the Scottish referendum in 2014, the key constituency of older women kept the UK together, saving high-spending Scotland from economic and social turmoil. We are warned of similar dire fate for Britain's independence from Europe. This suggests that women of socially conservative disposition will choose the status quo , but I think this is a false equivalence. In voting against separation, the Scots were not abandoning their identity. In England, many older women see their daughters (and their sons) disowning their nationality, culture and heritage, and see the road to serfdom. Crucial to the coming referendum is the generational difference in voting behaviour in women. While the older female electorate fulfils its obligation to visit a polling station, a high proportion of younger people are not so keen, preferring instead to register their views as 'likes' on social media. So we might be saved by wiser women, who despair at Messrs Cameron, Osborne and Corbyn selling out to the EU. They will wake up on 23 rd June and think: this is our country, not theirs to give away.

In response to Rob Slane: So-called misogynistic hate crime is the bitter fruit of the feminist assault on marriage, DollarPound wrote: Is it really that everyday misogyny is on the increase, fuelled by feminism? Or is... The Labour Party is in political free-fall - a fact bizarrely underlined by Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell on the Marr Show yesterday. McDonnell turned directly to face the camera to warn that there was... Poor old Jezza and Owen Smith. Neither - the one with his gender equality pledge or the other with his 50 per cent women in Parliament (regardless of merit) bribe - is likely to... Labour leadership candidate Owen Smith has pledged that fifty per cent of all Labour MPs and Shadow Cabinet ministers will be women. At present, this seems an irrational and illogical commitment. There is no good... In response to Karen Harradine: Stop funding the pro-Islam UN and defend Christians, Colkitto03 wrote: Good piece. That Islam is a religion of intolerance is undisputed. The West needs to be more intolerant of Islam. If... The late 1960s and early 1970s were a period of flux. Social and political revolutions abounded. Western governments granted new civil rights. There seemed to be no rules or boundaries any more. Every kind... A new parliamentary report has found that there is 'widespread and increasing pressure' on healthcare professionals to participate in abortions, which is 'in large part due to inadequate observance of the current legislation'. 'Freedom of Conscience in Abortion... Nottinghamshire Police Force have just expanded their growing list of hate crimes to include misogyny. Quite frankly I'm shocked that they only just got around to including it now, and there is a definite case to... Six of the best Cerberus: May's honeymoon will be short Laura Perrins: Middle classes become the new poor as feminism kills off the male breadwinner Kathy Gyngell: It is mad to put women in the front line... In response to Suzanne Venker: A crass Trump presidency is far better than a feminist Hillary one, Earthenware wrote: It's not just Clinton's feminism, it's the fact that United States's foreign policy will be decided by...

The Labour Party said in their manifesto that they will "offer fair rules and reasonable management of immigration ". The party accepts that free movement of people will end after Britain leaves the European Union, but promise not to "scapegoat" migrants. Mr Corbyn's party would introduce a new migration system that they claim would not "discriminate between people of different races or creeds". Labour said it will protect any migrants already working in the UK and crack down on employers who only recruit overseas workers. In a live debate last week, the Labour leader said immigration would "probably" go down, but refused to say by how much. Instead, he attacked the Conservatives for repeatedly breaking their promise to get immigration down to the tens of thousands. Brexit Secretary David Davis has said the Conservatives aim to bring net migration down to "sustainable levels as soon as is economically viable".

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban not only continued to defend his anti-immigrant bigotry but went on to say that Islam has never been part of Europe. Mr. Orban not only is increasing the misery of largely Muslim refugees, but now he has erased 1300 years of [...] By Anna Shamanska | ( RFE/RL) | - - Support among Russians for military intervention in Syria has more than doubled, to 31 percent in early October from 14 percent in September, according to independent pollster Levada Center. The increase comes with coverage of air strikes filling Russian state airwaves, press, and the Internet, and [...] By Iva Martinovic | (RFE/ RL) | - - These days, the park flanking Belgrade's bus terminal and the nearby railway station teems with migrants. They are from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, or Somalia, and they are on the last leg of a grueling journey they hope will take them to the European Union. Inside the [...] By Frances Trix | (Informed Comment) | - - On 12 June, 5,000 skirts and dresses were hung on 45 clotheslines in the football stadium in Prishtina, capital of Kosova. "The laundry is washed clean, like the women who are clean and pure--they carry no stain," asserted artist Alketa Xhafa-Mripa, the Kosovar originator of the [...] By Frances Trix | (Informed Comment) | - Now it appears, thanks to EU mediation, there will be new national elections in Macedonia next April 2016. In one sense it is quite early--there were national elections in April 2014 in which Nikola Gruevski, president since 2006, was once again elected. But in another sense, these [...]

Senior MPs have called for new immigrants to undergo compulsory English classes that are paid for by a student loan-style system. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Integration's plan would see migrants re-paying the charges once they reach a certain salary threshold. 3 MPs suggested businesses that employ large numbers of immigrants should pay a levy towards the English lessons The move would lift the cost of the key measure off the taxpayer and mean it would be easier to roll out. It recently emerged that 800,000 immigrants living in the UK have poor or no proficiency in the English language. Businesses employing large numbers of immigrants should pay a levy that could be used to help ease strains on communities, the cross-party group of MPs also suggested. But they also claimed "the poisonous tone" of the EU referendum campaign has fuelled the "demonisation" of immigrants and created huge obstacles for social integration. Their report said newcomers are increasingly leading parallel lives and that anti-immigrant rhetoric is making it harder for people to become fully involved in British life. Labour MP Chuka Umunna , who chairs the APPG, said: "The best way to do this isn't to leave newcomers and their communities to sink or swim, but to offer migrants more support to integrate into our society". PA:Press Association 3 Head of the APPG, Labour MP Chuka Umunna stressed the importance of migrants being able to integrate into British society There were also calls last night for ministers to do more to tackle English language levels of many migrants who have been in the UK for years. The Bright Blue think tank's James Dobson said: "There are many migrants already in the UK who are unable to speak English. "For instance, the 2011 census found that 22% of Muslim women speak a little English or none at all. "This prevents them from integrating and taking full advantage of what the UK has to offer." www.brightblue.org.uk 3 Bright Blue's James Dobson agrees that integration is the key issue around immigrants in Britain MOST READ IN POLITICS BOJO'S BACK Boris Johnson poses for selfie as he arrives back from hols amid burka row WREATH OF SHAME Corbyn with wreath for Palestinian 'martyrs' near Munich terrorist's grave PM'S HALAL ROW No10 accused of trying to censor photo of PM visiting halal butcher IDS RAPS FIRMS IDS blasts bosses not 'bothering' to find Brits for jobs given to EU workers A BIZ BREXIT Kick out EU migrants after 3 months if they can't find jobs, businesses say 'HAMAS HQ' Corbyn pranked by Jewish activists with sign on his fence of extremist links

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Turkey's priority for the upcoming U.N. General Assembly to be held in New York next week is expected to be its candidacy for a non-permanent membership in the U.N. Security Council for the 2015-2016 term, ahead of elections to the UNSC in October. The 69th Regular Session of the U.N. General Assembly is scheduled to convene at the body's New York headquarters on Tuesday under the theme "Delivering on and implementing a Transformative Post-2015 Development Agenda." As New York prepares to host nearly 140 senior officials from a variety of nations, the world will witness an intensive week with world leaders discussing the latest developments, including the increasing Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) threat in the Middle East, climate change, Iran's nuclear program, the Ukrainian issue and the Ebola virus that has claimed hundreds of lives. Continuing its preparation at full steam, Turkey's U.N. Permanent Representative Halit Cevik stated that numerous bilateral talks are on Turkey's agenda to increase the support in the country's candidacy process. Reiterating that the election for UNSC non-permanent membership is due in Oct. 16, Cevik said, "We [Turkey] believe that Turkey's UNSC membership will contribute to peace and security especially in this period that our region is witnessing important developments. This belief led us to announce our candidacy once again right after our membership ended." The representative noted that Turkey created a positive and transparent profile during its previous membership periods and promoted the dialogue in resolution of the issues. "Considering the crisis surrounding our region, we believe that UNSC is in need of this kind of contribution once again," added Cevik. Emphasizing that Turkey is a defender of the U.N.'s core principles as a founding member of the U.N., Cevik said, "Our country [Turkey] plays an active role in a wide range of issues, including development, combatting terrorism, gender equality, combatting organized crimes." Cevik pointed out that Turkey's developing economy took the country to the forefront within the U.N. and added, "Today, our country [Turkey] morphed into a country that is called on for its humanitarian aid campaigns and development activities in different parts of the world. In 2013, our country will be the third biggest donor country in humanitarian aid area at governmental level." The General Assembly will be a session where the post-2015 Development Agenda is to be finalized through negotiation among governments. Turkey has been actively taking part in the post-2015 development agenda due to its work for international peace and security. zTurkey will attend the Assembly under the leadership of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The meeting will be Erdogan's first address to the U.N. as president. A committee, including Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Volkan Bozkir, Minister of Economic Affairs Nihat Zeybekci, Minister of Environment and Urban Planning Idris Gulluce will accompany the president. The president will address the Assembly at a morning session on the opening day, September 24. He is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with other leaders. The first plenary meeting of the Assembly will be opened by Ugandan Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa, who was elected president of the General Assembly on June 11. The General Debate's opening was postponed by a day to next Wednesday in order to accommodate the Climate Summit as well as to make room for a World Conference on Indigenous Peoples and a special session on population and development.The U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will host the climate change summit on Tuesday, Sept. 23 with the aim of reaching a "high-level political commitment" on climate change. Erdogan has also been invited to run for the co-chairmanship of the session and to deliver a keynote at the session.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on October 24 has issued a statement for the occasion of United Nations Day and the 69th anniversary of the organization and has expressed that a series of comprehensive reforms are necessary for the UN to adapt to changes. "The changes which have taken place since the establishment of the UN require comprehensive structural reforms," said President Erdogan, who expressed that it is necessary for respective bodies of the UN to adapt to the international changes in order to find contemporary global solutions to current issues including the protection of international peace and security, migration issues, climate change, human rights issues, science and technology, development and others. Erdogan noted that the UN continues to be the sole global organization which has the sole global legitimacy to establish norms pertaining these issues. The statement expressed that Turkey will continue to be an active supporter of the UN and play an important role in peacebuilding, development, alliance of civilizations and act as a mediator, while noting that Turkey plans to actively participate in establishing an agenda regarding post 2015 period. The statements came after a series of criticisms which took place earlier this week when Erdogan reiterated on the notion that the world is 'bigger than five,' implying that the permanent five members of the UN Security Council have excessive power as one member can unilaterally veto resolutions passed by the General Assembly which consists of 193 states. "On the other hand, diplomacy based on humanitarian concerns continues to be an important priority of Turkish foreign policy" read the statement, touching upon the notion that Turkey has become the world's third largest donor state in terms of providing humanitarian assistance and has become a member of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) due to its contributions. Additionally, it has been noted that Turkey will host the first ever World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 while the regional headquarters of the UN Development Program and UN WOMEN have been moved to Istanbul with the vision to make the city a center for UN affairs. The president ended his statement by sincerely congratulating the UN Day and hoping that the efforts of the UN will bring peace to the world. The United Nations Day has originally been devoted to raise awareness amongst people about the goals and achievements of the organization and is part of the United Nations Week which runs from October 20 to 26.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere stresses Turkey's importance as a NATO ally during his address at the Munich Security Conference. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere addresses the German lower house of Parliament, Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, on February 1, 2018. ( Reuters ) Turkey is a key partner in the fight against terrorism, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Saturday. During his address at the Munich Security Conference, the conservative politician turned down opposition calls to restrict security cooperation with Turkey. "Turkey remains an important NATO partner," de Maiziere said, defending the government's policy of close cooperation between Berlin and Ankara. "We must also understand that Turkey has suffered from terrorism much more than Germany, and they have much more victims. Of course, Turkey is a key partner for us in the fight against terrorism," he stressed. Germany's far-left opposition party Die Linke has criticised Turkey's border security mission in the northwestern Syrian enclave of Afrin. The party has also called for restricting security cooperation with Ankara and suspending arms sales to Turkey. Earlier on Saturday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told conference participants that Turkey's measures against foreign fighters and its fight against the terrorist groups in northern Syria carry significant importance for Europe's security. Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch in January to clear its southern border of threats posed by PKK-linked YPG militants. Turkey considers the PKK to be a terrorist organisation, as does the European Union and the United States. Another stated aim of the operation is to protect Syrians from oppression and cruelty at the hands of the YPG and other groups who have silenced dissent and forced many locals to flee their homes. The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey's right to self-defence based on international law as outlined in UN Security Council resolutions and the UN charter with respect for Syria's territorial integrity, the Turkish General Staff has said. The military has also said that only terrorist targets are being destroyed and "utmost care" is being taken to avoid harming civilians. Source: TRTWorld and agencies

Economic realities must be taken into account in any global agreement on tackling ever-threatening climate change, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said. In a speech at the U.N. Climate Change Summit in New York on Tuesday, Erdogan said Turkey was "ready to do its part" in the fight against global warming. He said: "A new binding agreement should include certain flexibilities for countries, within the scope of common but differentiated responsibilities." The president also emphasized that the rights of the least-developed countries should be protected in creating new policies, as they are not the cause of climate change, but the most-affected by its results. "Developed countries should assume more responsibility in the fight with climate change, with regard to reducing carbon emissions and financial and technological support," Erdogan added. - 'Comprehensive projects' The current climate change summit is to shape next year's Paris conference, which has been billed as the most important climate change meeting since Kyoto in 1997. The treaty is expected to include new measures to limit the rise in global warming. Mentioning Turkey's individual contributions in the fight against climate change, Erdogan said Turkey had reduced its carbon emissions by 21 per cent between 1990 and 2012. "This figure excludes Turkey's comprehensive projects on forests," Erdogan said. Erdogan said Turkey is continuing its efforts within the scope of the 2011-2023 Climate Change Action Plan, aimed at increasing the share of renewable energy in total energy production to 30 per cent, and decreasing the size of energy in the economy by 20 per cent.

Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar and National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Undersecretary Hakan Fidan held talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow on Thursday. According to Shoigu's press secretary, the talks focused on the situation in the Middle East as well as "current topics of mutual interest." The statement added that the meeting was "productive." Rossiiana Markovskaia (@rossiyana_markovskaya)'in paylastigi bir gonderi ( Oca 18, 2018 at 6:15oo PST ) The Turkish officials were also scheduled to meet with Russian Chief of General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov, said the statement posted on the General Staff website. The talks were expected to cover regional security matters, the latest developments in Syria, and the Astana and Geneva peace processes. The meeting comes amid Turkey's preparations for a cross-border anti-terror operation in northern Syria's Afrin, which is currently held by the PKK terror group's affiliates the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed-wing the People's Protection Units (YPG). The Russian military is also believed to have a presence in Afrin which is expected to be discussed during the talks in Moscow.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in Brussels today for talks with NATO officials, one week after reversing a decision to skip the negotiations. The NATO trip comes on the heels of Tillerson's visit to Turkey, where he heaped praise on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson : "In the United States, the people of Turkey have a trusted ally and a partner who is committed to its safety and security and advancing economic opportunity. We look forward to approaching these challenges together, and the Trump administration will continue to build ties with this long-standing ally and our friend." Tillerson's praise for Turkey comes as the nation is set to hold a referendum on a constitutional overhaul that would give sweeping powers to President Erdogan and extend his presidency to 2029. The measure would enable the president to issue decrees, declare emergency rule, appoint ministers and top state officials, and dissolve parliament.

Israeli soldiers shot 14-year-old Palestinian Mohammad Tamimi point-blank in the face with a rubber-jacketed bullet on December 14, 2017, in Nabi Saleh, a small village in the occupied West Bank. The boy had to undergo six hours of surgery and was placed in a medically induced coma. An hour later, Mohammad's cousin, Ahed Tamimi, slapped and kicked at an armed Israeli soldier. Early the next week, after video of Ahed's actions went viral, Israeli soldiers raided the Tamimi home at 3 a.m., arresting Ahed and confiscating the family's phones, computers and laptops. Ahed has been denied bail and could face years in prison. (Nour Tamimi, a 16-year-old cousin of Ahed's who is also in the video, was also arrested and has been released on bail. Ahed's mother Nariman was arrested later that day when she inquired about her daughter, and she remains in custody.) Erasing the shooting CNN ( 1/8/18 ): Ignoring the most serious violence A January 1 Newsweek article described the incident as Ahed "assaulting Israeli soldiers," "threatening two Israeli soldiers and then hitting them in the face," "pushing the soldiers as well as kicking them, hitting them in the face and throwing stones at them." The piece referred to Ahed's actions as "assaults" and an "attack." It failed to report that Israeli soldiers had just shot and severely injured her 14-year-old cousin. CNN ( 1/8/18 ) also ran a piece that left out the most serious act of violence that day, as did Reuters ( 12/28/17 , 1/1/18 ). An Associated Press report ( 12/28/17 ) had the same deficiency, leaving the false impression that the soldier was attacked without provocation. The Newsweek piece also failed to note that the Israeli soldiers are members of a military force that has been occupying the West Bank for 50 years. Nor does CBS 's December 21 account mention the occupation, which structures every interaction between Palestinians and Israelis. (The fact that occupied people have a legal right to resist occupation is left out of all of the articles discussed in this piece.) A report in the New York Times ( 12/22/17 ) does not mention that Mohammad Tamimi was shot in the face with a rubber bullet until the 13th paragraph, as though this fact is of minimal importance. The Times describes Nabi Saleh as having "long-running disputes with a nearby Israeli settlement, Halamish, that Nabi Saleh residents say has stolen their land and water." The Times does not note that, as a colony on occupied territory, Halamish is illegal under international law . Normalizing military tribunals The Newsweek piece says Tamimi "has now been indicted on five counts of assaulting security forces," and that she is "charged with interfering with the soldiers' duties by preventing them from returning to their post." It notes that "in May, she was charged with interfering with soldiers who were trying to arrest a protester throwing stones," and refers to her indictment two other times, including in the headline. At no point does the article mention that the proceedings are taking place in a military court. Similarly, an Associated Press ( 1/9/18 ) report refers to "Israel's hard-charging prosecution" and "the charges" against Tamimi, without mentioning that she is being tried by the same occupying military that shot her cousin. Omitting that information makes it sound like Tamimi will receive a fair legal process, but the evidence suggests the opposite. According to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel , Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are subjected to a military court system that "does not grant the right to due process and the rights derived from it," whereas Israelis illegally colonizing the Occupied Territories have the rights and privileges of a civilian legal system. In the military courts, the age of majority is 16 , which means that Palestinian teenagers can be tried as adults, while 18 is the age of majority for Israelis. Defence for Children International Palestine (DCIP), a group that has consultative status with the UN, reports that Israeli military court judges, who are either active duty or reserve officers in the Israeli military, "rarely exclude evidence obtained by coercion or torture, including confessions drafted in Hebrew, a language most Palestinian children do not understand." The Israeli military courts' conviction rate of greater than 99 percent underscores how stacked they are against Palestinians. Framing Resistance as PR Stunts The New York Times ( 12/22/17 ) placed the same emphasis on life-threatening violence and social media tactics: "The latest incident, filmed in the family's backyard, occurred within hours after a cousin of Ms. Tamimi's was shot in the face with a rubber bullet , and it was streamed live on Facebook on December 15." The New York Times ' framing of Tamimi's story suggests that the case's central issue is whether Palestinians or Israelis would have been better off if the soldier had reacted more violently to being slapped. The Times ' David Halbfinger says that Israelis could not decide whether the soldiers were virtuous pillars of forbearance and strength . . . or an embarrassing advertisement of national paralysis and vulnerability. Palestinians, meanwhile, debated whether the video might have damaged their cause, by showing their oppressors behaving gently, or helped it, by showing that resistance can be effective even when one is unarmed. The paper even implied that Palestinians may be happy that Tamimi was arrested, writing that "the scene of the young woman being hauled away may have given Palestinians the clear-cut propaganda coup they had been denied by the original confrontation." CNN similarly trivialized Tamimi's arrest, noting that Israelis call her "Shirley Temper" because of "her long ginger curls" and because they accuse her of "starring in carefully choreographed 'Pallywood' videos, a dismissive characterization of protests considered staged for the camera." While the Times and CNN provide a forum for speculation about whether Palestinians want their own children to suffer because it makes for good public relations, there is much this framing overlooks. For example, none of the above-mentioned articles mention the risk of Tamimi being seriously harmed in Israeli jails. Yet UNICEF charges Israel with subjecting Palestinian youth to "practices that amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention against Torture." These include children "being aggressively awakened in the middle of the night by many armed soldiers and being forcibly brought to an interrogation center tied and blindfolded, sleep-deprived," and "threatened with death, physical violence, solitary confinement and sexual assault, against themselves or a family member." Israel's well-documented mistreatment of Palestinian youth is ignored in these reports, which suggests it is not Palestinian parents but Western reporters who are interested in crafting a public relations spectacle.

A Palestinian school in the West Bank. (Photo: via MEMO) Palestinians take part in the Great March of Return today. Thousands of tires were burnt to blur Israeli snipers vision. (Photo: Abduilaziz Alastal) The family of Ahed Tamimi Monday released footage of her interrogation by two Israeli officers on Dec. 26, in which she can be seen silent, appearing calm despite intimidation attempts. In the video, then 16-year-old Ahed can be seen interrogated by two men without the presence of a female officer or a legal guardian, a policy required by law. The men take an intimidating stance on Ahed and one of them speaks to her in broken Arabic, threatening her with arresting more members of her family and village Nabi Saleh. "If you don't give us what we want we will arrest everyone in this video. You know Nour, Marwan, Osama, Marah... we will take them all if you don't cooperate. It's in your hands... they will talk if you don't" one of the interrogators, apparently a member of the Israeli military intelligence agency (Aman), tells Ahed as he demands her to identify people in videos shown to her. But as interrogators sit close to her with their legs open, using an intimidating tone and threatening her, Ahed only breaks her silence to remind her interrogators she has the right to remain silent. "Who is she?" says the police interrogator referring to a person in a video, only to get "I choose to remain silent" as an answer from Ahed. Ahed Tamimi stands strong in interrogation, facing threats and harassment - defying the occupation! Gepostet von Free the Tamimis am Montag, 9. April 2018 "The single purpose of this interrogation was to break the symbolism of defiance that she represents by trying to have her let go of her right to remain silent. She did not," said Bassem Tamimi, Ahed's father, in a press conference in Ramallah Monday. According to Bassem, Ahed was interrogated for about 10 days straight after her detention. When the video was taken at the Shaar Binyamin police station, Ahed had been detained for one week, including days of solitary confinement and sleep deprivation. "My little sister is blonde and her eyes are like yours...," the Aman officer tells Ahed in an odd way, who then yells at her that she's too white to go to the beach. "How are you in the sun? Like my sister? Red, red, red?" Israeli authorities are obliged to hand in excerpts of interrogation videos, when the suspect is a minor, if requested by the family. The video was then handed to media outlets, days after another internet news site published an exclusive report on it. Tamimi's lawyer Gaby Lasky had complained to the attorney general multiple times about the improper behavior of one of the interrogators, accusing him of sexual harassment, but the state proved unwilling to investigate the Israeli military actions against the teen. "You have eyes like an angel," one of the interrogators tells Ahed, according to The Daily Beast report on the full footage, to which she responded with a cold stare and silence. He also keeps comparing her with his sister, saying she spends "all his money on clothes," just as revealed by the partial video released Monday. Lasky called the sexual harassment of Ahed "a gross violation of the law," and complained about the fact that her client, a minor girl, was interrogated by two men, without the presence of a female officer or an interrogator specialized in questioning minors. Ahed was charged with aggravated assault, obstructing the work of soldiers, and incitement, among other charges on Jan. 2. She was arrested on Dec. 19 after a video of her slapping two Israeli soldiers outside her home in the occupied West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, in mid-December went viral. She is currently serving an 8-month jail sentence in the Ofer military camp near Ramallah, after reaching a plea bargain deal with military prosecutors last month. An anonymous source had told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the military court felt the need to put an end to the legal proceedings because they were bringing significant negative coverage from international media and human rights and social organizations, damaging the already-fragile army's reputation. (teleSUR, PC, Social Media) The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement calls for boycotting Israel until it ends its occupation of Palestine. (Photo: File) A post shared by The IMEU (@theimeu) on Apr 8, 2018 at 2:30pm PDT

An Israeli court on Tuesday convicted a Palestinian minor of "attempted murder" and possession of knife, a family member has said. An Israeli district court convicted Ahmad Manasrah, 14, of attempted murder related to an alleged knife attack in East Jerusalem last year. "My son did not try to stab anyone; the charges are fabricated," Saleh Manasrah, Ahmad's father, told Anadolu Agency. "The court verdict is unfair. He (Ahmed) should not be arrested or kept in jail, even for one moment," the distraught father said. Israeli prosecutors, for their part, say Ahmed -- along with his cousin, Hassan -- attempted to stab two Israelis in East Jerusalem's Shufat neighborhood in 2015. Israeli security forces shot and killed Hassan Manasrah, 15, at the scene. Ahmed, meanwhile, was seriously injured after being run over and assaulted by Israeli settlers before being arrested. A lawyer working with the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners' Affairs, Tariq Barghouth, called the court decision "contestable," adding that the court decision would likely be appealed. "We hope the Supreme Court will view this humanitarian case differently," Barghouth said. "Once again, the Israeli court proves its racist treatment of the Palestinians," the lawyer added, highlighting the "double standard" of the Israeli justice system when it comes to punishing Palestinians accused of committing crimes against Israelis, compared to cases of settlers attacking Palestinians. Palestinian child Ahmad Manasrah convicted by Israeli court, threatened with life sentence https://t.co/tL5fJ7mLDM via @SamidounPP -- Joe Catron (@jncatron) May 10, 2016 Last November, the Israeli police were accused of abusing Manasrah after a video of his interrogation was posted online. The footage appeared to show the interrogator pressuring Manasrah, who said he could not remember the incident and said he was suffering mental trauma. #Israeli court order life sentence for 13-yr Ahmad Manasrah. Doctored evidence, report says https://t.co/VtgUW8Gyy4 pic.twitter.com/Mu7ikXTGKO -- Fadi Al-Qadi (@fqadi) May 10, 2016 Manasrah's trial was postponed a number of times, which some commentators alleged was a conscious move to delay the case until he turned 14 in January, at which time he became old enough under Israeli law to be given a prison sentence. (MEMO, MAAN)

Israel routinely puts Palestinian children between the ages of 12 and 17 in solitary confinement for interrogation, according to Defense for Children. U.S. President Donald Trump's declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's capital has ignited a firestorm of violent clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces. Dozens of images continue to emerge from the region but one in particular transfixed the world. It shows a Palestinian teenager blindfolded and surrounded by more than 20 heavily armed Israeli occupation forces. Now, it has emerged the boy, identified as 16-year-old Fawzi al-Junaidi, will be charged and tried in a military court. Junaidi's arrest prompted widespread criticism as it symbolized the Israeli army's use of excessive force against Palestinians, especially Palestinian minors. He has been accused of throwing stones at a group of armed Israeli officers. However, he denies the allegations. Read More "He said he was fearful and was running away when tear gas canisters were being thrown," Junaidi's lawyer, Farah Bayadsi, told Al Jazeera. "Fawzi said he was beaten with a rifle and he showed up with bruises all over his neck, chest and back." She added he will be formally charged in front of an Israeli military court. While Junaidi's arrest and impending trial has drawn international focus, it's not uncommon for Israeli soldiers to use excessive force against Palestinian minors, who receive harsh punishments for throwing stones. Just in October, a report published by Israeli rights groups HaMoked and B'tselem found the Israel Prison Service "keeps the boys incarcerated in harsh condition." Furthermore, while night interrogations are prohibited by Israeli law, "91 percent of the minors who were interviewed for the report said that they were arrested at night." According to Human Rights Watch, Israeli authorities also choke and throw stun grenades at Palestinian minors. The children are also beaten in custody and interrogated without the presence of parents or lawyers. In the six days following Trump's Jerusalem announcement, at least 16 Palestinians have been arrested over protests. At least four have been killed and more than 700 injured. Read More

Israeli soldiers shot 14-year-old Palestinian Mohammad Tamimi point-blank in the face with a rubber-jacketed bullet on December 14, 2017, in Nabi Saleh, a small village in the occupied West Bank. The boy had to undergo six hours of surgery and was placed in a medically induced coma. An hour later, Mohammad's cousin, Ahed Tamimi, slapped and kicked at an armed Israeli soldier. Early the next week, after video of Ahed's actions went viral, Israeli soldiers raided the Tamimi home at 3 a.m., arresting Ahed and confiscating the family's phones, computers and laptops. Ahed has been denied bail and could face years in prison. (Nour Tamimi, a 16-year-old cousin of Ahed's who is also in the video, was also arrested and has been released on bail. Ahed's mother Nariman was arrested later that day when she inquired about her daughter, and she remains in custody.) Erasing the shooting CNN ( 1/8/18 ): Ignoring the most serious violence A January 1 Newsweek article described the incident as Ahed "assaulting Israeli soldiers," "threatening two Israeli soldiers and then hitting them in the face," "pushing the soldiers as well as kicking them, hitting them in the face and throwing stones at them." The piece referred to Ahed's actions as "assaults" and an "attack." It failed to report that Israeli soldiers had just shot and severely injured her 14-year-old cousin. CNN ( 1/8/18 ) also ran a piece that left out the most serious act of violence that day, as did Reuters ( 12/28/17 , 1/1/18 ). An Associated Press report ( 12/28/17 ) had the same deficiency, leaving the false impression that the soldier was attacked without provocation. The Newsweek piece also failed to note that the Israeli soldiers are members of a military force that has been occupying the West Bank for 50 years. Nor does CBS 's December 21 account mention the occupation, which structures every interaction between Palestinians and Israelis. (The fact that occupied people have a legal right to resist occupation is left out of all of the articles discussed in this piece.) A report in the New York Times ( 12/22/17 ) does not mention that Mohammad Tamimi was shot in the face with a rubber bullet until the 13th paragraph, as though this fact is of minimal importance. The Times describes Nabi Saleh as having "long-running disputes with a nearby Israeli settlement, Halamish, that Nabi Saleh residents say has stolen their land and water." The Times does not note that, as a colony on occupied territory, Halamish is illegal under international law . Normalizing military tribunals The Newsweek piece says Tamimi "has now been indicted on five counts of assaulting security forces," and that she is "charged with interfering with the soldiers' duties by preventing them from returning to their post." It notes that "in May, she was charged with interfering with soldiers who were trying to arrest a protester throwing stones," and refers to her indictment two other times, including in the headline. At no point does the article mention that the proceedings are taking place in a military court. Similarly, an Associated Press ( 1/9/18 ) report refers to "Israel's hard-charging prosecution" and "the charges" against Tamimi, without mentioning that she is being tried by the same occupying military that shot her cousin. Omitting that information makes it sound like Tamimi will receive a fair legal process, but the evidence suggests the opposite. According to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel , Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are subjected to a military court system that "does not grant the right to due process and the rights derived from it," whereas Israelis illegally colonizing the Occupied Territories have the rights and privileges of a civilian legal system. In the military courts, the age of majority is 16 , which means that Palestinian teenagers can be tried as adults, while 18 is the age of majority for Israelis. Defence for Children International Palestine (DCIP), a group that has consultative status with the UN, reports that Israeli military court judges, who are either active duty or reserve officers in the Israeli military, "rarely exclude evidence obtained by coercion or torture, including confessions drafted in Hebrew, a language most Palestinian children do not understand." The Israeli military courts' conviction rate of greater than 99 percent underscores how stacked they are against Palestinians. Framing Resistance as PR Stunts The New York Times ( 12/22/17 ) placed the same emphasis on life-threatening violence and social media tactics: "The latest incident, filmed in the family's backyard, occurred within hours after a cousin of Ms. Tamimi's was shot in the face with a rubber bullet , and it was streamed live on Facebook on December 15." The New York Times ' framing of Tamimi's story suggests that the case's central issue is whether Palestinians or Israelis would have been better off if the soldier had reacted more violently to being slapped. The Times ' David Halbfinger says that Israelis could not decide whether the soldiers were virtuous pillars of forbearance and strength . . . or an embarrassing advertisement of national paralysis and vulnerability. Palestinians, meanwhile, debated whether the video might have damaged their cause, by showing their oppressors behaving gently, or helped it, by showing that resistance can be effective even when one is unarmed. The paper even implied that Palestinians may be happy that Tamimi was arrested, writing that "the scene of the young woman being hauled away may have given Palestinians the clear-cut propaganda coup they had been denied by the original confrontation." CNN similarly trivialized Tamimi's arrest, noting that Israelis call her "Shirley Temper" because of "her long ginger curls" and because they accuse her of "starring in carefully choreographed 'Pallywood' videos, a dismissive characterization of protests considered staged for the camera." While the Times and CNN provide a forum for speculation about whether Palestinians want their own children to suffer because it makes for good public relations, there is much this framing overlooks. For example, none of the above-mentioned articles mention the risk of Tamimi being seriously harmed in Israeli jails. Yet UNICEF charges Israel with subjecting Palestinian youth to "practices that amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention against Torture." These include children "being aggressively awakened in the middle of the night by many armed soldiers and being forcibly brought to an interrogation center tied and blindfolded, sleep-deprived," and "threatened with death, physical violence, solitary confinement and sexual assault, against themselves or a family member." Israel's well-documented mistreatment of Palestinian youth is ignored in these reports, which suggests it is not Palestinian parents but Western reporters who are interested in crafting a public relations spectacle.

On Sunday, Palestinian teenage protester Ahed Tamimi tearfully embraced relatives after being released from the Israeli prison where she served eight months on assault and incitement charges. The 17-year-old was arrested in December after a video showing her kicking and slapping two armed Israeli soldiers went viral on Facebook. In the hours after her release, at her home in Nabi Saleh, a village in the West Bank, Tamimi said that she "knew a long time ago" that she would be arrested for her opposition to Israeli occupation. Her mother, Nariman, was arrested in December for posting the footage on social media; Nariman was also released Sunday. In the months since her arrest, Tamimi has become a prominent symbol of the Palestinian protest movement, her image gracing murals and posters around the world. Israelis had nicknamed her "Shirley Temper" for her curls and repeated confrontations with Israeli soldiers, while officials deemed her a dangerous provocateur. Israel has occupied the West Bank since it captured the land in a 1967 war and has built numerous settlements that crisscross land the Palestinians claim for a future state. Nabi Saleh, which borders the Israeli outpost Halamish, is one of these contested areas. Israeli troops and border police have confronted the demonstrators, firing tear gas, arresting stone-throwers and imposing curfews. Israel says the security measures around Nabi Saleh, which has a population of about 500, and other areas are necessary to prevent the kind of attacks that Palestinians have recently carried out in Jewish settlements across the West Bank. In the hours after Tamimi's arrest in December, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said that the teen and her parents would not "escape from what they deserve" and that anyone who was "wild during the day would be arrested at night." After eight months in prison, Tamimi received a hero's welcome home by family members and supporters alike. Songs blared from loudspeakers, including one written especially for her: "Despite the softness of your hands, your hands have shaken the world," the lyrics said. Rights groups said Sunday that Tamimi's arrest highlighted Israel's practice of detaining Palestinian minors, who are also subject to the military court system in the West Bank. According to statistics released by the Israeli rights group B'Tselem this month, 291 Palestinian minors were held in Israeli prisons as security detainees and prisoners. "Ahed Tamimi's release must not obscure the familiar and continuing story of the Israeli military using discriminatory policies to lock up Palestinian children," said Higazi, who described her arrest as "a blatant attempt by the Israeli authorities to intimidate those who dare to challenge the ongoing brutal repression by occupying forces."

On the stump, Donald Trump promised to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Now obstacles are emerging on the left and right. Democrats are sowing panic, falsely predicting that 20 million will lose coverage. Newly elected Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer claims Trump will " rue the day " Obamacare is repealed. Meanwhile, on Trump's right flank, House Republicans are pushing Medicare "reform" and taxes on workers' health benefits -- unpopular ideas that will undermine Trump's political support and derail his agenda. Here's the real deal about repeal. Will 20 million lose coverage? Not even close. Sixteen million of those who gained coverage are enrolled in Medicaid , the public program for low-income residents. Obamacare allowed states to expand who could sign up for Medicaid, with the federal government covering the tab. Repeal could result in less federal funding. But no one is pushing to abolish the nation's health safety net. And states that just expanded Medicaid are unlikely to do a 180 and shrink it. The 16 million are likely safe. President-elect Trump proposes giving states more flexibility in how Medicaid is managed. That's urgently needed. Federal Medicaid spending has shot up 40% in the last three years . Research shows that extra spending is not improving health . What about the other nearly 5 million newly insured? They're in Obamacare plans, along with another 6 million who already had insurance, and all of them are having a tough time. Technically, they're "covered," but many can't come up with the cash to see a doctor. They're struggling with exorbitant deductibles -- $6,000 per person for the typical bronze plan . In short, about 5 million previously uninsured people -- not the bogus 20 million -- may need help after repeal. Trump is proposing market reforms to lower costs and increase choices for consumers stuck in the individual market. Will people with pre-existing conditions lose out? No. All the GOP replacement plans protect them but not through the cynical, coercive scheme that Obamacare used. Obama forced two groups of people into the same insurance pool: the healthy and the chronically ill. Healthy people would pay premiums but never meet their sky high deductibles. Instead, their premiums would foot huge medical bills for the chronically ill, who consume 10 times as much medical care . Healthy people saw it was a scam. They refused to sign up, despite the penalty. Obamacare architect Ezekiel Emanuel says forcing the healthy to enroll is essential. Sorry. There's a fairer way. Trump would allow insurers to charge ill people more then subsidize these "high risk" customers with taxpayer dollars. That spreads the cost fairly over the whole population, instead of burdening people in the individual market. Voila , premiums and deductibles will drop fast for people in the individual market. Obama is incredulous that people think Obamacare "doesn't work." More than 200 million have been hurt by it. Count them: 155 million with employer-provided plans whose deductibles have soared thanks to the ACA, plus the 11 million paying ACA penalties for not enrolling, plus hundreds of thousands of part-time workers whose hours were slashed by employers dodging the mandate, and 55 million seniors harmed when Medicare funding cuts bankrolled Obamacare. Is this the time to change Medicare? No way. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Budget Committee Chair Rep. Tom Price want Medicare "reform" this spring . But President-elect Trump promised to replace Obamacare, fund infrastructure, cut taxes, and fix immigration. Not change Medicare. A Medicare battle could torpedo his agenda. Remember the demagogues, who vilified Ryan in 2012 with images of granny going over the cliff in a wheelchair ? Ryan and Price also want to cap the tax exemption on employer-provided health plans . That would betray union workers who for years have swapped raises for lavish tax-free health benefits. These workers just gave Trump his remarkable win. Trump made the election a referendum on Obamacare. Republicans in Congress need to respect the voters and make Trump's agenda the priority.

On the stump, Donald Trump promised to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Now obstacles are emerging on the left and right. Democrats are sowing panic, falsely predicting that 20 million will lose coverage. Newly elected Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer claims Trump will " rue the day " Obamacare is repealed. Meanwhile, on Trump's right flank, House Republicans are pushing Medicare "reform" and taxes on workers' health benefits -- unpopular ideas that will undermine Trump's political support and derail his agenda. Here's the real deal about repeal. Will 20 million lose coverage? Not even close. Sixteen million of those who gained coverage are enrolled in Medicaid , the public program for low-income residents. Obamacare allowed states to expand who could sign up for Medicaid, with the federal government covering the tab. Repeal could result in less federal funding. But no one is pushing to abolish the nation's health safety net. And states that just expanded Medicaid are unlikely to do a 180 and shrink it. The 16 million are likely safe. President-elect Trump proposes giving states more flexibility in how Medicaid is managed. That's urgently needed. Federal Medicaid spending has shot up 40% in the last three years . Research shows that extra spending is not improving health . What about the other nearly 5 million newly insured? They're in Obamacare plans, along with another 6 million who already had insurance, and all of them are having a tough time. Technically, they're "covered," but many can't come up with the cash to see a doctor. They're struggling with exorbitant deductibles -- $6,000 per person for the typical bronze plan . In short, about 5 million previously uninsured people -- not the bogus 20 million -- may need help after repeal. Trump is proposing market reforms to lower costs and increase choices for consumers stuck in the individual market. Will people with pre-existing conditions lose out? No. All the GOP replacement plans protect them but not through the cynical, coercive scheme that Obamacare used. Obama forced two groups of people into the same insurance pool: the healthy and the chronically ill. Healthy people would pay premiums but never meet their sky high deductibles. Instead, their premiums would foot huge medical bills for the chronically ill, who consume 10 times as much medical care . Healthy people saw it was a scam. They refused to sign up, despite the penalty. Obamacare architect Ezekiel Emanuel says forcing the healthy to enroll is essential. Sorry. There's a fairer way. Trump would allow insurers to charge ill people more then subsidize these "high risk" customers with taxpayer dollars. That spreads the cost fairly over the whole population, instead of burdening people in the individual market. Voila , premiums and deductibles will drop fast for people in the individual market. Obama is incredulous that people think Obamacare "doesn't work." More than 200 million have been hurt by it. Count them: 155 million with employer-provided plans whose deductibles have soared thanks to the ACA, plus the 11 million paying ACA penalties for not enrolling, plus hundreds of thousands of part-time workers whose hours were slashed by employers dodging the mandate, and 55 million seniors harmed when Medicare funding cuts bankrolled Obamacare. Is this the time to change Medicare? No way. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Budget Committee Chair Rep. Tom Price want Medicare "reform" this spring . But President-elect Trump promised to replace Obamacare, fund infrastructure, cut taxes, and fix immigration. Not change Medicare. A Medicare battle could torpedo his agenda. Remember the demagogues, who vilified Ryan in 2012 with images of granny going over the cliff in a wheelchair ? Ryan and Price also want to cap the tax exemption on employer-provided health plans . That would betray union workers who for years have swapped raises for lavish tax-free health benefits. These workers just gave Trump his remarkable win. Trump made the election a referendum on Obamacare. Republicans in Congress need to respect the voters and make Trump's agenda the priority.

By Craig Andresen on October 31, 2013 at 5:12 am Let's have a little look at liberal logic as it applies to Obamacare. Now...Don't start with me. I can hear you saying there is no such THING as "liberal logic" but, all I ask is that you take a few minutes to read this as, I am reasonably sure, this WILL make the entire Obamacare experience make more sense to you all. Okay... Let's begin with this little give and take from yesterday's Sebelious testimony. Congresswoman Renee Ellmers went down this path... Ellmers : "You also brought up the issue that when you were in Kansas that you fought against discriminatory issues... As far as essential health benefits, correct me if I'm wrong: do men not have to buy maternity care?" Yep...THAT path... Sebelius: "Policies will cover maternity coverage. For the young and healthy, uh, under thirty year-olds will have a choice also of a catastrophic plan that has no maternity coverage." Having failed to answer the question, congresswoman Ellmers tried again...

THREAD. First, you have to want me back. Stop being butthurt that I voted for Trump and stop trying to get me punched, fired or thrown out of restaurants. You need us back if you want to beat Trump. Stop pushing us into ditches. You'll lose again. -- Mark Kern (@Grummz) July 1, 2018 Next, stop campaigning on "resist" and "impeach" and have a real message again. Hope was a powerful one for Obama and Hooked me back then. You need to find a positive message to rally around a great vision for the future. Right now your message is hate and fear and zero vision. -- Mark Kern (@Grummz) July 1, 2018 Read the whole thing. It was about 70,000 or so Obama-to-Trump voters who put Trump over the top in PA, WI, and MI -- so the Democrats would be wise to listen to all the thoughtful O-to-T voters they can find. Will the Democrats listen is the question, and I'd wager it will take another shellacking or two before their ears finally perk up.

Remember Obama's now "infamous" line, "If you like your healthcare, you can keep it?" If it only had been true, because many Americans-especially our nation's young people are suffering as a result of the President's signature legislation. President Obama told us that the average American would see their health insurance premiums lowered; yet the opposite is true. A recent study shows that health insurance premiums have drastically skyrocketed among 23-year-olds, especially males who have seen a 78% price increase. Women have seen close to a 45% increase. Sadly, Obama peddled healthcare to our nation's young people-telling us that it would be affordable, if not free. Much to our surprise, healthcare isn't free, and we are expected to pick up the tab for not only ourselves, but also for the older and sicker generations. Even the premium increases for 30-year-olds are close to those of 23-year-olds: 73% for men and 35% for women. Just how affordable is healthcare for these young adults? One thing that the success of Obamacare relies upon is buy-in from millennials-those between the ages of 18 and 34. However, many young people-who are typically healthier than older adults, see little benefit to purchasing expensive health care plans they may not need or want? I really hate to say, "I told you so," but how could I not? The very people that Obamacare sought to attract aren't buying in-literally! Young people have suffered greatly under this administration. Youth unemployment sits at 18.1% with no hope of improving, and many young graduates are coming out of college with more than $30,000 in student loan debt. Young America's Foundation polling shows that 68% of young people have a less favorable opinion of Obama after his "signature" legislation became law. Healthcare is expensive, and while many young people are fortunate enough to have good health, there are always unexpected and unplanned medical emergencies. But, for many young people, foregoing insurance is worth the risk if they can't afford the high premiums. From the beginning, Obamacare has been a failure with website malfunctions, plan cancellation, enrollment confusion, and now overwhelming premium increases. The American people were lied to-especially millennials. The people who really lose out in this deal are young people, who now will pay a hefty price for insurance or pay a penalty for not having the mandated coverage. Ashley Pratte is the spokeswoman for Young America's Foundation

June 1, 2018 at 9:35am At every point in the long legal battle thus far, Kesha has either lost in court or has dropped her claims. Read more >> May 15, 2018 at 11:00pm Thanks to devices, apps, and streaming sites like Netflix and Youtube, broadcast TV is in a precarious situation. Read more >> October 24, 2017 at 1:46pm What Happened To Monday is the latest example of this tired trope. Read more >> What becomes of women who can't access the healthcare they need? Read more >> November 30, 2016 at 10:11am Women bearing the brunt of responsibility when their safety and well-being are considered insignificant in society is a dangerous paradox. Read more >> November 14, 2016 at 12:31pm The company aims to make contraception easy and affordable--just like it should be. Read more >> May 31, 2016 at 1:31pm A school board in Oregon voted down a plan to have school-based health clinics distribute birth control. Who will think of the children?! Read more >> Why is the procedure snipped from basic birth control coverage? Read more >> March 30, 2016 at 5:15pm The birth control case facing the Supreme Court could wind up rolling back civil rights protections of LGBT people, too. Read more >> January 11, 2016 at 4:10pm How does your state fare on access to abortion, birth control, and sex-ed? Read more >>

The news reports revealing that the FBI was spying on the Trump campaign have Democrats and former President Obama's "deep state" operatives going to desperate lengths to distract Americans from the truth. Former CIA Director John Brennan urged Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., in a tweet to challenge President Trump, and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper defended the FBI on CNN for spying on the Trump campaign. Hillary Clinton also joined the desperation ranks. During a commencement speech at Yale University, she waved a Russian fur hat on stage, saying, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," insinuating a Putin role in the election of President Trump. Stripping away Clinton's ridiculous claim and the wild lashing out from the "deep state," the truth remains: Democrats are Russian President Vladimir Putin's best allies. The anti-fossil fuel energy policy promoted by Democrats aligns perfectly with Russia's economic needs. Russia is highly dependent on fossil fuel exports for revenue, and competition from the U.S.'s vast energy natural resources poses a direct threat to Putin. Restrictions on the development and use of coal, oil, and natural gas resources through heavy-handed federal regulations are the ideal U.S. policy for Putin. Limits on fossil fuel development and regulation were the foundation of Obama's energy policy, and Clinton did not deviate far from her prior boss' platform. As with Obama, climate change was the cornerstone of Clinton's proposed energy policy , and she supported Obama's war on coal and also sought to replace fossil fuels with so-called "clean energy." To the dismay of Democrats and Putin, President Trump wants the U.S to be an energy superpower, and his policies are unleashing our energy natural resources by reducing regulations and opening up areas for development. When President Trump decided to pull the U.S. out of the United Nations' Paris climate accord, he was blasted by a choir of left-wing politicians, environmental activists, and the agenda driven liberal media. Notably, Clinton and her husband, as well as Putin, made negative comments about President Trump's decision. Hillary called it "an historic mistake," and former President Bill Clinton added , "Walking away from Paris is a mistake." Putin's criticism was more subtle and disguised as a joke. Putin said he could blame the weather conditions in Moscow "... on American imperialism." Putting his sarcasm aside, Putin is very serious about using devious methods to restrict development of U.S. energy resources. In March, the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology released a report that detailed the efforts by Russia to negatively impact U.S. fossil fuel development using social media. The committee found, "... Russian agents were exploiting American social media platforms in an effort to disrupt domestic energy markets, suppress research and development of fossil-fuels, and stymie efforts to expand the use of natural gas." Climate change, blocking pipeline construction, and stopping development of natural gas through fracking were the top priorities of the social media effort under accounts created by the Internet Research Agency in Russia, the same company special counsel Robert Mueller indicted for interfering with the 2016 presidential election. Previously, news reports discussed the possibility that environmental activist groups are being funneled Russian funds to promote government adoption of anti-fossil fuel policies. Clinton and Obama are by far not the only Democrats acting as Putin's energy useful idiots. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo banned fracking in the state, and his Department of Environmental Conservation has so far blocked the construction of the Constitution Pipeline by denying a water permit to allow the project to move forward. The Constitution Pipeline would transport natural gas from Pennsylvania to upstate New York. New England is running an extreme anti-fossil fuel energy policy that is starving the region of cheap and reliable energy. During last winter's cold snap, New England's inadequate natural gas pipeline infrastructure reached its limit, and the region's power was supplemented by liquefied natural gas from Russia. The pro-fossil fuel energy policy advanced by President Trump is being used to challenge Russia. President Trump is confronting Russia's energy dominance in eastern Europe by exporting liquefied natural gas to Poland and the Baltic states. In addition, the U.S. is actively trying to stop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany. When it comes to energy policy, Putin and Democrats are on the same team, but, thankfully, President Trump understands the importance of an America First energy policy. Find out what the mainstream media won't tell you about President Trump and his administration. Sign up to get CRTV's free White House Brief delivered right to your inbox once a day. Dr. Tom Borelli is a contributor to Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @tomborelli .

Senator Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) is having none of President Trump's false moral equivalence. On ABC's This Week Sunday, Sasse expressed his distaste at the comparison of the United States and Vladimir Putin's regime: Let's be clear: Has the U.S. ever made any mistakes? Of course. Is the U.S. at all like Putin's regime? Not at all. The U.S. affirms freedom of speech; Putin is no friend of freedom of speech. Putin is an enemy of freedom of religion, the U.S. celebrates freedom of religion. Putin is an enemy of free press; the U.S. celebrates free press. Putin is an enemy of political dissent; the U.S. celebrates political dissent and the right for people to argue free from violence about places where ideas are in conflict. There is no moral equivalency between the United States of America, the greatest freedom-loving nation in the history of the world, and the murderous thugs that are in Putin's defense of his cronyism. There's no moral equivalency there. He finished with a summary of Putin's offenses and a call for moral leadership from President Trump. Sasse shares ground here with Senator Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) and others who have chided the president for his ill-conceived comparisons between the American constitutional order and Putin's Russia.

No, that's not an Onion headline. To celebrate the Russian President's birthday, members of a Pro-Putin Facebook group set up an exhibit in Moscow's "Red October" showspace entitled " The 12 Labors of Putin ", directly comparing the President to the ancient Greek demigod. The works and their metaphorical associations are laughably earnest. Putin's "12 labors" are: Nemean Lion - Putin's triumphs over terrorism Lernaean Hydra - Putin's triumph over U.S. sanctions and battles with Japan, the E.U., and Canada Ceryneian Hind - Putin claiming the Olympics in Sochi Erymanthian Boar - Putin's liquidation of oligarchs Augean Stables - Putin's fight against corruption Stymphalian Birds - Putin stopping air strikes on Syria Cretan Bull - Putin's annexation of Crimea Mares of Diomedes - Putin's contract for French Mistral warships Belt of Hippolyta - Putin's south stream gas pipeline plan Cattle of Geryon - Putin's gas contract with China Apples of Hesperides - Putin's support of cease-fire agreement in Ukraine Capture of Cerberus - Putin's future defeat of the U.S. The tribute is so inappropriate on so many levels, not the least of which being that thanks to his multitude of shirtless photos it's evident that Putin lacks the pectoral girth to be compared to the strongest man of Greek legend. More to the point, the Labors of Hercules were an act of penance after Herc went temporarily mad and murdered his wife and six children; Putin is more accustomed to being on the receiving end of apologies. Plus, there's that whole thing where Herc's nephew Iolaus was his gay lover , though one imagines that inconvenient detail gets swept under the rug like Tchaikovsky .

Moscow The Russian defense industry aims to mount powerful lasers on its new sixth-generation fighter that will be able to "burn" enemy homing systems. Moscow Russia had warned that it would retaliate to US sanctions announcing that it would reduce the number of US diplomatic service staff in the country, which currently includes more than 1 200 personnel. The United States Air Force has officially advertised for samples of ribonucleic acid (RNA) and synovial fluid from white Russians, according to a government website. The reason has yet to be specified, but the interest in Russian DNA is noteworthy. London New statistics in Britain showed that in the year to March 2017, police arrested 304 people for terrorism-related offenses, a 20 percent increase compared to the previous 12 months. Together with those held since March, the total arrests in 2017 may exceed the previous record of 315, set in 2015. London Ukraine's position that any debt taken on by the previous Ukrainian President was not repayable to the Russian Federation, has met with tough opposition.

U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed Washington, D.C., meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin has been delayed until 2019. National security adviser John Bolton, in a statement Wednesday, cited special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election as the reason. "The president believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over," Bolton said, "so we've agreed that it will be after the first of the year." Trump proposed the invitation last week amid backlash over his comments at meetings with Putin in Helsinki. On Tuesday, congressional Republican leaders said that the Russian president is not welcome on Capitol Hill. House Speaker Paul Ryan said Putin would not address Congress because "that is something we reserve for allies." Russian foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov had already tossed cold water on the idea, telling journalists in Moscow that there were "other options that our leaders could consider." Read more from The Sift Share this article with friends.

A day after President Donald Trump announced that he was pulling the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement, Russian President Vladimir Putin snarked about Trump's actions while also speaking about climate change in general. At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum , moderator Megyn Kelly asked Putin how he saw Trump's withdrawal from the international climate accord. After slightly mocking Kelly for not reading the agreement, Putin went on to praise the climate deal. "Generally speaking, the Paris treaty is a very good document which is aimed at resolving one of the global problems of the current times," Putin said. "In order to deter the climatic changes -- now the issue is whether we are in a position to allow the climate to change." The Russian leader followed that up by going full troll by joking that Russia was experiencing some cold weather so perhaps they should be thankful to Trump and America for helping to stop global warming. "We don't feel here that the temperature is going hotter," he stated. "And I should say that we should be grateful to President Trump because today in Moscow, I hear they're saying it snowed and it's raining here, very cold, so now we can blame him for that and the American imperialism." Kelly will kick off her new NBC Sunday night news program with a Putin interview on June 4th. Watch the clip above, via MSNBC. [image via screengrab]

While much of the country was watching Hillary Clinton testify before the Select Committee on Benghazi, leaders of the #BlackLivesMatter movement were keeping an eye on President Obama as he hosted a meeting on criminal justice reform with representatives of the Marshall Project, "a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom covering America's criminal justice system." -- The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 22, 2015 The president managed to have it both ways today, both declaring that all lives matter (three little words that forced presidential candidate Martin O'Malley to apologize for his "mistake" in uttering them) and insisting that the #BlackLivesMatters movement has to be taken seriously, particularly given America's past. "Everybody understands that all lives matter," says Pres Obama, discussing the Black Lives Matter movement. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/0GESSFO8La -- Mark Knoller (@markknoller) October 22, 2015 Pres Obama also said Black Lives Matter points to a specific policing problem "and that is a legitimate issue we've got to address." (2/2) -- Mark Knoller (@markknoller) October 22, 2015 How about a nationwide beer summit to politely ask law enforcement to stop "acting stupidly"? . @POTUS is now talking about the movement and pushed back against "All Lives Matter" & highlighted racial inequity re: crime enforcement. -- deray mckesson (@deray) October 22, 2015 "We as a society, particularly given our history, have to take this seriously." -- @POTUS on #BlackLivesMatter https://t.co/yC1T1q9GYm -- The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 22, 2015 If the president did provide one service, it was distinguishing between #BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter. Here's a rough transcript of most of what President Obama said about the Black Lives Matter movement today pic.twitter.com/juI02rUUTn -- Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) October 22, 2015 At start of forum on criminal justice reform, Pres Obama urges it be made "smart, effective, just and fair." pic.twitter.com/AaZOgjZwyo -- Mark Knoller (@markknoller) October 22, 2015 He'll be out of office relatively soon, so maybe there's a realistic chance of that happening under different leadership. Pres Obama also urges that prison sentences be proportional and that lawmakers and judges realize that "incarceration is just one tool." -- Mark Knoller (@markknoller) October 22, 2015 @markknoller Incarceration is not a tool. It is law that holds criminal behavior accountable & to protect the public. #incarceration #law -- Carol Parker (@caparker_art) October 22, 2015 The president should be well aware that judges realize "incarceration is just one tool." For example, there's New York's feel-good diversion program , which allowed life-long criminal Tyrone Howard to walk the streets freely and fatally shoot Officer Randolf Holder in the face. Pres Obama calls for police to be trained so they don't immediately suspect wrongdoing "just because some kid's wearing a hoodie." -- Mark Knoller (@markknoller) October 22, 2015 That sounds awfully like a reference to George Zimmerman, who wasn't a police officer. However, "Campaign Zero," which has been successfully shopped around a receptive Washington by #BlackLivesMatter's DeRay Mckesson and associates, would "require current and prospective police officers to undergo mandatory implicit racial bias testing" and tie the results to hiring, deployment, and performance evaluations. https://twitter.com/JonMcPhalen/status/657275689364619264 @markknoller That is 1 of the dumbest things that i have ever heard of. Obama should go thru Police training and ride with a police officer. -- *tsudeg (@iMaGiNeprints) October 22, 2015 @markknoller How about if that kid wearing the hoodie matches the description of the perpetrator? What a moron. -- LD (@LynnDavisWV) October 22, 2015 @markknoller He intentionally is not standing up publicly for officers. He's a disgrace. -- Sandra Andresen (@fmfa94) October 22, 2015 We'd like to say that it's safe to relax now, as the president will never actually do anything about what he mentioned in today's forum. However, it wasn't long ago that he toured the El Reno Federal Correctional Institution in Oklahoma and granted clemency to dozens of nonviolent inmates . What better way to solve the problem of mass incarceration than to set prisoners free? LA police chief Beck on changing the "dosage" of our prison sentences https://t.co/yCuToZgeeY #criminaljusticereform https://t.co/8nE9l1fu81 -- Yahoo Politics (@YahooPolitics) October 22, 2015 The moderator of the current convo w/ @POTUS just asked the perfect question: Why should we trust the police to end mass incarceration? -- deray mckesson (@deray) October 22, 2015 . @POTUS is essentially saying that the community is responsible for ending mass incarceration, along with the police. -- deray mckesson (@deray) October 22, 2015 It seems our corrupt, racist society is left to clean up the mess it created. . @POTUS says criminal justice is a reflection of us as a society. "All of us" have to own biases for #CriminalJusticeReform to work. -- The Marshall Project (@MarshallProj) October 22, 2015 President Obama then handed the reins to Valerie Jarrett, who answered questions online. Hope all tuned in for @POTUS 's discussion with law enforcement officials on #CriminalJusticeReform . Let's chat! pic.twitter.com/zSDu1SktJh -- Valerie Jarrett (@vj44) October 22, 2015 Apparently someone had tried to impose a time limit on today's forum, which addressed a subject close to the president's heart. "This is my house." - @POTUS , on having his speaking time cut short at @MarshallProj 's #CriminalJusticeReform panel. pic.twitter.com/1pY7YCtVt2 -- AJ+ (@ajplus) October 22, 2015

Hillary Clinton decided to tackle a subject that sometimes gets swept under the rug. Unlike racism, sexism is more ingrained in society throughout race, culture, religion, etc. And that is why eradicating it may be longer than solving most of our problems with prejudice. Hillary Clinton on sexism and misogyny Hillary Clinton in an interview with Joy-Ann Reid perfectly deconstructed the sexism and misogyny women face and their complicity as well. It is clear that she is frustrated that many women vote for a man who openly demeaned them and they disregarded it mostly because of psychology that many times afflict the oppressed. Liked it? Take a second to support EgbertoWillies.com on Patreon!

Clinton takes political pandering to new levels of opportunism. It would appear Hillary is intent on having the insufferable "BLM movement", and associated activists, become part of her campaign ( Via Buzzfeed ) Hillary Clinton has begun to court leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement -- starting at the movement's biggest gathering ever. Over the weekend, Clinton's black outreach director, LaDavia Drane, attended the Movement for Black Lives convention in Cleveland. That visit marked the campaign's first outreach to the movement, which has seen even wider press coverage in the past week after activists disrupted a presidential forum at Netroots Nation. That protest has been fresh in the minds of presidential campaigns and many of the at least 1,300 attendees -- according to organizers -- at the weekend's convention. A Clinton campaign official on Saturday confirmed to BuzzFeed News that Drane "had one-on-one meetings and group listening sessions to engage stakeholders including ministers, community organizers, elected officials, and other individuals in Cleveland for the Movement for Black Lives." An Ohio native, Drane engaged people inside the movement and listened to a range of suggestions related to Clinton's outreach, as well as policy recommendations, the official said. "We will continue to engage a wide array of stakeholders, including members of the black lives matter movement, when crafting policy on important issues like reforming our criminal justice system," the official said. ( read more )

The man believed to have randomly attacked several people with a hammer before being shot by an NYPD officer was arraigned via video conference on Wednesday. The New York Times reports that David Baril, who is recovering from bullet wounds to his arm and torso at Bellevue Hospital, was charged with "four counts of attempted assault, five counts of assault and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon." (Despite getting hit with the "claw" side of Baril's hammer, none of his victims -- including the cop whose partner shot him -- were left with life-threatening injuries.) The judge also ordered Baril to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, the results of which will help determine whether he's fit to stand trial. Officials have said that the 30-year-old has a history of homelessness and arrests, as well as a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. He'll remain in police custody at least until his next court date, which is set for late June.

Alternate headline: Hillary Clinton reaches out to anti-white racist black group, media yawns. Hillary Clinton has begun to court leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement -- starting at the movement's biggest gathering ever. Over the weekend, Clinton's black outreach director, LaDavia Drane, attended the Movement for Black Lives convention in Cleveland. That visit marked the campaign's first outreach to the movement, which has seen even wider press coverage in the past week after activists disrupted a presidential forum at Netroots Nation. That protest has been fresh in the minds of presidential campaigns and many of the at least 1,300 attendees -- according to organizers -- at the weekend's convention. A Clinton campaign official on Saturday confirmed to BuzzFeed News that Drane "had one-on-one meetings and group listening sessions to engage stakeholders including ministers, community organizers, elected officials, and other individuals in Cleveland for the Movement for Black Lives." An Ohio native, Drane engaged people inside the movement and listened to a range of suggestions related to Clinton's outreach, as well as policy recommendations, the official said. "We will continue to engage a wide array of stakeholders, including members of the black lives matter movement, when crafting policy on important issues like reforming our criminal justice system," the official said.

As Twitchy reported , protesters last night occupied Baltimore City Hall until around 3:30 a.m., refusing to leave until meeting with the interim police commissioner to discuss their list of demands. The list was apparently adapted from "rules of engagement" presented to the police in Ferguson, Mo., proposing that police "wear only the attire minimally required for their safety. Specialized riot gear will be avoided except as a last resort." In addition, Campaign Zero, currently being shopped around a very receptive group of legislators and presidential candidates by DeRay Mckesson, specifically calls for the demilitarization of law enforcement, limiting police departments from obtaining or using military weaponry "to intimidate and repress communities." The Baltimore Police Department recently sent members of its special operations units to meet with children at Gwynns Fall Elementary School, but judging from the photos on Facebook, the children looked more excited than intimidated by law enforcement hardware as they took turns getting hands-on with safety vests, police dogs and horses, a helicopter and more. Special Operations Units visited Gwynns Fall Elementary School https://t.co/SBlBZm4zBx pic.twitter.com/eU4rlPxU2P -- Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) October 15, 2015 There was no word of any activities like children throwing water bottles at the police, which the city hall occupiers consider "minor law breaking", nor do we see any marijuana possession, which Campaign Zero wants decriminalized, claiming police use it to unfairly "police black bodies." However, the police did manage to capture a new featured image for their Facebook page in the process. Nice. More days like this one, please.

This Week in the Race for Attorney General By Kat Stoeffel * 10/22/10 7:37pm Dan Donovan's campaign sent out press releases saying they'd received an endorsement from leaders of the Hasidic community in Brooklyn. Oops. Not so, said those present at the meeting. "They were specifically told that this was not an endorsement," said Isaac Weinberger. "We will meet with the next candidate and then there will be a decision by the community." Donovan aide Menashe Shapiro took the blame for the miscommunication. Dan Donovan received the endorsement of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Superior Officers Benevolent Association. The Donovan campaign has been accusing Schneiderman of being soft-on-crime and too left-wing for the general electorate, and so they have been busily touting all of the support they have gotten from law enforcement. In an article in The Observer, Schneiderman laid out his plans to protect the real estate and non-profit sectors of New York's economy. He promised to add staff to the Real Estate Finance Bureau and offer reporting and compliance assistance to small nonprofits such as those that benefit children and senior citizens. Hiram Monserrate was indicted for corruption on Tuesday, and Donovan's campaign accused Schneiderman of being complicit. "State Senator Schneiderman had undeniable knowledge of Monserrate's paragon of criminality, and he turned a blind eye to preserve his own political ambitions," said Donovan's camp. Dan Donovan officially received the endorsement of another Jewish group, the Crown Heights Political Action Committee, pictured here with Mayor Bloomberg. "In these dire times, we need an Attorney General independent of special interests who is capable of fighting and protecting us from the corruption that clouds Albany. Dan Donovan is the man for that job," said Moshe Malamud, a founding member of the Crown Heights PAC. The Donovan campaign's Virginia Lam slammed Schneiderman for aligning with the United Federation of Teachers, whose president, Michael Mulgrew (pictured), is currently fighting to keep teachers' performance evaluations classified. Schneiderman spokesman James Freedlander shot back that Donovan has a weak history on corruption prosecution, pointing out that he has failed to set up a public corruption unit or even to try a single public corruption case as Staten Island DA. Eric Schneiderman received the endorsement of the Sierra Club, which followed his endorsement last week from anti-hydrofracking advocate Mark Ruffalo. Former Republican tate Senator and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Balboni sent out a fundraising letter for Schneiderman, lauding his voting record on anti-crime and anti-terrorism issues, as well as his plans to investigate New York groups who trade illegally with US-hostile countries. Balboni is a former Republican, and the Schneiderman camp hopes he can sell independent voters on their candidate. The NY Inspector General released a report stating that Aqueduct Entertainment Group bought its way into a video slot parlor in Queens through campaign donations strategically made to Democratic state senators. The scandal gave the Donovan campaign another opportunity to link Schneiderman to Albany corruption. "And all of these things, for being a self-reformer, have happened under his nose," Donovan said. Schneiderman said he will return $76,000 in campaign donations from Senators Malcolm Smith, John Sampson (pictured) and Eric Adams, who are implicated in the AEG controversy. Norman Seabrook. (Screengrab: NY1) Dan Donovan received the endorsement of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association's head Norman Seabrook, even though they historically support Democrats. This is Donovan's 18th endorsement from law enforcement agencies. [An earlier version misstated the number of endorsements.]

Incumbent New York Democratic Rep. Joseph Crowley, the fourth most powerful Democrat in the House, lost to his democratic socialist challenger Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the New York primary on Tuesday, according to the New York Times. Rep. Crowley lost with 42.4 percent of the vote to Ocasio-Cortez's 57.6 percent of the vote, according to a Tuesday New York Times report . Ocasio-Cortez, who is 28 years old, ran on a progressive platform of Medicare for all, a federal jobs guarantee, and abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to her campaign site . Cortez is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and she praised the DSA on her Twitter page, tweeting that she is "so honored to have their endorsement" in a June 4 tweet . Follow Julia Cohen on Facebook and Twitter . Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org. News 2018 elections , Democrats , New York , primary

John Wisniewski. Kevin B. Sanders for Observer Democratic gubernatorial front-runner Phil Murphy wants to raise New Jersey's minimum wage to $15 an hour, but his canvassers are working for $12.50, Assemblyman John Wisniewski said Tuesday, rolling out a new line of attack as the June 6 primary nears. Wisniewski, a rival candidate for the Democratic nomination, caught the $2.50 discrepancy in Murphy's campaign reports filed with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission and cut a new web ad accusing Murphy of hypocrisy. He called on Murphy to give his canvassers $45,000 in back pay and a salary hike. "Phil Murphy desperately wants to be seen as a progressive on issues, despite his personal actions indicating the exact opposite," Wisniewski said in a statement, adding that a $15 minimum wage "is a litmus test issue for progressives." A spokesman for the Murphy campaign declined to comment. At a primary debate earlier this month, Wisniewski pointed out that Murphy opposed fracking and natural gas pipelines while holding investments in companies doing both. With his campaign spending at nearly $20 million so far, facilitated in large part by $15 million in self-loans, Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs banker and U.S. ambassador to Germany, has drawn plenty of attacks from both Democrats and Republicans running to succeed Gov. Chris Christie in the November election. But Murphy's chances of winning the nomination seem secure, with two weeks left to go before primary voters cast their ballots, and with the organizational support of all 21 Democratic county committees having been pledged. Watch Wisniewski's ad here .

Facing Felony Charges, Rick Perry Joins Board of Energy Transfer Partners, Owner of Proposed Oil Pipeline Across Iowa Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador , who won the election to become Mexico's President on July 1, stated in a press conference that he will ban the horizontal drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") upon assuming the office on December 1. The announcement would be a devastating blow to the oil and gas industry, which had its eyes set on drilling in Mexico's northern frontier in an area known as the Burgos... read more

In northwestern Pakistan, a suicide bomber struck a convoy carrying a candidate in Pakistan's general election, killing him and his driver and wounding three other people. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed Ikramullah Gandapur, a member of the Pakistan Justice Movement, the party headed by former-cricket-star-turned-election-front-runner Imran Khan. The bombing came on the eve of Wednesday's general election and amid increasing violence aimed at derailing the vote. Earlier this month, a massive suicide bombing claimed by ISIS at an election campaign gathering in the southwestern province of Balochistan killed 151 people and injured another 200. Topics: Pakistan

Campaign spending by Super PACs in this election cycle topped $1 billion - nearly four times the amount spent by such groups in 2008. Looking back now, how much impact did that money have on the race? Former White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill... Andrea Mitchell Reports - 7:00 PM 11/05/2012 Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks about the key factor that should be driving voters to the polls - the economy. McCarthy stresses that a Romney-Ryan win will "drastically" change the economy from the Obama administration. David Walker, CEO of the... Morning Joe - 7:00 PM 11/05/2012 Buzzfeed's Ben Smith, MSNBC's Karen Finney, The New Yorker's Hendrik Hertzberg, and Executive Editor of MSNBC.com Richard Wolffe talk polls, predictions, and percentage chance of winning for both President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. NOW With Alex Wagner - 7:00 PM 11/05/2012 Morning Joe - 7:00 PM 11/05/2012

The legislation creating Labor Day was brought forward as the United States was firmly in the grip of leftist-agitated violence. Socialist labor movements in the country had been clamoring for the adoption of May 1, or "May Day," as an International Labor Day since the mid-1880s. The holiday had been celebrated at local and state levels sporadically throughout the country, but was finally adopted at the federal level by President Grover Cleveland as an election compromise with the labor movement in the aftermath of the nation's first bloody, national strike. The year 1893 was marked by a severe economic depression, then aptly called a "panic." Businesses and banks collapsed in record numbers. Unemployment skyrocketed. Those that still had their jobs found their wages slashed -- and that is where the trouble began in Pullman, Ill. George Pullman founded his namesake town in 1880, where he established the Pullman Car Company. Pullman was in the railroad business, his company manufacturing railroad cars. It was a profitable arrangement, formed at the height of America's vast railroad expansion. The town of Pullman was built for the workers, as the workers lived on company-owned land and residences and shopped in company-owned stores. When the Panic of 1893 hit, several workers were laid off from the Pullman Car Company, while the rest suffered an average of a one-fourth wage cut. Eventually, the downtrodden and livid workers organized a strike, and to their aid quickly came the American Railway Union (ARU) and its socialist leader, Eugene V. Debs. Debs helped orchestrate a national boycott of trains carrying Pullman cars. How do we stop the mainstream media from warping the national narrative? We push back together. With the truth. Get CRTV's free weapon against the worst the media has to offer delivered to your inbox daily: WTF MSM!? * indicates required The strike lasted three months, from May 11 to July 11, 1894. When replacement workers ("strikebreakers") were called in to cross the picket line, violence erupted. Riots, the pillaging of railway cars, and property destruction ensued. But it was the interruption of postal mail delivery that really brought the strike to the federal government's attention. President Cleveland declared the strike a federal crime -- insisting that the strikers were prohibiting the government from carrying out its constitutional responsibility for mail delivery. Soon after, 14,000 federal and state troops were called upon to break up the strike. By strike's end, as many as 30 people were killed. In Chicago, lawless strikers took advantage of the violence to " rob, burn, and plunder ," leading to an estimated $80 million in property damages. Debs and the leaders of the ARU were jailed, and the union dissolved. With the nation riling and the 1894 midterm elections approaching, Cleveland's administration sought a way to appease the labor movement. Thus came Labor Day. The legislation was expedited through Congress and signed by the president on June 28, 1894, in the midst of the Pullman strike. To avoid a direct connection with the socialist celebration in May, Labor Day was determined to fall on the first Monday in September, keeping with a tradition of New York City labor unions to celebrate the holiday in late summer. Political uncertainty and tension once again have a grip on America, with a seemingly endless amount of incidents caused by violent, agitating socialists . The Left has been up to this divisive and bullying trick for more than 100 years. And we officially commemorate it today. Chris Pandolfo is a staff writer and type-shouter for Conservative Review. He holds a B.A. in politics and economics from Hillsdale College. His interests are conservative political philosophy, the American founding, and progressive rock. Follow him on Twitter for doom-saying and great album recommendations @ChrisCPandolfo . Send tips and hate mail to [email protected]

Dave Grossman teaches police officers to think like "warriors." But is the rise of a militarized mindset turning black citizens into targets? An elite police squad was supposed to clean up the streets of 1970s Detroit. Instead, it terrorized African Americans, and turned the city into a battleground. Donald Trump's claims of a "rigged" election have renewed fears of unrest on Election Day. It's time for Republicans to stand up for our democracy. Mychal Denzel Smith's memoir reckons with racial injustice, and tells the story of his political education.

Submitted by jef costello on May 19 2007 13:01 Submitted by Lone Wolf on May 19 2007 05:54 Distorted by the bourgeois press, reduced to a mere 'race riot' by many on the left, the L.A. rebellion was the most serious urban uprising this century. This article seeks to grasp the... A brief history of the riot that occured at Wheatland in Northern California after a meeting of farm labourers of the radical union the IWW was broken up by police. Click here to register now. Logged in users: > Can comment on articles and discussions > Get 'recent posts' refreshed more regularly > Bookmark articles to your own reading list > Use the site private messaging system > Start forum discussions, submit articles, and more...

An attack on the entire Dallas police department that's left five cops dead, likely in retaliation for the police shootings of two black men, only serves to underscore where we are now as a country. We are a nightmare.... Police in America think they are under assault, and treat any criticism as an attack. The truth is most Americans would prefer to have a good relationship with the cops, but they expected to be treated with fundamental respect and decency.... A warning to all black men in Ohio - remember to drive with your eyes shut. Or even better, just stop being black and the police will leave you alone....

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Does the Federal Reserve govern the banking system--or vice versa? Mike Konczal Jun 06, 2016 Library of Congress Library of Congress FDR and President Herbert Hoover on their way to the Capitol for Roosevelt's inauguration on March 4, 1933. This article appears in the Spring 2016 issue. Subscribe here . America's Bank: The Epic Struggle to Create the Federal Reserve By Roger Lowenstein Penguin The Money Makers: How Roosevelt and Keynes Ended the Depression, Defeated Fascism, and Secured a Prosperous Peace By Eric Rauchway Basic Books Fed Power: How Finance Wins By Lawrence R. Jacobs and Desmond King Oxford University Press T he periods after the destructive financial crises of the past century have traditionally been periods of reform; as a response, more democratic control was brought over money. Yet no such fundamental change has occurred in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008. This lack of movement has led to confusion and reaction, and academics are now trying to tease out the history and politics of how change happened before, and how it might happen again. There were cries for changes... Read more about The Bankers' Bank

THERESA MAY has defended cuts to disability benefits after she was yelled at by an angry voter while campaigning. A middle-aged woman by the name of Cathy launched into the PM in a market in Abingdon this afternoon. Getty Images 4 Cathy, left, took on Theresa May during a campaign visit today Getty Images 4 Mrs May tried to defend herself - but Cathy wasn't having any of it She asked her: "Theresa, are you going to help people with learning disabilities? "I am being serious, I want you to do something for us." Mrs May started to reply, telling Cathy: "We have got a lot of plans for people for people with mental health..." But she was cut off by the local lady, who stormed: "And learning difficulties. Because... I haven't got a carer at the moment and I am angry. "I would like somebody to help me because I can't do everything that I want to do." 4 She met voters and market-sellers with local candidate Nicola Blackwood And she went on: "Talk about everybody, not just me, I am talking for everybody who has got mental health problems and everybody who has got learning difficulties. "I want them not to have their money taken away from them and being crippled. "The fat cats keep the money and us lot get nothing!" MOST READ IN POLITICS BOJO'S BACK Boris Johnson poses for selfie as he arrives back from hols amid burka row PUMP JUMP HUMP Cost of petrol 'will go up' if PS15bn Sainsbury's and Asda merger goes ahead WREATH OF SHAME Corbyn with wreath for Palestinian 'martyrs' near Munich terrorist's grave PM'S HALAL ROW No10 accused of trying to censor photo of PM visiting halal butcher A BIZ BREXIT Kick out EU migrants after 3 months if they can't find jobs, businesses say IDS RAPS FIRMS IDS blasts bosses not 'bothering' to find Brits for jobs given to EU workers PRITI DIRE WARNING Priti Patel says May's soft Brexit plan could cost Tories seats up North 'HAMAS HQ' Corbyn pranked by Jewish activists with sign on his fence of extremist links 'DIVISIVE' BURKA BLAST BoJo's burka rant risks 'vilifying Muslims,' equality watchdog warns HE SAID WHAT? What Boris Johnson said about burkas, and his other most controversial quotes Mrs May tried again to defend the cuts - and that the Government wanted to give money to those most in need - but Cathy was having none of it. She yelled: "Do you know what I want? I want my disability living allowance to come back, not have PIP and get nothing. "I can't live on PS100 a month. They took it all away from me." Mrs May was campaigning in the Oxfordshire town where mentally ill Trevor Joyce stabbed a man to death in a Poundland 18 months ago. INS News Group 4 Mentally ill Trevor Joyce stabbed a man to death in Abingdon Cathy, who witnessed the aftermath of the attack and knew Joyce, said he tried to get help. She added: "He's got life now and it's not his fault. He's sick." Nicola Sturgeon seized on Cathy's remarks about the disability allowance, and tweeted that the PM had come "face to face with the consequences of the brutal cuts in support". And Jeremy Corbyn said it was showing her the "reality of the suffering her government had caused." 'I want my Disability Living Allowance back'. PM comes face to face with the consequences of the brutal cuts in support for disabled people. https://t.co/rPBR6EkmZL -- Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) May 15, 2017 Today the Prime Minister promised to give the "greatest expansion of workers' rights by any Conservative" in a bid to woo Labour voters. The PM's keystone new manifesto offer is a major land grab onto traditional Labour territory. The new policies will include: Unpaid time off to carry out training without having to take holiday to do it. Two weeks paid leave for sufferers of child bereavement. A bevy of protections for the first time for self-employed people. A right for all employees to be told about key decisions over their company's future, putting them on a par with shareholders.

"I'm definitely hoping a Ryan or a Romney gets in at the convention--someone who can rally the base around the benefits of income inequality." March 29, 2016 (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard that when she first made her claim for benefits in 2011, Gillard was not fit to work due to "considerable ill health". But due to her unconventional household she decided to continue to claim the handouts for a different reason - lying to officials that her husband Mark Gillard, 52, was unemployed. The court was told Mr Gillard worked away from home for months at a time and helped "to a degree" with domestic bills. "Instead of seeking to change your personal situation, you defrauded the state and affected those genuinely entitled to benefits. "That means there is less money to go around for everyone else. In interview, you said you were greedy and you buried your head in the sand thinking you would get away with it."

The latest line of attack from the Romney campaign says that Barack Obama wants to abandon President Clinton's welfare reform policies . Now Bill Clinton himself is saying that the Romney's claim is false. " Governor Romney released an ad today alleging that the Obama administration had weakened the work requirements of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act," Bill Clinton said in a statement released Tuesday night. " That is not true." He went on, " The Romney ad is especially disappointing because, as governor of Massachusetts, he requested changes in the welfare reform laws that could have eliminated time limits altogether. We need a bipartisan consensus to continue to help people move from welfare to work even during these hard times, not more misleading campaign ads." You can read the full statement, via the Huffington Post, here .

A report by the Jo Cox Loneliness Commission has claimed that being alone is as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and greatly increases the chance of premature death. The commission has asked for the Government to fund ways to tackle the crisis. As we approach xmas, many older people are left alone with no one to talk to. Loneliness is a year round problem but in the festive season it can be particularly troubling for people without any social contact. Chief Nursing Officer for England Jane Cummings said: "Loneliness can have a devastating impact. "Evidence shows that social isolation increases the risk of premature death by around a third. "Our advice is for people to keep a friendly eye on relatives, friends and neighbours." In a speech to the Policy Exchange think tank today, commission chairwoman and Labour MP Rachel Reeves MP is expected to say: "In the last few decades loneliness has escalated from personal misfortune into a social epidemic. "The crisis of loneliness exposes the limits of our welfare state. "It is a deep challenge to our models of social reform - top down, target driven, payment by results, bureaucratic, Whitehall lever pulling - they won't work. "We need a new kind of welfare system that acts as a convenor, bringing people together to help them help themselves." Since you're here ... It may worry you that most of our press is owned by a handful of offshore billionaires. News is increasingly biased, corrupt, or agenda driven. More worrying is the staggering decline in independent, investigative journalism. It costs a lot to produce, so many publications facing an uncertain future can no longer afford to fund it. With nobody to hold the rich and powerful to account, or report on the issues that don't fit with their 'narrative', your help is needed. You can help support free, independent journalism for as little as 50p. Every penny we collect from donations supports vital investigative and independent journalism.

As those words sink in, do you, like me, celebrate their candour, wisdom and all too rare display of good, old-fashioned common sense? Of course, such plain-speaking is not tolerated in these days when umbrage can be taken in an instant and a "social media storm" can be confected with a few strokes of the keyboard, with many of those offended having never heard or seen whatever it was that kicked it off. To make it plain: I fully accept that unemployment can hit anyone, and criticising those people is grossly unfair. However, for the long-term unemployed who haven't seen work since God was a boy, it is utterly irresponsible to continue to have child after child and expect the taxpayers to pick up the bill. One caller to my radio breakfast show choked as he said that he and his wife would love another child but realise they cannot as they can't afford to. So, precisely why should they be having to pay, through their taxes, for the unemployed to carry on breeding? A Number 10 "source" has let it be known that Mrs May thought it "right" that Bradley cravenly apologised. There was only one thing "right" about this; that someone in a position of considerable influence was brave enough to spell out the truth but was so effectively silenced.

Carnatic music group Laxmi Menon and Anujan Poologaindran.| Photo courtesy of Vancouver Tagore Society. The Vancouver Tagore Society is hosting its 3rd annual spring festival at Surrey City Hall on Saturday May 20 to pay tribute to Bengali Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. The festival includes dance, music and poetry and will feature many different multicultural performances. Some of the performaces include Carnatic vocal music by Lakshmi Menon with Sayenden, Anujan and Sukumaran, a sitar recital by Mohamed Assani, and a special presentation on Bengali poet Kazi Nazrul Islam featuring Arno Kamolika. Tagore (1861-1941) was a polymath renaissance thinker who revitalized Bengali literature and music. From an early age, he championed humanism and social justice for which he was revered in his lifetime and celebrated around the world. As a testimony to his enduring legacy, his compositions remain the national anthems of India, Bangladesh. "The festival celebrates diversity through the works inspired by the vision of Rabindranath Tagore who was the first non-European Nobel-laureate. He was a myriad-minded man, a poet, musician and philosopher whose ideas remain equally relevant today. Tagore was a person who was very important for these concepts of diversity and intercultural harmony," artistic coordinator Arno Kamolika explains. Nature and culture Bharatanatyam dancer with artists Arno Kamolika, Sabuj Mazumdar, Shankhanaad Mallick, Avik Dey and Tapas Bissau.| Photo courtesy of Venkatesh Narayan. One of Tagore's key concepts explores our relationship with nature beyond physical aspects to include emotional and spiritual connections. Seasonal change is a good example: "We are celebrating spring by hosting this multicultural event. Tagore is the most famous cultural icon of South Asia. For over a century his poems and songs have been inspiring us to discover the amazing connection between nature and our innermost feelings," says media coordinator Sazid Hasan. Another core concept of Tagore is the confluence of cultures, which emphasizes the collaborative aspects of the human condition. "Tagore denounced petty nationalism and instead promoted internationalism. He vigorously advocated for a confluence of cultures and believed that the coming together of different cultures could result in an exchange of the best they had to offer," says founding secretary Duke Ashrafuzzaman. Tagore's lyrical compositions are rooted in Bengali folk traditions and therefore lend themselves easily to reinterpretations through dance. Thus the celebration will include different South Asian dance styles such as Bharatanatyam, dances based on Kathak, and Bengali folk dances. "The dances are inspired by Tagore's songs and explore the meaning of his work as found in the relationship between humanity and nature, for example," says Kamolika. One hundred years later, the words still ring true. Tagore's messages often have the simplicity of genius as they resonate with unexpected relevance a century later. "Civilization must be judged and prized, not by the amount of power it has developed, but by how much it has evolved and given expression to, by its laws and institutions, the love of humanity," (from Sadhana: The Realization of Life , Tagore 1916). An enduring message Our interrelation with nature at the confluence of cultures is a notion worth exploring at any time and place and a great reason to celebrate spring. "That's Tagore's gift. He not only describes nature but also emotions as they are influenced by the seasons. He shows how this shapes the feelings of all human beings as he explores an important universal theme," says Ashrafuzzaman. For more information, please www.vancouvertagoresociety.org

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Running a Shopify store is a great way to net some extra cash on the side or--if you really know what you're doing--replace your 9-to-5 altogether. However, success doesn't come naturally, and newcomers tend to receive mixed results when starting on their own. This E-Commerce Bootcamp can help start your Shopify venture off on the right [...] You might be used to rolling your own smokes, but let's face it: it's not the cleanest or most eco-friendly way to enjoy your habit. Instead of fussing with papers, the Twisty Glass Blunt makes having a smoke as easy as packing your herb, twisting, and lighting up. You can get your own in the [...] Every brand has a story, and animation is one of the best ways to tell it. That's why companies aren't afraid to pay a premium for professional animators to bring their brands to life and connect with their audiences. However, for those of us lacking the funds for a full animation team or the know-how [...]

"The recent terrorist attacks in London is source or regret and sorrow," Larijani said in his message to Speaker of the British House of Commons John Bercow on Wednesday, condemning the attacks and extending his condolences. "I believe the double-standard policies in fighting terrorism would result in spread of the heinous phenomenon that is a serious threat for the security and tranquility of the international community; I hope that we will witness a safe and calm world for all nations through cooperation and contribution of the international community," reads his statement. At least seven people were killed and about 50 others were wounded in London's terrorist attacks on Saturday.

Carnatic music group Laxmi Menon and Anujan Poologaindran.| Photo courtesy of Vancouver Tagore Society. The Vancouver Tagore Society is hosting its 3rd annual spring festival at Surrey City Hall on Saturday May 20 to pay tribute to Bengali Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. The festival includes dance, music and poetry and will feature many different multicultural performances. Some of the performaces include Carnatic vocal music by Lakshmi Menon with Sayenden, Anujan and Sukumaran, a sitar recital by Mohamed Assani, and a special presentation on Bengali poet Kazi Nazrul Islam featuring Arno Kamolika. Tagore (1861-1941) was a polymath renaissance thinker who revitalized Bengali literature and music. From an early age, he championed humanism and social justice for which he was revered in his lifetime and celebrated around the world. As a testimony to his enduring legacy, his compositions remain the national anthems of India, Bangladesh. "The festival celebrates diversity through the works inspired by the vision of Rabindranath Tagore who was the first non-European Nobel-laureate. He was a myriad-minded man, a poet, musician and philosopher whose ideas remain equally relevant today. Tagore was a person who was very important for these concepts of diversity and intercultural harmony," artistic coordinator Arno Kamolika explains. Nature and culture Bharatanatyam dancer with artists Arno Kamolika, Sabuj Mazumdar, Shankhanaad Mallick, Avik Dey and Tapas Bissau.| Photo courtesy of Venkatesh Narayan. One of Tagore's key concepts explores our relationship with nature beyond physical aspects to include emotional and spiritual connections. Seasonal change is a good example: "We are celebrating spring by hosting this multicultural event. Tagore is the most famous cultural icon of South Asia. For over a century his poems and songs have been inspiring us to discover the amazing connection between nature and our innermost feelings," says media coordinator Sazid Hasan. Another core concept of Tagore is the confluence of cultures, which emphasizes the collaborative aspects of the human condition. "Tagore denounced petty nationalism and instead promoted internationalism. He vigorously advocated for a confluence of cultures and believed that the coming together of different cultures could result in an exchange of the best they had to offer," says founding secretary Duke Ashrafuzzaman. Tagore's lyrical compositions are rooted in Bengali folk traditions and therefore lend themselves easily to reinterpretations through dance. Thus the celebration will include different South Asian dance styles such as Bharatanatyam, dances based on Kathak, and Bengali folk dances. "The dances are inspired by Tagore's songs and explore the meaning of his work as found in the relationship between humanity and nature, for example," says Kamolika. One hundred years later, the words still ring true. Tagore's messages often have the simplicity of genius as they resonate with unexpected relevance a century later. "Civilization must be judged and prized, not by the amount of power it has developed, but by how much it has evolved and given expression to, by its laws and institutions, the love of humanity," (from Sadhana: The Realization of Life , Tagore 1916). An enduring message Our interrelation with nature at the confluence of cultures is a notion worth exploring at any time and place and a great reason to celebrate spring. "That's Tagore's gift. He not only describes nature but also emotions as they are influenced by the seasons. He shows how this shapes the feelings of all human beings as he explores an important universal theme," says Ashrafuzzaman. For more information, please www.vancouvertagoresociety.org

Be part of bringing the most serious answers to the most urgent questions to tens and hundreds of thousands, and ultimately millions. This talk from Bob Avakian (BA) provides a scientific understanding of the roots of this fascist regime--in the history of the U.S. and the deeper roots in the system of capitalism-imperialism. He does so with passion, humor, humanity, and a deep sense of history. He cuts into the deepest, most agonizing questions, first in the speech and then in a wide-ranging Questions and Answers. If more people watched this talk, it could change today's political equation. But far too few have seen this talk, or even know about it. You are needed to be part of changing this. Donate towards promotion of this film: Scroll down for the film trailer, videos of the Q&A session following the speech, and clips from the film

Albert Einstein - It is difficult to say what truth is, but sometime-- ( Image by QuotesEverlasting ) Permission Details DMCA - Advertisement - br /> Albert Einstein - It is difficult to say what truth is, but sometime-- by QuotesEverlasting "The truth is not the stuff of edifying hymns, rather it is dangerous, dirty and smelly business. Not everyone has the stomach for it, above all those who say, "Lord, Lord" and then head for cover the minute the Lord shows up dressed in rags and smelling like a street person." John Caputo . Or He show up as those millions of uninsured who will not be covered because certain Governors won't take the federal funding for Medicaid that's available to them. Or the innocent human beings whose lives are lost in drone attacks. Or how about the hundreds of thousands lost in two unnecessary wars: The same wars whose presidential briefings were headlined with Biblical quotes. No, the truth is a messy business that we don't let soil our Sunday-go-to-church clothes. Yes, churches, as organizations, do their part. They take up special collections for the unfortunate. They do major charity work throughout the world. I'm not criticizing them. - Advertisement - I'm pointing to a form of hypocrisy like that found in the American politico-religiosity, such as prayer breakfasts when supposedly sincere politicians come together to pray and then go vote against the help needed by so many of our fellow Americans. Let's get past labels, because labels hide the truth. The real truth so many of us are willing to ignore so we can fit in with the majority views of our social groups. Because fitting in is more comfortable. Although Finley Peter Dunne was referring to Newspapers when he coined the phrase "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable", I think it's the proper role of religion. But as Caputo so aptly points out, the truth can be very uncomfortable and the last thing post modern Americans want is discomfort. In fact, the reverse is true, post modern religion, comforts the comfortable. - Advertisement - We can go to church and feel good about ourselves because we are there. We hear how we are made in God's image. An image based on our ideals. An image of successful people who look and dress like us. We must be the chosen because we're there in church. So we've modified our religious beliefs to be easier to apply, more civil. Excuse the word, but genteel comes to mind. And the truth is anything but genteel. Please understand. I'm as guilty as the next guy. I saw it in myself one day a few months ago when a particular couple came to my church. They were poorly dressed, obviously didn't practice good personal hygiene, and I wondered why they were there. Then it came to me. The Biblical quote from Matthew , "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." And there I was trying desperately to be comfortable in the presence of the uncomfortable truth. The majority of people in the world look and smell like this couple because they have no access to sanitation, education, healthcare, nutrition, clean water. All the resources we take for granted here in the U.S. All the resources that allow us to justify our sanitized religious beliefs. - Advertisement - So we practice the idolatry of worshiping sanitized religious beliefs that ignore the truth of the conditions, in which most of humanity lives. From Caputo again, "The next time we look up to heaven and piously pray, "Come, Lord Jesus" we may find that he is already here, trying to get warm over an urban steam grate or cross our borders." Our ability to separate religious truths from our politics, all the while using religion as a political litmus test is breathtaking. In this regard, we are truly exceptional.

Today, with the exceptions of the Archbishop of Canterbury and Chief Rabbi, it seems that anyone asked about their faith on radio or TV replies with something like: "I wouldn't say I'm religious but I am a spiritual person." It's a line particularly favoured by celebs. What that means is: "While I'm not the sort of boring old square who troops off to church every week and certainly don't fancy any of the Bible's more proscriptive bits, I want you to realise what a terrifically sensitive person I am."

The Christian Science Society of Dixon, Illinois, could not have gotten more literal if they tried -- which they supposedly didn't when they constructed a church that looks from a certain angle like a giant phallus, complete with balls and bushy pubes. Up front, the "gathering place" looks like any old non-penile structure, but from God's eye view things get a whole lot less pious. The congregation, which may want to rethink its slogan "rising up," has yet to respond to the controversy surrounding their phallic facade, but they'll be forced to answer for it soon enough.

Jim Morrison (not that Jim Morrison , mary. This oneaEUR(tm)s still alive and kicking), a priest at the St. Thomas Aquanis Catholic Church in Thibodaux, Louisiana has come out publicly to the diocese and his congregation. His coming out comes on the heels of the VaticanaEUR(tm)s statement that priests with homosexual tendencies (um, are there priests without them?) should leave the priesthood. Saturday evening, the pews at St. Thomas Aquinas were full. As pastor, Morrison told the congregation, "I ask you constantly to trust me. I ask you come to me with your life, all the blessings, all the struggles." "But it's not a one-way street," he said. Shock of all shocks, Morrison will keep his job, mostly ministering to students, because the Catholic Church has a problem only with homosexual acts, and Morrison is celibate. DonaEUR(tm)t get us started on what we think of the VaticanaEUR(tm)s latest anti-gay directive, but weaEUR(tm)re glad MorrisonaEUR(tm)s keeping his job. ItaEUR(tm)s nice to know that a man of the cloth is being judged by true Christian values aEUR" honesty and courage aEUR" and not by some church leaderaEUR(tm)s ignorance.

Jesus freak, a pejorative term for those involved in the Jesus movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, was quickly embraced by some and soon broadened to describe a Christian subculture throughout the hippie and back-to-the-land movements that focused on universal love and pacifism, and relished the radical nature of Jesus' message. Jesus freaks often carried and distributed copies of the "Good News for Modern Man," a 1966 translation of the Bible that fit the bill by including only the New Testament in its initial editions, and by being in modern English. Conservative or Evangelical Christians of today would have had nothing to do with the original Jesus Freaks of the 1970s. Even back then most of them were thought of as hippies by the established churches.

You are not signed in as a Premium user; we rely on Premium users to support our news reporting. Sign in or Sign up today! Not only is the Luciferian media deliberately misleading the public regarding President Donald Trump's calling of MS-13 gang members "animals" but also Catholic priests are doing so as well. The lame-stream media is falsely reporting that President Trump is calling all illegal immigrants animals. Priests, meanwhile, like Fr. James Martin are expressing fake moral outrage over the comment saying that "calling people animals is sinful." Our Lord, however, did it many times. In Matthew 7:15 Christ warns His followers over duplicitous moral guides saying, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." This warning is one that Fr. Martin might want to consider more closely as it comes from God Himself. WATCH FULL EPISODE In another instance, Christ refers to His disciples as sheep, who must be careful about moral predators. In Matthew 10:16 Our Lord warns them, "Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye, therefore, wise as serpents and simple as doves." In these and many other instances, Christ uses various animals in a metaphorical sense to portray good and bad behaviors in people. In so doing He never demeans people or refers to their race but only highlights their actions, by use of such metaphors. If such comparisons are as old as the Bible itself, why can't liberal media and left-leaning clergy understand when it's appropriate to use them? Watch the panel discuss fake liberal outrage in The Download--Media Distortion.

A resident scholar in economic policy for a think tank "dedicated to defending human dignity, expanding human potential, and building a freer and safer world" weighs in on the timely topic of today's unions. According to the liberal Economic Policy Institute, over 16 million working women and men in the United States are represented by unions. "Overall, more than one in nine U.S. workers are represented by unions," says an EPI press release . "This representation makes organized labor one of the largest institutions in America." EPI adds unions represent a diverse set of workers from a variety of sectors, the biggest of which are education and health services. Still, Aparna Mathur of the center-right American Enterprise Institute (AEI) does not think unions are relevant today. "There was a time when there was a huge demand for unions because you could actually enforce, let's say, worker safety standards, bargaining for higher wages," Mathur poses. "You needed unions to be stronger, and you wanted people to be a part of a union because there were employers not guaranteeing workers basic safety issues and compensation." But she adds, "I think we are well past that." Mathur says the last few decades have seen a general decline in union membership and worker demand for unions. "That has a lot to do with the challenges that workers are facing today," she continues. "You know, it's very different, the kind of issues that workers are dealing with, the fact that people have been facing job losses because of automation, globalization. I think there is a limit to how much workers can shield workers from those kinds of situations," she comments. Even so, EPI and other think tanks maintain unions can and do get better wages and benefits for workers. EPI points out that "unions raise wages for both union and nonunion workers." "Unions pitch this argument that there are a lot of benefits going to non-union members as well, but I think increasingly people are not valuing being part of a collective unit," Mathur responds. "They want recognition for their individual expertise and so on." Pointing to the spread of Right to Work laws across the country, the AEO resident scholar believes the reason more than half the states have adopted these measures is because "they want to be business friendly," and this "allows them to create more jobs." Copyright OneNewsNow.com . Reprinted with permission. VN:D [1.9.6_1107] Rating: 10.0/ 10 (3 votes cast) Are unions still relevant? , 10.0 out of 10 based on 3 ratings

Exceeding economists predictions, the Department of Labor announced this morning that 244,000 jobs were added to the economy in April. That's a boost from the 221,000 that were added in March and a continued trend that can be attributed to private employers adding aggressively to payrolls. Federal, state, and local governments cut 24,000 jobs across the country last month as they struggled to balance shrinking budgets. According to the Times , a gain of something like 185,000 jobs was expected by economists. So, good news! Except the official rate of unemployment is now 9 percent, up from 8.8 percent last month . That sounds bad, but it's actually sort of heartening -- it means more people are officially looking for work. Still, yesterdays news about last week's spike in initial jobless claims does not bode well for next month's numbers. In part because of spiraling gas prices and the tsunami in Japan, certain key American industries are in the midst of another setback.

The RAISE Act is yet another attack on low-income communities of color, in this case immigrants and their families. The proposal would keep families apart and close the doors of opportunity to people who come to the United States to work their way up and provide a better future for their families. It ignores the contributions of hard-working immigrants, who represent a range of skills and income levels, and threatens the health and wellbeing [sic] of entire families . . . We urge Members of Congress and our allies to reject this harmful proposal. Instead, we must work together to push for immigration reform that upholds our American values of inclusivity and respect for people from all economic backgrounds.

President Trump hails his rising approval numbers hinting at a likely red wave in the upcoming midterms. President Trump speaks at a rally in support of congressional hopeful Troy Balderson in Lewis Center, Ohio. A North Korean official from Kim Jong Un's inner circle says that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is undermining the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. President Trump adds a new member to his cabinet, as Robert Wilkie is sworn in as secretary of Veterans Affairs. President Trump is congratulating White House Chief of Staff John Kelly on his one year anniversary in the position. President Trump declares American steel is back, during a visit to the Steel Coil Warehouse in Granite City, Illinois.

Liberty Talk FM broadcasts 24 hours per day, seven days per week and features continuous live content Monday through Friday and a mix of the best syndicated podcasts and shows during the weekend.Our current line up of hosts includes the best and brightest voices fervently advocating for Liberty, such as: Ernest Hancock, Alex Jones, Todd "Bubba" Horwitz, Edward Woodson, and Robin Koerner.While the primary focus is on news, politics, and government, Liberty Talk FM also regularly features discussions on the economy, privacy enhancing and emerging technology. [Read More]

It seems to me that the Ricochet community could use some good news right now. So here it is : The left tried to unionize McDonald's and force a higher minimum wage; McDonald's responded by minimizing the need for wages. I suspect fast food chains were headed in this direction anyway. If so, this was the extra incentive they needed to dive in. Thanks, unions! Of course, the picture's not entirely rosy. As someone pointed out on Facebook earlier, this could eliminate many thousands of entry-level jobs. Those jobs help teenagers begin a work history and help adults re-enter the work force, as well as provide assurance of job opportunities in economically depressed areas. But I have faith that when one economic door closes another opens. The opportunities aren't always available nearby. They aren't always well-paying or fulfilling jobs. But -- provided the nanny state will get the heck out of the way! -- there are always new jobs being created.

Kenneth Stern, a former CEO at National Public Radio, has a shocking new book out called Republican Like Me: How I Left the Liberal Bubble and Learned to Love the Right. After spending extensive time with conservatives, Stern realized that the national media are reporting from inside a liberal-dominated culture. He summarized his discoveries in the New York Post: Most reporters and editors are liberal -- a now-dated Pew Research Center poll found that liberals outnumber conservatives in the media by some 5 to 1, and that comports with my own anecdotal experience at National Public Radio. When you are liberal, and everyone else around you is as well, it is easy to fall into groupthink on what stories are important, what sources are legitimate and what the narrative of the day will be. It seems only former executives admit national newsrooms "anecdotally" are liberal bubbles, where most journalists don't tend to trip over a conservative viewpoint inside their supposedly objective environment. Stern worked at NPR from 1999 to 2007, but before that worked as deputy counsel for the 1996 Clinton-Gore reelection campaign and as chief counsel to the 1997 Clinton inaugural committee. Here's how Stern came to realize he hadn't learned enough about conservatives: Spurred by a fear that red and blue America were drifting irrevocably apart, I decided to venture out from my overwhelmingly Democratic neighborhood and engage Republicans where they live, work and pray. For an entire year, I embedded myself with the other side, standing in pit row at a NASCAR race, hanging out at Tea Party meetings and sitting in on Steve Bannon's radio show. I found an America far different from the one depicted in the press and imagined by presidents ("cling to guns or religion") and presidential candidates ("basket of deplorables") alike. Stern spent time with evangelicals and went to the Urbana conference (sponsored by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship) with thousands of college-age Christians. He discovered they weren't caricatures of bitter, selfish racists: " I certainly didn't expect the intense discussion of racial equity and refugee issues -- how to help them, not how to keep them out -- but that is what I got...it left me with a very different impression of a community that was previously known to me only through Jerry Falwell and the movie "Footloose." Then he met the hunters: None of my new hunting partners fit the lazy caricature of the angry NRA member. Rather, they saw guns as both a shared sport and as a necessary means to protect their families during uncertain times. In truth, the only one who was even modestly angry was me, and that only had to do with my terrible ineptness as a hunter.... Gun control and gun rights is one of our most divisive issues, and there are legitimate points on both sides. But media is obsessed with the gun-control side and gives only scant, mostly negative, recognition to the gun-rights sides. Take, for instance, the issue of legitimate defensive gun use (DGU), which is often dismissed by the media as myth. But DGUs happen all the time -- 200 times a day, according to the Department of Justice, or 5,000 times a day, according to an overly exuberant Florida State University study. But whichever study you choose to believe, DGUs happen frequently and give credence to my hunting friends who see their guns as the last line of defense for themselves and their families. Stern still found President Trump's attacks on the liberal media to be "terribly inappropriate coming from the head of government," but he concluded: At the same time, the media should acknowledge its own failings in reflecting only their part of America. You can't cover America from the Acela corridor, and the media need to get out and be part of the conversations that take place in churches and community centers and town halls. To be fair, reporters spent a lot of time trying to understand the mysterious species known as the Trump voter. But that doesn't mean they won't stop inundating those voters with their own biased journalism. [Hat tip on the image: Dude Perfect on YouTube]

Could our political media be any more narcissistic? Actually, don't answer that. Tuesday night, CNN's Jim Acosta (the guy who loves to make himself the story) was greeted by attendees at a Trump rally in Tampa, though certainly not in the way he probably hoped. Rally-goers flipped him the bird, yelled "CNN sucks!" c... Unfortunately, the paper long ago went full Trump Derangement Syndrome. The NY Daily News covers are notorious for belittling Trump in ways not normally seen in major newspapers. (See examples of recent covers below.) In case you needed a reminder that CNN is a garbage network... Recently, members of the American press were quickly trying to tie the horrendous shooting by Jarrod Ramos at Capital Gazette in Annapolis, MD, to President Trump's declaration that the press is the "enemy of the people". People throw around the term 'fake news' these days but it turns out a majority of the American people believe it's a real problem. Conservatives are no longer alone in their accusations of media bias.

Contributor | Pure Flix October 24, 2017 Ken Stern, former CEO of NPR, decided to bust out of the liberal media bubble over the past year to encounter an America he hadn't quite seen before, concluding that "most reporters and editors are liberal" and that the media have "failed us." Stern, who recorded his surprising experiences in a recent NY Post op-ed as well as a new book titled, " Republican Like Me: How I Left the Liberal Bubble and Learned to Love the Right ," explained how he came to experience evangelicals, Republicans and other mainstream Americans in a light the media doesn't typically portray. "Spurred by a fear that red and blue America were drifting irrevocably apart, I decided to venture out from my overwhelmingly Democratic neighborhood and engage Republicans where they live, work and pray," Stern wrote in a recent op-ed . "For an entire year, I embedded myself with the other side, standing in pit row at a NASCAR race, hanging out at Tea Party meetings and sitting in on Steve Bannon's radio show." As he went to evangelical churches and spent time in a culture that was unfamiliar to what he was used to, the media expert said that he came to realize just how deep the divide is between everyday Americans and the press. "I found an America far different from the one depicted in the press and imagined by presidents ('cling to guns or religion') and presidential candidates ('basket of deplorables') alike," Stern wrote. In the end, he expressed deep worries over the way in which President Donald Trump has chosen to attack the press and called such antics inappropriate considering Trump's role as leader of the free world. That being said, Stern was open about the deep problems he sees inherent in the media sphere. "It's not that media is suppressing stories intentionally," he wrote in the Post . "It's that these stories don't reflect their interests and beliefs." Stern appealed to his own experience at NPR, where he said that most reporters and editors tend to have left-of-center politics -- and explained what happens when one ideology dominates a newsroom. "When you are liberal, and everyone else around you is as well, it is easy to fall into groupthink on what stories are important, what sources are legitimate and what the narrative of the day will be," he said. The media's disconnection from mainstream Americans, thus, has created an opening for critique and its "loss of reputation," though Stern also blamed "effective demagoguery from the right and the left" and from Trump. But he said that anti-media sentiment wouldn't have been as effective "if our media institutions hadn't failed us as well." Read the stunning op-ed in its entirety here .

Even after he received an in-depth briefing from American intelligence agencies on Friday, which showed conclusively that Russia -- more specifically, Vladimir Putin -- was behind the... This week, the founder and CEO of MyPillow, Mike Lindell, lost accreditation from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) for false advertising. Lindell had campaigned for Donald Trump during... Former Secretary of Labor in the Clinton Administration Robert Reich is a hero to many liberals and progressives across the country. And his personal wish for what... Conservatives and liberals differ on more than just political issues. We differ in thinking patterns related to our views. Conservatives' thought patterns are based on fear and anxiety.... In February, we lost Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. President Obama picked Merrick Garland, a highly qualified federal judge, as a replacement, but the Republicans in Congress... Journalist Kevin Sessums was temporarily banned from Facebook for calling President-elect Donald Trump's supporters a "nasty fascistic lot." A Facebook spokesman said: "We're very sorry about this mistake. The post... Just a day after President Obama expelled 35 Russian "diplomats" (i.e. spies) for their role in the hacking of the Democratic National Committee, Russian President/mass murderer/terrorist Vladimir...

syringis (4,876 posts) A collection of cartoons about guns control, I didn't dare to post before... And some I have already posted. NRA Violence versus rational thought Easy access A collection of cartoons about guns control, I didn't dare to post before... (Original post) syringis Feb 2018 OP Thu Feb 15, 2018, 05:57 AM Thu Feb 15, 2018, 06:14 AM Thu Feb 15, 2018, 06:20 AM betsuni (7,446 posts) 3. I like the "easy access" one best. Thu Feb 15, 2018, 10:31 AM Thu Feb 15, 2018, 06:21 AM There's more to the 2nd amendment than the NRA worshippers ever quote. Thu Feb 15, 2018, 10:55 AM hi syringis I have 4 guns, 2 of which are not operable. The most useful is a 20 gauge, bolt-action shotgun. This is good for snakes and 'varmints' that try to get my ducks or their eggs. The other operable gun is a .22 single-shot, bolt-action rifle. This is handy for troublesome pests in the rare instance of them being too far away for the shotgun to dispatch. All of my neighbors are hunters and gun owners. They are responsible hunters and obey the laws and limits regarding game. There are legitimate reasons for gun ownership, but I can't think of any legitimate reason for non-military citizens to own military weaponry. Thu Feb 15, 2018, 11:13 AM syringis (4,876 posts) 14. But mass shooting aren't done win the kind of weapons you use for hunting I don't see why not to forbid guns (military or police style) and allow under certain conditions rifles to hunters. We have very restrictives laws about guns but hunters can have a riffle under conditions. Thu Feb 15, 2018, 06:25 AM Thu Feb 15, 2018, 06:44 AM Thanks for these syringis! Thu Feb 15, 2018, 10:41 AM 11. Hello Democratisphere Thu Feb 15, 2018, 06:56 AM Thu Feb 15, 2018, 10:41 AM Thu Feb 15, 2018, 07:39 AM Thu Feb 15, 2018, 03:38 PM

Expand | Collapse Ken Stern, the former CEO of National Public Radio, spent a year venturing "out from my overwhelmingly Democratic neighborhood" by meeting Republicans and attending evangelical church services, which led him to his discovery of "an America far different from the one depicted in the press." "This may seem like an unusual admission from someone who once ran NPR, but it is borne of recent experience," wrote Stern, now president of Palisades Media Ventures, in an article published in New York Post . "When you are liberal, and everyone else around you is as well, it is easy to fall into groupthink on what stories are important, what sources are legitimate and what the narrative of the day will be," he explained, noting that most reporters and editors are liberal. With red and blue America "drifting irrevocably apart," he decided to immerse himself in conservative culture. "I embedded myself with the other side" for an entire year, "standing in pit row at a NASCAR race, hanging out at Tea Party meetings and sitting in on Steve Bannon's radio show," he wrote. Stern spent many Sundays in evangelical churches and even "hung out with 15,000 evangelical youth at the Urbana conference," which is one of the largest student missions conferences in the world. Free sign up cp newsletter! "At Urbana, I met dozens of people who were dedicating their lives to the mission, spreading the good news of Jesus, of course, but doing so through a life of charity and compassion for others: staffing remote hospitals, building homes for the homeless ..." Stern also tried his hand at pig hunting with a family from Georgia. "None of my new hunting partners fit the lazy caricature of the angry NRA member. Rather, they saw guns as both a shared sport and as a necessary means to protect their families during uncertain times," he stated, and admitted that "media is obsessed with the gun-control side and gives only scant, mostly negative, recognition to the gun-rights sides." The author expressed concern over the fact that "more than 65 percent of voters think there is a lot of fake news in the mainstream media and that our major media institutions are seen as creating, not combatting, our growing partisan divide." "Some of this loss of reputation stems from effective demagoguery from the right and the left, as well as from our demagogue-in-chief, but the attacks wouldn't be so successful if our media institutions hadn't failed us as well," he said. Stern suggested that media can't cover America "from the Acela corridor," and should, therefore, "get out and be part of the conversations that take place in churches and community centers and town halls." He concluded that the current situation "in an odd way works for Trump, who gets to rile his base," and for the media, "which has grown an audience on the back of Washington dysfunction." But in the end, "they are both short-term winners," he warned. "It is the public that is the long-term loser."

Malala Yousafzai just became the youngest person in history to win the Nobel Peace Prize . She's only 17 years old, but as an educational activist and feminist icon, she's already accomplished more than most people can hope to in an entire lifetime. Accordingly, it is difficult to think of a more deserving individual for this prize. Yousafzai has displayed an indefatigable passion for peace, equality and education. Her tireless advocacy has inspired people around the world to stand up for human rights and egalitarian principles. The Little Girl Who Stood Up To Terrorists Malala is from the Swat Valley of Pakistan. In 2009, the Taliban was very active in this region, terrorizing residents and shutting down schools that educated girls. At that point in time, Yousafzai was 11 years old and wanted to become a doctor. Thus, she became an outspoken critic of the Taliban's efforts to prevent girls from receiving an education. She blogged about her experiences living under the Taliban for the BBC. As a result, the public took notice of this amazing Pakistani schoolgirl's story. This brave young woman defiantly stood up in the face of tyranny and oppression, and showed the world the true meaning of courage. Malala went on to fight for women's educational rights throughout Pakistan. Consequently, in 2012, the Taliban attacked a school bus that she was on. They singled her out because she was encouraging other girls to go to school. When the Taliban gunman boarded the bus, he asked, "Who is Malala?" She bravely and unashamedly replied, "I am Malala." Malala was shot in the face, but she survived and went on to become an international sensation and symbol of equality and perseverance. Hence, Yousafzai not only survived a terrorist attack, she has continued to stand up for the very causes that led the Taliban to target her. Yousafzai is fearless, and every single one of her accomplishments is a victory over terrorism. Correspondingly, in the words of Ban Ki-moon , the secretary general of the United Nations: With her courage and determination, Malala has shown what terrorists fear most: a girl with a book. Her contributions to the world have been immeasurable, but here are a few examples of her benevolent activities: 1. She started the Malala Fund, which supports educational rights for the world's children. The Malala Fund was founded by Ms. Yousafzai to empower girls through education. It gives young girls a voice, advocates for equality and invests in community-centered educational projects. At the moment, there are 66 million girls out of school around the world. Every three seconds, a girl will become a child bride, and 80 percent of human-trafficking victims are young females. Obviously, there is still much that needs to be done and the fight is far from over. Still, the Malala Fund is a palpable example of this remarkable young women's vigorous efforts to make our world even just a little bit better. 2. The United Nations declared July 12 "Malala Day." July 12 is Malala's birthday. Naturally, the United Nations declared it Malala Day, in honor of her life and message. Last year, she gave a speech to the UN on the first official Malala Day, when she poignantly stated : Malala Day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman, every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights. Let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education First. 3. More than 3 million people have signed the Malala Petition, which inspired the UN and Pakistan to commit to children's education. The Malala Petition calls on the United Nations to recommit to Millenium Development Goal 2 . This goal aims to provide children everywhere with the opportunity to complete a full course of primary schooling by 2015, regardless of gender. Malala was the first to sign the petition, and over 3 million people have joined her. This inspired Pakistan to pass a Right to Education bill. 4. The Taliban was so afraid of her, they tried to assasinate her. But she survived . They failed, she won. Knowledge is power. Terrorists and other oppressive forces want people to remain ignorant for this very reason. This is why the Nazis burned books, why the Soviets censored the media and why the Taliban tries to prevent females from going to school. Standing up to oppression takes tremendous courage, it can get you killed. Malala is proof of that. This is precisely why people like her are so important. They strike fear into the hearts of terrorists because they refuse to be afraid. Terrorism can be defined as using physical and psychological intimidation for political and social purposes. When someone like Malala stands up and says, "No, I will not be afraid. You will not control my destiny," it takes away all of their power. As Ms. Yousafzai once stated : On the night of 9 October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends, too. They thought the bullet would silence us, but they failed. Malala Yousafzai is an example for us all. She has taught us that we are the masters of our fates, and that an education is a fundamental human right worth dying for. Photo Credit: WENN

The word "inspiring" doesn't even begin to describe Pakistani education and human rights activist Malala Yousafzai. In 2009, Malala began writing a blog for BBC that chronicled her life under Taliban occupation, the group's attempts to take control of her native valley and her views on promoting education for girls in the Swat District. Malala was 11. In 2011, Malala received Pakistan's first National Peace Prize, and was nominated by the esteemed former Archbishop Desmond Tutu for the International Children's Peace Prize. During this time, the Taliban began to notice the young girl. After determining Malala to be a threat, the Taliban decided to kill her. Malala was 15. In October 2012, Malala boarded her school bus after school, just as she had done for years. A masked gunman entered her school bus, searching for Malala . She was then shot with a single bullet that went through her head and neck. Miraculously, she survived the attack. Malala was still only 15 years old. In 2014, Malala became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize . She then used her $1.1 million prize money to help create a secondary school for girls in Pakistan. Malala was 17. In honor of Malala's 19th birthday today, here are eight of her most profound quotes that celebrate the power of feminism, education and peace. Malala Yousafzai often speaks about the importance of feminism. "After hearing your [Emma Watson's] speech , when you said, 'If not now, when? If not me, who?' I decided there's no way, and there's nothing wrong with calling yourself a feminist. I am a feminist and you're truly feminist, because feminism is another word for equality." "I don't want to be remembered as the girl who was shot. I want to be remembered as the girl who stood up ." She always believes in the power of education. "Trust your daughters, they are faithful. Honor your daughters, they are honorable. And educate your daughters , they are amazing." "One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world." "I think they [the Taliban] made a big mistake, because I was fighting for the right for education right from the beginning when the Taliban stopped girls from going to school. But I had this little bit of fear that what would happen to me, how would I feel if someone attacks me. But after that incident, when I was attacked, that fear just went away. And as I said in my speech at the United Nations that my weakness, my fear, and my hopelessness died on that day. And I became stronger than before. And now I strongly believe that nothing can stop me in this mission and this campaign of education to say that girls deserve the right to go to school. And it's the love of people as well that has encouraged me and helped me." TheEllenShow on YouTube "I don't know why people have divided the whole world into two groups, west and east. Education is neither eastern nor western. Education is education and it's the right of every human being." She knows people can use their voices solve the world's problems peacefully. "I started thinking about that, and I used to think that the Talib would come, and he would just kill me, but then I said, if he comes 'What would you do Malala?' Then I would reply (to) myself 'Malala just take a shoe and hit him,' but then I said 'If you hit a Talib with your shoe then there would be no difference between you and the Talib... You must fight others but through peace and through dialog and through education.'" Comedy Central on YouTube "When the whole world is silent , even one voice becomes powerful." Since July 12th was declared Malala Day by the United Nations in 2013, Malala has spent every birthday campaigning for girls' education around the world. Take action by joining Malala and supporting this year's Malala Day theme, #YesAllGirls. Happy Birthday, Malala!

Wearing a pink shawl that once belonged to slain Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, education activist Malala Yousafzai celebrated her 16th birthday today by delivering a brilliant speech to the United Nations Youth Assembly. The UN has officially declared today Malala Day. "The terrorists thought that they would change our aims and stop our ambitions but nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born," said Malala in her speech. Her beaming father looked on as her mother wiped her tears. After surviving a Taliban assassination attempt on October 9, 2012 for relentlessly advocating for girls' education rights, the teenage hero made a miraculous recovery . Millions across the world sent letters and donations to Malala and her cause, specifically The Malala Fund, which was created in the wake of her hospitalization. Today marks The Malala Fund's first day as an independent, non-governmental organization. Malala made it clear in her speech that the path to equal education and rights for all children remains a top priority for her and other activists across the globe. "We must not forget that millions of children are out of schools. We must not forget that our sisters and brothers are waiting for a bright, peaceful future. So let us wage a global struggle against illiteracy, poverty, and terrorism, and let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education First." Her words were followed by a rousing round of applause. Free Download: A Feminist Guide to the Resistance Don't give up the fight! Featuring inspiring interviews with resistance leaders; how-tos on community organizing, running for office, and much, more. Plus, get the latest from BUST. Malala has become a beacon of hope, courage, and peace to millions around the world. Her strength and defiant voice drove many to tears, including me. After referencing activists like Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, and Mother Teresa, Malala appeared more than ready to stand beside the peaceful leaders before her. Before ending her speech, Malala raised her voice once more: "Dear brothers and sisters, we want schools and education for every child's bright future. We will continue our journey to our destination of peace and education for everyone. No one can stop us. We will speak for our rights and we will bring change through our voice. We must believe in the power and the strength of our words. Our words can change the world." These are the words of the world's next great leader. Sources: NBC News, New York Magazine Photo via USA Today

She said that the rise in Islamophobia seen since the Paris terror attacks and San Bernandino shooting in California would only make matters worse. The education activist added: "I can just highlight one thing. "The more you speak about Islam and against all Muslims, the more terrorists we create. "If your intention is to stop terrorism, do not try to blame the whole population of Muslims for it because it cannot stop terrorism." Malala's father Ziauddin Yousafzai joined in the attacks on Trump's extreme immigration plan. He said: "If Americans don't stand against their own Donald Trumps , their strategy will not work." She made her remarks ahead of the Poppies for Peace in Peshawar to remember a deadly school attack in Pakistan. The event marks the first anniversary of a deadly attack on the school by Pakistani Taliban which left 145 dead, including 132 young students. Malala herself narrowly avoided death in 2012 after being shot by the terror group for her courageous campaigning for a girls' rights to an education. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October last year and has since continued to campaign for worldwide access to education, even addressing the United Nations on the issue. She has since adopted Birmingham in the UK as her new hometown - and amid tight security today, Malala has previously said how she is "proud to be a Brummie". Ms Yousafzai also revealed that she was proud to call herself "a feminist". She said: "When I listened to Emma Watson's speech at the UN, that was a really inspiring speech. Because that confusion you have in your mind, whether you should call yourself a feminist or not. "Even though you are, you believe in equality, you believe in equal rights for both men and women, but you just can't say that single word, that you are a feminist. "And then I said I should not hesitate and I should say that I am a Muslim and a feminist." She added: "I think in terms of religion, there is not a very clear-cut answer to these issues. "For example, women's rights, in terms of politics, everything is interpreted in different ways by different people. "But to me Islam is about equality and calling myself feminist would have no position from the religion." Another young brave student, Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, joined Malala's call to fight ISIS ideology with education. He was left in a wheelchair after being shot in the back during the school attack The 14-year-old was there alongside Ahmad Nawaz, who survived the Peshawar attack by playing dead for two hours. He revealed how he had witnessed his own teacher being burned alive during the massacre.

The Nobel Committee announced this morning that Malala Yousafzai has been awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, for her activism promoting children's rights -- and children's rights to education specifically. Yousafzai shares the 2014 Peace Prize with Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi, whose lifelong focus is also child rights. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below In their press release confirming the awards, the Nobel Committee writes: Children must go to school and not be financially exploited. In the poor countries of the world, 60% of the present population is under 25 years of age. It is a pre-requisite for peaceful global development that the rights of children and young people be respected. In conflict-ridden areas in particular, the violation of children leads to the continuation of violence from generation to generation. At 17-years-old, Yousafzai is the youngest ever Nobel Prize winner; she is also one of only 15 women to be awarded the Peace Prize [via The Huffington Post . And the Committee notes that "despite her youth, [Malala] has already fought for several years for the right of girls to education, and has shown by example that children and young people, too, can contribute to improving their own situations." At first under a pseudonym, Yousafzai began writing for the BBC in 2009 as a blogger documenting the struggles she and her female classmates were enduring just because they wanted to attend school. She was later the subject of a New York Times documentary and spoke out openly about the Pakistani Taliban's mandate that girls stay out of school. In October 2012 -- two years yesterday, in fact -- Malala was shot in the head while riding a bus to school by a would-be Taliban assassin. She survived the shooting, however, and has continued her activism work since to even greater international acclaim. Last year, for example, she gave a speech to the United Nations, at the body's first ever "Youth Takeover;" at the time the U.N. secretary general Ban Ki-moon described her as "our hero." Said Yousafzai, in her speech: Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Dear fellows, today I am focusing on women's rights and girls' education because they are suffering the most. There was a time when women social activists asked men to stand up for their rights. But, this time, we will do it by ourselves. I am not telling men to step away from speaking for women's rights rather I am focusing on women to be independent to fight for themselves. Dear sisters and brothers, now it's time to speak up. So today, we call upon the world leaders to change their strategic policies in favour of peace and prosperity. We call upon the world leaders that all the peace deals must protect women and children's rights. A deal that goes against the dignity of women and their rights is unacceptable. We call upon all governments to ensure free compulsory education for every child all over the world. We call upon all governments to fight against terrorism and violence, to protect children from brutality and harm. We call upon the developed nations to support the expansion of educational opportunities for girls in the developing world. We call upon all communities to be tolerant - to reject prejudice based on cast, creed, sect, religion or gender. To ensure freedom and equality for women so that they can flourish. We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back. We call upon our sisters around the world to be brave - to embrace the strength within themselves and realise their full potential. Dear brothers and sisters, we want schools and education for every child's bright future. We will continue our journey to our destination of peace and education for everyone. No one can stop us. We will speak for our rights and we will bring change through our voice. We must believe in the power and the strength of our words. Our words can change the world. Read her U.N. speech in full here . She is also the recipient of Pakistan's National Youth Peace Prize (an award now named the National Malala Peace Prize in her honor), the International Children's Peace Prize, a Mother Teresa Memorial Award, and a Global Citizen Award from the Clinton Foundation. She featured in TIME magazine's 2013 list of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World." Follow Alex on Twitter .

Malala Yousafzai. Flickr Creative Commons Just in time for her 20th birthday next week, Malala Yousafzai is graduating high school. And she celebrated by finally using her long-dormant Twitter account. The Pakistani female education advocate (and youngest ever Nobel Prize winner ) rose to prominence in 2009 when she blogged about her life for the BBC--she would hand-write notes and then pass them on to a reporter who would scan and email them. The Taliban had banned girls' education, and Yousafzai was constantly at risk of being attacked for going to school. On October 9, 2012, a masked gunman entered Yousafzai's school bus and asked for her by name--she was shot with a single bullet which went through her head, neck and shoulder. She survived in critical condition, and was moved to a hospital in England, where she remained for three months. Yousfazai became a worldwide symbol of courage, and once she recovered she advocated for girls' education around the globe. She and her father co-founded the Malala Fund to empower young women and raise awareness of the social and economic impacts of education. She also opened the Malala Yousafzai All-Girls School in Lebanon near the Syrian border, which provides education to 200 girls living in refugee camps. While all of this was going on, Yousafzai was also continuing her own education. And today she celebrated a rite of passage for students around the world by finally graduating from high school. Like any good millennial, Yousafzai sent a bunch of celebratory tweets. What's notable is that these were also her first tweets. That's right--while @Malala first joined Twitter in November 2012, she never actually tweeted until today. And fittingly, her first thread was a promise to continue her mission: Hi, Twitter. -- Malala (@Malala) July 7, 2017 Today is my last day of school and my first day on @Twitter [THREAD] -- Malala (@Malala) July 7, 2017 Graduating from secondary school (high school) is bittersweet for me. I'm excited about my future, but... 2/ -- Malala (@Malala) July 7, 2017 ....I know that millions of girls around the world are out of school and may never get the opportunity to complete their education. 3/ -- Malala (@Malala) July 7, 2017 Next week, I will be back on my #GirlPowerTrip to meet girls in Middle East, Africa & Latin America. 4/ -- Malala (@Malala) July 7, 2017 Each girl's story is unique -- and girls' voices are our most powerful weapons in the fight for education and equality. 5/ -- Malala (@Malala) July 7, 2017 On and off Twitter, I'm fighting for girls -- will you join me? 6/ -- Malala (@Malala) July 7, 2017 Her account now has over 110,000 followers thanks to the new activity. Yousafzai also wrote a blog post to mark her graduation. "I have often said that I share my story not because it is unique -- but because it is not. The fear I had then is still felt today by 130 million out-of-school girls around the world," Yousafzai wrote. "I promise to keep fighting until the day that every girl can put on her uniform, pack up her books and walk to school without fear." Congratulations, Malala. Thanks for fighting.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has never really seemed comfortable with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson leading foreign affairs. During the confirmation hearings, Rubio pressed Tillerson about his past Russian ties. He was concerned by Tillerson's inability to answer yes or no on whether Vladimir Putin was a war criminal. He had also made clear he did not want our top diplomat to be Putin's "friend." Being a "friend of Vladimir" is not an attribute I am hoping for from a #SecretaryOfState - MR -- Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 11, 2016 Despite Rubio's misgivings, Tillerson was confirmed as secretary of state in February. Five months later, Rubio still has his hesitations. In an op-ed , Rubio urged Tillerson to label ISIS's crusade against Christians, particularly in Iraq, as genocide. He explained how Christians are being forced to convert, kidnapped and killed for their beliefs, before noting that Tillerson has not done enough to stand with these persecuted communities. Unfortunately, it is unclear whether the current administration maintains this determination. It is important for Secretary Tillerson to publicly address this issue and clarify the administration's stance, which my colleagues and I have asked him to do. Even then, words without action will not change the reality on the ground. The Trump Administration must take decisive steps to counter the gravity of the situation: ISIS is seeking to erase thousands of years of history and the people who represent it. Until the administration actually uses the word "genocide," the U.S. will perhaps not feel the same moral obligation to protect these Christians. Additionally, Rubio implored the State Department to not defer the tragedy to the UN, but take matters into its own hands by appointing a special coordinator in northern Iraq who can lead U.S. assistance. Jeff Crouere In March 2016, the Obama administration finally used the term genocide to describe Christian massacre in Iraq and Syria. It is obvious that Rubio wants the current White House to be even bolder in its declaration. The State Department, however, has spoken up for itself. Press Secretary Heather Nauert has pushed back against reports that officials removed references to genocide from documents. "We have looked through documents ourselves--the word genocide is in there--that has not been removed," she said. She added that Tillerson "firmly believes" that Christians and Yazidis are victims of genocide.

TEHRAN - An exhibition of paintings by the London-based Iranian-Armenian painter Edman Aivazian will be showcased at Tehran's Niavaran Cultural Center from September 2 to 10. Some of Aivazian's calligraphy works and architectural designs will also be put on display at the exhibit entitled "Colors of the Homeland". Aivazian, who attained his professional education in Europe, has a wide scope of interests in painting, graphic art, architecture and design. He has made the interior designs for some Armenian churches and public and sacral buildings in Europe, the Near East and Iran. ABU/YAW

I'm reporting from the roof of a desecrated church in Iraq, high above a town where Christian houses had been marked for destruction by ISIS. Not a single home was left untouched in the ISIS attack on Christians in Qaraqosh. Just being here gives one a whole new understanding of what it means for a town to be invaded. Watch as I try to give you a sense of it. To support The Rebel's journalistic and humanitarian mission on the ground in Iraq, please visit www.SaveTheChristians.com . Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

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Get our newsletter delivered directly to your inbox I have already subscribed | Do not show this message again "Hezbollah is not just a concern for the United States ," Tillerson said. "The people of Lebanon should also be concerned about how Hezbollah's actions and its growing arsenal bring unwanted and unhelpful scrutiny on Lebanon." Speaking alongside Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri during a Beirut news conference, the U.S. secretary of state also said the United States was engaging with Lebanon and Israel to ensure their border "remained calm." Last week, Lebanon described a planned border wall by Israel as an "act of aggression," warning that they would be ready to take action against it.

With ISIS seeming to be heading south toward Baghdad, Peshmerga reinforcements have been called in to take the place of the Iraqi army in a number of key spots in the north. The current crisis may turn out to be a rare opportunity for Kurdish authorities to push for greater autonomy or even statehood. If ISIS is eventually beaten back, it's likely going to require the help of what seems to be the country's most organized fighting force, and the conflict will likely end with Kirkuk and several other cities under the control of Kurdish forces. The Kurds may cede these gains back to Baghdad, but I'd expect their price to be high.

Not only Turkish, but Palestinian and Syrian flags were waved, and unabashed slogans were chanted. In addition to the usual demands for a new Intifada and Israel being denounced as a terrorist state, calls for the violent dissolution of the Jewish state were heard. The chant of "Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud, jaish Mohammed sa yaoud" [Chaibar, Chaibar, oh ye Jews! Mohammed's army is coming back soon!] recalls the massacre of the Jews at Chaibar in 628. It was sounded as a call to arms to kill Jews and destroy Israel. But the Vienna State Police Directorate did not arrest those who chanted for the slaughter of Jews. Instead they arrested members of a counter-demonstration for showing an Israeli flag. In a statement the police said that the demonstrators had "disturbed public order" in a "most provocative manner" by "waving the Israeli flag in a particularly ruthless manner", and thereby also caused "considerable displeasure" among the "Palestinian protesters". A fine or alternatively two days in prison was issued to members of the counter-protest. One of the counter-protesters told the Austrian newspaper Der Standard : "According to my personal understanding of democracy, it must be possible in Austria to uphold the banner of a sovereign state. I do not understand why that should be a provocation." The police justified themselves by saying that there were other charges issued to the other side, including suspicion of incitement, threats and carrying a weapon. Waving the Israeli flag in public in Vienna, has however been criminalised at the demo of the "Palestinian protesters", as the Vienna police chose to call the anti-Jewish rally. The Star of David, in the middle of which a swastika is apparently also as tolerable as calling for violence against Jews and the state of Israel appears to be. Austria strictly prohibits the propagation of Nazi ideology, and sentencing under the legislation is very common. In February, Austrian police launched a search for a Hitler lookalike who was spotted near the dictator's birthplace. One month earlier, an Austrian court sentenced a man to 33 months in prison for displaying Nazi tattoos. In October 2016, Austria sentenced a man to jail for posting a cat raising its right paw on social media. This weekend, authorities in Vienna expressed their satisfaction with the "peaceful" demonstration however. The important thing to note is that Muslims will not be facing any charges in calling for the murder of Jews or even if they felt "provoked" by a Jewish presence. The news comes in the wake of the trial in Israel of sixteen-year-old Palestinian Ahed Tamimi, hailed as the new Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela. She was charged last week with assault and incitement after she slapped two heavily armed Israeli soldiers because they would not leave her family home near Ramallah. Her mother, Nariman, is in detention for filming the incident after the video quickly went viral. The Palestinian schoolgirl - possibly facing a long jail term - has quickly become a social media icon. Palestinian sympathisers say that over the past 16 years, the Israeli army has killed on average 11 children a month.

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March 8, 2016 Egyptian student arrested for Facebook Threat Against Donald Trump For allegedly threatening Donald Trump, Emadeldin El-Sayed, an Egyptian flight school student, has been arrested and forced to leave the US. El-Sayed, was arrested in Los Angeles after posting hateful comments against Donald... Read more March 6, 2016 Populist Latin American politicians 'support' Trump's 'dumb' and 'basic' policies Latin American populist leftist leaders see a silver lining in Donald Trump's victories and are actually hoping for Trump to win. Despite the fact that Republican candidate Donald Trump has been... Read more

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing a backlash after 12 people were killed when an attacker ploughed through innocent revellers at a Christmas market in a truck. The country's far-right leaders have blasted the chancellor's "open-door" immigration policy for sparking the attack in Berlin - and even her own party is putting the boot in. "These are Merkel's dead," Marcus Pretzell, chairman of the Alternative for Germany party in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, posted on Twitter. And Klaus Bouillon of Mrs Merkel's CDU party said told Saarland radio: "We must state that we are in a state of war, although some people who want to see only the good can not see." Merkel - who attended an award ceremony to celebrate the International Day of Migrants the day of the attack - said she was "shocked and shaken" by the tragedy.

Germany has a death wish. The German federal grand coalition government has passed a new migrant family reunification law that among other provisions could see Islamic extremists able to bring their families to Germany in "exceptional cases." The new law was passed by the grand coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) and the Social Democrats, on Wednesday. The proposal to allow Islamic extremists to possibly reunite with their families in Germany has fractured the coalition with conservative members heavily criticising the proposal Focus reports. CDU politician Philipp Amthor criticised the Social Democrats for the proposal saying, "Instead of debating under what circumstances even potential terrorists can assert a claim to family reunification, the SPD would do better to seek solutions to, for example, deport people like the former bodyguard of Osama bin Laden, who has been living in Germany for several years. We should concentrate on such questions." The former bodyguard of the notorious terrorist and former al-Qaeda leader was revealed to be living in Berlin last month and to be receiving welfare to the tune of PS1,000 per month from German taxpayers.

German state security look into ISIS-related knife attack In the house of the perpetrator, flags were found, which indicate a link to the terrorist "Islamic State", the German news agency dpa reported. The officials were summoned to the apartment of the 53-year-old on Sunday morning, because she making a scene and throwing furniture out of her apartment window. The police called at her door. When she refused to open, the officers entered with force, whereupon the disguised woman called "Allahu akbar" and attacked the policemen with a carpet knife. With the use of pepper spray and the warning to use a fire arm, the woman could finally be overpowered and taken into custody. The police brought her to a psychiatric clinic. The woman born in Thuringia had converted to Islam, a police officer said. She is known to law enforcement because of earlier crimes motivated by her new religion, authorities told the news agency.

THE LIBERTINES are getting back together again to play Glastonbury Festival this June. That should keep the sniffer dogs happy for the afternoon. The group, fronted by PETE DOHERTY and CARL BARAT , reformed last year especially for the Reading and Leeds festivals. And, surprisingly, the gigs were more professional than when The Libs first knocked around together and caused chaos at venues countrywide. This time, though, there is a danger that Pete will get "lost" in Glasto's legendary hippy fields. A source said: "Although there are no signs of new songs, the boys have realised that they can take a nice payday by playing each summer. "They bagged more than PS1million for Reading and Leeds in 2010 and, although they won't get as much for Glasto, it will still be a good earner." Pete wrote on his blog last week that his manager had phoned, saying, "There's some offers for Libertines gigs." He then deleted the post after realising that he was giving too much away about the band's plans. Pete, Carl and bandmates JOHN HASSALL and GARY POWELL are lined up for a slot near the top of the bill on the Other Stage. CEE LO GREEN , THE VACCINES and BIFFY CLYRO have also been signed up by farmer MICHAEL EAVIS who runs the Somerset festival. With COLDPLAY headlining, it's shaping up to be a special year...

Submitted by Steven. on Sep 10 2006 19:16 Hans Magnus Enzensberger's non-fiction "adventure novel" about Buenaventura Durruti and the Spanish anarchist movement (ca. 1917-1937), first published in Germany in 1972, consisting of a more or... Click here to register now. Logged in users: > Can comment on articles and discussions > Get 'recent posts' refreshed more regularly > Bookmark articles to your own reading list > Use the site private messaging system > Start forum discussions, submit articles, and more...

Submitted by StrugglesInItaly on Jan 21 2015 19:06 A critique of early CrimethInc. writings, written by one of the libcom group between 2005 and 2006 attacking its lifestylist elements and arguing for a class struggle perspective. Click here to register now. Logged in users: > Can comment on articles and discussions > Get 'recent posts' refreshed more regularly > Bookmark articles to your own reading list > Use the site private messaging system > Start forum discussions, submit articles, and more...

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Mientras tanto, en Mosul, Irak, las fuerzas kurdas e iraquies respaldadas por Estados Unidos acorralaron a los ultimos combatientes del autoproclamado Estado Islamico ( ISIS ) de la ciudad en un pequeno terreno a orillas del rio Tigris. Un comandante iraqui dijo que unos 10.000 civiles seguian atrapados en la zona de batalla. Temas: Irak Reciba las ultimas noticias en su correo electronico Democracy Now! es una organizacion sin animo de lucro 501(c)3 dedicada a la produccion de noticias. No aceptamos financiamiento publicitario, corporativo o gubernamental. Dependemos de las contribuciones de nuestros oyentes y televidentes para hacer nuestro trabajo. Por favor, haga su contribucion hoy. Donar

La Corte Suprema de Colorado impidio que las ciudades impongan prohibiciones locales al proceso de extraccion de petroleo y gas conocido como fracturacion hidraulica o fracking. La Corte dejo sin efecto una moratoria de cinco anos impuesta a esta practica que habia sido aprobada por la ciudad de Fort Collins, alegando que en este caso resulto vencedora la facultad que tiene el estado de promover la industria. Democracy Now! es una organizacion sin animo de lucro 501(c)3 dedicada a la produccion de noticias. No aceptamos financiamiento publicitario, corporativo o gubernamental. Dependemos de las contribuciones de nuestros oyentes y televidentes para hacer nuestro trabajo. Por favor, haga su contribucion hoy. Donar

Turkish Undersecretary for Defence Industries Ismail Demir, says Turkey and Pakistan need to show more solidarity and cooperation as both nations face common challenges, such as terrorism. Turkish and Pakistani flags are displayed together during the launching ceremony of a fleet tanker in Karachi, Pakistani. The tanker is a collaborative work by Pakistan Ministry of Defence and Turkish Defence Industries. ( TRT World and Agencies ) Turkish Undersecretary for Defence Industries Ismail Demir, has underscored the need for enhancing further defence cooperation between Turkey and Pakistan in view of terror threats faced by both nations. "Turkey and Pakistan need to show more solidarity and cooperation as both of them face [common] challenges such as terrorism," Demir said while speaking at the launching ceremony of a 17,000-ton fleet tanker in south-eastern Pakistani city of Karachi on Friday. Launching of Pakistan Navy Fleet Tanker made by KSEW and STM Turkey in #Karachi . Mubarak ho! @TrEmbIslamabad pic.twitter.com/4y2wmFvCBC -- Turkish CG KHI (@KarachiTRCG) August 19, 2016 Demir acknowledged that Pakistan was among the first countries to support the Turkish people and its security forces against the defeated military coup attempt in Turkey on July 15. "We are very grateful for their support." About the warship fleet tanker, Demir said it was estimated the tanker would be able to serve for three or four decades. "It is a symbol of close ties between the two countries." "I am pleased to state that defence industry cooperation between the two countries is a significant example of our win-win approach, in cost saving technology transfer, capability sharing, joint production." Turkey is said to be evaluating proposals from Pakistan for the purchase of its training aircraft for the Turkish Air Force. A final decision on Pakistan's Super Mushshak trainer aircraft is expected soon. Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif, Turkish Defense Industry Undersecretary Ismail Demir, Undersecretariat for Defense Industries Administrator Davut Yilmaz and military officials attend the launching ceremony, August 19, 2016. Image: Anadolu Agency. ( AA ) Demir said the Super Mushshak trainer aircraft will be the next training aircraft for the Turkish Air Force. The 17,000-ton navy warship fleet tanker, which is capable of independently operating at sea for up to three months at a time, has been built and designed in collaboration with the Turkish firm STM and Pakistan's Ministry of Defence Production. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said his country wants to have an "enhanced" defence sector collaboration with Turkey, particularly in the maritime field. Sharif said the induction of the fleet tanker would play an important role in catering to the logistic needs of Pakistan's navy. "This is another testimony to increasing cooperation between Pakistan and Turkey. It will be remembered as a symbol of the time-tested Pakistan-Turkey friendship," he said.

Turkey will continue to mediate between Afghanistan and Pakistan on terrorism-related issues, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday. Addressing a joint press briefing in Kabul with Afghanistan's newly-elected President Ashraf Ghani, Erdogan said Pakistan's border-control measures had been effective in preventing terrorists from gaining a safe passage into Afghanistan during the Afghan election period last June. He added the measures contributed greatly towards ensuring a stable and peaceful election environment in Afghanistan. "There are three Muslim countries in question here. We expect to take decisive steps during the negotiations," Erdogan said. The Afghanistan-Pakistan-Turkey trilateral summit began in 2007 under the name 'Istanbul Process.' It aims to resolve problems arising from Afghan government allegations that the Afghan Taliban find sanctuaries inside Pakistan and build mutual trust between the two neighboring countries. "Extremism is not just the problem of only one country, but it is an international problem," Ghani said. He said there could be success in finding a solution if the terrorism threat was dealt from a 'common perspective.' "Turkey plays a vital role in that question" in Afghanistan-Pakistan relations, he said, "so we look forward to Erdogan's efforts in this regard." This is the Turkish president's first visit to Afghanistan since Ghani became the president. He arrived in the country early Saturday morning. Erdogan also said Turkey along with the U.S., Germany and Italy would be one of the four NATO countries that would continue to support the development of the Afghan National Security Forces. Turkey would also contribute to the security and operations of the Kabul airport, he said. "Our investments in Afghanistan's mining, oil exploration, construction and food sector will also continue as planned without any slowdown," the Turkish president added.

Economic realities must be taken into account in any global agreement on tackling ever-threatening climate change, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said. In a speech at the U.N. Climate Change Summit in New York on Tuesday, Erdogan said Turkey was "ready to do its part" in the fight against global warming. He said: "A new binding agreement should include certain flexibilities for countries, within the scope of common but differentiated responsibilities." The president also emphasized that the rights of the least-developed countries should be protected in creating new policies, as they are not the cause of climate change, but the most-affected by its results. "Developed countries should assume more responsibility in the fight with climate change, with regard to reducing carbon emissions and financial and technological support," Erdogan added. - 'Comprehensive projects' The current climate change summit is to shape next year's Paris conference, which has been billed as the most important climate change meeting since Kyoto in 1997. The treaty is expected to include new measures to limit the rise in global warming. Mentioning Turkey's individual contributions in the fight against climate change, Erdogan said Turkey had reduced its carbon emissions by 21 per cent between 1990 and 2012. "This figure excludes Turkey's comprehensive projects on forests," Erdogan said. Erdogan said Turkey is continuing its efforts within the scope of the 2011-2023 Climate Change Action Plan, aimed at increasing the share of renewable energy in total energy production to 30 per cent, and decreasing the size of energy in the economy by 20 per cent.

"The Turks are very worried about the growth of the Kurdish autonomy in Iraq and now the Syrian Kurds, the peshmerga, is taking over more territory. "The Turks want to prevent the Kurds, including Turkish Kurds, from developing their own state over several countries, including Turkey. "This act was them wanting to say to the Americans, are they going to back the Russians or the Turks, their NATO allies?" Kurds make up at least 10 per cent of Turkey's population and have periodically been the victims of massacres since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. However, the Russian-Turkish relations expert said he does not believe the US will go against the Russians, who have always supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Both pilots in the Russian plane ejected themselves as the aircraft careered to earth in a fireball. One was believed to have been held hostage then killed by Syrian rebels who are Turkish supporters while the other died as he landed on the rocky mountain surface. Turkey called an emergency NATO meeting today following the incident while Russia urged the UN's security council to meet today. The downing of the fighter jet is the first time since the 1950s any Russian or Soviet plane has been shot down by a NATO member. ">

The Lebanese Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, yesterday called on the Turkish government to support Lebanon on enhancing its security and to invest in the country's infrastructure renovation. "I've asked the Turkish government to support Lebanon in its two national priorities, including enhancing the capabilities of the army and the security forces, and developing the country' infrastructure sector," Hariri said on Twitter. Hariri noted that he had asked the Ankara "to help in encouraging the country's private sector to participate in the government's investment plan." "We [Turkish government] expect the private sector to fund a third of our investment plan," he added. The Turkish Prime Minister, Binali Yildirim, recently announced that Turkey was willing to boost bilateral relations with Lebanon on a number of issues, a move that Hariri welcomed. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Istanbul: Turkish news agencies say the country has increased its military presence along its southern border against threats from Kurdish militants in war-torn northern Syria. Representational image. AP The official Anadolu news agency said on Saturday that Turkey dispatched artillery to Kilis province to reinforce units there. The six-vehicle convoy included tanks and howitzers to be positioned across Kurdish-controlled Syrian region of Afrin, according to the private Dogan news agency . Turkey has been vehemently opposed to the presence of the People's Protection Units, or YPG, in northern Syria. The country considers the YPG, a key US ally in fighting the Islamic State group in Syria, a terror group and an extension of Kurdish militants operating inside Turkey. In late April, Turkey relocated military units to Sanliurfa province across from another YPG-controlled area.

It's the story the mainstream media will probably never tell. And it's the real deal in the wake of President Trump's momentous decision to withdraw the U.S. from the disastrous Iran nuclear deal. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Iranians have launched several bold hashtag campaigns, including one to thank the U.S. president for his decision, shining a light on what the real impact has been of former President Obama's signature foreign policy achievement. Iranian Twitter users have started a new hashtag for @realDonaldTrump . #ThankYouTrump pic.twitter.com/iwobeIVWPp -- Thomas Wictor (@ThomasWictor) May 9, 2018 Twitter lit up with messages from Iranians thankful to Trump for ending the U.S. participation in the 2015 pact that waived sanctions against Iran as long as it complied with the agreement limiting its nuclear weapons program. You're being lied to about the reaction to the #IranDeal Iranians are rejoicing. They want freed from the jackboot of the terrorist, tyrannical, dictatorial mullahs The people of Iran can hear the chimes of freedom. #ThankYouTrump #Trump #Israel #qanon pic.twitter.com/WPfWjplDoH -- Cis Lord (@ChildOfSowell) May 8, 2018 This made me cry...... Iranians are tweeting #ThankyouTrump on Twitter, and expressing their appreciation for ending the Iran Deal and letting the people know we stand with them. And people call the POTUS a racist. Nothing could be further from the truth. pic.twitter.com/km9VgRNy5m -- Tiffany (@TiffersYUPP) May 10, 2018 And while supporters of the deal, like Obama and former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, arrogantly slammed the president for his decision, it is clear that the people most impacted were squarely behind Trump. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."Truth is we are guilty because we did Nothing! We just bled in silence for the last 40 years! Until One man stood up and said No to Evil... #ThankYouTrump -- Arian Irani (@Arianirani) May 9, 2018 #ThankYouTrump Thank you Mr president. From Iran. Iran regime torture us every day. God bless you for not supporting them Trump: "The future of Iran belongs to its people." Future without terrorism, death, without the Islamic Republic. Iranians deserve a better future. #ThankYouTrump -- Niloofar nylwfr (@NilooGholami) May 8, 2018 -- Almanor (@Sunrise51052) May 9, 2018 Some even launched another hashtag honoring Trump, MIGA: #MakeIranGreatAgain. President Trump is the only leader in the world who stand with Iranian people. We finally take back our country from Islamists Mullah and we #MakeIrangreatagain with best friendship between Iran and the United States. #ThankYouTrump #JCPOA #Iran -- Mehdi Mirghaderi (@mobarez_nastooh) May 8, 2018 Want to see what the Iranian people think of the US pulling out of the #IranDeal ? Check out: #ThankYouTrump . They are inspired to #MakeIranGreatAgain ! #QAnon #MAGA #WednesdayWisdom #WeThePeople #DrainTheSwamp #Trump #POTUS @realDonaldTrump @potus https://t.co/tlG2HqP9jV -- TheSharpEdge (@TheSharpEdge1) May 9, 2018 After all the crap we've been fed our entire lives, who saw this coming? Iranians supporting Americans, and Americans supporting Iranians. It's happening. This is awesome! #MAGA #makeIrangreatagain https://t.co/LdFgfeEJMI -- How did we get here? (@BSM05494102) May 10, 2018 Ahead of Trump's announcement, Iranians sent strong messages urging him to #CancelIranDeal and #KilltheDeal. Dear Mr. President, @realDonaldTrump , we iranian also belive that dealing with this murder, devil and currupted regime was the biggest mistake ever, Obama made this deal , gave them huge money that was only spent to support terrorist groups, so the only way is #CancelIranDeal pic.twitter.com/s4TzryNzIK -- Reza Shah (@RezaShah2018) May 6, 2018 Iranians are sending a message to the world #CancelIranDeal @realDonaldTrump Mr.President, as a refugee from Iran that her beautiful homeland has been occupied by a criminal terrorist regime I ask you not to make/extend any deal with The Devil. #KillTheDeal #MakeIranGreatAgain #brndzm #IslamicRepublicHasToGo -- Sima (@SimaDini) May 8, 2018 Iranians celebrated the possibilities as they also reminded the world that their government does not represent the people, a civilization going back over 2,000 years. We the people of Iran have been held hostage by a murderous regime for 40 years. We are the main victims of its atrocities and barbarism. Now it is a chance that with the help of @POTUS we break our chains and set ourselves free. #WeAreHostages but not anymore. -- amyrz byjn (@Amirzabijan) May 9, 2018 This man has been executed today, by barbaric Islamic regime in Iran. Killing the hostages is how, they communicate with the world after POTUS torn down the JCOPA. Don't worry they have 80 million more to execute as #WeAreHostages . pic.twitter.com/zHrEdPBjqz -- Ramtin5790 rmtyn[?][?][?] (@vakili_arman) May 9, 2018 When liberals say that America is so horrible and so is our President, I wonder which of them would trade places with the people of Iran or other places who truly live under Tyranny & Oppression. Go look at the tweets of Iranians thanking Potus Trump under #WeAreHostages -- Oak-TownUnfiltered(tm) (@hrtablaze) May 10, 2018 The liberal media continues to hold a torch for Obama and Democrats, attacking Trump at every turn and ignoring the truth about the Iran nuclear deal and how the Obama administration poured billions of dollars into the hands of a barbaric regime. But the Iranian people have found a friend in Trump and in the real America, one that values basic human rights and freedoms. Their emboldened tweets and multiple hashtags celebrating the president's decision should put liberals to shame. #ThankYouTrump You saved Iranian people's future So many #Iranians thanking @POTUS but of course you can't see it trending. #ThankYouTrump #ThankYouTrump pic.twitter.com/EXfiE6Ncjt -- Truth (@Truth_Again) May 9, 2018 But #FakeNews @CNN and cohorts won't show you this. Trump knows what he's doing. -- Akukaria (@IPOB_SouthAfric) May 10, 2018 I have more faith in humanity after seeing #WeAreHostages & #ThankYouTrump hashtags. Iranian ppl are much more aware of things & current issues than many many Americans. -- Kayla Martz (@Kayluvsredwings) May 10, 2018 -- avareh (@jentelman121) May 10, 2018 We know first-hand that censorship against conservative news is real. Please share stories and encourage your friends to sign up for our daily email blast so they are not getting shut out of seeing conservative news.

The situation for Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has taken a dire turn. After a brutal home raid where he was attacked and arrested, Pastor Youcef has been imprisoned again, far away from his family. We recently told you how Iranian authorities in plain clothes violently beat Pastor Youcef in his home... read more Big Abortion is launching a massive propaganda campaign to activate its supporters and attack life. Planned Parenthood has rolled out an online initiative it calls "Unstoppable" - featuring pro-abortion artists and celebrities, and urging its supporters to sign an abortion "manifesto." The intent... read more As the President's promised sanctions against Iran go into effect, angry Iranian mobs are flooding the streets with their fists in the air, but their chants are not "death to America." They are calling out their own corrupt government, chanting "death to the dictator" and demanding a regime change. read more Five years ago, we celebrated a major victory when due to the diligent legal advocacy work of the ACLJ and the unwavering support and prayers of ACLJ members, Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani - sentenced to die in Iran for "apostasy" - was set free. Today we must ask you once again to pray for Pastor... read more On October 21, 2016, a mass crackdown on local Christian groups was launched across Yunnan Province, China. More than 200 people have been detained, and 27 of them are facing criminal prosecution under Article 300 of the Criminal Code for "organizing evil cults and sects and using superstition to... read more The President of Iran just fired off a threat at President Trump and America. Our President quickly answered back with unwavering strength. Iran is run like a mafia-state. The Iranian government is more interested in supporting terrorism than its own desperate citizens. It's people suffer from... read more Turkey's decision to ignore continued demands for the release of innocent American Pastor Andrew Brunson will not be tolerated. Yesterday, after the third court date of this sham trial, Pastor Andrew was sent back to prison and the trial was again delayed another three months - until October 12th. read more Your voice is being heard at the U.N. Real progress is underway and we are seeing the fruit of our efforts to demand justice and accountability in the aftermath of ISIS's cruel genocide against Christians and others in the Middle East. The wheels of justice are turning. As we had previously... read more

Pastor Saeed's wife, Naghmeh, joined me today on Jay Sekulow Live! to discuss President Obama's remarks yesterday calling on Iran to specifically release her husband and where the fight for his freedom moves from here. She says she is thankful to the President for elevating her husband's plight and is hopeful that as momentum continues to build that Iran would grant her husband - a U.S. citizen - clemency and allow him to return home. Listen below as she shares her emotional story from her heart, pray, and sign the petition for his freedom . The situation for Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has taken a dire turn. After a brutal home raid where he was attacked and arrested, Pastor Youcef has been imprisoned again, far away from his family. We recently told you how Iranian authorities in plain clothes violently beat Pastor Youcef in his home... read more Five years ago, we celebrated a major victory when due to the diligent legal advocacy work of the ACLJ and the unwavering support and prayers of ACLJ members, Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani - sentenced to die in Iran for "apostasy" - was set free. Today we must ask you once again to pray for Pastor... read more As the President's promised sanctions against Iran go into effect, angry Iranian mobs are flooding the streets with their fists in the air, but their chants are not "death to America." They are calling out their own corrupt government, chanting "death to the dictator" and demanding a regime change. read more The President of Iran just fired off a threat at President Trump and America. Our President quickly answered back with unwavering strength. Iran is run like a mafia-state. The Iranian government is more interested in supporting terrorism than its own desperate citizens. It's people suffer from... read more It's a victory for America and our allies as President Trump, true to his word, has officially withdrawn the United States from what he accurately called the "defective at its core" Iran nuclear deal. Further, the President has ordered that sanctions be re-imposed on Iran in an expeditious manner. read more Iran lied about the 2015 nuclear deal and has been lying about its nuclear program, and that is very dangerous. It's time to fix the nuclear deal or get out. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just held a press conference to confirm what we've been telling you for years. Obama's Iran Deal... read more

In what was a speech filled with highlights, US President Donald Trump put North Korea and Iran on notice. "The score of our planet today is small regimes that violate every principle that the United Nations is based. They respect neither their own citizens nor the sovereign rights of their countries. If the righteous many do not confront the wicked few, then evil will triumph," the president said. Trump warned that the US may have "no choice but to totally destroy" North Korea as they continue their nuclear pursuit while being ruled by Kim Jong-un. "Rocket man is on a suicide mission," Trump said. He also called out Iran saying, "The Iranian government masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy. It has turned a wealthy country, with a rich history and culture, into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed, and chaos. The longest-suffering victims of Iran's leaders are, in fact, its own people." Of course, Trump couldn't resist calling out Obama's Iran deal. "The Iran deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the US has ever entered into. Frankly, that deal is an embarrassment to the United States, and I don't think you've heard the last of it. Believe me." "It is time for the entire world to join us in demanding that Iran's government end its pursuit of death and destruction," Trump said. "It is time for the regime to free all Americans and citizens of other nations that they have unjustly detained. And above all, Iran's government must stop supporting terrorists, begin serving its own people, and respect the sovereign rights of its neighbors." Give this video a full watch and let us know in the comments what you think. Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

As the President's promised sanctions against Iran go into effect, angry Iranian mobs are flooding the streets with their fists in the air, but their chants are not "death to America." They are calling out their own corrupt government, chanting "death to the dictator" and demanding a regime change. read more The President of Iran just fired off a threat at President Trump and America. Our President quickly answered back with unwavering strength. Iran is run like a mafia-state. The Iranian government is more interested in supporting terrorism than its own desperate citizens. It's people suffer from... read more It's a victory for America and our allies as President Trump, true to his word, has officially withdrawn the United States from what he accurately called the "defective at its core" Iran nuclear deal. Further, the President has ordered that sanctions be re-imposed on Iran in an expeditious manner. read more Iran lied about the 2015 nuclear deal and has been lying about its nuclear program, and that is very dangerous. It's time to fix the nuclear deal or get out. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just held a press conference to confirm what we've been telling you for years. Obama's Iran Deal... read more

Big Abortion is launching a massive propaganda campaign to activate its supporters and attack life. Planned Parenthood has rolled out an online initiative it calls "Unstoppable" - featuring pro-abortion artists and celebrities, and urging its supporters to sign an abortion "manifesto." The intent... read more The situation for Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has taken a dire turn. After a brutal home raid where he was attacked and arrested, Pastor Youcef has been imprisoned again, far away from his family. We recently told you how Iranian authorities in plain clothes violently beat Pastor Youcef in his home... read more Five years ago, we celebrated a major victory when due to the diligent legal advocacy work of the ACLJ and the unwavering support and prayers of ACLJ members, Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani - sentenced to die in Iran for "apostasy" - was set free. Today we must ask you once again to pray for Pastor... read more As the President's promised sanctions against Iran go into effect, angry Iranian mobs are flooding the streets with their fists in the air, but their chants are not "death to America." They are calling out their own corrupt government, chanting "death to the dictator" and demanding a regime change. read more The President of Iran just fired off a threat at President Trump and America. Our President quickly answered back with unwavering strength. Iran is run like a mafia-state. The Iranian government is more interested in supporting terrorism than its own desperate citizens. It's people suffer from... read more It's a victory for America and our allies as President Trump, true to his word, has officially withdrawn the United States from what he accurately called the "defective at its core" Iran nuclear deal. Further, the President has ordered that sanctions be re-imposed on Iran in an expeditious manner. read more Iran lied about the 2015 nuclear deal and has been lying about its nuclear program, and that is very dangerous. It's time to fix the nuclear deal or get out. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just held a press conference to confirm what we've been telling you for years. Obama's Iran Deal... read more

In an indication of fostering relations between Iran and Europe, French National Assembly President Claude Bartolone arrived in Tehran on Sept 6 to blow fresh air into Tehran-Paris relations, economic ties in particular. While in Iran Bartolone held separate talks with several high-ranking Iranian officials including Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, President Hassan Rouhani, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Special Aide to Parliament Speaker for International Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Head of the Center for Strategic Studies affiliated to the Expediency Council Ali Akbar Velayati, Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Chief Valiollah Seif and a number of local officials in Isfahan. Political Cooperation Iran believes that European countries must play more active role in settlement of political crisis in Syria and strongly rejected the dichotomization of terrorism into good and bad forms anywhere in the world. Talking to Bartolone, Zarif underscored that the threat of terrorism is a global threat and Tehran believes in the international community's more serious cooperation to remove this common threat, voicing Tehran's readiness to hold more consultations with Europeans, particularly France, about the crisis in Syria. Iranian diplomat also added Tehran considers Paris as an "important partner in its economic relations", reiterating that the two sides have common views on many regional issues. Bartolone also said France attaches great importance to the full implementation of the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), between Iran and the 5+1 group of countries. The French official noted that the JCPOA has opened up positive opportunities in Iran's ties with other countries, saying that several European and French banks have started cooperation with Iran. In a meeting with Bartolone, President Rouhani called for coordinated and collective campaign against terrorism, adding there is no doubt that terrorism is a big danger for the regional countries and the entire world. Rouhani said that as a victim of terrorism, the Islamic Republic of Iran is well aware of the magnitude of the threat of the dirty phenomenon and at the same time, France has well understood the momentous issue due to terrorist attacks over the past several months. He said that the Islamic Republic of Iran helps the Iraqi and Syrian governments on their own demand to fight terrorism. Parliamentary Cooperation In a meeting with Larijani, the two called for expansion of parliamentary relations between Tehran and Paris and discussed regional and international developments. Speaking at a joint press briefing after the meeting, Larijani lauded the parliamentary ties between the two countries and described Tehran-Paris relations as "good and age-old," saying that the two countries share common views concerning the fight against terrorism and the resolution of current crises in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and other countries. Iranian parliament speaker also cited Bartolone's trip to Iran as a "new page" in fostering bilateral cooperation. Commenting his talks with Larijani, Bartolone said the meeting has created suitable grounds to discuss issues of mutual interest, stressing that expansion of parliamentary relations would also help broaden ties between the two governments. Economic Cooperation Talking to Seif, Bartolone called for improvement of banking cooperation with Iran, adding France supports Iran to execute the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). FATF is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering. Bartolone believes that Paris would help Tehran technically for implementation of the FATF by providing Iran with France experiences to this end. He also called for the boost of economic ties between the two countries, adding that Paris is committed to help complete implementation of JCPOA. According to Seif, Italian, Austrian and German banks have developed cooperation with Iran in the post-sanctions era but France banking system is very cautious about improving bilateral relations with its Iranian counterparts. France can help resolve the problem of obstacles on the way of Iran's banking relations with other countries regarding Paris significant place among the European states, Seif stressed. However, the implementation of JCPOA has led to more economic and political cooperation with the outside world to bring about prosperity and welfare for the nation. So, a favorite opportunity has been available for the European states to develop economic cooperation in light of the international understanding created between Iran and the European nations following the nuclear accord.

German State Secretary Markus Ederer, at his meeting with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, conveyed the condolatory message of his country's Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel to Iranian FM Zarif on Zemestanyurt mine incident in Azadshahr and voiced Germany's readiness to provide Iran with all sorts of technical assistance. Ederer recalled that a collection of all-round economic cooperation had been launched two years earlier in time with the visit of Sigmar Hartmut Gabriel to Iran asserting "we are willing to strengthen economic relations with Tehran." "Germany will remain committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and will spare no effort to fulfill its provisions," he continued. The visiting official also expressed readiness of the European country for financial and banking collaborations. Also at the meeting, Iran's Deputy FM Takht-Ravanchi referred to the age-old relations between the two sides saying "we are after deepening bilateral ties with Germans and expect previous economic agreements to be pursued more seriously by resolving possible banking issues." The session also emphasized the need to continue political and parliamentary negotiations. The two parties further mulled over regional issues particularly the ones related to Syria and Yemen. Germany's Ederer rejected military actions as a solution to regional crises and described diplomatic dialogue as the only way out of present conditions. In the same line, he said Germany's policy was to support territorial integrity of regional countries and the fight against terrorism and instability. Takht-Ravanchi, for his part, delineated policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran towards resolving regional issues stressing that "Iran considers regional stability, peace and security via fight against terrorism as a top priority."

TEHRAN - While insisting that it is crucially important to fight terrorism President Hassan Rouhani of Iran asserted on Monday that terrorism has nothing to do with Islam. Rouhani called Islamic a religion of mercy which opposes violence. "Terrorism is a big problem in the world and the terrorists have nothing to do with Islam, because Islam is religion of kindness and peace and opposes creating fear, insecurity and murder of the people," Rouhani said during a meeting with Cote d'Ivoire's Foreign Minister Abdallah Albert Toikeusse Mabri in Tehran. Highlighting the necessity of fighting cultural and economic roots of terrorism, Rouhani added that Iran spares no effort in helping countries to counter terrorism. Foreign Minister Toikeusse Mabri also said his country is seeking cooperation with Iran in fighting terrorism. 'Expanding ties with Africans is a priority' Rouhani also said that expansion of ties with the African countries is one of Iran's foreign policy's principles and that Tehran is ready to deepen relations with Cote d'Ivoire in various areas, especially economy. Iran and Cote d'Ivoire have many capacities to expand cooperation and steps should be taken to identify these capacities, the president remarked. For example, he said, Iran is ready to help Cote d'Ivoire in building power plants, roads and dams. Foreign Minister Toikeusse Mabri also said that Cote d'Ivoire is determined to expand ties with Iran in various spheres. During a separate meeting with the African official, Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said that Iran seeks to expand relations with the African countries. "There has always been good relations between the two countries especially parliamentary ties and Iran's parliament supports expansion of ties by forming parliamentary friendship group," he said. Mabri also said his country attaches great importance to Iran's status in the world. He also said that terrorism impedes the countries' progress, adding collective effort is needed to fight terrorism.

TEHRAN - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron held a phone conversation on Monday, discussing expansion of relations and fight against terrorism. "Iran-France economic relations are growing well and we hope that agreements between the two countries would be implemented as soon as possible through efforts by the two countries' officials," Rouhani said. Rouhani, who was reelected president on May 19, made a visit to France in January 2015 during which the two countries signed 30 cooperation agreements. The visit took place after the July 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and great powers including France. The deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), took effect in January 2016. Rouhani said that Iran and France should use the post-JCPOA opportunities and remove obstacles to banking ties and expand economic interaction. He also said that Iran abides by its obligations under the JCPOA and called on the European Union to play more active role in implementing the deal. Elsewhere, Rouhani said that Iran is ready to cooperate with other countries especially France to fight terrorism. Macron pointed to Iran's "remarkable" role in countering terrorism and said all should make efforts in line with fighting terrorism and restoring peace to the Middle East region. He also said that the JCPOA is an "important" agreement and all the signatories should abide by it. He called for expansion of relations between Iran and France. According to Reuters, French Foreign Ministry said on Monday that France wants to develop its political dialogue with Iran in the hope that it will lead to constructive efforts to solve regional crises. Foreign Minister "Jean-Yves Le Drian will work towards developing political dialogue that should be part of a constructive approach with regard solving regional crises," the ministry said. NA/PA

TEHRAN - President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that Iran is ready to expand relations with European Union member states, especially Belgium. Rouhani made the remarks during a meeting in Tehran with President of Belgium's Senate Christine Defraigne. "Iran and Belgium have many capacities to boost cooperation which should be used in the post-JCPOA opportunity," Rouhani said in reference to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly called the nuclear deal. Iran welcomes investment by Belgian private and public sector, the president said, adding there is no impediment to expansion of Iran-Belgium economic ties. The JCPOA, signed in July 2015, went into effect on January 16. Rouhani also said the nuclear agreement proved that "the complicated international problems" can be resolved through "dialogue" and "negotiation". The nuclear agreement should be considered as a "role model" to solve problems in the world, he noted. Elsewhere, he said that terrorism is a "serious international challenge". The president said terrorism is rooted in economic and cultural problems. "One of the roots of terrorism is disappointment and the fact that some experience discrimination and do not see the existing regulations efficient enough to resolve their problems." He said military invasion is not the way to fight terrorism. Rouhani also said that terrorists should not be divided into "good" and "bad" and called for serious efforts to cut financial support for terrorists. For her part, Defraigne called for a new chapter in Iran-Belgium ties. Defraigne also praised Iran's position in fighting terrorism and said that Belgium is ready to enjoy Iran's experience in this respect. Belgium has a special status in the EU. Brussels, the Belgian capital, hosts the official seats of the European Commission, Council of the European Union, and European Council, as well as a seat of the European Parliament. -----Zarif: 5+1 must 'precisely' meet commitments in lifting sanctions on Iran In a separate meeting with Defraigne on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Iran has fulfilled its commitments under the JCPOA and the 5+1 group must also meet its obligations "precisely". Under the nuclear deal between Iran and the 5+1 group - the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany - Iran must allow more intensive nuclear inspections and freeze some of its nuclear activities and instead all nuclear related sanctions against the country be terminated. However, some banks are hesitant to resume banking transactions with Iran, fearing a punishment by the United States. Marietje Schaake, the vice president of the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with the United States, has said, "Europe is being taken hostage by American policy." He also has said, "We negotiated the nuclear deal together, but now the U.S. is obstructing its execution." Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has also said, "They [the United States] write on paper that banks can cooperate with Iran, but in practice they promote Iranophobia so that no one trades with Iran. American officials say that sanctions are still in place so that foreign investors get scared and do not come." ---Economic and banking transactions Zarif also said that presence of Belgian parliamentary delegation in Tehran can play an "important" role in expanding ties. The foreign minister called for in an increase in ties especially in economic and banking transactions. Commenting on developments in the Middle East, he said that "political solution" is the only way out of the regional crises. The Belgian official said that Iran has always played an important role in helping establish peace and stability in the region.

TEHRAN - Iran and Switzerland held a second round of political talks on Friday in line with a roadmap that the two countries devised last February to enhance bilateral relations. The new talks were held in the Swiss city of Bern between Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister for European and American affairs, and State Secretary at the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pascale Baeriswyl, Press TV reported. Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann visited Tehran last February, meeting with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani. Schneider-Ammann and Rouhani decided to have the roadmap devised, and the two sides signed six memoranda of understanding in the scientific and technical fields and chose to step up their cooperation in the area of tourism. The visit was followed by a first round of political talks between Takht-Ravanchi and Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter in Bern last June. The follow-up talks on Friday saw the two sides laying emphasis on the further enhancement of mutual relationship. They also featured discussions on all-out cooperation against instability and toward fighting terrorism as an international threat. Takht-Ravanchi pointed to the recent developments in the Middle East and Persian Gulf region, which have seen Saudi Arabia and some of its allies cutting ties with Qatar. He said the Islamic Republic's policy concerning the development was one of cooperation toward the establishment of peace and stability in the region and the easing of regional tensions. Baeriswyl, for her part, condoled with the Iranian nation and government over the recent terrorist attacks in the Iranian capital which claimed 17 lives. The Swiss president and foreign minister had already extended their condolences over the incident. Baeriswyl also referred to the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers as a "valuable" achievement of the international community, and emphasized its complete implementation. The deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was reached in July 2015 and ended a long-running dispute over the Iranian nuclear program.

"There may be some litigation," President Trump said off-the-cuff as he signed an executive order purporting to suspend his administration's policy of taking migrant children away from their parents. It was an understatement. In the subsequent chaos, with Congress increasingly unable to pass legislation to address the situation, an army of lawyers mobilized, filing cases aimed at permanently ending the Trump administration's family separation policy and reuniting the thousands of parents and children still held in separate detention facilities in different states. Late Tuesday night, the first of these cases struck home. A federal judge in San Diego blocked any future family separations and ordered the government to reunite all separated families within 30 days, adding that children under five years old who have been torn from their parents must be returned within 14 days, and all parents must be put in phone contact with their children within 10 days. The decision is likely just the opening salvo in a long legal battle that will be waged in federal courts across the country. Here are the cases most likely to force the administration's hand. Reuniting separated families U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw, an appointee of President George W. Bush sided Tuesday night with the American Civil Liberties Union and issued a sweeping national injunction on the Trump administration's family separation policy. ACLU lead attorney Lee Gelernt had called on Judge Sabraw to act swiftly in a status hearing on Friday, telling him that without an immediate court order forcing the administration to reunify the families, the U.S. will have on its hands "a humanitarian crisis of the utmost proportions." Sabrew agreed, and in his ruling painted a damning picture of the Trump administration's self-inflicted crisis. "There is no genuine dispute that the Government was not prepared to accommodate the mass influx of separated children," he wrote. "Measures were not in place to provide for communication between governmental agencies responsible for detaining parents and those responsible for housing children, or to provide for ready communication between separated parents and children. There was no reunification plan in place, and families have been separated for months." Sabraw also agreed with the ACLU that Trump's executive order that purported to end immigrant family separation does not do so in practice. "It is silent on the issue of reuniting families that have already been separated or will be separated in the future," he said of the White House's order. Protestors led by a coalition of interfaith religious leaders demonstrate against US immigration policy that separates parents from their children, June 23, 2018 outside the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, California. (Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images) With the administration expected to fight the national injunction, legal groups across the country are fighting for the reunification of individual families, hoping to create test cases that eventually lead to the courts declaring the separations unconstitutional. In federal court in D.C. on Wednesday afternoon, attorney Jerome Wesevich will argue on behalf of three immigrant parents currently being held in South Texas whose children have been removed from them and sent to detention centers in other states. Wesevich told TPM that this is a clear violation of their Fifth Amendment rights. "Supreme Court has clearly held that the bond between parent and child is sacred and more important than any property rights, so government interference with that bond has to have a darn good reason, or in legal terms, a compelling state interest," explained Wesevich, who is affiliated with the Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid group. "We believe the government has no legitimate basis for separating them." One of the parents Wesevich is representing, an asylum-seeker from Guatemala who fled after allegedly receiving death threats, has been able to speak to her three children a couple times each week since they were separated. Another, a mother from Guatemala, has only spoken once to her child since they were separated in mid-May. The third, an asylum-seeker from Honduras, does not know where his daughter is and has not been able to speak to her at all. "These individual parents are examples of what over 2,000 parents are suffering right now," Wesevich told TPM. "Ultimately, the case could set the precedent that it is unconstitutional for government to separate children from their parents in immigration custody." As President Trump calls openly for immigrants to be denied due process, the ACLU and other legal groups are hoping courts send a strong message that the Constitution cannot allow that to happen. "The Fifth Amendment specifically says it applies to persons , not citizens," Gelernt told TPM. "The right to due process applies to everyone, including non-citizens." Rolling back Flores Embedded in the text of Trump's executive order was a directive to his Justice Department to ask federal courts to overturn key protections for immigrant children in detention. The Flores settlement, which dates back to the mid-1990s and was upheld in 2016, provides that immigrants younger than 18 years old can't be held in immigration custody for longer than 20 days. It also set standards for the food, medical care and other conditions of their detention, saying the government can't hold children in facilities that can't pass state child welfare licensing regulations. Now, the Trump administration is asking a federal judge in Los Angeles to modify Flores so it can detain immigrant children and parents together indefinitely, "throughout the pendency of criminal proceedings," in facilities that were not designed for children. The National Youth Law Program, which originally fought for the Flores settlement, is now defending it from this modification effort. They are pointing to the Obama administration's failed effort to convince the courts that Flores does not apply to immigrant families detained together for long periods of time, but only to migrant children who arrived in the U.S. unaccompanied. Federal judge Dolly Gee, who rejected that line of argument, will hear the Trump administration's similar pitch as early as this week. While the Trump administration is arguing that a rollback of Flores is necessary to end the forced separation of children and parents, the attorneys who brokered the settlement and other legal experts say that's not the case. They're arguing for a return to the system used for decades, in which immigrant families were granted supervised release until their court dates. "They could just release the parent and child together," Gelernt told TPM. "They aren't going to be flight risk or danger." Wesevich is pushing courts for a similar solution. "The government has a lot of ankle bracelets," he told TPM. "They could use those to guarantee that families will appear for immigration proceedings. That's the most cost-effective humane way." Blue states ride in On Tuesday, a coalition of 18 Democratic state attorneys general sued the Trump administration over the family separation policy, representing Massachusetts, California, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington State and the District of Columbia. "Child internment camps in America -- the Trump Administration has hit a new low," said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra in a statement sent to TPM. "Today we are taking the Trump Administration to court because the safety, security and well-being of our children is too important to be threatened by a heartless political maneuver. Not only does the Trump Administration's policy impact the health and safety of these separated families, it also threatens California's ability to ensure our residents' rights and health are protected." The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Seattle, Washington, is aiming to strike down the Trump administration's family separation policy and force the administration to immediately reunify the 2,000-plus families in ICE custody that remain separated today. "Parents are not provided with information about their children's whereabouts or how to locate them. As a result, parents have been unable to locate or communicate with their children, are not receiving regular in-person visitation or phone contact with their children, and have not been told if or when their families will be reunified," the complaint says. Without federal court intervention forcing reunification, the attorneys general argue, the President's executive order "will have no impact on the thousands of families who have already been traumatized."

PHOENIX (AP) -- The Trump administration says a ruling this week by a federal judge in San Diego requiring the government to reunify families separated at the border means authorities can legally keep families detained until their cases are complete. The interpretation means immigrant families could spend months or even years in detention -- even those seeking asylum -- because of a years-long backlog in immigration court. The Justice Department has said cases in which immigrants remain detained move through the system quicker than if they are released, but the backlog is still thousands of cases deep. The Department of Justice said in a court filing Friday in Los Angeles that a case known as the Flores agreement allows the government to detain families now that the California judge has barred their separation. "The Trump Administration has been engaged -- since January of 2017 --in restoring order to the lawlessness at the Southwest border and protecting our nation's citizens, but we are beholden to a broken immigration system that Congress has refused to fix and that courts have exacerbated," the department said in a news release. The Flores agreement is a long-standing guide as to how and how long the government can detain immigrant children. It stems from a lawsuit filed in 1985 by an immigrant girl, Jenny Lisette Flores, who was detained by immigration authorities in poor conditions and who was not allowed to be released to an aunt. The Flores agreement requires the government to release children from immigration detention "without unnecessary delay," which the government has generally interpreted to mean about 20 days. But the DOJ is zeroing in on the requirement, saying the order this week from U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw requires that children's release be delayed so that they can stay with their parents. Sabraw set a 30-day deadline for reuniting parents and children and called for young children to be reunited more quickly. The ACLU is disputing the Trump administration's interpretation of the ruling. Jeff Crouere Lee Gelernt, deputy director of its Immigrants' Rights Project, said the government has a constitutional obligation to release parents who don't pose a flight risk or danger, and that parents can choose to release their children if they don't want them to be in a family detention center. "Ultimately the (San Diego) case leaves it up to parents to decide what is in the best interests of the child," Gelernt said. "It would be flatly unconstitutional if the government's purpose in detaining families is punitive or is intended to serve as a deterrent." The administration has long-argued that releasing asylum-seekers who cross the border illegally amounts to catch-and-release and results in many not showing up for their court hearings. The administration says it is enforcing a zero-tolerance policy requiring border agents to arrest and prosecute anyone caught crossing the border illegally. That resulted in more than 2,000 children being separated from their parents.

(Reuters) - The U.S. government was barred temporarily on Monday from quickly deporting immigrant parents reunited with their children while a federal court considers the impact on childrens' rights to seek asylum. The government is working to meet a court order to reunite by July 26 around 2,500 immigrant children who were separated by U.S. immigration officials from their parents at the U.S.-Mexican border. The American Civil Liberties Union, a rights group that brought the case that led to the reunification order, said in court papers on Monday that immigrant parents should be given a week after being reunited to decide if they want to be deported alone or as a family. "A one-week stay is a reasonable and appropriate remedy to ensure that the unimaginable trauma these families have suffered does not turn even worse because parents made an uninformed decision about the fate of their child," the ACLU wrote in a filing with a San Diego federal court. At a hearing on Monday, Judge Dana Sabraw of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego said he would issue a stay on deporting reunified parents until the government could respond to the ACLU request. Sabraw gave the government a week to respond and will consider the ACLU request on July 24. The ACLU has used the case to challenge a policy of President Donald Trump's administration of separating families as part of a broader crackdown on illegal immigration. The president ordered the practice stopped on June 20 after widespread public outcry. Sabraw ordered on June 26 that children should be returned to their parents within specified deadlines, and has been overseeing the process. In its filing, the ACLU said parents must determine if their child should remain in the United States to pursue their own asylum claim, but that decision requires time to discuss with a lawyer or advocate for the child. The rights group said it was acting on "persistent and increasing rumors" of rapid deportations, which it said the U.S. government has not denied. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Many of the immigrants separated from their children were seeking asylum after fleeing violence and crime in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Children were sent to multiple care facilities across the country, and their parents were incarcerated in immigration detention centers or federal prisons - in keeping with the government's "zero tolerance" policy under which all adults crossing the border illegally would face prosecution. (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware and Daniel Trotta in New York; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien, Noeleen Walder and Frances Kerry) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lawyers for immigrant families separated by the U.S. government at the border with Mexico said a federal judge's order barring rapid deportations until at least next Tuesday would give them breathing room as they struggled for access to clients. The families had been separated amid a broader crackdown on illegal immigration by President Donald Trump's administration, sparking an international outcry and a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The president ordered that the practice be halted on June 20. Judge Dana Sabraw, in Monday's order, sided with the ACLU, which argued that parents facing imminent deportation should have a week to decide if they want to leave their children in the United States to pursue asylum separately. Sabraw asked the government to respond before the next hearing on July 24. Until then, he halted rapid deportations. The judge's order gave lawyers more time to "figure out what reunification is going to mean for our clients," said Beth Krause, a supervising lawyer at the New York-based Legal Aid Society's Immigrant Youth Project. In a related ruling in a separate case on Tuesday, the Legal Aid Society won a temporary court order barring the government from moving any of the dozens of separated migrant children the group represents in New York without at least 48 hours' notice. The order also required the government to say ahead of time if children were being moved so that they could be released, detained with their families, or deported. Legal Aid had asked for an emergency injunction on Monday, arguing that the government was swiftly moving children and parents without giving them time to speak to lawyers about the possible legal consequences, including removal from the country. At least two of its young clients had been due to be moved to a detention center in Texas that was not licensed to care for children, the group said, and other children were due to be moved to undisclosed locations. "This information is crucial for our clients - many young children who already suffered enough trauma - to make informed decisions about pursuing asylum or other forms of relief," Adrienne Holder, the lead lawyer at Legal Aid's civil practice, said in a statement. U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain said the order expired on Thursday unless extended or modified by another judge, and that it applied only to Legal Aid's clients and not to all of the thousands of separated children. Jorge Baron, executive director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, said Judge Sabraw's broader ban on rapid deportations "buys us a little bit of time." "I am still uncertain we have made contact with all the parents who are detained in our particular region," he said. Baron's group has secured legal representation for several dozen separated parents sent to government detention centers in Washington state. But even on Monday, he said, he learned of an immigrant mother who had yet to make contact with a lawyer. "She might have slipped through the cracks," without the judge's order, Baron said. Last month, Sabraw set a July 26 deadline for the government to reunite children who were separated from their parents at the border with Mexico. Many of the immigrants are fleeing violence in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Tom Hogue and Bernadette Baum)

States sue Trump over immigrant families as Congress quarrels By Richard Cowan and Jonathan Stempel Reuters June 26. 2018 11:05PM A young boy stands holding an American flag in front of the U.S. Government Federal Building during a protest against U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration policies in New York City on Tuesday. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid) Judge bars separation of immigrants from children, orders reunification WASHINGTON/NEW YORK -- More than a dozen states sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over its separation of migrant children and parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, saying President Donald Trump's order last week ending the breakups was illusory. In a complaint filed with U.S. District Court in Seattle, 17 states and the District of Columbia argued the administration's policy was unconstitutional in part because it was "motivated by animus and a desire to harm" immigrants arriving from Latin America. "The new federal executive order does not bring back together the thousands of families that were torn apart by the federal government's policy, and it does not prevent families from being separated in the future," Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, a Democrat, said in a statement on the lawsuit. The family separations began because of the administration's 2-month-old "zero tolerance" policy of seeking to prosecute all adults who cross the border illegally, including those traveling with children. But Trump backtracked last Wednesday amid mounting global outrage spurred by images of children being held in cages. In an executive order ending the family separations, Trump did not explain how his hardline immigration policies could be adjusted to keep families intact and house them while their legal status is assessed. Although the administration has said the zero tolerance policy remains in place, officials said on Monday that parents who crossed illegally with their children would not face prosecution for the time being, because the government was running short of space to house them. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told a Senate hearing on Tuesday that most of the 2,000-plus children who had been separated from their parents could not be reunited with them until Congress passes new legislation. A 1997 court settlement known as the Flores agreement set policy for the detention of minors in the custody of immigration officials, and a federal appeals court has interpreted it to allow immigration officials to detain families for only 20 days. While that settlement is in place, Azar said the children could not be moved to be with their parents in detention. "I cannot reunite them while the parents are in custody because the court order doesn't allow kids to be with their parents for more than 20 days," Azar said. He called on Congress to fix the Flores agreement. Until it does so, he said, HHS will have to wait for families to go through immigration proceedings or be granted asylum before reuniting children with their parents. The children separated from their parents in recent weeks are now scattered across the country, some in foster homes and others in institutions, their whereabouts often unknown to their parents. In a ruling on Tuesday that recognized the president's broad authority to set immigration policy, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote, upheld Trump's travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries. Congress divided After retreating on the family separations, Trump urged Congress to act quickly and follow up his order with legislation. But he then said lawmakers from his Republican Party, which has a majority in Congress, should give up on it. The House of Representatives was expected to vote on Wednesday on a broad-based immigration bill that would bar the separation of migrant children from their parents and provide $25 billion for a wall that Trump has vowed to build along the U.S.-Mexico border. House Speaker Paul Ryan said the broader bill would also resolve the issue of young adults known as "Dreamers," who were brought to the United States illegally as children, focus on a merit-based immigration system and secure U.S. borders and the rule of law. But the measure was widely expected to fail. Several House conservatives left a closed-door meeting of Republicans on Tuesday expressing discontent with the broad bill. Without their support, it will likely be rejected. Ryan said he would not rule out the possibility of bringing to a vote a narrower bill addressing only the detention of immigrant families, if the broader bill did not pass. 'Humanitarian standards' Senate Democrats and Republicans have been exploring possible legislation to ban the separation of immigrant children from their families and require rapid reunification of children taken from their parents under the zero tolerance policy. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday he would like to see the Senate unanimously pass legislation to prevent family separations. "We're hopeful that they can reach an agreement to deal with this real emergency issue," McConnell told reporters, referring to a Senate compromise effort by Democrat Dianne Feinstein and Republican Ted Cruz. "If they can, I would hope that it'd be something the Senate could pass on a voice vote," McConnell said. First lady Melania Trump plans to visit immigration facilities later this week, her spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said on Tuesday, without giving further details. Melania Trump last week visited a shelter that houses migrant children in Texas, but the trip was overshadowed by controversy over a jacket she wore with the words: I really don't care, do u?" scrawled on the back. (Reporting by Richard Cowan and Jonathan Stempel; Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Amanda Becker, Susan Cornwell and Yeganeh Torbati in Washington; Writing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Kieran Murray; Editing by Paul Simao and Peter Cooney)

"There may be some litigation," President Trump said off-the-cuff as he signed an executive order purporting to suspend his administration's policy of taking migrant children away from their parents. It was an understatement. In the subsequent chaos, with Congress increasingly unable to pass legislation to address the situation, an army of lawyers mobilized, filing cases aimed at permanently ending the Trump administration's family separation policy and reuniting the thousands of parents and children still held in separate detention facilities in different states. Late Tuesday night, the first of these cases struck home. A federal judge in San Diego blocked any future family separations and ordered the government to reunite all separated families within 30 days, adding that children under five years old who have been torn from their parents must be returned within 14 days, and all parents must be put in phone contact with their children within 10 days. The decision is likely just the opening salvo in a long legal battle that will be waged in federal courts across the country. Here are the cases most likely to force the administration's hand. Reuniting separated families U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw, an appointee of President George W. Bush sided Tuesday night with the American Civil Liberties Union and issued a sweeping national injunction on the Trump administration's family separation policy. ACLU lead attorney Lee Gelernt had called on Judge Sabraw to act swiftly in a status hearing on Friday, telling him that without an immediate court order forcing the administration to reunify the families, the U.S. will have on its hands "a humanitarian crisis of the utmost proportions." Sabrew agreed, and in his ruling painted a damning picture of the Trump administration's self-inflicted crisis. "There is no genuine dispute that the Government was not prepared to accommodate the mass influx of separated children," he wrote. "Measures were not in place to provide for communication between governmental agencies responsible for detaining parents and those responsible for housing children, or to provide for ready communication between separated parents and children. There was no reunification plan in place, and families have been separated for months." Sabraw also agreed with the ACLU that Trump's executive order that purported to end immigrant family separation does not do so in practice. "It is silent on the issue of reuniting families that have already been separated or will be separated in the future," he said of the White House's order. Protestors led by a coalition of interfaith religious leaders demonstrate against US immigration policy that separates parents from their children, June 23, 2018 outside the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, California. (Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images) With the administration expected to fight the national injunction, legal groups across the country are fighting for the reunification of individual families, hoping to create test cases that eventually lead to the courts declaring the separations unconstitutional. In federal court in D.C. on Wednesday afternoon, attorney Jerome Wesevich will argue on behalf of three immigrant parents currently being held in South Texas whose children have been removed from them and sent to detention centers in other states. Wesevich told TPM that this is a clear violation of their Fifth Amendment rights. "Supreme Court has clearly held that the bond between parent and child is sacred and more important than any property rights, so government interference with that bond has to have a darn good reason, or in legal terms, a compelling state interest," explained Wesevich, who is affiliated with the Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid group. "We believe the government has no legitimate basis for separating them." One of the parents Wesevich is representing, an asylum-seeker from Guatemala who fled after allegedly receiving death threats, has been able to speak to her three children a couple times each week since they were separated. Another, a mother from Guatemala, has only spoken once to her child since they were separated in mid-May. The third, an asylum-seeker from Honduras, does not know where his daughter is and has not been able to speak to her at all. "These individual parents are examples of what over 2,000 parents are suffering right now," Wesevich told TPM. "Ultimately, the case could set the precedent that it is unconstitutional for government to separate children from their parents in immigration custody." As President Trump calls openly for immigrants to be denied due process, the ACLU and other legal groups are hoping courts send a strong message that the Constitution cannot allow that to happen. "The Fifth Amendment specifically says it applies to persons , not citizens," Gelernt told TPM. "The right to due process applies to everyone, including non-citizens." Rolling back Flores Embedded in the text of Trump's executive order was a directive to his Justice Department to ask federal courts to overturn key protections for immigrant children in detention. The Flores settlement, which dates back to the mid-1990s and was upheld in 2016, provides that immigrants younger than 18 years old can't be held in immigration custody for longer than 20 days. It also set standards for the food, medical care and other conditions of their detention, saying the government can't hold children in facilities that can't pass state child welfare licensing regulations. Now, the Trump administration is asking a federal judge in Los Angeles to modify Flores so it can detain immigrant children and parents together indefinitely, "throughout the pendency of criminal proceedings," in facilities that were not designed for children. The National Youth Law Program, which originally fought for the Flores settlement, is now defending it from this modification effort. They are pointing to the Obama administration's failed effort to convince the courts that Flores does not apply to immigrant families detained together for long periods of time, but only to migrant children who arrived in the U.S. unaccompanied. Federal judge Dolly Gee, who rejected that line of argument, will hear the Trump administration's similar pitch as early as this week. While the Trump administration is arguing that a rollback of Flores is necessary to end the forced separation of children and parents, the attorneys who brokered the settlement and other legal experts say that's not the case. They're arguing for a return to the system used for decades, in which immigrant families were granted supervised release until their court dates. "They could just release the parent and child together," Gelernt told TPM. "They aren't going to be flight risk or danger." Wesevich is pushing courts for a similar solution. "The government has a lot of ankle bracelets," he told TPM. "They could use those to guarantee that families will appear for immigration proceedings. That's the most cost-effective humane way." Blue states ride in On Tuesday, a coalition of 18 Democratic state attorneys general sued the Trump administration over the family separation policy, representing Massachusetts, California, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington State and the District of Columbia. "Child internment camps in America -- the Trump Administration has hit a new low," said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra in a statement sent to TPM. "Today we are taking the Trump Administration to court because the safety, security and well-being of our children is too important to be threatened by a heartless political maneuver. Not only does the Trump Administration's policy impact the health and safety of these separated families, it also threatens California's ability to ensure our residents' rights and health are protected." The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Seattle, Washington, is aiming to strike down the Trump administration's family separation policy and force the administration to immediately reunify the 2,000-plus families in ICE custody that remain separated today. "Parents are not provided with information about their children's whereabouts or how to locate them. As a result, parents have been unable to locate or communicate with their children, are not receiving regular in-person visitation or phone contact with their children, and have not been told if or when their families will be reunified," the complaint says. Without federal court intervention forcing reunification, the attorneys general argue, the President's executive order "will have no impact on the thousands of families who have already been traumatized."

Since then, September 5 has been growing in recognition as a major event in Latin America's progressive calendar. WikiLeaks' release of cables from the United States embassy in La Paz has shed light on its attempts to create divisions in the social and indigenous movements that make up the support base of the country's first indigenous-led government. The cables prove the embassy sought to use the US government aid agency, USAID, to promote US interests. A March 6, 2006, cable titled "Dissent in Evo's ranks" reports on a meeting only months after Morales' inauguration as president in December 2005 with "a social sectors leader" from the altiplano (highlands) region in the west. Neoliberal policies "which have fed the growing political disaffection of Bolivia's majority poor, have helped fuel the country's rolling 'social revolution.'" This was how a May 6, 2006, US embassy cable from La Paz recently released by WikiLeaks viewed the powerful wave of struggle that led to the election of Bolivia's first indigenous president, Evo Morales, in 2005. This secret assessment came despite Washington publicly trumpeting neoliberal policies as the way to solve the problems of Latin America's poor. Speaking to CNN en Espanol on July 27, Bolivian President Evo Morales said "When presidents do not submit to the United States government, to its policies, there are coups." His comments are backed by attempts by the US and Bolivia's right wing to bring down his government. Recently released WikiLeaks cables prove the US embassy was in close contact with dissident military officers only months before a coup attempt was carried out in September 2008. But the close relationship between the US and Bolivia's military has a long history. Recently released United States embassy cables from Bolivia have provided additional insight to the events leading up to the September 2008 coup attempt against the Andean country's first indigenous president. On September 9, 2008, President Evo Morales expelled then-US ambassador Philip Goldberg as evidence emerged that Goldberg and embassy officials had been meeting with several key civilian and military figures involved in an unfolding coup plot. Pablo Solon completed his term as Ambassador for the Plurinational State of Bolivia to the United Nations on June 30. As representative of a small and poor country, Solon has played a key role in perhaps the decisive political struggle of this century: the fight against climate change and the unjust economic system causing environmental and social crisis. On behalf of the Bolivian government led by indigenous President Evo Morales, Solon has pushed for the UN to enshrine the right to water as a human right, and led efforts to implement a Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth. In April and May, while in South America as part of solidarity brigades to Venezuela and Bolivia, I met some people who have risked everything to make their communities and their countries better places to live. I became so used to people passionately fighting for things they believed in that when I returned to Australia I received a sharp shock. Suddenly I was back among people who, in general, did not care much or want to know about issues of inequality or other problems in our society. It is for these people that this is written.

The Lee County Sheriff's Office in Florida fired a member of the force for posting overtly racist comments on his Facebook page, on which he listed the police department as his employer, a local NBC affiliate reports. Now, he's going to the media to make a case for his behavior. "According to an internal affairs report," the news outlet writes, "Deputy Jean Lopez was fired in April for posting racial comments on his Facebook page." In March, Lopez posted a video of a black man talking about the company he owns. The deputy's accompanying commentary: "Can someone please tell me what the [expletive] this monkey is saying?" ACCORDING to the article it seems he may be a Domestic Abuser as well.

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Water Is Life summit participants were outraged that governments allow Nestle and other water companies to control and sell water for a profit while failing to secure clean water for communities. News In the final stretch of the campaign trail, Justin Trudeau -- Canada's next prime minister and leader of a majority government -- vowed to end boil-water advisories on First Nations reserves. In cahoots Council of Canadians is in New York City this week to participate in events commemorating the one-year anniversary of the UN General Assembly resolution on the human right to water and sanitation. Blog The AG report highlights the stark contrast between conditions of First Nation reserves and other communities, and the government's repeated failures to address adequately the deplorable conditions. Blog

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Submitted by Juan Conatz on Dec 29 2010 08:42 An interesting series of personal recollections of individuals participation and experiences of the poll tax riot in London's Trafalgar Square in 1990, which marked the beginning of the end... The far-right in Ukraine are acting as the vanguard of a protest movement that is being reported as pro-democracy. The situation on the ground is not as simple as pro-EU and trade versus pro-... Pannekoek hammers at the idea that party and class must be antagonistic, as the history of German and Russian parties had shown by 1936. Rather, the working class must self-actuate and self-... Click here to register now. Logged in users: > Can comment on articles and discussions > Get 'recent posts' refreshed more regularly > Bookmark articles to your own reading list > Use the site private messaging system > Start forum discussions, submit articles, and more...

"The world was recently rocked by the Paris terror attacks at the offices of Charlie Hebdo and beyond. We now know that this was an act that was seemingly related to religion. It's an event that's stirred lots of conversation about the role of religion in society -- a theme that's explored in-depth in my novel," author Sam Jane Brown explained, adding, "It's a thought that's rather difficult to wrap your mind around. A world without religion -- a new world order -- would lead to such profound transformation in so many areas of life. It's hard to imagine." Much is written about One World Government, but books and films about One World Religion are rare. In her popular, controversial religious-themed mystery "Forgotten Word," author Sam Jane Brown predicts the coming "One World Religion" that will be imposed upon humanity by the United Nations. The story alludes to a series of suspicious events that have taken place under the auspices of the U.N. in recent years - many of which strongly suggest that the global diplomatic body actually harbors sinister plans to eradicate traditional Christianity and replace it with a new, amoral faith based on the precepts of globalism and Islam. "The disgrace of this relates to how this is all happening right in front of our faces but everyone who has any influence is totally silent," Brown said. "We have U.N. meetings and international rules being issued that are clearly intended to wipe out Christian beliefs and replace them with socialist-inspired junk." The book, "Forgotten Word," website ( www.samjanebrown.com ), explains the U.N. religious takeover through an engaging mystery. The story begins when a detective, Zena McGrath, who works for an International Police Organization, is assigned to investigate the murders of Catholic Priests. The mystery takes McGrath on a gripping, whirlwind tour of intrigue and fatal plotting at the Vatican and beyond. The book hits at the root of the U.N.'s role in remaking world religion in its own nihilistic image. The threat of a U.N. world religion revolution has been raised before. As early as 2000, those who understand how things really work in the world were citing the U.N.'s Millennium Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders as a clear warning of the coming destruction of the church. More recently, religious thought leaders have been sounding a similar alarm. Lisa Haven, of "Before It's News," commented about U.N. activities in 2016 by saying, "The truth is the One World Religion has already kick started and the formation of the New World Order is now underway. We know the Bible tells us that a 'false prophet' will arise to deceive even the elect and that this 'prophet' will cause all to worship an image in the likeness of the Antichrist." To Haven and many others, as suggested in the book, the "False Prophet" is the leadership of the U.N. - Anti-Trump Women's Movement Teams Up With Islamic Terrorist: Clarion Project Veterans slam Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Democrats for giving illegal aliens priority -

"The world was recently rocked by the Paris terror attacks at the offices of Charlie Hebdo and beyond. We now know that this was an act that was seemingly related to religion. It's an event that's stirred lots of conversation about the role of religion in society -- a theme that's explored in-depth in my novel," author Sam Jane Brown explained, adding, "It's a thought that's rather difficult to wrap your mind around. A world without religion -- a new world order -- would lead to such profound transformation in so many areas of life. It's hard to imagine." Much is written about One World Government, but books and films about One World Religion are rare. In her popular, controversial religious-themed mystery "Forgotten Word," author Sam Jane Brown predicts the coming "One World Religion" that will be imposed upon humanity by the United Nations. The story alludes to a series of suspicious events that have taken place under the auspices of the U.N. in recent years - many of which strongly suggest that the global diplomatic body actually harbors sinister plans to eradicate traditional Christianity and replace it with a new, amoral faith based on the precepts of globalism and Islam. "The disgrace of this relates to how this is all happening right in front of our faces but everyone who has any influence is totally silent," Brown said. "We have U.N. meetings and international rules being issued that are clearly intended to wipe out Christian beliefs and replace them with socialist-inspired junk." The book, "Forgotten Word," website ( www.samjanebrown.com ), explains the U.N. religious takeover through an engaging mystery. The story begins when a detective, Zena McGrath, who works for an International Police Organization, is assigned to investigate the murders of Catholic Priests. The mystery takes McGrath on a gripping, whirlwind tour of intrigue and fatal plotting at the Vatican and beyond. The book hits at the root of the U.N.'s role in remaking world religion in its own nihilistic image. The threat of a U.N. world religion revolution has been raised before. As early as 2000, those who understand how things really work in the world were citing the U.N.'s Millennium Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders as a clear warning of the coming destruction of the church. More recently, religious thought leaders have been sounding a similar alarm. Lisa Haven, of "Before It's News," commented about U.N. activities in 2016 by saying, "The truth is the One World Religion has already kick started and the formation of the New World Order is now underway. We know the Bible tells us that a 'false prophet' will arise to deceive even the elect and that this 'prophet' will cause all to worship an image in the likeness of the Antichrist." To Haven and many others, as suggested in the book, the "False Prophet" is the leadership of the U.N. - Anti-Trump Women's Movement Teams Up With Islamic Terrorist: Clarion Project Veterans slam Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Democrats for giving illegal aliens priority -

This video of a Christian extremist mother talking about her thirteen-year-old son murdering Middle Easterners for the sake of Jesus is really horrifying... oh wait, they're Muslim, so forget it, it's just because of meaningless differences in culture. Watch below: Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

We are all familiar with the story of the prodigal son, though that is not a story about religious conversion. Still, one would think there was enough in the Bible to remind us that where there is life, there is hope, when it comes to a person becoming a Christian. And even if someone began in the faith, and then backslide or even repudiated it for a while, why should we assume that such a person is beyond hope, beyond help, beyond a return to the Lord? Now this sort of coming and going is understandable from a human point of view, but it would be hard to explain from a deterministic one (did God really pre-determine a person to be a Christian early in life, then commit apostasyand write books attacking Christianity, then return to the faith?). Whatever your view on such matters the story of A.N. Wilson is both an interesting and compelling one. Here is a link to his story. See what you think, and reflect. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1169145/Religion-hatred-Why-longer-cowed-secular-zealots.html

You are not signed in as a Premium user; we rely on Premium users to support our news reporting. Sign in or Sign up today! The One True Faith is the flagship show of Church Militant, the series that started it all 10 years ago. It's getting a facelift via digital remastering, and in this episode The Download panel revisits Season 3, Episode 1 on what it means to be an authentic Christian, where Michael Voris clarifies that to be a Christian one must believe and live what Christ has always taught by means of His Catholic Church. This past week's topics include priorities of the U.S. bishops, today's seminarians, positive trends and Catholic education among other subjects. Tune in daily to watch The Download live at ChurchMilitant.com at 10:30 a.m. ET, Monday-Friday for the best panel discussion in the Catholic media world.

Janie B. Cheaney | 4/22/13, 12:04 pm I agree with President Obama: last week was "tough." Every major story--the belated coverage of Kermit Gosnell's charnel house, the Texas explosion, the ricin scare, the Boston bombing and the hunt for the bombers--raised ultimate questions about life and death. "God" and "prayer" and "justice" figured prominently in last week's public conversation, and according to today's " new new atheists," such terms are not likely to be eliminated. Nor, perhaps, should they be. Religion | Too many Christians still don't know how to offer grace and mercy to people suffering from mental illness and suicidal thoughts Whitney Davis | 4/16/13, 12:30 pm Earlier this month, Matthew Warren, son of Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren and his wife, Kay, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The 27-year-old suffered from a mental illness that led to depression and suicidal thoughts, according to a statement issued by the church. Since announcing Matthew's death, the Warren family has received an outpouring of support and condolences from the Christian community.

An exclusive bottler of PepsiCo Inc. is halting operations in a Mexican town where it has become too dangerous to operate, almost three months after rival Coca-Cola Femsa did the same. The company, Grupo Gepp, suspended beverage-distribution operations in Ciudad Altamirano, about 170 miles (275 kilometers) southwest of Mexico City, "to guarantee the security of its people and its supply chain," PepsiCo said in an emailed statement. "PepsiCo respects Grupo Gepp's decision." In a separate statement, Grupo Gepp, which bottles and distributes beverages for PepsiCo in Mexico, said the closure was temporary. On Monday, Mexico City daily El Financiero reported on its website that gangs are shaking businesses down in the area and the company hasn't been able to guarantee the safety of its employees. Ciudad Altamirano, located in the southwestern state of Guerrero, which has experienced a surge of violence in recent years. Coca-Cola Femsa, Latin America's largest soft drink bottler, announced similar measures in March when it indefinitely closed its distribution operations there. The company cited months of harassment by criminal groups and the lack of an effective police response. Guerrero has seen homicides soar 19 percent this year, according to data posted on the Interior Ministry's website. Nationwide, homicides have surged this year, outpacing 2017, which saw the most deaths on record. Although the state and federal governments have attempted to boost security in the area, impunity still prevails, El Financiero reported. Closing operations will affect distribution to six nearby municipalities, according to the newspaper.

Recently, the Indian city of Calcutta witnessed a large demonstration marking the 69th anniversary of an infamous event, noted in the history books as the Great Calcutta Killings , and The Week of Long Knives . The initial riots in Calcutta alone claimed some 10,000 lives. In subsequent weeks and months a million more... Posted by AACONS # Friday, August 21, 2015 at 8:30pm 8/21/2015 at 8:30pm There is a concerted effort to undermine an indisputable truth -- Israel is the safest, most-welcoming, most open society for...

Two men arrested by Michael Rosfeld outside a Pittsburgh bar in December allege in a lawsuit that Rosfeld fabricated evidence, and an attorney for the two men said their case A former Florida police officer received an eight-year prison sentence for failing to tell a sexual partner he is HIV -positive. The Palm Beach Post reports that 41-year-old Ervans Saintclair LIVINGSTON, TN - An investigation is underway to determine how a 2-year-old in Overton County was injured on Friday night. Family members of Kayden Blodgett claim a "county cop in

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In Spain's Catalonia region, pro-independence groups have called a general strike today after police raided polling stations and beat protesters and prospective voters Sunday during an outlawed independence referendum. The violence injured more than 800 and led to mass protests Monday outside police stations across the region. Spain has called the referendum illegal and illegitimate, and on Monday the European Commission agreed, saying if Catalonia does become independent, it will be "outside the European Union." Topics: Spain Europe

Note that, in addition to shedding "excess" generals, admirals, majors, captains and other longterm leaders from our military, Obama has capped raises at 1%. From the publication MILITARY OFFICER, November 2014: "From 2000 to 2012, Congress worked hard to eliminate a 13.5 percent military pay gap with the private sector, caused by repeatedly capping military raises in the 1980s and '90s....Pay has been capped for two years, and the administration's FY 2015 budget proposes to continue caps for a total of six years....In September, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced an amendments to {override the president's authority to alter the raise from the ECI (Employment Cost Index)}...to provide the full 1.8 percent raise to match private-sector wage growth.}" We all know that inflation has been ignored in the Consumer Price Index. Your grocery and gas bills have far exceeded that which the government would like us to believe is the cost-of-doing-business not to mention the cost-of-living in the U.S. The cap severely hurts those just entering the military and often puts them on the rolls for food stamps and other social services. We all know the battles with the VA for healthcare services. The pressure of sending our military on endless tours of duty away from family, friends and any stability in their lives has already hit our ability to recruit "the best and the brightest " to protect our country, which is why so many go to work for private contractors in the most highly dangerous jobs. Placing them in any jeopardy where we do not have absolute control over their health will severely impact our ability to maintain an all volunteer force. I personally question the 21-day quarantine as every time I have been involved with contagion, the level was set a six weeks (42 days) simply because those who might carry a virus may not ever show symptoms, but may continue to shed the virus and, thus, expose others for that period of time. For those viral infections that respond to antibiotics, it's one risk. For those infections with no known "cure," it an entirely different risk to a potentially huge population. Ebola is the latter. Like Like Which Marburg vaccine? Or does the same vaccine work for both diseases? News update from Portland Press Herald - Portland, ME 'LePage (Maine Governor) says negotiations with Kaci Hickox break down over Ebola quarantine' 'Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention Director Dr. Sheila Pinette said on Tuesday that Hickox "may have been tested too early" in New Jersey, and that there's a chance that early tests would produce a false negative for Ebola. Some early tests for Ebola look for antibodies to the virus, which may not be detectable early in the 21-day incubation period. She said the only way to be sure Hickox does not have the virus is to wait the full 21 days.' Also, Fort Kent, ME law enforcement has not been forced to institute regular patrols around Hickox's house, as well as having a permanent detail following her wherever she goes and monitoring and recording her contacts with others. They hope this will be of potential value in case she does develop the full onset of symptoms - they will be able to contact anybody affected right away.' I'm assuming if she were to develop symptoms - the authorities would then quarantine everybody she's come in contact with. It is just so great to know that everybody else is worried about the infection and spread of Ebola and doing their part to ensure it does happen, and if it does - that they can deal with it in a timely and organized fashion. Everyone, that is, except the person responsible for the whole commotion. Selfish, conceited, condescending, petty, vindictive, self-centered disgusting jerk Kaci Hickox. Hero, my left eye!! {spit!} I wonder how much this pleasure of having her lead them by the nose is costing the local law enforcement, in every way possible? Who is going to absorb those costs - it is a small town, with limited resources. Is Obama going to offer them 'a bailout' or 'a stimulus'. What about the tourism industry in town she's killing? What about everybody else's civil liberties? Why are they forced to run off the street and hide when they see her swooping down the road on her bike like a freaking Typhoid Mary, but she is allowed to just roam around? When is enough going to be enough?

Former President George H.W. Bush, 93, is recovering in a Houston hospital from an infection, according to a family spokesman. Jim McGrath said Monday that Bush appeared to be responding to treatments and was eager to travel to his summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. He was hospitalized shortly after attending the funeral of his wife, Barbara, who died last week and was laid to rest Saturday in Houston. The former president uses a wheelchair and an electric scooter after developing a form of Parkinson's disease, and he has required hospital treatment several times in recent years for respiratory problems. Read more from The Sift Share this article with friends.

Last week the Government announced it had ordered enough doses to inoculate the entire population in a vaccine programme that would be the biggest for half a century. Health chiefs have already formulated a priority list of patients and the first jabs are expected to be administered in autumn. However, leading vaccine experts say not enough time has been given to testing the safety of the jab. Dr richard Halvorsen, author of the truth About Vaccines, said: "this has been rushed through quicker than any other vaccine in history, without any idea about whether it really works or is safe. "I am not going to have it or recom- mend it." Dr Halvorsen, who runs a GP practice in north London, added: "there is no point in immunising the vast majority of the population against a disease which is overwhelmingly mild in most healthy people with a vaccine of unknown safety and effectiveness."

Amber Vinson is now Ebola-free according to her family nurse and in a statement sent out via Twitter from CBS News . Doctors are no longer able to detect Ebola in infected nurse Amber Vinson, her family says pic.twitter.com/bcJevRCQ6Y -- Alex Romano (@alexromano) October 22, 2014 The statement reads: " Amber's mother, Debra Berry, spoke to her just a few hours ago. Amber is steadily regaining her strength and her spirits are high. We are overjoyed to announce that, as of yesterday evening, officials at Emory University Hospital and the Centers for Disease Control are no longer able to detect [the Ebola virus] in her body. She has also been approved for transfer from isolation. Amber remains under treatment within Emory's Serious Communicable Diseases Unit. They go on to add that the family is happy about her recovery and look forward to welcoming her home. While the CDC not confirmed that Vinson is free of Ebola they did say that she had been moved out of isolation.

CBS News reports that syphilis - an illness that's been around for centuries, afflicting monarchs, artists and regular folk alike - is on the rise in the U.S. with rates of the sexually transmitted disease climbing especially quickly among gay and bisexual men according to a new government report. The Charlotte Observer reports that the mayors of Los Angeles, Santa Fe and Salt Lake City reaffirmed their cities' bans on taxpayer-funded travel to North Carolina, after last week's compromise legislation that repealed North Carolina House Bill 2 but restricts anti-discrimination ordinances in N.C. cities and counties.

Get our newsletter delivered directly to your inbox I have already subscribed | Do not show this message again Several U.S. legislators have proposed to impose a 21-day quarantine period for all medical professionals who return to the United States after helping with the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The issue of a mandatory quarantine was a key theme discussed in the United States House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The discussions began after Dr. Craig Spencer in New York became the fourth person diagnosed with the disease in the United States. Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the Oversight committee's leading Democrat, told reporters after the hearing that he would consider supporting quarantine measures. "I want us to do whatever is necessary to make sure that our people are safe," Cummings said. "If there are areas where I think we can more effective and efficient, then we need to take a look at those." Calls from lawmakers overlap with similar policy proposals made by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the CDC, told Reuters on Friday that the organization began discussing the possibility of implementing quarantine measures in order to prevent a possible outbreak. "There are a number of options being discussed pertaining to the monitoring and mobility of healthcare workers who are returning to the United States from affected countries," Skinner stated. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization announced today that some Ebola vaccines would be available for trial use in West Africa starting in December. The WHO has been trying to expedite research to create a vaccine in order to help respond to a deadly outbreak of the disease that has claimed more than 4,000 lives.

Ankara: Turkey is to open a consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul again, four years after it was seized and its employees held hostage by Islamic State jihadists, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday. Ankara had opened a well-staffed consulate in Mosul, in a sign of Turkey's ambitions in northern Iraq, before the rise of Islamic State in there and in neighbouring Syria. But 46 Turks, including diplomats, their children, special forces officers and other Turkish employees were taken hostage by the jihadists in June 2014. The hostages were freed in September 2014 after a three-month ordeal. File image of Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. AP Symbolically, the consulate building was destroyed in a US-led coalition air strike in April 2016 carried out in coordination with Ankara. The city was retaken by Iraqi forces in June 2017. "The consulates general in Mosul and (the southern Iraqi city) of Basra will resume operations within 100 days," Erdogan told a meeting on government plans after his 24 June election victory. Turkish officials had previously indicated Ankara was keen to reopen the consulate in Mosul but this was the first mention that a time frame has been evoked. Turkey evacuated the Basra consulate for security reasons in 2014 a week after Islamic State seized the Mosul mission. Analysts have said that Turkey is keen to bolster its presence in Mosul, which was once part of the Ottoman Empire and which Ankara still regards as part of its natural regional sphere of influence. The circumstances in which the Mosul consulate staff were freed remain murky, with reports at the time indicating they had been released in exchange for Islamic State militants held by Turkey. Erdogan, then premier, insisted no ransom had been paid, saying there were "only diplomatic and political negotiations" and describing the outcome as "a diplomatic victory." The former Turkish consul general in Mosul who was kidnapped with the other Turks, Ozturk Yilmaz, went into politics and became a deputy chairman of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and is its main spokesman on foreign affairs.

Beirut: Lebanese troops have advanced near Syria, almost separating a border town from rebel-held areas in nearby fields, a senior military official and state media said Tuesday. The military official and the National News Agency said that troops captured a post they lost when Islamic extremists overran the town of Arsal last month, killing and capturing a number of soldiers and police officers. Representational Image. Reuters The military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said "90 percent" of the area between the town of Arsal and its rebel-held outskirts that stretches to Syria is now held by troops. "Arsal is a Lebanese town and the terrorists are now in the outskirts," the official said by telephone. The latest round of fighting that began on Monday came as anger swelled in Lebanon over the continued captivity of the soldiers and police officers. Over the past days, images emerged showing that militants of the Islamic State group beheaded a second captive Lebanese soldier. Militants in Syria, including the Islamic State group, are holding around 20 soldiers and police officers. They were seized after militants briefly overran Arsal, the most serious spillover yet of Syria's conflict into the neighboring country.

TURKISH police claimed yesterday that they had caught the gunman who murdered 39 people in an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Eve. Officials said the man, an Uzbek national who "trained in Afghanistan," had confessed to the massacre, responsibility for which was claimed by the Islamic State (Isis) terror group. He has been named as Abdulkadir Masharipov. Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin said an Iraqi man and three women "from Egypt and from Africa" were seized with Mr Masharipov and that there was "a high chance that they may be connected to [Isis] because they were staying in the same house." Isis has said the atrocity was a response to Turkey's activities in northern Syria, where the country's army has moved in with the stated aim of defeating the terrorist group. Previously Turkey had repeatedly been accused of assisting Isis in its war to overthrow the Syrian government by buying oil and supplying weapons.

Honar Hama Rasheed | Erbil | (Niqash.org) | - - As the issue of Iraqi Kurdistan's vacant presidency heats up, delegations from the US, Turkey and Iran have all visited to have their say. But what do they really want? The current Iraqi Kurdish presidency officially ended yesterday. Massoud Barzani, who heads the Kurdish Democratic [...] By Anne Koopman | ( Global Voices Online) | - - At least nine people fell victim to a spate of attacks in the Turkey's largest city Istanbul and the south-eastern province Sirnak on August 10. As the country gets knee-deep in the Middle East crisis, the fear of more attacks is pervasive. Ever since [...] BBC | (Video News Report) | - - "Turkey may have joined the air war against Islamic State militants across the border in Syria. The nation has also been taking action against Kurdish fighters that it accuses of launching attacks within Turkey. One such airstrike took place last Saturday over the border in Iraq, where [...]

Iraqi forces yesterday launched a large military operation against Daesh in the province of Kirkuk, a security source said. Police Captain Hamed Al-Obeidi told the Anadolu Agency that "the joint forces of the Federal Police and the Popular Mobilization Forces have launched a military operation to secure villages in the Riyadh district of Hawija district, 55 kilometres southwest of the city of Kirkuk." He added that "the operation was supported by fighter jets, and was based on intelligence concerning the activities of the organisation's militants." "The joint forces confiscated weapons and ammunition from the militants a few hours after the operation began," he said. Over the past weeks, the province of Kirkuk has seen escalating attacks, mostly by armed men linked to Daesh against military and civilian targets. Baghdad declared victory over Daesh in December; however, the organisation still has sleeper cells across Iraq and has begun using its original style of guerrilla attacks. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Davutoglu said if the Iraqi administration guarantees security in Mosul and in the border with Turkey, then the Turkish military presence will not be necessary in the neighboring nation. The prime minister added that until that day, they will take measures for the national security, and nobody has to see that in a negative way. Davutoglu said that Turkey's military presence in Bashika does not pose a threat to the territorial integrity of Iraq, and accused third nations of trying to damage the links between the two States. Turkey insists that its troops protect a training camp for Iraqis in order to contribute to retaking the control of Mosul, which is currently in the hands of the ISIL. However, Iraq claims that the Turkish military presence was not coordinated between the two parties and various lawmakers called the operation a violation of the national sovereignty. sgl/ajs/acl/gas

The labor force participation rate (LFPR) is a critical indicator for gauging both the health of our economy and the overall well-being of our society and families. This index tracks the proportion of people in any specified population who are in the workforce: that is, those who are engaged in paid labor plus those who are looking for work. 1 A rising LFPR signifies a more economically active population with more would-be workers and thus typically also a more broadly generated flow of work income. Conversely, a declining LFPR means that a larger share of the population is out of the labor force altogether and thus dependent for support on other resources. For the better part of the past two decades, America's LFPR has been heading mainly in the wrong direction. Worrisome in and of itself, the decline in LFPRs also reflects and further exacerbates a multiplicity of additional social ills. Since America is a nation characterized by constant and often dramatic demographic change, it is essential to use "apples-to-apples" comparisons in assessing trends in the LFPR. 2 A key apples-to-apples population for such comparisons is the cohort aged 25-54, commonly known as the prime-working-age population. It should be self-evident why this group matters so much: It comprises the backbone of the workforce; it is the group in which, because of health and life-cycle considerations, labor force participation tends to be highest; and it is the group that is arguably most central to family formation and the raising of children. Unfortunately, according to the national employment information collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), LFPR trends for America's prime-working-age population have been gradually worsening for quite some time. The BLS reports that the LFPR for prime-working-age Americans hit its all-time high in the late 1990s, with annual averages of 84.1 percent for 1997-1999. In 2016, by contrast, it averaged 81.3 percent: in other words, nearly 3 percentage points lower than in 1997. The 2016 reading was 1.6 percentage points lower than a decade earlier in 2006. Perhaps even more remarkably, it was 0.6 point lower in 2016 than in 2011, in the immediate grim aftermath of the Great Recession. The reading for prime-age LFPR did rise somewhat (0.4 point) between 2015 and 2016; even so, the 2016 reading remained lower than it had been 30 years earlier in 1986. If America today maintained the same prime-working-age LFPR it achieved two decades ago, nearly 5 million more men and women 25-54 years of age would be in the workforce. The implications for economic growth, family incomes, and the vibrancy of our communities would be significant. So why are LFPR trends set on such a bad long-term course? In arithmetic terms, the answer is simple: The LFPR for prime-age males has been in ominous long-term decline since the mid-1960s. 3 The collapse of work for men has taken on shocking dimensions: The employment-to-population ratio or "work rate" for prime age men is slightly lower today (2016) than it was in 1940 at the tail end of the Great Depression. While "globalization" and structural changes in the economy no doubt have played some role, we should note that the decline in prime male LFPRs has been more dramatic in the U.S. than in most other rich Western societies affected by those same global economic forces. America's uniquely huge "criminal class," as some have called it, is surely part of the explanation as well: Today, an estimated 20 million men and women (overwhelmingly men) who are not behind bars have a felony conviction in their past. 4 Also at play may be America's various government disability benefit programs, which may inadvertently incentivize some working-age adults to subsist on these support programs instead of remaining in the workforce. 5 Labor force participation rates for prime-age women are now following the same grim downward course that their prime male counterparts embarked upon several decades earlier. This is not because more women are having children; fertility levels in the U.S. have declined slightly over the past decade. The great postwar entry of women into the paid labor economy, however, was sufficiently powerful to compensate for this decline and continued to lift overall prime-age LFPRs through the 1970s, '80s, and '90s. Then, in the late 1990s, the prime-age-female LFPR commenced its own troubling decline, a drop that has continued unabated for nearly 20 years. Today, the prime-age-female LFPR is back down to its level in the late 1980s, which means that social progress in this important sphere has been set back by about a generation. The long-term decline in America's prime-working-age LFPR has several important implications. First, it demonstrates that America is nowhere close to "full employment," regardless of what the "unemployment rate" may suggest. The unemployment rate is an increasingly misleading metric of labor market conditions because it does not take account of those who have left the labor force altogether--and today, there are three prime-age men neither working nor looking for work for each prime-age man who is technically "unemployed." Second, the American economy has been underperforming for a very long time, not only during the Obama era, but throughout the George W. Bush era as well. The declining prime-age labor force participation rate has far-reaching consequences for our nation--virtually all of them bad. It leads to slower growth, wider income and wealth gaps, higher welfare dependence and government budget deficits, greater pressure on fragile families, and reduced social mobility. It is imperative that citizens and elected representatives focus on the bane of declining labor force participation and commit to turning this indicator around. Nicholas Eberstadt holds the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). 1. More precisely, the LFPR is estimated for the civilian non-institutional population rather than the total population. Thus, it excludes persons in the armed services as well as persons behind bars, in nursing homes, etc. 2. It would be misleading, for example, to compare the LFPR for the 16+ population in the early postwar era with today's: Not only is a much larger share of today's youth population out of the workforce due to the expansion of higher education, but the fraction of the adult population comprised of people of traditional retirement ages (65 years and older) is also considerably larger than in earlier decades. All other things being equal, we would therefore expect educational expansion and population aging to reduce the measured LFPR for the 16+ population. 3. This problem is examined in detail in the author's recent study Men Without Work: America's Invisible Crisis (West Conshohocken, PA: Templeton Press, 2016). 4. Ibid., pp. 129-148. 5. Ibid., pp. 110-128.

While there are a dozen plausible reasons for the shocking result of the 2016 presidential election, the discontent of white men lacking college degrees ranks high on most lists. And no small part of that discontent is linked to their diminishing role in the workplace. Over the past two generations, America has suffered a quiet catastrophe in the collapse of work for men. In the half-century between 1965 and 2015, work rates (the ratio of employment to population) for the American male spiraled relentlessly downward -- a seeming flight from work in which ever-greater numbers of working-age men exited the labor force altogether. America is now home to an army of prime-working-age men, some seven million of them ages 25 to 54, who no longer even look for work. Consider a single fact: in 2015, the work-rate of males aged 25 to 54 was slightly lower than it had been in 1940, when the official unemployment rate was 14.6 percent and the United States was just coming out of a decade of depression in which the search for work was usually futile. By the Numbers To understand what's happened and why, some perspective is valuable. For good or ill, America is living through a period that I would describe as a second gilded age. Somehow, in spite of lackluster growth by historical standards, the 21st-century American economy has managed to produce markedly more wealth for its elite, even as it generated markedly less employment for its workers. Between the third quarter of 2000 and third quarter of 2016, household and nonprofit net worth soared from $44 trillion to just over $90 trillion, while the work rate (for both genders combined) fell by five percentage points -- levels last recorded three decades earlier.

January 30, 2016 by Kasia Klimasinska How come more people are retiring in their early 20s? Why are middle-age men becoming stay-at-home dads? What's keeping women out of the workforce other than illness, kids or school? Those are some of the questions raised in a new Bureau of Labor Statistics report that shows changes over the past decade in why people stay out of the labor force. Finding answers is key for the Federal Reserve as it maps the contours of a job market that's becoming harder to predict with the aging of the baby boomers and shifting household priorities. Here's what the bureau found, broadly: Thirty-five percent of the U.S. population wasn't in the labor force in 2014, up from 31.3 percent a decade earlier. (You're considered out of the workforce if you don't have a job and aren't looking for one. That's distinct from the official unemployment rate, which tracks those out of work who are actively job hunting.) Drilling down into the numbers reveals more about the shifts in the reasons some people forego a paycheck. In all age groups, for instance, more people cited retirement as the reason for being out of the labor force, and it wasn't just older people. Continue reading - Thus it was no surprise that he parroted a Reagan trope in recently asking the question of whether Americans are better off today than when he took office -- and then answering his own question by concluding that "the country is definitely better off than we were when I came into office." Public policy intended to make layoffs less painful actually made layoffs cheaper and more common. by Casey B. Mulligan Why has the labor market contracted so much and why does it remain depressed? Major subsidies and regulations intended to help the poor and unemployed were changed in more than a dozen ways--and although these policies were advertised as employment-expanding, the fact is that they reduced incentives for people to work and for businesses to hire. You probably heard about the emergency-assistance program for the long-term unemployed that ended only a few months ago after running for almost six years. But there is also the food-stamp program. It got a new name and replaced the stamps with debit cards. Participants are no longer required to seek work and are not asked to demonstrate that they have no wealth. Essentially, any unmarried person can get food stamps while out of work and can stay on the program indefinitely. Continue reading - Rarely will you find a political environment as golden for a Republican policy agenda as this one. Continue reading - by Phil Kerpen With Democrats cratering in the polls over their collapsing health care law, they are trying to pivot to the only part of their policy agenda that still enjoys broad public support: the minimum wage. But their advocacy and its popularity rest on the incorrect belief that a significant number of families live on the minimum wage. Instead, the primary impact would be to exacerbate a crisis of youth unemployment spurred largely by the last minimum wage increase. A recent analysis by Ben Gitis of the American Action Forum found that just 1.9 percent of all wage and salary earners make the minimum wage or less. Just 0.3 percent of people in families with incomes below the poverty line make the minimum wage or less -- and just 1.5 percent make less than $10.10, the level that Democrats have suggested for the next hike. Applying the most recent academic research, Gitis also found that such an increase would reduce employment by more than two million jobs. Continue reading -

The current 5 percent unemployment rate is half its worst level of the Great Recession. But the jobless rate would be 10.1 percent if the labor force participation rate -- which feeds into the unemployment rate -- were back at pre-recession levels. So what is the "real" unemployment rate ? The other day, I quoted a new Goldman Sachs study on the LFPR issue: What about the 3.6pp decline in the labor force participation rate since 2007? While it's true that the unemployment rate would be much higher if participation had remained stable, we now believe most of the decline since that time should be considered structural. By far the largest contribution to the decline in participation has been an increase in retirees--mostly a natural consequence of the aging of the workforce. Rising disability rates--a trend mostly driven by demographics--and a tendency for young people to remain in school have also played a role.The remaining cyclical component is a relatively modest share of the labor force, and broadly captured by the U6 unemployment rate, in our view. And n0w the San Francisco Fed offers a similar perspective: First is the aging of the population. The baby boomers are entering retirement and people are living longer. Remember, the participation rate counts everyone over 16, so my happily retired parents count as "out of the labor force," even though, in their 80s, few people would still be working. Second is that younger people aren't working as much as they used to. But this is partly because many have extended their education or gone back to school, and fewer are working when they're there. Third is an increase in people deciding they'd rather have single-income families (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2007-2014). For whatever reason, they've traded a second paycheck for spending more time at home, whether it's for child care, leisure, or simply that it's a better lifestyle fit. Each of these groups is made up of people who are not working, but doing so for personal or demographic reasons. As their numbers swell, it will, obviously, push the participation rate down. As for the area of concern, we're emerging from the deepest, longest recession since the Great Depression. And it's true that a lot of people did give up looking for work. A key indicator is the somewhat unfairly named "prime-age males" cohort, who are 25-54. This group has historically been a constant in the American workforce, but in the wake of the recession, its participation fell sharply. However, as the labor market has improved, that number has largely stabilized over the past two years, as has the overall participation rate. The last factor to consider is whether there are people who will reenter the labor force and pull the participation rate back up. The "marginally attached" for instance, a group made up of people who are ready and able to work and who've searched for jobs in the past year but who aren't currently looking. The assumption would reasonably be that this group is poised to return to the labor force. First off, these numbers have come down a lot, falling by over 12% in the past year alone. In addition, my staff has found that, over the past few years, their reentry rate back into the labor force has actually fallen. When you combine this with the aging workforce, it looks unlikely that participation will rise. This is supported by other research from both within and outside the Fed System (Stephanie Aaronson et al. 2014 and Krueger 2015). Overall, the evidence suggests that, even with a quite strong economy, we won't see a significant number of people come back into the fold. I italicized the bit about the prime-age workforce -- and included the above chart -- since that factors out the aging issue. The decline has generated, if not controversy, then at least some puzzlement. As Barclays has put it: "The uniquely American decline in the participation by working-age men and women puts the US in a long-standing contrast to Japan, Germany, and the UK, and is hard to explain on cyclical grounds, because it predated the 2008-09 recession to which, anyway, the other countries were also exposed. ... And it leaves the US with a 2014 participation rate that is quite low by international comparison." Lots of theories. Some economists suggest nearly a third of that relative decline is due to the absence of "family-friendly policies" such as paid parental leave. This is especially a key reason, according to the Washington Center for Equitable Growth , "for the decline in the overall labor force participation rate and the stalling out of women's labor force participation." And what about prime-age men? My AEI colleague Michael Strain : Having said that, it is a safe bet that one reason fewer men are working is that real wages for male workers without a college degree have been stagnant or falling for decades. So my second policy suggestion is to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for childless workers, many of whom are low-income men. The EITC is a federal earnings subsidy: if you work, and if you earn less than a certain amount, then the government will supplement your earnings with a transfer payment. The EITC offers very little support for childless workers, with a maximum credit of only about five-hundred dollars. This amount should be significantly expanded, as both President Obama and Rep. Paul Ryan have suggested. Previous expansions of the EITC have lifted millions out of poverty, and are designed to incentivize nonparticipants to return to the workforce. When they do, everyone wins -- the economy has more workers and can produce more goods and services, and the new participants can earn their own success in the labor market, leading flourishing lives that include the dignity only work can provide. The Washington Center for Equity. My point here is that even given the demographic headwind, better policy might well improve the share of Americans working or willing to work.

President Ronald Reagan once stated "I believe the best social program is a job." Indeed, work is what lifts people out of poverty more than any other type of welfare program, though some assistance may be needed at some point in a person's life. With this in mind, it's hard to believe that there is a great number of able-bodied men who are consciously not in the workforce, especially with our economy growing as it is. Why is this happening? Several decades ago, just about all able-bodied adult men were in the workforce in some capacity. But over the years that has declined to about only 88%. These men are not disabled, elderly, or children; they are fully capable of working, but are not. These men are needed, as jobs are going unfilled across the country. It is critical, from the standpoint of construction, manufacturing, and other heavy industries, that we get American workers who are sitting on the sidelines back into gainful employment. We need hundreds of thousands of new construction workers to address a housing shortage. Where are we going to get those workers? If you talk to those who know the construction sector, they will tell you we are already using every available worker. So it's one thing to say to men, "you need to go back to work," but then you have to actually create jobs for them to go to.

March 4, 2018 5:00 am In 2011's The Better Angels of Our Nature, Harvard's Steven Pinker painstakingly documented the fact that violence has declined over the course of human history and explored the reasons why. The book, like most of Pinker's prior work, was stunningly well-argued and an indispensable treatment of its subject. September 24, 2016 5:00 am Probably since time immemorial, each generation has thought the next one lacked industriousness. But for the last half-century, this belief has been true of American men. Even as the economy has grown, a rising share of prime-age males have opted out of work. Men Without Work: America's Invisible Crisis, a brief book by Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute, drives this point home forcefully, drawing on an impressive array of data to explain what's happening and why. The chart that forms the core of Eberstadt's case depicts the percentage of men age 25-54 who do not have a job.

Message from Gerardo Hernandez after being released from the hole Published Aug 4, 2010 9:52 PM The following message was sent out by the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5. Email [email protected] or go to www.thecuban5.org. Dear Sisters and Brothers: I am dictating these words via telephone, which is why I must be brief and I will not be able to say everything I would have liked. Yesterday afternoon I was removed from "the hole" with the same speed in which I was thrown in. I had been taken there supposedly because I was under investigation. These investigations can take up to three months, sometimes more, but I was there thirteen days. As a known Cuban journalist would say - you can draw your own conclusions. I want to express to all of you my deep gratitude. You know that they were particularly difficult days due to the excessive heat and the lack of air, but you all were my oxygen. I can't find a better way to summarize the enormous importance of your solidarity efforts. Many thanks to all the companeras and companeros from Cuba and around the world, who joined their voices to condemn my situation. Thanks to the institutions, organizations and individuals of goodwill that in one way or another worked to bring an end to this injustice. To our President Raul, that so honors us with his support. To the Cuban National Assembly and its President Ricardo Alarcon, a tireless fighter for the cause of the Five. To my four brothers, who sent me messages of encouragement, and who have also suffered and lived under constant risk of suffering similar abuses. And of course, to our dear Commander in Chief: Thank you for so much honor! (I don't know if I should say it, but just the privilege of hearing my name in Fidel's voice makes me feel like thanking those who put me in "the hole".) Thank you Comandante for the joy of hearing you and seeing you as great as ever! Thanks to everyone for having demonstrated again the power of solidarity which, without a doubt, will one day make us free. The struggle continues! A big embrace, Gerardo Hernandez Nordelo U.S. Penitentiary, Victorville, Calif. Cuban Five must be freed By Cheryl LaBash Bulletin: On the morning of Aug. 3, Gerardo Hernandez was freed from "the hole" due to mass pressure -- individual, diplomatic and legal. He has been returned to his former incarceration status. It is time for the U.S. government to free the Cuban Five and send them home. Aug. 2 -- A global outcry is demanding that the U.S. government end the new torturous conditions imposed on Gerardo Hernandez. On July 21, prison officials transferred Hernandez, one of the anti-terrorist political prisoners known as the Cuban Five, to a 3-foot-by-7-foot solitary cell, known as "the hole." Prison authorities force him and another prisoner to share this space. With outdoor summer temperatures reaching more than 100 degrees, the cell temperature is a sweltering 95 degrees; there is only a small amount of ventilation near the ceiling. Hernandez is not allowed to shower and is taken outdoors for an hour in a cage every other day. This is only the latest injustice in 12 years of injustice being perpetrated on each of the Cuban Five, which includes barring all visits from Adriana Perez, Hernandez's spouse, and Olga Salanueva, Rene Gonzalez's spouse. These are violations of international human rights. Alicia Jrapko from the U.S. office of the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five told Workers World: "Gerardo Hernandez has been thrown in the hole for no infraction of the rules of the prison he is in. The reason for this punishment is because he is Cuban and he has stood up against terrorism. It is no coincidence that every time an appeal for Gerardo comes up he finds himself in the hole. "Gerardo remains strong," Jrapko stressed, "but he needs our solidarity and action more than ever before. For those of us in the movement in solidarity with Cuba, Gerardo's terrible situation offers us a great opening to intervene in the struggle for the freedom of the Cuban Five. Could there be a greater exposure of the phony U.S. war on terrorism than the case of Gerardo, a fighter against terrorism now being subjected to torture in 'the hole' of the high security penitentiary in Victorville, Calif.?" Hernandez was sentenced to two life sentences plus 15 years. Although the punitively imposed life sentences for Ramon Labanino and Antonio Guerrero were reduced to long prison terms on appeal, Hernandez was excluded from that decision because he has a second life sentence. Although the U.S. prosecution itself proclaimed there was no evidence against him, Hernandez was convicted of orchestrating the shoot-down of an insidious Brothers to the Rescue overflight of Cuban territory on Feb. 24, 1996, which resulted in four deaths. On Aug. 9, 2005, a unanimous three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the Cuban Five's convictions and ordered a new trial. They said that the convictions in the Miami trial were biased and "a perfect storm of prejudice." Although that decision was overruled, the court of world opinion from Nobel laureates to parliaments to labor unions are demanding that these five political prisoners -- Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labanino, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez, who have been held in U.S. jails since 1998 -- be returned to their families and comrades in Cuba. Increasing speculation is being reported, including in a televised statement by Fidel Castro, former Cuban president and revolutionary theorist, that the Cuban Five will be returning home before December. By redoubling the campaign to publicize the facts of this case and building even greater support for the demand to free them, the progressive community can help the process. For updates, see www.thecuban5.org, www.antiterroristas.cu, or www.freethefive.org. Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved. Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011 Email: [email protected] Subscribe [email protected] Support independent news DONATE

Fidel Castro, the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, turned 90 on August 13. Progressive, anti-war and social justice forces across the world join in the celebration of the life of one of the world's most influential and significant leaders. It is especially worthwhile and necessary to mark and valorise the life and times of a man whose heart, without missing a beat, has withstood more than 600 assassination attempts by US imperialism. Fidel's life and legacy loom large in world history and development. Fidel is part and parcel of the wave of the anti-colonial, national liberation and social emancipation struggles that swept Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean in the second half of the 20th century. Fidel is integral to the Cuban-born and international revolutionary and anti-imperialist tradition, theory and practice -- stretching through the [indigenous Taino Cacique (cheif)] Hatuey, Toussaint L'Overture, Simon Bolivar, Jose Marti, Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Ho Chi Minh, among others. Fidel does not transcend Cuba and history, as some have opined, but, instead, is ineluctably and organically bound to the deepest aspirations of the Cuban people and the demands of the times. Fidel belongs to the world. Flesh and blood, brain and bone, he exemplifies the finest traditions of humanity. His life encapsulates the struggle of the exploited and oppressed, epitomising, as articulated by US political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal, "their historic power to transform our dull realities". The significance of Fidel extends beyond the geographical boundaries of Cuba. Since its inception, the Cuban Revolution has made an invaluable contribution to the global struggle for justice, social development and human dignity. Under Fidel's leadership, Cuba has established an unparalleled legacy of internationalism and humanitarianism, embodying the immortal words of [19th Century Cuban independence fighter] Jose Marti: "Homeland is Humanity. Humanity is Homeland." In southern Africa, for example, more than 2000 Cubans gave their lives to defeat the racist apartheid regime in South Africa. Nelson Mandela never forgot. After he was released from prison, one of the first countries outside of Africa and the first country in Latin America that he chose to visit was Cuba. Today, this commitment to humanity is mirrored in the tens of thousands of Cuban medical personnel and educators who have served and continue to serve around the world. This service sees them battling in the trenches against disease and illiteracy, running the gamut from combating the Ebola outbreaks in west Africa to beating back other challenges to public health in southern Africa. No less important is the training inside Cuba of medical cadres from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean as well as North America (including African-American communities from the largest US cities). Fidel was only 26 when, on July 26, 1953, he led a group of courageous young men and women in the attack on the Moncada Barracks in the city of Santiago de Cuba, and the Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Barracks in Bayamo. It was an unsuccessful but valiant effort to overthrow the US-supported puppet dictator Fulgencio Batista. Moncada was a catalyst for the revolutionary struggle to free Cuba from US tutelage and establish authentic independence. Fidel has epitomised the unbending commitment to justice, dignity and independence that has characterised Cuba since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution on January 1, 1959. He has led Cuban resistance against the unjust and genocidal economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on the island by Washington. No words can adequately convey the singular meaning of Fidel. By holding aloft the banners of Socialism, Justice, Peace, Internationalism and Human Dignity, the Cuban Revolution demonstrates that a better world is possible. On October 16, 1953, at his trial following the Moncada attack, Fidel laid out his vision of national independence and social justice, declaring: "Condemn me, it does not matter, history will absolve me." Since those historic words and the subsequent unfolding of events, in a world fraught with intense challenges and dangers, history has not only absolved Fidel, but also vindicated the meaning and legacy of his life. [Slightly abridged statement from the Canadian Network on Cuba .]

Get our newsletter delivered directly to your inbox I have already subscribed | Do not show this message again Thousands of Cubans took to the streets of Havana on Tuesday to protest against terrorism and in solidarity with a group of Cuban intelligence officers imprisoned in the United States. The predominantly student marchers were united by the slogan "I am Cuba," and demanded the release of the so-called Cuban Five. The five were arrested in 1998 in Florida, and subsequently found guilty of espionage against the U.S. government. Havana denies the group were spying on the United States; rather, the Cuban government argues the five intelligence officers were investigating suspected terrorist plots allegedly being hatched by anti-Castro extremists in Miami. Three of the five are still imprisoned in the United States, despite years of condemnation from Cuba and other Latin American nations. In 2005, the convictions were criticized by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which found the U.S. trial did not take place in a "climate of objectivity and impartiality," and hence couldn't be considered fair. Today, the intelligence officers are viewed as heroes in Cuba, and are icons of the country's fight against terrorism. The latest protest in Havana comes after 32 Latin American parliamentarians from 14 countries issued a renewed call for the release of the remaining imprisoned officers. Earlier this month, protesters rallied in Washington to demand the group's freedom, carrying placards reading "enough is enough," and "Obama give me five."

Cuba's socialist government criticized countries that finance, arm, and train extremist groups across the world during a United Nations Security Council meeting Monday. While not mentioning countries by name, the Cuban government made reference to those that have supported terrorism-linked Syrian opposition groups. The U.S., for example, has provided over US$500 million worth of weapons, food, and medical supplies to extremist groups fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since 2013, the New York Times reported. Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, and other U.S. allies have also supported the same groups. Most of the groups fighting against Assad have since been exposed for their connections to terrorist groups Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly al-Nusra Front) and the Islamic State group. The Cuban government also slammed unilateral actions taken by countries like the U.S. to use the fight against terrorism as a justification to expand its global military presence. "We reject and condemn double standards and selective treatment regarding this issue," Cuban permanent representative to the U.N. Anayansi Rodriguez said on Monday, Granma reported. "The fight against terrorism cannot be used as a pretext for intervention and interference, aggression, or international and human rights violations." Following discussions centered around multilateral approaches to combatting terrorism, participants unanimously adopted Resolution 2341, a new agreement that aims to strengthen global terrorism prevention mechanisms while reducing the impact of terrorist attacks on civil infrastructure, Granma reported. Stressing Cuba's commitment to fighting terrorism, Rodriguez reminded the international body that her country has also been victim to terrorist attacks financed by powerful foreign countries. In 1976, for example, U.S.-backed right-wing Cuban terrorists bombed a Cuban airplane flying to Jamaica, killing 73 people. "Cuba has never, nor will it ever, allow its territory to be used to carry out, plan, support, conceal, or finance such actions against any other country," Rodriguez said at the U.N. Security Council.

Cuba is running for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council on Oct. 28, 2016 Cuba's official UN campaign pledge includes the following absurd claims: Cuba attaches the "greatest importance" to international cooperation for the "promotion and protection" of all human rights within the United Nations Cuba reaffirms its readiness to "continue working tirelessly" to achieve the shared goal of "enabling all individuals and peoples" throughout the world to "enjoy all human rights" Cuban women and men have made "significant progress" in the "enjoyment of all their human rights." The Cuban people are the "masters of their political fate" and the country's resources, exercise the "fullest power and control over the country's life", and "participate actively" in the "effective system of democracy" that they designed and approved in a universal plebiscite. The campaign pledge also includes this line: "In October 2007, [Cuba] received the Special Rapporteur on the right to food." This was a sham visit by UNHRC official Jean Ziegler, founder of the "Mummar Qaddafi Human Rights Prize," and a notorious apologist for the Castro regime. Cuban Human Rights Activist Maria Werlau speaks on Cuba's candidacy at at UN press conference:

"The Cuban government recognizes the fair decision made by the president of the United States to eliminate Cuba from a list that it never should have been included on," Josefina Vidal, the Cuban foreign ministry's chief of U.S. affairs, said in a statement. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement welcoming Obama's decision that "circumstances have changed since 1982," when Cuba was listed "because of its efforts to promote armed revolution by forces in Latin America." In his report to Congress, Obama certified that "the government of Cuba has not provided any support for international terrorism during the preceding six-month period," and "has provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future."

CPGB-ML comrades assembled in Clerkenwell to take part in this years May Day celebrations. On this day, millions across the world have taken to the streets ever since 1889, when the first congress of the Second International declared 1 May as International Workers' Day. This day was initially chosen to honour the American workers' triumphant strike for the eight-hour day on 1 May 1886 and as a homage to those gunned down by the Chicago police as well as their leaders - Albert Parsons, August Spiers, Adolph Fischer, George Engel, Michael Schwab, Samuel Fielden and Louis Lingg - who were condemned to death for their leadership of the strike and declared "guilty of murder" (policemen also died when they attacked the assembled protesters in Haymarket Square). One hundred and twenty years later, the echo of Spiers' words from the gallows must continue to remind us of our strength: "There will be a time when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today." The strength and power of the working-class movement has been demonstrated all over the globe ever since. May Day has become an occasion when we celebrate our achievements, express international solidarity and reaffirm that socialism is the way forward for humanity. With the establishment of socialism in the USSR and its historic victory over Nazi fascism, millions of toiling people have been inspired to fight for a better life. From the storming of the Winter Palace in 1917 to the victorious end of the anti-fascist war, when the red flag was raised on the Reichstag in Berlin in 1945, the flying of the red flag with its hammer and sickle has been indelibly linked to the achievements of our movement and is a symbol of progressive humanity. Whereas internationally, from east to west, from Asia to South America, red flags have dominated May Day, in the imperialist heartlands, far fewer are seen, as our historic day has been hijacked as a 'spring holiday' and drained of all revolutionary fervour by the dominance of the social-democratic leadership. It is time that socialists in Britain reclaimed the day, increased our symbolic use of the hammer and sickle, proudly declared our communist ideals and explained that communism is still the only way forward for humanity. Share this:

By Joe Allen August 2, 2018 The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has emerged as the largest socialist organization in the United States since the collapse of the Communist Party (CP) in the mid-1950s. While Bernie Sanders' 'democratic socialist' campaign for president in 2016 laid much of the groundwork for DSA's growth, it was Donald Trump's election to the presidency that boosted its membership from 6,700 in 2016 to around 48,000 members today. This new collection of essays seeks to rebalance our understanding of dissent in the late Soviet Union, drawing attention to democratic socialists from the 1950s into the 1980s. by Michael Hirsch July 16, 2018 by Tony Smith July 3, 2018 No one should underestimate the changes in the social world occurring since Marx's day, or overestimate to what extent we find ready-made answers to contemporary issues in his writings. Nonetheless, Marx's analysis uncovers essential features and defining tendencies of capitalism far better than alternative frameworks.

The comparison of the two actors in middle age doesn't just make light of one's premature fogeydom and the other's eternal youthfulness; it also highlights how the mores, signifiers, and very science of aging have changed. By Ian Crouch Aug. 11, 2018 By Jelani Cobb Aug. 10, 2018 In the documentary "Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood," a man known as a "pimp to the stars" tells X-rated tales of Old Hollywood, as if fondly recalling childhood fishing trips. By Michael Schulman Aug. 09, 2018

In The Tank (ep152) - AFEC 2018, and Universal Health Care Debate! Podcast Donny Kendal, with the help of Director of Communications Jim Lakely and State Government Relations Manager Charlie Katebi, presents episode #152 of the In The Tank Podcast. Fulfilling the Promise of American Energy Dominance at AFEC (Guest: Joe Balash) Podcast Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Land and Minerals Management Joe Balash gave a passionate and hopeful speech at AFEC 2018 on the strategy the Department is using to establish American energy dominance across the world. Heartland Institute co-founder Joe Bast discusses The Heartland Institute's history, it's accomplishments and what it hopes to achieve under new leadership.

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When the mining expert Stephen McIntyre challenged the basis of climate science on his blog, he became a figurehead for many climate-change sceptics. His subsequent involvement in the 2009 "Climategate" controversy at the University of East Anglia (he was referred to in the hacked emails over 100 times) emboldened the sceptics further and changed global opinion: the number of people who believe man is responsible for global warming has fallen. The influence might not be positive, but there's no doubt he has shaped the debate. Previous: 31. Ingvar Kamprad

By now you've heard that global and globalist heart throb Justin Trudeau has committed to giving $20 million to the Clintons to help with what is euphemistically called "sexual health services" in Nigeria. But there is a new kink here, that goes beyond mixing "Bill Clinton" and "sexual health." We've uncovered that Trudeau and his minister of International Development Marie-Claude Bibeau committed that big chunk of taxpayer money without even finalizing an agreement. Yes, $20 million for the Clintons with no outline of what will be done with the money. What could possibly go wrong? Watch as I show you what we found in an Access to Information request looking for documents related to the funding agreement between the government of Canada and the Clinton Health Access Initiative. A $20 million grant to the Clinton Foundation without an agreement in place is odd and seems downright reckless, even between "friends." During the presidential race Justin Trudeau promised to do whatever he could to help Hillary; we know that from one of the leaked emails from her top advisor John Podesta. Well, Hillary lost the election but Justin is still helping her and doing it the way liberals always do-- with your money. And just forget about that pesky oversight and stuff, this is between friends .

Hillary, what's the difference between a Democrat and a Socialist? Don't know. I'm a Progressive. Okay... What's the difference between a Progressive , a Democrat and a Socialist? (Sigh) Please SHARE this story as the only way for CFP to beat Facebook anti-Conservative Suppression. Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Content is Copyright 1997-2018 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2018 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement

Election 2016 is officially over. The Electoral College weighed in this week and ratified Donald Trump's November 8th victory, cementing the billionaire celebrity's first term in office and sending America's liberals to the next, deeper stage of grief. They still Read More Republican nominee Donald Trump has a much greater chance of beating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, according to a Tuesday analysis published by 538's Nate Silver. Statistics site 538 updated Trump's chances of winning the electoral college in November to 27.5 Read More

Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Content is Copyright 1997-2018 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2018 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement

On last night's show , guest host Jerry Agar looked into Justin Trudeau's decision to hand $241 million in tax dollars to the Clinton Foundation . The Clinton Foundation claims its purpose is helping girls and women around the world. But its most successful effort has been enriching the lives of Bill and Hillary . WATCH my video to see why I think those funds would've been better used to fund Canadian work, instead of lining the Clinton's pockets . Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau just demonstrated that he's the adult in the room when it comes to dealing with Donald Trump. They aren't even trying to pretend they aren't neck deep in Russian connections anymore. It's blatant, and Exxon Mobil is trying to profit from it. We aren't going to be footing the bill for something that's just ineffective. This is worse than just ineffective. New evidence was just discovered showing the Russian strategy to compromise our election. Next, we can only hope for the smoking gun tying it to Trump... For decades, Bill O'Reilly has poisoned the airwaves with his racism, sexism, and right-wing rhetoric on Fox News. Not anymore.

Agartala: India wanted peaceful relations with Pakistan, but its forces have been told that if one bullet come from across the border, they should fire countless bullets to retaliate, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in Agartala on Saturday night. "I have given standing orders to our forces to shoot limitless bullets to retaliate a single fire on our territory by the Pakistani forces," he said at an election rally at Barjala on the state capital's outskirts. "As our neighbour, we do not want to attack on Pakistan first. We want to live with peace and harmony with our all neighbours. But, most unfortunately Pakistan is trying to tear down Jammu and Kashmir and continue attacks on our forces and Indian territory," he added. File image of home minister Rajnath Singh. AFP Hitting out at the Left Front government, Rajnath Singh said that during its 25 year uninterrupted rule, it did nothing for the development of Tripura, economic prosperity of the state and to remove huge poverty and unemployment. "During CPM's 35 years rule in West Bengal, they ruined that state, and if the Left parties after the February 18 assembly polls are allowed to rule Tripura further, they would destroy the future of the state and its people," he alleged. He said that only his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can develop the country and the northeastern states including Tripura. "BJP and its allies are now ruling 19 states in India. Why so many states are under BJP and its allies' governance ? Because people of these states trust BJP and people sincerely believe that only BJP can remove their poverty and provide jobs to the youth." Rajnath Singh said that Tripura has huge natural resources and if BJP comes to power in the state, it would make this northeastern state a number one state in India. "You have given scope to the Left parties in Tripura many times, give scope to BJP once this time to rule for genuine development of the state with all-round growth of all sections of people," he said.

747 danarchy 7/10/18 12:40:47 pm re: #734 ObserverArt Unfortunately they happen to be states that have vulnerable democratic senators up for re-election. That was a message directly to Heitcamp, Manchin, Donnely, McCaskill, and Nelson Will Sommer makes a really good effort at reporting on a really bad thing -- the ever-expanding right wing kitchen-sink conspiracy theory known to its zombie-eyed acolytes as "QAnon:" What Is QAnon? The Craziest Theory of the Trump Era, Explained. It's the One Conspiracy Theory To Rule Them All. ...

I am a member of staff here at the University of Sydney and I support same sex marriage. I am also a member of the National... The article said: "Women working for the CFA have been sexually assaulted and harassed amid a culture of fear, bullying and impunity, according to a... WWF predicted up to 6 million hectares would be cleared in Eastern Australia by 2030, ranking it with the Amazon... Traditional Owner Nancy Hoosan said: "I'm not just... The prize, which includes a $500,000 award, provides a platform for the... Spokesperson for WestConnex Action Group and No... In May, the state Coalition government put services from four bus depots -- Tempe... The SDF is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious armed force made up... In a Facebook statement, FWPC said: "It has to break with the tradition of... "We have to have the autopsy result, then we'll see the other tests," Heredia told a... In his speech, Trump assured his supporters that "Judeo-Christian religious values" would be protected by his... Jose Jair Cortes was the spokesperson of the Alta Mira y Frontera community in Tumaco, Narino state, where anti-... The victory also marks a significant step forward in the struggle to defend... To get a sense of how this grassroots process of community organising is developing and the role women are playing in the process,... The strike was called by 20 grassroots movements to demand the unconditional release of all Tamil political... According to CNE President Tibisay Lucena, 61.14% of Venezuela's... In these days of growing media concentration, Green Left Weekly is a proudly independent voice committed to human and civil rights, global peace and environmental sustainability, democracy and equality. By printing the news and ideas the mainstream media won't, Green Left Weekly exposes the lies and distortions of the power brokers and helps us to better understand the world around us.

The comparison of the two actors in middle age doesn't just make light of one's premature fogeydom and the other's eternal youthfulness; it also highlights how the mores, signifiers, and very science of aging have changed. By Ian Crouch Aug. 11, 2018 By Jelani Cobb Aug. 10, 2018 In the documentary "Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood," a man known as a "pimp to the stars" tells X-rated tales of Old Hollywood, as if fondly recalling childhood fishing trips. By Michael Schulman Aug. 09, 2018

As the Western world becomes more secular, religious knowledge is on the decline. At Intellectual Takeout, however, we feel that educated people should possess some basic knowledge of each of the world's religions--even if they aren't practicing members of any particular faith. To get an idea of how up-to-speed you are on the topic of religion, we invite you to answer 10 questions that we put together in the quiz below. Let us know how you do! Get thought-provoking content delivered to your inbox every day! Subscribe to IT's newsletter.

On behalf of FreedomWorks activists nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to vote in the manner prescribed for each amendment below to the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, H.R. 6147. As is always the case, FreedomWorks reserves the right to key vote any amendment brought to the floor for a vote. On behalf of FreedomWorks' activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to vote YES on limited government amendments to the Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, H.R. 5895. These five amendments would eliminate some wasteful spending across the bill.

You are not signed in as a Premium user; we rely on Premium users to support our news reporting. Sign in or Sign up today! HELSINKI ( ChurchMilitant.com ) - Teens who undergo abortions are better off than those who give birth. That's the claim of a study published by Finnish researchers, which reports that pregnant teenagers who choose to abort rather than carry their child to term experience better longterm results in the realms of personal socioeconomics, psychiatry and health. But critics are claiming the results are skewed. Conducted by academics from the University of Helsinki and the Helsinki University Central Hospital, the co-author claims the results of the study make it clear "that really the only difference was, young women who went on to continue the pregnancy and deliver, their overall level of education was then lower than women who chose to have an abortion." Researchers examined the data of nearly 30,000 Finnish women born in 1987 and continued their investigation until 2012 when the subjects turned 25 years old; of the 30,000, a little more than 1,000 underwent abortions and nearly 400 had given birth before the age of 18. The study maintains that those who had undergone abortions held higher grades in school as well as experienced a higher socioeconomic status post-abortion when compared to those who gave birth. These results, according to the researchers, make "a lot of sense." "This is the result we were expecting," declared co-author Oskari Heikinheimo. "I'm very glad about these results because there is a lot of misinformation about abortion." Critics argue, however, that the final report glossed over certain aspects that may have skewed the results. The most glaring is the fact that most teens who underwent abortions by the age of 25 and had achieved a higher socioeconomic status came from families that already belonged to the upper-middle to upper class. These facts are leading commentators to suggest the correlation between undergoing an abortion and achieving a higher socioeconomic status may not hold up under questioning. Other studies support the claims of critics , particularly in the realm of mental health. A 2006 study conducted in New Zealand revealed that those who had undergone an abortion had "elevated rates of subsequent mental health problems including depression, anxiety, suicidal behaviors and substance use disorders." The trend remained despite adjustments for "confounding factors." The New Zealand study concluded that "abortion in young women may be associated with increased risks of mental health problems." Certain other findings in the Finnish study did not produce the results researchers may have expected, with the risk of psychiatric disorders among those who had procured abortions and those who had given birth being too close to note any possible correlation. Abortion has been legal in Finland since 1950, when the practice was legalized with restrictions. While it is currently illegal to procure an abortion in a clinic, an abortion may be obtained free of charge in hospitals. Research from 2010 reveals the abortion rate in the European country to be approximately 10.4 abortions per 1,000 women in the 15-44 age range. We rely on you to support our news reporting. Please donate today.

Share on Facebook Twitter Google+ E-mail Reddit The announcement of Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement means the make-up of the Supreme Court will likely change, and abortion rights are in trouble. Kennedy is conservative, but he believes in the right to choose abortion. Trump promised on the 2016 campaign trail that, if given the opportunity, he'd [...] Share on Facebook Twitter Google+ E-mail Reddit Arizona resident Nicole Arteaga said she was "left in tears" and "humiliated" after a Walgreens pharmacist refused to fill a prescription that would terminate a pregnancy her doctor said would end in miscarriage. Arteaga wrote in Facebook and Instagram posts that her doctor told her the two-month-old fetus she was carrying had developmental abnormalities [...]

Like midwives performing abortions, or doctors inducing labor, illegal abortion providers use misoprostol. The drug detaches the fetus from the uterus, which means its safe use depends entirely on the dosage and accompanying medical oversight. Illegal providers simply hand women pills, and the women hope for the best. For women who've been turned away from clinics , or couldn't get there in the first place, back alley providers are a last hope. As Trueman puts it, "When a woman makes a decision she's going to terminate, she's going to terminate." That's especially true for young women. According to the South African Medical Research Council's most recent youth risk behavior survey, in 2008, nearly half of girls ages 13 to 19 who had an abortion did so outside a hospital or clinic. Credit: Jake Naughton. One improvement to the abortion situation may be medical abortions. Unlike current procedures, which require several hours in a clinic and a manual "evacuation" of the uterus by trained staff, medical abortion induces termination with a combination of drugs. Women take the first drug at the hospital and the second at home, and they return to the hospital 10 to 14 days later for a checkup. Medical abortions are already an option in the Western and Eastern Cape, and three other provinces are slated to offer that option this year, with help from Ipas. Medical abortion is also a popular choice; in one province, Ipas found that more than 75 percent of women intending to terminate prefer the option. But South Africa's medical establishment has been wary. "Medical people in South Africa are not very happy about women doing things on their own," says Trueman. "But women are pretty sensible, believe it or not. And they know their bodies." For more on South Africa's barriers to abortion, read Jina Moore and Estelle Ellis's article, " In South Africa, A Liberal Abortion Law Doesn't Guarantee Access. " Credit: Jake Naughton

Anti-choice activists, I hope you're sitting down. It turns out that, contrary to your wishful thinking, having an abortion does not increase the chances a woman* will suffer mental health issues. Of course, some of you anti-choicers won't be convinced by this evidence because it was done by scientists, which you'll find sketchy. But just so you know, a study , commissioned by the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, part of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK and funded by the England's Department of Health, reviewed 44 studies from 1990-2011 on the relationship between abortion and mental health and concluded, "The best current evidence suggests that it makes no difference to a woman's mental health whether she chooses to have an abortion or to continue with the pregnancy." The study does say that women who have unwanted pregnancies have an increased risk of depression and anxiety, but choosing an abortion does not make them more at risk than having the baby. In other words the correlation is between mental stress and an unwanted pregnancy in itself, not between mental stress and abortion. It's also important to note, as the study does, that while women with unwanted pregnancies suffer from anxiety and depression at greater rates (1 of 3) than the general female population (11-12%), this correlation may not always be causal. The unwanted pregnancy may be responsible, the psychological symptoms may precede the unwanted pregnancy, or there may a combination of the two factors. Women with a history of mental illness or who are pressured by their partners into getting an abortion have higher rates of mental health problems following a termination. So the takeaway is that abortions don't pose a mental health risk, but mental illness and lack of, well, choice (or feeling like you have a choice) do. If anti-choicers actually cared about the mental health of women- which I'm not sure they do, since their interest in life seems to begin at conception but end at actual childbirth -- what they (and all of us) should be concerned with is making sure women have access to contraception, education, sex-ed, healthcare and are empowered to make their own decisions, not bullied or pressured by someone else. Unsurprisingly, a spokesperson for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, Anthony Ozimic, rejected the study, insisting that "Women experienced feelings such as shame, guilt, grief and regret after an abortion." Of course to the extent that women feel shame, guilt, grief, and regret after an abortion, the anti choice movement is causing the very symptoms it claims it wants to protect women from. * Jos and Lori have pointed out the limitations of viewing abortion as a women's only issue. I agree but since the study did use the male/female binary, I couldn't include sections of the population (trans, two-spirit ) who they didn't.

A new report published in the Journal of Adolescent Health examining decades of research has concluded that access to oral contraceptives -- the pill -- should not require a prescription. In particular the study has found that teenagers are fully capable of mastering the art of preventing pregnancy by taking a pill each day. The report, from Johns Hopkins University, cites years of studies that have shown that earlier access to oral contraceptives decreases the incidence of teenage pregnancy . The CDC estimated for 2012 that about 11 million women in the U.S. are on the pill, making it the most popular form of birth control . When taken as directed, it is more than 90 percent effective, and previous studies have suggested that it can be safely dispensed under direction of a pharmacist and without a prescription. Serious side effects are rare, though it has been linked to a relative rise in risk of depression in women. Many large countries, including India and China, already sell birth control over the counter. The American College of Obstetrics endorsed over-the-counter birth control sale in 2012. In January, French pharmaceutical company HRA Pharma announced that it was partnering with U.S. non-profit Ibis Reproductive Health to begin the application process for over-the-counter birth control. Only two states -- California and Oregon -- currently allow birth control to be dispensed without a prescription in the United States. HRA Pharma expects that process to take several years. Teenage pregnancy has declined drastically in recent years, reaching an all-time low in 2014, with just under 250,000 babies born to women between the ages of 15 to 19. The teenage birth rate has declined for seven years in a row, and most reports attribute the declines partially to access to birth control for young women.

The abortion rate and the number of abortions in the U.S. has fallen 13%, with 1.1 million abortions performed in 2011, according to a new study by the Guttmacher Institute. Just 16.9 per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44 got an abortion in 2011, the report found. It's the lowest rate since 1973, the year the Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide. Guttmacher has been periodically surveying abortion providers since the 1970s and surveyed four years for the current study, looking at abortion from 2008 to 2011. The study's authors say the number of restrictive abortion laws states have implemented in recent years did not lead to the drop in numbers. "While most of the new laws were enacted in states in the Midwest and the South, abortion incidence declined in all regions," the study said, adding that in states that are more supportive of legal abortion, the rate was also down--or even greater--than the national decline. The new regulations also did not increase the number of abortions, the report noted. "Some of the new regulations undoubtedly made it more difficult, and costly, for facilities to continue to provide services and for women to access them," the study's authors conceded. Instead, the study authors posited, the poor state of the economy and the increased access to long-term, prescription contraceptives decreased the abortion rate. Indeed, the recession and the slow recovery drove the birth rate down by 9%, indicating that more women may have been consciously avoiding pregnancy by using contraceptives. And contraceptives themselves may be lowering the rate of abortion, due to the availability of highly effective long-term contraceptives like the IUD. During the four years of the study, long-term contraceptive use rose from 4 to 11%. The study authors did posit that some women may be using off-label drugs to terminate early pregnancies outside of clinics, artificially driving the rate down. Some anti-abortion activists aren't cheering on the lowered rate. Charmaine Yoest, president and CEO of Americans United for Life, derided the report as "an abortion industry propaganda piece short on data and long on strained conclusions." She particularly noted that the reporting of data is voluntary.

A Florida Gulf Coast University course titled "White Racism" has sparked an ongoing debate surrounding its intent, though the instructor continues to defend it in the face of criticism. The course initially drew media attention in October, but critics and commentators have continued to spar over its legitimacy, with some describing it as hostile towards white people, and others--especially its instructor, Dr. Ted Thornhill --defending it as necessary. "Much evidence, both historical and sociological, shows the U.S. has been and remains a white supremacist society." In any event, the three-credit course is popular among students, having already reached its maximum capacity of 50 for the spring 2018 semester, with two students on the waitlist. Notably, the minimum rate per credit hour at FGCU is $203, meaning students are paying at least $609 to take the course, and possibly as much as $2,514, according to the Office of the Bursar . Participants in the course will "interrogate the concept of race," while examining "the racist ideologies, laws, policies, and practices that have operated for hundreds of years to maintain white racial domination over those racialized as non-white." Additionally, students will "discuss ways to challenge white racism and white supremacy toward promoting an anti-racist society where whiteness is not tied to greater life chances," a course description notes . College Republicans treasurer Alex Pilkington took issue with the title of the course, telling News-Press that he would have a preferred a name such as "Systemic Racism" because "giving it 'White Racism' as the name of the class" makes it seem "like it's intentional you are trying to make white people look at the class a certain way." Thornhill adamantly rejects such criticisms, though, remarking in an initial statement that his course is "not anti-white; it is anti-white racism." While he makes clear that "not all white people are racists," pointing out that "some are even anti-racist," Thornhill also asserts that there is "much evidence" showing that "the U.S. has been and remains a white supremacist society." "Any 'controversy' generated by the course title or description testifies to its urgency," his statement concludes. "Attempts to paint the course as anything other than that contained in the course description, which is self-explanatory, betrays gross ignorance and/or malevolent intent as well as a self-evident need to enroll in the course." Follow Campus Reform on Twitter: @CampusReform

A "white racism" course has sparked enough controversy to result in a police presence being planned for the start of the class, which meets on Tuesday for the first time at the Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), USA Today noted . Assistant Professor Ted Thornhill, who is offering the course, said he received a number of disturbing emails and voice messages after first announcing the course. The class, according to its description , is designed to analyze race and pick apart racist ideologies, laws, policies, and practices "that have operated for hundreds of years to maintain white racial domination over those racialized as non-white." The course was developed for students to discuss ways to "challenge white racism and white supremacy toward promoting an anti-racist society where whiteness is not tied to greater life chances." However, several of the 50 enrolled students have since expressed concerns over their safety, prompting campus police to allocate at least two officers to monitor the class as precautionary measures. USA Today noted that, while none of the messages sent to Thornhill threatened any direct violence, some wished ill will upon him, while others called him a racist. "Cancer (Stage 4) is what you and your family deserve for spreading hate, lies & intolerance," one email said, according to Fox News . Thornhill said the negative reaction to the course was upsetting but added that he was not entirely surprised "given the nature of these more rabid white racists," USA Today reported. Susan Evans, FGCU's spokeswoman and chief of staff said per Fox News that, although they were expecting "normal campus civility," officials have "prepared for any possible distractions related to Tuesday's first class of the White Racism course."

The professor says "guarantee games" give small, historically black colleges and universities incentive to play in games they know they will lose, which perpetuates racist exploitation for the benefit of white people. Bethany Salgado Nov 12, 2015 at 2:58 PM EDT VIDEO: Duke, UNC admins refuse to shred 'triggering' Constitution The final video in Project Veritas' Constitution-shredding series shows administrators at Duke and UNC demonstrating the proper way to respond when a student claims the Constitution is triggering. Peter Fricke Nov 09, 2015 at 8:44 AM EDT James Mietus Nov 03, 2015 at 1:41 PM EDT Would you believe us if we told you that there was a course about "taking Marx seriously?" How about a course offering "critical reflection on the refusal of work?" Ha! Of course you would, you read Campus Reform! Campus Reform Staff Oct 30, 2015 at 1:17 PM EDT Campus Reform received an outpouring of submissions for its first annual Biased Course Contest, with readers identifying 37 classes currently being offered at U.S. colleges that present a skewed perspective on major political issues. Campus Reform Staff Oct 30, 2015 at 12:41 PM EDT "Each person who spoke to the crowd talked about being sick of talking about these issues [regarding being students of color on campus] and demanded specific action from the administration." Casey Breznick Oct 30, 2015 at 11:13 AM EDT An English course on the 'problems of whiteness' at Arizona State University that caused a national uproar after it was reported by Campus Reform will soon be returning. Peter Fricke Oct 28, 2015 at 12:43 PM EDT

Students at Florida Gulf Coast University can take all sorts of enriching classes -- from gender studies to social justice. But a class on white racism is causing all sorts of campus chaos and charges of reverse racism. The university calls it "White Racism." But I call it, "Blame the White Man 101." The class, taught by Professor Ted Thornhill, "will interrogate the concept of race; examine the racist ideologies, laws, policies, and practices that have operated for hundreds of years to maintain white racial domination over those racialized as non-white." The New York Daily News reports student will also have the opportunity "to discuss ways to challenge white racism and white supremacy toward promoting an anti-racist society where whiteness is not tied to greater life chances." "There are a lot of people that ... don't even know that white privilege exists anymore, and it does," student Zack De Armon told the News-Press. Police were on hand for the first day of class after the professor said he received thousands of "vile" statements that allegedly included "racial epithets." There were no reported incidents and the professor said he intends to continue teaching the controversial class. "The course needs to be taught, and so, that's what's going to happen," he told television station WINK . "It's a legitimate course." That's a load of Grade-A fertilizer, folks. It seems to me the professor is simply interested in guilting white students simply because of the color of their skin. It's a charge the professor denies. "It's not simply the title. . . . As a sociologist, I tell my students all the time, they need to depersonalize. It's not all about you," Thornhill told the Washington Post. "I'm not talking about specific white individuals. I'm talking about a group racialized as white. So many people in this hyper-individualized society, they tend to take all this personally. They think they're being attacked." Beth Baumann I'm sick and tired of so-called academics like Professor Thornhill advancing a false narrative that white people have special privileges because they are white. Florida Gulf Coast University needs to explain why our tax dollars are funding a class that flies in the face of the notion that we should judge people on the content of their character -- instead of the color of their skin.

Stanford Course: Abolish Whiteness By NBP Staff | August 11, 2017, 20:12 EDT Printed from: http://newbostonpost.com/2017/08/11/stanford-course-abolish-whiteness/ Students at Stanford University will be offered a course this fall that will "consider ... abolishing whiteness." The anthropology course, called "White Identity Politics," is being offered by the university's Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity Department. The course description cites "pundits" who "proclaim that the 2016 Presidential election marks the rise of white identity politics in the United States." The existence of the course was first reported by The College Fix , which also reported that the instructor, John Patrick Moran, declined comment and a university spokesman declined to provide a course syllabus. Here is the full text of the course description: CSRE 136: White Identity Politics (ANTHRO 136B) Pundits proclaim that the 2016 Presidential election marks the rise of white identity politics in the United States. Drawing from the field of whiteness studies and from contemporary writings that push whiteness studies in new directions, this upper-level seminar asks, does white identity politics exist? How is a concept like white identity to be understood in relation to white nationalism, white supremacy, white privilege, and whiteness? We will survey the field of whiteness studies, scholarship on the intersection of race, class, and geography, and writings on whiteness in the United States by contemporary public thinkers, to critically interrogate the terms used to describe whiteness and white identities. Students will consider the perils and possibilities of different political practices, including abolishing whiteness or coming to terms with white identity. What is the future of whiteness?

The University of Colorado at Denver is offering a course called "Problematizing Whiteness: Educating for Racial Justice" during the 2017 spring semester. The three-credit course fulfills the cultural diversity requirement for students in the School of Education and Human Development, which is advertising the offering by posting flyers around campus and making the syllabus available online for students to view. The course examines "the plight of people of color AND how Whites are also complicit in a system of race." "Critical Whiteness Studies addresses the need for a deeper analysis of race, one that accounts for both sides of the race coin, that of the plight of people of color AND how Whites are also complicit in a system of race," declares a copy of the syllabus that was provided to Campus Reform . "Therefore, this class takes a deeper look into how race operates within White contexts and how such operations ultimately impacts people of color. By doing so, we bridge how Whites AND people of color can collectively work together towards a racially equitable society." The instructor, Dr. Cheryl Matias , also teaches other courses dealing with racial inequities, and has received multiple awards for promoting diversity in academia. One student, who wishes to remain anonymous, questioned whether the subject matter would actually be productive, telling Campus Reform that "when our University offers classes about 'problematizing whiteness,' it is hard to really believe that we [Caucasian male students] are really being the oppressive ones." The first assignment for the course is called "Getting Down and Dirty with Whiteness," and requires students to write a paper answering the question, "what have you learned about whiteness and how does it apply to what you see in life?" The course, which was officially created in May, will be available to undergraduate and graduate students at UC Denver and Metropolitan State during the Spring 2017 semester. Campus Reform reached out to Matias for comment, as instructed by the flyer, but received an automatic reply stating that she is on leave until the Spring 2017 semester. Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @willywitt2

lJohn Kinsman, a leader of the global food sovereignty movement who was deeply committed to equality, justice, and peace, passed away on January 20, 2014. In honor of his inspirational life and work, the Center for Media and Democracy's Food Rights Network is republishing the following 2011 profile of this "food and farm hero." For information about the funeral service, and to find out how to share some of his legacy, please visit the website of the organization he founded 20 years ago: the Family Farm Defenders . In the world of food and farming, the contrast between corporate agribusiness "farms" and small, sustainable family farms -- farms that, to adapt a phrase of Michael Pollan's, our grandparents would recognize as food-producing places -- is especially clear. Among the farmers who live and work in these places, the CMD's Food Rights Network is featuring some of the heroes: farmers who are making an incredible difference in the farming community, on our dinner tables and in the world around them. John Kinsman John Kinsman is a dairy farmer from Lime Ridge, Wisconsin. He is a pioneer of rotational grazing, a strong proponent of small, diversified agricultural operations, and an activist since the 1970s. Mr. Kinsman, who is now in his eighties, helped establish a cultural exchange in the early 1970s between black children from Mississippi and white children from Wisconsin called Project Self-Help and Awareness (PSA). As a result of this work, he met and interacted with Southern black farmers filing discrimination complaints against the USDA that resulted in the Pigford v. Glickman trial and settlement . "That helped me to see how broad the picture is, of how agriculture and urban life and factory workers and everyone fit together," Kinsman says. When the National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC) was founded in 1986, Kinsman got a ride to the first meetings from friends who "drove out of their way from Northwestern Wisconsin to come over here and pick me up -- and I know they were four hours out of their way both ways -- to make sure I went to ... these organizing meetings. ... And of course, once I went, I was hooked!" In 1994, Kinsman and others founded the Family Farm Defenders (FFD), which he says was formed "to include at least forty percent urban people, because we were finding that our urban friends cared more about family farmers" than some farmers did, "and understood the reasons for caring about them." FFD's mission, according to its website , is "to create a farmer-controlled and consumer-oriented food and fiber system, based upon democratically controlled institutions that empower farmers to speak for and respect themselves in their quest for social and economic justice. To this end, FFD supports sustainable agriculture, farm worker rights, animal welfare, consumer safety, fair trade, and food sovereignty." Fighting rBGH Starting in 1985, Kinsman also advocated for banning the use of and experimentation with bovine growth hormone. At the time, American Cyanamid started experimenting with synthetic bovine growth hormone, or rBGH , at the University of Wisconsin, and serving the resulting dairy products on campus through Babcock Hall. Says Kinsman: We went to some of the early meetings of the scientists from the University, who were so excited about the increased milk production. Thirty percent, which meant -- and they said it! -- it would put thirty percent more farmers off the land because of that much over-production. Fifty percent of all the dairy products at that time -- and that's twenty-six years ago -- that were sold at the University of Wisconsin and the University Hospital, fifty percent of all the milk, cottage cheese, the cheese, the butter, everything that was manufactured in Madison at Babcock Hall and other places (ice cream!) came from these experimental cows. No one knew about it except this small group of people, and they weren't even informed of it. Because we couldn't get any attention, I used my civil rights experience and wrote up a placard, or a sign on a stick. It said, "Do you know you're a guinea pig?" and so on, for this experiment. Then I made up some, at the beginning very crude, information sheets, and I would go in front of the Memorial Union and hand out this information once a week for ten weeks. Kinsman continued to educate farmers and consumers about the negative effects of bovine growth hormone. According to the National Family Farm Coalition website , "as a result of his efforts, the Food and Drug Administration forestalled rBGH approval for seven years and bovine growth hormone is now struggling in the marketplace." This led into his work with international family farm groups like Via Campesina , which fight these issues on an international level. Kinsman's small dairy farm of thirty-six milking cows and about thirty younger cattle is in the hilly "Driftless" region of Wisconsin. Of his family's 200 acres, only about 85 of them can be worked or even pastured. "It's very rough," he says. "Part of the pasture looks like Stonehenge with huge rocks, and there's buried rocks all over the farm. The rest of the land is in permanent trees." He and his wife purchased the land sixty years ago from an elderly neighbor who had been forced to rent out the land to farmers who "took the crop off and paid her so much an acre for using the land until it was so worn out that it couldn't produce anymore." But, as a young couple just getting started, they could afford it, so they began building it back up. According to Kinsman, "I knew the only way to do it was to get organic matter back in the soil, so any time I see a leaf fluttering away, I think, 'Oh my gosh, it should be put into the soil!' ... That's tremendous fertilizer. The roots [of the trees] go down and bring up minerals that you don't get otherwise. ... It became very productive, but it took many years." The milk from the farm is sold to Cedar Grove Cheese , a cheesemaker 20 miles from the farm, in Plain, Wisconsin. Cedar Grove's owner, Bob Wills, buys milk from over 30 Wisconsin farmers, all of whom -- organic or not -- have pledged not to treat their cows with synthetic growth hormones. Kinsman says they all also pasture their cows. In exchange, Wills "tries to pay top prices" and has "helped us develop a fair trade cheese project starting thirteen years ago" wherein "any of the cheese that we sell through the Family Farm Defenders gets a fair trade price... and all the farmers in his plant get a share of that." Kinsman now shares the farm with a partner, who, he says, "is now doing the lion's share of the heavy work, and he gets half the milk check and pays half the usual expenses and gets half of the increase (every other calf born is his). ... This 85 acres is supporting more than one family -- most of his and mine." Building Community Kinsman is now involved with local groups, which organize free meals with local ingredients, and who have started a farmers' market in the small town of Lime Ridge. Local hospitals and schools, he says, have started to buy more local produce. "We have to have this locally to get around what's happening nationally and internationally," he says. That's what I've learned all over the world. There are such excellent models, just tremendous models, that I see in Africa, in Asia, and all over South America and Central America, and some in Canada, too, that work. And it's tremendous friendships, and a sense of community. ... Building community is the answer to a lot of the economic and social problems of the world. The Center for Media and Democracy interviewed John Kinsman on Thursday, September 15th. You can watch the video here : Or you can listen to the interview, in two segments. In Part 1 , Kinsman talks about his farm, and in Part 2 , Kinsman talks about his years of activism. A transcript can be found here . It's easy for an organization dedicated to exposing corporate spin to focus on negative corporate propaganda, with its ubiquity, but CMD would be remiss not to highlight courageous people who fight corporate agendas and spin in other ways, large and small. Some devote their lives to it -- as did John Kinsman.

by Cole Mellino According to the 2007 USDA Agricultural Census, the median age of farmers in the U.S. is 57. As of 2008, approximately 2-3% of the U.S. population is directly employed in agriculture. Only a century ago, half the U.S. population was employed in agriculture. The number of farms in the U.S. dropped from 7 million in 1930 to 2 million in 2000 -- and of those 2 million farms, just 3%, produced 75% of the nation's farm output. All this means that food is being produced by a very small handful of older farmers -- many of whom are not really farmers, but businessmen who hire low-paid farmworkers to do the work in massive, industrialized operations. This is not to say that there aren't plenty of innovative and sustainable farmers of an older generation. But it's time for a new younger generation to become interested in farming and change the way that we farm altogether in this country. That's especially true since feeding 7 billion people, then 8 billion, and then 9 billion in a world of ever-worsening climate change will be the greatest challenge the human race has ever faced (see " Global Food Prices Stuck Near Record High Levels " and links below). What to do? As it turns out, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has created two programs specifically because of a desperate need for youth engagement in food and agriculture. Since 2009, the USDA has allocated about $18 million in grant money every year as part of the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) to help beginning farmers and ranchers run successful and sustainable farms. The BFRDP, established by Congress in the 2008 Farm Bill, is an "education, training, technical assistance and outreach program designed to help U.S. farmers and ranchers -- specifically those who have been farming or ranching for 10 years or less," according to the USDA. Another new program, FoodCorps, part of AmeriCorps, places young adults in limited-resource communities for a year of public service to teach children about nutrition, to grow school gardens, and to facilitate farm-to-school programs that put local food in school lunches. The grants provided through these programs have allowed UC Berkeley to train minority, immigrant and limited-resource farmers and ranchers on sustainable production. They've allowed the Center for Race, Poverty, and the Environment to create a training program for hundreds of beginning farmers in the South San Joaquin Valley on successful and sustainable farming practices while also creating community gardens, co-operatives and small-scale farms. Mississippi State University is distributing training material to high school and college students who plan to enter farming and ranching. And the University of Nevada is teaching Native American, Hispanic, women and low-income farmers and ranchers about sustainability and good farming practices. All of these universities and non-profit organizations across the country are educating and training the next generation to be stewards of the land. It's time for a paradigm shift in farming. These two programs, if properly designed and funded, could help provide the catalyst for change. Of course we'll need to do a lot more. What do you think we should be doing? Cole Mellino is an intern on the energy team at the Center for American Progress. Joe Romm helped with this post.

CONVERSATION: #WorldMeatFreeDay, your diet, and climate change Climate change is a very real threat, but you can do something about it - starting with what you eat Published 11:40 PM, June 11, 2016 Updated 10:04 AM, June 13, 2016 Rappler in Partnership with MANILA, Philippines - When people enumerate the causes of climate change, what immediately comes to mind are coal, fossil fuel, gas - anything to do with the energy sector. After all, energy production contributes to 21% of the world's total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions . But what most people don't realize is that next to energy, the agriculture industry - including livestock - is the second biggest source of carbon emissions globally. Yes, the burly bovine that we have all come to love in the form of burgers, steaks, or its creamy by-products contributes to climate change. And it's not just because of the whole process of production: believe it or not, these gentle creatures have mighty farts that release tons of methane and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere. So much so that beef and dairy actually account for 65% of the total GHGs from livestock . So what does all this information mean to you? While reducing carbon emissions in the entire agriculture sector requires a holistic approach , your diet is under your control. Help mitigate climate change by participating in World Meat-free Day on June 13. All you need to do is replace one meat meal with a meat-free dish. This simple act won't just reduce your carbon footprint, it can also help your diet in terms of reducing saturated fat and calorie intake while increasing fiber content. We'll be hosting a live Twitter conversation asking you about your thoughts on this issue. Use the hashtag #WorldMeatFreeDay to participate. Don't feel pressured to give up meat completely. Rather, be aware that every choice you make has the potential to create great impact on the rest of the world. - Rappler.com Let's take one simple step for our planet on June 13, 2016. Join in at www.worldmeatfreeday.com and see the impact you could make. #WorldMeatFreeDay

At the height of the GMO labeling battle, we not-so-fondly referred to the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) as "Monsanto's Evil Twin." Last week, a former GMA executive told Politico that [...] No consumer, farmer, or activist participates in the food system without also participating in capitalism. To Eric Holt-Gimenez, the director of Food First, this is a basic truth that's too often [...] By Michael Sainato and Chelsea Skojec for The Real News Network - On November 20, animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) released findings from a 9 month investigation into Norbest [...] By Josianne Gauthi the Secretary General CIDSE - What we need is a profound and radical transformation, or dare we say, conversion of the world food system. Around the world, people are migrating [...] By Staff of IATP - The re-negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the U.S., Mexico and Canada begins on August 16, and there is much at stake for farmers and rural [...] By Kathy Kelly for VCNV - Earlier this year, the Sisters of St. Brigid invited me to speak at their Feile Bride celebration in Kildare, Ireland. The theme of the gathering was: "Allow the Voice [...] Daily movement news and resources. Popular Resistance provides a daily stream of resistance news from across the United States and around the world. We also organize campaigns and participate in coalitions on a broad range of issues. We do not use advertising or underwriting to support our work. Instead, we rely on you. Please consider making a tax deductible donation if you find our website of value.

Dennis Avery is a senior fellow with The Heartland Institute, director of the Center for Global Food Issues, and a senior fellow of the Hudson Institute. With Dr. S. Fred Singer, he is coauthor of Unstoppable Global Warming - Every 1,500 Years , which spent weeks on The New York Times best-seller list in early 2007. Avery is the author of Global Food Progress 1991 (Hudson Institute, 1991) and Saving the Planet with Pesticides and Plastic: The Environmental Triumph of High-Yield Farming (Hudson Institute, 1995). The second edition of Saving the Planet was published in 2000. Avery writes a weekly column on environmental issues that is widely regarded across the country and internationally. He has been quoted in publications ranging from Time and The Washington Post to The Farm Journal . Avery's article, " What's Wrong with Global Warming? " was published in the August 1999 issue of Reader's Digest . Avery studied agricultural economics at Michigan State University and the University of Wisconsin. He holds awards for outstanding performance from three different government agencies and was awarded the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement in 1983. He continues to monitor developments in world food production, farm product demand, the safety and security of food supplies, and the sustainability of world agriculture. As a staff member of the President's National Advisory Commission on Food and Fiber, he wrote the Commission's landmark report, "Food and Fiber for the Future." Avery travels the world as a speaker, has testified before Congress, and has appeared on most of the nation's major television networks, including ABC's 20/20.

Having established a horse farm in Uzungol, a district in Trabzon province and one of the most important tourist attractions in the Black Sea region, four friends provide domestic and foreign tourists with the opportunity to enjoy horseback riding. Establishing the farm while working as craftsmen in the Caykara district, four friends started to render service to tourists on their farm that is approximately 10 kilometers from Uzungol. Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Mehmet Sami Nuhoglu, one of the owners of the farm, said that they wish to contribute to tourism by providing the opportunity of horse riding. Nuhoglu also said that they started to do business over time with horses that they bought one-and-a-half year ago just because they liked them and added, "We made a facility to pay for the horses, then we expanded our business and we wanted both tourism and tourists to benefit from it. That is how we started this business." Saying that their business attracts great attention, Nuhoglu added, "Tourists show great interest in our business. They really like to ride the horses around the area and see the natural beauty of the Black Sea, the historical structures and especially Uzungol." Nuhoglu remarked that tourists, who are on their way to Uzungol, see the farm, go there to get information and then start to ride the horses and ride around the area. "They ride horses around natural and historical areas. They find it fantastic, let off steam and say they are pleased with this experience and that they will come here again next year," Nuhoglu said.

By Hsiao-ting Lin A personal note from Chiang Kai-shek to Tao Xisheng, dated December 1st 1956, on the publication of Chiang's Soviet Russia in China (1957). Tao was the ghostwriter for this book The Marco Polo Bridge Incident of July 1937 marked the beginning of the second Sino-Japanese War that would last for the next eight years. For the four and half years before Pearl Harbor, Nationalist China under Chiang Kai-shek fought a lone and bitter war with the Japanese. Internally, the Generalissimo faced one crisis after another and strived to hold different political parties together under a united government against the external enemy. It was no easy job. In addition to the constantly recalcitrant Chinese Communists, Wang Jingwei, Chiang's main political rival within the ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) who had served as the vice chairman of the party since April 1938, created a situation that threatened the stability of Chiang's leadership and weakened the KMT's political legitimacy. In late 1938, disillusioned at KMT's capability to resist, Wang and his faction decided to collaborate with the Japanese. He left Chongqing, China's wartime capital, for Hanoi, French Indochina, where he announced his support for a negotiated settlement with the Japanese. Among his cohorts were Gao Zongwu, the Asian Bureau Chief in the Foreign Ministry, and Tao Xisheng, a former professor who served on several key committees within the government. A failed attempt to assassinate Wang in Hanoi by Chiang's secret agents prompted an angry Wang to fly to Shanghai, where he was determined to enter negotiations with the Japanese. The war had given Wang the opportunity he had long sought to establish a new government outside of Chiang's control. Tao Xisheng's personal account on the Chinese civil war (1946-1949) It turns out that Japanese demands on China would be harsh, and included economic and military dominance across all of China's territory. Endeavors made by Wang to establish dominance over the occupied area, relatively free from Japanese control, ended with disappointment. As it became obvious that the new government to be set up under Wang was a mere puppet regime, with all the terms almost entirely one-sided favoring Tokyo, Gao Zongwu and Tao Xisheng decided to defect. In early January 1940, the two were spirited away from Shanghai by the Green Gang, a local secret society who had unusual ties with the KMT, and reappeared in Chongqing in a monumental propaganda coup for the Nationalist government. Gao and Tao announced in a statement in Hong Kong just how crushing Japan's demands were and called on Wang to end negotiations and "restrain the horse from falling over the precipice." Gao was given permission to emigrate to the United States, and Tao rejoined Chiang's staff and became his ghostwriter and top propagandist. The personal papers of Tao Hengsheng, a son of Tao Xisheng, that Hoover recently acquired include the latter's personal account of this unique historical episode; his eyewitness about the final years of Nationalist rule in China; as well as family correspondence, photos and writings. They provide rich sources to advance our understanding of the complicated relationship between the Chinese and the Japanese, as well as among the Chinese Nationalists during the Sino-Japanese war--the repercussions of which continue to be felt today.

China is running for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council China's official UN campaign pledge includes the following absurd claims: China attaches "great importance" to "promoting and protecting" human rights. China has worked actively to "guarantee people's rights to be informed", to participate in public affairs, to "express their views" and to "supervise government work." Freedom of religious belief is "fully guaranteed." The "right of ethnic minorities to equal participation" in the management of State and society is guaranteed. The Chinese people enjoy more "extensive democratic rights and freedoms" in accordance with the law, and "legal guarantees for human rights" Watch: Former Political Prisoner Yang Jianli Opposes China Election to UNHRC:

It was 28 years ago tonight when the Chinese government sent the Mongolian Army into Tiananmen Square to crackdown on the mostly student protestors. It is against the law in China to recognize today, memorialize the dead, or even speak publicly of this bloody anniversary . Few people know the short and long-term political ramifications to this event which extended far beyond the borders of China. Many people are familiar with this image: However, not as many people are as familiar with the wide shot. That's some serious courage right there. The June 4th 1989 anniversary holds a great deal of personal significance for those who witnessed the events. Few people even know how most of the regular Chinese military refused orders to open fire on the protesting crowd. Hundreds of young Chinese military soldiers actually formed lines around the mostly student activists in an effort to protect them. The Chinese government eventually bypassed the regulars and instructed the Mongolian military divisions who carried out the orders. No-one really knows how many were killed, and even the families of the fallen were too scared to speak publicly. Those who were lost live-on in whispered memories of lore.

Since last year, hundreds of thousands -- and perhaps millions -- of innocent Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region in northwest China have been unjustly arrested and imprisoned in what the Chinese government calls "political re-education camps." Thousands have disappeared. There are credible reports of torture and death among the prisoners. The government says it is fighting "terrorism" and "religious extremism." Uighurs say they are resisting a campaign to crush religious and cultural freedom in China. The international community has largely reacted with silence. Horrific as they are, the camps constitute just one part of Beijing's effort. The government has destroyed thousands of religious buildings. It has banned long beards and many Muslim names. People are forced to eat pork against their beliefs. The Chinese government's persecution of innocents continues even after their death. Crematoria are being built to literally extinguish the Uighur funeral tradition, which insists on burials.

United Nations: The UN should play a greater role in counter-terrorism and promoting closer cooperation of the international community on the battle, a Chinese envoy to the UN said at United Nations on Wednesday. United Nations. Reuters "On the question of counter-terrorism, the UN should advertise a clear-cut criterion and oppose double standards in promoting the international community to enhance cooperation against terrorism in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN charter and other international norms," Xinhua quoted Wang Min, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, as saying at a UN Security Council meeting. "Terrorism is the common enemy of human kind," he said, stressing that the international community, in the face of terrorism, separatism and extremism, must adopt a zero-tolerance attitude and must firmly oppose to them and counter them. China is against linking terrorism with any specific country, group or religion, and stands for enhanced dialogues among civilizations and the elimination of the breeding ground of terrorism through different means, Wang said.

Today's attack, however, is of another order of magnitude more serious. With at least 30 dead, it may be China's most serious terrorist attack in years, and the use of explosives indicates an escalation in tactics over the other recent attacks, most of which were mass stabbings. The mysterious car attack on Tiananmen Square, which took place while I was in Beijing last October , would have been a substantially more serious event if the perpetrators had used the tactics seen today. It's becoming clear that China is a country with a serious terrorism problem. Earlier this month a report issued by Beijing University's Centre for International Strategy and Security Studies highlighted the issue, warning that "Terror attacks in China have become more active than in previous years in both the number and seriousness of the attacks. The anti-terrorism condition facing China is grave." But with attacks expanding in both geographical scope and severity, it's becoming increasingly clear that Beijing's default strategy of cracking down hard on Xinjiang isn't working.

The army's report alleges that the brutal acts were performed by people from within the Rohingya community, which the report called "terrorists." The Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar is facing the deadliest violence against its vulnerable minority in decades. The state-sanctioned genocide in the Buddhist-majority Rakhine state has forced more than 600,000 civilians to flee to Bangladesh. Now, the Myanmar Army has released a report that it clears itself from the Rohingya crisis, which the United Nations has called "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing". The report denies all allegations of rape, stealing possessions, killing people and burning villages. It, in fact, states that the military interviewed thousands of villagers who "confirmed" the security forces were not involved in any of the atrocities. According to the report, the villagers agreed the army "did not kill people," "did not arrest, beat and kill the villagers," "did not totally destroy, rob and take property, gold and silver wares, vehicles and animals of villagers, "did not set fire to mosques," among several other claims. The report further alleged the brutal acts were performed by people from within the Rohingya community, which the report called "terrorists." The claims in the report, however, contradict reports of journalists and human rights activists on the line. Although media access in the Rakhine state has been limited, U.N. officials and some independent journalists have been able to report horrific stories. A senior U.N. official, who visited Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, said there was proof of rape. Medics helping people in the camps also said Rohingya girls as young as 10 have been sexually assaulted while fleeing violence in the Rakhine state. Another medical specialist said , in majority of the cases, soldiers from the Myanmar army placed the women and girls in one place and then picked "the most beautiful one." She was taken away to be raped. If the statements of medics aren't proof enough, relatives of the victims have also spoken out and shared the horrific incidents the army is trying to get away with in the internal investigation report. A 27-year-old woman from the Buthidaung area of Rakhine shared the terrifying story of her sister's rape. "The military put all the male people to one side and took all the female people into the jungle. I cried when they took away my little sister, but I couldn't stop them. They tortured and raped many girls and women," she said. She further added, "When they stopped and left, I went looking for my sister and saw many bodies on the ground. When I found my sister I didn't know if she was alive or dead but she was breathing. She was bleeding a lot so I carried her to a little river and washed her. Then I took her on my shoulders till I found a small medical clinic [in Rakhine] and got some medicine for her." Earlier, in another attempt to do away with the atrocities, quite a few images surfaced showing a group of villagers supposedly setting fire to their own homes. The photos, which showed the faces of the perpetrators a bit too clearly to be honest, were then used by the Myanmar government and other anti-Rohingya supporters to propagate that the Rohingya were themselves burning down their homes and blaming it on the military forces. However, it later turned out that reporters identified them as the Hindu IDPs they had interviewed earlier. To add more to the proof against the Myanmar army, satellites images released by Human Rights Watch confirmed Myanmar wiped out entire Rohingya villages. The report comes at point when U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is set to meet Myanmar's de-facto leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. It is also expected that Tillerson will deliver a warning to the authorities over the escalating Rohingya crisis. Well they would say that wouldn't they? When ever has anyone actively carrying out ethic cleansing admitted it?: #Myanmar army denies atrocities against #Rohingya Muslims https://t.co/dxMco4LFdQ via @IrishTimesWorld -- Colm O'Gorman (@Colmogorman) November 13, 2017 The Burmese army have released their own investigation into events in Rakhine State. In brief: We've done nothing at all wrong - not a single dead innocent Bengali (Rohingya). Not even shot at them. https://t.co/ZTsxQbdvSC pic.twitter.com/5VvGNWFZJV -- Jonah Fisher (@JonahFisherBBC) November 13, 2017

Myanmar has reportedly been planting landmines along its border with Bangladesh, government officials told Reuters. Dhaka has lodged a protest as tensions escalate over the influx of Rohingya Muslims fleeing state persecution and violence in Myanmar. "Our forces have also seen three to four groups working near the barbed wire fence, putting something into the ground," said one of the anonymous sources, adding that they had discovered the mines mainly through photographic evidence and informers. Manzurul Hassan Khan, a Bangladeshi border guard officer, told Reuters that blasts were heard earlier this week fuelling speculation. Two boys have been injured in the explosions, one had his leg blown off. Myanmar remains one of the few countries to not have signed the 1997 U.N. Mine Ban Treaty. On Tuesday Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of Myanmar -- who has been criticized for refusing to denounce the violence against the Rohingya population in the state of Rakhine -- met with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi commended Myanmar's handling of "extremist" violence in the country, foregoing mention of the plight of Rohingya Muslims. In turn, Suu Kyi, thanked India for taking a strong stand on the "terror threat" faced by her country. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi shake hands after their joint press conference in the Presidential Palace in Naypyitaw, Myanmar September 6, 2017. | Photo: Reuters Myanmar's fleeing Rohingya population has reached to some 146,000 people in recent weeks, mostly to Bangladesh, but earlier exoduses saw many escaping to India. However, last month Modi vowed to deport some 14,000 Rohingya refugees from his country. On Wednesday, Suu Kyi blamed "terrorists" for producing "misinformation" about the situation in her first statement since violence struck up again in the state, in late August. "That kind of fake information ... was simply the tip of a huge iceberg of misinformation calculated to create a lot of problems between different communities and with the aim of promoting the interest of the terrorists," her statement, which she posted to Facebook, said. An army crackdown triggered by an attack on Aug. 25 by Rohingya insurgents on Myanmar security forces has led to the killing of at least 400 people and the exodus of nearly 146,000 Rohingya to Bangladesh, leading to a major humanitarian crisis. The Rohingya have been under a military siege since October 2016 , but have long been subjected to communal violence by extremists. The Myanmar government considers the "most persecuted minority group in the world," as the UN has deemed them, "illegal immigrants" from Bangladesh. The Rohingya, however, claim roots in the region dating back centuries.

The border authorities came under fire just after midnight and shot back at two fishing trawlers along a river dividing Bangladesh from Myanmar's westernmost state of Rakhine, police said. "The BGB (Border Guard Bangladesh) later found the boat anchored at a river island. One woman was found shot dead and four were injured," Mainuddin Khan, the police chief in the Bangladeshi border town of Teknaf, told AFP. The dead woman and at least three of the injured men were Rohingya, he added. But the head of Teknaf's government-run hospital, Iskandar Mirza, said the woman identified as 50-year-old Jahida Khatun and the four injured were all Rohingya. "Her bullet-ridden body was brought to the hospital, while four injured Rohingya men were brought in," he said. Some 75,000 Rohingya refugees have entered Bangladesh since October, when government forces in Myanmar unleashed a bloody crackdown on the Muslim minority. Many recalled horrific stories of villages being torched, relatives burned alive and the gang rape of women by security forces. Most headed to Cox's Bazar, where overcrowded displacement camps have been housing Rohingya refugees fleeing persecution for decades. The sudden influx in recent months prompted Bangladesh to resurrect a controversial plan to relocate refugees to an undeveloped island in the Bay of Bengal. The UN rights council has agreed to investigate allegations of rape, murder and torture against the army, though Myanmar has denied its troops have been waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing. Myanmar denies citizenship to most of the million-strong Rohingya in Rakhine, despite many living there for generations.

Close to 18,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Burma (also known as Myanmar) into neighboring Bangladesh after clashes with government troops resumed last week, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday. Sanjukta Sahany, spokeswoman for IOM in the border town Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, said many of the minority Rohingya Muslims crossed the border with bullet wounds and burns. Hundreds of others remain stranded at the border. "People are traumatized, which is quite visible," Sahany said. Rohingya militants staged an attack against government security forces last week in Rakhine state after accusing them of killing and assaulting their people. Human rights groups and advocates said more than 100 people have died since then in retaliation attacks by the Myanmar army. Human Rights Watch said it has accessed satellite data that shows widespread fires burning in at least 10 areas in Rakhine state. Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, condemned the violence and called on Myanmar authorities to "issue clear instructions to security forces to refrain from using disproportionate force." Read more from The Sift Share this article with friends.

8 Rohingya women have described how Myanmar soldiers last week raided their homes, looted property and raped them at gun point. Male relatives of Rohingya women who were sexually assaulted in a remote village in Rakhine state. ( TRT World and Agencies ) Dozens of women have been raped and sexually assaulted by Myanmar soldiers, Rohingya Muslims are saying. The allegations come from eight Rohingya women who have gone on record with Reuters describing how soldiers last week raided their homes, looted property and raped them at gun point. "They took me inside the house. They tore my clothes and they took my head scarf off," a 40 year old mother of seven told Reuters in an interview outside her home. "Two men held me, one holding each arm, and another one held me by my hair from the back and they raped me." A 30-year-old woman described being knocked off her feet by soldiers and repeatedly raped. "They told me, 'We will kill you. We will not allow you to live in this country,'" she said. The Myanmar government is accused of not doing enough to ensure that Rohingya Muslims obtain citizenship. ( TRT World and Agencies ) The allegations have been denied by the president's spokesperson in an interview with Reuters. Soldiers entered the U Shey Kya village in Rakhine state looking for Al-Yakin Mujahidin, an insurgent group of Rohingyas who are believed by the government to have links to terrorist groups overseas. Al-Yakin Mujahidin is recently believed to have launched coordinated attacks on numerous border guard posts. The government denies the accusations against the soldiers and blames the attacks on Al-Yakin Mujahidin. The residents said that 150 soldiers entered their village. Most male residents left as they believed they would be mistaken for insurgents. "We can't move to another village to find medical care," said a 32-year-old survivor. "I don't have clothes now or food to eat. It was all destroyed. I'm feeling ashamed and scared." Tensions are high between the government and Rohingya Muslims as the state is accused of not doing enough to ensure that 1.1 million Rohingyas are given citizenship.

The New York-based campaign group said it had documented rape, gang rape and other sexual violence against girls as young as 13 in interviews with some of the 69,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled to Bangladesh since Burmese security forces responded to attacks on border posts four months ago. "The sexual violence did not appear to be random or opportunistic, but part of a coordinated and systematic attack against Rohingya, in part because of their ethnicity and religion," a Human Rights Watch (HRW) news release said. Reuters was unable to contact a Burmese government spokesman to respond to the allegations. The New York-based campaign group said it had documented rape, gang rape and other sexual violence against girls as young as 13 in interviews with some of the 69,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled to Bangladesh since Burmese security forces responded to attacks on border posts four months ago. "The sexual violence did not appear to be random or opportunistic, but part of a coordinated and systematic attack against Rohingya, in part because of their ethnicity and religion," a Human Rights Watch (HRW) news release said. Reuters was unable to contact a Burmese government spokesman to respond to the allegations. Independent journalists and observers have been barred from visiting the army's operation zone in northern Rakhine since the October 9 attacks that killed nine border police. The government has so far dismissed most claims that soldiers raped, beat, killed and arbitrarily detained civilians while burning down villages, insisting instead that a lawful operation is underway against a group of armed Rohingya insurgents. The HRW report comes just days after United Nations investigators said Burma's security forces had "very likely" committed crimes against humanity, posing a dilemma for de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Nobel Peace Prize winner took charge of most civilian affairs in April after a historic transition from full military rule, but soldiers retain a quarter of seats in parliament and control ministries related to security. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said on Friday that Miss Suu Kyi had promised to investigate the UN's allegations. HRW said it had gathered evidence on 28 separate sexual assaults, including interviews with nine women who said they were raped or gang raped at gunpoint by security forces during the army's so-called "clearance operations" in northern Rakhine. The women and other witnesses said the perpetrators were Burmese army troops or border police, who they identified by their uniforms, kerchiefs, arm bands and patches, HRW said. "These horrific attacks on Rohingya women and girls by security forces add a new and brutal chapter to the Burmese military's long and sickening history of sexual violence against women," said HRW senior emergencies researcher Priyanka Motaparthy. "Military and police commanders should be held responsible for these crimes if they did not do everything in their power to stop them or punish those involved."

On Sunday evening local time, a U.S. Navy jet shot down a Syrian aircraft that was dropping bombs on Coalition-backed forced that were fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) in a "show of force," according to the Navy . A Syrian regime SU-22 military jet aircraft that dropped bombs near Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters south of Tabqah, Syria, was "immediately shot down by a U.S. F/A-18E Super Hornet aircraft," according to a press release . This is believed to be the U.S.'s first air-to-air kill that included two manned aircraft in 20 years. (Twitter) Tabqah is approximately an hour by car, or about 36 miles, from the de facto ISIS capital of Raqqa in Syria. This action was in accordance with the rules of engagement and "in collective self-defense of Coalition partnered forces," which are led by the United States, the Defense Department said. "The Coalition presence in Syria addresses the imminent threat ISIS in Syria poses globally," the department added. "The demonstrated hostile intent and actions of pro-regime forces toward Coalition and partner forces in Syria conducting legitimate counter-ISIS operations will not be tolerated." (Twitter) The attack reportedly wounded a number of SDF fighters and drove the Syrian Democratic Forces from Tabqah. After an initial attack against the SDF fighters around 4:30 p.m. local Syrian time on Sunday, "the Coalition contacted its Russian counterparts by telephone via an established 'de-confliction line' to de-escalate the situation and stop the firing," the Navy said. But about two hours later, at 6:43 p.m., is when the Syrian warplane dropped bombs near the SDF fighters, and the U.S. stepped in. Russia has since said it will treat any U.S. jets in Syria as "air targets." According to the Russian Defense Ministry, "All kinds of airborne vehicles, including aircraft and UAVs of the international Coalition detected to the west of the Euphrates River will be tracked by the Russian SAM systems as air targets," according to a report . The ministry said this would apply to "all aircraft, including those operating as part of the U.S.-backed Coalition," and that the ministry will "suspend a hotline between Russia and the U.S. set up to prevent mid-air collisions." "The Coalition's mission is to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria," the Navy said in a statement . "The Coalition does not seek to fight Syrian regime, Russian or pro-regime forces partnered with them, but will not hesitate to defend Coalition or partner forces from any threat." "The Coalition presence in Syria addresses the imminent threat ISIS in Syria poses globally," the Navy continued. "The demonstrated hostile intent and actions of pro-regime forces toward Coalition and partner forces in Syria conducting legitimate counter-ISIS operations will not be tolerated." "The Coalition calls on all parties to focus their efforts on the defeat of ISIS, which is our common enemy and the greatest threat to regional and worldwide peace and security," the Navy added. [revad2]

Russian Su-25 ground attack jets prepare to land after return from Syria / AP BY: Charles Fain Lehman Follow @CharlesFLehman June 19, 2017 11:25 am The Russian Defense Ministry has announced its intention to begin treating U.S. coalition jets flown west of the Euphrates River in Syria as air targets. The announcement came after the U.S. shot down a Syrian regime fighter jet on Sunday, which the ministry called a "massive violation of international law," according to ABC News. Russia said in response to the incident that it would target U.S.-led coalition jets in parts of Syria, the Associated Press reported Monday morning. BREAKING: Russia says it will treat US-led coalition planes in Syria, west of the Euphrates, as targets after US downed Syrian jet. -- The Associated Press (@AP) June 19, 2017 The Syrian plane was shot down by a U.S. Navy fighter jet after attempting to bomb U.S.-allied coalition forces, according to the U.S. military. This was the first time that the U.S. has itself engaged in air-to-air conflict with Syrian aircraft since it joined the fight against the Islamic State in 2014. Russia backs the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's ongoing conflict, and has called the U.S. strike a violation of Syrian sovereignty. "Repeated combat actions by U.S. aviation under the cover of counterterrorism against lawful armed forces of a country that is a member of the U.N. are a massive violation of international law and de facto a military aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic," the Russian Defense Ministry said. The ministry added that any aircraft flying west of the Euphrates "will be tracked by the Russian ground and air anti-aircraft defense systems as air targets in the areas where Russian aviation is on combat missions in the Syrian sky." Sunday's shoot-down occurred to the southwest of the Euphrates. The Russian Defense Ministry also contradicted a U.S. claim that an air safety hotline had been used prior to the incident, and said that Russian planes were airborne at the time. Moscow repeated an earlier promise to stop using the established deconfliction hotline between the U.S. and Russia in Syria. It has previously claimed it would do so following the U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air field in April as retaliation for a chemical weapons attack by the Assad government. Use of the hotline continued, however. A statement from the coalition stressed that it will continue to defend U.S. allies. "The coalition does not seek to fight Syrian regime, Russian, or pro-regime forces partnered with them, but will not hesitate to defend coalition or partner forces from any threat," the U.S. coalition said. "The demonstrated hostile intent and actions of pro-regime forces toward coalition and partner forces in Syria conducting legitimate counter-ISIS operations will not be tolerated," it said. This entry was posted in National Security and tagged Air Force , Military , Russia , Syria . Bookmark the permalink . THE MORNING BEACON DAILY NEWSLETTER MAKES IT EASIER TO STAY INFORMED

On Sunday evening local time, a U.S. Navy jet shot down a Syrian aircraft that was dropping bombs on Coalition-backed forced that were fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) in a "show of force," according to the Navy . A Syrian regime SU-22 military jet aircraft that dropped bombs near Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters south of Tabqah, Syria, was "immediately shot down by a U.S. F/A-18E Super Hornet aircraft," according to a press release . This is believed to be the U.S.'s first air-to-air kill that included two manned aircraft in 20 years. (Twitter) Tabqah is approximately an hour by car, or about 36 miles, from the de facto ISIS capital of Raqqa in Syria. This action was in accordance with the rules of engagement and "in collective self-defense of Coalition partnered forces," which are led by the United States, the Defense Department said. "The Coalition presence in Syria addresses the imminent threat ISIS in Syria poses globally," the department added. "The demonstrated hostile intent and actions of pro-regime forces toward Coalition and partner forces in Syria conducting legitimate counter-ISIS operations will not be tolerated." (Twitter) The attack reportedly wounded a number of SDF fighters and drove the Syrian Democratic Forces from Tabqah. After an initial attack against the SDF fighters around 4:30 p.m. local Syrian time on Sunday, "the Coalition contacted its Russian counterparts by telephone via an established 'de-confliction line' to de-escalate the situation and stop the firing," the Navy said. But about two hours later, at 6:43 p.m., is when the Syrian warplane dropped bombs near the SDF fighters, and the U.S. stepped in. Russia has since said it will treat any U.S. jets in Syria as "air targets." According to the Russian Defense Ministry, "All kinds of airborne vehicles, including aircraft and UAVs of the international Coalition detected to the west of the Euphrates River will be tracked by the Russian SAM systems as air targets," according to a report . The ministry said this would apply to "all aircraft, including those operating as part of the U.S.-backed Coalition," and that the ministry will "suspend a hotline between Russia and the U.S. set up to prevent mid-air collisions." "The Coalition's mission is to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria," the Navy said in a statement . "The Coalition does not seek to fight Syrian regime, Russian or pro-regime forces partnered with them, but will not hesitate to defend Coalition or partner forces from any threat." "The Coalition presence in Syria addresses the imminent threat ISIS in Syria poses globally," the Navy continued. "The demonstrated hostile intent and actions of pro-regime forces toward Coalition and partner forces in Syria conducting legitimate counter-ISIS operations will not be tolerated." "The Coalition calls on all parties to focus their efforts on the defeat of ISIS, which is our common enemy and the greatest threat to regional and worldwide peace and security," the Navy added. [revad2]

A U.S. F-15 jet downed an Iranian-made Syrian drone that was armed and in firing range of American troops in southern Syria. (Twitter) "A U.S. aircraft shot down an armed pro-Syrian regime Unmanned Aerial Vehicle [UAV] advancing on Coalition forces in Southern Syria," according to a press release from the Coalition. "The armed pro-regime Shaheed-129 UAV was shot down by a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle at approximately 12:30 a.m. after it displayed hostile intent and advanced on Coalition forces," the Coalition said. "The Coalition forces were manning an established combat outpost to the northeast of At Tanf where they are training and advising partner ground forces in the fight against ISIS," it continued. "This is the same location where another pro-regime UAV dropped munitions near Coalition forces before it was shot down, June 8." "The F-15E intercepted the armed UAV after it was observed advancing on the Coalition position. When the armed UAV continued to advance on the Coalition position without diverting its course, it was shot down," the Coalition said. The release also stated: The Coalition has made it clear to all parties publicly and through the de-confliction line with Russian forces that the demonstrated hostile intent and actions of pro-regime forces toward Coalition and partner forces in Syria conducting legitimate counter-ISIS operations will not be tolerated. There is a de-confliction mechanism in place with Russian forces to reduce uncertainty in this highly contested space and mitigate the chances of strategic miscalculation. Given recent events, the Coalition will not allow pro-regime aircraft to threaten or approach in close proximity to Coalition and partnered forces. The Coalition presence in Syria addresses the imminent threat ISIS in Syria poses globally. The Coalition does not seek to fight Syrian regime, Russian, or pro-regime forces partnered with them, but will not hesitate to defend Coalition or partner forces from any threat. According to CNN, this is the third time the U.S. has "had to shoot something down" in southern Syria. The Iranian-made drone "was posing an armed threat" to U.S. and Coalition forces on the ground, CNN reported. The drone was in a "threatening position," officials said, according to CNN. A Syrian regime SU-22 military jet aircraft that dropped bombs near Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters south of Tabqah, Syria, was "immediately shot down by a U.S. F/A-18E Super Hornet aircraft," according to a press release . This is believed to be the U.S.'s first air-to-air kill that included two manned aircraft in 20 years. After an initial attack against the SDF fighters around 4:30 p.m. local Syrian time on Sunday, "the Coalition contacted its Russian counterparts by telephone via an established 'de-confliction line' to de-escalate the situation and stop the firing," the U.S. Navy said. But about two hours later, at 6:43 p.m., is when the Syrian warplane dropped bombs near the SDF fighters, and the U.S. stepped in. Russia has since said it will treat any U.S. jets in Syria as "air targets."

Sanaa (AFP) - An attack on a bus at a market in rebel-held northern Yemen killed at least 29 children Thursday, the Red Cross said, as the Saudi-led coalition faced a growing outcry over the strike. The coalition said it had carried out a "legitimate military action", targeting a bus in response to a deadly [...] Sanaa (AFP) - A series of explosions Thursday on Yemen's rebel-held port city of Hodeida killed 55 civilians and wounded dozens of others, the Red Cross said, denouncing the "reprehensible" disregard for human life. The attacks, which were also denounced by a senior UN official, come as the United Nations has said it will invite [...] The Saudi-led coalition launched heavy air strikes on Yemen's main port city of Hodeidah on Friday, in an apparent resumption of military operations on the city after the Iranian-aligned Houthi movement attacked two Saudi oil tankers, residents said. The coalition on July 1 halted an attack on the Houthi-held city to aid UN efforts at [...] With Anuj Chopra in Riyadh | - Dubai (AFP) - Saudi Arabia's halt to oil shipments through a strategic waterway after Yemeni rebel attacks could provoke an international intervention in Yemen's "forgotten" war, analysts say. The world's top oil exporter on Wednesday suspended all oil deliveries through the Bab al-Mandab Strait after accusing the Iran-aligned [...]

The U.S. and South Korea put on a show of force Thursday, local time, as four U.S. F-35B fighter jets and two B-1B bombers joined four South Korean F-15 fighter jets to drop bombs near the North Korean border in a mock military exercise. (Twitter) The mock bombing comes the same week that North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan - the first time it had done so, and that missile might have been a test for Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific. Kim Jong Un vowed there would be more missile tests , despite multiple U.S. warnings from various officials, including President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. (Twitter) "Our forward-deployed force will be the first to the fight, ready to deliver a lethal response at a moment's notice if our nation calls," the U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM) tweeted Thursday. (Twitter) "By forward-basing [the F-35], the most advanced aircraft in the world, here in the Pacific, we are enabling the [U.S. Marine Corps] to respond quickly," PACOM said. (Twitter) A South Korean official told CNN that the exercise was meant to "strongly counter North Korea's repeated ballistic missile tests and development of nuclear weapons," CNN reported . The U.S. Air Force said American bombers flew from Guam, and the four stealth jet fighters flew from a U.S. Marine Corps base in Japan, CNN reported. The mock bombing drill took place over the Pilsung Range in the eastern province of Gangwon. USPACOM said the flyover was "a direct respond to North Korea's intermediate-range ballistic missile launch," CNN reported. "North Korea's actions are a threat to our allies, partners and homeland, and their destabilizing actions will be met accordingly," said Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy, Commander of Pacific Air Forces, CNN said. President Donald Trump tweeted yesterday that "talking is not the answer" when it comes to dealing with North Korea. (Twitter) On Monday, North Korea launched what is believed to have been an intermediate-range Hwasong-12 missile that flew over Hokkaido Island, in Japan. The missile landed in the Pacific Ocean, and officials later said that the U.S. territory of Guam had not been in danger of being in range of the missile. The missile was characterized as the "most provocative missile test in a very long time, perhaps ever," BBC News said.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's high cost of living is set to dominate a March 17 election that could shake up Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, with voter anger symbolised by an overpriced dessert. In a country where the influence of small parties makes elections notoriously hard to forecast, many experts still expect rightwing leader Netanyahu to keep power. But the focus on domestic policy and economics, rather than on security and Palestinian peacemaking, means the outcome is even more difficult to predict than usual. Some Israelis are speaking of an election that could sweep away the familiar political order, in which left and right have jockeyed for power by appeasing interest groups while doing little to reform an economy dominated by big conglomerates. "I now believe we have a chance to exile our failed leaders. We have a moment to change the direction Israel goes," said Naor Narkis, a 25-year-old former intelligence officer who became an unlikely overnight national celebrity when he posted a photo on Facebook showing a chocolate pudding in Berlin selling for a third of the price of a similar "Milky" dessert in Israel. The cost of living has been at the top of the domestic political agenda since 2011, when hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in protests sparked by the rising price of cottage cheese, a popular staple. In the last election 18 months ago, the issue helped propel TV personality and political newcomer Yair Lapid to the post of finance minister after his centrist party placed second. But since then, many Israelis say Lapid failed to deliver on promises of economic reform, and voters say they are now more serious about holding politicians accountable. Polls predict Lapid's Yesh Atid party will shrink to about half its size. Netanyahu's own Likud party could also lose votes. It might even win fewer seats than a left-centre bloc led by opposition Labour leader Isaac Herzog and centrist former peace negotiator Tzipi Livni, though Netanyahu could remain prime minister anyway if they have difficulty forming a coalition. Polls show voters shifting to a new centrist party led by Moshe Kahlon, one of the few politicians with a reputation as a successful economic reformer. As communications minister two years ago he was behind a plan to allow new mobile phone operators into the market, which helped bring down prices. Netanyahu held onto power in the last election despite a campaign that critics said focussed too much on his familiar theme of national security, and not enough on economic issues. This time around, he is making the economy a central theme. On Sunday he proposed raising the minimum wage for civil servants and marketing more lower cost apartments. He has promised to lift the 18 percent value added tax on milk, cheese, eggs and bread. Even his bedrock issue, national security, depends on "economic strength and economic growth", he says. "It's for the needs of our lives, the quality of our lives. To secure the future of our youth, all this requires a strong economy." YOUNG WILL LEAVE Israel is a rich country, but its prices are higher and wages are lower than in the United States and Western Europe. Since becoming a star over the "Milky" pudding, Narkis has argued that unless Israel becomes more affordable, young Israelis "will just leave". After military service, he asked himself, "'What does this country have to offer me?' The answer was not a lot. Even if you work here in a full time job you are not able to buy an apartment," he told Reuters. "Israel is a country for very rich Jews and the rest can go," he said. "The biggest threat to Israel is that young people won't want to live here." Fixing the cost of living problem requires deep reforms of an economy dominated by a few powerful conglomerates that have stifled competition. Big companies are slated to be broken up, but the process will take years. The government has formed many committees to study the problem, but few changes have been made. A government survey in June found that 4 in 10 Israelis are not able to make ends meet and 47 percent are not satisfied with their economic situation. A basket of basic products was 12 percent more expensive in Israel than the OECD average last year, according to the Bank of Israel, while gross salaries are $10,000 lower. While Israel's consumer price index rose 23 percent in the past 11 years, food prices jumped 39 percent. HIGH TAXES The business sector puts much of the blame for high consumer costs on Israel's VAT and high import taxes aimed at protecting farmers and producers. Uriel Lynn, who heads the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce, called this intervention "anachronistic". "Stop wasting so much time and complicating things in making more laws ... and interfering so intensely in the way the business sector functions. Just expose the total industry to importation," he said. Economy Ministry director general Amit Lang also favours expanding imports while easing regulation. There are 37 different regulators in Israel checking imports, he noted. "If we open the market ... it will be much more competitive and local producers will have to become more efficient and prices will fall," said Lang, who chaired a government panel that examined measures to cut food costs. Retailers say they are addressing the cost issue by bypassing big importers to carry out their own, cheaper imports, and by selling more products under their own labels that are cheaper than big brands. Retailers and producers blame each other for high prices. Israel's largest supermarket chain, Shufersal ( SAE.TA ), said half of the products it sells come from only 10 big suppliers. Suppliers say big grocery chains impose high markups. ($1 = 3.8913 shekels) (Editing by Peter Graff) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

Israel has one of the highest poverty rates of any developed country with the gap between the rich and the poor ever widening, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) revealed yesterday. Single-parent families or families where only one parent works have a disproportionate rate of poverty, the repost warned. The OECD said Arab workers and the Haredi Jewish community were the worst hit by poverty as a result of the low wages they are paid which are often below the poverty line. This, it added, was in spite of the fact that Israel's economy is thriving. Arabs and Ultra-Orthodox Jews - Israel's poorest communities - are expected to be half of Israel's population by 2060. "Because of the demographic trends and labour participation rate of the Ultra-Orthodox and Arabs ... sooner or later it will have a macro economic consequence," OECD economist Alvario Pereira told a news conference in Jerusalem. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Israel has a technologically advanced market economy. Cut diamonds, high-technology equipment, and pharmaceuticals are among the leading exports. Its major imports include crude oil, grains, raw materials, and military equipment. Israel usually posts sizable trade deficits, which are covered by tourism and other service exports, as well as significant foreign investment inflows. Between 2004 and 2011, growth averaged nearly 5% per year, led by exports. The global financial crisis of 2008-09 spurred a brief recession in Israel, but the country entered the crisis with solid fundamentals, following years of prudent fiscal policy and a resilient banking sector. In 2010, Israel formally acceded to the OECD. Israel's economy also has weathered the Arab Spring because strong trade ties outside the Middle East have insulated the economy from spill over effects. The economy has recovered better than most advanced, comparably sized economies, but slowing demand domestically and internationally, and a strong shekel, has reduced forecasts for the next decade to the 3% level. Natural gas fields discovered off Israel's coast since 2009 have brightened Israel's energy security outlook. The Tamar and Leviathan fields were some of the world's largest offshore natural gas finds this past decade. The massive Leviathan field is not due to come online until 2018, but production from Tamar provided a one percentage point boost to Israel's GDP in 2013 and is expected to contribute 0.5% growth in 2014. In mid-2011, public protests arose around income inequality and rising housing and commodity prices. Israel's income inequality and poverty rates are among the highest of OECD countries and there is a broad perception among the public that a small number of "tycoons" have a cartel-like grip over the major parts of the economy. The government formed committees to address some of the grievances but has maintained that it will not engage in deficit spending to satisfy populist demands. In May 2013 the Israeli government, in a politically difficult process, passed an austerity budget to reign in the deficit and restore confidence in the government's fiscal position. Over the long term, Israel faces structural issues, including low labour participation rates for its fastest growing social segments - the ultra-orthodox and Arab-Israeli communities. Also, Israel's progressive, globally competitive, knowledge-based technology sector employs only 9% of the workforce, with the rest employed in manufacturing and services - sectors which face downward wage pressures from global competition.

More than half of US National Football League (NFL) players due to head to Israel on a "propaganda" trip are not going. One of the NFL players, Michael Bennett, tweeted a statement saying that he won't be "used" by Israel and explained that: "One of my heroes has always been Muhammad Ali. I know that Ali always stood strongly with the Palestinian people...and always willing to be a 'voice for the voiceless'. I want to be a 'voice for the voiceless' and I cannot do that by going on this kind of trip to Israel." Bennett's statement has been "liked" over 16,000 times on Twitter. In the statement Bennett explained: "I was scheduled to make a visit to Israel... I was excited to see this remarkable and historic part of the world... I was not aware that my itinerary was being constructed by the Israeli government for the purposes of making me... an 'influencer and opinion-former'." "I will not be used in such a manner." -- Michael Bennett (@mosesbread72) February 11, 2017 The propaganda trip was organised in part by Israeli Minister Gildan Erdan who explained that: "The ministry I lead is spearheading an intensive fight ...against BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] campaigns against Israel, and part of this struggle includes hosting influencers and opinion-formers of international standing in different fields, including sport." This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Poverty levels among Israel's Arab citizens have increased as a result of the government's racist policies, official data has shown. Quds Press reported a study issued by Israel's Child Safety Department which said that 80 per cent of Arab children in Israel live under the poverty line. "About 370,000 children in Israel live under the poverty line," Israeli news website Wallah reported. "This means that one in three children live under the poverty line," it added. Poverty levels among Arab-Israeli families has risen sharply over the past 17 years, it was 53 per cent in 2000 and hit 62 per cent in 2016. According to official Israeli data, there are 1.8 Palestinian citizens of Israel - called Arab-Israelis. They are the descendants of 160,000 Palestinians, who did not leave their lands when Zionist gangs occupied them in 1948. They suffer clear discrimination in accessing work and housing. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

A Messianic Jewish leader and Israel supporter says the European Union should be ashamed of its effort to label goods flowing to its countries from settlements in Israel. The announcement by the EU is directed at Israelis living in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights. The new product label will tell European consumers that the products - mostly fruit and vegetables - come from territory that many countries consider "occupied" lands, and the EU considers illegal under international law. Israel has occupied those lands since 1967 (as seen in photo above) in what's known as the Six-Day War or Arab-Israeli War. Israel fought Egypt, Syria and Jordan, occupying their lands and tripling its territory when the brief war ended. Regarding the new EU rule, Jan Markell of Olive Tree Ministries says Israel is one of the largest fruit exporters in the world. "And so this is really going to hurt them," she predicts. "And it's coming at a time when Palestinians are killing Israelis." In fact, Markell says the new labeling regulation - suspected by Israel as a way to boycott its products - will embolden the Palestinians even more. The European Union is Israel's top trading partner, totalling $13 billion in exports annually, The New York Times reported . The new labels will affect less than one percent of those exports but the label is seen by Israel as a political move. Other than fruits and vegetables, products such as wine, honey, olive oil, and poultry will be labeled "settlement" or something similar. If they are produced by Palestinians, they will read "product of Palestine" or similar. Approximately 25,000 Palestinians work for Israelis in the West Bank and are reportedly paid better than Palestinian companies, the Times reported. Markell predicts the EU will ultimately bring a spiritual curse on its countries, which are currently being swamped by hundreds of thousands of Muslims from Africa and the Middle East at the same time it tries to hurt Israel.

The Munk School of Global Affairs and University Propaganda Yves Engler Education November 3, 2016 Photo by SimonP Next week the Fraser Institute's newly established Peter Munk Centre for Free Enterprise will offer a day long "Introduction to Economic Reasoning" seminar for Grade 10-12 students in Scarborough. Launched in June with $5 million from the founder of Barrick Gold, the Centre for Free Enterprise cements Munk's position as leading contributor to right-wing ideas. But, the ideologue's biggest contribution has been to a venerable public institution. The Munk School of Global Affairs reveals much about the state of foreign-policy debate in this country. Among 35 million Canadians, the University of Toronto would be hard pressed to find a less credible source of support for the study of international affairs. Peter Munk is a right wing ideologue and mining magnate with an important personal stake in a particular foreign policy. The Munk founded Barrick Gold has benefited from Canadian diplomatic support, export financing and development aid. With its projects spurring ecological devastation, communal conflict and dozens of deaths on six continents, the Toronto company has led the charge against moves to withhold diplomatic and financial support to Canadian companies found responsible for significant abuses abroad. After An Act Respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas Corporations in Developing Countries was narrowly defeated in 2010 Munk wrote a letter in the Toronto Star "celebrating those MPs who had the courage" to side with Canada's massive mining industry lobby and vote against bill C 300. Munk espouses far-right political views. In 1997 he praised dictator Augusto Pinochet for "transforming Chile from a wealth-destroying socialist state to a capital-friendly model that is being copied around the world" while two years later the Canadian Jewish News reported on a donation Munk made to an Israeli university and a speech in which he "suggested that Israel's survival is dependent on maintaining its technological superiority over the Arabs." In 2007 he compared Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to Hitler and later dismissed criticism of Barrick's security force in Papua New Guinea by claiming "gang rape is a cultural habit" in that country. He responded to a 2014 Economist question about whether "Indigenous groups appear to have a lot more say and power in resource development these days" by saying "globally it's a real problem. It's a major, major problem." An initial $6.4 million contract to rename the International Studies Department the Munk Centre for International Studies stipulated the Centre would receive advice from Barrick's international advisory board, which included US President George Bush and former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. (When asked why he appointed Mulroney to Barrick's board, Munk told Peter C. Newman: "He has great contacts. He knows every dictator in the world on a first name basis.") The 1997 agreement empowered Munk to stop payments if dissatisfied with the Centre. Happy with its direction, Munk contributed $5 million more in 2006 and $35 million to launch the Munk School of Global Affairs in 2010. That deal committed the U of T to pony up $39 million from its endowment while the Ontario and federal governments chipped in $50 million (as well as a $16 million tax credit to Peter Munk for his $35 million donation). Flush with resources, the School is highly influential. It co-sponsors an award for the world's best non-fiction book on foreign affairs, Canadian Forces College workshops, annual lecture with Washington's National Endowment for Democracy and Toronto International Film Festival speakers series. The School also co-sponsors the Munk Debates, which held the first-ever Canadian foreign policy leaders debate during the 2015 federal election. The School's Munk Fellowship in Global Journalism awards twenty fellowships for a year-long program run in partnership with the Globe and Mail, CBC News, Toronto Star, Postmedia and Thomson Reuters. The School has significant ties to the Globe and Mail with former editors-in-chief John Stackhouse and William Thorsell both senior fellows at the School. While executive director at the Munk Centre in 2007, Marketa Evans helped spawn the Devonshire Initiative, a project for NGOs and mining companies to discuss corporate social responsibility and development issues. Named after the street where the School is located, the Devonshire Initiative undermined a government-civil society Roundtable that called for withholding government financial and political support to resource companies found responsible for major abuses abroad. Evans would later be appointed Canada's inaugural Corporate Social Responsibility counselor, a post the Harper Conservatives set up to alleviate pressure to restrict government support for companies found responsible for international abuses. The School supported the Harper Conservatives' low-level war against Iran. After severing diplomatic ties and designating Iran a state sponsor of terrorism in 2012, Foreign Affairs ploughed $250,000 into the Munk School's Global Dialogue on the Future of Iran. The aim of the initiative was to foment opposition to the regime and help connect dissidents inside and outside Iran. Expanding the Global Dialogue on the Future of Iran, Foreign Affairs gave the Munk School $9 million in 2015 to establish the Digital Public Square project to undermine online censorship within enemy states. Canada's most influential global studies program is the brainchild of a mining magnate with a significant personal stake in a particular foreign policy. And the school has been shaped in his hard right image. Yves Engler is the author of A Propaganda System How Canada's Government, Corporations, Media and Academia Sell War and Exploitation.

On last night's show , I reported on how a Chinese ban on foreign plastics and papers is exposing the truth behind recycling. Canada used to ship recycling to China, but the ban is leaving cities with thousands of tonnes of waste and nowhere to send it. So they're just throwing it in landfills with the rest of our garbage. Taxpayers are still being forced to fund the bureaucrats in waste management who pick up recycling, and they still have to use separate bins. But it's all just an act. Recycling isn't about saving the environment, it's about leftists virtue signaling . Why else would we continue this sham? Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Islamic militant forces operating in Iraq and Syria will launch terrorist attacks around the world unless they are stopped, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Friday. Around 70 Canadian military advisors are already in the region and Canadian transport planes have delivered weapons to Kurdish and Iraqi forces. Harper says he is considering a U.S. request for more help against the militants. "These are extremely dangerous people who - if they continue to operate like this - will almost certainly launch terrorist attacks across a range of targets across the world, including this one," Harper told a news conference. Harper spokesman Jason MacDonald declined to comment on whether the prime minister was aware of a specific threat or was speaking more generally. Canadian officials said they could not confirm a Canadian Broadcasting Corp report that the cabinet would debate next week whether to send fighter jets to the region. Canadian planes attacked targets in Libya in 2011 as part of a campaign to enforce a United Nations no-fly zone over the country. (Reporting by David Ljunggren. Editing by Andre Grenon) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

The Munk School of Global Affairs and University Propaganda Yves Engler Education November 3, 2016 Photo by SimonP Next week the Fraser Institute's newly established Peter Munk Centre for Free Enterprise will offer a day long "Introduction to Economic Reasoning" seminar for Grade 10-12 students in Scarborough. Launched in June with $5 million from the founder of Barrick Gold, the Centre for Free Enterprise cements Munk's position as leading contributor to right-wing ideas. But, the ideologue's biggest contribution has been to a venerable public institution. The Munk School of Global Affairs reveals much about the state of foreign-policy debate in this country. Among 35 million Canadians, the University of Toronto would be hard pressed to find a less credible source of support for the study of international affairs. Peter Munk is a right wing ideologue and mining magnate with an important personal stake in a particular foreign policy. The Munk founded Barrick Gold has benefited from Canadian diplomatic support, export financing and development aid. With its projects spurring ecological devastation, communal conflict and dozens of deaths on six continents, the Toronto company has led the charge against moves to withhold diplomatic and financial support to Canadian companies found responsible for significant abuses abroad. After An Act Respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas Corporations in Developing Countries was narrowly defeated in 2010 Munk wrote a letter in the Toronto Star "celebrating those MPs who had the courage" to side with Canada's massive mining industry lobby and vote against bill C 300. Munk espouses far-right political views. In 1997 he praised dictator Augusto Pinochet for "transforming Chile from a wealth-destroying socialist state to a capital-friendly model that is being copied around the world" while two years later the Canadian Jewish News reported on a donation Munk made to an Israeli university and a speech in which he "suggested that Israel's survival is dependent on maintaining its technological superiority over the Arabs." In 2007 he compared Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to Hitler and later dismissed criticism of Barrick's security force in Papua New Guinea by claiming "gang rape is a cultural habit" in that country. He responded to a 2014 Economist question about whether "Indigenous groups appear to have a lot more say and power in resource development these days" by saying "globally it's a real problem. It's a major, major problem." An initial $6.4 million contract to rename the International Studies Department the Munk Centre for International Studies stipulated the Centre would receive advice from Barrick's international advisory board, which included US President George Bush and former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. (When asked why he appointed Mulroney to Barrick's board, Munk told Peter C. Newman: "He has great contacts. He knows every dictator in the world on a first name basis.") The 1997 agreement empowered Munk to stop payments if dissatisfied with the Centre. Happy with its direction, Munk contributed $5 million more in 2006 and $35 million to launch the Munk School of Global Affairs in 2010. That deal committed the U of T to pony up $39 million from its endowment while the Ontario and federal governments chipped in $50 million (as well as a $16 million tax credit to Peter Munk for his $35 million donation). Flush with resources, the School is highly influential. It co-sponsors an award for the world's best non-fiction book on foreign affairs, Canadian Forces College workshops, annual lecture with Washington's National Endowment for Democracy and Toronto International Film Festival speakers series. The School also co-sponsors the Munk Debates, which held the first-ever Canadian foreign policy leaders debate during the 2015 federal election. The School's Munk Fellowship in Global Journalism awards twenty fellowships for a year-long program run in partnership with the Globe and Mail, CBC News, Toronto Star, Postmedia and Thomson Reuters. The School has significant ties to the Globe and Mail with former editors-in-chief John Stackhouse and William Thorsell both senior fellows at the School. While executive director at the Munk Centre in 2007, Marketa Evans helped spawn the Devonshire Initiative, a project for NGOs and mining companies to discuss corporate social responsibility and development issues. Named after the street where the School is located, the Devonshire Initiative undermined a government-civil society Roundtable that called for withholding government financial and political support to resource companies found responsible for major abuses abroad. Evans would later be appointed Canada's inaugural Corporate Social Responsibility counselor, a post the Harper Conservatives set up to alleviate pressure to restrict government support for companies found responsible for international abuses. The School supported the Harper Conservatives' low-level war against Iran. After severing diplomatic ties and designating Iran a state sponsor of terrorism in 2012, Foreign Affairs ploughed $250,000 into the Munk School's Global Dialogue on the Future of Iran. The aim of the initiative was to foment opposition to the regime and help connect dissidents inside and outside Iran. Expanding the Global Dialogue on the Future of Iran, Foreign Affairs gave the Munk School $9 million in 2015 to establish the Digital Public Square project to undermine online censorship within enemy states. Canada's most influential global studies program is the brainchild of a mining magnate with a significant personal stake in a particular foreign policy. And the school has been shaped in his hard right image. Yves Engler is the author of A Propaganda System How Canada's Government, Corporations, Media and Academia Sell War and Exploitation.

Leave this field empty if you're human: Are you a business owner in Canada, do you want a gender 'certification system'? You may be in luck, the Canadian government announces $850,000 to create this system. The system will be created to protect women from illegal harassment in the workplace. Via Canoe.com The Liberal government is devoting nearly $860,000 to a project that could end up creating a certification system to let Canadians know how well companies are doing when it comes to gender equality. The three-year project led by the UN's Global Compact Network Canada will involve working with the private sector to develop a plan to get rid of the barriers women face in the workplace, including better policies on sexual harassment and balancing a job with caring for a family. On #IWD2018 I am pleased to announce that the Government of Canada is investing $858,500 in funding to @GlobalCompactCA for a project that will engage the private sector to eliminate barriers facing women in the workplace. https://t.co/O57qj3ZK8g pic.twitter.com/TqW6coowtm -- Maryam Monsef (@MaryamMonsef) March 8, 2018

Yet again, Trudeau's Liberals are putting another country before Canada. This time to the tune of $33 million. The Star reports that Canada quietly contributed $33 million to help establish a new centre in Kabul to treat Afghan vets. RELATED: Trudeau gave $14.25 million to a sharia country that publicly caned a woman In addition to the money contributed through NATO's trust fund for the Afghan National Army, another $2.5 million was provided in order to repair the hospital that was damaged in a terror attack in March. That's over $35 million that could have went to Canadian veterans. What do you think about this? Let us know in the comments. Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

Damascus: Syria's regime has seized control of over a quarter of rebel-held Eastern Ghouta on the edge of Damascus after two weeks of devastating bombardment, sending hundreds of civilians into flight, a monitor said Sunday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said regime forces had advanced to three kilometres (two miles) from Douma, the main town, after retaking "more than 25 percent" of Eastern Ghouta, in operations mostly through farmlands. Representational image. AP The government's advance into the last major opposition enclave near the capital, on the back of 15 days of air strikes, artillery fire and rocket attacks that are reported to have left more than 640 civilians dead, sent hundreds of residents into flight to western parts of the enclave. Under growing international pressure to end the bloodshed, regime backer Russia last week announced daily five-hour "humanitarian pauses" in the enclave. But while the air campaign has eased, fighting has intensified on the ground. Backed by Russian air power, the Syrian military has advanced on several fronts, retaking control of farms and villages, a military source told state media. The source said government forces seized a number of districts including Al-Nashabiyeh and Otaya, and had "eradicated terrorist groups" on the eastern outskirts of Damascus. They have reached the centre of the enclave, to the edge of Beit Sawa, according to the observatory. After advances in recent days that saw the regime seize control of 10 percent of Eastern Ghouta, rebel fighters clashed with regime forces on Sunday in the eastern part of the enclave, the observatory said. Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based monitoring group, said at least 12 regime fighters had been killed in two areas, Al-Rihan and Shifoniya, in overnight clashes with the Jaish al-Islam rebel group. Jaish al-Islam shares control of rebel-held parts of Eastern Ghouta with Faylaq al-Rahman and Ahrar al-Sham. Damascus and Moscow say they are trying to clear the area of "terrorists". Hamza Bayraqdar, a spokesman for Jaish al-Islam, said on Twitter that the group's forces had launched "surprise attacks" against regime positions. The observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground, said rebels had retaken some parts of Shifoniya. Hundreds flee An AFP correspondent inside Eastern Ghouta saw hundreds of civilians on Sunday fleeing from the town of Beit Sawa in the southeast of the enclave. The observatory said some 2,000 civilians had fled regime shelling and clashes in eastern areas to western parts of the enclave. "Everyone is on the road. There's destruction everywhere," said 35-year-old Abu Khalil, carrying a little girl in his arms wounded on the cheek. "Many families are trapped under rubble, the rescue workers just can't cope." On Saturday, 18 civilians, including three children, were killed in regime bombardment of Eastern Ghouta, according to the observatory. At least 76 pro-regime fighters and 43 rebels from Jaish al-Islam have also been killed in clashes since 25 February, it says. Encircled by regime-controlled territory and unable or unwilling to flee, Eastern Ghouta's 4,00,000 residents have in recent weeks suffered one of the most ferocious assaults of Syria's civil war. Under siege since 2013, they had already been facing severe shortages of food and medicine. The region's over-burdened medical workers have been struggling to cope with the rising number of wounded. While falling short of a 30-day ceasefire demanded by the United Nations, the announcement of daily humanitarian pauses in fighting had raised hopes of some aid deliveries and evacuations. But trucks loaded with aid have so far been unable to enter the enclave, according to the UN. Moscow has offered safe passage to non-combatants wishing to leave Eastern Ghouta during the pause, but no Syrian civilians have left the enclave since the first break in fighting took effect on Tuesday, the Observatory says. The Russian military said no civilians exited via the established corridor on Saturday. Damascus and Moscow have accused rebels of preventing civilians from leaving. 'Simply unacceptable' French President Emmanuel Macron and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed "grave concern" about the humanitarian situation in a telephone conversation late Saturday. "The UN convoys must immediately deliver medical assistance and food aid to the besieged population," the French presidency said. The UN's regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria, Panos Moumtzis, sounded the alarm on Sunday over the increase in violence. "Instead of a much-needed reprieve, we continue to see more fighting, more death, and more disturbing reports of hunger and hospitals being bombed," he said. "This collective punishment of civilians is simply unacceptable." As Syria's conflict approaches its seventh anniversary, President Bashar al-Assad's forces, heavily backed by Russia, have retaken most of the territory once lost to rebels. Eastern Ghouta remains one of the few areas outside their control, along with the northwestern province of Idlib which is partly controlled by Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists.

The Syrian government announced it had secured full control of the capital Damascus for the first time since 2011 yesterday, after the regime captured an enclave in the south of the city held by Daesh militants. "Damascus and its surroundings, its countryside and its towns, are completely secure ... [following] a series of intensive and successive military operations," spokesman General Ali Mayhoub said on state television, with the number of casualties exceeding 500 people on all sides. Over the weekend, the few hundred civilians that had remained left the Yarmouk refugee camp via bus, heading for the northern opposition stronghold of Idlib. The evacuation process is expected to continue, with an estimated 600 Daesh fighters due to head to pockets in the east of the country, following an agreement with the regime after a month of aerial bombardment. The Syrian regime began in mid-April an intensive attack on Yarmouk, killing scores of people and injuring many more. The campaign left tens of thousands displaced in an area which is home primarily to Palestinian refugees, has been under siege for most of the seven-year-old civil war, prompting severe condemnation from the UN. With Damascus secured, the Syrian military will now focus on the southern provinces of Daraa and Al-Quneitra held by the opposition, which have long been a problem for the government. The regime has successfully retaken much of its former territory from opposition forces, since its ally Russia entered the conflict in 2015, turning the tide in favour of the government. Moscow and Damascus have employed a strategy of crushing smaller opposition outposts in the country and evacuating fighters and civilians to Idlib in the north. Last week, Russian presidential envoy Alexander Lavrentyev threatened to eliminate Syrian opposition factions that resisted deportation, referencing groups in Eastern Ghouta who had struggled against the Syrian regime's onslaught last month. The mass evacuation of fighters and civilians has prompted fear of a regime assault on the northern opposition territory, with special envoy to Syria warning that such action against Idlib would be "six times" more destructive than the battle to recapture Ghouta, which fell last month after years of siege. "If we see a Ghouta scenario in Idlib, this could be six times worse, affecting 2.3 million people," Staffan de Mistura told the UN Security Council's monthly meeting on the Syria conflict. Despite Russia agreeing that the de-escalation status of Idlib must be protected, the governorate has continued to come under bombardment by warplanes. Airstrikes on the residential area of Ariha city killed two girls last week, with the White Helmets defence unit reporting that Syrian regime strikes had left at least eight civilians dead. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Multiple attacks by Daesh terror group killed over 220 people in Sweida and villages northeast of the Syrian city on Wednesday. Damages after a suicide bomb attack are seen in Sweida, Syria, July 25, 2018. ( Reuters ) Daesh has claimed responsibility for the series of suicide bombings and attacks that sparked fighting between local armed groups in southern Syria's Sweida. The attacks in Syria by the terror group have killed over 220 people, mostly pro-regime fighters, in some of the deadliest attacks in months, a war monitor said on Wednesday. "Three bombers with explosive belts targeted Sweida city alone, while the other blasts hit villages to the north and east," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based SOHR, said the group then followed up with further attacks, seizing three of the seven villages it had targeted. He said 26 pro-regime fighters had been killed and more than 30 people wounded in the attack on populated areas close to Sweida city. Syria's official news agency SANA confirmed the attack had killed and wounded people in the provincial capital. Regime television also reported casualties in villages to the north and east, adding that the army was "targeting positions of the Daesh terrorist group in Sweida province's eastern countryside." Abdel Rahman said unidentified warplanes were also targeting Daesh fighters in the area. Despite pro-regime forces ousting the group from urban centres in eastern Syria last year, surprise raids in recent months have killed dozens of regime and allied fighters. The regime of leader Bashar al Assad has in recent weeks ousted rebels from a majority of the country's south, part of which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The regime controls almost all of Sweida province, but Daesh retains a presence in desert areas of its north and east. It is now closing in on a patch of territory in nearby Daraa province held by the militant group Jaish Khaled bin al Walid, which has pledged allegiance to Daesh. The city of Sweida has largely been spared most of the violence that Syrian cities have witnessed in the years since the conflict started in 2011. The rare attacks in Sweida come amid a government offensive elsewhere in the country's south. Government forces are battling the Daesh-linked group near the frontier with Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and near the border with Jordan. The group also has a small presence on the eastern edge of Sweida province. The group, which has around 1,000 fighters in the region, has been the target of an intense campaign of bombing by Russian and Syrian regime jets in recent days. Hayat Tahrir al Sham, a group made up mostly of ex-members of the former Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, also has a few hundred men in the south. A source within the Syrian regime forces accused Israel on Tuesday of firing at one of its aircraft as it carried out operations against militants in southern Syria. Israel's army earlier said it had shot down a Syrian regime fighter jet that had infiltrated Israeli airspace, risking another escalation in the sensitive border zone. The Observatory later said air operations had dramatically decreased following the incident. The Damascus regime has long accused Israel of backing Daesh and other opposition factions. Clashes raged on Tuesday between regime troops and Daesh terrorists on the northern edges of the border town of Saida, the Observatory said. Source: TRTWorld and agencies

A rebel fighter fires his gun against a Syrian government troop position in Aleppo, on October 21, 2012 Syrian troops recaptured the strategic town of Deir Attiyeh Thursday, less than a week after losing it, taking the advantage in its bid to crush rebels just north of Damascus. The seizure of Deir Attiyeh, on the Damascus-Homs highway, comes two weeks into an army offensive in the Qalamoun region, important to the regime for its proximity to the capital and to the rebels for the supply lines it offers to neighbouring Lebanon. It also comes amid intense international efforts to hold a peace conference aimed at ending the 32-month conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people and displaced millions. The opposition demands that any talks should lead to a transition in which President Bashar al-Assad plays no role. Map indicating which areas are held by regime and opposition forces But in the run-up to the January 22 talks in Geneva, Assad's forces appear to be pushing for leverage with as many battleground victories as possible. "Our heroic army has taken total control of the town of Deir Attiyeh in Damascus province after it crushed the terrorists' last enclaves there," state television said. A high-ranking security official confirmed the report to AFP, saying the town had been "cleansed" and that "operations to expel the terrorists from nearby areas are ongoing." The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the army was now in "near-total control" of Deir Attiyeh, which had been captured by the rebels last Friday, although gunfire could still be heard. A security source said troops had also entered the nearby town of Nabuk. A rebel fighter stands behind a window as he holds a position in a building in the northeastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor on November 24, 2013 "If this town is captured, all we'll have left is Yabroud and some other villages to completely block off the border with Lebanon and to stop any entrance or exit of rebels into Lebanon," the source said. "The next phase will be to retake the south (of Syria). The north and the east are for later," he added, referring to areas under the control of the rebels or of Kurdish militia. Fighting rages despite ceasefire call Also fighting in Qalamoun is Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which backs Assad and has sent thousands of fighters into Syria. A source close to the group said a nephew of Lebanese Agriculture Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan, a prominent Hezbollah figure, was killed on Wednesday along with three comrades. A rebel fighter points his weapon through a hole in the wall towards forces loyal to the regime on November 24, 2013 in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Fighting raged elsewhere in Syria, a day after Iran said it and Turkey, which support opposing sides in the conflict, would press for a ceasefire ahead of the Geneva 2 peace conference. In Damascus, mortar fire hit the Russian embassy killing a Syrian and wounding nine others, the foreign ministry in Moscow said. No Russians were hurt in the attack, one of several on the mission in recent months which have been blamed on rebels angered by Moscow's continued backing for Assad. Another round struck near the parliament building. The United States condemned the attack. "We condemn any attack against individuals or facilities protected by international law," US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "The United States continues to emphasize that those responsible for atrocities on all sides must be held accountable," she said. Around Marj, in the capital's eastern suburbs, the Observatory said 11 rebels were killed. Further east, in the Euphrates valley city of Raqa, a missile killed at least six people overnight and wounded 30 more. Raqa is the only provincial capital lost to the regime since the conflict erupted in March 2011. In Atareb, in Aleppo province in the north, the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant executed Hassan Jazra and six members of his Ghuraba al-Sham battalion, accusing them of theft and looting. In areas where it has fighters on the ground, ISIL has sought to establish itself as the sole power-broker, by eliminating smaller rival groups and by forming tactical alliances with the larger ones. In south Aleppo, bombs dropped by helicopter killed five civilians and wounded 20, the Observatory said, while six people died in air raids on the town of Tal Hafer outside the city.

A war monitor said buses evacuated Daesh fighters from an enclave south of Damascus on Sunday in a withdrawal deal, though state media denied the report and said the Syrian army was fighting to finish off the insurgents. The recovery of the enclave south of Damascus will mark another milestone in President Bashar al-Assad's war effort, crushing the last besieged rebel enclave in western Syria. Swathes of territory at the borders with Iraq, Turkey and Jordan, however, remain outside state control. Syrian government forces and their allies have been battling to recover the enclave south of Damascus since defeating rebels in eastern Ghouta, also near the capital, in April. The area is centred around the al-Hajar al-Aswad district and the adjoining Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk. In a live broadcast, a reporter with Syrian state TV said the Syrian army operations in the Hajar al-Aswad area were nearing their end and insurgent lines were collapsing as columns of smoke rose from the area behind him. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights earlier said buses had entered the enclave after midnight to take out fighters and their families. They had left towards the Syrian Badia, a sparsely populated expanse of territory east of the capital that extends to the border with Jordan and Iraq, it said. Daesh militants had torched their offices in the Yarmouk enclave, the Observatory said. Negotiated withdrawals have been a common feature of the Syrian war in recent years as the government, aided by the Russian military and Iran-backed forces, has steadily clawed back territory. The rebels have mostly been given safe passage to northwestern Syria. In the last two months alone, the United Nations says 110,000 people have been evacuated to northwestern Syria and rebel-held areas north of Aleppo. The opposition has called it a policy of forced displacement amounting to demographic change to drive out Assad's opponents. The Syrian government has said nobody is forced to leave and those who stay must accept state rule. While Assad has vowed to win back "every inch" of Syria, the map of the conflict suggests a more complicated time ahead from now on. The US military is in much of the east and northeast, which is controlled by Kurdish groups that want autonomy from Damascus. It has used force to defend the territory from pro-Assad forces. Turkey has sent forces into the northwest to counter those same Kurdish groups, carving out a buffer zone where anti-Assad rebels have regrouped. In the southwest, where rebels hold territory at the Israeli and Jordanian border, Assad faces the risk of conflict with Israel, which wants his Iranian-backed allies kept well away from the frontier and has mounted air strikes in Syria. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

The attacks on rebel and opposition-held parts of southern Syria damaged the hospitals overnight as the regime pressed a Russian-backed offensive to retake territory on Wednesday. Smoke rises in Nawa, about 30 kilometres north of Daraa in southern Syria, on June 27, 2018 during air strikes by Syrian regime forces. ( AFP ) Bombardment by pro-regime forces of opposition and rebel-held southwestern Syria forced three hospitals out of service overnight as a Russian-backed assault gathered pace, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) and a medical relief group said. The medical facilities were located in the towns of Saida, Al Jeeza and Al Musayfra near the Jordanian border to the east of Daraa city. The Syrian regime has launched a major offensive to recover the area from opposition groups and rebels. The regime has previously denied targeting medical facilities in the seven-year-long war. The United Nations says the offensive has so far forced up to 50,000 people to flee towards the Jordanian border. Jordan, which already hosts some 650,000 Syrian refugees, has said it will not open the border. The UK-based Observatory says some 47 civilians have been killed since the regime assault got underway on June 19. State-run TV station Al Ikhbariya said the electricity supply to Daraa city - which is not entirely under control of the regime - had been cut because rebels it identified as "terrorist organisations" had targeted a power line in Al Musayfra, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) to the east. Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said a total of five hospitals had been targeted in the campaign so far. Ahmad al Dbis, safety and security manager at UOSSM, a medical charity that works in opposition parts of Syria, said the bombardment had caused "material damage" to the three hospitals on Wednesday. "In addition, a civil defence centre in Al Musayfra was struck and damaged," added Dbis, who is based in northern Syria. The scope of the regime attack widened further to target the rebel-held town Saida for the first time. Activists identified the warplanes which struck it as Russian.

State-sponsor of terrorism Iran has fired at least five mortar shells from its territory into Sunni-majority Pakistan's largest province of Balochistan, nearly two weeks after the head of the Shiite Islamic Republic's military threatened to hit terror "safe havens" in Pakistan in response to a cross-border attack by a Sunni terrorist group. Pakistan's Balochistan province predominantly houses the Baloch, also spelled Baluch, a minority group in the region that reportedly faces oppression by Islamabad and Tehran. "Five mortar shells were fired from the Iranian side between pillars 104 and 106. Luckily, no casualties occurred," local Commissioner Zafar Kubdani confirmed , according to the Express Tribune . "All the mortar shells landed in a barren land far away from the population," notes Asian News International (ANI), citing Samaa TV. The mortar shells were launched on Sunday as U.S President Donald Trump visited the Middle East for the first time as America's commander-in-chief, attending a summit hosted by Iran's rival Saudi Arabia to organize a predominantly Sunni Muslim and Arab coalition against the Islamic Republic. Sunni-majority Pakistan, Iran's neighbor, attended the event during which the Shiite powerhouse was singled out for criticism and fomenting terrorism across the Middle East. Nearly two weeks after the Sunni terrorist group Jaish ul-Adl (Army of Justice) claimed responsibility for an attack that killed ten Iranian guards along the Shiite country's border with Pakistan, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Baqeri, the chief of Iran's armed forces, declared: "We expect Pakistani officials to control the borders, arrest the terrorists and shut down their bases. ... If the terrorist attacks continue, we will hit their safe havens and cells, wherever they are." The terrorist group that took responsibility for the assault is fighting for independence in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan, the country's largest province and home to the Baloch people, a mainly Sunni minority group in the country. On the Pakistani side of the border lies Balochistan, also home to a Baloch minority and the Sunni-majority country's largest province. The U.S. State Department and human rights groups have accused Pakistan of oppressing its Baloch minority. Human rights groups and other organizations have also accused Iran of committing atrocities against the Baloch people and other Sunnis within its borders. According to ANI, Iran and Pakistan share an estimated 660-mile long porous border. "There have been burgeoning incidents of Iranian forces firing mortar shells into Pakistani area. Pakistan also lodged a protest in February and March in this regard. During the past few years, Pakistan has accused Iranian forces of violating its territorial integrity," reports Daily Pakistan .

Iranian Vice President for Economic Affairs Mohammad Nahavandian announced the allocation of $1.5 billion to provide jobs in villages and rural areas in the country. This comes as Iran faces increased protests over the past two months. According to the Iranian news agency IRNA , Nahavandian stressed that villages and rural areas will be the main focus for government plans to lower the unemployment rate. Official figures put the country's unemployment rate at 22 per cent, while non-government reports place the number much higher. Tehran needs $95.2 billion in liquidity to complete several unfinished projects in the country, according to Nahavandian, undermining opportunities for new jobs. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

TEHRAN -- Iran's Welfare Organization is granting 300-million-rial (nearly $7,500) housing handouts to persons with disabilities, ISNA reported on Saturday. Anoushirvan Mohseni-Bandpey, head of the Welfare Organization, noted that the organization's priority is to provide treatment services to persons with disabilities at home instead of medical or health-care facilities. Currently some 53,000 houses for families with one, two or more persons with disabilities are either under construction or are already constructed in the country, Mohseni-Bandpey added.

State-sponsor of terrorism Iran has fired at least five mortar shells from its territory into Sunni-majority Pakistan's largest province of Balochistan, nearly two weeks after the head of the Shiite Islamic Republic's military threatened to hit terror "safe havens" in Pakistan in response to a cross-border attack by a Sunni terrorist group. Pakistan's Balochistan province predominantly houses the Baloch, also spelled Baluch, a minority group in the region that reportedly faces oppression by Islamabad and Tehran. "Five mortar shells were fired from the Iranian side between pillars 104 and 106. Luckily, no casualties occurred," local Commissioner Zafar Kubdani confirmed , according to the Express Tribune . "All the mortar shells landed in a barren land far away from the population," notes Asian News International (ANI), citing Samaa TV. The mortar shells were launched on Sunday as U.S President Donald Trump visited the Middle East for the first time as America's commander-in-chief, attending a summit hosted by Iran's rival Saudi Arabia to organize a predominantly Sunni Muslim and Arab coalition against the Islamic Republic. Sunni-majority Pakistan, Iran's neighbor, attended the event during which the Shiite powerhouse was singled out for criticism and fomenting terrorism across the Middle East. Nearly two weeks after the Sunni terrorist group Jaish ul-Adl (Army of Justice) claimed responsibility for an attack that killed ten Iranian guards along the Shiite country's border with Pakistan, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Baqeri, the chief of Iran's armed forces, declared: "We expect Pakistani officials to control the borders, arrest the terrorists and shut down their bases. ... If the terrorist attacks continue, we will hit their safe havens and cells, wherever they are." The terrorist group that took responsibility for the assault is fighting for independence in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan, the country's largest province and home to the Baloch people, a mainly Sunni minority group in the country. On the Pakistani side of the border lies Balochistan, also home to a Baloch minority and the Sunni-majority country's largest province. The U.S. State Department and human rights groups have accused Pakistan of oppressing its Baloch minority. Human rights groups and other organizations have also accused Iran of committing atrocities against the Baloch people and other Sunnis within its borders. According to ANI, Iran and Pakistan share an estimated 660-mile long porous border. "There have been burgeoning incidents of Iranian forces firing mortar shells into Pakistani area. Pakistan also lodged a protest in February and March in this regard. During the past few years, Pakistan has accused Iranian forces of violating its territorial integrity," reports Daily Pakistan .

TEHRAN - Iranian border guards have seized over 1,400 kilograms of opium from drug traffickers in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, near the Pakistani border. The border guards at the Saravan border seized the drugs from smugglers, who were trying to carry the cargo inside the country, the province's board guards commander Saeed Komeili said, media reported. Komeili said the smugglers escaped after the incident, and that operations were underway to identify and arrest them. According to official estimates, the fight against drug trafficking annually costs Iran about $1 billion.

TEHRAN - Pakistan's Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa will visit Iran in coming days, said Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor on Thursday. Addressing a press conference, Ghafoor said, "We have contacts with Iran at civil and military level for better coordination on security issues." The visit will further enhance coordination between the two countries, he added. This would be the first visit of Bajwa to Iran since assuming charge of Pakistan Army.

By Randy McDaniels Mayor Kent Guinn took a bold stand against terrorism on Tuesday, when he and the City Council rejected attempts by terrorist sympathizer Manal... Shots fired! Last night I had plans of doing an article this morning about the event in Minnesota. I had watched the Facebook live... Cartoonists around the world rallied Thursday behind fellow artists killed in a terror attack in Paris because of their satirical drawings mocking Islam's Prophet... Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano suddenly announced last week that she was resigning her position at the embattled agency in order to take a... By ZEINA KARAM For a force that has built its reputation on an aura of momentum and invincibility, the Islamic State group is now dealing... German authorities have banned the most influential internet website of Antifa - the country's militant left -- in the wake of violence that occured last month outside the G20 summit in Hamburg. By Robert Spencer This is simple common sense. By going to Iraq and Syria to join the Islamic State's jihad, these Muslims have joined an... By Alastair Jamieson An ISIS commander who claims to have lived in the U.S. has been killed, according to jihadis in the Middle East. Abu Muhammad Al-Amriki,... By Craig Andresen on January 27, 2014 at 5:06 am Over the last several days, conservatives across social media have been circulating an image, a... WASHINGTON -- If someone admits to a federal official that he's used illegal drugs, that information should be sent to the FBI so that person can be disqualified from purchasing a gun, Sen. Chuck Schumer said Sunday. The problem with the name al-Qaida, bin Laden wrote in a letter recovered from his compound in Pakistan, was that it lacked a religious element, something to convince Muslims worldwide that they are in a holy war with America. When I woke up this morning And stared out the window Could not believe what I had done I'd wrote a Hot Check to Jesus For ten thousand... By Craig Andresen on May 11, 2014 at 10:59 am URGENT!!! BREAKING!!! As you know, Diane Sori from thepatriotfactor.blogspot.com and I have a radio show, RIGHT... (Washington, DC): Recent reports indicate that a Turkish court has issued an arrest warrant for Turkish Islamist leader Fethullah Gulen in connection with his... By Craig Andresen - The National Patriot and Right Side Patriots on cprworldwidemedia.net Of all the useless organization that exist on this earth, the United... 1 ... 8 9 10 ... 50 Page 9 of 50

Leave this field empty if you're human: Another statement by the PM Justin Trudeau "Canadians are quick to point out that ISIS is wrong, that Islam is not incompatible with the Western secular democracy, a free place like Canada." Trudeau has been known to protect ISIS by funding them and making statements like that, he approved $1.3 billion to be sent to Syria for aid, regardless who needs it should, receive it, even if that includes terrorists. I am amazed by his logic, I don't understand it, watch below.

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Headline Mar 02, 2017 In Iraq, residents of the besieged city of Mosul say an airstrike leveled a mosque and flattened nearby homes, killing both ISIS fighters and civilians. At least three witnesses told Reuters they were unable to count the number of dead because the situation remained too dangerous. A Pentagon spokesperson said he wasn't aware of a strike targeting the mosque. The blast came as a coalition of U.S., Kurdish and Iraqi forces seized control of the last major road out of Mosul on Wednesday, trapping ISIS militants in the western half of the city. The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License . Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

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Scott Walker explains why we need to step up against Iran and how he'd go after ISIS and radical Islam so that we can live in a safer world. He also explains why he would "terminate" the Iran deal on day one. He's also asked if there is any way to prevent more gun violence. Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

CHARLESTON, South Carolina, May 18, 2016 ( LifeSiteNews ) - With Governor Nikki Haley's signature all but certain, South Carolina is poised to become the 17 th state to stop the abortion industry from performing an abortion on a baby capable of feeling pain. The state Senate passed the South Carolina Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act on Tuesday by a commanding 79-29 vote majority. The bill previously passed the state House and now awaits the approval of Gov. Haley, a pro-life Republican. Lawmakers legislative "efforts reflect the reality that most Americans - women in higher numbers than men - want to end brutal late-term abortions in this country," said Marjorie Dannenfelder, president of the Susan B. Anthony List . The law restricts abortion to the first 19 weeks of pregnancy. Abortionists who practice after that time would face three years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. It allows exceptions only if the child is not viable and to save the life of the mother. In March, Gov. Haley said she "couldn't imagine any scenario in which I wouldn't sign it." The bill's sponsor, State Representative Wendy Nanney, told Reuters , "It's inhumane to subject that baby to pain at 20 weeks." Abortions after 20 weeks account for approximately one percent of all abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute. "South Carolina's win is evidence of sustained momentum to pass this bill on the federal level," Dannenfelser said. When Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed a similar law last summer, he said protecting unborn children from feeling pain set a "reasonable standard." However, it challenges the Supreme Court precedent that states can only act to protect children after viability, an ever-sliding benchmark now generally thought to occur around 24 weeks. "A national limit - which would save up to 18,000 unborn lives a year and protect that many women - is long overdue," Dannenfelser said. "The U.S. is only one in seven nations to allow late term abortion after the five-month mark." "If we take back the White House and protect our pro-life majorities in Congress, we can pass this legislation in 2017," she concluded. "It is not only the morally just thing to do; it is politically smart." Rev. Franklin Graham of Samaritan's Purse called the bill's passage "good news" and a "step in the right direction." But he added in a Facebook post that eliminating all abortions "should be our prayer and our goal."

A new poll finds that the Democratic Party platform on abortion is at odds not only with the vast majority of voters but also the large swath of Americans who identify as "pro-choice." July 14, 2016 4:18 pm The House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday to prevent the government from discriminating against doctors, hospitals, and other health care entities that object to participating in abortion. June 27, 2016 4:19 pm The Daily Show's official Twitter account wrote Monday that people should "go knock someone up in Texas" to celebrate the Supreme Court's decision to strike down the state's law regulating abortion clinics. A Texas judge threw out one of the charges against the pro-life activist who captured Planned Parenthood executives on tape talking candidly about selling fetal body parts.

A federal appeals court has ruled that Idaho's law banning abortions past the fifth month of pregnancy is unconstitutional. The Hill reports the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals claimed Idaho's law violates the Supreme Court's ruling in 1992 in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which affirmed the earlier Roe v. Wade decision, and said unborn babies may be aborted up to the point at which they are viable outside their mother's wombs. "Because [Idaho's law] places an arbitrary time limit on when women can obtain abortions, the statute is unconstitutional," Judge Harry Pregerson wrote for the majority of the three-judge panel. "Two [judges] were appointees of Democratic presidents and one of a Republican president," notes The Hill. As Breitbart News reported , the U.S. House of Representatives passed a similar measure earlier in May. The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act passed by a vote of 242-184 on the second anniversary of the murder conviction of abortionist Kermit Gosnell, who was charged with killing infants who survived abortion procedures and with the negligent death of one of his abortion patients. The House bill passed as a recent study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine that found more very premature babies are surviving outside the womb with fewer health problems due to medical advances. According to Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List , the Pain-Capable bill "to protect the most innocent among us is an opportunity for clarity heading into the 2016 elections. Protecting pain-capable babies and mothers at risk during a late-term abortion is a winning issue and one that has unified the entire Republican presidential field." The United States is one of only seven nations that allow elective abortions after 20 weeks post-fertilization. As The Hill reports, the 9th Circuit also struck down the 20-week abortion ban in Arizona in 2013.

(Life News) The U.S. Senate will soon vote on a pro-life Senate bill to ban late-term abortions -- a bill that would save as many as 18,000 unborn babies form abortions each and every year. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) informed members of the Senate lat Thursday that the Senate will vote on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act next week. During his remarks, McConnell lamented how the United States is one of just a handful of nations worldwide that allow babies to be killed in late-term abortions. "Last week, Americans from all across the country--including many from Kentucky--came here to Washington to speak up for unborn children whom our legal system has denied the right to life. Now, Congress has an opportunity to take a step forward," said.

Senator Kamala Harris wants to stop the GOP from banning abortions after 20 weeks. Senate Republicans have been rushing a vote on the "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act," even though there's not enough scientific evidence to prove that a fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks. What's more is, many women don't find out that they're pregnant until after 20 weeks. President Trump supports the Senate bill and the House version of it, which states that doctors could get up to five years in jail if they perform an abortion after 20 weeks. Dr. Daniel Grossman tweeted, "As the Senate moves to ban abortion after 20 weeks today, remember, they are doing it without consulting an evidence-based research on the matter and without consulting those of us who actually care for patients seeking abortions." Senator Mitch McConnell put a vote for the bill on the calendar, a day before it was scheduled to happen -- prompting Senator Harris to start calling for signatures to stand up against the bill. She tweeted, "Once again, Republican lawmakers are trying to take away women's right to make their own choices about their bodies. Add your name if you're as sick and tired as I am of Republicans playing politics with our reproductive health.

Legislation for a 20-week abortion ban will head to the Senate for a vote on Monday after an announcement from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. "As many as 25,000 preborn babies are aborted after the 20 th week of pregnancy each year in the U.S. This bill would prohibit the majority of these abortions. Twenty-five thousand lives are at stake here," Focus on the Family president, Jim Daly, told the Daily Caller News Foundation regarding Monday's vote. "It's imperative that we pass this bill in the Senate," he added. The bill, also known as the pain capable act, makes it illegal for a person to perform or attempt to perform an abortion after 20-weeks gestation of pregnancy. Transgressors would face fines and up to five years in prison. The legislation does include exemptions for rape victims, however, but only if the woman received medical treatment or counseling at least 48 hours before the abortion. Planned Parenthood wrote on their website that "nearly 99 percent of abortions occur before 21 weeks." "It's just a matter of time until we get 60 votes," bill sponsor GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carlina said, vowing to "get the country where it needs to be on this issue." "There are only 7 countries left that still permit elective abortion after 20 weeks--including the US, China, and North Korea. That's why the # Senate will soon vote to take up commonsense legislation to protect unborn children who can feel pain," McConnell tweeted in support of the measure. Seventy-six percent of Americans want significant abortion restrictions, including making abortion illegal after three months of pregnancy, a recent poll showed. More than 60 percent of Americans are also in favor of banning abortions after 20 weeks in pregnancy and six in 10 Americans oppose using tax dollars to pay for abortions. Close to 60 percent of Americans also think abortion is morally wrong, and half of pro-abortion proponents think aborting a child who will be born with a genetic disorder is wrong. The numbers are fairly consistent across the political spectrum as well, with 92 percent of Republicans, 61 percent of Democrats and 78 percent of Independents in favor of significant abortion restrictions. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected] Wake up Right! Subscribe to our Morning Briefing and get the news delivered to your inbox before breakfast! abortion Mitch McConnell 2018-01-29

Misconceptions and High Taxes I n my decades of trying to educate policymakers about the downsides of class-warfare tax policy , I periodically get hit with the argument that high tax rates don't matter since America enjoyed a golden period of prosperity in the 1950s and early 1960s when the top tax rate was more than 90 percent. Here's an example from Politico of what I'm talking about. Well into the 1950s, the top marginal tax rate was above 90%. ...both real GDP and real per capita GDP were growing more than twice as fast in the 1950s as in the 2000s. This comparison grates on me in part because both Bush and Obama imposed bad policy, so it's no surprise that the economy did not grow very fast when they were in office. But I also don't like the comparison because the 1950s were not a halcyon era, as Brian Domitrovic explains . ...you may be thinking, "But wait a minute. The 1950s, that was the greatest economic era ever. That's when everybody had a job. Those jobs were for life. People got to live in suburbia and go on vacation and do all sorts of amazing things. It was post-war prosperity, right?" Actually, all of these things are myths. In the 1950s, the United States suffered four recessions. There was one in 1949, 1953, 1957, 1960 - four recessions in 11 years. The rate of structural unemployment kept going up, all the way up to 8% in the severe recession of 1957-58. ...there wasn't significant economic growth in the 1950s. It only averaged 2.5 percent during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Tax Policy For today's purposes, though, I want to focus solely on tax policy. And my leftist friends are correct that the United States had a punitive top tax rate in the 1950s. This chart from the Politico story shows the top tax rate beginning on that dark day in 1913 when the income tax was adopted. It started very low, then jumped dramatically during the horrible presidency of Woodrow Wilson, followed by a big reduction during the wonderful presidency of Calvin Coolidge . Then it jumped again during the awful presidencies of Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt . The rate stayed high in the 1950s before the Kennedy tax cuts and Reagan tax cuts , which were followed by some less dramatic changes under George H.W. Bush , Bill Clinton , George W. Bush , and Barack Obama . What do we know about the impact of the high tax rates put in place by Hoover and Roosevelt? We know the 1930s were an awful period for the economy, we know the 1940s were dominated by World War II, and we know the 1950s was a period of tepid growth. But we also know that high tax rates don't result in high revenues. I don't think Hauser's Law always applies, but it's definitely worked so far in the United States. High Taxes Cause Problems This is because highly productive taxpayers have three ways to minimize and/or eliminate punitive taxes. First, they can simply choose to live a more relaxed life by reducing levels of work, saving, and investment. Second, they can engage in tax evasion . Third, they can practice tax avoidance, which is remarkably simple for people who have control over the timing, level, and composition of their income. All these factors mean that there's not a linear relationship between tax rates and tax revenue (a.k.a., the Laffer Curve ). And if you want some evidence on how high tax rates don't work, Lawrence Lindsey, a former governor at the Federal Reserve, noted that extortionary tax rates are generally symbolic - at least from a revenue-raising perspective - since taxpayers will arrange their financial affairs to avoid the tax. ...if you go back and look at the income tax data from 1960, as a place to start, the top rate was 91 percent. There were eight - eight Americans who paid the 91 percent tax rate. Interestingly, David Leonhardt of the New York Times inadvertently supported my argument in a recent column that was written to celebrate the era when tax rates were confiscatory. A half-century ago, a top automobile executive named George Romney - yes, Mitt's father - turned down several big annual bonuses. He did so, he told his company's board, because he believed that no executive should make more than $225,000 a year (which translates into almost $2 million today). ...Romney didn't try to make every dollar he could, or anywhere close to it. The same was true among many of his corporate peers. The Evil Wasn't any Less Evil in the 50s I gather the author wants us to think that the CEOs of the past were somehow better people than today's versions. But it turns out that marginal tax rates played a big role in their decisions. The old culture of restraint had multiple causes, but one of them was the tax code. When Romney was saying no to bonuses, the top marginal tax rate was 91 percent. Even if he had accepted the bonuses, he would have kept only a sliver of them. The high tax rates, in other words, didn't affect only the post-tax incomes of the wealthy. The tax code also affected pretax incomes. As the economist, Gabriel Zucman says, "It's not worth it to try to earn $50 million in income when 90 cents out of an extra dollar goes to the I.R.S." By the way, Zucman is far from a supply-sider (indeed, he's co-written with Piketty ), yet he's basically agreeing that marginal tax rates have a huge impact on incentives. Discouraging Productivity The only difference between the two of us is that he thinks it is a good idea to discourage highly productive people from generating more income and I think it's a bad idea. Meanwhile, Leonhardt also acknowledges the fundamental premise of supply-side economics. For more than 30 years now, the United States has lived with a top tax rate less than half as high as in George Romney's day. And during those same three-plus decades, the pay of affluent Americans has soared. That's not a coincidence. But he goes awry by then assuming (as is the case for many statists ) the economy is a fixed pie. I'm not joking. Read for yourself. ...the most powerful members of organizations have fought to keep more money for themselves. They have usually won that fight, which has left less money for everyone else. A market economy, however, is not a zero-sum game . It is possible for all income groups to become richer at the same time. That's why lower tax rates are a good idea if we want more prosperity - keeping in mind the i mportant caveat that taxation is just one of many policies that impact economic performance. P.S. Unbelievably, President Franklin Roosevelt actually tried to impose a 100 percent tax rate (and that's not even the worst thing he advocated).

Eighty-two percent of today's parents did chores as a child, but only 28 percent of them expect the same out of their own children. In the last 20 years alone, the number of men neither in the workforce nor in school has nearly doubled. 'No longer are our debates about government. They are about the nation. Do we have one? What are its interests? Who benefits from it?' 'Hundreds of millions, if not billions of people could become climate refugees, as their homelands become uninhabitable.' Researchers from Johns Hopkins University find hard evidence that millions are not being challenged in school. This week, we learned that Pope Benedict XVI is not a big fan of the typical arguments against contraception. Evidence suggests that hiking is not only good for you, but actually changes the makeup of your brain (in a good way). Yet another sense-demolishing instance of campus lunacy was reported last week in The New York Times.

We have minimum voter requirements, why not a maximum requirement? Neurological research has shown that as we get older, we tend to go in "reverse", with a more simplistic understanding and less independence as we age. Therefore, it only makes sense to impose a maximum voting age; otherwise we have a society with laws skewed towards favoring the old. Our current political system shows clear favoritism to the olds (in particular, boomers). We spend an inordinate amount of money on medicare and social security, and yet programs that benefit the poor (unemployment benefits, welfare, universal healthcare, universal education) or the young (see the recent student loan interest rate issues) face a much larger amount of tumult in Congress. The average age in Senate is 63. Is this really the age to represent the majority of hard working (emphasis on working) Americans? The median age in America is only 35, and that's the highest it's ever been. The young, the poor, and the hard working are not being fairly represented when the system favors the old and retired, who have nothing better to do than sit at home and vote. This must end. The Boomer tyranny ends now. We're here, we're loud, and we're MAF.

The unemployment rate in the United States is down to 5.8 percent. This time last year it was 7 percent. Six years ago it was 9.9 percent. We're now at a nine-month streak of adding 200,000 or more new jobs in the private sector, the best such streak since 1995 . That's progress. But wages, as has been the chorus all year long, are stagnant. And while the percentage of unemployed people may be low, the number of underemployed people is not. As Mashable notes, if you combine both cohorts, and if you factor in the large number of people who have stopped looking for work altogether, the rate is closer to 11.5%. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Consider the above information with the fact that more and more recent grads, burdened with student loan debt , are renting apartments because they can't afford to buy homes. Sure, this is an expected trade-off of Americans leaving the suburbs in favor of city living. But one of the key components of that growing trend is the idea that the "best" jobs are found in urban settings. And yet, once young people get there, rent is too high and wages are too low. Let's say the unemployment percentage shrinks even further next month. And the month after. And well into 2015. What will it matter if quality of life refuses to increase? And what will it matter if everyone has a job but no one has a drop of savings? The good news? There's never been a better time to drink cheap beer .

The above chart, from a new report by San Francisco Fed research director (and maybe next SF Fed president) Mary Daly, is one of my favorites. It clearly shows why it is so much harder for the US economy to generate fast growth today versus the immediate postwar decades. America's demographic tailwind is now a stiff headwind. Daly explains: In the 1970s, labor force growth alone contributed 2.7 percentage points to GDP growth, meaning that even if productivity growth had been zero, the economy would have expanded at 2.7%, slightly faster than the pace of our current expansion. Since that peak, labor force growth has come down substantially. As the forecast for 2025 shows, labor force growth is expected to remain stuck at 0.5% for the next decade. This means that, absent a surge in productivity, slow growth in the labor force will be a restraining factor on the U.S. economic speed limit. . . . Where have all the workers gone? Demographics play a big role in labor force growth, and at the moment many baby boomers are heading off for retirement. At the same time, the fertility rate has slowed: Put simply, people are having fewer babies. Together, these two factors explain a large share of the changes in labor force growth displayed in the graph. Notably, the United States is not unique in these respects. Population aging is a global phenomenon, and many industrialized nations have seen their birth rates fall. So a few observations. First, if we want an economy that grows anywhere near as fast in the future as in the past, productivity growth will have to do the heavy lifting. (And that sure doesn't seem to have been happening lately.) Second, even with changing demographics, policy is probably suboptimal for stronger labor force growth. (More people could yet join the workforce, and maybe older workers could work longer.) Third, let's not forget about investing in our fellow Americans (that means, education). Published in Economics

Mon May 1, 2017, 10:54 PM TrollBuster9090 (4,538 posts) Here We Go Again? Tax Cuts For The Wealthy? Two Figures To Look At. Are we really going to go through this AGAIN? We've been cutting taxes for the wealthy for 36 years, and the EMPLOYMENT rate has NEVER gone up. The only thing that's gone up as a result of this is the National Debt. Reagan cut taxes in 1981, and by the time he left Office the National Debt had nearly TRIPLED. How about a little experiment: 1. BUSH cut taxes in 2001 and 2003....and nothing happened. No jobs were created. The economy didn't explode. The only thing that exploded were the bank accounts of a few billionaires, and almost all of it was transferred to Tax Havens in the Bahamas and Switzerland. 2. Obama finally let the Bush tax cuts EXPIRE in 2012, and unemployment continued to DROP. Conclusion: Employment goes up or down, REGARDLESS of the tax rate on the top 1%. If you cut the tax rate for the top 0.1%, they DO NOT invest it in job creation. The only thing you create is a whole mess of DEBT for everyone else. Take a look at this graph of top tax rates for the top 0.1% crowd, and tell me when we had the greatest periods of job growth, vs. the slowest job creation rates. I think most people would agree that we had the most robust economy between 1950 and 1970, when the top rates were around 60%; and the most sluggish economy when the top rates are below 20%. Here We Go Again? Tax Cuts For The Wealthy? Two Figures To Look At. (Original post) TrollBuster9090 May 2017 OP JHan (6,941 posts) B Stieg (591 posts) Not very funny, actually. Tue May 2, 2017, 01:59 AM jmowreader (39,106 posts) 3. Conservatives base their entire theory on two things One of them is totally hypothetical, and the other was a perfect storm. The hypothetical is the Laffer Curve. According to this monstrosity - for which Jude Wanniski's moldering corpse should be dug up and desecrated, as a warning to the others - there is one "perfect" tax rate that maximizes tax revenues. Below that rate you are leaving money on the table. Above it, the effect depends on who you're talking to. One version says a too-high tax rate disincentivizes work; the other says it incentivizes tax evasion. Naturally, this can be debunked: 1) Because every person has a different set of deductions, credits, legal tax dodges etc, every person's effective rate is different. Hence, you can't just pull a number out of the air and say, "eureka! The perfect tax rate!" 2) If someone is actually prone to either tax evasion or work evasion, they're going to do it no matter how low the tax rate gets. The perfect storm was JFK's tax cut, which won't happen again for two reasons: the tax rate now isn't high enough (cutting the top marginal tax rate by 20 percentage points in 2017 would mean we'd have to pay Paris Hilton for being rich; in the 1960s, the rate AFTER the cut was seventy percent) and the cut did two things - gave the taxpayer enough of a savings he could invest it in large capital equipment like those crazy new "computer" things everyone was talking about, and left the government with enough money to bolt Neil Armstrong into a rocket and fire him at the moon. pansypoo53219 (15,477 posts) 4. butbutbut they never cut them ENUFF for ekonomikkks to work! KEEP CLAPPING OR TINKLEBELL WILL DIE!

Expand | Collapse REUTERS / Bobby Yip (L-R) Former head of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen stands with Occupy Central civil disobedience founders, Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, professor of sociology at Chinese University Chan Kin-man and law professor at the University of Hong Kong Benny Tai. December 03, 2014. Christians in Hong Kong are now feeling pressure from authorities in China after the city has enjoyed freedom from the mainland for quite some time. Reverend Philip Woo and other pastors in Hong Kong have been reprimanded by officials from the mainland over their alleged violation of China's policy against unpermitted religious training. Christians in China have been prohibited from participating in Christian events in Hong Kong for fear that they would be "making trouble," according to the Free Beacon. Woo fears that China has become stricter when it comes to religion. In March, 100 Chinese citizens were barred from attending a Christian gathering in Hong Kong in which over 2,000 ministers participated. The event was hosted by California-based organization China Ministries International. Christianity has experienced a rapid growth in China in recent years as the Communist Party has become more tolerant of religious practices outside state-controlled churches. There are now at least 67 million Christians in the mainland. But things have taken a different turn recently after Chinese President Xi Jinping began a crackdown on civil society and launched a campaign to remove crosses from Christian establishments, The New York Times reports. Rev. Woo was summoned across the border for a meeting with the State Administration for Religious Affairs in which the officials ordered him to stop using the Internet to recruit seminary students and training his mainland students in Hong Kong. Christians from the mainland have long been crossing the border to attend Sunday school, church seminars and gatherings, and enjoy their religious freedom. "Many pastors are worried," Hong Kong Church Renewal Movement executive director Rev. Wu Chi-wai said. "Some are reconsidering their work in the mainland." The new campaign against Christianity could potentially worsen China's already tense ties with Hong Kong. Last year, thousands of activists took to the streets to protest against Beijing's plan to interfere with the city's elections, the report adds. As of now, Rev. Woo has stopped the activities of his organization in Shenzhen and relocated his staff to escape government scrutiny. There are some Christian leaders, however, who believe that China is still open to other religions and that Rev. Woo's experience was an isolated case.

China's paranoia about religion left 50,000 worshippers without a church. This week, Chinese authorities demolished at least two Christian churches , one of which was a mega church in the city of Linfen in Shaanxi province, one of the poorest regions in the country. The church, which has an attendance of 50,000 people, was attacked by the People's Armed Police, which used dynamite and excavators to raze the church to the ground, according to ChinaAid, a U.S.-based Christian advocacy group. The Golden Lampstand Church, deemed a mega church, was built by husband and wife evangelists Wang Xiaoguang and Yang Rongli. The couple recruited informal congregations around Linfen since 1992 in places like factory dormitories. The mega church was built later with nearly $2.6 million. The construction was funded by the residents of Shaanxi province. This is not the first time that this church was being targeted by the authoritarian regime. In 2009, members of the police force and armed thugs charged on the church, seizing copies of the Bible, and arresting church leaders. The church leaders were sentenced to up to seven years for illegally occupying farmland and disturbing traffic order. This time too, the authoritarian regime used similar charges to legitimize its crackdown of the church. According to the state-run Global Times , the church didn't have the required construction permits. Apparently, a local Christian had donated his farmland to the evangelical couple, who built the church under the guise of building a warehouse. However, the church invoked the wrath of the state not because of inadequate permits, but because it provoked the deep anxiety the Chinese government feels toward religion. The officially atheist government is notorious for trying to regulate the spiritual lives of its citizens. "The repeated persecution of Golden Lampstand Church demonstrates that the Chinese government has no respect for religious freedom or human rights," said ChinaAid president and founder Bob Fu. Religious groups are required to register with the state. In that sense, the church also deprived the state of its ability of surveillance. Religions allow citizens in China, many of whom are disenchanted workers in China's industry, to find means of salvation from ways that do not entail devotion of the citizen to the state. The latest demolition of churches led to more than 100 church members protesting in front of government offices. Read More

Coptic Christians in the south of Egypt renewed calls on local authorities for an end to discrimination, after a number of churches have been closed down in recent weeks. Two churches in two separate villages in the southern province of Minya have been shut down by the authorities, a statement by the Minya diocese said. It said worshippers were harassed at both churches and pelted with rocks at one of them. "We have kept quiet for two weeks after the closure of one of the churches, but due to our silence the situation has worsened ... it is as if prayer is a crime the Copts must be punished for," the statement, dated Saturday, read. A third church was closed following rumours of a pending attack, but the diocese said no attack had taken place since and the church remains closed. The Minya province governor's office, in a statement, said authorities had arrested 15 individuals who were responsible for one incident against worshippers and were tracking other perpetrators of violence. The statement also said that the churches were homes where prayers were held without a license. The Minya security directorate spokesman declined to comment. Coptic Christians, who make up 10 percent of Egypt's population of nearly 95 million, say they have been persecuted for years. Many feel the state does not take their plight seriously enough. Nonetheless, the Copts are vocal supporters of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has vowed to crush Islamist extremism and protect Christians. He declared a three-month state of emergency in the aftermath of two church bombings in April which has since been renewed. Though Daesh has long waged a low-level war against soldiers and police in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, it has stepped up its assault on Christian civilians in the mainland. In an attack claimed by the group in May, gunmen ambushed a group of Coptic Christians travelling to a monastery in Minya, killing 29 and wounding 24. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

WASHINGTON - Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) last week called for greater attention to the persecution of Christians around the world, arguing that it's an issue largely ignored by mass media. The Pew Research Center reported that Christians living in 128 countries were persecuted by governments or social groups in 2015, which is more than any other religious group. The study also noted that there were 2.3 billion Christians in the world that year, exceeding any other religious group. At the same time, Pew noted that about 78 percent of Christians lived in countries where their religious group is harassed, compared to 99 percent of Jews and Hindus and 97 percent of Muslims. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the daughter of a pastor, drew criticism from human rights groups in 2012 when she claimed before the German Protestant Church that Christianity is the "most persecuted religion worldwide." "But it's backed up, and there have been many reports of the plights that Christians are facing in many places around the world," Hice, who served as a pastor for 25 years, said Oct. 11 during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform's National Security Subcommittee hearing on religious persecution. "Bottom line is we can't allow these things to continue. They've got to be brought to the public's awareness and dealt with." The Italy-based Center for Studies on New Religions, a group led by theology scholars who claim to be independent from any religious sect, released a report earlier this year showing that 90,000 Christians were killed for their beliefs across the globe in 2016, and about 66 percent died at the hands of Islamic extremists. Hice said that while Christians suffer greatly in places like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar, North Korea and China are also responsible for discrimination and violence toward Christians. In July, the Georgia lawmaker introduced House Resolution 434, which targets general religious persecution in China. That includes violence and any limitations to free expression for practicing faith. The resolution calls on "the Chinese government to uphold the Chinese Constitution in addition to the internationally recognized human right to freedom from religious persecution and to end all forms of violence and discrimination against religious minorities." China is a predominantly atheist state, but its Christian population has exploded since the 1980s. According to the Catholic News Agency, the Christian population in China grew from 10 million in 1980 to 60 million in 2007. In 2014, the Telegraph reported that China was on track to overtake the U.S. by 2030 as the most Christian nation on earth. The Chinese government has shown instances of cracking down on churches, demanding that leaders show allegiance to the state first. Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Ian Johnson claimed earlier this year that there's growing unrest in China's economic situation, which has contributed to Christianity's growth.

Print There are some 90 million members of China's Communist Party, and all of them now have been banned from having religious beliefs. According to a report in the Hindustan Times, Wang Zuoan of the repressive nation's State Administration for Religious Affairs announced that CPC members must be atheists. "Party members should not have religious beliefs, which is a red line for all members," he wrote. "Party members should be firm Marxist atheists, obey party rules and stick to the party's faith ... they are not allowed to seek value and belief in religion." His comments were reported in the CPC's journal Qiushi, which deals with political theory. According to the Christian Institute in the United Kingdom, Wang promised if there are party members with religious faith should be persuaded to give it up, "and those who resisted would be punished." Se Wei, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Chongqing Committee, responded to Wang's regulations by referring to Christianity as part of "China's religious problem." "Christianity in China has been accused of being a national security risk, and in the past few years, hundreds of Christian pastors and activists have been arrested," the report continued. The Christian Institute noted the international freedom watchdog Freedom House said in March that as many as 100 million people in China "are facing 'high' or 'very high' levels of persecution under communist rule." Christianity, however, is surging in China. The institute said "academics predict that by 2030 China will have more than 247 million Christians, which would be more than 17 percent of the ... population." Wang insisted, however, that religious groups should be "guided" by the state and alter their doctrine to promote "socialist core values." China officially is atheist. But the communist-controlled government recognizes five faiths: Buddhism, Islam, Taoism, Protestantism and Catholicism. Wang's comments echoed President Xi Jinping. "We must resolutely guard against overseas infiltrations via religious means and prevent ideological infringement by extremists," Xi said. Wang wrote: "We should guide religious groups and individuals with socialist core values and excellent traditional Chinese culture and support religious groups to dig into their doctrines to find parts that are beneficial to social harmony and development."

ChinaAid claims the move violates the Chinese constitution, which enshrines freedom of belief. China has launched a major crackdown on religion in recent months in an attempt to exercise control over the population. Churches not sanctioned by the government have been put under surveillance with hundreds of Christians arrested for disturbing public order over offences such as holding bible study groups and displaying crucifixes outside their homes. Members of the government-run churches also face strict monitoring with authorities clamping down on any dissidents. Officers dragged out around 40 Christians with one worshipper comparing the brutal scenes to the Japanese invasion of China during the Second World War, according to charity China Aid. China Aid said: "During the demolition, officials beat dozens of church members, pushing them to the ground and twisting their hands. "The church was completely razed, and a church member likened the scene to the Japanese invasion of China during World War II." According to churchgoers Xi Jinping's Communist Party ordered the church to be destroyed after branding the building an "illegal structure".

Let's engage in a thought experiment: Pretend that it's May of 2009, and Barack Obama, who has been president for a few months, has just shared some highly classified intelligence with the Russians. Let's say this material has damaged America's standing with our allies, exposed sources to possible retaliation and jeopardized the war on terror. What do you think the leaders of Religious Right groups would be saying? My guess is they'd be calling for his impeachment, if not outright imprisonment. So what have they said about President Donald J. Trump, who is accused of doing the very thing I've outlined above? Nothing. Zilch. Radio silence. Like other Religious Right leaders, Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, has been silent on President Donald Trump's decision to share highly classified information with Russia. I get daily emails from a number of Religious Right groups. The American Family Association (AFA) issues regular bulletins through its OneNewsNow "news" service. Yesterday's lead story was headlined, "Trump praised for voter fraud inquiry." The second story was a column by Bryan Fischer, the AFA's loon-in-chief, who went on a typical anti-LGBTQ rant. Another story celebrates Trump's anti-abortion views. If you scroll down enough, you eventually come across some stories from the Associated Press, one of which deals with the Trump gaffe. It's presented without commentary. What about the Family Research Council (FRC)? Surely this bastion of "America firsters" is standing up to Trump for selling us out to the Russians? Nope. As the rest of the nation was consumed with the story of Trump's blunder, FRC President Tony Perkins issued an email attacking the Democrats for being pro-choice. He had nothing to say about Trump handing sensitive intel to an enemy nation. Let's look at Ralph Reed. The former executive director of TV preacher Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition and now head of the Faith & Freedom Coalition has always been concerned about issues of national security. Surely he's had something to say? Not about this issue. As of this morning, the Coalition's website has several items about Trump's phony "religious freedom" executive order but is silent on the Russia story. Richard Land, the former lobbyist for the Southern Baptist Convention and now president of Southern Evangelical Seminary, loves being in the media so much he has hired a PR firm to issue a steady stream of press releases instructing the nation on how to think "biblically" on just about everything. Land has not seen fit to pontificate on the latest Trump scandal. Even the smaller groups are staying mum. The American Pastors Network , a collection of fundamentalist clerics who love to lecture the rest of us on how to behave, did put out a press release yesterday, but it's about one of their supporters appearing on CNN to defend firearm ownership. During the campaign, Religious Right groups issued a torrent of statements attacking Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server. They insisted this was a threat to national security, a stand later rejected by the FBI. By contrast, commentators across the political spectrum agree that Trump's action really has jeopardized national security . Yet the leaders of the Religious Right remain silent. As usual, they're employing a double standard: A questionable thing done by a progressive is absolutely horrible and must be met with swift punishment. When a conservative does the same thing, or something worse, it's met with a shrug. Religious Right leaders may believe their silence on Trump's reckless antics will offer them some protection. It does not. In fact, their silence speaks volumes: It screams that they are hypocrites who long ago surrendered the right to judge the rest of us.

Get our newsletter delivered directly to your inbox I have already subscribed | Do not show this message again The four-page draft order broadly categorizes religious organizations as "any organization, including closely held for-profit corporations," and protects "religious freedom" in every walk of life. "When providing social services, education or health care; earning a living, seeking a job or employing others; receiving government grants or contracts; or otherwise participating in the marketplace, the public square or interfacing with federal, state or local governments," the document says of what falls under this category. White House spokesman Sean Spicer was asked Monday about whether a religious freedom executive order was being considered, but he said he would not disclose the orders that Trump's administration is planning to sign.

Kabul: The Islamic State group's affiliate in Afghanistan has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing the previous day that targeted a meeting of the country's top clerics in the capital. Representational image. AP At least twelve people were killed and 20 were wounded in Monday's attack, which came shortly after the body of religious leaders, known as the Afghan Ulema Council, had issued a decree against suicide attacks and called for peace talks. The Islamic State claim, posted on a website linked to the militant group, says the gathering in Kabul was a meeting of "tyrant clerics" who were discussing the fight against what they call "terrorism." Shortly after the bombing, the Taliban denied involvement in the attack, though they also denounced the gathering and its religious decree, or fatwa .

While more Americans approve of same-sex marriage than those who don't, a majority supports the right of businesses and public officials to refuse service and marriage licenses to gay couples. An Associated Press-GfK poll found that 44 percent of Americans approve of marriage equality, while 39 percent oppose it (15 percent had no opinion). But 57 percent said wedding-related businesses such as florists and bakeries should be allowed to refuse service to same-sex couples if providing it conflicts with the operators' beliefs. One-third of those who favor marriage equality still believe such businesses should have religious opt-outs, and one-fourth believe that option should be available to county clerks who don't want to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. From the sounds of the poll, many Americans are on board with recent proposals from the Mormon Church , which called for antidiscrimination protections for LGBT people, but only if they were accompanied by so-called religious freedom protections. "Why make an issue out of one florist when there are probably thousands of florists?" a 59-year-old poll respondent said. "The gay community wants people to understand their position, but at the same time, they don't want to understand other people's religious convictions. It's a two-way street."

by Accuracy In Media on June 12, 2017 Print: Share: Bernie Sanders's line of questioning to Trump nominee Russell Vought sparked a firestorm among Christians when Sanders asked about Vought's views on damnation. Vought is nominated to be the deputy secretary at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and was on the Hill for a hearing. Christians denounced the line of questioning as a type of religious litmus test, which would be worrisome if it was. It appears that Sanders' line of questioning focused on how Vought's Christian beliefs on damnation were Islamophobic. It was due to Vought's support of his alma mater, Wheaton College, for firing a professor over remarks on religion in 2015 and a piece that Vought had written supporting Wheaton College's decision. Was Senator Sanders out of line by asking questions on damnation and Christianity?

Kabul: The Islamic State group's affiliate in Afghanistan has claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide bombing on Monday that targeted a meeting of the country's top clerics in the capital, Kabul. Security personnel block the road after the suicide attack in Kabul. AP At least seven people were killed and 20 were wounded in Monday's attack, which came shortly after the body of religious leaders, known as the Afghan Ulema Council, had issued a decree against suicide attacks and called for peace talks. The Islamic State claim, posted on a website linked to the militant group, says the gathering in Kabul was a meeting of "tyrant clerics" who were discussing the fight against what they call "terrorism." Shortly after the bombing, the Taliban denied involvement in the attack, though they also denounced the gathering and its religious decree, or fatwa.

Since it's the feast of the nativity of John the Baptist, some thoughts on baptism seem in order. I'll be performing my first baptisms next Sunday. Here's a draft of my homily. "Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John." Let me tell you about the Jordan River. A few years ago, my wife and I took a tour of the Holy Land. As part of the trip, we stopped by a place on the Jordan River, a spot where tradition holds that John baptized Jesus. It's now something of a tourist trap - you can buy water from the Jordan, and jewelry, and postcards, and rosaries. The parking lot is packed with tour buses. But, as part of the visit, you can walk down to the banks of the river and renew your own baptism. Our group set out to do just that. After browsing the gift shop, we gathered on the banks of the river - it's pretty narrow, the Jordan, and not very deep. At this spot it's actually more like a creek than a river. As the priest with our group prepared to begin the prayers, my wife looked down the shore. About 100 yards away, she saw a dozen or more people wearing white robes, wading into the water, being dunked. Those were the Protestants, being baptized in the Jordan. My wife was in awe. She pointed down the river and said, "Why can't we do that?" We looked around and a few people shrugged and said, "Okay, why not?" So we made our way down into the water, wading up to our knees...some of us up to our hips. But before the priest could start his prayers, several people in the water cried out and pointed into the river. The water was unexpectedly clear and clean -- you could see all the way to the bottom. And what you could see was amazing. The Jordan was jam-packed with fish. Tadpoles, goldfish, fish of every size and shape, busily swimming between our legs. The Jordan River looked like the Belt Parkway during rush hour - except everything was moving. It was an extraordinary moment. This water was teeming with life. And I couldn't help but wonder if the water was like that on the day that Jesus was baptized. Mark doesn't give us any clues about that in the reading we just heard. He tells us that when Jesus climbed out of the water, the skies opened, the Holy Spirit descended, and God spoke. No wonder Mark didn't mention the fish. We don't have the Jordan River here this day - but we do have "waters teeming with life." In a few moments, these children will be baptized in these waters - blessed with new life. These babies will become new creations - officially, members of the Body of Christ. And everyone here will have a stake in what follows. We gather as a community to celebrate this, because we as a community will play a role in bringing these children up in the faith we proclaim. Baptism is not a solitary act - as we just heard, on the day of His baptism, even Jesus had company. It is an event that demands involvement. I don't know if it takes a village to raise a child. But it takes a family of faith to raise a Catholic. Godparents will be the first witnesses to this baby's upbringing. You are the custodians of the faith. Keep your eyes, and ears, and hearts open. Is your godchild being taught to pray? Is your godchild being taken to mass? Are the fundamentals of the faith that we all know and love - the sacraments, the rosary, simple devotions - are they a part of this child's life? Parents and grandparents are the first role models for this child - the primary teachers. But what will you be teaching? From you, these children will learn respect. They will learn reverence and piety, patience and compassion. From you, they will learn how to get up when they fall, how to persevere when they have setbacks. Most importantly, from you, they will learn to love. Strive to make your home what has been called, so beautifully, the "domestic church" - where every room is a sacred space. Be aware of it, and honor it. Every day, celebrate the gift of this new life in your family. Each moment you share with this child can overflow with grace - if you let it. You are embarking on the greatest adventure a family can know - watching a child grow. Take God with you on that adventure. The journey will be infinitely easier. And 15 or 16 years from now, trust me: you'll be glad you did. We're about to mark an important milestone on that journey. Savor it. Remember it. Take lots of pictures. Share them. And remember to tell your son or daughter about it as they grow up. Because these waters are teeming with life. And after this moment, your child's life will never be the same. Image: Blessed Trinity Catholic Church, Orlando, Florida

The Archdiocese of San Francisco announced it will uninstall a system designed to soak homeless people seeking shelter in the doorways of St. Mary's Cathedral. Perhaps they are going old testament "The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them." Isaiah 41:17 Then again "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27 "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:17-1

XIV - Jesus is placed in the tomb Pray while taking a virtual tour of the Church of San Isidro Labrador in Lazi, Siquijor Fourteenth Station of the Cross JESUS IS PLACED IN THE TOMB Your browser does not support the audio element. V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you. R/. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John: "They took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden there was a new tomb where no one had ever been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, as the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there." (Jn 19: 40-42) Points for reflection: Jesus' burial "is the hour of faith, which waits silently, and of hope, which already sees on the withered branch a tiny bud, the promise of salvation and joy." When was the last moment that felt like a point of no return? How did you feel God's presence, or absence? Let us thank God and pray for the gift of hope, for us and those who need it most. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Reflections adapted from a Way of the Cross version posted by the Vatican's Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, as written by Sr Maria Rita Piccione, OSA, president of the Our Lady of Good Counsel Federation of Augustinian Monasteries in Italy. * Instrumental music from the "Vespers" album series courtesy of Jesuit Music Ministry/Jesuit Communications Foundation Inc. ** 360-degree photo of the Church of San Isidro Labrador in Lazi, Siquijor by Fung Yu. *** Photos of stained glass windows featuring various stations of the cross by Hubert Pacheco, taken at the Shrine of St Therese of the Child Jesus, Pasay City. Previous Station | Return to Holy Week Online Note: For the full experience, your device / computer should be enabled to support Flash.

Browse by Recently Added Title Author Date Topic Series "Watch me, dad. Watch me." There are few imperatives a father hears more often from his children than "watch me." It's a plea for us to recognize that whatever our son or daughter is doing--catching a ball, jumping off a... Continue... Earlier today, the Southern Baptist Convention adopted a resolution condemning the movement known as the "alt-right." The language of the resolution reads, in part, WHEREAS, Racism and white supremacy are, sadly, not extinct but present all over the world in various white... Continue... This month marks the 225th anniversary of William Carey's now famous volume, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen. In 1785 Carey began pastoral work in England, and through developments in... Continue... I believe children mature more and are far better prepared for life when their primary places of learning life lessons are in their family and local church. By comparison, extracurricular activities and part-time jobs have a lesser role to play.... Continue... The ERLC will be involved in several ways leading up to and throughout the duration of the 2017 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting. We'd love for you to join us if you're in Phoenix! Here's a list of where we'll... Continue... WASHINGTON (BP)--The U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation to assist Christians and other survivors of the genocide committed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and to bring the perpetrators to justice. In a June 6 voice vote,... Continue... Twenty-three years ago, hundreds of thousands of Tutsis were targeted and killed by their Hutu neighbors. In just 100 days, the genocide left 800,000 Tutsis dead and 500,000 women raped. And for 100 days, the United States stood by and... Continue... There are all kinds of symptoms of a dying church, but there is one primary cause for demise--losing relevance in the local community. Scattered across metro Atlanta are church buildings that once were filled with congregants being nourished with God's... Continue... Next week the Southern Baptist Convention meets in Phoenix, Arizona for its 159th annual meeting. Here are five facts you should know about America's largest Protestant denomination. 1. The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), a name which refers to both the... Continue... While all believers in Christ have been declared righteous in Jesus and are no longer under God's just condemnation (Rom. 8:1-2), the power and influence of all sinful desires are not always removed at the moment of conversion. Christians will... Continue...

It's hard sometimes to do nothing but live in the present. Most of us fret about the future or rework the past in our minds -- neither of which is very productive or peace-inducing. Father Mike Schmitz, chaplain for Newman Catholic Campus Ministry at the University of Minnesota Duluth , discusses why we need to live in the moment and enjoy life. "Never before was there, and never again will there be, a moment quite like the present, yet so often we find ourselves wishing we were in another time in our lives, wishing we could be enjoying the achievement of our future goals or the past times when things were better for us. In this video, Fr. Mike challenges us to notice the 'sacrament of the present moment' and see what graces God wants us to enjoy right now," reads the video's description. Check out his inspirational video below: [lz_third_party includes="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=30&v=J7LJuWjCTDw"] Fr. Mike Schmitz's video series is courtesy of Ascension Presents.

XII - Jesus dies on the cross Pray while taking a virtual tour of the St. Anne's Parish Church in Molo, Iloilo Twelfth Station of the Cross JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS Your browser does not support the audio element. V/. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you. R/. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world. From the Holy Gospel according to John: "Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said to fulfil the Scripture: 'I thirst.' A bowl full of vinegar stood there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, 'It is finished'; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." (Jn 19: 28-30) Points for reflection: Jesus' appeal, "I thirst," is echoed in the suffering of our less fortunate brothers and sisters. How do we respond to their needs? His final words, "I am finished," point to his obedience to the Father. What God-given tasks await completion in each of our lives? Let us pray for the grace to always hear the cry of our brothers and sisters, and heed the call of our Father. Reflections adapted from a Way of the Cross version posted by the Vatican's Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, as written by Sr Maria Rita Piccione, OSA, president of the Our Lady of Good Counsel Federation of Augustinian Monasteries in Italy. * Instrumental music from the "Vespers" album series courtesy of Jesuit Music Ministry/Jesuit Communications Foundation Inc. ** 360-degree photo of St. Anne's Parish Church in Molo, Iloilo by Fung Yu. *** Photos of stained glass windows featuring various stations of the cross by Hubert Pacheco, taken at the Shrine of St Therese of the Child Jesus, Pasay City. Previous Station | Return to Holy Week Online | Next Station Note: For the full experience, your device / computer should be enabled to support Flash.

Megyn Kelly is taking growing allegations of sexual harassment on Capitol Hill head on, and revealed a personal story of her own in order to relate. Kelly highlighted accounts from two former Capitol Hill staffers in an interview for Today with Megyn Kelly . During the segment Kelly's guests recalled the alleged sexual harassment and discrimination they received while trying to climb the professional ladder. Before the interview was over, and in an apparent effort to empathize with her guests, Kelly chimed in with her own story of harassment she claimed happened when she began working for Fox News Channel. Video screen grab. One of Kelly's guests was attorney Rebecca Weir, who recounted a time where former Congressman Gary Miller had asked her to "twirl" for him. "You just look stunning, just amazing today," Rebecca recalled Miller saying to her while they were supposed to be talking business. "Would you mind just twirling for me?" he allegedly asked her. Weir recalled how she felt when Miller allegedly asked her to twirl. "I was stunned. I was 22-years-old, I was young. I was inexperienced. I frankly didn't have the tools at the time to respond in the way that I probably would now, so I complied." Kelly asked specifically how Weir felt after being asked to twirl. "It was gutting. I felt like a prostitute. He was undressing me with his eyes. I felt dirty," Weir said. Weir's story prompted Kelly to remember a similar experience she allegedly endured as a fledgling anchor at Fox News. "Can I tell you..." Kelly began. Megyn Kelly begins to get weepy recalling a similar incident she claims happened at former employer Fox News. Video screen grab. "When I started at Fox News, I was 32, I had practiced law for 10 years already. I was asked to do the twirl and I did it." Kelly said. "I am still humiliated by that," Kelly said as she appeared to choke back tears. "Humiliated that I did it," she added. The former Fox host said she realizes that being asked to twirl may not sound like a big deal to a lot of people, but when it happens to you, it's extremely degrading. Video screen grab. Kelly said that at the time she was afraid to speak up, and rationalized the request to twirl as somewhat reasonable because appearing on TV is a "visual business." "You think, 'I don't want my relationship to fall apart. In my business, it's a visual business. I'm not sure if it's inappropriate.'" But Kelly confessed that deep down she knew it had been inappropriate all along. While, she didn't name names, Kelly was most likely talking about former Fox CEO Roger Ailes. Kelly rose to stardom at Fox News and made big news of her own after turning down a lucrative offer to stay at the news network. Since her break with the network, Kelly alleged that former Fox CEO Roger Ailes had repeatedly sexually harassed her at the workplace. Ailes had been specifically accused of asking women to twirl. In a lawsuit, a Fox 5 reporter alleged Ailes made her stand and twirl so he could see her from behind. Another former Fox News Channel host, Andrea Tantaros, also alleged the same thing about Ailes, saying he had asked her to twirl, but she had refused. Ailes was eventually fired from Fox News Channel amid numerous accusations of sexual assault. Kelly's been having a hard time finding an audience with her new gig at Today where she had hoped to move away from hard-hitting political talk and showcase her softer side. Kelly's interview can be watched below. Her latest Fox confession come up at about the 8:50 mark. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin Senators had to explain to Democratic Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota the economics underlying federal oil and gas leasing during a hearing on opening up more areas in Alaska to drilling. Franken opposes a Republican bill to open a small portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas exploration, arguing it could impact the porcupine caribou native to the region. Franken also went on a long rant about why it didn't make economic sense to him to open more Alaskan lands to drilling when millions of acres were left untapped by oil companies. Franken sits on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. "This is a very contentious issue and since there's another million acres that are already leased -- oil companies don't lease land, at least I don't think they do, it doesn't make any sense to me," Franken said in the hearing. "I don't know the oil business, but why would you lease anything where you didn't think there was oil?" Franken said. "It doesn't make any business sense." Well, the situation did make sense to other Senators who sat on the committee that's supposed to oversee such programs. "They get contracts, and the contract might be for 10 years. You gotta show you have the reserves to produce or you won't get a long term contract," West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, explained to Franken. "So, if you do deplete what you have you gotta be able to go somewhere else to complete the contract or you lose it," Manchin said. "So, economically, it's basically for the leases and to fulfill the contract. If you can't do that, show that you have the reserves, can't get the contracts," he said. Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the committee chair, chimed in as well, noting "if the oil companies knew exactly where the oil was that would life easier, but the fact of the matter is they purchase leases and there's no certainty that there is productive reserves that are underneath." Murkowski also noted that many drilling leases sit unused for years because of lengthy permitting times. "They don't produce immediately, leases do not produce immediately. Alaska is a pretty telling case of that," Murkowski said. "It takes 10 years plus, unfortunately, sometimes even longer than that because of the permitting, the NEPA, all of the review, it all takes time." Murkowski is spearheading the effort to open up ANWR's "1002 area" to drilling. She recently introduced legislation as part of the budget reconciliation process to raise about $1.1 billion from the region. Franken introduced an amendment to have the Interior Department make sure all current drilling leases were used up before offering new ones. Follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected] . Posted in News

President Trump says he "absolutely" wants Mexico to pay for U.S.-Mexico border wall while sitting alongside Mexican President Pena Nieto. pic.twitter.com/AYO6kt80zh -- ABC News (@ABC) July 7, 2017 Trump repeated his desire for Mexico to pay for his coveted border wall while sitting next to Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, The Hill reports . The two presidents met in-person for the first time in Trump's presidency. A previous meeting was cancelled amid tensions over payment for the wall. Pena Nieto has said Mexico won't pay for the wall under any circumstances. Yesterday Trump was asked by Associated Press reporter Darlene Superville if he would try to get Mexico to pay for the wall. "Absolutely," Trump said, while sitting next to Pena Nieto. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and national security adviser H.R. McMaster all appeared to laugh after Trump said so. "What I can say are two things: first, it wasn't part of the conversation, it wasn't part of what we discussed, and second, that comment you say President Trump made ... I didn't hear it," said Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray. "I can't deny it because I didn't hear it, we didn't hear it. The important, relevant thing for Mexico is it wasn't part of the conversation, that's what we had agreed on and that's how it was," he added, according to Mexican newspaper Reforma. Pena Nieto tweeted that the meeting was "productive" and said the two talked, "migration, security and economic development." Mexico and the United States will begin negotiations on a revised North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in August. The two presidents spoke privately for 30 minutes after giving public comments. "We're negotiating NAFTA and some other things with Mexico and we'll see how it all turns out, but I think we've made very good progress," said Trump. Pena Nieto said he hoped their conversation would, "contribute to having a fluid dialogue, which will permit us to advance in the renegotiation of what will the the free trade agreement." Pena Nieto also thanked "for this space of opportunity," Reforma reported . Reforma called the public appearance between the two, "cordial, but cold," according to government officials. (image via screengrab)

President Trump is reportedly leaving his North Korea summit earlier than expected because North Korean leader Kim Jong Un decided to leave hours after the event's start -- and not as the White House claimed because talks were moving "more quickly than expected," Bloomberg News reported Monday The White House had announced on Monday that Trump will leave Singapore on Tuesday evening, saying discussions with North Korea are moving "more quickly than expected." "The discussions between the United States and North Korea are ongoing and have moved more quickly than expected," the White House said in a statement.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Republicans in Congress "look forward" to receiving the Trump administration's proposal following talk of a potential deal that would protect DACA recipients in exchange for beefed up border security. Trump ended the DACA program, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, on Sept. 5. On Wednesday night, he met with Democratic congressional leaders and afterward, both sides spoke of a potential deal to protect young undocumented people whose DACA protections will begin expiring in six months. Trump also said his promised border wall with Mexico would "come later." Conservatives, predictably, raged at the news. McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) weren't in attendance Wednesday night, but deputy White House press secretary Lindsay Walters said Thursday morning, according to a pool report, that "The President spoke to McConnell and Ryan this morning." Trump added later to reporters: "Everybody's on board." McConnell implied in a statement that Trump had an obligation to lay out his proposal, so that Congress could move forward while considering his preferences. "As Congress debates the best ways to address illegal immigration through strong border security and interior enforcement, DACA should be part of those discussions," McConnell said in the statement. "We look forward to receiving the Trump administration's legislative proposal as we continue our work on these issues."

A longtime citizen journalist in the Golden State, a man named Gary Gileno, has been charged with a misdemeanor for inquiring about why he was not allowed to videotape a local public agency hearing -- which, incidentally, is subject to the state's open meeting laws, according to the legal brief... Read More News media , media bias 1 Comment Tea Party Nation founder and long time conservative activist Judson Phillips endorsed Diane Black for Governor Wednesday, in a statement posted on his personal website. "In four months, Tennesseans will go to the polls and select the Republican nominee to be governor of this state," Phillip's statement begins, adding: The... Read More News 2018 elections , Governor , TNGov 7 Comments Chance of a Thunderstorm Partly cloudy with afternoon showers or thunderstorms. High near 90F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

Six months ago every talking head on TV and print media was decrying the Trump proposal to build a border wall as impossible hyperbole. It is amazing just how far the conversation has turned. Yesterday CNN ran a segment on how the border wall would possibly be constructed, what materials would be used, and how much it would potentially cost. However, what CNN apparently missed was a December explanation where candidate Donald Trump actually explained exactly what products would be used to build the Southern Border Wall. Beyond the now admitted viability of the construction itself, we find even more reason to be very optimistic that Mexico would pay for the wall. In a recent Mexican news article it was revealed that money transfers (remittances) from the U.S. to Mexico now surpass the amount of the entire Mexican oil business. Wired money transfers total almost $25 Billion: Mexico - [...] There was a 4.75% increase in money sent from abroad, most of which comes from the U.S., to total US $24.8 billion last year, up from $23.6 billion in 2014, said the Bank of Mexico. The bank said it was the first time remittances had totaled more than petroleum revenues since it began tracking them in 1995. Oil revenues last year totaled $23.4 billion. An important factor in the increase in remittances is the jobs created by economic recovery in the U.S.Some 11 million Mexicans are believed to be living in the U.S. and many work in construction. Remittances, 97% of which are sent electronically, averaged $292 last year. (read more) Even if President Donald Trump does not renegotiate any of the $50 Billion trade imbalance we have with Mexico; and if you only target the remittance dollars ($25 billion) which are vital for the Mexican economy, you can see how easy it would be to get Mexico to pay for the border wall. Federal Budgets are fixed on ten year projections. In order for an expenditure to be revenue neutral the revenue must meet or exceed the expenditure over a 10-year period. If you take the $25 Billion in outbound remittances, and you apply a small 4% surcharge for each wire transfer to Mexico, that surcharge would net $1 Billion/year. Multiplied over ten years (budget requirement) that means $10 Billion into the U.S. treasury from the surcharge fee. $10 Billion in revenue . How much is the projected cost of the border wall per CNN? $10 Billion. Easy peasy - problem solved. The wall is built, and Mexico has paid for it..... ..... See how that works?

Over the last several weeks news headlines have carried pronouncements of unspeakable tragedy and carnage. Well-known singer Christina Grimmie was senselessly murdered in Orlando. Then, just a day later, the world awoke to news of the worst mass shooting in American history. France witnessed another terror attack, the brutal and intimate murder of a police officer and his girlfriend in front of their son. A member of Britain's parliament was murdered. Each story elicited a similar sadness, outrage, and empathy. Interspersed among these headlines were two incidents with related plots. In Cincinnati, a 4-year old boy was nearly killed when he climbed into a zoo's gorilla enclosure. Then in Orlando, a 2-year old boy was attacked and killed by an alligator in Orlando. Responses across the media and in the general public were more diverse than following the human-precipitated tragedies, which surprised some. When deplorable acts of violence occur through human agency, blame is ultimately laid at the feet of the perpetrator. Certainly social structures and institutional realities come into consideration, but an individual person is finally deemed responsible. It is much more difficult, however, to determine a path of agency and justice in the wake of animal perpetrated violence. Some cast aspersions on the mother of the 4-year old boy who fell in the gorilla enclosure: Why wasn't she paying attention? How could she let her child wander? A petition was even begun, asking police to investigate the mother for neglect. A few blamed the zoo for improper procedures. Many were outraged over the subsequent killing of Harambe, the gorilla who resided in the enclosure. Similarly, in Orlando some were asking why parents would allow their 2-year old to play near a lagoon in Florida when "No Swimming" signs were clearly posted. These incidents provide a window into our society and, despite the unthinkable and horrific nature of their tragedy, provide opportunities for reflection. For much of society, worship of God has been replaced by worship of the created order. Paul pointed out this sociocultural shift in Romans 1:23, "...and [they] exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal men and birds and animals and creeping things." Stephen Webb argues environmentalism is a type of broadly acceptable and palatable civil religion; he says it is good politics and tolerable religion to worship nature. We saw this briefly last year when a Minnesota dentist was barraged with death threats over the killing of a "beloved" lion in Africa (this incident in particular showed the inadequacy of prevailing American cultural narratives). While the veneration of Harambe and hypothetical purported willingness to choose his life over the 4-year old boy is clear evidence of that, I do not think such a simple analysis sufficiently bears forth the intricate thoughts and emotions at play. James K. A. Smith says a hallmark of our secular age is the possibility of belief. For 1,000 years Christianity served as the dominant worldview for much of the Western world, rendering unbelief almost entirely unheard of. Today the inverse is true: Where belief in a transcendent God is considered untenable for vast stretches of society, the possibility of belief - and subsequent poorly suppressed yearning for it - appears to lurk in the most unanticipated spaces. Frankly, we should not be surprised when so-called "ecosexuals" facilitate ceremonies in which humans are encouraged to marry the ocean, and then consummate said marriage. Christians recognize it is precisely the distortion of orthodox Christianity that permits - and even supports - a misguided and disproportionate love of nature. Cognizant of how idolatry warps worship of the one true God and of the increasing secular pressure exerted on America, it is no wonder the imago dei has taken a backseat to animal activism and environmental worship. When nature is an object of worship, humans are subservient to its capricious and merciless whims. The created order is due sovereign respect, and we humans have no recourse save to spew vitriol at those poor parents who dared allow their children to interfere with its matchless wisdom and authority. Stephen Webb, however, also argued since the decline and distortion of Christianity gave birth to the pathology of environmental worship, it is a pathology for which only Christianity holds the cure. How, then, does the church embody that cure? First, we must never hesitate to remind a weary world of the dignity of life and the beauty of humanity. The world is fallen and humans bear the indelible marks of total depravity, but that doesn't change the reality that all humans bear the imago dei and are worthy of charitable and generous love. Our world is losing sight of the preciousness of humanity - its loveliness and redeemability. In a society where the lines between human and animal are blurring, we must resolutely proclaim the beauty and uniqueness of humanity - rejoicing in our embodied reality. In light of the Orlando nightclub shooting Scott Sauls challenged the church to embody the gospel's humanitarian pulse and ethic. We value human life because it is created in the image of God; we value human life because God sent Jesus Christ to redeem it. This is the church must not tire of championing. Certainly we mourn the loss of Harambe, but far greater would have been the death of that 4-year old boy. And most tragically do we look on the death of a 2-year old in Orlando. The more we talk about the value of human life, the more opportunities we have to remind people that Jesus valued humanity so much He was willing to sacrifice Himself on its behalf. Second, we must remind the world there is a larger frame from which to view these tragedies. In Genesis 1 and 2 God made mankind steward over the animals and creation, but in Genesis 3 that stewardship was rendered much more difficult. The fall introduced enmity and strife into the world, and as a result we cannot expect congenial interactions with wild animals, even animals residing in a zoo or a theme park. What we can expect, however, is the glorious hope of a new heaven and a new earth. In that soon-coming reality we will never again know the pain of a dead 2-year old or 49-murdered souls. We will not fear animals because we are promised the wolf and lamb shall graze together, the lion shall eat straw like an ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food; truly in that day animals will neither hurt nor destroy (Isaiah 65:25). Animals cause tragedy, nature is unpredictable, and humans commit unthinkable acts of cruelty because we're not home yet. There is a day to come, however, when Jesus will illuminate heaven by His very presence and wipe away every tear. Let us speak generously of the inherent value of all human life, the unimaginable glory of a new heaven and new earth, and of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross to ensure that men could dwell in that new creation of fellowship with God, with one another, and with the animals for all eternity. Christopher Divietro Jason Lee got a wakeup call on 9/11. He was serving as a missionary in Kenya in 2001. Ten percent of the population he served were Muslim Somali refugees. When the news of the terror act on U.S. soil reached... Continue... The phrase "out of sight, out of mind" shouldn't be a reality in the lives of Christians as we think about others' suffering. This is especially true of the persecuted church. So, at our MLK50 conference Karen Ellis shared a... Continue...

This is the cute moment a huge bull elephant tried and failed to play hide and seek with a photographer. Ramona Reichert snapped the playful giant trying to conceal his vast five-tonne frame behind a tree in Tarangire National Park in Tanzania last month. The 36-year-old saw the spectacle while out on safari. She and her husband Ivo Schemionek were watching a family of elephant cows and calves at a watering hole before the male arrived. Ms Reichert said: "When they left, a big bull came to the waterhole. He splashed water over himself and spread the mud on his skin - the red soil of the Tarangire National Park makes the elephants' red appearance. "After the mud bath the elephant approached the tree that stood nearby our car. "He kept moving in and out from behind the tree and it really looked like he was playing hide and seek - just the way little children do. It was a funny sight when such a huge creature behaves in such a childish way. "But I don't think he was a good player, at least not a good loser because after a while he suddenly moved towards our car and made a mock charge. It seemed like he didn't like to lose the game." The Zurich-based architect said she and her husband had developed a deep passion for wildlife photography - especially African wildlife in Tanzania. She added: "We want to create awareness of the vulnerability of one of the last big wilderness areas in order to maintain it. "With our pictures we want to raise money to support conservation organisations like The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and The Big Life Foundation." 123 SHARES

Could Robert Mugabe's calamitous 37-year reign of repression and exacerbated poverty over Zimbabwe, now mercifully ended, have been averted? I've wondered about this question for 40 years since a boy when I began to follow events in Zimbabwe closely and was distressed by America's role in enthroning Mugabe. Mugabe at age 94 stepped aside this [...] America's errors typically aren't due to secularism or revived paganism but some form of Christian heresy. The Supreme Court's creation of a right to same-sex marriage seems mostly Gnostic, not rooted in concrete law but an ethereal empowering of the supreme self. Justice Kennedy's majority opinion reads like a spiritual journey towards self-revelation, or Gnosis. [...] Recently a longtime United Methodist official, lamenting that Israel's Independence Day obscured the Palestinian "Nakba" or catastrophe, urged boycotting the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. until the Palestinians have their own Holocaust museum. Here's the quote from Janet Lahr Lewis, "Advocacy Coordinator for the Middle East" at United Methodism's General Board of Global Ministries in [...] Is Obama more Christian than David Cameron? Their respective Easter pronouncements might indicate so. The President gave "thanks for the extraordinary sacrifice that Jesus made for our salvation" and professed to "rejoice in the triumph of the Resurrection." He pledged to "renew our commitment to live as He commanded -- to love God with all [...] As many Evangelical elites and institutions squishily accommodate liberal trends, the National Religious Broadcasters group remains defiantly conservative, as its recent convention of over 4,000 ministry leaders abundantly confirmed, focusing on pro-life, pro-marriage, pro-Israel, and pro-religious liberty advocacy. Partly the defiance owes to NRB's inherently populist character. Its membership includes thousands of Evangelical communicators, rooted [...] Do Christian teaching and humanity demand the abolition of nuclear weapons? Yes, according to a Religion News Service column by Jacob Lupfer (a thoughtful writer and personal friend). He echoes what some church bodies have long or at least more recently urged. Virtually pacifist agencies of declining Mainline Protestantism have demanded full nuclear disarmament for [...] Kelly Gissendaner is on death row in Georgia, her execution having been postponed twice recently. Her religious faith and theological studies while in prison have gained her many admirers who are campaigning for commutation of her sentence amid much favorable media attention. One teacher from a Lutheran college, writing for CNN, first met Gissendaner in [...] President Obama's prayer breakfast speech urging Christians and Americans to avoid a "high horse" before condemning Islamists in light of the Crusades and Jim Crow has provoked wider reflection on comparative national and cultural sins. Recently, prominent interfaith dialogue advocate Miroslav Volf of Yale Divinity School, in a conversation about ISIS, suggested that early founders [...]

When choosing to have an abortion, about one third of the women claimed the sexual partner responsible for the impregnation as having the most influence on the decision to seek an abortion. Many women noted that their church culture included shaming women who terminate pregnancies and lacked guidance for women or couples facing such a difficult dilemma. More than half of the women surveyed believed their church community to be "out-of-touch" and unable to assist them in understanding their options when faced with an unplanned pregnancy. Sadly, nearly two thirds of the women believe that their church's teachings on forgiveness do not apply to those women that have had an abortion.

By Leslie Salzillo on July 11, 2014 Religion Activism , Immigration , Religion Share on Facebook Twitter Google+ E-mail Reddit Once again, it's refreshing to hear a member of the clergy speak not only with realism and compassion, but also with action. Like Pope Francis, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez addresses world issues in a humanistic way. The immigration of Hispanic children at our nation's southern borders is rapidly [...] By Leslie Salzillo on June 27, 2014 Human Interest , Inspirational Human Interest Share on Facebook Twitter Google+ E-mail Reddit A beautiful gesture. According to News92.FM in Houston: Before her plane from Detroit took off, the Oscar-nominated actress (Amy Adams) who was booked for a first-class seat, noticed a man in uniform at the gate. She then privately asked to switch seats with the soldier, who had been [...]

The Christian faith and worldview is predicated on a set of nonnegotiable truths. One of these is that human life is inherently valuable. Christians have articulated and acted upon this transcendent understanding of human dignity throughout history, whether opposing infanticide... Continue... American culture is quickly evolving. Christian witness is now met with increasing resistance. The social compact that held together a fragile civil religion has been broken. In this new paradigm, many young Christians are looking for models of faithful cultural... Continue... A weekly rundown of news highlighting the week's top news stories and as well as commentary on the big issues of our day.

George Rasley, CHQ Editor | 1/23/17 The Women's March on Washington the day after the Inauguration of President Donald Trump provided an interesting window into how the modern Soros-funded Far Left operates, who they are and what they are all about. By one count some 402 organizations helped organize the march and at least 50 of them were funded by Nazi collaborator and convicted currency manipulator George Soros. These organizations are not the bra-burning hippies of the 1960s marching for peace, free love and all that Woodstock generation stuff. Many of them are hardcore Leftists and members of the Red - Green Axis who have a much larger goal; the destruction of American constitutional government. As our friends at thefederalistpapers.org and the Daily Caller reported, Linda Sarsour is one of the Women's March in D.C.'s top organizers, and new details have emerged connecting her with a Hamas operative. Sarsour was recently spotted at a large Chicago Muslim conference, and it's there where she met with a board member of "American Muslims for Palestine," who also happens to be a former member of the terrorist group, Hamas. While there, she posed for a picture with Salah Sarsour, a member of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee and former Hamas operative who was jailed in Israel in the 1990s because of his alleged work for the terrorist group. One might think that an activist for women's rights would want nothing to do with a supporter of a terrorist network bound tight with Sharia Law and its gross human rights violations against women, but the Red - Green Axis makes many strange bedfellows with one mutual purpose; the destruction of constitutional government in America. The goals of this strange alliance were spelled out quite directly in remarks by communist radical Angela Davis: "The struggle to save the planet, to stop climate change, to guarantee the accessibility of water from the lands of the Standing Rock Sioux, to Flint, Michigan, to the West Bank and Gaza. The struggle to save our flora and fauna, to save the air--this is ground zero of the struggle for social justice. "This is a women's march and this women's march represents the promise of feminism as against the pernicious powers of state violence. And inclusive and intersectional feminism that calls upon all of us to join the resistance to racism, to Islamophobia, to anti-Semitism, to misogyny, to capitalist exploitation. "Yes, we salute the fight for 15. We dedicate ourselves to collective resistance. Resistance to the billionaire mortgage profiteers and gentrifiers. Resistance to the health care privateers. Resistance to the attacks on Muslims and on immigrants. Resistance to attacks on disabled people. Resistance to state violence perpetrated by the police and through the prison industrial complex. Resistance to institutional and intimate gender violence, especially against trans women of color. "Women's rights are human rights all over the planet and that is why we say freedom and justice for Palestine. We celebrate the impending release of Chelsea Manning. And Oscar Lopez Rivera. But we also say free Leonard Peltier. Free Mumia Abu-Jamal. Free Assata Shakur. In other words, Saturday's march wasn't about Donald Trump or his policies, none of which have been implemented yet, it was about opposition to American constitutional government, American sovereignty, free enterprise and constitutional liberty. ( You can read the entire transcript of Davis' remarks through this link .) And Davis and Sarsour are aided and abetted by useful idiots in the media, and especially in Hollywood, who have not the slightest idea what the goals of these organizations and their leaders might be. But by lending their star power and their ability to attract media attention they draw attention to the cause and attract the young and impressionable to it. The star of the Hollywood contingent at Saturday's rally was the antonymously named aging pop singer Madonna. Madonna's F-bomb laced remarks were carried live on CNN before the red-faced network was forced to cut to other content, but you can get a flavor of how vacuous the Hollywood argument against President Trump is here: "And to our detractors that insist that this March will never add up to anything, f*** you. F*** you. It is the beginning of much needed change. Change that will require sacrifice, people. Change that will require many of us to make different choices in our lives, but this is the hallmark of revolution. So my question to you today is are you ready? I said, are you ready? Say yes, we are ready. Say, yes we are ready. One more time: you're ready. "Yes, I'm angry. Yes, I am outraged. Yes, I have thought an awful lot of blowing up the White House, but I know that this won't change anything. We cannot fall into despair. As the poet, W.H. Auden once wrote on the eve of World War II: We must love one another or die. "I choose love. Are you with me? Say this with me: We choose love. We choose love. We choose love." We are no strangers to organizing rallies and protests and selling outsider ideas, we've been doing it for over 50-years, and while we can't make sense of what Madonna is for or against, one thing we know for sure, any time your sales pitch or argument comes down to a series of F-bombs, you're losing. However, what the speeches of Madonna, Ashley Judd and Scarlett Johansson lacked in logic, facts and policy alternatives they made up for with emotion, slogans and group-think, all powerful forces especially when deployed against young people whose powers of discernment have been eroded by political correctness. Conservatives and the Trump administration should not underestimate what is going on here based on what the useful idiots of Hollywood say. They are merely fronting for Angela Davis, Linda Sarsour, George Soros and the much larger and more sinister forces of the Red - Green Axis. Noisy, profane, anti-American (in their language) and very very spoiled. Most importantly, these noisy masses lost the lection, and thank god for that. And, stupendously important, they are totally irrelevant. Is the one on the right especially ugly, or is she wearing a teenage Hillary mask? Either way, ugly is as ugly does, and these folks are proving Limbaugh's maxim that Femin[az]ism is for unattractive women who can't get a man.

Under the slogan "Celebrate Ending Israeli Apartheid," over 100 activists disrupted the annual "Celebrate Israel" parade in New York City on June 4. Seven Jewish protesters were arrested. Five of those, identified as queer Jews, interrupted the parade's LGBTQ bloc with signs saying "No pride in apartheid" and "Queer Jews for a free Palestine." Counterdemonstrators, called together by Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now, unfurled banners, staged sit-ins and blocked the parade. Thousands, including NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo, marched down Fifth Avenue in the annual parade, which has received Israeli government funding of nearly $800,000 over the last seven years. Organizers said in a press release that they were resisting 69 years of Zionist terrorism, oppression and aggression, and expressing support for Palestine. They condemned Israel's "apartheid wall and the more than 600 checkpoints, obstacles and other barriers" to freedom of Palestinian movement. A JVP statement also condemned the "exchange programs" between the New York Police Department and Israeli security forces that harm both communities of color and Palestinians. Also ...

Iran held major anti-Israel rallies across the country Friday, with protesters chanting "Death to Israel" and declaring that destroying the Jewish state is "the Muslim world's top priority. Iranians participating in Quds Day rallies also called for unity among pro-Palestinian groups against the "child-murdering" Israeli government, according to Iran's Tasnim News Agency. Marchers in Tehran headed from various points of the city to the Friday prayer ceremony at Tehran University. Similar demonstrations were held in other cities and towns in Iran. [...] Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in remarks carried by the official IRNA news agency, said Israel supports "terrorists in the region." Parliament speaker Ali Larijani, in a speech to Tehran demonstrators, called Israel the "mother of terrorism" and said that in the "20th century, there was no event more ominous than establishing the Zionist regime." The rally also inaugurated a huge digital countdown display at Tehran Palestine Square, showing that Israel will allegedly cease to exist in 8,411 days. In 2015, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei predicted that after 25 years -- by 2040 -- there will no longer be a State of Israel.

George Rasley, CHQ Editor | 1/23/17 The Women's March on Washington the day after the Inauguration of President Donald Trump provided an interesting window into how the modern Soros-funded Far Left operates, who they are and what they are all about. By one count some 402 organizations helped organize the march and at least 50 of them were funded by Nazi collaborator and convicted currency manipulator George Soros. These organizations are not the bra-burning hippies of the 1960s marching for peace, free love and all that Woodstock generation stuff. Many of them are hardcore Leftists and members of the Red - Green Axis who have a much larger goal; the destruction of American constitutional government. As our friends at thefederalistpapers.org and the Daily Caller reported, Linda Sarsour is one of the Women's March in D.C.'s top organizers, and new details have emerged connecting her with a Hamas operative. Sarsour was recently spotted at a large Chicago Muslim conference, and it's there where she met with a board member of "American Muslims for Palestine," who also happens to be a former member of the terrorist group, Hamas. While there, she posed for a picture with Salah Sarsour, a member of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee and former Hamas operative who was jailed in Israel in the 1990s because of his alleged work for the terrorist group. One might think that an activist for women's rights would want nothing to do with a supporter of a terrorist network bound tight with Sharia Law and its gross human rights violations against women, but the Red - Green Axis makes many strange bedfellows with one mutual purpose; the destruction of constitutional government in America. The goals of this strange alliance were spelled out quite directly in remarks by communist radical Angela Davis: "The struggle to save the planet, to stop climate change, to guarantee the accessibility of water from the lands of the Standing Rock Sioux, to Flint, Michigan, to the West Bank and Gaza. The struggle to save our flora and fauna, to save the air--this is ground zero of the struggle for social justice. "This is a women's march and this women's march represents the promise of feminism as against the pernicious powers of state violence. And inclusive and intersectional feminism that calls upon all of us to join the resistance to racism, to Islamophobia, to anti-Semitism, to misogyny, to capitalist exploitation. "Yes, we salute the fight for 15. We dedicate ourselves to collective resistance. Resistance to the billionaire mortgage profiteers and gentrifiers. Resistance to the health care privateers. Resistance to the attacks on Muslims and on immigrants. Resistance to attacks on disabled people. Resistance to state violence perpetrated by the police and through the prison industrial complex. Resistance to institutional and intimate gender violence, especially against trans women of color. "Women's rights are human rights all over the planet and that is why we say freedom and justice for Palestine. We celebrate the impending release of Chelsea Manning. And Oscar Lopez Rivera. But we also say free Leonard Peltier. Free Mumia Abu-Jamal. Free Assata Shakur. In other words, Saturday's march wasn't about Donald Trump or his policies, none of which have been implemented yet, it was about opposition to American constitutional government, American sovereignty, free enterprise and constitutional liberty. ( You can read the entire transcript of Davis' remarks through this link .) And Davis and Sarsour are aided and abetted by useful idiots in the media, and especially in Hollywood, who have not the slightest idea what the goals of these organizations and their leaders might be. But by lending their star power and their ability to attract media attention they draw attention to the cause and attract the young and impressionable to it. The star of the Hollywood contingent at Saturday's rally was the antonymously named aging pop singer Madonna. Madonna's F-bomb laced remarks were carried live on CNN before the red-faced network was forced to cut to other content, but you can get a flavor of how vacuous the Hollywood argument against President Trump is here: "And to our detractors that insist that this March will never add up to anything, f*** you. F*** you. It is the beginning of much needed change. Change that will require sacrifice, people. Change that will require many of us to make different choices in our lives, but this is the hallmark of revolution. So my question to you today is are you ready? I said, are you ready? Say yes, we are ready. Say, yes we are ready. One more time: you're ready. "Yes, I'm angry. Yes, I am outraged. Yes, I have thought an awful lot of blowing up the White House, but I know that this won't change anything. We cannot fall into despair. As the poet, W.H. Auden once wrote on the eve of World War II: We must love one another or die. "I choose love. Are you with me? Say this with me: We choose love. We choose love. We choose love." We are no strangers to organizing rallies and protests and selling outsider ideas, we've been doing it for over 50-years, and while we can't make sense of what Madonna is for or against, one thing we know for sure, any time your sales pitch or argument comes down to a series of F-bombs, you're losing. However, what the speeches of Madonna, Ashley Judd and Scarlett Johansson lacked in logic, facts and policy alternatives they made up for with emotion, slogans and group-think, all powerful forces especially when deployed against young people whose powers of discernment have been eroded by political correctness. Conservatives and the Trump administration should not underestimate what is going on here based on what the useful idiots of Hollywood say. They are merely fronting for Angela Davis, Linda Sarsour, George Soros and the much larger and more sinister forces of the Red - Green Axis. Noisy, profane, anti-American (in their language) and very very spoiled. Most importantly, these noisy masses lost the lection, and thank god for that. And, stupendously important, they are totally irrelevant. Is the one on the right especially ugly, or is she wearing a teenage Hillary mask? Either way, ugly is as ugly does, and these folks are proving Limbaugh's maxim that Femin[az]ism is for unattractive women who can't get a man.

Lois Weiner January 22, 2017 The Women's March was glorious. Yes, I disagree with much said in the speeches, but that wasn't an issue because like the vast majority of people who participated, I didn't go to hear celebrities or politicians talk. I participated to show my rage and frustration at Donald Trump and the policies he and the GOP are preparing to impose on us. Women like me, disgusted, dismayed, enraged at Donald Trump's misogyny, which the GOP has endorsed, flooded to this demonstration. We brought family, friends, supporters, male and female, protesting the human rights and climate deniers whom Trump has brought with him into office. There was some diversity but this was primarily a march of young White women who carried signs about their bodies, "Pussy power" being the most prominent at the New York march. "Pussy power" strikes me as especially apt. Like women who fight patriarchy, it's naughty. It evokes the strength in numbers. Most of all, the march birthed a new social movement which will owe its life to pussy.

By way of contrast, NPR and many other publications used the Women's March as an opportunity to regurgitate all of their complaints against Trump. At the same time, the hard-left pussy-hatted marchers are trying in their own way to take down the President. While the Women's March was not supposed to be an anti-Trump Resistance movement, that's exactly what it is. Watching men and women and even children in pussy hats is disgusting. We would ask what rights women don't have that they think we should have but it would be a waste of time. There are none. It's simply another way to RESIST the President. The Women's Marches are led by Socialists and Communists. When you watch the videos on Twitter and YouTube and see all the raised and clenched fists, all the commie signs, and all the many people who support it, you realize the USA will soon be a one-party Socialist nation. We are almost there. The socialist contingent being led by @DSA_NorthTexas at the Women's March in Dallas! pic.twitter.com/LZEsVQJ9yu -- DSA (@DemSocialists) January 20, 2018 Beautiful weather all over our great country, a perfect day for all Women to March. Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months. Lowest female unemployment in 18 years! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 The President trolled these leftists on Twitter but some of them were stupid enough to think he mistakenly thought they were there to support him. These people are far-left on every issue. literally got into a screaming match with a middle aged white lady at the women's march bc her son was holding a sign that said "thank u nypd" & i said "fuck the nypd" lmao -- rae (@raechulle) January 20, 2018 Dana Loesch had something to say about this. Those attending the @WomensMarch should know about the violent MEN behind it, They include Louis Farrakhan. A religious terrorist and Hitler apologist who believes women should not have firearms. Tweet #RealEmpowerment to show what the Women's March truly stands for. #NRA pic.twitter.com/UiSCOefogi -- NRATV (@NRATV) January 20, 2018

The landmark Tax Cuts and Jobs Act cut taxes and simplified the tax code, getting the IRS out of the way of American families and businesses. This achievement will bear longlasting fruit for our economy and puts hard-earned dollars back into the... Continue... Child welfare providers across the country, like those providing adoption and foster care services, are either closing their doors or facing lawsuits. Many who continue providing services are forced to shed their religious identity and convictions. Why? Several states have... Continue... Greg Glod from Right on Crime joins Matt to discuss criminal justice reform. The DC team chats about current policies on the ERLC's front burner including the Conscience Protection Act. Jeff and Matt reflect on Billy Graham's lying in honor... Continue... Matt, Steven and Travis check in on a variety of policy items the ERLC is paying attention to as Congress returns to work. Topics include religious freedom in Malaysia; a U.S House vote in the fight against online sex trafficking;... Continue... The ERLC's Matt Hawkins and Jeff Pickering reflect on what happened in the Senate debate on immigration reform last week, and look ahead to the next month in Congress. Senate fails to secure border and resolve Dreamer issue What's next... Continue... The ERLC's DC team runs down what to expect in a week of rare activity in the Senate: an open amendment and debate process on immigration reform. Will they secure 60 votes? DACA & Dreamers Previous episode: The team explains... Continue... The ERLC's DC team reviews the status of politics and policy in Washington including abortion, immigration, and (yet another) CR week. Also, a quick look at the MLK50 Conference in Memphis, TN on April 3-4. David Brooks: The Abortion Memo... Continue... WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 31, 2018--The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention announced its 2018 Legislative Agenda today, highlighting various legislative and policy initiatives the organization plans to engage in the coming year. At the top of... Continue... In Washington, we are in the second session of the 115th Congress. This is an election year, which means the window for legislative activity is shorter than usual and tensions will heighten when voting on difficult issues. While 2017 was... Continue...

On the first full episode of Countermoves, Andrew interviews Commentary writer Sohrab Ahmari, formerly of the Wall Street Journal, on the future of liberal democracy and looks at particular threats facing the West. His work has covered issues of the... Continue... The ERLC's DC team reviews the status of politics and policy in Washington including abortion, immigration, and (yet another) CR week. Also, a quick look at the MLK50 Conference in Memphis, TN on April 3-4. David Brooks: The Abortion Memo... Continue... Imagine you're a pastor of a church, and a young, godly couple in your congregation comes to you after a prolonged season of infertility seeking your counsel on whether to pursue IVF (In Vitro Fertilization). What counsel would you offer... Continue... In Washington, we are in the second session of the 115th Congress. This is an election year, which means the window for legislative activity is shorter than usual and tensions will heighten when voting on difficult issues. While 2017 was... Continue... Free, downloadable bulletin insert for use by your church on Racial Reconciliation Sunday. Continue... In late 2017, an embryo that had been frozen for 24 years was born via a procedure termed frozen embryo transfer.[1] The procedure was facilitated and performed at the National Embryo Donation Center in Knoxville, Tenn., a faith-based organization that... Continue... Matt and Travis review the political landscape surrounding a legislative solution for "Dreamers" and DACA recipients. Also, it's the week of the annual March for Life and the Evangelicals for Life conference. DACA and Dreamers What you should know about DACA... Continue...

Matthew Hawkins and Travis Wussow interview Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-4) about policies assisting victims of genocide (H.R. 390) and curbing global promotion of abortion (expanding "Mexico City" policy). Steven joins the roundtable as the team analyses the Congressional landscape. Iraq and... Continue... Matt and Travis welcome Jose Ocampo, a "Dreamer" and DACA recipient, alongside Walter Strickland, First Vice President of the Southern Baptist Convention and Assistant Professor of Systematic and Contextual Theology at Southeastern Theological Seminary. What you should know about DACA... Continue... A recent article in Christianity Today online, cautioning Christians to resist inflammatory rhetoric in their opposition to abortion, drew sharp criticism from some fellow pro-lifers. The article, "Loving Our Pro-Choice Neighbors in Word and Deed," written by Karen Swallow Prior, urges Christians... Continue... Sign Up For The Weekly

Many of us have made mistakes and chosen sin in a moment, only to find ourselves in a situation that will transform our entire lives. For many young men and women, this means an unplanned pregnancy. At Evangelicals for Life,... Continue... Garrett Kell was living for pleasure and found himself in an unexpected situation. At At Evangelicals for Life 2016, Kell shared his story of finding out his girlfriend was pregnant, assisting her in seeking out an abortion, and being pursued... Continue... In early 2016, the ERLC partnered with Focus on the Family to host Evangelicals for Life--a pro-life gathering held in conjunction with the March for Life. Charmaine Yoest, a longtime champion for the rights of the preborn, gave an address... Continue...

For more on this series, including voters talking about how they feel about abortion, click here . Bring It to the Table producer Julie Winokur is founding director of Talking Eyes Media , a non-profit organization with a long history of producing documentaries and multimedia on pressing national issues. The project is partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign and was created by Jessey Dearing, Elissa Pellegrino, Andrew Hida, Julie Turkewitz, Sasha Jiwani, Lauren Glading, Mara Mellstrom and Becky Kumar.

Today, Planned Parenthood celebrates their 100th anniversary. Here are five facts you should know about the nation's largest abortion provider. 1. Planned Parenthood Federation of America has 57 affiliates that operation approximately 650 "health centers." They require that at least one... Continue... This clip is taken from Russell Moore's address at the 2016 Evangelicals for Life conference in Washington DC. Learn more about Evangelicals for Life 2017 at evangelicals.life. Continue... Sign Up For The Weekly

DAMROSCH PARK, NEW YORK -- Dancing tias and teens commandeer the aisles before the performers even enter stage left. Beer, sweat, and laughter permeate the air like the holy trinity of every good fiesta. The message, for once, is not to assimilate, but to celebrate and relish in the Latinx community's roots. The Selena... After subjecting migrant families to months of forced separation and reuniting parents and their children only under extreme pressure from the American public and a federal judge's court order, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is now trying to coerce newly reunited families to leave the country, according to new... On Thursday, The New York Times reported that Microsoft employees confronted the company's chief executive, Satya Nadella, with a petition signed by more than 300,000 individuals calling on the software manufacturer to terminate its contract with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. On Wednesday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen met with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and had some things to say about the family separation crisis. During that meeting, according to Representative Joaquin Castro from Texas, she defended herself and the Trump administration,... Less than a week out from the Trump administration's court-ordered deadline to reunify all families separated at the border, more than 2,000 migrant children are still being detained and kept away from their families. Even more disturbing, government officials are now saying that potentially hundreds of the remaining... Last week, when the Trump administration missed a deadline to reunite all children under the age of 5 that it had forcibly separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border, it claimed that for some of the children, the delay occurred because their parents had serious criminal histories. The Trump administration has failed to meet a court-ordered deadline to reunify dozens of migrant children under the age of five with their families, which is no surprise since this entire cruel enterprise has been reckless from the start. And as Politico reports , U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw is losing... Using the logic of "Look at what you made me do ," Donald Trump is blaming asylum-seeking families for his cruel decision to forcibly separate children from parents, and somehow also managed to blame the parents for his administration's inability to reunite those families. Angelica Rebeca Gonzalez-Garcia says she was wished a "Happy Mother's Day" by one of the immigration agents who took her daughter away on May 11th and sent her, without Gonzalez-Garcia's knowledge, several states away. CNN has captured their reunion after 55 days; "heartbreaking" has been used a lot over the past 500+... The Justice Department is asking a federal judge for more time to reunite the thousands of migrant children the administration forcibly separated from their parents over the last few months. The court set a deadline of July 10 to reunite children under 5, and July 26 to reunite all children, but days ahead of the... The Trump administration has no idea how to begin reuniting the more than 2,000 children it forcibly separated from their parents at the border, despite a court order that requires the Department of Heath and Human Services's Office of Refugee Resettlement to reunite children under the age of 5 with their parents by...

How close did Trump get to taking an irresponsible action, and what does this reversal portend about where power lies in the White House? April 27, 2017 The "First Daughter" wanted voters to know that her father ought to be President, and now she wants the world to understand his greatness, too. April 27, 2017 (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices

Running a Shopify store is a great way to net some extra cash on the side or--if you really know what you're doing--replace your 9-to-5 altogether. However, success doesn't come naturally, and newcomers tend to receive mixed results when starting on their own. This E-Commerce Bootcamp can help start your Shopify venture off on the right [...] You might be used to rolling your own smokes, but let's face it: it's not the cleanest or most eco-friendly way to enjoy your habit. Instead of fussing with papers, the Twisty Glass Blunt makes having a smoke as easy as packing your herb, twisting, and lighting up. You can get your own in the [...] Every brand has a story, and animation is one of the best ways to tell it. That's why companies aren't afraid to pay a premium for professional animators to bring their brands to life and connect with their audiences. However, for those of us lacking the funds for a full animation team or the know-how [...]

On Wednesday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen met with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and had some things to say about the family separation crisis. During that meeting, according to Representative Joaquin Castro from Texas, she defended herself and the Trump administration,... Less than a week out from the Trump administration's court-ordered deadline to reunify all families separated at the border, more than 2,000 migrant children are still being detained and kept away from their families. Even more disturbing, government officials are now saying that potentially hundreds of the remaining... Last week, when the Trump administration missed a deadline to reunite all children under the age of 5 that it had forcibly separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border, it claimed that for some of the children, the delay occurred because their parents had serious criminal histories. The Trump administration has failed to meet a court-ordered deadline to reunify dozens of migrant children under the age of five with their families, which is no surprise since this entire cruel enterprise has been reckless from the start. And as Politico reports , U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw is losing... Angelica Rebeca Gonzalez-Garcia says she was wished a "Happy Mother's Day" by one of the immigration agents who took her daughter away on May 11th and sent her, without Gonzalez-Garcia's knowledge, several states away. CNN has captured their reunion after 55 days; "heartbreaking" has been used a lot over the past 500+... WASHINGTON, DC --On the corner in front of the AFL-CIO headquarters, a stately looking building with marble fronts and too many windows to count, members of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) attracted a crowd. In unison, they practiced protest calls--"Ain't no power like the power of the people... As is becoming a theme at nationwide rallies, the most poignant speech today came not from a celebrity or politician but from a child explaining the daily terror of living under the Trump administration. In Washington D.C., in front of an estimated 30,000 people, 12-year-old activist Leah from Miami spoke about what... On Saturday, thousands [ UPDATE 6/30: at least tens of thousands] set out across the country, clothed in white, to march against the Trump administration's institutionalization of child abuse. (And it is hot out .) The "Families Belong Together" protests, which were planned about a month in advance, are no less... A federal judge in San Diego has barred immigration enforcement agents from separating migrant children from their parents upon illegal entry into the United States. The judge has also ordered that those detained under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy be reunited with their families within 30 days... Trump officials have recently been on the receiving end of less than pleasant dining experiences. Homeland Security Secretary Kristjen Nielsen and White House Advisor Stephen Miller were heckled at Washington Mexican restaurants and Press Secretary Sarah Sanders was asked to leave a restaurant in Virginia last week....

DAMROSCH PARK, NEW YORK -- Dancing tias and teens commandeer the aisles before the performers even enter stage left. Beer, sweat, and laughter permeate the air like the holy trinity of every good fiesta. The message, for once, is not to assimilate, but to celebrate and relish in the Latinx community's roots. The Selena... After subjecting migrant families to months of forced separation and reuniting parents and their children only under extreme pressure from the American public and a federal judge's court order, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is now trying to coerce newly reunited families to leave the country, according to new... On Thursday, The New York Times reported that Microsoft employees confronted the company's chief executive, Satya Nadella, with a petition signed by more than 300,000 individuals calling on the software manufacturer to terminate its contract with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. On Wednesday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen met with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and had some things to say about the family separation crisis. During that meeting, according to Representative Joaquin Castro from Texas, she defended herself and the Trump administration,... Less than a week out from the Trump administration's court-ordered deadline to reunify all families separated at the border, more than 2,000 migrant children are still being detained and kept away from their families. Even more disturbing, government officials are now saying that potentially hundreds of the remaining... Last week, when the Trump administration missed a deadline to reunite all children under the age of 5 that it had forcibly separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border, it claimed that for some of the children, the delay occurred because their parents had serious criminal histories. The Trump administration has failed to meet a court-ordered deadline to reunify dozens of migrant children under the age of five with their families, which is no surprise since this entire cruel enterprise has been reckless from the start. And as Politico reports , U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw is losing... Using the logic of "Look at what you made me do ," Donald Trump is blaming asylum-seeking families for his cruel decision to forcibly separate children from parents, and somehow also managed to blame the parents for his administration's inability to reunite those families. Angelica Rebeca Gonzalez-Garcia says she was wished a "Happy Mother's Day" by one of the immigration agents who took her daughter away on May 11th and sent her, without Gonzalez-Garcia's knowledge, several states away. CNN has captured their reunion after 55 days; "heartbreaking" has been used a lot over the past 500+... The Justice Department is asking a federal judge for more time to reunite the thousands of migrant children the administration forcibly separated from their parents over the last few months. The court set a deadline of July 10 to reunite children under 5, and July 26 to reunite all children, but days ahead of the... The Trump administration has no idea how to begin reuniting the more than 2,000 children it forcibly separated from their parents at the border, despite a court order that requires the Department of Heath and Human Services's Office of Refugee Resettlement to reunite children under the age of 5 with their parents by...

Here in Brownsville, Texas, more than a thousand people gathered outside the federal courthouse to demand all of the families be reunited. After headlines, we'll air voices from the demonstration. Thursday's protests came ahead of a national day of action against Trump's immigration policy planned for Saturday. Protesters organizing under the hashtag #FamiliesBelongTogether will gather outside the White House for a massive protest, with sister rallies planned in more than 600 other locations around the U.S.

TWO of the stars of UFC 205 took the opportunity to catch up with a trio of footballing big hitters in New York this week. UFC middleweight contender Yoel Romero and welterweight contender Kelvin Gastelum visited Major League Soccer side New York City FC during their stay in The Big Apple. 2 UFC stars Yoel Romero and Kelvin Gastelum met David Villa in New York And while they were there, they met with three of the team's biggest stars, Spanish World Cup and European Championship winner David Villa , Italian midfield legend Andrea Pirlo and French World Cup winner and New York City FC head coach Patrick Vieira . Romero and Gastelum will be hoping a little of the New York trio's stardust will have rubbed off on them as they prepare for their November 12 bouts against Chris Weidman and Donald Cerrone respectively. Both fighters have designs on fighting their way towards the title in their respective weight classes. And when it comes to collecting championships, there aren't many better in the MLS than Messrs Villa, Pirlo and Vieira. A special day at training as @UFC fighters @YoelRomeroMMA and @KelvinGastelum meet the #NYCFC players and staff #UFC205 pic.twitter.com/QZ3eaiv5ug -- New York City FC (@NYCFC) September 27, 2016 Villa's exploits in front of goal have made him the all-time leading goalscorer for the Spanish national team, racked up an incredible 59 goals in 97 international appearances, as well as the UEFA Champions League, the European Championships and the World Cup. Italian icon Pirlo has amassed six Scudetto titles in Serie A, two UEFA Champions League titles and claimed the World Cup with Italy in 2006. And former Premier League star Vieira's CV stacks up just as impressively, with three Premier League titles, five FA Cups, three Scudetto titles and winners medals with France in the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championships. . @Guaje7Villa meets @YoelRomeroMMA and @KelvinGastelum after training! pic.twitter.com/om5lHaQn1Z -- New York City FC (@NYCFC) September 27, 2016 Welcome to training @UFC 's @YoelRomeroMMA and @KelvinGastelum #UFC205 pic.twitter.com/Vl32HChM17 -- New York City FC (@NYCFC) September 27, 2016 Both Romero and Gastelum have plenty of experience of top-level success themselves as they've fought their way towards the top of their respective weight classes in the UFC. Romero is a former Olympic silver medallist and world champion in freestyle wrestling, while Gastelum ran out the winner of the 17th season of The Ultimate Fighter , with the only two defeats of his mixed martial arts career coming via split decision. And huge football fan Romero was like a kid on Christmas Day as the pair watched the New York City stars go through their paces at a training session, then met the trio at pitchside. A post shared by ufc (@ufc) on Sep 27, 2016 at 12:08pm PDT "That's Patrick Vieira!" exclaimed the excitable Cuban as the New York City FC head coach arrived on the training pitch. "He's an animal!" The middleweight contender looked genuinely starstruck when the French World Cup winner came over for a chat with the two UFC stars. And Vieira admitted he'd have to give his former chairman at City - and current UFC chief brand officer - Garry Cook a call to make sure he can get tickets to watch UFC 205 live. Latest MMA stories CRAZY PRICES McGregor vs Khabib tickets already on tout sites for PS3k - a week before sale CONOR-SPIRACY THEORY McGregor's UFC career coincides with St Johnstone vs Celtic fixtures 'degrading' Nurmagomedov laughs as cousin appears to make homeless man do push-ups for cash DANGER MOUSE Demetrious Johnson breaks foot AND tears cruciate ligament in shock defeat NO LOVE LOST Dillashaw in spectacular first-round stoppage over former team-mate Garbrandt IN THE DEEP END McGregor goes for swim in Irish Sea as he steps up Nurmagomedov prep CONOR'S CLEARED Dana White says Conor McGregor WON'T be punished for bus attack mac's back McGregor returns after two years out of UFC to fight Khabib in Vegas on Oct 6 BETTER NATE THAN NEVER Nate Diaz to return from two-year exile to face Poirier at UFC 230 BIG MAC MEAL Conor McGregor using diet of kale, dark chocolate and green tea to defy ageing 'it's on' McGregor vs Khabib in October looks certain after Conor's lawyer shares ticket stitches please UFC stars Mitchell Sipe and Don'tale Mayes blood-soaked after vicious brawl ultimate fighter WWE set to sign ex-UFC star Matt Riddle after starring on indie circuit MAC IN BUSINESS McGregor reveals he is close to UFC return against Khabib later this year 'I'M A BIG IRISHMAN' McGregor laughs off bulge picture as cheeky fan asks for 'd*** pic' OCTA-GONE BT Sport set to lose UFC rights with Eleven Sports 'looking to pick up coverage'

RIO FERDINAND'S body double is hoping to do what the Manchester United legend never managed and win the FA Cup. Chesham United's Mat Mitchel-King has starred alongside Ferdinand and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in TV adverts and photo shoots - and even appeared in a Bollywood movie. 6 Mat Mitchel-King has modelled as a body double for Rio Ferdinand Getty Images Europe 6 Ex-Dartford defender Mat Mitchel-King (middle) will be in action for Chesham United today against ninth division side Saffron Walden Town But the defender, 32, will swap the glamorous world of modelling to play a scrappy FA Cup first-round qualifier on Saturday. Seventh-tier Southern League Premier Division side Chesham host Saffron Walden Town, who play two leagues below, at The Meadow. Mitchel-King was used as a body double for Ferdinand, 37, by a well-known sportswear company for an advertising campaign. Getty Images 6 Rio Ferdinand famously never managed to win the FA Cup during his career EMPICS Sport 6 Mat Mitchel-King enjoyed a spell at Wimbledon during his career He has a similar build, is just two inches taller and has also never won the FA Cup - although is now 12 matches away from doing so. The non-league player, who used to captain Crewe Alexandra, told BBC Sport : "People get confused and think you have to look exactly the same. You don't. I did all the stuff from a distance and they filmed Rio for the close up stuff. If there is a six-day shoot lasting 12 hours a day, there's no way a player can be there that long. Related Stories IT'S JOSE V PEP Premier League title is between Manchester United and Manchester City, says Rio Ferdinand RIO GRAND PLAN Rio Ferdinand reveals dream of joining Sam Allardyce's England set-up... and then becoming boss carr outrage West Ham make academy legend Tony Carr redundant after 43 years with minimum PS14,000 pay-off... after he earns club PS50million BREEZEY DOES IT Is this the most bizarre and luckiest goal ever witnessed in FA Cup history? EDAM GOOD GOING, CHEDDAR Cheddar FC get their first taste of the FA Cup with preliminary round clash with Bodmin "So they bring in body doubles who can be captured on camera from distance. "I've met Rio. When I played for Crewe I lived in Cheshire and would see him out and about. He'd always acknowledge me. "You have to be professional on set. You don't ask them for autographs or selfies. It's a strict no-no." Mitchel-King quit modelling for four years while playing in the Football League for Crewe and Wimbledon but returned once he entered non-League again. Getty Images 6 Mat Mitchel-King revealed what it is like working alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic Getty Images 6 Zlatan Ibrahimovic apparently dusted off a challenge from Mat Mitchel-King And he spilled the beans on what it is like to work alongside United superstar Ibrahimovic for an advert. He said: "He was playing in Milan at the time and flew in from Italy while Guy Ritchie directed it. "It was filmed at Millwall's ground. There was a scene where a defender was supposed to pretend to tackle Zlatan but he went steaming in and left Ibrahimovic in a heap. Zlatan just got up and dusted himself down."

Kim Davis recently announced her plan to seek reelection as Rowan County Clerk for next year's election. Davis is the Kentucky clerk who is infamous for denying same-sex marriage licenses in 2015. Davis went to jail for six days for refusing to issue same-sex marriage certificates. Since then, she considered herself an anti-gay marriage campaigner. However, now she has new competition for her seat. David Ermold, one of the gay men who she denied a marriage license to, is considering a run for her seat. Continued below ad>>> He asserted, "If Kim Davis was reelected in that position without an appropriate fight, I'd probably regret it for the rest of my life." Ermold, who is the only Democrat to run against Davis, believes he could win but worries about raising money since it is his first time running for public office. He stated, "I think I could win. I don't think that she has learned anything from the experience at all." He added, "I really, truly think that she feels like she is right. I really don't think she cares at all about what civil rights are." You can watch the video of Davis deny a marriage license to Ermold and his partner, David Moore: **Note: All of our articles have hyperlinks to verifiable sources unless we're providing audio/video evidence. We're committed to fighting fake news. Never trust publications that don't use hyperlinks or other evidence**

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London : British police are investigating an alleged racially aggravated assault on Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling before the Premier League leaders' victory against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. "On Sunday 17 December 2017, police were made aware that a 23-year-old man had been subject to a racially aggravated assault," a police spokesman said. File image of Manchester City's Raheem Sterling. AFP The Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported that Sterling was apparently kicked and racially abused as he arrived at City's Etihad Campus on Saturday morning before their 4-1 win over Tottenham, during which the attacker scored twice. The report said a man appeared to be waiting for the 23-year-old England international as he arrived at the training ground to prepare for the game. The newspaper said it is understood that Sterling got out of his car to ask what the problem was but was then kicked in the leg. City have not commented on the matter and a formal complaint has not yet been lodged but police confirmed they are treating it as "a hate crime". "While an official report has not yet been made, enquiries will be carried out and officers are treating it as a hate crime." Sterling has been one of the stars of City's record-breaking season, scoring 15 goals in all competitions as Pep Guardiola's side have romped clear at the top of the Premier League and racked up 16 straight league wins.

The audio's a little confusing as it switches quickly between 2007 and 2018 and back again more than once. But CNN's write-up is clear enough: That's "Bubba the Love Sponge" confirming that when he asked Daniels 11 years ago to name a famous man she had slept with, she wrote down Trump's name. And he wasn't the only one in the room who saw it. The small clue she gave about where they met -- in Nevada but not Vegas -- also checks out with what she's said elsewhere. Supposedly it was at a golf event in Lake Tahoe in 2006 where they got together. Bubba the Love Sponge Clem, known as Todd Clem before he legally changed his name in 1999, played portions of the interview on his radio show Friday and Monday, in which Daniels was asked to write down the names of famous men she had slept with. Clem says the first name on that list was Donald Trump. Although neither Daniels nor the host says Trump's name in the 2007 audio, she can be heard describing key details that match the description of her alleged affair with Trump. Clem said on his radio program that Daniels was talking about Trump, and later verified the same information to CNN. CNN independently corroborated the story with another person who was in Clem's studio that day, who would speak only on the condition of anonymity. That person also said Donald Trump's name was the first on Daniels' list... [Daniels] said [at the time] she found it "horribly embarrassing" that this person was the best in bed of the three people on her list and added that the person contacted her "twice a month." This is further evidence, if more was needed, that Daniels didn't wait until he became a presidential contender to start telling people she'd had an affair with Trump. Her interaction with Clem would be the earliest example of her spilling the beans that's publicly known but she allegedly told a political consultant circa 2009 and did the infamous In Touch interview in 2011 . Various friends of hers have claimed to have been present during phone calls between her and Trump while the relationship was ongoing. At least two say that she put him on speakerphone so others could listen in. If this whole thing has been a big lie, it's a lie she's apparently been telling for more than 10 years with no big-money reason to do so until three years ago. Also, a striking thing about the Daniels saga is that, as far as I'm aware, she's never been caught out in a contradiction. The detail about Lake Tahoe in the radio interview is a tiny thing but it reminded me of this post about the In Touch story , in which she revealed all manner of trivia about her time with Trump -- some of which, it turns out, can be corroborated. My favorite example is her remembering in 2011 a particular episode of "Shark Week" that they'd watched together, one involving the USS Indianapolis. If you google around you'll discover that there was indeed a program devoted to that subject that ran during Shark Week 2007, when they would have been seeing each other. Maybe she was such a cunning liar that she researched four-year-old TV listings in 2011 to find something she could drop into a story to lend credence to the claim that she was with Trump at the time, but probably not. But then, no one's seriously arguing that Daniels is lying at this point, right? Not after Michael Cohen admitted that he gave her $130,000 for mysterious unspecified reasons. According to CNN , POTUS is consulting with friends and advisors on what he should do. Quote: "The source said Trump is being told by advisers not to fight Daniels' decision to break a confidentiality agreement because it would make him look guilty." The path of least resistance makes the most sense, as she'll tell her story, he'll go on denying it, people will get bored after a few days, and then he won't have to worry about her anymore. The wrinkle is what happens with any other women who are under NDAs. If Daniels gets to speak up with impunity, why wouldn't they decide to speak up too? Why should Stormy be the only presidential mistress to cash in? It's weird that superlawyer Michael Cohen didn't have a plan for what to do in the event that some former paramour simply decided to ignore a hush-money agreement that she had signed and start blabbing. Maybe, like everyone else, Cohen assumed Trump would lose the election and could quietly sue Daniels if she broke the contract. Oops. Per her lawyer, it looks like she's ready to go nuclear: The President and Mr. Cohen have purposely ignored our settlement offer, thus doubling down on their efforts to muzzle Ms. Clifford and prevent her from telling the American people what happened. Time to buckle up. #basta -- Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 13, 2018 One thing I keep wondering is whether Cohen might eventually come after her for violating the part of the hush-money agreement where she was asked to list everyone who'd received "confidential information" from her about Trump. She listed four friends, conveniently omitting the In Touch interview in 2011 and also omitting the 2007 interaction with Bubba the Love Sponge. If he's prepared to litigate this, and if the agreement holds up in court, he'd seem to have her dead to rights for breaching that part of it. But Cohen has bigger things to worry about. Here's a fascinating little post at Medium that purports to use probability to "prove" that he was reimbursed for the $130,000 payment to Daniels not by Trump himself but by the *campaign*, in which case it would need to be disclosed per campaign finance laws. Turns out that a series of payments were made by the campaign in late October 2016 to various entities that total $129,999.72 -- almost the precise amount paid to Daniels. The authors of the Medium post used a statistical analysis to try to determine how likely it is that the total of a set of payments made around the same time would correspond so closely to the amount of a known payment as a matter of pure chance. Result: One in a thousand. Huh. Your exit question, via the liberal New Republic : Why is it that Monica Lewinsky was reviled for her affair with a president while Stormy Daniels is practically being celebrated for hers? Any theories?

Not a "stop stalking me" restraining order, a "keep Trump's name out yo' mouth" restraining order , in case that's not clear. Daniels's own complaint mentioned the arbitration proceeding last month that produced the restraining order, in fact. From page 5: A surreptitious hearing with no due process for Stormy? That *does* sound bogus. Except that ... the hush-money agreement she and Cohen allegedly signed in 2016 specifically allows for that: Cohen's entitled to silence her via an ex parte arbitration proceeding under the terms she herself agreed to -- if the original contract between her and Cohen is binding and enforceable. That's the point of Daniels's lawsuit. She claims that because Trump himself never signed, the contract was never actually entered into. A question, then, for legal eagles: Would Cohen, who did sign the agreement, be able to enforce it against Daniels even if Trump couldn't? Daniels insists that no meeting of the minds occurred between her and Trump, which may or may not be true per the absence of his signature, but there seems to be no question that there was a meeting of the minds between her and Cohen. They each signed, he transferred consideration in the amount of $130,000, now he's demanding enforcement via procedures specified by its own terms. As I noted in the earlier post , the hush-money agreement even says in its introduction that it's a contract between Daniels ("Peggy Peterson") on the one hand and EC, LLC (the entity created by Cohen) and/or "David Dennison" (a.k.a. Trump). How does she win this suit? NBC has the scoop about the restraining order: On [Feb. 27] , Cohen obtained a temporary restraining order against Clifford from the private arbitrator, a retired judge, which bars her from disclosing "confidential information" related to the nondisclosure agreement signed in October 2016, according to a copy of the document obtained by NBC News. On Feb. 28, Cohen emailed the restraining order to Clifford's former attorney, Keith Davidson. "The document itself is to remain confidential and not to be disclosed to anyone as per the terms of the judge's order," the email, obtained by NBC News, said... "I have had conversations with the president about this and as I outlined earlier, this case had already been won in arbitration," [Sarah Huckabee] Sanders said. It's unclear what Sanders was referring to; Trump is not listed as a party on the restraining order issued by the arbitration judge. Asked about that comment, Clifford's lawyer, Michael Avenatti, quipped, "Yeah, and he won the popular vote, too." You're left wondering why Cohen would take the extraordinary step of trying to enforce the agreement in arbitration knowing that the more back and forth there is in this matter, the more intense the media's interest will get. If he decided to let the whole thing go and let Daniels chatter about Trump, what's the worst that would happen? She'd gossip with Jimmy Kimmel and the tabloids about his dong, late-night comics would have a few days of material, and then everyone would move on leaving Trump without a dent. He's a twice-divorced billionaire who said what he said to Billy Bush; literally no one's surprised that he remained a skirt-chaser even after marrying Melania. It was priced into his political stock from the beginning. So why is Cohen so eager to shut Daniels up? Does she know something about him that's so embarrassing that it really might hurt him? Or are there other women whom we don't know about (yet) watching Stormygate play out to see how much of a hard-ass Cohen might be in enforcing hush-money agreements? If he lets Daniels off the hook, other former mistresses -- like Karen McDougal ? -- might start speaking up publicly. Depending on the number, maybe this does become a political problem for Trump among evangelicals. You can grant him a mulligan or two , but maybe not six. Nah, I'm kidding. They'll grant him as many indulgences as he needs. They traded their morals for power. That's their own "hush agreement" with Trump. Your exit quotation comes courtesy of a man who knows just how much damage an infidelity scandal can do to a political career. Sanford's point touches on another way in which Trump is potentially vulnerable, I think: The more his personal life comes back to haunt him, the more people will ask the "What if Obama did it?" question and the more awkward this will become. Especially for Republicans in the House. Some fuller comments from GOP Rep. Mark Sanford regarding Stormy Daniels pic.twitter.com/4bOJUhQUk1 -- Erica Werner (@ericawerner) March 7, 2018

Adult-film actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, poses for pictures at the end of her striptease show in Gossip Gentleman club in Long Island, N.Y., on Feb. 23. (REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File photo) Adult-film actress Stormy Daniels sued President Donald Trump on Tuesday, alleging he never signed a nondisclosure agreement to keep her quiet about an "intimate" relationship between them. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles claiming the agreement is invalid and she is free to publicly discuss her relationship with Trump. The lawsuit, which Clifford's attorney Michael Avenatti published in a tweet, says that she signed both the agreement and a side letter using her stage name on October 28, 2016, days before the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Trump's attorney Michael Cohen signed the document the same day, but Trump never signed the document, the lawsuit claims. The "hush agreement" as it is called in the lawsuit refers to Trump as David Dennison and Clifford as Peggy Peterson. The side letter agreement reveals the true identities of the parties as Clifford and Trump, according to the lawsuit. Clifford asks in the lawsuit for the Los Angeles County Superior Court to declare the agreement and side agreement invalid and unenforceable. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Avenatti was not immediately available for comment. According to the lawsuit, Clifford and Trump had an intimate relationship that lasted from the summer of 2006 well into 2007, including meetings in Lake Tahoe and at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Daniels was quoted in a 2011 interview with In Touch Weekly magazine that she had an affair with Trump after they met at a Lake Tahoe golf tournament in 2006, not long after Trump's wife, Melania, had given birth to their son, Barron. Cohen has said he paid Clifford $130,000 of his own money in 2016, the year Trump was elected president, but said neither the Trump Organization nor Trump's campaign was a party to the transaction, though he declined to say publicly what it was for. The lawsuit said the 2016 hush agreement called for $130,000 to be paid into the trust account of Clifford's then-attorney. In return, Clifford was not to disclose any confidential information about Trump. The suit alleges Cohen has tried to keep Clifford from talking about the relationship as recently as Feb. 27, 2018. "The attempts to intimidate Ms. Clifford into silence and 'shut her up' in order to 'protect Mr. Trump' continue unabated," the lawsuit said. (Reporting By Andrew Hay, additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman; Editing by Michael Perry)

Porn star Stormy Daniels has filed a new lawsuit, this one against her former attorney, Keith Davidson, and, among other allegations, accuses him of colluding with Donald Trump and his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to book her on Sean Hannity's show. From Think Progress : At the center of the case is a series of text messages which show that Davidson, unbeknownst to Daniels, was secretly communicating with Cohen. At the time of these communications, Davidson was serving as Daniels' personal attorney, which means that he had a fiduciary duty to represent Daniels interests. What Daniels' new suit alleges -- and what these text messages seem to demonstrate -- is that Davidson was actually working to advance the interests of Trump, not his client. The communications at issue began when Cohen learned that the magazine In Touch had imminent plans to publish an interview that Daniels gave in 2011 which detailed her affair with Trump. Cohen reached out to Davidson and, through calls and text messages, attempted to book her on Sean Hannity's eponymous Fox News program to deny the affair. After Davidson was unable to get Daniels to commit, Cohen changed his mind. According to the text messages, Cohen contacted the "wise men" who said they believed the story was "dying" and that Daniels should not conduct any interviews. This afternoon, current Daniels attorney, Michael Avenatti explained on MSNBC that he thinks Cohen's reference to "wise men" includes Trump. Avenatti told host Nicolle Wallace that the text messages reveal Cohen's "absolute desperation" to get Daniels to appear on Hannity. "If anybody believes that Michael Cohen is putting or attempting to put my client on Sean Hannity without the president's knowledge, I have a bridge or perhaps other things to sell them," Avenatti added. Not discussed in this segment was how much Hannity colluded or was assumed would collude with Cohen and Trump, too. Watch Avenatti discuss the new lawsuit on the June 6, 2018 MSNBC's Deadline: White House via the link below.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen + For anyone who may be interested or just wants to pass time with nonsense. ~~~~ EXCLUSIVE: How Stormy Daniels tried to sell story about her one-night-stand with Donald Trump for $200,000 THREE weeks before the election but worked out a deal with Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen after she got no takers 29 March 2018 Stormy Daniels's manager offered her client's story to celebrity magazines, television shows and websites in the run-up to the 2016 election. Daniels then accepted the $130k from Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen, who had made her the offer after Trump won the nomination. 'It looks to me that she accepted Cohen's money because she could not get the money she wanted from anyone else,' one media executive said. Stormy made it seem as though she did not seek to sell her story, telling Cooper: 'Suddenly people are reaching out to me again, offering me money. Large amounts of money. Was I tempted? Yes - I struggle with it,' she told Cooper. Then, she claims, Cohen approached her with his $130,0000 offer. But the fact is that Stormy's team was aggressively pursuing a deal to sell her story to the highest bidder. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5554437/Stormy-Daniels-tried-sell-story-sex-Trump-200-000-weeks-election.html?ito=social-twitter_dailymailus --- Family: Stormy Daniels's husband Glendon Crain (right) was arrested for physically abusing her at their home in 2015 Stormy Daniels' drummer husband was arrested in 2015 for attempting to 'recklessly cause bodily injury' by pushing the porn star to the ground but abuse charges were only dropped two weeks ago - just before 60 Minutes interview. Crain, who also goes by Brendon Miller, was the drummer for the band Godhead from 2005 to 2007, when he toured with Raamstein and Korn's Jonathan Davis, according to his IMDB biography. He has also starred in numerous adult movies since 2010, including a role as The Joker in a 2012 Batman porn parody called The Dark Knight XXX. [...] Daniels was accused of domestic violence in a prior relationship. She was arrested for battery on July 25, 2009, after her then-husband Mosny claimed Daniels beat him during a fight over laundry and bills at their Tampa home. Mosny claimed that Daniels became upset after she came home and found that he had not done her laundry correctly. She allegedly grew more enraged after opening the mail and discovering that Mosny had not paid bills that she had given him money to pay. 'Stephine [sic] threw a pottedf plant at the kitchen sink, which was away from Michael,' claimed Mosny in a statement to the Tampa Police Department. 'Stephine then hit Michael on his head with her hands several times. Michael stood there. When Stephine was done hitting him he walked into the living-room and sat down.' 'Stephine came into the living-room and threw their wedding album onto the floor and knocked candles off coffee table, breaking them. Michael was not injured.' [...] The allegations caused Daniels to suspend her prospective candidacy for a Louisiana senate seat at the time. Daniels, who hails from Louisiana, had been conducting a state-wide 'listening tour' had threatened to run against the Republican incumbent on the campaign promise to 'Screw People Honestly.'

A leftover from last night that kept getting crowded out by more important news today. How absurd has this story become? I mean, really: Stormy Daniels (going on Kimmel tonight after Trump's State of the Union) issues a new statement saying she is denying having an affair with Trump not because of a settlement but because "it never happened." She would also like you to follow her on Instagram. -- Tom Namako (@TomNamako) January 30, 2018 That was released yesterday around 5 p.m. Funny thing: Her signature on that statement didn't look much like the signature on the original statement denying an affair with Trump that was released on January 12. Cohen also passed along an image of this letter to me, signed from "Stormy Daniels" and dated Jan 10, 2018, denying rumors of hush money from Trump and calling them "completely false." https://t.co/J0taBJZLP5 pic.twitter.com/MX4qgVhyN2 -- Ali Vitali (@alivitali) January 12, 2018 Jimmy Kimmel noticed too and asked her about it during last night's post-SOTU interview with Daniels. Watch below. Her reply : "That does not look like my signature, does it?" But wait: Just received this email from Stormy Daniels attorney about her comments on Jimmy Kimmel tonight: pic.twitter.com/fRN4DkEums -- Lauren Gambino (@laurenegambino) January 31, 2018 She and Trump have both mastered The Art of the Gaslight. Affair or no affair, at least they have that in common. Now that we're far enough into the hall of mirrors to be analyzing signatures on press releases to see if they constitute "real" denials or not, it's safe to say that Stormygate has run its course. In the end there are only two possibilities. One: There's no NDA, no hush money, no affair. In reality Daniels is a brilliant self-promoter who knew the public would lap up a sensational story about a tryst between Trump and a porn star with whom he posed for a photo at an event 12 years ago. It was her own team who leaked the claim of a $130,000 hush-money payment to the Wall Street Journal , knowing that public interest in her would explode once the story was published. And now, sure enough, here she is as the star guest on Jimmy Kimmel's show. It's a grand con, expertly executed. And the best part is, because of the hush-money allegation, she never has to formally confirm or deny anything. She can just cock her eyebrow at questions about her and Trump, keep quiet, and let people wonder. The other possibility: It's all true and she really is under an NDA. The written denials (signed with her stage name, do note, not her real name) may be required of her under the terms of the agreement but she has yet to say in an interview that nothing happened with Trump. If you subscribe to the theory that there was no affair, you're forced having to explain away years of statements by Daniels to the contrary, most famously in an interview with In Touch in 2011 (after which she was polygraphed and passed) but also to lesser known entities, like a political consultant in 2009 . There's no evidence that she tried to profit from her story about Trump until late in the 2016 campaign cycle. If it's all a con, why was she running this con nearly 10 years ago and to what end if she wasn't making money off of it? Why can so many of the small details in her In Touch interview be corroborated now, years later ? And if the hush money supposedly paid to shut her up is itself a big lie crafted by Daniels to stoke public interest, why did she receive $130,000 in October 2016 from a Delaware LLC apparently founded that month by Trump lawyer Michael Cohen ? Occam's Razor suggests one possibility is much more likely than the other. But it's a waste of time to pursue it further since (a) no one cares except for poor Melania Trump and (b) Daniels is going to continue this irritating "did I or didn't I?" shtick ad nauseam, which is in her interest promotion-wise. If you're going to form a judgment about what happened, you've got all the evidence you're ever likely to get. The bit with the puppets here is cute, though.

Let's hear it for Lord Sinderby. The latest Downton Abbey romance (warning: spoilers ahead) has spurred plenty of objections. Most, unfortunately, appear to be rooted in horrifying anti-Semitism. Lady Rose, a cousin of the Downton family, is engaged to Atticus Aldridge, who is wealthy--and Jewish. In one chilling scene, Downton matriarch Lady Cora notes her ... Continued Entertainment , Television Fri. February 6 Lady Rose seems to specialize in dating men who raise her family's hackles. Men who represent the edge of polite society in some sense. Last season, it was a charming African-American jazz singer, and this week, it was Downton Abbey's first Jewish character, Atticus Aldridge. Aldridge's name sounds quintessentially British and not at all Jewish ... Continued Entertainment , Television Mon. January 12 "Ida" is a European art film that has already garnered extensive acclaim--and is positioned to receive yet more. The movie is set in early 1960s Poland, a country still haunted by the specter of war and death. The film's protagonist, a young novice named Anna, is about to take orders. She grew up in a ... Continued Entertainment , Movies Wed. October 15 An old Jewish joke: And God said to Moses, You shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk Moses replied, "OK, we will have two sets of dishes, one for dairy meals and one for meat meals." And God said to Moses, You shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk Moses replied, ... Continued Culture Fri. August 8 Oy, the scandal! When even religious Americans embrace the worst aspects of our secular culture, is it time to declare culture war defeat? Josh Orlian, a (not so) nice Jewish boy from my home county of Westchester, New York, recently auditioned for America's Got Talent with a racy comedy routine. The Internet's calling him "naughty," ... Continued Culture , Entertainment , Television Mon. June 2 I never understood people's obsession with Justin Timberlake. Sure, he's a good dancer, and some of his songs are catchy, but what's so impressive? Last week, he changed my mind, though. I was smitten by Timberlake's Instagram photo of his praying at the Kotel, or Western Wall, in Jerusalem. Clearly I'm not the only one ... Continued Culture , Entertainment , Music Wed. May 14 Let me say at the outset that I am a fan of Ashton Kutcher and his fiancee Mila Kunis, who is expecting the couple's first child. I've written in praise of Kutcher's understanding of capitalism and I support anyone who falls in love with a dark-haired Jewish beauty, plus Kunis is openly proud of her ... Continued Culture Wed. March 5 Terry Teachout at the Wall Street Journal poses a very good question: Do artists have a responsibility to protest against moral injustice? He was asking in reference to two internationally famous conductors, neither of whom has accepted Teachout's challenge: Venezuelan Gustavo Dudamel and Russian Valery Gergiev. Dudamel, the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and ... Continued Culture , Entertainment , Music Thu. December 26 It just wasn't Christmas without Dave. Dave was our next door neighbor when I was a kid. He was Jewish, and in what to modern ears will sound absolutely appalling, we used to make fun of his religion. Oh, he made fun of ours as well - Catholicism. Dave was one of our closest friends, ... Continued Culture

Yes. The right questions! Social values influence our moral judgments too. What most people do is what's the right thing to do. Many Americans responded to last year's Charlottesville violent incident with disbelieving horror: "This is not who we are." However, as this Washington Post piece explains: "It is who we are." People learn from their culture and society"--"if kids are raised around people who sanction racism, they will take it as socially accepted. Which takes to the origin of violence. Is it driven by evil hearts? Or is it conditioned by our moral values and judgment? Submitted on Wednesday, Jul 25, 2018 at 2:58:14 PM

Law enforcement arrested former Executive Director of South Carolina GOP Todd Kincannon this week on allegations he "cruelly" killed his mother's dog. According to police reports, he claimed he did it on using religious authority as he is "the second coming of Jesus Christ." Background Kincannon is best known for his "trolling" of liberal and progressive activists online throughout the [...] Continue reading >> The basic line of demarcation between pro-Trump and anti-Trump partisans is now too clear and too well-documented to misunderstand. As my youngest son has maintained since the election, there were two-and only two-categories of people who voted for Trump: those who agreed with and felt validated by his too-obvious-to-ignore racism, and those for whom that racism was not disqualifying. Pundits [...] Continue reading >> Legal scholar Cass Sunstein recently reviewed two books on Nazi Germany for the New York Review of Books. (It was a timely review; even Godwin of "Godwin's law" fame is on record saying that comparisons of contemporary events to the rise of Hitler may be appropriate.) As Sunstein notes, the accounts of the Nazi period with which we are familiar seem barely [...] Continue reading >>

At least 22 people were injured after an improvised explosive device detonated aboard a London Underground train on Friday. The crude bomb--apparently contained in a... On July 16, 2015, a fishing boat off al-Arish on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula radioed a distress call. The nearest ship, an Egyptian navy frigate responded.... Newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron surprised almost everyone when he invited President Donald Trump to celebrate Bastille Day with him in Paris, especially after the... A familiar introspection set in after the horrific terrorist attack on a concert in Manchester, England. True to form, celebrities and provocateurs flew to their... Page :

Comedian Amy Schumer recently came under fire for some of her more incendiary jokes, but as we've noted here at National Review , those criticizing her aren't just taking issue with a couple things she said. They actually have a problem with comedy in general . It's not just Schumer who faces regular criticism from the social-justice set -- comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld now avoid performing on college campuses because the crowds there find nearly everything offensive. Check out our new video about how the censorship of comedy is going way too far.

One is a liberal talk show host. The other is the 'Science Guy' whose 90s TV show entertained children with songs like "Can't Eat This" and "Baby I Love Your Wave." So, of course they're qualified to lecture us about the universe. Nevertheless, when Bill Nye went on Bill Maher's show, Real Time With Bill Maher , the two took the opportunity to mock Republicans and people of faith for their belief in God and creationism. Some of Maher's other brilliant analysis: conservatism causes Alzheimer's disease .

In a previous article , I showed that Donald Trump's first year as President has been marked by a series of exceptional economic achievements. Yet it isn't only with respect to the economy that our 45th President deserves much gratitude from self-proclaimed patriots, traditional garden-variety Americans who've expressed abhorrence of the country's lurch toward radical leftism. Trump has rescinded, through Executive Order, the obscene Obamacare contraceptive mandate, which forced private employers to provide contraceptive and abortion services through the health insurance plans they offered their employees. In his very first week in office, the President also eradicated $9 billion in foreign aid that was used to finance abortions. Recently, Operation Rescue, one of the largest pro-life organizations in the country, named Trump as their "Pro-Life Person of the Year." The group's president, Troy Newman, released a statement upon presenting Trump with their Malachi Award. It commended Trump for his "courage" to "keep promises made during the campaign" to "provide greater protections for the pre-born and deny Federal funds from those who commit abortions." Newman praised Trump, saying that he "has proven to be the most pro-life president we have had in modern history and has backed up his pro-life rhetoric with action like no other before him." According to Lifesite , Operation Rescue gave the following reasons for bestowing upon Trump the Malachi Award: "Trump appointed conservative, pro-life Justice Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court. He has effectively denied public money to those who commit and promote abortions around the world. The Trump Administration Department of Justice has launched a formal investigation into Planned Parenthood's illegal baby parts trafficking scheme. He has actively supported pro-life legislation, such as the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.... He supports legislation to defund Planned Parenthood in the U.S., and removed an Obama-era mandate that forced states to continue funding Planned Parenthood. He has worked to fill his administration with pro-life people and put them in places where they can do the most good. Trump's administration has taken active steps with the Health and Human Services and other agencies to establish pro-life policies that protect the pre-born. He has provided protections for those of religious and moral convictions from paying for abortifacient drugs through Obamacare, and continues to work to repeal and replace it." Operation Rescue's President concluded: "We are proud of President Trump and his bold willingness to advance the cause of life. There are more battles ahead," he conceded, "but under the Trump administration, we can now finally see progress within our government toward restoring the sanctity of life and the protection of personhood to the pre-born." Trump has also been supportive of Christians throughout the Middle East. As Vice-President Pence told Middle Eastern Christians at this past year's annual In Defense of Christians Summit, no longer would America funnel humanitarian aid to persecuted religious minorities through multi-national organizations like the United Nations. The Trump administration, he assured them, is committed to giving aid directly to those who need it. Moreover, Trump lent significant assistance to persecuted Christians (and others) in defeating some of their biggest persecutors in the Middle East: the Islamic State. Even NeverTrumpers like The New York Times ' Ross Douthat confess that the President fulfilled a campaign pledge by, incredibly, defeating ISIS . The Islamic State emerged and metastasized under Obama. Within a year of assuming the presidency, Trump changed the rules of military engagement and ISIS has been virtually crushed in Iraq and Syria. (As an aside, it is worth noting that neither Pope Francis , who implied during the presidential campaign that Trump was not a genuine Christian for wanting to construct a border wall, nor any Christian (like Glenn Beck who insisted that it was somehow un-Christian to vote for Trump, has yet to credit Trump for labors for the cause of life). On the homeland security front, Trump has fought and won his battle to prevent people from seven terrorist-sponsor states from entering the United States. Furthermore, Trump added two other hostile states to his Executive Order (the misnamed "travel ban"): North Korea and Venezuela. In October, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the case against it. Critical to homeland security is, of course, immigration. Earlier in the year, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly asserted that immigration from Central America was down a whopping 64% from the previous year. "We've seen an absolutely amazing drop in the number of immigrants coming out of Central America." He added: "In particular we have seen a dramatic reduction in the number of families, the number of children." "The decrease in apprehensions is no accident," Kelly insisted. In September, the President rescinded his predecessor's executive order that essentially extended amnesty to the so-called "dreamers." Congress must now do its job and address DACA legislatively. Cortney O'Brien American Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle decided to travel through Central Asia in the fall of 2012. They were abducted by the Taliban. While in captivity, in Afghanistan, they had three children. According to The Washington Post , while "U.S. or Canadian officials got close to negotiating the family's release a couple of times, each attempt was scuttled." Nine months after his inauguration, in October of 2017, President Trump managed to secure the family's release. He thanked Pakistan for their help. Some months earlier in his new presidency, beginning in April, Trump secured the release of, first, Aya Hijazi, an American had been providing humanitarian aid in Egypt before she was captured and imprisoned for three years in an Egyptian prison. In May he brought home Sandy Phan-Gillis from her two year captivity in China, and in June, Otto Warmbier was released and returned to America from a North Korean prison. Presidents Bill Clinton George W. Bush, and Barack H. Obama--all of whom, mind you, served eight year terms--promised while on the campaign trail to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Trump made the same promise. And within his first year, he kept it. Trump reasserted American sovereignty by emancipating Americans from supra-national, counter-productive sham compacts like the Paris Climate Accords and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Even the United Nations will now be receiving less American dollars than it previously received. Donald Trump has been POTUS only one year. In many (though, admittedly, not all) critical respects, his presidency has been nothing less than the incarnation of the rhetoric that "conservative" and GOP NeverTrumpers in D.C. and the "conservative media" have been peddling to their constituents for decades. The difference between President Trump and his detractors is that while Trump's conservative detractors talked the talk, Trump walks the walks.

During a rally for Sen. Luther Strange in Alabama on Friday night, President Donald Trump seemed caught off guard by John McCain's announcement that he planned to vote "no" on the GOP's Graham-Cassidy Obamacare repeal bill. According to Trump, his staffers gave him a list of ten senators who were "absolute no's" on Obamacare repeal and McCain was not on that list. "So that was a totally unexpected thing, terrible. Honestly, terrible," Trump told the crowd. "John McCain, if you look at his last campaign, it was all about repeal and replace, repeal and replace," he continued on. "So he decided to do something different, and that's fine." Trump then seemed to admit that the current Obamacare repeal might not make it through before the September 30 deadline for a simple majority vote. "We're going to do it eventually," Trump promised, before pointing out Luther Strange could help the GOP get it done if he won. Watch below via CNN: President Trump on prospects for Obamacare repeal: "We're going to do it eventually" https://t.co/UYpqI3w42L https://t.co/oT0NuebI8k -- CNN (@CNN) September 23, 2017

The president did not respond to shouted questions about #Harvey returning to WH with family. pic.twitter.com/iQsr1nhinN -- Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) August 27, 2017 "I call on all of us with privilege and power to confront racism and white supremacy head-on" - Robert Lee IV #VMAs pic.twitter.com/ko4SM9VnaU -- MTV (@MTV) August 28, 2017 SO. MANY. PEOPLE. in the Castro today. (And more coming...) #PatriotPrayer pic.twitter.com/3CmOI7lUkU -- Lizzie Johnson (@lizziejohnsonnn) August 26, 2017 In San Francisco, hundreds gather at an intersection near Alamo Square. Police are holding a barrier between crowds. "Let them through!" pic.twitter.com/ntFdQ0NSSu -- Jack Smith IV (@JackSmithIV) August 26, 2017 President Donald Trump loves his own image!! He falls in love when it is splashed across the cover of magazines especially the popular ones. He has been caught manufacturing fake Time magazine covers and now one of publication is regretting putting him on its cover. Cooper Hefner, who has taken over control of Playboy from his father Hugh, is not happy with Trump. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "We don't respect the guy. There's a personal embarrassment because Trump is somebody who has been on our cover," Cooper said, speaking on behalf of himself and his father....

WASHINGTON, D.C.--Within a week of taking office on January 23, 2017, President Trump reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy, now called the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance, which bans U.S. funding for abortions overseas. The expanded policy prohibits $9 billion in U.S. taxpayer money from funding foreign organizations that perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning. The pro-life policy applies global health assistance funding for international health programs, such as those for HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, malaria, global health security, and family planning and reproductive health, but not for abortion. Government grants to 733 organizations were up for renewal, and the organizations had to demonstrate compliance with the Mexico City Policy in order to obtain funding. The U.S. State Department issued a new report yesterday revealing that 729 out of 733 organizations accepted the Trump administration's requirement that they not commit or perform abortion as a condition of receiving aid money. Two organizations refused to cease promoting abortions and will not receive funding. These include International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and Marie Stopes International. The names of the other two are not yet public. The Mexico City Policy was originally announced by President Reagan in 1984 and required nongovernmental organizations to agree that they "would neither perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations" before receiving any federal funding. In 2009, President Barack Obama overturned the policy that provided a portion of over $400 million in federal funds to the abortion organizations like IPPF and Marie Stopes International for their foreign efforts. The IPPF reports that its affiliates ended the lives of nearly one million unborn children in 2015 alone and claims to have provided 16.8 million abortion-related services over the past five years. "Under the Trump administration, we are making significant progress in the battle to make the womb a safe place again," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. "Former President Obama refused to honor the Mexico City Policy and ushered in a bloody eight years by his radical support of Planned Parenthood domestically and abroad. President Trump has now turned off the spigot of taxpayer funding for abortions outside of the United States. We cannot reverse the deaths of millions of children but we can reverse the tragic flow of money that once funded the brutal deaths of some many innocent children, to end the lives of innocent children," said Staver. Please SHARE this story as the only way for CFP to beat Facebook anti-Conservative Suppression. Only YOU can save CFP from Social Media Suppression. Tweet, Post, Forward, Subscribe or Bookmark us Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Content is Copyright 1997-2018 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2018 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has just released a unanimous ruling denying President Trump's motion for a stay of the lower court injunction against President Trump's Executive Order temporarily suspending Visa's from seven nations of concern: UPDATE: FULL RULING pdf Below President Trump has two options on this specific XO, request direct appeal on this decision to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy who oversees the Ninth Circuit, or take the appeal to the full Supreme Court. Additionally, President Trump may choose to rewrite the initial executive order and clarify the purpose and intent to avoid judicial challenge. SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017

President Trump addressed border security and terrorism during his address to a joint session of Congress tonight, saying that immigration laws must be enforced and the "environment of lawless chaos" must come to an end. He once again reiterated his pledge to build a wall on the border, and he asked critics of his immigration proposals, "What would you say to the American family that loses their jobs, their income, or a loved one, because America refused to uphold its laws and defend its borders?" Trump also spoke about defeating "radical Islamic terrorism" (a phrase that National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster reportedly tried to push Trump out of saying ). "It is not compassionate, but reckless," the president said, "to allow uncontrolled entry from places where proper vetting cannot occur. Those given the high honor of admission to the United States should support this country and love its people and its values. We cannot allow a beachhead of terrorism to form inside America. We cannot allow our nation to become a sanctuary for extremists." Watch above, via CNN. [ image via screengrab ]

By John Farnam Utah Chronic Homelessness Defense Training International, Inc Ft Collins, CO - -( Ammoland.com )- "Something for nothing, given to one group, is nothing for something, taken from another." ~ Orrin Woodward From a friend in Salt Lake City: "In an effort to keep themselves in power, liberal politicians in Salt Lake City have been 'feeding the pigeons' for the past decade or so. They've encouraged, indeed begged, hoards of 'homeless' to flock to SLC and take-up residence. They bate them with taxpayer-funded handouts. Like illegal aliens, the 'homeless' provide a source of easily-purchasable votes, and little else. The 'homeless' who take them up on the offer are, of course, permanently unemployable. Nearly all have long criminal histories. They have no intention, nor capability, of every being honestly productive. They do, however, 'supplement' the city's meager handouts with proceeds from criminal activity, like burglary, theft, mugging, 'aggressive' begging, etc. The predictable crime-wave this bird-feeder has caused has now ka-boomed in to yet another manufactured 'crisis.' 'Quality of life' in SLC has experienced a significant downturn! What to do? City and county are cynically throwing tens of millions of taxpayer dollars at this 'problem' (that they created, deliberately) with a huge downtown LE presence and 'sweep,' in an effort to arrest drug dealers working ' homeless shelters.' 'We must separate drug dealers and other 'real criminals' from the homeless....,' or so goes the party line. Yet, when talking with local police officers, you'll hear a completely different story! They'll tell you about 'the homeless' breaking into parked cars and houses, urinating in public, defecating on front lawns, assaulting people in public places, stealing everything that isn't nailed down, etc. The 'homeless' are the 'real criminals!' They are just the bottom rung. Drug-dealers are slightly more enterprising!" Comment: Denver, LA, San Francisco, and a dozen other liberal-run metro areas all share this same manufactured "problem." Downtown areas have become so crime-ridden and dangerous that tourists now hesitate to go there. Cities then desperately fight to keep these areas " safe," the only way they know how: a "wall-to-wall" police presence, particularly on weekends. That, of course, leaves no police for the rest of the city! Some cities, like Detroit and Philadelphia, have given up! Once-lively downtown areas there are now mostly boarded-up. It's the trend! "Catering to criminals," a liberal linchpin, is rotting once-grand cities, from the inside out. We see it even in otherwise "conservative" places, like UT. But, predictable results never disappoint! "Government committed to the policy of improving the nation by improving the condition of some individuals will eventually run into trouble in attempting to distinguish between a national good, and a chocolate sundae. One hazard of the 'benefit' form of government is the likelihood that there will be an indefinite extensions of benefits, each new one establishing an easy precedent for the next. Another hazard is that by placing large numbers of people under obligation to their government, there will develop a self-perpetuating party, capable of supplying itself with a safe 'majority.'" ~ EB White Ya think? /John About John Farnam & Defense Training International, Inc As a defensive weapons and tactics instructor John Farnam will urge you, based on your own beliefs, to make up your mind in advance as to what you would do when faced with an imminent and unlawful lethal threat. You should, of course, also decide what preparations you should make in advance, if any. Defense Training International wants to make sure that their students fully understand the physical, legal, psychological, and societal consequences of their actions or inactions. It is our duty to make you aware of certain unpleasant physical realities intrinsic to the Planet Earth. Mr Farnam is happy to be your counselor and advisor. Visit: www.defense-training.com Webfoot Logger says: The devil himself could win here, provided he ran as a democrat.

My home town. Last year or so, before the mayor tried to sweep the homeless out of Seattle by stealing their belongings and putting up fences, I remember driving north on I-5 and being stunned by all the tents everywhere. Then I noticed those gentrifying neighborhoods with the $2500 one bedroom apartments were trying to get the homeless out of downtown. A few months ago I drove past a truck from the city. They were taking homeless people's tents, sleeping bags, and belongings and chucking it all in to go to the dump. I've never been so mad. The Seattlish has some good coverage on this, because not many other outlets seem to care. Our city council recently rebelled and got the mayor to slow the fuck down. I get tired of hearing how the cops are scared of the homeless. I was a psych nurse in locked psych units in the area. Same demographic. We didn't get weapons and armor, and did just fine. As did the case workers, and out reach staff. Last I heard the mayor wanted to build fences for an astronomical cost (initial and yearly upkeep) instead of shelters.

Many Toronto low income residents have become homeless over the years and it is a well known fact this city is the worst when it comes to the severe lack of affordable housing and the homeless crisis in our country. It is also a well known fact many of those (too many) have passed away due to the fact that they became homeless either on the streets or even in homeless shelters. The city has obviously been negligent in Dealing with these issues over time and it shows today with the magnitude of these issues. In the past year alone in excess of 100 homeless have died in this city alone and unfortunately this is just a small sample of how many have left us for no good reason over the years since the homeless crisis began. Social activist have fought for years to get the city to do a better job dealing with these issues, real action needs to be taken now to stop the needless homeless death in this city and also prevent more citizens from becoming homeless, urgent action is needed to deal with the severe affordable housing crisis in this city. Mayor Tory and city council need to do whatever is needed now to deal with these issues if they don't the situation will not get any better obviously, they need to understand people on low income need their attention and they need to work with the other levels of Governments (Federal & Provincial) to rectify an obvious wrong being done to those in most need in their city. Council Members need to act more responsibly towards those in need then they obviously are.

(NBC) -- San Francisco Mayor London Breed, in her first one-on-one interview since taking office, said homeless advocacy groups that receive funding from the city need to better educate the homeless to "clean up after themselves." "I work hard to make sure your programs are funded for the purposes of trying to get these individuals help, and what I am asking you to do is work with your clients and ask them to at least have respect for the community -- at least, clean up after themselves and show respect to one another and people in the neighborhood," Breed told the Investigative Unit, referencing her conversations with nonprofit groups aimed at serving the homeless. When pressed about whether her plan calls for harsher penalties against those who litter or defecate on city streets, Breed said "I didn't express anything about a penalty." Instead, the mayor said she has encouraged nonprofits "to talk to their clients, who, unfortunately, were mostly responsible for the conditions of our streets."

Augh. Egads. Barf. Gross. Recently elected San Francisco Mayor London Breed says that the city she loves is absolutely covered in fecal matter and "we are not just talking about from dogs -- we're talking about from humans." Talking about human feces, folks! Particularly, feces from humans experiencing homelessness right now. Apparently, the city is so overrun by poverty that people are using virtually all public spaces as their toilet because they cannot afford proper lavatories. To this extent, Mayor Breed is asking that homelessness advocacy groups and non-profit encourage those they are helping to clean up after themselves. "I work hard to make sure your programs are funded for the purposes of trying to get these individuals help, and what I am asking you to do is work with your clients and ask them to at least have respect for the community -- at least, clean up after themselves and show respect to one another and people in the neighborhood," Breed told the local media. But, when asked if she would impose any harsher penalties for those who leave the results of their bowel movements in public, the mayor declined to mention any new deterrents aside from asking nicely. She just wants the aforementioned non-profits "to talk to their clients, who, unfortunately, were mostly responsible for the conditions of our streets." And those conditions are dismal. "I will say there is more feces on the sidewalks than I've ever seen growing up here," Breed told media. A recent Bay Area NBC investigative "report centered around a 153-block survey of downtown San Francisco, which revealed trash on every block, 100 needles, and more than 300 piles of feces along the 20-mile stretch of streets and sidewalks." Humberto Fontova But, this filth is not for lack of spending money on the problem. The city is slated to spend nearly $280 million this year on housing and services for the homeless -- a roughly 40 percent increase compared to just five years ago. Over that same span, however, the number of homeless in the city has largely remained the same at about 7,500 people, according to city counts." But, it is unclear how the city plans to stop the issue once and for all. In the meantime for San Francisco denizens, just wear some flowers in your hair to mask the fecal odor.

"Human waste on the street poses an enormous public health risk..." Homeless person defecates on San Francisco street (screen shot: News Liveleak/Youtube) (Los Angeles Daily News) ...as a statement of fact, in the most literal possible sense -- San Francisco is full of excrement. According to a recent NBC Bay Area investigation, an alarming amount of trash, used drug needles and feces are clogging San Francisco's streets. The report centered around a 153-block survey of downtown, which, according to the report, "revealed trash on every block, 100 needles and more than 300 piles of feces along the 20-mile stretch of streets and sidewalks..." After the report aired, NBC caught up with newly elected San Francisco mayor, London Breed, and asked her what she plans on doing to combat this emerging public health crisis. Breed told the Peacock Network that she is working with homeless advocacy organizations that receive funding from the city to better educate the homeless to stop trashing the city... When asked by KNTV if her plan calls for stronger penalties against those who litter or defecate in public, Breed said "I didn't express anything about a penalty." Rather, the mayor said she has encouraged nonprofits "to talk to their clients, who, unfortunately, were mostly responsible for the conditions of our streets." Who has time to crack down on the louts who are littering the streets with hypodermic needles or defecating in public? Someone, somewhere might be using a plastic straw! Priorities, people! ..."Human waste on the street poses an enormous public health risk; feces can transmit numerous bacterial infections, including cholera, a multitude of viral infections (including norovirus, which people associate with food poisoning outbreaks on cruise ships), hepatitis A, various parasitic diseases and worms,"...

If so, they're taking it more seriously than their boss . In a briefing today at the White House, DNI Dan Coats specifically announced that Donald Trump had tasked him to make a response to foreign interference in the upcoming midterms a "top priority," and called the threat from Russia "pervasive." Joining him at the dais were the two top officials in domestic counter-intelligence operations, FBI director Christopher Wray and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen: "The president has specifically directed us to make the matter of election meddling and securing our election process a top priority. And we have done that," Dan Coats, director of National Intelligence said. pic.twitter.com/2kDrEIQ1bT -- POLITICO (@politico) August 2, 2018 "The intelligence community continues to be concerned about the threats to upcoming U.S. elections, both the midterms and the presidential election in 2020," Coats said at a White House briefing with other intelligence agency leaders. The illegal activity includes criminal efforts to suppress voting and provide illegal campaign financing, cyber attacks against voting infrastructure along with computer intrusions targeting elected officials and others, U.S. officials said. "In regards to Russian involvement in the midterm elections, we continue to see a pervasive messaging campaign by Russia to try to weaken and divide the United States," Coats added. "We will continue to monitor and warn of any such efforts." The FBI has open investigations into election interference, FBI Director Christopher Wray said at the briefing. The White House also had NSA director Paul Nakasone on hand to underscore the message: "US Cyber Command and the National Security Agency are tracking a wide range of foreign cyber adversaries and are prepared to conduct operations against those actors attempting to undermine our nation's midterm elections," Nakasone says. pic.twitter.com/MdRFZ3KFSr -- NBC News (@NBCNews) August 2, 2018 This muscular presentation followed claims by Trump that the threat was overblown, and at least this time was calculated to boost Democrats . Coats told the press that the disruption campaign isn't aimed at any one party or outcome, at least passively rebutting Trump: Reporter: Is there any particular party that is benefiting from current 2018 Russian efforts? Dan Coats: What we see is the Russians are looking for every opportunity -- regardless of party. pic.twitter.com/0MzHp7OeMD -- POLITICO (@politico) August 2, 2018 So what prompted this sudden display of assertiveness? Frustration over a perceived lack of action from the White House on Russia prompted a bipartisan coalition of Senators to fill the gap . Earlier this morning, Republican Lindsey Graham and Democrat Robert Menendez unveiled a "sanctions bill from Hell" aimed at weakening support for Vladimir Putin by hitting his allies where it hurts most: A bipartisan Senate contingent has introduced what Republican Lindsey Graham has called the "sanctions bill from hell," targeting Russia and President Vladimir Putin. The legislation, which was introduced just as senators were departing for a shortened August recess on Wednesday, targets Russian oligarchs and Putin family members for additional sanctions, and it would seek to require a two-thirds vote of the Senate for any attempt by the U.S. to abandon NATO. "We must confront this challenge -- not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans. Because ultimately, Putin's true aim is to undermine all of us -- our country, our freedom, and all that America stands for," said Armed Services Chairman John McCain of Arizona, who has joined in the Graham-led legislation. Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, teamed up with Foreign Relations ranking Democrat Robert Menendez of New Jersey in leading the latest legislative push. There won't be any immediate action on the bill, as the Senate just left for a shortened two-week recess. They return on August 15th, but the House won't come back into session until after Labor Day. The bill appears to be a warning shot across Donald Trump's bow, expressing the consensus on Capitol Hill that Trump's going too easy on Putin and not getting tough on Russia for its hostile actions against the US. That's a consensus borne of personal experience , Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) told CNN: Two leading senators are asserting that President Donald Trump has not focused on the clear threat the Kremlin poses in the 2018 elections, with one Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee contending that Russian hackers may have already targeted most -- if not all -- sitting US senators. Ratcheting up the push for a more robust US response to Russian interference in the midterms and 2020 elections, Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma and Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota are now slated to get a committee vote this month on a bipartisan bill aimed at shoring up the nation's election system. But the two senators said their plan has run into hurdles for months -- and say the Russian threat is real headed into the midterms. In a joint interview as the primary season wraps up and with the November midterms less than 100 days away, the senators told CNN Wednesday that there is far more that has to be done -- from the White House on down to the states. "The intelligence community has been very active on this, the Department of Homeland Security has been active on this," Lankford said. "While the President has been inconsistent in his tweets, and some of the messaging that he's put on it, he's the only one in the government that hasn't been paying attention to this." It's not all about Russia, or at least not directly. After statements by Trump during recent meetings with NATO, the Senate wants more control over the status of the alliance. The bill would require a two-thirds assent from the Senate before any president could act to remove the US from NATO, including our Article V obligations for common defense against an attack on any member. As ABC reports, the bill also provides for a much more robust cyberwarfare posture in relation to Russian efforts at disruption, as well as a demand for a new ruling from the State Department on whether Russia qualifies for the status of state sponsorship of terrorism: MORE: Provisions include requirement of Senate approval to withdraw from NATO, establishment of cybersecurity office at the State Dept., and new sanctions on figures who "facilitate illicit and corrupt activities, directly or indirectly, on behalf of Vladimir Putin." pic.twitter.com/dOSOFbQhOB -- ABC News (@ABC) August 2, 2018 This looks like a kitchen-sink approach to Russia sanctions. Given the mood of the country -- and especially that of senators dealing with Russia-originated hacking attempts -- there seems little doubt that this will pass if and when Mitch McConnell takes it up after the recess. It might pass so overwhelmingly that even a veto by Trump could end up getting overridden, and a veto itself might make Trump even more vulnerable to accusations of going soft on America's enemies. That may be the reason for introducing this just as the Senate goes into recess. It effectively gives Trump a couple of weeks to get tough himself and pre-empt this action by the Senate. It appears patience has just about run out across the aisle for a robust response from the White House, and both Democrats and Republicans want Trump to know it.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday accused President Trump of not protecting the U.S. from Russian interference in elections, tweeting "Will he continue to ignore & surrender, or protect our country?" Clinton tweeted "the Russians are still coming," while "imploring Trump to act" to protect our country. "I say this as a former Secretary of State and as an American: the Russians are still coming. Our intelligence professionals are imploring Trump to act. Will he continue to ignore & surrender, or protect our country?" the former Democratic presidential nominee tweeted. I say this as a former Secretary of State and as an American: the Russians are still coming. Our intelligence professionals are imploring Trump to act. Will he continue to ignore & surrender, or protect our country? https://t.co/Z6uaSCgdF6 -- Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 28, 2018 Adm. Michael Rogers, the head of U.S. Cyber Command, told lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday that he has not been directed to counter possible Russian meddling in the 2018 midterm elections and would require additional authorization from the president to take more steps to secure U.S. voting systems. "I need a policy decision that indicates there is specific direction to do that," Rogers said. "The president ultimately would make this decision in accordance with a recommendation from the secretary of Defense." "Essentially, we have not taken on the Russians yet," Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the committee's ranking member, said. "They haven't paid a price, at least, that has significantly changed their behavior," Rogers told the panel. CNN political analyst and Democratic strategist Paul Begala accused Trump of being a "wuss" and a "wimp" in confronting Russia. "Why is Donald Trump, a man so tough he says he would rush into a school shooting unarmed, why is he such a wuss and a wimp about Russia?" Begala said on "Anderson Cooper 360." "What do the Russians have on him? Maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's just there's something about Mr. Putin that our president just worships and adores. But the evidence, the direct evidence is just catastrophic for him," he said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This story will no doubt make you do a double-take. On Wednesday, following more testimony from President Donald Trump's hand-selected intelligence chiefs that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, noting that they think Russia will do so again in 2018, Trump doubled and tripled down on the notion that the Russians haven't done anything. He is apparently conflating the issues of Russian interference and the investigation into Russian collusion with the Trump campaign. I had to double-check the date on this story. https://t.co/LDM5sBnTn1 -- Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) February 14, 2018 Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, CIA Director Mike Pompeo and FBI Director Chris Wray all spoke before a Senate panel on worldwide threats on Tuesday and unanimously agreed with the intelligence community's prior assessment on the matter. It's common knowledge, like climate change, only with full support from Trump's own people. Nevertheless, from CNN: " [...] Three sources familiar with the President's thinking say he remains unconvinced that Russia interfered in the presidential election." Contrast that with this perfectly clear statement from Dan Coats: "There should be no doubt that Russia perceives its past efforts as successful and views the 2018 US midterm elections as a potential target for Russian influence operations." Part of the reason why Trump won't own up to the well-established conclusion: He wants to believe, or wants his followers to believe that he won the election all on his own without outside help, which would make his election less legitimate. He has also tried to shrug off the matter by saying "other people and other countries" likely interfered in the election besides Russia. But make no mistake... Trump likely knows Russia hacked our election: "As far as hacking, I think it was Russia. But I think we also get hacked by other countries and other people," said Trump at a June 2017 press conference. Trump blamed the Democratic National Committee for being vulnerable to hacking, but not Russia. "The Democratic National Committee was totally open to be hacked," said Trump. At the time, Trump said he was going to put the "six top people in the world" in a room together to "form a defense." Instead, almost a year later, Trump has done nothing to protect America from further interference. Instead, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has made it perfectly clear America will be targeted by the Russians again, and likely already is experiencing interference, but he had no clear recommendations on what to do about it. Tillerson said: "I think it's important we just continue to say to Russia, 'Look, you think we don't see what you're doing. We do see it, and you need to stop. If you don't, you're going to just continue to invite consequences for yourself.'" It appears the intelligence community may be taking actions but on their own. When asked by Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.) if the intelligence community's efforts to counter the Russian's ongoing election meddling was directed by Trump, FBI Director Chris Wray made it perfectly clear that Trump had remained unmoving on the issue. If they are taking action to counter the Russians, Wray said its: "Not specifically directed by the President." See Trump acknowledge Russian interference in the video below. Now ask yourself, "Do you really think we buy your feigned ignorance, Trump?" This is absolutely a threat to America's national security. It's time Trump owned up to reality. Featured image: Screenshot via YouTube .

After Wednesday's cabinet meeting wrapped up, Trump responded to a reporter who asked if Russia is still targeting the U.S. by saying, "Thank you very much, no," After two days of beltway cacophony as a result of Trump's Helstinky summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Donald threw another wrench into America's intelligence services. DNI Dan Coats just told the American people, "The warning signs are there. The system is blinking," over new Russian cyber-terrorism threats, but that was thrown out with the bathwater. As Trump's people were trying to usher the press away, a reporter asked, "Is Russia still targeting the U.S., Mr. President?" Trump replied, "Thank you very much, no," After saying "no," Trump then continued on with a little revisionism, "And I think President Putin knows that better than anybody certainly a lot better than the media. He understands it and he's not happy about it and he shouldn't be happy about it. Because there's never been a President as tough on Russia as I have been." Too bad Trump was too cowardly to directly confront his "competitor" on the international stage. Even if he had said this and not sucked up to the Russian emperor, he'd have fared a bit better, but instead he meekly acquiesced to a murderous thug. And then puts on a different show out of Putin's shadow, as if we have the memory of...a Fox News viewer? That explains it. UPDATE: Sarah Sanders is denying it now, creating two competing stories so they can use whichever one works, depending on the audience.

Defense Secretary James Mattis told lawmakers late Monday that Russia has chosen to be a "strategic competitor" with the United States and that there is no indication Moscow wants a positive relationship with America. "At this time ... I do not see any indication that [Russian President Vladimir Putin] would want a positive relationship with us," Mattis told the House Armed Services Committee. "That's not to say we can't get there as we look for common ground. But at this point, he has chosen to be a strategic competitor with us and we'll have to deal with that as we see it," he added. Mattis was responding to a question by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), who had asked him if Putin had any real interest in a "mutually beneficial, good-faith partnership with the United States," following its "seemingly relentless ... provocative vocations." The Hill added : "Moscow has in recent months increased the number of fighter jet and long-range bomber aircraft flights in the international airspace near Alaska, and last week a Russian fighter jet intercepted a U.S. B-52 bomber flying near the country's border over the international waters of the Baltic Sea. The Kremlin also backs Syrian President Bashar Assad and has demanded the United States not attack forces that support Assad as a U.S.-led coalition attempts to oust Islamic State in Iraq and Syria fighters. Russia even established four de-escalation zones in Syria and has asserted the coalition stay out of it." Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, who spoke alongside Mattis Monday evening, said the United States has a "competitive adversarial relationship with Russia." Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) during a hearing Tuesday said she didn't want to risk Mattis revealing classified information, but asked him to assume that news reports about Russia hacking Qatar's state news agency and planting a fake news story are true and to comment on Russia's possible motivations. "I think a disruption of the international order is something that Russia, in a shortsighted way, thinks works to their benefit," Mattis responded during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. "I think it does not, but I can't speak for them. I think what you're seeing here, though, is the continued prevalence of threats, not just to our own country, not just the Western Europe democracies, but they're trying to break any kind of multilateral alliance, I think, that is a stabilizing influence in the world." On the Senate side, lawmakers Monday night reached a bipartisan agreement to impose new financial penalties on Russia and limit Trump's ability to lift sanctions without giving Congress a chance to weigh in.

The invitation came as an apparent surprise to the Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats... AFP/File / Brendan Smialowski Donald Trump said on Twitter he was looking forward to a second meeting with Vladimir Putin to "so that we can start implementing some of the many things discussed" at their Helsinki summit (Jerome CARTILLIER, AFP) Washington - US President Donald Trump, under fire over his Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin, doubled down Thursday by saying he looks forward to meeting the Russian leader again -- with talks already underway for a visit to Washington in the fall. Trump has come in for bipartisan criticism for what many saw as his unsettling embrace of the Russian strongman this week -- and his seeming disavowal of his own intelligence agencies and their assessment that Moscow meddled in the 2016 election. The backlash has thrust Trump onto the defensive, leading to days of conflicting statements from both the president and the White House. But Trump has largely shrugged off the criticism and took aim at the "fake news media" Thursday for failing to recognize his achievements. "The Summit with Russia was a great success, except with the real enemy of the people, the Fake News Media," Trump said on Twitter. "The Fake News Media wants so badly to see a major confrontation with Russia, even a confrontation that could lead to war." Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Trump's goal was to "redirect" two countries "that'd been on a bad path." "There's been a lot of heat and very little light following that press conference," he told Catholic television network EWTN. "I watched the president's interaction with President Putin after their one-on-one meeting ... The President was aiming towards creating a channel for communication and dialogue, and he achieved that," he said, adding he would be "very surprised" if a transcript from the meeting was released. In an interview with CNBC television, Trump said "getting along with President Putin, getting along with Russia's a positive, not a negative. "Now with that being said if it doesn't work out I'll be the worst enemy he's ever had," he said of Putin. "I look forward to our second meeting so that we can start implementing some of the many things discussed," Trump said. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said that meeting may come this fall. "President Trump asked (National Security Advisor John Bolton) to invite President Putin to Washington in the fall and those discussions are already underway," Sanders tweeted. The invitation came as an apparent surprise to the Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats when he was told about it during a live interview at the Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado. "Say that again?" Coats asked the interviewer. "OK. That's going to be special," he said, laughing. - 'I don't know what happened' - Coats also said that three days after Trump met with Putin he does not know what the two men discussed. "I don't know what happened in that meeting," he said. The two leaders held two hours of closed-door talks with no one else present but the interpreters. "If he had asked me how that ought to be conducted, I would have suggested a different way," Coats said. Trump on Thursday listed the topics discussed as "stopping terrorism, security for Israel, nuclear proliferation, cyber attacks, trade, Ukraine, Middle East peace, North Korea and more." The top Senate Democrat, Chuck Schumer, had a scathing reaction to news that Trump planned to invite Putin to Washington. AFP/File / Brendan Smialowski Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump met for two hours in Helsinki with just their interpreters present "Until we know what happened at that two hour meeting in Helsinki, the president should have no more one-on-one interactions with Putin. In the United States, in Russia, or anywhere else," he said in a statement. The US upper chamber issued a sharp rebuke to Trump earlier in the day, voting 98-0 to oppose any move by his administration to make US officials available for questioning by Russian government officials. Asked in Helsinki whether he would extradite 12 Russian intelligence agents indicted in the United States for hacking Democratic Party computers, Putin said he could meet the US government "halfway." Putin said he would permit the 12 to be questioned inside Russia if the United States allowed Russia to question former US envoy to Russia Michael McFaul and 11 others in Moscow's case against billionaire investor and human rights activist William Browder, the driving force behind Magnitsky Act sanctions on Russian officials passed by the US Congress. Trump initially called it an "incredible offer," but McFaul and others expressed outrage and the White House -- just minutes before the Senate vote -- made clear a deal with Putin was not in the cards. "It is a proposal that was made in sincerity by President Putin, but President Trump disagrees with it," Sanders said. - 'Misjudging Putin' - The indictments of the 12 Russians were issued by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia. According to opinion polls published Thursday, a large majority of Americans disapproved of Trump's handling of the summit -- but members of his party approved by a wide margin. POOL/AFP / SERGEI KARPUKHIN President Vladimir Putin tells Russian ambassadors from around the world that forces in the United States want to derail ties between the two countries While just one third of Americans approved of Trump's handling of the Putin summit, that number rose to 68 percent among Republicans, according to a CBS poll. Among Republicans expressing concern was Senator Lindsey Graham, a prominent voice on foreign policy. Trump wasn't "prepared as well as he should have been" for the meeting, Graham said, adding that it is "imperative that he understand that he is misjudging Putin." In Moscow, Putin slammed Trump's domestic opponents as "pathetic, worthless people" who were "ready to sacrifice Russian-American relations for their own ambitions."

Police under fire in Tennessee, Missouri, Georgia A Dallas Police Department officer is embraced at a makeshift memorial at Dallas Police Headquarters, one day after a lone gunman ambushed and killed five police officers at a protest decrying police shootings of black men, in Dallas, Texas, July 8, 2016. (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton) Manchester Police Chief Nick Willard warns of Dallas copy cats After Dallas, Black Lives Matter back on streets NH united in grief for Dallas Police: Dallas sniper worked alone Police came under fire in three states on Thursday and Friday, authorities said, possibly prompted by the same motivation behind the rampage in Dallas: police use of force against black people. A man in Tennessee opened fire on a hotel and a highway, killing a woman, grazing a police officer with a bullet and wounding several others on Thursday because he may have been troubled by incidents involving black people and law enforcement, officials said. Police officers also were ambushed and wounded in Missouri and Georgia on Friday, but officials did not know the motivation. In Tennessee, Lakeem Keon Scott was armed with a military-style rifle, a pistol, and a large amount of ammunition when he fired into a hotel window, striking the clerk early Thursday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a statement. Scott, 37, fled the hotel and later exchanged gunfire with police on a Tennessee highway. He is accused of killing Jennifer Rooney, who was shot in her vehicle, and several others, including a police officer grazed in the leg. "Scott may have targeted individuals and officers after being troubled by recent incidents involving African-Americans and law enforcement officers in other parts of the country," the statement said. Separately, a police officer was shot during a traffic stop in the St. Louis suburb of Ballwin, Mo., officials said, when the suspect fired a handgun at least three times, striking the officer in the neck. In Valdosta, Ga., police officer Randall Hancock was shot on Friday as he responded to a call over a vehicle break-in, police said. The accused shooter, Stephen Paul Beck, 22, had called police and fired on Hancock when he arrived, hitting him in his protective vest and in the abdomen, beneath his vest, police said. Hancock shot back and wounded Beck. "The motive behind the shooting is unknown at this time," police said in a statement.

Wild Bill : Dear Mrs Hodges, engage a skilled criminal defense attorney to nail down witnesses, statements, and other evidence, anyway! Don't wait.... Rattlerjake : God gave three instances where the killing of a man has no "bloodguilt" - 1)War, 2)Judicial punishment, 3)Self defense Wild Bill : @Mark, I concur, and thank God that she is an uncivilized, discourteous, and obvious loser. She makes her own ideas,... allan King : she would be the first one to scream armed police to come to her aid when her home is being... Wild Bill : @Tcat, He must have gotten the wrong idea and made himself fit the hard core unemployable profile. Now, his career...

A Daesh car bomb on a security checkpoint controlled by Turkey-backed Syrian rebels in a village near Syria's Al-Bab has killed 35 civilians and six rebels, sources in the region said today. The attack was carried out in Sousian, northwest of Al-Bab and wounded many others, the sources said. The Turkey-backed fighters yesterday drove Daesh from Al-Bab and surrounding villages, the extremist group's last significant stronghold in northwest Syria, along with the two smaller neighbouring towns of Qabasin and Al-Bezah, after weeks of street fighting. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

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Simmering racial tensions boiled over yet again on Monday when a small group of white men allegedly shot five people who had been protesting the recent police killing of an African American man in Minneapolis. The shooting occurred at around 10:41 p.m. Monday night just one block from Minneapolis Police Department's 4th Precinct, where protesters have held daily demonstrations since the fatal Nov. 15 police shooting of 24-year-old Jamar Clark . Police announced on Twitter early Tuesday morning that five people had suffered non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, and that officers were searching for three white suspects who had fled the scene. UPDATE at 11/24/15 11:48:24 am by Charles Johnson Latest word: two suspects have been arrested .

In Tennessee, Christian minister Robert Doggart has been sentenced to 20 years in prison over his plot to massacre Muslims at a New York mosque. Doggart was also a 2014 congressional candidate. In 2015, FBI agents discovered Doggart was stockpiling weapons and plotting to travel to upstate New York to kill Muslims using explosives, an M-4 assault rifle and a machete. According to a federal investigation, Doggart saw himself as a religious "warrior" and wanted to kill Muslims to show his commitment to his Christian god. Doggart was not charged with terrorism, and at his sentencing Wednesday, Judge Curtis Collier told him, "You are not a monster. ... In many respects, you lived a life of honor." The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License . Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

As news of a terrorist plot by a radical Islamist in Tampa emerged Monday, the propaganda machine that is the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) launched into action, repeating its mantra of accusations against the FBI and offering excuses for the plotter. It's a common pattern for an organization that positions itself between the public, government, and terrorist suspects, trying to control dialogue about Islamist terrorism suspects and cynically manipulating its own relationship with the government. Local media played into CAIR's plan, with the Tampa and St. Petersburg daily newspapers and television affiliates turning to the group for reaction, despite its own tainted record . Early responses to Sami Osmakac's plot from two of CAIR's non-Florida representatives showed a disdain for the government's arrest of another "innocent" Muslim suspect. Executive Director of CAIR San Francisco Zahra Billoo, stated that she was "wondering how much of the thwarted terror plot in Florida was seeded by the FBI, [a]ppreciating that even the MSM mentioned the informants." Dawud Walid, Executive Director of CAIR-Michigan, released a tweet saying , "It is not the job of civil rights groups to be commending the FBI on their use of informants, given the FBI's history." CAIR's Tampa Executive Director Hassan Shibly, both cast doubt on the government and tried to pretend violence doesn't exist in radical Islamist ideologies. "The weapons and explosives were provided by the government. Was he just a troubled individual, or did he pose a real threat?" Shibly asked Monday. He backed off Tuesday, saying "It doesn't look like something we would pursue" in part because the Muslim community alerted authorities in the first place. He also cast the role of the Muslim community as critical, while claiming that the community's trust was violated by the actions of the government. "I mean he seemed to be a disturbed individual. He was actually an outcast from the Muslim community. He was banned from several of the mosques and it was the mosque that brought him to the attention of the FBI," Shibly said in an interview with the local Fox News outlet, in contradiction to the criminal complaint that shows an informant tipped off the government. He likewise expressed "concern about a perception of entrapment," even while saying that Osmakac was "no friend or supporter of the Muslim community." "I think the fear at the point is that he was just mentally disturbed...I think that community members hoped that by reporting him, he could get the proper assistance," Shibly told an interviewer. Apart from casting doubt on whether Osmakac was truly a threat, Shibly also repeated the mantra that religion should be ignored as a factor in the radicalization the terrorism suspect. When asked about Osmakac's statement that he wanted his death to be in an Islamic way, Shibly parried and claimed Osmakac had nothing to do with Islam. "For me it's meaningless. It is very disturbing you know [the suspect's statement] "to die in an Islamic way," Shibly told FOX Tampa Bay. "Again, that is completely meaningless for me as a Muslim. You know Islam teaches peace and justice. It does not teach wanton violence which is what this guy was allegedly promoting." The affiliate did not push back when Shibly expressed concerns over whether the FBI "edged on" Osmakac into a violent plot he otherwise would not have pursued. It's a standard CAIR line used to undermine public confidence in a terror-prosecution even though it has never held up in court. (For more on Shibly, click here .) Other cases reflect the usual pattern of manipulation by CAIR. Billoo, who immediately cast doubt on the Tampa case, reacted to the December 2010 arrest of a man who wanted to blow up a Portland Christmas tree lighting event by accusing the FBI of exaggerating the threat because it was "looking for a sensational story." Last fall, CAIR-Michigan chief Dawud Walid downplayed an arrest in an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador in Washington because a Drug Enforcement Administration informant played a key role. "If Holder hadn't announced so many 'foiled' plots that were really FBI provocateur led, I'd be more inclined to believe this #Iran plot biz," Walid said in a Twitter post. Deadline pressure is never easy and reporters know that CAIR rarely turn away a microphone or a chance at appearing in the newspaper. But it's mystifying to see reporters routinely ignore CAIR's duplicity about law enforcement support, coupled with its own documented history in a terrorist-financing network, to accept the group's talking points so blindly. Steve Emerson FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributor Steve Emerson is an internationally recognized expert on terrorism and national security and the author of five books on these subjects, most recently "Jihad Incorporated: A Guide to Militant Islam in the US." Steve also writes for the Counterterrorism Blog and he is the CEO of the Investigative Project on Terrorism.

It's the most lawless Administration in history. Courts call President Obama's Department of Justice (DOJ) "unethical." The State Department lied about the disastrous Iran nuclear deal. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) scrubs "Islam" and "jihad" from its files. The Administration covered up its Benghazi failures. The FBI rewrote the law while conducting a faux investigation of the State Department email scandal. IRS targeting scandal, DHS lawless immigration rewrite, FBI and DOJ censorship of jihadist's pledge to ISIS - it's an alphabet soup of corruption. We won't allow President Obama to deceive us and get away with it. Take action with us by SIGNING OUR PETITION .

The question on everyone's mind is, what took so long? As CNN reported, they had sources telling them there was evidence of Salman's involvement almost immediately after the attack. (See Below) CNN is now reporting that sources claim the evidence "will show that she was complicit and knew her husband was going to do something bad." If this is the same evidence they had last summer, but everyone waited seven months to act, one has to wonder what the delay was all about. Were investigators simply being thorough? Were they following her to see where she'd go, or who she'd contact? Did something she said in one of her recent interviews trigger the charges? Or... Was someone holding the FBI back while the Obama administration and the press tried to sell the "murky motives/lone wolf" narrative? Hopefully Ms. Salman's arrest will lead to some answers. Please SHARE this story as the only way for CFP to beat Facebook anti-Conservative Suppression.

President Obama reacted to the news that a video reportedly released by ISIS featured a captive Jordanian pilot burned alive. Obama acknowledged that he had just heard the news, and did not yet know the details of the video and whether it was authentic. "Should, in fact, this video be authentic, it's just one more indication of the viciousness and barbarity of this organization," Obama said, referring to ISIS. Obama signaled that if true, the grisly murder would spark further "vigilance and determination" by the world to degrade and destroy the terrorist organization. He also expressed that he doesn't understand the motives of the organization, "It also indicates the degree to which whatever ideology they're operating off of, it's bankrupt," he said.

June 5, 2017 at 2:12 am | Published in: Europe & Russia , Middle East , News , UAE , UK The United Arab Emirates on Sunday warned its citizens against travelling to Britain after the London Bridge attack, the third in the country linked to Islamist militants in three months. State news agency WAM quoted senior Foreign Ministry offcial Ahmed Al Ham Al Dhaheri as saying the warning was based on the ministry's assessment of risks and threats following the attack. The ministry urged its citizens in Britain to "take extreme caution while moving from one place to another and to avoid public places during this period". This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Apparently the Drudge Report website went down, because Matt Drudge is wondering if the U.S. government is attacking him: Hmmm.. what could it be that Obama is keeping from the public?! Man seeks refund for failed exorcism? Heat-activated penile implant?! Cells dropped into brain help man fight cancer?!? Diabolical. Actually, it would be smart for Putin to attack these websites, because we all know they'd run to blame Obama and ignore any intelligence agency evidence to the contrary... Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

This year's 25th annual Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins Theatre Festival celebrates not only the famous yippie but also the movement he represented--so it coincides with the anniversary of Woodstock '69. Presented by Mary Arrchie Theatre Company, the weekend marathon features more than 150 performance groups across three stages, kicking off 3 PM on Friday at Daley Plaza with a march to the Den Theatre, where the fest proper begins at 7 with an introduction by Chicago fringe vet Richard Cotovsky , in character as . . . you guessed it. A handful of short pieces follows, including Aston Rep doing Harold Pinter and Rush Pearson doing Nikolai Gogol . Other highlights: Saturday brings Citizens' Relief's adaptation of Tennessee Williams's The Two-Character Play and Angelina Llongueras doing Percy Bysshe Shelley's The Mask of Anarchy ; those who stick around till 2 AM can see Wayward Productions' take on Natural Born Killers . More shorts follow on Sunday: Hobo Junction with the possibly self-explanatory Awful Night of Crap Part II: Eat Shit and Die, Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire , for instance, and Careening Theatre's Dream Catcher and Other Oddities--3 Short Macabrities , by Dave Skvarla. Cotovsky reprises Hoffman for the closing ceremonies. And there's music! This year it includes experimental folk group Ratboys, indie rockers the Ivorys, and horn-inflected Big Dammit. Details are available online.

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Wild Bill : @Tcat, He must have gotten the wrong idea and made himself fit the hard core unemployable profile. Now, his career... VT Patriot : Hah, you used the words 'thought, facts and truth' and 'left' in the same sentence. That is a mistake.... VT Patriot : Saul, I read your comment and was ready to applaud it until the last part. Those that are rioting... Graystone : Now If FLIR is interested in marketing - and good will - they should "donate" a unit to the ECPD. tomcat : @ Wild Bill this liberal POS xander13 fits the profile you described in one post you made on this...

VT Patriot : Saul, I read your comment and was ready to applaud it until the last part. Those that are rioting... Graystone : Now If FLIR is interested in marketing - and good will - they should "donate" a unit to the ECPD. tomcat : @ Wild Bill this liberal POS xander13 fits the profile you described in one post you made on this... VT Patriot : Amen Mrs. Hodges. I believe we are all here to help you and your heroic son. Please keep us... JP : Dumber in the head than a hog is in the a$$... Just say'n.... JP ...

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been the butt of many jokes since its founding in 2001. The administration has been criticized on several occasions for making people wait on long security checkpoint lines, ineffective screening tests and misconduct. As a result, the TSA has become an easy target for comedy acts, including one by Italian-American stand-up comedian Sebastian Maniscalco. Maniscalco takes aim at the TSA's security checkpoint section where the employees love to make sure that a person's baggage is not over the weight limit. He also questions TSA employees' abilities to provide security for others that are at the airport. Watch it here:

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An Alabama lawmaker announced Thursday his desire to erect a monument to the Ten Commandments at a county courthouse, arguing that the religious moral code deserves a memorial for "historical" reasons and that the proposal "has nothing to do with religion." Tim Guffey, a Republican county commissioner in Jackson county, Alabama, told AL.com that he would like to create a monument to "historical documents" at a courthouse in downtown Scottsboro. The hypothetical monument would feature the Bible's Ten Commandments beside reconstructions of the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. "What I'm trying to do is erect a monument of historical documents," Guffey told AL.com. "It's the Constitution, the Ten Commandments and the Declaration of Independence. I feel like that's what this country was founded on. These documents helped America become the greatest country in history." Guffey did not elaborate as to why the suggested monument wouldn't include other famous historical legal codes , such as the Code of Hammurabi , the English Magna Carta, the Iroquois Great Law of Peace, or even the U.S. Bill of Rights, all of which have been cited by scholars, U.S. Congress , and even U.S. Presidents as deeply influential to the creation of America's justice system. Instead, Guffey argued that the Ten Commandments were uniquely important to the construction of the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. "The Ten Commandments is a historical document (in this context) and it has nothing to do with religion," he said. "It shows that these founders had great beliefs in God and the Ten Commandments and His Word and it helped them get to the point where they were. And I feel like taking that document out, if that document wasn't there to guide them, then our Constitution wouldn't be what it is today...But I don't see how I could do the other two and not do that one and be truthful about it." Conservatives have long contended that the legal perspective of America's Founding Fathers was almost exclusively grounded in Christianity, often arguing that the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are supposedly inherently "Christian" documents (this despite the fact that Thomas Jefferson, the chief author of the Declaration of Independence, had complex and often deeply ambivalent views on the Bible and religion). But Guffey's insistence that the Ten Commandments be respected as a historically influential code appears to be part of a new trend among conservatives to appeal to history when introducing explicitly Christian symbols into public spaces. Steve Green, the president of Hobby Lobby, recently developed a four-year curriculum for public high schools that casts the Bible as, among other things, a book that shaped America's legal framework -- including the Declaration of Independence. The curriculum, which has already been approved by an Oklahoma school board, would ostensibly be taught from a secular perspective, but Green said in a April 2013 speech that he hopes the course will teach students that the Bible's impact, "whether (upon) our government, education, science, art, literature, family ... has been good." Guffey expressed a similar belief when explaining the rationale behind his potential monument, telling AL.com, "They don't teach this at school anymore." Alabama has a long history of debates over whether or not to display the list of laws said to be handed down by God to Moses in the biblical Exodus story . In 2001, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore erected a Ten Commandments monument in the lobby of the Alabama Judicial Building, a move that ultimately resulted in his removal from office . In addition, members of the Alabama legislature have debated a number of bills in recent years to amend the state's Constitution and allow for the display of the Ten Commandments on public property. The most recent "Ten Commandments Bill" was introduced in February, passing through the state House of Representatives before halting in the Senate. Lawmakers supported the bill reportedly defended it using a number of bizarre arguments , such as blaming school shootings, patricide, and matricide on society's failure to display the Ten Commandments in schools and other government buildings. Update: An earlier version of this piece denoted Thomas Jefferson as the chief author of the U.S. Constitution. Although Jefferson's ideas undoubtedly influenced the construction of the Constitution, he was actually abroad during the Constitutional Convention, and is more accurately remembered as the architect of the Declaration of Independence.

While working stateside, Amit and Naroop noticed a marked difference in how Sikhs are treated in America as opposed to the U.K. "In the U.K., Sikhs are seen as respected and valuable members of society, as they have brought great wealth to the country," Amit and Naroop wrote. "In the U.S., this isn't the case. The public [isn't] educated about Sikhs. They don't understand where they come from, who they are, why they wear a turban and even what religion they are. This lack of education leads to fear." Harmandeep Singh, a high school senior in New York City, hopes to help raise awareness about the community. He emigrated from India in 2014 and is part of the Junior Sikh Coalition. (Photo: Amit and Naroop) Communities who have experienced police violence and others who have been horrified by it have taken their message to the streets. Along with chants and signs, they are using spray paint to grieve and remember those who have died across the United States. Artists identifying with the ideals of Black Lives Matter are spreading their message of solidarity through visual arts. Marching and occupying public spaces has been the cornerstone of the Black Lives Matter movement. When the crowds break up, the protesters return home, and the chants go silent, a monument often remains in the form of art left on the community's walls. Documentarian John Wellington Ellis, the author of Where Else but the Streets: A Street Art Dossier , argues that the street art is as important to a movement as the demonstrations. "[Street art gives] presence to a social revolution happening on the other side of the country." Ennis wrote in an email to TakePart. "It can play an outsized role in building a movement." Here are some examples of the street art representing the Black Lives Matter movement. 0 of 0

By Glen Ford for The Black Commentator - Nobody but Americans celebrates Thanksgiving. It is reserved by history and the intent of "the founders" as the supremely white American holiday, the most [...] By Cliff DuRand for The Center for Global Justice - In many ways the Thanksgiving celebration is a unique festivity. As harvest festivals go it's not particularly unusual: families gathering for [...] By Chauncey Devega for Salon. Like most national holidays, Thanksgiving is a myth. It does the powerful political work of encouraging American Exceptionalism: a belief that the United States was [...] Daily movement news and resources. Popular Resistance provides a daily stream of resistance news from across the United States and around the world. We also organize campaigns and participate in coalitions on a broad range of issues. We do not use advertising or underwriting to support our work. Instead, we rely on you. Please consider making a tax deductible donation if you find our website of value.

The Southern Poverty Law Center released a report Monday showing that approximately three Confederate monuments are being removed each month. America is taking steps to erase the glorification of racism and slavery with one Confederate monument removal at a time. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) released a report Monday showing that about three Confederate monuments are being removed each month. In fact, the study indicates that 110 Confederate statues have been taken out nationwide since the Charleston Church shooting in 2015 sparked the demand for their removal. In its calculations, the report includes schools and roads that have been renamed in California, a revamped federal Confederate holiday celebrated in Georgia, as well as Confederate flags and monuments removed in southern states, including Alabama and Louisiana. Read More As Heidi Beirich of the SPLC noted , there wasn't much talk about removing these racist symbols until white supremacist Dylann Roof took the lives of nine black churchgoers. When photos of Roof posing with the Confederate flag were unearthed, his radicalization called attention to how so-called historic memorials help perpetuate racism and hate by glorifying the figures who endorsed slavery. "I think it kind of signifies something monumental," said Beirich, director of the organization's Intelligence Project. "I think people are finally willing to confront the history and come to terms with it." On the other hand, the number of monuments that have been removed thus far makes up only a small portion of the over 1,700 that continue to stand tall. Furthermore, organizations such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans are hindering the process by putting up new statues while others are being taken down. "They're taking them down, and we're putting them up," said Thomas V. Strain Jr., commander in chief of the group. While his group isn't tracking all of the name changes and monument removals taking place throughout the nation, Strain maintained that 110 "seems a little high." Additionally, there are plans in the works to open a new headquarters in Columbia, Tennessee, that will include The National Confederate Museum, which will tell the "Southern side" of the Civil War. "It's not just dedicated to the soldiers, it's dedicated to the wives and children who had to endure that five years of hell also," he said. "We'll have Southern uniforms there, not Union uniforms. We'll have Southern artillery shells, not Northern ones." The tug of war taking place throughout the country regarding these monuments serves as a real-life depiction of taking one step forward and two steps back. With groups like Sons of Confederate Veterans fighting to keep America's racist legacy alive, it isn't likely that there will come a day in the immediate future when all of the monuments are down for good. However, the fact that the racist history behind these symbols is now a part of the national discourse signals progress. It may be slow, but it's progress nonetheless. Read More

Most Americans do not view Christmas as a religious holiday, according to a recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center. Forty-six percent of Americans say they celebrate Christmas as primarily a religious holiday, down from 51 percent who said the same in 2013. "A majority of U.S. adults (56 percent) also say religious aspects of Christmas are emphasized less in American society today than in the past, though relatively few are bothered by this trend," according to the survey. President Donald Trump has touted his role in making Christmas merry again after saying in October that people did not want to use the word Christmas again because it was not politically correct. "We're getting near that beautiful Christmas season that people don't talk about anymore. They don't use the word Christmas because it's not politically correct," the president said at the Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit in Washington. "You go to department stores, and they'll say 'Happy New Year,' or they'll say other things, and it'll be red, they'll have it painted." People are proud to be saying Merry Christmas again. I am proud to have led the charge against the assault of our cherished and beautiful phrase. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 25, 2017

This month, a new study was released analyzing Americans' perception of the First Amendment, as well as their knowledge of what it entails. As many would expect, the results were bleak. Cabot Phillips Aug 06, 2018 at 11:51 PM EDT A political activist at Santa Clara University attempted to derail an anti-socialist event by harassing conservative students and damaging property. Thea Dunlevie Jun 05, 2018 at 7:53 AM EDT Activists at the University of New Hampshire nearly prevented a lecture by journalist Dave Rubin Tuesday by blockading and disrupting the event. Bradley Devlin May 03, 2018 at 4:40 PM EDT A mob of Antifa demonstrators crashed TPUSA's Midwest Regional Conference on Saturday, attempting to ruin the event for more than 300 attendees. Ema Gavrilovic Apr 18, 2018 at 12:56 PM EDT Shortly after Miami University agreed to stop requiring trigger warnings for pro-life displays, a student vandalized a Cemetery of the Innocents. Autumn Price Apr 10, 2018 at 10:49 AM EDT Celine Ryan Apr 10, 2018 at 9:35 AM EDT Marquette students and professors say the school's seal is a "microaggression" because it depicts a white explorer being guided by a Native American. Zachary Petrizzo Mar 27, 2018 at 2:33 PM EDT More than a dozen of students and professors blasted the Illinois College of Law last week, labeling it a "sh*thole" for hosting an event that featured a Department of Justice official. If 2017 will be remembered for one thing in particular, it might be for all of the craziness that engulfed college campuses around the nation.

Now that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been officially inaugurated as Egypt's president, there are high hopes that he will bring stability to his turbulent nation and, perhaps, to the region. Sisi's popularity is enormous. He won the election by a landslide. But the task before him is formidable. Egypt has been exhausted by three years of upheaval following the demise of strongman Hosni Mubarek, and the subsequent ill-starred regime of Mohamed Morsi and his notorious Muslim Brotherhood. The country's economy is in shambles, its cash-cow tourism industry has dried up, it continues to battle terrorists on a daily basis, and even essential supplies of food and energy are in short supply. But one minority community's misery has truly surpassed all others: Egypt's Coptic Christians. My Hudson Institute colleague Samuel Tadros reports that from April 2011 until just over a year ago, 59 Copts were murdered, 714 Copts were wounded, 114 Coptic families saw their property looted; and 112 families were forced to leave their homes. At the same time, 24 churches were attacked, four of which were completely destroyed. And eight Copts, including three children, were imprisoned for "insulting Islam." Thankfully, since Morsi's overthrow, the Copts have seen diminishing attacks on their churches and monasteries, villages and businesses. There are occasional flare-ups, but the flames of high-visibility persecution have largely been extinguished for the time being. But another devastating assault on the Coptic community has silently increased: the kidnapping of young girls. The dramatic Boko Haram abductions in Nigeria fixated the world's attention on the horror of some 250 girls who were violently captured and carried off in trucks and busses to parts unknown. By contrast, with virtually no publicity, Coptic girls vanish quietly, one at a time, yet sometimes as many as two or three in a week's time. Their families are often poor and powerless. Police reports are filed, and sometimes the kidnappers are even identified. But the girls are never seen again. Terrasanta, a Catholic news service, says that many of these girls are compulsorily converted to Islam and forced to marry their abductors. With agonizing attention to detail, the small cross tattoos they wear on their wrists as a symbol of their Christian faith are removed with acid during wedding preparations. "The high number of missing girls," Terrasanta writes, "and the repeating identical operating patterns have convinced lawyers, activists and priests -- long engaged in the battle against the terrible practice -- that there is an organized network behind the kidnappings. According to some, there are Islamic cells dedicated exclusively to the abduction of Coptic women." The hashtag #BringBackOurCopticGirls has been posted and tweeted repeatedly, especially since the Boko Haram kidnappings. And several Facebook pages, such as "The Free Copts" and "Association of Victims of Abduction and Forced Disappearance ( AVAFD )" -- recount and update tragic details. Everyone knows that young girls sometimes run off with their boyfriends. And in some cases, the potential social repercussions of a love affair between a Christian girl and a Muslim boyfriend might inspire them to run away together. However, in an overwhelming number of instances, when the missing girls' parents seek police assistance in tracking down their lost daughters, the authorities turn a blind eye and refuse to be involved. An article from Arab West Report, which examines Egypt's kidnapping phenomenon in detail, states that "Christians often accuse security of paying even less attention to crimes against their community. In cases of disappearance of minors, sometimes they fail to investigate at all. Is this due to individual fanaticism, institutional bias, or simply a common indifference? Aid for the Church in Need, a Roman Catholic pontifical foundation, offers further details. "Very young girls, such as 14-year-old Nadia Makram, are a particular target for radical Muslims. In 2011, she was kidnapped during a church service. Since then, her family has had no contact with her anymore. "Although the family knows who did it, the police do not help them. "'They even warned us not to pursue the matter any further. I must accept that my daughter has been kidnapped,' says Nadia's mother, filled with pain." Will these disappearances cease after a Sisi election? Will the government step in, demand police cooperation, reunite grieving families and diminish the Christian minority's vulnerability? Will President Sisi #BringBackOurCopticGirls? Samuel Tadros isn't so sure how well the Copts will fare under a Sisi presidency. Yes, he anticipates improvements in media discourse, because of the support the Coptic Church demonstrated during the overthrow of Morsi. This was appreciated, and should result in a decrease of high-profile incitement. However, Tadros recently told me, "While Sisi is intent on fighting the Brotherhood, and regardless of his success in that, Islamism will not be rolled back in the public square. "Overall, I think the Copts will be disappointed." The jihadi slogan "First the Saturday People, then the Sunday People" has been acted out across the Middle East for generations. Egypt's Jews were driven out in the mid-20th Century and now only a handful remains. Like the Jews before them, Egypt's indigenous "Sunday People" may well find themselves without their ancient homeland. There is no Israel for persecuted Christians -- no safe haven to which they can flee. Unless President al-Sisi surprises the world by providing peace and security to his Christian minority, there will soon be millions of poverty-stricken refugees. And they will have no place on earth to call home. Support Hudson Institute. Donate today

Now that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been officially inaugurated as Egypt's president, there are high hopes that he will bring stability to his turbulent nation and, perhaps, to the region. Sisi's popularity is enormous. He won the election by a landslide. But the task before him is formidable. Egypt has been exhausted by three years of upheaval following the demise of strongman Hosni Mubarek, and the subsequent ill-starred regime of Mohamed Morsi and his notorious Muslim Brotherhood. The country's economy is in shambles, its cash-cow tourism industry has dried up, it continues to battle terrorists on a daily basis, and even essential supplies of food and energy are in short supply. But one minority community's misery has truly surpassed all others: Egypt's Coptic Christians. My Hudson Institute colleague Samuel Tadros reports that from April 2011 until just over a year ago, 59 Copts were murdered, 714 Copts were wounded, 114 Coptic families saw their property looted; and 112 families were forced to leave their homes. At the same time, 24 churches were attacked, four of which were completely destroyed. And eight Copts, including three children, were imprisoned for "insulting Islam." Thankfully, since Morsi's overthrow, the Copts have seen diminishing attacks on their churches and monasteries, villages and businesses. There are occasional flare-ups, but the flames of high-visibility persecution have largely been extinguished for the time being. But another devastating assault on the Coptic community has silently increased: the kidnapping of young girls. The dramatic Boko Haram abductions in Nigeria fixated the world's attention on the horror of some 250 girls who were violently captured and carried off in trucks and busses to parts unknown. By contrast, with virtually no publicity, Coptic girls vanish quietly, one at a time, yet sometimes as many as two or three in a week's time. Their families are often poor and powerless. Police reports are filed, and sometimes the kidnappers are even identified. But the girls are never seen again. Terrasanta, a Catholic news service, says that many of these girls are compulsorily converted to Islam and forced to marry their abductors. With agonizing attention to detail, the small cross tattoos they wear on their wrists as a symbol of their Christian faith are removed with acid during wedding preparations. "The high number of missing girls," Terrasanta writes, "and the repeating identical operating patterns have convinced lawyers, activists and priests -- long engaged in the battle against the terrible practice -- that there is an organized network behind the kidnappings. According to some, there are Islamic cells dedicated exclusively to the abduction of Coptic women." The hashtag #BringBackOurCopticGirls has been posted and tweeted repeatedly, especially since the Boko Haram kidnappings. And several Facebook pages, such as "The Free Copts" and "Association of Victims of Abduction and Forced Disappearance ( AVAFD )" -- recount and update tragic details. Everyone knows that young girls sometimes run off with their boyfriends. And in some cases, the potential social repercussions of a love affair between a Christian girl and a Muslim boyfriend might inspire them to run away together. However, in an overwhelming number of instances, when the missing girls' parents seek police assistance in tracking down their lost daughters, the authorities turn a blind eye and refuse to be involved. An article from Arab West Report, which examines Egypt's kidnapping phenomenon in detail, states that "Christians often accuse security of paying even less attention to crimes against their community. In cases of disappearance of minors, sometimes they fail to investigate at all. Is this due to individual fanaticism, institutional bias, or simply a common indifference? Aid for the Church in Need, a Roman Catholic pontifical foundation, offers further details. "Very young girls, such as 14-year-old Nadia Makram, are a particular target for radical Muslims. In 2011, she was kidnapped during a church service. Since then, her family has had no contact with her anymore. "Although the family knows who did it, the police do not help them. "'They even warned us not to pursue the matter any further. I must accept that my daughter has been kidnapped,' says Nadia's mother, filled with pain." Will these disappearances cease after a Sisi election? Will the government step in, demand police cooperation, reunite grieving families and diminish the Christian minority's vulnerability? Will President Sisi #BringBackOurCopticGirls? Samuel Tadros isn't so sure how well the Copts will fare under a Sisi presidency. Yes, he anticipates improvements in media discourse, because of the support the Coptic Church demonstrated during the overthrow of Morsi. This was appreciated, and should result in a decrease of high-profile incitement. However, Tadros recently told me, "While Sisi is intent on fighting the Brotherhood, and regardless of his success in that, Islamism will not be rolled back in the public square. "Overall, I think the Copts will be disappointed." The jihadi slogan "First the Saturday People, then the Sunday People" has been acted out across the Middle East for generations. Egypt's Jews were driven out in the mid-20th Century and now only a handful remains. Like the Jews before them, Egypt's indigenous "Sunday People" may well find themselves without their ancient homeland. There is no Israel for persecuted Christians -- no safe haven to which they can flee. Unless President al-Sisi surprises the world by providing peace and security to his Christian minority, there will soon be millions of poverty-stricken refugees. And they will have no place on earth to call home. Support Hudson Institute. Donate today

The first thing I read on Friday morning was that 28 Egyptians in the Sinai had been murdered by terrorists, with more than 20 others wounded. And my first thought was clear and to the point: Maybe this will finally wake up the Egyptian authorities. The grisly attack, carried out with firearms, took place on an isolated road in the Sinai desert - a sparsely populated region of Egypt where some believe ISIS is setting up a new base of operations in the wake of their losses in Iraq and Egypt. The victims belonged to a church group of Coptic Christians and many of them were children. They were on their way to pray at the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor. Coptic scholar Samuel Tadros described the scene in the New York Times , "The terrorists waited on the road like game hunters. Coming their way were three buses, one with Sunday school children. Only three of them survived. Their victims were asked to recite the Islamic declaration of faith before being shot." Of course it wasn't the first attack on Egypt's Christians this year. It seems like just yesterday when, on Palm Sunday, two Cairo churches were bombed, and during those twin assaults a total of 45 people were killed and 126 injured. Maybe this will finally wake up the Egyptian authorities, I remember thinking at the time. In March, just weeks before, and again in Sinai, hundreds of Christian families fled their homes after ISIS threatened to slaughter them. And it wasn't an idle threat - seven Christian men were found dead, their bodies discarded along roadways like so much trash. Last year was no better. In May 2016, I wrote, " A riot - based on a salacious rumor - led to ferocious violence against a Coptic family in El-Karm, located in Egypt's southern province of Minya. Some 300 raging Islamists stripped a 70-year-old mother naked and paraded her, shamed and weeping, through the streets of her hometown, while torching seven Christian houses. "Then on December 11, a suicide bomber attacked St. Peter and St. Paul Coptic Orthodox Church in Cairo, killing 29 and injured dozens." At the time MEMRI reported , "Jihadis took to social media to express their satisfaction, even before any organization claimed responsibility. Many ISIS supporters shared posts on social media ... explaining why Egypt's Coptic Christians deserve punishment, while others vowed that Egyptian Christians will either be expelled or slaughtered." ISIS has since identified Christians as their "favorite prey." After the murder of Sinai's Christian children on Friday morning, and perhaps due to President Donald Trump's recent demands that Arab countries aggressively rein in their terrorists, Fox News reported : "Egypt's military fought back against the attackers who stormed a bus full of Coptic Christians and killed 28 people on their way to a monastery to pray, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Friday." "The Egyptian military struck bases where the attackers had trained, the president said without elaborating. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Egypt's Coptic Christians have become the preferred target of the Islamic State in the region." Is it too much to believe that this most recent bloodshed, particularly targeting children, has finally awakened the Egyptian authorities? We can hope. And we can certainly pray. But only time will tell. Support Hudson Institute. Donate today

Pope Tawadros II has criticised the Egyptian military, accusing it of killing Christian Copts in the Maspero massacre that took place in front of the headquarters of the official Egyptian TV channel in 2011, Egyptian mass media has reported. In a visit to different churches marking the end of the year, the Pope replied to a question regarding the 28 deaths and 212 injuries sustained mostly by Coptic protesters in 2001, saying: "No one can deny that this incident was a crime and the people connected to it are still demanding their rights." The Church has frankly accused the army of killing Copts in the past and has erected a statute to commemorate those killed in the massacre. The statute included a plaque inscribed with the names of the victims and an epitaph that reads: "Here are the bodies of those martyrs killed on 9 October, 2011 by the bullets and the tanks of the Egyptian army during a peaceful protest in front of the headquarters of the Egyptian TV channel." Meanwhile, the spokesman for Judges for Egypt, lawyer Walid Sharabi, said that it was the Church who wasted the lives of the Christian victims through its alliance with the army. Sharabi wrote on his Facebook page: "Mina Daniel and his colleagues, who were killed when they went out for a peaceful demonstration, did not know that the Church is strongly in love with the army." The lawyer was possibly referring to Tawadros' remarks during a religious ceremony earlier this year in which he told his followers that he is in a "strong love with the military." This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

A Coptic Christian priest was stabbed to death Thursday by a suspected member of the Islamic State terror group in Cairo's northeastern suburb of El-Marg. A video of the murder was posted online. Egypt Independent reported that the priest, Samaan Shehta, was attacked by a "young unemployed man" in front of his vehicle and was then hit in the head with a cleaver before the assailant ran away. "It is believed that it is a hate crime that has been executed by an extremist affiliated to IS or Salafism," a local journalist said. A video of the attack was posted on Facebook , and shows citizens attempting to aid the wounded priest on the ground. Another priest who was with Shehta, identified as Benjamin Moftah, was also assaulted, though his condition has not yet been revealed. Free sign up cp newsletter! The General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the U.K., Bishop Anba Angaelos, expressed his anger at the incident, saying, "Another day in Egypt with another Coptic Christian murdered." Angaelos said Shehta was in Cairo collecting humanitarian aid for those most needy in his parish when he was "brutally killed" by the suspect. "This incident makes us once again ask so many questions. Why should a priest not be able to walk safely down a street, especially a suburban street in Cairo? Why should he be chased by a man brandishing a deadly weapon and have no one run to his aid; in actual fact, everyone was running away," he wrote in his statement. The bishop questioned why it took an ambulance over an hour to arrive and treat him, and accused police of failing to secure the crime scene so that forensic evidence can be collected. "After the initial shock and the immense sadness, today is a day that brings anger and I am not apologetic for that anger. I would be just as angry if this was any other person being dealt with in this way, in any other part of Egypt or indeed any other part of the world. Yet he is a Christian, a Coptic Christian, and a Coptic priest, which makes it all the more close and all the more painful," Angaelos continued. He said that Coptic Christians, who are a minority in Egypt, continue suffering greatly at the hands of IS and other radicals, in the form of "child kidnapping, forced conversion, individual targeting, bus attacks and church bombings." "While recognizing that anger may often open a path to hatred or resentment, there are times at which it is a natural expression of a human emotion, and reaction to a sense of deep injustice. I am sure that I am not alone in my anger, but that it is shared by every law-abiding person of any belief and indeed of none, who has witnessed this vicious and inhumane attack," Angaelos wrote, vowing to continue praying. The Coptic community has been upset at the Egyptian government's lack of support and protection, with a report from September even accusing authorities of aiding networks of abductors who get paid by Islamic extremists to kidnap Christian girls. A former Muslim man known only by the letter "G" told World Watch Monitor at the time that kidnappers receive "large amounts of money" from "Islamization organizations" for kidnapping girls who are often converted to Islam and married off to Muslim men. The Egyptian government, however, has successfully prosecuted some jihadists who've slaughtered Christians, with a court handing down death sentences last month to seven people linked to IS for their role in beheading 21 Copts in Libya in 2015. Follow Stoyan Zaimov on Facebook: CPSZaimov

Author March 26, 2018 As Egypt's 2018 presidential election gets underway today, there is one issue on the minds of Christians across this ancient nation: security. The Coptic Christian population has been subject to absolutely brutal attacks at the hands of Islamic militants in recent years, and many are hoping that if a second term is awarded to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the faith community will begin to see him make good on promises of security and religious freedom. Sisi won almost 97% of the vote back in 2014 and is expected to bring home a landslide victory on Wednesday. The war on Coptic Christians, however, has been brutal. Last April, over 45 Copts were murdered in a bomb attack on St George's Coptic Orthodox Church in the Tanta region and St Mark's Church in Alexandria. Then, just a month later, Islamist gunmen shot dead 28 Christian pilgrims traveling in a bus on their way to visit a monastery . In December last year, a gunman opened fire on a Church in Helwan killing 11 people including a police officer. This year, there have been more shooting attacks on believers, including the murder of two Coptic Christian brothers, gunned down for being inside an alcohol store in Giza. Now, as the population heads to the polls, Christian leaders are hoping that the faithful will make their voice heard. "It can't be that everyone will participate in the political process and we as Christians don't participate. We will participate regardless of anything," said one resident of Egypt's capital, Cairo, according to Euronews . Sisi has continued to promise the Coptic community further protection, but the attacks have not ceased. Still, the ancient Coptic Christian community, which makes up just 10% of the total population, appears to be sticking by him. "Sisi has been hard at work cultivating the Christians of Egypt. And, praise where it is due, he has broken free of the Muslim lockstep into which one of his predecessors," explained Robert Fisk at the Independent . "In contrast with past rulers, Sisi has given at least five permits for new churches in Egypt, angrily bombed Islamists in Libya after they cut the throats of 21 Egyptian Coptic workers on a beach, constructed a church to their memory in their home village and - perhaps most important of all - was the first Egyptian president to attend mass at Christmas." So, he is certainly seeking to garner greater support from the Christian community. The problem is, he has alienated a dangerous group of Islamists, including the Muslim Brotherhood, who are beginning to see the Copts as a staunch ally of the President's, and therefore a legitimate target. The outworking of this has been devastating for the Coptic community and has resulted in innumerable deaths. Undeterred, the President continues to rule with an iron fist as the fire of the "Arab Spring" begins to fade and the memories of impassioned crowds packed into Tahiri square begin to grow dim. Under Sisi, "hangings, deaths in police custody and disappearances" are now simply "part of Egyptian life," according to Fisk. Despite the unsettling details emerging from under the rule of President Sisi, the Christian community appears convinced that he can change its situation for the better. "Pastors are telling congregants that it's an imperative to vote and that staying at home in these elections is a sin," said Ishak Ibrahim, a minority affairs researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, as reported by USA Today . "The church leadership has heard President el-Sissi's language of civic equality and compares it favorably against the record of (former president) Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood." (H/T: The Independent)

During the Republican primaries, when I was most critical of candidate Trump, I still didn't believe he was a racist (in general) or an anti-Semite (in particular), yet charges of racism and even anti-Semitism persist against him to this day. After his speech last night, it seems to me that only his most cynical critics can lodge such charges against him. Will you really say that his address to Congress was racist? Let's start with black Americans. He began his speech by saying, "Tonight, as we mark the conclusion of our celebration of Black History Month, we are reminded of our nation's path toward civil rights and the work that still remains." Was he seeking to get a message across? Quite obviously, he was. Several minutes later (but still early in his speech), he said, "We've financed and built one global project after another, but ignored the fates of our children in the inner cities of Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit -- and so many other places throughout our land." It is no secret that a disproportionately high percentage of black Americans live in these inner cities, and so here too, he appeared to be sending a message, including this line, a few minutes later, as well: "And our neglected inner cities will see a rebirth of hope, safety, and opportunity." And since black Americans suffer disproportionately from poverty and joblessness, were these lines directed their way as well? "Ninety-four million Americans are out of the labor force." And, "Over 43 million people are now living in poverty, and over 43 million Americans are on food stamps." More overtly, he singled out a black American woman, Denisha Merriweather, as an example of the merit of private schools, calling her a "remarkable woman," noting that she was the first in her family to graduate from college (soon to get her Master's degree), and stating, "We want all children to be able to break the cycle of poverty just like Denisha." Even the reference that followed to breaking the cycle of violence, using Chicago as an example, probably spoke to black Americans as well. In fact, his first example of an American killed by an illegal immigrant was a 17-year-old black man, Jamiel Shaw, Jr., "an incredible young man, with unlimited potential who was getting ready to go to college where he would have excelled as a great quarterback. But he never got the chance. His father, who is in the audience tonight, has become a good friend of mine." (Note also that Trump honored Susan Oliver, a black woman, whose husband Danny, a white man, was a policeman killed by an illegal immigrant.) Of course, the critics blast Trump as being a hypocritical opportunist, using these individuals to advance his own cause. But for anyone listening with an open heart and mind, the overall impression would be clear: President Trump is reaching out to the African American community and saying, "We are in this together, and I want to help." As for the Jewish people, also in his very first lines, Trump referenced, "Recent threats targeting Jewish Community Centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries," while later stating, "I have also imposed new sanctions on entities and individuals who support Iran's ballistic missile program, and reaffirmed our unbreakable alliance with the State of Israel." Could you imagine an anti-Semite speaking in these ways, mentioning the vandalism of the Jewish cemeteries in his first paragraph, and in the context of civil rights at that? He also referenced at the outset "last week's shooting in Kansas City," where a gunman who allegedly yelled "get out my country" before killing one Indian man and wounded another, also wounding a white American who tried to stop him. In other words, nationalism for Trump does not mean war on immigrants. As for the immigrants whom he is deporting, Trump said, "we are removing gang members, drug dealers and criminals that threaten our communities and prey on our citizens. Bad ones are going out as I speak tonight and as I have promised." Do even the most "progressive" Democrats really want to keep such dangerous people in our country, especially when they are here illegally? And can the president really be accused of being anti-immigrant or, more broadly, anti-Hispanic for saying that such criminals should be deported? For that matter, was President Obama an anti-Hispanic, anti-immigrant racist when he deported 43,000 illegals in 2015? As for Islam, Trump could not have been more specific, saying, "We are also taking strong measures to protect our nation from radical Islamic terrorism," then proclaiming, "As promised, I directed the Department of Defense to develop a plan to demolish and destroy ISIS -- a network of lawless savages that have slaughtered Muslims and Christians, and men, women, and children of all faiths and beliefs. We will work with our allies, including our friends and allies in the Muslim world, to extinguish this vile enemy from our planet." Here he made clear that radical Muslim terrorists are "lawless savages" (rather than model Muslims) who "have slaughtered Muslims and Christians, and men, women, and children of all faiths and beliefs," significantly putting Muslims at the top of this list. In other words, even though Christians in Islamic lands suffer most acutely at the hands of radical Muslims, while Christians in other countries are often targeted by radical Muslims, the greatest number of casualties of radical Muslims are themselves Muslims. That's why the President pledged to work with "our friends and allies in the Muslim world, to extinguish this vile enemy from our planet." Beth Baumann Can you genuinely say that Trump is anti-Muslim (rather than anti-radical Muslim) based on these carefully delivered words? He even reached out to women, stating, "With the help of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, we have formed a council with our neighbors in Canada to help ensure that woman entrepreneurs have access to the networks, markets and capital they need to start a business and live out their financial dreams." (I'm not saying this removes charges of misogyny or undoes his past, inexcusable comments; I'm simply noting the statement and its purpose.) Of course, critics like the extreme-left, Islamic congressman Keith Ellison will disparage Trump's speech, claiming that Trump will say whatever he needs to say to sway public opinion but will not act accordingly. (Notably Ellison, along with DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, " reportedly remained 'firmly seated' while the widow of a slain Navy SEAL received a two-minute standing ovation, according to the Independent Journal Review's Benny Johnson.") And, obviously, this was just a speech. But a speech is designed to accomplish certain goals and to send a certain message, and as far as a speech goes, the goals were clear and the message was clear. Perhaps some of you who remain implacably opposed to the president will find room for at least a little hope? Perhaps some of you who have accused him of racism (and worse) might be willing to take a second look, give him some benefit of the doubt, and see if his actions match his words? Personally, I think it's the least you can do. For supporters of the President, his speech lived up to your expectations and proved that Donald Trump can truly act presidential. In the words of John Podhoretz, "In the first 38 days of his presidency, Donald Trump seemed to struggle to find his footing. On his 39th, he found it unexpectedly in a strong, direct and -- surprise of surprises -- beautifully modulated and spectacularly delivered address before Congress."

By William D. Hartung | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - Here's a question for you: How do you spell boondoggle? The answer (in case you didn't already know): P-e-n-t-a-g-o-n. Hawks on Capitol Hill and in the U.S. military routinely justify increases in the Defense Department's already munificent budget by arguing that yet more money is [...] By Andrew J. Bacevich | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - Consider, if you will, these two indisputable facts. First, the United States is today more or less permanently engaged in hostilities in not one faraway place, but at least seven. Second, the vast majority of the American people could not care less. Nor can it be [...] By Ann Jones | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - Here we go again! Years after most Americans forgot about the longest war this country ever fought, American soldiers are again being deployed to Afghanistan. For almost 16 years now, at the command of three presidents and a sadly forgettable succession of generals, they have gone [...] By Alfred W. McCoy | (Tomdispatch.com) | - - [This piece has been adapted and expanded from the introduction to Alfred W. McCoy's new book, In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of U.S. Global Power.] In the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks, Washington pursued its elusive enemies across the [...] By Tom Engelhardt | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - Let me try to get this straight: from the moment the Soviet Union imploded in 1991 until recently just about every politician and mainstream pundit in America assured us that we were the planet's indispensable nation, the only truly exceptional one on this small orb of [...] By Rebecca Gordon | (Via Todmispatch.com ) | - - Since September 11, 2001, the United States has been fighting a "war on terror." Real soldiers have been deployed to distant lands; real cluster bombs and white phosphorus have been used; real cruise missiles have been launched; the first MOAB, the largest non-nuclear bomb in [...]

Again we find the leading presidential candidate of the Republican Party associating with white supremacists. So far today, Donald Trump has retweeted not one, but two overt racists. " @NeilTurner_ : @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/uvn95NSIaA It's time we take America back! No more puppet presidents! #VoteTrump " So true! -- Donald J. Trump ( @realDonaldTrump ) January 24, 2016 Go check out these accounts if you don't believe my characterization of them: @keksec__org and @NeilTurner_ . Their timelines are chock full of ugly racism; and in the keksec__org timeline (he uses the screen name "Jason Bergkamp") we find that he's recently followed some other neo-Nazi accounts: There's simply no way this can be an accident or a coincidence. This makes four neo-Nazis or white supremacists Trump has retweeted so far this week alone, and these aren't the only ones. You'd think it would be newsworthy that the leading GOP candidate is associating with these kinds of people, wouldn't you?

Moreover, Trump's travel ban has stunned national security experts across the government, none of whom appears to have ever suggested a blanket ban as a way to protect Americans. And, ultimately, Trump's view of Islam and Muslims makes his travel ban unconstitutional, as several courts have concluded, because it runs headlong into the First Amendment's protection against the government favoring or, as here, disfavoring any particular religion. It would be bad enough if Trump's travel ban were simply unnecessary and unlawful. But it's also downright dangerous, especially to our country's counterterrorism efforts. The ban is so obviously, palpably, indeed explicitly anti-Muslim in nature that it has -- understandably -- offended Muslim-American communities around the world, including in the United States. Yet those are precisely the communities that can prove critical for identifying and responding to individuals becoming radicalized by groups like ISIS and al Qaeda. Moreover, effective counterterrorism relies heavily on robust intelligence-sharing relationships with foreign governments.

And here I was just thinking that Alex Jones had been awfully quiet after pretending that YouTube had deleted his account (they didn't) for insisting that the survivors of Stoneham Douglas were professional actors. I'm putting even money down on Alex Jones being outed as a pedophile within the next year or so. He's far too obsessed with it. I imagine that's a rhetorical question, but anyway, it sucks that to most Americans, it's not obvious that it took so long because terrorism against non-white people (whether from the state or other rogue organizations) doesn't count as terrorism.

Ivanka is married to Jared Kushner, whose little brother, Josh Kushner, has been dating supermodel Karlie Kloss for the past six years. Last night Josh and Karlie announced their engagement on Instagram, with Ivanka jumping at the opportunity to congratulate the couple. Leaving a loving comment on Karlie's engagement image, Ivanka called the stunning supermodel her "sister". Hidden within the thousands of comments from Karlie's 1.7 million fans, Ivanka wrote: "So, so happy for you and Josh! The mother-of-three released a statement to announce the closure, saying: "When we first started this brand, no one could have predicted the success that we would achieve." "After 17 months in Washington, I do not know when or if I will ever return to the business, but I do know that my focus for the foreseeable future will be the work I am doing here in Washington, so making this decision now is the only fair outcome for my team and partners." "I am beyond grateful for the work of our incredible team who has inspired so many women; each other and myself included. "While we will not continue our mission together, I know that each of them will thrive in their next chapter." Ivanka is now focusing on her political career, being an official employee in her father Donald Trump's administration.

It seems one of the far right's tactics is to cherry pick information and shape it to fit their agenda. They often leap to illogical assumptions and add completely baseless and dishonest elements. Swiss military ( Image by self) Permission Details DMCA - Advertisement - Recently a right-wing sock-puppet claiming to be a progressive posted a favorite straw-man argument on a progressive blog. He proudly announced that Switzerland has lots of assault rifles, but still enjoys low murder rates. He extolled the virtues of more guns being the best answer to gun violence and parroted the NRA call for less gun regulation. Here are the actual facts. First, Switzerland is a tiny country (something over 7 million) surrounded by what were considered, after the second world war, potentially threatening larger countries. This is why they choose to have a "well regulated militia" to respond to a possible invasion instead of a much more expensive standing army. It's too bad right-wing gun advocates can't grasp the whole "well regulated" concept in our 2nd amendment. An important point regarding Swiss gun policies is that they have very strict regulation and control over the sale and ownership of weapons. They require ongoing gun training. All weapons and munitions are individually registered. They are not even allowed to have bullets for their military-issued assault weapons. Those are kept in armories and available at regulated shooting ranges. Unstable and paranoid, criminal types are denied gun ownership in Switzerland. Unlawful possession of guns is harshly punished. Gun trade among individuals requires a valid weapon acquisition permit. Weapons acquired from an individual in the last ten years (which did not require a weapon-acquisition permit) have to be registered. As a central weapons register was politically unfeasible, the authorities hope to get an overview of the market through this registration requirement. Every gun must be marked with a registered serial number. - Advertisement - So even as US conservatives who oppose any government attempts to regulate their guns angrily fight against government interference of any kind, they hypocritically push Switzerland with its many regulations as an example that more guns are the answer! Such an amazing disconnect with the facts however is no surprise from the right-wing propagandists. A couple more facts the ' more guns make us safe ' crowd forget to mention. In Switzerland 29% of households own guns. The U.S. has guns in 43% of households. So we have more guns, fewer regulations, and big surprise... lots MORE MURDERS! Facts are stubborn things. - Advertisement - Even with all the regulations, however, Switzerland still has problems. Their economy is slipping and they have seen an increase in gun murders in recent years. While they only average about 300 gun deaths per year, they occasionally have mass gun murders also. In April 1986, Gunther Tschanun, head of Zurich's building control department, shot dead four of his colleagues after tensions developed at work. More recently, an angry man named Leibacher who had a paranoid fear of government and had made wild accusations about "mafia" officials, entered parliament and shot and killed 14 people and wounded 14 more. On the same morning as Leibacher terrorized the Zug canton council, a 49-year-old Swiss man in nearby Lucerne shot his 23-year-old stepson with a combat rifle and then turned the weapon on himself. Switzerland also doesn't suffer from a large segment of their society being spoon-fed paranoia and fear of their government by huge media outlets like Fox, resulting in large numbers of angry fearful people being whipped into violent behavior. In short a majority of the Swiss populace have a more rational world view than many right-wingers here. Now the most important point. Switzerland has one of the best economies in the world and highest per-capita incomes in the world. Here in the US we have poverty and huge income inequality. Plutocrats control much of our government and as the rich get richer, most of America is left behind, creating high unemployment. Our working and poor are forced to make cuts to shoulder the burden of the recovery, while wealthy bankers and wall-street insiders who caused our financial meltdown go untouched. Poverty is always the breeding ground of discontent and violence. The sad fact is corrupt bankers and growing unemployment are changing the rosy picture in Switzerland also and calls for gun control are increasing. So much for the Swiss gun myth.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson caught a gun control activist in a pickle on Tuesday when he asked him about banning barrel shrouds. WATCH: Jumaane Williams, a New York City council member, repeatedly asked The Daily Caller co-founder if he thought people should have unfettered access to guns -- completely ignoring the specifics of actual gun legislation. "Look, I'm not for gun killing of any kind," Carlson said. "My only point is that legislators make laws, and they do so in the hopes they will have their intended effect, and we know from ten years of experience that an assault weapons ban doesn't work." "The real question is always to you, Tucker -- do you believe that we shouldn't have unfettered access to guns," Williams said, side-stepping the point. Carlson tried again with a different proposed piece of gun control legislation, asking Williams, "[Democrats] are saying that guns that have something called a 'barrel shroud' ought to be prohibited...my question is why?" "Why would a barrel shroud make a gun more dangerous?" Tucker questioned. Williams again insisted that Carlson was asking the wrong questions, and accused him of throwing "red meat" to his fans on the internet. "It's not about the fans or red meat -- I'm responding to an actual piece of proposed legislation in the US Congress," Carlson argued.

Karl Marx once wrote that history repeats itself, once as tragedy and once as farce. This week, two very different people embodied this maxim as they fooled Republicans through the power of the NRA. The first was Sacha Baron Cohen, whose Showtime series Who is America? premiered this weekend. Disguised as ex-Mossad agent Erran Morrad, he met with Republican lawmakers and gun lobbyists to promote Kinder Guardians, a program teaching preschoolers... Nikolas Cruz, who killed 17 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida this week, purchased his gun entirely legally. It would have been harder for him to buy a firecracker under Florida state law....

Brian Duncan Johnson is a fourth year student at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia focusing studies on History and Government. Duncan is a regular contributor to Ammoland and often assist in the everyday gun news publishing as an assistant editor. Mike L : The Americans put up with decades of British tyranny before they chose to fight it. Like today, many people hesitated... Mark Zanghetti : How could I buy a membership in "Kat's" name? If everyone who could bought a membership in "Kat's" name you... Wild Bill : @Quatermain, Well... brother, first we all know if a judge, senator, congressman, batfe agent or fib agent lives near... Mark Zanghetti : First let us thank God your son is alive and healthy after such an encounter! Thank your son for his... Don : The minute you take off the factory rear grip and put something else on that gun your're in a gray...

Wednesday January 6, 2016 Judge Andrew Napolitano, interviewed by Gretchen Carlson on Fox News regarding President Barack Obama's Tuesday gun control executive order announcement, explained that Obama is exceeding his presidential authority in creating a new crime related to gun transfers. Expanding the definition of who is a gun dealer and who, therefore, can be prosecuted for the crime of transferring a gun without possessing a gun dealer license amounts to an unconstitutional unilateral creation of a crime by the executive branch, concludes Napolitano. Not only has Congress not approved the creation of this crime, Napolitano, who is a member of the Ron Paul Institute Advisory Board, advises that Congress has rejected creating the crime three times. Watch Napolitano's interview here: For more information regarding the illegitimacy of using executive fiat to expand gun dealer licensing requirements and close the so-called gun show loophole, read here George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley's detailed analysis of the matter. For more of Napolitano's thoughts regarding Obama's new gun executive order, read here Napolitano's new editorial "Why Obama's executive action on guns is unconstitutional."

Whenever there is a shooting of major size and sufficient media coverage, the eruption of gun debates spews forth. I suppose I'm not going to miss out on piling onto a topic that might seem already exhausted. However, I'm only Some form of mass murder happens about everyday in America. Mass killing is a relatively new phenomenon, but if you're a young person it's hard to remember a time where this wasn't the norm. For the past 16 years we've With the push for political correctness and central planning growing larger, the argument for less government involvement in firearm regulation comes off as somewhat irrational to most people. Which is understandable given the diminutive attention this side of the argument There are many misconceptions when it comes to gun control, and with the 2016 general election as polarizing as it is, the amount of information can be overwhelming. The saddest part, however, is that not only does gun control not "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one." - Spock, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan Citizens of Cleveland enjoyed catharsis when the Cavaliers triumphed in the NBA Finals, ending the city's 52 year professional sports The Second Amendment is invaluable. I want to call into question the idea of margins in this kind of conversation. The origins of the Second Amendment lie with ensuring that, should the government become tyrannical or abusive, citizens can oust This article is satire. "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." - Some old homophobic racist in the late 1980s People often confuse Gersh Kuntzman, we do have a problem. But it's not the problem you think we have. Gun supporters don't have a problem with your opinion. We have a problem with you publishing your opinion, supported with blatant inaccuracies, as a scathing Guns! Once again they are making national headlines. In fact, they are making headlines around the world. It doesn't take long after a tragedy for politicians, on both sides of the political spectrum, to come out and exploit the situation to promote In the wake of the Orlando shooting, many people, especially those in the media, have been jumping on the gun control band wagon. One of the more popular things we have been hearing is that the 2nd Amendment was only Please support this website by adding us to your whitelist in your ad blocker. Ads are what helps us bring you premium content! Thank you!

Hillary Clinton just desperately wants to be liked. It usually turns out pretty entertaining (see Hillary: 'I Can't be Establishment Because I Have a Uterus' ). She'll say anything to get people to vote for her - especially black people - and it's getting fairly obvious to anyone with ears. If you haven't blocked them to avoid the cackle. Hillary may have just gotten to point where she doesn't even try to hide it anymore. I'm fairly convinced she doesn't care at all. Just listening to her talk in the cringe-worthy video below is proof enough. Trigger warning: it's bad. I'm embarrassed just watching the video. She literally doesn't give a single crap if she sounds disingenuous. Is that supposed to be liberating or something? Because it sure as heck isn't presidential. Can you imagine this sort of attitude in a room with, say, Putin? Hillary: we get it. You listened to a Beyonce song once . But just that one time, then you hired the re-listening to some poor, underpaid schmuck in your campaign. Because you underpay your staff. Especially the women . Not that we can blame you, though. "Formation" is a horrible song. But let's stop for a second and ask a larger question. Hot sauce in her purse. Hillary thinks hot sauce is going to qualify her to the entire black demographic. Hot sauce . I'm insulted and I'm not even black. This is a perfect illustration of how little Democrats care about the minorities whose votes they try to buy. Also, is anyone else curious as to what kind of hot sauce this is? Did anyone maybe want to verify she wasn't being a racist pandering witch? It's no wonder so many people, even Democrats, are turned off by Hillary. ( Even Young, Liberal Women: 'Hillary, Enough with the Gender Card Crap!' ) They're beginning to see her for what she truly is: spineless. And judging by her fashion choices, probably also a closeted lesbian. Contrary to Hollywood's narrative, the LGBTQAI (silent F) isn't as large a group as they'd have you believe. The pantsuits won't give her an edge with the electorate. Lesbian or no, the hot sauce in her purse, as pandering goes, is in bad taste. Not mildly bad, either. Extreme hot bad. Perhaps next time she should bring along some fried chicken and a watermelon for desert. I know. Because that's totally what Hillary did. NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST? FIX THAT ! IT'S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH ITUNES HERE AND SOUNDCLOUD HERE .

This video is kind of funny: This Vine is even funnier: Geez, it's a real mystery why the wide-eyed hectoring pol who feels entitled to the presidency that people don't trust or like is not running away with this thing! I mean, leave aside her antipathy for the First and Second Amendment and her complete and utter inability to relate to average people: don't you know she's a "style icon"? Hard to disagree with that. It's really tough to figure out my favorite Hillary look. Who can forget Burlap Sack, from The Derelicte Collection? Or Third Lead Wearing Her Protective Heat Suit from The Core Collection? Stylish and functional! It's good that she was dressed up to withstand the heat of the Earth's molten core; after all, anything above a scorching 75 degrees or so puts her at risk of fainting. All that foil and that not-at-all-ridiculous-or-awful collar will help deflect the glare of the lights. How could this beacon of light possibly lose? She's just so great and Trump is just so terrible-- the late night talk shows say this all the time , so it must be true and their echo chamber is definitely not backfiring at all. People are definitely NOT tired of being told that Hillary is the best and that they're racist, deplorable yokels for supporting Donald Trump. This is why her best strategy is definitely to get super-shrill, extra-angry, and even-more-awfully-dressed. That will definitely turn things around for her. She should be paying her campaign consultants extra for this great advice. This entry was posted in Politics and tagged 2016 Election , Hillary Clinton . Bookmark the permalink .

Male Journalists Attack Hillary for Being 60 Years Old Maybe, just maybe, the media could give Hillary a fucking break and allow her, as a 60-year-old woman, to look like a 60-year-old woman. It seems like everyone on Maude's green earth is emailing me about what's currently running on Drudge's front page: Now, first of all, I want to make it clear that it doesn't matter a whit to me--and shouldn't matter to anyone--what Hillary looks like. If she had one eyeball hanging out of its socket and a third leg growing out of her back, I wouldn't give a flying fart. I'd still agree with her on some shit and disagree with her on other shit, and I'd still vociferously defend her right to not be judged on her appearance . That said, this is also just another piece of dogshit journamalism typical of Drudge, because the picture isn't even particularly representative of what Hillary looks like. Here are other pictures taken the same afternoon (Saturday) while Hillary was doing door-to-door campaigning: And here's a picture of her being introduced at a town hall meeting in Iowa earlier today: Yeah, she looks like she might keel over from exhaustion at any moment. Meanwhile, if she were a dude five years older who looked like this: Don't let big tech control what news you see. Get more stories like this in your inbox, every day. Melissa McEwan writes and edits the blog Shakespeare's Sister .

After 9 years of being a pioneer and leader in alternative news aggregation, RedFlagNews.com closed its doors on December 31, 2017. With more than 10M readers who visited both our app and website, we had built a community of trust and loyalty in online news media; something rare to find in 2018; nevertheless, it was clearly not enough to sustain the onslaught of suppression by Google and Facebook after the 2016 election. To our amazing community, thank you for your generous support and daily visits over the years. It was a good run with you by our side. Thousands have asked us where we will be getting our daily fix. As you continue your journey of seeking both balance and truth in your news diet, we strongly recommend the following two independent and trusted news aggregation websites. In the end, independent thinking is a battle that we cannot afford to lose.

Why does Hillary want to keep Latinos from their DREAMs? Oh, and she's also a big supporter of sealing our borders by building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. In fact, she's proud of the fact that she's voted - "numerous times" - to do just that. We're not sure who Hillary is trying to keep out of the country, but this sounds an awful lot like the kind of "racist dog whistle" she likes to accuse the GOP of blowing. Why is Hillary so afraid of minorities who just want to come to America - like we all did - in an effort to build a better life for their families? WHY IS SHE SO FILLED WITH HATE!? Clearly, we can't have a radical bigot like Hillary sitting in the White House. Just think of the suffering she'd impose on poor, would-be American, citizens who are so desperately trying to reach our shores. Hasn't she read the poem on the Statue of Liberty!? Whatever happened to welcoming the "huddled masses yearning to be free?" Why does Hillary want to keep Latinos from their DREAMs? Please SHARE this story as the only way for CFP to beat Facebook anti-Conservative Suppression.

Hillary Clinton just desperately wants to be liked. It usually turns out pretty entertaining (see Hillary: 'I Can't be Establishment Because I Have a Uterus' ). She'll say anything to get people to vote for her - especially black people - and it's getting fairly obvious to anyone with ears. If you haven't blocked them to avoid the cackle. Hillary may have just gotten to point where she doesn't even try to hide it anymore. I'm fairly convinced she doesn't care at all. Just listening to her talk in the cringe-worthy video below is proof enough. Trigger warning: it's bad. I'm embarrassed just watching the video. She literally doesn't give a single crap if she sounds disingenuous. Is that supposed to be liberating or something? Because it sure as heck isn't presidential. Can you imagine this sort of attitude in a room with, say, Putin? Hillary: we get it. You listened to a Beyonce song once . But just that one time, then you hired the re-listening to some poor, underpaid schmuck in your campaign. Because you underpay your staff. Especially the women . Not that we can blame you, though. "Formation" is a horrible song. But let's stop for a second and ask a larger question. Hot sauce in her purse. Hillary thinks hot sauce is going to qualify her to the entire black demographic. Hot sauce . I'm insulted and I'm not even black. This is a perfect illustration of how little Democrats care about the minorities whose votes they try to buy. Also, is anyone else curious as to what kind of hot sauce this is? Did anyone maybe want to verify she wasn't being a racist pandering witch? It's no wonder so many people, even Democrats, are turned off by Hillary. ( Even Young, Liberal Women: 'Hillary, Enough with the Gender Card Crap!' ) They're beginning to see her for what she truly is: spineless. And judging by her fashion choices, probably also a closeted lesbian. Contrary to Hollywood's narrative, the LGBTQAI (silent F) isn't as large a group as they'd have you believe. The pantsuits won't give her an edge with the electorate. Lesbian or no, the hot sauce in her purse, as pandering goes, is in bad taste. Not mildly bad, either. Extreme hot bad. Perhaps next time she should bring along some fried chicken and a watermelon for desert. I know. Because that's totally what Hillary did. NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST? FIX THAT ! IT'S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH ITUNES HERE AND SOUNDCLOUD HERE .

It can only be described as both ludicrous and insensitive. Just days after a Muslim terrorist shot up two military recruitment centers, killing five servicemen in Chattanooga, TN, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson told the media and high-ranking government officials to not mention the word "Islam" when talking about ISIS or terrorism. Johnson made these comments at a national security conference July 23. Ryan Lizza, Washington correspondent for The New Yorker , moderated the event centering on the U.S.'s strategy for Al-Qaeda and ISIS. Lizza asked Johnson, "Why do you, and the Obama Administration, describe this as violent extremism and not - and refuse to use the phrase - Islamic extremism?" Johnson responded, "I believe strongly - and I hear this over and over again from Muslim leaders in this country - that to refer to ISIL as 'Islamic extremism' concedes too much. It dignifies them as occupying some part of the Islamic faith, which is about peace ." Really, he pulled out that old line. He further stated, "And so if you call it 'Islamic anything,' uh, we are dignifying this terrorist organization with occupying a part of the Islamic faith which Muslims in this country I know, push back very strongly on," Johnson said. "So If I went into these [Muslim] communities calling it 'Islamic extremism,' I'd get nowhere." Lizza pushed back, "Isn't the government denying the fundamental religious component of this kind of extremism by not using the word, 'Islamic'?" He added, "To some people, it sounds like political correctness ." To most people, really. "I could not disagree more," Johnson retorted. He stated, "ISIL, I think, would like to be referred to as 'Islamic' extremism because it therefore concedes that what they are saying and what they are doing occupies legitimately as some form of Islam, which is about peace ." That's right, Jeh, keep saying it and someday it'll be true! Johnson then went on to state the alternative to identifying Islamic terror as Islamic: "And so here domestically, I think it's critical that in order to build our relationships and build our level of cooperation with the Islamic community here. Um, we have to say to them 'Look, we understand that what this depraved terrorist organization is doing is no part of your religion ." ISIS must be reeling at the Obama administration's superior knowledge of Islam. Johnson's comments last Thursday came just one week after four marines and one navy corpsman were killed by Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez. According to CNN , Abdulazeez had sent a friend a text message moments before the attack with an Islamic verse that read, "Whoever shows enmity to a friend of mine, then I have declared war against him." The administration and the networks have long avoided associating Islamic terrorism with Islam. Instead of 'terrorists,' ABC, CBS, and NBC prefer to call Hamas 'militants' or 'fighters' at a rate of 9-1 over 'terrorists.' During the holy month of Ramadan, ISIS implored other Muslims to join them in using the religious observation as a reason to commit more acts of terror. Despite this, 87 percent of the time the networks refused to make the connection .

London (CNN)A French journalist's ISIS captives cared so little about religion they did not even have a Quran, Didier Francois -- who spent over 10 months as the group's prisoner in Syria -- told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview on Tuesday. "There was never really discussion about texts or -- it was not a religious discussion. It was a political discussion." Thanks to CL for a link to the font used above. The one thing we can do as fellow human beings is to embrace and promote just what a lie it is when radical militants claim it's for their religion. This, across centuries has been proven again and again. The trappings of religion are exploited by the worst among us. Ignore their claims, the trappings they put on. Desecrate their flag. Reach out to Muslims you may know or meet. Express your understanding. I invite our Muslim members around here to add below as they may wish to further this critical distinction. Daesh is many things. Muslim? Not any more, not since their first killing.

At The Rebel, we criticize the Islamic doctrine for having convinced millions to pursue backward ideas on human rights, women, the role of religion in government, and terrorism . I've been going to mosques in Toronto to speak with imams and religious leaders about their beliefs, but so far I haven't found any willing to be interviewed. Although the imams were unwilling to be interviewed, I was able to speak with some of the attendees of a mosque where a call was made for " the death of Jews ". WATCH my video to see their responses, including a violent threat. If you're a fundamentalist or moderate imam or Islamic religious leader, please contact me at jay@therebel.media to set up an interview. Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

TEHRAN - Tehran's interim Friday prayer preacher has expressed satisfaction with the Syrian government's victory over terrorists in Aleppo, saying "Muslims overcome heresy." Ayatollah Mohammed Emami-Kashani condemned ISIS and other Takfiri terrorists for what he called misinterpretation of Islamic teachings, emphasizing won't count as a Muslim. "They want to advance their agenda through oppression, lies, and distortion of the truth," he said, adding that the only path forward for Muslims is to stand up to such acts of cruelty. MH/AK

Speaking at the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism, Barack Obama denied Islam's influence in terrorism, though he started with a caveat of sorts: "Al-Qaida and ISIL and groups like it are desperate for legitimacy. They try to portray themselves as religious leaders - holy warriors in defense of Islam. That's why ISIL presumes to declare itself the 'Islamic State.' ... We must never accept the premise that they put forward, because it is a lie. ... Al-Qaida and ISIL do draw, selectively, from the Islamic texts. They do depend upon the misperception around the world that they speak in some fashion for people of the Muslim faith, that Islam is somehow inherently violent, that there is some sort of clash of civilizations." And then came the "but." He continued, "Of course, the terrorists do not speak for over a billion Muslims who reject their hateful ideology. They no more represent Islam than any madman who kills innocents in the name of God represents Christianity or Judaism or Buddhism or Hinduism. No religion is responsible for terrorism. People are responsible for violence and terrorism." And then he had the complete lack of self-awareness to say, "We can't paper over problems, and we're not going to solve this if we're always just trying to be politically correct." In fact, his foolish political correctness can better be described as blinding Islamophilia , and it's dangerous. That's why he launched into a lecture about working to bring jobs to Jihadistan . A parting question: Why does he excuse Islam for terrorism but insist guns are responsible for shootings? Obama also wrote an op-ed in the LA Times saying many of the same things.

DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson told Fox News host Bret Baier on Sunday that the reason the president refuses to say 'radical Islam' or 'Islamic extremism,' preferring to use 'violent extremism' instead, is essentially because the Muslim community doesn't want him to. "The thing I hear from leaders in the Muslim community in this country is ISIL is attempting to hijack my religion," Johnson told "Fox News Sunday," referring to the terror group also known as Islamic State, or ISIS. Johnson said the leaders argue their religion is about peace and brotherhood and "resent" that Islamic State is "attempting to hijack that from us." President Obama defended his word choice on Wednesday, saying that 'radical Islam' gives the terrorists a religious legitimacy they don't deserve. And Johnson echoed that argument on the major Sunday talk shows. "To refer to ISIL as occupying any part of the Islamic theology is playing on a battlefield that they would like us to be on," he said. "I think that to call them some form of Islam gives the group more dignity than it deserves frankly. It is a terrorist organization." Johnson also said he was more focused on the potential for Islamic State, with an estimated 30,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria, to recruit Americans and inspire them to carry out terror acts. "Whether it's referred to as Islamic extremism or violent extremism, what it comes down to is ISIL is a terrorist organization that represents a serious potential threat to our homeland which has to be addressed," he said. "I'm more concerned about that frankly than I am what two words we use to refer to them." But many on both sides of the political aisle are frustrated that the president refuses to call radical Islam what it is. Jeff Crouere "If we don't identify our enemies, we cannot defeat them," Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, told Fox News on Wednesday. "Unless you accurately identify who your enemy is, then you can't come up with an effective strategy, a winning strategy to defeat that enemy." Republican Sen. Ted Cruz went even further on Wednesday, calling President Obama an "apologist for radical Islamic terrorists" over the administration's rhetoric and approach to ISIS.

London : British Islamic State recruiter Sally-Anne Jones, nicknamed the "White Widow", has been killed in a US drone strike, a media report said. Jones was said to have been killed in June in a US strike close to the border between Syria and Iraq, the Sun newspaper reported citing CIA officials. Representational image. Reuters Previously a punk musician, Jones was the world's most wanted female terrorist for more than three years. Muslim convert Jones fled to Syria from Kent in 2013 and married computer hacker Junaid Hussain, an Islamic State fighter from Birmingham, and took her then 11-year-old son, Joe Dixon, with her. A Whitehall source told the Sun : "The Americans zapped her trying to get away from Raqqa. Quite frankly, it's good riddance." CIA officials told their UK counterparts that a US Air Force Predator killed 50-year-old Jones. But news of the death was kept quiet over fears her son might have also been killed in the strike. It is not known if her son was with her, the newspaper said. Reports said Jones was last seen alive fleeing the carnage in Raqqa and heading towards the Syrian border town of Mayadin. Jones regularly used her son as a human shield, the report said. Jones was called the "White Widow" after her husband Hussain was killed by a drone in 2015. Jones used to recruit Western girls to the group and posted threatening messages to Christians in the UK. She used her Twitter account to provide practical advice on how to travel to Syria.

London : British Islamic State recruiter Sally-Anne Jones, nicknamed the "White Widow", has been killed in a US drone strike, a media report said. Jones was said to have been killed in June in a US strike close to the border between Syria and Iraq, the Sun newspaper reported citing CIA officials. Representational image. Reuters Previously a punk musician, Jones was the world's most wanted female terrorist for more than three years. Muslim convert Jones fled to Syria from Kent in 2013 and married computer hacker Junaid Hussain, an Islamic State fighter from Birmingham, and took her then 11-year-old son, Joe Dixon, with her. A Whitehall source told the Sun : "The Americans zapped her trying to get away from Raqqa. Quite frankly, it's good riddance." CIA officials told their UK counterparts that a US Air Force Predator killed 50-year-old Jones. But news of the death was kept quiet over fears her son might have also been killed in the strike. It is not known if her son was with her, the newspaper said. Reports said Jones was last seen alive fleeing the carnage in Raqqa and heading towards the Syrian border town of Mayadin. Jones regularly used her son as a human shield, the report said. Jones was called the "White Widow" after her husband Hussain was killed by a drone in 2015. Jones used to recruit Western girls to the group and posted threatening messages to Christians in the UK. She used her Twitter account to provide practical advice on how to travel to Syria.

Many conservatives were outraged by London Mayor Sadiq Khan telling people to get used to terrorism . But if you look at polling on the views of British Muslims , you can see that Khan may be right. WATCH my video to see the troubling views many British Muslims have on issues of religious violence and secularism . With these views gaining popularity, we can be certain the attack in Manchester won't be the last. Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

Share on Facebook Twitter Google+ E-mail Reddit Texas passes a law allowing gun owners to bring their weapons into psychiatric hospitals. Texas is about freedom. Especially when it comes to guns. And in Texas, they think that not only should everyone be able to open carry whatever firearm they want to wave around in each [...] Share on Facebook Twitter Google+ E-mail Reddit Leading Democrats are accusing the GOP of selling guns to ISIS. After the Senate voted down four amendments designed to strengthen background checks and prevent suspected terrorists from obtaining weapons, some Democrats are accusing Republicans of essentially selling weapons to ISIS. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), the leader of [...]

Via Kent Online : A mum from Chatham who became one of the world's most reviled terrorist recruiters after settling in the Islamic State is reportedly desperate to the return to the UK. Sally Jones was put on the Pentagon's kill list after she and her extremist husband Junaid Hussain were responsible for planning a dozen terror plots. A friend in Raqqa, known as Aisha, told Sky News that the 49-year-old mother-of-two wants to return to Britain two years after the death of her husband in an American drone strike.

Turkish authorities arrested a British woman on Monday in the capital Ankara on suspicion of trying to travel to ISIS-held territory in Syria, the Anadolu Agency reported. A Turkish official said the woman, identified only as JNH, 22, was apprehended late on Monday during a raid on a bus stop in the capital Ankara and is being held pending deportation hearings. Earlier this week, Turkish authorities detained three male British teenagers in Istanbul who were attempting to reach Syria to join ISIS, according to police. Last month, Shamima Begum, Amira Abase both 15 and Kadiza Sultana, 16, fled their homes in the UK to join ISIS's ranks in Syria. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

TEHRAN - One out of 1,000 kids in Iran is affected by metabolic disorders, whereas the figure is on average one in every 5,000 children in the world, the secretary of the 5th national conference on genetic counseling and its role in prevention of disabilities reported on Thursday. According to IRNA, Shahla Farshidi has said that the number of affected children in Iran is five times more than that worldwide, calling consanguinity marriage - marriage of the same blood - the main reason behind rise of metabolic disease in Iran. Compared to the Western and European countries, Iran is impacted more by the disease, whereas the situation seems worse in Arab states where tribal, consanguineous marriages, blood related marriages are even more common, Farshidi explained. Pointing to over 500 metabolic diseases, Farshidi added all types of the disorders have been detected in Iran. Among the signs of the disease, Farshidi named mental retardation and severe immovability in children. She has strongly recommended parents to take their children to specialists upon noticing these symptoms in them. Today, advanced technology has come to human aid, she said. "New screening tests at birth have come handy to detect the inherited metabolic diseases which are treatable if they are diagnosed correctly in time." The 5th national conference on genetic counseling and its role in prevention of disabilities is due to open on August 10 for two days at Razi conference center with the cooperation of cellular and molecular research centers from universities of medical sciences across Iran and Razi welfare and rehabilitation sciences. The main topics of the conference are latest findings in genetics, and common genetic diseases including blood and metabolic disorders, autism, infertility and recurrent miscarriage. Inherited metabolic disorders are genetic conditions that result in metabolism problems. Most people with inherited metabolic disorders have a defective gene that results in an enzyme deficiency.

TEHRAN - Iranian startups meet 98 percent of the domestic market's need to biotechnology medicine, the vice president for science and technology Sourena Sattari announced on Sunday. Sattari made the remarks during the closing ceremony of the 29th International Biology Olympiad (IBO 2018), which was held from July 15 to 22 in Tehran, YJC reported. "Iran has great number of startups, which are initiated by young talented Iranians," he said. The manufacture of 98 percent of Iranian biotechnological medicine by startups indicates great achievement of the young generation. "Iranian students always have great results in international competitions and Olympiads, which indicates the great potential of human resources in Iran," he said. Biotechnology in medicine According to economywatch.com, the benefits of biotechnology in medicine are without doubt staggering. Although many exciting developments have taken place in the past few years, with continuing research, it is expected that more and more revolutionary procedures, substances, and devices will be developed to improve and enhance human life. When it comes to biotechnology in medicine, there are many different things that have already been discovered and even more on the near horizon. For instance, today's biotechnology is now being used to develop much-needed vaccines, new drugs to combat tough illnesses, creating xenotransplant organs, developing a variety of nanomedical diagnostic techniques, and even determining origins of disease. Because of the vastness of biotechnology specific to medicine, millions more people will be helped over those who have already benefited from different opportunities.

TEHRAN - Health Minister Hassan Qazizadeh-Hashemi on Tuesday criticized the self-proclaimed human rights advocates for their silence toward U.S. sanctions moves against Iran which can impede access of Iranian patients to necessary drugs. "Undoubtedly, the anti-Iran sanctions would harm the elderly and infants while the so-called advocates of human rights are observing and approving them by their silence," Qazizadeh-Hashemi told reporters, ISNA reported. He also rejected the idea that the sanctions will not affect Iran's medical section, saying embargos against Iran's financial interactions and its oil trade would create problems for the country's health sector. MH/PA

TEHRAN -- Some 400 genetic disorders are diagnosable in Iran and genetic testing can help to prevent 50 percent of genetic disorders before pregnancy, head of Iran's genetic foundation has said. According to the Genetic Diseases Foundation website there are over 6,000 genetic disorders that can be passed down through the generations, many of which are fatal or severely debilitating. Mahmoud Toulaei further explained that some 40 percent of the genetic disorders by inheriting an altered gene and couples who are planning to get married and have children can use genetic counselling and screening services to prevent such genetic disorders. Toulaei made the remarks on the sidelines of the 3rd International and the 15th Iranian Genetics Congress which were held here in Tehran from May 13 to 15. In an interview with the Tehran Times, published in November 2017, Anoushirvan Mohseni-Bandpey, head of Iran's Welfare Organization, said that with regard to the fact that some 25 to 30 thousand children are being born with congenital disabilities in the country annually we decided to make genetic counselling a mandatory requirement for couples before officiating their marriage. Mohseni-Bandpey also explained that premarital genetic counselling was first piloted in one or two towns in each city over the past two years and finally proposed in the cabinet and was approved by the ministers to be implemented nationwide, so now all couples are required to obtain a permission before getting married by filling out questionnaires designed and administered by professional healthcare providers and in case the couples are at risk they will be referred to genetic counselling services to take tests to assess any potential risks for future pregnancies if need be. According to the World Health Organization genetic counselling is the process through which knowledge about the genetic aspects of illnesses is shared by trained professionals with those who are at an increased risk or either having a heritable disorder or of passing it on to their unborn offspring. A genetic counsellor provides information on the inheritance of illnesses and their recurrence risks.

TEHRAN -- Some 30,000 children are being born with disabilities in Iran per annum, deputy health minister, Mohammad-Hadi Ayyazi said, Nasimonline reported on Monday. Ayyazi made the remark over an international seminar on rare diseases held on Sunday night in Tehran. Such birth defects are partially pertaining to consanguineous marriages which are easy to avoid before marriage [with genetic consultation] or even [by conducting tests or performing legal abortion] throughout pregnancy, Ayyazi pointed. There exist thousands of rare diseases worldwide, 58 of which are recognized in Iran and some are still remained unknown, he added. The official went on to say that normally 1 in every 5,000 is affected by a rare disease; unfortunately there are no cure for some rare diseases and patients would only receive medications which alleviate the pain or help them manage the disease.

TEHRAN - A group of Iranian experts have developed a smart comprehensive system for early autism screening by using smart systems and methods like smart toy cars, cognitive plays and smart screening system. The system can be setup in kindergartens as well as medical centers in all parts of Iran and can be used without the need to a physician, executive director of the project announced. Manuchehr Moradi Sabzevar said that the project will be set up in different parts of the country in coming two years. Autistic children need a range of educational, social and medical services, which will be done through cooperation between psychiatrists, physicians and social workers, project co-worker Hamidreza Pouretemad explained. The true process of recognition and rehabilitation for autistic children allow them to have a better social life in the future, he explained. He highlighted the importance of early recognition in autism, which leads to natural learning and development of children. In a press release published by IRNA in late May, Mohammad Taqi Jaghtaei, an advisor to the Ministry of Health, said that it is anticipated that nearly 30,000 children under age five are suffering autism in the country, as prevalence is estimated at 1 in 250 births, and with 1.5 million births per year in Iran some 30,000 are possibly suffering autism, he explained. Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by social-interaction difficulties, communication challenges and a tendency to engage in repetitive behaviors. World Health Organization estimates that 1 in 160 children has an autism spectrum disorder worldwide. Autism cannot be diagnosed at birth. A study, published in February 2010 in Science Daily, of the development of autism in infants, comparing the behavior of the siblings of children diagnosed with autism to that of babies developing normally, has found that the nascent symptoms of the condition -- a lack of shared eye contact, smiling and communicative babbling -- are not present at 6 months, but emerge gradually and only become apparent during the latter part of the first year of life. SB/MQ/MG

A perfect example of the blatant hypocrisy of the mainstream media is CNN posting this video entitled, "Who cares what Cheney says?" because of the supposed hypocrisy of entering the Iraq War . . . Katrina Vanden Heuvel, the editor of news outlet 'The Nation' lived out a liberal fantasy on 'This Week' when she called arch prince of NeoCons Bill Kristol an "architect of catastrophe" and . . . The Benghazi suspect captured by the United States in Libya made an appearance in a Washington D.C. court and plead "not guilty" to charges that he lead the attack. Watch below: And . . . Surveillance video captures the moment when Israeli forces assassinated two members of the Popular Resistance Committee in Gaza, a group they allege is funded by Hezbollah and sponsors terrorist attacks in Israel: . . . What could have been the familiar story of Islamist extremism oppressing another Christian seems to have a happy ending, for now. A Sudanese Christian woman who initially faced a death sentence after . . . Israel responded to a Syrian strike that took the life of a fifteen-year-old Arab-Israeli in the Golan Heights first with tank shelling, and then with airstrikes on nine targets. Watch below: From . . . Apparently, some racist people are still not letting Obama be clear, because Barbara Boxer came out on 'Face the Nation' to voice her wacky opinion on the Iraq War. While he hasn't . . . On this week's 'Face the Nation,' Marco Rubio responds to Rand Paul's statement that we would become Iran's Air Force if we fought ISIS. After calling the claim "exaggerated," Rubio says that . . . Speaking to Jon Karl on 'This Week' this morning, Dick Cheney was challenged in his defense of the Iraq War and criticism of Obama's abandonment on it with Rand Paul's intermediate view . . . The Presbyterian Church has been pressured by leftist groups into divesting any support they had of Israeli companies, and Prime Minister Netanyahu had a strong words of censure for them. Watch below: . . . Rand Paul visited Meet the Press and had some hard words for the president's foreign policy as well as his critics. Although his libertarian policy has been labeled "isolationist," by many, it's . . . Judge Jeanine seems to get better every week in her opening monologue, but this one had some slightly explicit language to it! Not that Obama doesn't deserve it. Watch here: Hard to . . . So there's a pretty obviously deceptively edited video being passed around that supposedly shows Obama advocating a New World Order. We uploaded it so you can see it without giving the deceptive . . . Iraq War vet Paul Rieckhoff got journalist Glen Greenwald so miffed over saying that Snowden's leaks put American lives at risk that he exploded with the exclamation, "that's bull$#%&!!" will debating the . . . Charles Krauthammer demolishes every talking point that the Obama administration tried to put over on the American public in this quick clip from Fox News. Watch below: What many don't know and . . . CNN has an alarming report on how ISIS terrorists are using social media to recruit more followers, including a video in English aimed at Americans and other Westerners. Watch below: Notice that . . . Andrew Tahmooressi continues to languish in a Mexican jail and the Obama administration shows no signs of doing anything to help him, despite trading five terrorists for a suspected deserter, Bowe Bergdahl. . . . There are more rumors coming from Iraq that ISIS is making even more headway towards Baghdad, threatening our enormous embassy with our American diplomats and staff. In response, the State Department announced . . . Apparently the security has deteriorated to the point that we're going to start abandoning the largest embassy we've ever built at a cost of $592 million. So that's a good sign of . . . Terrorists from ISIS have been boasting about beheadings and executions as they take over towns and villages in Iraq, but only recently have images made it out of Iraq to substantiate the . . .

November 16, 2017 12:20 pm A former Israel Defense Forces commander told the Washington Free Beacon anti-Israel activists at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) laughed at him as he gave a talk describing coming out of the closet as gay. January 23, 2015 5:00 am The Iranian military continued to threaten Israel on Thursday, following the assassination of at least one of its senior commanders in Syria during an airstrike over the weekend, in multiple statements issued by leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The recent elections to the European Parliament saw many fascist parties entering the European Union's own parliament. In France, National Front - whose founder a couple of weeks ago proposed the [...] Why don't you people just get over it? Well, umm.... Hello? That's the gist of this video put together by Canada's largest labor union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, which celebrated [...] Members of the Cowboy and Indian Alliance, a coalition of tribal members, farmers, ranchers and landowners stretching from Canada to Texas, set up along Highway 1806 at the Cannon Ball Pit Stop, [...] Last month the FCC released its proposal for America's new network neutrality rules. Unfortunately, the agency's proposal included rules that would permit Internet providers to prioritize certain [...] If you were following the news during the March 2010 elections in Iraq, you might remember that the American press was flooded with stories declaring the elections a success, complete with upbeat [...] On Thursday, June 19 in New York, join OR Books and Chelsea Manning's supporters to mark one year since she went on trial for leaking the Iraq and Afghanistan war logs to WikiLeaks. At TheaterLab [...] Today, several prominent national lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equality organizations released a joint letter to President Obama demanding that the US cease further negotiations [...] Daily movement news and resources. Popular Resistance provides a daily stream of resistance news from across the United States and around the world. We also organize campaigns and participate in coalitions on a broad range of issues. We do not use advertising or underwriting to support our work. Instead, we rely on you. Please consider making a tax deductible donation if you find our website of value.

Syrian state-run media is reporting an Israeli attack near the capital Damascus, saying Syrian air defenses shot down two missiles. The official news agency SANA says Tuesday night's attack occurred in the countryside in Kisweh, just south of Damascus. It took place about an hour after President Donald Trump announced he was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, calling Tehran a main exporter of terrorism in the region. An official with the Iran-led axis of resistance said the strike targeted a Syrian army position and caused only material damage. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements. There was no immediate comment from Israel, which almost never confirms or denies airstrikes in Syria. Iran has vowed to retaliate to recent Israeli strikes in Syria targeting Iranian outposts in the country.

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This guy's incompetence is going to get a lot of people killed. Via NY Times : ... In the interview on Sunday, Mr. Obama said he envisioned the Free Syrian Army's providing the ground presence needed to confront ISIS in Syria. He said that until a moderate Sunni opposition emerged, there was no real hope of ousting President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. But the opposition has been fractured, and the moderate militias are viewed as far less capable than ISIS. "Our attitude towards Assad continues to be that through his actions, through using chemical weapons on his own people, dropping barrel bombs that killed innocent children, that he has foregone legitimacy," Mr. Obama said. "But when it comes to our policy and the coalition that we're putting together, our focus specifically is on ISIL." (ISIL is the name used by administration officials for the militant group.)

by CHQ Staff When President Trump brought Rep. Jim Jordan on stage at his rally in Ohio on Saturday night, the crowd chanted "Speaker of the House" as Jordan stood on stage. To many observers it appeared that Trump was giving the conservative rock star a public boost for his run for Speaker. "Jim Jordan, how great is he?" Trump said, before bringing the lawmaker on stage. "What a great defender he's been, what courage," Trump said after Jordan left the stage. "He's a brave, tough cookie along with some of his friends." "I didn't know he was going to be here," the president continued. "I looked over and said, 'I don't want to wrestle him, he's tough.' " According to The Hill's Jacqueline Thomsen, coverage of the rally also showed Jordan posing for photos with members of the crowd before Trump went on stage. There was a brief "Jordan" chant from the crowd. As most conservatives are aware, Jordan has launched a bid to succeed retiring Speaker Paul Ryan. To the establishment Jordan is seen as a long shot for the post, but has the support from the House Freedom Caucus, which could be the kingmaker in the post-election selection of Ryan's successor. However, as Ms. Thomsen pointed out, Republicans will have to hold on to the House majority this fall to win the Speakership. And right now, establishment pundits, such as Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia, claim Republicans are in trouble. Sabato says the House generic ballot, which has generally been at around a Democratic lead of between six to eight points, is now at the higher end of that range. But more importantly for the House battle, for most of this election cycle the generic ballot has shown a consistent Democratic lead that suggests a very competitive battle for the majority. A high number of open seats -- the highest number of any postwar election save 1992 -- give Democrats many more targets than the GOP (Republicans are defending 41 seats without an incumbent, while Democrats are defending only 22). So, what - if anything - can be done to change this dynamic? One thing would be to keep President Trump on the road. And another, after witnessing Jim Jordan's performance at Trump's rally for Ohio special election candidate Troy Balderson, would be to get Rep. Jordan out there with him. As our friends at "The Last Refuge" noted after the Ohio rally: Representative Jim Jordan is the no-nonsense personification of the 'git-r-done' spirit that runs through the scruffy and beloved heart of MAGA. An authentic guiding spirit that cannot be faked, scripted or duplicated. Ya' either have it.... or ya' don't; it's that simple. In another example for the keen political instincts of President Trump; he can tell from the automatic vibe that jumped in the air when he said the name "Jim Jordan"; the President calls Jordan to the stage.... and another authentic MAGA moment happens spontaneously. Republican state senator Troy Balderson winning Ohio's 12th district is important; but Speaker of The House Jim Jordan is far more valuable to the historic needs of President Trump. Guess what? He just noticed. And he doesn't miss this stuff... It's right there in the picture. See what The Last Refuge is talking about here : As we said last week, no voter in their right mind - and the conservative voters the GOP needs to win are more attuned than ever as to who has been a part of the Paul Ryan legacy of betrayals, lies and failures - is going to vote for that record. President Trump just got the message, now it is time for Republican congressional candidates to wake up. If Republican congressional candidates want to win, they need to associate themselves with the one congressional leader who is looking to the future and fights every day for Republicans to keep their promises to America's forgotten men and women by passing President Trump's 2016 MAGA agenda - Rep. Jim Jordan. If you're running for Congress, and you don't want to be swept up in the Blue Wave that the media keeps tell us is coming here's the first and most important thing you can do: Call Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio at (202) 225-2676 and ask him to come campaign for you, and then campaign on the #DoWhatWeSaid agenda of putting Americans back to work, building the Wall, cutting regulations, cutting spending, defunding Planned Parenthood, rebuilding our military and governing according to the limits enshrined in the Constitution. Reprinted with permission from ConservativeHQ.com Battleground States , Commentary , News

President Trump is set to reimpose several sanctions against Iran, following his decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal. National Security Adviser John Bolton says there is no shortage of communication between the president and his top intelligence officials on whether Russia interfered in the 2016 election. President Trump speaks at a rally in support of congressional hopeful Troy Balderson in Lewis Center, Ohio. A North Korean official from Kim Jong Un's inner circle says that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is undermining the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Senior Adviser to the president Jared Kushner reportedly pressures the country of Jordan to strip millions of Palestinians of their refugee status. The Chinese Foreign Minister says the country is fully committed to denuclearizing North Korea. At the Association of Southeast Asian Nations conference today, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated the country is committed to establishing peace on the Korean peninsula. A top Republican National Committee spokeswoman is saying she believes the southern border wall will get built if the GOP extends their majorities in Congress leading into the November midterms.

CHQ Staff | 7/27/18 Back in May a virtual Who's Who of conservative movement leaders, led by CHQ Chairman Richard A. Viguerie, came together to urge Rep. Jim Jordan (OH-4), the former Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, to run for Speaker of the House. Yesterday, Rep. Jordan made it official; he's running for Speaker of the House. And Mr. Viguerie is not the only conservative leader to believe Jim Jordan is the last best hope for Republicans to retain the House majority and fulfill the Trump agenda: Jenny Beth Martin, Chairman of the Tea Party Patriots, L. Brent Bozell III, former Reagan Attorney General Ed Meese, Ken Cucinnelli of the Senate Conservatives Fund, Frank Gaffney, President, Center for Security Policy and Tim Wildmon, President, American Family Association were also among the more than 40 conservative leaders who signed on to the initial letter urging Jordan to run for Speaker. Our friend Daniel Horowitz of Conservative Review summed up the situation thusly: Amid all the griping about the House leadership, the biggest problem reformers have faced is the old adage, "You can't beat somebody with nobody." For years, nobody was willing to step forward and launch a serious and sustained campaign for speaker with a new platform to galvanize the base and win back swing voters. Jim Jordan has shown today that he is willing to lead where nobody else would. Moreover, he rightfully chose to do so before the election instead of waiting until it's too late. Why risk losing the election over liberal ideas and have a fight over minority leaders, when we could actually promote an agenda we believe in and possibly salvage the election? Well, now we have somebody who will fight for the Trump agenda's conservative ideas and policy solutions, so there is no reason House conservatives should cede the Speaker's gavel and the possible loss of the House majority to California liberal Republican Kevin McCarthy. And by the way, Jim Jordan didn't just announce, he came out fighting. ( You can read his letter announcing his candidacy here ). Our friend Adam Brandon, President of FreedomWorks laid out what would change if Jordan is elected Speaker: Rep. Jordan made clear in his announcement that if elected, he would return control of the House agenda to individual members and committee chairs. Between holding votes on issues Republicans campaign on and decentralizing power within the House, a Speaker Jordan would succeed where Speaker Ryan has failed. Far removed from the corrupt Washington establishment, Jim Jordan is a man committed to draining the Swamp. By the way, FreedomWorks has committed at least half a million dollars to a grassroots effort to support Jordan, and the Club for Growth has also endorsed him. America didn't elect Donald Trump in 2016 to keep Washington the same, the President is delivering, but Congress is not - and that is what is imperiling the Republican majority in the midterm election. Congress still has time to correct its course, and Jim Jordan's first priority is keeping a Republican majority in the House, and the best way keep the majority is by following through on campaign promises, such as building the Wall and repealing Obamacare, and changing Washington's Swamp culture. We think our friends at Senate Conservatives Action may have summed it up best in their endorsement of Jim Jordan for Speaker: Kevin McCarthy is not a conservative. He has supported budget-busting spending bills, massive increases in debt, and taxpayer funding for Obamacare, amnesty, and Planned Parenthood. McCarthy as speaker would be more of the same old tired approach of giving in to Democrats and failing to lead. The present House Republican leadership has failed. It is part of the problem. Jim Jordan is the solution.

by CHQ Staff When President Trump brought Rep. Jim Jordan on stage at his rally in Ohio on Saturday night, the crowd chanted "Speaker of the House" as Jordan stood on stage. To many observers it appeared that Trump was giving the conservative rock star a public boost for his run for Speaker. "Jim Jordan, how great is he?" Trump said, before bringing the lawmaker on stage. "What a great defender he's been, what courage," Trump said after Jordan left the stage. "He's a brave, tough cookie along with some of his friends." "I didn't know he was going to be here," the president continued. "I looked over and said, 'I don't want to wrestle him, he's tough.' " According to The Hill's Jacqueline Thomsen, coverage of the rally also showed Jordan posing for photos with members of the crowd before Trump went on stage. There was a brief "Jordan" chant from the crowd. As most conservatives are aware, Jordan has launched a bid to succeed retiring Speaker Paul Ryan. To the establishment Jordan is seen as a long shot for the post, but has the support from the House Freedom Caucus, which could be the kingmaker in the post-election selection of Ryan's successor. However, as Ms. Thomsen pointed out, Republicans will have to hold on to the House majority this fall to win the Speakership. And right now, establishment pundits, such as Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia, claim Republicans are in trouble. Sabato says the House generic ballot, which has generally been at around a Democratic lead of between six to eight points, is now at the higher end of that range. But more importantly for the House battle, for most of this election cycle the generic ballot has shown a consistent Democratic lead that suggests a very competitive battle for the majority. A high number of open seats -- the highest number of any postwar election save 1992 -- give Democrats many more targets than the GOP (Republicans are defending 41 seats without an incumbent, while Democrats are defending only 22). So, what - if anything - can be done to change this dynamic? One thing would be to keep President Trump on the road. And another, after witnessing Jim Jordan's performance at Trump's rally for Ohio special election candidate Troy Balderson, would be to get Rep. Jordan out there with him. As our friends at "The Last Refuge" noted after the Ohio rally: Representative Jim Jordan is the no-nonsense personification of the 'git-r-done' spirit that runs through the scruffy and beloved heart of MAGA. An authentic guiding spirit that cannot be faked, scripted or duplicated. Ya' either have it.... or ya' don't; it's that simple. In another example for the keen political instincts of President Trump; he can tell from the automatic vibe that jumped in the air when he said the name "Jim Jordan"; the President calls Jordan to the stage.... and another authentic MAGA moment happens spontaneously. Republican state senator Troy Balderson winning Ohio's 12th district is important; but Speaker of The House Jim Jordan is far more valuable to the historic needs of President Trump. Guess what? He just noticed. And he doesn't miss this stuff... It's right there in the picture. See what The Last Refuge is talking about here : As we said last week, no voter in their right mind - and the conservative voters the GOP needs to win are more attuned than ever as to who has been a part of the Paul Ryan legacy of betrayals, lies and failures - is going to vote for that record. President Trump just got the message, now it is time for Republican congressional candidates to wake up. If Republican congressional candidates want to win, they need to associate themselves with the one congressional leader who is looking to the future and fights every day for Republicans to keep their promises to America's forgotten men and women by passing President Trump's 2016 MAGA agenda - Rep. Jim Jordan. If you're running for Congress, and you don't want to be swept up in the Blue Wave that the media keeps tell us is coming here's the first and most important thing you can do: Call Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio at (202) 225-2676 and ask him to come campaign for you, and then campaign on the #DoWhatWeSaid agenda of putting Americans back to work, building the Wall, cutting regulations, cutting spending, defunding Planned Parenthood, rebuilding our military and governing according to the limits enshrined in the Constitution. Reprinted with permission from ConservativeHQ.com Battleground States , Commentary , News

Georgia Democrats have ended the Republicans' two-thirds supermajority in the state Senate, the Cobb County Courier reports. Democrat Jen Jordan won a runoff election against fellow Democrat Jaha Howard by a 64-36 margin to win a seat vacated by Republican Hunter Hill, who resigned to run for governor. The big win comes after a surprise race featuring five Republicans and three Democrats. In an unusual result, two Democrats got the most votes to advance to a runoff to vie for the Republican-held seat. Howard got 22.5 percent of the vote while Jordan got 24.4 percent in the initial race, but no candidate received the 50 percent necessary to win, triggering a run-off. Jordan, a lawyer from south Georgia, ran on a platform of raising the state's minimum wage, LGBT rights, public education, and healthcare expansion.

BY: Katelyn Caralle Follow @Katelyn_Caralle January 17, 2018 12:06 pm The White House on Wednesday released a statement honoring the late civil rights activist and politician Barbara Jordan in an effort to bring Republicans and Democrats together on immigration reform. The presidential message honoring Barbara Jordan was released on the 21st anniversary of Jordan's death, and points out that the Texas Democrat shared many views on immigration with the Trump administration. Jordan was the first black woman elected to the Texas Senate, and the first female to be elected to serve Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives. Jordan believed immigration policy that put America first was an important civil rights issue, according to the White House statement. "Barbara Jordan epitomized the American Dream she worked so tirelessly to protect," the statement reads. "She remained steadfast in promoting common-sense reforms that would better protect the rights and needs of Americans." The White House message points out how a Democrat and champion of civil rights viewed illegal immigration as something that undermined African-American and Hispanic-American rights. "Jordan called for an end to chain migration, which has allowed millions upon millions of low-skilled foreign nationals to compete for opportunities and resources against our most vulnerable citizens, many who come from African-American and Hispanic-American communities," the statement from President Donald Trump says. The statement expresses hope that the recognition of Jordan's beliefs may help pull Republicans and Democrats closer to an agreement on immigration reform that "secures our southern border with a wall, stops chain migration, and ends the visa lottery program once and for all." Democrats and Republicans have been embroiled in a fierce debate over immigration reform and on how to formulate a legislative fix to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration program. Democrats have prioritized passing a DACA replacement while Republicans have argued a fix for "Dreamers," those illegal immigrants previously protected under the Obama-era executive order, should come along with more comprehensive immigration reform, including border security and wall funding. This entry was posted in Issues and tagged Illegal Immigration , Immigration Reform , Trump Administration . Bookmark the permalink . Grow your email list exponentially Dramatically increase your conversion rates Engage more with your audience Boost your current and future profits

It finally had to be done. I had to catch up with the rest of the world and watch Lena Dunham's Girls . After fortifying myself with three days or prayer and fasting, I dove in. I purchased season one, and watched the season two marathon on HBO. Girls has been overanalyzed, so I won't offer a broad interpretation. I can only point out what I think is Girls most glaring flaw: Lena Dunham did not include any control. As in a control in a scientific experiment that serves as a "normal" component that you are not conducting the experiment on. Girls is the story of four twenty-something women in Brooklyn and the pathetic "men" that they date. There is Adam, the attention-deficit artist who always seems to be banging on something and has degrading sexual fantasies. There's Ray, the schlub who manages a coffee shop and is almost too insecure to function. There's Charlie, the soft-spoken musician who is so passive he can barely open doors. There's Thomas-John, who has a job making real money but is written so one-dimensionally we really don't know that much about him. And then there's Booth Jonathan (seriously?), an artist who locks one of the girls inside one of his works of art. He's short and vulgar. (Doesn't a single one of these guys- New Yorkers! -like or play sports?) Girls creator Lena Dunham is very talented, and she's only twenty-six, but it has to be said: like so many liberal Hollywood and New York artists, she has a powerful streak of cowardice. Girls would have been a much more compelling and less narcissistic show if Dunham had the guts to introduce a control into her Brooklyn petri dish. The girls in Girls are frustrated because the guys they date are either passive, psychotic, pretentious, degrading, or plain old losers. But what if Dunham had written in a male character who is strong, caring, attractive, highly intelligent, sexually unambiguous, great in bed, and a conservative? Girls made an overture to this when a Republican character was introduced, but Dunham's liberal intolerance could only tolerate him for about half a show. She concluded she couldn't be with someone who "wasn't on the side of women and gays." Well, there you go. Over and out. Hopefully Dunham will eventually have the courage to write a fully fleshed out character who can challenge the hipster complacency of her show. In The West Wing , Aaron Sorkin brought in an attractive conservative character, Ainsley Hayes, to fence with the liberal Bartlett White House. Sorkin, a liberal, had the guts to let Hayes win a few arguments . In an earlier era, Woody Allen-whom Lena Dunham has been compared to-wrote a female character in the film Manhattan who was conservative. Played by Diane Keaton, she drove Woody Allen's character crazy, which made for both good comedy and drama. Dunham's talent is undeniable, but I fear the hipster universe of Girls will collapse in on itself unless a new stabilizing element is introduced. How about this: a handsome grad student from Fordham who is Catholic, articulate, a college football star, compassionate, manly, and can debate any liberal to a standstill. Maybe his flaw is that he drinks too much, or that he once bullied a gay kid. Introduce this guy to Girls , and a third season may be worth watching.

The 8 executed men had been arrested in the aftermath of the June 2017 twin attacks on Iranian Parliament building and the Mausoleum of late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Khomeini in Tehran. The men executed on Saturday were Soleiman Mozzaffari, Esmaeil Soufi, Rahman Behrooz, Majed Moretezaei, Sirous Azizi, Ayoub Esmaeili, Khosro Raemzani Mir Ahamdi, and Othman Behrooz. They had been sentenced to death in May by Iranian Islamic Revolution Court-Tehran branch and had been convicted of financially and logistically helping the 6 ISIL attackers who were killed during the assault last year. The Iranian Judiciary and Intelligence officials have said that five of the six attackers who died in the assault had previously fought with ISIS in the previous strongholds of the terror group, namely Mosul and Raqqa. Of the six attackers last year, some were killed by Iranian security forces while others blew themselves up. Different Iranian high-ranking officials have so far blamed the Saudi, American and Israeli backers of the terrorist ISIL group for Tehran attacks.

Sigh. America's entertainment business is not always known for its ingenuity. It's pretty much a begrudgingly accepted fact at this point that the big-budget film industry is much more interested in investing in projects that are either continuations of current big-bucks franchises or built off of what was once long-ago a big-bucks franchise. Some of these are pretty good; some are terrible. This is also true, to a somewhat lesser extent, when it comes to the world of television. Case in point: The Brady Bunch --that mind-blowingly wholesome epic saga of mixing families and hosting variety shows--might splash back into our world sometime soon. Read More

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By Corinne Weaver | August 3, 2017 2:05 PM EDT Republicans are just plain evil. If you listen to Dan Savage, "they want sex to be dangerous and consequential so as to scare people out of having it." LGBTQ activist Dan Savage recently sat down with Vox's Alexander Bisley to talk about sex education during the Trump era. The conversation was relevant, according to Bisley, because "the administration appears to be heading toward the 1950's social conservatism preferred by Vice President Pence." The horror. By Alexa Moutevelis Coombs | March 3, 2016 1:19 AM EST ABC's new bigoted anti-Catholic show The Real O'Neals makes fun of Catholic teachings and believers to the point that if the network had targeted any other religious group for these attacks, journalists would call it hate speech. In the two-episode premiere, there were 93 separate visual or verbal reminders that this was a show making fun of Catholics, 8 admissions of Catholic sins, and I laughed out loud exactly once (at a random, non-Catholic joke).

(NBC NEWS) Islamist militants controlling parts of Iraq and Syria have purportedly released a new audio recording warning Americans that "you will not feel secure even in your bedrooms." The statement allegedly features Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani but its authenticity could not immediately be verified by NBC News. According to a translation by security firm Flashpoint Partners, the recording calls President Barack Obama "vile" and "mule of the Jews" and accuses him of being "more foolish" than President George W. Bush. The U.S. has carried out more than 170 airstrikes targeting ISIS, and Congress voted on Friday to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels against the group. "Mobilize your forces, roar with thunder, threaten whom you want, plot, arm your troops, prepare yourselves, strike, kill, and destroy us," the statement added.

Philip Hammond and Hassan Rouhani / AP BY: Morgan Chalfant Follow @mchalfant16 August 24, 2015 2:25 pm Britain's foreign minister warned against leaving Iran in isolation Monday just as the two countries made symbolic moves to smooth over diplomatic relations. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, who met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday, told BBC in an interview that "Iran is too large a player to simply leave in isolation," cautioning that Britain should "tread carefully" in its relations with Tehran. "Yes, we should tread carefully," Hammond said . "There is a deep legacy of distrust on both sides, and we have major areas where we have very substantial policy differences, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be talking." The meeting between Hammond and Rouhani in Tehran came just one day after Britain and Iran reopened their respective embassies. The British embassy in Iran was shuttered almost four years ago amid protests over Britain's support of tougher sanctions on Tehran for its nuclear program. While Hammond described himself as "not blind" to Iran's human rights record and other areas of concern, he said the country does see "eye-to-eye" with Britain on issues like countering the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIL or ISIS) and prohibiting opium trafficking between Afghanistan and Europe. He insisted that reopening diplomacy was the "sensible way forward" for the countries to smooth relations. "In all of the meetings we've been to we've heard a consistent message that Iran wants to do business with Britain, that it wants to see a new chapter in our relationship, that Iran will very much be open to British and other foreign businesses in this next phase," Hammond explained. Hammond offered no guarantees Iran will not press forward in pursuit of a nuclear weapon even in light of the recently brokered nuclear deal. "My judgement is that whatever Iran has or hasn't been doing in the past, the regime, the Iranian people, have come to the conclusion that pursuing, or being believed to pursue, an illegal military nuclear programme just imposes too great a cost on Iran," Hammond said. The nuclear deal, reached in Vienna between Iran and the P5+1 in July, is currently undergoing scrutiny as the United States Congress takes its 60-day review period to assess the agreement. While President Obama and some Democrats have stood by the deal, many lawmakers from both parties have expressed opposition. Much criticism of the deal is rooted in the belief that it relies on the trust of the Iran regime, which the Obama administration has denied. Congressional lawmakers have been increasingly suspicious of secret side agreements to the deal that govern the inspection of one of Iran's nuclear facilities as well as the extent to which the country must admit to the details of its alleged nuclear weapons program. Last week, an apparent draft of one of the secret agreements indicated that Tehran will be permitted to use its own experts to inspect the Parchin nuclear site believed to have housed nuclear arms development. Despite Obama's continuous attempt to sell the agreement, a growing majority of Americans want Congress to reject it. This entry was posted in National Security and tagged Hassan Rouhani , Iran , Nuclear Weapons . Bookmark the permalink .

The head of Iran Mine House Mohamad Reza Bahraman made the remarks in a meeting with Ilam provincial governor on Sunday afternoon. "In terms of mineral deposits, our country is one of the top 10 countries in the world and is among the top three that possess construction rocks," Bahraman said. Iran enjoys a unique position in terms of possessing diverse natural resources and its geography, the head of Iran Mine House said, adding "in terms of metallic and non-metallic minerals, we are also among the richest countries in the world." Meanwhile, the Iranian official acknowledged that the vast reserves have not been used properly in the interest of the country's economy and eradicating unemployment. He added that more investment is needed in mineral deposits such as copper, iron ore, lead and zinc, decorative stones etc..

"Narcotics in Afghanistan are produced under the support umbrella of NATO and the Americans,"Rae'esi said in a ceremony to mark the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on Saturday. The Iranian official further pointed to the Islamic Republic's achievements in the anti-drug fight, saying that the international community acknowledges and praises Tehran's efforts in this regard. However, he said, when it comes to the punishment of drug dealers and smugglers in Iran, certain states issue resolutions against Tehran and this is "a big paradox". In recent decades, Iran has been hit by drug trafficking, mainly because of its 936-kilometer shared border with Afghanistan, in which more than 90% of the world's opium is produced. According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the Islamic Republic is netting eight times more opium and three times more heroin than all other countries in the world combined. The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 3,700 Iranian police officers over the past 30 years.

TEHRAN - Iranian cooperatives and unions presented over 39,000 job opportunities to the country's workforce during the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-Decemebr 21, 2017). According to the data released by the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, the mentioned jobs were created at 2,535 newly established cooperatives and unions, ISNA reported on Saturday. Based on the data, some 49,891 job opportunities were created during the last Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20, 2017). EF/MA

According to the statistics released by Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIM), Iran exported 8.241 billion euros worth of goods and commodities to the European Union during the first 10 months of 2017, while it imported 8.407 billion euros from the EU, which indicates a significant increase compared to the same period last year. During the first 10 months of 2016, Iran had only exported 3.942 billion euros worth of goods and commodities to the EU, while imported 6.361 billion euros from the EU countries.

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini says the EU is encouraging enterprises to increase their business with Iran, as that country has been compliant with their nuclear-related commitments. "We are doing our best to keep Iran in the deal, to keep Iran benefiting from the economic benefits that the agreement brings to the people of Iran because we believe this is in the security interests of not only our region, but also of the world. If there is one piece of international agreements on nuclear non-proliferation that is delivering, it has to be maintained," The Washington Post quoted Mogherini as saying during a joint press conference with New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters on Tuesday. She noted that it's up to Europeans to decide who they want to trade with. "We are encouraging small and medium enterprises in particular to increase business with and in Iran as part of something (that) for us is a security priority," she said. Trade between Iran and the EU "is a fundamental aspect of the Iranian right to have an economic advantage in exchange for what they have done so far, which is being compliant with all their nuclear-related commitments," Mogherini said. U.S. President Donald Trump announced Washington's exit from the 2015 nuclear deal on May 8 and ordered restoration of sanctions against Iran. The first batch of sanctions was snapped back on Monday, August 6. The second batch will be restored on November 4. Washington's European allies said they "deeply regret" the U.S. action. In a statement on Monday, Trump warned that those who don't wind down their economic ties to Iran "risk severe consequences". European ministers said the Iran deal was crucial for Europe's and the world's security, and the European Union issued a "blocking statute" Monday to protect European businesses from the impact of the sanctions.

Why do liberal parents feel the need to use their dead children for political gain? Read More >>> No one wants to take your guns? If everything Hillary wants is enacted, what difference does it make? Read More >>> When a black man with a concealed carry permit shoots "white Hispanics" in justifiable self defense, race is not mentioned. Read More >>> A seminar entitled, "Lethal Force Seminar: Laws All Gun-Owners Must Know," seeks to both capitalize on the nation's interest in high profile self-defense cases and teach interested citizens about the firearm laws they need to know... Read More >>> I don't want to write about how weary I am of the media orgy that continues to feed off the way a minor incident in Sanford, Florida, metastasized into a trial and a national display of the new racism... Read More >>> Instead of blaming racism for profiling a black kid...how about placing the blame at the feet of black youth, like Trayvon, whose behavior causes suspicion of truly innocent black teenage youth... Read More >>> House Democrats said Tuesday they will offer an amendment to push to overturn stand-your-ground self-defense laws in states like Florida.... Read More >>> If asking the government to investigate a terrorist threat/civil rights violation is useless, should we just give up on trying? What if that attitude had prevailed with those reporting on the Fast and Furious gunwalking scandal? Read More >>> Shootings should be judged by the evidence, the law, and whether or not a crime was committed. It's not in the interests of good people to inject racial animosity into the investigation-the only people that serves are opportunists with an agenda. Read More >>> Wild Bill : @Quatermain, Well... brother, first we all know if a judge, senator, congressman, batfe agent or fib agent lives near... Mark Zanghetti : First let us thank God your son is alive and healthy after such an encounter! Thank your son for his... Don : The minute you take off the factory rear grip and put something else on that gun your're in a gray... Wild Bill : Author David Limbaugh, quite correctly, used the word "consuming". I say let the libtards frenzy, let the libtards riot,... Wild Bill : Dear Mrs Hodges, engage a skilled criminal defense attorney to nail down witnesses, statements, and other evidence, anyway! Don't wait....

You might think before having laws forcing fellow human beings to be defenseless targets, those who support such laws would have some factual basis? Not when your the Fact-Free Left... Read More >>> Mark Zanghetti : How could I buy a membership in "Kat's" name? If everyone who could bought a membership in "Kat's" name you... Wild Bill : @Quatermain, Well... brother, first we all know if a judge, senator, congressman, batfe agent or fib agent lives near... Mark Zanghetti : First let us thank God your son is alive and healthy after such an encounter! Thank your son for his... Don : The minute you take off the factory rear grip and put something else on that gun your're in a gray... Wild Bill : Author David Limbaugh, quite correctly, used the word "consuming". I say let the libtards frenzy, let the libtards riot,...

We know very little about what happened this morning in the shooting deaths of two local TV news reporters, other than the gunman may have been a former employee of the same TV news station. We don't know motivation, the type of gun used or how it was purchased, or anything about the shooter's state of mind. We know nothing. But that didn't stop the Democratic governor of Virginia, Terry Mcauliffe, from exploiting this shooting to push his gun control agenda, blaming 'gun violence' and calling for more gun control, and the suspect isn't even in custody yet. Ugh, makes me sick. Watch: Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

By Sheila Kennedy [Originally published at SheilaKennedy.net on October 27, 2014] Question: What's more dangerous than Ebola? Answer: How about ignorance, racism, hysteria...Not to mention that most of us face an immensely greater chance of dying from flu, guns, automobiles, obesity and other causes about which we don't panic and against which we don't even take reasonable precautions. Ebola is one of [...] Continue reading >> From the July 21 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Sean Hannity Show courtesy of Media Matters: Tim PeacockTim Peacock is the Managing Editor and founder of Peacock Panache and has worked as a civil rights advocate for over twenty years. During that time he's worn several hats including leading on campus LGBT advocacy in the University of Missouri campus [...] Continue reading >>

Brian Duncan Johnson is a fourth year student at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia focusing studies on History and Government. Duncan is a regular contributor to Ammoland and often assist in the everyday gun news publishing as an assistant editor. Mike L : The Americans put up with decades of British tyranny before they chose to fight it. Like today, many people hesitated... Mark Zanghetti : How could I buy a membership in "Kat's" name? If everyone who could bought a membership in "Kat's" name you... Wild Bill : @Quatermain, Well... brother, first we all know if a judge, senator, congressman, batfe agent or fib agent lives near... Mark Zanghetti : First let us thank God your son is alive and healthy after such an encounter! Thank your son for his... Don : The minute you take off the factory rear grip and put something else on that gun your're in a gray...

The primary suspect charged in the abuse of 11 youths found malnourished at a ramshackle compound in New Mexico was training the children with firearms to commit school shootings, prosecutors said in court documents filed in the case on Wednesday. The suspect, identified as Huraj Wahhaj, is the father of a young boy whose disappearance from his home near Atlanta months ago prompted the investigation that led authorities to raid the compound last week. Authorities say remains believed to be that of the boy were found at the property on Monday but have not yet been positively identified. Saturday, 11 Aug 2018 14:38 PM

It happens more often than you may think. Someone will ask me after mass, "Deacon Greg, if priests could be married, wouldn't you like to be a priest?" Well, the answer for me is no. God called me to this particular vocation, not to any other, and I'm happy being a deacon. But this Sunday is a moment to consider those men who were called to that other vocation - and to thank them for answering the call. This is World Priest Day. At the end of mass, I'll offer a special prayer and blessing for the priests of the parish. But right now I'd like to offer a few thoughts on the priesthood and why it matters - now, more than ever. As a deacon I'm able to do many of the things that priests do. I share with them in the sacrament of Holy Orders, and have been given faculties to baptize, to marry, to proclaim the gospel and to preach. It's not unusual for people to confuse deacons with priests - we look a lot alike - and very often someone will corner me after mass and say, "Father, can you hear my confession?" And I usually say: "I'm happy to hear it, but I can't give you absolution." Which just confuses people more. But it points up something significant. It goes to the heart of the priesthood and what it's about. The fact is, sacramentally, there are three key things that only priests can do. They hear confessions and give absolution. Most importantly: they consecrate the Eucharist. When you consider those three sacraments, they offer a powerful testament to the meaning of the priesthood. Because those sacraments - confession, anointing, the Eucharist - are ones that bring us most profoundly into the presence of God. When we need it most, they touch our lives with grace. At moments when we are broken, we are made whole. At times when we are separated from God, we are reconciled with Him. At the high point of the mass, the greatest sacrifice is offered again and again and again, and Christ is made present, and he becomes, once again, a part of us. At these moments in our lives, we encounter the perfect God through the imperfect hands of another human being. The created brings to us our Creator. And it happens only through the hands of the priest. It's astonishing to consider. I think that God has given us the priesthood so He can continue to give us Himself. It is another sign of His boundless love for us. Before I was ordained, I was talking with a classmate of mine, who said his pastor had some very simple advice about preaching. "Just remember," he told him, "to tell the people that God loves them." I try to remember that myself every time I climb into this pulpit. But when you think of what priests do, what they bring to us, I think they do it even more powerfully and more profoundly. And they don't do it with words. Every absolution says: "God loves you." Every anointing says: "God loves you." Every elevation of the consecrated host at that altar says: "God loves you." It is a message we are hungry to hear. Especially now, with so much that is uncertain, when it is easy to lose sight of what matters. The beautiful gospel we just heard tells us what matters: to love God, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. The greatest example of that, of course, is Christ. Nobody did that better. But the one who witnesses to that, every day of his life, is the priest. One of the arguments that is frequently made against a married priesthood is that the priest would find it impossible to devote time to both the Church and his family. As someone who struggles with that now, I can say: it ain't easy. One of my colleagues at CBS, Lesley Stahl, once used a wonderful analogy to describe the difficulties of being a working mother. "When you're juggling all those balls," she said, "you need to remember which ones are rubber...and which ones are glass." But very often, in the life of a priest, they are all glass. Because the great work of his life is caring for the most fragile thing of all: the human soul. The priest is the only one who is there at all the critical moments of life...from the very beginning, to the very end, and so many of the mileposts in between. He isn't there just to bless rosaries or pose for pictures. He is there to make God present, and make that presence real. He is there to walk with us on the journey. It is a journey he himself makes, for the most part, alone. I don't know what compels a man to want to do that - it is a calling, just as some of us are called to be husbands or fathers or deacons. But it is also a journey. One of faith, and courage. There's a beautiful book on the priesthood by Fr. Michael Heher, from the Diocese of Orange, in California. It's called "The Lost Art of Walking on Water." And near the end, he compares the mission of the Church to that moment when St. Peter stepped out of the boat and for one miraculous moment walked on water. We all need to follow Peter's example, Fr. Heher says - and we can only do it by keeping our eyes fixed on Christ. The message is clear: the waters may be turbulent. The wind may howl. But get out of the boat. With Jesus as your lifeguard, you can do the impossible. Peter did it. Priests, in their way, do it, too. They have summoned the courage to leave what is safe and secure and give their lives over to a miracle. A miracle that says again and again, "God loves you." Priests spend so much of their lives reminding us of that. This day, we pause to remind THEM of that, too -- and to express our gratitude, appreciation, and love. To all those priests who have walked with us on the journey...to those who have prayed with us, celebrated with us, wept with us, forgiven us, uplifted us, hoped with us...to those who have told us again and again, "God loves you," we can only whisper those words back, along with two more: "Thank you."

November 9, 2015 ( HLI ) -- I received a number of emails from friends after Respect Life Sunday saying that they heard little, if anything, about life and family from the pulpit. It is as if some pastors are afraid of preaching the Gospel of Life, or have something more important to talk about even when it is chosen as the day to preach on precisely these issues. The failure to preach the Gospel of Life is not only a U.S. problem. During HLI's conferences, I hear the same comments from around the world. I bring this up when I speak to seminarians, priests, and bishops - many times the only message the faithful will hear about these incredibly urgent pastoral and moral questions is at Mass. Generally, Catholics might hear a homily on abortion once a year. They might hear an occasional reference to euthanasia - a subject some deem easier to preach about - but most usually never hear references to contraception, homosexuality, promiscuity, pornography, cohabitation or divorce. It is also not helpful when Church leaders accept the false caricature that "the Church is always talking about these issues," so it's about time we talked about something else. Apparently "the Church" has not sufficiently talked about issues in a way that helps the political party that now treats abortion as a "human right." When one cardinal said two years ago that those Catholics who were in second civil unions without annulment of their marriages should not be expected to be heroes by being celibate, many couples who had been abstaining from sex felt like they had been punched in the gut. What had they been sacrificing for? Such a position makes it sound like Jesus' teaching on marriage is just too hard to follow. We know better than Jesus. We are more pastoral. It is even more hurtful when the cardinal's superior also seems to accept and repeat this characterization of Church teaching as being uncompassionate. It is true that priests and bishops are people too. When they preach in a way that displeases people not only might they lose parishioners, they may also lose collection revenue and invite nasty e-mails and face-to-face conversations after Mass. Most of us know the risks too well. But, my brothers, we have given our lives to a Man who submitted to a gruesome and humiliating death! We follow Our Lord, who died on a cross for us! If we love those whom we are given to serve in our parishes - let me choose my words carefully here - how the hell are we helping them if we do not tell them the truth - the Good News - about sexuality and marriage? These are pastoral issues, and cannot be reduced to some obscure teaching that was meant for another time! Pope Saint John Paul II knew this well: The Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus' message. Lovingly received day after day by the Church, it is to be preached with dauntless fidelity as "good news" to the people of every age and culture. ( Evangelium vitae 1) My God, my God, why have we forsaken you? How did we let ourselves come to the belief that you, Our Lord, meant for our lives to be as easy as possible? That Your Law -- what You told us is what those who love you will follow -- can only be held up when it happens to find agreement with our fallen culture? Why are we not protecting married couples from the violence of contraception -- the divorce of unitive and procreative aspects of the beautiful gift of sexuality? Why are we afraid of helping our brothers and sisters to live in truth, according to their dignity? What is our role and duty in Christ - in truth and charity? Click "like" if you are PRO-LIFE ! No one has said that we must only preach about life and family issues. Anyone who claims differently is ignorant or is trying to manipulate the listener. As priests we must prayerfully discern how to bring the Word of God directly to those we serve in a way that they can hear. We absolutely must remind the faithful of their obligation to serve in solidarity with those in need, to be generous with their material gifts. We owe it to our congregations to remind them of the goodness of Truth and Beauty - the goodness of life, of God's creation and our responsibility to be stewards of what we've been given. We have to remind people that our faith cannot be reduced to rules, but is based on Love. But we must never accept the false representation of Church teaching on life and marriage as lacking compassion, or pretend it was made for another time. We must not be afraid to tell the truth about life and family, as there are no more immediate or urgent pastoral issues that our families are dealing with at home or in the public square. Preaching on these issues on Respect Life Sunday is a bare minimum - a starting point. We are forming hearts and minds so that the faithful can in freedom choose wisely and lovingly when the moment of heroism - even everyday heroism for those with great challenges - comes their way. It is not "pastoral" to ignore the loving doctrine we have been given and offer solutions that soothe and confuse. This is not love. Reprinted with permission from Human Life International .

W hen Pope Francis announced his Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, now underway, he accompanied it with a beautiful papal bull, Misericordiae Vultus , which disappeared almost as soon as it was issued. Fortunately, in his new book, The Name of God is Mercy , co-authored with Andrea Tornielli , Francis not only republishes the letter, but complements it with a hundred pages of fresh reflections on Christian mercy--restoring words like "mercy, "love" and "compassion" to their authentic meaning, and also defending his own statements on mercy from exploitation and misuse. Many have tried to drive a wedge between Francis and Catholic Tradition, and especially between Francis and his predecessors, but the pope will have none of that here. Francis quickly dispels the idea--suggested by certain commentators --that he has highlighted Christian mercy as a major theme of his pontificate because it's been suppressed, forgotten or ignored by the Church. The exact opposite is the case: Christian mercy began with the Incarnation, is central to the Gospels, and has been a fundamental part of Catholic life for centuries. To underscore these facts, Francis mentions many merciful pastors he knew, as a youngster, in the (supposedly harsh and repressive) pre-Conciliar Church. He also quotes Scripture, the saints and his last six predecessors, especially St. John Paul, who championed Christian mercy against a cruel and cynical world. In his bull, Francis writes: Let us not forget the great teaching offered by Saint John Paul II in his second encyclical, Dives in Misericordia . . . John Paul II highlighted the fact that we had forgotten the theme of mercy in today's cultural milieu: 'The present -day mentality, more perhaps than that of people in the past, seems opposed to a God of mercy, and in fact tends to exclude from life and to remove from the human heart the very idea of mercy. . . . ' F rancis then urges us to listen "once more" to John Paul II's powerful words: The Church lives an authentic life when she professes and proclaims mercy--the most stupendous attribute of the Creator and of the Redeemer--and when she brings people close to the sources of the Saviour's mercy, of which she is the trustee and dispenser. Having established the Church's historic witness of Christian mercy, Francis then explains what it actually is. In his extended conversation with Tornielli, Francis lays out four essential stages for experiencing Christian mercy, addressed to religious and laity alike. The first step is to humble oneself before God, and acknowledge one's sins: "Jesus comes for us, when we recognize we are sinners," says Francis. But if we act proud and self-righteous, and thank God for not being sinners "like other men," we will deceive ourselves about our own faults, increase our guilt before God, corrupt our consciences, and "never have the joy of feeling this mercy." Second, we should recognize that "shame"--which has such negative connotations in the modern world-- is really a grace, properly understood. For "when one feels the mercy of God, he feels a great shame for himself and for his sin. There is a beautiful essay by a great scholar of spirituality, Father Gaston Fessard, on the subject of shame in his book, The Dialectic of the 'Spiritual Exercises' of St. Ignatius . Shame is one of the graces that St. Ignatius asks for during his confession of his sins before Christ crucified." Third, we should frequent the Confessional, and appreciate it as a gift, for it has spiritual, emotional and psychological benefits which are all part of divine mercy, designed by Christ. Francis comments: Jesus said to his apostles: 'Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.... Therefore, the apostles and all their successors . . . become instruments of the mercy of God. They act in persona Christi . This is very beautiful. It has deep significance because we are social beings. . . . I have always been moved by the gesture in the tradition of Eastern churches, where the confessor welcomes the penitent by putting his stole over the penitent's head and an arm around his shoulder, as if embracing him. It is the physical representation of acceptance and mercy. I n this connection, the Pope addresses his famous "Who am I to Judge?" comment about people with same-sex desires, and now expands upon them: "I prefer that homosexuals come to confession, that they stay close to the Lord, and that we pray all together. You can advise them to pray, show goodwill, show them the way, and accompany them along it." Of course, confessing one's sexual sins, and living a chaste life, is not what many people want to hear, but it is the path of true Christian holiness, and it is encouraging to see Francis highlighting that fact. Lastly, and to expand upon the latter, after one experiences the forgiveness of God, one should do everything possible to reform and purify one's life, and not to squander God's grace by returning to a life of sin. Of course, as Francis stresses, God's mercy is infinite, and he will forgive us, even if we do fall again, in our human frailties. But the pope doesn't want us to view confession as some kind of back-up spiritual insurance policy--nor desire that we confess our sins merely to fulfill a Church duty. He wants us to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation so we can transform our lives, and become true disciples for Christ and His Church: "May the message of mercy reach everyone, and may no one be indifferent to the call to experience mercy. I direct this invitation to conversion even more fervently to those whose behavior distances them from the grace of God. . . . For their own good, I beg them to change their lives ." (emphasis added) If there are several enduring messages of this powerful book, they are that the Church should never close the door on anyone's life, never give up on saving them, seek them out wherever they are, and never tire of bringing them the Good News of Jesus Christ. That is the meaning of Christian mercy. William Doino Jr. is a contributor to Inside the Vatican magazine, among many other publications, and writes often about religion, history and politics. He contributed an extensive bibliography of works on Pius XII to The Pius War: Responses to the Critics of Pius XII . His previous articles can be found here . Become a fan of First Things on Facebook , subscribe to First Things via RSS , and follow First Things on Twitter .

March 23, 2018 ( LifeSiteNews ) - French dioceses have done a curious thing by editing an image of a priest to make it appear he's wearing jeans rather than a cassock. It may seem counterintuitive, but the Catholic Church actually risks becoming irrelevant by trying to be more "relevant," as it apparently did with this stunt in France. It seems almost apologetic to edit from this photo something so defining of the Catholic priesthood. The cassock is the long black robe that was pretty much the "standard uniform" of Catholic priests before the 1960s. It distinguishes a priest - whose voice and hands can literally bring Jesus down to Earth - from the laity. A few years ago, a friend made this analogy, and it seems fitting to share it here: If you needed a taxi, wouldn't you rather hop in one that was yellow and had "taxi" printed on it in large letters than a van whose driver said his vehicle was a taxi, but could produce no proof that it was? Just as people are more likely to know that a yellow car with "taxi" written on it is in fact a taxi, people are more likely to know that a priest in a cassock is in fact a Catholic priest. Paradoxically, priests who wear cassocks and lace surplices and intricately-embroidered vestments tend to be quite masculine. They seem comfortable in their priesthood. They know they're different, and they embrace that difference as an integral part of their vocation and manhood. Of course, there are wonderful priests who prefer to wear a clerical shirt and black pants, or who for some reason are unable at times to wear their Roman collars. But a priest in a cassock is a beautiful reminder of the distinction between the ordained and the laity. Priests' cassocks and the habits nuns wear seem like a sign of their closeness to God and their proper distance from worldly things. And just as a struggling swimmer views a lifevest floating toward him as, well, a lifesaver, running into an easily identifiable priest is a lifesaver for anyone who needs to ask for prayer or Confession or help. I'm friends with a seminarian and it always strikes me how much people in public light up upon seeing his cassock. More than once he's had to wistfully tell them, no, he's not a "father" yet, but yes, he will still pray for them. It's because Catholicism is countercultural that so many are attracted to it. It's a refuge from the world and the world's emptiness. The Church offers everyone the opportunity to experience the supernatural and get a very tiny taste of what we hope to attain after death. Priests who wear cassocks act and dress like priests of Jesus Christ because that's what they are. They know and embrace it. And the laity love them for it. God bless the nameless French priest whose cassock was subjected to silly treatment by someone misguidedly trying to make him look more "modern."

What was attempted here in Rome these past few weeks was nothing less than historic -- an attempted overthrow of Church teaching by a handful of powerful Churchmen and their allies using faulty exegesis and catechesis mixed in with a liberal dose of errant sociology. They were largely blunted in their attempt -- at least on the surface, and at least for now -- as they were to a degree at last year's Extraordinary Synod. But these same Churchmen (and their number is not insignificant) will now go back to their respective dioceses and continue to dismantle the faith on a local level, not having been able to achieve it on a universal level. Many bishops in their own diocese simply look the other way when these thorny issues come up -- or any thorny issues, for that fact. And as has been evidenced in spades at this Synod, many of them don't understand the Faith; they are poorly formed in it. Their seminary training and/or formation were sorely lacking owing to the turbulent theological revolution in the Church which came to the surface in the 1960s and moving forward even to our present day. So no one can be surprised that various bishops here do not accept simple Catholic doctrine. Some reject it for its own sake. Others reject it unintentionally because they were never really exposed to it. This is one of the good things ---if you can call it that -- emerging from the Synod: that it is now laid bare for the whole Catholic world to see that even some of the successors of the Apostles have fallen prey to what Pope St. Pius X correctly labeled the Modernist heresy -- and not because they accept it and embrace it. Some do -- but others simply do not realize it. This is why it is good to have this discussion -- lay it all out there, every controversial issue that can be discussed. Our Blessed Lord has promised to protect the Church, that He would be with us at all times until there is no more time. So what are we afraid of? Why are so many so touchy that some very difficult issues need to be looked at square in the face? Are we not a "listening Church"? Do we need our own "language event" to examine these issues that so many need accompanying with? The truth is that all of us have failed -- through sin mostly, but also through lack of knowledge. We have all failed our Holy Mother. Some have failed spectacularly, others in more mundane ways. For example, how many of us laity have adopted the attitude that it is the priests' or bishops' job to teach the Faith and thereby rationalized keeping our mouths shut when loved ones have adopted a sinful lifestyle? How many of us have witnessed not for Our Blessed Lord, as He commanded us, and simply gone along with evil and found a thousand rationalizations to do so? True, many bishops and clergy seem to make this a modus operandi, but does that mean that we laity cannot become more educated in the Faith on our own? How many of us, for example, simply accept the opinions of "celebrity" clergy and leave unchallenged their spiritually unfounded propositions that most, if not all, people go to Heaven. Do we not challenge such things so omnipresent in the Church these days because we are afraid of the scorn we will receive from others? The point is this: These discussions need to happen -- and you need to start them. Leaving difficult things left unsaid does no one any good. We are all rightfully concerned with a family member who starts to come apart because of drugs or pornography or alcohol or sudden tragedy, and we rush to them to both comfort and help them to get back on track. But when it comes to that same person's soul in spiritual matters, we pause, are much more reticent to take action, much more fearful that we might offend them. Why is that? Why do we care more for our loved ones' earthly lives than their eternal lives? And to hammer home the point: Merely caring about someone internally is insufficient. It's certainly nice, but left inside, it's just an emotion. If that "feeling-fueled" knowledge isn't acted on when we can do something about it, then part of the guilt falls to us. We've just sat here for three weeks and heard hundreds of bishops, archbishops, cardinals and even the Pope, not to mention scores of lay people and religious of every stripe, talk about how the family needs to be a place of safety and aid and comfort and compassion and mercy for wounded family members. And that is all very true. But -- and this has been the vexing question here -- how do you go about it? No matter what you do, there is one thing you may never do, and that is withold the truth. The primary concern must be their eternal lives. Of course eternal life is achieved through choices in this life, so of course what happens here is the path to that reality. But there seems to be in the air here a great vacuum of understanding that what we are on a path to is either Heaven or Hell. And this reality must be comprehended -- completely. All of this is totally meaningless if it's understood as just a way to make people feel important and supported and cared for on earth. Many Catholics today are dubious about approaching loved ones because they either don't, or think they don't, know enough about the Faith to talk to them; so they sit by kind of quietly, knowing with their Catholic instincts that a given situation is bad, but feeling not knowledgeable enough to get into it. So nothing gets said. This lack of knowledge and understanding of these eternal issues has got to be overcome -- and overcome immediately. It's the main reason we are always inviting people to sign up for a Premium account with us. You can do it by clicking the blue " Go Premium " button on the page here. Please join us by becoming a Premium member and gain access to hundreds of hours of authentic Catholic programming. Most Catholics who go to Mass today don't really know the Faith. Anyone under 55 remembers sitting in religion class (for those of us in religion classes) and getting taught next to nothing, which would have been preferable compared to the bad catechesis many were taught. Why do we need to know the Faith? Because without it, it's nearly impossible to achieve sanctity in this life, and even harder to advance in it . And the bottom-line solution for this entire mess is, as simply stated as possible, to be a living saint -- not him, not her, but you -- and me. Being a saint is the only purpose or meaning to life. Saints want to get people to Heaven. To do that, they help teach them the Faith. In order to teach them the Faith, they invest the time and energy to actually learn the Faith, to know the Faith. You cannot love, I cannot love, what I do not know. And if someone dies not loving the Faith, the truth, the Church, then that life will have been a failure, regardless of what it looked like through human eyes. As the Spaniard Juan Donosco Cortes said, "Catholicism is the law of life, the life of the intelligence, the solution of all problems. Catholicism is the truth, and everything that departs from it one iota is disorder, deception, and error." Please join in our work here, the work of helping people to come to the knowledge of the truth, glories of the Faith, the majesty of the Church, so we can all be more effective and courageous evangelizers in our own families and states of life. Again, please become a Premium member today by clicking on the blue " Go Premium " button so you can more enthusiastically embrace the Faith. The way out of this crisis is only one: becoming a saint, with all that entails.

If you talk to people who are converts to the faith, many will give different reasons for joining the Catholic Church. Sometimes it's marriage. Sometimes it's more mysterious - a kind of subliminal pull they can't explain. Sometimes, it's something very simple. Not long ago, I was talking with a friend of ours who joined the church this past Easter down in Florida. I was her sponsor. Even though she's about 10 years older than me, I like to call her my "goddaughter." Anyway, she was explaining one of the things that drew her to the Catholic faith. She put it very simply: "It's the history," she said. The writer and teacher Scott Hahn was a Presbyterian minister, and he's written about his own journey to the Catholic Church in a similar fashion. His search for the truth of Christianity led him to realize that all the roots of what he practiced were Catholic. In other words: this is where it all began. And the moment it all began is right here, in today's gospel. Follow the bread crumbs of Christianity back through the centuries, past the Presbyterians and the Methodists and the Anglicans and the Lutherans, through all the dense trees of theological debate that grew up over two thousand years, and you will eventually find yourself here, in Caesaria Phillipi, when Jesus says to Peter: you are in charge. And here are the keys. There's a lot to dissect in this scene. But one of the things that strikes me is this surprising thought: Jesus is turning over his church to one of us. He hasn't sought out a temple high priest, or a scholar of the Torah, or a rabbi. He's picked a fisherman, a man who smells of salt water and brine, and who has a knack for always saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. He's selected someone who will deny him. And who will challenge him. And who, when he is needed the most, will run and hide. But Jesus has also picked a man of astounding conviction. The only one who wasn't afraid to step out of the boat and even attempt to walk on water. The one eager to build tents during the Transfiguration. A man of action. In short, Jesus has chosen someone who embodies the strengths and weakness of all of us. Our fervor - as well as our fears. Here is all the Church could be, and all that it would be, summed up in just one man. Peter is us . Jesus chose this man, his hands calloused from hauling nets and filthy from handling fish, and into those hands he placed an invaluable treasure, the church. A priceless kind of Faberge egg. Trusting that it would be cared for. Trusting that it wouldn't break. One of the other things that is so striking to me about this episode is that it all comes down to one clear, concise question. "Who do you say that I am?" Peter answers, and the rest is history - really. But this morning I'd like you to think of that question in a different context. It is more than a pop quiz posed two thousand years ago to one of the apostles. It's more than the set up for the creation of the first pope. Rather, this is a question that haunts every heart. It is the question Christ asks each of us, every day, countless times, in countless ways. Who do you say that I am? Who do we say that Jesus is? Is he just a figure from the Bible? A character in the catechism? Or is he "the Christ, the son of the living God"? Is he the one we recognize as our savior, and our hope? Jesus is the one who opened his arms for us, and gave everything for us - and who left us not only his church, in the hands of Peter, but also his very essence, in bread and wine, to take into our own hands, and into our own hearts. But still, he wants to know: Who do you say that I am? He asks us that again and again. And whether we realize it or not, we are always answering it. Every choice we make - to love or to hate, to give or withhold - is a response to that question. Who do we say that Jesus is? The answer affects what we believe, and how we live. This morning, consider that. Listen for the question. Hear the voice that spoke to that fisherman all those centuries ago. Hear Jesus inviting us, challenging us, questioning us. "Who do you say that I am?" And as we receive the Eucharist and go out into the world, let us strive, as Peter did, to live the answer, with the apostle's own words echoing in our hearts. "You are the Christ, the son of the living God."

ICE Left 50 Immigrant Women And Kids Stranded At A Bus Station Before Hurricane Harvey Struck https://www.buzzfeed.com/adolfoflores/ice-left-50-immigrants-stranded-during-hurricane?utm_term=.wu9k1rOWK#.bt5axj5MW Federal immigration authorities left about 50 immigrant women and children, most of them asylum-seekers from Central America, stranded at a downtown San Antonio bus station after service was canceled Friday due to Hurricane Harvey. Barbie Hurtado, a community organizer with RAICES, a nonprofit that provides legal aid to immigrant families, said Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett, who represents San Antonio, had called immigration enforcement officials the day before to tell them not to drop families off. Knowing that, they just dropped them off, Hurtado said. These are women and children who have been released from family detention with no money, cell phones, and dont speak English. When BuzzFeed News asked about the decision to leave the women and children at the bus station, a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson issued the following statement on Sunday: "All of the aliens who were transferred to the San Antonio Greyhound bus station by ICE on Friday morning had confirmed tickets and itineraries to their destinations. Throughout the process, ICE remained in close contact with bus officials to ensure bus availability, and all aliens had confirmed bus transportation at the time at which ICE officers departed the station. Ultimately, ICE kept two additional families in custody since their bus trip had been cancelled." The spokesperson declined to answer whether buses were running when the families were dropped off. 7. I'll bet their Spanish does not come close to fluency 3. General Kelly refused to believe reporters and others

Right now, thousands of families are being kept together by executive order of the U.S. President. In particular, "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals" is staying the deportation of over 700,000 people who arrived in the U.S. as children -- people who likely have no home outside of the U.S. These people have willingly registered with the federal government and put themselves and their families at increased risk of deportation if DACA is revoked. If you or someone close to you will be affected by Mr. Trump's decision, or if you simply value families, please sign this petition to let him know. These are real people, and we cannot be complacent now.

Kellyanne Conway got her hazmat suit on and went to mop up the absolute screwup that Trump has made of his immigration plan on "Face the Nation" today. While saying with a straight face that Trump has been "consistent" about immigration, she denies that he's talking about a "deportation force" when he specifically said that earlier. Watch below: Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

March 6, 2017 3:42 pm The director of the Office of Management and Budget estimated Monday that President Trump's proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border could cost $8 million to 25 million per mile. A public interest legal group has discovered more illegal aliens and individuals who refused to answer their citizenship status on the voter rolls in Virginia. March 2, 2017 3:15 pm Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained 22-year-old Daniela Vargas as she left a Wednesday press conference in Jackson, Mississippi where she revealed her fear of deportation. February 24, 2017 12:04 pm House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) told community leaders in San Francisco on Thursday that immigrants who bring their determination and courage to the United States make "America more American."

Meanwhile, in Denver, Colorado, an undocumented mother of four sought refuge in a church Wednesday, after ICE officials denied her request to remain in the country. Jeanette Vizguerra skipped a scheduled check-in with ICE officials and instead brought her family to the First Unitarian Society church, where she addressed supporters. Jeanette Vizguerra : "And if this system thinks that it can break me, that it can make me kneel, the system is wrong, because you can see the reasons behind me why I am fighting so hard to win my case. And I know that I am not alone, that there are many people in the community and in the immigrant community who share my anger and my passion for justice." Vizguerra came to the U.S. from Mexico in 1997. She previously won five postponements of deportation, but said Wednesday she doubts she could win a similar reprieve under the Trump administration.

Cara Mund Screenshot/Twitter Donald Trump loves pageants so much that he owned the Miss USA pageant for 20 years. But it seems like the contestants at Miss America don't love him. Cara Mund, Miss North Dakota and the contestant who won the Miss America title last night, criticized Trump for pulling out of the Paris Agreement on climate change. "There is evidence that climate change is existing," she said. "Whether you believe it or not, we need to be at that table." -- Cara Mund (@MissAmerica) September 11, 2017 Margana Wood from Texas called Trump out for not saying that the violence in Charlottesville was a "terrorist attack" early enough. "President Donald Trump should have made a statement earlier addressing the fact, and in making sure all Americans feel safe in this country and that is the number one issue right now," she said. . @MissAmericaTX is up next and she will be answering a question from @MrJessCagle . #MissAmerica pic.twitter.com/WbSBx3c5Ul -- Cara Mund (@MissAmerica) September 11, 2017

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will deliver the keynote address March 31 at the Revolution for Truth rally in Washington, D.C., organized by the Vaccination Injury Awareness League to call for more transparency in the research and government approval process of an ever-expanding schedule of vaccines. Kennedy has said that he is "pro-vaccine," but he believes more research should be done to investigate potential health risks and is critical of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's handling of the issue. "CDC recommended five pediatric vaccines when I was a boy in 1954," says Kennedy, son of the late U.S. Senator and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. "Today's children generally cannot attend school without at least 56 doses of 14 vaccines by the time they're 18." Ever since British researcher Dr. Andrew Wakefield's suggested links between vaccines and autism was widely discredited nearly two decades ago, Kennedy says that anyone who questions vaccines is treated as a pariah. "People who have legitimate concerns about vaccine safety have been ridiculed, marginalized and vilified," Kennedy tells Newsmax Health . "But there is overwhelming consensus within the scientific research community that raise legitimate safety concerns about the current vaccination schedule." Kennedy blames the pharmaceutical industry, U.S. government, and media of colluding in the push to inoculate more and more people with an increasing variety of vaccines. "The media will not elaborate on this issue," says Kennedy, founder of the environmental group World Mercury Project. "Part of it is the money that they are making from the industry through advertising, $5.4 billion annually. But most reporters and editors are more concerned that raising any questions about vaccine safety will reduce vaccination coverage, and they believe that will endanger the public health." He accuses the media of failing their role as watchdog of American society by refusing to challenge pronouncements of vaccine safety by the CDC, pharmaceutical companies, and others, many of which he claims reference flawed studies. "The media censorship doesn't strengthen the vaccine program, but rather emboldens the most reckless and irresponsible behavior by the regulators and the $25 billion-a-year vaccine industry," says Kennedy. The explosion in vaccines began in the mid-1980s after Congress gave the pharmaceutical industry blanket immunity from lawsuits for vaccine injury. Kennedy blasts the CDC as a "cesspool of corruption" in which people who sit on vaccine advisory committees often have vested interests in the drugs they are judging. One example is Dr. Paul Offit, who Kennedy says voted to add his own rotavirus vaccine to CDC's schedule, and pocketed millions by later selling the royalties of his patent. Kennedy also accuses the CDC of manipulating data from its own studies, a charge supported by whistleblower Dr. William Thompson. Kennedy says the longtime CDC scientist has said he and his fellow researchers were pressured to alter data about the safety of the mercury-based preservative thimerosal to conceal its causative link to various brain injuries, including autism. While thimerosal was removed from pediatric vaccines distributed in the U.S. in 2001, Kennedy notes that it's still used in some flu shots that are routinely given to kids and pregnant women. "They call on pregnant women to limit their consumption of fish to avoid mercury but recommend they get flu shots containing mercury," says Kennedy, who edited the book "Thimerosal: Let the Science Speak." "The CDC claims it's in a form that is less persistent in the body, so it doesn't do the same kind of damage. But a lot of science says that's not true." When asked specifically about transparency and conflict of interest in the vaccine approval process, a CDC spokesman said in an email response: "Credible scientific studies provide evidence of no connection between vaccines and autism." A representative of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration also replied by email, stating, "Vaccines are critical to protecting public health by preventing serious and potentially life-threatening infectious diseases. Ensuring the safety and effectiveness of vaccines is one of the FDA's top priorities." President Donald Trump has expressed his own doubts on the issue, and talked to Kennedy about possibly heading a vaccine safety commission. "We discussed a number of issues," Kennedy recalls about his January 10 meeting with the then president-elect. "He said he won't cave under pressure from the pharmaceutical industry, but it's very powerful. We'll see what happens."

Donald Trump is meeting with anti-vaxxer advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to talk about vaccine policy, Vox reports . Trump has previously tweeted that he believes vaccines cause autism. Some, including Rosie O'Donnell, believe that Trump's son Barron is autistic, and thus Trump's mistaken views on vaccinations are personal. Trump will meet with Kennedy Jr. to discuss "vaccines and immunizations," spokesperson Sean Spicer said. Kennedy was once known for his work in environmental protection, but has transitioned towards claiming mercury in vaccines causes autism, against the consensus of the medical/scientific community. In 2005, Kennedy got an article published in Rolling Stone and Salon that claimed there was a conspiracy to poison children with mercury. Thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, was once used in vaccines, but no longer is. The committee of the Institute of Medicine wrote in 2004 that "the body of epidemiological evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism." Seth Mnookin wrote in his book "The Panic Virus," that for Kennedy's beliefs to be true, "scientists and officials in governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations, and publicly held companies around the world would need to be part of a coordinated multi-decade scheme to prop up 'the vaccine industry's bottom line' by masking the dangers of thimerosal." It was patent nonsense, and Salon subsequently retracted Kennedy's article, after first adding five damning corrections that undermined its entire premise. In a 2015 film Kennedy said, "They get the shot, that night they have a fever of a hundred and three, they go to sleep, and three months later their brain is gone. This is a holocaust, what this is doing to our country." He spoke approvingly of the defeat of a pro-vaccine measure in Oregon, which would have made it harder for parents to deny their children lifesaving immunizations and thereby undermine both their children's and their communities' health. During a 2015 presidential debate, Trump said, "You take this little beautiful baby, and you pump -- I mean, it looks just like it is meant for a horse, not for a child, and we had so many instances, people that work for me, just the other day, 2 years old, beautiful child went to have the vaccine and came back and a week later got a tremendous fever, got very, very sick, now is autistic." The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network responded at the time by saying, ""Vaccinations do not cause autism -- but the use of autism as a means of scaring parents from safeguarding their children from life-threatening illness demonstrates the depths of prejudice and fear that still surrounds our disability." (image via KPIX screengrab)

The measles outbreak has provoked California lawmakers to back legislation that would reduce personal belief exemptions for some or all required school vaccinations-but Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., wants them to reconsider. 26 Democrats sponsored Senate Bill 277 early on, with two Republicans quickly joining in support. RFK, Jr. says he has vaccinated all six of his children-and according to a conversation with the Sacramento Bee , Kennedy considers himself "pro-vaccine." Kennedy told the Bee , "I believe everybody should get vaccinated, but I also understand it's a nuanced issue. It's not as simple as they make it." The son of a former U.S. Senator and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy added, "I don't feel that my children were damaged by vaccines, but I know that other children have been." Oregon lawmakers have backed away from legislation requiring additional required vaccines. Kennedy told the Bee that he had shown the vaccine-warning movie Trace Amounts to some of the Oregon legislators before they set the bill aside. He hopes to screen the film in California's capitol as well. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has released statistics showing that fewer parents are opting out of vaccines this year. Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana

Attitudes about the positive benefit of vaccinations have dropped 16 points over the past 10 years, a precipitous drop that is also reflected by an 11-point decrease in the belief that it's "very important" for children to be vaccinated, according to a poll published by Research America. The results, according to Zogby Analytics, who conducted the survey on behalf of Research America: 70 percent say vaccinations are "very important" to the health of society, a 10-point drop since 2008. 59 percent believe they have benefited from vaccines, down 16 points from 2008. 71 percent said it's "very important" to have their children vaccinated, down 11 points from 2008. 7 percent said it's not important to have their children vaccinated. 28 percent said it should be up to parents to decide whether to vaccinate their child. While 81 percent believe that not vaccinating children puts other children at risk, 13 percent disagree that not vaccinating puts others at risk, according to the survey. Perhaps the most telling stat in the survey is the sources of information used to get educated about vaccines (check all that apply): 54 percent of people use the media for information about vaccines. 45 percent go online or to the internet to learn about vaccines. 41 percent get it from their doctor or healthcare provider. 36 percent use social media. This nationwide online survey was conducted by Zogby Analytics on behalf of Research America in May 2018 among 1,004 adults in the U.S. This survey has a theoretical sampling error of 3.1 percentage points.

Data for California's 2010 outbreak of whooping cough is in and it is telling parents, as politely as possible, to pretty please, with sugar on top, vaccinate their kids unless those kids have a medical exemption. The vaccine "opt-out rate" (or rate of nonmedical exemptions to vaccination) is particularly high in California, which saw a 2010 outbreak of whooping cough (pertussis for all you readers who just can't delight in the simple joys of onomatopoeia) in which more cases of the illness were reported than in any year since 1947. According to the Los Angeles Times , researchers "who looked at the geography of cases suggest that clusters of 'nonmedical exemptions' to immunizations were one of several factors in the California outbreak." The findings were published Monday in the journal Pediatrics . There were probably some other factors that contributed to the outbreak. An earlier study published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggested that the DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) vaccine loses some effectiveness after the fifth of the five recommended doses. Also, the cyclical nature of pertussis and the improvements in diagnosing the illness lead to more recognized cases. However, California hosted a whopping one third of all cases of whooping cough in the U.S. back in 2010, 9,120 cases of the illness in total. Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the California Department of Public Health banded together to find 39 clusters of pertussis with high rates of non-immunization, as well as two clusters of pertussis among children entering kindergarten between 2005 and 2010. Guess what? More cases of pertussis occurred within non-immunized clusters of kids than outside them. Who could have ever imagined such a thing?? There's a socioeconomic twist to this report, too. The nonmedical vaccine exemption rate has more than tripled in California from 2000 2010, rising as high as 2.33 percent, with some schools showing an opt-out rate of up to 84 percent (an estimated 95 percent of a population has to be vaccinated to prevent outbreaks of an illness like whooping cough). Opt-out clusters and high pertussis clusters were, according to researchers, "associated with factors characteristic of high socioeconomic status such as lower population density, lower average family size, lower percentage of racial or ethnic minorities." See, America? There's no need for a class revolution -- the rich are doing their very best to destroy themselves.

Houman Kaghazian, head of vaccine working group in affiliation with biotech development of Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology, said the international workshop on validation of production processes for vaccines was held in other countries and this year Iran is hosting the event for the very first time. "The most significant difference between this year's workshop compared to previous editions is that previously, all lecturers were introduced by World Health Organization (WHO), but this time five of the six lecturers are Iranians," said Kaghazian. He added that out of 57 OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) member states, only 8 of them have the technology to produce vaccines; "these countries include Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tunisia, Senegal, Morocco, Algeria and Saudi Arabia, while the rest are only importers of vaccines." According to Kaghazian, out of the eight vaccine producers of OIC, five of them besides Iran, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Senegal and Algeria are participating in the event. The international workshop on validation of production processes for vaccines kicked off on Monday in Tehran and will last until 22 October.

CALL it the greatest sporting mismatch since Christians took on the lions. Reigning world champions Australia will start $1.14 favourites for the Trans-Tasman Test in Sydney this Friday night after New Zealand made a staggering 11 changes to their squad -- which includes the addition of a NSW Cup player, minimum wage players and a potential starting hooker, in Siliva Havili, with just three NRL games. Siliva Havili has only played three NRL games. As a result of the bizarre overhaul, the TAB has listed the Kiwis as 7/1 outsiders -- or the same odds Queensland heavyweight Alex Leapai carried into his world title fight with Ukrainian blaster Wladimir Klitschko on Sunday morning. "So yes, we're going to start favourites,'' Kangaroos coach Tim Sheens said. "But we know New Zealand will be enthusiastic, will throw everything at us ... you can never underestimate what's coming out of New Zealand." But does the Sydney sports public really buy it? Josh Papalii has been dumped from the Kangaroos side. Knowing that of the team that crunched New Zealand 34-2 in the Cup final, only three changes have been made -- with Andrew Fifita and Josh Papalii dumped while injured Parramatta superstar Jarryd Hayne has been replaced. But the Kiwis? Well, they will be without a host of superstars including Sonny Bill Williams, Kieran Foran, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Frank Pritchard, Issac Luke, Sam Kasiano and Manu Vatuvei. While injury accounts for some, there is no doubting the alleged Stilnox drama engulfing coach Stephen Kearney's side last October has also played a role in the high turnover. Roosters Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was a shock omission from the Kiwi side. Roosters officials, for example, were shocked to learn Waerea-Hargreaves, Frank-Paul Nu'uausala and Shaun Kenny-Dowall had all been overlooked for a squad including NSW Cup player Isaac John, Wests Tigers interchange player Marty Taupau and Warriors utility Ben Henry. For Australia, the biggest selection news included: # Kangaroo forwards Fifita and Papalii being dumped from the side that won the Cup final; # Parramatta star Hayne being sidelined from selection with a shoulder injury; # Roosters back-rower Boyd Cordner being recalled to the squad with Gold Coast forward Nate Myles; and # Canterbury centre Josh Morris being recalled to partner brother Brett on the Kangaroos right edge. Josh Morris has snuck under the radar to make the Kangaroos squad. With South Sydney hooker Luke injured, 21-year-old Warriors rookie Havili has been called into the squad. "And it worries me when you don't know much about someone and the national coach picks him to play for New Zealand,'' Sheens said. "They obviously know the kid can play, you're not going to get picked for Test footy otherwise. "With six debutants in their squad, they'll be busting to get spots which will make it an intense game. I think they've got some injuries but I've also heard Steve Kearney say he's planning for the future so he's going to be blooding blokes as well. "They've beaten us enough times to remind me you can't go out there and not play well." Rooster's Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is one of six players retained from New Zealand's World Cup final squad. For New Zealand, only six players have been retained from the side that lost to Australia in the World Cup final -- captain Simon Mannering, prop Sam Moa, winger Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, centre Dean Whare, halfback Shaun Johnson and prop Jesse Bromwich. Asked if he expected the Sydney public to buy into a Test match where one side seemed hopelessly outclassed, ARL commissioner John Grant remained coy saying: "New Zealand is in a position where they lost the World Cup final quite convincingly. Manly star Daly Cherry-Evans has been included in Tim Sheen's squad. "They have to reinvent themselves. And Australia is in the position where we've got to stay loyal and pick on form ... I think that's what you've seen in both." Asked how close Manly halfback Daly Cherry-Evans had come to starting, Sheens added: "Look, people said Daly was keeping Cooper Cronk honest. "But I said he was keeping both halves honest and he still is. It's the same as how Cooper had to wait in the wings behind Darren Lockyer, it's healthy." Australia: Billy Slater, Darius Boyd, Greg Inglis, Josh Morris, Brett Morris, Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk, Matt Scott, Cameron Smith (C), James Tamou, Greg Bird, Sam Thaiday, Paul Gallen. Bench: Daly Cherry-Evans, Boyd Cordner, Nate Myles Corey Parker, 18th man Matt Gillett New Zealand: Gerard Beale, Adam Blair, Jesse Bromwich, Kenny Bromwich, Greg Eastwood, Tohu Harris, Siliva Havili, Ben Henry, Peta Hiku, Isaac John, Shaun Johnson, Simon Mannering, Sam Moa, Jason Nightingale, Kevin Proctor, Martin Taupau, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Dean Whare

Please also opt me in for Exclusive Offers from Beliefnet's Partners Privacy and Data Policy PLEASE hit the "Like" button above to share the Good News and add http://blog.beliefnet.com/goodnews to your favorites. New stories every day! Kevin McClain, a homeless man from Cedar Rapids had one last wish as he lay dying in Mercy Medical Center of incurable lung cancer. He and his dog Yurtie had lived together for years in his car. When Kevin had been taken to the hospital a month earlier, the two were separated. He asked to see the dog every day and with the help of the Hospice Home and local animal shelters they were able to locate Yurtie just before Kevin passed away. "The moment Kevin opened those eyes and saw that dog there was instant recognition. Yurtie licked his arms, she licked his face," someone at the scene said. Kevin was able to slip into the afterlife with a smile on his face. We are happy to report that Yurtie has been adopted by a wonderful family and is adjusting well. Love pets? Check out these related Beliefnet features:

What is one misconception about vegans that people should drop? That it's hard to be vegan outside of major cities. Chipotle now offers vegan options across the country, along with Taco Bell, and not to mention Johnny Rockets has vegan apple pie and burgers! Can't get any more easy all-American than that! Supermarkets everywhere offer veggie dogs, soy cheese, and almond milk, just to name a few. Not to mention, unless your dinner is just a plate of meat, you pretty much eat vegan already if you think about it. Salads, veggies, beans, nuts, fruits, and tubers are all vegan. So it's not hard at all! That's the common misconception I'd like to see people let go of. And again, if anyone wants to vote for Drew or order a super easy vegan starter kit or watch videos of animal treatment in farms, go to PETA.org .

On Friday, Kevin had a hearing during which he entered into a non-cooperating plea agreement; he plead guilty to violating the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act and faces a sentence of up to three years in prison. His sentencing is currently scheduled for November 5. The plea agreement will be posted when available, and updates will continue to be posted as Kevin's case progresses towards sentencing. Tyler has a change of plea hearing scheduled for July 22. Please help to make sure that Kevin feels a lot of love and support during this time while he is in prison and awaiting sentencing. Send him a letter , donate to his commissary , and continue to work to help animals. Letters of support can be sent to: KEVIN JOHNSON 47353-424 MCC Chicago Metropolitan Correctional Center 71 West Van Buren Street Chicago, IL 60605 Liked it? Take a second to support It's Going Down!

If you've been on any sort of social media platform in the past few days, you've seen this video of a guy saving his dog from a kangaroo by straight-up punching it in the face. Unfortunately, the man who punched the kangaroo - a zookeeper named Greig Tonkins - has been getting threats from animal rights activists ever since the incident. For reference, kangaroos, in general, are definitely not to be messed with. This is especially true if you're a nice dog. This is what kangaroos look like when they fight. Damn. They're very into groin kicks, apparently. Anyway, the point is, this guy's dog could have been seriously injured if he hadn't intervened. I'm not taking sides here, but... Wait, no. I definitely am. Fuck that 'garoo. (That's what people who aren't scared of kangaroos call them, and yes, it's derogatory.) Protect your dog. But unfortunately, the threats got so bad, Tonkins had to call the police because he feared for his safety. PETA Australia had this to say: Punching a kangaroo in the face is neither brave nor funny. It's illegal, as is harassing native wildlife with dogs. Jesus. I just realized PETA is involved in this. Guys, I take back everything I said about taking sides and "garoos." Please do not splash me with paint or release chimps from a secret lab that have been infected with a form of rabies. Shit, I'm just describing "28 Days Later." Never mind. Critics online have called Tonkins "the dregs of the dregs" and "a pathetic excuse for a human being." Honestly, considering the fact that he had to call the authorities, they've probably done much worse. As Independent.uk points out, however, Tonkins is just extremely fortunate the kangaroo backed down from the fight. Dr Mark Eldridge told Independent.uk , Before kangaroos fight, they usually size each other up. If one doesn't back down, they will get into an aggressive encounter. I think the kangaroo was still in the sizing up stage. Experts generally agree Tonkins was "very lucky" the kangaroo walked away from the fight. Despite his current difficulties, at least Tonkins can say he walked away without a drop kick to the penis.

A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Sep 15, 2014 at 2:27am PDT Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Between his "Yeezus" world tour dates Down Under, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, and baby Nori are taking in some fun Australian sights. Today, they visited the Australia Zoo in Queensland and got a private tour. They visited the cheetah enclosure (where Kim even got to go inside), and took in an exhibition of snakes, birds, and crocodiles, says Us Weekly . "Baby North sat on her mom's knee while the family enjoyed the show," the tabloid added. Oh, and Kim got to hug a koala -- just like her sister Khloe did during her trip to Australia last year. Clearly, in the Kris Jenner-sanctioned list of animals you can take selfies with, koalas are near the top. In her inevitable Instagram shot, Kim thanked the zoo for the "good memories." If koalas used social media, this one would have shared similar sentiments, but maybe also dirtier ones. Look, far be it for me to accuse a cute marsupial of being a pervert, but that is a smug, sexual koala smile. Follow Alex on Twitter .

Insiders are saying that two former Kennedy clerks -- Brett Kavanaugh and Raymond Kethledge -- are the frontrunners for Trump's potential SCOTUS pick, with conservative favorite Amy Coney Barrett, whose grassroots support may be what propels her to be Trump's choice, in third place. . According to The Washington Post , both Kavanaugh and Kethledge "have the 'inside track,' according to a person close to the president, because some White House officials believe Coney Barrett, 46, could instead be a pick for the high court in the coming years, after she gains more experience on the federal bench." On Kavanaugh, Trump is reportedly questioning his past work for the Bush White House and if that would be an issue for his base, which might see the selection as yet another run-of-the-mill establishment type. Other sources close to the president say he is basing his potential pick on much more than their judicial philosophy, but also educational profiles, personal backgrounds and rapport with him in interviews, each of whom checks one box or another. Politico reports that Kethledge appears to have the advantage in the rapport department, with one source saying his meeting with President Trump went well. "They just really hit it off," said one Republican close to the White House. One drawback for Kethledge, however, is his educational background from the University of Michigan; President Trump reportedly wants to keep in line with the ongoing tradition of nominating only judges from Yale or Harvard. The Washington Post reports that Trump is still considering Barrett, just not with the same intensity. "Trump is not rushing toward Coney Barrett with the same fervor, according to two people close to the president," reports WaPo. "They described his view of her as 'positive,' since he appointed her, but noted that he sees Kavanaugh and Kethledge as similar to Gorsuch, another former Kennedy clerk, whose tenure has been celebrated by his supporters and whose judicial records are largely acceptable to most wings of the Republican Party." President Trump has given no specifics as to whom he will pick, though he told reporters on Thursday he has narrowed it down to four people. "I think I have it down to four people, and I think of the four people, I have it down to three or two," he said on Thursday. "I think they're all outstanding. I don't want to say the four. But I have it down to four. I'll have a decision made in my mind by Sunday. We'll announce it on Monday."

Kavanaugh serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Kethledge, of Michigan, serves on the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Both are in their early 50s and potentially could serve decades in the lifetime post on the nine-member court. The source told Reuters that Amy Coney Barrett of Indiana, a judge on the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, was still in contention but that the Republican president had been asking more questions about the other two, who have more extensive judicial records. Kethledge, 51, was appointed to his current post by Republican former President George W. Bush and was confirmed by the Senate in 2008. In one notable case, he ruled in favor of a conservative Tea Party group that had sued the Internal Revenue Service over alleged mistreatment during the Obama administration. Prior to that, he spent most of his career in private practice. Kavanaugh, 53, was picked by Bush to serve on the influential Washington-based appeals court in 2003. Contentious confirmation hearings in the Senate delayed his confirmation until 2006. Prior to his appointment, Kavanaugh worked as a lawyer in the White House under Bush. Some conservatives activists have criticized Kavanaugh for his ties to the Bush family and some of his rulings, which they say indicate he would not be sufficiently conservative.

By Jeff Mason and Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Conservative federal appeals court judges Brett Kavanaugh and Raymond Kethledge are the two most serious contenders being considered by President Donald Trump for the U.S. Supreme Court, a source familiar with the process said on Thursday. Kavanaugh serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Kethledge, of Michigan, serves on the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Both are in their early 50s and potentially could serve decades in the lifetime post on the nine-member court. The source told Reuters that Amy Coney Barrett of Indiana, a judge on the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, was still in contention but that the Republican president had been asking more questions about the other two, who have more extensive judicial records. Trump, who conducted interviews with seven candidates earlier this week for a spot on the top U.S. judicial body, told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to a rally in Montana that he would make a decision by Sunday and announce it at 9 p.m. EDT on Monday (0100 GMT Tuesday). He said he had narrowed the search for a replacement for Justice Anthony Kennedy, who last week announced plans to retire after three decades on the high court, to four finalists, and was focussing primarily on just two or three. Kennedy, a conservative who sometimes sided with the court's liberals on divisive social issues such as gay rights and abortion, was a key figure on the court. Conservative activists want Trump to replace him with a nominee who is more unwaveringly conservative. Trump's appointee would maintain the slim 5-4 conservative majority on the court. Kennedy's retirement gives Trump a second opportunity to re-shape the court. Trump last year appointed conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch to take a seat that the Republican-led U.S. Senate, which must confirm nominees to the high court, had prevented Democratic former President Barack Obama from filling in 2016 following the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. Kethledge, 51, was appointed to his current post by Republican former President George W. Bush and was confirmed by the Senate in 2008. In one notable case, he ruled in favour of a conservative Tea Party group that had sued the Internal Revenue Service over alleged mistreatment during the Obama administration. Prior to that, he spent most of his career in private practice. Kavanaugh, 53, was picked by Bush to serve on the influential Washington-based appeals court in 2003. Contentious confirmation hearings in the Senate delayed his confirmation until 2006. Prior to his appointment, Kavanaugh worked as a lawyer in the White House under Bush. Some conservatives activists have criticized Kavanaugh for his ties to the Bush family and some of his rulings, which they say indicate he would not be sufficiently conservative. Both Kavanaugh and Kethledge have lengthy conservative judicial records. Coney Barrett, 46, was a law professor at Notre Dame Law School in Indiana before Trump appointed her to her current position in October. She won Senate confirmation on a 55-43 vote. During the confirmation process, Senate Democrats questioned Barrett about her Catholicism and past writings in which she said Catholic judges were in a "legal bind" in cases related to abortion and the death penalty. (Reporting by Jeff Mason in Washington and Jim Oliphant; additional reporting by Lawrence Hurley; editing by Will Dunham) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A judicial activist advising U.S. President Donald Trump on potential nominees to the Supreme Court signaled Sunday that two of the candidates would be a tougher sell to conservatives. Leonard Leo, who is advising Trump on his pick to fill the seat of Justice Anthony Kennedy, said two names on the president's shortlist - Raymond Kethledge and Thomas Hardiman - had less established conservative records, making it harder to line up support should they be selected. "I think in regards to Kethledge and Tom Hardiman they are a little less known by conservatives and their records are a little bit lighter so it might take some time," Leo told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday. "It's important to have people who are extremely well known and have distinguished records." Leo said, however, that ultimately Trump would succeed at lining up conservative support for anyone he selected. Reuters reported last week that conservative federal appeals court judges Brett Kavanaugh and Kethledge are the two most serious contenders being considered by Trump for the U.S. Supreme Court, citing a source familiar with the process. Kavanaugh, 53, was picked by former President George W. Bush to serve on the influential Washington-based appeals court in 2003. Kethledge, 51, is a judge for the Cincinnati, Ohio-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, while Hardiman, 52, serves on the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals - also appointed by Bush. The source told Reuters that Amy Coney Barrett of Indiana, a Trump-appointed judge on the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, was still in contention but that the Republican president had been asking more questions about the other two, who have more extensive judicial records. Democrats see the seat being vacated by Justice Kennedy, a conservative judge who sometimes sided with the court's liberal wing, as critical to maintaining abortion rights and key provisions of former President Barack Obama's healthcare plan. But Democratic lawmakers, who have a minority of seats in both houses of Congress, have acknowledged there is no clear path to block Trump's Supreme Court pick. While the U.S. Senate once required a 60-vote supermajority to overcome blocking tactics against Supreme Court nominees, the Republican majority changed the rules last year during the debate on Justice Neil Gorsuch. Senate rules now requires only a majority of 51 votes to advance a Supreme Court nomination. Republicans currently control that number of Senate seats, although one of their number, Senator John McCain, is at home in Arizona battling cancer. "If all the Republicans stick together," Chris Coons, a Democratic senator on the Senate Judiciary Committee told CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday, "they will be able to confirm whomever President Trump nominates."

(The Hill) President-elect Donald Trump has asked roughly 50 senior Obama administration officials to remain in their roles in order to "ensure the continuity of government," spokesman Sean Spicer said Thursday. The decision comes as Trump is reportedly struggling to fill important posts in his new administration. Among the Obama holdovers are key national security officials, including Brett McGurk, special envoy to the global coalition fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The move is somewhat surprising, given Trump's repeated criticism of Obama's effort to combat the terrorist group. He called the president "the founder of ISIS" during a campaign event last April. McGurk, however, does have bipartisan credentials. He served as an adviser on Iraq and Afghanistan under President George W. Bush. Spicer told reporters during a briefing in Washington that McGurk will remain at the State Department "until a replacement can be named." "What we've ensured is that, for the time being, we've got a team in place that will continue to advise him and make sure that the country remains safe and that our priorities will be carried out," he said. Another top Obama administration official staying on is Adam Szubin, who oversees international sanctions at the Treasury Department. President Obama nominated Szubin as undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence in 2015, but he was never confirmed by the GOP-controlled Senate. Szubin, who has served under Obama and Bush, has been serving in his role in an acting capacity...

Insiders are saying that two former Kennedy clerks -- Brett Kavanaugh and Raymond Kethledge -- are the frontrunners for Trump's potential SCOTUS pick, with conservative favorite Amy Coney Barrett, whose grassroots support may be what propels her to be Trump's choice, in third place. . According to The Washington Post , both Kavanaugh and Kethledge "have the 'inside track,' according to a person close to the president, because some White House officials believe Coney Barrett, 46, could instead be a pick for the high court in the coming years, after she gains more experience on the federal bench." On Kavanaugh, Trump is reportedly questioning his past work for the Bush White House and if that would be an issue for his base, which might see the selection as yet another run-of-the-mill establishment type. Other sources close to the president say he is basing his potential pick on much more than their judicial philosophy, but also educational profiles, personal backgrounds and rapport with him in interviews, each of whom checks one box or another. Politico reports that Kethledge appears to have the advantage in the rapport department, with one source saying his meeting with President Trump went well. "They just really hit it off," said one Republican close to the White House. One drawback for Kethledge, however, is his educational background from the University of Michigan; President Trump reportedly wants to keep in line with the ongoing tradition of nominating only judges from Yale or Harvard. The Washington Post reports that Trump is still considering Barrett, just not with the same intensity. "Trump is not rushing toward Coney Barrett with the same fervor, according to two people close to the president," reports WaPo. "They described his view of her as 'positive,' since he appointed her, but noted that he sees Kavanaugh and Kethledge as similar to Gorsuch, another former Kennedy clerk, whose tenure has been celebrated by his supporters and whose judicial records are largely acceptable to most wings of the Republican Party." President Trump has given no specifics as to whom he will pick, though he told reporters on Thursday he has narrowed it down to four people. "I think I have it down to four people, and I think of the four people, I have it down to three or two," he said on Thursday. "I think they're all outstanding. I don't want to say the four. But I have it down to four. I'll have a decision made in my mind by Sunday. We'll announce it on Monday."

After the US State Department designated the Uzbek jihadist faction Katibat Imam al Bukhari (KIB) as a global terrorist organization last week, several jihadi figures and groups, including KIB itself, released statements denouncing the move. In its own statement , which was released on its Telegram channel, KIB states that it "was surprised by the American resolution to enlist [sic] the Imam al Bukhari brigade on the world terror list." The group claims it "does not have ideological or intellectual ties with any faction internationally enlisted." However, this claim is false. Al Qaeda figures have been prominently featured in KIB videos, thereby demonstrating its "ideological" ties. Senior al Qaeda figures such as Osama bin Laden, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, and Abu Yahya al Libi were all included in one such video . KIB has also released speeches from Abu Saloh, an ethnic Uzbek figure based in Syria. Abu Saloh leads an Uzbek battalion, Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad (KTJ) , which pledged allegiance to Al Nusrah Front in Sept. 2015. Al Nusrah was an official branch of al Qaeda at the time. According to RFE/RL , KIB's first leader, Salahadin al Uzbeki, was a veteran of the jihad in Afghanistan. He reportedly "met with several leading Taliban figures, including Sirajuddin Haqqani," before relocating to Syria. Haqqani is a US-designated terrorist who serves as one of the Taliban's top deputies. The Haqqani Network, which is part of the Taliban, has been allied with al Qaeda since the 1980s. KIB claims that it is "restricted to the fight abreast [sic] with the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian people in order to defend the civilians against the Syrian regime and ISIS." But this isn't true, either. The State Department noted that "the group has played a significant role in the fighting in northwestern Syria, fighting alongside groups including al Nusrah Front - al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria." Indeed, the KIB has taken part in several offensives led by jihadists in Syria since 2015. Those operations include the spring 2015 offensive that captured large swaths of Idlib province and summer 2016 battles in Aleppo and Latakia . It has also fought alongside other al Qaeda-linked groups in Syria , including the Caucasus Emirate's branch in the country and Ansar al Islam. KIB's statement makes no mention of its activities in Afghanistan or the fact that it has sworn bayah , or an oath of allegiance, to the Afghan Taliban's leader . KIB recently began identifying itself on social media as the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan - Katibat Imam al Bukhari," a nod to the official name used by the Taliban. Other jihadists have joined KIB in denouncing the State Department's designation as well. For instance, the Syrian Liberation Front (SLF) -- a joint venture formed by Ahrar al Sham and the Nur al-Din al-Zanki Movement in February -- echoed KIB's claims. The SLF argues that the KIB is an "independent" faction comprised of Uzbeks who were "forced out of their country" and who now fight against the Assad regime and ISIS. However, Ahrar al Sham, which leads SLF, has had al Qaeda operatives embedded in its own ranks. Both Ahrar and Zanki also fought alongside Al Nusrah Front in the past. The SLF accuses the US and the "international community" of watching as the Assad regime and its Iranian-backed allies have committed "genocide" against the Syrian people. The group also points to the assassination of KIB leader Salahadin al Uzbeki last year, alleging that the Islamic State (ISIS) cooperated with "Russian intelligence" in the killing. An al Qaeda-linked ideologue, Sheikh Abdullah al-Muhaysini, quickly reiterated the SLF's defense of the KIB on his social media pages. Muhaysini praised the fact that native Syrians within SLF rose to the defense of their immigrant brothers. Muhaysini lauded KIB for not participating in the "infighting" between jihadist factions, saying its members are "Uzbek brothers who are helping the people of Sham against the transgressor Assad." Like the SLF, Muhaysini accused the US of employing "double standards," as foreign fighters have joined the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), even as the YPG (or People's Defense Units) has received the US backing in its fight against ISIS. The YPG is affiliated with the PKK, which is a designated terrorist organization. Other pro-al Qaeda jihadists have denounced the newly-minted terror designation as well. One of these men is Sirajeddine Zuraiqat , who has served as a senior figure in the Abdullah Azzam Brigades. Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor of FDD's Long War Journal. Follow him on Twitter @thomasjoscelyn . Caleb Weiss is a contributor to FDD's Long War Journal. Follow him on Twitter @weissenberg7 . Follow the Foundation for Defense of Democracies on Twitter @FDD . FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- In the course of 2014, two major trends, long since visible in the Syrian civil war, were strengthened. First, the Baath regime of Bashar al-Assad continued to assert control over most urban areas along the trunk roads of the west of the country. Damascus, Homs, Hama, Latakia and [...] Vice News | -- "In August, al Nusra Front jihadists took control of Syria's side of the border crossing with Israel and kidnapped over 40 United Nations peacekeepers -- who have since been released. But al Nusra Front, an al Qaeda-affiliate, isn't Israel's only threat from Syria. President Bashar al-Assad's military, in a possible effort [...] Middle East Eye | -- "The Syriac Military Council (MFS) was established in January 2013 to protect the marginalised Assyrian Christian communities in Syria. They have fought to defend themselves from the Islamic State, Al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham and frequently work in tandem with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). As sectarian violence swamps [...] By Juan Cole | -- IC doesn't usually cover hostage-taking, since it is an artificial and manipulative criminal act. Any two-bit thug can grab someone off the street and push them into a car, and subsequently kill them. It doesn't take intelligence or any other admirable quality, just brutishness. One's heart goes out to the [...] By Juan Cole The al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra (the Succor Front) not only took the territory of the moderate Muslim Syria Revolutionaries Front this weekend, it also polished off the Movement of the Resolute . The Movement of the Resolute (Harakat al-Hazm) represented itself as secular, but had its roots in a fundamentalist group backed [...] By Juan Cole In a big setback for the Obama administration's Syria policy, the al-Qaeda affiliate Succor Front (Jabhat al-Nusra) took the town of Deir Sunbul and its environs this weekend away from the Syria Revolutionaries Front, a relatively secular-minded group viewed as "moderates" by the United States. Deir Sunbul lies in the Jabal al-Zawiya [...] By Juan Cole In a step that over-ruled America's Turkish NATO ally, US jets dropped food, first aid and weaponry into the besieged Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane on Monday morning. Turkey's president Tayyip Erdogan, in remarks made on Sunday, rejected the idea of arming the Syrian Kurdish fighters, equating them with terrorists. Al-Khaleej [The [...] By Juan Cole ISIL and al-Qaeda have, according to Hizbullah, launched attacks in Syria's Qalamoun district (abutting the Lebanese border near Baalbek) on Hizbullah military outposts on the Syrian side. Hizbullah is acting in Syria as an adjunct to the Syrian Baath Army and helped reduce Qusayr and Homs last spring. The Syrian rebels were [...] By Akil N. Awan via The National Interest Last week, President Barack Obama chaired a special meeting of the UN Security Council in which member states passed a resolution establishing an international legal framework to help prevent the recruitment and transport of would-be foreign fighters from joining terrorist groups. As expected, United Nations Security Council [...]

Syrian troops and their allies on Monday pushed ahead with their military campaign against Daesh terrorists near al-Thardah Mountain in the southern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, destroying their vehicles and killing dozens of them, Syria's official news agency SANA reported. Abu Jarah al-Kuwaiti, Majed Khalil al-Jadaan, Abdullah Jamal al-Afer, Majoud Hammad al-Qurish and Malek Qais al-Jalal were identified among the dead. Additionally, Syrian warplanes pounded the positions of the terrorists in al-Ummal neighborhood, near al-Makaber area as well as the village of Hajin in Abu Kamal city, inflicting heavy losses on them. Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh, currently controlling parts of it. According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country's pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.

TEHRAN - Tehran and Damascus are going to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for strategic economic cooperation in near future aiming at developing trade ties between the two sides, the portal of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) reported. The announcement was made during a meeting between the TCCIMA Chairman Massoud Khansari and Adnan Mahmoud, the Syrian ambassador to Tehran, on Saturday. According to Mahmoud, the MOU will be signed during the Iranian first vice president's next visit to Syria. The Syrian envoy stressed the importance of cooperation with Iran's private sector in reconstruction of his country's infrastructure saying that the situation is getting better for development of economic cooperation between the two countries and Iranian private sector holds a great importance for the Syrian government in this regard. Khansari for his part welcomed the cooperation between the two sides' private sectors, emphasizing that the current situation in Syria requires the active participation of the two countries' private sectors in order for the reconstruction and development of Syria's economic infrastructure.

After the US State Department designated the Uzbek jihadist faction Katibat Imam al Bukhari (KIB) as a global terrorist organization last week, several jihadi figures and groups, including KIB itself, released statements denouncing the move. In its own statement , which was released on its Telegram channel, KIB states that it "was surprised by the American resolution to enlist [sic] the Imam al Bukhari brigade on the world terror list." The group claims it "does not have ideological or intellectual ties with any faction internationally enlisted." However, this claim is false. Al Qaeda figures have been prominently featured in KIB videos, thereby demonstrating its "ideological" ties. Senior al Qaeda figures such as Osama bin Laden, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, and Abu Yahya al Libi were all included in one such video . KIB has also released speeches from Abu Saloh, an ethnic Uzbek figure based in Syria. Abu Saloh leads an Uzbek battalion, Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad (KTJ) , which pledged allegiance to Al Nusrah Front in Sept. 2015. Al Nusrah was an official branch of al Qaeda at the time. According to RFE/RL , KIB's first leader, Salahadin al Uzbeki, was a veteran of the jihad in Afghanistan. He reportedly "met with several leading Taliban figures, including Sirajuddin Haqqani," before relocating to Syria. Haqqani is a US-designated terrorist who serves as one of the Taliban's top deputies. The Haqqani Network, which is part of the Taliban, has been allied with al Qaeda since the 1980s. KIB claims that it is "restricted to the fight abreast [sic] with the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian people in order to defend the civilians against the Syrian regime and ISIS." But this isn't true, either. The State Department noted that "the group has played a significant role in the fighting in northwestern Syria, fighting alongside groups including al Nusrah Front - al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria." Indeed, the KIB has taken part in several offensives led by jihadists in Syria since 2015. Those operations include the spring 2015 offensive that captured large swaths of Idlib province and summer 2016 battles in Aleppo and Latakia . It has also fought alongside other al Qaeda-linked groups in Syria , including the Caucasus Emirate's branch in the country and Ansar al Islam. KIB's statement makes no mention of its activities in Afghanistan or the fact that it has sworn bayah , or an oath of allegiance, to the Afghan Taliban's leader . KIB recently began identifying itself on social media as the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan - Katibat Imam al Bukhari," a nod to the official name used by the Taliban. Other jihadists have joined KIB in denouncing the State Department's designation as well. For instance, the Syrian Liberation Front (SLF) -- a joint venture formed by Ahrar al Sham and the Nur al-Din al-Zanki Movement in February -- echoed KIB's claims. The SLF argues that the KIB is an "independent" faction comprised of Uzbeks who were "forced out of their country" and who now fight against the Assad regime and ISIS. However, Ahrar al Sham, which leads SLF, has had al Qaeda operatives embedded in its own ranks. Both Ahrar and Zanki also fought alongside Al Nusrah Front in the past. The SLF accuses the US and the "international community" of watching as the Assad regime and its Iranian-backed allies have committed "genocide" against the Syrian people. The group also points to the assassination of KIB leader Salahadin al Uzbeki last year, alleging that the Islamic State (ISIS) cooperated with "Russian intelligence" in the killing. An al Qaeda-linked ideologue, Sheikh Abdullah al-Muhaysini, quickly reiterated the SLF's defense of the KIB on his social media pages. Muhaysini praised the fact that native Syrians within SLF rose to the defense of their immigrant brothers. Muhaysini lauded KIB for not participating in the "infighting" between jihadist factions, saying its members are "Uzbek brothers who are helping the people of Sham against the transgressor Assad." Like the SLF, Muhaysini accused the US of employing "double standards," as foreign fighters have joined the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), even as the YPG (or People's Defense Units) has received the US backing in its fight against ISIS. The YPG is affiliated with the PKK, which is a designated terrorist organization. Other pro-al Qaeda jihadists have denounced the newly-minted terror designation as well. One of these men is Sirajeddine Zuraiqat , who has served as a senior figure in the Abdullah Azzam Brigades. Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor of FDD's Long War Journal. Follow him on Twitter @thomasjoscelyn . Caleb Weiss is a contributor to FDD's Long War Journal. Follow him on Twitter @weissenberg7 . Follow the Foundation for Defense of Democracies on Twitter @FDD . FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

The military disputes the group's claims that fighters held two-thirds of the southern city. The offensive to take back Marawi from pro-Daesh Maute militants has been going on for more than three weeks. Fleeing residents of Marawi City are cramped in a truck near a police checkpoint at the entrance of Iligan City, Philippines, May 27, 2017. ( TRT World and Agencies ) The Philippine military said on Tuesday that Daesh holds 20 percent of Marawi City, disputing an earlier claim by the group's news agency Amaq that its "fighters are spread in more than two-thirds" of the southern town. "On the contrary, out of 96 barangays [neighbourhoods], they are holding portions in Marinaut, Lulut, Mapandi and Bongolo Commercial District, which only comprise 20 percent of the whole Marawi City ... and it's getting smaller everyday," Lieutenant General Carlito Galvez, head of military command in the region, said. Fighting erupted on May 23 after a bungled raid aimed at capturing Isnilon Hapilon, whom Daesh proclaimed as its "emir" of southeast Asia in 2016 after he pledged allegiance to the group. The US Department of State has a bounty of up to $5 million for his arrest. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has offered a bounty of 10 million pesos ($200,000) to anyone who "neutralises" Hapilon, and 5 million pesos for the Maute brothers who head the eponymous pro-Daesh group. The graffiti reads "welcome home of ISIS [Daesh]" on a back-alley wall as government soldiers continue their assault against the por-Daesh Maute group in Marawi City, Philippines, June 12, 2017. ( TRT World and Agencies ) Nearly 200 people have been killed and over 170,000 have been forced from their homes as troops battle Maute. The lesser-known group pledged allegiance to Daesh in 2014. The battle for Marawi City has raised concerns that Daesh, which is on the back foot in Syria and Iraq, is attempting to build a regional base on the Philippine island of Mindanao, further posing a threat to neighbouring Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Duterte has said that the Marawi fighters were financed by drug lords on Mindanao island, which has suffered for decades from banditry and insurgencies. Duterte is waging a war on drugs which has taken thousands of lives. After the siege of Muslim-majority Marawi City began, Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao, with support from allies in the Congress. On Monday, six opposition lawmakers challenged the move in a petition to the Supreme Court. Source: TRTWorld and agencies

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released their monthly job figures for June. Despite a slight increase in the unemployment rate - 0.2 percent to 4.9 percent - the liberal media will rejoice that 287,000 jobs were created. But what do the figures really tell? First of all, participation rates are still sluggish. Despite a 0.1 percentage point increase to 62.7 percent, they are still at the level they were in February 1978. In comparison, the rates were 65.8 percent in February 2009 when President Barack Obama took office. Audience members hold signs appealing for jobs as they attend a Democratic news conference about extending unemployment insurance benefits which expired Dec. 28, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) While adults of all races , including Latinos , have relatively stable participation rates, youth s from 16 to 19 are not so lucky. Their participation decreased 0.4 percentage point to 34.6 percent, with Whites and Latinos being the most affected. They respectively lost 0.4 and 1.9 percentage points, while their Black peers saw a 0.5 point increase. But fortunately, the "real" unemployment rate - U6 , which includes discouraged unemployed workers - has decreased 0.1 percent to 9.6 percent. Second of all, the overall picture of where the jobs were created can lead to satisfaction at first. The government sector shed over 400,000 jobs while private industries created over 500,000 jobs, although there are some 40,000 fewer self-employed. There are also 600,000 fewer part-time workers for economic reason, showing that employment seems to be picking up. But as it has been the case with this administration, many of the jobs created do not add much value to the economy. The goods-producing sector (manufacturing, mining, construction) only created 9,000 jobs, while low value-added sectors like retail trade and leisure and hospitality account for nearly 90,000 new jobs. Fortunately, higher value-added jobs like information, finance, professional services and education and health services were the bulk of the 287,000 jobs. Finally, long-term unemployment is still plaguing the economy. Its average duration has increased one percentage point to 27.7 weeks, i.e. over six months, although its median duration decreased 0.4 percentage point to 10.3 weeks. This may seem like a contradiction, but it's not since unemployment between zero and 14 weeks has increased more quickly - 0.2 percentage point to 59.4 percent - than unemployment 15 weeks and over, which decreased 0.3 percentage point to 40.5 percent. But these figures are still no reason to rejoice. Only Ronald Reagan had to face such long-term unemployment, and only in 1983. President Obama has always had over 40 percent of the active workforce unemployed for more than 15 weeks. And he only had two month of very long-term unemployment (over 27 weeks) below 25 percent - it increased 0.7 percentage points to 25.8 percent. On his side Reagan only had a single month above that threshold. If you want government to keep destroying the economy at this pace, then by all means vote for Hillary Clinton. Her handling of classified information gives you an idea of how she would handle the economy. TheBlaze contributor channel supports an open discourse on a range of views. The opinions expressed in this channel are solely those of each individual author.

I wonder why this might be? Could it be that Obamacare has made full-time workers much more expensive to employ? Could it be also that the jobs market has not come back the way it should have (at least the way we are told that it should have) because markets were never allowed to clear back in 2008? Regardless, the pistons still aren't humming. Yet the Keynesians still hold to their faith convinced that just a bit (or a lot) more government priming will do the trick. Got to get that engine to spark. C'mon economy turn over! We can't let the free market guys win. C'mon! Oh shoot, are those interest rates rising? Uh oh. It would be fun to watch these guys make excuses and sweat it if it were not for the millions of people they are hurting with their policies. (From The New York Post) Labor also announced yesterday that the unemployment rate fell to 7.4 percent, from 7.6 percent, in July. Great news, right? Well, not really. The rate is only declining because people are giving up looking for a job and are no longer counted among the unemployed. There were 988,000 workers too discouraged to look for a job in July, an increase of 16 percent from last July.

After some weak job numbers in the late summer, many wondered whether the news would get better or worse in the fall. We now know it's the former, not the latter. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning that the U.S. economy added 211,000 jobs in November, which is roughly in line with economists' projections. The overall unemployment rate remained at 5.0%, which is still the lowest it's been since February 2008, nearly eight years ago. Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of today's report is the revisions: September's job totals were revised up, from 137,000 to 145,000, while October's totals were revised up, from 271,000 to 298,000. Combined, that's an additional 35,000 previously unreported jobs. Overall, the U.S. has added 2.64 million jobs over the last 12 months - 2.54 million in the private sector alone - which is quite good, and 2.3 million jobs this calendar year, with another month still to come. November was the 62nd consecutive month of positive job growth - the best stretch since 1939 - and the 69th consecutive month in which we've seen private-sector job growth, which is the longest on record. Above you'll find the chart I run every month, showing monthly job losses since the start of the Great Recession. The image makes a distinction - red columns point to monthly job totals under the Bush administration, while blue columns point to job totals under the Obama administration. Update : Here's another chart, this one showing monthly job losses/gains in just the private sector since the start of the Great Recession.

New employment statistics released by the federal government this morning continue to show anemic job growth, with 64,000 new private sector jobs unable to offset the loss of 159,000 state government and Census jobs. The figures show the unemployment rate remained at 9.6 percent and 14.8 million Americans remain unemployed. The numbers track closely with the estimates of independent experts , who predicted this week that the economy would continue to limp along. These are the last monthly figures the Department of Labor will release before the November midterms. Republicans will surely seize on them to argue that the Democrats' economic agenda has failed -- though most economists, and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office agree that unemployment would be about two percent higher than it is without the stimulus. Over 600,000 people were added to the ranks of the involuntarily part-time work force. About 2.5 million people, unemployed for more than a month, have stopped looking for work. That number is up from 2.2 million last month. All told, this brings the number of people without jobs, or who have too little work, to 17.1 percent. That's up from an underemployment rate of 16.7 percent last month -- the highest figure in over a year.

Pundits and the media continue to barrage us with recession claims, but unemployment data still do not support this. The graph above shows U.S. unemployment rates over the past 50 years. Note how the sharply the unemployment rate spikes upward at the onset of recessions. Where is the spike for 2008? So far, there isn't one. In fact, the unemployment rate for March 2008 is just 5.1%, significantly below the long run (50-year) average of 5.9%. In addition, unemployment duration in the U.S. continues to be relatively short. The median duration of unemployment as of March 2008 is only 8.1 weeks: so the typical worker is only out of work for about two months! And as the pie chart below shows, unemployment lasts less than fourteen weeks for two-thirds of the unemployed. This article was found online at: http://www.aei.org/publication/u-s-unemployment-is-short-and-rare/

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released their monthly job figures for June. Despite a slight increase in the unemployment rate - 0.2 percent to 4.9 percent - the liberal media will rejoice that 287,000 jobs were created. But what do the figures really tell? First of all, participation rates are still sluggish. Despite a 0.1 percentage point increase to 62.7 percent, they are still at the level they were in February 1978. In comparison, the rates were 65.8 percent in February 2009 when President Barack Obama took office. Audience members hold signs appealing for jobs as they attend a Democratic news conference about extending unemployment insurance benefits which expired Dec. 28, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) While adults of all races , including Latinos , have relatively stable participation rates, youth s from 16 to 19 are not so lucky. Their participation decreased 0.4 percentage point to 34.6 percent, with Whites and Latinos being the most affected. They respectively lost 0.4 and 1.9 percentage points, while their Black peers saw a 0.5 point increase. But fortunately, the "real" unemployment rate - U6 , which includes discouraged unemployed workers - has decreased 0.1 percent to 9.6 percent. Second of all, the overall picture of where the jobs were created can lead to satisfaction at first. The government sector shed over 400,000 jobs while private industries created over 500,000 jobs, although there are some 40,000 fewer self-employed. There are also 600,000 fewer part-time workers for economic reason, showing that employment seems to be picking up. But as it has been the case with this administration, many of the jobs created do not add much value to the economy. The goods-producing sector (manufacturing, mining, construction) only created 9,000 jobs, while low value-added sectors like retail trade and leisure and hospitality account for nearly 90,000 new jobs. Fortunately, higher value-added jobs like information, finance, professional services and education and health services were the bulk of the 287,000 jobs. Finally, long-term unemployment is still plaguing the economy. Its average duration has increased one percentage point to 27.7 weeks, i.e. over six months, although its median duration decreased 0.4 percentage point to 10.3 weeks. This may seem like a contradiction, but it's not since unemployment between zero and 14 weeks has increased more quickly - 0.2 percentage point to 59.4 percent - than unemployment 15 weeks and over, which decreased 0.3 percentage point to 40.5 percent. But these figures are still no reason to rejoice. Only Ronald Reagan had to face such long-term unemployment, and only in 1983. President Obama has always had over 40 percent of the active workforce unemployed for more than 15 weeks. And he only had two month of very long-term unemployment (over 27 weeks) below 25 percent - it increased 0.7 percentage points to 25.8 percent. On his side Reagan only had a single month above that threshold. If you want government to keep destroying the economy at this pace, then by all means vote for Hillary Clinton. Her handling of classified information gives you an idea of how she would handle the economy. TheBlaze contributor channel supports an open discourse on a range of views. The opinions expressed in this channel are solely those of each individual author.

Turkish President Recep Erdogan is quick to declare victory today, albeit by a narrow margin, as a national referendum to consolidate power passes during a national vote . [...] The 18 constitutional amendments that will come into effect after the next election, scheduled for 2019, will abolish the office of the prime minister and hand sweeping executive powers to the president. - link - Having watched the Erdogan objectives play out over the past six to eight years the approach he has taken has been highly effective. Erdogan essentially imported a base of support consisting of mostly Muslim Brotherhood political supporters to aid his desire to transform Turkey from a secular nation into a more Islamic dictatorial endeavor. He may never fully achieve the goal of recreating the Ottoman Empire, but that doesn't mean there is going to be anything less than toxic turmoil ahead for Turkey and the EU as his endeavors continue to be successful. A decade or two from now when our children look back upon the period from 2010 to 2020 there will be a rather obvious similarity between the rise of Erdogan to power and the rise of Libya's Muamar Qaddafi. Both power-hungry nuts utilized immigration to construct their objectives, and both were national gatekeepers. Qaddafi held power over Europe via the North African migration gate, and Erdogan gaining power over Europe through the use of the Mid-East gate. As stated, we've watched this play out for years and predictably it's all very obvious and available to connect via mostly open-sourced information. Recep Erdogan knew he would not be able to accomplish his long term objectives without a fundamental transformation of the voting base in Turkey. It is somewhat analogous to the Democrats political objectives with open-border migration from South American and Mexico into the U.S. One of the more obvious points of reference which evidenced this approach was when Erdogan provided safe harbor for the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood, as a terrorist network, after the Gulf States finally kicked them out of Qatar. The Brotherhood leadership was exiled into Qatar from Egypt following the removal of Mohammed Morsi. After approximately three years of launching the political narrative to protect their terrorist activity from Qatar, the Gulf States finally agreed it was no longer acceptable -or in their best interests- to allow the Brotherhood hospice there. Recep Erdogan immediately stepped-up and provided them a home . A second, accidental, and almost rather humorous event of reference, happened in October 2014 against the backdrop of the battle over Kobani Syria when Vice-President Joe Biden accidentally stated in public that it was Erdogan's specific activity that was supporting the rise of ISIS in Syria as a means toward his own political ends. Vice-President Biden told an open audience that Recep Erdogan was specifically responsible for the rise of ISIS, and that Turkey had actually armed ISIS and aided them. The date was October of 2014 and Joe was completely " off the range ", I mean he was way outside the official White House wire and telling the entire world how President Recep Erdogan was duplicitous in the rise of ISIS. ( There's Video Here ) Of course anyone who was well researched and up to speed knew it was all true. But boy howdy did the White House and MSM need to go quick to the teletype to get control of that little slip; NATO supporting ISIS?... ya don't say. And that's the big problem moving foward, Turkey is a part of NATO. This play's nicely for Erdogan as NATO provides him the cover for his continued abuse of Europe via his control of the migration gates, and turns the EU into co-dependents for their own demise. As much as we dislike Erdogan and can see the final products coming to fruition, there is a part of the political review that must accept his modern approach at gaining incredible power and influence as rather smart from a geo-political and strategic point of view. So long as no-one in the EU is strong enough to stand up to Turkey and demand their ouster from NATO, the shield provided by the alliance is actually empowering him. It's a rather unique approach amid dictatorial power assembly in the modern era. No-one can ever predict the future of such regional issues with any degree of certainty, but the future of non-Islamic fundamentalist citizens in Turkey looks incredibly bleak. .... complete with a massive $400 million white marble palace built for a king . Erdogan's 2015 completed $400 million white marble palace residence

By:Christopher Manion | July 17, 2016 This will mark an historic turning point. The tension in Turkey has been intense. Not any more. Erdogan will now "cleanse the military," as he put it. In other words, he will make sure that the military is never again able to defend what it considers to be its prime mandate: the secular democratic constitutional principles laid down by Kemal Mustafa Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey who so strongly desired to integrate the country into the West. And Christians in Turkey now have a bullseye on their back. Next, watch for a campaign against the Kurds that will reach the heights of the Armenian Genocide. Erdogan will now take the country back into the Islamic world. He has already been supporting ISIS--without his support, and that of Obama, ISIS would have been exterminated long ago. Future historians will look back at this coup attempt as a turning point in the history of the West. Turkey has longed for entry into the European Union. So far it has been refused, but the European Union is weaker, and Erdogan's Turkey stronger and more Islamic, with each passing day. So much for the EU. What about NATO? If it endures at all, it will be the historic apogee of "existential tension"--an alliance formed supposedly to defend the West with its second largest member (with its second largest military) a devoted enemy of democracy and an avowed advocate of sharia.

The dark clouds of 21st-century fascism are once again hanging over the heads of the people of northern Syria. As if the inhabitants of the region often referred to as Rojava haven't suffered enough over the course of the past 7 years of war, the Turkish state has come to the conclusion that the time is ripe to pick up the fallen, bloodied sword from the corpse that is Islamic State. Together with Salafist mercenaries carrying flags of the Syrian 'rebels' - one of the many components of what at one historical juncture seemingly all so long ago was a cohesive 'Free Syrian Army' - Erdogan's regime vows a 'swift operation' to destroy 'terrorism' in Afrin. As Turkey's air force bombed the Afrin canton in northern Syria, causing growing civilian casualties in a region that is home to hundreds of thousands of refugees, British Prime Minister Theresa May signed a new deal worth PS100 million with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on January 28 to help Turkey develop new fighter jets. By contrast, the socialist leader of the Labour Party opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, sent a message to a protest against Turkey's invasion that expressed his solidarity with Afrin and the Kurdish people. The HDP, with strong roots in Turkey's Kurdish minority, has itself faced worsening repression from the regime of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This time, it is coming directly from the virulently anti-Kurdish Turkish state, which had supported ISIS's siege of Kobane. Mass protests and strikes have erupted across Rojhilat (Iranian Kurdistan) since September 3, following the killing of two kolbers (cross-border porters who transport merchandise) by Iranian border guards the previous day. The Iranian regime has responded by militarising the area, attacking protests with security forces and pro-government thugs and making mass arrests. Several Iranian Kurdish organisations and political parties have supported the uprising. They have called for unity between political forces in Rojhilat and with other progressive movements in Iran.

The death toll from pro-Kurdish protests in Turkey rose to 33 Saturday after a man succumbed to injuries he received during an earlier clash with the police, authorities said. Yunus Aktas, 18, passed away at a hospital in the eastern province of Van on Saturday. He was hit in a random shooting Thursday by unidentified attackers at the town of Tusba. The protesters claim the Turkish government was doing nothing to halt the advance of ISIS in the Syrian town of Kobani, also known as known Ayn al-Arab, just across the Turkish border. The demonstrators had clashed with police, closed roads to traffic by setting up barricades and attacked security officers. The security officers used tear gas and water cannons to disperse angry crowds. Protests -- now largely subsided -- raged mainly on Thursday and Friday in different parts of the country: 12 in Diyarbakir, six in Mardin, five in Siirt, four in Gaziantep, two in Van along with one in each of the provinces of Batman, Mus, Adana and Istanbul, respectively. Most casualties occurred in clashes between supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and a group reportedly belonging to the Islamist Kurdish political party, the Free Cause Party, or HUDA-Par. PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey as well as by the U.S. and the EU.

British Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday called on the international community to support Turkey in its dealing with the refugee crisis. Speaking during the Turkey-European Union summit held in Brussels, Cameron focused on three points: the elimination of the smugglers' network, providing financial support for Turkey which hosts 2.6 million refugees, and providing technical support for Greece to help speed up the repatriation of illegal immigrants. He added that he considered the refugee crisis one of the biggest challenges facing Europe today, stressing on the great importance of the fight against human traffickers. To this end, he explained, Britain would participate in the NATO force in the Aegean Sea to face the crisis of illegal immigrants through offering a ship and two coastguard boats. This would send a clear message to immigrants, through countering human smugglers and the repatriation of migrants who are trying to enter Europe illegally. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

His actions match his words. He's funneled education monies toward religious schools for a "more pious Turkey" . He has also famously said, "There is no moderate Islam." Imagine Mike Pence if there were no "establishment" or "free exercise" clause to the US Constitution. In Turkey, those things were de facto preserved by the professional officer corps in the military. Erdogan has pre-emptively shut that option down. I fear there is little hope to prevent Turkey from heading down the path towards Islamism. I found a really great post on IGD with the scoop on what's going on and the resistance and solidarity efforts worldwide:

After Syria Strikes, Drumbeat Grows For Wider US War By Will Morrow, Wsws.org April 21, 2018 After Syria Strikes, Drumbeat Grows For Wider US War 2018-04-21 2018-04-23 https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.png PopularResistance.Org https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2018/04/15336042576_d135df90ff_o.jpg 200px 200px Above Photo: Flickr President Trump illegally bombed Syria based on allegations of a chemical attack in Syria. This attack has still not been proven and many news reports have found no evidence of the attack. We would have preferred no US aerial bombardment but are pleased the Trump administration choose a minimal attack that avoided a conflict with Russia or an escalation of US involvement in Syria. The antiwar movement should breathe a sigh of relief that a more aggressive bombing campaign was not undertaken. The United States should leave Syria and provide funding to help rebuild the country. US military presence in Syria violates international and domestic law. Bi-partisan calls in Congress for escalation of US military escalation in Syria are mistaken, counterproductive and illegal. They should be ignored. KZ In the wake of last weekend's US-British-French missile strikes on Syria, a campaign is growing in the American political and military/intelligence establishment for a wider war that would threaten a nuclear conflict with Russia. On Tuesday, Democratic and Republican lawmakers attacked the Trump administration for the "limited" nature of the attack and demanded that the White House commit to a more extensive military operation to overthrow the Assad government and confront Iran and Russia. After a private briefing to the Senate by Defence Secretary James Mattis and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told reporters that the administration had no strategy and appeared willing "to give Syria to Assad, Russia, and Iran." He said, "I think Assad, after this strike, believes we're all tweet and no action." Graham called for the establishment of a permanent no-fly zone over parts of Syria, which would inevitably require shooting down Russian jets, and the deployment of more US troops on the ground to partner with their Al Qaeda-linked and Kurdish proxy forces. He declared that Russia and Iran should not be allowed to continue "winning the battlefield uncontested." Democratic Senator Chris Coons criticized Trump's recent threat to withdraw US troops, telling reporters, "It's important for us to remain engaged in Syria." He added, "If we completely withdraw, our leverage in any diplomatic resolution or reconstruction or any hope for a post-Assad Syria goes away." The recklessness of the American ruling elite was expressed in an op-ed column published yesterday in the New York Times by Susan Rice, who served as ambassador to the UN and then national security adviser under Obama. In the column, Rice categorically opposes any withdrawal of American troops. She calls for the Trump administration to indefinitely maintain its occupation of roughly a third of Syrian territory along the country's northern and eastern borders with Turkey and Iraq--a region that includes the country's petroleum resources. This is in line with calls being made in the US media with increasing frequency and openness for a permanent carve-up of the country. Rice writes that Washington and its allies must "help secure, rebuild and establish effective local governance in liberated areas." These are code words for establishing neo-colonial control over the territory and using it as a base for operations against the Assad regime and Russian and Iranian forces. Dispensing with the fraudulent chemical weapons pretext used to justify the US and allied bombing, Rice points to the aims of such an intervention: "This will allow the United States to thwart Iranian ambitions to control territory spanning Iraq, Syria and Lebanon; retain influence in major oil-producing areas, and deny Mr. Assad a substantial portion of Syrian territory, pending a diplomatic solution." This strategy is in basic agreement with an April 16 editorial by the Wall Street Journal that calls for Trump to establish "safe zones" in northern Syria, both in the US-occupied territory east of the Euphrates River and the border area with Jordan. This, the newspaper writes, "wouldn't threaten Assad's control over the rest of Syria," but would "send a signal that the US isn't abandoning the region to Iran and Russia." The editorial calls for a "peace based on dividing the country into ethnic-based enclaves." What is being discussed is a permanent dismemberment and restructuring of Syria and the entire Middle East, in part to provide US imperialism with a forward staging base for its war preparations against Iran and Russia. An April 15 commentary in the Journal by Ryan Crocker, the former US ambassador to Syria, and Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Democratic Party-aligned Brookings Institution, advises that future air strikes "up the ante, going after military command and control, political leadership and perhaps even Mr. Assad himself... Targets within Iran should not be off limits, depending on the provocation." On Tuesday, the Times published a report based on statements by anonymous military and administration officials that Defence Secretary Mattis had urged Trump to seek congressional approval for the bombing, but was overruled by the president. The article states that "in several White House meetings last week, he [Mattis] underscored the importance of linking military operations to public support--a view Mr. Mattis has long held." In a recent editorial, the Times similarly stressed the need for Congress to pass legislation authorizing further military operations in Syria and elsewhere. Mattis is also widely reported to have advised selecting Syrian targets in such a manner as to minimize the chance of Russian retaliation. What is behind these considerations, both military and political, is the need to prepare for an extended and bloody war that would likely involve large numbers of American troops and lead to military conflict with Russia and/or Iran. This will require a crackdown against anti-war opposition within the US, for which a legal fig leaf of congressional sanction is deemed necessary. In her Times op-ed, Rice calls for the US to "keep avoiding direct conflict with Russia," while not allowing "Russia and Iran free rein." Washington must "push back firmly and smartly" against Russia, she writes, "whether with respect to chemical weapons or other outrages." In other words, the CIA must continue to manufacture an endless series of provocations and pretexts in order to justify Washington's drive to remove Russia as an obstacle to the establishment of US hegemony in the Middle East and all of Eurasia. One such pretext was provided by the release Monday of a joint US-UK government report charging Russia with vague acts of "cyber warfare" against the West. Though the document did not provide a single specific charge or piece of evidence against Russia, it has been widely amplified throughout the media in an effort to create an atmosphere of hysteria in the US and legitimize a confrontation with Moscow. The US cable television networks on Wednesday began more prominently featuring reports of the death of Russian investigative journalist Maksim Borodin, whose investigations have included the Russian private military contractor Wagner. Borodin fell from a fifth-floor balcony in Yekaterinburg on Sunday. In typical fashion, prior to any investigation and without any evidence, the media is widely reporting Borordin's death as the latest in a long line of assassinations supposedly ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The intensity of the anti-Russia campaign grows in proportion to the exposure of the official pretexts for the bombing of Syria as lies. Five days after the attack, no evidence has been provided to substantiate the claim that the Assad regime carried out a gas attack in the eastern Ghouta town of Douma, while evidence continues to mount that the incident was staged by the Western intelligence agencies to provide a pretext for intervention. The intelligence agencies have been assisted by a corrupt and servile media. A study released yesterday by Fairness in Accuracy and Reporting, a media watchdog, reveals that of the top 100 US newspapers by circulation, not a single editorial board opposed the bombing of Syria. Sky News cuts off UK General Shaw for questioning Syria gas attack pretext The Western media's role as a disseminator of government lies was demonstrated in an interview by Britain's Sky News with former British Major-General Jonathan Shaw on April 13 in the lead-up to the bombing. When Shaw veered off script and questioned what possible motive the Assad government could have in carrying out a chemical weapons attack, given that its forces were about to overrun the US-backed "rebels" in Douma and a gas attack would likely trigger Western intervention, Sky host Samantha Washington abruptly cut him off mid-sentence and shut down the interview.

Syria, after six years of U.S.-manufactured war. As the danger of a major conflagration in Syria continues to grow, the silence of the corporate media and political establishment is ominous. The U.S. has dropped tens of thousands of bombs on Syria and sent thousands of U.S. troops to the region. Major world powers are already involved. The Donald Trump administration threatened a dangerous escalation on June 26 when Press Secretary Sean Spicer claimed Syrian government forces were potentially planning to stage a chemical attack and Washington would make Syria pay a heavy price. The announcement was made without a shred of evidence. Instead, there were vague claims that U.S. intelligence had "identified potential preparations" for a chemical attack. These were all too familiar, after the phony pretext for the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The White House statement was immediately followed by a Twitter statement from U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley: "Any further attacks done to the people of Syria will be blamed on Assad, but also on Russia and Iran." She was expressing Washington's frustration that despite its bombing sorties and despite pulling 10 other countries into the war, Washington's plan for regime change has failed. Acting on cue five days after the White House statement, a counterrevolutionary group, Failaq al-Rahman, accused the Syrian army of using chlorine gas against its fighters in battles east of Damascus. The Syrian military immediately denied these charges, calling them a fabrication. The group making this charge is a past recipient of U.S. military aid and equipment and is affiliated with Washington's client group, the Free Syrian Army. It claimed that more than 30 people suffered gas suffocation as a result of an attack in Ain Tarma, a suburb of Damascus, the capital. The group, allied with al-Qaida forces, has been fighting both the Syrian government and rival opposition forces in a chaotic internecine conflict in an insurgent enclave in East Ghouta. Thousands of mortar shells and rockets have been fired from this enclave into nearby Damascus over the past few years. Not only are counterrevolutionary factions in Syria fighting each other, but U.S. government departments are at odds. According to Fox News on June 27, "Several State Department officials typically involved in coordinating such announcements told the Associated Press they were caught completely off guard by the warning, which didn't appear to be discussed in advance with other national security agencies." British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said the U.S. had not shared any evidence of a specific threat of a chemical weapons attack. Media self-censorship escalates The major corporate media gave headline coverage to the unsubstantiated charges against Syria. But questions and controversy were buried deep within the articles. Overtly suppressed by all major corporate media in the U.S. and Britain was an expose released June 25, the day before the White House statement, by award-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh. Hersh challenged the U.S. claim that the Syrian government had launched a sarin gas attack in April. According to Hersh, only the German publication, die WELT, was willing to publish the fact that Trump had ignored intelligence reports from U.S. agencies when he ordered a "Tomahawk" missile attack on the Syrian air base on April 6. Hersh is neither a revolutionary nor a left-wing journalist. He never attacks U.S. imperialism in general. But his carefully calibrated exposes, usually carried in major U.S. and British publications, have criticized egregious acts in U.S. wars, such as the mass murder of villagers in My Lai, Vietnam, in 1969. Major U.S. and British media carried his exposes on Korean Air Flight 007 in 1986, an expose of Israel's nuclear arsenal in 1991, and President Bill Clinton's bombing of the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Sudan. In 2004, he reported on U.S. systematic torture of hundreds of detainees at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq. Hersh's exposes and analyses have won the Pulitzer Prize, Polk Award and National Book Award. Yet he had to go to Germany to get his latest expose published. That none of the major U.S. or British publications would touch it shows broad ruling-class support at the highest levels for a continued and expanded U.S. war against Syria. This was also shown by the general applause from Republican and Democratic politicians as well as the corporate media when Trump launched the April 6 attack. They described him as "presidential" for that. It was the first praise since the election coming from Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer and Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Frustration with Syria's success The new charge of a "potential" gas attack comes amid growing U.S. frustration after years of covert efforts to overthrow the sovereign government of Syria have failed. Aid funneled through Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to tens of thousands of mercenary and reactionary forces have also failed to bring down the Damascus government. The war has displaced almost a third of the Syrian population and created millions of refugees. But the Syrian government's success shows it benefits from the deep determination of millions of Syrians to maintain Syria as a secular and sovereign state. In September 2014 the Obama administration began direct bombing of Syria, claiming to be targeting the so-called Islamic State group (IS). The Syrian government has consistently opposed this direct military intervention and past covert intervention. The Pentagon then pulled Britain, France, Turkey, Australia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan and Morocco into its air campaign. After a year of the bombings, the Syrian government appealed to Russia for air support. Israel has also used every opportunity to bomb Syrian government forces, the latest being on July 1. Further provocations as millions oppose wider war In May the U.S. military attacked Syrian ground forces near the Al Tanf Crossing on the Iraq-Syria border. The Syrians were engaged in a campaign to open the major highway to Damascus and clear the surrounding region of military saboteurs. U.S. and British Special Forces were in the area advising and providing advanced offensive weapons to a Syrian mercenary group called the Revolutionary Commando Army. To protect these covert forces, the U.S. bombed Syrian troops using the preposterous claim of self-defense. U.S. and British Special Forces are in another country attacking soldiers of that country who had not attacked or killed any of them. How could that be self-defense? A U.S. jet shot down a Syrian fighter jet west of Raqqa on June 18. General Joseph Dunford, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, resorted to using a 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force as legal justification. The AUMF was worded to target governments and individuals who supported the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center bombing. The Syrian government has never attacked the U.S. It is fighting against al-Qaida and IS. Meanwhile U.S. allies such as Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have aided al-Qaida and IS in Syria. Despite wholesale media censorship and complete support from the political establishment for continuing the war on Syria -- both Republicans and Democrats, from Trump to Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders -- polls show millions are opposed to this war. The movement against U.S. wars must be more confident and outspoken in mobilizing opposition. The growing danger of a wider war forces this onto our agenda. (VENEZUELAPHOTO: PRENSA LATINA | [email protected] \SANA)

Warplanes paid special attention to the Saraqib-Khan Tuman supply line used by militants to deliver supplies and reinforcements to the area of Aleppo from Idlib province, Southfront reported. The government forces have already launched a preemptive shelling if the Aqrab area in western Aleppo. "As a result of strikes delivered by Su-33 carrier-based fighter jets and air group of the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, a large gang of the Jabhat al-Nusra group was destroyed in the province of Idlib," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Thursday. Three Al-Nusra field commanders were also killed a "major blow" against what now goes by the name of Jabhat Fatah Al-Sham. But Moscow has denied reports of air bombardments in Aleppo, saying it was sticking to a moratorium on air strikes in the city. The Russian military has upped its air defense in Syria. Additional to the S-400 system around its airport in Latakia seven S-300 systems were deployed as a screen against US cruise missile attacks. These are joined by rehabilitated Syrian S-200 system and Pantsyr S-1 short range systems for point defense. Meanwhile Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces were moving in to take al-Bab, about 35km northeast of Aleppo, from ISIS, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters. In an interview with the Portuguese broadcaster RTP published on Tuesday, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, called Donald J. Trump a "natural ally" in the fight against terrorism. Assad said "opposing forces within the administration" could cast doubt on whether Trump "can deliver on his promises". In an interview last week with The Wall Street Journal, Trump suggested that once he took office he would drop American support for Syrian opposition groups fighting the Assad government.

Sunday September 3, 2017 Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Russian President Vladimir Putin in person that Israel will not tolerate an Iranian military presence in Syria that threatens Israeli interests. Netanyahu also stated that Israel is prepared to take action in Syria to curb the alleged threat. At the time, Putin did not respond specifically to Israel's issue with Iran. This provided some uncertainty regarding Russia's position on the current conflict given Russia views Iran as a strategic ally . At the same time, however, Russia would likely not want to be dragged into a regional spat between Israel and the Islamic Republic. However, according to the Washington Examiner, a conservative news outlet, Russia has responded by warning Israel not to authorize any attack on Iranian military positions in Syria. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov allegedly told reporters: If anyone in the Middle East or [an]other part of the world plans to violate international law by undermining any other country's sovereignty or territorial integrity, including any country in the Middle East or North Africa, this would be condemned. He also added: [R]egarding whatever area of cooperation between Iran and Syria, my position is that if their cooperation in whichever field does not violate the basic provisions of international law, it should not be cause for question. This line of thinking on Russia's part was confirmed by the Times of Israel in a report claiming that even U.S. officials have agreed to allow Iranian-backed militias to take up positions in Syria less than ten kilometers from the Golan Heights region, which is technically under Israeli control. Under this arrangement, Russian observers are to police the truce zones, and this has rattled Israeli officials. A Russian military presence in the area may limit its ability to strike pro-Iranian and pro-Syrian forces inside Syrian territory. There are also further reports of Russia stationing its S-400 anti-missile defense system near an Iranian arms factory inside Syria, which allegedly provides Hezbollah with weapons that could be used against Israel. In response to fears of an increased and protected Iranian presence, a senior Israeli official came forward days ago to state that if Iran expands in Syria, Israel will respond by striking Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's palaces. This may be the ultimate aim of the U.S. war establishment. If the U.S. can provoke a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran, the rationale to intervene more heavily to counter both Iran and Syria will be that much more concrete, particularly if there are concerns about protecting an American ally. A recent survey found the majority of Americans would support a nuclear strike on Iran, killing 2 million civilians, if Iran attacked the U.S. military first through conventional warfare. In the same vein, the majority of Americans may also feel that such a military option would be justified if the U.S. were acting to defend an American ally. This hypothetical scenario would at least explain America's decision to allow Iranian-backed troops so close to Israel's border given the current Trump administration is incredibly anti-Iranian. However, Russia's military presence and the deployment of its defense systems may ultimately complicate this scenario for both the U.S. and Israel, which may sooner or later have to admit that they have realistically lost the war in Syria. Reprinted with permission from The Anti-Media .

Wednesday March 14, 2018 Recently,various US officials have been suggesting substantial attacks on the Syrian military are imminent. This talk of attacking Syria has provoked a warning from the Russian Foreign Ministry, and a second warning from top Russian generals. Russia's military chief of staff warns Russia would retaliate " against the missiles and launchers used " by the US in such a strike. That's clearly a game-changer, as the US has previously believed that they could carry out the occasional attack against Syrian military targets with impunity. This was the case with the April tomahawk missile attacks against a Syrian air base done over a putative chemical weapon attack, which Russia criticized but didn't act over. US officials have been drumming up multiple pretexts for another strike, including more poorly documented chemical weapons incidents, Syrian offensives against rebel factions in Eastern Ghouta, and Syrian airstrikes that are either near or in a de-escalation zone in the Daraa Province. With Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warning of " grave consequences ," and the Russian military talking retaliation, it's clear US strikes would not be consequence-free. Rather a US strike under any justification would risk a long feared direct war between the US and Russia. That's a concern long-standing among US officials, and as recently as December, a top US general was warning US troops to prepare for a " big-ass war " with Russia. Even during the 2016 campaign President Trump made clear he was very aware of the risk of a Syria War leading to a Russia war. Trump will have to manage constant pressure to do more against Syria to avoid steering into such a disastrous conflict. Reprinted with permission from Antiwar.com .

By Ron Paul Thursday's US missile attack on Syria must represent the quickest foreign policy U-turn in history. Less than a week after the White House gave Assad permission to stay on as president of his own country, President Trump decided that the US had to attack Syria and demand Assad's ouster after a chemical attack earlier in the week. Trump blamed Assad for the attack, stated that "something's going to happen" in retaliation, and less than two days later he launched a volley of 59 Tomahawk missiles (at a cost of $1.5 million each) onto a military airfield near where the chemical attack took place. President Trump said it is in the "vital national security interest of the United States" to attack Syria over the use of poison gas. That is nonsense. Even if what Trump claims about the gas attack is true - and we've seen no evidence that it is - there is nothing about an isolated incident of inhuman cruelty thousands of miles from our borders that is in our "vital national security interest." Even if Assad gassed his own people last week it hardly means he will launch chemical attacks on the United States even if he had the ability, which he does not. From the moment the chemical attack was blamed on Assad, however, I expressed my doubts about the claims. It simply makes no sense for Assad to attack civilians with a chemical weapon just as he is winning his war against ISIS and al-Qaeda and has been told by the US that it no longer seeks regime change. On the verge of victory, he commits a suicidal act to no strategic or tactical military advantage? More likely the gas attack was a false flag by the rebels -- or perhaps even by our CIA -- as a last ditch effort to forestall a rebel defeat in the six year war. Would the neocons and the mainstream media lie to us about what happened last week in Syria? Of course they would. They lied us into attacking Iraq, they lied us into attacking Gaddafi, they lied us into seeking regime change in Syria in the first place. We should always assume they are lying. Who benefits from the US attack on Syria? ISIS, which immediately after the attack began a ground offensive. Does President Trump really want the US to act as ISIS's air force? The gas attack, which took some 70 civilian lives, was horrible and must be condemned. But we must also remember that US bombs in Syria have killed hundreds of civilians. Just recently, US bombs killed 300 Iraqi civilians in one strike! Does it really make a difference if you are killed by poison gas or by a US missile? What's next for President Trump in Syria? Russia has not backed down from its claim that the poison gas leaked as a result of a conventional Syrian bomb on an ISIS chemical weapons factory. Moscow claims it is determined to defend its ally, Syria. Will Trump unilaterally declare a no fly zone in parts of Syria and attempt to prevent Russian air traffic? Some suggest this is his next move. It is one that carries a great danger of igniting World War Three. Donald Trump's attack on Syria was clearly illegal. However, Congress shows no interest in reining in this out-of-control president. We should fear any US escalation and must demand that our Representatives prohibit it. If there ever was a time to flood the Capitol Hill switchboard demanding an end to US military action in Syria, it is now!

On Friday, a Supreme Administrative Court announced plans to shoot 24 wolves could go ahead, despite massive protests it could lead to the extinction of the magnificent beasts in the Scandinavian country. Torbjorn Nilsson, the President of the Swedish Association predators, hit out against the ruling as he said the Swedish wolf population was already so low it could compromise its future in the wild. He said: "I think it's an unfortunate and surprising decision. "It is unfortunate because the wolf population is still quite small, very inbred and too isolated. Therefore, one should not hunt in this way." Hunters have been given permission from January 2 to hunt across four counties; six in Varmland, six in territory shared between Varmland and Orebro, six in Dalarna and six in the Gavleborg. Animal activists have also hit out against the ruling, in fear of dogs being used for pack hunting on the stunning predators. Branding it as unethical because it causes unnecessary suffering before the wolf is shot, Jan Bergstam of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, said: "If a lonely pup gets three dogs after it I think it's unethical. "When other countries prohibit pack hunting, Sweden shouldn't start." Hitting back at the criticism, Maria Falkevik of the County Administrative Board of Varmland, said the biggest risk of pack hunting would be posed to the dogs, not the wolves. Norway's wolf population only counts 65-68 animals and so animal and environmental campaigners condemned the decision to put down 47 of the predators - branding it a slaughter. At the time, Silje Lundberg, the interim leader of Naturvernforbundet, Norway's largest environmental organisation, said: "It is unbelievable that the department with open eyes can decide to shoot 47 wolves of a population of just 65-68 animals. "It is terrifying that such most extremist attitudes are dictating [Norway's] wildlife politics." To the great rejoice of animal and environmental campaigners, the decision to shot 47 wolves was thrown out by the legislation department of the Justice Ministry in December. The ruling means only 15 predators will be put down in 2017.

Saturday, September 17th, 2016 Norway Plans to Cull More Than Two-Thirds of its Wolf Population by Fiona Harvey / The Guardian Norway is planning to cull more than two-thirds of its remaining wolves in a step that environmental groups say will be disastrous for the dwindling members of the species in the wild. There are estimated to be about 68 wolves remaining in the wilderness areas of Norway, concentrated in the south-east of the country, but under controversial plans approved on Friday as many as 47 of these will be shot. Hunting is a popular sport in the country. Last year more than 11,000 hunters applied for licences to shoot 16 wolves , a ratio of more than 700 applicants to each licence. The government has justified this year's planned cull - the biggest in more than a century - on the basis of harm done to sheep flocks by the predators. Environmental groups dispute this, saying the real damage is minimal and the response out of all proportion. The government did not reply to a request from the Guardian for comment. The government has taken action to prevent illegal wolf hunting . Wolves are also an attraction for some tourists to the country . But the new legal hunting limit is beyond anything that the wild population can withstand, according to Norway's leading green groups. Under the arrangements, 24 wolves will be shot within the region of the country designated for wolf habitat, while another 13 will be shot in neighbouring regions and a further 10 in other areas of the country. According to environmental groups, the number of wolves the government plans to kill this year is greater than in any year since 1911. Nina Jensen, chief executive of WWF in Norway, said: "This is mass slaughter. We have not seen anything like this in a hundred years, back when the policy was that all large carnivores were to be eradicated. "Shooting 70% of the wolf population is not worthy of a nation claiming to be championing environmental causes . People all over the country, and outside its borders, are now reacting." She said the losses to farmers from wolves had been minimal, and pointed to settlements by the Norwegian parliament in 2004 and 2011 that stipulated populations of carnivores must be allowed to co-exist with livestock. "This decision must be stopped," said Silje Ask Lundberg, chair of Friends of the Earth Norway. "With this decision, three out of six family groups of wolves might be shot. We are calling on the minister of environment to stop the butchering. Today, Norway should be ashamed." Share this: 3 responses to "Norway Plans to Cull More Than Two-Thirds of its Wolf Population" This a sign of not living in harmony with nature and not respecting all life. So.Norway can join Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, etc., for the killing. I'm.not sure.we're doing the wolves any.favor in introducing them to be targets. This is mostly bullshit, because the wolves in Norway are drifters who does not belong in Norway, and they do great harm to farmers who tries to make a living in remote aeras..

By Cody McLaughlin _ Here we go again, Save Jerseyans; keyboard warriors with no background or information about what true conservation is or what makes a healthy ecosystem healthy are attacking legal, ethical hunters for advancing conservation goals. So What Happened? Read More In an age dominated by Internet celebrity, hashtag-activism and 24-hour fads, Save Jerseyans, it should surprise no one that our great state's current obsession isn't with the most consequential presidential election in a generation, domestic ISIS infiltration or oppressive taxation. Read More NEWTON -- The second day of the extended bear hunt in New Jersey saw another 75 bears killed, bringing the two-day total to 281, according to figures released by the state Department of Environmental Protection Tuesday night. The two-day total Read More

According to a report from South Africa's News24 , a big game hunter was killed when he was crushed to death when a elephant fell on top of him. Theunis Botha , 51, owned a safari hunting operation that specialized in hunting leopards and lions using trained dogs. According to the report, Botha was leading a hunt when he and the group stumbled on an elephant mating ground. From News24: Three elephant cows stormed the hunters and Botha shot at them. A fourth cow stormed them from the side and one of the hunters shot her after she'd lifted Botha with her trunk. The shot was fatal and as the cow collapsed, she fell on Botha. As Gizmodo points out , while elephants generally don't have any predators in the wild, humans remain their most consistent threat. The elephant population in Africa has dwindled from 3-5 million to just over 400,000, mainly due to illegal poaching. The reaction to Botha's death was mixed. Comments on his Facebook page range from people giving their condolences to others leaving hateful and unsympathetic messages. Below is a promotional video from Botha's website: Featured image via screen grab

TEHRAN -- A leopard which had been trapped in a snare and injured on May 12 in the Paband National Park, the northern Mazandaran province, was released back to wild last week, Iran Environment and Wildlife Watch website reported. The five-year-old male leopard which was trapped and wounded was soon spotted by the rangers, put under anesthesia and transferred to Semeskandeh Wildlife Refuge in Sari for further treatment. After receiving proper care and being well-fed it was released back to its habitat as fit as a fiddle last Tuesday. To make sure of the leopard's state it is being observed by a satellite tracking device. 2017-05-24 06:42

By Cody McLaughlin __ New Jersey politicians are at it again, Save Jerseyans. Not content with allowing law-abiding citizens to exercise their freedoms without big Government interference, the Township Committee of Holmdel Township in Monmouth County has declared war on Read More By Cody McLaughlin _ Here we go again, Save Jerseyans; keyboard warriors with no background or information about what true conservation is or what makes a healthy ecosystem healthy are attacking legal, ethical hunters for advancing conservation goals. So What Happened? Read More By Cody McLaughlin _ The hashtag activists are at it again, Save Jerseyans. Once again we have an example of one-sided, biased, opinion-driven "journalism" brought to us totally devoid of facts, reason or logic. So what's going on? An at-or-near Read More Published in Animals , Environmentalism , News Tagged fox , new jersey , NJ , red In an age dominated by Internet celebrity, hashtag-activism and 24-hour fads, Save Jerseyans, it should surprise no one that our great state's current obsession isn't with the most consequential presidential election in a generation, domestic ISIS infiltration or oppressive taxation. Read More NEWTON -- The second day of the extended bear hunt in New Jersey saw another 75 bears killed, bringing the two-day total to 281, according to figures released by the state Department of Environmental Protection Tuesday night. The two-day total Read More

Conservations, scientists, and members of fishing communities and industry expressed outrage and disappointment after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday that experts warn will set the nation's fishing industry back decades by eviscerating protections that have made U.S. fisheries more sustainable and undermining the health of marine ecosystems as well as the communities that live off the ocean. With a final vote of 222 to 193, the bill known as H.R. 200 - officially titled the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act - was passed along party lines, with just nine Democrats voting in favor and just 15 Republicans voting against. See the full rollcall vote here . The problem with the legislation, say people like Martin Hayden, vice president for policy and legislation at Earthjustice, is that the bill does the very opposite of what its name suggests. "Recovering depleted fisheries under H.R. 200 would be like fishing for sardines with a whale-sized hole in the net," Hayden warned. If the bill becomes law, he added, it "would reverse decades of bipartisan progress towards preventing overfishing and rebuilding fish populations, harming the health of our marine ecosystems and the coastal communities who depend on them." The GOP-controlled House passed the bill despite letters (pdf) of opposition from over 500 U.S. businesses and individuals, including 14 restaurant and seafood companies, 12 aquariums, over 350 chefs, 200 scientists, over 50 dive shops, and multiple recreational fishing groups. Today, the House passed H.R. 200, a bill which would undermine US fisheries management and reverse progress, and would be damaging for seabirds like Atlantic Puffins. Audubon urges the Senate to reject this bill. #KeepOceansFishy https://t.co/il2mLeQ0Yc -- Audubon Society (@audubonsociety) July 12, 2018 Rather than "strengthening" the existing law known as the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), which governs much of the ways in which the nation's fisheries are managed, opponents warn that H.R. 200 is designed to gut the hard-won progress and marine life protections achieved by conservationists and fishing communities since the mid-1970s. "In the last 40 years," said Whitney Webber, campaign director for the conservation group Oceana, following Wednesday's vote, "the Magnuson-Stevens Act has helped the United States become a global leader in fisheries management. Yet, with today's vote, Congress has allowed special interests to trump science, leaving future generations of fishermen, seafood consumers and ocean enthusiasts to pay the price." The MSA, she added, "has succeeded in reversing overfishing and bringing back fisheries abundance in the U.S. However, H.R. 200 would undo the significant progress we've made over the past several decades for the health of America's fisheries and fishermen. This bill would weaken science-based conservation of U.S. fish populations, decrease accountability, and increase the risk of overfishing by removing annual catch limits for many species." The bill now heads to the U.S. Senate for a vote.

Bren Smith is the owner of Thimble Island Ocean Farm and executive director of GreenWave. A lifelong commercial fisherman since the age of 14, Bren pioneered the development of restorative 3D ocean farming, which is designed to restore ocean ecosystems, mitigate climate change, and create blue-green jobs for fishermen -- while ensuring healthy, local food for communities. His work has been profiled by CNN, Google Food, The New Yorker, Bon Appetit, and others. In 2015, he was the winner of the Buckminster Fuller Prize for ecological design and the Clinton Global Initiative award for ocean innovation. His writing has appeared in the New York Times and National Geographic. In 2013, Smith was chosen as one of six "Ocean Heroes" by Oceana and Future of Fish's "Ocean Entrepreneur" of the year. He is an Ashoka and Echoing Green Fellow.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) oversees aquaculture, or fish farming, in the U.S., both in freshwater and marine environments. Since the U.S. imports 84 percent of its seafood, about half of which is farmed, there is need for growth in the domestic fish-farming industry. Thus the NOAA has proposed a set of policies to guide American aquaculture. But a group of about 30 organizations, including the Center for Media and Democracy , has sent comments to the NOAA (pdf) expressing dismay that the proposed aquaculture policies fall short, in part by failing to maintain a neutral view of aquaculture. The draft policies seem more aimed at boosting the aquaculture industry at any cost than rationally and scientifically evaluating the pros and cons of this type of development in any given circumstance, place and time. In keeping with this pro-business tone, NOAA's draft policy fails to acknowledge that the marine environment is a public commons that should be managed and regulated for the overall public good. The policies don't mention that aquaculture should not restrict public access to the oceans, or a require that aquaculture businesses submit an Environmental Impact Statement prior to obtaining an aquaculture permit. The policy fails to define or describe what constitutes "sustainable" aquaculture -- a term now so overused that it has lost clear meaning in many contexts. In fact, the draft policies assume all aquaculture will be of benefit regardless of the circumstances, and doesn't acknowledge any responsibility to assure that aquaculture products -- including genetically-engineered seafood -- don't pose a threat to human health. You can read NOAA's Draft Aquaculture Policy here (pdf), and the comments and recommendations of the thirty organizations here .

By Robert Romano When President Donald Trump stood for election in 2016, he set a national goal of getting the U.S. economy to grow 4 percent annually, and maybe even greater than that. Speaking to the Economic Club of New York on Sept. 15, Trump said, "it's time to establish... Read More News economy , GDP , President Donald Trump , trade Leave a comment by Judge Bob Corlew, Candidate for Tennessee's 6th Congressional District Political prognosticators have predicted there might be a blue wave coming in November. They believe the House will flip to Democrat control and the U.S. Senate race in Tennessee could decide who controls the U.S. Senate. It is important... Read More Commentary Bob Corlew , impeachment , Judge , President Donald Trump 5 Comments Chance of a Thunderstorm Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 89F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

Kyrsten Sinema Kyrsten Sinema is a member of the U.S. Congress from Arizona's 9th congressional district, first elected in 2012. A member of the Democratic Party, prior to being elected she served in the Arizona legislature from 2005-2001. Known as a progressive, Kyrsten Sinema has been an ardent supporter of the DREAM Act and has campaigned against Propositions 107 and 102, referendums to ban the recognition of same-sex marriage and civil unions in the state of Arizona. Get to know the person recognized as the first openly bisexual person elected to Congress.

If endorsements vote, Save Jerseyans, it's hard to argue that Kim Guadagno doesn't have a clear early edge in this year's Republican gubernatorial primary. She added 102 more on Friday, bringing the Lieutenant Governor's grand total to just north of Read More White House Adviser Kellyanne Conway had a few words of advice for women voters attending the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor Thursday morning. Conway described her brand of feminism, and used her position as one of the most Read More

On March 8th as American women were not staying home from work en masse, but some were protesting just about everything under the sun other than equality between men and women, Argentinians took the protests to new depths. In 2016, an Argentinian woman is murdered by her male partner every 30 hours on average. That is something to protest. In the northern province of Tucuman, protesters decided to protest for free and legal abortion for all, among other things. Abortion in Argentina is illegal unless the mother's life is in danger in this country that is 92% Catholic and the home of Pope Francis. In what was described as an artistic representation by a group called Socorro Rosa Tucuman, a woman dressed as a pregnant Virgin Mary appeared in front of a cathedral whereupon an abortion was performed on her. The act included fake blood and dismembered baby body parts. Said their Facebook page: "In Tucuman, the Virgin aborted in the cathedral the patriarchate, the mandatory heterosexuality and the mandates of this reprising society and demanded all misogynist of this medieval province to remove her image from every maternity ward, to stop forbidding abortions in her name, that he, throwing this abortion in the face of monsignor Zecca [the local Catholic archbishop], this rotten fetus, conceived only for the raping system that mandates us to forced maternity." What a load of crap! Perhaps something was lost in translation, but this writer doubts it. Comparing Jesus to a "rotten fetus" that created a "raping system" forcing women into maternity is a bridge to far. Brandon Morse In another city, a 19th century cathedral was defaced with anti-Catholic and pro-abortion graffiti. In Buenos Aires, feminist protesters ripped down protective police fencing around Pope Francis' former cathedral. They chanted, "The only church that illuminates is the one is burning" and "Take your rosaries out of our ovaries." A man holding a Vatican flag was brutally beaten. I should also mention these protesters were bare-chested with feminist slogans painted across their breasts. The country has seen these types of disgusting demonstrations before. Argentina annually holds a National Women's Congress. In October 2016 it was held in Rosario, the second largest city in the country. A rally was held to end violence against women that turned violent. Along the 1.5 mile marching route, stores and historic buildings were vandalized with sayings like: "Lesbianize yourself," the ubiquitous rosary/ovary thing (they can rhyme), "castration for rapists" (OK- no problem here), and "Legalize cannabis" (huh?). The organizers announced that the rally would end up at the cathedral where Pope Francis used to celebrate mass as it had in the past. In previous years, parishioners would form a human fence to protect the cathedral while they prayed the rosary. Men were usually in the front and in the past these feminists have sprayed their faces with red paint and have thrown human feces in their faces. This year they had a man dressed like Pope Francis and topless women danced around him singing pro-abortion songs. One group- The Union of Private Teachers- annually supports the National Women's Congress, but will no longer. One would hope more groups will come forward and protest the protesters, but sadly none have. Instead, feminists are doubling down on the stupidity. In response to police responding to a complaint about a topless sunbather on a beach, they organized an "Our breasts should not be censored" rally in Buenos Aires. Given the statistic about domestic violence against women in Argentina (and that is just murders), one would think that feminists would direct their anger more precisely. Instead, like their counterparts in the United States, they have turned feminism into a Leftist free-for-all including the legalization of abortion, prostitution, apparently cannabis, free contraception and a host of other nonsense. One supposes we should count our lucky stars here in the US that the worse we are subjected to is screeds by Ashley Judd lamenting the fact she "suffers" a menstrual cycle. But, the actions in Argentina illustrate that the far Left feminists will stoop to such lows to make a point. A fake abortion performed on the Virgin Mary shows how deranged these people truly are.

Today, hundreds of thousands of women and feminist men descended on Washington DC for the anti-Trump "Women's March." Gathered to rally against the newly minted US President and so-called "rape culture," many donned pink knitted hats coined "pussyhats." I asked them if they would help fight for one woman, Juanita Broaddrick , who claims she was raped in the late 1970s by President Bill Clinton. Their answers reveal the hypocrisy and double standards rampant on the radical feminist Left, in utter denial that Donald J Trump is their president! PS: See all my reports from Washington, DC, along with those of my fellow Rebel Lauren Southern, at RebelWashington.com . Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

https://twitter.com/WilliamShatner/status/858786429173776384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmic.com%2Farticles%2F175727%2Fwilliam-shatner-firmly-believes-in-misandry-a-concept-favored-by-men-s-rights-activists William Shatner explains what feminism is really about to feminists. Use of the term "toxic masculinity," he says, is misandry. Ontario's medical regulator argues that doctor who showed his patients porn and solicited sexual details irrelevant to their health conditions should lose his license. British TV personality Katie Hopkins argues that, unlike those who attended the women's marches around the world, she's a true feminist -- because she believes that women are already equal and those of us who disagree don't really get it. In Sydney, Australia, women take to the boxing ring to draw attention to unequal treatment of women in film. Nancy Pelosi says abortion should not be a gate-keeper issue for who can and cannot be a Democratic Party candidate. Jess Martin is a public relations professional, an aspiring writer, and an assistant editor at Feminist Current. She prefers to write about feminist topics, disability, or environmental issues, but could be persuaded to broaden her horizons in exchange for payment and/or food. In her spare time Jess can be found knitting, gardening, or lying in the fetal position, mulling over political theory that no one in their right mind cares about. Like this article? Tip Feminist Current!

In remarks quoted by Vatican radio Friday, Pope Francis "personally asked forgiveness for sexual abuse committed by Catholic priests. During a meeting with a Catholic children's charity, Pope Francis said that he felt "compelled to personally take on all the evil" perpetrated by some priests, because "you cannot interfere with children." "It is personal, moral damage carried out by men of the Church," he said, adding that "sanctions" would be imposed on abusive clergy. In a response, the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests or SN...

Earlier on in the finale, Christie (played by Tim Roth) had testified against his neighbour Timothy Evans (Nico Mirallegro) who was subsequently wrongly convicted and hung for the murder of his wife and daughter. Worried his wife Ethel (Samantha Morton) would reveal his secret, the softly-spoken murderer strangled her too as she lay sleeping. As viewers recoiled, the worst was yet to come, as Christie invited two young women to his flat promising one an abortion and another some free clothes. While one of the women sat in one room waiting for the termination, Christie went to the bedroom where he brutally gassed the other to death.

In New Zealand, the standard price of an abortion is $1100 for a New Zealand citizen. We believe that women cannot be expected to pay this amount of money for something that they may need, as many women have to get abortions as having the baby would result in physical or mental health issues. On top of this, women seeking an abortion are expected to attend at least 2 doctors appointments (which they must pay for themselves) and also pay for consultations. We think that the subsidy of abortions is likely to help women in difficult situations and give women a fair choice.

By now, Paul Bremer must have come to grips with the enormity of the task facing him. As President Bush's special envoy and the chief U.S. civilian in Iraq, he must mediate among fierce tribal factions riven by ancient hatreds. And that's just in the Bush administration. Bureaucratic infighting between the State Department and the Defense Department helped topple Bremer's predecessor, Jay Garner, who presided over an embarrassing debacle in Baghdad that the New Republic has compared to an "an Arab version of the Watts riots." Turf wars between Foggy Bottom and the Pentagon predate the Bush administration, of course, but Bremer may be able to bridge the long-running divide. After all, his short tenure in Iraq has managed so far to combine the best elements from both departments: With the neoconservatives at the Pentagon, Bremer shares a loathing for militant Islamic radicalism and a desire for a free Iraq. But like the realists in Foggy Bottom, he understands the need--at least in the short run--for stability over democracy. Perhaps the best evidence for Bremer as The One comes from the early debate over whether he was Colin Powell's or Donald Rumsfeld's man. On May 2, reports in both the New York Times and the Washington Post on Bremer's appointment declared it a Foggy Bottom victory. Presumably, the crowing in the State Department came from Bremer's resume as a career diplomat: 23 years under six secretaries of state. There was even some griping on the right about his selection. "Bremer doesn't know anything about Iraq," an anonymous "conservative Mideast specialist" complained to the Los Angeles Times. "I wonder if it's not one more episode in [the State Department's] attempt to wrest this from" the Defense Department. Soon, however, the neoconservatives were mollified. Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz, hardly State allies, handpicked Bremer, with Colin Powell, George Tenet, and Condoleezza Rice reportedly concurring, and Bremer works directly for Rumsfeld. Furthermore, for more than a decade, Bremer has been pushing an offensive approach to the war on terrorism. He headed the National Commission on Terrorism, which in 2000 recommended several aggressive steps that the Bush administration adopted after Sept. 11, including the repeal of rules that limited who could be recruited to infiltrate terrorist organizations and a recommendation that, in "extraordinary circumstances," the Defense Department should become one of the lead agencies in the war against terrorism. Granted, Bremer hasn't hewed perfectly to the neocon line over the past couple of years. In a Dec. 16, 2001, Wall Street Journal op-ed titled "Iraq Shouldn't Be the Next Stop in War on Terror," he advocated a Bob Graham-style campaign against terror, urging that Sudan, Libya, Yemen, Lebanon, and Syria be told: Dismantle your terrorist training camps, or face unilateral military attack. But Bremer conceded that the United States faced an "inevitable confrontation" with Iraq, and by January of this year, he had endorsed war against Saddam sooner rather than later. Another thing that delights the Wolfowitz crowd is that, despite a career in the State Department, Bremer has disparaged the multilateral approach to fighting terrorism. During the Clinton administration, he wrote in the Washington Post that, when confronting Osama Bin Laden, the government should "ignore the fruitless discussions in the U.N.--an endless litany of resolutions and solemn declarations don't impress terrorists." And immediately after 9/11, Bremer cautioned against "a mindless search for international 'consensus' for our actions." In Iraq, Bremer has implemented this unilateral approach on a smaller scale by wisely dumping the "listening tour" approach employed by Garner and introducing a series of long-overdue actions. The trash is getting picked up, for one. The Associated Press on Tuesday reported that 360 tons of garbage had been removed from a single Baghdad neighborhood. (More striking, the AP said that was "about one-fourth of the amount of garbage on the streets.") Under Bremer, Baath Party members are being tossed from public positions, the Iraqi populace is being partially disarmed, an Iraqi provisional government has been postponed, and looters are being jailed. These actions encompass elements from what both the Pentagon and Foggy Bottom have recommended: State's tolerance for Baathists in the name of stability enrages neocons while the Defense Department's preference for anarchy in the name of democracy worries those who believe that stability is the best way to promote self-rule in the long run. Bremer and his team have made a couple of missteps--the leak in the New York Times that soldiers were "going to start shooting a few looters so that the word gets around" got things off on the wrong foot, and Bremer's "This is not a country in anarchy" declaration from Baghdad had a whiff of wishful thinking. The Independent 's Phil Reeves poked fun at the "peculiar endorsement of Saddam's judicial system" when Bremer said that some of the prisoners released by Saddam need to be re-jailed, but Bremer's tough actions are exactly the kind of necessary ruthlessness that Slate 's David Plotz reported would be necessary to restore order in Iraq. Baghdad needed an Al Haig, someone who would step up and proclaim that they were in charge, and Bremer has performed that role ably. A little rebellion may be a good thing, but for the past month, Iraq has had too much of a good thing.

The jihadi detonated explosives at a meeting in ISIS -controlled Qaim district in Mosul, Iraq, killing a number of leaders and himself. It comes as bloodthirsty militants lose ground in their stronghold in Iraq, with their reign of terror confined to an area of about 1km square in Mosul. Lieutenant Colonel Salam al-Obeidi believes only "a few hundred Daesh fighters" are left in the Old City. "And if they don't get killed, their last option is to blow themselves up and commit suicide." Iraqi's prime minister Haider al-Abadi last week declared ISIS had admitted defeat by blowing up a mosque at the heart of its savage regime. The Grand al-Nuri Mosque of Mosul, where ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the so-called Islamic State "caliphate", was destroyed by desperate jihadis after Iraqi forces made significant advances on the terror group's stronghold. Prime minister al-Abadi said the last-ditch move was a sign the extremists had admitted defeat. The fall of Mosul, ISIS's defacto capital, would effectively mark the end of terror group's control in Iraq.

Posted 2016-10-25 09:48 GMT A statue of Virgin Mary is placed in a street in Bartella. Another statue of Mary was found to have been beheaded by ISIS fighters. ( AP/Khalid Mohammed) Iraqi and Kurdish forces are going town-by-town in the multi-front advance on Mosul, liberating villages as they go and finding varying degrees of ISIS resistance along the way. Bartella is an Assyrian town less than half an hour east of Mosul on Iraq's Highway 2. Once home to about 20,000 people, it was largely left a ghost town when the Christians fled to Kurdistan after ISIS invaded in August 2014. The town was liberated Thursday by Iraqi special forces and the Nineveh Plain Protection Units, an Assyrian Christian militia. Weapons belonging to resting members of Iraq's elite counterterrorism forces are placed near a depiction of the Last Supper, the faces defaced by Islamic State fighters, at a house in Bartella. ( AP/Khalid Mohammed) Iraq's elite counterterrorism forces inspect the church of Saint Shmoni, damaged by Islamic State fighters, in Bartella, Iraq, on Oct. 23, 2016. ( AP/Khalid Mohammed) Arabic that reads "property belonging to Islamic State" is written on a house of a Christian man in the town of Bartella. ( AP/Khalid Mohammed) An improvised explosive device, which was set by Islamic State militants to destroy Saint Shmoni Church in Bartella, rests along a wall after being rendered safe by Iraqi Army engineers. Although ISIS militants were pushed back a large amount of improvised explosive devices are still being found in the town's buildings. ( Rex Features/AP)

Muqtada al-Sadr's Sairoon bloc has reached an understanding with a handful of political parties regarding the formation of a majority bloc in parliament which would then be tasked with drawing up a new government, a Sairoon spokesman said Tuesday. "The alliance has come to an understanding on the formation of a majority bloc in parliament and has taken significant steps towards the drafting of a government program," Sairoon spokesman Qahtan al-Jubouri said in a statement. Consultations, he said, were still underway between various parties and political blocs -- he did not say which ones -- with a view to advancing formation of the country's next government. According to al-Jubouri, the latest developments follow calls by prominent Shia cleric Ali al-Sistani for the "swift formation" of a new government once results of Iraq's disputed May 12 parliamentary polls are recounted. Electoral officials have yet to finish recounting ballots in a handful of provinces, including Diyala and Baghdad. It remains unclear, however, whether the vote recount will dramatically affect initial poll results. For the last two months, results of Iraq's hard-fought 12 May parliamentary election have remained the subject of bitter dispute amid widespread allegations of vote fraud. Once the manual recount is completed and Iraq's Federal Court approves the results, incoming members of parliament will convene to elect a new speaker. Within 30 days of the first parliamentary session, the assembly will elect -- by a two-thirds majority -- the country's next president. The president will then task the largest parliamentary bloc with drawing up a new coalition government, which must be referred back to parliament for final approval. Earlier this month, electoral officials began manually recounting official election results. According to those results, al-Sadr's Sairoon coalition came in first in the polls, winning 54 seats, followed by a Hashd al-Shaabi-led coalition (47 seats) and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's Victory Bloc (42 seats). This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

On a regular basis, the Pentagon issues "Draft Working Papers" on Iraq, detailing the status of oil production, upgrades to the electrical services, the provision of social services and a range of other activities in which the United States is now engaged. This most recent issue of the "Draft Working Papers" found its way to the Center for American Progress and, as is often the case, the Pentagon saved the best for last - take a look at the final page, issued in the Pentagon's latest report, and ask yourself whether, one year down the road and just two months before the handover to the Iraqis, the Bush administration yet has a plan. Page 1:

TEHRAN - Ali Akbar Velayati, a top foreign policy adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, said on Monday that the U.S. is seeking a "covert infiltration" into Iraq. "The Iraqi people and government are against this infiltration and naturally cooperation between the two countries [Iran and Iraq] in regional policies will be strengthened," Velayati told reporters after a meeting with a number of Iraqi Sunni scholars. He said that the Iranians and Iraqis have good relations and the U.S. will not succeed in creating division between the two countries. Elsewhere, he dismissed claims of Iraq's intermediary role in Iran-U.S. relations. During the meeting with the Sunni scholars, Velayati said if it had not been for Iran's cooperation, Iraq would have been disintegrated by "evil plots of enemies". "The Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] is very determined in protecting Iraq's unity and integrity. Steps should be taken in line with boosting peace and security in the region through expanding and strengthening relations," he said. NA/PA

The warming relations between the Holy See and Beijing cooled late last month after a top Chinese leader stressed the need for the Catholic Church in China to promote socialism and remain independent from outside forces. The latest tensions come as the Vatican works with Beijing to reach an agreement on the issue of confirming bishops, part of an effort to reestablish relations between the two parties. Beijing broke ties with the Vatican in 1949, forcing Catholics to either join the government-run Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA) or face imprisonment. Over time, Chinese Catholics formed an underground church faithful to the pope. The total Chinese Catholic population numbers about 12 million. The Vatican hopes to reach both underground and government-run churches in China by working with Beijing, although the "positive signals" it had hoped to receive from Beijing have yet to materialize. In the last week of December, the Chinese government held its Ninth Assembly of Chinese Catholic Representatives, which selects the new leaders of two Catholic bodies in the country--the Patriotic Association and bishops council--and sets government policy for the group. Before the Eighth Assembly in 2010, the Vatican asked bishops not to attend, calling the meeting "incompatible with Catholic doctrine" because decisions are largely handed down from top officials rather than being voted on by bishops. But in light of improving relations, the Vatican allowed bishops to attend this year and said it was "waiting for hard facts before it makes a judgement." China's head of religious affairs, Wang Zuo'an, also asked the Vatican to be flexible and pragmatic and to take concrete steps to improve relations, according to state media. At the assembly, all of the same leaders won "re-election," including illegitimate bishops such as Bishop Ma Yinglin of Kunming, who resumed his position as the president of the bishops' council. Most of the bishops have approval from both the Vatican and the CPCA, although a few still lack papal approval, either because they have girlfriends or children or claim to lead dioceses that already have bishops approved by the Vatican. Father Peter of North China told Vatican-affiliated AsiaNews that rather than letting bishops make any real decisions at the assembly, "everything seemed to be a staged theatrical representation." The themes of independence, autonomy, and self-administration also loomed large in the assembly, signaling Beijing would not allow the Vatican any more control over the Catholic Church in China. Yu Zhengsheng, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee (China's top decision-making body), said in a speech at the assembly that Catholic churches must adhere to "socialism with Chinese characteristics" and "to the correct direction of development." Former Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, a long-time critic of closer ties between the Vatican and Beijing, asked in a blog post before the assembly what type of "positive signals" the Vatican expected to see from an atheist government that has long tried to control the Catholic Church. "Is not the assembly itself taking place already a most evident signal that the Chinese government is taking a hard position, showing no good will?" Zen asked. "They simply demand a total surrender. Can we nourish any hope in a good conclusion of the Sino-Vatican talks?" Share this article with friends.

Father Joseph Zhang Yinlin will be ordained Bishop of Anyang, Henan Province, on August 4, becoming the first Chinese bishop ordained publicly in three years and the first after the Vatican and China reopened dialogue in June 2014. The last public ordination in China was on July 7, 2012, when Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin was installed as auxiliary bishop of Shanghai. Bishop Ma shocked the Chinese authorities by immediately handing in his resignation from the government-controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association in allegiance to Rome, and remains under house arrest in Sheshan, a seminary in Shanghai. The Communist government of Shanghai reacted by mandating that Catholic priests and nuns of the diocese undergo " reeducation " classes on the central theme of the National Congress of the Communist Party. China's Catholic Church has been split into underground and open communities since 1958, with the state-approved body going by the name of the Patriotic Catholic Association. A Vatican document of 1988 barred Roman Catholics from participating in the sacraments of the Patriotic Church, noting that the group had issued a proclamation saying the church "had broken all relationships with the pope" and would be "under the direct control of the government." In 1988, Pope Benedict XVI reached out to Catholics in China with an open letter , in which he praised their faithfulness, encouraged their perseverance, and laid out new guidelines for the life of the Church in China. The 44-year-old Father Zhang will be the first Chinese bishop ordained publicly since the election of Pope Francis. The ordination, which will take place with papal approval, initially was scheduled for July 29, but the diocese decided to postpone the date to August 4, to coincide with the feast of St. John Marie Vianney, the patron saint of priests. "We invited several bishops , but we cannot confirm who will attend and who will preside over the ordination," said Father Zhang. The presence of an illegitimate bishop not recognized by the Vatican is a way for the Communist Party to assert its control over the Church. At least three bishops are required to be present for an episcopal ordination and, in the case of China, at least one of the bishops present must be approved by the Vatican. Earlier this year, Beijing announced its intention to ordain Catholic bishops in 2015 without the Pope's approval, but so far, this has not happened. Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter @tdwilliamsrome .

On March 28, about 40 security guards arrived and again removed the furniture. Beginning the next morning, guards in riot gear barricaded the gate to the kindergarten, barring anyone from entering. Parents and church members gathered outside the gate singing hymns and trying to negotiate with security guards, who refused to say whether local authorities or the landlord had hired them. ChinaAid's Bob Fu noted that a private citizen could not "dispatch anti-riot police force without the [Chinese Communist Party] government authority's direct involvement." Agape house church started the school in 2013 with the goal of providing quality Christian education for the children of church members. Students who leave the Chinese public school system cannot get back in, so Christian parents took a great risk in sending their kids to the newly formed Christian school. The school attracted more than just church members: Christians from all over Beijing and even some non-Christians enrolled their children at Beatitudes, eager for an alternative to the test-focused educational method of government schools. Beatitudes aimed to find teachers who had a teaching background and a mature Christian faith and who were willing to take a pay cut to work at the church school. Funded by tuitions and church donations, the school grew and rented a separate kindergarten space in 2016. When I spoke to the school's headmaster in 2015, she mentioned the school would sometimes shut down for a few days during big government meetings when the situation became more sensitive. Typically, though, the local authorities didn't have a problem with the school, since they recognized the problems with China's education system. Since then, persecution has gotten worse as President Xi Jinping has tightened control over all aspects of life in China. Authorities recently closed a Catholic-run kindergarten in Henan province, claiming it did not meet government standards. Yet Christian parents will continue to look for ways to "train up a child in the way he should go." "In China, atheism is taught as truth in public schools," the Beatitudes headmaster said in 2015, echoing the concerns of many first-generation Christian parents in China. "So only two hours of Sunday school a week isn't enough, because from Monday to Friday, eight hours a day, the kids are under [the Chinese government's] control."

In an unusually conciliatory gesture toward communist China, Pope Francis has reportedly agreed to accept back into the church seven Catholic bishops appointed by the Chinese government and later excommunicated by the Holy See. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Vatican hopes the move will end a long-running standoff with atheist Communist Party authorities and a newly-emboldened President Xi Jinping who keep tight reins on religious expressions in the world's most populous land. The party is particularly sensitive about religions with foreign control. The Journal reported : The decision reflects the Holy See's desire for better relations with China--where Christianity is growing fast, though mostly in the form of Protestantism--and for an end to the division between the government-controlled church and a larger so-called underground church loyal to Rome. The pope's apparent hope is that Beijing will then recognize his jurisdiction as head of the Roman Catholic Church. It's all part of a decades-long delicate diplomatic dance between the two bodies. In 1951, China broke off relations with the Vatican. Thirty years later the church and Beijing began informally cooperating with both bodies eager for the other to recognize its authority. The Journal reported the pope's decision has been shared with the Beijing government and is likely to be announced officially in the spring. Some Catholic conservatives see danger in any cooperation with a totalitarian government like China, which has long imprisoned and harassed Catholics. But the move fits with this pope's drive for more dialogue. In 2016, for instance, Francis became the first pope in history to meet with the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2015, the World Religion Database estimated 7.3 million in the government's Catholic church and 10.5 million outside of it.

(Continued from Page 4 ) KRZYSZTOF CHARAMSA Polish priest and Vatican official Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa made waves across the world when he came out shortly before a giant gathering of top church leaders to talk about the modern family. Charamsa told an Italian newspaper he has a partner and criticized the church for its hardline opposition to homosexuality, later telling The Associated Press that he hopes more priests come out "to destroy the code of silence in the church." Not surprisingly, Charamsa was promptly fired from his job with the Holy See's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and was defrocked a month later. Most likely, his timing -- right before the synod opening -- was quite strategic. "The decision to make such a pointed statement on the eve of the opening of the synod appears very serious and irresponsible, since it aims to subject the synod assembly to undue media pressure," said the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, at the time. Since then, he has continued his mission to move the church to be more LGBT-friendly, going so far as to publish a 10-point "liberation manifesto" about homophobia in Catholic teachings. LGBTQ Catholics, he says, have a right to a happy family life "even if the Church doesn't want to bless it."

You are not signed in as a Premium user; we rely on Premium users to support our news reporting. Sign in or Sign up today! BEIJING ( ChurchMilitant.com ) - As 2016 draws to a close, Chinese officials continue to claim Catholics in China are independent from the authority of the Pope. After a meeting of the ninth National Congress of the Chinese Catholic Representatives on December 27-29, a statement reconfirmed the policy of the government-approved Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA) of adhering to "the principle of independence and self-governance" and "a system of national congresses [that] embodies the self-esteem and confidence of the Catholic Church in China," calling it "the foundation of the Church's existence." Yu Zhengsheng, a Communist Party official, commented that Chinese Catholics should stay away from Rome and "run their Church independently and better integrate it into society." He went on to say, "The Church should adhere to the principles of self-administration, run religious affairs independently, and guide believers to adhere to the Sinicization path of the religion." Free clip from CHURCH MILITANT premium The CPCA is the only so-called Catholic organization with government approval. It, however, is not recognized by Rome as legitimate because it appoints bishops without permission from the Pope -- a violation of Canon Law carrying the penalty of excommunication. Relations between China and the Vatican have been strained since the Communist government took over in 1949 -- an event that instituted vicious oppression of Catholics. In 1957, the Communist goverment insitituted the CPCA in an attempt to keep the increasing number of Catholics under government control. In 1958, Pope Pius XII declared any bishops ordained as part of the CPCA validly consecrated but illicit because they were consecrated without papal permission, causing all bishops consecrated in those situations to be automatically excommunicated. Since then, a so-called underground Church was established with bishops, priests, and laymen faithful to the Pope's authority in spiritual matters. Despite government persecution, however, the number of faithful Catholics in China is increasing daily. In a further attempt to regulate the underground Church, China is attempting to force all priests to register with the CPCA or face penalties. Priests and bishops who have refused to obey the government have been put under house arrest, incarcerated in labor camps and tortured. Earlier this year, relations between China and the Vatican seemed more amicable, and there were reports that Pope Francis could legitimize four, state-approved bishops. Recent numbers estimate over 100 million Christians in China -- a higher number of people than members of the Communist Party.

Right now, with the wildfire raging, Southern California looks like a scene from This is the End . Though we've yet to see Seth Rogen or James Franco involved in any hijinks during this miniature West Coast apocalypse. Which would be much more preferable than dealing with used-up super-wench, Chelsea Handler . Chelsea had to evacuate her casa, due to the inferno. But, she's not about to let that break her spirits. In fact, she's zeroed in on the blaze-setting culprit: Just evacuated my house. It's like Donald Trump is setting the world on fire. Literally and figuratively. Stay safe everyone. Dark times. -- Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) December 6, 2017 Trump caused the wildfire? Wow, Chelsea. Even as her town and place of residence are at risk of being engulfed by hellfire, Chelsea can't let her partisanship go. "Trump is bad and fires are bad, so he MUST have done it." That logic has all the soundness of her career stability at Netflix. Is there a picture of Trump in the woods with a gas can and a box of matches that I don't know about? If there isn't, I'm going to assume Handler has no idea what she's talking about. As usual . Of course, she likely meant Trump's to blame for not doing enough to combat the climate change . Perhaps melting ice caps also melted her mental faculties. Leftists blame everything on Trump . "Burger King put pickles on my Whopper. Damn you, Trump!" "They cancelled American Idol . This is the orange man's doing!" "My house burned down. TRUMP!" At least "Blame Trump" a point of reliability in an otherwise chaotic world. NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST? FIX THAT ! IT'S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH ITUNES HERE AND SOUNDCLOUD HERE .

Stinky The Clown (58,955 posts) From beyond the grave: Woody Guthrie on Trump and racism. Wow. In the early 1950s, Fred Trump was Woody Guthrie's landlord. The housing development, Beach Haven, was pure white. Woody wrote of the Jim Crow-ism of it all in a song called "Old Man Trump". Anyway, read about it here. And be sure to click the link embedded in the first paragraph of the story. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jun/30/old-man-trump-tom-morello-ani-difranco-woody-guthrie From beyond the grave: Woody Guthrie on Trump and racism. (Original post) Stinky The Clown Jul 2016 OP

At the same time, fresh in our minds are searingly awful images of children locked into cages, screaming for their parents, languishing at the mercy of a brutal border regime. Mere weeks before the U.K. Government rolled out the red carpet and began to prepare our carnival of resistance, Trump gave us another harrowing reminder that he's one of the most dangerous people in the world, that the consequences of his actions are deadly serious, and that Trumpism puts the entire planet in jeopardy. Take climate change--Trump's climate denial isn't just rhetoric. It manifests itself on an almost daily basis. In the last week or so alone, we've seen him ask Saudi Arabia to ramp up its oil output to double the market's expectations, while he halves U.S. climate funding to the developing world. And of course, actions like this are set against the backdrop of Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement this time last year--an early confirmation of his attitude towards the threat of ecological collapse. The stakes are impossibly high. That's why it's vital that our resistance of Trump isn't restricted to one day of protest, spectacular as it looks likely to be.

n2doc (47,953 posts) Weekend Meme and Toon Roundup 1 - tRUMP is a sick man Weekend Meme and Toon Roundup 1 - tRUMP is a sick man (Original post) n2doc Jan 2018 OP K & R...nt Wounded Bear Jan 2018 #1 forgotmylogin (4,438 posts) 5. The Mike Norton ones are great! "Yo, Gandhi, you want in on this?" "You know it!" HAHAHAHAHAH S'truth, though. Hekate (50,108 posts) 7. Kicktoons! They missed Hawai'i on Tuesday. Even the cartoonists can't keep up. Love Candorville (last one) LongTomH (8,567 posts) Chemisse (27,551 posts) 10. Good ones! I hadn't realized that Trump's golfing is a GOOD thing until just now. n/t 12. Oh my god Trump has brought the whole world down to his sordid level.

Right now, with the wildfire raging, Southern California looks like a scene from This is the End . Though we've yet to see Seth Rogen or James Franco involved in any hijinks during this miniature West Coast apocalypse. Which would be much more preferable than dealing with used-up super-wench, Chelsea Handler . Chelsea had to evacuate her casa, due to the inferno. But, she's not about to let that break her spirits. In fact, she's zeroed in on the blaze-setting culprit: Just evacuated my house. It's like Donald Trump is setting the world on fire. Literally and figuratively. Stay safe everyone. Dark times. -- Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) December 6, 2017 Trump caused the wildfire? Wow, Chelsea. Even as her town and place of residence are at risk of being engulfed by hellfire, Chelsea can't let her partisanship go. "Trump is bad and fires are bad, so he MUST have done it." That logic has all the soundness of her career stability at Netflix. Is there a picture of Trump in the woods with a gas can and a box of matches that I don't know about? If there isn't, I'm going to assume Handler has no idea what she's talking about. As usual . Of course, she likely meant Trump's to blame for not doing enough to combat the climate change . Perhaps melting ice caps also melted her mental faculties. Leftists blame everything on Trump . "Burger King put pickles on my Whopper. Damn you, Trump!" "They cancelled American Idol . This is the orange man's doing!" "My house burned down. TRUMP!" At least "Blame Trump" a point of reliability in an otherwise chaotic world. NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST? FIX THAT ! IT'S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH ITUNES HERE AND SOUNDCLOUD HERE .

Saturday July 14, 2018 Does Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's indictment of 12 Russian military intelligence officers for allegedly hacking Hillary's emails and interfering in the US election have any purpose other than to throw a monkey wrench in President Trump's upcoming summit with Putin? Don't forget that Rosenstein is implicated in the orchestration of Russiagate as a weapon against Trump, a weapon that serves the interests of the Democratic Party and the military/security complex about which President Eisenhower warned us 56 years ago to no avail. Rosenstein's indictment of 12 Russians for allegedly hacking computers is a political indictment aimed at President Trump. The indictment is otherwise pointless as the Russian government will certainly not turn over its military personnel to a Washington kangaroo court. The indictment serves no purpose except to poison the atmosphere of the summit.

Along with scores of other women, an Episcopalian priestess testified about the "need" for abortion this week before the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS), with the minister claiming that her abortion freed her so she could finish divinity school and get ordained. Reverend Anne Fowler provided testimony before the nation's high court to extol the practice of abortion as a necessity for women who want to forward their careers unhindered by pregnancies -- to absolve them of the responsibility of having to care for their children. "If the Reverend Anne Fowler had not had access to an abortion when she accidentally became pregnant after enrolling in Divinity School, she would never have been able to graduate, to serve as a parish rector, or to help the enormous number of people whose lives she has touched," read one amicus brief submitted to the Supreme Court. As a key abortion activist who previously served as a board member for Planned Parenthood, Fowler described how her husband left her before she became pregnant -- while she was in the process of working toward becoming a minister at the Episcopal Divinity School in Boston, Massachusetts. "In 1981, in her second year at Divinity School, Anne accidentally became pregnant," her friend-or-the-court brief continues. "She believed her partner would not be a suitable parent; their relationship ended soon after the abortion. Already solely responsible for her daughter, Anne knew she could not complete Divinity School and pursue a career as a priest if she did not have an abortion." The brief prepared by Fowler -- who currently serves with the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice -- attempts to argue that she made the right choice by terminating her preborn baby, which was referred to as little more than an inconvenience. "She has never regretted her decision and is grateful that she did not have to travel far, which would have caused her additional stress and financial hardship," the court document asserts. The important SCOTUS case -- argued by pro-choice activists on one side and pro-life advocates on the other -- is expected to produce a landmark decision in the ongoing abortion debate. "Described by pro-lifers as the most important abortion case heard by the Supreme Court in 25 years, the outcome of Whole Women's Health v. Hellerstadt will determine if a 2013 Texas abortion licensing and safety law (HB2) that, among other provisions, requires abortionists to maintain hospital privileges within 30 miles of their abortion facilities, is valid," LifeSiteNews reports . Underlying regret? Contradicting her passionate argument for abortion in the name of "women's reproductive rights," Fowler wrote nearly a decade ago that she felt remorse as a result of aborting her baby. "[I felt] sorrow and loss at the time of my abortion," the minister, who was ordained in 1984, stated in an article titled " Abortion as a Moral Choice ," published back in 2007. "[However, my choices to become a minister and have an abortion] were right for me and my circumstances: morally correct in their context, practical, and fruitful in their outcomes." While speaking at National Abortion Federation conferences, Fowler told audiences that "God was on their side" and that a preborn child is not really a life. "To talk theologically about women's right to choose is to talk about justice, equality, health and wholeness, and respect for the full humanity and autonomy of every woman," she continued in her article. "Typically, as moral theologians, we discuss the value of potential life (the fetus) as against the value of lived life -- the mature and relational life of a woman deciding her capacity to continue or terminate a pregnancy. And we believe that, in general, the value of that actual life outweighs the value of the potential." Countering Fowler's claim, pro-life advocates point to Scripture to demonstrate that God is opposed to abortion at any stage -- showing the sanctity of human life exists from the first day of pregnancy. "Christianity has always opposed abortion, from the time of the New Testament," LifeSiteNews' Pete Baklinski argues. "The Bible teaches that from conception, the womb holds a human person, calling pregnancy 'to be with child' (Isaiah 7:14)." Baklinski uses specific verses to prove his point that humanity begins early in the womb. "Many biblical individuals are explicitly described as 'called' or 'known' from the womb, such as Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:4-5), Isaiah (Isaiah 44:2; 49:1), Job (Job 10:8-12), Paul (Galatians 1:15), and John the Baptist (Luke 1:15)," the pro-lifer explains. "Early Christian documents condemning abortion include the Didache, where the Apostles teach, 'Do not murder a child by abortion or kill a newborn infant.'"

A child does not deserve to die for the crimes of his father. Abortion is never a mere personal choice but a grave offense against God and His creation. The anti-abortion struggle has always been a religious battle and foremost in its ranks have been Catholics across the country. This is because Church teaching on abortion is clear and unequivocal: Abortion is murder. There are no exceptions allowed, no compromises possible. A child does not deserve to die because her mother and/or her father were irresponsible. A child is completely innocent. A child did not decide that his parents would have sex or that they would use ineffective contraception. An unborn child is always innocent and should never be punished. Some people believe that having an abortion and ending a child's life will solve their problems. But in reality, abortion only hides problems - it doesn't solve them. our problems are not solved through killing an innocent person. Just because it's legal doesn't make it right. And just because it's often a hidden choice doesn't mean it won't stay with you forever. As a woman who considers herself a feminist, I find it appalling that abortion is classified as part of "women's rights." It is not my "right" to kill my child.

Recently we have been hearing more about women having abortions based on the sex of their child ( sex-selective abortion ) I know that for many abortion is a touchy subject and that certain reasons for abortion are a line with pros and cons on both sides. However with this?, all I can see is Cons. I think it is abhorrent to abort a child solely on the basis of their sex. The Government needs to sit up and pay attention, they need to get their act together and do something about this now rather than later!. So I ask you all who believe this is wrong to sign this petition, to call for a revision of the law to clearly state Sex-Selective Abortion as being illegal to do.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose approach to undocumented immigration is exceedingly crue l even by Republican standards, has found a new ideological battle to wage at a very personal level: preventing a 17-year-old undocumented immigrant from seeking an abortion. A federal judge in San Francisco is set to hear an emergency request today from the woman, who's identified only as Jane Doe, to access abortion services after the Office of Refugee Resettlement blocked her from attending a pre-abortion medical appointment, The Texas Tribune reported . She could be as many as 14 weeks pregnant. Doe arrived in the country from Mexico as an unaccompanied minor and was apprehended at the border. According to the ACLU , which is representing Doe in the case, she is currently living in a government-funded shelter in Texas. State law requires parental consent or a judicial waiver for a minor to obtain an abortion and Doe had already obtained the necessary waiver before the federal government intervened, instead referring her to a religiously affiliated "Crisis Pregnancy Center." At issue is whether or not undocumented immigrants have the same constitutionally protected right to seek an abortion as U.S. citizens do. The issue is further complicated by the fact that Doe is legally a minor currently in the government's care, which comes after the Trump administration adopted a policy barring unaccompanied minors from seeking abortions. "No federal court has ever declared that unlawfully-present aliens with no substantial ties to this country have a constitutional right to abortion on demand," Paxton said in a statement on Tuesday. He went on to say, in moralizing hyperbole, that if the judge sided with Doe, it would "create a right to abortion for anyone on earth who enters the U.S. illegally." In an October 5 legal declaration , Doe made the stakes in the case painfully clear: "I feel like they are trying to coerce me to carry my pregnancy to term." "I do not want to be forced to carry a pregnancy to term against my will," she also wrote. It's hard to imagine anything more horrific than Paxton, some white guy you've never met, forcing his personal beliefs onto you and your medical decisions. But that's where we are.

Contributor | Pure Flix November 7, 2017 Pastor Carl Lentz of Hillsong Church in New York City responded to controversy over his recent comments about abortion on "The View," clarifying in a statement that he does indeed believe that "abortion is sinful." "I was asked directly if abortion was sin. I did not answer the question directly for a number of reasons and that has caused some confusion about our stance as a church on this matter," Lentz said in a statement issued on Twitter. He continued, "I do believe abortion is sinful." Lentz went on to say that his goal is to "help and love" people who are dealing with pain or regret from personal choices instead of casting "shame and guilt" on those individuals. In the end, he said Hillsong wants to teach parishioners how to "form convictions based on God's word that will be the driving force in all their decisions." See Lentz's complete statement below: Thoughts addressing a recent interview: pic.twitter.com/WoAcFwy8UQ -- carl lentz (@carllentzNYC) November 7, 2017 Lentz's statement came after controversy broke out over the pastor's recent appearance on "The View," during which he was asked by co-host Joy Behar, "So, it's not a sin in your church to have an abortion?" Rather than answer directly, he said that people have to "live with their own convictions" and stressed the importance of pastors starting by getting to know people before pinpointing sin in their lives. "That's the kind of conversation we would have, finding out your story, where you're from, what you believe. I mean, God's the judge. People have to live with their own convictions," Lentz said. "That's such a broad question to me. I'm going higher. I want to sit with somebody and say, well, where do you believe..." That's when Behar interrupted and asked, "So, it's not an open and shut case with you?" Lentz again hedged, responding, "Some people would say it is. ... I'm trying to teach people who Jesus is first, find out their story. Before I start picking and choosing what I think is sin in your life, I'd like to know your name." Watch the original clip that sparked controversy below:

You are not signed in as a Premium user; we rely on Premium users to support our news reporting. Sign in or Sign up today! After the New York Times' hit piece on Church Militant in December, the article was picked up by the Houston Chronicle and cited by pro-abortion feminist Patricia Miller in an article on the University of Southern California Religion Dispatches site. Repeating New York Times author Samuel Freedman's distortion of our apostolate, Miller ominously warned, As the New York Times reported recently , an ancient Catholic theological concept, "church militant" is being repurposed for 21st century political gain, even as the Church itself rejects such interpretations. ... [T]he "church militant" took on a more militaristic tone during the Crusades, and it's that tone of militancy and triumphalism that some conservative Catholic elements have embraced, turning the personal spiritual warfare of the church militant into an excuse for an adversarial, politicized, right-wing Catholicism. Miller goes on to make this apostolate the leaders in this newly repurposed mission. "The flagship of the movement is the ChurchMilitant.com web site run by Michael Voris, which rails against 'globalism, immigration, social-welfare programs and abortion,' while depicting an 'existential war against radical Islam,' with a healthy dose of anti-Semitism." The alleged anti-Semitism is, of course, a lie, just more fake news that serves the aim of the liberal Left in discrediting our work and our mission, which has always been primarily about the salvation of souls -- a spiritual mission, as Michael Voris made clear in his interview with Freedman ( read the full transcript here , only a small fraction of which wound up in Freedman's published piece). The term is gaining traction in the media, however, and we are glad to bear the mantle as leaders in the Church Militant movement -- a primarily spiritual war that contains temporal elements involving battle against social and moral evils that threaten the very foundations of Western civilization. We are Church Militant. Watch the panel discuss this in The Download--The Church Militant Movement .

Listen up, Applebee's lovers. (iStock) It's just a few days in to a New Year and Applebee's is already tossing our resolutions out the window. On Jan. 1, the casual dining chain took to social media to announce the grand return of a few specials: $12.99 all-you-can-eat deal for either riblets or chicken tenders, plus an "All-You-Can-Eat Mix & Match" deal where diners can dig into both dishes. Meat & Poultry confirmed that all entrees come with coleslaw and fries. Better yet, Applebee's is also offering 10-ounce drafts of Blue Moon for just $2. Naturally, the Twitterverse, reacted to the news with passion. Some rejoiced, while others were more skeptical. "There is a heaven" one user wrote after seeing the Celine Dion-sound tracked commercial, while another described themselves as "shook". Just seen a commercial for all you can eat riblets and chicken tenders at Applebees...... there is a heaven . Must attend this gathering asap. -- G. Mctweet (@mperez0915) January 2, 2018 IMPORTANT NOTICE APPLEBEES HAS ALL YOU CAN EAT CHICKEN FINGERS FOR 12.99 -- LY (@tnlyclrk) January 2, 2018 You guys, there's a commercial for all you can eat ribs AT @Applebees feat. Celine Dion's 'It's All Coming Back To Me Now' and I am SHOOK. -- charcuterie (@JustisHudd) January 2, 2018 Others, meanwhile, said that like Applebee's recent $1 Long Island Iced Tea promotion , the all-you-can-eat deal sounded "sus" (slang for suspect). Another user, who claimed to be a former Applebee's staffer, stating that in his experience, the deal "brought out the absolute worst in humanity." $1 long islands now $12 all you can eat chicken tenders and fries? @Applebees I don't know what you're trying to do but it sounds sus -- Big Buss (@roryflynn_raw) January 2, 2018 I used to work at . @Applebees and can tell you the all you can eat riblet day brought out the absolute worst in humanity. -- Patrick Vest (@PatrickVest) January 2, 2018 Moving forward, whether or not the chain hopes to appeal to millennials with the special remains to be determined. Janine Puhak is an editor for Fox News Lifestyle. Follow her on Twitter at @JaninePuhak

On Kanye West's 2010 album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, there is an often overlooked track entitled "Who Will Survive America?" The song features Gil Scott-Heron taking a dystopian look at how the world is coming to the realization that America is a bastard "hosed down daily with a gagging perfume." On Tuesday, Donald Trump's equivocation on the Charlottesville, Va., white supremacist rallies that plunged into violence and acts of terrorism forced America to accept an unmistakable, undeniable and utterly horrifying fact: Donald Trump, president of the United States, is a terrorist sympathizer.

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by Mike Gonzales "Are you an American or not?" It's a simple question, one that every U.S. census should include, especially when the survey already contains nonsensical and intrusive inquiries into one's ethnic DNA composition and whether one co-habits with someone of the opposite sex or one's own. Whether... Read More News 2020 , census , Leftists Leave a comment Reuters AT&T Inc may close its $85 billion deal to buy Time Warner Inc under an agreement reached on Thursday with the U.S. government, which might still appeal a case seen as a turning point for the media industry. AT&T said it could close the deal by Friday. The... Read More Business , News 1 Comment

Jersey Joe isn't running after all, Save Jerseyans, ending a months-long flirtation with a Republican independent run for governor: Honored to have @JrzyJoePiscopo on the team! This campaign is about uniting NJ, lifting our state up & making it more Read More In his April 29 speech marking his first 100 days in office, President Trump touched on the subject of regulations only briefly. Indeed, it took up all of one sentence. "We have slashed burdensome regulations, and imposed a policy that Read More

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Official Democratic National Convention Schedule, Philadelphia PA 7/25/16 4:00 PM - Opening Flag Burning ceremony led by Bill Ayers & Bernadine Dorhn 4:05 PM - Singing of "God Damn America" led by Rev. Jeremiah Wright & his choir 4:10 PM - Pledge of Allegiance to Obama forever led by Valerie Jarrett 4:15 PM - Ceremonial Riot and City Burndown led by Jesse Jackson & Al Sharpton 4:30 PM - Tips on Dodging Sniper Fire - Hillary and Chelsea Clinton 4:45 PM - Michele Obama leads Castrati choir in singing "Great Balls of Fire" 5:00 PM - UFO Abduction Survival Tips - Dennis Kucinich & Louis Farrakhan 5:15 PM - John Edwards gets a haircut LIVE via satellite from his hotel bathroom 5:30 PM - Eliot Spitzer on "Dem Family Values" via satellite from Emperors VIP Club 5:45 PM - Navy Corpseman sings a tribute to all 57 states Obama has visited 6:00 PM - Joe Biden, Gaffe-A-Palooza Tribute. Joe reminds all of his classic gaffes, foot in mouth moments of his 30+ years in comedy, er, Congress. Also a power point movie titled, "This Is A Big Fooking Deal!" is presented. Also celebrity impersonator, Mr. Ben G. Hazi will be on hand demonstrating his 'to die for' comedy OPEN BAR till 8:30 PM or Joe face-plants, whichever happens first. 8:30 PM -Fashion Show- Chairman Mao Zedong's fashion designer, Hu Flung Dung, sponsored by Clinton Global Slush Fund and Massage Parlor 8:45 PM - Hillary Clinton releases her delegates, flying monkeys 9:00 PM - Bill Clinton delivers a-rousing endorsement of his new girlfriend and their new White House living arrangements. Sponsored by Viagra 9:15 PM - Tribute film to Freedom Fighters at Gitmo - Michael Moore 9:30 PM - Panties-Optional Celebrity Party hosted by Kanye West & Kim Kardasian 9:45 PM - Personal Finance Seminar - Congressman William "Cold Cash" Jefferson 10:00 PM - Denunciation of Bitter and Clingy Gun Owners and Bible Thumpers 10:15 PM - Alcee Hastings (D-FL) shares tips on how to get elected to Congress after being convicted of taking bribes as a judge. 10:30 PM - Ceremonial Goat Slaughter LIVE from a village in Kenya. 10:35 PM - Raising of Isis flag over Libya, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Dearbornistan, sponsored by CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhoood & The Obama Family Foundation 10:45 PM - Harry Reid on how to properly and safely use exercise equipment 11:00 PM - Obama Energy Symposium/Tire Gauge Demonstration/Performance Tips For Electric Vehicles sponsored by Solyndra & Fisker Automotive 11:05 PM - Rep Henry C. "Hank" Johnson (D-GA) offers tips on visiting Guam without tipping the island over. 11:15 PM - Free Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick & Cop-Killer Mumia Abu-Jamal Pep Rally 11:30 PM - Obama accepts his 8th, "Salesman of the Year" award from the NRA 11:45 PM - Feeding of the Delegates with 5 Loaves and 2 Fish - Obama presiding 12:00 AM - Official Nomination of Obama for Lord and Savior via text message sent by Scarlett Johansson. Obama autographed prayer rugs and Hillary autographed extra-large stadium cushions are distributed to all in attendance. 12:15 AM - Barack Hussein Obama Accepts Nomination for Lord and Savior 12:30 AM - Obama performs miracles, cures cancer & demonstrates his golf swing 12:45 AM - Muslim Brotherhood Choir, "Young Jihadis", sing songs & allah is praised 1:00 AM - Hillary is is presented with a double Philadelphia cheesetubesteak wit, from both, Pat's Steaks and Geno's Steaks of South Philly.. A WWE-style brawl erupts between Pat & Geno as to who gets to give their cheesetubesteak wit, to Hillary first. 1:15 AM - Hillary Clinton flies circles around the convention hall on her customized broom, crowd goes wild. She delivers acceptance speech. It is translated into 42 different languages so her foreign campaign donors can be a part of the celebration. Bill offers closing remarks LIVE from the Presidential Suite at the Clinton Global Slush Fund and Massage Parlor Annex of the BJ Clinton Library. Sponsored by Viagra. 3:00 AM - OPEN BAR when Hillary speech is over. Open Bar sponsored by Soros Fund Management and World Destruction.

The Inspector General report is here. We're analyzing all of the potential pros and cons, as well as big problems with Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Dr. John Lott is with me to discuss the latest on Second Amendment issues. Obama's former aide spills the dirt on the 'party culture' of the Obama administration. And, was CBS caught red-handed spreading Fake News? Disclaimer: My segment on the Inspector General report was recorded prior to its release today. Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

President Obama will be delivering his final State of the Union Speech tonight at 9:00pm. While he is anticipated to praise the Iran nuclear deal, the White House communication team are stating he will avoid the current Iran hostage crisis which erupted this afternoon. The professional republican politicians (GOPe) have selected South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to deliver the post-SOTU rebuttal. According to early releases Governor Haley has been given a script to attack both President Obama and GOP frontrunner Donald Trump on behalf of the UniParty. Apparently, her not so hidden-agenda secondary goal is to support a more preferable and palatable candidate than the vulgarian Trump. If you are tuning in, feel free to deliver your thoughts and opinions on both presentations below.

While in Cuba cavorting with thugs and dictators President Obama spent 51 seconds addressing the horrific terrorist attack in Brussels which ISIS has not taken credit for. Fifty-one seconds! At least 30 people have been killed and 130 people have been injured in this unspeakable atrocity. That's 160 people so far. Well, that amounts to about three-tenths of a second for each person killed or injured. That's as much time as Obama thought this was worth. Them Obama went to a baseball game in Cuba with dictator Raoul Castro. The president ought to be ashamed of himself!

A Department of Justice prosecutor and Obama donor spent more than 1,500 hours investigating the IRS' targeting of conservative groups, Judicial Watch reported. July 20, 2016 2:53 pm Labor Secretary Tom Perez, one of Hillary Clinton's top choices for vice president, misrepresented his grandfather's relationship to a Dominican dictator, according to a report. The federal government said in a hearing Tuesday that the state of Florida cannot deny observant Jewish prisoners kosher meals. The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) censured the University of Missouri over the weekend for firing former communications professor Melissa Click. May 25, 2016 2:44 pm Claude Walker, Attorney General of the U.S. Virgin Islands, has withdrawn a subpoena of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

The DNC is throwing its next big Hollywood fundraiser over the weekend, and will feature President Barack Obama as a "special guest," and a musical guest who has yet to be determined. TMZ reports the high-end event will take place on Saturday, Oct. 10 at a private home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, but an exact location will only be given out to attendees who pay the minimum $1,000 entry fee. "The Democratic National Committee cordially invites you to a performance with special guest President Barack Obama," the invitation reads. "Musical Guest TBD." According to the site, actor/singer Jamie Foxx has been confirmed as the evening's entertainer, and Obama will be "pressing the flesh and working the room." Foxx was criticized earlier this year for " butchering " the National Anthem on live television before the Mayweather-Pacquiao MMA fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. The actor previously referred to Obama as "our Lord and Savior." General admission concert tickets for the Saturday event start at $1,000, but those wanting to indulge in a little photo op with Obama and sit near the stage are looking to spend $10,000. Check out the invitation below, courtesy of TMZ . Tell your friends!

Dec 20, 2016 In Germany, 12 people were killed and 48 more wounded in Berlin after a truck drove into a Christmas market around 8 p.m. local time, plowing into the stalls packed with shoppers and tourists at about 40 miles an hour. Late Monday night, German media, citing local authorities, reported police detained one suspect in the case: a 23-year-old Pakistani refugee named Naved Baluch. Baluch has denied all involvement in the attack, and early this morning unnamed sources within the German police told local media they believed Naved Baluch was not involved in the attack and that the perpetrator may still be at large and armed. After the attack on Monday, as many as 250 police officers raided Berlin's largest refugee center, which is housed inside a hangar at a defunct airport, and questioned at least four people. No one was arrested. This is German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaking this morning. Chancellor Angela Merkel : "There is much we still do not know with sufficient certainty, but we must, as things stand now, assume it was a terrorist attack. I know it would be especially hard for us all to bear if it were confirmed that the person who committed this act was someone who sought protection and asylum in Germany. This would be especially despicable for the many, many Germans who, day in, day out, are actively working for refugees, as well as for those people who actually need our protection and who make an effort to integrate into our country." Germany has taken in far more refugees in the last two years than any other European Union country--as many as 1 million refugees in 2015. The attack recalled the Bastille Day attack on a boardwalk in Nice, France, in which 84 people were killed after a Tunisian-born French citizen drove a truck through crowds of people in July. The New York Post falsely reported ISIS militants had claimed responsibility for Monday's attack in Berlin. Following this report, the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors the online activity of militant groups, said no one has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. Topics: Germany Russian Ambassador to Turkey Assassinated in Ankara Dec 20, 2016 Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov was assassinated Monday evening at an art exhibition in Ankara, Turkey, in a shooting both Turkish and Russian leaders have called a terrorist attack. Turkish authorities say the lone gunman was a 22-year-old off-duty Turkish police officer. He shot Karlov dead in a dramatic scene in the middle of the art gallery, as he yelled "Don't forget Aleppo, don't forget Syria!" The attack came as the Turkish foreign minister was on his way to Moscow, Russia, to meet with his Russian and Iranian counterparts for talks on the ongoing Syrian war. Russia has been backing the Syrian government in its war against anti-government rebels, most notably by launching a months-long bombing campaign against rebel-held eastern Aleppo, which included targeting hospitals and other medical centers. Russia's bombing campaign helped the Syrian government take over eastern Aleppo last week, marking a decisive battle in the five-year civil war. This is Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, following the assassination. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan : "I describe this attack on Russia's Embassy as an attack on Turkey, Turkey's state and nation. After the attack on the Russian ambassador, during the talk with Mr. Putin, we agreed this is a provocation, and there isn't any dispute." On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin also described the assassination as a "provocation" and said it sought to fray relations between Russia and Turkey. President Vladimir Putin : "The committed crime is obviously a provocation designed to spoil normalization of Russia-Turkey relations and derailing the peace process in Syria, which is actively promoted by Russia, Turkey, Iran and other countries interested in reconcilement of inter-Syria conflict." U.N. Security Council Votes to Monitor Aleppo Evacuations Dec 20, 2016 The assassination came only hours after the U.N. Security Council voted Monday to monitor the evacuations from eastern Aleppo. The resolution passed unanimously. Russia had threatened to veto an earlier version of the plan. The Red Cross says 25,000 people have already been evacuated from eastern Aleppo since last week, when it fell to advancing Syrian government forces backed by Russian airstrikes. The Red Cross estimates thousands of civilians remain to be evacuated. On Tuesday, Syrian soldiers reportedly broadcast messages over loudspeakers calling on anti-government rebels to leave eastern Aleppo. Last week, the U.N. acused Syrian government troops of shooting at least 82 civilians on sight, amid the fall of the city. Topics: Syria Electoral College Elects Donald Trump 45th President of United States Dec 20, 2016 In the United States, protests broke out across the country as the 538 electors of the Electoral College met in their respective state capitals and voted to elect Donald Trump the 45th president of the United States. Trump scored 304 votes--well over the threshold of 270 votes necessary for him to become the next president. His Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton, won 227 votes. This is Pennsylvania elector Tina Pickett. Rep. Tina Pickett : "The basis of this is the people's vote. The people voted, and they placed their vote, as they should and had a right to, on November the 8th. And that is the basis of the vote that we placed today, in my mind. I placed that vote for the people of Pennsylvania who voted in a certain way." On November 8, Trump won Pennsylvania by less than 1 percentage point. As the electors met inside, hundreds of protesters gathered outside state capitols across the country, including in Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine and Pennsylvania, where 12 immigrant rights activists were arrested during an anti-Trump rally as they demanded the closure of the Berks family detention center. In the lead-up to Monday's meeting of the Electoral College, millions of people had called on the electors to refuse to vote for Donald Trump. There were 5 million signatures on one petition alone. But in the end, only two Republican electors, both from Texas, broke ranks and voted against Trump. In fact, more Democratic electors ended up voting against Hillary Clinton, instead casting three votes for former Secretary of State Colin Powell, one vote for Vermont senator and 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and one more vote for Yankton Sioux Nation leader Faith Spotted Eagle of South Dakota, who is part of the resistance to the Dakota Access pipeline. Topics: 2016 Election Michelle Obama: "We're Feeling What Not Having Hope Feels Like" Dec 20, 2016 The official election of Donald Trump comes as an interview aired in which first lady Michelle Obama told Oprah Winfrey that she and her husband, President Barack Obama, now know what it's like not to feel hope for the future. Michelle Obama : "See, now we're feeling what not having hope feels like, you know. Hope is necessary. It's a necessary concept. And Barack didn't just talk about hope because he thought it was just a nice slogan to get votes. I mean, he and I and so many believe that if you--what else do you have if you don't have hope? What do you give your kids if you can't give them hope?" Over the weekend, as clips of the taped interview were published online, Donald Trump attacked first lady Michelle Obama, claiming that she "must have been talking about the past." Obama Grants Clemency to 231 Prisoners in Single Day Dec 20, 2016 On Monday, President Obama granted clemency to 231 prisoners--the most individual acts of clemency granted in a single day by any president in U.S. history. Obama pardoned 78 people and shortened the sentence of 153 others convicted of federal crimes. Obama has now pardoned a total of 148 people during his presidency and has shortened the sentences of 1,176 people, including 395 serving life sentences, as part of a push to reduce the number of people serving long sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. But he still hasn't offered clemency or pardons to some high-profile political prisoners, including Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning or Native American activist Leonard Peltier. Topics: Prison North Carolina Lawmakers Set to Repeal Anti- LGBT "Bathroom Bill" Dec 20, 2016 In North Carolina, the Charlotte City Council voted unanimously Monday to rescind the anti- LGBT ordinance that prompted North Carolina's House Bill 2, otherwise known as the "bathroom bill." The law denies transgender people use of the bathroom, changing room or locker room that matches their gender identity. On Monday, North Carolina Governor-elect Democrat Roy Cooper said lawmakers will meet for a special session today to repeal HB 2, which he has called "one of the most discriminatory laws in the country." China Returns U.S. Navy Drone Seized in South China Sea Dec 20, 2016 Chinese and U.S. officials say China has returned a U.S. Navy drone China seized in the South China Sea last week. The U.S. has called the seizure of the drone illegal. China has claimed territorial control over the South China Sea, one of the busiest trade routes in the world, while the U.S. has asserted the area should be considered international waters. After the drone was first seized, President-elect Donald Trump tweeted, "China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters-rips it out of the water and takes it to China in unpresidented [ sic ] act." Trump later deleted the tweet, after realizing he had misspelled "unprecedented." Trump also tweeted, "We should tell China that we don't want the drone they stole back.- let them keep it!" Topics: China Zurich: Gunman Opens Fire at Islamic Center, Wounding 3 Dec 20, 2016 In Zurich, a gunman who wounded three people after opening fire during prayers at an Islamic center in Zurich has been found dead a short distance from the shooting. Swiss police say the gunman apparently committed suicide. The police have not identified the shooter. A worshiper who was a witness to the shooting says the three wounded victims were Somalis and that the Islamic center was frequently used as a mosque by Zurich's Somali community. Topics: Muslim IMF Head Christine Lagarde Convicted of Negligence Dec 20, 2016 The head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, has been convicted in absentia by a French court of "negligence by a person in position of public authority." The case stems from a case in which she approved the misuse of hundreds of millions of dollars of public funds in 2008, while she was French finance minister. The French court did not sentence Lagarde to any punishment, and she will not have a criminal record. Ban Ki-moon Warns South Sudan May Be Headed Toward Genocide Dec 20, 2016 United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on the U.N. Security Council to stop the flow of arms to South Sudan, warning of the possibility of genocide. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon : "The Security Council must take steps to stem the flow of arms to South Sudan, as well as send a clear warning that hate speech, incitement and violence must end and that there will be accountability for mass atrocities and other crimes. If we fail to act, South Sudan will be on a trajectory toward mass atrocities. Its people will be the target of those atrocities, while they pin their hopes on the international community, in general, and the Security Council." South Sudan is the world's youngest country. The United States backed South Sudan's independence in 2011 and the country's president, Salva Kiir, whose troops are now accused of carrying out the majority of the crimes in the ongoing civil war. Topics: South Sudan New Orleans Settles High-Profile Police Brutality Cases for $13.3 Million Dec 20, 2016 And back in the United States, in New Orleans, Mayor Mitch Landrieu has announced the city has reached a $13.3 million settlement over three police brutality cases from the weeks before and after Hurricane Katrina. One of the cases involves the death of 40-year-old Ronald Madison, who was shot and killed on September 4, 2005, when a group of New Orleans police officers opened fire with AK-47s on families crossing the Danziger Bridge in search of food following Hurricane Katrina. Police later tried to cover up the case. Another case involved the death of 48-year-old Raymond Robair, who was beaten to death by a police officer one month before the hurricane. The families have been seeking justice in these cases for 11 years. The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License . Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

The 30-vehicle convoy left Ankara for Silopi, the sources told AFP, adding that it was now close to Adana province in southern Turkey. The deployment came as Iraq said its forces had entered Daesh-held Mosul for the first time since the terrorist group overran the city more than two years ago. Ankara has repeatedly insisted that it would be involved in the offensive in northern Iraq and would be "at the table". Defence Minister Fikri Isik said Tuesday's deployment was a part of Turkey's preparation for "important developments in the region", referring to Kurdish rebels inside the country and events in Iraq. "Turkey is preparing in advance for whatever happens (and) this is one element of that," he said, quoted by the official news agency Anadolu. The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has waged an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984, with almost daily attacks against Turkish security forces in the mainly Kurdish southeast. Isik added that there was a "serious fight against terror" inside Turkey, a reference to Daesh and the PKK.

In Turkey, police have launched a series of raids across Istanbul, arresting at least 12 people, as police continue to search for a man who opened fire inside a nightclub during a New Year's celebration, killing 39 people. ISIS has claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack on the Reina nightclub, where hundreds of Turks and foreigners were celebrating early in the morning. The attack killed 11 Turkish citizens and more than two dozen tourists from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, India, Morocco and other countries. This is a man who was inside the nightclub during the attack. Younis Tuerq : "Actually, I didn't see him. As soon as he entered the club, he started firing, and he didn't stop. He fired nonstop for 20 minutes at least. We thought that there were several of them because it just didn't stop. And there was some kind of bomb, as well; he threw some explosives. We managed to hide ourselves, and, luckily, he didn't go out on the terrace. He stayed inside. He didn't go out on the terrace." On Monday, Turkish authorities released two photographs of the suspected gunman. Officials say the Turkish military also attacked ISIS targets in Syria on Monday, killing at least 22 people. We'll go to Istanbul and Washington, D.C., for more on the attacks after headlines. Topics: Turkey

Turkish police have arrested and detained 44 suspects in huge anti-terrorist operations in the city of Istanbul, the city's governor announced today. The arrests include a man who is thought have planned bomb attacks in December last year, in which two bombs - one placed in a car and the other strapped to a suicide bomber - exploded outside a football stadium in the city, killing 44 and injuring 155. Another suspect arrested was identified as the organiser of an attack against a police bus in July 2016, which left 11 people dead and 36 wounded; both police and civilians were targeted in the attack. A group named the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), a branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), has claimed responsibility for both attacks. The governor of Istanbul, Vasip Sahin, said that the anti-terrorist operations against Kurdish militants and the subsequent arrests have saved the city from further "serious and sensational attacks". Turkish authorities have been embroiled in a three-decade-long battle against Kurdish militants fighting for independence or autonomy, led by the PKK - listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the EU and the US. In the past two years, conflict has erupted again in the south-east of the country after a ceasefire between the Kurds and the Turkish government was ended by the PKK. Since the conflict began in 1984, over 40,000 people have been killed. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Turkish officials have arrested eight people in connection with the shooting in an Istanbul night club called Reina on New Year's Eve that left 39 dead and 69 injured . The Guardian reports that the gunman is not amongst the eight people detained by anti-terrorism squads. Turkey's interior ministry told reporters on Monday that there have been 147 detainments in just the last week over suspected ties to ISIS. Of those, 25 people were placed under formal arrest. ISIS has reportedly released a statement taking responsibility for the lone gunman's act, saying he "struck one of the most famous nightclubs where the Christians celebrate their apostate holiday." The gunman is believed to be from either Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan. He may have escaped by abandoning his gun at the scene and slipping off in the ensuing chaos. Police have supposedly seen some similarities between this attack and the suicide bomber who killed more than 40 people at Istanbul's Ataturk airport in June . The Guardian says that aside from arrests, the response to ISIS and this recent attack has been swift: The Turkish military said it had carried out raids against Isis in Syria in response to the attack. Turkish jets struck eight targets, and tanks and artillery fired on 103 targets near al-Bab, killing 22 fighters, the Turkish chief of general staff's office told Anadolu. ISIS claims to have multiple cells in Turkey, which it called in its statement a "protector of the cross."

Turkish military said three top PKK leaders were among 60 killed during anti-terror operations in the east and southeastern Turkey. More than 10,000 PKK members have been killed or apprehended in anti-terror operations since July 2015 when PKK resumed its armed campaign against Turkey. ( AFP ) Turkish security forces have killed 60 PKK terrorists in counter-terrorism operations in eastern and southeastern Turkey in the past week, the military said on Friday. Turkish General Staff said that the terrorists were killed in Sirnak, Hakkari, Diyarbakir, Bingol, Elazig and Siirt provinces. Top-level regional leaders who were wanted under a Turkish green notice, were also killed in the operation. A green notice is Turkeys' version of a most wanted list. Hand grenades, machine guns, rocket launchers and other various weapons were seized during the operations. Approximately 3,890 kg of ammonium nitrate, gas cylinders, mines and a large amount of ammunition, cables and fuses, possibly used in bomb making,were also captured. 58 shelters as well as caves and storage used by terrorists, were destroyed. Contraband confiscated in the past week included over 3.5 million bits of hemp roots, 2,767 kg of powdered cannabis as well as 8,857 kg of powdered hashish, 7,400 litres of smuggled fuel and over 34 million packets of smuggled cigarettes. The statement added that 7,851 illegal migrants were stopped at Turkey's borders. Ten soldiers were killed and 36 others were injured during the anti-terror operations. More than 1,200 people, including security force personnel and civilians, have lost their lives since the PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US, and the EU, resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July 2015.

Thursday February 18, 2016 I had been trying to get to Aleppo for ages, but was unable to do so because rebel activity had cut off the city from the outside world. Syrian government military successes at the start of January meant there was at last a safe road. I hired a driver, was allocated a government minder (very handy at checkpoints), and booked into a hotel. Driving north from Damascus, we picked up a 22-year-old Syrian army lieutenant called Ali, returning to his unit after eight days' leave with his family. We drove through Homs -- miles and miles of utter devastation -- and then east on to the Raqqa road. Ali told me that he had been assigned to Kuweires military airport east of Aleppo, which was under siege for three years from Al Nusra and Islamic State forces. He spoke of daily firefights against Isis fighters. For long periods his unit was entirely cut off. When Ali was shot in the chest there was no question of being airlifted out. He convalesced in a field hospital. Eventually the siege was lifted and Ali could return home and see his parents for the first time in more than two years. 'The secret behind Kuweires was the loyalty of the soldiers. We had no tanks. I lost 82 comrades,' said Ali. Now his unit is mopping up Islamic State positions round Al-Bab to the East of Aleppo. When we reached Aleppo there had been no electricity for 112 days and no water for almost two weeks. Improvised mortars -- gas canisters explosive enough to bring down buildings -- can fall anywhere. Seventeen of the giant student dormitory blocks at the university are now set aside for displaced families from rebel-held areas. All the families have terrifying stories to tell about intimidation and murder at the hands of fanatical Al Nusra, Isis or Free Syrian army forces. These refugees are everywhere. ... Again and again I was asked: why is Britain supporting the terrorists? Western media rightly emphasize Assad's atrocities. But the Aleppans I spoke to regularly pointed out that under Assad's regime women can walk alone down the street and pursue a career; that a broadly liberal curriculum is taught in the schools; that Christians can worship at their churches and Muslims in their mosques. These Aleppans have lived under siege from groups hellbent on the imposition of a mutant version of Wahhabi Islam. Fair Use Excerpt. Read the whole article here .

Submitted by Phil on Mar 25 2012 14:36 Submitted by Phil on Nov 19 2011 16:42 Submitted by Phil on Jul 19 2010 07:59 Libcom.org's reading guide on the events in May 1968 which saw students occupying the universities, intense fighting in the streets and a general wildcat strike of ten million workers across... The modern office is fraught with dangers. From the risk of getting fired, to stress, repetitive strain injury (RSI), mindnumbing boredom and more. This helpful guide from libcom.org will help... Click here to register now. Logged in users: > Can comment on articles and discussions > Get 'recent posts' refreshed more regularly > Bookmark articles to your own reading list > Use the site private messaging system > Start forum discussions, submit articles, and more...

SANA's correspondent in southern Damascus said that army units tightened noose on terrorist groups in al-Hajar al-Aswad after heavy clashes with them. As a result of the clashes, the army units liberated the IT Secondary School and a number of building blocks in the western part of the neighborhood after inflicting terrorists' heavy losses upon their ranks and equipment. The army's artillery and Air Force directed concentrated strikes on terrorists' hideouts, infiltration axes and supply routes in the northern and northwestern parts of al-Hajar al-Aswad. Speaking to SANA, a field commander said that the army units are making a steady and cautious progress in the operations against the terrorists in al-Hajar al-Aswad and clashing with them in street- fighting, tunnels and buildings amid cases of fleeing among the terrorists using the tunnels and the trenches they took in the basement of the buildings. Al-Hajar al-Aswad will be cleared off the terrorists in the next few days, the commander stressed.

SANA's reporter in the province said that army units expanded the extent of their control in the graveyards area at the southern outskirts of Deir Ezzor city in the direction of the road linking Deir Ezzor Airport and the residential neighborhoods of the city after targeting ISIL hotbeds and infiltration points. The source added that the army operations in the area resulted in the destruction of two terrorist's vehicles, as the army regained control over one of the hills overlooking the terrorists' positions and fortifications on the Airport's road. In addition, the Syrian Air Force carried out airstrikes targeting the ISIL gatherings and fortifications in the neighborhoods of al-Hamidiyeh, al-Omaal, al-Rashidiyeh, al-Jabiliyeh in Deir Ezzor city and in the factories and graveyards areas, as well as al-Thardah, al-Muhandisin, al-Husseiniyeh areas, and al-Sowar town, destroying a number of the terrorists' vehicles and leaving many terrorists dead or injured.

Anthony Gockowski Dec 16, 2015 at 9:08 AM EDT Anthony Gockowski Dec 15, 2015 at 4:52 PM EDT UMD tells students to use 'undocumented citizen' not 'illegal alien' Among the other scenarios presented are saying "he looks like a terrorist" to someone who is "a United States veteran;" using the phrase "that's so ghetto" around someone who "grew up in poverty;" and commenting that an "exam just raped me" in the presence of "a survivor of sexual assault." Peter Fricke Dec 11, 2015 at 5:14 PM EDT Anthony Gockowski Dec 10, 2015 at 9:59 AM EDT Peter Fricke Dec 03, 2015 at 12:12 PM EDT

Francisca Marquinez is only one of far too many women killed on account of men's sexual desires.... 2 Shares Meghan Murphy speaks with Daisy Kler, a member of the Vancouver Rape Relief collective, about the challenges faced by wo... 0 Shares In this episode, Meghan Murphy speaks with Daisy Kler, a longtime anti-male violence activist in Vancouver, about the re... 0 Shares The cases of Jian Ghomeshi and, most-recently, the Cindy Gladue murder case, have forced us to interrogate what "c... 0 Shares Over one hundred people gathered Thursday morning outside the Provincial Court of BC to demand justice for Cindy Gladue ... 0 Shares Owen, Owen, Owen. Why must you reinforce every lefty male cliche in the book? I once thought we shared some politics, bu... 0 Shares

B ehold a perfect storm of federal incompetence and liberal media bias: Washington bureaucrats accidentally turned pending deportees into citizens, while the network news programs overlooked this outrage and gave ten times more coverage to Donald Trump, Jr.'s use of tainted Skittles to analogize ISIS members among Syrian refugees. The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general revealed on Monday that 858 immigrants destined for deportation unwittingly were granted citizenship. These immigrants applied for citizenship using aliases and other false information. Their fraudulent applications flew beneath the radar and were approved, in part, because the paper fingerprint records that could have exposed them as imposters had not been digitized. (Some 315,000 aliens facing deportation orders lack fingerprint records.) Worse, these 858 accidental citizens likely are not from Argentina, Botswana, Holland, or Singapore. Rather, they are from "countries of interest" that pose national-security threats or neighboring states that are rife with immigration fraud. Some of these deportees-turned-citizens received credentials that gave them access to secure areas at airports and other transit hubs. One of these devious-and-lucky 858 works as a law-enforcement officer. This total fiasco gives the lie to the notion that America can screen the stampede of Syrian refugees that President Obama is waving into the USA, and Hillary Clinton wants to boost by more than sextuple -- from Obama's 2016 goal of 10,000 to hers for 2017: 65,000. Uncle Sam cannot vet deportees within this country's borders. This dismal performance confirms GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's argument that Americans should have zero faith in Washington's ability to discern peaceful refugees from ISIS agents. Regardless, CBS Evening News spent exactly twelve seconds on this humiliation for Obama and Clinton. ABC's World News Tonight and NBC Nightly News ignored it altogether. But the next night, all three networks pounced on Donald Trump, Jr. when the candidate's son asked via Twitter: "If I had a bowl of Skittles, and I told you that just three would kill you, would you take a handful? That's our Syrian refugee problem." CBS discussed this for 27 seconds and ABC for 30. NBC aired 70 seconds on this matter after anchor Lester Holt lured viewers thus, as the broadcast opened: "Skittles outrage: Donald Trump's son getting backlash after comparing refugees to poisoned candy." "Add it up," says Rich Noyes of the Media Research Center , "and the Skittles flap on Tuesday drew 120 seconds of evening-news airtime, ten times what those broadcasts had given to the citizenship embarrassment the night before." "To me it was a simple metaphor," Donald Trump Jr. said about this imbroglio. "You know people will today make what they want of anything, and they see the worst in everything and they look for subtext that doesn't exist." Just three days after immigrants from Afghanistan and Somalia wounded some 40 innocent civilians in bomb and knife attacks in Manhattan and Minnesota, the major networks were ten times more worried about candy-coated comments than about deportees-turned-citizens. As the late, great Yogi Berra would say: "Only in America." Update: Citing a footnote in the DHS document, CNN now reports that this mess is more than twice as bad as first thought. Atop the aforementioned 858 undeserving new citizens, there were . . . . . . as of November 2015, an additional 953 individuals about whom the Inspector General couldn't determine if there was a problem with the fingerprint records specifically, but also should have been deported. This other group consisted of members of a slightly broader classification, from countries of concern as well as from neighboring countries where there is a history of fraud. That amounts to a total of 1,811 individuals granted citizenship who should not have been. As Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen lamented , "Apparently, US officials can't tell the difference between a deportation order and a passport application." -- Deroy Murdock is a Manhattan-based Fox News contributor and a contributing editor with National Review Online .

Via Daily Mail : CCTV footage of the Istanbul suicide bomber shows him registering as a refugee with Turkish immigration authorities just one week before he blew himself up in Sultanahmet square near the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, killing 11 tourists, and injuring 14. Nabil Fadli, a 28-year-old ISIS member, had recently entered the country from Syria and was caught on camera while registering at an immigration office in Istanbul last Tuesday. The footage of Fadli, a Saudi Arabian-born Syrian national, was released as the German foreign ministry announced that the death count in the wake of the blast had increased from nine to ten dead German nationals after one of the tourists injured in the blast died in hospital.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that illegal immigrants and human traffickers were "using children" to gain sympathy in America in order to enter the US without legal papers and remain there. The British Daily Mail reported that of the 103 minors in the youngest age group, the administration has reunited only 57 with parents, but the other 46 are "ineligible" according to the Justice and Homeland Security Departments. Eleven of the adults have "serious criminal histor[ies]" that include charges or convictions for child cruelty, kidnapping, murder, human smuggling, domestic violence and narcotics-related crime. Chris Meekins, Chief of Staff, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the US Department of Health and Human Services told reporters that one of the migrants is wanted for murder in Guatemala. Seven more were "determined not to be a parent" including three whose deception was discovered through DNA testing. One adult claimed he was a parent "right up until the time of a DNA swab". Authorities said another had abused the child he was trying to claim. Eleven are in state or federal custody for other reasons. One of the adults presented a falsified birth certificate, while yet another was diagnosed with a contagious disease.

With President Obama no longer supporting the piece of DOMA that bars the federal government from recognizing legal same-sex marriages, the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services has signaled it will no longer move to deport gay foreign partners, who previously were treated as legal strangers from their spouses, unable to be sponsored for citizenship. So far just two federal immigration districts (Washington D.C. and Baltimore) have adopted the "on pause" policies, though that's enough to have immigration experts assuming the policy shift is a national one. The move affects couples like Henry Velandia and Josh Vandiver , who married in Connecticut in October and appealed Henry's deportation back to Venezuela, and we've already seen evidence of major leniency granted to other bi-national couples , though whether that's because of official immigration rules or understanding judges remains to be seen.

Undocumented immigrants in McAllen, Texas. REUTERS/ Rick Loomis/Pool The New York Times reports that the Obama administration is considering a program that would allow Honduran youths into the United States "as refugees or on emergency humanitarian grounds" because of violent conditions in the Central American country--but would only cover an estimated 1,750 individuals in two years. That number would likely not accomodate even a tenth of the minors trying to leave Honduras, let alone El Salvador and Guatemala, its recent partners in mass emigration, over the time period: The proposal, prepared by several federal agencies, says the pilot program under consideration would cost up to $47 million over two years, assuming 5,000 applied and about 1,750 people were accepted. If successful, it would be adopted in Guatemala and El Salvador as well. It is unclear how the administration determined those estimates, given that since Oct. 1 more than 16,500 unaccompanied children traveled to the United States from Honduras alone. In total, approximately 45,000 minors from the three Central American countries have arrived in the U.S. in the last ten months, the Times says. Arizona senators John McCain and Jeff Flake have proposed increasing each of those countries' annual refugee visa quotas by 5,000 alongside other reforms that would speed the deportation of individuals caught immigrating without documents. (It doesn't appear, however, that McCain and Flake's proposal would prevent undocumented immigrants from seeking asylum once here.)

B ehold a perfect storm of federal incompetence and liberal media bias: Washington bureaucrats accidentally turned pending deportees into citizens, while the network news programs overlooked this outrage and gave ten times more coverage to Donald Trump, Jr.'s use of tainted Skittles to analogize ISIS members among Syrian refugees. The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general revealed on Monday that 858 immigrants destined for deportation unwittingly were granted citizenship. These immigrants applied for citizenship using aliases and other false information. Their fraudulent applications flew beneath the radar and were approved, in part, because the paper fingerprint records that could have exposed them as imposters had not been digitized. (Some 315,000 aliens facing deportation orders lack fingerprint records.) Worse, these 858 accidental citizens likely are not from Argentina, Botswana, Holland, or Singapore. Rather, they are from "countries of interest" that pose national-security threats or neighboring states that are rife with immigration fraud. Some of these deportees-turned-citizens received credentials that gave them access to secure areas at airports and other transit hubs. One of these devious-and-lucky 858 works as a law-enforcement officer. This total fiasco gives the lie to the notion that America can screen the stampede of Syrian refugees that President Obama is waving into the USA, and Hillary Clinton wants to boost by more than sextuple -- from Obama's 2016 goal of 10,000 to hers for 2017: 65,000. Uncle Sam cannot vet deportees within this country's borders. This dismal performance confirms GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's argument that Americans should have zero faith in Washington's ability to discern peaceful refugees from ISIS agents. Regardless, CBS Evening News spent exactly twelve seconds on this humiliation for Obama and Clinton. ABC's World News Tonight and NBC Nightly News ignored it altogether. But the next night, all three networks pounced on Donald Trump, Jr. when the candidate's son asked via Twitter: "If I had a bowl of Skittles, and I told you that just three would kill you, would you take a handful? That's our Syrian refugee problem." CBS discussed this for 27 seconds and ABC for 30. NBC aired 70 seconds on this matter after anchor Lester Holt lured viewers thus, as the broadcast opened: "Skittles outrage: Donald Trump's son getting backlash after comparing refugees to poisoned candy." "Add it up," says Rich Noyes of the Media Research Center , "and the Skittles flap on Tuesday drew 120 seconds of evening-news airtime, ten times what those broadcasts had given to the citizenship embarrassment the night before." "To me it was a simple metaphor," Donald Trump Jr. said about this imbroglio. "You know people will today make what they want of anything, and they see the worst in everything and they look for subtext that doesn't exist." Just three days after immigrants from Afghanistan and Somalia wounded some 40 innocent civilians in bomb and knife attacks in Manhattan and Minnesota, the major networks were ten times more worried about candy-coated comments than about deportees-turned-citizens. As the late, great Yogi Berra would say: "Only in America." Update: Citing a footnote in the DHS document, CNN now reports that this mess is more than twice as bad as first thought. Atop the aforementioned 858 undeserving new citizens, there were . . . . . . as of November 2015, an additional 953 individuals about whom the Inspector General couldn't determine if there was a problem with the fingerprint records specifically, but also should have been deported. This other group consisted of members of a slightly broader classification, from countries of concern as well as from neighboring countries where there is a history of fraud. That amounts to a total of 1,811 individuals granted citizenship who should not have been. As Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen lamented , "Apparently, US officials can't tell the difference between a deportation order and a passport application." -- Deroy Murdock is a Manhattan-based Fox News contributor and a contributing editor with National Review Online .

The left is obsessed with slaughtering aborting as many babies as they can. For what reason is beyond me. They're always looking for new ways to max out abortionists' productivity. Take Oregon for example. They've already had some of the most liberal abortion laws in the country. But, they apparently weren't liberal enough for Governor Kate Brown. Now, it's free abortions for everyone! "The ability to control our bodies and make informed decisions about health are critical to providing all Oregonians the opportunity to achieve our full potential and live productive, thriving lives," the Democratic chief executive said in an email. "Attempts to deny access to contraceptives and family planning are an attack on all Oregonians, particularly women of color, low-income and young women." The $10.2 million bill, which cleared the state House and Senate with no Republican votes, also comes as a badly needed boost for Planned Parenthood's Oregon affiliate, which helped write the measure and pushed for its passage as it struggles to keep its doors open. Democrats said the bill would ensure equal access to abortion, but several Republicans said they didn't understand why the legislation was necessary, given that Oregon already has the least-restrictive abortion laws in the nation. I can take a stab as to why. It's because leftists want to maximize the butchery of the babes. Hacking up the unborn is the only right leftists believe in. There seems to be a competition between leftists to out-baby-kill each other (see LOL! Cory Booker Compares Pro-Abortion Fight To Storming Normandy and DNC Chairman: "Democrats MUST Support Abortion." ). It's like a twisted game, with a point system and all. Extra points awarded for late-term abortions and the use of tax dollars. It's becoming more and more obvious the Beaver State has lost its marbles. After all, this is the state that added a third gender option to their driver's licenses , has judges who impede ICE investigations , and thinks Martin Luther the King wasn't "inclusive enough" for them. Free baby-killing services fit right in with the rest of their crazy. The left is dialing up the crazy on abortions because they know the Supreme Court is shifting out of their favor. Also, many people aren't too fond of going Friday The 13th on the little ones for being an inconvenience. Leftists are desperate to protect their infanticide privileges, so they're doubling down. Not to sound like a leftist or Tom Cruise, using the word "literally" like it's going out of style, but we are literally one step away from Crazy Pete. NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST? FIX THAT ! IT'S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH ITUNES HERE AND SOUNDCLOUD HERE .

With its relentless, holier-than-thou "progressive" poltical preaching , you might think California's government would have its own house in order. You'd be wrong, however: While Sacramento points fingers at the president and anyone else opposing its far-left policies, the full extent of the once-Golden State's burgeoning homeless crisis has been laid bare in a shocking new video that is racking up views on social media. Taken earlier this week, the footage shows a bike path along the Santa Ana River in Anaheim which has become one long homeless encampment. Sadly, it is clear from the toys and bikes found next to tents that many children live there as well: Meanwhile, the Washington Free Beacon reports that the state is poised to expand its sanctuary status beyond that of protecting illegal immigrants, to its fast-growing marijuana industry. Nice to see Californian leaders with their priorities straight!

California's new Healthy Youth Act sex education law is giving educators the legal backing to teach what some believe the state should have been doing all along. Where you go to school dictates what kind of sex ed you get. Today, only about half of US states require it to be taught. Jenkins believes that California's law, which is more exception than norm, empowers young people to talk honestly and openly about a subject that is often considered taboo. Today, the percentage of never-married teens who report having become sexually active is lower than in previous generations. Still, two out of every five high school students will become sexually active by the time they graduate. Teen pregnancy rates are at a record low, but significant racial/ethnic, income and geographical disparities exist. For Jenkins, sex education should ultimately not only include what young people need to know to make healthy decisions, but take seriously what young people want to know.

The U.S. Senate is considering a bill, the Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure for Alzheimer's (BOLD) Act, to increase programs for Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers. Michigan Democratic gubernatorial primary candidate Abdul El-Sayed says he wants to impose single-payer health care statewide, to be called "Michicare: Medicare for All." California Democrats Press for 'Medicare for All' Current California Gov. Gavin Newsom says single-payer health care will be a key issue in his campaign for governor, and numerous Democratic Assembly and Senate candidates have established single-payer as a key plank in their races.

(SACRAMENTO BEE) SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- More medical professionals, including nurses and midwives, would be permitted to perform certain early abortions in California under a bill unveiled Tuesday. In a news conference at the Capitol that served to both introduce the bill and mark the 40-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision, lawmakers and women's health advocates said the measure is necessary for women in communities without abortion providers. They said 52 percent of California counties do not contain a provider, other than hospitals, which often have only limited services.

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Via Independent : Isis is believed to have ordered the closure of all women's clinics supervised by male doctors in its Syrian heartlands in its latest assault on the rights of women. A culture of rape, forced marriages for child brides, the persecution of doctors and the exclusive use of medicines for militants have resulted in a crisis for women's health under Isis's brutal regime. According to activists, Isis has drastically restricted the work of male gynaecologists in accordance with its leaders' belief that men and women should be kept apart at all costs. Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, the rights group which this year won the CPJ International Press Freedom Award, has reported threats and harassment towards doctors in the city on Wednesday night. "A lot of doctors have [already] left, especially gynaecologists who were barred from practising their work and [threatened] with death," said Abu Mohammed, the group's founder. Sources told another activist network, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, that all women's clinics in Raqqa state overseen by men had been shut down. Gynaecologists working in the province's larger hospitals had their involvement in operations "confined"

On Sunday, Syrian forces and their allies targeted the terrorists' positions in eastern parts of Aleppo, liberating the areas of Karm al-Miasar, Karm al-Tahhan, Qadi Askar and al-Haooz from the militants after killing dozens of them, the official SANA news agency reported. The Syrian government forces, who are in full control of western Aleppo, have been conducting operations to purge militants from the city's east. The army troops are now working to defuse the explosive devices and mines left behind by terrorists across the regained areas. The latest developments came after the Syrian government forces managed to seize control of the areas of al-Jazmati and al-Halwania in eastern Aleppo. Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), currently controlling parts of it. According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country's pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.

The Syrian city of Raqqa, held as the de facto capital of ISIS since 2014, has been retaken by U.S.-backed militias, according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and commanders on the ground. The fall of the city, where the so-called Islamic State reportedly planned international attacks and tormented its captive residents, represents the collapse of the terror group's claims to having established a caliphate. Col. Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, said Tuesday: "We do still know there are still IEDs and booby traps in and amongst the areas that ISIS once held, so the SDF will continue to clear deliberately through areas." Reuters reports militia fighters were celebrating the liberation in the streets, amid widespread rubble from the months-long fight to retake the stronghold.

Judge Aaron Persky and Brock Turner Judge who gave Brock Turner (Stanford swimmer rapist) light sentence is cleared of misconduct. Study shows women are better doctors than men, yet men are paid more! In the U.S., there would be 32,000 fewer deaths each year, if male doctors performed as well as female doctors. Mothers against meme trolls: When mothers report mocking memes of their disabled children, Facebook says that the memes do not violate their community standards. Escaped ISIS female slave Nadia Murad urges EU to recognize Yazidi genocide. More than 3,000 women and children remain in ISIS captivity. Susan Cox is a feminist writer and academic living in the United States. She teaches in Philosophy.

According to Tasnim dispatches, Syrian forces late on Saturday established control over the areas of the Third Battalion and al-Kassarat al-Sharqiyeh and al-Kassarat al-Gharbiyeh near al-Seen airport in Damascus countryside. Large groups of Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorists were killed and injured in the operations. Separately, the Syrian government forces targeted the positions of the Takfiri Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, in the areas of Deir Foul, Kfarlaha, Tal Dahab and Tal Dao in the central province of Homs, destroying their arms depots and vehicles. Additionally, the army troops continued to make advances against the Daesh militants in southern edges of Deir ez-Zor, claiming the lives of dozens of them in al-Jafra village in the eastern countryside of the western province. Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh, currently controlling parts of it. According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country's pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.

The self pro-claimed Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has executed and crucified eight men near the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, a pro-opposition group reported Sunday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the victims were executed Saturday in the town of Deir Hafir because they had fought for rival rebel groups. Rival fighters Sunday fired shells at the ISIS-controlled village of al-Masoudia in north-eastern Aleppo, said the observatory. Elsewhere, ISIS militants were engaged in fierce clashes against opposition and secular rivals in Aleppo's village of al-Jadida near the Syrian border with Turkey.

Protest at NATO Summit in Newport, Wales. Imperialist heads of state at the Sept. 4-5 NATO Summit in Newport, Wales, met under U.S. pressure to escalate their anti-Russia maneuvers regarding Ukraine, to schedule their gradual exit from Afghanistan and to open war on the Islamic State. The summit's proposed goals all involved making NATO capable of rapid intervention on three continents, far from the North Atlantic region. While it was apparent that the U.S. would face reluctance from member states throughout the alliance, there was no mistaking Washington's aggressive intentions. President Barack Obama pushed a proposal to increase military spending by all NATO members to at least 2 percent of gross national product. The U.S., the center of world imperialism, usually spends more than 4 percent. The only other NATO countries currently spending more than 2 percent are Turkey, France, Portugal, Estonia and Greece. (International Business Times, Sept. 4) All Europe is in a severe economic recession, with pressure on all national governments to cut spending. While all these governments avoid openly confronting Washington, funding NATO faces many obstacles. Most of the NATO countries' increased spending would purchase weapons from the U.S.-based military-industrial complex. Using national budgets to buy more arms would decrease the funds available for social services for the working class, which is already hurt by in-place austerity programs. Obama's original plans to maximize economic sanctions against Russia were upended by the recent successes of the anti-fascist resistance in Ukraine against the coup-government in Kiev. The sanctions hurt the West European economies along with the Russian people. French shipbuilders winced as they cancelled billions of dollars' worth of sales to Russia, and German manufacturers were forced to find ways to work around the sanctions. The imperialist heads' answer to Kiev's collapse in the Donbass region was to set up a 4,000-troop, rapid-deployment force to throw into battle at any point in the world on a few days' notice. Given the confrontation with Russia over Ukraine, this new force could only be seen as a provocation that could lead to an extremely destructive war. Anti-ISIS coalition Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron wrote a joint opinion statement in the London Times on Sept. 4 calling on NATO to confront the organization known as ISIS or ISIL, now called the Islamic State, which controls some territory in Iraq and Syria. Obama then used the presence of so many heads of state at the summit to set up a new coalition to coordinate an assault allegedly aimed at eradicating ISIS. The 28 NATO states weren't united on this initiative for a "war on ISIL," however. Obama plans to appeal to the U.S. public with a major televised speech Sept. 10 pushing this new aggressive move. Reuters published on Sept. 5 that "Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told foreign and defense ministers from 10 nations at a hastily arranged meeting that there were many ways they could help, including training and equipping the Iraqis. ... Hagel told ministers from Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, Turkey, Italy, Poland and Denmark that they, with the United States, formed the core group for tackling the Sunni militant group." Though the militarist rantings of Arizona's Sen. John McCain make Obama's relative calm look reasonable, the NATO summit shows that even the president's "don't do stupid stuff" foreign policy runs big risks for the world. These risks include conflict with Russia. They also include putting "boots on the ground" in Iraq and/or Syria once the bombing raids on these countries prove ineffective. And behind the anti-ISIL rhetoric are the continued plans for regime change in Syria. To counter these war moves, demonstrators outside the NATO meeting faced down the 9,500 police and military guarding the imperialists and other heads of state and raised their slogans: "No new wars! No to NATO!" Also ...

President Barack Obama vowed not to "relent" against ISIS, saying Sunday that the world will not accept attacks on civilians in places like Paris as the "new normal." While Obama said its "understandable" such attacks can arouse fear, he stressed that the "viciousness of a handful of killers" who have "good social media" won't stop the world from doing business. "We do not succumb to fear," he told a press conference in Malaysia to close out his Asia trip. "They cannot strike a mortal blow against the United States or against France." He said the international coalition against ISIS "will not relent" and that "we will not accept" the idea of terror attacks on restaurants, theaters and hotels as "the new normal." When it comes to defeating ISIS, Obama said, "we're going to get it done." "The most powerful tool that we have to fight ISIL is to say that we're not afraid," Obama said, using another name for ISIS. "They're a bunch of killers with good social media." French President Francois Hollande is scheduled to meet with Obama in Washington on Tuesday to discuss the international fight against ISIS. Hollande will then travel to Russia to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Obama said Sunday it would be "helpful" if Russia redirected its focus in Syria onto ISIS, noting that the militant group has been blamed for downing a Russian passenger plane last month in the Sinai peninsula. "He needs to go after the people who killed Russia's citizens," Obama said of Putin, urging Russia to make a "strategic adjustment" and drop support for Syrian President Bashar al Assad. This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com

American warplanes struck multiple targets in Libya overnight, hitting what was apparently an Islamic State training camp and a senior extremist leader. Written by Megan Specia over 2 years ago Written by The Associated Press almost 3 years ago Dozens were killed on Monday when airstrikes a wedding party in southeastern Yemen. The attack, which took place in in Wahijah village, outside of the Red Sea port city of Mokha in Yemen, killed as many as 135 peoplem according to estimates from the UN. Written by The Associated Press almost 3 years ago Written by The Associated Press about 3 years ago Written by Megan Specia about 3 years ago Written by Colin Daileda over 3 years ago Written by Louise Roug almost 4 years ago Written by Colin Daileda about 4 years ago

I wish I knew what we were really doing in Iraq. Here we are helping fight off ISIS from another town in Iraq, Amerli, which sits about halfway between Erbil and Baghdad. I mean, I think it's great that we are keeping ISIS from taking over another town in Iraq but at the same time, given Obama's rhetoric, I'm not sure if we are there to defeat ISIS or just box them in or something. And now Iran-backed Shiite militias are fighting with Iraqi forces on the ground after we provide air-power to go in and stop ISIS from massacring the people. Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

Ted Cruz released a great new ad today showing how horrible Obama has been on ISIS, with respect to their recent attacks in Paris and their threats to America. He then shows Obama attacking him on the Syrian refugees and his response. Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

General Jack Keane made a good point this morning, asking why NATO hasn't gone to war against ISIS especially when over 7 NATO nations have been attacked by ISIS? Keane argues that the reason NATO hasn't gone to war with ISIS is because there's complacency in Europe, saying they don't want to be held accountable for the results of a war with ISIS by their people. But he hopes Trump changes that when he goes to NATO. After all, the last time NATO went to war was after we were attacked on 9/11. Keane is also critical of our use of the Syrian Kurds to fight ISIS, pointing out that they can't occupy Arab lands and that we should be bringing in Arab forces to do just that. He also believes that we should use our force He also rips the Obama administration for their appeasement and lack of leadership in the world which has allowed terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS to thrive. Conversely, he praised Trump for actually stepping up to lead on these issues. Watch the video for more... Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

The current episode of Chelsea is titled "It Felt Like Racist WrestleMania" and that is exactly how her guest Hasan Minhaj described attending the Republican National Convention. He went in "white face" make-up as his alter-ego "Chad Smith" just for grins - and because all Republicans are scary racists in his fragile little liberal world. Can you imagine a Republican pulling such a stunt and the outrage that would follow? Host Chelsea Handler introduced the Indian-American Minhaj (senior correspondent for The Daily Show ) as "Donald Trump's worst nightmare - he's brown, he's Muslim, and he's got perfect hair." She brought him on to talk about his adventures at the RNC because in the world of the Hollywood left such an event is like visiting another planet. Minhaj started out by labeling the convention as "a racist Comic Con," "racist WrestleMania" and much more "terrifying" in person than on television. The experience for the poor delicate liberal was like being "in a haunted house with the lights on." Get it yet? Republicans are scary racists!!! Minhaj mocked the Muslims for Trump speaker as the "Pakistani Borat" and said, "This dude is fucking insane" for supporting Trump. He stated that Republicans forget that "immigrants are dope," though Trump is married to his second immigrant wife, so obviously he finds them pretty "dope," too. Then the social justice warrior emerged as Minhaj encouraged those on social media - specifically Twitter - to help make it easier for white people to talk about race. See, if you just re-tweet funny things that guys like him tweet, then "justice will be served" at some point. Or something. Taking over the world, one tweet at a time. Yeah, that's the ticket. Only in Hollywood.

A little earlier today I posted on the New York Times hiring a person called Sarah Jeong to be a member of their editorial board. Jeong, to all appearances a dyed-in-the-wool SJW, has a Twitter timeline full of stuff that can only be called racist. This was my prediction: I suspect nothing is going to happen. It is hard to imagine the NYT firing an Asian woman for comments like this. In fact, they are probably shaking their heads with amazement that anyone thinks any of this is wrong. I mean if you can't make fun of white people and basically brag about how you like making their lives difficult, why bother living, right? Right on schedule: Our statement in response to criticism of the hiring of Sarah Jeong. pic.twitter.com/WryIgbaoqg -- NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) August 2, 2018 See how simple that was. She was harassed by internet trolls who she assumed were white men. She retaliated with generic racial slurs unrelated to the harassment. So all is totally fine. I mean, who among us hasn't done that?

In one of the most dramatic expressions yet of contempt for the Trump administration's cruel and dehumanizing... It takes a particularly callous personality to work for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But imagine someone... Faced with a judge's order earlier this week requiring the Trump administration to stop separating migrant children... Ever-vigilant in his quest to fuck over immigrants, Attorney General Jeff Sessions's DOJ is drafting a proposal that... When Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy of family separation... Private prisons stand to rake in huge returns on their investments in Republican politicians, according to a new report ... Department of Homeland Security officers, some decked out in full riot gear, moved in early Thursday morning to shut... In another installment of America's ongoing series"Hmm That Seems Illegal and Also Dumb as Shit," the U.S. government... The Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services has announced that it's launching a... The list of places where U.S. immigration officials have been detaining immigrants across the country is more varied,... An immigration attorney says she was locked up and left with a broken foot after being "knocked to the ground and... By a vote of 5-4, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled to uphold President Donald Trump's travel ban barring entry to the... Here's a quick little anecdote from Texas Republican Rep. Will Hurd that's sure to inspire confidence in the Trump...

Hey, give Joy Reid credit. At least she didn't go full Hitler analogy . . . On her MSNBC show this morning, Reid claimed that a recently-adopted Texas immigration law sounds "almost like an apartheid-era law." To support her alarmist claim, Reid badly mischaracterized the law, suggesting that under it, "any person can... The Texas legislature passed a bill Wednesday, banning sanctuary cities in the Lone Star State. Senate Bill 4 requires state law enforcement, including campus cops, to comply with federal immigration law and prohibits municipalities from creating policies or regulations that circumvent established federal laws. The bill specifically prohibits discrimination and allows the... The Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is a well-financed international movement launched at the anti-Semitic 2001 Durban conference. The BDS movement falsely is portrayed as having launched as a 2005 grassroots call from Palestinian civil society. In fact, as I have proven, BDS traces its roots back to the anti-Jewish Arab boycotts...

Tehran: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Saturday said that US President Donald Trump is slow to condemn racism in the US. File image of Donald Trump. AP "Quick to insult Islam but hesitant to condemn racist terror at home," Zarif said on Twitter. "Terror in name of race or religion is plain terror & represents neither," he said in another tweet. The remarks by Zarif followed Trump's mixed response to the deadly attack at a far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend when a car was driven into counter-protesters, killing a woman. Trump faced criticism from both Republicans and Democrats for his response to the violence. He condemned violence by "many sides", but stopped short of explicitly condemning the far-right.

Donald Trump appeared on ABC news for his first on-camera television appearance since his controversial call for a ban on Muslim immigration, and Barbara Walters didn't waste much time to stick it to him. Watch below: His humble answer was that he was probably the least bigoted person that Barbara Walters had ever met because he's run a business. Seems legit. Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

The counting of votes for the crucial Assembly Elections in four states and a Union Territory will begin at 8 am and will be over by 3 pm, according to the Election Commission. In a high turnout two-phased poll exercise, Assam had voted on 4 and 11 April to elect members to the 126-seat Assembly. The state recorded an impressive voter turnout of 82.21 percent after the second phase of voting. The counting would be conducted across 51 centres in 143 rooms on 1,171 tables determining the political future of 1,064 candidates. Representational image. AFP Congress, which under Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is seeking a fourth straight term in power, has fielded 122 candidates, BJP 89, its allies AGP 30 and BPF 13, AIUDF 74, CPM 19 and CPI 15. The CPI (ML) fought in seven seats, SUCI in 24 and independents contested in 497 seats. Others accounted for 174 candidates. The Congress had left four seats for its ally UPP. Three exit polls have stated that BJP will win in Assam and end Gogoi's 15-year chief ministership. Axis-India Today predicted BJP will win 79-93 seats, ABP-Nielsen gave BJP 81 seats and NewsX-Chanakya gave BJP 90 seats. According to TimesNow C-Voter exit poll, the BJP and allies would get 57 seats, the Congress 41, AIUDF 18 and others 10. However, Gogoi was confident of a victory. "I don't see why there will be anti-incumbency. I trust the people of Assam, they know how much development has happened under us," Gogoi had told ANI . Earlier, when asked if his former ministerial colleague Himanta Biswa Sarma's turning to the BJP had cost the Congress dearly, Gogoi had said, "The poll result will speak for itself." He had said that the Congress had lost the 2014 Lok Sabha election even as Sarma was one of the main campaigners for the party. "We'll do much better compared to the Lok Sabha elections this time. His leaving has not affected the party at all," Gogoi had said. The incumbent chief minister had also alleged that the BJP-led Central government was giving "step-motherly" treatment to the border state and had withdrawn the "Special Category status" given to Assam under which the state would get 90 percent grant from the Central government for its budget. In 2011, Gogoi had returned to power for the third time in Assam as the Congress won 78 seats in the 126-seat Assembly. While some of the surveys had been accurate in predicting a Congress victory, some wrongly predicted a hung Assembly after the last Assembly polls. The CNN-IBN survey had said that Gogoi was going to return as CM with a tally of 64 to 72 seats. However, the Mail Today-India Today-Headlines Today-Aaj Tak-ORG opinion poll had predicted a hung Assembly in Assam, with Congress winning just 46 seats. Now, a victory in Assam would testify to the continuing appeal of the ruling BJP, while defeat elsewhere would reflect Prime Minister Narendra Modi's difficulties in making inroads against the Congress stronghold. In his campaign rallies, Modi had vowed to plug the international boundary with Bangladesh to stop illegal influx from the neighbouring country as it has become a rising discontent among the indigenous people. The results should be a snapshot of Modi's performance as he approaches the half-way mark of his five-year tenure.

Pakistan is awaiting national election results Wednesday after voting was disrupted by a suicide bomber on a motorcycle and scattered violence elsewhere in the country. The bomber rammed into people waiting outside a polling station in the city of Quetta, killing 31 people. Police said clashes between rival political parties have killed another person and wounded 15 others across the country. Pakistan will make history by electing a third straight civilian government, although the transition to democratic rule has been wobbly. Rights activists, analysts, and candidates say the campaign has been characterized by "blatant, aggressive and unabashed attempts to manipulate" the outcome, with media silenced and candidates intimidated, according to Pakistan's Independent Human Rights Commission. The military establishment and its intelligence agency are accused of trying to prevent the Pakistan Muslim League, the party of disgraced Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, from returning to power, while giving a shot at governing to former cricket star Imran Khan and his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Read more from The Sift Share this article with friends.

Kolkata: Polling for the fourth phase of West Bengal Assembly polls, which will decide the fate of several Trinamool Congress ministers, began this morning with unprecedented security arrangements. Voters were seen lining up before 12,500 polling stations in 49 seats in North 24 Parganas district, including Bidhan Nagar, and Howrah district as polling began at 7 am. The polling will continue till 6 pm. Representational image. Reuters An estimated 1.08 crore voters were eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 345 candidates, including TMC ministers Amit Mitra, Purnendu Basu, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Bratya Basu, Jyotipriyo Mullick and Aroop Roy to choose from. Of the total contestants only 40 candidates are women. Meanwhile, in the wake of reports of violence in the third phase of polling which left at least one CPI-M worker dead, the Election Commission has made unprecedented security arrangements for this phase. Altogether 90,000 security personnel including central armed forces have been deployed. Special intervention includes patrolling in night and even on river, which is being done for the first time in this elections. Special focus is being laid on Salt Lake area (Bidhannagar) in the northern part of city, EC officials said. The central force contingent includes 672 companies who will be assisted by a 22,000 strong team of state police personnel. To keep a strict vigil on the law and order situation, five police observers, all of IAS ranks, have been deployed in the two districts. Besides, another 1100 mobile surveillance teams will be doing additional monitoring work. Based on inputs from the electorate, about 5500 voters have been identified as vulnerable voters who received threats or intimidation from about 1500 trouble mongers. Around 1400 of the history-sheeters have been "bound down" by the district authorities. All eyes will be on jailed former Transport and Sports minister Madan Mitra, who is contesting from Kamarhati seat in North 24 Parganas district. Mitra was arrested by CBI in December 2014 in the multi-crore rupee Saradha chit fund scam. This is the first time that a high-profile candidate is fighting elections in West Bengal from jail. Interestingly, despite being a registered voter he will not be allowed to cast his vote because of incarceration. Greenhorns in the fray in this phase include former BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya's daughter Vaishali and former Bengal cricket captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla - both of whom are fighting on TMC tickets. Shukla is pitted against actress-turned-politician Rupa Ganguly of BJP from north Howrah seat. Footballer Dipendu Biswas has been fielded by TMC from south Basirhat seat which is being defended by BJP's lone sitting MLA Shamik Bhattacharya. Bidhannagar Mayor Sabyasachi Dutta is fighting for his seat from Rajarhat New Town. Issues like the 'Syndicate Raj' (local real estate cartel), Saradha chit fund scam and Narada sting operation dominated the campaigns of this poll. Two other phases of the six-phase long Bengal election will be held on 30 April and 5 May while results will be out on 19 May. With inputs from PTI

TEHRAN - India is considering financial contribution in a railway project in southeastern Iran, Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday. "The terms of financing of Chabahar-Zahedan railway project have been reviewed by Indian side and the final results will be announced soon," Iranian Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development Kheirolah Khademi said. According to the official, the scope of cooperation on this project will be further discussed during the visit of Iranian roads and urban development minister to the South Asian country. Speaking in a meeting with Saurabh Kumar, India's ambassador in Tehran, Khademi noted that so far Iran has provided $300 million for the project and considering domestic financial issues, cooperation in this projects depends on the Indian party financing the rest. Kumar also expressed his country's satisfaction and willingness to cooperate with Iran, saying, according to previous meetings, the terms of financing of this project were reviewed by India and the final proposal will be presented soon.

New Delhi : Against the backdrop of Chinese military build-up along its boundary with India, the Army is planning to deploy artillery and tank brigades along the borders in northern and northeastern regions. In recent times, the force has also proposed to increase its strength by one lakh soldiers along with the raising of a Mountain Strike Corps. To upgrade the fighting capabilities in the region, the plan is to set up armoured brigades with Russian-origin tanks and Infantry Combat Vehicles in the Ladakh and northeastern region, Army sources said here. The Army is also planning to deploy two independent armoured brigades in Uttarakhand and Ladakh. As part of the plans to upgrade military strength, an additional 10,000 troops are planned to be deployed in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands where the Army currently has an amphibious brigade. The modernisation and expansion plan also includes setting up of new airstrips and helipads in remote locations around the Chinese boundary. After a major military infrastructure buildup by China in its territory, India has been taking a large number of steps to develop its own capabilities. It has been building strategic roads along the border with China and has deployed its supersonic BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles in Arunachal Pradesh and the Su-30MKIs at bases in Assam. It has also started revamping its old air strips in Ladakh and the northeast for operations of both transport and fighter aircraft from there.

In an interview marking the 10th anniversary of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf admitted to the BBC that "rogue" elements of the country's establishment may have conspired with the Taliban in the murder of the former prime minister. Asked about possible involvement of these establishment forces in Bhutto's death, Musharraf said: "Possibility. Yes indeed. Because the society is polarized on religious lines." Though he said his assessment was a hunch without proof, Musharraf said: "I don't have any facts available. But my assessment is very accurate I think... A lady who is known to be inclined towards the West is seen suspiciously by those elements." Musharraf, who is in exile in Dubai, himself faces murder charges in the Bhutto case. Family members and journalists say they witnessed a threatening phone call to Bhutto from Musharraf in the months before she died in a suicide-bomb attack at a campaign rally on Dec. 27, 2007. Musharraf denied making the call, telling the BBC, "Honestly I laugh at it. Why would I kill her?" Until now, Pakistan's establishment has denied all claims of complicity in the country's violent jihadi attacks.

Democrat Doug Jones beat Republican Roy Moore in Tuesday's special election in Alabama's U.S. Senate race. Prior to the allegations of sexual misconduct Moore faced, the state was seen as an almost sure win for a Republican candidate. President Donald Trump won Alabama by almost 28 percentage points in 2016 and there has not been a Democrat senator in 25 years representing the solidly red state. With 93 percent of the precincts reporting, Jones had 49.6 percent of the vote, or 602,515 votes, while Moore had 48.8 percent, or 592,729 votes , according to The New York Times . A Jones win will hurt the conservative agenda, Brian Darling, a former staffer for Sen. Rand Paul, said in an email to The Daily Signal. "This development empowers the moderates in the Senate in a way that will halt progress on a free market conservative agenda," Darling, president of Liberty Government Affairs, said. "It is sad that the Republican leadership has proven so incompetent in implementing an agenda promoting free markets, lower taxes and a limited government [and] that has now become even harder to pass." After Jones is sworn in, there will be 49 Democrat senators and 51 Republican senators. Moore, 70, who ran on a conservative platform that included support for a border wall and repealing Obamacare, faced sexual misconduct allegations from at least nine women, " including claims he tried dating them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s," according to CBS News . One woman, Leigh Corfman , accused Moore of inappropriately touching her when she was 14 years old and another, Beverly Young Nelson , alleged that Moore sexually assaulted her. Moore denied the allegations. "I did not know them," Moore said in an interview Sunday with "The Voice of Alabama Politics." "I had no encounter with them. I never molested anyone, and for them to say that, I don't know why they're saying it, but it's not true." Jones, 63, is a lawyer and former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama appointed by President Bill Clinton. His campaign platform included support for Obamacare, while acknowledging that it "needs improvement," and he supports abortion and LGBT rights. He has also been critical of the Senate's tax reform plan. "I am troubled by tax breaks for the wealthy, which seem to be in this bill overloaded," Jones said . "I'm troubled by what appears to be ultimately tax increases or no tax cuts to the middle class. I generally try to support cutting corporate taxes to try to get reinvestment back into this country." Trump, who had supported Sen. Luther Strange in the primary, backed Moore in the general election and recorded a robo call for his campaign. "Democrat Jones is soft on crime, weak on immigration, supports abortion, he's bad for our military and bad for our vets," Trump said during the call . "We don't want him, and he also, by the way, wants higher taxes. Roy Moore is the guy we need to pass our 'Make America Great Again' agenda. Roy is a conservative who'll help me steer this country back on track after eight years of the Obama disaster." Trump tweeted about the results Tuesday night: Congratulations to Doug Jones on a hard fought victory. The write-in votes played a very big factor, but a win is a win. The people of Alabama are great, and the Republicans will have another shot at this seat in a very short period of time. It never ends! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2017 After the allegations against Moore surfaced, some Republicans in Congress, including Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Sen Ben Sasse, R-Neb., withdrew support for Moore. No. (Now please get back to football and other unifying topics...) https://t.co/5W5PpF7c3a -- Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 12, 2017 Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also withdrew support . Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Moore would face an ethics investigation if elected. "I had hoped earlier that he would withdraw as a candidate, and obviously it's not going to happen," McConnell said Dec. 5 of Moore. "If he were to be elected, he would immediately have an ethics committee case, and the committee would take a look at the situation and give us advice." Some Republicans, like Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., said the Senate should expel Moore should he take office. Read my latest statement on Alabama's U.S. Senate special election: https://t.co/rilQfqiJ9Z pic.twitter.com/GQvsGhbnYA -- Cory Gardner (@CoryGardner) November 13, 2017 Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, said Nov. 17 she would vote for Moore, while Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, also Republican, announced this month he would not back Moore. "We need to have a Republican in the United States Senate to vote on things like the Supreme Court justices, other appointments the Senate has to confirm and make major decisions," Ivey said. "So that's what I plan to do, vote for Republican nominee Roy Moore." " I'd rather see the Republican win, but I'd rather see a Republican write-in. I couldn't vote for Roy Moore," Shelby told CNN in an interview Sunday. "I think, so many accusations, so many cuts, so many drip, drip, drip--when it got to the 14-year-old's story, that was enough for me. I said I can't vote for Roy Moore," Shelby added. The special election was held for the Senate seat vacated by Republican Jeff Sessions when he became attorney general in the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump recorded a robocall in support of Roy Moore, making it clear that the Republican Party is truly the party of pedophiles. Moore has been accused of sexual assault by eight women, one of whom was only 14-years-old at the time. The Alabama GOP Senate candidate refused to drop out of the race despite calls from many Republicans to do so. Even the White House had initially condemned Moore. And then Donald Trump returned from Asia only to declare that sexual predators support each other. On his way to Mar-a-Lago for a Thanksgiving golf outing, Trump told reporters that he needs Moore in the Senate and went on to trash Democrat Doug Jones, stopping just short of a full-throated endorsement. Then Trump attacked Jones again on Twitter in support of Moore without saying his name. The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY. Jones would be a disaster! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2017 I endorsed Luther Strange in the Alabama Primary. He shot way up in the polls but it wasn't enough. Can't let Schumer/Pelosi win this race. Liberal Jones would be BAD! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2017 Then Trump endorsed Moore by name earlier this month. Democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive Tax Cuts is why we need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama. We need his vote on stopping crime, illegal immigration, Border Wall, Military, Pro Life, V.A., Judges 2nd Amendment and more. No to Jones, a Pelosi/Schumer Puppet! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2017 Putting Pelosi/Schumer Liberal Puppet Jones into office in Alabama would hurt our great Republican Agenda of low on taxes, tough on crime, strong on military and borders...& so much more. Look at your 401-k's since Election. Highest Stock Market EVER! Jobs are roaring back! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2017 During his recent rally in Pensacola, Florida, which shares a media market with Alabama, Trump urged voters to support Moore. And now, Trump has recorded a robocall that will debut in Alabama on Monday. According to Reuters : On Monday, the eve of the election, the Moore campaign was scheduled to roll out a "robo-call" with Trump's voice telling voters that if they do not support the Republican candidate, progress on his agenda will be "stopped cold." Basically, Trump has done everything he can in support of Roy Moore except campaign for him in Alabama physically. Americans should be disgusted. And Republicans should be ashamed of themselves. Featured Image Via YouTube screenshot.

President Trump on Sunday blasted Democratic Alabama Senate candidate Doug Jones while appearing to give a de facto endorsement of Jones' opponent, GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore. "The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY," Trump tweeted. "Jones would be a disaster!" He added: "I endorsed Luther Strange in the Alabama Primary. He shot way up in the polls but it wasn't enough. Can't let Schumer/Pelosi win this race. Liberal Jones would be BAD!" The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY. Jones would be a disaster! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2017 I endorsed Luther Strange in the Alabama Primary. He shot way up in the polls but it wasn't enough. Can't let Schumer/Pelosi win this race. Liberal Jones would be BAD! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2017 Before his departure to Mar-a-Lago last week, Trump appeared to throw his support behind Moore despite the allegations of sexual misconduct against the embattled candidate. The Washington Post reported that a woman said he initiated a sexual encounter with her in 1979, when she was 14 and he was 32. Multiple women have come forward to accuse Moore of pursuing them when they were teenagers. "We don't need a liberal person in there, a Democrat," Trump told White House reporters.

Jones joined dozens of Democrats in voting down a bill to ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, the point when an overwhelming amount of evidence shows an unborn child can feel pain from the gruesome procedure. Get smart : If you don't know what a baby looks like at 20-weeks, here's a video of one seen via an MRI scan: Jones is now on record as officially believing that it should remain legal to kill that child for any reason and at any time. Of course, Jones told us that he'd vote against the measure during an appearance on MSNBC in October. Back then I wrote about how " abhorrent" his views were to most Alabamians and that "anyone in the state who values life must vote against Jones and his party's monstrous pro-abortion policy." Now it's up to us to remember this vote and to speak for the tens of thousands of unborn children who are killed every year in our nation because men like Jones are either too cowardly or too cruel to do anything about it. Jones cast his vote with the pro-abortion extremists, and in doing so cast his fate. In less than two years, Alabamians will have a chance to cast a vote of their own. And that's when we'll cast Jones and his abhorrent support of abortion into the dustbin of history. This internship program is a competitive experience designed for those students who are interested in learning more about our nation's legislative process, constituent services and the general day-to-day operations of a congressional office. Interns' tasks vary, but they include conducting tours of the United States Capitol building, drafting and presenting a policy proposal on a legislative topic of their choosing, assisting constituents with their various needs and requests, attending committee hearings, and more. This summer, I was fortunate to have quite a few outstanding students serve as interns in my offices, and I'd like to take this opportunity to share with you more about these young men and women and their hard work on behalf of the people of Alabama's Second District. In my Washington, D.C., office, over the summer we enjoyed having several impressive students join our team for a few weeks: Agnes Armstrong is a graduate of the Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School. She is a junior at Auburn University where she studies Accounting and Nonprofit Studies. Ford Cleveland is a graduate of the Montgomery Academy. He is a sophomore at the University of Virginia where he studies Chemistry. Noah McNelley is a graduate of Trinity Presbyterian School. He is a junior at Auburn University where he studies Political Science, Business, and French. Meredith Moore is a graduate of Trinity Presbyterian School. She is a junior at the University of Alabama where she studies Marketing and English. Hayden Pruett is a graduate of the Loveless Academic Magnet Program (LAMP). She is a sophomore at the University of Alabama where she studies Political Science and Social Welfare. Brandon Redman is a graduate of Prattville Christian Academy. He is a senior at Faulkner University where he studies Political Science. William Chandler is a graduate of the Montgomery Academy. He is a junior at Sewanee where he is pursuing double majors in Politics and English. Bates Herrick is a graduate of the Montgomery Academy. He is a senior at Sewanee where he studies Economics with double minors in Political Science and Business. Hunter McEntire is a graduate of Houston Academy in Dothan. He attended Birmingham Southern College where he earned a degree in history with a minor in Political Science. I was also glad to host some bright young men and women in my district offices over the summer: Allyssa Morgan, a native of Opp, worked in my Andalusia district office. She received an Associate's degree from Lurleen B. Wallace Community College and is now attending Troy University. Kimberlee Perry served as an intern in my Dothan district office. She graduated from New Brockton High School earlier this year, and she now attends George Wallace Community College. Tyrese Lane, Savannah Williamson, and Spencer Andreades all held internships in my Montgomery district office. Tyrese, a Prattville native, is a graduate of Marbury High School and is currently a student at Marion Military Institute. Savannah, from Troy, is a graduate of Pike Liberal Arts and currently attends Auburn University. Spencer is a graduate of the Montgomery Academy and now attends the University of Alabama. These students worked very hard for our district, and I really appreciate their dedication and eagerness to serve their communities. I'm confident they will be successful in whatever paths they pursue. You can find out more about my internship program and the application process on my website . If you know a college-aged student who might be interested in being part of the legislative process for the summer, I hope you will pass this information along to them. I truly believe a congressional internship is a valuable way to gain firsthand exposure to the innerworkings of our nation's government. U.S. Rep. Martha Roby is a Republican from Montgomery.

All throughout the campaign for the vacant Alabama Senate seat, the conversation was focused on Roy Moore. Moore was the Republican candidate in a state that only Republicans have won for the last 25 years. He was also accused of sexual assault, and so the question was whether Alabama voters (and the Republican establishment) would choose a liberal Democrat or an accused sex offender. In the end, it was the liberal Democrat, Doug Jones, who won. But who is Doug Jones? Alabama Republicans tried to portray him as an ultra-liberal Bernie Sanders type. However, according to former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, he is rather moderate. "He's not for late-term abortion or all that crap that the [Republicans] were trying to pin on him." Jones allegedly intends to work as a moderate in Congress. He supports "maintaining the integrity of our borders against all threats," but also hopes to keep some iteration of Obama's "Dreamers" program in place, which offers children of immigrants pathways to citizenship. That's why President Trump gave him a "very gracious call" - because he knows that he might be a potential ally on particular issues in the future. Some Republicans are optimistic that given Alabama's conservative voter base, Jones will lean right more often than other Democrats in the Senate. However, that didn't stop Bernie Sanders himself from celebrating his victory over Moore. "Congratulations to Doug Jones for his great victory. Congratulations to the people of Alabama for doing what few thought they would do," Sanders. "This is a victory not just for Jones and Democrats. It is a victory for justice and decency." "He's going up [to Washington] with an open mind and figure out what's best for Alabama," said campaign manager Giles Perkins. "I think in the campaign Doug stuck to his principles and what he believes, and we're proud that that was successful and he's not going to be a different guy than he was during the campaign."

Besides his impressive legal career that included rising to the top Alabama seat on the State Supreme Court, Moore graduated with honors from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served in this nation's military. It's no secret that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not like Judge Roy Moore, who ran to fill the seat vacated by Jeff Sessions. McConnell endorsed his primary opponent, Luther Strange, and poured an estimated $30 million into a campaign against Moore. When Strange was soundly rejected by the people of Alabama, and Moore became the GOP nominee, McConnell continued to oppose him. At the first sign of an unproven 40-year old allegation of sexual misconduct against Moore in the waning weeks of the campaign, the GOP halted financial support for Moore's campaign, and several Republicans withdrew their endorsements, when they should have maintained their support in the face of such obviously fake allegations. Instead, they allowed Moore to be tarred and feathered by the spurious attacks. However, Mitch McConnell went a step further. He promised to never allow Moore to occupy his Senate seat, if he were to be elected, even though none of the allegations had ever been proved true in the four decades since they supposedly happened. This sent a strong message to the electorate that Moore would never be accepted as a legitimate Senator, that the people of Alabama would be disenfranchised, and chaos would reign in the Senate. "It is my opinion that Sen. Mitch McConnell heavily contributed to Moore's defeat, and because that led to giving a seat away to a pro-abortion Democrat, he should resign immediately," said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. "McConnell has ensured that pro-life legislation will never pass, Planned Parenthood will never be defunded, and babies that can feel pain will continue to be aborted after the mid-point of pregnancy. He has made sure that the Trump agenda will stall out, and Congress will continue in gridlock. He has betrayed the will of the American people, who support the Trump agenda, especially when it comes to ending abortion. Sen. McConnell, please resign!"

NRA News host Cam Edwards claimed that Buzzfeed promoted the views of Al Qaeda by reporting on a video of an Al Qaeda spokesperson encouraging terrorists to use gun shows to obtain weapons without a background check. This claim comes as a deal has reportedly been struck for legislation that would require a background check for all sales at gun shows. Edwards also downplayed the well-documented patronage of gun shows by terrorists and other dangerous individuals. On the April 10 edition of NRA News' Cam & Company , Edwards accused reporter Andrew Kaczynski of "approvingly citing Al Qaeda to bolster gun control arguments," and asked, "I wonder when Buzzfeed is going to start citing Al Qeada's pop culture criticism of the United States too?" EDWARDS: So Buzzfeed's Andrew Kaczynski is now approvingly citing Al Qaeda to bolster gun control arguments. Remember the chairman of Buzzfeed has said I'm not going to give money to any Democrat candidates who don't vote for gun control. Kaczynski has a piece at Buzzfeed right now, "Even Al Qaeda Thought America's Gun Background Check System Was Weak." Right. I wonder when Buzzfeed is going to start citing Al Qeada's pop culture criticism of the United States too. Kaczynski gives this example of [American Al Qaeda spokesperson] Adam Gadahn who said back in 2011, "America is absolutely awash with easily obtainable firearms. You can go down to a gun show at the local convention center and come away with a fully automatic assault rifle, without a background check, and most likely without having to show an identification card. So what are you waiting for?" Now Al Qaeda was wrong about our gun laws. But hey, they actually repeated this, you know, President Obama made the same incorrect statement about fully automatic firearms. What the heck. Everybody gets it wrong I guess. It's just weird that Buzzfeed is like, "Well see look Al Qaeda said our gun laws are weak so we should totally change our gun laws." 17 Al Qaeda Cats.

First up will be the NRA press conference in Washington, D.C., where the group has promised to "offer meaningful contributions" to help ensure that what happened in Connecticut "never happens again." From there, the gun lobby's top executives will hit the Sunday talk shows to continue their PR push. NRA CEO and executive VP Wayne LaPierre will be on NBC's Meet The Press and NRA president David Keene will appear on CBS's Face The Nation . It's yet unclear exactly how specific the NRA will get when talking about potential policy proposals, but LaPierre and Keene are sure to face some tough questions given the current energy surrounding the gun-control debate.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Jay Webber is getting a big boost this morning in his quest to succeed the retiring Rodney Frelinghuysen. On Friday, the LD26 Republican Assemblyman and NJ-11 GOP nominee was elevated to the "Young Guns" program operated by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), the national party's official campaign organization for House candidates. Young Gun designees are eligible for national Republican resources and assistance. The race's first head-to-head public poll result shows Webber and the Democrat nominee, Mikie Sherrill, locked in a statistical dead heat .

Judge Jeanine Pirro fired up a crowd in Albany, NY a couple of days ago as she spoke out against the new gun law in New York, defending the right of New Yorkers and all Americans to not only have a gun, but to have one with more than 7 bullets. She also slammed the New York newspaper that outed legal gun owners too. Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

(BLOOMBERG) A coalition of gay-rights and gun-control activists is taking on FedEx Corp. for discounts it offers to members of the National Rifle Association, targeting the global shipper during the peak of the holiday season. The group is launching an online campaign and plans protests on Wednesday at FedEx retail stores in Denver; Atlanta; Memphis, Tennessee; and Orlando, Florida, said Igor Volsky, director of Guns Down, a Washington-based group that advocates for fewer guns in the U.S. and is one of 10 participating organizations. A Dec. 7 letter to the company got no response, he said. FedEx didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. FedEx offers shipping discounts of as much as 26 percent to members of the NRA, the gun-rights group with 5 million members, as part of a program that also has special offers for Visa cards, according to Guns Down. Separate programs offer deals on Hertz rental cars and Wyndham hotels, according to the NRA website.

By Tim Graham | December 20, 2012 6:17 PM EST If today's gun control debate seems a bit stale to you, you're not wrong. Twelve years ago, MRC's Geoffrey Dickens wrote a Special Report on network coverage of gun controversies over a two-year period from July 1997 to June 1999. ABC, CBS, and NBC harped on several major themes in their coverage of gun policy stories. The arguments most commonly advanced by the network stars had one thought in common: guns are the problem. Check out just how similar yesterday's complaints were to today's:

If you were to ask Glenn Greenwald or David Sirota about President Obama, they'll tell you he's a blood-thirsty, warmongering murderer of women and children. Indeed, the far-left believes the president is an Muslim-hating drone-aholic whose "secret kill list," his order to "extrajudicially" kill U.S.-born al-Qaeda terrorist Anwar Al-Awlaki along with Al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, and his braggadocio about becoming "good" at killing people makes him a war criminal punishable by, at least, impeachment, arrest and imprisonment. Add to the mix his so-called unconstitutional, illegal participation in the Libyan conflict along with his saber rattling over Syria, and Obama is clearly a fanged, cloven-hoofed demon who indiscriminately launches Hellfire missiles at anyone who he decides he doesn't like. On the other hand, if you were to ask anyone on the far-right, President Obama is an effete, dainty arugula-eater whose spindly physical form, deliberative academic nature and his flotilla of Hollywood fanboys make him a capitulating, pacifistic, weak player on the international stage. Such pusillanimous behavior encourages terrorists and despots to thumb their noses at the United States and to whimsically kill, invade and commit genocide whenever they damn well please. Of course neither caricature is accurate. In reality, the president is probably somewhere in between -generally where all presidents ought to be. But that doesn't hinder the efforts by extremists on both ends of the political spectrum to lay blame at the president's feet for everything that's awful in the world. To wit, on CNN's "State of the Union" program, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said the following : "Well, number one, stop going on television and trying to threaten thugs and dictators. It is not your strong suit. Every time the president goes on national television and threatens Putin or anyone like Putin, everybody's eyes roll, including mine. We have a weak and indecisive president that invites aggression. President Obama needs to do something." So Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine? Thanks, Obama. Admittedly, the president's foreign policy hasn't been flawless. But to suggest that the president somehow invited Russia's aggression in the Crimean province is absurd. At the very least, there's no evidence of this, and if the senator somehow has a special insight into the inner motives of Putin, he ought to tell us more about what's going on. If not, he needs to lay the blame for this crisis where it belongs: on Putin. The harsh reality here is that this isn't Kuwait, 1990. Sure, Putin's Russia doesn't nearly possess its Soviet era strength, and it's, frankly, insecure about it, but it's not Saddam's Iraq either. Russia is an irrational, unpredictable and bellicose nuclear power with resources far more vast than Iraq's in 1990. Obviously. Meeting such zeal with kneejerkery is a recipe for disaster. And besides, was the president not supposed to condemn or threaten consequences in reaction to the Russian military incursion? It seems like Graham is suggesting all at once that Obama shouldn't have condemned Russia, yet he's also weak and indecisive. We can only imagine how Graham and his hawkish colleagues would've reacted if Obama hadn't said a damn thing. How the U.S. will handle this situation remains to be seen. But kneejerking in the face of Putin isn't what's called for here. The worst case scenario is really, really bad. Short of that, there's a very real chance that Crimea isn't Putin's last stop. If that's the case, Europe is under serious threat of war in and around the Balkans. Another very real possibility is the emergence of another Cold War with proxy conflicts popping up around the periphery. If the U.S. doesn't seriously think this one through, things could get hot very quickly. Pragmatism, not haste is what's required now. Speaking of proxy wars, no president, from Truman to Kennedy to Reagan has been foolish enough go to war directly with Russia. With that as precedent, it's unlikely Obama will either. So if the litmus test of a "strong" and "decisive" president is whether he's willing to directly engage Russia militarily, then we've never had a strong or decisive president ever. And if we do eventually get involved with boots on the ground or [insert another war cliche here], there are many more events that will need to occur for that to ever happen. From there, who the hell knows? Certainly not Lindsey Graham. Bob Cesca is the host of the Bob Cesca Show podcast , a twice weekly political talk show. He's also a contributor to Salon.com. Follow him on Twitter and on Facebook .

Russia is running for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council Sign the petition: Click here to urge your government to say NO . Russia's official UN campaign pledge includes the following absurd claims: Russia is "firmly attached" to "such fundamental values" as "freedom, justice, life, well-being and human dignity," as well as "family traditions," "political equality," "integrity of the court system," and "the eradication of...corruption" Russia is also "firmly committed" to its international obligations in the field of human rights" Russia pursues a policy of strengthening "democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms" Russia worked hard during its previous three terms on the Council to make it "an efficient and effective tool for promoting and protecting human rights throughout the world" Russia will ensure the Council upholds "the fundamental principles of universality, non-selectivity, objectivity, equal treatment of all categories of human rights, and respect for diversity of cultures and civilizations"

By Chris Rossini Ron Paul has been warning (for many years) that the U.S. becomes less safe and more prone to a terrorist attack with its never-ending military interventions in other countries. We should be minding our own business and defending this country instead. We have to stop stirring up trouble overseas. What was the reaction to Ron Paul's warnings? Rudy Giuliani notoriously summed it up by claiming to have never heard of something called "blowback": Of course, the U.S. government has not stopped its interventions since the Giuliani debate. In fact, Obama, riding his campaign slogan of "Change" has bombed seven different countries and has taken part in one failed "regime-change" operation after another. Now that Russia has decided to clean up the U.S. regime-change operation in Syria, American officials are warning Russia (and you can't make this up) of blowback!! Politico reports : U.S. intelligence officials warn that Russia's military intervention in Syria has stirred the wrath of Islamic radicals who may retaliate by staging terrorist attacks inside Russia... "There are very public calls on social media by terrorist groups to attack Russian targets," said Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. "It could very well result in a renewed focus on attacks in the Russian homeland." If only U.S. officials would stop poking hornets nests in the Middle East themselves! If only they would stop putting us Americans in danger. We need, as Ron Paul has been advocating, a foreign policy of non-intervention and peace.

Fox News contributor and Outnumbered guest co-host Pete Hegseth 's immediate reaction to President Barack Obama 's statement regarding an American journalist executed by Islamic terrorists: Where's his tie? Obama delivered his statement on James Foley , whose beheading by ISIS was uploaded by the group to YouTube, on Friday from his vacation stay in Martha's Vineyard. "No just God would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day," Obama said. On Fox's Outnumbered , Hegseth, an Iraq combat veteran, commented on the statement, saying he hopes U.S. military forces have been ordered "to do something about this." He then commented on Obama: "You know, I wish he'd put on a tie. I wish he'd show enough respect to do that, stand at the podium and do that." Hegseth said that the tieless Obama gets him "fired up." Watch via Fox News: [Image via Fox News/screen grab]

Here's a political riddle: What happens when you have the two most historically despised major party candidates running against each other for president of the United States? A: The current president starts to look pretty f'ing good. That seems to be the case for Barack Obama , whose 55 percent approval rating in a recent CNN poll is his best number since he began his second term, and tied for the best over the past seven years. This also marks nine straight months with an approval rating higher than 50 percent, which beats any streak since 2009. But here's the most important stat: In the span of a single year, his approval rating has gone up ten percent. Gee, I wonder why that could be? Could it be that people really don't like Hillary Clinton , and they like Donald Trump even less ? That the hatred for both is historic and record-breaking? And that the last 12 months have been defined by their dueling campaigns to replace Obama in the White House? And that, by contrast, the only thing Obama's numbers could really do, in a sane universe, was go up? In the absence of any major policy moves in the past year, there aren't many compelling alternative explanations for Obama's rise. Americans are having premature Obama nostalgia, as they should, and they're beginning to understand that even though he was a convenient punching bag at times, things could--and probably will --get a whole lot worse. By the time inauguration day rolls around, don't be surprised to see our departing president beloved by 70 percent or more. And if Trump somehow wins, Obama will probably be canonized within a year.

The first (of many) junior mining company that wants to mine copper in northeast Minnesota's water-rich, relatively unspoiled forest and lakes region is the PolyMet Mining Corporation that is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Dear diary, many of my colleagues are unhappy about the recent events in Syria. They are unhappy that Assad is still in power. However, I see the metaphorical glass as being half full. In a ... By David Swanson There are over 80 million men, women, and children in Iran. Bombing them would be mass-murder. If the U.S. government and its allies bomb Libya and Iran when their governments choose not to have... The question in the title of this week's column was the title of the Duluth News-Tribune's Opinion Page PRO/CON feature that was published yesterday, April 30, 2018. For those who have discarded the paper already, or for those who didn'...

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. HOPE YEN, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) -- For the first time, more than half of the children under age 2 in the U.S. are minorities, part of a sweeping race change and a growing age divide between mostly white, older Americans and fast-growing younger ethnic populations that could reshape government policies. Preliminary census estimates also show the share of African-American households headed by women -- mostly single mothers -- now exceeds African-American households with married couples, reflecting the trend of declining U.S. marriages overall. The findings, based on the latest government data, offer a preview of final 2010 census results being released this summer that provide detailed breakdowns by age, race and household relationships. Demographers say the numbers provide the clearest confirmation yet of a changing social order, one in which racial and ethnic minorities will become the U.S. majority by midcentury. "We're moving toward an acknowledgment that we're living in a different world than the 1950s, where married or two-parent heterosexual couples are now no longer the norm for a lot of kids, especially kids of color," said Laura Speer, coordinator of the Kids Count project for the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation. "It's clear the younger generation is very demographically different from the elderly, something to keep in mind as politics plays out on how programs for the elderly get supported," she said. "It's critical that children are able to grow to compete internationally and keep state economies rolling." Currently, non-Hispanic whites make up just under half of all children 3 years old, which is the youngest age group shown in the Census Bureau's October 2009 annual survey, its most recent. In 1990, more than 60 percent of children in that age group were white. William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution who analyzed the data, said figures in the 2009 survey can sometimes be inexact compared with the 2010 census, which queries the entire nation. But he said when factoring in the 2010 data released so far, minorities outnumber whites among babies under age 2. The preliminary figures are based on an analysis of the Current Population Survey as well as the 2009 American Community Survey, which sampled 3 million U.S. households to determine that whites made up 51 percent of babies younger than 2. After taking into account a larger-than-expected jump in the minority child population in the 2010 census, the share of white babies falls below 50 percent. Twelve states and the District of Columbia now have white populations below 50 percent among children under age 5 -- Hawaii, California, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Florida, Maryland, Georgia, New Jersey, New York and Mississippi. That's up from six states and the District of Columbia in 2000. At current growth rates, seven more states could flip to "minority-majority" status among small children in the next decade: Illinois, North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, South Carolina and Delaware. By contrast, whites make up the vast majority of older Americans -- 80 percent of seniors 65 and older and roughly 73 percent of people ages 45-64. Many states with high percentages of white seniors also have particularly large shares of minority children, including Arizona, Nevada, California, Texas and Florida. In California, for instance, the median age for whites jumped from 40.3 in 2000 to 44.6 years old, even as the state's overall median age remained one of the nation's lowest at 35.2 due to minority births -- a sign of the rapid race change under way, according to 2010 census data released Thursday. California's minorities now make up 58 percent of the state's population, up from 51 percent in 2000. "The recent emergence of this cultural generation gap in states with fast growth of young Hispanics has spurred heated discussions of immigration and the use of government services," Frey said. "But the new census, which will show a minority majority of our youngest Americans, makes plain that our future labor force is absolutely dependent on our ability to integrate and educate a new diverse child population." Kenneth Johnson, a sociology professor and senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire, noted that much of the race change is being driven by increases in younger Hispanic women having more children than do white women, who have lower birth rates and as a group are moving beyond their prime childbearing years. Because minority births are driving the rapid changes in the population, "any institution that touches or is impacted by children will be the first to feel the impact," Johnson said, citing as an example child and maternal health care that will have to be attentive to minorities' needs. The numbers come amid public debate over hotly contested federal and state issues, from immigration and gay marriage to the rising cost of government benefits such as Medicare and Medicaid, that are resonating in different ways by region and demographics. Alabama became the latest state this month to pass a wide-ranging anti-immigration law, which in part requires schools to report students' immigration status to state authorities. That follows tough immigration measures passed in similarly Republican-leaning states such as Georgia, Arizona and South Carolina. But governors in Massachusetts, New York and Illinois, which long have been home to numerous immigrants, have opted out of the federal Secure Communities program that aims to deport dangerous criminals, saying it has made illegal immigrants afraid of reporting crimes to police. California may soon opt out as well. States also are divided by region in their attitudes about old-age benefits and gay marriage, which is legal in five states and the District of Columbia. Among African-Americans, U.S. households headed by women -- mostly single mothers but also adult women living with siblings or elderly parents -- represented roughly 30 percent of all African-American households, compared with the 28 percent share of married-couple African-American households. It was the first time the number of female-headed households surpassed those of married couples among any race group, according to census records reviewed by Frey dating back to 1950. While the number of black single mothers has been gradually declining, overall marriages among blacks are decreasing faster. That reflects a broader U.S. trend of declining marriage rates as well as increases in non-family households made up of people living alone, or with unmarried partners or other non-relatives. Female-headed households make up a 19 percent share among Hispanics and 9 percent each for whites and Asians. Other findings: --Multigenerational households composed of families with grandparents, parents and children were most common among Hispanics, particularly in California, Maryland, Illinois, Nevada and Texas, all states where they represented roughly 1 in 10 Latino households. --Roughly 581,000, or a half percent, of U.S. households are composed of same-sex unmarried couples, representing nearly 1 in 10 households with unmarried partners. Unmarried gay couples made up the biggest shares in states in the Northeast and West, led by the District of Columbia, Oregon, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont. The largest numbers were in California and New York, which is now considering a gay marriage law. --Minorities comprise a majority of renters in 10 states, plus the District of Columbia -- Hawaii, Texas, California, Georgia, Maryland, New Mexico, Mississippi, New Jersey, Louisiana and New York. Tony Perkins, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council, a conservative interest group, emphasized the economic impact of the decline of traditional families, noting that single-parent families are often the most dependent on government assistance. "The decline of the traditional family will have to correct itself if we are to continue as a society," Perkins said, citing a responsibility of individuals and churches. "We don't need another dose of big government, but a new Hippocratic oath of 'do no harm' that doesn't interfere with family formation or seek to redefine family." Online: http://www.census.gov

In addition to the unemployment rate , the US birth rate is also down. The rate has been dropping for four years; this year's decline is more modest one percent. Previous years have seen declines in the two to three percent range. Why are women not birthing more babies? Because the economy makes it prohibitive. "The theory is that many women or couples who are out of work, underemployed or have other money problems feel they can't afford to start a family or add to it," writes The Washington Post . The report, courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also found that the birth rate for single women fell by three percent, the rate for married women is up one percent, and the rate for African Americans is down two percent. That last figure is far less than the six percent drop for Latinos, but the figure for whites stayed the same and for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders went up. Good news: the rate for teen pregnancies has hit a low of 330,000, the fewest since 1946. One expert, John Santelli, a Columbia University professor of population and family health, suggests that seeing older siblings and others struggle with having babies at a young age could be influencing that number. Finally women in their 20s are having fewer babies (that rate is down five percent), the rate is the same for women in their early 30s and is up for women over the age of 35. Separately but related, we wrote about a report yesterday that says babies are being born with debt. Times really are tight. Don't let big tech control what news you see. Get more stories like this in your inbox, every day.

by Jamie Frevele Oct 31st October 31 was to be the date when the world's population hit the seven billion mark. So today, several countries are celebrating the births of several "seven billionth babies," including the Philippines' Danica Camacho , pictured above. But since it's impossible to pinpoint exactly which baby is the official seven billionth citizen of the human race, symbolic celebrations are taking place around the globe. Feelings are certainly mixed on how everyone is taking this news. On one hand: the world's population is so incredibly large, and many experts wonder if this kind of growth, should it continue, can be supported by the planet's resources and the world economy. On the other hand: babies! Read More

Data released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics highlights the continuing slowing of Australia's population growth. The quarterly increase is now lower than that recorded during the global financial crisis. Caused by an increase in deaths and a slowdown in births and immigration, the unexpected slowdown affects official growth forecasts and came as a surprise to many economists. John Daley, chief executive of the think tank the Grattan Institute, comments that it could place the budget under pressure by reducing economic growth and revenue. Gross domestic product has been slowing and is set to slow further. It could also make interest cuts more likely. In the long term, many also question how the decrease in population growth will affect house prices. Any slowdown in population growth increases the risk of a surplus of housing. Like Auckland, Australia is in the midst of a housing boom, and many people invest in property expecting a good capital gain. Goldman Sachs warned in April that Australia could have too many houses, especially in Melbourne and Perth, by 2017 due to slowing population growth. Saul Eslake, an independent market economist, also comments that: "We still have a shortage of housing nationally and in most national cities ... But if the rate of population growth and hence the rate growth in underlying housing demand continues to slow ... I would guess that in less than four years we won't have a shortage of housing and in some cities, most obviously Melbourne and Perth, we might have an excess." In the very long term, the aging Baby Boomers that currently make up a high proportion of society will no longer need their houses. Many are already starting to think about retiring to smaller apartments and later retirement villages. Will this put a surplus of houses onto the market? Perhaps those of us to assume year on year capital gain on the family home because that's what happened for our parents need to think again in the long term. If you live in a desirable city, you can perhaps find comfort in the fact that immigration will somewhat make up for low birth rates and maintain demand. However, that means that we must accept immigration as being key to our economy continuing to work as it historically has and provide the tax take necessary to provide such things as pensions to the growing elderly. It is worth considering how the choice not to have children, or to have few children, affects all areas of society including the economy. Parents who take seriously their role of raising productive, ethical citizens contribute much to society and the economy. This chart, produced by Business Insider, Australia , depicts the number of Australians aged 65 years and older. In the December quarter the number increased to 3.456 million, 14.6% of the nation's total population, and the numbers will continue to grow.

In 2050, how will people worship? According to a new report from the Pew Research Center , there are dramatic changes coming to the world's religious practices. High fertility rates and a large young population in the Muslim world will soon end Christianity's reign as the world's most popular religion. In America, though, nearly a quarter of the population won't believe in any particular religion, at all. The Pew report projects that, by the middle of the century, the world's populations of Muslims and Christians will be nearly equal. (Christians will make up 31.4 percent of the population and Muslims 29.7 percent.) Both groups will see dramatic increases in raw numbers as the global population is expected to rise to 9.3 billion. But by 2070, the report says, Muslims will begin to outnumber Christians. In America, that balance will be a bit different. In 2050, Pew says, Christians will still make up a majority of the population, but not by as much. In 2010, 78.3 percent of Americans affiliated themselves with Christianity; by 2050, Christians will make up 66.4 percent of the population. And there will be two other big changes: Muslims in America will outnumber Jews, and a full quarter of Americans will consider themselves atheists, agnostics, or unaffiliated with any religion. That's a big difference from the rest of the world -- overall, an increasingly small percentage of people will remain unattached to a religion. That's partially because unaffiliated people are concentrated in "places with low fertility and aging populations," Pew reports. In contrast, the populations of developing countries, where Christianity and Islam dominate, are growing fast.

If Hillary wins, this number will grow exponentially. Barack Obama has said the US is a Muslim nation and we are no longer a Christian nation. It could become a reality. The biggest percentage increases in immigration are immigrants from Muslim nations and that is with our borders open. According to CIS authors Steven A. Camarota, director of research, and Karen Zeigler, a demographer: "The sending countries with the largest percentage increases in immigrants living in the United States from 2010 to 2014 were Saudi Arabia (up 93 percent), Bangladesh (up 37 percent), Iraq (up 36 percent), Egypt (up 25 percent), and Pakistan, India, and Ethiopia (each up 24 percent)." These nations are Muslim and their beliefs are radically different. The left is demanding that we not ask for assimilation and we adapt to them. Muslims do not have to swear off Sharia when they enter the country. Many don't understand that their religion includes a social and political component. They will and already do have a tremendous impact on the politics of the United States. In their conclusion, they wrote: The latest data collected by the Census Bureau shows that 18.7 million immigrants arrived in the country from 2000 to 2014. Just between 2010 and 2014, 5.6 million immigrants arrived in the United States. The more than one million immigrants settling in the country each year have a very significant effect on many areas of American life. New immigration plus births to immigrants added more than eight million people to the U.S. population between 2010 and 2014, accounting for the overwhelming majority of population growth. Immigrants account for more than one in eight U.S. residents. Children from immigrant households now account for nearly one in four public school students, almost one-third of children in poverty, and one-third without health insurance, creating enormous challenges for the nation's schools, health care system, and physical infrastructure. The large share of immigrants who arrive as adults with relatively few years of schooling is the primary reason so many live in poverty, use welfare programs, and lack health insurance. The US's reckless abandon of immigration law, buoyed by Democrats, has changed the face of the United States and many of the new arrivals cannot support themselves. Immigration law requires the opposite.

seafoid, Guardian article talks about the fun and games days ahead with ISIS controlling Syria's and Iraq's water supply, but those games have already started with Turkey having already reduced the flow to these 2 countries; from al-Akhbar May 30th: "... By: Suhaib Anjarini Published Friday, May 30, 2014 The Turkish government recently cut off the flow of the Euphrates River, threatening primarily Syria but also Iraq with a major water crisis. Al-Akhbar found out that the water level in Lake Assad has dropped by about six meters, leaving millions of Syrians without drinking water. Two weeks ago, the Turkish government once again intervened in the Syrian crisis. This time was different from anything it had attempted before and the repercussions of which may bring unprecedented catastrophes onto both Iraq and Syria. Violating international norms, the Turkish government recently cut off the water supply of the Euphrates River completely. In fact, Ankara began to gradually reduce pumping Euphrates water about a month and half ago, then cut if off completely two weeks ago, according to information received by Al-Akhbar. A source who spoke on the condition of anonymity revealed that water levels in the Lake Assad (a man-made water reservoir on the Euphrates) recently dropped by six meters from its normal levels (which means losing millions of cubic meters of water). The source warned that "a further drop of one additional meter would put the dam out of service." "We should cut off or reduce the water output of the dam, until the original problem regarding the blockage of the water supply is fixed," the source explained. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) controlling the region the dam is located in did not suspend the water output. Employees of the General Institution of the Euphrates Dam are running the lake under the supervision of al-Qaeda linked ISIS, but they don't have the authority to take serious decisions, such as reducing the water output. In addition, such a step is a mere attempt to ease the situation, and it will lose its efficacy if the water supply isn't restored to the dam by Turkey. The tragic repercussions of the new Turkish assault began to reveal themselves when water levels dropped in al-Khafsa in Aleppo's eastern countryside (where a water pumping station from Lake Assad is located to pump water through water channels to Aleppo and its countryside). The reservoirs are expected to run out of water completely by tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest.Meanwhile, water supplies in auxiliary reservoirs in al-Khafsa are close to being depleted and the reservoirs are expected to run out of water completely by tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest. This threatens to leave seven million Syrians without access to water. Also, Tishrin Dam stopped receiving any water which blocked its electricity generating turbines, decreasing the power supply in Aleppo and its countryside, further intensifying the already severe imbalance in the power supply..."

Reza Jafarzadeh, the Head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization public relations office, made the announcement saying "due to the political crisis in Turkey and for the safety of passengers no flights to the Turkish airports have been operated since 23:30 p.m. Tehran local time on Friday." Emphasizing that the halt in flights to the neighboring country is still effective, the official said "conditions in Turkey are being monitored while Iran will resume flights as soon as Turkish airports become operational given that safety and health of flights are assured." Head of CAOI public relations office also noted that "there exist no threats to flights crossing over Turkey as announced by the official in charge of Asia/Pacific Regional Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)." Jafarzadeh urged all Iranian airlines to inform their passengers on possible routes for travelling back to Iran. He reiterated that the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization has issued necessary licenses to Iranian airlines to fly without passengers to Turkey in order to bring back Iranian passengers who had to stay in the neighboring country las night due to the recent crisis there.

Since 10 October 2007, residents of the destroyed Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon have been gradually allowed by the Lebanese army to return to the ruins of their homes. However, the core of the camp, the so-called "old camp," as well as parts of the "new camp," which doesn't fall under the mandate of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA , remain sealed off and are still under the exclusive control of the Lebanese army. Ray Smith reports from Nahr al-Bared. Read more about Video: Who burned Nahr al-Bared? CAIRO , 1 April ( IPS ) - The 20th Arab League summit, convened earlier this week in the Syrian capital Damascus, drew relatively few heads of state, with both Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Saudi King Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz choosing to stay at home. According to local commentators, the low level of diplomatic representation served to show up Syria's isolation within the otherwise US -dominated Arab fold. Read more about Another Arab tea party ends

TEHRAN - Tehran and Damascus are going to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for strategic economic cooperation in near future aiming at developing trade ties between the two sides, the portal of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) reported. The announcement was made during a meeting between the TCCIMA Chairman Massoud Khansari and Adnan Mahmoud, the Syrian ambassador to Tehran, on Saturday. According to Mahmoud, the MOU will be signed during the Iranian first vice president's next visit to Syria. The Syrian envoy stressed the importance of cooperation with Iran's private sector in reconstruction of his country's infrastructure saying that the situation is getting better for development of economic cooperation between the two countries and Iranian private sector holds a great importance for the Syrian government in this regard. Khansari for his part welcomed the cooperation between the two sides' private sectors, emphasizing that the current situation in Syria requires the active participation of the two countries' private sectors in order for the reconstruction and development of Syria's economic infrastructure.

The U.N. Security Council Monday unanimously passed a resolution requiring U.N. monitors during evacuations from the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo. The resolution called on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "to take urgent steps to make arrangements, including security arrangements in consultation with interested parties, to allow the observation by the United Nations and other relevant institutions of the well-being of civilians ... inside the eastern districts of the city of Aleppo." It also asked for "adequate, neutral monitoring and direct observation" of the evacuations to take place, as well as for all parties to provide monitors with "safe, immediate, and unimpeded access." The evacuations are part of a deal between the Syrian government and opposition, brokered by Turkey and Russia, which allows for the evacuations of militants and their families from eastern Aleppo, in exchange for the departure of civilians from the northern rebel-held villages of al-Foua and Kefraya, Idlib province. The deal came as thousands more were evacuated from the last rebel-held enclave in east Aleppo. Convoys of buses reached rebel-held areas of countryside to the west of the city in cold winter weather, according to a U.N. official and the opposition-aligned Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group based out of the U.K. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said some 20,000 civilians had been evacuated from Aleppo so far. The evacuation of civilians, including wounded people, from the two villages had been demanded by the Syrian army and its allies before they would allow fighters and civilians trapped in Aleppo to depart. The stand-off halted the Aleppo evacuation over the weekend, especially after some of the buses sent to al-Foua and Kefraya to carry evacuees out were attacked and torched by armed men who are suspected of being opposition fighters. The foreign and defense ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey will hold talks in Moscow on Tuesday aimed at giving fresh impetus for a solution in Aleppo.

Yesterday, on the 8th of August 2018, the media office at the Syrian Presidency announced that the First Lady of Syria, Mrs Asmaa al-Assad began [...] Syriana Analysis latest geopolitical report (31 July 2018) in regards to Syria, particularly the latest military developments in the southern city of Daraa, where the [...] The process of transporting the civilians and defenders of terrorist-besieged towns of Kafriya and al-Foua to al-Eis corridor in Aleppo southern countryside ended on Thursday. [...] Exclusive interview with the former UK Ambassador to Syria between 2003-2006, Mr Peter Ford who deconstructed the recent meeting between President Putin and President Trump [...]

Just last week Attorney General Jeff Sessions talked about the Anglo-American tradition of policing in what seemed like his most racist remark of all time. Today, however, he outdid himself when he tried to blame the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, on gang violence in a dog-whistle loud enough for the world to hear. Sessions said that cracking down on gang violence would be the answer to the 18 school shootings that have taken place so far in 2018. "When parents once again go to sleep fearful that their kids will not be safe, even when they go to school--parents have told me in gang-infested neighborhoods that children can no longer stand at the bus stop by themselves, they take turns, parents do, of being out there every morning and afternoon. So we've gotta confront the problem. There's no doubt about it." How Do We Know It's A Racist Dog-Whistle Sessions' statement doesn't apply to the current situation in any way whatsoever. The shooter in Florida was not affiliated with a gang, though he did belong to a white supremacist group that wants nothing more than to make Florida a haven for white people. Secondly, someone should tell Sessions that Parkland was just named the safest city in the state of Florida, which invalidates his argument entirely. And is yet another factor that points to this being yet more racism from the right. GUN VIOLENCE Sessions speech today was to a sheriff's convention in Washington. On top of telling attendees that gang violence was the problem here, he added that "effective enforcement" of current gun laws would help improve the situation. Sessions said, "focusing on criminals and dangerous people, mentally ill people could reduce gun violence. It is not good if we got gun laws that say criminals can't carry guns and they never get enforced. So we intend to enforce our laws." Sessions never said a word about stronger laws to prevent people from obtaining military grade weapons before they are even age 21. This is only one in a long list of dog-whistles from many members of the right. While they aren't a new thing, Sessions and those like him have certainly continued to double down on their hateful rhetoric. They don't seem to care that we can see them so clearly. While Sessions continues his war on people of color, the rest of us have to lay down tonight and wonder if our babies are going to be next. Featured Image Via YouTube Video .

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh has added his voice to the list of supporters of Attorney General Jeff Sessions On his radio show Wednesday afternoon, he praised Sessions' work on conservative issues and his loyalty to Trump. Limbaugh asserted that Sessions is "exactly the kind of guy Trump needs" in his cabinet and wondered if Trump's criticisms of Sessions are actually meant to be motivational. "Maybe it's an effort to put a fire under Sessions to make him more aggressive on stopping the leaks and sanctuary cities, but he's already doing that!" Limbaugh stated. "I mean, Sessions is really kicking butt on the whole Trump immigration agenda." "Sessions is the most loyal endorser that Trump had," he continued. "Sessions' value to Donald Trump is incalculable, as is his loyalty to Donald Trump, as is the seriousness with which he approaches his job as attorney general." "He's the exact kind of guy Trump needs there, and I have to imagine that Trump knows that. Something about all of this is just off," Limbaugh concluded. "Maybe Sessions just needs some Red Bull. Who knows?"

In Los Angeles, police say someone spray-painted the N-word on a gate outside the home of NBA superstar LeBron James Wednesday. The hate crime came just one day before James and his Cleveland Cavaliers are set to take on the Golden State Warriors in the NBA finals. Speaking to reporters in Oakland, James said the incident was a reminder that being black in America is "tough." LeBron James : "And I think back to Emmett Till's mom. Actually, it was kind of one of the first things I thought of. And the reason that she had an open casket is because she wanted to show the world what her son went through as far as a hate crime and being black in America. So it's like it doesn't--no matter how much money you have, no matter how famous you are, no matter how many people admire you, being black in America is--it's tough."

"You can be sure this Department of Justice in this administration is going to take the most vigorous action to protect the right of people like Heather Heyer, to protest against racism and bigotry," Sessions said on NBC's "Today" show. "We're going to protect the right to assemble and march. And we're going to prosecute anybody, to the full extent of the law, that violates their ability to do so." The Justice Department opened a federal civil rights hate crime investigation after white supremacist groups descended on the Virginia city. James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Maumee, Ohio, is accused of running his Dodge Challenger into a crowd of people, killing Heyer, a 32-year-old woman, and injuring at least 19 others. "There's no bigger case right now that we're working on," Sessions said on CBS. "Every resource that's needed will be dedicated to it. We're going to study what happened in Charlottesville." "We'll have our top people in Charlottesville," he added. CNN Reports with more: While there is no single domestic terrorism statute, "domestic terrorism" is defined under federal law for purposes of other crimes and investigations, as criminal acts "dangerous to human life" and "appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population." "Motive often is not clear, but we have enough evidence to be suspicious that the suspect intended to send a message and not just harm immediate victims," the official said Sunday. The department is also investigating whether others may have been involved in planning the attack.

Jeff Sessions goes full White Supremacist as his feud with Donald Trump escalates Bill Palmer | 10:22 pm EDT August 1, 2017 Attorney General Jeff Sessions, already one of the most openly and gleefully racist individuals in all of U.S. politics, is now upping his game. Maybe it's a gambit to win the hearts and minds of Donald Trump's base, in order to shore up his job security. Or maybe he's just trying to hurry up and finish the job before he runs out of time. But whatever the reason, tonight marked the moment that Jeff Sessions decided to go full White Supremacist. Sessions and his Department of Justice have announced that they're now going to investigate potentially racist admissions policies of colleges and universities. But instead of looking into the still-rampant racial discrimination against minorities, Sessions will investigate college admissions discrimination against white people. No, really. It's right there in the New York Times tonight ( link ). So why is Jeff Sessions doing this, and more importantly, why now? It's not as if Sessions, whose entire political career has been based around trying to legalize institutional racism, needs an excuse to push a new racist policy. But this is so blatant, so absurd, such a desperate attempt at pandering to racist white people, it suggests that Sessions is making this move right now for a specific reason. And of course this comes at a time when Donald Trump is desperately trying to force Sessions to resign for reasons relating to the Trump-Russia scandal. It's widely believed that the only reason Trump hasn't yet fired Sessions is his popularity among racists in the South, who happen to make up a good chunk of Trump's base. So is Sessions making this move to pander to racists, in the hope that he'll make himself even more popular with Trump's base and therefore un-firable? Or has Sessions concluded that he'll be fired before long, so he'd better go for his big finale while he still can? Stay tuned. If you find Palmer Report valuable, make a donation . You can follow Palmer Report on Facebook and Twitter , or sign up for our mailing list . Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report

As the Senate Confirmations hearings began on Tuesday morning, a whole host of protesters have already made their voices heard and have been escorted from the chamber. Their aim is an admirable one: keeping racist GOP-er Jeff Sessions out of the key political position of Attorney General. Despite the fact that Sessions was considered too racist to be a federal judge in the 1980s, it is hard to believe that he is sitting in the esteemed spot he is. Luckily, there are many brave and foolish individuals who will stop at nothing to ensure the entire senate is fully aware of just how strongly opposed Sessions is. One such group of protesters took a more unique approach on Tuesday morning when they stormed the Senate chamber wearing robes resembling those worn by the KKK and shouted in support of Sessions. The two white-robed men waved foam fingers which read, "Go Jeff Boy," and "KKK." When security descended upon them to escort them from the chamber, the men shouted in outrage, "You can't arrest me, I'm a white man! You cannot take me out of here, I own this government!" Ain't that the truth.

Dmitry Rogozin, a senior Russian official, is under fire by animal rights activists for a dog experiment demonstrated in front of the visiting Serbian president. A disturbing video shows Russian scientists forcing a dachshund named Nikolas headfirst into a container filled with oxygen-saturated liquid, according to the BBC . The dog experiment has social media and animal rights activists accusing Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin of animal cruelty for showing off the latest Russian research into liquid breathing to visiting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Russia is no stranger to using animals for their own advantage , so this isn't that alarming. At the beginning of the video, broadcast on St. Petersburg's Channel 5, Nikolas the dog can be seen panicking as he is essentially stuffed into the container of liquid, then appears to calm down after some time. This animal was breathing in oxygen-rich liquid air instead of air. "The liquid gets into the lungs and the animal starts breathing in the liquid," a commentator told the guests , according to the BBC. Read More Yet, a day before the dog experiment, President Vladimir Putin signed a law increasing punishment for animal cruelty . So what happened to justice for Nikolas? A well-known blogger criticized the maltreatment of the animal in a tweet, "A Russian deputy PM with colleagues are mistreating the poor dog. Mistreating humans isn't enough for them, they are not letting dogs live." ????-??????? ??????? ? ????????? ?????????? ??? ?????? ??????. ????? ?? ????, ?????? ?????? ??? ? ??????? ???? ?? ?????? pic.twitter.com/JWJ1NqVjsq -- ??????????? (@StalinGulag) December 20, 2017 It also drew the ire of a pro-Kremlin journalist, Dmitry Smirnov, who said, "This, of course, progress and a breakthrough, but I feel sorry for the dog." Liquid ventilation is not exactly a breakthrough because it's been around since the 1960s, according to Gizmodo . The testing of this technology on an animal looks like borderline waterboarding without a piece of cloth. After the experiment, Nikolas the dog was then flaunted around like a trophy for his bravery. In response to the criticism, the Kremlin couldn't care less since the job was done. "Is the dog alive? Why are you asking questions? Nobody tortured [the dog] with water there," said presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Banner and thumbnail credit: Flickr, Tony Alter

This weekend, the Slovenian actor, singer, and showman Klemen Slakonja released a parody music video titled "Vladimir Putin--Putin, Putout." At the time of this writing, the video has nearly 35,000 views, with more rolling in every minute. Vladimir Putin - Putin, Putout Klemen Slakonja Slakonja's video is so rich in Putin's personality cult that we at Meduza decided to break down a few of the amusing bits that some viewers might miss, if they're not fully versed in the Russian president's history. The video opens on a shot of a vodka brand called "Putin Putout." This vodka brand is fictional, but there is in fact a Russian vodka named after Putin. It's called " Putinka ," and it's been around since 2003. Putinka has even received several awards in Russia, including "Superbrand of 2004" and "Product of the Year" in 2006. Putin speaks fluent German and is said to have some grasp of Swedish, as well. While he uses interpreters for formal talks in English, he has on a few occasions given public addresses in the language. In 2013, he delivered a recorded two-minute pitch to the delegates for the International Exhibition Bureau, asking to let Russia host the 2020 World Expo. (Russia lost the bid, and Dubai won.) Putin likes judo very much. He's coauthored a book about it (titled "Judo with Vladimir Putin"), and holds a red/white belt in the martial art. He also has a black belt in Kyokushin kaikan karate. When Slakonja's Putin says he's "a gentleman," he's referring to December 2013, when Putin pardoned 20,000 Russian prisoners, including the two members of Pussy Riot still in jail. The women still had about nine months left on their prison sentences. For more than a decade, Russia under Putin has been accused of using its energy resources to influence and intimidate the states it supplies with oil and gas. As far back at December 2006, the magazine The Economist ran a front cover cartoon depicting Putin as a gangster holding a gasoline pump like a tommy gun. Russia's energy reach doesn't really extend to Africa, but Slakonja was probably having too much fun with this visual to think very hard about the position of the globe in the shot. Under Putin, Russia's geopolitical resurgence has included renewed aspirations to put Russian cosmonauts on the Moon. Last October, the head of RSC Energia, a Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components, said Moscow is planning a manned mission by 2029. Four years before that, Russia hopes to send an unmanned flight. In August 2009, Putin posed for a number of "candid" photos showing him barechested atop a horse while on vacation in Siberia. This was two years after similarly manly pictures emerged showing him shirtless on a fishing trip at the Yenisei River. The Buranovskiye Babushki (a Udmurtian ethno-pop band made up of elderly women) represented Russia in the 2012 Eurovision contest. The group finished in second place. In August 2008, Putin reportedly rescued a television crew from a tiger attack by shooting it with a tranquilizer gun. He then helped researchers measure the beast's incisors, before placing a tracking device around the animal's neck. (Feel free to speculate that the whole incident was staged.) In 2014, Putin was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by the International Academy of Spiritual Unity and Cooperation of Peoples of the World, a Russian advocacy group. (The group wanted to recognize Putin's efforts to broker a nonmilitary solution to punish the Syrian government for using chemical weapons.) Putin didn't win.

Dmitry Rogozin, a senior Russian official, is under fire by animal rights activists for a dog experiment demonstrated in front of the visiting Serbian president. A disturbing video shows Russian scientists forcing a dachshund named Nikolas headfirst into a container filled with oxygen-saturated liquid, according to the BBC . The dog experiment has social media and animal rights activists accusing Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin of animal cruelty for showing off the latest Russian research into liquid breathing to visiting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Russia is no stranger to using animals for their own advantage , so this isn't that alarming. At the beginning of the video, broadcast on St. Petersburg's Channel 5, Nikolas the dog can be seen panicking as he is essentially stuffed into the container of liquid, then appears to calm down after some time. This animal was breathing in oxygen-rich liquid air instead of air. "The liquid gets into the lungs and the animal starts breathing in the liquid," a commentator told the guests , according to the BBC. Read More Yet, a day before the dog experiment, President Vladimir Putin signed a law increasing punishment for animal cruelty . So what happened to justice for Nikolas? A well-known blogger criticized the maltreatment of the animal in a tweet, "A Russian deputy PM with colleagues are mistreating the poor dog. Mistreating humans isn't enough for them, they are not letting dogs live." ????-??????? ??????? ? ????????? ?????????? ??? ?????? ??????. ????? ?? ????, ?????? ?????? ??? ? ??????? ???? ?? ?????? pic.twitter.com/JWJ1NqVjsq -- ??????????? (@StalinGulag) December 20, 2017 It also drew the ire of a pro-Kremlin journalist, Dmitry Smirnov, who said, "This, of course, progress and a breakthrough, but I feel sorry for the dog." Liquid ventilation is not exactly a breakthrough because it's been around since the 1960s, according to Gizmodo . The testing of this technology on an animal looks like borderline waterboarding without a piece of cloth. After the experiment, Nikolas the dog was then flaunted around like a trophy for his bravery. In response to the criticism, the Kremlin couldn't care less since the job was done. "Is the dog alive? Why are you asking questions? Nobody tortured [the dog] with water there," said presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Banner and thumbnail credit: Flickr, Tony Alter

Just in case you're wondering, the images you're about to see are not Photoshopped - they're portraits taken by Russian photographer Katerina Plotnikova with real live animals. Since some of the settings look pretty dangerous, it's good to know that there were professional animal trainers on hand during the shoots. For example, the bear, held by many in Russia as a symbol of primal strength and instinct, contrasts especially well with the elegant princess in its embrace - but let's not forget what happened to Timothy Treadwell -- anyway, we digress. Animals or not, Plotnikova's photos possess a dream-like quality that makes them absolutely enchanting. wow.. those are amazing photos May 5, 2014 at 2:10 am It's cool sure, but that chicks got some issues. Yeah wow really cool.

Anderson Cooper Slams Trump/Putin Press Conference As 'Most Disgraceful Performance By A U.S. President' 0 President Donald Trump railed against Democrats, brought up Hillary Clinton's emails, and said he didn't "see any reason" why the Russians would have hacked the Democratic National Committee, during a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Anderson Cooper went on air and described the president's performance as "disgraceful." He said, "You have been watching perhaps one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president at a summit in front of a Russian leader, that I have ever seen." During the press conference, Russian meddling in the 2016 election was raised. In response, Putin said, "I had to reiterate things I said several times, including during our personal contacts, that the Russian state has never interfered and is not going to interfere into internal American affairs including election process." The president of the United States may have been expected to strongly condemn the attack on American democracy. Instead, he said that he and Putin "Spent a great deal of time talking about it and President Putin may very well want to address it and very strongly because he feels very strongly about it and he has an interesting idea." He continued by attacking the United States investigation into the attack perpetrated by Putin in 2016. He said, "The probe is a disaster for our country. I think it's kept us separated. There was no collusion at all. Everybody knows it," Trump said just days after Mueller indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers for hacking Democratic servers during the 2016 campaign. "It was a clean campaign," Trump went on, describing the margin of his electoral victory. "I beat Hillary Clinton easily... We won that race and it's a shame that there can be even a little bit of a cloud over it." Watch here: "You have been watching perhaps one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president at a summit in front of a Russian leader certainly than I've ever seen." - Anderson Cooper on Trump-Putin summit pic.twitter.com/xHbmAZl0y3 -- Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) July 16, 2018

U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed Washington, D.C., meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin has been delayed until 2019. National security adviser John Bolton, in a statement Wednesday, cited special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election as the reason. "The president believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over," Bolton said, "so we've agreed that it will be after the first of the year." Trump proposed the invitation last week amid backlash over his comments at meetings with Putin in Helsinki. On Tuesday, congressional Republican leaders said that the Russian president is not welcome on Capitol Hill. House Speaker Paul Ryan said Putin would not address Congress because "that is something we reserve for allies." Russian foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov had already tossed cold water on the idea, telling journalists in Moscow that there were "other options that our leaders could consider." Read more from The Sift Share this article with friends.

Retired Rear Admiral David Titley used to be a climate skeptic. But after decades in the service, he came to see the carbon crisis as "one of the preeminent challenges of our century." As the Navy's chief oceanographer, he spearheaded a task force to investigate the national security implications of climate change. Titley has since turned his attention to the world of business. He now teaches Weather Risk and Financial Markets at Pennsylvania State University, the capstone course for meteorology majors specializing in risk management. Titley explained in an interview that climate change will soon become a regular intrusion into the economy, dispensing heat waves, drought, and coastal floods -- and not just front-page disasters, but nuisance-level disruptions to business and commerce. Companies will need to plan for climate risks, tweaking output and retooling supply chains based on the latest projections. "How do you do business and weather? Risk and weather? Climate and risk?" asked Titley. "I could go to a business school and say, 'Hey, you guys are really going to have to start understanding not only the statistics of weather, but the changing statistics of climate to be effective.'" Rising temperatures are set to put a dent in corporate profits, creating a need for business-savvy weather experts to advise executives. Weather impacts commerce in innumerable ways. Choppy ocean waters slow shipping. Heat waves strain power utilities. Students in Titley's class simulate trading in soybean and natural gas futures, buying and selling in response to shifting weather patterns. "I was fortunate enough to take this course as a Weather Risk student at Penn State and started at Mars shortly after, so I've seen the benefits of this course first hand," said Katie Johnson, a senior researcher at Mars Incorporated who mentors students in Titley's class. Foul weather is bitter news for the candy business, Johnson said. "One drought in Georgia could cause a significant reduction in the amount of peanuts available and a significant increase in the price we pay for them. This puts our Snickers and Peanut M&M;'s brands at risk," she explained. It's the job of meteorologists to communicate these risks to managers. "We give [our students] a lot of communications training because it's almost certain that their boss is not going to be a meteorologist -- they're going to be a business person of some sort," said Titley. "How do you take all that complex, technical weather stuff and make it into something that the boss can understand but still convey the risks and the probabilities and the subtleties?" "There's a big difference between some guy showing up on television saying, 'If we don't do anything the world will be 3o C warmer than it is now,'" Titley said, "versus, 'Your supply chain, because it uses the Port of New Orleans, becomes in serious jeopardy in 20 or 30 years, maybe sooner, because the Antarctic ice sheets in fact are melting.'" Global warming, to paraphrase the Pentagon, is a risk multiplier . It loads the dice for severe storms and punishing heat, driving up the human and economic costs of failing to prepare for extreme weather. On our current warming trajectory, rising seas could flood upwards of $100 billion of coastal property by mid-century, according to the Risky Business Project . The Midwest and Southeast could see as much as a 70 percent reduction in crop yields as the result of intense heat. The financial hazards are so great that Michael Bloomberg, one of the co-chairs of Risky Business, is leading an industry task force to educate investors, insurers and lenders about the risks of climate change. The Past 30 Years Have Seen A 10-Fold Increase In The Cost Of Disasters. That's Going To Get Worse. Climate by CREDIT: AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena So much for renewable energy ruining the economy. By 2050 there will be... thinkprogress.org Well-trained meteorologists can help businesses thrive even as extreme weather amplifies economic risks. On this front, students graduating from Penn State hold a competitive edge. Researchers versed in risk need little additional coaching to prove valuable to industry. Johnson says her team at Mars sees Titley's course as a "talent pipeline." That's huge, because academia has a long history of lagging behind the needs of industry. The nation's first degree program in computer science didn't appear until 1962 at Purdue University, roughly three decades after IBM unveiled the first punch card computer. Titley is trying to stay ahead of the curve, giving students the skills they need to succeed in a shifting market and a changing climate. "College is not cheap. I don't care what university you go to," said Titley. "So how do we make sure that what we provide the students ... is as good as we can make it?" There was a time when business was conducted with paper and pens and rotary telephones. Then the personal computer was invented, and everyone needed an IT guy to explain Microsoft Office. There was also a time when weather was placid and easy to predict. Then climate change happened, and everyone needed a weather guy to explain risk. Jeremy Deaton writes about climate and energy for Nexus Media. Tweet him your questions at @deaton_jeremy.

Recently, the NH High Tech Council gathered a group of senior marketing professionals to brainstorm about how we could effectively market New Hampshire as a work destination to those from out of... Amadeus Hospitality delivers software as a service business solutions based on open cloud technology for hotel and hospitality organizations. With more than 48,000 installations worldwide, the... Crane Currency supplies secure, durable banknotes for central banks all over the world. A pioneer in advanced micro-optics technology, Crane offers a series of engaging visual effects on a banknote... The liquid handling product company designs and builds products like pipettes, pipette tips, containers and reagent reservoirs. The focus is on consistency and productivity, all meant to help benefit... PillPack is designed to serve the 40 million people in the U.S. who take multiple daily medications. Each month, customers receive a personalized roll of pre-sorted medications, along with a... Plexxi builds networks for enterprises, governments and service providers who are building clouds -- public, private and hybrid. Plexxi takes a software approach to networking, allowing... INNOVATION: RAPID is a New Hampshire-based manufacturer that produces prototype sheet metal and machined parts for various industries across the globe. Other services include wire harnesses, cable... Scribe Online is the company's cloud-based integration platform as a service (iPaaS). It leads the industry in bringing ease, speed, and flexibility to the process of uniting data across enterprise... For 25 years, Sunrise Labs has turned clients' ideas into commercial products that save lives or improve the health of the users. It works with companies of all sizes, from startups to the largest... Granite State community colleges are partnering with some of the state's most innovative businesses to create a workforce with the knowledge and skills to assure the New Hampshire advantage continues.

As California's record-breaking drought continues, Cal State Long Beach is trying to reduce its water consumption by 20 percent, according to Paul Winco, the CSULB energy and sustainability manager. "Basically this is our response to the governor," Winco said. "CSULB, along with the rest of the [Cal State University], has been asked to reduce water consumption." Winco said he is meeting with administrators... The ratio of undergraduate students studying business-management compared to foreign languages at Cal State Long Beach is more than 18 to 1, according to new data from the Cal State University. More than 3,700 CSULB students sought bachelor's degrees in business-management in the fall, comprising the most popular group of majors on campus, according to new data from the Cal State University. Business-management, a... Violence and protests in Ukraine have calmed since an interim government took control of the country and issued an arrest warrant for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled the country's capital, Kiev. For freshman computer science major Mars Farahat, an international student from Egypt, the situation looks all too familiar. "My country is in revolution right now, and I just think people should get...

The trend of businesses helping to solve global problems continues. The next billionaire businessman to jump into the philanthropy game is Sir Richard Branson. Branson talks about his aim to tackle global climate change in this week's issue of Newswee k. Branson says of his Carbon War Room : We used our entrepreneurial skills to set up the Carbon War Room. The idea is to use the carrot much more than the stick to work with industries into trying to get gigatons [billions of tons] of carbon out of industries. One of our approaches is to say if you can save a gigaton of carbon, you'll save a gigaton of money; it's hopefully going to make your industry more profitable. We're tackling the airline industry, the IT industry, a whole series of different industries. He has offered a $25 million pr ize to the first person who develops technology to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) yet again went off on the Koch brothers, this time blaming them for climate change. "While the Koch brothers admit to not being experts on the matter, these billionaire oil tycoons are certainly experts at contributing to climate change. That's what they do very well. They are one of the main causes of this. Not a cause, one of the main causes," Reid said on the Senate floor. "The University of Massachusetts, Amherst ... ranked Koch Industries as one of the nation's biggest air and water polluters, period," he said, adding: "They are the champions." In August 2013, the university's Political Economy Research Institute listed Koch Industries as one of the largest polluters, behind publicly traded corporations like ExxonMobil and Dow Chemicals, among others. This article has been updated for clarity.

Retired Rear Admiral David Titley used to be a climate skeptic. But after decades in the service, he came to see the carbon crisis as "one of the preeminent challenges of our century." As the Navy's chief oceanographer, he spearheaded a task force to investigate the national security implications of climate change. Titley has since turned his attention to the world of business. He now teaches Weather Risk and Financial Markets at Pennsylvania State University, the capstone course for meteorology majors specializing in risk management. Titley explained in an interview that climate change will soon become a regular intrusion into the economy, dispensing heat waves, drought, and coastal floods -- and not just front-page disasters, but nuisance-level disruptions to business and commerce. Companies will need to plan for climate risks, tweaking output and retooling supply chains based on the latest projections. "How do you do business and weather? Risk and weather? Climate and risk?" asked Titley. "I could go to a business school and say, 'Hey, you guys are really going to have to start understanding not only the statistics of weather, but the changing statistics of climate to be effective.'" Rising temperatures are set to put a dent in corporate profits, creating a need for business-savvy weather experts to advise executives. Weather impacts commerce in innumerable ways. Choppy ocean waters slow shipping. Heat waves strain power utilities. Students in Titley's class simulate trading in soybean and natural gas futures, buying and selling in response to shifting weather patterns. "I was fortunate enough to take this course as a Weather Risk student at Penn State and started at Mars shortly after, so I've seen the benefits of this course first hand," said Katie Johnson, a senior researcher at Mars Incorporated who mentors students in Titley's class. Foul weather is bitter news for the candy business, Johnson said. "One drought in Georgia could cause a significant reduction in the amount of peanuts available and a significant increase in the price we pay for them. This puts our Snickers and Peanut M&M;'s brands at risk," she explained. It's the job of meteorologists to communicate these risks to managers. "We give [our students] a lot of communications training because it's almost certain that their boss is not going to be a meteorologist -- they're going to be a business person of some sort," said Titley. "How do you take all that complex, technical weather stuff and make it into something that the boss can understand but still convey the risks and the probabilities and the subtleties?" "There's a big difference between some guy showing up on television saying, 'If we don't do anything the world will be 3o C warmer than it is now,'" Titley said, "versus, 'Your supply chain, because it uses the Port of New Orleans, becomes in serious jeopardy in 20 or 30 years, maybe sooner, because the Antarctic ice sheets in fact are melting.'" Global warming, to paraphrase the Pentagon, is a risk multiplier . It loads the dice for severe storms and punishing heat, driving up the human and economic costs of failing to prepare for extreme weather. On our current warming trajectory, rising seas could flood upwards of $100 billion of coastal property by mid-century, according to the Risky Business Project . The Midwest and Southeast could see as much as a 70 percent reduction in crop yields as the result of intense heat. The financial hazards are so great that Michael Bloomberg, one of the co-chairs of Risky Business, is leading an industry task force to educate investors, insurers and lenders about the risks of climate change. The Past 30 Years Have Seen A 10-Fold Increase In The Cost Of Disasters. That's Going To Get Worse. Climate by CREDIT: AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena So much for renewable energy ruining the economy. By 2050 there will be... thinkprogress.org Well-trained meteorologists can help businesses thrive even as extreme weather amplifies economic risks. On this front, students graduating from Penn State hold a competitive edge. Researchers versed in risk need little additional coaching to prove valuable to industry. Johnson says her team at Mars sees Titley's course as a "talent pipeline." That's huge, because academia has a long history of lagging behind the needs of industry. The nation's first degree program in computer science didn't appear until 1962 at Purdue University, roughly three decades after IBM unveiled the first punch card computer. Titley is trying to stay ahead of the curve, giving students the skills they need to succeed in a shifting market and a changing climate. "College is not cheap. I don't care what university you go to," said Titley. "So how do we make sure that what we provide the students ... is as good as we can make it?" There was a time when business was conducted with paper and pens and rotary telephones. Then the personal computer was invented, and everyone needed an IT guy to explain Microsoft Office. There was also a time when weather was placid and easy to predict. Then climate change happened, and everyone needed a weather guy to explain risk. Jeremy Deaton writes about climate and energy for Nexus Media. Tweet him your questions at @deaton_jeremy.

Above is an image that you probably won't see featured on any mainstream media sites. That's because it's photographic evidence that Bill Clinton did indeed officiate the 2010 wedding of Hillary's close confidante Huma Abedin and her sexting-addicted former husband and failed NYC mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner. The picture comes via Newsbusters , who managed to track it down through the 2016 documentary Weiner (a rather mesmerizing film for those interested in human psychology, particularly narcissism and self-delusion; trailer below). Newsbusters notes how hard it was to actually find visual evidence of Clinton's participation in the doomed-from-the-start wedding: Although the New York Times , Newsweek and others reported on the couple's 2010 nuptials, even mentioning Clinton's role, none of these outlets published a picture of the former president presiding over the six-figure ceremony . At least, if there ever were photos, they've been taken down ... and understandably so. The juxtaposition of the two remarkably similar men is more than a bit embarrassing. However, we spotted the photo in the May 2016 documentary Weiner, an eye-opening look at the scandal, attempted resurgence and " disastrous mayoral campaign " of the politician. (According to NYT correspondent Mark Leibovich , the long-suffering Abedin never permitted the filmmakers to feature her in the doc - which was apparently ignored.) This week more sexting tweets emerged involving Weiner and another busty woman, the third time since 2011 that he's been the center of a sexting scandal. This time, however, was different, as one of his tweets showed his young son lying next to him in the bed while Weiner took a lurid image of his own crotch and sent it to the woman. After the New York Post broke the stomach-churning story, Weiner deleted his Twitter account. A few hours later, Abedin announced that she was leaving her shameless husband. "After long and painful consideration and work on my marriage, I have made the decision to separate from my husband," she announced on Monday. "Anthony and I remain devoted to doing what is best for our son, who is the light of our life. During this difficult time, I ask for respect for our privacy." The media has really earned its leftist credentials in its coverage of the Abedin-Weiner marriage, initially attacking Andrew Breitbart for breaking the original sexting story, then, after that failed, making a concerted effort to downplay the nature of the scandal and to somehow portray Abedin as an icon of "new feminism" (?) for standing by her man. Now the media spin machine will undoubtedly praise Abedin again as a model feminist, but this time for leaving her man. The Washington Post provides a timeline of the "short, strange" marriage of Abedin and Weiner here . But if you're not interested/willing to read much more on the sordid topic,the Post graciously provides the following brief video summary of the nuptial train wreck: H/T Trey Sanchez .

Sat Aug 4, 2012, 08:53 AM xchrom (108,903 posts) PHOTOS: Same-Sex Couples Went To Chick-Fil-As Across The Nation To Stage A 'Kiss In' http://www.businessinsider.com/chick-fil-a-kiss-in-day-photos-national-same-sex-kiss-day-2012-8?op=1 ***SNIP On Friday came the LGBT community's response to that National Same Sex Kiss Day, in which thousands of LGBT supporters are expected to flock to the chicken chain's restaurants. This "Kiss for Equality" photo was taken outside an apparently closed Chick-fil-A. This was taken at a Los Angeles Chick-fil-A. Event creator Carly MacGahee said "event is intended to show Chick-Fil-A how many people their donations and decisions are affecting. This couple dressed up in wedding garb.

"That shows devious and manipulative behaviour. These are serious offences. "You caused great concern to your wife and to the lady you went through a form of marriage with in Prague. You are a selfish man." Prosecutor Joanne Barker told the court the defendant married Elizabeth in August 2006 after meeting her four years earlier. They moved to Biddulph, Staffs, in 2009 but he left the marital home in 2012 when their marriage broke down. Early in 2014 Crudgington contacted his estranged wife and asked for a quickie divorce, but she made it clear she was not prepared to rush the process. Miss Barker said: "She became aware that the defendant had got engaged to somebody and was planning to marry.

Comparing her to Abraham Lincoln's assassin, pastor Ken Hutcherson, who was recently appointed to lead the charge against Washington state's marriage equality bill, used graphic and violent terms to frame Governor Chris Gregoire's decision to pursue equality there . "She might as well change her name to John Wilkes Booth because what she's doing now is trying to put a bullet in the head of one of the greatest traditions that has ever existed and has built our society, and that is marriage between one man and one woman." Watch, AFTER THE JUMP ...

Recently, New York magazine published a profile piece on Donald Trump's White House counselor and campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway. The profile itself is well-written, and overall I found it to be fair and interesting. That said, when I saw the accompanying photos, I couldn't help but be taken aback. I've been a photographer for over ... Continued Culture Tue. December 20 If you think liberal media bias is strictly an issue for The New York Times and the Washington Post, you haven't looked at your average entertainment site lately. Nearly every major Hollywood news site leans left. It has been that way for some time, but in recent years it has gotten worse. The improbable rise ... Continued Politics Fri. October 21 Think mainstream media bias is bad? Have you read the entertainment news today? Oh, boy. The latest batch of WikiLeaks revelations show the cozy nature between some reporters and the Democratic party. You don't need a leak to see something similar in entertainment coverage. Of course, Hollywood reporters have leaned left for some time. The ... Continued Politics

As we already know, reigning Super Model of the Year and With Leather's Eternal Celebrity Sports Fan Kate Upton celebrated Super Bowl XLVIII in her adopted hometown of New York City (we all know you're from Michigan and Florida, Kate) with a wonderful football-inspired fashion shoot for Vogue . On Friday, though, she was less work and more play for the GQ Super Bowl Party, and this time she brought her on-and-off boyfriend and Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander along for the fun. Obviously, a guy like Verlander has approximately $200 million reasons to have an ear-to-ear grin, but while sorting through all of the Super Bowl weekend leftovers, I stumbled upon one particular photo that basically sums up what Verlander must feel like on a daily basis when he reminds himself that he's one of the best pitchers in baseball and dating a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue legend. I don't hate you, Justin Verlander. But I sure don't like you right now. (Images via Getty)

We already know that Rob Reiner is a jackass of the highest order when it comes to people who have any form of differing opinions from him ( something we called months ago ), but now it seems that he's gone around the bend. And this is coming from someone who is obviously not a big a fan of Donald Trump... "Willie Geist: How to you explain the millions of people who don't watch this show, who actually like what they hear from Donald Trump, and aren't taking messages and orders from us in the media, but they listen to what he says and votes for him? Rob Reiner: There are a lot of people who are racist." He tried to hedge that he "didn't mean all Trump supporters," but as Scarborough pointed out... that's what he led with. More importantly, it was the only rationalization he allowed for those even considering voting for Trump. Okay, Trump is not my guy. I'm not a fan. But I've certainly seen no evidence that Donald Trump is a racist. No, wanting to have physical borders, like every country in the history of ever, is not racist. No, concern over Islamic/ideological terrorism is not racist. Is he bombastic? Yes. Inconsistent? Remarkably so. Dishonest? Of course a case can be made there. Instead of constructing real arguments however, just as Hollywood did in 2009, their only attack against non-leftists is that they're racist. The Tea Party was "racist." When Conservatives said "socialist" it was just a codeword for "the N word" said Janeane Garofalo and Bill Maher. Remember that? Fast forward to 2016 where we now have a self-avowed "SOCIALIST" within a hair's length of The Oval Office. Reiner goes on to say this regarding some of Trump's racist supporters... "That's hate speech, that's hate mongering!" Firstly, let's stop with the "hate speech" mantra. There is merely good speech and bad speech. And people should be allowed to freely decipher between the two. The term "hate speech" is a tool created by fascists to silence opinions they don't like. Now, has Trump had some racist supporters like David Duke? Yes. Are there perhaps some racist supporters in attendance? Maybe. But that has nothing to do with the generalization that Reiner lobbed against all Trump voters, which just so happens to be the same generalization used against ALL McCain or Romney voters. The point is, it's tired, it's nothing new and for people like Reiner, who fancy themselves intellectuals, they sure are intellectually one-note. I debated this very topic with famous comedian, DL Hughley not long ago. NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST? FIX THAT ! IT'S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH ITUNES HERE AND SOUNDCLOUD HERE .

The whole green climate change racket is falling apart - global warming has stopped and now the hippies are coming up with new theories to justify global cooling. At the UN Climate Summit yesterday the Chinese and Indian's basically called the West's bluff and said sod it, we want prosperity. UKIP campaigns against windmill subsidies and years after the daft hug-a-husky days, Populus found this month that 71% of Conservative MPs think "it has not yet been conclusively proved that climate change is man made" . Green crap - nein danke... Energy Secretary Ed Davey has today unveiled eight new major renewables projects which he says will be funded by PS12 billion of private sector investment to " boost green growth and green jobs ". Renewable projects are guaranteed a price for the power they produce, meaning that the difference between the guaranteed price and the price on the market is subsidised by the taxpayer. Guido has been crunching the numbers to work out how much the subsidy for these new projects will cost taxpayers overall. The wholesale price for power for winter 2015 is PS53 per MWh. There are 5 offshore wind projects totalling 3,184MW, each guaranteed PS140 per MWh if completed in 2017-18. That's a subsidy of PS87 per MWh. If wind farms generate 35% of the time, that's 3,066 hours per year. At PS87 per hour on 3,184MW of capacity that's a subsidy of PS849 million . Biomass CHP There is 1 Biomass CHP project providing just 299MW. This is guaranteed PS125 per MWh. A subsidy of PS72 per MWh. If this generates 85% of the time, that's 7,446 hours per year. At PS72 per hour on 299MW of capacity that's a subsidy of PS160million . Biomass Conversions Then there are 2 Biomass Conversions totalling 1,065MW. These are guaranteed PS105 per MWh. A subsidy of PS52 per MWh. If these generate 85% of the time, that's 7,446 hours per year. At PS52 per hour on 1,065MW of capacity that's a subsidy of PS412 million . Overall, that is a total subsidy of PS1.4 billion per year . Davey said today that the new contracts for renewable projects will support 8,500 green jobs. At PS1.4 billion, that amounts to PS167,000 per green job. Or green crap as the PM likes to call it.

We already know that Rob Reiner is a jackass of the highest order when it comes to people who have any form of differing opinions from him ( something we called months ago ), but now it seems that he's gone around the bend. And this is coming from someone who is obviously not a big a fan of Donald Trump... "Willie Geist: How to you explain the millions of people who don't watch this show, who actually like what they hear from Donald Trump, and aren't taking messages and orders from us in the media, but they listen to what he says and votes for him? Rob Reiner: There are a lot of people who are racist." He tried to hedge that he "didn't mean all Trump supporters," but as Scarborough pointed out... that's what he led with. More importantly, it was the only rationalization he allowed for those even considering voting for Trump. Okay, Trump is not my guy. I'm not a fan. But I've certainly seen no evidence that Donald Trump is a racist. No, wanting to have physical borders, like every country in the history of ever, is not racist. No, concern over Islamic/ideological terrorism is not racist. Is he bombastic? Yes. Inconsistent? Remarkably so. Dishonest? Of course a case can be made there. Instead of constructing real arguments however, just as Hollywood did in 2009, their only attack against non-leftists is that they're racist. The Tea Party was "racist." When Conservatives said "socialist" it was just a codeword for "the N word" said Janeane Garofalo and Bill Maher. Remember that? Fast forward to 2016 where we now have a self-avowed "SOCIALIST" within a hair's length of The Oval Office. Reiner goes on to say this regarding some of Trump's racist supporters... "That's hate speech, that's hate mongering!" Firstly, let's stop with the "hate speech" mantra. There is merely good speech and bad speech. And people should be allowed to freely decipher between the two. The term "hate speech" is a tool created by fascists to silence opinions they don't like. Now, has Trump had some racist supporters like David Duke? Yes. Are there perhaps some racist supporters in attendance? Maybe. But that has nothing to do with the generalization that Reiner lobbed against all Trump voters, which just so happens to be the same generalization used against ALL McCain or Romney voters. The point is, it's tired, it's nothing new and for people like Reiner, who fancy themselves intellectuals, they sure are intellectually one-note. I debated this very topic with famous comedian, DL Hughley not long ago. NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST? FIX THAT ! IT'S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH ITUNES HERE AND SOUNDCLOUD HERE .

"It is most certainly consistent with the Putin that I have watched and used to work with when I was an ambassador and in the government," said Michael McFaul, who was ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014. "He has had a vendetta against Hillary Clinton, that has been known for a long time because of what she said about his elections back in the parliamentary elections of 2011. He wants to discredit American democracy and make us weaker in terms of leading the liberal democratic order. And most certainly he likes President-elect Trump's views on Russia," McFaul added. Clinton cast doubt on the integrity of Russia's elections.

Kathryn Moody : Investors, Are You Ready for the Next Global Crisis? Manuel Schiffres Mutual Fund Rankings, 2014 Meghan Streit : Pitching In When Caregivers Need Help Janet Bond Brill, Ph.D., R.D.N., F.A.N.D : How to prevent a second (and first) heart attack thru diet The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington : Caprese is a light, fresh salad; the perfect quick and easy accompaniment to any summer meal Mark Steyn : You Want Nazis? Jonathan Tobin : Care about the Jewish state's future? Obama, in interview, reveals even more reasons to worry Alan M. Dershowitz : Confirmed: Needless death and destruction in Gaza Katie Nielsen : As a mother, I'm all I need to be Cameron Huddleston : 18 Retailers That Offer Price Adjustments Nellie S. Huang : The Best Health Mutual Funds to Buy Now Brierly Wright, M.S., R.D. : Try these 'secret-weapon' foods to boost your changes of losing weight The Kosher Gourmet by Jessica Yadegaran : Take some relish in pickled goodies (5 recipes!) Kimberly Lankford : 50 Ways to Cut Your Health Care Costs James K. Glassman : Investors, Are You Ready for the Next Global Crisis? The Kosher Gourmet by Nick Malgieri : Chocolate molten delight with creme anglaise is a simple yet elegant make-ahead dessert

DeFilippis and Hughes have another piece attacking Dr. Lott's new book The War on Guns (UPDATE: DeFilippis and Hughes discretely note by their byline that they have updated this piece, but we haven't taken the time to go through it again to see what they have changed.). Past responses to Evan DeFilippis and Devin Hughes claims are available here and here. ... Dr. John Lott spoke with Gun Freedom Radio about his new book "The War on Guns" and how many gun-control laws actually make law-abiding people vulnerable.

Saudi Arabia is taking a hard look at its economy, including jobs, as it can no longer rely on oil. The kingdom is aggressively pushing a 'Saudi First' policy in the jobs sector. Its revised Nitaqat (or Saudisation) scheme means only a handful of organisations will be able to apply for new block visas for migrant employees from September 2017. The new system will grade organisations on the number of Saudi nationals employed by them and other criteria. Only those with high grades would be able to apply for block visas. For quite some time, Saudi Arabia is trying to diversify its economy to reduce dependence on oil. It is looking to diversifying its economy under a plan called Vision 2030, which calls for development of non-oil industries and broadbasing investment. The visa regulations are aimed at adding more local jobs to the economy and addressing the rising problem of unemployment. Visa restrictions will hit the Indians hardest who form the majority of migrant workers. There are 3 million Indians, 2.5 million Pakistanis, 2.2 million Egyptians, 1.4 million Yemenis and 1.2 Bengalis in the Saudi kingdom, according to the Saudi daily Okaz. In April, Saudi labour ministry barred foreigners from working in Saudi Arabia's numerous shopping malls. Saudi Arabia also has plans to slap an expat levy on employers, which will encourage employers to hire more Saudis than foreign workers. This will not only limit opportunities for Indian workers in Saudi but also hit their savings--expat levy will come when the country is also going to impose a 5% value-added tax. All these steps to create more jobs for locals are part of Vision 2030 which also aims at promoting small and medium enterprises. A number of businesses which hire mostly migrant workers are run by foreigners in the name of Saudis. The Nitaqat scheme will discourage this practice. Oil, it seems, is no longer perceived as a guarantee for a buoyant economy in Saudi Arabia. The emergence of electric cars can depress oil prices further. An overall global emphasis on clean fuels will hit all oil-based economies. While a breakup of the applications approved based on the country of birth is not available till June 30, 2017, the USCIS report for 2015-16 shows that of 3.45 lakh approved applications, 74% -or 2.56 lakh - were from India. China was at a distant second with 9% or 31,995 approvals. A section of US senators has pointed out that with Indians flooding the application pool, they do stand to benefit in terms of the number of visa approvals granted. From October 1, 2006, to June 30, 2017, Indian applications stood at 21.83 lakh, the Chinese at 2.96 lakh and those from the Philippines at 85,918. Applications from the Philippines have shown a decline of 70%. Canada came fifth in the list with 68,228 applications. The number of Indians applying for H-1B has increased by 80.6% since 2006-07 to stand at three lakh in 2015-16. The technology sector continues to dominate H-1B visa applications. The top five firms to whom the visas were granted till June-end included Cognizant (US Corp), Infosys, TCS, Accenture and Wipro. The average salaries of these firms were well below the minimum salary for H-1B visa holders of $130,000 that was proposed in a reform bill.

Lower Brule, SD -- Following oral arguments from Nebraska landowners last week, the Public Service Commission put another hurdle in TransCanada's path today, denying the company's request to amend [...] By Staff of No KXL Promise - State authorities in Nebraska just approved a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline - but along a different path than the original route TransCanada wanted. We're still [...] By Jessica Corbett for Common Dreams - "Keystone XL never has been and never will be in Nebraska's public interest. This is a foreign pipeline, headed to the foreign export market, wanting to use [...] By Lauren McCauley for Common Dreams - Kicking off a week of actions targeting the institutions financing the controversial Keystone XL (KXL) tar sands pipelines, activists on Saturday protested [...] By Rebecca Adamson for Truthout - When TransCanada Corporation announced its plans for a Keystone XL pipeline expansion project in 2008, the company projected capital costs to be $4.3 billion for [...] Daily movement news and resources. Popular Resistance provides a daily stream of resistance news from across the United States and around the world. We also organize campaigns and participate in coalitions on a broad range of issues. We do not use advertising or underwriting to support our work. Instead, we rely on you. Please consider making a tax deductible donation if you find our website of value.

Today, British Labour Party politician Yvette Cooper launched Reclaim the Internet , a campaign in the House of Commons against online misogyny. Surprisingly (or perhaps not, for those who spend a lot of time online), much of the harassment women experience on social media comes from other women . Women in India want politicians to ban the sale of alcohol , which they blame for a huge rise in domestic violence and rape cases in the region. India's welfare minister, Palle Raghunatha Reddy, says Indian women are being sold "like products" for PS4000 in Saudia Arabia. The Independent reports: "Female migrants in Saudi are tricked into overstaying their visas and jailed on petty offences while their cases are heard before being sold to the highest bidder, the minister alleged." Meghan Murphy is a freelance writer and journalist. She has been podcasting and writing about feminism since 2010 and has published work in numerous national and international publications, including New Statesman, Vice, Al Jazeera, The Globe and Mail, I-D, Truthdig, and more. Meghan completed a Masters degree in the department of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies at Simon Fraser University in 2012 and lives in Vancouver, B.C. with her dog. Like this article? Tip Feminist Current!

I recently wrote about the international debate over how to define "middle class." In particular, there's been increasing questioning of the rosy forecasts by organizations like the African and Asian Development Banks, which use $2 a day--an absurdly low number, even in very poor counties--as the "middle class" cutoff. Joshua Keating The New York Times India bureau has been having its own debate about poverty statistics. A new proposal by Chakravarthi Rangarajan, former chairman of the prime minister's Economic Advisory Council, would raise the country's poverty line, classifying an additional 94 million Indians as poor. The overall good news is that while India remains a very poor country--and a much poorer one than its leaders like to admit--poverty is falling no matter which definition you use. Under Rangarajan's numbers, porverty has dropped from 38.2 percent to 29.5 percent. That's a massive improvement in not just Indian but human welfare over a very short period. But as Modi seeks to transform the world's second-largest country, it would be good to be a bit more realistic about the scale of the challenge and the pace of progress.

New Delhi: In the face of US sanctions on Iran, India has decided to reduce crude oil imports from the gulf nation by 11.1 percent to 15.5 million tonnes during the 2012-13 fiscal, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. "The target fixed for import of crude oil from Iran for the year 2012-13 is approximately 15.5 million tonnes," Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas RPN Singh told the Rajya Sabha. Total crude oil imported from Iran by Indian companies during 2010-11 and 2011-12 was 18.50 million tonnes and 17.44 million tonnes, respectively, Singh said in a written reply. India imports 80 percent of its crude oil requirements of which Iran supplies as much as 12 percent. Iran is India's second largest oil supplier. But the US has been rallying for reduction of crude imports to force the Islamic republic to stop its military nuclear programme that Tehran says is only for civilian peaceful usage The US suspects that under the guise of its peaceful nuclear programme, Iran is building atomic weapons. Earlier, India had maintained that it was not possible to take any decision on reducing imports from Iran drastically as it was important in meeting India's growing energy needs. Earlier this month in an interview to a television channel, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had also said that the United States will work to help India with technical assistance to reduce its dependence on Iranian oil.

The Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) yesterday announced measures to ease restrictions on foreign investment in the local stock market starting from 23 January. According to the updated reforms, the Saudi Capital Market Authority reduced the minimum required value of assets under management needed for a foreign institution to qualify as an investor in the stock market by half, to become $500 million instead of $1 billion. Saudi Arabia's market authority previously reduced the amount from $5 billion to $1 billion in 2016. It also abolished the investment's restrictions by allowing eligible foreign enterprises to acquire a larger stake of up to ten per cent of the shares of any issuer, instead of five per cent. All foreign investors, whether residents or non-residents, are allowed to own more than 49 per cent of shares of any issuer with shares listed on the stock market, unless the company's Articles of Association or any other regulation states that foreigners may not do so. In June 2015, Saudi Arabia allowed foreign institutional investors to buy domestic stock directly, aiming to attract more foreign capital, reduce its dependency on oil revenues and accelerate its inclusion to the Emerging Markets Index (MSCI). The Saudi Stock Exchange is the largest in the region by market value, and it includes 180 companies, distributed across 20 sectors. The project is part of Bin Salman's 2030 economic vision for the country, which he has also promised will come with modernisation. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

TEHRAN - On Wednesday, Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani held talks with President of the Belgium's Senate Christine Defraigne during which the two sides said banking transactions are necessary for economic ties. The president of Belgian Senate arrived in Tehran on Wednesday to hold talks with Iranian officials. Larijani said the visit of European officials to Iran are aimed at expanding economic ties and the realization of this goal entails banking transactions but still some countries are hesitant to resume banking ties with Iran. The July 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and great powers terminates all financial and economic sanctions on Iran, however some banks are still hesitant to resume transactions with Iran, fearing a punishment by the United States. The Iranian parliament speaker said Iran and Belgium enjoy long history of relationship but the ties suffered a setback during the sanctions time on the Islamic Republic. The top parliamentarian also said the next Majlis will try to establish a parliamentary friendship group with Belgium as soon as possible. The next Iranian parliament will start its work on May 28. The second round of parliamentary election will be held on Friday. Defraigne said Iran-Belgium ties dates back to 150 years and this is the "best reason" for her trip to Tehran. She also congratulated Iran for the successful holding of parliamentary election on February 26, wishing the runoff election will also be held successfully. She added that her country is small but it is very influential as it was one of the main architects of the European Union and now it plays a good role in the 28-member bloc. Defraigne also said facilitating banking ties are key to expanding economic ties. "We as legislative power will make necessary recommendations in this regard because we know that facilitating banking transactions are key to economic ties," Defraigne said, according to a translation of her remarks. Talking to reporters in a joint press conference, Larijani said the cooperation between Tehran and Brussels have been relatively good, yet economic relations can be expanded and called for removing hurdles in this regard. Larijani also highlighted the importance of close parliamentary ties between the two countries. Defraigne also told reporters that Belgium is determined to expand parliamentary ties with Iran. She also said that an international cooperation is required to fight terrorism. "We should fight terrorism seriously because its fallouts have inflicted (some) European countries," she noted. The top senator added if terrorism is not tackled "there is a concern that such horrible acts happen in the future."

(CNBC) -- President Barack Obama said he is eager to work with the new Congress to make the next few years as productive as possible, but he said he expects them to disagree on some key issues. "Congress will pass bills that I cannot sign and I'm pretty sure I will take some actions that Congress will not like," Obama said, adding that both parties should be able to find ways to work together on issues where there's broad agreement among the American public. Obama said the U.S. government must focus on the American people and "get stuff done." "Don't worry about the next election, don't worry about party associations," but worry about the concerns of the American citizens, he said, citing student loan debt, minimum wage and job growth as key concerns.

TEHRAN- Iran exported over 22.41 million tons of petrochemical products worth more than $12 billion in the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20), IRIB news reported citing the data released by National Petrochemical Company (NPC). Exports from Assalouyeh and Mahshahr petrochemical zones, both in southwest of the country, stood at 11.423 million tons worth $5.977 billion and 6 million tons worth $3.41 billion, respectively, during the past year. Iran's export of petrochemical products is anticipated to reach $14 billion in the current Iranian calendar year, NPC Managing Director Seyed Reza Norouz-Zadeh said in early April. The official also announced that through completing some petrochemical projects in this year, petrochemical production is expected to hit 47 million tons, of which some 27 million tons will be exported, Shana news agency reported. NPC managing director further said that 60 petrochemical projects with the nominal capacity of 65.4 million tons are currently underway throughout the country with $42.8 billion of investment. Iran is among the few countries which have all kinds of petrochemical feedstock.

September 23, 2014 2:47 pm The Obama administration's war on ISIL included the first direct attack on traditional al Qaeda terrorists in Syria during airstrikes Monday. Officials said the strikes were aimed at heading off an imminent terror attack against the United States or Europe. September 19, 2014 10:15 am Sen. Ted Cruz said the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) could lead to a "massive loss of life" in the United States if it is not stopped, but added that he still believes Iran's nuclear ambitions pose a greater threat to the U.S. than the Islamic State, in an interview with the Washington Free Beacon last week.

A Washington Post contributor who claimed that a $400 million cash payment to Iran was "American diplomacy at its finest" failed to disclose that he has worked on projects that received funding from a chief architect of the White House's self-described campaign to build a pro-Iran "echo chamber," according to information obtained by the Washington Free Beacon . August 10, 2016 2:50 pm Members of Congress expressed "disgust" with the White House this week and are demanding Obama administration officials come clean about the circumstances surrounding a $400 million cash payment to Iran that is widely perceived as a ransom for the recent release of U.S. hostages, according to conversations with multiple lawmakers and senior congressional sources. August 9, 2016 2:25 pm Affiliates of the Islamic State terror organization are already residing in the United States, though exact numbers are unclear due to Obama administration's efforts to downplay and hide information about this threat from the American public, the former director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency told the Washington Free Beacon in a wide-ranging interview.

Liberty Talk FM broadcasts 24 hours per day, seven days per week and features continuous live content Monday through Friday and a mix of the best syndicated podcasts and shows during the weekend.Our current line up of hosts includes the best and brightest voices fervently advocating for Liberty, such as: Ernest Hancock, Alex Jones, Todd "Bubba" Horwitz, Edward Woodson, and Robin Koerner.While the primary focus is on news, politics, and government, Liberty Talk FM also regularly features discussions on the economy, privacy enhancing and emerging technology. [Read More]

China's ban on plastic imports means cities from Victoria to Halifax may be left holding the bag on recyclables. So many hopes are pinned on 2018. Even our politicians make crafty vision boards and journal "new year, new you" goals. Alberta premier Rachel Notley repeats her favourite mantra at least three times a day: "there will be Kinder Morgan pipeline shovels in the ground by the fall." And if Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown's new year's affirmations come true, he'll bust up the province's cap and trade love-in with Quebec, replace it with a revenue neutral carbon tax and kibosh a multi-billion-dollar-dedicated-greenhouse-gas-slashing fund for stuff like transit, building retrofits and more - that and turn the lights out on the Green Energy Act. Hey, the man has dreams. Trouble is, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also has high hopes for Canada: that we drastically slash emissions and ratchet up our carbon pricing schemes in a hurry, or else we won't meet our climate goals. Plan B: get Kim Kardashian to start promoting a new, low-fossil-fuel version of the Keto diet? As the world chokes on greenhouse gases, here are my planetary predictions for a greener 2018. 1. The global plastics boom fuels a zero waste uprising Despite global guilt over the crushing tide of ocean plastic pollution, the industry at the heart of it all is ominously heralding a "renaissance" for all things plasticky. Turns out America's recent shale boom and glut of cheap gas is fuelling billions in investments at some 260 new or expanding polymer plants in the U.S. alone. Wouldn't you know it, DowDuPont and friends are now perfectly positioned to offer up boatloads of virgin plastic to China as that country's ban on plastic recycling imports kicks in. That ban means cities from Halifax to Victoria and beyond are stuck with growing mountains of recyclable plastic with nowhere to go. Will escalating frustration with the pile-up spur an existential crisis for our old-school recycling systems and usher in a new era of zero waste? If the province backs a polluter-pays model for recycling before the summer election, we could see less packaging and maybe a deposit return system for the 1.5 billion plastic bottles that now go straight to landfill every year. 2. Ontario will finally ban your apple core from landfill That annoying government-funded jingle is right, good things do grow in Ontario, but for some reason a lot of it ends up rotting in landfill. Despite green bins in most Toronto kitchens, a shameful 41 per cent of compostables end up in the trash. Restaurants and grocery stores are even worse. The province's Waste Free Ontario Act is promising to fix the situation, although so far it's been all round table talks and no action. A Nova Scotia-style ban on organics to landfill should be announced before June's provincial election, hopefully spelling an end to grocery dumpsters full of fresh food and restaurants and factories diverting tons of food waste. The idea would take another year or two of study to deliver, cautions Toronto Environmental Alliance. Fingers crossed. 3. Canada joins the e-car race This will be the last year Volvo sells cars with gas-only engines. While France, England, Norway, India and even China have all announced future bans on gas and diesel cars, Canada has kept quiet on this front. Tellingly, our electric car sales lag far behind other industrialized nations. With an eight-month waiting list for the most popular e-car in Canada (Chevrolet Bolt), it's little wonder. The national Zero-Emissions Vehicle Strategy promised for 2018 - if done right - should help boost e-car sales. Quebec has already started requiring dealers to sell a certain percentage of electric cars. 4. The vegan revolution will be Insta-grammed Every year around this time, food industry forecasters predict trends for the coming year. Some are environmentally obnoxious, like the rise of hyper-packaged meal kits. Others are just idiotic. Who eats cake for breakfast? But they agree on one thing: plant-based foods will be the hottest trend of 2018. Celeb investors like Leonardo DiCaprio are sinking major cash into pea-protein-based processing plants and start-ups (including Beyond Meat's notorious "bleeding" burger). There are even a bunch of NFLers charging into this year's playoffs on plant-powered diets. Now that Donald Trump's USDA is killing animal welfare protections for organic farm animals and the world's top meat and dairy producers emit more greenhouse gasses than Exxon, Meatless Mondays might even spread to Tofu Tuesdays and Fava Bean Fridays. 5. Indigenous-owned green power lights the way One-fifth of Canada's green power is already fully or partly owned by Indigenous communities (mostly hydro and wind, with some solar and biomass). In 2018, Ontario's largest wind project is being built on reserve as a joint venture partnership between the Henvey Inlet First Nations and Pattern Development. Now that the feds have earmarked $21.4 million over the next four years to convert remote diesel-fuelled reserves to renewables, we'll start seeing a lot more headlines around Indigenous-owned solar, wind and beyond, particularly if the feds' $400 Arctic Energy Fund boosts a "renewables first" approach. 6. The feds will fail us on bee-killing neonics but overhaul toxins regs It sounds like a press release that was found stuck in a 20-year-old fax machine, but the federal government is promising to fully ban asbestos-containing products this year. The deadly cancer-causing material will no longer be allowed in brake pads (so mechanics can breathe easier), or national building code (wait, it wasn't before?), and the government will finally support listing chrysotile - the asbestos mined in Canada until 2012 - as hazardous material. Too bad they're not planning on doing the same for hydrogen sulphide, the deadly sour gas that's sickened and, in a handful of cases, killed oil field workers. Nor will they bring in a full ban on two neonic pesticides linked to bee deaths despite calls from environmental and health groups. Silver lining: this could be the year the feds relent and overhaul Canada's outdated toxins regs. Adria Vasil joins a Facebook live chat hosted by Environmental Defence's Tim Gray on Thursday, January 11 at noon.

Hard-serving Milos Raonic was just eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open by World's No. 1, Novak Djokavic. The 24-year-old Canadian lost in straight sets, and his quarterfinal appearance was his best to date at the Aussie, but with Canadian Guess model Danielle Knudson on his side, I can't imagine he'll stay mad for long. This past summer, Justin Bieber posted a picture of Knudson on his Instagram with the caption, "Who is this Guess model? She's stunning." Dannielle Knudson (photo: @justinbieber Instagram) For once, Biebs and I are on the same page. Dannielle Knudson (photo: @danielleknudson1 Instagram) Dannielle Knudson (photo: @danielleknudson1 Instagram) Dannielle Knudson (photo: @danielleknudson1 Instagram) Dannielle Knudson (photo: @danielleknudson1 Instagram) Dannielle Knudson (photo: @danielleknudson1 Instagram) Dannielle Knudson (photo: @danielleknudson1 Instagram) Dannielle Knudson (photo: @danielleknudson1 Instagram) I don't get how Canada is so cold with all these smokeshows running around. Gosh darn global warming.

TORONTO (Reuters) - Fourteen people, including a young girl, were shot near downtown Toronto, police in Canada's biggest city said on Sunday, with one person killed and the gunman also dead. June 13, 2018 10:13 am FIFA, an international governing body of soccer, voted Wednesday in Moscow, Russia for a joint North America bid to host the World Cup in 2026, marking the first time since 1994 that the United States will host the World Cup. A white van killed at least two people on a suburban Toronto sidewalk on Monday after jumping the curb and the driver was in custody, according to police and a Reuters witness. April 23, 2018 11:49 am President Donald Trump said Monday that his administration may make tougher border security measures a condition for the United States supporting any modernized version of the North American Free Trade Agreement. March 8, 2018 4:30 pm WASHINGTON/SANTIAGO (Reuters) - President Donald Trump pressed ahead with the imposition of 25 percent tariffs on steel imports and 10 percent for aluminum on Thursday but exempted Canada and Mexico, backtracking from earlier pledges of tariffs on all countries.

Quebec inked an economic partnership agreement with Israel this fall in Jerusalem. Attracting little attention from major media outlets, Quebec's bilateral accord was signed during a government-led delegation to Israel that included high-level state officials and corporate representatives this past September, amidst Israel's ongoing siege of Gaza. Quebec's accord with Israel stands in contrast to the growing international calls for an economic boycott of the Israeli government. Stefan Christoff comments. Read more about Quebec supporting apartheid?

Yesterday Donald Trump announced that he's going to war -- a trade war, one he's been talking about for decades: "Trump says US will impose steel and aluminum tariffs" But what about us, here in Canada? The New York Times reports: "China is the main target of possible tough new United States trade measures against low-priced imports of steel and aluminum. But the sanctions threaten to ensnare America's closest allies, particularly Canada." That article ran a week ago, when Trudeau was dancing his way through India in his own Bollywood fantasy. (And of course getting himself embroiled in a terrorism issue ...) Meanwhile, this headline from yesterday: "Foreign direct investment in Canada plunges to the lowest in eight years; And for the first time in a decade foreign companies sold more Canadian businesses than they bought ; That's mainly Trudeau and Notley's war on oil and gas and pipelines. But now Trump is coming for steel, and after that, do you doubt he'll be coming for cars, for Ontario's industrial heartland? Trudeau's budget this week shows he's in denial. His bizarre feminist approach to trade deals shows he's in denial about NAFTA. We're about to be smashed by Trump -- and it was all so unnecessary. I wrote about this in my book a year ago -- called Trumping Trudeau . I hate to say it, my pessimistic predictions in that book are coming true... NEXT: Candice Malcolm of the True North Report joins me to talk about Trudeau's Minister for Public Safety, Ralph Goodale, running away from reporters asking how a convicted terrorist got invited to one of the prime minister's official dinners in India. THEN: I sit down with Ontario PC Party leadership candidate Tanya Granic Allen to talk about the issues facing the province, and how she'd tackle them if she wins the leadership race. Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

How big and bad are Alberta power bills going to get with the irresponsible phase out of cheap, reliable coal fired electricity generation? Really bad. At least twice as bad. Rachel Notley has imposed a four year price cap on electricity rates to seem like she's protecting consumers. But is she? Or is it all just for show? The capped rate will be set at 6.8 cents per kilowatt hours, roughly twice what we pay today. Can you afford to pay twice as much for power so Rachel Notley can impress some bureaucrats in Ottawa and unelected globalists at the UN ? Rachel Notley seems to thinks so. Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

EarlG (15,929 posts) Pic Of The Moment: Trump Travelling To Mexico Today (Original post) EarlG Aug 2016 OP Wed Aug 31, 2016, 11:16 AM BlueStreak (8,377 posts) 1. So I don't understand. How is a "wall" different from a fence? Trump keeps droning on about his great wall. But we already have a fence. And yes, I know that the fence isn't perfect. But people can climb over walls too. I have probably heard Trump's wall claim 25 times and I haven't heard a single media person ask how this is different from a fence. And I also have not heard anybody ask how a wall will block the majority of undocumented people who got here by simply overstaying a valid visa. Wed Aug 31, 2016, 11:29 AM 63splitwindow (2,657 posts) 3. The border is 1989 miles long and the majority is not barrier fenced. The terrain and climate is a natural barrier in some places and, in this day and age, electronic surveillance (possibly including satellite-based) with rapid response capability makes more sense. A physical wall only makes sense to a real estate developer who would make money building it and those he can con into paying for it. Wed Aug 31, 2016, 01:51 PM winner winner chicken dinner! his "wall" is an entirely self-serving plan. Wed Aug 31, 2016, 05:24 PM awoke_in_2003 (34,582 posts) 15. And something that idiots don't realize... is that some animals do migrate across the border in both directions. What do we do about them? Wed Aug 31, 2016, 05:28 PM 63splitwindow (2,657 posts) 16. Not to even mention desert washes that cannot be blocked. The design and engineering alone would be a monumental task taking years and costing tens of millions. Wed Aug 31, 2016, 02:05 PM tclambert (9,334 posts) 12. Because the wall is SURE to work. Mexican immigrants will never, ever be able to figure out how to climb over a wall. It's impossible. So, illegal immigration solved. Next problem. Seriously, just like the fence, it's a purely symbolic attempt by Republicans to solve a serious problem without giving it serious thought, and without really trying to address the problem. If you want a simple solution to illegal immigration, how about this? Make it a $1 million dollar fine to employ an illegal immigrant, per occurrence. So a casino owner in Atlantic City who got caught employing 100 illegals would pay $100 million in fines. That might bankrupt the business (if mismanagement by the dilettante who built the place hadn't already done so). Friend or Foe (195 posts) 13. "The Wall" was an amazing rock opera by Pink Floyd... "The Fence"........... i don't know.........a late night infomercial? Wed Aug 31, 2016, 11:26 AM George II (29,403 posts) 2. That picture was taken from the Mexico side, right? They want to keep him out! Wed Aug 31, 2016, 05:23 PM awoke_in_2003 (34,582 posts) 14. Maybe that was part of the plan... "Hey, I'm coming to Mexico" and wait to see how fast they build it Wed Aug 31, 2016, 11:37 AM ffr (10,981 posts) 4. Quick, someone call in a bomb scare at the Mexican airport where Drumpf's plan is. Stall them at all costs. "Hurry men, keep working!!" Wed Aug 31, 2016, 12:06 PM lostnfound (12,023 posts) 5. Walls and fences are so damn primitive anyway Based on the "other". And there's a whole lot of people BORN here who are more "other" than the Mexicans coming across the border. If it's to prevent employment competition, then why isn't there a similar effort to stop US companies moving jobs and factories to Mexico? Wed Aug 31, 2016, 12:23 PM 63splitwindow (2,657 posts) 6. Shortly after 9-11-01, some unscrupulous politicians conflated the issues of border SECURITY and undocumented immigrants, many of whom have been coming here to work for decades and decades. We obviously need to do what we can to prevent those that would do us harm from entering our country anywhere, not only our southern border. Even a 100% secure southern border would just encourage the truly bad guys to enter elsewhere. Regarding drug trafficking, it would only serve to INCREASE both the dominance and profit of the most powerful cartels. The issues are far too complex for a focus diverting and money-wasting wall to solve. Wed Aug 31, 2016, 12:39 PM 8. That is a good point The last company I worked for had employees from New Zealand, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Vietnam, etc. People from all over the world come here to work, visit, or go to school. This whole "Mexican" issue is just politics. Republicans win elections by cultivating fear and hate. Wed Aug 31, 2016, 12:37 PM Wed Aug 31, 2016, 01:00 PM Coyotl (15,262 posts) 9. Mexico just agreed to pay for a wall if Trump promises to never cross it. Wed Aug 31, 2016, 02:05 PM Ford_Prefect (2,308 posts) 11. I just want 4 sections of that fence set 90 degrees to each other at the bottom of Trump's ramp and a quick lesson in welding.

To many American's displeasure, President Trump has kept some of his most controversial campaign promises, including the travel ban. Now, it appears that plans are being made to fulfill another one of his most ambitious promises: a border wall between the United States and Mexico. According to Fox News, "The agency in charge of U.S. border security plans to start building prototypes for President Trump's proposed wall with Mexico later this summer. Ronald Vitiello, Customs and Border Protection's acting deputy commissioner, said Tuesday that four to eight companies will get contracts for prototypes in San Diego that could be models for the roughly 2,000-mile border. Companies will have 30 days to complete the models. Vitiello says it's impractical to build a wall on about 130 miles of border where there are already natural barriers, like lakes or canyons. Trump's budget proposal for 2018 includes $1.6 billion for 74 miles of wall in Texas' Rio Grande Valley and San Diego. There are currently 654 miles of fencing." President Trump mentioned the wall at his rally in Iowa earlier in June, stating he wants to install solar panels on it. "Think of it. The higher it goes, the more valuable it is. Pretty good imagination, right? This way, Mexico will have to pay much less money, and that's good. A solar wall. Makes sense," Trump said.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag. Click here to view original GIF Construction of border wall prototypes by US Customs and Border Protection outside of San Diego, California (GIF made from US Customs and Border Protection video) US Customs and Border Protection recently released video of President Trump's border wall prototypes in San Diego. And we couldn't help but notice something strange from the video. It shows a bird's-eye view of the wall from the perspective of a drone. And the drone is much, much higher than the wall. Do you see what I mean? This is supposed to be a wall that, in President Trump's words, is going to stop "drugs from pouring into this country." But the funny thing about a wall is that you can get over it pretty easily these days--especially as drones become more affordable. CBP's own video proves just how easy it is to get over the damn thing. Remember the American who was smuggling 13 pounds of meth at a time over the border this summer? He was doing it right near where the border wall prototypes are now being constructed outside San Diego. And President Trump's proposed wall would do nothing to stop a situation like that. The only thing that does work in such cases is what already worked without the wall: agents spotting smugglers at the border. When I asked CBP about that, they seemed to acknowledge that the wall obviously doesn't do shit on its own. "Matt, don't forget that there are also agents, sensors, cameras and other technologies monitoring the Border Enforcement Zone," Carlos Diaz, the Southwest Branch Chief for the CBP Office of Public Affairs, told Gizmodo by email. "The combination of those elements allow for the effective and efficient protection of the wall." Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag. Click here to view original GIF Construction of border wall prototypes by US Customs and Border Protection outside of San Diego, California (GIF made from US Customs and Border Protection video) The funny thing about Trump's campaign promise to build a wall is that it's not what CBP leadership has repeatedly asked for over the years . The agency wants more technology. Precisely the kind of technology that has been employed at the border for decades , like cameras and sensors. But that's not what President Trump is delivering. It's estimated the Trump's proposed US-Mexico border wall would cost anywhere from $15 billion on the low-end (according to Republicans like Mitch McConnell ) and $70 billion on the high-end (according to Democratic Senator Kamala Harris ). But no matter what the final cost, Mexico has already said that they won't pay for it. Whether the wall ultimately gets built or not, it's safe to say that it's not going to be stopping drugs from getting across the border. But at least it'll be incredibly expensive and ugly. Great job, President Trump. We knew we could count on you. You can watch the entire CBP video below.

On Wednesday, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump met with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto . During the meeting, Trump called Pena Nieto his "friend," and in an immigration speech he delivered later that evening, which was exceptionally xenophobic , he described Mexico's president as "wonderful." But it appears the honeymoon is over. On Thursday, Trump and Pena Nieto began feuding on Twitter, where political debates seem to be happening more and more frequently. After the meeting, Trump said he and Pena Nieto did not discuss the issue of who would pay for the US-Mexico border wall the real estate mogul wants to build. Prior to the meeting, Trump consistently maintained Mexico would pay for the wall. He reiterated this claim in his speech on Wednesday night and in a tweet on Thursday morning. Pena Nieto, who was criticized for not taking the opportunity to publicly tell Trump his country would not pay for the wall, responded to this tweet and made it quite clear where he stands on this issue. Translation: On Wednesday night, Pena Nieto also claimed he told Trump that Mexico would not pay for the wall when they met. In a tweet, he said, "At the start of the conversation with Donald Trump I made it clear Mexico would not pay for the wall." In a way, a lot of this is just empty rhetoric and posturing. The fact this debate is occurring on Twitter is emblematic of that fact. When it comes down to it, Trump's plan to build a wall is completely unfeasible. It would be far too expensive and wouldn't accomplish what Trump says it would. Not to mention, there's already a wall along America's border. PBS NewsHour on YouTube As John Oliver put it, [Trump's wall is] an impossible, impractical symbol of fear. LastWeekTonight on YouTube Indeed, Trump's plan to build a border wall is really just an effective way for him to pander to a xenophobic group of voters who don't understand even basic things about America's immigration system.

Wed Jun 28, 2017, 09:39 AM DonViejo (46,589 posts) Trump Administration to Start Building Border Wall Prototypes This Summer Source: Associated Press SAN DIEGO (AP) The agency in charge of U.S. border security plans to start building prototypes for President Donald Trumps proposed wall with Mexico later this summer. Ronald Vitiello, Customs and Border Protections acting deputy commissioner, said Tuesday that four to eight companies will get contracts for prototypes in San Diego that could be models for the roughly 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) border. Companies will have 30 days to complete the models. Vitiello says its impractical to build a wall on about 130 miles (209 kilometers) of border where there are already natural barriers, like lakes or canyons. Trumps budget proposal for 2018 includes $1.6 billion for 74 miles (118 kilometers) of wall in Texas Rio Grande Valley and San Diego. There are currently 654 miles (1,046 kilometers) of fencing. ### Read more: Link to source Hippity hoppity over the wee little wall, then they can commence to beat the living crap out of each other once the music stops. Cut!!! and there is 1,216 miles of wall to build if you subtract the existing fencing and natural barriers? So multiply 1.6 times 16.44 and you get 26.31 billion. And it will solve nothing. you are paying with all that money you made while Obama was president. Seems to shut them up.

Tamron Hall does not allow Donald Trump to spin Tamron Hall did what few journalists have done when interviewing Donald Trump - she pressed him hard on his bumbling responses. Her interview skills forced the Donald to answer questions before he got a chance in any attempt to shut the interview down. Near the end of the full interview it was evident his handlers were not happy as they continued to signal Tamron Hall to wrap it up. Hall forced Donald Trump to put a price tag on the wall. When he began speaking about the length of the Chinese Wall at over 13,000 miles compared to what he claimed is needed at the Mexican border, her retort was classic. "But you are doing construction numbers not real numbers," Tamron Hall said. "You bring up for example the Great Wall of China. That was built with slave labor. You don't have that in the United States. ... That is the example that you point to that there is proof that you can build a great wall. So go back to your dollar figures. Tell me how you came it." When he gave her a number she forced him to give an assessment of the method he used to come up with the number. He gave a simplistic answer. The audience looked visibly incredulous. He then started speaking about the wall's beautiful door. Hall lashed back. "I don't think the people care how beautiful the door is," Hall interrupted. "It is not their home. But the money could come from -- the money they bring into their home, meaning taxes. Who pays for this? Mexico has already said that it is a ridiculous idea. The former president of Mexico yesterday said there is no way. This is a silly idea. Who pays for it." Trump continued to say Mexico will. Of course Felipe Calderon, Mexico's former President was on CNBC yesterday and said they would not as he ridiculed both Trump and his supporters . Tamron went on to point out some realities to Trump. She pointed out that he should be well aware of his hotel and restaurant industries' proclivity to hire undocumented workers. His response sounded pretty darn close to President Obama's position. Liked it? Take a second to support EgbertoWillies.com on Patreon!

Vol. 71/No. 14 April 9, 2007 New Militant Labor Forum hall opens in Atlanta (feature article) Militant photos by Dave Wulp Grand opening of new Militant Labor Forum hall in Atlanta March 24. Upper left: Reynaldo Ruiz (left), who gave fund pitch at event, alongside Roger Calero and Ellie Garcia. Upper right: Linda Joyce (standing) translating program into Spanish. Bottom right: Part of audience of more than 60 people. BY LISA POTASH AND DAVE PRINCE ATLANTA, March 24More than 60 people enthusiastically celebrated the grand opening of a new workers center here this evening, with an international banquet and program to launch the Militant spring subscription drive and fund appeal. Those present pledged or contributed more than $4,000 to the Militant fund drive. Many of those in attendance had contributed their volunteer labor, skills, and money over the last three weeks to construct the center. Working people and youth from Atlanta and the surrounding region can meet, read, study, hold classes, and plan their political work at the hall. Militant Labor Forums, organized by supporters of the Militant newspaper, will be held here every Friday evening. Pathfinder Books, as well as the local headquarters of the Socialist Workers Party and Young Socialists, also share space in the hall. The event attracted people from Birmingham, Alabama; Houston; Miami; and the Carolinas in the South. Some people came from as far as New York, New Jersey, and West Virginia. Participants included members of a team of Militant supporters from Birmingham who had gone to Pascagoula, Mississippi, last week to report on the strike by 8,000 shipyard workers there and get the Militant around. About 15 of those present participated in the meeting through simultaneous translation from the floor. They included Spanish-speaking workers from the Atlanta area, and from a garment shop 45 minutes west of the city, near the Georgia-Alabama border. Many are subscribers and promoters of El Militante . To facilitate such events in the future, and ensure participation on an equal basis of working people speaking various languages, organizers of the Militant Labor Forum are now fundraising to rapidly acquire a wireless translation system. The move to a new location places the Militant Labor Forum hall right in the center of this major southern city, on a busy commercial street in its West End, one of the main centers of Atlanta's Black community. Ellie Garcia, the organizer of the SWP in Atlanta, chaired the meeting and welcomed people to the grand opening. The turnout, she said, "means we can all look forward to further expansion." Roger Calero, a member of the SWP National Committee and national organizer of the Militant 's spring subscription campaign, kicked off the program. Pointing to capitalism's growing instability, Calero said Washington's multi-theater "war on terrorism" is an extension of its domestic policies. These include factory raids and deportations, which are part of the rulers' response to working-class resistance. The Militant is not just a "good source of information," he noted, but a tool more and more workers use to fight the bosses and their government. He pointed to the Cuban Revolution and the need to build a revolutionary workers party to emulate its example in the United States. Reynaldo Ruiz, a Militant subscriber who works in an area warehouse and convinced three of his coworkers to subscribe to the paper, gave the fund pitch. "I first read the Militant when my sister brought it home and put it on the breakfast table," he said. "She got it from a coworker. Since then I've encouraged people to read the paper and Pathfinder books." The Militant is important to the working class because it brings workers here news about struggles around the world, he said. Also speaking was Ross Hogan, a member of the Young Socialists National Steering Committee, who had just returned from the meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, of the General Assembly of the World Federation of Democratic Youth. A leader of Cajolas United in Solidarity with Guatemala, a group of Guatemalan workers in the city, brought greetings to the celebration from his organization. He and other members of his group helped build the new center. He described the group's activities. These range from confronting challenges facing Guatemalan workers, to participating in actions demanding legalization of all immigrantsfrom last year's May Day strike to other mobilizations. Noting the breadth of participation in the meeting, Garcia pointed to the welcome sign at the forum in a number of languages, including Mamthe Mayan dialect spoken by these workers from Guatemala, for whom Spanish is a second language. The next morning about 25 people came back to the new hall for breakfast and a class on The First and Second Declarations of Havana, recently published by Pathfinder Press. Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home

Nothing alarms Spain's establishment more than the prospect of the unity of the Spanish state being threatened by the desire for self-determination of the peoples that live within its borders. An important debate has opened up among the left, both within Venezuela and internationally, as a result of the recent turmoil in the country. In an attempt to bring the views of grassroots Venezuelan militants to an English-speaking audience, Green Left Weekly 's Federico Fuentes interviewed Stalin Perez Borges . A life-long union and socialist activist, Perez Borges is today a member of the United League of Chavista Socialists (LUCHAS), a radical current within the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). That was on June 5, 1967, the day Israel declared war against Egypt. As Israel's tanks drew closer, Sarah grew increasingly worried about Munther, her husband. He had gone out to work, transporting goods along with a merchant. After an hour passed, he made it back to their home in Beach refugee camp , part of Gaza City. The hunger strike launched in April by more than 1500 Palestinian prisoners ended on May 27 when the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) agreed to key concessions to improve the prisoners' conditions. The announcement of the end of the 41-day hunger strike, coinciding with the start of Ramadan, was greeted with relief and joy by prisoners' families and supporters across Palestine and the world. By the time the deal to improve conditions to end the hunger strike was struck, about 800 prisoners were still participating. The end of the strike came after 20 hours of intense negotiations between the strike's leaders, including imprisoned Fatah figure Marwan Barghouti , and the Israel Prison Service , according to a statement issued on the morning of May 27 by the prisoners solidarity committee. "During the years I was jailed I always thought I would return home," Lopez said during a press conference, thanking all the progressive organisations and world leaders who supported him and worked for his release over the years. We live in strange times. A white, nationalist, billionaire businessperson has been elected president. His 24-member cabinet is made up primarily of wealthy white men, many former Goldman Sachs executives, who US President Donald Trump's most extreme nationalist ideologues call "New York liberals." Trump has appointed the fewest number of women and minorities to his cabinet since Ronald Reagan.

Black Lives Matter activists have formed a girl scout troop of sorts in Oakland California to indoctrinate the female children of activists from the city. Calling themselves the "The Radical Brownies", the group meets for marches, protests and arts and crafts and seemingly eerie looking maneuvers that resemble militant-style poses. The troop often meets with local activists in the Oakland community and receive training on protesting, socialist ideas and grievance mongering. They're also routinely instructed on brain-storming ideas on how to make marches more effective by using their most valuable asset (the fact that they're children and do what they want).

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UPDATE - Police are now near the support camp for the aerial blockades warning water protectors that they must vacate the existing the tree-sits or face felonies under State Act 692 (formerly HB727), a new law that goes into effect today. The law further criminalizes dissent and makes it easier for the State to charge people with felonies for peacefully protesting. This is a developing story, click here for updates. The Bayou Bridge Pipeline would connect with the Dakota Access Pipeline system to bring oil from North Dakota to export terminals in Louisiana. There have been over 50 direct actions that have shut down construction of the pipeline including these recent tree-sits and aerial blockades. APPLY to join us on the frontlines: http://bit.ly/JoinTheFrontlines Find a target and TAKE ACTION against the banks funding the pipeline: www.nobayoubridge.global

by Alexander Kolokotronis April 10, 2017 Alex Kolokotronis is a 1st year PhD student in Political Science at Yale. He self-identifies as a libertarian socialist and is interested in studying anarchist movements, post-state forms of governance and public power, and associationist self-managed socialism. He is the co-founder of Student Organization for Democratic Alternatives (SODA), a group dedicated to implementing participatory budgeting and participatory democracy at the university level. Participatory budgeting is a directly democratic process by which ordinary people get to deliberate and decide how to allocate a designated budget. He previously worked in Worker Cooperative Development with Make the Road New York and the New York City Network of Worker Cooperatives. by Alexander Kolokotronis November 5, 2016 On July 20 at least thirty-two people were killed and at least 100 people were wounded by an ISIS suicide bomber. The attack took place in the Turkish town of Suruc, which stands only thirty miles away from the Syrian border. The victims, members of the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations (SGDF), were part of a 300-person contingent en route to Kobani to assist in reconstruction efforts. The group consisted of a number of Turkish and Kurdish anarchist and socialist youth. As such, the solidaristic venture represented a major effort to create further bridges between the broader Turkish left and the Kurdish left. by Alexander Kolokotronis February 8, 2015 After approximately four and a half months of fighting, Kurdish forces have successfully pushed the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (known as ISIS or ISIL) out of Kobani. The coalition of ground forces most notably included the People's Defense Units (YPG) , Women's Defense Units (YPJ) , and the Peshmerga from the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG).At the same time, through the air, a U.S. led-coalition made 700 airstrikes against ISIS. On February 6 it was reported "fourteen more villages and some strategically important points have been liberated." In an October 2014 article for Naked Capitalism Claude Salhani noted the strategic importance of the region. Salhani stated "victory for" ISIS in the region "would give the group prestige among the dozens of groups lined up in the fight against Syrian President Bashar Assad. It would also secure the terror organization's flow of oil to a lucrative market."

Thank you so much for including me in this year's discussion. Dahlia, you asked about the First Amendment cases. I think it was Dante who said a great flame follows a little spark. Whoever said it, it's true: Seemingly small cases sometimes open big windows. That's why I'd like to begin my stint at the Breakfast Table not with one of this week's much-anticipated blockbusters but with a little case decided a few days ago called Lane v. Franks . In Lane , a unanimous court nipped in the bud some of the scariest implications of the 2006 Garcetti v. Ceballos decision, at least slowing down the court's dismantling of the free speech rights of public employees. It was mildly interesting that, in her first written opinion about free speech rights, Justice Sotomayor sang the praises of public employee speech much as the Garcetti dissenters had done. Justice Sotomayor has voted on the free speech side of every major Roberts Court decision outside campaign finance since joining the court. She did so once, in Sorrell v. IMS , even when it meant joining the conservative wing over the dissenting votes of Ginsburg, Breyer, and Kagan--all of whom would have upheld the Vermont drug price regulation struck down on First Amendment grounds in that case and all of whom worried that the six-justice majority was resurrecting old-style review of any economic regulation that controlled the flow of information. Sotomayor's pro-speech position in Lane did leave her plenty of room to reject free speech claims when pitted against weighty enough countervailing rights and interests in the abortion buffer zone and public employees' union cases slated to come down soon after Lane . For those reasons and more, Lane looked to most observers like small potatoes, too small to be worth talking about over breakfast. But, as I said at the start, I think the small cases sometimes give us a revealing peek at big vistas. The "big vista" I think Lane exposed involved Justice Sotomayor's willingness to continue and maybe even accelerate the Roberts Court's march toward making one right after another harder to enforce--whether through class actions, or through litigation rather than arbitration, or even through the mechanism expressly provided by Congress in Section 1983, which allows people to sue the government for civil rights violations. In Section 1983 cases, the government often wins based on "qualified immunity," a judicially invented doctrine giving state and local government officials an increasingly ironclad defense against ever having to say they're sorry--a defense against being held accountable through awards of damages to those whose rights they violate. The immunity shield works by enabling those officials to plead uncertainty in the law making their acts unconstitutional. Such "uncertainty" is sadly becoming ever easier to establish. So in Lane , Justice Sotomayor led a unanimous court in holding that, though there's "no doubt" that Lane's testimony was "entitled to First Amendment protection," mixed signals from a series of previous decisions entitled Franks to argue that he could "reasonably have believed that it was lawful to fire Lane in retaliation for his testimony." Even if we forget about the First Amendment, who could forget the Supremacy Clause, which requires state judges to follow federal law, and the long line of decisions protecting federal institutions from state attack? These decisions date all the way back to the rulings in McCulloch v. Maryland in 1819 that Maryland couldn't tax the Bank of the United States and in In re Neagle in 1890 that California couldn't arrest a federal marshal for doing his job of protecting a Supreme Court justice's life. Here, it wasn't just one federal judge that Alabama was messing with when Franks, a state official, fired his employee for testifying truthfully in a federal criminal trial. It was the core function of the federal judiciary itself in "say[ing] what the law is," to quote Marbury , and of the federal executive in enforcing that law through criminal prosecution. I liked and agreed with Marty Lederman's post on Lane , in which he elaborated this oddly overlooked facet of the case and identified some federal laws going back to the 1870s prohibiting adverse job actions designed to influence testimony in a federal trial, but I'm not as ready as Marty was to excuse the court's failure to bring this structural point up on its own. The excuse Marty offered was that this basic ban on actions interposing state authority to obstruct the full enforcement of federal laws hadn't been presented in the pleadings. As if this court has never been known to broaden the lens of its inquiry when doing so would nudge the law in a direction the majority deemed important!

Apparently jockeying with Mike Huckabee for the title of "Biggest and Loudest Homophobe" at the upcoming first GOP presidential debate, Rick Santorum (once again) flexed his social conservative credentials - linking the Supreme Court's recent marriage equality ruling with that of Roe v. Wade. Said Santorum at the National Right to Life Committee's annual convention: This is a very difficult time in America. We've seen some court decisions that I know have pepole very upset about what the future of the family and marriage and our culture is looking like. I just want to remind everybody where that decision came from. That decision came from - I gave many speeches during my presidential and prior to that my Senate career talking about Roe v Wade being the cancer that is infecting the body of America. And you saw Roe and its subsequent decisions bear its ugly head in the case of the gay marriage decision just a few days ago...

Michael Payne - July 8, 2015 The U.S. government makes it a priority to chase down and hunt suspected terrorists throughout the world, but does not look within its own country. Acts of terror are occurring every day on U.S. streets, like mass shootings and murder, with very little government focus. Paul Buchheit - June 8, 2015 Maybe it's time we inform our soldiers of their likely roles in the killing machine, because war does not bring freedom. Instead, it invites young men and women to start on their own personal worlds of terror.

Free speech advocate Dr. Jordan Peterson, who has taken a stand against genderless pronouns, had his Gmail and Youtube accounts locked Tuesday, and Google is offering "no explanation" as to why. Here we are a decade after the start of the Subprime Mortgage Crisis of 2007 and many people still believe the primary cause was excessive freedom and a corresponding lack of government intervention in housing and financial markets. But is that belief warranted? July 30th's fraudulent and illegitimate vote to install a constituent assembly in Venezuela is the definitive step towards consolidating a de jure dictatorship in that country. A Michigan college arrested a student and two other individuals for handing out copies of the Constitution and their day in court has arrived. Young adults aren't taught to realistically evaluate their own skills in light of the job market and make wiser, more pragmatic - if less ego-gratifying - choices.

Although the judge ruled out the necessity defense in the Flood Wall Street case, he did take judicial notice of climate change. Thank you for subscribing. You'll receive your first newsletter soon. View all newsletters >> (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices

When supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg targeted Donald Trump with her personal attacks and invectives many people were stunned. Many pundits and Legal-types were aghast, because the ramifications were/are considerable given the number of executive branch legal issues that end up in SCOTUS. Under a President Trump, Ginsburg's clear bias would mean solid arguments she would have to recuse herself from any cases originating within a Trump administration. But from Justice Ginsburg's perspective she has nothing to lose. Ginsburg is all in for Hillary Clinton to win the election. Ginsburg is not going to remain on the court in 2017. Ergo the "recuse issue" is moot. The next POTUS is going to select Gingsburg's replacement. The walk-back is face saving for the cause only. "On reflection, my recent remarks in response to press inquiries were ill-advised and I regret making them," Justice Ginsburg said in a statement on Thursday. "Judges should avoid commenting on a candidate for public office. In the future I will be more circumspect." ( link )

In an audio message posted to social media Thursday, a man suspected to be Islamic State of Iraq and Syria leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi urges his followers to "erupt volcanoes of jihad" to counter U.S.-led air strikes against the terror group, which has seized territory throughout Iraq and Syria. The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, 10/14/14, 5:46 PM ET ISIS Explained: Who is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi? In part seven of The Last Word series, ISIS Explained, Laith Alkhouri explains how dangerous the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, really is. share tweet email save Embed If verified, this is the first public statement from Baghdadi since an on-camera appearance in July. Speculation circulated over the weekend that the ISIS leader had been wounded as a result of U.S.-coalition airstrikes, although the details - whether Baghdadi was actually hit, where he was located in Iraq, and which country's strike dealt the blow - remain murky. The U.S. has not confirmed that Baghdadi was attacked, contrary to statements made by the Iraqi defense and interior ministries. In the 17-minute message, Baghdadi issues a rallying cry to ISIS troops, saying God is on the militants' side. He calls the opposing Western coalition "terrified, weak and powerless" and says they will be "forced" to "send ground forces to their death and destruction." The self-declared caliph says coalition airstrikes "have not prevented [ISIS's] advance, nor weakened its resolve." In his call to action, Baghdadi urges other militant groups worldwide to wage jihad in their home countries. Earlier this week, the Egyptian group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis pledged support to Baghdadi, rejecting its home country's "blasphemous democracy." Supporters in Eastern Libya, Jordan, and Pakistan have also pledged allegiance to the terrorist group - along with a mosque in Denmark and a man in Texas . The audio message references the support of the Egyptian group, indicating that it was recorded recently, although not by whom. It also mentions the Obama administration's decision to send an additional 1,500 troops to Iraq "under the claim they are advisers." President Obama announced the deployment, which would nearly double the number of American soldiers in the country, on Friday. In a hearing Thursday morning on Capitol Hill, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel testified that ISIS "still represents a serious threat and wields influence over a wide swath of Iraq and Syria," despite being stalled in some parts of the region by Kurdish forces supported by U.S. coalition airstrikes. The Obama administration is requesting an additional $5.6 billion in the fight against ISIS, including funds to bolster the Iraqi military and Kurdish forces, and to support State Department initiatives. NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel reported Thursday that Kurdish and Free Syrian Army fighters in Kobani are running low on ammunition. As a former member of al Qaeda, Baghdadi spent four years in a U.S. prison camp during the Iraq War. The U.S. is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture. He has led ISIS since 2010.

The New York Times came out with a story yesterday about why ISIS leaders are hoping that the U.S. sends in troops to battle them in order to fulfill their prophecy of waging an apocalyptic showdown with American forces in Syria, where the true forces of Islam will defeat Western crusaders. Former Sen. Rick Santorum may want to read the report and similar observations from other ISIS experts, as he told the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins on his " Washington Watch " program yesterday that ISIS is glad that President Obama opposes sending ground troops into Syria and that he has denied that the terrorist group represents Muslims at large. The GOP presidential candidate said that the U.S. should in fact "identify and accept the fact" that ISIS is "an Islamic Sunni caliphate" and then "invade their land." He went on to say that ISIS is not perverting the Islamic faith but "really is an orthodox interpretation of Islam."

News of the move to recapture Qaraqosh sparked jubilation among Christians who had fled the town, with many singing in the city of Erbil. Iraqi forces stormed Qaraqosh, about 15 kilometers (10 miles) southeast Mosul, Tuesday but the terrorists remained in the town. Units from Iraq's elite counter-terrorism service (CTS), which has done the heavy lifting in most recent operations against ISIL, were poised to flush extremists out of the town, officers said. "We are surrounding Hamdaniya now," Lieutenant General Riyadh Tawfiq, commander of Iraq's ground forces, told AFP at the main staging base of Qayyarah, referring to the district that includes Qaraqosh. "We are preparing a plan to assault it and clear it later," he said. "There are some pockets (of resistance), some clashes, they send car bombs - but it will not help them." Displaced Christians held early celebrations Tuesday night in Erbil where they fled after ISIL seized the town. After gathering for a group prayer outside a church in the city, some in the crowd sang and clapped their hands, while others held lit candles. "Today is a happy moment. There is no doubt our land will be liberated and we thank God, Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary," said Hazem Djedjou Cardomi, a journalist among the crowd. Qaraqosh was the largest of many Christian towns and villages seized by the terrorists who swept across the Nineveh Plain east of Mosul in August 2014. Qaraqosh was a town of around 50,000 people in 2014 and is home to at least seven churches, making it a key hub for the more than 300,000 Christians still in Iraq. Three days into Mosul operation, Iraqi forces were closing in on the last stronghold of the terrorists from several directions, including the south where federal troops and police have been battling through Daesh defenses and retaking villages as they work their way up the Tigris Valley.

The growing phenomenon of rebel-on-rebel violence has sapped strength from the broader opposition movement to Syrian President Bashar Assad, underscoring the rebels' inability to unite around a common command and for Assad's deeply divided political opponents in the Western-backed opposition group to unify their platforms. A Turkish official said the 17-year-old boy was killed in the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar by a stray bullet on Tuesday while another teenager was in a hospital in serious condition. The official from the Ceylanpinar mayor's office spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The Turkish military said in a brief statement that it fired into Syria in retaliation to shots fired into Turkey, including several that hit a police station in Ceylanpinar. It gave no further detail on the attack but the pro-Kurdish Firat news agency said the military fired artillery at an area in Ras al-Ayn. The official in Ceylanpinar said the military targeted PYD gunmen but had no information on any casualties or damage. Turkey was once a close Syrian ally, but turned into one of Syrian President Bashar Assad regime's harshest critics and is a key supporter Syrian rebels. Turkey has repeatedly struck back at the Syrian territory in response to shelling, mortar rounds or fire from across the border since shells from Syria struck a Turkish village in October, killing five people. The Observatory said members of jihadi groups had to withdraw from Ras al-ayn to nearby villages. It said Kurdish gunmen captured a number of fighters in the area. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/07/17/turkey-fires-into-syria-after-stray-bullet-from-battle-across-border-kill-1

Numerous reports have emerged in recent days claiming that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a U.S. airstrike. However, the Pentagon cannot confirm Mideast reports that he was killed or severely wounded in an airstrike on Sunday in Syria, a U.S. defense spokesman said Wednesday . "We don't have any confirmation of that," Army Col. Chris Garver said. "We didn't strike in Raqqa that day. We can't confirm one way or the other" but "if we get an opportunity to get him, we will take it." However, some reports claim that ISIS may be covering up the death of Baghdadi in an effort to maintain morale. Baghdadi, born to a lower-class Sunni family in 1971 in Samarra, Iraq, claims to be a descendant of Muhammad. He carries himself notably different than Osama bin Laden, who would often appear in videos waging war against the Western world. His only appearance came during an Islamic propaganda video last summer, when he led a sermon in a mosque in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. A bounty of $10 million has reportedly been set on his head.

President Obama said this weekend that his decision to send another 1,500 U.S. troops to Iraq "signals a new phase" in the fight against ISIS . "Rather than just try to halt ISIL 's momentum, we're now in a position to start going on some offense," he told CBS News. Right on cue, reports have emerged that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS , was wounded or even killed in an air strike conducted on Saturday. Coalition forces hit a house near Qaim where 30 leaders of the extremist group were meeting, and Iraq's Defense and Interior ministries say that al-Baghdadi was among those wounded. Many of those targeted in the attack were killed, but Sunni tribal leaders supporting ISIS said al-Baghdadi was alive. Sabah Karhout, head of the Anbar provincial council, told Bloomberg News that the leader was taken to the Syrian city of al-Raqqa for medical treatment. American officials said they're still assessing the reports. Al-Baghdadi's demise would be a significant milestone in the fight against ISIS . He has a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head and is responsible for transforming ISIS from a local Al Qaeda branch into an independent organization that controls large parts of Syria and Iraq and is so brutal even Al Qaeda wants no part of it. However, it's possible that his death would have minimal impact if someone else is ready to take control of ISIS . "If there is a functioning and competent chain of command, then the death or incapacitation of Baghdadi and other senior leaders could be a blip," said Fred Hof, a former special representative on Syria for the State Department who now works for the Atlantic Council. "An important one, but a blip nonetheless."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. gun lobby is taking aim at "gun-hating" banks after Citigroup Inc and Bank of America said they would no longer provide certain banking services to gun-makers, according to industry lobbyists. The attack by Gun Owners of America and the National Rifle Association (NRA) could imperil de-regulatory gains the banks had hoped to win from Republican lawmakers and regulators, many of whom are staunch defenders of the Second-Amendment right to bear arms, according to industry sources. In March, Citigroup put restrictions on new retail business clients which sell guns to require their customers to pass background checks, following February's Florida high school shooting that killed 17 people. Weeks later, Bank of America said it would no longer lend to companies that make military-style firearms for civilians. Gun-control activists and Democrats praised the policy, urging other financial firms to follow suit. But gun owners and manufactures say it encroaches on Americans' constitutional rights and they are fighting back. Gun Owners of America (GOA), a Washington-based lobby group, has asked lawmakers to add a provision to a draft law rewriting bank rules that it says would prevent "gun-hating banks" from "discriminating" against firearms makers. The bill reforming the 2010 Dodd Frank act is set to be voted on by the House of Representatives next week. While financial-industry lobbyists say the bill is likely to pass without the provision on gun-lending, the firearms issue is threatening to turn the powerful gun lobby into an adversary for banks on other regulatory issues longer term. "Citigroup and Bank of America are threatening our Second-Amendment rights. They do not realize how much more there is to lose than to gain," by their new policies, said GOA's executive director, Erich Pratt. The group this month wrote to its 1.5 million members urging them to petition House lawmakers to vote against the bill if the provision is not added. "Our members will take direct action to such discriminatory lending practices by these banks," Pratt added. Citigroup and Bank of America declined to comment. Charles Adcox, a member of GOA, has stopped accepting Citi and Bank of America credit cards at his Missouri gun shop Black River Armory in response to their new policy. "My more loyal customers don't mind paying in cash. Some even wish to drop their credit-card companies for gun-friendly alternatives," Adcox told Reuters. The NRA is running an advertisement campaign criticizing Citi and Bank of America online, adding that Citi may be encouraging retailers to violate anti-discrimination laws. "The NRA will continue to promote awareness of those companies who seek to infringe upon the Second Amendment rights of American citizens," William Brewer, partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors and counsel for the NRA, said in a statement. "POOR STRATEGY" Mike Crapo, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, which writes banking rules and oversees Wall Street regulators, wrote to the chief executives of both lenders in April chastising them for trying to "manage social policy", according to reports. J.W. Verret, professor of Banking Law at Scalia Law School, said the banks' gun policies appeared to be a "terrifically poor strategy" at a time when they had stood to gain from a political push to cut red tape across the financial industry - potentially reducing their access to lawmakers and regulators. "There might be a timing challenge in getting that particular provision in this bill but it means that the number of offices that takes Citi's phone calls in the next year or two on the Hill has just been cut in half." The gun issue is unlikely to go away as mass shootings grab the nation's attention. Multiple people were killed on Friday in a shooting at a high school in Texas, a law enforcement source said. As lawmakers aim to relax banking regulations almost 10 years after the start of the 2007-2009 crisis, banking lobbyists have been increasingly active on Capitol Hill. The Dodd Frank rewrite now being considered in the House would relax lending and capital and mid-size banks, give a capital break to some large banks' custody businesses, and includes a provision that would directly benefit Citi's bond trading business. (Reporting by Katanga Johnson; Editing by Michelle Price and Alistair Bell) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

Top asset manager BlackRock announced Thursday it will offer new products tailored specifically to clients who want to avoid investing in gun manufacturers and retailers, in response to increasing public pressure on corporations to distance themselves from the industry. BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, will offer two new exchange funds, as well as a number of index funds for pensions and employee-retirement plans, which will not invest in gun manufacturers and large gun-retailer stocks. The firm said it developed the products -- which will exclude companies like Walmart, Dick's Sporting Goods, Ruger, and others -- in response to client interest. Stay Updated with NR Daily NR's afternoon roundup of the day's best commentary & must-read analysis. In a note to clients, obtained by CNBC , BlackRock said the funds are being offered "to provide more choice for clients seeking to exclude firearms companies from their portfolios." Gun retailers like Walmart and Dick's Sporting's Goods have already responded to the wave of demonstrations and public sentiment in favor of gun control by raising the minimum age for gun purchases from 18 to 21. Citigroup became the first large U.S. financial institution to take action by requiring that its clients that manufacture and sell guns implement a minimum purchase age of 21, among other restrictions. BlackRock, which controls more than $5 trillion in pension and endowment assets, told clients that it would take action last month in the wake of the Parkland mass shooting that claimed 17 lives. The company said it felt an obligation to lead the way considering its position as one of the largest institutional investors in gun manufacturer Ruger and American Outdoor Brands. Jack Crowe -- Jack Crowe is a news writer at National Review Online. By Frederick M. Hess & Grant Addison

With little movement in Congress, gun control advocates are turning to the private sector to drum up support for their cause. A new report from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has found that corporate America is increasingly taking a stance on firearms policy. In the wake of a mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school in February, a social media movement sought boycotts of companies that offered discounts to members of the National Rifle Association. A slew of companies cut ties with the group. Institutional investors were also pressured to engage with the publicly traded firearms manufacturers they invest in, and retailers were encouraged to change their firearms sales policies. "In addition to the concrete actions corporations are taking to reform their own policies or require more accountability from the gun industry, some businesses are taking extra steps and putting pressure on Congress to pass meaningful gun reforms," the report found, citing action by Dick's Sporting Goods Inc., Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., Kroger Co. and L.L. Bean Inc. "Companies that provide services to gun makers and sellers--like bankers, accountants, and lawyers--as well as institutional shareholders, can help save lives in America by requiring that their gun clients adhere to commonsense policies." The trend reminds some of how corporations showed support for marriage equality and condemned the tobacco industry, said Avery Gardiner, co-president of Brady. While she's "heartened" by corporate America's stance, Gardiner said congressional action is "absolutely the lynch pin." But in Washington, the firearms industry and its political allies are fighting back. After Dick's Sporting Goods hired gun control lobbyists, the National Shooting Sports Foundation expelled the retailer from the industry group and hired lobbyist Will Hollier, whose work will focus on "discriminatory banking actions against [the] firearms industry," according to a disclosure document. Citigroup and Bank of America, which both made changes to their firearms-industry lending policies, faced blowback from conservatives in Washington. "It looks like we're heading towards red banks and blue banks," Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana said during a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in early April.

Bank of America is backing away from companies that make military-style assault rifles for civilian use. "It's our intention not to finance these military-style firearms for civilian use," Anne Finucane, a vice chairman at Bank of America, said Tuesday in a Bloomberg Television interview. The bank has had "intense conversations over the last few months" with those kinds of gun manufacturers to tell them it will not finance their operations in the future, she said. Finucane said Bank of America also will not underwrite securities issued by manufacturers of military-style guns used by civilians. According to Bloomberg, it is the first time an executive at the nation's second-largest bank has publicly laid out how it will deal with gun-industry clients following Feb. 14 shootings at a high school in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead. But reaction to the plan has been "mixed" among gun companies, she said. "There are those that will reduce their portfolios, and we'll work with them, and others that will do something else," she told Bloomberg TV. According to Bloomberg news, at least a half-dozen of the nation's major gun manufacturers produce military-style firearms, including Remington Outdoor Co., Sturm Ruger & Co., SIG Sauer, Vista Outdoor Inc., O.F. Mossberg & Sons, and American Outdoor Brands Corp. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry lobby, puts the economic impact of the gun and ammunition industry at $51.1 billion nationwide in 2017, Bloomberg reported -- and criticized the bank's move. "We as an industry would welcome the opportunity to sit down with Bank of America executives and explain our industry's perspective to discuss what really would work to keep firearms out of the hands of those who should not have them," said Michael Bazinet, a spokesman for the NSSF. "We should be part of the discussion."

The nation's second-largest bank, Bank of America, becomes the latest private company to join the gun control movement. In the wake of tragic mass school shooting that took place in Parkland, Florida, a number of corporate giants stood up against the nation's lukewarm gun control policies. Most recently, the Bank of America came forward to contribute toward restricting the usage of military-style weapons. The corporation announced it will stop lending money to companies that make assault-style guns for civilians. "We have let them know that we are going to, it's not our intent to underwrite or finance military-style firearms in a go-forward basis," Anne Finucane, the vice chair for Bank of America, told the Bloomberg. "We want to contribute in any way we can to reduce these mass shootings," Finucane added. This decision from the country's multinational financial services provider came after the corporation said it was exploring ways to help prevent daily gun rampages back in February. It is for the first time an executive at the second-biggest U.S. bank has publicly laid out a plan of action it will pursue in dealing with gun-industry clients. The entities who are most likely to take a hit from the firm's decision are the gun makers -- and they have apparently expressed "mixed" views. "There are those that will reduce their portfolios, and we'll work with them, and others that will do something else," explained Finucane. In the aftermath of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, several of companies ranging from Enterprise Rent-A-Car to Delta and United Airlines broke ties with the National Rifle Association. The bank's decision has a wide net, considering at least a half-dozen of the nation's major gun manufacturers produce military-style firearms. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry lobby, criticized the bank's move by saying it's wrong that semiautomatic rifles, long available to civilians, were put under the category of military-style weapons. "We as an industry would welcome the opportunity to sit down with Bank of America executives and explain our industry's perspective to discuss what really would work to keep firearms out of the hands of those who should not have them," said Michael Bazinet, a spokesman for the NSSF. "We should be part of the discussion." Read More

In an interview on Bloomberg TV , Bank of America Vice Chair Anne Finucane said the bank will no longer "underwrite or finance military military-style firearms" and has already informed several gun manufacturers that the bank will no longer do business with them. When asked if this decision meant that Bank of America would also stop doing business with retailers selling these weapons, Finucane hemmed and hawed about civil liberties and the Second Amendment, then stated that such a decision was "a ways off."

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump sent the chairman of the Republican National Committee an email late last night, after the Commander In Chief forum aired on NBC. RNC Chair Reince Priebus told reporters about the email this morning, and he said that the email has left him "in quite a bind." "Donald emailed me last night," Priebus told reporters "and asked if there was any way he could call in Vladimir Putin to be what he called a 'pinch president' for him." Throughout the campaign Trump has shown warmth toward the Russian president, despite Putin's leadership being questionable and aggressive. At a time when many in the world fear that Putin is too much a throwback to 19th and 20th century militaristic leaders, Trump has shown a fondness for Putin, and during the Commander In Chief forum, he seemed to tell host Matt Lauer that the Russian leader's approval ratings were important because they were very high. Priebus told the press he wasn't too sure what Trump meant by "pinch president," and so he asked him to clarify his request. "You know, like, can Vlad just come in and finish it out for me," Preibus told the media Trump asked him, "I had no clue this election was so friggin' long. I came down that escalator last year, and I thought it would be like, I go down the escalator, I say some things about America being great again, I say some more stuff about Mexicans being rapists and murderers and drug dealers, and then bing-bang-boom, you presidentify me. I'm tired Reince, and I'm told this president gig is somewhere where I'm going to be asked to put in, what, five, six solid hours of work? Yeesh." Chairman Priebus reported that he told Trump that wasn't possible. He said that Trump then went quiet for a full three minutes, which Priebus said would alarm anyone who knows Donald Trump. "That man never shuts up," Priebus said, "and I think at his funeral we'll still hear him yammering away in his coffin. So I asked him why he got so quiet, and he said he was thinking. Which is also a scary thing for anyone who knows Donald. When he thinks, weird words come out of his mouth." Mr. Priebus said after another couple minutes of mostly silence and mild flatulence on the other end of the phone, Trump suddenly spoke up with another question. "Okay, let's just say I get elected, right," Trump began, "what if I get bored part-way through? Can Vladimir take over then? Like, after I'm elected and shit?" Priebus told Trump that also would violate the Constitution. "The cunt-sty-who-now," Trump asked, genuinely perplexed by the multi-syllabic word. "The Constitution, Donald, it's the document our country's government is founded on," Priebus reminded him, "remember those flash cards I sent you? Anyway, it says you'd have to hand control of the Executive branch over to Mike Pence if you quit, you can't give it to Putin." Trump asked if the RNC had any "good, top, Matzoh eating lawyers" that could "do their legal mumbo jumbo" and get him permission to hand control of the country over to Vladimir Putin. Priebus told Trump no lawyer can do that. That's when Trump became very nervous and concerned sounding, Priebus said. "Well, okay, I um, have to go make a long distance phone call...to Moscow," Trump said, "Vlad isn't going to be happy to hear this. But maybe we can work something out under the table after I'm elected." Current polling shows a narrowing race between Trump and Hillary Clinton, while Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight projection still gives Clinton a decisive edge in the odds to win the General Election.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump sent the chairman of the Republican National Committee an email late last night, after the Commander In Chief forum aired on NBC. RNC Chair Reince Priebus told reporters about the email this morning, and he said that the email has left him "in quite a bind." "Donald emailed me last night," Priebus told reporters "and asked if there was any way he could call in Vladimir Putin to be what he called a 'pinch president' for him." Throughout the campaign Trump has shown warmth toward the Russian president, despite Putin's leadership being questionable and aggressive. At a time when many in the world fear that Putin is too much a throwback to 19th and 20th century militaristic leaders, Trump has shown a fondness for Putin, and during the Commander In Chief forum, he seemed to tell host Matt Lauer that the Russian leader's approval ratings were important because they were very high. Priebus told the press he wasn't too sure what Trump meant by "pinch president," and so he asked him to clarify his request. "You know, like, can Vlad just come in and finish it out for me," Preibus told the media Trump asked him, "I had no clue this election was so friggin' long. I came down that escalator last year, and I thought it would be like, I go down the escalator, I say some things about America being great again, I say some more stuff about Mexicans being rapists and murderers and drug dealers, and then bing-bang-boom, you presidentify me. I'm tired Reince, and I'm told this president gig is somewhere where I'm going to be asked to put in, what, five, six solid hours of work? Yeesh." Chairman Priebus reported that he told Trump that wasn't possible. He said that Trump then went quiet for a full three minutes, which Priebus said would alarm anyone who knows Donald Trump. "That man never shuts up," Priebus said, "and I think at his funeral we'll still hear him yammering away in his coffin. So I asked him why he got so quiet, and he said he was thinking. Which is also a scary thing for anyone who knows Donald. When he thinks, weird words come out of his mouth." Mr. Priebus said after another couple minutes of mostly silence and mild flatulence on the other end of the phone, Trump suddenly spoke up with another question. "Okay, let's just say I get elected, right," Trump began, "what if I get bored part-way through? Can Vladimir take over then? Like, after I'm elected and shit?" Priebus told Trump that also would violate the Constitution. "The cunt-sty-who-now," Trump asked, genuinely perplexed by the multi-syllabic word. "The Constitution, Donald, it's the document our country's government is founded on," Priebus reminded him, "remember those flash cards I sent you? Anyway, it says you'd have to hand control of the Executive branch over to Mike Pence if you quit, you can't give it to Putin." Trump asked if the RNC had any "good, top, Matzoh eating lawyers" that could "do their legal mumbo jumbo" and get him permission to hand control of the country over to Vladimir Putin. Priebus told Trump no lawyer can do that. That's when Trump became very nervous and concerned sounding, Priebus said. "Well, okay, I um, have to go make a long distance phone call...to Moscow," Trump said, "Vlad isn't going to be happy to hear this. But maybe we can work something out under the table after I'm elected." Current polling shows a narrowing race between Trump and Hillary Clinton, while Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight projection still gives Clinton a decisive edge in the odds to win the General Election.

"They're embarrassed by it, but I think it's a disgrace," Trump told reporters, before heading to Texas for a briefing on Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts and a Republican fundraiser. "It's a very sad commentary on politics in this country." "The whole Russia thing ... this was the Democrats coming up with an excuse for losing the election," Trump told reporters. "They lost it and they lost it very badly. And they didn't know what to say, so they made up the whole Russia hoax." "Now it's turning out that the hoax is turned around, and you look at what's happened with Russia and the uranium deal and the fake dossier, and it's all turned around." Asked Wednesday if he knows who that was [the Repulican who funded the firm's research], Trump teased the media. "I think I would know but I won't say," he said. "I have one name in mind. ... It will probably be revealed."

After Wednesday's cabinet meeting wrapped up, Trump responded to a reporter who asked if Russia is still targeting the U.S. by saying, "Thank you very much, no," After two days of beltway cacophony as a result of Trump's Helstinky summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Donald threw another wrench into America's intelligence services. DNI Dan Coats just told the American people, "The warning signs are there. The system is blinking," over new Russian cyber-terrorism threats, but that was thrown out with the bathwater. As Trump's people were trying to usher the press away, a reporter asked, "Is Russia still targeting the U.S., Mr. President?" Trump replied, "Thank you very much, no," After saying "no," Trump then continued on with a little revisionism, "And I think President Putin knows that better than anybody certainly a lot better than the media. He understands it and he's not happy about it and he shouldn't be happy about it. Because there's never been a President as tough on Russia as I have been." Too bad Trump was too cowardly to directly confront his "competitor" on the international stage. Even if he had said this and not sucked up to the Russian emperor, he'd have fared a bit better, but instead he meekly acquiesced to a murderous thug. And then puts on a different show out of Putin's shadow, as if we have the memory of...a Fox News viewer? That explains it. UPDATE: Sarah Sanders is denying it now, creating two competing stories so they can use whichever one works, depending on the audience.

The White House's attempt to reassure the public about the 2018 election was a massive failure. Putin's serial humiliation of Trump reared its ugly head again Thursday when a pair of top national security officials demonstrated their lack of knowledge about what occurred the summit between the two leaders last month. The White House held a press briefing on 2018 election security that was conducted by Sarah Huckabee Sanders and five high-ranking officials, including Trump national security adviser John Bolton and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats. Reuters correspondent Jeff Mason asked both Coats and Bolton to explain why Trump did not discuss Russian "malign activity" at the Helsinki summit. Director Coats, who is in charge of the United States' entire intelligence community, replied that "I'm not in a position to either understand fully, or talk about, what happened in Helsinki." Coats referred the question to Bolton, who told reporters that "President Putin said, I thought at the press conference, but certainly in the expanded bilateral meeting when the two leaders got together with their senior advisers, President Putin said the first issue that president Trump raised was election meddling." The reason that Coats knew nothing about the summit, and Bolton was forced to take Putin's word for it that Trump said something about election meddling, is that Trump insisted on meeting alone with Putin. But at the joint press conference that Bolton referenced, Putin did not say that election meddling was the "first issue" that Trump raised. Instead, Putin derisively told reporters that Trump "mentioned the issue of the so-called interference," and repeated his denials. Trump then responded by telling the world that he believed Putin's denial over his own intelligence community, and DNI Coats specifically. Since that summit, the secret meeting has continued to be an embarrassment for American officials, who were left in the dark when Russia announced unspecified agreements it had made with Trump, and for Republicans, who have blocked efforts to learn what actually happened between Trump and the Russian dictator. Thursday's briefing was obviously intended as a show of force to bolster confidence in the security of the 2018 midterm elections, but all Coats and Bolton succeeded in doing is reminding Americans how much closer Trump is to Putin than his own people. - Advertisement -

U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed Washington, D.C., meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin has been delayed until 2019. National security adviser John Bolton, in a statement Wednesday, cited special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election as the reason. "The president believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over," Bolton said, "so we've agreed that it will be after the first of the year." Trump proposed the invitation last week amid backlash over his comments at meetings with Putin in Helsinki. On Tuesday, congressional Republican leaders said that the Russian president is not welcome on Capitol Hill. House Speaker Paul Ryan said Putin would not address Congress because "that is something we reserve for allies." Russian foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov had already tossed cold water on the idea, telling journalists in Moscow that there were "other options that our leaders could consider." Read more from The Sift Share this article with friends.

Darron Birgenheier via Flickr The Washington Post published an extensive look at President Donald Trump's obsession with anti-immigrant rhetoric even though he doesn't actually understand immigration law. The report noted that Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen says her job is nearly impossible to do because Trump doesn't understand what he's talking about but continues to berate her over the flow of migrants into the US. The report included this jaw-dropping anecdote showing Trump's obsession with immigration has nothing to do with policy but rather as fuel to fire up his racist supporters: The night before Trump delivered his first speech to Congress in February 2017, he huddled with senior adviser Jared Kushner and Miller in the Oval Office to talk immigration. The president reluctantly agreed with suggestions he strike a gentler tone on immigration in the speech. Trump reminded them the crowds loved his rhetoric on immigrants along the campaign trail. Acting as if he were at a rally, he then read aloud a few made-up Hispanic names and described potential crimes they could have committed, such as rape or murder. Then, he said, the crowds would roar when the criminals were thrown out of the country -- as they did when he highlighted crimes by illegal immigrants at his rallies, according to a person present for the exchange and another briefed on it later. Miller and Kushner laughed. A senior White House official claimed Trump did not make up names but admitted he discussed "crowd enthusiasm for crackdowns on criminal aliens."

Hillary Clinton was confronted in Iowa by DREAM Act supporters over the weekend who wanted to know if she supported Obama's recent delay on immigration. Clinton wouldn't answer the question directly though, only responding with retorts like 'don't want to ever stop working' and 'we need to elect more Democrats'. Watch: Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

It's not clear if the prosecutor offered the plea deal as a way to allow Al Khammasi to avoid deportation that would have been triggered if he was convicted of the more serious crimes he was accused of. The Gazette reported that a court document indicated that he had an immigration hold on him at the time, but it's not clear what ever came of that, and the sheriff's office didn't have a record of it. The shooting happened Thursday morning at about 2:45 a.m. on East Boulder Street on the east side of the city when officers responded to multiple reports of shots being fired near Bonfoy Avenue and Boulder Street.

Alissa Tabirian / April 02, 2014 Alissa Tabirian / April 01, 2014 Federal immigration officials last year charged only one of every four "deportable" illegal immigrants and released more than a third of those convicted of crimes,... Read More Alissa Tabirian / March 28, 2014 In a speech challenging the abortion industry and its portrayals in today's mainstream culture, pro-life activist Lila Rose, president of Live Action, criticized the "system"... Read More Alissa Tabirian / March 21, 2014 Alissa Tabirian / March 14, 2014 Jeh Johnson, President Obama's new secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, this week admitted that "a very large fraction" of deportations aren't really... Read More

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January 17, 2018 12:06 pm The White House on Wednesday released a statement honoring the late civil rights activist and politician Barbara Jordan in an effort to bring Republicans and Democrats together on immigration reform. January 16, 2018 8:13 pm Luis Bracamontes, an illegal immigrant from Mexico accused of killing two cops, laughed during his trial proceedings on Tuesday and threatened to break out of prison soon to kill more cops. Democratic Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper said on Tuesday that the time for full immigration reform from Congress has come.

GREAT MILLS, Md. (AP) -- A student with a handgun shot two classmates inside his Maryland high school Tuesday before he was fatally wounded during a confrontation with a school resource officer, a sheriff said. The officer and the student both fired a single shot at that point, and it wasn't immediately clear whether he took his own life or was killed by the officer's bullet, St. Mary's County Sheriff Tim Cameron said. The other students - a boy and a girl - were hospitalized in critical condition, and the officer was unharmed. "When the shooting took place, our school resource officer, who was stationed inside the school, was alerted to the event and the shots being fired. He pursued the shooter and engaged the shooter, during which that engagement he fired a round at the shooter," Cameron said. "Simultaneously the shooter fired a round as well. So, in the hours to come, in the days to come, through a detailed investigation, we will be able to determine if our SRO's round struck the shooter." The shooter has been identified as Austin Wyatt Rollins, age 17. The shooter's motive also is being investigated, the sheriff said. "I'm alerted to a number of things that are out there on social media about the potential relationship between the shooter and any of the victims. At this time, we can't confirm any of that," Cameron said. You Might Like Agents with the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined deputies at the scene. This shooting at Great Mills High School comes as lawmakers nationwide face pressure to take action against gun violence following the Valentine's Day killings of 17 people at a Florida high school by a teenager with an assault weapon. Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer praised the first responders, saying the officer at the school "answered the call this morning with swiftness, professionalism, and courage." He said it's now for Congress to take action. "We sympathize. We empathize. We have moments of silence. But we don't have action," Hoyer said. "Wringing our hands is not enough." Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., also spoke to reporters near the high school, and expressing anger and saying that at a minimum, universal background checks and a ban on assault-style weapons are needed. He said he believes momentum is building for reform, fueled by student activism. "These students are literally just not taking 'no' for an answer," Cardin said. "I can tell you that Americans are listening to our students. I think our political system will respond." Maryland's Senate joined the House on Monday night to ban bump stocks, which enable a semi-automatic rifle to mimic a fully automatic weapon. Teachers union leaders issued statements Tuesday saying more policies must be changed nationwide to keep schools safe. Great Mills High School has about 1,600 students and is near the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, about 65 miles (104 kilometers) southeast of Washington. On Tuesday, ambulances, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles crowded the parking lot and the street outside, where about 20 school buses lined up in the rain to take students to nearby Leonardtown High School to be picked up by their parent or guardians. Many students across the country are calling for effective gun controls, leading up to Saturday's March For Our Lives rally in the nation's capital against gun violence in schools. The violence hasn't abated since the massacre in Parkland, Florida; A high school student in Birmingham, Alabama, was killed this month when a classmate fired a gun inside a classroom. Threats against schools have proliferated as well, and Great Mills High has not been immune. Just last month, the school's principal, Jake Heibel, told parents in a letter posted on the local news site The Bay Net that two students were interviewed after they were overheard mentioning a school shooting, and they were found to pose no threat. Heibel said the school increased its security nevertheless after social media posts about a possible school shooting "circulated quite extensively." Also last month, St. Mary's County Sheriff's office said it arrested two teenage boys for "Threats of Mass Violence" and a 39-year-old man on related charges after the teens made threats about a potential school shooting at Leonardtown High School, a high school about 10 miles from Great Mills. Police said they obtained a search warrant that led to them finding semi-automatic rifles, handguns and other weapons, along with ammunition. Associated Press contributors include Alex Brandon, Brian Witte, Matthew Daley, Alan Suderman, Sarah Rankin, David McFadden and Courtney Columbus. (c) 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. This content is published through a licensing agreement with Acquire Media using its NewsEdge technology. VN:D [1.9.6_1107] Rating: 5.7/ 10 (6 votes cast) Another school shooting... but with a different result, shooter dead , 5.7 out of 10 based on 6 ratings

A new analysis by The Washington Post found that more people have been killed in schools across the United States than have been killed while serving in the US military--and that's just for the first four-and-a-half months of 2018. The shooting deaths of ten people at a Texas high school on Friday brought the total to 29 deaths in 16 different incidents in the US. According to Defense Department data, only 13 service member fatalities were recorded in seven incidents during the same time period. As The Hill point out, the Washington Post is not suggesting that schools are more dangerous than combat zones. Last year, the number of military fatalities was significantly greater than the number of people killed in school shootings. The Post noted that there are more than 50 million students in public schools but only 1.3 million members of the armed forces. Service members are still about 17 times more likely to be killed than someone in a school shooting. Texas Governor Greg Abbott called the shooting "one of the most heinous attacks that we've ever seen in the history of Texas schools," according to ABC News . Two weapons were used in the massacre--a shotgun and a .38 revolver--both of which appear to be legally owned by the suspect's father, Abbott said, adding, "I have no information if the father was aware the son had taken these weapons from the father." Explosive devices were also found at the school, and devices including a Molotov cocktail were found in a car and a home, authorities said. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos issued a statement that frankly says little and means even less: My prayers are with each student, parent, educator and first responder impacted. Our schools must be safe and nurturing environments for learning. No student should have to experience the trauma suffered by so many today and in similar events prior. We simply cannot allow this trend to continue. Every day, the Federal Commission on School Safety is working to identify proven ways to prevent violence and keep our students safe at school. Our work remains urgent. Our nation must come together and address the underlying issues that lead to such tragic and senseless loss of life. Donald Trump just humiliated Melania in a "Welcome Back" tweet (Details). Except, of course, effective gun control, which no one in the Trump administration and few in the GOP-controlled Congress have any interest in implementing, virtually ensuring a steady stream of dead students for years to come.

GREAT MILLS, Md. (AP) -- A student with a handgun shot two classmates inside his Maryland high school Tuesday before he was fatally wounded during a confrontation with a school resource officer, a sheriff said. The officer and the student both fired a single shot at that point, and it wasn't immediately clear whether he took his own life or was killed by the officer's bullet, St. Mary's County Sheriff Tim Cameron said. The other students - a boy and a girl - were hospitalized in critical condition, and the officer was unharmed. "When the shooting took place, our school resource officer, who was stationed inside the school, was alerted to the event and the shots being fired. He pursued the shooter and engaged the shooter, during which that engagement he fired a round at the shooter," Cameron said. "Simultaneously the shooter fired a round as well. So, in the hours to come, in the days to come, through a detailed investigation, we will be able to determine if our SRO's round struck the shooter." The shooter has been identified as Austin Wyatt Rollins, age 17. The shooter's motive also is being investigated, the sheriff said. "I'm alerted to a number of things that are out there on social media about the potential relationship between the shooter and any of the victims. At this time, we can't confirm any of that," Cameron said. You Might Like Agents with the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined deputies at the scene. This shooting at Great Mills High School comes as lawmakers nationwide face pressure to take action against gun violence following the Valentine's Day killings of 17 people at a Florida high school by a teenager with an assault weapon. Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer praised the first responders, saying the officer at the school "answered the call this morning with swiftness, professionalism, and courage." He said it's now for Congress to take action. "We sympathize. We empathize. We have moments of silence. But we don't have action," Hoyer said. "Wringing our hands is not enough." Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., also spoke to reporters near the high school, and expressing anger and saying that at a minimum, universal background checks and a ban on assault-style weapons are needed. He said he believes momentum is building for reform, fueled by student activism. "These students are literally just not taking 'no' for an answer," Cardin said. "I can tell you that Americans are listening to our students. I think our political system will respond." Maryland's Senate joined the House on Monday night to ban bump stocks, which enable a semi-automatic rifle to mimic a fully automatic weapon. Teachers union leaders issued statements Tuesday saying more policies must be changed nationwide to keep schools safe. Great Mills High School has about 1,600 students and is near the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, about 65 miles (104 kilometers) southeast of Washington. On Tuesday, ambulances, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles crowded the parking lot and the street outside, where about 20 school buses lined up in the rain to take students to nearby Leonardtown High School to be picked up by their parent or guardians. Many students across the country are calling for effective gun controls, leading up to Saturday's March For Our Lives rally in the nation's capital against gun violence in schools. The violence hasn't abated since the massacre in Parkland, Florida; A high school student in Birmingham, Alabama, was killed this month when a classmate fired a gun inside a classroom. Threats against schools have proliferated as well, and Great Mills High has not been immune. Just last month, the school's principal, Jake Heibel, told parents in a letter posted on the local news site The Bay Net that two students were interviewed after they were overheard mentioning a school shooting, and they were found to pose no threat. Heibel said the school increased its security nevertheless after social media posts about a possible school shooting "circulated quite extensively." Also last month, St. Mary's County Sheriff's office said it arrested two teenage boys for "Threats of Mass Violence" and a 39-year-old man on related charges after the teens made threats about a potential school shooting at Leonardtown High School, a high school about 10 miles from Great Mills. Police said they obtained a search warrant that led to them finding semi-automatic rifles, handguns and other weapons, along with ammunition. Associated Press contributors include Alex Brandon, Brian Witte, Matthew Daley, Alan Suderman, Sarah Rankin, David McFadden and Courtney Columbus. (c) 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. This content is published through a licensing agreement with Acquire Media using its NewsEdge technology. VN:F [1.9.6_1107]

Deputy Blaine Gaskill (left), seen here in a photo taken in 2012 and posted on the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office Facebook page. Police say Rollins shot two people with one bullet in a school hallway just before classes began. He shot Jaelynn Willey, 16, in the head -- and the bullet also struck a 14-year-old boy in the leg, police said. Gaskill responded to the scene in less than a minute, and confronted Haskill in a hallway three minutes after the shooting, the sheriff 's office said. About 30 seconds later, Rollins and the officer fired simultaneously, the sheriff's office said. Willey died after being taken off life support on Thursday, two days after the shooting. The injured boy was discharged from a hospital a day after the shooting. Great Mills High School is in Great Mills, about 70 miles southeast of Washington. Police said Rollins, the shooter, had a "prior relationship which recently ended" with Willey and that the shooting was not a random act of violence. The handgun used in the shooting was legally owned by Rollins' father, police said.

Great Mills: A 17-year-old student armed with a handgun shot and critically wounded a female classmate at a Maryland high school on Tuesday, officials said, in an outburst of violence just days before a student-organised nationwide march for gun control. St. Mary's County Sheriff Tim Cameron said the assailant, identified as Austin Rollins, died of a gunshot wound after a school security officer "engaged" with him at Great Mills High School in southern Maryland. Deputies, federal agents and rescue personnel, converge on Great Mills High School, the scene of the shooting. AP Cameron said the security officer fired a shot at Rollins, but it was not immediately clear if the officer struck the gunman or whether he had committed suicide. The Great Mills shooting comes about five weeks after a massacre at a Florida high school left 14 students and three adult staff members dead and sparked a grassroots campaign for tougher laws on gun ownership. Cameron said Rollins produced the handgun, a Glock semi-automatic, in a school hallway shortly before classes were due to begin and shot a 16-year-old girl with whom he had a "relationship." "There was a relationship prior to this event," the sheriff said. "As to how that shaped this event, we'll have to determine." A 14-year-old male student at the school was also shot and wounded during the incident, Cameron said. He was in stable condition in hospital. Cameron initially said the 14-year-old student was shot by Rollins, but he later indicated that the exact circumstances were still unclear. The sheriff said that Blaine Gaskill, the deputy sheriff responsible for school security, had responded to the gunfire in the school hallway within "less than a minute" of the shooting of the 16-year-old girl. "He responded exactly as we train our personnel to respond," Cameron said. "He pursued the shooter, engaged the shooter," he said. "During that engagement, he fired a round at the shooter. Simultaneously the shooter fired a round as well." "In the hours to come, in the days to come, through detailed investigation, we will be able to determine if our school resource officer's round struck the shooter," he said. 'I'm so tired' Following the shooting in Great Mills, located about a 90-minute drive southeast of the US capital Washington, students were evacuated to a nearby school where they were reunited with their parents, Cameron said. "It happened really quickly, right after school started," Jonathan Freese, a Great Mills student, told CNN. "The police came and responded really quickly," Freese said. "They had a lot of officers respond," he added. Mollie Davis, who identified herself on Twitter as a student at Great Mills, posted a series of tweets about the shooting. "Now my school is the target," she said. "WHY DO WE LET THIS KEEP HAPPENING??? I'm so tired I'm so tired." "You never think it'll be your school and then it is," Davis said. "Great Mills is a wonderful school and somewhere I am proud to go. Why us?" Students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida--where 17 people were shot and killed on 14 February --launched an emotional campaign for gun control following the shooting at their school. They have organised an event on Saturday called "March For Our Lives," which is expected to attract large crowds in US cities, with the main event in Washington. Emma Gonzalez, a Stoneman Douglas student, tweeted her support on Tuesday for her peers at Great Mills. "We are Here for you, students of Great Mills," Gonzalez said. "Together we can stop this from ever happening again." Under the banner #ENOUGH, tens of thousands of US high school students walked out of classrooms around the country on 14 March to protest gun violence. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan described the Great Mills shooting as "tragic" and pledged to devote greater resources to school security. "We've got to take action," Hogan said. "We need to do more."

The student who shot two classmates Tuesday at Great Mills High School in St. Mary's County, Md., was a "lovesick teen," investigators said Wednesday. Austin Rollins, 17, and Jaelynn Willey, 16, were in a relationship that recently ended. Rollins shot Willey in a targeted attack. She remains in critical condition with life-threatening injuries. "All indications suggest the shooting was not a random act of violence," police said in a statement. A 14-year-old boy shot in the thigh during the incident left an area hospital around noon Wednesday, officials confirmed. The school's resource officer, Sheriff's Deputy Blaine Gaskill, fired his gun at Rollins after confronting him, but investigators aren't sure yet whether Rollins died from the officer's shot or a self-inflicted wound. On Wednesday, police also ended speculation about the weapon used in the attack. Rollins took the handgun legally owned by his father. Friends described Rollins as a good student who had shown no warning signs of violence. Read more from The Sift Share this article with friends.

Uruguay picked black players in the first Copa America in 1916, despite protests from their opponents. Uruguay won the world cup in 1950, skippered by Obdulio Varela, fondly called 'El Negro Jefe'- the black boss. Uruguay's team has a player named Maxi Pereira, nicknamed 'El Mono'- the monkey. Fast forward to today: Luis Suarez, Patrice Evra, Sepp Blatter, John Terry, Anton Ferdinand, Roberto Carlos... the list is endless and they all have something in common - they have been embroiled in some sort of racism controversy. Luis Suarez reacts after missing a chance to score. Reuters Liverpool's Suarez is adamant in his claims that he did not racially abuse Patrice Evra during a corner kick of the Liverpool vs Manchester United match at Anfield and he has 14 days to appeal against his 40,000 pound fine and eight game ban. The Frenchman though, has said that he did not think Suarez was racist BUT he did taunt him during the match to wind him up. Liverpool are resolute in their support for the top-notch striker, as was evident when the whole team came out to warm-up before their match against Wigan with t-shirts bearing Suarez's picture in the front and his name on the back . Certainly that means Liverpool know something that the FA does not, or else a team known world-wide would not put their reputation on the line. But then Suarez has a reputation of a fiery temper and the ability to do the unthinkable at times. It is an extreme kind of 'mass provocation' when a club's fans unfurl an African flag with 'Welcome to Europe' written on it because their opponent's team had a lot of African people in it, or when a banana is thrown towards Roberto Carlos while he hugs the flank at Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala. But what about the time when there is a complete difference in the understanding of what racism is? A term may not be racist in one's country but could be extremely rude in another. It's like calling someone an old person is not considered to be polite in Britain. In the Suarez-Evra spat, there is still no light thrown on what exactly happened. The matter is as dark as it was before the verdict. Travel not too far back and Harbhajan Singh apparently called Andrew Symonds a monkey, after which he eventually defended himself by saying he was using one of the more famous Hindi expletives: 'Maa ki...' Everybody says that out in frustration in India and it's not a racist term. But according to the team's defence, Symonds misheard the word. Very similar is the Suarez case where it is reported that he called Evra a 'Negrito', a term used in similar connotation to 'mate' or 'pal' in English-speaking countries. There is nothing from the FA to show that the word was caught on camera even though it was said 'at least 10 times'. Evra could have misheard it as 'Negro'. Then you come to FIFA chief Sepp Blatter, who in spite of speaking in English since so many years, made a massive boo-boo when he came out and said that there is no racism in football and players should leave their differences on the field and settle it with a handshake. Suarez's teammates show their support for him by wearing t-shirts with his image and names. Reuters He later had to apologise, but only after he gave an explanation that he did not mean racism should go unheard, but only that athletes being professionals should not drag it forwards. But drag it forward they will. John Terry knows about that. Harry Redknapp may have expressed surprise at such behaviour happening even today but it does and if Suarez got rapped for eight games in such circumstances, then one can only imagine John Terry's ban for allegedly calling Anton Ferdinand something of the lines of 'f***ing black ****'!' The England captain is set for a hearing but has maintained his innocence. Similarly, in India two good friends in a team or opposite teams may tease each other on a really bad tan or one being lighter than the other... and then laugh it off. The amigos in South America are very much the same... the level of friendship and the extent till which one can go to 'tease' are very different in Europe and the rest of the world. This does not mean people can get away on the competitive field by just using a racial expletive and patting each other on the back after that. It just means that a minor cultural difference can erupt into a massive row, just because one does not understand the other and the way he was brought up in a particular country. But Suarez is an international player who has been around for a long time and he should have known how Evra would feel. There is no excuse for his behaviour and a player of his class should never have used a word which would eventually lead to such a massive ban, especially when his club rely on him for the creation of so many chances. Saying that, it is a pity the FA could not take into consideration more evidence and witnesses. And if they are so strict on players, then it should also reflect on the verdicts they pass against fans who use racist chants. For the FA, their decision could be a slap in the face of FIFA but there is more drama to unfold if they remain consistent in handing out such bans.

London: Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino will face no disciplinary action following his clash with Everton's Mason Holgate in the FA Cup third-round tie at Anfield last month. Mason Holgate and Roberto Firmino were involved in a heated argument during the Merseyside derby. Reuters Officials announced on Wednesday there was insufficient evidence to uphold an allegation of "discriminatory conduct" during the Merseyside derby clash. Firmino and Holgate were involved in an angry exchange after the Everton defender pushed the Brazilian into the front row of the stand shortly before half-time of Liverpool's 2-1 win. Words were exchanged which left the 21-year-old Holgate incensed. Referee Bobby Madley made reference to an allegedly racist remark that had been reported to him, understood to be by the Everton defender on the pitch and Everton officials after the match. That prompted the FA, English football's governing body, to look into the incident. However, an FA statement issued Wednesday said: "Following a detailed investigation into an allegation of discriminatory conduct against Liverpool's Roberto Firmino by Everton's Mason Holgate, the FA can confirm that it will not be taking any disciplinary action against Firmino." 'Damaging and hurtful' Firmino, responding to Wednesday's decision, insisted he never had and never would use racist language although he stressed it was "critical for football that tackling racism and all forms of discrimination is taken extremely seriously". "As someone who has experienced racist abuse during my life, I know how damaging and hurtful it can be," he added in a statement issued on his behalf by Liverpool. "I did not use any language that referenced race. I did not - and would never - reference a person's skin colour or culture, by means of insult, during a dispute or an argument. "There is no place for discrimination on a football pitch, or anywhere else in life for that matter. "I am pleased after exhaustive reviews of all the evidence, in this specific incident, the matter is resolved."

Former Manchester City footballer Yaya Toure has spoken about his relationship with Pep Guardiola in an attempt to "break the myth" about the widely-respected club boss. In a new interview with France Football he accused his former manager of discriminating against him, saying, " Maybe we Africans are not always treated by some in the same way as others." Advertisement - Continue Reading Below He added: "I do not know why but I have the impression that he was jealous, he took me for a rival. As if I made him a little shade. He was cruel to me. I came to wonder if it was not because of my colour." Toure, who also played under the Spaniard at Barcelona, suggested it was a pattern others had noticed in the past. "I am not the first to talk about these differences in treatment," he said. "In Barca, some have also asked the question. When we realise he often has problems with Africans wherever he goes, I ask myself questions." The player also spoke about Guardiola's managerial methods claiming that he is unpopular with other players. "The other players will never admit it publicly but some have already told me that they ended up hating him. Because he manipulates and plays a lot with your head," he said. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Getty Images When the player left Manchester City last month he had a training pitch named after him and a mosaic of him revealed at the club's training centre. Speaking ahead of the final home fixture in which Toure played his last game for the club, Guardiola said: "Yaya came here at the start of the journey. Where we are now is because of what he has done."

Zurich : FIFA said on Wednesday it was probing racist abuse directed at French players by Russian fans during a pre-World Cup friendly between the countries. France's N'Golo Kante in action with Russia's Fedor Smolov. Reuters A Reuters photographer at pitch level for France's 3-1 win on Tuesday night in St Petersburg heard monkey chants directed at French players on several occasions, including when N'Golo Kante came to the sideline for a throw-in. "FIFA is collecting the different match reports and potential evidence in regards to the discriminatory incident reported in the media, including the one from the Fare observer who was present at the game," FIFA said in a statement, referring to a network that combats discrimination in soccer in Europe. The incident sparked calls to persevere in the fight against racism in soccer with less than three months before the World Cup. French Sports Minister Laura Flessel-Colovic wrote on Twitter: "Racism does not have its place on soccer fields. We must act together at the European and international level to stop this intolerable behaviour." Russia has pledged to crack down on racism as the country faces increased scrutiny ahead of this year's World Cup, which it will host from 14 June to 15 July in 11 cities including Moscow, St Petersburg and Sochi. Racist and discriminatory behaviour is not uncommon in the Russian Premier League, including among fans of Zenit St Petersburg. UEFA opened disciplinary proceedings against the club last week for racist chants during a recent Europa League match against RB Leipzig. Zenit last year were ordered by UEFA to partially close their stadium after fans displayed a banner praising former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic, a convicted war criminal, during a 2-1 home win over Macedonian side Vardar Skopje also in the Europa League.

Uruguay picked black players in the first Copa America in 1916, despite protests from their opponents. Uruguay won the world cup in 1950, skippered by Obdulio Varela, fondly called 'El Negro Jefe'- the black boss. Uruguay's team has a player named Maxi Pereira, nicknamed 'El Mono'- the monkey. Fast forward to today: Luis Suarez, Patrice Evra, Sepp Blatter, John Terry, Anton Ferdinand, Roberto Carlos... the list is endless and they all have something in common - they have been embroiled in some sort of racism controversy. Luis Suarez reacts after missing a chance to score. Reuters Liverpool's Suarez is adamant in his claims that he did not racially abuse Patrice Evra during a corner kick of the Liverpool vs Manchester United match at Anfield and he has 14 days to appeal against his 40,000 pound fine and eight game ban. The Frenchman though, has said that he did not think Suarez was racist BUT he did taunt him during the match to wind him up. Liverpool are resolute in their support for the top-notch striker, as was evident when the whole team came out to warm-up before their match against Wigan with t-shirts bearing Suarez's picture in the front and his name on the back . Certainly that means Liverpool know something that the FA does not, or else a team known world-wide would not put their reputation on the line. But then Suarez has a reputation of a fiery temper and the ability to do the unthinkable at times. It is an extreme kind of 'mass provocation' when a club's fans unfurl an African flag with 'Welcome to Europe' written on it because their opponent's team had a lot of African people in it, or when a banana is thrown towards Roberto Carlos while he hugs the flank at Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala. But what about the time when there is a complete difference in the understanding of what racism is? A term may not be racist in one's country but could be extremely rude in another. It's like calling someone an old person is not considered to be polite in Britain. In the Suarez-Evra spat, there is still no light thrown on what exactly happened. The matter is as dark as it was before the verdict. Travel not too far back and Harbhajan Singh apparently called Andrew Symonds a monkey, after which he eventually defended himself by saying he was using one of the more famous Hindi expletives: 'Maa ki...' Everybody says that out in frustration in India and it's not a racist term. But according to the team's defence, Symonds misheard the word. Very similar is the Suarez case where it is reported that he called Evra a 'Negrito', a term used in similar connotation to 'mate' or 'pal' in English-speaking countries. There is nothing from the FA to show that the word was caught on camera even though it was said 'at least 10 times'. Evra could have misheard it as 'Negro'. Then you come to FIFA chief Sepp Blatter, who in spite of speaking in English since so many years, made a massive boo-boo when he came out and said that there is no racism in football and players should leave their differences on the field and settle it with a handshake. Suarez's teammates show their support for him by wearing t-shirts with his image and names. Reuters He later had to apologise, but only after he gave an explanation that he did not mean racism should go unheard, but only that athletes being professionals should not drag it forwards. But drag it forward they will. John Terry knows about that. Harry Redknapp may have expressed surprise at such behaviour happening even today but it does and if Suarez got rapped for eight games in such circumstances, then one can only imagine John Terry's ban for allegedly calling Anton Ferdinand something of the lines of 'f***ing black ****'!' The England captain is set for a hearing but has maintained his innocence. Similarly, in India two good friends in a team or opposite teams may tease each other on a really bad tan or one being lighter than the other... and then laugh it off. The amigos in South America are very much the same... the level of friendship and the extent till which one can go to 'tease' are very different in Europe and the rest of the world. This does not mean people can get away on the competitive field by just using a racial expletive and patting each other on the back after that. It just means that a minor cultural difference can erupt into a massive row, just because one does not understand the other and the way he was brought up in a particular country. But Suarez is an international player who has been around for a long time and he should have known how Evra would feel. There is no excuse for his behaviour and a player of his class should never have used a word which would eventually lead to such a massive ban, especially when his club rely on him for the creation of so many chances. Saying that, it is a pity the FA could not take into consideration more evidence and witnesses. And if they are so strict on players, then it should also reflect on the verdicts they pass against fans who use racist chants. For the FA, their decision could be a slap in the face of FIFA but there is more drama to unfold if they remain consistent in handing out such bans.

The English FA charged Liverpool's Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez Wednesday with racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra during the 1-1 Premier League draw at Anfield last month. "It is alleged that Suarez used abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards Manchester United's Patrice Evra contrary to FA rules, the FA said in a statement on its website (www.thefa.com). "It is further alleged that this included a reference to the ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race of Patrice Evra. The FA will issue no further comment at this time." Liverpool's Suarez is in trouble with the FA. Reuters Liverpool issued a statement saying Suarez would plead not guilty to the charge and that they supported him fully. "The Club this afternoon received notification from the Football Association of their decision to charge Luis Suarez and will take time to properly review the documentation which has been sent to us," Liverpool said on their website (www.liverpoolfc.tv). "We will discuss the matter fully with him when he returns from international duty, but he will plead not guilty to the charge and we expect him to request a personal hearing," the statement added. "Luis remains determined to clear his name of the allegation made against him by Patrice Evra." The Suarez/Evra row is one of two high-profile racism incidents being investigated by the FA. The Liverpool v United match was on October 15, the weekend before Chelsea and England captain John Terry is alleged to have racially insulted Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand during a Premier League game at Loftus Road. Terry, who is being investigated by both the FA and the police over the charge, was caught close-up on camera mouthing what appeared to be insults. There is no TV footage of Suarez's alleged insults aimed at Frenchman Evra but the United player has said Suarez insulted him at least 10 times during the game. Suarez has been quoted as saying he was only calling Evra what he heard his own team mates calling him. Manchester United reported the FA charge on their website (www.manutd.com), reiterating recent comments by their manager Alex Ferguson that Evra was keen to press on with the matter.

In 2015, more Americans traveled to Cuba than at any time since the Cuban Revolution took place in 1959. The Wall Street Journal reports that since President Obama began his opening to Cuba in December of 2014 travel was up by 50% and is predicted to triple in 2016. Tour companies are now reporting that many hotels are booked up through next December. According to USA Today "The U.S Tour Operators Association named Cuba its top emerging and off-the-beaten path destination followed by Myanmar, Iceland and Colombia. Ethiopia and Japan tied for fifth." It used to be hard to go to Cuba, but not anymore. Travel and Leisure has informed its readers that as of January 1st, "Travel to Cuba just got a little easier, thanks to a new set of regulations that take effect today and expand on President Obama's recent policy changes ." All you have to do is sign a form saying that you are going there for one of the 12 authorized reasons, which are so broad that virtually anyone can find something to check. The magazine's digital editor, Melanie Lieberman , writes that "Havana has become one of the most exciting destinations on our radar. It is now a real possibility that this year, anyone will be able to plan a trip there without signing up for a rigid people-to-people tour." Verizon will have cell phone coverage there, regular commercial flights to Cuba will begin soon, and the major cruise lines are planning to stop there regularly. As Lieberman puts it, "Visiting the capital is like stepping into a vintage photograph: washed-out colonial faccades and cobblestone streets bustling with antique Fords and Chevys." No publication has been an advocate for travel to Cuba more than The New York Times . On Sunday, the paper outdid itself, featuring a long article by Damien Cave in its weekly "36 Hours" series where he lists 13 exciting things you can do in Cuba, which will "Get Your Groove On." One restaurant he recommends epitomizes "The New Cool," and you can bar hop at night, see new Cuban art, get nice views of the sea, smoke and buy some famous Cuban cigars, get a great Cuban cappuccino that rivals those of Starbucks, and enjoy a wonderful "black ink seafood risotto." You can end your stay by going to the famous white sand Varadero Beach, with its "pristine shores." And please- don't forget your daiquiri at the bar favored by Ernest Hemingway. To make the trip even more enticing, at the top of the Times website, you can view a video. As one of the young hip Cubans tells the interviewer, "All eyes are on Cuba. It's trendy." The video shows young people singing and dancing in a club, Cuban families enjoying a beautiful beach on the weekend, and middle aged American tourists perusing an art gallery. This is a Cuba that is clearly reserved for well off Western tourists. And you have to be. If you go to travel websites or groups that have tours of Cuba scheduled most will cost between $5000 to $7000 for less than one week to experience a Potemkin village tour, where you will be shepherded around the restored center of old Havana, restored tourist sites like Hemingway's old villa, and the Partagas tobacco factory in Havana. Finally, if you still need convincing, you will meet with groups of Cubans who will make it appear that life is good and normal in the Castro brothers' Cuba. But life is not so wonderful for the majority of the Cuban people. For an honest look at Cuba, one must watch the 2012 movie, Una Noche . As one commentator on the IMBD website writes, "The film reveals parts of the city not only unfilmed, but rarely accessed by outsiders before. As an energetic ride through one day and night in raw and gritty Havana, Una Noche captures the passion of its people, the despair in their lives, but also the love and laughter they share." You can also learn something more about the real Cuba by reading James Kirchick's cover story that appeared in National Review last May. Kirchick minces no words: Aside from a few carefully well-preserved plazas outside the main tourist hotels, Havana is much dirtier and more run down than I imagined. Walking down its narrow streets, I was reminded of bombed-out sections of Beirut, heaps of rubble and trash strewn about the decaying buildings. Steps from a billboard splayed with Castro's visage and some revolutionary verbiage, a woman picked through garbage. At a pharmacy, I watched a man purchase Band-Aids -- individually, not by the package. Clearly no tourist on any existing tour will see what Kirchick witnessed. Nor will he or she learn that in the past year the Cuban regime arrested 8000 dissidents, and regularly sends its security police to harass, beat up and threaten dissenters. Recall that one brave man seeking to approach the Pope in his recent trip was dragged away and beaten in front of the Pope's eyes. Two years ago Castro's secret police murdered the leading Cuban dissident, Oswaldo Paya . The real crime is that Obama never even asked for concessions from the Cuban regime that would have eased its repression of its own citizens, in exchange for the United States agreeing to an opening long demanded by the Castro brothers. Rather than applaud Obama's new Cuban policy, many Cuban are voting with their feet. Even The New York Times reported in the same edition of the Times as the travel story appeared, that that since the new policy took effect thousands of Cubans are fleeing the country, because they fear that the Obama administration will void the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act that gives Cubans who manage to get to the United States a fast track to legal residency and then the ability to obtain a green card. Right now, 11,000 Cuban refugees are languishing in Central America, stuck because Nicaragua, which honors the Cuban regimes' requests, are forbidding them from crossing into border nations that would allow them to travel to the U.S. Last year alone, 30,000 Cubans made it to our Southwest border, a 77 percent increase from 2014! Why would so many Cubans flee their country if things are changing and are going so well? What the hype does not tell potential travelers, is that the average Cuban cannot find a job, lives in a hovel that is next to unlivable, and if he or she has a job, gets a pittance for a full week's work. Cuban doctors sent to countries like Venezuela and Brazil are paid an average of $22 a month, and make far less than Cuban hotel workers and taxicab drivers. It is no wonder, as the Florida Sun-Sentinel reports, that many of the doctors the Cuban regime so proudly sends abroad are choosing to defect to the United States once they arrive at their assigned post. One of the theories prevailing among supporters of the new policy is that once Americans travel to Cuba, the country will be brought into the modern world, political repression will be reduced and eventually end, and that Cubans will learn from American visitors what genuine democracy is. Actually, the opposite is more likely to occur. The regime will tighten its control of the population, take measures that firm up its power and use Western travelers' funds to further enrich the apparatchiks and the regime's leaders. Moreover, the very nature of the organized Potemkin village tours, approved by the regime's tourist bureau, are meant to get travelers to see a very small slice of the real Cuba, and to come back with the impression that the country is thriving and is in wonderful hands. So what can we do? Aside from not traveling to the island- there are plenty of places just as nice that one can vacation in-I have a suggestion. The only thing to do right now is to prevent the possibility that Obama will end the Cuban Adjustment Act by executive action before he leaves office. Obama has already said that he hopes to make an official visit to Cuba before his term is over. Such a visit, before the Cuban government has made any concessions at all that limit its ability to control the populace, will further legitimize the current regime. It does not appear to concern the Obama administration that by giving the Cuban government what it demands without asking anything in return, the United States is condemning the Cuban people to a continuation of an impoverished life under a repressive Communist regime, while its beaches and hotels are made available to more American tourists to spend time in what they mistakenly see as a "vacation paradise." Support Hudson Institute. Donate today

On Wednesday, President Obama announced the U.S. government will open an embassy in Havana for the first time in more than half a century. It's an extraordinary moment in the relationship between the U.S. and Cuba, and it comes months after the U.S. government opened trade and tourism with Cuba and removed the island from the list of nations that it believes sponsor terrorism. "We don't have to be imprisoned by the past," Obama said during a White House press conference, adding, "With this change, we will be able to increase our contacts with the Cuban people. We are neighbors. Now, we can be friends." The opening of an American embassy in Havana will likely put a spotlight on Cuba's significant human rights violations. Human Rights Watch has called Cuba one of the most repressive countries in Latin America. Here are four key human rights areas to watch in Cuba in the coming years: 1. Travel Restrictions In January 2013, Cuba's government began allowing its citizens to leave the country at will. Previously, Cuban citizens needed government permission to leave. According to Human Rights Watch , the Cuban government may still restrict travel that is viewed as a threat to national security. Travel within Cuba remains tricky. For example, one law requires that citizens obtain government permission before traveling to Havana. 2. Imprisonment Cuba's government has consistently blocked international human rights activists from visiting prisons. (The government views some human rights groups as illegal.) Cuba's prisons and jails are said to be overcrowded and unhygienic. 3. Freedom of Speech and Information Access The Cuban government heavily censors all media outlets, including newspapers, radio stations, television shows, and magazines. For 2015, Cuba ranked 169 out of 179 nations on the Press Freedom Index from Reporters Without Borders. In 2007, the Cuban government allowed citizens to begin buying home computers. It remains difficult, however, for many Cubans to access the Internet, and the government filters what citizens can look at online. This means that most Cubans do not have the ability to access international media outlets. Some citizens have started using cell phones with data plans provided by relatives and friends living abroad, but most Cubans face monetary limitations. 4. Political Repression Cubans who criticize the government risk criminal prosecution. The prosecution process is unfair in that it undertakes contrived trials in which the detainees are unable to defend themselves against the charges.

Within hours of Cuba's and the United State's historic announcement of normalizing diplomatic relations, U.S. companies have already been considering how to introduce their products and services to a market that has been closed off to them for over fifty years. Particularly in infrastructure and tourism, the reestablishment of bilateral ties is seen as a boon and opportunity both both countries. Some U.S. citizens will be excited by easier access to the celebrated Cuban cigars, for instance, the sale and distribution of which have been illegal since the blockade. Likewise, the United States will benefit from Cuba's biotechnology, which may provide vaccines not yet available in the U.S. However, experts warn of U.S. companies like Frito-Lay and Apple iPads contemplating the direct sale of consumer goods to Cubans. U.S. franchises like McDonald's, Subway or Dunkin' Donuts, while having not made any moves whatsoever to do so, will likely face tough government restrictions in setting up shop, low demand, as well as competition with Cuban's own goods. On the other hand, the U.S. tourism market is already gearing up for expansion on the island, which also seeks to benefit from a predicted boom to its tourism industry. Orbitz CEO Barney Harford said in a statement that he was looking forward to U.S. citizens being able to more easily enjoy travel to the island soon. "There are numerous economic, social and cultural benefits that will flow from free and open access and our customers are eager to visit Cuba," he said. The U.S. travel industry is quietly looking into ways to bring tourists to Cuba. http://t.co/ununHlvHBl pic.twitter.com/rXkGZ1g8Lc -- New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) December 17, 2014 Companies like Marriott International are already setting their sights on Cuba. Arne M. Sorenson, the president and chief executive for Marriott International, said in an email to the New York Times, "We will take our cues from the U.S. government, but look forward to opening hotels in Cuba, as companies from other countries have done already." "With the changes I'm announcing today, it will be easier for Americans to travel to Cuba," Obama said, focusing on business relationships and the "free flow of information." "Mr. President, a Cuban cigar for you." "Oh, nice!" WATCH: http://t.co/FOlWv8zmoT pic.twitter.com/OXrJalBOPl -- ABC News (@ABC) December 18, 2014 Throughout the 53 year blockade, the U.S. prohibited its citizens from travelling to Cuba as tourists. However, Cuba provides a warm respite for people from Canada and Northern Europe fleeing the winter months. Now, Cuba will likely welcome the return of U.S. tourism, but kept it in check with socialist measures, making sure the tourism benefits people generally rather than business alone. Online, Cuba might start to appear on booking sites like Expedia.com, a destination which up until now was unavailable for selection in searches for the Caribbean destination and its international connections. U.S. airlines have been using chartered flights to get around the blockade. If the sanctions are lifted, airlines are moving quickly to add Cuba to their official itineraries.

Published : Tue, Mar 29 th 2016 @ 3:31 pm EDT A day after Pres. Obama's visit to Cuba, two Texas congressmen Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) and Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) introduced the Correcting Unfair Benefits for Aliens (CUBA) Act, which would repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 that grants Cubans automatic permanent residence if they set foot on U.S. soil. The congressmen say that this wet foot/ dry foot policy is a relic "of a bygone era" and that the preferential treatment of Cubans "no longer makes sense". "It is the sense of Congress that Cuban nationals should be treated under the same immigration rules as nationals of other countries," reads part of the CUBA Act legislation text. The 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act states that if a Cuban leaves his home country and is caught at sea then they are sent back to Cuba, but if they make it to dry U.S. soil they are put on a fast track to citizenship. This makes them eligible for welfare benefits and can receive a green card after a year in the U.S. and are not subject to visa caps. "With the president's historic visit to the country this week as well as the normalization of relations, we shouldn't lose sight of the thousands of people from regions like Central America who are fleeing serious threats from drug violence and face a disadvantage when compared with Cubans," wrote Rep. Cuellar in a press release. Rep. Farenthold mentioned in the press release that Texas is already seeing a 60% increase in Cuban migrants entering the U.S. Around 44,000 Cubans reached the U.S.- Mexico border during the 2015 fiscal year, this is more than double the number that entered in 2014, which was only 17,466 Cubans. Read more on this story at The Brownsville Herald . border control National Security

Cuba is running for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council on Oct. 28, 2016 Cuba's official UN campaign pledge includes the following absurd claims: Cuba attaches the "greatest importance" to international cooperation for the "promotion and protection" of all human rights within the United Nations Cuba reaffirms its readiness to "continue working tirelessly" to achieve the shared goal of "enabling all individuals and peoples" throughout the world to "enjoy all human rights" Cuban women and men have made "significant progress" in the "enjoyment of all their human rights." The Cuban people are the "masters of their political fate" and the country's resources, exercise the "fullest power and control over the country's life", and "participate actively" in the "effective system of democracy" that they designed and approved in a universal plebiscite. The campaign pledge also includes this line: "In October 2007, [Cuba] received the Special Rapporteur on the right to food." This was a sham visit by UNHRC official Jean Ziegler, founder of the "Mummar Qaddafi Human Rights Prize," and a notorious apologist for the Castro regime. Cuban Human Rights Activist Maria Werlau speaks on Cuba's candidacy at at UN press conference:

President Trump on Friday is expected to announce a shift in U.S. policy toward Cuba that includes restrictions on business with government or military entities. The administration's new policies are expected to limit some travel to and trade with the island, Politico reported Thursday. Trump will make the announcement in a speech in Miami following the administration's full review of current U.S. policy. "My administration's policy will be guided by key U.S. national security interests and solidarity with the Cuban people," reads a draft of the presidential directive obtained by Politico. "I will seek to promote a stable, prosperous, and free country for the Cuban people. To that end, we must ensure that U.S. funds are not channeled to a regime that has failed to meet the most basic requirements of a free and just society." Politico added : "For American tourists, Trump's policy means that the days of drinking Havana Club rum in a Havana club will likely soon be over. Under a strict interpretation of the directive, an American probably can't even stay in an Old Havana hotel or use a tour service because they're run or controlled by Grupo de Administracion Empresarial S.A., or GAESA, the business arm of the Cuban military that controls a vast swath of the country's economy, including most of Cuba's foreign-run hotels. The prohibition includes any subsidiaries or affiliated companies, along with certain other state-controlled entities." "The policy the Trump administration is announcing regarding Cuba based on President Trump's core conviction that what the Cuban exile community is asking for is right and just," the White House said in a written statement to POLITICO. "The oppressors of the Cuban people are the Cuban government who have increased repression on the island against dissidents and Ladies in White since reestablishing diplomatic relations. Prior to that, it was not clear to some if the Obama policy toward Cuba would work; today it is clear that the Obama policy toward Cuba does not." Politico also added : "While tourism to Cuba is banned by federal law, the Obama administration had been allowing people to travel to Cuba and spend money as part of "people to people" educational trips for visitors who plan a full itinerary of educational exchange activities, though there had been little to no enforcement of these requirements. The Trump administration is stepping up requirements on those sorts of trips, requiring a full-time schedule of activities that "enhance contact with the Cuban people, support civil society in Cuba, or promote the Cuban people's independence from Cuban authorities, and that the travel must result in a meaningful interaction between the traveler" and Cubans, according to the draft. Travelers to Cuba will have to keep detailed records of all their financial transactions in the country for five years to make available to the Treasury Department if requested." However, the changes won't be a complete roll back of the U.S.-Cuba normalization policies implemented under the Obama administration. For instance, purchasing visas will be permitted for those who are allowed to travel to Cuba. Also, remittances from Cubans living in the U.S. will also still be allowed. And the Trump administration also won't be reinstating the "wet foot, dry foot" policy, which gave safe haven (and special status) to Cuban refugees who successfully reached American shores. In January, the Obama administration ended the policy.

Transportation development is one of the most significant necessities for economic growth and improvement of public welfare. Promotion of transportation also provides some valuable transit opportunities for a country to elevate its international status. Limited governmental resources has prompted the countries to benefit from the capabilities of private sector for development of transportation. And in this due, creating enough incentives and reducing the risks for this sector is of high significance. In Iran, the Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2016-2021) has specified some measures for transportation development through attraction of private sector, for example supporting the local manufacturers of transportation equipment and machinery and offering incentives to those active in different fields related to transportation. Such supportive measures have led to boosting the private sector's investment and participation in development of transportation infrastructures during the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20) which was one of the major achievements of the government in that year. Laying the ground for more contribution of private sector to the transportation section, specially road transportation, is one of the policies of government, according to Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi. On March 10, Iran's Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company (CDTIC) signed 25 trillion rials (about $512.2 million) worth of deals with the country's private sector for joint construction of 439 kilometers of freeways across the country. According to Kheirollah Khademi, the managing director of CDTIC, domestic investors are going to finance the construction of six freeways which were the subject of the inked deals. Also, on December 2017, Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) inked 13 contracts with some private companies on development of ports in north and south of the country. Based on the contracts, which were signed in the presence of transport minister, the private sector will invest 100 trillion rials (about $2.049 billion) in the ports of Shahid Rajaee, Emam Khomeini, Khorramshahr, Bushehr and Chabahar in the south and Amir-Abad, Anzali and Noshahr in the north of country. And on June 2017, three private airlines namely Iran Airtour, Qeshm Air, and Zagros signed agreements with the world's major plane manufacturers Airbus and Boeing for purchasing 83 passenger jets. Private sector's participation was also highlighted in development of railway transportation when three Iranian companies namely Wagon Pars, Kowsar, and Foolad Derakhshan were handed over the joint manufacturing of 6,000 freight wagons with United Wagon Company of Russia based on an agreement signed between Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (known as RAI) and Russian Export Center (REC) in last December on the joint manufacturing of 20,000 freight wagons, 1,000 passenger wagons, and 350 freight locomotives.

TEHRAN - Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. (DSME) is to establish a shipbuilding company with three Iranian state-run companies by the end of January. DSME will found the company with the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran (IDRO), the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), and the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line (IRISL), IDRO managing director Mansour Mo'azzami said, idro.ir reported on Tuesday. The South Korean shipbuilder said it had signed an agreement to help develop Iran's shipbuilding industry in late December, American Shipper reported at the time. It signed the deal with IDRO to establish a joint venture company that will develop an Iranian shipyard in cooperation with DSME's Okpo shipyard. The joint venture company was to engineer and build the types of ships needed by Iran, DPME said. Since 1983, DSME has delivered 38 ships valued at $1.65 billion to Iranian companies, including the IRISL and the NITC. It was big news in early December when IRISL ordered 10 ships - four 14,400-TEU containerships and six 50,000 DWT product/chemical tankers - not from DSME, but from rival South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries. HJ/MA

TEHRAN -- Iran's Welfare Organization is set to launch new centers for emergency social services in 140 cities with a population of 50,000 or more in the next Iranian calendar year, starting on March 21, 2017. Currently emergency social services centers are operating in 197 cities which would react to cases of child abuse, suicidal behaviors, street children, domestic abuse, family violence, etc., IRIB quoted Habibollah Masoudi-Farid, an official with the welfare organization, as saying. Emergency social services came into operation since 1999 in Iran, Masoudi-Farid said, adding that new social services centers were set up in 20 cities over the current Iranian calendar year. Mentioning the inclusion of emergency social services in the sixth five-year development plan he highlighted that budget for setting up new centers in 140 cities will be approved by the administration and Majlis (Iranian parliament).

TEHRAN - Five TV personalities have been nominated for the best host award at the 17th Hafez Awards, which is annually organized to honor Iranian cinema and television artists. Mehran Modiri and Rambod Javan are competing for the award for their talk shows "Dorehami" and "Khandevaneh" that are being broadcast from the Nasim Channel. Other nominees are Ehsan Alikhani and Mohammad Saleh-Ala for the talk shows "Mahe Asal" and "Cheshme Shab Roshan". Adel Ferdowsipur, the host of "90", Iran's most popular TV program on soccer, has also been shortlisted for the award. The awards ceremony will be held in August without its founder Ali Moallem who died of a heart attack in March. His Persian cinematic monthly Donya-ye Tasvir (Picture World) is the organizer of the Hafez Awards that is Iran's first and only private awards in the film industry and TV productions. MMS/YAW

TEHRAN- Construction of 50 new industrial estates will be started in the rural areas in early February, the head of Iran Small Industries and Industrial Parks Organization announced. As IRNA quoted Sadeq Najafi on Tuesday, the constructions will be commenced on the occasion of Ten-Day Dawn (February 1-10, marking the victory anniversary of the Islamic Revolution). On January 10, Iranian parliament (Majlis) approved the bill on industrial support and prevention of closing factories. The related bylaw was declared by First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri to the Ministries of Industry, Mining and Trade; Agriculture; Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare; Finance and Economic Affairs, and the Central Bank of Iran (CBI). HJ/MA

TEHRAN - About 1750 tourism infrastructure projects are being implemented in Iran, the head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicraft Organization Masoud Soltanifar announced. Iran welcomes foreign investors in the field of tourism industry and amongst these plan, 820 projects are hotels, he added. Previously, Soltanifar announced that Iran will create some 140,000 job opportunities in the field of tourism by the end of the next Iranian calendar year (March 2018). He said that the organization has already submitted some plans to create jobs in these fields to the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare. Turkish investors will build ten hotels in Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Tabriz and Mashhad, under the terms of an agreement with Iran signed during a Turkish delegation's visit to Tehran in mid May. According to an agreement signed between CHTHO and German hospitality company, Steigenberger Hotel Group in late May, the company is set to build 10 hotels in different parts of Iran over the next ten years.

A new Islamic State propaganda video released Thursday features children dressed in camouflage and armed with rifles hunting down and killing "apostates." PJ Media , which first reported the half-hour long video, provides some screenshots and highlights of the "grisly" production, which was issued from the terrorist group's headquarters in Raqqa, Syria. The footage shows the jihadists-in-training, boys appearing to be around the ages of 9 to 12-years-old, in a military-style regimen of training, classes, and live-fire drills. The video shows the boys in the classroom learning about the Muslim holy book, the Quran, watching ISIS propaganda films, eating cafeteria-style lunches together, and sleeping in dormitories. But the most disturbing section comes during the live-fire drills, which culminates in the boys hunting down and murdering live hostages. PJ Media describes the sequence, which begins with the boys pledging allegiance to ISIS: Kids are then sent on an exercise through an abandoned building with some dummy targets in the rooms and a handful of live targets: prisoners with their hands zip-tied behind their backs, trying to elude the child jihadists in the multi-story, debris-strewn building. One is labeled as a PKK member. A couple of the men weep after they are cornered, but the kids appear unmoved as the ISIS camera crew films the merciless encounters. The boys wound the prisoners at first in a gruesome game of cat-and-mouse, then finish off the prisoners at point-blank range. One prisoner cornered on the rooftop throws himself off the edge before being shot to death by a child. The child goes downstairs to the man's body and shoots him several times in the head, anyway. This is not the first time an ISIS video has featured child jihadists; a video reported in August likewise showed children executing hostages. Nor is ISIS the only radical Islamic group to indoctrinate children and use them for their jihadist campaigns. Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas likewise trains children to murder, its official TV network even showing cartoons that teach children to murder "all" Jews . Screenshots of the ISIS jihadist video below:

Islamist terror networks such as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), Boko Haram and al-Shabaab have had consistent success in recruiting local youth. This has helped such groups regenerate their ranks despite a string of military defeats in recent years. An equally troubling modern phenomenon has seen Western children taken by their parents to live under the control of terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria. There have also been children born in this territory to Western parents. As the "Caliphate" collapses, many of these families will be returning to Europe. While there has been significant focus on how governments should respond to the threat posed by the adults, the appropriate approach towards the children - who have been relentlessly exposed to ISIS propaganda - is not nearly as developed. These challenges present a unique quandary for governments around the world. What should the response be from the international community? How effective has the response been so far? What programs can draw at risk youth away from Islamist ideology? What should the balance be between promoting religious freedom versus human rights more broadly? Our panel will assess the nature of the threat and suggest appropriate policy responses.

A new disturbing video has emerged that shows footage of ISIS child soldiers hunting down and executing prisoners in a cat-and-mouse-style training exercise in Syria. The children, believed to be between nine and 13, carry handguns as they hunt down tied-up and frightened prisoners before bringing them to their death. The ISIS child fighters are captured going room-to-room in an abandoned building with the camera occasionally in first-person view. The children are directed to search for the tied up prisoners wandering around the compound. One man is seen on the footage with his hands tied behind his back as a child fighter standing before him shoots him in the leg. A second child fires a shot that hits the prisoner point black in the head, ending his life. Another man can be seen on the roof of the building with his hands tied behind his back. Frightened as he is cornered, the hostage hurls himself over the roof and plummets to his death. On the video, children are also seen being brainwashed classroom-style with an older ISIS leader presenting military drills on a white board. The children are taught martial arts as well as how to hold and use various weaponry. You can watch the graphic video below (viewer discretion advised):

Latest ISIS Vid Features Toddlers Slaughtering Prisoners [PHOTOS] 9:45 AM 01/09/2017 Saagar Enjeti | White House Correspondent The Islamic State's latest propaganda video features young children slaughtering prisoners with knives and guns. The video was filmed in one of ISIS's Syrian provinces, and is titled, "He Made Me Alive With His Blood." The Clarion Project notes the video says the young children have been "pulled away from their games" and sent to "do jihad." The executions are all carried out at an abandoned amusement park, presumably under ISIS control. ISIS children (Screen shot/The Clarion Project/ISIS) ISIS often features young children in brutal execution videos. The terrorist organization calls these child soldiers "lion cubs of the caliphate." These child soldiers are frequently used in major battles by ISIS, which retain a tactical advantage in their incessant use of suicide bombers. Nearly 300 ISIS child soldiers were killed in the first weeks of the U.S.-backed Iraqi Security Force's push on the city of Mosul. The U.S. estimate and Syrian Observatory Human Rights report indicate nearly one-third of ISIS fighters killed in the operation are child soldiers. ISIS children (Screen shot/The Clarion Project/ISIS) ISIS Children (Screen shot/The Clarion Project/ISIS) Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org .

A new Islamic State propaganda video released Thursday features children dressed in camouflage and armed with rifles hunting down and killing "apostates." PJ Media , which first reported the half-hour long video, provides some screenshots and highlights of the "grisly" production, which was issued from the terrorist group's headquarters in Raqqa, Syria. The footage shows the jihadists-in-training, boys appearing to be around the ages of 9 to 12-years-old, in a military-style regimen of training, classes, and live-fire drills. The video shows the boys in the classroom learning about the Muslim holy book, the Quran, watching ISIS propaganda films, eating cafeteria-style lunches together, and sleeping in dormitories. But the most disturbing section comes during the live-fire drills, which culminates in the boys hunting down and murdering live hostages. PJ Media describes the sequence, which begins with the boys pledging allegiance to ISIS: Kids are then sent on an exercise through an abandoned building with some dummy targets in the rooms and a handful of live targets: prisoners with their hands zip-tied behind their backs, trying to elude the child jihadists in the multi-story, debris-strewn building. One is labeled as a PKK member. A couple of the men weep after they are cornered, but the kids appear unmoved as the ISIS camera crew films the merciless encounters. The boys wound the prisoners at first in a gruesome game of cat-and-mouse, then finish off the prisoners at point-blank range. One prisoner cornered on the rooftop throws himself off the edge before being shot to death by a child. The child goes downstairs to the man's body and shoots him several times in the head, anyway. This is not the first time an ISIS video has featured child jihadists; a video reported in August likewise showed children executing hostages. Nor is ISIS the only radical Islamic group to indoctrinate children and use them for their jihadist campaigns. Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas likewise trains children to murder, its official TV network even showing cartoons that teach children to murder "all" Jews . Screenshots of the ISIS jihadist video below:

Children as young as eight years old can be seen shooting prisoners in the back of the head in ISIS' latest execution video. The children are a part of the "cubs of the caliphate," known to be children brainwashed by ISIS. These children are not only used as propaganda pieces for the videos, however. They are also being used to man security posts, work alongside ISIS police officers and, in some cases, even fight for the caliphate. The footage shows two young children dressed in black and armed with handguns, forcing the prisoners on their knees in front of a doorway in Afghanistan, according to the Daily Mail . The two children pull back the heads of their captives and label them as "spies." One of the young children starts ranting at the camera before carrying out the execution. In a separate scene, three men are executed by four adults standing next to an ISIS flag. In January, an ISIS propaganda video was released showing young children executing prisoners of war.

Please see my earlier piece, regarding Roy Moore and how the way Christians respond to his case is important for our continued outreach to a desperate world. Since I released that piece, another accuser has stepped forward, this time accompanied by professional ambulance chaser, Gloria Allred. Normally, I would say the presence of Allred brings an immediate "ick" factor to any accuser's case. This particular accuser, however, seemed particularly convincing, and she had a yearbook signed by a 30-year old Moore, when she knew him as a 15-year old. What he signed wasn't overly concerning, maybe a bit flirtatious, but her account of her encounter with Moore, when he (allegedly) attempted to force her into a sex act at about 16-years old was. For the record, this particular accuser, just like Leigh Corfman, says she is a Trump supporter. As this is going down, Moore's wife is passing around a letter that has been signed by over 50 Alabama pastors, all urging that voters support Moore, in spite of the accusations against him. "For decades, Roy Moore has been an immovable rock in the culture wars -- a bold defender of the 'little guy,' a just judge to those who came before his court, a warrior for the unborn child, defender of the sanctity of marriage, and a champion for religious liberty," the pastors wrote. "Judge Moore has stood in the gap for us, taken the brunt of the attack, and has done so with a rare, unconquerable resolve." No doubt, Moore's name was made by his bold stands on issues like displaying a monument of the Ten Commandments on the courthouse grounds. Those are all quite commendable, in my book. But the accusations... The timing is absolutely unfortunate, and I get why some would see this as partisan trickery, but as I've said over and over, Christians shouldn't play the partisan game. The 53 Alabama pastors accused the "Washington establishment" of declaring "all-out war on his campaign," and asked voters to support Moore. "We are ready to join the fight and send a bold message to Washington: dishonesty, fear of man, and immorality are an affront to our convictions and our Savior and we won't put up with it any longer," the pastors said. "We urge you to join us at the polls to cast your vote for Roy Moore." Unfortunately, debauchery, adultery, abuse, and corruption don't seem to be as big of a problem. And if even one of these accusers is being truthful, then we have to believe these pastors aren't as serious about immorality as their letter suggests. I get it. Even if true, Moore may have changed, and there has to be room for forgiveness, but Moore isn't asking for forgiveness. Moore is firing back, even threatening to sue the Washington Post. Somebody is not telling the truth. With this new accuser and her very compelling account, it only does more to hurt the witness of Christians to the world, to see these pastors to be willing to put their name on something that all but calls these women coming forward "liars." All I can say is, hang on. There are whispers of more coming forward, and if that's the case, there are 53 pastors who are going to look absolutely foolish.

Ever since the Washington Post ran the story detailing the accounts of four women who accused Alabama's Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, Roy Moore, for pursuing women as young as 14, the Republicans have been scrambling to figure out how to responds to such disturbing accusations. Many lawmakers have called for Moore to resign. In fact, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that he believes the women and House Speaker Paul Ryan confirmed the sources were credible. But Moore says he will continue the race and dismisses the allegations as "fake news." However, in a desperate attempt to save his campaign Moore and his wife, Kayla, posted a letter signed by 50 Christian pastors declaring their support for her husband. In the letter, they referred to Moore as an "immovable rock in the culture wars," with "rare unconquerable resolve." But Moore's wife did not ask their permission and just included them on the list. Now, three of the pastors who's signatures Moore forged on the letter claim they never gave permission to the campaign to use their name, and are not, in fact, supporting his candidacy. One Pastor Tijuanna Adetunji said he "was not asked about this story or allegations." What's more, Pastor Thad Endicott went on the record to say that he was never contacted by the Moores or the campaign since the primary and certainly did not give permission for them to put his name on the words in the letter. Endicott went on to tell reporters: "The list that has recently circulated was evidently copied and pasted from the August endorsements without checking to see if I still endorsed Moore." Pastor number three, Dr. George Grant of Parish Presbyterian Church, said he wanted absolutely nothing to do with Moore, telling reporters: "Not my state. Not my issues." Looks like Moore is losing support from the GOP establishment and the Religious right. Does he stand a chance at winning now?

Kayla Moore, the wife of embattled Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, published an endorsement letter on Sunday from over 50 pastors to her Facebook page, which appeared to defend her husband amid allegations he molested children as young as 14 when he was a 32-year-old District Attorney. "For decades, Roy Moore has been an immovable rock in the culture wars -- a bold defender of the 'little guy,' a just judge to those who came before his court, a warrior for the unborn child, defender of the sanctity of marriage, and a champion for religious liberty," the letter reads. On Tuesday, AL.com reported that Sunday's letter was actually a recycled August endorsement letter which had been selectively edited before Moore's wife shared it to her social media account. The newer version deletes the first three paragraphs from the original letter, which still appears on Roy Moore's campaign website . One of the deleted sentences urges voters to "join us at the polls on Tuesday, August 15th." At least three of the 53 pastors listed as signatories on the recent post have said they were not contacted about the update amid the new allegations against Moore, and have asked for their names to be removed. Tijuanna Adetunji, of the Fresh Anointing House of Worship in Montgomery, contacted AL.com this week to say she was not contacted about the letter and did not give permission for her name to be used. "I was not asked about this story or allegations," Adetunji said. Pastor Thad Endicott also told AL.com that he was not contacted about the most recent post from Kayla Moore. "The list that has recently circulated was evidently copied and pasted from the August endorsements without checking to see if I still endorsed Moore," said Endicott. Endicott, pastor at Heritage Baptist Church, asked that his name be removed from the Moore endorsement letter. Dr. George Grant of Parish Presbyterian Church in Franklin, Tenneessee told WSMV he hadn't spoken with Moore in a decade and hadn't spoken to the Senate nominee's campaign since before the election. Grant said he has no desire to play a role in Alabama politics, telling WSMV, "Not my state. Not my issues."

By Tim Peacock In an order issued by the Alabama Supreme Court this evening, the highest court in the state demanded all probate judges immediately halt issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples. This ruling flies in the face of the superior federal circuit court ruling (and the following clarifying order issued not long thereafter) issued by U.S. District Court Judge [...] Continue reading >> Christian activist Matt McLaughlin filed a petition late last week to engage a voter referendum to legalize the death penalty for homosexuality. Taking his cue from other countries more steeped in religion than secular recognition of human rights, McLaughlin paid his $200 filing fee and must now convince around 366,000 California voters that executing LGBT people should be legal. The initiative begins by stating: [...] Continue reading >> By Tim Peacock More than a third of women will endure "rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime." More egregiously, many of these women will neglect to report these sexual assaults for fear of shaming, promiscuity accusations, personal life intrusions, and more. That makes men's rights activist and blogger Roosh Vorek's recent call to legalize rape [...] Continue reading >> By Tim Peacock Speaking with Bloomberg's Greg Stohr and Matthew Winkler in Washington on Wednesday (and published today), Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg argued that the nation is ready for LGBT marriage equality. In no uncertain terms, the Notorious RBG gave anti-gay religious conservatives a preview of things to come when the Supreme Court hears arguments in April on the [...] Continue reading >> Facing a lawsuit filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), Swainsboro Primary School in Georgia is accused of not only holding Christian prayers in taxpayer-funded classrooms, but also of punishing atheist students for not praying with them. Those students identifying as anything other than Christian weren't just ejected from classrooms during prayers, they were told their parents were bad for [...] Continue reading >> By Tim Peacock While the Todd Starnes and Fox News personalities of the nation would have everyone believe religious persecution runs rampant, reality typically proves otherwise. In Alabama this week, however, it does appear as if the government overstepped its grounds and persecuted a clergy member attempting to perform her duties. The Montgomery Advertiser reported today that Anne Susan Diprizio, an ordained minister, [...] Continue reading >>

Besides his impressive legal career that included rising to the top Alabama seat on the State Supreme Court, Moore graduated with honors from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served in this nation's military. It's no secret that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not like Judge Roy Moore, who ran to fill the seat vacated by Jeff Sessions. McConnell endorsed his primary opponent, Luther Strange, and poured an estimated $30 million into a campaign against Moore. When Strange was soundly rejected by the people of Alabama, and Moore became the GOP nominee, McConnell continued to oppose him. At the first sign of an unproven 40-year old allegation of sexual misconduct against Moore in the waning weeks of the campaign, the GOP halted financial support for Moore's campaign, and several Republicans withdrew their endorsements, when they should have maintained their support in the face of such obviously fake allegations. Instead, they allowed Moore to be tarred and feathered by the spurious attacks. However, Mitch McConnell went a step further. He promised to never allow Moore to occupy his Senate seat, if he were to be elected, even though none of the allegations had ever been proved true in the four decades since they supposedly happened. This sent a strong message to the electorate that Moore would never be accepted as a legitimate Senator, that the people of Alabama would be disenfranchised, and chaos would reign in the Senate. "It is my opinion that Sen. Mitch McConnell heavily contributed to Moore's defeat, and because that led to giving a seat away to a pro-abortion Democrat, he should resign immediately," said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. "McConnell has ensured that pro-life legislation will never pass, Planned Parenthood will never be defunded, and babies that can feel pain will continue to be aborted after the mid-point of pregnancy. He has made sure that the Trump agenda will stall out, and Congress will continue in gridlock. He has betrayed the will of the American people, who support the Trump agenda, especially when it comes to ending abortion. Sen. McConnell, please resign!"

Please see my earlier piece, regarding Roy Moore and how the way Christians respond to his case is important for our continued outreach to a desperate world. Since I released that piece, another accuser has stepped forward, this time accompanied by professional ambulance chaser, Gloria Allred. Normally, I would say the presence of Allred brings an immediate "ick" factor to any accuser's case. This particular accuser, however, seemed particularly convincing, and she had a yearbook signed by a 30-year old Moore, when she knew him as a 15-year old. What he signed wasn't overly concerning, maybe a bit flirtatious, but her account of her encounter with Moore, when he (allegedly) attempted to force her into a sex act at about 16-years old was. For the record, this particular accuser, just like Leigh Corfman, says she is a Trump supporter. As this is going down, Moore's wife is passing around a letter that has been signed by over 50 Alabama pastors, all urging that voters support Moore, in spite of the accusations against him. "For decades, Roy Moore has been an immovable rock in the culture wars -- a bold defender of the 'little guy,' a just judge to those who came before his court, a warrior for the unborn child, defender of the sanctity of marriage, and a champion for religious liberty," the pastors wrote. "Judge Moore has stood in the gap for us, taken the brunt of the attack, and has done so with a rare, unconquerable resolve." No doubt, Moore's name was made by his bold stands on issues like displaying a monument of the Ten Commandments on the courthouse grounds. Those are all quite commendable, in my book. But the accusations... The timing is absolutely unfortunate, and I get why some would see this as partisan trickery, but as I've said over and over, Christians shouldn't play the partisan game. The 53 Alabama pastors accused the "Washington establishment" of declaring "all-out war on his campaign," and asked voters to support Moore. "We are ready to join the fight and send a bold message to Washington: dishonesty, fear of man, and immorality are an affront to our convictions and our Savior and we won't put up with it any longer," the pastors said. "We urge you to join us at the polls to cast your vote for Roy Moore." Unfortunately, debauchery, adultery, abuse, and corruption don't seem to be as big of a problem. And if even one of these accusers is being truthful, then we have to believe these pastors aren't as serious about immorality as their letter suggests. I get it. Even if true, Moore may have changed, and there has to be room for forgiveness, but Moore isn't asking for forgiveness. Moore is firing back, even threatening to sue the Washington Post. Somebody is not telling the truth. With this new accuser and her very compelling account, it only does more to hurt the witness of Christians to the world, to see these pastors to be willing to put their name on something that all but calls these women coming forward "liars." All I can say is, hang on. There are whispers of more coming forward, and if that's the case, there are 53 pastors who are going to look absolutely foolish.

An updated list has revealed the world's happiest countries. The United Nations' 2018 World Happiness Report ranked 156 countries by their happiness levels and 117 countries by the happiness of immigrants. Nordic countries dominated the list with Finland taking 1st, Norway taking 2nd, Denmark taking 3rd, Iceland taking 4th and Switzerland taking 5th. The top five were followed by the Netherlands in 6th, Canada in 7th, New Zealand in 8th, Sweden in 9th and Australia in 10th. The United States ranked 18th -- down 4 spots from 2017. They all ranked high in key happiness factors like income, health and life expectancy, social support, freedom, trust and generosity. The top 10 scored high in both overall happiness and in the happiness of immigrants. Income also plays a huge role -- according to researchers at Purdue University, life satisfaction starts at a $95,000 income globally, but it also varies by region. For Western European and Scandinavian countries, life satisfaction starts at a $100,000 income. But, regardless of income, it's clear that Nordic countries are definitely doing something right. Perhaps other countries should take note at what they're excelling in, in order to ensure a better ranking on the happiness report -- and happier citizens.

WASHINGTON --Air conditioners pull off the seemingly magical feat of making the air inside a home, car or shopping mall deliciously chilly. The source of that sweet relief is chemistry. In this video, Reactions explains how refrigerants and physical chemistry combine to help you beat the summer heat: Please SHARE this story as the only way for CFP to beat Facebook anti-Conservative Suppression. American Chemical Society, ACS is a congressionally chartered independent membership organization which represents professionals at all degree levels and in all fields of chemistry and sciences that involve chemistry.

Thousands of Ecuadoreans joined President Rafael Correa in the coastal city of Guayaquil on Jan. 15 to celebrate 10 years of the Citizens' Revolution that has brought a wave of social and economic gains to the South American country since the left-wing Alianza Pais party came to power in 2007. In the past decade under the Correa government, Ecuador has lifted more than 1.5 million people out of poverty, doubled the minimum wage, doubled health spending per person, cut unemployment by over 4 percent and expanded social security to hundreds of thousands of people for the first time, among other social and economic gains.

If you live in Ontario and care about protecting children and upholding family values, please join the PC Party by the deadline of February 28, 2015. You can do that online by clicking here . If you prefer to download a hard copy membership form and pay by cheque, download it here . That will make you eligible to vote at the leadership contest which is taking place over two days, May 3 or 7th. Below we have provided information about each of the Supportable candidates. You may download a printable pdf version of this endorsement flyer here .

An updated list has revealed the world's happiest countries. The United Nations' 2018 World Happiness Report ranked 156 countries by their happiness levels and 117 countries by the happiness of immigrants. Nordic countries dominated the list with Finland taking 1st, Norway taking 2nd, Denmark taking 3rd, Iceland taking 4th and Switzerland taking 5th. The top five were followed by the Netherlands in 6th, Canada in 7th, New Zealand in 8th, Sweden in 9th and Australia in 10th. The United States ranked 18th -- down 4 spots from 2017. They all ranked high in key happiness factors like income, health and life expectancy, social support, freedom, trust and generosity. The top 10 scored high in both overall happiness and in the happiness of immigrants. Income also plays a huge role -- according to researchers at Purdue University, life satisfaction starts at a $95,000 income globally, but it also varies by region. For Western European and Scandinavian countries, life satisfaction starts at a $100,000 income. But, regardless of income, it's clear that Nordic countries are definitely doing something right. Perhaps other countries should take note at what they're excelling in, in order to ensure a better ranking on the happiness report -- and happier citizens.

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Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is expected to declare his run for the 2016 presidency on Tuesday from his hometown of Hope. Gathered below are 10 reasons Huckabee would make a great president: 1. He is a family man. Huckabee is a humble breadwinner who puts his wife Janet, two sons, and daughter above all else. Like most everyday Americans, he understands that strong families are the bedrock of a peaceful, prosperous society. Latest: Do You Approve of Obama's Job Performance? Vote Here Now. 2. His parents were hard-working Americans. Huckabee's mother was a clerk for a gas station, and his father was a firefighter. On his days off, his father rebuilt car generators for extra income. That allowed a young Huckabee to be the first male in his family to graduate from high school. 3. He is a Christian. After graduating from Ouachita Baptist University with a degree in religion, Huckabee attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. After becoming well-versed in the deep Judeo-Christian roots of our country, he went on to share the gospel with a storied career in Christian broadcasting before kickstarting his political career. 4. He is a consistent social conservative. Huckabee is unwavering when it comes to social issues and is unafraid to voice his opposition to abortion, gay marriage, gun control, the teaching of evolution, and more. 5. He's not afraid to speak truth to power. Huckabee knows that winning in politics is not enough to win the country back. As a happy culture warrior, Huckabee has recently spoken out against the overly sexualized art and music propagated by stars like Beyonce, Jay-Z, and Miley Cyrus. 6. He is great communicator. All great presidents need to be effective communicators, and as host of his own Fox News program from 2008-2015, Huckabee presented his policy positions on a weekly basis in ways that were both convincing and fun. Urgent: Cruz, Carson or Huckabee: Who's Your Favorite for 2016? 7. He is a best-selling author. Huckabee is not only an effective communicator on television and on the stump -- he can write too. He released "Do The Right Thing" in 2008 -- instantly becoming a New York Times Best Seller -- and has released a number of influential books since, including this year's "God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy." 8. He is a former governor. Huckabee served as Arkansas governor for more than a decade, from 1996 to 2007, and as Chairman of the National Governors Association from 2005 to 2006. It's often said that governors make the best presidents because they've had to make and keep budgets, manage tens of thousands of state employees, and preside over law enforcement. 9. He's a favorite among primary voters. In 2008, Huckabee won the Iowa Republican caucuses, locking up key votes in the party's first state. Building a solid foundation early on in the race will allow Huckabee to make a strong showing in the general election should the party ultimately nominate him. 10. He knows how to clean up a Democrat mess. Huckabee took the reins of the Arkansas governorship when Bill Clinton's successor, Jim Guy Tucker, resigned after a fraud conviction during the Whitewater affair. While ushering in an era of small government, Huckabee said, "We didn't slash, burn, hurt people, leave people impoverished. We empowered people to live a better life." Assess Your Heart Attack Risk in Seconds Take This Test. (c) 2018 Newsmax. All rights reserved. Click Here to comment on this article

October 24, 2011 Free Teaching Guide Bring America's most incisive writers and editors to your classroom with free teaching material from The Nation. * FREE Weekly Teaching Guides and Educator Email Newsletter * Discounted subscriptions. To download the teaching guide click here Sign up to receive The Nation's FREE Educator Newsletter. We'll let you know when each new weekly guide has been posted, and highlight articles of special interest and stories that will help you and your students get the most out of The Nation.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says all immigrants should come into the country the same way his own parents did -- legally. And they should assimilate. "Immigration without assimilation is invasion that can weaken our country," Jindal said Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation." He made similar comments on ABC's "This Week." "We don't need to go down the path of Europe," which is facing "huge problems" with second- and third-generation immigrants who don't feel a part of their societies, Jindal told "Face the Nation." "Let's insist on being the melting pot, let's forget this politically correct left notion that we're not a melting pot anymore." On "This Week," Jindal was asked if, as a child of immigrants, he ever feels troubled by some of the derogatory things said about immigrants. "When it comes to immigration policy, what I have experienced, a strong immigration policy makes our stronger, a dumb one makes us weaker," Jindal said. "We've got a dumb one today." (c) 2018 Newsmax. All rights reserved. Click Here to comment on this article Anti-abortion group, the Susan B. Anthony List, is launching a $785,000 ad campaign against Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., o . . . Newsmax, Moneynews, Newsmax Health, and Independent. American. are registered trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc. Newsmax TV, and Newsmax World are trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc.

January 23, 2012 Free Teaching Guide Bring America's most incisive writers and editors to your classroom with free teaching material from The Nation. * FREE Weekly Teaching Guides and Educator Email Newsletter * Discounted subscriptions. To download the teaching guide click here Sign up to receive The Nation's FREE Educator Newsletter. We'll let you know when each new weekly guide has been posted, and highlight articles of special interest and stories that will help you and your students get the most out of The Nation.

Free Teaching Guide for Oct. 13 Bring America's most incisive writers and editors to your classroom with free teaching material from The Nation. * FREE Weekly Teaching Guides and Educator Email Newsletter * Discounted subscriptions. To download the teaching guide click here Sign up to receive The Nation's FREE Educator Newsletter. We'll let you know when each new weekly guide has been posted, and highlight articles of special interest and stories that will help you and your students get the most out of The Nation.

November 29, 2010 Teaching Guide Bring America's most incisive writers and editors to your classroom with free teaching material from The Nation. * FREE Weekly Teaching Guides and Educator Email Newsletter * Discounted subscriptions. To download the teaching guide click here Sign up to receive The Nation's FREE Educator Newsletter. We'll let you know when each new weekly guide has been posted, and highlight articles of special interest and stories that will help you and your students get the most out of The Nation.

After 10 hours in the air, The Rebel is on the ground in Israel. All this week, we've got a jam packed schedule of interviews with strategists, pollsters, politicians, and military officials, alongside tours of the West Bank security fence, Jewish settlements, the Knesset, and much, much more! But, before we bring you all the details from our high-level meetings and more, take a quick look at Jerusalem's Old City, moments after we land. We're here on this fact-finding mission thanks to your generous support. To view all our videos from Israel and to support our journalistic mission there, visit RebelIsrael.com Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

Oded Ravivi, the mayor of Efrat, gave a fantastic presentation during the Rebel's trip to Israel , about trying to open up dialogue with extremists on both sides. He explained how important it is to gear your message to your particular audience, be they Jewish or Muslim. He adds that he's engaged in many conversations with Muslims who reject Islamist views, but are too intimidated to admit this to other Muslims. PS: WATCH more reports from The Rebel Media's mission to Israel HERE . Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

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There is no need to go into details, once again, about the extensive damage caused to the Palestinians by the Israeli occupation forces. We have heard much already of the mounting poverty rate, that GDP has fallen by 9% during the first half of 2006, that 25% of the Palestinian work force is suffering from a severe loss of income due to the sanctions on the PA , and that welfare payments have fallen by US $180 million. Moreover, Per-capita consumption in Palestine has fallen by 12%. Deep poverty is reaching alarming proportions, in Gaza it is already at 79.8%. Additionally, food insecurity is also at very high levels, reaching up to 41% in Gaza. Read more about Occupation and Aid

You may have seen our extensive coverage of Sderot during the Rebel Media mission to Israel. Today the mainstream media is up in arms because Israel has once again dared to defend itself after another round of rocket attacks that targeted civilians in this town. One CNN correspondent called IDF soldiers "scum" -- but they never report that Palestinians revere terrorists as heroes, and kill civilians for recreation. Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

The Bethlehem side of Israel's security wall is covered top to bottom with anti-Western graffiti. Israelis say they approve of this, as an expression of "democracy" and "freedom of expression," but of course those are values the "Palestinians" wouldn't extend to the other side. While Israel talks about "a solution" and even "love," I don't believe these two sides will every stop fighting. PS: WATCH more reports from The Rebel Media's mission to Israel HERE . Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

The Great Gulf Coast Oil Disaster Coverup Continues: * ( Image by Photobucket commons) Permission Details DMCA * by Photobucket commons Brutus waiting for Caesar to turn around War-is-Peace Nobel Prize winner Barack Obama, continuing in his Orwellian political Style, had another photo-op this weekend, this time in Florida to assure the American people that the waters of the Gulf of Mexico are SAFE . He even stated to the media this past weekend, to quote from Reuters, that, "I also want to point out that as a result of the cleanup effort, beaches all along the Gulf Coast are clean and safe and open for business," .... "That's one of the reasons Michelle, Sasha, and I are here," he said, referring to his wife and youngest daughter. ( source ) - Advertisement - To "prove" this, he went swimming with his daughter around Panama City, Florida: Obama and Sasha swimming by White House release The media, oddly enough, was not allowed to photograph our fearless leader risking it all with his daughter to test the waters of the Gulf, so this is actually a White House photograph, which I imagine they are hoping news sites will pick up and spread around the Internet, as I am doing here, although with a caveat, because I really should put this photo into perspective first, a photo that the New York Times and AP won't even print because they indeed do consider it a White House photo-opportunity. So welcome to Alligator Point in St Andrew Bay near Panama City, Florida: * by Photobucket commons It's a lovely, pristine bay with lush blue waters, surrounded by the Gulf. - Advertisement - This is a map to give you a better perspective of what the bay's geography looks like. I couldn't figure out how to embed it so I linked it. Note that there are natural barriers running southwest of the bay that would naturally block much if not all floating "tarballs" and oil slicks trying to wind their way into the bay. This area was not seeing much oil penetration, if any, anyway. In fact, the London Independent had this to say about Alligator Point: "The official picture was intended to provide evidence that the region's beaches are back to normal. Yet it soon emerged that the private beach on which it was taken, off Alligator Point in St Andrew Bay, north-west Florida, isn't technically in the gulf. ( source )" Not technically in the Gulf? And to top that off, this beach had never become "abnormal" in the first place. What a straw dog to knock down! I am also told that the waters near Alligator Point, close, amusingly, to a golf course, were being monitored regularly for contamination. Indeed, Obama took a very safe plunge, far from the real danger points in the Gulf of Mexico. What if, however, he had come to the beaches of Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama and gone skinny-dipping, like this woman, Sheri Allen, did: * by Sheri Allen/Riki Ott Sheri Allen sent this photo to Dr Riki Ott after she made the mistake of swimming in the waters near Mobile, Alabama. ( source ) That might cost you a few votes though, Prez, if your daughter ended up looking like that after a casual, "safe" swim. Meanwhile, outraged citizens along the Gulf Coast are asking this question: Why didn't you come to their oil-invaded beaches and get REAL with the toxic stew in their beaches, marshes and fishing waters? - Advertisement - By crafting this illusion of safe beaches, safe food, safe air, the President, BP, the Coast Guard and all the other prostituted government agencies are going to sucker God knows how many unknowing American men, women and children into poisoning, sickening or perhaps even killing themselves through cancers or organ failure by swimming, eating and breathing toxins that the former are callously trying to cover up for various underhanded motives. This is yet another stab in the back by Orwellian Obama and his gang of coverup artists, the very people who are supposed to be protecting us, while a criminal corporation, you know who, clearly the Alpha Dog here, calls the main shots. Obama has reaally deepened his bad Karma here, tooling his own daughter in an attempt to get other parents to expose their daughters to the lurking hazards in the Gulf. Et tu, Obami? However, there are a lot of us shouting out warnings. In fact, a contingent of Gulf Coast fishermen, activists and protesters converged on Panama City this past Sunday to get REAL with Obama since he won't get down with them, and here is what they had to say to the President, BP, the White House and to all of America. Project Gulf Impact taped their rally in two parts, viewable on YouTube. Here is the text accompanying the videos, followed by the videos themselves, so listen up folks! "On Sunday, August 15th, fishing families from across the Gulf Cost will gather in Panama City Beach, Florida, with a message for President Obama: The Gulf of Mexico is still infused with oil and dispersants from the BP disaster, threatening marine life, livelihoods, and the health of the American people." "Fishermen do not want to lose our credibility or deliver contaminated seafood to market and make people sick." - Kathy Birren

This famous photograph by Horace Cort shows a group of white and black integrationists in the former Monson Motor Lodge swimming pool on June 18, 1964. The photo was connected to the St. Augustine Movement, named for the town in Florida where it took place. Lots of peaceful protests and demonstrations were responded to with violence, which lead to more and more complicated protests. On June 11, 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr was arrested for trespassing at the Monson Motor Lodge after being asked to leave from its segregated restaurant. This (and other things) helped spurn on a group of protesters, black and white, to jump into the pool as a strategically planned event to end segregation at motel pools. The pool at this motel was designated "white only." Whites who paid for motel rooms invited blacks to join them in the motel pool as their guests. This swim-in was planned by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and two associates. The motel manager, Jimmy Brock, in an effort to break up the party, poured a bottle of muriatic acid into the pool, hoping the swimmers would become scared and leave. One swimmer, who knew that the ratio of acid to pool water was so great that the acid was no longer a threat, drank some of the pool water to calm the other swimmers' fears. More at Rare Historical Photos.

Every four years or so, Miami becomes extremely important to Barack Obama. Though he's immensely popular and appears to be mostly beloved in South Florida, the president has really only made time to visit us in election years, those blissful times when politicians magically start treating Florida swing-voters like beautiful, winged unicorns who matter more than anyone else in the country. But despite how much Obama has acted like a fair-weather friend over the years, we're going to miss the Obama administration's commitment to civility, poise, and grace under fire when he leaves office in a month and a half. (This election cycle has certainly shown what happens when you prop up someone without those traits.) Related Stories Barack was in town this week to stump for his former rival, Hillary Clinton, at Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens. Obama, as usual, had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand, and threw a few shout-outs to Miamians along the way. Like him or not, Obama definitely knew how to reach Miamians, whether he was standing on a podium in the Everglades talking about climate change, or laughing with us at the Miami Dolphins' complete lack of talent. Here were the president's five most important Miami moments. Ian Wilten President Obama needs to demand accounting from Miami-Dade on its Head Start funds. Obama points to the Everglades and says climate change does indeed exist. Photo by Jessica Weiss Photo by Justin Sloan/Flickr CC If you like this story, consider signing up for our email newsletters. You have successfully signed up for your selected newsletter(s) - please keep an eye on your mailbox, we're movin' in! 5. Also all that "ending the Cuban embargo" stuff was a pretty big deal. We can have Cuban cigars and fly to Havana now. Jerry Iannelli is Miami New Times ' daily-news reporter. He graduated with honors from Temple University. He then earned a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University. He moved to South Florida in 2015. Contact: Jerry Iannelli Follow: Twitter: @jerryiannelli

Yes. Dark hair, combined with the skin tone that's just about a shade or two darker. Exactly like all my Italian American friends growing up on Long Island. They were all "Caucasian". They still are. Even when they were standing next to my extremely pale, freckled, red headed Irish American ass. Nice attempt to deflect, but I choose to stay on the message, instead. Again; exactly how many of the "cool" kids are obviously non-Caucasian ? pattwist73: Even when they were standing next to my extremely pale, freckled, red headed Irish American ass. By the way, Erin go Bragh ; there's a huge chunk of our family on my mom's side that emigrated directly from County Cork. And I just love how you completely avoided answering the pertinent question here, so I'll ask it again: Still isn't if you ask the right (wrong) people or in the right (wrong) place. I can play this game too! I didn't think the point was to win, I thought it was to point out how different cultural upbringings will emphasize different code markers for different races/ethnicities. Like the guy I went to grad-school with who insisted that Dean Cain looked so clearly Japanese that he shouldn't have even been considered for Superman. Maybe he's just really insistent that the kid with the pop bottle is White and nothing else about this discussion even matters? pattwist73: Unfortunately, there are no points for staying on the message. None for deflecting, either. Nobody wins. Nobody loses. Slainte mhaith! I'm not trying to "win": I'm making my point about the subconscious message in this imagery... y'know, the one which you are going out of your way to ignore.

Photo: KeylimeSteve's Flickr It is, as we've already made clear, a day to be by the water -- or, even better, in it. But might we suggest you not attempt to go in the water by building a homemade submarine and launching you Cousteauian adventure in the East River near the Queen Mary 2 , which is docked off Red Hook? "Several men are being questioned by police after being stopped apparently attempting to set sail off Brooklyn in a makeshift submarine-type vessel," reports WABC - TV . WCBS - TV says three people were escorted from the area by police, the captain was issued a Coast Guard violation, and -- here's the best part -- "the vessel bears a striking resemblance to the 'Bushnell Turtle,' the first American submarine, invented around 1775 in Connecticut by David Bushnell." So remember, kids: No revolutionary-era subs near the big cruise ships. Okay?

The Great Gulf Coast Oil Disaster Coverup Continues: * ( Image by Photobucket commons) Permission Details DMCA * by Photobucket commons Brutus waiting for Caesar to turn around War-is-Peace Nobel Prize winner Barack Obama, continuing in his Orwellian political Style, had another photo-op this weekend, this time in Florida to assure the American people that the waters of the Gulf of Mexico are SAFE . He even stated to the media this past weekend, to quote from Reuters, that, "I also want to point out that as a result of the cleanup effort, beaches all along the Gulf Coast are clean and safe and open for business," .... "That's one of the reasons Michelle, Sasha, and I are here," he said, referring to his wife and youngest daughter. ( source ) - Advertisement - To "prove" this, he went swimming with his daughter around Panama City, Florida: Obama and Sasha swimming by White House release The media, oddly enough, was not allowed to photograph our fearless leader risking it all with his daughter to test the waters of the Gulf, so this is actually a White House photograph, which I imagine they are hoping news sites will pick up and spread around the Internet, as I am doing here, although with a caveat, because I really should put this photo into perspective first, a photo that the New York Times and AP won't even print because they indeed do consider it a White House photo-opportunity. So welcome to Alligator Point in St Andrew Bay near Panama City, Florida: * by Photobucket commons It's a lovely, pristine bay with lush blue waters, surrounded by the Gulf. - Advertisement - This is a map to give you a better perspective of what the bay's geography looks like. I couldn't figure out how to embed it so I linked it. Note that there are natural barriers running southwest of the bay that would naturally block much if not all floating "tarballs" and oil slicks trying to wind their way into the bay. This area was not seeing much oil penetration, if any, anyway. In fact, the London Independent had this to say about Alligator Point: "The official picture was intended to provide evidence that the region's beaches are back to normal. Yet it soon emerged that the private beach on which it was taken, off Alligator Point in St Andrew Bay, north-west Florida, isn't technically in the gulf. ( source )" Not technically in the Gulf? And to top that off, this beach had never become "abnormal" in the first place. What a straw dog to knock down! I am also told that the waters near Alligator Point, close, amusingly, to a golf course, were being monitored regularly for contamination. Indeed, Obama took a very safe plunge, far from the real danger points in the Gulf of Mexico. What if, however, he had come to the beaches of Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama and gone skinny-dipping, like this woman, Sheri Allen, did: * by Sheri Allen/Riki Ott Sheri Allen sent this photo to Dr Riki Ott after she made the mistake of swimming in the waters near Mobile, Alabama. ( source ) That might cost you a few votes though, Prez, if your daughter ended up looking like that after a casual, "safe" swim. Meanwhile, outraged citizens along the Gulf Coast are asking this question: Why didn't you come to their oil-invaded beaches and get REAL with the toxic stew in their beaches, marshes and fishing waters? - Advertisement - By crafting this illusion of safe beaches, safe food, safe air, the President, BP, the Coast Guard and all the other prostituted government agencies are going to sucker God knows how many unknowing American men, women and children into poisoning, sickening or perhaps even killing themselves through cancers or organ failure by swimming, eating and breathing toxins that the former are callously trying to cover up for various underhanded motives. This is yet another stab in the back by Orwellian Obama and his gang of coverup artists, the very people who are supposed to be protecting us, while a criminal corporation, you know who, clearly the Alpha Dog here, calls the main shots. Obama has reaally deepened his bad Karma here, tooling his own daughter in an attempt to get other parents to expose their daughters to the lurking hazards in the Gulf. Et tu, Obami? However, there are a lot of us shouting out warnings. In fact, a contingent of Gulf Coast fishermen, activists and protesters converged on Panama City this past Sunday to get REAL with Obama since he won't get down with them, and here is what they had to say to the President, BP, the White House and to all of America. Project Gulf Impact taped their rally in two parts, viewable on YouTube. Here is the text accompanying the videos, followed by the videos themselves, so listen up folks! "On Sunday, August 15th, fishing families from across the Gulf Cost will gather in Panama City Beach, Florida, with a message for President Obama: The Gulf of Mexico is still infused with oil and dispersants from the BP disaster, threatening marine life, livelihoods, and the health of the American people." "Fishermen do not want to lose our credibility or deliver contaminated seafood to market and make people sick." - Kathy Birren

Kathryn Moody : Investors, Are You Ready for the Next Global Crisis? Manuel Schiffres Mutual Fund Rankings, 2014 Meghan Streit : Pitching In When Caregivers Need Help Janet Bond Brill, Ph.D., R.D.N., F.A.N.D : How to prevent a second (and first) heart attack thru diet The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington : Caprese is a light, fresh salad; the perfect quick and easy accompaniment to any summer meal Mark Steyn : You Want Nazis? Jonathan Tobin : Care about the Jewish state's future? Obama, in interview, reveals even more reasons to worry Alan M. Dershowitz : Confirmed: Needless death and destruction in Gaza Katie Nielsen : As a mother, I'm all I need to be Cameron Huddleston : 18 Retailers That Offer Price Adjustments Nellie S. Huang : The Best Health Mutual Funds to Buy Now Brierly Wright, M.S., R.D. : Try these 'secret-weapon' foods to boost your changes of losing weight The Kosher Gourmet by Jessica Yadegaran : Take some relish in pickled goodies (5 recipes!) Kimberly Lankford : 50 Ways to Cut Your Health Care Costs James K. Glassman : Investors, Are You Ready for the Next Global Crisis? The Kosher Gourmet by Nick Malgieri : Chocolate molten delight with creme anglaise is a simple yet elegant make-ahead dessert BERLIN - Chancellor Angela Merkel avoided the breakup of her government on Monday, emerging from an immigration fight with her coalition intact but fragile. A clash that lasted weeks ended in an uneasy truce late Monday when Merkel and her party, the Christian Democrats (CDU), reached a compromise on Germany's immigration policy with partner Christian Social Union (CSU). Interior Minister and CSU leader Horst Seehofer backed off his threat to resign in protest and potentially bring down the government with him. A hardline stance on immigration and criticism of Merkel's decision to welcome nearly a million migrants in 2015 have been part of the CSU's political strategy ahead of regional elections in the fall. Merkel was widely seen here as handling the rebellion well. "She will prove to be a stable lighthouse in a tumultuous sea," said Nils Diederich, a political-science professor at the Free University Berlin. But the internal turbulence has preoccupied her at a time when Germany is reckoning with far bigger international challenges, especially the growing transatlantic acrimony between Berlin and the Trump administration. And the problems within her government are unlikely to go away: Relations between Merkel's CDU and its Bavarian sister have been badly strained, and the CSU itself is now riven by competing factions. That will make it difficult for her to return Germany to the relatively stable state for which it had long been known during her 13-year tenure. Merkel hailed the compromise as one that "preserves the spirit of partnership in the European Union and at the same time is a decisive step towards organizing and controlling secondary migration." A chastened Seehofer said: "I am glad that this agreement has been reached. It has once again become clear that it is worth fighting for a conviction. And what follows now is a very sustainable and clear agreement for the future." The two leaders reached a three-part compromise, the text of which was released late Monday. In simple bullet points to be further negotiated in the days ahead, the agreement was a testament to how far Merkel - and the German government - have come from the "wilkommenskultur" ("welcoming culture") that she preached in 2015. At the German-Austrian border, the deal proposes new screening to "prevent asylum seekers whose asylum procedures are the responsibility of other EU countries from entering the country." A network of "transit centers" will serve as central processing points from which ineligible migrants would then be sent back to relevant countries, but only if those countries consent. If those original countries do not agree, Germany's rejected migrants would be sent to Austria, "on the basis of an agreement." It was not immediately clear the extent to which Austria's right-wing government, which has opposed Europe's migration wave, was consulted in these discussions. The compromise also needs to be approved by Merkel's other coalition partner: Germany's Social Democratic Party (SDP), which might chafe at the notion of any sort of migrant centers or camps along the border with Austria but which also stands to lose in any round of new elections that might be triggered by rejecting the compromise. The CDU, the CSU and the SDP began meeting late Monday, immediately after Merkel and Seehofer finished their negotiations. Diederich noted that the CSU's motivation in precipitating the crisis likely stemmed from its interest in fending off the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) in October's elections. "What's happening now has nothing to do with content," Diederich said. "It's solely aimed at the upcoming Bavarian state elections." That strategy hasn't been successful, according to recent polls in Bavaria, which show a 1.9 percent drop in support for the CDU/CSU coalition, compared with a 2.4 percent rise for the AfD. By Monday morning, there were already signs that some CSU officials regretted the extent to which their colleagues had jeopardized national cohesion for a reelection strategy that does not seem to be paying off. Markus Soder, the Bavarian state premier - as well as Seehofer's rival in the party - told reporters Monday that he was "very surprised" about Seehofer's offer to step down. "One thing is very clear: the stability of the government is not a question for us," he told German news wires on Monday. "One can reach a lot within a government, but not outside of it." The real victor of the latest standoff could well be the AfD. Its leaders framed the fight between Seehofer and Merkel as a confirmation of their criticisms about a self-serving political establishment. The party's harsh anti-migrant stances, once banished to the fringes of public discourse, have now entered the conservative mainstream. "It's a process of self-delegitimization that's going on among the establishment," said Michael Koss, a political scientist at the University of Munich, referring to the spat inside the coalition. "The AfD always claimed from the outside that the establishment politicians were only out for their own good, and currently I have to say I agree." The AfD wasted no time in attacking Seehofer's dramatics Monday morning. "Horst Seehofer and the CSU have been staging a miserable and slimy theater," wrote Alice Weidel, the AfD's leader, in a statement published on Facebook. "The back and forth and the resignation from the resignation of the interior minister were merely staged." She then reiterated the party's anti-migrant stance: "The AfD is the only power that can bring this asylum chaos under control." In fact, the number of asylum seekers in Germany has fallen dramatically to pre-2015 levels, thanks in part to Merkel's more restrictive policies in recent years. Whether the AfD can continue to capitalize on the coalition's crisis remains to be seen, but what seems most certain is that in trying to gain back voters from the AfD and challenge Merkel, Seehofer miscalculated his hand. Merkel, who has been Germany's chancellor since 2005, has often thwarted her opponents by assuming their positions, but on migration she cannot do that to the same extent. Although some on the political left have criticized her for making too many concessions on the issue, Merkel has also patently refused to call the 2015 influx of migrants a mistake or to adopt the same anti-migrant rhetoric of her more hard line allies. "She's in the final phase of her political career. She aims to be remembered as a great European, or the honorable grandchild of Helmut Kohl," said Werner Weidenfeld, a German political scientist. "That's why this political debate has a different dimension," he said. At the same, for political opponents, the uneasy aftermath of Merkel's standoff with Seehofer hardly represented a change from a new coalition defined by frequent stalemates and infighting. "How often have #Merkel and #Seehofer said they've found a 'good compromise' that then resulted in an escalation just a few hours / days / weeks later?" Katrin Goring-Eckardt, the leader of the Green Party, tweeted after the compromise was announced. "It's exhausting. It doesn't solve any problems, it just creates new ones." Previously: * 04/18/18 : Struggling to prevent terrorist attacks, France wants to 'reform' Islam * 10/25/17 : The terrorist was shot dead but his case is still being litigated --- and for good reason * 07/24/17 : In France, the cold-blooded murder of an elderly Jewish woman ignites a debate over terrorism * 07/17/17 : Thank you, dear Donald': Why Macron invited Trump to France * 05/22/17 : Macron's 'radical centrism' sure looks a lot like conservatism

Germany's Merkel is hoping for a re-run of her current left-right "grand coalition" with Schulz's SPD. But the SPD is reluctant to govern in her shadow again after a dismal election result. The leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) Martin Schulz arrives for talks about forming a coalition government involving the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), at a parliamentary annexe in Berlin on December 20, 2017. ( AFP ) German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) have agreed to exploratory talks on forming a new government starting on January 7, both parties said on Wednesday after informal discussions. The decision, 87 days after a national election that returned a fragmented parliament and complicated coalition arithmetic, brightens prospects for a renewal of the "grand coalition" that governed Germany over the past four years. A repeat coalition is Merkel's best chance of securing a fourth term as chancellor after talks on forming a three-way alliance with two smaller parties broke down, leaving Europe's largest economy in an unprecedented state of uncertainty. "It was a good discussion in a trusting atmosphere," the parties said in a joint statement after leaders met on Wednesday. They agreed to hold four days of talks from January 7, with the aim of deciding by January 12 whether to open formal coalition negotiations. Even in the most optimistic case, Germany will have smashed 2013's post-World War Two record of needing 86 days to form a new government after an election. The hiatus highlights that Germany, long Europe's bastion of stability, is not immune to the political fragmentation that has swept the continent. The conservatives and Social Democrats have identified 15 policy areas for exploration, including education, the welfare state and employment law, where the SPD is keen to carve out a distinctive left-wing identity for itself after a disastrous election showing blamed in part on Merkel's dominant stature. The SPD's membership, which tends to be more radical than the party leadership, will have to ratify any decision to repeat a coalition with Merkel, who has been in power for 12 years.

Salvini also told the Senate he was open to a possible "axis" with Germany and Austria on immigration ahead of a key EU summit at the end of June that will, in part, consider changes to EU asylum law to better share the burden of incoming migrants. "With my German and Austrian colleagues... we will propose a new (immigration) initiative," Salvini said, adding that it would apply both to the EU's external borders and to how the bloc's countries manage migrants internally. France claims it has received no formal request from Italy for an apology, believing the planned meeting between Macron and Conte would go ahead. Macron initially did not respond to questions on the issue, but later told reporters: "We must never give in to emotions, which some people manipulate." Later on Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel echoed Mr Salvini by stating that Europe needs a unified approach to migration that addresses the interests of every member state. She noted that Italy did not feel it was receiving sufficient support from other European Union states. Ms Merkel spoke after Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, a top CSU leader, called for Germany to ally itself with Austria, governed by a right-wing coalition, and Italy on migration and security policies. The chancellor said migration represented a significant challenge for Europe when it was in a "very fragile situation." "Europe must stick together," she said, acknowledging Italy's concern that it had taken in many migrants but fellow EU countries were not showing sufficient solidarity. "For me, the question of how we deal with the migration question is something of a litmus test for the future and the unity of Europe, and the interests of every country must be considered," she said. More than 1.8 million migrants have entered Europe since 2014. Italy is now sheltering more than 170,000 asylum seekers, as well as an estimated 500,000 unregistered migrants.

Susanna Maria Feldman was a 14-year-old German girl who disappeared in late May. Her mother received a text from her daughter's phone in broken German which read, "Don't look for me. I come in 2 or 3 weeks." Responding to a tip, police discovered her body in a wooded area not far from a refugee center in Wiesbaden. Susanna had been raped and strangled. The suspect in the case, 20-year-old Ali Bashar, is an asylum seeker whose claim had been rejected in 2016 but who was still living in Germany while he appealed the decision. After Susanna disappeared, Bashar, his parents, and his five siblings all fled Germany for Iraq under fake names. Last week he was arrested in northern Iraq where he was arrested and apparently confessed to the crime. He was extradited back to Germany for trial. The NY Times reports the story is a media sensation in Germany and once again has people wondering about the wisdom of Angela Merkel's refugee policy: On Friday, the case dominated the German news media and became the latest cudgel for Chancellor Angela Merkel's opponents and, some predicted, a potential turning point in the migration debate in a country where some 10,000 asylum seekers still enter every month... "If he had been deported, she would still be alive," read a headline in the country's largest tabloid, Bild, which devoted two pages to the case. He came to the attention of the police several times, involving allegations of jostling a police officer, robbing a passer-by and carrying a knife... Rainer Wendt, head of one of Germany's biggest police unions, said the murder was emblematic of something larger. "People feel that the state has lost control," Mr. Wendt said. "There are thousands of people in the country and we don't know who they are. That is an enormous security risk." Merkel is still defending her "humanitarian response" which let more than a million refugees enter the country in 2015. But the NY Times notes that this isn't the first time a German citizen has been murdered by an asylum seeker since then: Susanna was not the first German teenager to be murdered by an asylum seeker in recent years. In March, an Afghan man was sentenced to life in prison for raping and murdering a university student. In January, a 17-year-old high school student was stabbed to death by another Afghan teenager. There was also the attack on a Berlin Christmas market by a man driving a truck. He was also a rejected asylum seeker who hadn't been deported yet. Then there was the mass sexual assault which took place on New Year's Eve in Cologne and other cities. The number of women attacked that night by refugees eventually totaled 1,200. Finally, all of this happens at the same time that a separate cash-for-asylum scandal has been developing in Germany. From the Local : The scandal centres around the Federal Office for Immigration and Refugees, which goes by the acronym BAMF. The BAMF office in Bremen is accused of wrongfully granting asylum to over a thousand refugees between 2013 and 2016 who had their applications dismissed in other federal states. Prosecutors in Bremen are currently investigating the former head of the Bremen office, Ulrike B., and various employees on suspicion that they took bribes in exchange for granting favourable decisions. The former head of BAMF has claimed that he warned Chancellor Merkel about irregularities in the system a year ago : The former head of BAMF, Frank-Juergen Weise, added fuel to the political fire when he accused Merkel of knowing about wider problems at the agency since at least last year and neglecting to deal with them. "The failure lies in the inaction (of the government) when the challenges that Germany would face with the arrival of the refugees became clear," Weise told news weekly Der Spiegel. "The crisis could have been prevented," added Weise, who said he personally informed Merkel on two occasions of irregularities in 2017 without concrete action being taken. Merkel won re-election last year but it took her six months to form a coalition government. The murder of Susanna Feldman, on top of the BAMF scandal, could be the last straw for Merkel.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany will have to go its own way on immigration if it cannot get other European Union states to sign up to migrant return deals, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said, in remarks that could shatter a fragile peace in the government. Chancellor Angela Merkel's government teetered on the brink of collapse last week as Seehofer's Bavarian conservatives demanded a unilateral tightening of German border controls that she was prepared to concede only in the framework of a European agreement. The coalition partners seemed to resolve the tensions - at least on migration - on Thursday, with the centre-left Social Democrats agreeing to allow expulsions of some asylum-seekers provided bilateral agreements were in place with the EU states where they had first applied for asylum. But in an interview with news magazine Der Spiegel, extracts of which were published on Friday, Seehofer once again threatened to act unilaterally if Germany could not seal the promised deals with other EU countries. "It wouldn't be a good strategy to assume that there are going to be no bilateral agreements," he said. "Then we'd have to go back to the plan of turning people away at the border." Merkel, whose decision to open Germany to about a million people seeking asylum in 2015 fuelled the rise of anti-immigration parties, rejects unilateral expulsions as going against the spirit of European cooperation. Seehofer has drawn broad criticism. On Friday, about 40,000 people had signed a petition calling for his resignation that was posted by a Berlin social worker on the change.org website around midday. Greens party leader Robert Habeck told the tageszeitung newspaper that Seehofer had disqualified himself as a minister by putting a personal feud over German stability. "After the past days of chaos, the interior minister has a lot of work to do," Burkhard Lischka, a Social Democrat interior affairs spokesman, told the Rheinische Zeitung newspaper. Christian Lindner, head of the pro-business Free Democrats, said the migration row had tarnished Germany's reputation, but would also cost Seehofer's Christian Social Union its absolute majority in a Bavarian regional election this October. "It takes more than sauerkraut, lederhosen and coarse slogans to impress Bavaria," he told broadcaster Deutschlandfunk. "There are many cosmopolitan people who do not share the crude views that are being expressed." Seehofer, scrambling to shore up his party before the Bavarian election and stop bleeding votes to the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, has staked his political future on ensuring tighter controls. The Bavarian leader, whose party has for decades been in a sometimes fractious conservative alliance with Merkel's Christian Democrats, was in Vienna on Wednesday to discuss return agreements with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. (Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and David Stamp) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

The far-right nationalist party, AfD, is rapidly gaining support in Bavaria and is presumably the reason that led Interior Minister Horst Seehofer to revolt against Merkel. The world is in the midst of the worst refugee crisis since World War II but millions of migrants and asylum seekers are facing even harsher crackdowns. The most recent case in point: German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who once pushed for an open-border policy, has just agreed to a half-baked deal that will make it harder still for migrants to enter Germany. Merkel has faced a revolt from far-right parties over her comparatively welcoming stance towards migrants and refugees. To save her crumbling governing coalition and mollify her rebellious Bavarian allies, the German chancellor has agreed to close asylum "transit camps" along three Austrian borders. According to The Atlantic, migrants seeking asylum in Germany, who have already applied on other European Union countries would not be turned back at the border immediately. Instead, they will be camped at transit centers along the German-Austrian border. From there, Germany will send rejected asylum seekers back to their countries after they strike a negotiation with the countries. If a deal is not struck, rejected refugees will be sent back to Austria on the basis of an agreement with Vienna. Read More In February, Germany's two largest political parties, the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the combined center-right Christian Democratic Union (led by Merkel) and Christian Social Union (CSU) in Bavaria (led by Horst Seehofer) renewed a coalition agreement with Merkel at the helm. The CSU governs the state of Bavaria while Merkel's party governs the other 15 states. The three-party coalition ensures Merkel secures a majority in parliament and stays in power. However, the far-right nationalist party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), is rapidly gaining support in Bavaria and could jeopardize the coalition. Presumably, this is what led Seehofer, who governs Bavaria, to oppose Merkel and take a harsher stance on immigration. The CSU head threatened to resign as interior minister unless he got powers to expel migrants, including those who have already applied for asylum. After a tough negotiation, the beleaguered Merkel agreed to the deal. However, the move has sowed doubt in the center-left Social Democrat Party, who says transit centers weren't part of their coalition deal with Merkel and Seehofer. In fact, the SDP had rejected a proposal for such centers in 2015 when the migrants entering Germany from Austria were far larger in number. Merkel also may have caved to pressure from Seehofer but her new agreement has introduced new problems. Read More Austria has shown no sign it will accept turned away refugees from Germany, despite the fact they may have entered the country through Austria. On Tuesday, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz threatened if Germany expelled refugees, they will do the same, which could lead to a collapse of the EU's internal open-border system. In fact it was this scenario that made Merkel so reluctant to accept Seehofer's plan in the first place. Rome has also slammed the door on migrants , even though a large number of asylum seekers to Germany come via Italy, thanks to its new far-right government . The situation is a disappointingly far cry from 2015 when Germany reportedly took in more than 1.4 million war-torn refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Now, it only takes in about 10,000 immigrants each month. This divisiveness within the German government signals a bigger rift in the Europe regarding migration. Aside from Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia also refuse to accept immigrants from EU countries. Read More

Norway's TV2 interviewed Norwegian 14-year-old Hussein Abbas in Iraq to fight against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL). His father Abbas al-Asadi leads the Shia militia. Why did you come here? You're too young, why did you come here? - I came with my father. Are not you afraid IS? - No. His family moved to Syria two years ago, but religious leaders relocated the family to Iraq. Al-Asadi is not worried about his son's life. "I have Norwegian citizenship," he said . "I came here after receiving orders to participate in jihad from the highest religious leader. Iraq stands united. We cannot think of the individual person." Al-Asadi's family in Oslo does not approve of his dedication to fighting against the Islamic State. Qusai al-Asadi, Abbas's son from his first marriage and Hussein's half-brother, "is proud of his father's efforts," but told TV2 his brother is not a soldier. "I knew he liked to dress in military clothes, but I did not know he fights," he said . "It is not right that a boy of 14 years fights in war. He is a child soldier, and for that I am angry at my father. But I still cannot understand it, and ask myself if the video is perhaps false." Qusai did agree with his father and brother over the Islamic State. "They are not real Muslims because Muslims respect other people," he explained . "But they do not respect others, only those who the same as them." He does not know if Abbas and Hussein or the rest of the family will return to Norway. However, al-Asadi might not be welcome back to Norway. Their sister Noor was killed in Syria at the end of Ramadan when shrapnel hit her. "I think it is absolutely awful," said Joran Kallemyr, a state secretary in the Ministry of Justice . "If it turns out that the parents have brought a child into a war zone and let the child become a child soldier, it's just horrid. The police and prosecutors must decide if this is a punishable offence."

This video of a Christian extremist mother talking about her thirteen-year-old son murdering Middle Easterners for the sake of Jesus is really horrifying... oh wait, they're Muslim, so forget it, it's just because of meaningless differences in culture. Watch below: Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

TEHRAN - Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Iranians have made the Palestinian cause an ideal of their own, stressing that the Islamic Republic will never compromise on this issue. "The Islamic Republic of Iran sees the problems of Palestine as its own, like all other friends and neighboring Muslims and their security and freedom as their own security and freedom," Zarif said in an article in the Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak published on Monday. On Friday, at least 17 Palestinians lost their lives when Israeli military forces opened fire on thousands of protesters who had flocked to a sit-in near the Gaza border.

In Tennessee, Christian minister Robert Doggart has been sentenced to 20 years in prison over his plot to massacre Muslims at a New York mosque. Doggart was also a 2014 congressional candidate. In 2015, FBI agents discovered Doggart was stockpiling weapons and plotting to travel to upstate New York to kill Muslims using explosives, an M-4 assault rifle and a machete. According to a federal investigation, Doggart saw himself as a religious "warrior" and wanted to kill Muslims to show his commitment to his Christian god. Doggart was not charged with terrorism, and at his sentencing Wednesday, Judge Curtis Collier told him, "You are not a monster. ... In many respects, you lived a life of honor." The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License . Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

I was raised Muslim in Australia and was steeped in anti-Semitism. It wasn't until I went to high school that I made Jewish friends and overcame a lot of my ignorance. I suspect the Palestinians who live just beyond this hill in Sderot overlooking Gaza have similar upbringings: They hate Jews without even having met a single one. Here in Israel with the Rebel Media team, we heard a lecture by an academic, about the true nature of the conflict here, and it rang true to me... PS: WATCH more reports from The Rebel Media's mission to Israel HERE . Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

A new video by an Islamic organization shows Muslim women defend the practice of wife-beating and take issue with those who consider it 'barbaric'. The video was shared on Facebook by Hizib ut-Tahrir - a "radical Islamic political movement." One of the women, Reem Allouche, a primary school teacher, says that wife-beating is "not as what people have understood or what people would like to have understood." Her counterpart, Atika Latifi called it "a beautiful blessing". WATCH the video and let us know in the comments what you think. Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

Over 220 Nonviolent Actions Planned For Nonviolence Week By Staff, www.paceebene.org August 30, 2015 Over 220 Nonviolent Actions Planned For Nonviolence Week 2015-08-30 2015-08-30 https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.png PopularResistance.Org https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2015/08/Pace-Non-Violence-women-holding-signs-150x112.jpg 200px 200px All photos from Campaign Nonviolence . Campaign Nonviolence Nationwide Actions September 20-27, 2015: Marching for the world, engaging with others, tranforming our lives. Campaign Nonviolence is a long-term movement to mainstream nonviolence and build a culture of peace in three interrelated ways: practicing nonviolence toward ourselves, toward all others, and toward the world by working to abolish war, end poverty, reverse the climate crisis, and challenge all violence . During Campaign Nonviolence Week, September 20-27 , we will take action across the country in these three integral ways: Practicing Nonviolence Toward the World: Hundreds of Marches In cities and towns in all 50 states, Campaign Nonviolence will march against violence and for a world of peace, justice and sustainability. During Campaign Nonviolence Week, we will connect the dots between war, poverty, climate change, and all forms of violence --and join forces to work for a culture of peace. Plan a march and other nonviolent actions such as vigils, rallies and more! See the full list of those planning actions by clicking here or scrolling down to the bottom of this page. | If you want to plan an action and be listed below, fill out the form on the right and we'll add your information to the bottom of this page. If you have your action details already, click here to post them . Practicing Nonviolence Toward All: Engaging Nonviolently with Opponents and Others In cities and towns in all 50 states, Campaign Nonviolence pledge signers, promoters and others will take the opportunity to engage in nonviolent dialogue with persons and groups they disagree with, actively resist, or struggle against. This could range from people in their personal lives to policy-makers that support positions different than their own - and anyone in between. These nonviolent encounters can be done singly or in organized groups. Practicing Nonviolence Toward Ourselves: Fasting from Violence and Cultivating Nonviolence in Our Daily Life In cities and towns in all 50 states, Campaign Nonviolence pledge signers, promoters and others will take the opportunity to "fast from violence" during Campaign Nonviolence Week. Together, we will strive to "fast" from personal, inter-personal and social harm, including verbal, physical, institutional, or structural violence. At the same time, we will strive to practice active nonviolence toward ourselves and others that week - and beyond! ( "Fasting from Violence" was developed by Campaign Nonviolence San Diego. We gratefully acknowledge this powerful and creative practice! ) PLAN A 2015 CNV ACTION! LET US KNOW YOU OR YOUR GROUP WILL PLAN AN EVENT IN SEPTEMBER BY SIGNING UP HERE. WE'LL LIST YOUR CONTACT INFO HERE . IF YOU'RE ALREADY LISTED BELOW OR YOU ARE READY TO POST YOUR ACTION DETAILS PLEASE CLICK HERE. Campaign Nonviolence was launched September 21-27, 2014 with 238 marches, rallies, vigils, fasts and festivals across the nation. Some groups organized several events during the week, and a number hosted an event virtually everyday during Campaign Nonviolence Week, including Memphis , Honolulu , Los Angeles , Boise and other cities. We encourage you to consider following their lead and organize more than one action in your city next September!

I always feel a beautiful sadness when I think of Vincent Van Gogh , or see his art. He loved so hard, yet suffered so deeply with mental illness. Don McLean's 'Starry Starry Night,' written about Van Gogh, is beautifully montaged into this slide show. Van Gogh blessed us with 900 paintings and 1,110 sketches in short 37 years of life. This slideshow was part of an art and creative writing lesson plan for the patients at Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield. Compiled by artist Anthony DiFatta, who also suffers from mental illness and teaches art to other adults with mental illness. Lastly, another slide show without the music. This slideshow requires JavaScript. There have been several movies made about Van Gogh . My personal favorite is, Lust For Life from 1956, starring Kirk Douglas, with Anthony Quinn. Van Gogh was also an artist in words. Here are some of his quotes : "I experience a period of frightening clarity in those moments when nature is so beautiful. I am no longer sure of myself, and the paintings appear as in a dream" ~Vincent Van Gogh "How can I be useful, of what service can I be? There is something inside me, what can it be?" ~Vincent Van Gogh "I wish they would only take me as I am." ~Vincent Van Gogh "The more I think about it, the more I realize there is nothing more artistic than to love others." ~ Vincent Van Gogh On some days, I can't seem to get enough of Vincent Van Gogh. This is one of those days. (Visited 45 times, 1 visits today) Leslie Salzillo is a pro-choice mother, Rush Limbaugh boycotter , political commentator and visual artist. She began contributing to Liberals Unite in June of 2013. Join her on the new Facebook page, Pro-Choice Liberals. Latest posts by Leslie Salzillo ( see all )

The legalization of prostitution is something that is often promoted as a way to make the industry 'safer' for women, a concept that is challenged by feminists who believe that prostitution can never be safe and exists in opposition of the goal of creating a feminist and egalitarian society. Meghan Murphy interviews feminist journalist Julie Bindel, who participated in the making of a documentary called "Love for Sale: a journey to the legal brothels of Nevada" which aired in November 2011 on BBC Leeds. Julie also wrote a corresponding article about her experiences in Nevada for the London Times. This interview took place on November 20, 2011 and originally aired on Vancouver Co-op Radio. Meghan Murphy is a freelance writer and journalist. She has been podcasting and writing about feminism since 2010 and has published work in numerous national and international publications, including New Statesman, Vice, Al Jazeera, The Globe and Mail, I-D, Truthdig, and more. Meghan completed a Masters degree in the department of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies at Simon Fraser University in 2012 and lives in Vancouver, B.C. with her dog. Like this article? Tip Feminist Current!

Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign just committed what can only be described as a data catastrophe. The campaign, in promoting its gun policy agenda, sent out this tweet: The general point is true: The great majority of Americans do support universal background checks, including the great majority of gun owners. But this is simply not how Venn diagrams work. The circles are completely wrong. They should, for one, overlap entirely, since the gun owners referenced in this are all Americans. And the circle for Americans should be much, much bigger than the circle for gun owners, since gun owners make up just one segment of the US population. (That is, unless, the Clinton campaign is literally saying that a lot of gun owners are un-American, which is a very, very hot take for a risk-averse campaign.)

As the Western world becomes more secular, religious knowledge is on the decline. At Intellectual Takeout, however, we feel that educated people should possess some basic knowledge of each of the world's religions--even if they aren't practicing members of any particular faith. To get an idea of how up-to-speed you are on the topic of religion, we invite you to answer 10 questions that we put together in the quiz below. Let us know how you do! Get thought-provoking content delivered to your inbox every day! Subscribe to IT's newsletter.

Posted by Donna Calvin -- Thursday, July 19, 2012 Please share this Watchwoman post on your Facebook page, Linkedin, Google+1, Twitter to all your friends. Please click "Like", Share, and Leave Comments. Visit Word Warriorette, a free Yahoo Group, and subscribe to be notified (one email a day) of new posts on Watchwoman. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WordWarriorette/ DISCLAIMER: Beliefnet puts paid advertisements on "Watchwoman on the Wall" blog site including some that would never be approved of by the King James Bible, Pastor Ernie Sanders of Doers of the Word Church, What's Right-What's Left Radio Ministry, the Voice of the Christian Resistance, Geauga County Right to Life and Donna Calvin. We at www.WRWL.org do not condone, endorse, adhere to, practice or believe in many of the topics and some of what other bloggers promote or their religions at Beliefnet. However, Mrs. Calvin has no control of what Beliefnet displays. She blogs at Beliefnet because she is in the missionary field ministering to true believers posting articles and commentaries informing pro-life, conservative Christians of recent anti-Christian acts and hostile legislation to God's Agenda and His Will for the world. Hopefully, unbelievers will read these along with the salvation message of Jesus Christ as written in the Gospel of John, Chapter 3, according to the King James Bible, and be saved. A missionary must go into the unbelievers' territory to reach them. Her mission is to Proclaim Warning to a Nation that has forgotten their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the only Truth, the Life, and the only Way to the One God the Father.

What struck me during my time in Israel is the rarely acknowledged fact that these Palestinian "refugees" are still called that after so many generations . That's unusual to say the least. But as long as they have refugee status, they get almost all their needs looked after by the UN. And as we know from our experiences in the rest of the world, high rates of welfare of any kind disincentivizes recipients from getting work. But in this particular case, it also disincentivizes them from wanting peace... PS: WATCH more reports from The Rebel Media's mission to Israel HERE . Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

Until it was destroyed in 70 A.D., this was the site of the vast Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Now, of course, this site is under Muslim control. Sure, armed Israeli security personnel enforce this arrangement, but ultimately the PLO controls who gets to pray here, and even how visitors can dress. You might call it a bit of a "mini-apartheid" state... PS: WATCH more reports from The Rebel Media's mission to Israel HERE . Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

There is no need to go into details, once again, about the extensive damage caused to the Palestinians by the Israeli occupation forces. We have heard much already of the mounting poverty rate, that GDP has fallen by 9% during the first half of 2006, that 25% of the Palestinian work force is suffering from a severe loss of income due to the sanctions on the PA , and that welfare payments have fallen by US $180 million. Moreover, Per-capita consumption in Palestine has fallen by 12%. Deep poverty is reaching alarming proportions, in Gaza it is already at 79.8%. Additionally, food insecurity is also at very high levels, reaching up to 41% in Gaza. Read more about Occupation and Aid

Today we toured the famous security wall in Israel . Why was this specific height chosen? Why is it so ugly? These and other questions were answered! When you look over the wall into the Palestinian side, you see rows of white condos, not unlike beachfront housing developments you'd seen in, say, Orange Country, California . Surprise: These are the so-called "camps" where "refugees" have been living for four generations, supported by UN cash. Hmmmm... BONUS: Yes, Obama does have something to do with this story. WATCH and I'll tell you the dumb question he asked when he was here, even before he was elected president... PS: WATCH more reports from The Rebel Media's mission to Israel HERE . Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

The Bethlehem side of Israel's security wall is covered top to bottom with anti-Western graffiti. Israelis say they approve of this, as an expression of "democracy" and "freedom of expression," but of course those are values the "Palestinians" wouldn't extend to the other side. While Israel talks about "a solution" and even "love," I don't believe these two sides will every stop fighting. PS: WATCH more reports from The Rebel Media's mission to Israel HERE . Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

Being part of The Rebel Media's mission to Israel has been a powerful experience. I consider myself a cultural Muslim, having been raised in Australia in a not-very-religious home. But being in a place like Jerusalem, it almost forces you to choose -- I was initially barred from entering a mosque here because I couldn't recite a verse from the Koran! These and other experiences on this trip helped clarify my thoughts on what ails Islam today, and what it can do to evolve. PS: WATCH more reports from The Rebel Media's mission to Israel HERE . Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

A deserted street in Yarmouk refugee camp on 9 April. Youssef Badawi EPA Human rights and humanitarian groups are warning of a new tragedy in Yarmouk camp on the outskirts of Damascus as thousands of civilians are trapped in their homes without food and water. Ahmad Majdalani, the labor minister in the occupied West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, announced that the major Palestinian factions had agreed to cooperate with the Syrian government to use military force to expel "the terrorist group ISIS out of the Yarmouk refugee camp." Majdalani did not name the Palestinian groups who agreed to the military cooperation. The BBC reported that Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis, the Palestinian opposition militia which has been fighting ISIS, "was not involved in the agreement." The Palestine Liberation Organization later contradicted Majdalani , stating that it rejected a joint operation with the Syrian military. ISIS, also known as the Islamic State or ISIL, raided the camp last week , inflicting another chapter of misery on the estimated 18,000 civilians who remain trapped there. Yarmouk was once home to approximately 150,000 Palestinian refugees and Syrian nationals, but, as the Associated Press stated yesterday , "Most of its residents fled in late 2012 as rebels moved in amid fierce government attacks, with many heading to overcrowded Palestinian camps in neighboring Lebanon. The government blockaded Yarmouk, preventing the entry of basic supplies." Dozens of residents died of starvation in the camp as food and water became a weapon of war, as it would in other places in Syria. Amnesty International reported yesterday that "At least 18 civilians, including a 12-year-old girl and a humanitarian worker" have been killed in Yarmouk since the ISIS takeover last week. In addition to sniper fire from ISIS, residents are also "at risk as Syrian government forces have intensified the shelling and aerial bombardment of the camp ... including by dropping barrel bombs." "One civilian activist in Yarmouk told Amnesty International that two more residents died of starvation this week," the London-based human rights group added. No access UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees, has been unable to deliver food aid to Yarmouk since the end of last month. Last year UNRWA was only able to distribute the "equivalent to only 400 calories per resident per day, drastically short of the World Food Programme recommended daily amount of 2,100 calories for civilians in crisis zones." A coalition of civil society organizations warned today that "The situation in the camp continues to rapidly deteriorate and is expected to turn into a large scale humanitarian tragedy if safe humanitarian corridors are not immediately secured." "As basic medical supplies run out in health facilities in the camp, such as the Palestine Hospital and al-Basil Hospital, fighting parties refuse to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to provide humanitarian aid to civilians in the camp and to evacuate the scores of injured civilians," the groups stated. "The Syrian government should therefore allow the ICRC unfettered access to the camp in order to deliver food and medical supplies and evacuate wounded civilians," the statement adds. The call for access and evacuation was also made by UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness during an interview broadcast today by the CBC. "We need to have a pause [in hostilities] so that we can get humanitarian access to civilians ... and so those civilians that want to leave can be evacuated," Gunness said. Gunness told the CBC that ISIS controls "probably more than half" the camp, "where 95 percent of the civilian population are. So it's really a case of mortal danger because you've got Syrian officials increasingly talking about attacking the camp and you've got people who are effectively trapped inside because of the siege that's going on." "This is a UN-protected population in the capital city of a UN member state in the 21st century," Gunness said. "It's inconceivable in my mind that the so-called civilized world can stand by while women and children the most vulnerable in this civil war can be subjected to the barbarities that the people of Yarmouk are presently being subjected to," he added. "Death camp" The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated today that "In the horror that is Syria, the Yarmouk refugee camp is the deepest circle of hell," adding that "A refugee camp is beginning to resemble a death camp." Member states in the UN General Assembly however have cut funds to the world body's agency mandated with delivering services to Palestinian refugees. Gunness told the CBC today that "The reality is we are cutting back services to people in situations like Yarmouk because governments like the Canadian government are cutting back their funds." "Nothing short of the credibility of the international system itself is at stake," he added. But that system has long failed the abandoned Palestinian refugees, who remain stateless and without protection more than six decades after their forced expulsion from their homeland. This post was updated on 11 April to state that the Palestine Liberation Organization rejected coordinating a joint operation with the Syrian military. Permalink Stanley Heller replied on Fri, 04/10/2015 - 13:24 A number of people and groups are planning a demonstration for this afternoon 4/10 at 5 p.m. in New York City at Bryant Park (near Grand Central). https://www.facebook.com/event... At our Middle East Crisis Committee meeting in CT last night we came up with the following points concerning Yarmouk: 1) Israel, allow Palestinians to return to Palestine, 2) We oppose any nation sending weapons to any side in Syria while the internal conflict is going on, 3) We categorically oppose U.S. military action against Syria, 4) Israel, stop treating wounded al-Nusra fighters, 5) Let all people leave Yarmouk freely The idea that Palestinian groups would want to join with Assad forces that have besieged them to expel ISIS seems hard to understand. Are these groups from the camp or groups that have long ago joined Assad's forces and helped put the camp under siege? Permalink Peter Loeb replied on Fri, 04/10/2015 - 15:33 It is never completely certain and cannot be verified from here but it is necessary to clarify whether most Palestinians are fleeing the Assad regime or fleeing the violence of the terrorists (aka "rebels", "ISIS" etc.) Some must be fleeing Assad as well of course and these are the voices one most often hears in the West. The violence of the terrorists is supported by Saudi Arabia, Quatar, the US, others, and Israel. There have been many comments on this, most notably by Bob Parry in Consortiumnews, com. This is not a minor point and all of us who oppose the horrific violence on all sides, must attempt to make the careful distinction. The Security Council unanimously passed a resolution last year urging the Assad Regime to be more concerned about crimes against humanity but also affirming its rights to sovereignty and urging support for its fight against the terrorists (Council words, not Syrian PR). Within days the US demanded "regime change" not permissible under international law and in effect repeating the Israeli position: that it was acceptable to work with the terrorists because the main goal was to get rid of Assad. These are major questions and even if answers are not easily forthcoming must be addressed. ---Peter Loeb, Boston, MA, USA

The Syrian government announced it had secured full control of the capital Damascus for the first time since 2011 yesterday, after the regime captured an enclave in the south of the city held by Daesh militants. "Damascus and its surroundings, its countryside and its towns, are completely secure ... [following] a series of intensive and successive military operations," spokesman General Ali Mayhoub said on state television, with the number of casualties exceeding 500 people on all sides. Over the weekend, the few hundred civilians that had remained left the Yarmouk refugee camp via bus, heading for the northern opposition stronghold of Idlib. The evacuation process is expected to continue, with an estimated 600 Daesh fighters due to head to pockets in the east of the country, following an agreement with the regime after a month of aerial bombardment. The Syrian regime began in mid-April an intensive attack on Yarmouk, killing scores of people and injuring many more. The campaign left tens of thousands displaced in an area which is home primarily to Palestinian refugees, has been under siege for most of the seven-year-old civil war, prompting severe condemnation from the UN. With Damascus secured, the Syrian military will now focus on the southern provinces of Daraa and Al-Quneitra held by the opposition, which have long been a problem for the government. The regime has successfully retaken much of its former territory from opposition forces, since its ally Russia entered the conflict in 2015, turning the tide in favour of the government. Moscow and Damascus have employed a strategy of crushing smaller opposition outposts in the country and evacuating fighters and civilians to Idlib in the north. Last week, Russian presidential envoy Alexander Lavrentyev threatened to eliminate Syrian opposition factions that resisted deportation, referencing groups in Eastern Ghouta who had struggled against the Syrian regime's onslaught last month. The mass evacuation of fighters and civilians has prompted fear of a regime assault on the northern opposition territory, with special envoy to Syria warning that such action against Idlib would be "six times" more destructive than the battle to recapture Ghouta, which fell last month after years of siege. "If we see a Ghouta scenario in Idlib, this could be six times worse, affecting 2.3 million people," Staffan de Mistura told the UN Security Council's monthly meeting on the Syria conflict. Despite Russia agreeing that the de-escalation status of Idlib must be protected, the governorate has continued to come under bombardment by warplanes. Airstrikes on the residential area of Ariha city killed two girls last week, with the White Helmets defence unit reporting that Syrian regime strikes had left at least eight civilians dead. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

But Moscow categorically rejected the draft resolution, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. The area in which the attack happened is under complete control of terrorist groups whose positions are occasionally being targeted by the Russian and Syrian Air Force. Syrian involvement in the alleged attack seems highly unlikely. After an unprecedented chemical weapon attack in Syria's East Ghouta in 2013, when several hundred people were killed, Syria joined the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. In the agreement reached between Russia and the United States on the destruction of chemical weapons, Syria was put under the control of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), halting US military intervention in Syria. In January 2016, the OPCW announced that Syria's entire chemical weapons arsenal had been destroyed. The White Helmets and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, both NGOs that broke the news of the alleged attack, are notorious for their association with anti-Assad terror groups. The Turkish government has meanwhile closed the Bab Al Hama border crossing, refusing ambulances coming from the direction of Khan Sheikhoun, to enter Turkish territory. The Syrian Army is advancing against the terrorists in the Northern countryside of Hama, especially the Al Nusra Front which started its large-scale offensive right after the beginning of the fifth round of talks in Geneva on settlement of the Syrian crisis in the last week of March. The correspondent of the TV channel Orient News, sympathetic towards the militant Al Nusra Front, announced on this Twitter feed with some alarming foreknowlegde "the start of a new media campaign to cover the intensified number of air strikes, launched in the northern countryside of Hama, and the use of poisonous chlorine gas against civilians". The village of Khan Shaikhoun itself is located on the administrative border between the provinces of Hama and Idlib. In 2013, after the Ghouta chemical attack, hacked emails from a British mercenary company were posted online, revealing that a chemical attack then blamed on Syria, could have been the work of other parties. British mercenary company, Britam Defence, has since admitted it was hacked but claimed the hacker, who posted his online name as "JAsIrX," had cleverly used hacked material to generate "forgeries". But the volume of hacked documents from Britam suggests otherwise, as its release coincided with warnings by Israel and the Obama White House that Syrian leader Bashar al Assad had to step down. In all, 423 megabytes of zip files were hacked from Britam. Aside from the one on Syria, there outlines of plans for varying types of military actions to be undertaken. Jaromir Kohlicek, Czech politician and a member of the European Parliament said that the Western and Arab states bear responsibility for the scourge of terrorism in Syria and Iraq. In an interview with the Czech newspaper Blesk, he stated that the terrorist groups, operating in Syria, received financial support and equipment from the Saudi and Qatari regimes as well as from particular western states, namely the US, France and Great Britain, saying that the Syrian Army discovered weapons and equipment donated by certain western states, Great Britain including, following the liberation of the residential areas in eastern Aleppo. Nikki Haley, US Ambassador to the United Nations, on Wednesday strongly condemned the Syrian government: "When the UN consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action," Haley said. She added that if the UN doesn't take collective action, "we may". The New York Times and other mainstream US news outlets immediately pinned the blame on the Syrian government, reviving demands of a "no-fly zone" over Syria, which would amount to launching another "regime change" war on the country. The Times assigned two of its most committed anti-Syrian-government propagandists to cover the Syrian poison-gas story, Michael B. Gordon and Anne Barnard, says Robert Parry of Consortium News. Parry, an investigative reporter, broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. Gordon's co-author, Judith Miller, became the only US journalist known to have lost a job over the reckless lies about Iraqi WMD's that contributed to the human tragedy in that country. Gordon himself was a co-author of a bogus Times' front-page story on April 21, 2014, when the State Department and the Ukrainian government used fake pictures of Russian soldiers in Ukraine.

Jerusalem (AFP) - Gains by President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the Syrian civil war present advantages for Israel even though the two countries remain technically at war, Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Thursday. "In Syria, as far as we are concerned, the situation is returning to the previous one before the civil war, meaning there [...] Qamishli, Syria (AFP) - A US-backed Kurdish-led alliance said on Saturday that it is seeking a roadmap for a decentralised Syria in talks with the government which opened in Damascus this week. The Syrian Democratic Forces alliance, which controls a swathe of the north and northeast, said it had agreed with the government to form [...] Damascus (AFP) - A US-backed Kurdish-led alliance is holding talks in Damascus for the first time on the future of the swathe of northern Syria under its control, an alliance official said on Friday. Between them the Damascus government and the Syrian Democratic Forces control some 90 percent of the country, after a series of [...]

Air strikes pounded a insurgent-held area near Damascus on Sunday, footage broadcast by Syrian state TV stations showed, as the Syrian government stepped up efforts to wipe out the insurgency's last foothold near the capital. Thick clouds of smoke rose from the al-Hajar al-Aswad area and the sound of jets could be heard in broadcasts from the area just south of Damascus that is controlled by militants from the Daesh and Nusra Front groups. UNRWA, the UN agency that cares for Palestinians, said two Palestinian refugee civilians - a father and son - had been killed in their home in the adjacent Palestinian camp of Yarmouk. Thousands of homes had been destroyed in Yarmouk in the last four days of fighting, Chris Gunness, UNRWA spokesman, said. "There must be safe passage for the sick and the wounded and the dying civilians," he said. "Yarmouk has been transformed into a death camp, like one of the lower regions of hell." The militant-held enclave is adjoined by a pocket held by other rebel groups fighting under the Free Syrian Army banner. President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Iran and Russia, is seeking to crush the last few besieged rebel enclaves , building on the defeat of insurgents in the eastern Ghouta region, which was the rebels' last major stronghold near the capital. Rebel fighters on Saturday began to withdraw from an enclave they held northeast of Damascus in the eastern Qalamoun region in a surrender agreement with the government. They are being transported to opposition-held territory at the Turkish border. Although the conquest of eastern Qalamoun and the enclave south of Damascus will leave just one remaining besieged rebel enclave, north of the city of Homs, large parts of Syria at the borders with Jordan, Israel, Turkey and Iraq remain outside Assad's control. Anti-Assad rebels hold a chunk of territory in the southwest and the northwest, and Kurdish-led militias, backed by the United States, control an expanse of northern and eastern Syria. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

The Bethlehem side of Israel's security wall is covered top to bottom with anti-Western graffiti. Israelis say they approve of this, as an expression of "democracy" and "freedom of expression," but of course those are values the "Palestinians" wouldn't extend to the other side. While Israel talks about "a solution" and even "love," I don't believe these two sides will every stop fighting. PS: WATCH more reports from The Rebel Media's mission to Israel HERE . Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

Dr. Noelle Hunter's five-year-old daughter, Muna, was illegally taken to the Republic of Mali, West Africa, in December 2011. She continues to fight to get her back. A distraught mother whose daughter was reportedly abducted has launched a campaign on the White House petition website in a last-ditch attempt to encourage the federal government to take action. Dr. Noelle Hunter, from Morehead, Kentucky, is asking President Barack Obama to direct Secretary of State John Kerry to employ diplomatic means to secure her daughter's safe return. The petition, which was created two weeks ago, needs 100,000 signatures by March 27th to trigger an official response from the administration. So far, there are just over 1,000 signatures. Hunter admits she is has an uphill battle ahead of her. "I realize 100,000 signatures is a daunting figure, but I must try. I have to do everything possible to bring Muna home, and that means reaching out to President Obama," she told theGrio. Hunter's 5-year-old, Maayimuna "Muna" N'Diaye , was allegedly kidnapped by her father and taken to his native Mali days after Christmas in 2011. Her ex-husband, Ibrahim N'Diaye, according to Hunter, failed to bring Muna back after scheduled days with his daughter. The FBI later confirmed they'd illegally traveled one-way from JFK Airport to war-torn Bamako, Mali, West Africa. This prompted Interpol to issue a yellow notice for Muna . Hunter's ex-husband now has a warrant out for his arrest. Muna is a U.S. citizen. Hunter says her Muslim ex-husband, who is from an influential and politically well-connected family, took matters into his own hands because he refused to accept the joint custody ruling. When things broke down he refused to obey the laws of the United States and "decided to follow the rules of his own country and traditions," she says. Over the last 15 months, Hunter says she's done absolutely everything to get her child back home, from personally meeting representatives of the Mali government to bringing the matter to state leaders. For instance, following a meeting with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in December, he sent a letter to Mali Ambassador Al-Mamoun Keita, encouraging the country's cooperation for Muna's return. This month, McConnell also wrote to the U.S. ambassador to Mali, Mary Beth Leonard, asking for more "vigor" in U.S. efforts to bring Muna home. She has also managed to get the U.S. Embassy in Bamako to secure two welfare and whereabouts checks on Muna. Referring to the online petition Hunter says, "There is nowhere else to go apart from going to the top." She adds, "I am absolutely relentless in my resolve to bring her home." "We want Muna to come back home to her mother," says Natalie Wilson, co-founder of Black and Missing Foundation. "We're asking for the public to get involved and sign this petition to help her come back to her mother who misses her dearly." "Ultimately, this issue of international child abduction needs to be before the highest levels of government until there's some policy change to minimize this from happening," says Hunter. Indeed, Chris Schmidt of the U.S. law firm of Bryan Cave LLP says the problem of international parental child abductions in the U.S. is rising because it is relatively easy to accomplish. "The United States, unlike most western countries, allows one parent to leave the country with a child without the written consent of the other parent," says Schmidt. "There are no exit controls that easily prevent international child abduction." Countries like the Republic of Mali are of particular concern because "most African, Asian and Middle East countries are not signatories of the Hague Abduction Convention ," adds Schmidt. "It's a tremendous problem," he adds. "If a parent is able to leave the U.S. to a country that hasn't signed the international treaty, the left-at-home parent has limited choices about how to get their child back home. "Either they can fight for custody in the foreign country or try to get the U.S. State Department to intervene on diplomatic terms. But there is not guarantee or treaty obligation that will force a foreign country to comply." TheGrio attempted to contact the White House for comment but did not get a response. Follow Kunbi Tinuoye on Twitter at @Kunbiti

American hunter Tess Thompson Talley is facing worldwide condemnation after posing with the body of a "rare" black giraffe she killed during a trip in South Africa. "White american savage who is partly a neanderthal comes to Africa and shoot down a very rare black giraffe coutrsey of South Africa stupidity," South Africa-based AfricLand wrote on Twitter about the Kentucky resident. "Her name is Tess Thompson Talley. Please share." White american savage who is partly a neanderthal comes to Africa and shoot down a very rare black giraffe coutrsey of South Africa stupidity. Her name is Tess Thompson Talley. Please share pic.twitter.com/hSK93DOOaz -- AfricaDigest (@africlandpost) June 16, 2018 USA Today notes that the photos in question were taken during a hunting trip in 2017. In a since-deleted Facebook post, Talley wrote that she spotted a "rare black giraffe bull and stalked him for quite awhile." "I knew it was the one," she said. "He was over 18 years old, 4,000 lbs and was blessed to be able to get 2,000 lbs of meat from him." "The giraffe I hunted was the South African sub-species of giraffe," Talley wrote in an email to Fox News defending her decision to kill the animal. "The numbers of this sub-species is actually increasing due, in part, to hunters and conservation efforts paid for in large part by big game hunting. The breed is not rare in any way other than it was very old. Giraffes get darker with age." BBC reports that South Africa trophy hunting is a $2 billion-per-year industry. The Hill notes : The photos, as well as the subsequent outrage Talley sparked, comes about three years after the House passed the Global Anti-Poaching Act. The bill came after a Minnesota dentist hunted and killed a beloved lion, Cecil, in Zimbabwe. The legislation was passed with the goal of increasing the penalties for wildlife traffickers, making them comparable to those faced by weapons and drug traffickers.

Eight Kenyan soldiers were killed in a cross-border attack on Sunday in northern Wajir County, VOA News reported yesterday. The Kenyan security forces were patrolling the Kenya-Somali border when Al-Shabaab fighters launched an ambush using artillery and an improvised explosive device (IED). "[Al-Shabab] started shooting at them and killed all of them, only to leave one who was still alive," said Issa Ahmed Abdi, a member of the Wajir county assembly, "but when we were bringing him to Wajir referral hospital, he succumbed to the injuries on the way." "It could have been prevented, because the public have actually given first-hand information that these elements were there and that these elements themselves said they are going to do an action that the people will regret," he said. BREAKING: At least 8 #Kenya police officers have been killed in a suspected #AlShabaab IED attack in Boji Garas village in Wajir County. Officers identified as Ali Ahmed Alasow, Abdullahi Hirab, Daud Afkahar, Ali Weydow and Sgt Abdiaziz Ali Haro pic.twitter.com/c5U3rlVfym -- Mogadishu Update (@Magdashi3) June 17, 2018 Somalia's domestic problem with political violence has spilled over to Kenya on a number of occasions, resulting in deadly clashes. According to VOA News , this is the second time this year that Al-Shabaab launched an attack across the border in Wajir County. In mid-February this year, three school teachers were killed when Al-Shaabab attacked the Qarsa Primary School in Wajir. A fourth teacher was injured in the attack, while Kenya's police had to deal with IEDs planted around the school. In early May, Al-Shabaab detonated an IED which killed some nine Kenyan soldiers as they crossed the border into Somalia. Al-Shabaab is striking targets within Kenya as a result of its involvement with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) which backs Somalia's federal government. Al-Shabaab has been at war with the Somalia government for over a decade, and in 2012 pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda attracting an international counter-terrorism presence. Senior official's part of AMISOM and the Kenya government met last week at a conference hosted in Nairobi dubbed "Lessons Learned on Quick Impact Projects Implementation", which sought to strengthen Somalia's military, civilian and police intervention strategy. Al-Shabaab's main political ambition is to take control and govern Somalia with a strict interpretation of Islamic law. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Finally, now that Paul Ryan has announced he will not seek re-election this year, the race is on for the Speakership in the House of Representatives. We have a rare opportunity to influence the GOP members and encourage them to elect a true conservative. Congressman Jim Jordan from Ohio is our top choice for Speaker, and I hope you will join us in supporting him. Please place a call to your representative. The American people want a secure border and an "America first" immigration policy, and we want our nation's immigration laws respected. Congress must say NO to amnesty for illegal immigrants. The Rule of Law is too important to ignore. Amnesty proposals undermine the Rule of Law in this country. Americans want to see stronger assurances that our nation is prioritizing border security -- not amnesty . For too long, Americans have been promised a border wall, but we have made concessions along the way, including past amnesties , without ever getting the wall completed. It is time for us to get serious about securing the border.

Nick Turse is the managing editor of TomDispatch.com and a fellow at The Nation Institute . An award-winning investigative journalist, he has written for The New York Times , the Los Angeles Times , and The Nation , and is a contributing writer for The Intercept . His latest book is Next Time They'll Come to Count the Dead: War and Survival in South Sudan . Turse's New York Times bestseller Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam received a 2014 American Book Award.

The American people want a secure border and an "America first" immigration policy, and we want our nation's immigration laws respected Congress must say NO to amnesty for illegal immigrants. The Rule of Law is too important to ignore. Amnesty proposals undermine the Rule of Law in this country. Americans want to see stronger assurances that our nation is prioritizing border security - not amnesty. For too long, Americans have been promised a border wall, but we have made concessions along the way, including past amnesties, without ever getting the wall completed. It is time for us to get serious about securing the border. The GOP must address sanctuary cities, which encourage illegal immigration and make our entire nation less safe. Henry Kerner needs to be fired from his job as Special Counsel in the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.

The Washington Post 's Catherine Rampell provides only the latest evidence that the next generation is eagerly discarding the standards of civil decency that have kept us from lunging at each other's throats. She reports on a a survey of undergraduate college students at four-year colleges, conducted by University of California, Los Angeles professor and Brookings Institution Fellow John Villasenor and funded by the Charles Koch Foundation, that offers no reason for optimism. The survey found that a plurality of students, 44 percent, believe the First Amendment does not protect "hate speech," whatever that is. It revealed that a majority--51 percent--believe it is acceptable to shout down and drown out "a very controversial speaker" who is "known for making offensive and hurtful statements." The definitions of controversial, hurtful, and offensive are subjective. Understanding that, however, is indicative of a bygone era when one utilized self-awareness to prevent even the most censorious Americans from overreaching. Finally, and most disturbing, the survey revealed that nearly one-fifth of college students believe it is acceptable to engage in violence to silence a speaker with whom they disagreed. These sentiments are not novel . A 2015 survey by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA found that 71 percent of freshmen believed that colleges should "prohibit racist/sexist speech" and 43 percent of incoming freshmen agreed colleges should "have the right to ban extreme speakers." Those ideas trickle down. A 2011 poll of faculty conducted by that institution revealed that nearly 70 percent of female college staff and almost half of their male counterparts thought universities should "prohibit" speech deemed racist or sexist. "Here's the problem with suggesting that upsetting speech warrants 'safe spaces,' or otherwise conflating mere words with physical assault: If speech is violence, then violence becomes a justifiable response to speech," Rampell writes. Indeed, this observation has been proposed by those who have watched the storm clouds on the horizon for years now ( cough ). Rampell should, however, not limit her critique to colleges. These authoritarian ideas didn't dawn on these teenagers like an epiphany ex nihilo . They were imparted. In the modern age, the intellectual foundations needed to transform even murderous violence as an understandable, if not entirely acceptable, response to provocation were laid years ago by a frustrated class of activists trapped in ivy-covered cages on campuses. It was an impulse that began to seep out into the national consciousness when the editors and cartoonists of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were slaughtered by the Islamist terrorists they deliberately offended. We were treated to a series of hand-wringing treatise from earnest liberals lamenting the effects of a society that "perversely" "valorizes free speech for its own sake." Even former Secretary of State John Kerry gave credence to this ideal. Following the bloody November 2015 attack on various locations in Paris, Kerry called the violence senseless--unlike the attacks on Charlie Hebdo . The Charlie Hebdo murderers, he said, had "a rationale that you could attach yourself to somehow and say, 'Okay, they're really angry because of this and that.'" That same logic can been seen today in the cowardice of adult men and women who scold their young charges for inviting the likes of Milo Yiannopoulos, Ben Shapiro, Ann Coulter, Condoleezza Rice, Christina Hoff Sommers, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Charles Murray, or any number of pop culture figures, intellectuals, and conservative authors onto campus. Don't they know they're just asking for it? "When someone calls a black person the 'n' word out of hatred, he or she is not expressing a new idea or outlining a valuable thought," read a 2012 editorial in the Harvard Crimson . "They are committing an act of violence." These sentiments were menacingly echoed by the editors of Wellesley College's student-run newspaper in 2017. "[I]f people are given the resources to learn and either continue to speak hate speech or refuse to adapt their beliefs, then hostility may be warranted," they wrote, cryptically advocating "appropriate measures" be brought to bear. These and many other misguided students who have used their right to free speech to advocate its repression are merely observing their elders. In an April 2017 op-ed for the New York Times , New York University vice provost Ulrich Baer put a thin whitewash over rank anti-intellectualism when he claimed that some speech should be suppressed due to the asymmetry between the speaker and offended student. Appropriating the Holocaust to make his claims, he noted that the unduly derided "snowflakes" who display more sensitivity toward their peers' discomfort than free speech advocates. Pure free expression, he noted "conflicts with the community's obligation to assure all of its members equal access to public speech." For some reason, Baer has convinced himself the right of "minorities to participate in public discourse" is under attack. Given that delusional construct, aggression isn't just warranted but necessary. Denying offensive speakers a "platform," e.g., preventing invited speakers form honoring their invitation, is a moral imperative. On Inauguration Day, as agitators set fires and destroyed storefronts in the name of opposing Donald Trump, one of the alt-right's most vile agitators--the white supremacist organizer Richard Spencer--was hit in the face. The nation was treated to a fatuous display of special pleading typified by media outlets exploring the virtues of this attack as if assault amounted to a weighty philosophical conundrum. "What are the ethics of punching Nazis?" The Guardian asked. "Is it O.K. to punch a Nazi?" the Times pondered. Nine months later, with white supremacists emboldened by the tense climate and a president conspicuously cautious about offending them, Nazis are still appearing in public and getting punched in the face . Why wouldn't they be when the authors of this violence are getting pats on the head from their elders? Wearing a Nazi armband, wrote City University of New York Professor Angus Johnston, is "not just a speech act. It's a test." Not a test of civic norms, but of the ability of the onlooker to suppress the subconscious checks on the impulse to lash out violently. "It's street harassment," he wrote. He rattled off a variety of other situations in which he thought it was okay to perform an act of preemptive violence, made a rough moral equivalency, and implied that anyone who felt differently is a closeted Nazi sympathizer. Modern academic ethics perfectly crystallized. This litany focuses on the left because leftists offer more material to parse. Cosseted, well-compensated soft revolutionaries are busy penning hagiography to thugs who commit acts of terror in the name of "anti-fascism." Respectable left-wing journals like the Nation , Mother Jones , and the New Republic have found themselves in the rank agitation business. Right-wing violence is not imaginary , but the legitimization of it in respectable circles--including, arguably, in the White House--is newer. For example: "Several high-profile rallies transformed into brawls between black-clad Antifa and conservatives who sometimes claimed membership in new anti-Antifa organizations, such as the Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights, a wing of the Proud Boys, itself a group founded by Rebel commentator Gavin McInnes," the Washington Post 's Dave Weigel reported. We're not talking about National Review , the Weekly Standard, and the professorate at Hillsdale College. It is tempting to blame young people, who neither understand nor treasure the enlightened values for which generations of Americans have fought and died. But these young men and women are mimicking illiberalism by example. You have to be carefully taught.

Members of the Concerned Student 1950 movement speak to the crowd of students on the campus of University of Missouri - Columbia on November 9, 2015 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo: Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images) When University of Chicago professor Allan Bloom wrote The Closing of the American Mind almost 30 years ago, he warned how the embrace of moral and cultural relativism was failing democracy and impoverishing the souls of America's students. We can only shudder at the thought of what he would make of today's campus madness. Students conflate Halloween costumes with racism; differences of opinion are termed hate speech; new, only-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder micro-aggressions are invented daily; campuses are compartmentalized into ever more infantile safe spaces; and political diversity is prohibited--in the name of diversity. The latest outrage occurred at Dartmouth College. A group of some 150 students dressed all in black and chanting "black lives matter" stormed the Baker-Berry Library where students were studying for exams. They roamed the halls and opened doors to study carrels screaming, "Fuck your white privilege," "Fuck you, you filthy white fucks!" "Fuck you and your comfort!" "Fuck you, you racist shits." Then they assaulted a student, pinning her to a wall and shouting "Filthy white bitch!" in her face. Campuses are compartmentalized into ever more infantile safe spaces; and political diversity is prohibited--in the name of diversity. What was the school administration's reaction to such learned discourse (to say nothing about the crime of assault)? A vice-provost apologized--to the protestors. Inge-Lise Ameer told the rampaging disruptors, "I'm very, very sorry that you feel this way. We don't want you to have this experience here." Then she counseled them, "There's a whole conservative world out there that's not very nice." Well, that clears up everything. Later, when media reports focused attention on Ms. Ameer's comments, she apologized for her remarks about conservatives. But she declined to address concerns that students refused to cooperate with campus security officers investigating violations of Dartmouth's code of conduct. That same week--in response to a "national day of action"--a group at Princeton University called the Black Justice League met with university president Christopher Eisgruber. After a lengthy discussion, a number of them refused to leave his office until their demands were met, and occupied Mr. Eisgruber's office overnight. Specifically, they wanted Woodrow Wilson's presence on the campus diminished, if not totally expunged. Before being elected the 28th president of the United States, Mr. Wilson was Princeton's president, where he is widely credited with invigorating the university's academic standards and intellectual life, and appointing the first Jewish and Catholic faculty members. A leading progressive of his day--he signed into law bills that created the Federal Reserve, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Clayton Antitrust Act, and appointed the first Jewish justice to the Supreme Court (Louis Brandeis)--he was also a segregationist. Thus the effort to cleanse the campus of any memory of Mr. Wilson. Slavery and segregation are particularly ugly truths of our national history. And racism certainly lingers in more than a few corners of our nation today. Efforts to reduce prejudice in all its forms are a welcome part of campus life. But assault, reverse discrimination and intolerance of unpopular ideas are not. There is a difference between protecting free speech and condoning improper and illegal conduct. To us it seems that too many "leaders" are failing to distinguish between these truths. We remember when real leaders responded with, well, leadership. Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, the president of Notre Dame and the man President Johnson drafted to craft the civil rights reforms, was an opponent of the war in Vietnam. But he was also a supporter of ROTC. When protestors staged a lie-in aimed at keeping students from job interviews with on-campus recruiters from Dow Chemical and the CIA, Father Hesburgh sent a letter to the entire campus community. In it, he recognized "the validity of protest." But he also made it clear that anyone who "substituted force for rational persuasion, be it violent or nonviolent," would be given 15 minutes to meditate. Students who persisted would have their ID's confiscated and then be "suspended from this community." We don't expect many campus bureaucrats--we mean administrators--to have the moral clarity or backbone of Father Hesburgh. But we do expect better from more of them.

Kathryn Moody : Investors, Are You Ready for the Next Global Crisis? Manuel Schiffres Mutual Fund Rankings, 2014 Meghan Streit : Pitching In When Caregivers Need Help Janet Bond Brill, Ph.D., R.D.N., F.A.N.D : How to prevent a second (and first) heart attack thru diet The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington : Caprese is a light, fresh salad; the perfect quick and easy accompaniment to any summer meal Mark Steyn : You Want Nazis? Jonathan Tobin : Care about the Jewish state's future? Obama, in interview, reveals even more reasons to worry Alan M. Dershowitz : Confirmed: Needless death and destruction in Gaza Katie Nielsen : As a mother, I'm all I need to be Cameron Huddleston : 18 Retailers That Offer Price Adjustments Nellie S. Huang : The Best Health Mutual Funds to Buy Now Brierly Wright, M.S., R.D. : Try these 'secret-weapon' foods to boost your changes of losing weight The Kosher Gourmet by Jessica Yadegaran : Take some relish in pickled goodies (5 recipes!) Kimberly Lankford : 50 Ways to Cut Your Health Care Costs James K. Glassman : Investors, Are You Ready for the Next Global Crisis? The Kosher Gourmet by Nick Malgieri : Chocolate molten delight with creme anglaise is a simple yet elegant make-ahead dessert One of the nice things about summer is that school is out and at least for a few months we'll get a welcome break - from those sanctimonious liberal snowflakes on college campus who over and over manage to prove that old saying, the one about how the lunatics have taken over the asylum. One such asylum is Evergreen State College in Washington State where each year they have something called "A Day of Absence" when students who aren't white leave the campus and get together in some kind of symbolic gesture. This year they reversed it and told all the white people on campus that they had to leave for the day because of ... Donald Trump. According to the student newspaper, students of color "voiced concern over feeling as if they are unwelcome on campus following the 2016 election." One white professor who protested had his class disrupted by about 50 liberal fascists - and for his own safety had to teach his students in a park. How did the school's president respond? Did he suspend or expel members of the mob? Did he at least issue a mealy-mouth note of disapproval? Of course not. Instead, he issued a statement saying he was "grateful" for the "passion and courage" of his students - the same sanctimonious mob that drove the professor out of his classroom and into a park. If you're looking for a profile in courage, don't waste your time looking in the president's office at Evergreen State College. But, of course, this is only the latest example of campus craziness. Not long ago students at Middlebury College in Vermont yelled and screamed and literally stomped their feet to prevent Charles Murray, the conservative scholar, from speaking on campus. At Claremont McKenna College in California, an angry mob showed off their liberal tolerance by blocking the entrance to a building where another conservative scholar, Heather MacDonald, was scheduled to speak. She had to go to a safe place on campus where her talk was live streamed to a much smaller audience. There was a mini-riot replete with smashed windows at Berkeley to prevent a conservative provocateur from speaking on campus. At Harvard's commencement recently, the school's president, Drew Faust, took note of the trend and told students that they needed to hear opinions they didn't like. "We must remember that limiting some speech opens the dangerous possibility that the speech that is ultimately censored may be our own," Ms. Faust said. "If some words are to be treated as equivalent to physical violence and silenced or even prosecuted, who is to decide which words?" That sounds good. But wait, there's more. "We can see here at Harvard how our inattentiveness to the power and appeal of conservative voices left much of our community astonished, blindsided by the outcome of last fall's election," she said. "We need to hear those hateful ideas so our society is fully equipped to oppose and defeat them." Get it? One of the reasons liberals should listen to conservative voices is because they're hateful and need to be vanquished - by warm and welcoming liberal ideas. And what should we make of Ulrich Baer, the vice provost for faculty, arts, humanities, and diversity, and professor of comparative literature at New York University who apparently doesn't believe in free speech - at least not for people with opinions that offend groups that have been targets of discrimination. When certain "views invalidate the humanity of some people, they restrict speech as a public good" and in "such cases there is no inherent value to be gained from debating them in public," he wrote in the New York Times. This is quite remarkable. A professor and administrator at a major American university who isn't ashamed to admit that unpopular speech is not worthy of debate. The real heroes, according to Baer, are the students who disrupt speech they don't like. "We should thank the student protestors," he writes, "the activists in Black Lives Matter and other 'overly sensitive' souls for keeping watch over the soul of our republic." With college administrators like that is it any wonder that the lunatics have taken over the asylum? But there is hope. And it comes from a liberal, Fareed Zakaria, the CNN journalist and Washington Post columnist who recently spoke at graduation ceremonies at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. He summarized his observations on his CNN program. "American universities these days seem committed to every kind of diversity excepted intellectual diversity. Conservative voices and views, already a besieged minority, are being silenced entirely. The campus thought police have gone after serious conservative thinkers. ... "Freedom of speech and thought is not just for warm fuzzy ideas that we find comfortable. It's for ideas we find offensive. "There is, as we all know, a kind of anti-intellectualism on the right these days - the denial of facts, of reason, of science. But there is also an anti-intellectualism on the left-an attitude of self righteousness that says we are so pure, so morally superior, we cannot bear to hear an idea with which we disagree. Liberals think they are tolerant, but often they aren't." We need to hear more liberal voices like that. As for liberal snowflakes on campus: They're young and foolish and pampered -- so maybe their cowardice in the face of inconvenient ideas can be understood, though not excused. As for the grownups on campus, the college deans and provosts and presidents: Some of them are just as radical as their illiberal students. And too many others tolerate liberal intolerance because they're afraid to speak up, fearing a backlash from either the snowflakes, the faculty, or both. They are the real cowards of academia.

I've said it before, and I'm hardly alone. Many have observed it. Liberals revere tolerance. They practically worship it. It's like a religion to them. Well, now comes a study that supports the point. Paul G. Kengor Oct 01, 2014 at 1:43 PM EDT Maggie Lit Oct 01, 2014 at 11:39 AM EDT According to WNMU officials, the individual data in the training program will not be collected and stored by the university but will use the data in its entirety to determine what types of support services the school should implement on campus. Kaitlyn Schallhorn Sep 30, 2014 at 3:58 PM EDT Lauren Ramseyer Sep 20, 2014 at 8:58 AM EDT Alternatively, the event suggested people could try to persuade intoxicated male friends that the girl who he is talking to is "ugly" and "not worth sleeping with." She also suggested the audience just be that "annoying friend" and follow the intoxicated male around until he becomes frustrated and gives up his pursuit. Lauren Clark Sep 19, 2014 at 12:02 PM EDT VIDEO: Princeton prof slams Obama for 'non-existent agenda' for black America "The Obama administration has been marked by a complete reluctance to engage in any meaningful discussion about racial inequality in the United States for fear of him and his administration being described as, you know, in the grip of the black community or as being beholden to black interests." Kaitlyn Schallhorn Sep 16, 2014 at 2:11 PM EDT Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) requires that students take at least one diversity course that "critically [examines] the history, contributions of and challenges confronting diverse groups," in order to complete their General Education (GE) requirements. Maggie Lit Sep 15, 2014 at 2:43 PM EDT Kaitlyn Schallhorn Sep 11, 2014 at 1:01 PM EDT Maggie Lit Sep 10, 2014 at 4:41 PM EDT Don't forget: Honesty is the best policy. If you have every intention of having sex later on with the woman you're dating regardless of how she feels about it, tell her directly that there is every chance you will rape her. If you don't communicate your intentions, she might take it as a sign that you do not plan to rape her and inadvertently feel safe. Maggie Lit Sep 09, 2014 at 3:31 PM EDT

The Land of the Free is facing a crisis of freedom. A new study from the University of California at Los Angeles polled 1,500 students at four-year universities about their views on free speech. The results are disheartening, to say the least. Forty-four percent of the student respondents believe that the First Amendment does not protect "hate speech." Sixteen percent answered "don't know," and only 39 percent answered correctly. Disturbingly, not even conservative students seemed to understand First Amendment protections: only 44 percent said that hate speech is protected, compared to 39 percent of Democrats and 40 percent of Independents. A stunning 51 percent of students thought that "shouting so that the audience cannot hear" was a valid tactic for opposing a controversial speaker. Violence as a means of shutting down a speaker was acceptable to 19 percent, or one out of five , of respondents. "The majority of students appear to prefer an environment in which their institution is expected to create an environment that shelters them from offensive views," the study concludes. This is concerning for many reasons, but the most urgent one is that our culture has reached the point of hysteria about an imaginary tide of neo-Nazis threatening to turn America into the Fourth Reich. White supremacists--a discredited fringe of politically impotent, openly despised losers--suddenly loom large in our collective consciousness thanks to a relentless propaganda campaign, aided and abetted by the left-leaning press, to demonize President Donald Trump and right-wingers in general as literal Nazis. On Twitter I was called a Nazi supporter by a total stranger for making the simple assertion that everyone has a First Amendment right to speak (I wasn't even referring to Nazis). Another told me that hecklers have a right to be heard but speakers don't, and that people on opposing sides of an issue must share a "mutual humanity as a precondition to listening to one another." In other words, only those who hold approved ideas earn the right to be heard; those who don't are cast out of decent society. Elsewhere on Twitter (because this is just the sort of intellectual sewer Twitter is) there was a lengthy discussion thread initiated by a professor who declared that pre-emptive violence against suspected "Nazis" may not be legal but it is moral. This is what things have come to: certain ideas--usually politically incorrect ones--are dismissed as "hate," defending freedom of speech for all marks one as a Nazi, and ski-masked thugs who mob and beat innocent bystanders and journalists at a Trump rally are considered "anti-fascists." A totalitarianism has crept into the culture since the 1960s, resulting in the insidious concept of "hate speech"--the idea that speech which is hurtful or offensive is not a legitimate form of expression and is not covered under the First Amendment. "Free speech doesn't mean you have the right to spread hate," is the prevailing but incorrect sentiment among many young people now. And who determines what constitutes "hate?" Not surprisingly, those who are quick to denounce someone for hate speech are usually those pushing an agenda. Why, to cite one example, does atheist Richard Dawkins' criticism of Christianity raise no eyebrows, but his criticism of Islam got him disinvited from a radio talk show for his "hurtful speech?" We shouldn't need reminding of this, but apparently many college students do: there is no First Amendment exception for "hate speech." But once you are convinced by peers and professors and pop stars that there is and that it is morally unacceptable, then the logical next step is to believe that it is a moral imperative to prevent "hatemongers" from speaking by any means necessary, including violence. Since the purveyor of "hate speech" is committing a sort of violence against self-perceived victims, then the "victims" are justified in committing violence as "self-defense." If we are going to survive this crisis of free speech and defuse the hysteria, we must simultaneously undertake three steps. One, we must do a better job of educating our youth and inspiring them about American civics, American exceptionalism, and American history (as opposed to spreading the subversive propaganda of self-proclaimed "radical historian" Howard Zinn, whose ubiquitous A People's History of the United States has warped whole generations into believing our history is one of genocide, racism, and imperialist exploitation). Two, we must discredit the vague notion of "hate speech" and push back against those who weaponize it against their political targets, such as the biased Southern Poverty Law Center, which has established itself as the arbiter of "hate groups" nationwide. And three, we must adopt zero tolerance for the violence from anti-free speech elements such as the "Antifa" anarchists. Labeling Antifa a domestic terrorist group is a step in the right direction. Strictly enforcing law and order at events featuring controversial speakers is another essential step. This is not to say, of course, that we as a society cannot condemn bad ideas or denounce racism, bigotry, and other repugnant forces. But all must be free to express their ideas and opinions in the public square, where those ideas will stand or fall on their own. None of us is free unless all of us are. Image: By dbking (_MG_7346) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Testifying before a joint congressional hearing on the state of free speech in academia, Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro exposed the radical, anti-free speech ideology of the Left to members of Congress, showing why college campuses have become hotbeds of extreme intolerance and violence. Shapiro knows firsthand just how much university students and administrations are hostile to opposing viewpoints -- and the lengths they will go to shut down any and all dissenting opinion. In just over five minutes speaking before the House Oversight Committee Thursday, Shapiro demonstrates a mastery of the Left's political philosophy , explaining the roots of college campus bigotry, and how college administrators are compliant in this dangerous and ever-growing culture of censorship and uniform, monolithic thought. "In order to understand what's been going on at some of our college campuses, it's necessary to explore the ideology that provides the impetus for a lot of the protesters who violently obstruct events, pull fire alarms, assault professors (and even other students), and the impetus for administrators who all too often humor these protesters," Shapiro said. Shapiro then explained a three-step argument made by the Left, advocating violence, against free speech. First, the Left says the validity or invalidity of an argument can be judged solely by the ethnic, sexual, racial, or cultural identity of the individual making an argument, Shapiro explained. Secondly, the Left says that those who say otherwise are engaging in "verbal violence." Finally, the Left believes that physical violence is sometimes justified to stop said verbal violence. Want to keep up with what's going on in Washington without the liberal media slant, establishment spin, and politician-ese? Sign up to get CRTV's Capitol Hill Brief in your inbox every evening! It's free! * indicates required "All of this destroys free speech. But, just as importantly, it turns students into snowflakes -- craven and pathetic, looking for an excuse to be offended so they can earn points in the 'intersectionality' Olympics and then use those points as a club with which to beat opponents," Shapiro said. "A healthy nation requires an emotionally and intellectually vigorous population ready to engage in open debate at all times. Shielding college students from opposing viewpoints makes them simultaneously weaker and more dangerous." "We must fight that process at every step. And that begins by acknowledging that whatever we think about America and where we stand, we must agree on this fundamental principle: All of our views should be judged on their merits -- not on the color, or sex, or sexual orientation of the speaker. And those views should never be banned on the grounds that they offend someone." Author: Chris Pandolfo Chris Pandolfo is a staff writer and type-shouter for Conservative Review. He holds a B.A. in politics and economics from Hillsdale College. His interests are conservative political philosophy, the American founding, and progressive rock. Follow him on Twitter for doom-saying and great album recommendations @ChrisCPandolfo . Send tips and hate mail to [email protected]

One of Trump's sexual assault victims, Natasha Stoynoff, wrote, "Within seconds he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat." During the second presidential debate, CNN moderator Anderson Cooper questioned Donald Trump if he had ever committed sexual assault . At first, Trump attempted to dodge the question, changing the topic to ISIS. But, after Cooper persisted with his questioning about the verity of the leaked Access Hollywood tape, Trump said, "No, I have not." Read More In the several days following this debate in which Cooper cornered the GOP presidential candidate, at least ten women have come forward with public accusations against Trump for sexually inappropriate behavior , including sexual assault. As BuzzFeed culture editor Saeed Jones pointed out on Twitter, "Rape culture isn't just pervasive; it's also running for president." Rape culture isn't just pervasive; it's also running for president. -- Saeed Jones (@theferocity) October 13, 2016 In a first-person essay published on People magazine's site on Wednesday night, journalist Natasha Stoynoff recounted when Trump forced himself onto her during her trip to Mar-a-Lago for Melania and Trump's first wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, Trump's reactions to Stoynoff's accusations of sexual assault only reiterate why survivors hesitate to come forward. Stoynoff covered the Trump beat for People back in 2005, and wrote that she and the Trumps "had a very friendly, professional relationship." Things turned for the worse when she and the real estate mogul were waiting for his wife to come into the room before the interview. She then wrote that Trump was physically aggressive toward her and shoved his tongue into her mouth. As Stoynoff wrote, "Within seconds he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat." Stoynoff explained in her essay why she chose not to come forward sooner. She wrote, "Like many women, I was ashamed and blamed myself for his transgression. I minimized it ('It's not like he raped me...')." Trump, his campaign, and even some of his allies have fiercely denied this and other claims, chalking up the stories as "fabrication" and liberal media's attempt at covering up the WikiLeaks release of Hillary Clinton's emails. The Republican presidential hopeful even went as far as to victim-blame the accusers. In a tweet, Trump publicly shamed Stoynoff, essentially saying that she should have come forward sooner with her allegations if they were true. Why didn't the writer of the twelve year old article in People Magazine mention the "incident" in her story. Because it did not happen! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2016 The phony story in the failing @nytimes is a TOTAL FABRICATION. Written by same people as last discredited story on women. WATCH! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2016 Speaking about the allegations at a rally on Thursday, Trump told a West Palm Beach audience, "These claims are all fabricated, they're pure fiction, and they're outright lies. These events never, ever happened." Trump allies have also set out to embarrass the alleged assault survivors. Business Insider reported Thursday that Fox Business News anchor Lou Dobbs retweeted personal information about Jessica Leeds, who told The New York Times that Trump had assaulted her. Dobbs' retweet was of a tweet belonging to avid Trump supporter Michael Delauzon , and has since been deleted considering that Twitter's privacy code was infringed upon. Delauzon had shared Leeds' home address and phone number, furthering the Trump campaign's attempt to smear the assault survivors by endangering them. Dobbs made a public apology. However, Stoynoff's description of the assault echoes Trump's own comments which he made on the "Access Hollywood" tape . On the leaked tape, Trump can be heard saying to Billy Bush that he has sexually assaulted women and believes he can get away with it since he's famous. Read More Trump said, "I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything." Just as Stoynoff expressed initial hesitation, survivors of sexual assault often don't wish to come forward with what happened to them because -- in part -- they fear that people won't believe what happened to them or that people will side with the perpetrator. For instance, in September, a high school student reported that she was sexually assaulted by a classmate, and she herself ended up being suspended. The Twitter thread for #WhyWomenDon'tReport highlights this sobering phenomenon of the backlash women and girls face if they come forward. Inevitably, many on social media have shamed these sexual assault survivors. A rightwing Twitter hashtag #NextFakeTrumpVictim has emerged from Trump supporters and proponents of society's rape culture, who are putting blame on liberal media for pushing a pro-Clinton agenda. #NextFakeTrumpVictim because nothing makes a woman recall being groped 3 decades later than Wikileaks dropping a new batch of emails. pic.twitter.com/hKD8ODe2yO -- StandardRedneck Liz (@MissLizzyNJ) October 13, 2016 Of course, the hashtag wouldn't have existed in the first place if there weren't actual victims who have only corroborated things which Trump himself has been caught saying. Furthermore, women who report sexual violence should not be punished for speaking out. As a case in point, Trump insulted Stoynoff's appearance after People published her account. He reportedly said , "Take a look. You take a look. Look at her. Look at her words. You tell me what you think. I don't think so. I don't think so." In reaction, Trump has threatened The New York Times with libel for publishing his alleged history of sexual assault, but neither the accused nor the publisher is backing down. Vulture journalist Mark Harris tweeted a letter from the Times, saying, "The New York Times replies to Trump's threat. Insert fire emoji here." The New York Times replies to Trump's threat. Insert fire emoji here. pic.twitter.com/5BE71kgzt1 -- Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) October 13, 2016 Trump is handling these sexual assault allegations with his usual tactics of denial, lack of personal accountability, and blaming the media. And yet, Trump has bragged about his unsolicited sexual aggression towards women. As The Times wrote in justifying their reports, "It would have been a disservice not just to our readers but to democracy itself to silence their voices." Read More

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters on Friday that the administration's official position on the multiple women who have accused President Trump of sexual harassment and assault is that they are all lying. "Yeah, we've been clear on that from the beginning and the president has spoken on it," Sanders said. Trump called the allegations against him "made-up stuff" earlier this month. "All I can say is it's totally fake news -- just fake," he said last week. "It's fake, it's made-up stuff. And it's disgraceful what happens." At least 11 women came forward to accuse Trump of unwanted touching and kissing during the campaign after the leak of a 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape in which he makes lewd comments about grabbing women "by the pussy." "You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful--I just start kissing them," Trump said. "It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the pussy. You can do anything." "These are stories that are made up, these are total fiction," Trump said last year. "You'll find out that, in the years to come, these women that stood up, it was all fiction," he said. "They were made up. I don't know these women, it's not my thing to do what they say." Trump also claimed that he was the victim of one of the "great political smear campaigns in the history of our country." . @PressSec tells reporters it's the official White House position that the women accusing Trump of sexual harassment are lying. pic.twitter.com/DWftJRENar -- BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) October 27, 2017

@lovinee , there isn't circumstantial proof (of which I am aware) - there is simply a statement by Trump that appears to concede this as fact, if you interpret it naturally. When specifically asked whether any of the women with which he had been involved had had abortions, he replied, in tellingly evasive language: "Such an interesting question. So what's your next question?" I think we'd all have to agree that he said quite a bit by saying nothing. And, when it comes to accusations, if there is no way to objectively prove them one way or another, I err towards believing whatever aligns with a person's general character. There is nothing about Trump's character, views on abortion before 2016 (he was in favor of abortion most of his life), habit of silencing his secret mistresses, or lifelong womanizing, that would lead me to believe this particular accusation was false. If he were a fine, upstanding gentleman in general, whose conduct towards women was above reproach, I would question the validity of those claims. But we both know that isn't the case with Trump.

At Friday's White House press briefing, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders rejected calls for an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against President Trump because he never admitted guilt. When a reporter asked if it would be "fair" to investigate the claims against the president, Sanders said that the allegations against Trump were already covered "extensively" during the campaign. "We addressed that then," Sanders said. "The American people I think spoke loud and clear when they elected this president." Sanders also said that the key difference between the allegations of sexual misconduct against Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and those against President Trump is that the senator "has admitted wrongdoing." "Senator Franken has admitted wrongdoing and the president hasn't; I think that's a very clear distinction," she continued. . @PressSec to @CeciliaVega on difference in response to allegations of sexual misconduct against Al Franken and Pres. Trump: "Senator Franken has admitted wrongdoing and the president hasn't." pic.twitter.com/lsxBcwezQu -- ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) November 17, 2017 Franken offered an apology Thursday to television host Leeann Tweeden who accused him of groping and kissing her without her consent. Donald Trump has in fact admitted to sexual assault on tape. At least a dozen women came forward to accuse Trump of unwanted touching and kissing after the leak of a 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape in which he makes lewd comments about grabbing women "by the pussy." "You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful--I just start kissing them," Trump said. "It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the pussy. You can do anything." "These are stories that are made up, these are total fiction," Trump said last year. "You'll find out that, in the years to come, these women that stood up, it was all fiction," he said. "They were made up. I don't know these women, it's not my thing to do what they say." Trump attacked Franken for sexual misconduct which immediately reignited the accusations against him. "The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words. Where do his hands go in pictures 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 while she sleeps?" Trump tweeted Friday. The White House on Friday stood by its official stance that the women who have accused Trump are lying. BuzzFeedNews: Q: Is it the White House position that women accusing Trump of misconduct are lying? PressSec: The president has denied those allegations. pic.twitter.com/YG3d1wfWte -- Jeannette Marshall (@OptioneerJM) November 17, 2017

One of Trump's sexual assault victims, Natasha Stoynoff, wrote, "Within seconds he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat." During the second presidential debate, CNN moderator Anderson Cooper questioned Donald Trump if he had ever committed sexual assault . At first, Trump attempted to dodge the question, changing the topic to ISIS. But, after Cooper persisted with his questioning about the verity of the leaked Access Hollywood tape, Trump said, "No, I have not." Read More In the several days following this debate in which Cooper cornered the GOP presidential candidate, at least ten women have come forward with public accusations against Trump for sexually inappropriate behavior , including sexual assault. As BuzzFeed culture editor Saeed Jones pointed out on Twitter, "Rape culture isn't just pervasive; it's also running for president." Rape culture isn't just pervasive; it's also running for president. -- Saeed Jones (@theferocity) October 13, 2016 In a first-person essay published on People magazine's site on Wednesday night, journalist Natasha Stoynoff recounted when Trump forced himself onto her during her trip to Mar-a-Lago for Melania and Trump's first wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, Trump's reactions to Stoynoff's accusations of sexual assault only reiterate why survivors hesitate to come forward. Stoynoff covered the Trump beat for People back in 2005, and wrote that she and the Trumps "had a very friendly, professional relationship." Things turned for the worse when she and the real estate mogul were waiting for his wife to come into the room before the interview. She then wrote that Trump was physically aggressive toward her and shoved his tongue into her mouth. As Stoynoff wrote, "Within seconds he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat." Stoynoff explained in her essay why she chose not to come forward sooner. She wrote, "Like many women, I was ashamed and blamed myself for his transgression. I minimized it ('It's not like he raped me...')." Trump, his campaign, and even some of his allies have fiercely denied this and other claims, chalking up the stories as "fabrication" and liberal media's attempt at covering up the WikiLeaks release of Hillary Clinton's emails. The Republican presidential hopeful even went as far as to victim-blame the accusers. In a tweet, Trump publicly shamed Stoynoff, essentially saying that she should have come forward sooner with her allegations if they were true. Why didn't the writer of the twelve year old article in People Magazine mention the "incident" in her story. Because it did not happen! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2016 The phony story in the failing @nytimes is a TOTAL FABRICATION. Written by same people as last discredited story on women. WATCH! -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2016 Speaking about the allegations at a rally on Thursday, Trump told a West Palm Beach audience, "These claims are all fabricated, they're pure fiction, and they're outright lies. These events never, ever happened." Trump allies have also set out to embarrass the alleged assault survivors. Business Insider reported Thursday that Fox Business News anchor Lou Dobbs retweeted personal information about Jessica Leeds, who told The New York Times that Trump had assaulted her. Dobbs' retweet was of a tweet belonging to avid Trump supporter Michael Delauzon , and has since been deleted considering that Twitter's privacy code was infringed upon. Delauzon had shared Leeds' home address and phone number, furthering the Trump campaign's attempt to smear the assault survivors by endangering them. Dobbs made a public apology. However, Stoynoff's description of the assault echoes Trump's own comments which he made on the "Access Hollywood" tape . On the leaked tape, Trump can be heard saying to Billy Bush that he has sexually assaulted women and believes he can get away with it since he's famous. Read More Trump said, "I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything." Just as Stoynoff expressed initial hesitation, survivors of sexual assault often don't wish to come forward with what happened to them because -- in part -- they fear that people won't believe what happened to them or that people will side with the perpetrator. For instance, in September, a high school student reported that she was sexually assaulted by a classmate, and she herself ended up being suspended. The Twitter thread for #WhyWomenDon'tReport highlights this sobering phenomenon of the backlash women and girls face if they come forward. Inevitably, many on social media have shamed these sexual assault survivors. A rightwing Twitter hashtag #NextFakeTrumpVictim has emerged from Trump supporters and proponents of society's rape culture, who are putting blame on liberal media for pushing a pro-Clinton agenda. #NextFakeTrumpVictim because nothing makes a woman recall being groped 3 decades later than Wikileaks dropping a new batch of emails. pic.twitter.com/hKD8ODe2yO -- StandardRedneck Liz (@MissLizzyNJ) October 13, 2016 Of course, the hashtag wouldn't have existed in the first place if there weren't actual victims who have only corroborated things which Trump himself has been caught saying. Furthermore, women who report sexual violence should not be punished for speaking out. As a case in point, Trump insulted Stoynoff's appearance after People published her account. He reportedly said , "Take a look. You take a look. Look at her. Look at her words. You tell me what you think. I don't think so. I don't think so." In reaction, Trump has threatened The New York Times with libel for publishing his alleged history of sexual assault, but neither the accused nor the publisher is backing down. Vulture journalist Mark Harris tweeted a letter from the Times, saying, "The New York Times replies to Trump's threat. Insert fire emoji here." The New York Times replies to Trump's threat. Insert fire emoji here. pic.twitter.com/5BE71kgzt1 -- Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) October 13, 2016 Trump is handling these sexual assault allegations with his usual tactics of denial, lack of personal accountability, and blaming the media. And yet, Trump has bragged about his unsolicited sexual aggression towards women. As The Times wrote in justifying their reports, "It would have been a disservice not just to our readers but to democracy itself to silence their voices." Read More

Donald Trump pulled out a Breitbart move by meeting with 4 Bill Clinton accusers just before the debate and made them members of the audience. Donald Trump with 4 Bill Clinton accusers Donald Trump pulled what he believes is a trump card but, likely the death knell of his campaign by parading 4 Bill Clinton accusers just before the debate. The Huffington Post reported it as follows. With less than two hours to go before the pivotal second presidential debate, Republican nominee Donald Trump held an impromptu press conference Sunday with three women who have accused Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct, and one woman who says Hillary Clinton was unsympathetic to her when Clinton was a public defender. Trump has been threatening for weeks to raise the issue of the former president's sexual misconduct, and on Sunday he followed through. Paula Jones accused Clinton of exposing himself to her in 1991. Kathleen Willey, a former White House aide, said that then-President Clinton groped her in 1993. Juanita Broaddrick said Clinton raped her in the 1970s. Another woman, Kathy Shelton, was the alleged victim in a rape case in 1975 in which Hillary Clinton was assigned to act as the public defender of the accused. All four women were seated at a table with Trump on Sunday night, and all four women will reportedly be in the audience at the debate. This is epic and never seen in a presidential debate. Trump is infecting the body politic. Liked it? Take a second to support EgbertoWillies.com on Patreon!

Sometimes I sit and read things on the internet with that rushed feeling I got when I was falling behind in my Women's Studies class coursework. This holds particularly true for anything related to queer history -- it's like a never-ending game of catch up where I'm trying to put all the pieces together of this map. I mean, if we don't know what got us here, how will we move forward? Peter Tatchell seems to share that feeling. He wrote about how the Gay Liberation Front Manifesto changed him as an activist . It wasn't until I read his piece that I realized I had never actually read the manifesto itself. The Gay Liberation Front Manifesto was published by the London-based Gay Liberation Front (GLF) in 1971. The manifesto encourages us to identify and challenge the insidious ways in which oppressive attitudes permeate our relationship with others and our understanding of self. The manifesto outlines how the nuclear family, formal education, media, workplace, public policies and the mental health field function as spaces where rigid gender norms, sexism and homophobia are sold to us as markers of 'normalcy.' Although sometimes simplistic to a fault, the manifesto provides us with a solid, basic guide on how the patriarchy benefits a selected few that become invested in replicating its systems of oppression as a means of maintaining the status quo. At some point I started picturing the patriarchy as Agent Smith from The Matrix, but I digress. i am the patriarchy; blue is for boys, pink is for girls The manifesto places the LGBT struggle within the greater anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist movement. It explains our oppression as a consequence of sexism and how capitalism is interested in maintaining the false need for gender roles. In a society that is "founded upon the sanctity of the family, the right to property, and the worthwhileness of 'getting ahead,'" there is a high value placed on reproductive sex, which commodifies women for their ability to carry a child. Gender norms ensure "property acquisition and worldly success" remain masculine traits. As such, the GLFM proposes that the abolition of the nuclear (heterosexual) family as the ideal would debase most arguments against LGBT equality and raise each of our diverse, wonky, loving, inexplicable families to the same level. The Gay Liberation Front Manifesto is not alone. Indeed, the anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist sentiment is echoed in Sexo y Revolucion by el Frente de Liberacion Homosexual -- the Gay Liberation Front in Argentina. In Sexo y Revolucion , a zine-manifesto hybrid published in 1973, el Frente explores the reasons behind why as a group we are willing to accept and even defend the oppression we are placed under. Like the GLF manifesto, it concludes that capitalism ensures its continuity by permeating into all areas of society so as to prevent the individual from stepping out of and questioning the system. It also concludes that gender roles must be subverted, but centers the idea around sexual pleasure as currency for liberation. Sexo y Revolucion builds upon the ideas suggested by the GLFM and presses further on the individual level. Because the personal is political, el sexo mismo es una cuestion politica . The nuclear heterosexual family will pervade as long as sex continues to be thought of only as it relates to reproduction. As long as sex is considered solely a means of reproduction, then queers can be freely labeled as deviants. Sexo y Revolucion explains then that queer oppression is a result of the threat of sex as an act of pleasure and not reproduction, which denies the role of the active male and passive female as taught by gender norms. We are the scapegoats of sexual repression. Our liberation will not be real unless it takes place along personal and ideological lines as well as economic and political. the man hates nothing more than queer sex for the sake of pleasure. i will protest from my bedroom Both texts also highlight the shared plight of the LGBT struggle and feminist groups. In a call for an alliance with feminist groups, the GLF Manifesto remarks on the need for gay men to surrender the "degree of male chauvinism and male privilege that they still all possess." Their attempts at acknowledging the importance of intersectionality, while commendable, are glaringly flawed. While both manifestos read as surprisingly non-exclusionary of any LGBT identity, I do wish their language wouldn't feel as if spoken by predominantly cisgender white people by default. Non-exclusion will never equal intentional, explicit inclusion. I mean, at the bare minimum, racism is also a thing that oppresses LGBT people and feeds the capitalist machine. the basics via weheartit There is no evidence, beyond their shared name, that the Gay Liberation Front and el Frente de Liberacion Homosexual collaborated on these pieces. It is remarkable then that they mirrored each other's main ideals so clearly, ideals that remain radical to this day in their rejection of assimilation into the heterosexual standard as prescribed by the mainstream. After the publication of the manifesto, the Gay Liberation Front went on to execute high-profile protests, most notably their disruption of the launch of the morality campaign, Festival of Light. El Frente de Liberacion Homosexual, on the other hand, faced political persecution as a result of the dictatorship that took hold of Argentina, leaving Sexo y Revolucion as their last work. Tatchell remarks that the Gay Liberation Front Manifesto goals "remain fresh, innovative, challenging and inspiring." I would say the same of Sexo y Revolucion . I think even now we'd be hard pressed to find another LGBT movement with equal political clout that openly rejects compulsory monogamy and calls for a focus on greater structural changes beyond policy making, particularly within the U.S. Over thirty years later the manifestos remain revolutionary. Their words, while imperfect, left me feeling like I had found another piece of the map.

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La Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon se encuentra en el ranking nacional como la 6ta mejor universidad de Mexico. Alberga a mas de 100,000 estudiantes de nivel superior y medio superior. Dicha institucion pone un gran enfasis en situaciones academicas y deportivas, pero tambien en la responsabilidad social que tiene con la comunidad neoleonesa y el pais en general. Esta responsabilidad social ha llevado a la UANL entre sus tantos proyectos a la creacion de grupos estudiantiles llamados "Federaciones Universitarias", los cuales de forma representativa a su institucion, realizan una serie de actividades dentro y fuera de los planteles para educar, promover y concientizar a los miles de jovenes universitarios que conforman la UANL y a si mismo a quienes se encuentran en todo el Estado. Mujeres, jovenes, Adultos mayores, comunidad indigena, personas con discapacidades fisicas, salud, VIH, medio ambiente, animales, etc., son los temas que dichos grupos estudiantiles atienden dentro y fuera de la institucion. Desde hace mas de 3 anos, diversos estudiantes han buscado la creacion de una Federacion Universitaria que trate directamente los temas que infieren a la comunidad de la diversidad sexual(hombres y mujeres gays, lesbianas, bisexuales, trans, etc), lamentablemente estos proyectos no ha sido apoyados por las autoridades de la universidad. ?Porque la importancia de tratar temas que infieran en la diversidad sexual? Primero que nada, la UANL trabaja bajo la creacion de profesionistas que en un futuro seran los medicos, psicologos, politologos, internacionalistas, administradores, contadores, comunicologos, economistas, abogados, trabajadores sociales, etc. , los cuales en determinado momento conviviran con situaciones de conflicto que infieran en los temas mencionados y no contaran con una preparacion minima sobre ello porque los planes academicos no los incluyen. Asi bien, dentro de la misma universidad es normal toparse con hombres y mujeres gays, lesbianas, trans, etc., los cuales en algunos casos son discriminados o motivo de burla, tanto de estudiantes como de integrantes del profesorado. Cosa que no tiene otro significado mas que la falta de concientizacion y educacion sobre dichos temas. UNESI (Universitarios por la Equidad y una Sociedad Incluyente), es un grupo que nace en la Facultad de Psicologia de la UANL, el cual se encuentra en proceso de aceptacion para pasar a ser una Federacion Universitaria representativa de la UANL. El trabajo de UNESI es realizado por estudiantes de diferencias carreras universitarias, de la mano de Organizaciones Civiles aliadas a dicho proyecto, con el cual planeamos promover temas que infieran a la comunidad de la diversidad sexual pero destinados a diferentes rubros, pasando desde lo artistico y lo legal, hasta lo politico y social, medico y cultural. Ahora, tu debes tener un amigx, hermanx, hijx, primx, vecinx, alumnx, conocidx, etc., el cual tiene una orientacion sexual diferente a la tuya y por ello es importante el que existe educacion sobre ?que significa esto?, ?no crees? NECESITAMOS TU APOYO y tambien el tuyo companerx gay, lesbiana, bisexual, trans, etc., tu eres parte de esto y con tu apoyo podremos seguir trabajando. Te invitamos a firmar esta peticion para pedirle a las autoridades universitarias que permitan que el proyecto denominado UNESI sea aprobado y pase a ser una Federacion Universitaria representativa de la UANL. "La educacion basada en el respeto es una pieza clave para la creacion de una sociedad integra e incluyente, donde todos los individuos puedan convivir en paz." Esta peticion no busca ningun fin danino para la institucion ni para ningun particular y se crea bajo el fin unico que menciona.

Sometimes I sit and read things on the internet with that rushed feeling I got when I was falling behind in my Women's Studies class coursework. This holds particularly true for anything related to queer history -- it's like a never-ending game of catch up where I'm trying to put all the pieces together of this map. I mean, if we don't know what got us here, how will we move forward? Peter Tatchell seems to share that feeling. He wrote about how the Gay Liberation Front Manifesto changed him as an activist . It wasn't until I read his piece that I realized I had never actually read the manifesto itself. The Gay Liberation Front Manifesto was published by the London-based Gay Liberation Front (GLF) in 1971. The manifesto encourages us to identify and challenge the insidious ways in which oppressive attitudes permeate our relationship with others and our understanding of self. The manifesto outlines how the nuclear family, formal education, media, workplace, public policies and the mental health field function as spaces where rigid gender norms, sexism and homophobia are sold to us as markers of 'normalcy.' Although sometimes simplistic to a fault, the manifesto provides us with a solid, basic guide on how the patriarchy benefits a selected few that become invested in replicating its systems of oppression as a means of maintaining the status quo. At some point I started picturing the patriarchy as Agent Smith from The Matrix, but I digress. i am the patriarchy; blue is for boys, pink is for girls The manifesto places the LGBT struggle within the greater anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist movement. It explains our oppression as a consequence of sexism and how capitalism is interested in maintaining the false need for gender roles. In a society that is "founded upon the sanctity of the family, the right to property, and the worthwhileness of 'getting ahead,'" there is a high value placed on reproductive sex, which commodifies women for their ability to carry a child. Gender norms ensure "property acquisition and worldly success" remain masculine traits. As such, the GLFM proposes that the abolition of the nuclear (heterosexual) family as the ideal would debase most arguments against LGBT equality and raise each of our diverse, wonky, loving, inexplicable families to the same level. The Gay Liberation Front Manifesto is not alone. Indeed, the anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist sentiment is echoed in Sexo y Revolucion by el Frente de Liberacion Homosexual -- the Gay Liberation Front in Argentina. In Sexo y Revolucion , a zine-manifesto hybrid published in 1973, el Frente explores the reasons behind why as a group we are willing to accept and even defend the oppression we are placed under. Like the GLF manifesto, it concludes that capitalism ensures its continuity by permeating into all areas of society so as to prevent the individual from stepping out of and questioning the system. It also concludes that gender roles must be subverted, but centers the idea around sexual pleasure as currency for liberation. Sexo y Revolucion builds upon the ideas suggested by the GLFM and presses further on the individual level. Because the personal is political, el sexo mismo es una cuestion politica . The nuclear heterosexual family will pervade as long as sex continues to be thought of only as it relates to reproduction. As long as sex is considered solely a means of reproduction, then queers can be freely labeled as deviants. Sexo y Revolucion explains then that queer oppression is a result of the threat of sex as an act of pleasure and not reproduction, which denies the role of the active male and passive female as taught by gender norms. We are the scapegoats of sexual repression. Our liberation will not be real unless it takes place along personal and ideological lines as well as economic and political. the man hates nothing more than queer sex for the sake of pleasure. i will protest from my bedroom Both texts also highlight the shared plight of the LGBT struggle and feminist groups. In a call for an alliance with feminist groups, the GLF Manifesto remarks on the need for gay men to surrender the "degree of male chauvinism and male privilege that they still all possess." Their attempts at acknowledging the importance of intersectionality, while commendable, are glaringly flawed. While both manifestos read as surprisingly non-exclusionary of any LGBT identity, I do wish their language wouldn't feel as if spoken by predominantly cisgender white people by default. Non-exclusion will never equal intentional, explicit inclusion. I mean, at the bare minimum, racism is also a thing that oppresses LGBT people and feeds the capitalist machine. the basics via weheartit There is no evidence, beyond their shared name, that the Gay Liberation Front and el Frente de Liberacion Homosexual collaborated on these pieces. It is remarkable then that they mirrored each other's main ideals so clearly, ideals that remain radical to this day in their rejection of assimilation into the heterosexual standard as prescribed by the mainstream. After the publication of the manifesto, the Gay Liberation Front went on to execute high-profile protests, most notably their disruption of the launch of the morality campaign, Festival of Light. El Frente de Liberacion Homosexual, on the other hand, faced political persecution as a result of the dictatorship that took hold of Argentina, leaving Sexo y Revolucion as their last work. Tatchell remarks that the Gay Liberation Front Manifesto goals "remain fresh, innovative, challenging and inspiring." I would say the same of Sexo y Revolucion . I think even now we'd be hard pressed to find another LGBT movement with equal political clout that openly rejects compulsory monogamy and calls for a focus on greater structural changes beyond policy making, particularly within the U.S. Over thirty years later the manifestos remain revolutionary. Their words, while imperfect, left me feeling like I had found another piece of the map.

?Transfobia y Cis-sexismo por parte de la propia diversidad?... Soy Victoria Uribe, Activista por los Derechos Humanos, 2o Directora de la Organizacion de Transexuales por la Dignidad de la Diversidad OTD, de Chile, por lo que activo esta peticion en representacion de mi ONG. Un grupo de Gays inicio un peticion para solicitar a las ONGs de la diversidad sexual de todo el mundo, dejen de considerar dentro de la sigla "LGBT" a las personas Trans y, que se autodenominen solamente como "LGB" . Segun argumentan en su peticion, senalan que las personas transexuales luchamos por cosas distintas a las que ellos luchan, y que por ello, en vez de ayudarles para que logren sus derechos (como por ejemplo, a no ser discriminados, a que puedan casarse, y adoptar), solo les perjudicamos... Sin embargo, ellos olvidan que las personas trans, tanto mujeres, hombres, e intergeneros (Queer), tambien podemos ser heterosexuales, bisexuales, homosexuales o pansexuales, entre varias otras orientaciones sexuales. Marginarnos del movimiento de la Diversidad, representado principalmente con la sigla LGBT, es un modo de fomentar y apoyar la discriminacion contra las personas por el solo hecho de poseer una identidad de genero no concordante con la asignada al nacer. Firmar una peticion como la que sostiene este grupo de gays, es solo fomentar discriminacion contra gente trans, la que, sea cual sea su orientacion sexual, seria marginada por su identidad de genero. Es un modo de apoyar que un grupo sea discriminado, a cambio que ellos velen por sus propios intereses de forma egoista. Los gays que iniciaron la peticion de firmas para marginar a la gente transexual, transgenero e intergenero se estan olvidando , que si no fuera por las chicas transexuales presentes desde los Disturbios de Stonewall (como la activista Sylvia Rivera) en adelante, no hubiese nacido el movimiento de la diversidad sexual y de genero LGBT en el mundo; que con nuestra visibilizacion las personas trans logramos que se respeten los derechos humanos sin importar la orientacion sexual e identidad de genero de las personas, y que necesitamos apoyarnos, unirnos mutuamente para que respeten nuestros derechos. No discriminarnos dentro de la misma diversidad, de lo que ya el resto de la sociedad lo hace hasta el dia de hoy con la gente LGBT... Firmemos para demostrar que, si bien las personas Trans pueden tener un frente de lucha diferente, lo que realmente importa es lograr el respeto a los derechos humanos de todas las personas, ya sean heteros, gays, lesbianas, bisexuales, pansexuales, intergenero (Queer), intersexuales, transgeneros, travestis, asexuales, cisgenero y demases, sin discriminaciones arbitrarias como estas , y que los derechos para la gente "trans" tambien deberia importarles a los integrante del resto de la denominada "comunidad gay", ya que, por ejemplo, existen los hombres trans gay, como tambien las mujeres trans lesbianas, que luchan a favor de la causa gay como de la causa Trans, y esta gente y las ONG de Transexuales en el mundo, jamas intentarian marginar a gays, lesbianas o bisexuales de sus organizaciones. Al contrario, apoyamos a todas las personas, sin discriminarlos por su orientacion sexual, religion, etnia, identidad de genero, etc. Un quiebre a la diversidad como este, rompe con el caracter de diverso del movimiento de la diversidad. Tambien pido el apoyo de nuestros amigos y familiares, sin importar su orientacion sexual o identidad de genero, para firmar en contra de esta discriminacion que nos quiere imponer este grupo de gente. Ya que lograr el respeto a los derechos de toda la gente de la diversidad, LGBT, es ayudar a hacer valer la dignidad y el respeto a los derechos humanos de tod@s en el mundo.

Uruguay, segundo pais en America Latina en legalizar el matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo, llega al primer ano de haber puesto en vigencia la Ley del Matrimonio Igualitario, con un balance de 70 enlaces en la ciudad de Montevideo (capital), donde reside la mitad de la poblacion del pais. De acuerdo al Registro Civil Uruguayo, el 70 por ciento corresponde a matrimonios entre hombres, y el 30 por ciento restante corresponde a las bodas entre mujeres. Federico Grana, representante de la asociacion LGTB uruguaya Ovejas Negras, que integra a lesbianas, gays, transexuales y bisexuales, al hacer un analisis de la normativa en su primer ano, fue enfatico al decir que han sido derrotados aquellos que auguraban una "catastrofe para Uruguay si las parejas homosexuales se casaban". Rodrigo Bordas y Sergio Miranda se convirtieron el pasado mes de agosto en la primera pareja del mismo sexo que celebro una boda homosexual de manera publica. Miranda, declaro que la Ley del Matrimonio Igualitario "marco la senal de que en Uruguay todos son iguales y tienen los mismos derechos y las mismas opciones" pero considera que todavia quedan cosas pendientes como hacer mejoras legislativas a fin de incluir a las personas transexuales. En ese sentido, la presidenta de la Union Trans del Uruguay (UTRU), Collete Richard, comento que varias organizaciones han sometido una ley integral que contempla aspectos fundamentales para las personas transexuales, donde se tome en cuenta la salud, educacion y la asistencia a las personas de la tercera edad. "Actualmente no existe en Uruguay ni una sola ley que beneficie directamente a las personas trans, que siguen vulneradas y relegadas", denuncio Richard. Anadio, que "el matrimonio igualitario solo les interesa a los homosexuales", ya que "las personas trans, que sufren discriminacion laboral, economica y social, no piensan en casarse o en adoptar hijos". Otras criticas a la Ley del Matrimonio Igualitario de provinieron de parte de Omar Salsamendi, presidente de la asociacion LGBT y de familias homoparentales de Uruguay. Admite que la aprobacion de la referida ley es un "logro muy positivo", pero resalto que todavia falta el pleno reconocimiento a los derechos de la comunidad LGBT. Subrayo que el "decreto que inhabilita a los homosexuales varones a donar sangre durante 12 meses tras haber mantenido relaciones" debe ser derogado por ser esta medida contradictoria con la ley que desde septiembre de 2013 convierte en donantes de organos a todos los uruguayos a menos que expresen lo contrario. Por ultimo, resalto la importancia de la educacion para sobrepasar los "prejuicios y eliminar la discriminacion en el pais", donde se explique que en Uruguay "hay diversos tipos de familias". Uruguay formalizo la Ley del Matrimonio Igualitario el 10 de abril de 2013, convirtiendose asi en el decimo segundo Estado en el mundo que aprueba la medida, y apenas el segundo en America Latina luego de la Republica de Argentina.

OTTAWA -- Federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay suggested Monday that offenders who can't afford the government's controversial mandatory victim fine surcharge should consider selling their belongings to pay off the debt. The new surcharge came into effect in October and has been a flashpoint for rebellion by judges who have either refused to apply it or found creative methods to minimize it, such as handing out $1 fines that reduced the surcharge to pennies, or allowing offenders upwards of 50 years to pay it back. In an interview with the Citizen, MacKay lashed out at critics who said the mandatory victim fine -- usually $100 or $200 depending on the severity of the crime -- was causing undue hardship for criminals. "Two or three hundred dollars? Really? Disproportionate, out of step, cruel and unusual punishment? What about the victim that in some cases has to pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars as a result of being an innocent in the system who becomes a victim," said MacKay. "We believe victims deserve more respect, more inclusion and a stronger voice in the justice system." MacKay said there are options for offenders who can't afford the fine to pay back what they owe. "You pay it back over time. But not a disproportionate and ludicrous period of time as some judges have meted out. There are even within some prisons the ability for prisoners to be paid. And sometimes they might even have to, God forbid, sell a bit of property to pay and make compensation to their victim," he said. "I don't really ascribe at all any legitimacy to saying that a fine of two to three hundred dollars that a person could pay back over several years is cruel and unusual punishment, when one considers the suffering of victims." One of the offenders in Ottawa who had their $100 fine waived was a crack-addicted refugee who fled civil war in Sierra Leone, while another, a homeless teenager who lives in a shelter, was given 60 years to pay. One judge in Ottawa found the new law was unconstitutional because it constituted a tax. All three cases are being appealed. MacKay said he was "a little surprised" by the "pushback" from judges and politicians to the Conservative justice reforms, including the mandatory victim fine surcharge and mandatory minimum jail sentences. "As minister of justice, I've got nothing but respect for our judiciary and I also understand implicitly the importance of not only judicial discretion but judicial independence. Having said that, I also have a high degree of respect for Parliament and the institution of those who are democratically elected to pass laws," he said. MacKay said judges need to "apply the law." "Respect the law. Respect the democratically elected Parliament of Canada," said MacKay. "If an offender shows they are unable to pay, in the vast majority of provinces there is a fine option program where they can work off that debt, and if not, if they need an extended period of time or they need to sell a small amount of property in order to pay that debt to society, that debt specifically to the victim, they should be afforded the opportunity to do so," said MacKay, a former prosecutor. "Simply waiving it out of hand -- I'm telling you, I used to see it routinely, the judge would say, 'well the person is going off to jail so they have no means to pay and I'm going to waive the victim fine surcharge.' Those days are over." MacKay insisted offenders should have the option to work off the fine. However, Ontario, British Columbia and Newfoundland don't have fine option programs. MacKay said it is not something he can force the provinces to enact. MacKay said he is now focused on tabling the Victims' Bill of Rights, a piece of legislation he hopes will be the "cornerstone" of the Conservative government's contribution to criminal justice in Canada. "What we're going to see is that victims will be placed at the very epicentre, at the heart of our criminal justice system, by virtue of this bill of rights," said MacKay. MacKay said his government is also set to propose legislation that will target sexual offences against children, as well as deal with drunk driving and drug-impaired driving. It is "very likely" that the sex offender legislation will include mandatory minimum sentences, MacKay said.

Sometimes the best way to kick unhealthy habits is to get out of town. You might think that means heading south--but it doesn't have to. Canada's northern air, invigorating landscapes, and overall healthy vibes (not to mention favorable exchange rate) make it an appealing antidote to that hamster wheel of overindulgence and overwork. Here's your DIY guide: By GQ Bespoke - Sponsor Content October 24, 2017 View More Produced by GQ with Destination Canada. Luke got an insider's experience of one of the most beautiful places in the world. Alberta isn't just a Canadian treasure: it's one of the glories of planet earth, a must-visit place where mother nature hits all the high notes. The region is also home to the bustling town of Banff, filled with cutting edge art galleries, a stellar culinary scene, and chic hangouts. October 11, 2016 View More

On last night's show , I explained the provisions in the Canadian Criminal Code that apply to the crimes committed by ISIS members returning to Canada. According to the Criminal Code, participation in activity of a terrorist group can lead to a ten-year prison sentence. Leaving Canada to participate in activity of a terrorist group is also punishable by a ten-year prison sentence. One of these traitors is giving interviews to the New York Times while the CBC protects his identity, why isn't Trudeau putting them in jail? Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

Leave this field empty if you're human: Here's the problem with Ralph Goodale's approach to terrorism. In a recent media statement, the Public Safety Minister stated , "Canada is fundamentally a safe and peaceful nation, but we are not naive about the security issues that dominate the world's attention." Naive is exactly the right word to describe the Liberal government's approach to counter terrorism, particularly in the aftermath of the potentially destructive terrorism attempt by ISIS supporter Aaron Driver. The Liberal government appears clueless on what to do to combat the rising tide of Islamic extremism in the country. The approach they've adapted to deal with the situation can be described, at best, directionless and, at worst, an utter disaster. Defining the threat If you want to see how confused Goodale's views on terrorism are, just consider how he defines the threat. In a recent report on terrorism, released by the department of public safety, the national threat level was placed at "medium." The minister explained the rationale behind this threat level as the possibility that a terrorist attack "could happen." According to Goodale, "It's not in the category of likely, but neither is it unlikely." This just makes no sense whatsoever. Instead of addressing the repeated threats by ISIS to blow up Canada's cities, the minister busied himself with determining a standard name of the organization. In the preamble to the report, he wrote , "The group is neither Islamic nor a state, and so will be referred to as 'Daesh.'" The problem, dear minister, is not what to call the group. The problem we face is what the group is willing to do to terrorize the Canadian citizens. And that's not even the biggest challenge the country faces. Returning extremists An even bigger threat to Canada's national security is the return of the extremists, who left to join ISIS, back to Canada. According to government estimates, around 180 Canadians went to the Middle East to join the terrorist organization. Around 60 of those have returned to Canadian soil. These individuals may have the "skills, experience and relationships developed abroad that could be used to recruit or inspire individuals in Canada," says the report . Instead of planning to address these challenges, the Liberal government is planning to repeal what they call "problematic elements" of Anti-terrorism Bill C-51 brought in by the Conservative government. Instead of increasing the government's counter-terrorism powers, they're planning to limit them. It's a disaster waiting to happen. What do you think?

On last night's episode , Brad Trost , Conservative MP for Saskatoon-University, joined me to discuss the impact of Canada's growing migrant crisis. When Donald Trump first announced his travel ban, Trudeau tweeted: To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength # WelcomeToCanada Ever since that tweet, Canada has experienced a surge in migrants sneaking into Canada illegal from the United States. These illegal migrants are threatening the sustainability of Canada's socialized healthcare system , and are flooding shelter's in Toronto. John Tory now has to seek assistance from the federal and provincial governments to deal with the migrants who now make up 37.6% of Toronto shelter claimants. Rather than address the crisis they caused, Trudeau's Liberals are using this to smear Conservative MPs raising the issue as "racists" and "bigots". We also discussed the performance of Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer, Brad thinks that because Trudeau is doing "so many dumb stupid things" that Scheer is having trouble deciding which issue to focus on. WATCH our full interview to see why LEGAL immigrants are among the strongest opponents to ILLEGAL immigration, and what Brad has in mind for his political future. Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

We've passed the one-year mark for the first batch of Syrian refugees in Canada, meaning that those who have been here for longer than 12 months are no longer able to claim federal government support. The idea behind the program is that within a year , refugee families would be able to get a solid enough grasp of the English language and a foundation in their communities to find work and make Canada their new home. For whatever reason, that hasn't happened . Numbers out of New Brunswick show that just 20 per cent of refugees there have found work. Of that, one quarter of the jobs are seasonal, while the remainder are long-term full and part-time employment. Considering that the jobless rate for the general population is 8.7 per cent, this means that the unemployment rate among refugees is more than nine times that of the rest of the province. For those that don't have work, they fall on social assistance, which doesn't really have an expiration date. New Brunswick's post-secondary education, training and labour minister, Don Arseneault, said in a CBC interview that the province knew this day would come and was always prepared to take over payments, but he still hopes for more federal government funding to deal with language training, which has been rampant with gaps across the country. In British Columbia, even though refugees have been coming in for a year, the province still hasn't dealt with the housing shortage--meaning that refugees are still being put up in hotels in the absence of other housing. When Justin Trudeau greeted the first wave of refugees at Pearson Airport, he told them, "welcome home." One year later, for the majority, all that's changed is which level of government is writing the cheque.

Over 130 imams and over 500 Muslim groups in the United Kingdom have condemned the actions of the suspected terror attackers in London and Manchester, and have refused to perform traditional Islamic prayers for their funerals. CBS News reported on Tuesday that it is a "highly unusual move," as the prayer ritual is usually carried out for every Islamic believer, regardless of their actions. "We are deeply hurt that a spate of terror attacks have been committed in our country once more by murderers who seek to gain religious legitimacy for their actions. We seek to clarify that their reprehensible actions have neither legitimacy nor our sympathy," the Muslim Council of Britain, representing over 500 organizations, said in its statement. "Consequently, and in light of other such ethical principles which are quintessential to Islam, we will not perform the traditional Islamic funeral prayer for the perpetrators and we also urge fellow imams and religious authorities to withdraw such a privilege. This is because such indefensible actions are completely at odds with the lofty teachings of Islam," the MCB added. The Muslim groups shared their "shock and utter disgust" at the Saturday night attacks in London, where seven people were killed and 48, injured, and the Manchester Arena suicide bombing that left 23 people dead and 119 injured. Free sign up cp newsletter! Authorities in the U.K. have named 22-year-old Youssef Zaghba, a Moroccan-Italian man, as the third London Bridge attacker , with investigations across the country looking to break apart terror cells. The slain terror suspects, both in London and in Manchester, have been praised by the Islamic State terror group , which has warned that more attacks against the West are coming. The 130 imams said that the terrorists have commited "vile murders," however, and seek to "divide our society and instil fear." The Muslim leaders vowed that terror forces will fail. "We implore everyone to unite: we are one community. In the face of such dastardly cowardice, unlike the terrorists, we must uphold love and compassion," the statement read. The Independent reported on a number of local Islamic leaders, such as imams from the Jabir Bin Zayd Islamic Center in Barking, sharing their prayers for the victims and their families. "As a community, we denounce this abhorrent criminal act, for which there can never be any justification," the statement read. "We understand that in the current climate there is much fear, confusion and anger in the country and people are looking for answers. "That is why we will continue to assist the police and the relevant authorities with any investigation to ensure that justice is achieved." Anglican leader and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby called on faith leaders to unite and fight against terrorism on Monday in an interview with BBC Radio 4 . Welby argued that religious scriptures have "been twisted and misused" by radicals to justify violence. He also warned that authorities don't understand "the basic tenets of the faith they are dealing with." "They are often people who are unable to put themselves in the shoes of religious believers and understand a way of looking at the world that says that this defines your whole life, every single aspect of who you are and what you are," the Church of England leader said. Follow Stoyan Zaimov on Facebook: CPSZaimov

Malek Merabet, the brother of Ahmed Merabet, the police officer who was slain on Wednesday during the attack on the Charlie Hebdo office, spoke to the media on Sunday and blasted the terrorists, calling them fake Muslims . Since his death, Ahmed has received a lot of support throughout the country. A Twitter hashtag, #jesuisahmed, started circulating on the social media network as people wanted to celebrate his heroism. A photo of the slain police officer Ahmed Marabet. "My brother was Muslim and he was killed by people who pretend to be Muslims. They are terrorists, that's it," he said. He described how his brother stood for the values of France and how he loved being a police officer. "Islam is a religion of peace and love. As far as my brother's death is concerned it was a waste. He was very proud of the name Ahmed Merabet, proud to represent the police and of defending the values of the Republic - liberty, equality, fraternity," he noted. Turning to the issue of racism, he addressed Islamophobia. "I address myself now to all the racists, Islamophobes and anti-Semites. One must not confuse extremists with Muslims. Mad people have neither color or religion," he said. "I want to make another point: don't tar everybody with the same brush, don't burn mosques - or synagogues. You are attacking people. It won't bring our dead back and it won't appease the families." A tweet appeared on Twitter that described how Merabet died protecting Charlie Hebdo and its freedom of speech, despite the fact that it openly mocked his religion. I am not Charlie, I am Ahmed the dead cop. Charlie ridiculed my faith and culture and I died defending his right to do so. #JesuisAhmed -- Dyab Abou Jahjah (@Aboujahjah) January 8, 2015 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed the need for individuals not to attack individual religions. "This is yet another reminder of what we are facing together. It should never be seen as a war of religion, for religion, or on religion," he said. "It is an assault on our common humanity, designed to terrify and incite." Photo credit: The Guardian: Malek Merabet.

The terrorists known as Isis are successfully creating misery wherever they go, they are also successful in creating hatred and segregation. The British and American press should stop referring to them as Islamic state, or isis and give them a name that doesn't link Islam to these atrocities, evey time Isis commit these atrocities, news casters and politicians around the globe use the word Islamic to describe these murderous scum, and innocent peace loving Muslims are being tarred with that same blood stained brush. It is wrong and irresponsible to continue to associate Islam with terrorists. Isis chose that name, let's take it from them. And provide a universally loathed and appropriate name that doesn't condemn millions of innocent Muslims to ignorance and discrimination.

On Thursday, the Dalai Lama spoke of the irrationality that drives Islamophobia, namely the conflation of Islam and terrorism which he argued are incompatible. On Thursday, the Dalai Lama spoke to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France regarding the key differences between terrorists and genuine followers of religion. In short, he explained that it doesn't make rational sense to confuse Islam with terrorist organizations who claim to be Muslim such as Islamic State, Al Qaeda, and Taliban. He argued that there is no such thing as a "Muslim terrorist" or "Buddhist terrorist," criticizing those who incite violence using a religious banner, Mic reported . He made a valid point which opposed the phrasing of "Muslim terrorist," saying that it is fundamentally against Islam as a religion to be violent. Despite the Islamophobic rhetoric which has driven Donald Trump's presidential election campaign and violence against Muslims and their places of worship , it is well-established the vast majority of Muslims are non-violent and do not support a jihad against western society. Furthermore, terrorists claiming to be Muslim make up a teeny, tiny fraction of the 1.6 billion Muslims who live worldwide. The Dalai Lama took this fact one step further by explaining that Islam and terrorism are completely incompatible. He said, "Any person who wants to indulge in violence is no longer a genuine Buddhist or genuine Muslim, because it is a Muslim teaching that once you are involved in bloodshed, actually you are no longer a genuine practitioner of Islam." He continued, "All major religious traditions carry the same message: a message of love, compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, contentment, self-discipline--all religious traditions." Read More

Leave this field empty if you're human: At least 84 people were killed Thursday in the French city of Nice when a truck rammed through a crowd gathered for Bastille Day celebrations, in an attack that President Francois Hollande described as an act of "terrorism." Police have identified 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel as the suspect who is a migrant to France and married with three children. Although no one has claimed responsibility, Muslims from the so called Islamic State and their supporters took to Twitter to celebrate the attacks. ""Oh France, you and the all Europe will never be secure until we will live secure on every inch in the land of the Caliphate," wrote one user. "This is the beginning of the attack to take the holy revenge for the killing of Abu Omar Shishani, may Allah accept him," another said on an Isis forum. Thousands of Twitter users have shown their support by posting with the hashtag 'Pray for Nice' but ISIS told their followers to use the same hashtag in their celebration tweets.

The statement below is from Ibrahim Munir, Deputy General Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, 21 June 2017 The racist attacks which have taken place recently including the attack on Finsbury Park Mosque in London which injured many Muslims and caused one death, as well as the murder of a Muslim girl in Virginia as she was leaving a mosque, have highlighted the way in which Muslim communities are being targeted. These incidents are proof that terrorism has no religion, that none is immune to it, and that it should not be blindly and unjustly attached to Islam. The reoccurrence of these horrendous racist attacks is truly alarming, especially as they have been overlooked and have not been immediately dealt with politically, taken seriously as a threat to national security or effectively covered by the media. This phenomenon has turned into a threat to social security and stability and has created a state of division which threatens the security and stability of the Muslim communities that have become vital components of these nations' social fabric. With the reoccurrence of these incidents, we are asking all Arab and Islamic governments and organisations to fully assume their responsibilities and seriously answer the call for duty to defend genuine Islam and protect the welfare of Muslims. We are also asking them to strive so as to check the phenomenal propagation of Islamophobia. This requires the denunciation of media content that encourages xenophobia on a domestic or global scale. The Muslim Brotherhood extends its sincere condolences to the families and relatives of the victims of the Finsbury Park and Virginia incidents and all victims of racist attacks, asking God Almighty to bestow His mercy upon those who died and patience and steadfastness upon their families. We also pray for the speedy recovery of those who have been injured. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Race Issues | Children who attend a downtown Christian school model grace and strength in a turbulent city Jamie Dean | 9/23/16, 12:37 pm CHARLOTTE, N.C.--As workers boarded up smashed windows in downtown Charlotte on Thursday afternoon, out-of-town protesters arrived to join demonstrations against the Tuesday afternoon shooting of a black man by a black police officer. During the first two nights, the initially peaceful protests devolved into violence. Police say the shooting was justified. The family of Keith Scott, 43, dispute the police account and want the department to release videos of the confrontation. Police say it would jeopardize the investigation. Chaos has ensued. Hillary Clinton returned to the campaign trail this week after falling ill at a 9/11 service Sunday in New York City. The Democratic nominee's physician said the candidate had a mild case of pneumonia, but Clinton's near-collapse after her sudden departure from the event stoked ongoing speculation about her health. Campaign 2016 | Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton pitch their spiritual credentials to black church members but still struggle to define their personal beliefs Jamie Dean | 9/09/16, 02:27 pm As the 2016 presidential race enters the final laps before Election Day on Nov. 8, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are finally facing off on issues like foreign policy, but they also continue to try to convince voters they have Christian credibility. The latest testing ground: historically black churches. Immigration | Key proposals stay the same, but mass deportation to be postponed Jamie Dean | 9/01/16, 08:04 am Donald Trump's had a whirlwind week. After days of confusion and speculation over apparent changes to his once-ironclad immigration proposals, the GOP nominee started Wednesday in Mexico City calling Mexican Americans "spectacular, hard working people" and ended the day in Phoenix introducing the families of victims killed by illegal immigrants. In one of the biggest media buildups in recent election coverage, Trump kept opponents, supporters, and reporters guessing over what he'd say about immigration on Wednesday night in Arizona.

In advance of the World Meeting of Families, a new organization is working to raise awareness about LGBT issues and other matters important to 'social justice Catholics.' March 20 2015 6:50 AM Opponents call the bills a 'license to discriminate' and say they prioritize an adoption agency's beliefs over the best interests of the child seeking a home. March 19 2015 4:29 PM Updated Nondiscrimination laws that require businesses to serve everyone equally are a 'nail in the coffin of the morality of this nation,' says the right-wing preacher. March 19 2015 1:29 PM

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham strongly condemned the deadliest act of anti-Shia violence in two years in a Shia mosque in the northeastern Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, claiming the lives of over 60 Shia Muslims and wounding dozens more. Afkham, while expressing condolences and sympathy to the families of victims and Pakistani government, said Islamic Republic of Iran condemns terrorist act against innocent people of every race and religion in Pakistan, calling it against the teachings of Islam and human values. Stressing the need to deal with extremism and terrorist movements, Afkham highlighted regional cooperation and solidarity in the fight against extremism and terrorism as well as maintaining unity among world Muslims against the divisive measures by enemies of the Islamic Ummah. Over 50 people, including children, were killed on Friday in a suicide bombing during Friday prayers at a packed minority Shia mosque in Pakistan's Sindh province, the deadliest sectarian attack to hit the country in recent times. LR MNA END 2478820

After a dramatic 39-hour filibuster and the eventual passage through the Senate, Missouri's SJR 39 is on its way to the House. Fortunately for the opponents of the bill, the business community is not going to take this discriminatory constitutional amendment lying down. If you have children, there's a good chance you've worked hard to instill in them the values you hold, whether those values are religious or secular. Site contents (c) 2018 Americans United for Separation of Church and State Privacy policy | Security policy

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Libertarians and conservatives both advocate of individual liberty, limited government, and free markets. Sometimes these shared values lead libertarians and conservatives to similar conclusions about public policy. However, the differences between the two political philosophies are at least as significant as the similarities. On matters such as national security and foreign policy, immigration, criminal justice, drugs, surveillance, marriage and the family, and the role of religion in public policy, libertarians and conservatives often clash with one another. Despite whatever similarities they may have, libertarianism and conservatism are substantially different world views. Which one has a deeper grasp of politics, the nation, and human beings? Which should be entrusted with safeguarding and prolonging our nation? We invite you to attend this debate about the two political philosophies and their associated policy implications. Interns from the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation will go head-to-head to answer the question: Is libertarianism or conservatism the superior political philosophy?

Gilani is among the faction of Iranian men who set out on a journey to Japan in the 1980s and 90s in the hopes of finding employment opportunities that offered better pay. Most of the jobs made available to Iranian immigrants at that time involved manual labor that offered better compensation than similar jobs that existed in Iran. Many Iranian men who ventured off to Japan have since returned, but Gilani is among the very few who persevered and gained Japanese residency since leaving 27 years ago. Gilani was born in 1967 in the town of Sari located in the north of Iran. His family eventually moved to Karaj, a city in the outskirts of Tehran, where he got through his primary school education. His junior high and high school studies were all completed in Tehran and then came his mandatory military service. His two-year military service coincided with end of the Iran-Iraq war, a very difficult time for Iranians. Facing many hardships and struggles throughout his conscription, which he refused to discuss, Gilani eventually completed his military service. At age 23, his burning desire was to leave his homeland. "I decided to leave Iran, because I couldn't stand it any longer. I wanted to be anywhere but Iran." Back then, it was very difficult for Iranians to obtain a visa to any of the developed countries, and to some extent, it still is. However, Japan was accepting foreign workers from Iran without a visa for blue collar work. Except for one acquaintance in Tokyo, Gilani knew no one in Japan. Still, he was not deterred by the isolation he initially endured so far away. It was in 1991 when Gilani finally got his plane ticket to Tokyo for 120,000 rials ($3 at today's rate) and braved the new chapter in his life. Finding a job was easier than he thought, as it took him only two days after arriving in Tokyo to find work. An Iranian headhunter who located jobs for Iranian immigrants found work for Gilani as a construction worker, charging him $400 onetime fee for the service. The young man was pleased to find himself earning around 8,000 Yen a day. "That was equivalent to a month's work in Iran," he explains, and a substantial boost to his income even though living costs in Japan were higher. Gilani applauds the people of Japan for being honest, sincere and hardworking, and appreciates their orderly and well-disciplined system. Gilani worked in construction for a year, until a new job opportunity was offered to him. He moved to Kanagawa Prefecture, a coastal community just south of Tokyo, to excavate land for groundwater wells in residential and commercial areas, where there was a need to augment water supplies. With the help of various machinery and industrial drills, they would dig down 100 meters to reach ground water. The work would take an average of one week to three months to complete, depending on the soil's density. After this work experience, it took Gilani six months to land another job which tied in closely with his interests. "A friend of mine who was returning to Iran offered me his job at a woodcutting company." He moved to Ibaraki Prefecture northeast of Tokyo, where he has been chopping wood for the same company for the past 26 years. Today, Gilani is happily married to his long-term Japanese partner and he has a three-year-old biological son and an adopted teenage son from his wife's previous marriage. Undoubtedly, Gilani has settled well in to his life in Japan, but to be where he is today he had to work very hard. When he first arrived in Japan, he had no prior knowledge of the language and culture. However, he knew all too well that the only way to realize his dreams was to learn Japanese, for one thing, which can be a challenge, for it is nothing like Farsi and is considered one of the most difficult languages to learn. Additionally, Gilani had to familiarize himself with Japan's unique culture and ways of life. He managed over time to interact well with Japanese society. The Asian country's unique heritage and history was a source of inspiration and fascination for Gilani. He applauds the people of Japan for being honest, sincere and hardworking, and appreciates their orderly and well-disciplined system. Gilani returned home in 2012 after two decades of being an ex-patriot, and since then he has been making annual visits to the motherland. While in Iran, he likes to indulge in homemade Persian food, revisit his old stomping grounds, and his friends, and reminisce about his past life as a youth in his native country. Notwithstanding the fact that Gilani has perfectly assimilated himself to the Japanese lifestyle, he has never lost the love and appreciation for his family, and Iranian food. Note: The name of the main character has been changed to protect his privacy.

TEHRAN - Japanese expert on religions Toshihiko Izutsu who is most famous for his studies on Islam is the subject of Iranian filmmaker Masud Taheri's latest documentary "The Eastern". In a press release published on Monday, Taheri said that the documentary has recently been completed. "Toshihiko Izutsu is an expert on Islam and the Holy Quran who not only is popular among the Iranian academic community but also is renowned in other Islamic countries such as Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon and Malaysia," he said. "He had high regard for oriental traditions and religions such as Islam, Taoism and Buddhism, and made great efforts to create unity among them," he added. The documentary puts its main focus on this issue, Taheri noted. Over 60 academics and cultural figures from across the world such as Professor Hermann Landolt of the Institute of Ismaili Studies in the UK and academic Toshio Kuroda comment on Izutsu in the film. The film is scheduled to be screened in Iran, Japan and Canada. Izutsu (1914-1993) was Professor Emeritus at Keio University in Japan and author of many books on Islam and other religions. He was fluent in over 30 languages, including Arabic and Persian, taught at the Institute of Cultural and Linguistic studies at Keio University in Tokyo, the Iranian Institute of Philosophy in Tehran and McGill University in Montreal, Canada. In 1958, he completed the first direct translation of the Holy Quran from Arabic to Japanese. The first indirect translation had been accomplished a decade prior by Okawa Shumei. Photo: A poster for "The Eastern", a documentary directed by Masud Taheri about Japanese expert on religions Toshihiko Izutsu

Top Trump administration officials are working to stop Germany from allowing Iran to fly more than $350 million in cash out of the country and back to Tehran. 2018-07-10 19:46 TEHRAN - Masoumeh Ebtekar, the special envoy of President Rouhani, delivered a letter about the 2015 nuclear deal to Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad on Tuesday. 2018-07-10 19:42 TEHRAN - China says it will by no means accept the U.S. unilateral sanctions against Iran and that it sees the sanctions "groundless" under international law. 2018-07-10 19:41 TEHRAN - Deputy Majlis Speaker Ali Motahari said on Tuesday that "Tehran's response to U.S. threats of reducing Iran's oil revenues to zero will be closing the Strait of Hormuz." 2018-07-10 19:39 TEHRAN - Defense Minister Amir Hatami said on Tuesday that the U.S.-led economic and financial sanctions against Iran have turned into an opportunity, making the country more self-reliant. 2018-07-10 18:37 TEHRAN - "Due Day" by Midia Kiasat will be competing in the 24th Annual Brainwash Movie Festival, a drive-in/bike-in/walk-in movie event, taking place in Oakland, California on July 13, 14, 20 and 21. 2018-07-10 18:36 TEHRAN - An Iranian Orchestra of national instruments conducted by Ali-Akbar Qorbani gave performances at the Serper Festival of Folk Orchestras in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan last week. 2018-07-10 18:34 TEHRAN - Three Iranian films will be screened in the various sections of the 4th Viva Film Festival in Bosnia and Herzegovina during September. 2018-07-10 18:33 TEHRAN - Marco Octavio Simoes Barbosa says Iran beach soccer have a young players who have the potential to shine in the future. 2018-07-10 18:29 TEHRAN - The organizers of the Iran Cinema Celebration announced on Tuesday that the winners of the gala will be announced without any award ceremony due to the current economic climate in the country. 2018-07-10 18:26 TEHRAN - Japanese expert on religions Toshihiko Izutsu who is most famous for his studies on Islam is the subject of Iranian filmmaker Masud Taheri's latest documentary "The Eastern". 2018-07-10 18:04 TEHRAN- Iran's annual crude steel production increased 22 percent in 2017, while the world's production improved by six percent in the said time, Iranian Industry Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari announced on Tuesday. 2018-07-10 18:03 TEHRAN- National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) has been supplying the power plants in the country with 285 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas per day since the beginning of summer, Mehdi Jamshidi Dana, the dispatching director in NIGC, announced. 2018-07-10 18:03 TEHRAN- The 25th edition of Iran's International Exhibition of Ceramic Industries (CERA FAIR 2018) kicked off on Tuesday at Tehran Permanent International Fairgrounds, IRIB reported. 2018-07-10 18:03 TEHRAN - U.S. sanctions on Iran may complicate Total's attempts for selling some of its assets in Britain's North Sea that could fetch a total of $1.5 billion, Reuters reported quoting four banking and industry sources. 2018-07-10 18:03 TEHRAN- Iranian First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri announced on Tuesday that the country plans to sell as much oil as it can in face of U.S. sanctions, Fars news agency reported. 2018-07-10 17:01 TEHRAN - Ostersund midfielder Saman Ghoddos has dismissed the idea of going to the Chinese Super League, saying he has plenty of years in front of him. 2018-07-10 12:16 Iran has been "Iran" for a long time. Yes, I have read Herodotus and other historians about ancient Iran, and other historians in periods since. So while full condemnation of whatever forces are keeping Iran in the 21st century from reaching its full potential economically or as a society or both is perfectly justified, one ought not to worry about Iran longer term. 2018-07-10 11:54 TEHRAN - China's One Belt One Road (OBOR) project was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. 2018-07-10 11:15 TEHRAN - Commenting on talks between the leaders of the U.S. and North Korea, Dr. Arthur I. Cyr believes that the Summit meetings are most successful and important when used to confirm consequential agreements, negotiated in detail in advance. 2018-07-10 11:09 TEHRAN - On the eve of the negotiations between Iran and the members of the P4+1 in Vienna on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the French Foreign Minister determined the fate of "European JCPOA" once and for all! In an interview with RTL radio on the "Europe's package of proposals to Iran" for saving the nuclear deal, Jean Yves Le Drian stated: 2018/07/10 By: Syed Zafar Mehdi When the ruling party organizes an event to felicitate a group of criminals convicted in a lynching case and a senior union minister goes to meet and garland them, you should understand that something is terribly wrong. 2018-07-10 10:24 TEHRAN - Despite being hailed as a fastest growing economy, India has taken a "quantum jump in a wrong direction" since 2014, and because of the backward movement, it is now the second worst in the region, the world-renowned economist Amartya Sen said. 2018-07-10 10:23 TEHRAN - Fearing for their lives after the deadly bombing that killed 15 members of the Sikh community in Afghanistan's eastern city of Jalalabad last week, many Afghan Sikh families have sought asylum in neighboring India, according to privy sources. 2018-07-10 10:18 TEHRAN - Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday offered his condolences over the demise of Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, a top Vatican diplomat and expert in interfaith relations who on July 5 died at the age of 75. 2018-07-10 10:17 TEHRAN - Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said on Sunday that there is no need for interference of foreigners in the affairs of countries in the Middle East. 2018-07-10 10:11 By: Syed Zafar Mehdi TEHRAN - Ibrahim Musa is the President of Media Forum of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN). In this interview with Tehran Times, he talks about the illegal incarceration of IMN leader Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and brutal clampdown on the movement by the Mohammad Buhari government. 2018-07-10 09:54 TEHRAN - The 16th International Exhibition of Kitchen, Bath, Sauna, Pool Industries and Equipment is due to kick off today at Tehran Permanent International Fairgrounds, IRIB reported. 2018-07-10 09:53 TEHRAN -The deposed Pakistani Prime Minister, who was handed 10 years rigorous jail term by an accountability court in Pakistan last week in Panama Papers scandal, is expected to return to Pakistan on July 15 to face the charges. 2018-07-10 09:50 TEHRAN - Stung by public backlash and criticism over its decision to cut oil imports from Iran, Indian government has said that it will take a "considered and considerate' view based on 'national interest' on the issue of U.S. sanctions against Iranian oil and find a way to secure its energy needs.

Gilani is among the faction of Iranian men who set out on a journey to Japan in the 1980s and 90s in the hopes of finding employment opportunities that offered better pay. Most of the jobs made available to Iranian immigrants at that time involved manual labor that offered better compensation than similar jobs that existed in Iran. Many Iranian men who ventured off to Japan have since returned, but Gilani is among the very few who persevered and gained Japanese residency since leaving 27 years ago. Gilani was born in 1967 in the town of Sari located in the north of Iran. His family eventually moved to Karaj, a city in the outskirts of Tehran, where he got through his primary school education. His junior high and high school studies were all completed in Tehran and then came his mandatory military service. His two-year military service coincided with end of the Iran-Iraq war, a very difficult time for Iranians. Facing many hardships and struggles throughout his conscription, which he refused to discuss, Gilani eventually completed his military service. At age 23, his burning desire was to leave his homeland. "I decided to leave Iran, because I couldn't stand it any longer. I wanted to be anywhere but Iran." Back then, it was very difficult for Iranians to obtain a visa to any of the developed countries, and to some extent, it still is. However, Japan was accepting foreign workers from Iran without a visa for blue collar work. Except for one acquaintance in Tokyo, Gilani knew no one in Japan. Still, he was not deterred by the isolation he initially endured so far away. It was in 1991 when Gilani finally got his plane ticket to Tokyo for 120,000 rials ($3 at today's rate) and braved the new chapter in his life. Finding a job was easier than he thought, as it took him only two days after arriving in Tokyo to find work. An Iranian headhunter who located jobs for Iranian immigrants found work for Gilani as a construction worker, charging him $400 onetime fee for the service. The young man was pleased to find himself earning around 8,000 Yen a day. "That was equivalent to a month's work in Iran," he explains, and a substantial boost to his income even though living costs in Japan were higher. Gilani applauds the people of Japan for being honest, sincere and hardworking, and appreciates their orderly and well-disciplined system. Gilani worked in construction for a year, until a new job opportunity was offered to him. He moved to Kanagawa Prefecture, a coastal community just south of Tokyo, to excavate land for groundwater wells in residential and commercial areas, where there was a need to augment water supplies. With the help of various machinery and industrial drills, they would dig down 100 meters to reach ground water. The work would take an average of one week to three months to complete, depending on the soil's density. After this work experience, it took Gilani six months to land another job which tied in closely with his interests. "A friend of mine who was returning to Iran offered me his job at a woodcutting company." He moved to Ibaraki Prefecture northeast of Tokyo, where he has been chopping wood for the same company for the past 26 years. Today, Gilani is happily married to his long-term Japanese partner and he has a three-year-old biological son and an adopted teenage son from his wife's previous marriage. Undoubtedly, Gilani has settled well in to his life in Japan, but to be where he is today he had to work very hard. When he first arrived in Japan, he had no prior knowledge of the language and culture. However, he knew all too well that the only way to realize his dreams was to learn Japanese, for one thing, which can be a challenge, for it is nothing like Farsi and is considered one of the most difficult languages to learn. Additionally, Gilani had to familiarize himself with Japan's unique culture and ways of life. He managed over time to interact well with Japanese society. The Asian country's unique heritage and history was a source of inspiration and fascination for Gilani. He applauds the people of Japan for being honest, sincere and hardworking, and appreciates their orderly and well-disciplined system. Gilani returned home in 2012 after two decades of being an ex-patriot, and since then he has been making annual visits to the motherland. While in Iran, he likes to indulge in homemade Persian food, revisit his old stomping grounds, and his friends, and reminisce about his past life as a youth in his native country. Notwithstanding the fact that Gilani has perfectly assimilated himself to the Japanese lifestyle, he has never lost the love and appreciation for his family, and Iranian food. Note: The name of the main character has been changed to protect his privacy.

TEHRAN - A former Iranian minister of foreign affairs has been decorated by the Japanese government for his contribution to bilateral ties. "Mr. Manouchehr Mottaki, the honorable former minister of foreign affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, received the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun," said the Japanese government's statement on the award. The statement acknowledges Mottaki's contributions to "the promotion of friendly relations between Japan and Iran and strengthening of bilateral relations" during his tenure as Iran's ambassador to Tokyo (1995-1999). "The Cultural Week of the Islamic Republic of Iran hosted by the embassy of Iran for the first time in Japan is one of his legacies which commenced during his era," read the statement. The statement also highlights Mottaki's efforts to "further strengthen bilateral ties" during his term as Iran's minister of foreign affairs from 2005 to 2010. The Order of the Rising Sun, the second highest order by the Japanese government, is awarded to those who have made distinguished achievements in international relations, promotion of Japanese culture, advancements in their field, development in welfare or preservation of environment. SP/

Speaking in a meeting with Mitsui's Chief Operating Officer of EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) Business Unit Atsushi Kume, Zamaninia stressed the need for closer cooperation between Iranian and Japanese companies in upstream and downstream sectors of the oil, gas and petrochemical industries. "Given the good record of the company (Mitsui) in the petrochemical sector, it can actively work in Iran's projects on petrochemical industry," he said. He further expressed the hope that the Japanese firm would also invest in the Iranian petrochemical industry. The remarks come against the backdrop of a new wave of interest in ties with Iran after Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on July 14, 2015 reached a conclusion over the text of a comprehensive 159-page deal on Tehran's nuclear program and started implementing it on January 16. The comprehensive nuclear deal, known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), terminated all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran.

Arne Duncan, who served as secretary of education under former President Barack Obama, is now encouraging kids to boycott school until lawmakers pass gun control legislation. Duncan tweeted the idea Friday after former Assistant Education Secretary Peter Cunningham made the suggestion, writing, "Maybe it's time for America's 50 million school parents to simply pull their kids out of school until we have better gun laws." "This is brilliant," Duncan replied: This is brilliant, and tragically necessary. What if no children went to school until gun laws changed to keep them safe? My family is all in if we can do this at scale. Parents, will you please join us? https://t.co/Yo4wsFuJI5 -- Arne Duncan (@arneduncan) May 18, 2018 But for Duncan, it was more than a tweet. He seems at least somewhat interested in making it happen, though he did admit to The Washington Post over the weekend that such a feat would be "wildly impractical and difficult." "But I think it's wildly impractical and difficult that kids are shot when they are sent to school," the former education secretary added. Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images Duncan's tweet and subsequent interview with the Post came after a deadly shooting late last week at Santa Fe High School in Texas left multiple students dead. "I'm open to other ideas, I'm open to different ideas, but I'm not open to doing nothing," Duncan said. "We will see whether this gains traction, or something does, but we have to think radically." The idea seemed to gain some traction on social media: -- David Weaver (@DavidWeaver) May 18, 2018 Wow. Former US secretary of education calling for a nationwide student strike for gun control. https://t.co/CnDiU5l4nA -- Dana Goldstein (@DanaGoldstein) May 19, 2018 -- Wendy Kopp (@wendykopp) May 19, 2018 I grew up with the good fortune of going to "safe" schools. My parents were lucky. That norm no longer exists. Their generation has no idea the fear we live with. Count us in. #EnoughIsEnough #pullyourkids https://t.co/4FisE2QDrc -- Hilarie Burton (@HilarieBurton) May 21, 2018 Should the idea actually gain nationwide support, Duncan told the Post his family would participate. Lawmakers, he noted, need motivation to pass gun reform. "This is not rocket science," he said. "This is not a difficult intellectual issue. What we have lacked is political courage, and we need to create the tension that allows us to break through on this issue."

The National Rifle Association (NRA) responded to the White House's televised meeting with top congressmen and senators on Wednesday by saying it did not support the new gun control measures that were proposed. "While today's meeting made for great TV, the gun-control proposals discussed would make for bad policy that would not keep our children safe," Jennifer Baker, a spokesperson for the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action, told the Washington Free Beacon. "Instead of punishing law-abiding gun owners for the acts of a deranged lunatic, our leaders should pass meaningful reforms that would actually prevent future tragedies." The NRA said the focus should instead be on making schools safer and keeping guns out of the hands of the dangerously mentally ill. "They can start by fixing the broken mental health system, strengthening background checks to ensure the records of people who are prohibited from possessing firearms are in the NICS system, securing our schools and preventing the dangerously mentally ill from accessing firearms," Baker said. "Whether you love or hate firearms, we all want to send our children to safe schools and to live in safe communities.

Arne Duncan, who served as secretary of education under former President Barack Obama, is now encouraging kids to boycott school until lawmakers pass gun control legislation. Duncan tweeted the idea Friday after former Assistant Education Secretary Peter Cunningham made the suggestion, writing, "Maybe it's time for America's 50 million school parents to simply pull their kids out of school until we have better gun laws." "This is brilliant," Duncan replied: This is brilliant, and tragically necessary. What if no children went to school until gun laws changed to keep them safe? My family is all in if we can do this at scale. Parents, will you please join us? https://t.co/Yo4wsFuJI5 -- Arne Duncan (@arneduncan) May 18, 2018 But for Duncan, it was more than a tweet. He seems at least somewhat interested in making it happen, though he did admit to The Washington Post over the weekend that such a feat would be "wildly impractical and difficult." "But I think it's wildly impractical and difficult that kids are shot when they are sent to school," the former education secretary added. Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images Duncan's tweet and subsequent interview with the Post came after a deadly shooting late last week at Santa Fe High School in Texas left multiple students dead. "I'm open to other ideas, I'm open to different ideas, but I'm not open to doing nothing," Duncan said. "We will see whether this gains traction, or something does, but we have to think radically." The idea seemed to gain some traction on social media: -- David Weaver (@DavidWeaver) May 18, 2018 Wow. Former US secretary of education calling for a nationwide student strike for gun control. https://t.co/CnDiU5l4nA -- Dana Goldstein (@DanaGoldstein) May 19, 2018 -- Wendy Kopp (@wendykopp) May 19, 2018 I grew up with the good fortune of going to "safe" schools. My parents were lucky. That norm no longer exists. Their generation has no idea the fear we live with. Count us in. #EnoughIsEnough #pullyourkids https://t.co/4FisE2QDrc -- Hilarie Burton (@HilarieBurton) May 21, 2018 Should the idea actually gain nationwide support, Duncan told the Post his family would participate. Lawmakers, he noted, need motivation to pass gun reform. "This is not rocket science," he said. "This is not a difficult intellectual issue. What we have lacked is political courage, and we need to create the tension that allows us to break through on this issue."

We as a nation can no longer sit and watch these mass shooting. We can no longer experience this trauma, parents can no longer endure the pain of loosing a child , no friend can keep enduring the pain of loosing a friend, no adult can keep loosing their siblings, their friends, no kid can keep loosing their parents . All these tragic events have occurred in mass shootings. For example, The Las Vegas Shooting , killing 58 ,wounding 489 . The MSD (Marjory Stoneman Douglas) shooting killing 17, including students and teachers, 14 others wounded which hit extremely close to home for me. Sandy hook elementary, 28 killed also including students and teachers . Since the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, 400 people have been shot in over 200 school shootings, that's is 200 school shootings in 6 years, doesn't that say something to you. Something needs to happen and i'm choosing not to sit and watch in silence i'm choosing to take action along with the rest at Marjory Stoneman Douglas , and I hope many other schools and states that have gone through something like this are currently taking action to have some sort of gun control in the Nation we live in . So please , share this with your friends and sign this petition in hopes of gun control in the nation we live in. Let's be the generation that puts an end to history repeating itself .

Raffaello Pantucci, director of International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), told CNBC it was worrying because the perpetrator would need to have a certain level of skill to make the device detonate at the right time. He said: "The type of weapon is disturbing in some ways because a functioning bomb is actually a fairly sophisticated device to make. "There are easy bombs and there are harder bombs but it does always require a certain level of technical ability which either requires a certain amount of training or some practice or some sort of technical skills. And that's always quite worrying. "To build a successful bomb, that actually will detonate at the right moment that you need it to, requires a little bit more effort and skill. "To have one that actually works and to such deadly effect is certainly a disturbing feature of this particular attack."

In the wake of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, it's clear the USA Government is not going to do anything to make gun laws more strict, just as it's been ignored after every mass shooting. Children and teachers have the right to go to a place of education and work without fearing for their lives. We all have a right to life, that trumps any sort of rights to bear arms. I understand asking a teachers union strike is a lot to ask, but it's the only thing that can come to mind that would wake up the government. Once they see that there's teachers demanding not to teach until our school's are safer and guns aren't as easily accessible, they will open their eyes. Thank you.

Pastor Landon Schott is stepping into the ever-contentious battle over what the Bible has to say about homosexuality, releasing a new book that he's hoping will motivate Christians to both discuss the complex issue -- and take action. Pastor Landon Schott is out with a new book about homosexuality (Landon Schott/Twitter) "I love gay people, God loves gay people and the church has done such a disastrous job dealing with the topic of homosexuality," Schott recently told TheBlaze. "And I just really felt just inspired by the Lord to get involved." The pastor, who is the head of the Rev Ministries , admitted that he was nervous to pen and release " The Gay Awareness Book ," which came out on March 21, as he believes tackling homosexuality can quickly land faith leaders with enemies on both the religious and gay activist sides. That said, he pressed on. And through the book, he's hoping to help Christians find a balance between holding true to biblical values and showing love for others. "We have to deal with it like Jesus did with the woman caught in the act of adultery, so what did he do? He addressed her and her sin," Schott said. "He never affirmed her sin, he never said it was okay, but he ministered to her right where she was at." [sharequote align="center"]"The church has done such a disastrous job dealing with the topic of homosexuality."[/sharequote] He said that Jesus also tackled the mean and judgmental Pharisees, finding a place in the middle of difficult paradigms by embracing "grace, truth and love." Listen to Schott offer up his advice to Christians on how to balance homosexuality with biblical values -- and his take on scriptures that tackle the issue -- below: Schott also addressed the six places in the Bible where he believes the act of homosexuality is explicitly condemned. "Clearly, three main scriptures in the Old Testament, three main in the New Testament," he said, going on to cite Genesis 19, Leviticus 18 and 20, Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and 1 Timothy 1:10. [sharequote align="center"]"We have to be unrelenting with love for people, while remaining unwavering in biblical loyalty."[/sharequote] In the end, Schott said that "the Bible is so clear" on the topic and that, "more than anything else, what's important is what the Bible doesn't say." He argued that there are no scriptures that endorse same-sex behavior. "We have to be unrelenting with our love for people, while remaining unwavering in our biblical loyalty," he continued. "We can't say we love people at the cost of disobeying and not loving Jesus." Pastor Landon Schott holding his new book (Landon Schott) But he said that Christians also must not be mean or hateful, saying that they need to treat acts of homosexuality in the same way that they would treat other biblical violations. "When people say, 'How do I deal with a homosexual at work [or with a relative],' you deal with it like anyone else -- like your heterosexual friends who are sleeping together or living together," Schott said, citing other sexual sins. "We still engage people, we're still kind to people." [sharequote align="center"]"We can't say we love people at the cost of disobeying and not loving Jesus."[/sharequote] In the end, the pastor said that he's not looking to change laws and is, instead, focused on changing hearts. Find out more about " The Gay Awareness Book. " Follow the author of this story on Twitter and Facebook:

While the Seventh-Day Adventist Church officially considers homosexuality a "disorder," some Adventists who disagree with this teaching have created a video for the It Gets Better Project. Like other videos put out by It Gets Better, this one, available below, assures LGBT teens that they're fine just as they are and that even if they're suffering at the hands of bullies now, they can have happy and successful adult lives. It features Adventists of various ages, genders, and races sharing their stories of coming to terms with being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. "There's a life out there," says one man, while another says, "I was too smart to accept that God would create me just to burn in hell." A woman adds, "It gets better, even for Adventists." The video refers viewers to the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention group, and to SDA Kinship, an organization of pro-gay Adventists. Ryan J. Bell, senior pastor of the Hollywood Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Los Angeles, praised the video in an article for The Huffington Post. "Though it doesn't presume to speak for all Adventists or the official church, it does represent a trend toward the love and compassion of Jesus being more fully displayed in Adventist congregations," he wrote. While activists within the denomination are trying to change its policies, the official Adventist position is not accepting of LGBT people. That position, as spelled out on the denomination's website, is that sexual activity is reserved for marriage between a man and a woman and that "God's Word does not countenance a homosexual lifestyle." The church characterizes homosexuality as "a manifestation of the disorder and brokenness in human inclinations and relations caused by sin coming into the world."

Contributor | Pure Flix January 18, 2017 Author and counselor Sara Dormon believes it's time for Christians to collectively take Jesus more seriously, arguing in an interview with "The Church Boys" podcast that she believes many faithful have simply become too complacent. Dormon, who recently released a book titled, " If You're a Christian and Everyone Likes You...Something's Wrong ," also said she believes Christians are too willing to compromise their beliefs, and that they often allow themselves to be known more for what they oppose than for what they're for. "I would rather honor God and be loved by God than be loved by man, and I think that's the mess we've fallen into as Christians," Dormon said. "We've learned to compromise our faith, we've learned to not rock the boat...don't step on toes." So, the author essentially advocates a balanced approach: embracing one's truth and faith while simultaneously showing love for others. This is the very topic she covers in the book -- a six-year project that started as mere journal entries after a personal crisis of faith. "I was in a situation where I was surrounded pretty much by Christians of all backgrounds," she said. "And I was watching and living with these people -- and traveling even with these people -- and realizing, while we all loved the Lord...that faith lived itself out in very different ways." Listen to Dormon explain these issues below: Dormon said she started to really explore what it means to be a Christian, questioning what it looks like to be too narrow-minded or too legalistic. Eventually, she said she had to conclude that God essentially says what he means, leaving her to embark on a period of self-evaluation and reflection. Now, she's hoping to inspire others through " If You're a Christian and Everyone Likes You...Something's Wrong ," a book that aims to get Christians to think deeper about their faith and their relationships in today's society -- a culture in which she says "anything goes." "There's a verse in the Old Testament in Samuel that says, 'They've lost their ability to blush' and I think we, as a culture have lost our ability to blush," she said. "As Christians, we're responsible for that to a great extent. We've allowed this to happen. The anti-Christian culture didnt become anti-Christian without our help." Many Christians, she said, have become known by the outside world as judgmental, while not showing the very love that should be the hallmark of the faith, though she said the resulting perception isn't only the fault of believers. "The media likes to portray Christians the way they want to, which are negative, race-baiting, homophobic, xenophobic people and we allow it," she said. "We do nothing to counteract their message and we need to." Dormon continued, "Billy Graham used to be the voice of Christianity, the face of Christianity ... there's no one to take his place ... there's no voice for Christians." She added that Christians, too, are divided amongst themselves, questioning how believers can find agreement with the outside world when they are so splintered even within their own camp. In the end, though, Dormon believes Christians can take a stand on important biblical issues while not letting differences come between them and ideological opponents whom they know and love. The book copes with these issues, taking readers through ten commandments that essentially help them act and respond as Jesus would want them to. "I did 10 freestanding chapters on 10 very different chapters ... I picked 10 that I thought were fundamental, starting with obedience," Dormon said. "I just thought it was important to put the foundation of obedience (there)." In the end, Dormon said she's hoping Americans will also start to more deeply consider the state of religious freedom as well, warning that people have no idea how lucky they are to be able to "worship God in the way we do." "We're spoiled. We don't realize how blessed we are and how much we have," she said." I'm afraid we're going to wake up one morning and find out a lot of what we had taken for granted is gone. We need to fight for it." Find out more about Dormon and her book here . Other Must-Read Stories:

Pastor Landon Schott is stepping into the ever-contentious battle over what the Bible has to say about homosexuality, releasing a new book that he's hoping will motivate Christians to both discuss the complex issue -- and take action. Pastor Landon Schott is out with a new book about homosexuality (Landon Schott/Twitter) "I love gay people, God loves gay people and the church has done such a disastrous job dealing with the topic of homosexuality," Schott recently told TheBlaze. "And I just really felt just inspired by the Lord to get involved." The pastor, who is the head of the Rev Ministries , admitted that he was nervous to pen and release " The Gay Awareness Book ," which came out on March 21, as he believes tackling homosexuality can quickly land faith leaders with enemies on both the religious and gay activist sides. That said, he pressed on. And through the book, he's hoping to help Christians find a balance between holding true to biblical values and showing love for others. "We have to deal with it like Jesus did with the woman caught in the act of adultery, so what did he do? He addressed her and her sin," Schott said. "He never affirmed her sin, he never said it was okay, but he ministered to her right where she was at." [sharequote align="center"]"The church has done such a disastrous job dealing with the topic of homosexuality."[/sharequote] He said that Jesus also tackled the mean and judgmental Pharisees, finding a place in the middle of difficult paradigms by embracing "grace, truth and love." Listen to Schott offer up his advice to Christians on how to balance homosexuality with biblical values -- and his take on scriptures that tackle the issue -- below: Schott also addressed the six places in the Bible where he believes the act of homosexuality is explicitly condemned. "Clearly, three main scriptures in the Old Testament, three main in the New Testament," he said, going on to cite Genesis 19, Leviticus 18 and 20, Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and 1 Timothy 1:10. [sharequote align="center"]"We have to be unrelenting with love for people, while remaining unwavering in biblical loyalty."[/sharequote] In the end, Schott said that "the Bible is so clear" on the topic and that, "more than anything else, what's important is what the Bible doesn't say." He argued that there are no scriptures that endorse same-sex behavior. "We have to be unrelenting with our love for people, while remaining unwavering in our biblical loyalty," he continued. "We can't say we love people at the cost of disobeying and not loving Jesus." Pastor Landon Schott holding his new book (Landon Schott) But he said that Christians also must not be mean or hateful, saying that they need to treat acts of homosexuality in the same way that they would treat other biblical violations. "When people say, 'How do I deal with a homosexual at work [or with a relative],' you deal with it like anyone else -- like your heterosexual friends who are sleeping together or living together," Schott said, citing other sexual sins. "We still engage people, we're still kind to people." [sharequote align="center"]"We can't say we love people at the cost of disobeying and not loving Jesus."[/sharequote] In the end, the pastor said that he's not looking to change laws and is, instead, focused on changing hearts. Find out more about " The Gay Awareness Book. " Follow the author of this story on Twitter and Facebook:

Reverend Cruz, Ted Cruz's father, gave this dire warning about gay marriage, saying it's really an attack on freedom of religion and if it becomes a civil right, it will end up being a law that pastors are forced to comply with and violate their consciences or obey God and face possible jail time: CNS NEWS - Pastor Cruz, who is the father of Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), made his remarks during an interview with conservative leader Phyllis Schlafly on her radio program "Eagle Forum Live." "We need to realize that the attack on marriage is more than just an attack on marriage, it actually goes to the heart of religious freedom," said Pastor Cruz. "Because, you see, what is going to come next -- and this is part of the danger of what may happen out of the Supreme Court in June -- is that if marriage of anybody-with-anybody becomes a civil rights issue," he said, "then they are going to come to churches and force pastors to violate their religious convictions." "And so it is going to come to America to where a pastor is going to be faced with a decision: Do you obey a law that is not only unjust but violates your core principles, or do you obey God and face prison?" said Pastor Cruz. "This is the dilemma that America's pastors are going to be facing, if this issue is labeled a civil rights issue," he said. "It goes way beyond marriage to actually violate the religious freedom of people of faith." Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

Kim Burrell Visits Music Choice at Music Choice on June 16, 2015 in New York City. (Getty Images) Kim Burrell is scheduled to appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on January 5, but Ellen might want to reconsider the offer when she sees this video. In the video, which was published to YouTube on Fridy, Burrell can be heard preaching against homosexuality, saying, "Anyone filled with the homosexual spirit, beg God to free you... That perverted homosexual spirit, and the spirit of delusion and confusion, it has deceived many men and women." "You as a man, you open your mouth and take a man's penis in your face, you are perverted. You are a woman and will shake your face in another woman's breast, you are perverted. And it has come into our church and embarrassed the kingdom of God," the gospel singer continues. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99m6o-ATpac She goes on to call Bishop Eddie Long an "embarrassment to the church" because he is rumored to be suffering from HIV/AIDS, which she claims is related to his homosexual activity. On Friday night, Burrell responded to the controversy that the video has caused, saying, "We're not in a war against flesh and blood. I came on [Facebook Live] because I care about God's creation and every person from the LGBT and anything else, any other kind of thing that is supporting gay -- I never said LGBT last night. I said S.I.N. and whatever falls in the sin was preached." "What I posted was not all I preached to... isn't that something? That is design of the enemy to make it look like I have a personal agenda against people... to the carnal all things are carnal, and to the spiritual all things are spiritual."

Aug. 29 -- The coasts of Texas and Louisiana have become an ongoing crime scene. The crime is against the millions of people living along the Gulf of Mexico as well as their property -- and it is a crime against nature itself. And who are the criminals? Some are the same politicians who, like Donald Trump, jump before the cameras to assure the public that everything possible is being done to protect them, when in fact the forces of government are doing the barest minimum. Others shy away from publicity -- like the multibillionaire oil and gas magnates who have amassed huge fortunes over the decades promoting the very technologies that have warmed the planet and made such disasters inevitable. They undermined mass transit in order to promote the car culture. Once the drastic effects of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere became known, what did they do? As one science publication wrote in 2015: "Exxon knew about climate change almost 40 years ago -- A new investigation shows the oil company understood the science before it became a public issue and spent millions to promote disinformation." (Scientific American, Oct. 26, 2015) In plain words, they lied to the people. And the people are those who suffer the consequences, not the very rich who can jet to wherever pleases their luxurious lifestyle. Texas, oil and Gov. Abbott The human toll of this continuing tragedy will not be known until the waters subside, if ever. Unprecedented rains keep falling, turning an area the size of South Carolina into a vast, muddy lake. Yet already Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is telling the people that this "is one of the largest disasters America has ever faced" and there will be "a new normal for this entire region." And who is Abbott? Just two months ago, he signed a resolution sponsored by the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers that urged the federal government to reverse "some of the harmful regulations that have stunted the growth of our industry." The resolution applauds "the more than 20 lawsuits that Texas has filed in conjunction with many other oil and gas producing states against federal over-regulation that prioritizes minor environmental gains over major productive losses." "Minor environmental gains." How ironic and telling that Hurricane Harvey, which has now dumped up to four feet of rain on parts of Texas and Louisiana since Aug. 25, is hitting the very states where the oil companies control the political structure lock, stock and barrel. The billionaire owners of these companies should be behind bars -- in the very jails that are now under water in Houston and other cities. Scientists cannot say a particular storm is caused by global warming. There have always been hurricanes and floods. But they emphatically confirm that the increase in severe weather events now being experienced around the globe is caused by warmer temperatures. Did nobody see this coming? What about this article from the Washington Post, which appeared on March 21 of this year: "Water temperatures at the surface of the Gulf of Mexico and near South Florida are on fire. They spurred a historically warm winter from Houston to Miami. ... In the Gulf, the average sea surface temperature never fell below 73 degrees over the winter for the first time on record, reported Eric Berger of Ars Technica. Galveston, Tex., has tied or broken an astonishing 33 record highs since Nov. 1, while neighboring Houston had its warmest winter on record." The article predicted "intense thunderstorms" would follow. Indeed they have, and much more. A dying social system The cataclysm of global warming is a live-or-die test of the capitalist system, which puts profits for the ruling class before everything else. And there is no question that this social system is in critical condition. The proliferation of wars and "natural" disasters around the world attests to this fact. Moreover, the seemingly unstoppable widening of the gap between rich and poor has reached the point in the U.S. where the richest 1/100th of 1 percent now account for almost all the gains in income. Thousands of ordinary people -- not the 0.01% -- have volunteered their time and boats to help the people of the Gulf Coast escape the rising waters. It is commendable, but it also shows what is lacking: an organized, massive response to a disaster situation that requires planning and the allocation of great resources. That hasn't happened. Is it a problem of resources? Hardly. Beginning in 2016, the U.S. government announced it would allocate a trillion dollars -- $1,000,000,000,000! -- over the next 30 years to "modernizing" the U.S. nuclear arsenal. It's one of the projects begun under President Barack Obama that Trump has had no difficulty embracing. The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability called it the "Trillion Dollar Trainwreck," adding, "This plan directly benefits the private corporations that are invested in the maintenance and production of nuclear weapons." What this country really needs is not more nuclear weapons in order to impose imperialist terms on the rest of the world, but an all-out plan to combat global warming. That's already responsible for so many deaths from hurricanes, heat waves, torrential rains, flooding, mud slides -- and it is only intensifying. The answer of the Trump administration? Pull out of the Paris Accords, which were weak to begin with, and deny that climate change even exists. The country that boasts of "leading the world" is the biggest drag on human progress. The U.S. economy has way, way overgrown this profit-motivated capitalist system. The ownership and control of the vast means of production by a handful of billionaires are completely incompatible with a globalized economy in which the labor of hundreds of millions of workers contributes to the making and distribution of every product. Capitalism is a reactionary, self-destructive anachronism that must be shattered. Socialized ownership of the means of production is necessary if we as a species are to take control of our destiny. We have the knowledge and the means to plan for an infinitely better world. What we need is a movement independent of the corrupt political machinery that has imposed the rule of the very few on the many. Central to this movement -- and this is not theoretical; it is happening as we speak -- is the uprising of the most oppressed. Young people especially -- so many of them Black, Brown, Indigenous, women, LGBTQ gender nonconforming, people with disabilities, immigrants -- are shaking the pillars of white supremacy, racism and patriarchy and tearing down its symbols and statues. They are the forward edge of the working class in this country. And that is the class that potentially has the power to bring down capitalism and replace it with a system based on social ownership and control of the productive forces. Socialism. For so many millions, the red-baiting that was the mainstay of the capitalist political establishment for a century or more has lost its potency. The disaster on the Gulf Coast will accelerate the sea change that is shaping a powerful new social movement -- not for reform of this stinking corpse of a system, but for revolution. Also ...

The city blames the layoffs on the budget. In reality Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his Wall Street buddies have only two goals: crushing the union and priva... When the largest community college in the state--considered to have an exemplary program--is under attack, what can faculty, students and community do... On June 13, a 59-page complaint was filed with the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice by social justice groups on behalf of seven Dall... Kiera Wilmot, a 16-year-old African-American student at Bartow High School, was arrested and expelled for a science experiment that went wrong.

38 POSTS 0 COMMENTS https://incarceratedworkers.org/ Members of the IWW have created the IWOC, the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, which functions as a liaison for prisoners to organize each other, unionize, and build solid bridges between prisoners on the inside and fellow workers on the outside. Prison is a setup, a big business, there to make money off the People. Neither the setup, nor the slavery inside of prisons can be combated without the conscious participation of prisoners and the working class on the outside through mutual aid, solidarity, and the building of working relationships that transcend prison walls and the politics of mass incarceration. The IWOC has been actively reaching out to prisoners while at the same time prisoners have been reaching out to the IWW for representation and assistance in building a prisoners union. The IWOC has taken up the cause and is helping prisoners in every facility organize and build a union branch for themselves, which will together form a powerful IWW Industrial Union.

New reports based on NSA documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that the U.S. spied on other countries at the international summit on global climate change at Copenhagen--in order to serve their imperialist interests, as they undermined any kind of meaningful agreement. From a reader: While watching the team competition in figure skating at the Winter Olympics in Russia, where the U.S. announcers were pulling for Team USA, I thought how it would be a real advance for people in the U.S. not to be rooting for every single American and American team. Opening statements in the trial of Michael Dunn started on Thursday, February 6, in Jacksonville, Florida. Michael Dunn is the racist vigilante who killed Jordan Davis, a 17-year-old Black youth, in cold blood on November 23, 2012.

Crew Dough - July 15, 2015 Anonymous Contributor - July 5, 2015 On July 3rd, there was a solidarity demonstration against repression in Mexico, organized against the Mexican Consulate in Indianapolis, USA. The text of the flyer distributed during the demonstration: On June 16, 2015, the Anarchist Black... Warrior Publications - July 3, 2015 Via Warrior Publications By Alex Boutilier, The Star (Toronto) OTTAWA--A secret deal between Canada's spies and border guards proposed more information sharing and joint operations without the need for political sign-off, the Star has learned. A 2014... From Baltimore Sun Raymon Carter, who police say set fire to a West Baltimore CVS store during the riots following Freddie Gray's death, was arrested Wednesday, according to police. Carter, 24, is charged with federal arson...

newliminted 2018-06-16 02:48:11 UTC #43 I can honestly say I hope the same thing, but they're already doing so in the economic realm (with the tariff situation, for example). The problem with America is that we have a history of dictating international norms, and then resisting when asked to abide by them. The most other countries can do is alienate us, which is hard when we have a military installation in so many places. Other countries would of course go as far as to expel our diplomats, but that seems unlikely to happen with our military bases, too, which is where the real power lies. I don't know. It's horrible.

Podcast (bubba-show-todd-horwitz): Play in new window | Download (35.6MB) | Embed Subscribe iTunes | Android | Email | RSS Original air date: April 18, 2016 BY: Todd Horwitz , Host & Senior Contributing Analyst PUBLISHED: April 18, 2016 Commodities May Have Bottomed, but Oil likely Headed Lower. B ubba starts today's show talking about the recent rally. The markets are completely phony at this time as they will probably make new highs. Bubba gets into the minimum wage debate and believes that if minimum wage is increased to $15 per hour it will have a devastating effect on the economy. Bubba believes those minimum wage jobs will be eliminated and replaced by robots wherever possible. Jane King joins in with her candid banter and still has many concerns that no one seems to be addressing. Bubba and Jane discuss the upcoming generation and both are worried at the lack of skills being taught. Bubba asks Jane if she thinks the election can have four candidates. Matt Demeter comes in for his weekly market analysis; Bubba talks about Matt's bearish calls and asks him what he is seeing in the current market. Matt believes the markets are going lower, but claims he wouldn't be surprised if they ran to new highs first, stating that the big commercials are building huge positions in the VIX indicating they feel markets are going lower. Matt and Bubba discuss the dollar. Matt believes the dollar has bottomed along with metals and commodities. Matt maintains his position that he believes Wheat will go higher while the two strongest, Corn and Beans, have overshot their mark. Bubba and Matt move on to the energy space and both believe oil to be heading lower About Jane King With 15 years of covering money news, Jane King has been bringing her audience not just breaking economic news but also "pocketbook" issues. The decisions moms make at the supermarket, high school students weighing various colleges, helping young couples buy their first home. About Matt Demeter Matt Demeter is the master market technician behind DemeterResearch.com. From 2005 to 2012, Matt was an active money manager with audited total returns of 201.9% vs. the S&P's total return of 17.4%. In Nov 2015, Matt began offering his technical analysis to outside funds and individual investors on an affordable subscription basis.

Immigration, both legalized and illegal, has long plagued American craftsman and has far-reaching implications that communities and federal, state, and local governments have yet to realize, according to those who have worked in the construction industry. "If you wait 20 years, you're going to see what happens to all of these houses and buildings," said Kevin [...] By Crystal Boulware on February 18, 2015 Headlines , World At the end of last year, the infamous Doves Press typeface was brought up from the River Thames. It had seemed its final resting place would be the river, but the work of one passionate man, Robert Green brought about its revival. Now after finishing the reproduction that he started in 2010 the Doves Press [...]

In 2011, the London Times columnist Caitlin Moran published "How to Be a Woman," a book that combined personal essays with an outline of the... November 15, 2012 Ray Kurzweil is, by all accounts, a genius. He holds nineteen honorary doctorates, has founded a half-dozen successful companies, and was a major contributor to... November 15, 2012 (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices

An anti-Obama bumper sticker emblazoned with the expression "Don't Re-Nig In 2012" went viral on Friday, outraging many people on social media and offline who viewed it as a particularly egregious racist attack against the president. Huffington Post's Gene Demby determined the origin of the sticker to be Stumpy's Stickers, which sold other similarly offensive imagery, perhaps most notably a graphic of a chimp, next to "Obama 2012." Before the site went offline Friday, the design was available for purchase in 10" by 3" squares for $4.99 each. WFAA-TV's Byron Harris investigated further and determined the business to be based in Camp, Arkansas despite Arkansas corporate records not showing information for the company. The StumpysStickers.com domain name was "registered to a firm in Bellevue, Washington, which provides the service." Watch a news report below via WFAA:

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Wednesday dozens of trucks are waiting for Syrian permission to supply humanitarian aid from Jordan to Syria. Safadi was speaking at a news conference following talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. After artillery strikes hit Jordanian territory from Syria, he said Jordan's armed forces were ready to defend country's interests. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

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I'm flagging this just because I wanted to toss my two cents in about the CNN piece Ed blogged this morning , which is an insult to everyone's intelligence. As to the 2020 presidential race, I believe President @realDonaldTrump will run for reelection and I intend to support him. https://t.co/vsExZ1XehG -- Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) April 19, 2018 That's consistent with Grahamnesty's approach to Trump since the 2016 primaries. He figured out early, as did his foreign-policy nemesis Rand Paul, that complimenting Trump publicly is useful in getting him to consider your point of view. Apart from reportedly going head to head with POTUS at the infamous immigration meeting during which Trump blasted "sh*thole countries," Graham's been careful to stay on his good side. If you want to keep the door open to a larger U.S. presence in Syria, if you want to restrain Trump from being too quick to make a bad deal with Kim Jong Un, reminding him that you're a big fan with public statements of support is an intelligent way to do it. (That goes double for Graham since his partner in interventionism, John McCain, is much more abrasive with Trump.) This CNN piece handed him an opportunity so he took it. Politics 101. As I say, though, the CNN piece is an insult to your and my intelligence. The story of the Republican Party over the past 22 months has had two chapters. Chapter One: The GOP base is fiercely loyal to Trump. Chapter Two: Congressional Republicans are deathly afraid of alienating the GOP base, knowing what it would mean for their own electoral fortunes. The end. That's why the bid to stop Trump at the Republican convention went nowhere. The GOP establishment knew that a delegate coup would have enraged the base and that would have meant collapsed turnout and certain defeat in November. They gambled that holding their noses and backing Trump would give them more of a chance to win than abandoning him for a safer, more conventional candidate would. They won. Later, after the "Access Hollywood" tape emerged in October, some Republicans rescinded their endorsements or made noises about no longer supporting Trump -- but, in hindsight, only because they were momentarily convinced he'd blown his chance at winning. Paul Ryan told members that he wouldn't campaign with Trump for the final month, fearing that the taint would mar House candidates. Jason Chaffetz, among others, formally withdrew his support. Reince Priebus privately encouraged Trump to drop out in the name of giving the party a small chance of winning with Mike Pence on Election Day. Within a few weeks of the tape surfacing, Trump had bounced back in the polls. Chaffetz re-endorsed him. After the election, a smiling Paul Ryan greeted him in Washington. Reince Priebus became his chief of staff. The base didn't care about Trump's "Access Hollywood" garbage and so neither, ultimately, did most of the GOP establishment. All the party stands for now is winning, said Trey Gowdy to Vice a few weeks ago. Once you grasp that essential truth, you'll realize why CNN's breathless report about Hill Republicans holding off on endorsing Trump for 2020 is lame. The piece maintains the pretense that there's anything Trump could do that would alienate his fans and therefore anything he could do that would embolden congressional Republicans to confront him. There isn't. As I say, the entire story of the Party since June 2015 is that the party's leadership will refrain from crossing the cult of personality that's formed around him. Even if Trump didn't enjoy such loyalty from the base, there would still be a strong argument in his favor that a party's chances of winning are better with a damaged incumbent president than they are with a less damaged insurgent. That's why presidential primary challenges have historically always failed. It's effectively impossible to imagine a scenario in which Trump would lose so much support among his own party's voters that it would be not just safe for the Bob Corkers and Ron Johnsons of the world to back a challenger but electorally wise to do so. The only semi-plausible scenario I can imagine is Trump going on a Russiagate firing/pardon spree in which Rosenstein and Mueller are canned, Flynn, Manafort, and Michael Cohen are pardoned, etc etc. The backlash to that among the wider electorate would be so ferocious and unpredictable that conceivably Trump's job approval would fall into the 20s and congressional Republicans would conclude that he has little chance of reelection. But even then, we'd be back to the 2016 convention question: If you dump Trump and back someone else, you invite a party schism that ensures defeat in 2020. There'll be some significant minority of the party that will. not. abandon. him. no matter what. Write him off and you write them off, which means we get a Democratic president in 2021. And besides, a lot can happen before 2020. If Trump fired Mueller tomorrow, his approval might drop to 30 percent -- but we might find ourselves at war somewhere next year and the country would rally around him, boosting him to above 50. It's always silly to write off a president but especially silly before he's even halfway through his term. The reason pols like Johnson are holding off on endorsing him now, I think, is just because they don't want to be forced to defend that endorsement in case Trump really does drop the axe on Mueller tomorrow or do something similarly nutty, which is always possible. If that happens, Hill Republicans will want as much distance between themselves and POTUS as they can get. But that distant neutrality is a different thing than confronting him by lining up behind a challenger. That's also why McConnell doesn't want to bring any bills to the floor that might add legal protection for Robert Mueller from being fired . He doesn't want to risk angering Trump's base with confrontation, as usual. Like Corker, Johnson, and all the other fake non-endorses, he wants congressional Republicans to stay out of Trump's messes to whatever extent is feasible. At least while they still can. GOP Sen. Ron Johnson says "it's way too early" to be talking about Republican support for President Trump in 2020 https://t.co/amtEj3zFd8 pic.twitter.com/WviIT7NZ70 -- New Day (@NewDay) April 19, 2018

What began last year as blaring political hyperbole on the right -- the stuff of bold-lettered direct mail fund-raising pitches from little-known groups warning of a looming American "coup" -- is now steadily drifting into the main currents of the 2018 message for Republicans. The appeals have become a surefire way for candidates to raise small contributions from grass-roots conservatives who are devoted to Mr. Trump, veteran Republican fund-raisers say. But party strategists also believe that floating the possibility of impeachment can also act as a sort of scared-straight motivational tool for turnout. Last week, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas used his re-election kickoff rally to introduce a video featuring a faux news anchor reading would-be headlines were conservatives not to vote in November... Advisers to the president say they have made clear to him that Republican control of the House is tenuous, and some have encouraged him to more aggressively lay out the stakes for the midterm elections, including who exactly would be in charge of key committees should Democrats retake the chamber.

Sen. Jeff Flake, the Arizona Republican who announced Tuesday he won't be seeking re-election, continued his blistering attack on President Donald Trump in a Washington Post op-ed piece Tuesday night, calling Trump's public feuds with Gold Star families "disgraceful." "How many more disgraceful public feuds with Gold Star families can we witness in silence before we ourselves are disgraced?" Flake wrote. Trump's latest online battle is with Myeshia Johnson, widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, one of four U.S. service members killed in an ambush in early October. Trump took to Twitter Monday to dispute Johnson's account of a phone call he made to her to express his condolences. Johnson said Trump had trouble remembering her husband's name, but Trump said he was respectful in the call and knew Sgt. Johnson's name from the beginning. Gold Star father Khizr Khan , who previously clashed with Trump, said the president if devoid of both "restraint" and "dignity" in such situations. Flake, in his op-ed, also attacked the president for what he described as shrugging off "shocking bigotry," and hurling "childish insults" to hostile foreign powers, such as North Korea.

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon told Axios that it's "impossible" that President Donald Trump would pivot to gun control now, warning that such a move would "be the end of everything." Despite taking a gun control stance in the past, Trump knows he got elected on an unambiguous pro-gun stance, and he enjoyed staunch support from the all-powerful NRA. Not even the worst mass killing in U.S. history would be enough to move the president off of that, Trump confidants told Axios. "Impossible: will be the end of everything," the deposed Bannon told Axios. "Base would go insane and (Trump) knows it," Trump disciple Roger Stone told Axios. "How insane? Worse than any immigration deal Trump might consummate with Democratic leadership," Bannon told Axios. A bevy of Democrats on Monday began their predictable pleas for Congress and Trump to take on gun control just as first light came up on the carnage at the country music festival in Las Vegas that left 59 dead and more than 500 wounded. But Trump will have most -- if not all -- Republicans, his base and his favorite outside group, the NRA, squarely in his corner, Axios reports. "POTUS (correctly) believes he doesn't owe anything to most traditional Republican outside groups, because they didn't lift a finger to help him in the election," a Trump administration source told Axios. "NRA is very much the exception. They stayed loyal through it all and kept spending."

While Democrats ratchet up the Republicans-hate-immigrants rhetoric, the polls continue to show that immigration is a major reason Donald Trump leads his GOP rivals. A new ABC News/Washington Post poll shows that on immigration and leadership, Trump dominates the Republican field. On immigration, 39% of Republicans consider Trump the strongest (Rubio comes in a distant second at 15%), while almost half, 47%, of Republicans view Trump as the strongest leader (the next closest is Jeb Bush with 12%). He's also clearly the favorite at this point, with 43% now giving him the best chance to win the nomination. Overall, support for Trump remains at around a third of Republicans and Republican-leading voters (32%), while his fellow outsider candidate Ben Carson sits at second place with 22%. Both of those standings have remained relatively flat over the last few weeks. Trump certainly doesn't lead in every category, including trustworthiness, something on which Carson came in the highest (21%, 33% respectively). The frontrunner also loses to Carson on personality (19/24). One interesting finding from the poll is that a large percentage of respondents say that the more they hear from Carson, the more they like him, as opposed to the number who like him less (64/18). Trump comes in about even (47/45) on the question.

Donald Trump's climbdowns at the end of this week don't stop with Ted Cruz , apparently. In an interview with Newsmax's Steve Malzberg , Trump committed to attending the next Republican debate on Fox News on March 3rd, even with Megyn Kelly as moderator. He claimed that his boycott of the last Fox debate had " nothing to do with Megyn Kelly ": "I'll be there, I have no objection to being there," Trump said Friday on the "Steve Malzberg Show," when asked if he'd be at the Fox News debate in March "And that had nothing to do with Megyn Kelly, the fact that I went out of the last one had to do with a memo that was sent out by Fox that was a little bit taunting and I said it was inappropriate," he continued. "And what happened is because I didn't do it I raised $6 million for the vets. So I wouldn't have changed places, I mean I did the right thing." This is pure spin, and half-hearted spin at best. Yes, Fox News sent out the taunting (and in my opinion, unprofessional) press release , but it was in response to demands by Trump to remove Kelly as a debate moderator. Trump picked that fight himself all over again, perhaps hoping to score some voter enthusiasm by attacking the media, or just to get some more free media in the run-up to the caucuses. Trump's campaign threatened a boycott before that press release if Kelly was allowed to moderate the debate, and Trump himself polled his social-media followers on whether or not to follow through on that threat. As Allahpundit noted at the time, the Fox News press release was in response to that polling/trolling, not the cause of it. Now Trump wants to pretend that the issue wasn't about Kelly, but that's pretty close to urinating on the heads of anyone who paid attention and then commenting on the rainfall. He doesn't want to admit that he blew it in Iowa by bailing out of the debate, and that Trump's got little choice but to retreat and show up for the next debate unless he wants to continue to rattle late deciders with concerns about his temperament. That's why he's backing down from the fight with Cruz as well. He finally got stung with his antics when it counted, and Trump realizes that people need reasons to take him seriously when it comes to voting for him, not just be entertained by the spectacle. How long he can maintain that discipline is anyone's guess.

The big news out of Iraq over the weekend was the awarding of a handful of new oil development contracts to companies such as Royal Dutch Shell and Russia's Lukoil . These bids follow earlier awards of fields for development to China. The American oil majors failed to conclude any new deals, though Exxon Mobil won a bid for West Qurna 1 in November. The Iraqi authorities have strong motivations to diversify their petroleum customer base given the current hegemonic position of the United States in their country. It should be noted that one of the likely aspects of increased petroleum exports in Iraq will be to strengthen the central government's ability to provide order, to arm and equip its police and the 275,000 or so men in the Iraqi military. This effect of greater petroleum resources is likely to come too late to have much effect on President Obama's withdrawal plans. There is much speculation among observers over other possible effects of these oil deals. The Iraqi government is eager to highlight them as a sign of growing Iraqi self-confidence and reintegration into the world economy. Others focus on the impact on oil prices were Iraq to expand its production from 2.5 mn b/d to 4.5 mn b/d. Others speculate that increased production would allow Iraq greater autonomy from Iran. Still others suggest the dominant position of Saudi Arabia as a swing producer could be undercut by the emergence of a big new player. In my view, these developments are unlikely to have nearly as great an impact as is often suggested, nor is the increase in production likely to come very soon. Many analysts neglect to take into account the single most important cause for the sea change in petroleum markets, which is rapidly increasing demand from China, India, and other Asian powerhouses. Rupert Murdoch famously predicted that the overthrow of Saddam and the bringing back online of Iraqi petroleum would produce $20 a barrel oil. As I write, Mr. Murdoch was off by $50 dollars a barrel at the very least. China's petroleum consumption was up by 14% this November over the previous year, and daily imports have risen now to over 4 million bpd. Not so long ago, China was bringing in just 3 million bpd. In other words, even if Iraq could suddenly increase its production by a million barrels a day, it would simply be meeting the recent increase in Chinese demand. The extra petroleum Iraq might pump in the near to medium term won't keep oil prices low, it will simply help prevent them from skyrocketing. Moreover, signing a bid and actually developing a new field and exporting the petroleum are not the same things. Iraq's security situation will make it difficult for foreign companies to make quick strides in this regard. As the FT article noted, there still is no federal petroleum law in the absence of which many companies will be reluctant to go forward. Iraq's civil bureaucracy, including the Ministry of Petroleum, is in shambles, and in the near to medium term will prove an inadequate partner to these high-powered global petroleum concerns. It is not even clear who will be in control of Iraq a year from now, that is to say, who will be interpreting the contracts just signed. In the foreseeable future, Saudi Arabia remains the swing producer. Nor would an influx of extra petroleum wealth necessarily cause friction between Iraq and Iran. The major Shi'ite parties that now control Baghdad have strong ties of friendship, support, and to some extent ideology with Tehran. Indeed, the rise of a wealthier, Shi'ite-ruled Iraq is almost certainly good news for Hizbullah in South Lebanon since the ruling Dawa Party helped to form Hizbullah in the first place, and it is likely that newly wealthy Iraqi Shi'ites will bestow patronage on Sheikh Nasrallah, reinforcing Tehran's own support. That is, an oil-rich Shi'ite ruled Iraq alongside the Khomeinist regime in Tehran portends a vast increase in the power and influence of Shi'ite movements, a development that strengthens Iran rather than detracting from its position. The petroleum wealth, insofar as it flows into government coffers, will also prove challenging to the survival of Iraqi democracy. Very few countries that generate more than 25% of their GDP from petroleum exports have managed to remain stable and democratic. It is simply the case that petroleum wealth will, over time, make the Iraqi government overwhelmingly powerful vis-a-vis its own citizens. Charges are already flying that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is using his control of petroleum resources to establish tribal militias loyal to his Dawa Party, and to bolster Dawa's performance in elections. Courtesy iraqimarshlands.org For more on Iraqi petroleum, see Iraq Oil Report . A tendency towards a return to strongman rule in Iraq has been seen by some critics as exemplified in new, draconian press censorship codes which critics maintain may well hobble Iraqi journalism . See also this Al Jazeera report on restrictions on the importation of books and other censorship practices, which provoked a recent demonstration in Baghdad: End/ (Not Continued)

TEHRAN- Iraq will increase its import of Iranian natural gas which started earlier this year. Iraqi government said in a statement on Tuesday that it has approved a deal to import natural gas from Iran to the eastern border province of Diyala, Reuters reported. Iran has exported 1.2 billion cubic meters of gas to Iraq since late June, Shana reported quoting the managing director for the Iranian Gas Transmission Company, Saeed Tavakoli, as saying on November 20. According to Tavakoli, Iran has agreed to export up to 25 million cubic meters of gas to Baghdad on a daily basis and exports of the same amount of gas to Basra will also start as soon as Iraq is ready. Iran signed two contracts in June to export gas, one for the Iraqi capital Baghdad and the other for southern Iraqi city of Basra. The two countries initially signed a deal in 2013 for Iran to supply Iraqi power stations, but officials in the past blamed poor security in Iraq for hampering implementation.

The story in Iraq gets more bizarre by the day. Kurdish territory in Iraq isthe only pro-American territory left. Yet the US worries it will splinter off into Kuridistan. Apparently it's better to have a raging civil war as long as the country stays together in one theoretical piece. This is where the story gets really bizarre. To avoid the appearance of the US giving arms to the Kurds, instead the US will give the Kurds Russian-made arms via the CIA. Excuse me for asking, but what about sanctions on Russia? While pondering that question, please consider US to directly arm Kurdish peshmerga forces in bid to thwart Isis offensive . The Obama administration has announced it will arm the militia forces of Iraqi Kurdistan, to prevent the fall of the final bastion of pro-US territory in Iraq. The weaponry is said to be light arms and ammunition, brokered not through the department of defense - which supplies Baghdad and its security forces with heavy weaponry - but the Central Intelligence Agency, which is better positioned to supply the Kurdish peshmerga with Russian-made guns like AK-47s that the US military does not use. The CIA declined to comment. The idea of arming the Kurds has been the subject of weeks of internal deliberation and official silence by Barack Obama's foreign policy advisers. It is a fateful step in Iraq's current crisis, one that risks facilitating the long-term disintegration of Iraq. Several administrations over decades have refrained from arming the peshmerga due to concerns about reprisals from Saddam Hussein and his successors. US officials have demurred for days when asked about the deliberations. The danger is that arming the peshmerga will facilitate a permanent fragmentation of Iraq, something the Kurds consider a national aspiration. Several disputed and multi-ethnic cities in northern Iraq complicate any peaceful cleavage, as do major oil holdings in both Kurdish and contested territory. The Peshmerga used the June disintegration of Iraqi Army forces running from Isis as an opportunity to seize disputed areas like oil-rich Kirkuk. Heaven forbid a stable pro-US country with oil reserves might come out of this. Who could possibly want that? Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

The big news out of Iraq over the weekend was the awarding of a handful of new oil development contracts to companies such as Royal Dutch Shell and Russia's Lukoil . These bids follow earlier awards of fields for development to China. The American oil majors failed to conclude any new deals, though Exxon Mobil won a bid for West Qurna 1 in November. The Iraqi authorities have strong motivations to diversify their petroleum customer base given the current hegemonic position of the United States in their country. It should be noted that one of the likely aspects of increased petroleum exports in Iraq will be to strengthen the central government's ability to provide order, to arm and equip its police and the 275,000 or so men in the Iraqi military. This effect of greater petroleum resources is likely to come too late to have much effect on President Obama's withdrawal plans. There is much speculation among observers over other possible effects of these oil deals. The Iraqi government is eager to highlight them as a sign of growing Iraqi self-confidence and reintegration into the world economy. Others focus on the impact on oil prices were Iraq to expand its production from 2.5 mn b/d to 4.5 mn b/d. Others speculate that increased production would allow Iraq greater autonomy from Iran. Still others suggest the dominant position of Saudi Arabia as a swing producer could be undercut by the emergence of a big new player. In my view, these developments are unlikely to have nearly as great an impact as is often suggested, nor is the increase in production likely to come very soon. Many analysts neglect to take into account the single most important cause for the sea change in petroleum markets, which is rapidly increasing demand from China, India, and other Asian powerhouses. Rupert Murdoch famously predicted that the overthrow of Saddam and the bringing back online of Iraqi petroleum would produce $20 a barrel oil. As I write, Mr. Murdoch was off by $50 dollars a barrel at the very least. China's petroleum consumption was up by 14% this November over the previous year, and daily imports have risen now to over 4 million bpd. Not so long ago, China was bringing in just 3 million bpd. In other words, even if Iraq could suddenly increase its production by a million barrels a day, it would simply be meeting the recent increase in Chinese demand. The extra petroleum Iraq might pump in the near to medium term won't keep oil prices low, it will simply help prevent them from skyrocketing. Moreover, signing a bid and actually developing a new field and exporting the petroleum are not the same things. Iraq's security situation will make it difficult for foreign companies to make quick strides in this regard. As the FT article noted, there still is no federal petroleum law in the absence of which many companies will be reluctant to go forward. Iraq's civil bureaucracy, including the Ministry of Petroleum, is in shambles, and in the near to medium term will prove an inadequate partner to these high-powered global petroleum concerns. It is not even clear who will be in control of Iraq a year from now, that is to say, who will be interpreting the contracts just signed. In the foreseeable future, Saudi Arabia remains the swing producer. Nor would an influx of extra petroleum wealth necessarily cause friction between Iraq and Iran. The major Shi'ite parties that now control Baghdad have strong ties of friendship, support, and to some extent ideology with Tehran. Indeed, the rise of a wealthier, Shi'ite-ruled Iraq is almost certainly good news for Hizbullah in South Lebanon since the ruling Dawa Party helped to form Hizbullah in the first place, and it is likely that newly wealthy Iraqi Shi'ites will bestow patronage on Sheikh Nasrallah, reinforcing Tehran's own support. That is, an oil-rich Shi'ite ruled Iraq alongside the Khomeinist regime in Tehran portends a vast increase in the power and influence of Shi'ite movements, a development that strengthens Iran rather than detracting from its position. The petroleum wealth, insofar as it flows into government coffers, will also prove challenging to the survival of Iraqi democracy. Very few countries that generate more than 25% of their GDP from petroleum exports have managed to remain stable and democratic. It is simply the case that petroleum wealth will, over time, make the Iraqi government overwhelmingly powerful vis-a-vis its own citizens. Charges are already flying that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is using his control of petroleum resources to establish tribal militias loyal to his Dawa Party, and to bolster Dawa's performance in elections. Courtesy iraqimarshlands.org For more on Iraqi petroleum, see Iraq Oil Report . A tendency towards a return to strongman rule in Iraq has been seen by some critics as exemplified in new, draconian press censorship codes which critics maintain may well hobble Iraqi journalism . See also this Al Jazeera report on restrictions on the importation of books and other censorship practices, which provoked a recent demonstration in Baghdad: End/ (Not Continued)

"Based on the original contract for the export of Iran's (natural) gas to Iraq, Iran was supposed to export 25 million cubic meters per day," Director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) for International Affairs Azizollah Ramezani told SHANA on Wednesday. With the new amendment, Iran's gas supplies to the neighboring country will be increased to 35 million cubic meters per day, he added. He further stressed that the deal will serve the interests of both countries. Back in August, Ramezani had announced that a draft agreement to export Iran's natural gas to Iraq had been prepared after intensive talks between the two countries' officials. Iranian and Iraqi oil ministers on July 21, 2013, signed the first deal to transfer Iran's natural gas to two Iraqi power plants. Based on the agreement, Iran supplies Al-Baghdad and Al-Mansouriyah power plants in Iraq with 25 mcm/d of natural gas. Iran, which has the largest gas reserves in the world, seeks to enhance gas production by increasing foreign and domestic investments.

Iraq has reached an initial agreement with China's state-run Zhenhua Oil company to develop the southern portion of the East Baghdad oilfield, the Iraqi oil minister, Jabbar Al-Luaibi, announced yesterday. Speaking at a press conference held at the ministry, Al-Luaibi said that the deal aims at increasing the field's production to 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) within five years. Under the agreement, the Iraqi minister added, the Chinese company has committed to building an "oil residential complex," which will comprise various residential units and integrated service facilities, such as schools, nurseries and medical clinics. Fifty per cent of the project's total labour force will be Iraqis, with a plan to reach 80 per cent "gradually," Al-Luaibi noted. Officials at the ministry said that the increase in the East Baghdad crude production "would help feed nearby refineries and power stations and free up more oil for exports from the southern region." In recent years, foreign companies have refrained from investing in the East Baghdad oilfield given the fact that it is surrounded by a huge residential area. The East Baghdad oil field, which is owned by the state-run Midland Oil Company and has around 8 billion barrels of crude reserves, produces about 20,000 bpd. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

If the four figure price tag hadn't already put you off buying one off Victoria Beckham's bags, the claims made by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) might... Bosses at the animal rights group slammed the pregnant star when she launched the line of accessories made from crocodile, lizard and calf skin last year, prompting VB's people to defend themselves, announcing at the time: "Everyone is entitled to personal opinion and choice, but as with all Victoria Beckham products, the handbags are made to the highest quality and design. These skins sit strictly within the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) regulations, and are monitored at every step of production. The skins are farmed in America under very tight guidelines." However, PETA have taken another aim at the designer, now claiming: "PETA pledges to eat its own cloth hat if the animals skinned to make Victoria Beckham's bags are humanely or ethically treated. Whether in America or elsewhere, exotic animals suffer tremendously before they are turned into accessories. In the US, wild alligators are gaffed (skinned) alive in the swamps, strung up and skinned, or they are raised in filthy, crowded, waste-infused tanks, often in sheds, where the smell alone would knock you over. "They may be killed by being repeatedly bludgeoned with baseball bats and having their spines crudely severed with hammers and chisels. Exotic skins are produced by incredibly cruel means, no matter how Mrs Beckham's PR people try to spin it." Advertisement - Continue Reading Below So, back to VB's camp again, who've this time told the Daily Mail: "There is no PR spin here. As is the case for many luxury handbag brands including Chanel, Hermes, Gucci, Dior and others, the Victoria Beckham handbag collection features a small number of styles made from exotic skins. "Working with and using exotic skins, sits within very strict ethical guidelines and we work absolutely within those guidelines to ensure every bag we produce is accredited with the required Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species certificates." Something tells us PETA won't stay quiet for long...

Wild Bill : @Tcat, He must have gotten the wrong idea and made himself fit the hard core unemployable profile. Now, his career... VT Patriot : Hah, you used the words 'thought, facts and truth' and 'left' in the same sentence. That is a mistake.... VT Patriot : Saul, I read your comment and was ready to applaud it until the last part. Those that are rioting... Graystone : Now If FLIR is interested in marketing - and good will - they should "donate" a unit to the ECPD. tomcat : @ Wild Bill this liberal POS xander13 fits the profile you described in one post you made on this...

When 10 smuggled migrants died last summer in San Antonio from being trapped in a scorching hot semi truck with almost no air to breathe, the country was appalled. But their deaths represent just a fraction. Hundreds of people die each year trying to flee their homelands and cross the US-Mexico border. Apprehensions at the border began to drop in the mid-2000s after the George W. Bush administration doubled the number of border agents. Smuggled migrants are more at risk of being human trafficking victims -- transported by force or abduction and exploited.

Keith Farnish is a writer, volunteer and activist who, in a former life, was economically viable. He lives in Southern Scotland with his wife and two children, making, growing, organising, listening, talking and being. He has been involved in environmental issues for many years, initially specialising in energy supply, transport and climate change, and now as a campaigner against the system we call Industrial Civilization. He is continually striving to minimise his impact on the natural world but, more importantly, accepts that what we now take for granted will no longer be around ( more... )

As if there weren't enough going on this week, the Obama Administration announced the National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy , a coordinated government strategy to protect animals and plants from the perils of climate change. According to the Department of the Interior The Climate Adaptation Strategy provides a roadmap of key steps needed over the next five years to reduce the current and expected impacts of climate change on our natural resources, which include: changing species distributions and migration patterns, the spread of wildlife diseases and invasive species, the inundation of coastal habitats with rising sea levels, changing productivity of our coastal oceans, and changes in freshwater availability. And their logo? Sharp.

Community Rules Speak your mind. Please be respectful of our rules and community. No spam, abuse, obscenities, off-topic comments, racial or ethnic slurs, threats, hate, comments that incite violence or excessive use of flagging permitted. Please be respectful of our community and spread some love. Any of the following may result in a permanent ban: Spam Abusive Obscene language Obscene photos Off-topic comments Racial or ethnic slurs Threats of any kind Hate messages Excessive use or the flagging (report as spam) feature For more information, please see our Terms of Use. Now, go have fun and speak your mind!

For months, there has been endless chatter about a blooming drone army being created by ISIS. However, there has been very little said officially. Until yesterday. [revad1] Buried in a CENTCOM press release about a bombing in Ramadi, Iraq was a nugget about the third ISIS drone to be destroyed by U.S. bombing raids. While little is known about the drone, it is unclear whether or not it was armed. In the past, one drone has been destroyed in Iraq and another in Syria. Will ISIS more heavily employ drones in the future? Sound off in the comments below! Related Articles An all-hands effort is underway near the Philippines to find a U.S. Marine reported overboard... From the Weekly Standard: The latest official report of a drone in the possession of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) is tucked in an August 3rd press release from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the overseers of the air campaign in Syria and Iraq against the terrorist organization. The reference is included in a list of targets from the previous day near the Iraqi town of Ramadi: "[T]hree airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL motorcycle, an ISIL drone, four ISIL vehicles and an ISIL resupply truck." A CENTCOM spokesperson told THE WEEKLY STANDARD that the "remotely piloted aircraft 'RPA' was destroyed on the ground," but that the coalition was unable to confirm whether or not the drone had been armed.

In The Tank (ep152) - AFEC 2018, and Universal Health Care Debate! Podcast Donny Kendal, with the help of Director of Communications Jim Lakely and State Government Relations Manager Charlie Katebi, presents episode #152 of the In The Tank Podcast. Fulfilling the Promise of American Energy Dominance at AFEC (Guest: Joe Balash) Podcast Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Land and Minerals Management Joe Balash gave a passionate and hopeful speech at AFEC 2018 on the strategy the Department is using to establish American energy dominance across the world. Heartland Institute co-founder Joe Bast discusses The Heartland Institute's history, it's accomplishments and what it hopes to achieve under new leadership.

Community Rules Speak your mind. Please be respectful of our rules and community. No spam, abuse, obscenities, off-topic comments, racial or ethnic slurs, threats, hate, comments that incite violence or excessive use of flagging permitted. Please be respectful of our community and spread some love. Any of the following may result in a permanent ban: Spam Abusive Obscene language Obscene photos Off-topic comments Racial or ethnic slurs Threats of any kind Hate messages Excessive use or the flagging (report as spam) feature For more information, please see our Terms of Use. Now, go have fun and speak your mind!

Even if he wanted to, Alex Dymond couldn't sit still. On Tuesday he may be designing limited edition sneakers for Nike, on Wednesday, amazing apparel for Burton Heritage. What else? Supreme, Timberland, Jacobs by Marc Jacobs, OriginalFake, and Vans--just to name a few--have tapped Dymond for special projects. An old school New Yorker at heart, his story is like a real-life How to Make It in America --except he rarely fails and always gets the girl. Dymond chatted with GQ about the things in his life that keep him inspired. Photo: Courtesy of Alex Dymond

(London Daily Mail) Heads bowed in terror the orange-clad Kurdish fighters are paraded through streets filled with jeering militants in the latest horrifying video release from Islamic State. In a grim echo of the terrible fate which befell Jordanian pilot Lieutenant Muath al-Kaseasbeh the captives, reportedly Peshmerga fighters, are dressed in orange jumpsuits and shackled in cages. Just as Lt. al-Kaseasbeh was burned alive on camera, IS are planning to do the same with their latest prisoners, according to posts on social media.

Tensions are rising between Iraq's central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq over Monday's Kurdish independence referendum. On Tuesday, the Kurdish government said an overwhelming majority of people had voted for independence, although the full results have not yet been released. In retaliation, Iraq's prime minister has threatened to impose an air embargo on international flights unless the oil-rich Kurdish region surrenders control of its two international airports by Friday. Topics: Iraq

Kathryn Moody : Investors, Are You Ready for the Next Global Crisis? Manuel Schiffres Mutual Fund Rankings, 2014 Meghan Streit : Pitching In When Caregivers Need Help Janet Bond Brill, Ph.D., R.D.N., F.A.N.D : How to prevent a second (and first) heart attack thru diet The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington : Caprese is a light, fresh salad; the perfect quick and easy accompaniment to any summer meal Mark Steyn : You Want Nazis? Jonathan Tobin : Care about the Jewish state's future? Obama, in interview, reveals even more reasons to worry Alan M. Dershowitz : Confirmed: Needless death and destruction in Gaza Katie Nielsen : As a mother, I'm all I need to be Cameron Huddleston : 18 Retailers That Offer Price Adjustments Nellie S. Huang : The Best Health Mutual Funds to Buy Now Brierly Wright, M.S., R.D. : Try these 'secret-weapon' foods to boost your changes of losing weight The Kosher Gourmet by Jessica Yadegaran : Take some relish in pickled goodies (5 recipes!) Kimberly Lankford : 50 Ways to Cut Your Health Care Costs James K. Glassman : Investors, Are You Ready for the Next Global Crisis? The Kosher Gourmet by Nick Malgieri : Chocolate molten delight with creme anglaise is a simple yet elegant make-ahead dessert One of the rules of our politics is that it is permissible to accuse the Trump administration of anything and the claim that it "lost" 1,476 migrant children fits the bill. It has lit up social media and made the debate over a new Trump policy of "zero tolerance" at the border even more hysterical than it would be otherwise. The 1,475 factoid makes it sound as though the Trump administration had these children in its custody and then one day couldn't find them. Instead, the Department of Health and Human Services had placed them, along with thousands of others who showed up at the border as unaccompanied children, with sponsors in the United States, usually parents or close relatives. HHS recently added 30-day follow-up phone calls to the longstanding program. At the end of last year, the agency called 7,635 sponsors and couldn't reach 1,475 of them. Since many of the sponsors are illegal immigrants themselves who don't want to be in contact with authorities, this isn't surprising, but it has been spun into a tale of shocking Trump administration callousness. The misleading story has been used as a hammer against President Trump's border policy. Prior to 2011, almost all illegal aliens at the border were single adult males, overwhelmingly from Mexico. Now, 40 percent of illegal aliens at the border are families and children and almost half from Central America. This presents challenges we haven't faced before, made all the worse by gaping loopholes in the law. The past policy was to allow adults traveling with children into the country. Hoping to stem the flow which briefly diminished after the 2016 election, before increasing again President Trump now wants to prosecute all adults. This necessitates, at least briefly, the separation of adults and children. The US Marshals take custody of the adults, while the children are held by HHS. The prosecution of the adults for illegal entry usually happens quickly. Then, if the adult wants to return home, she or he is reunited with her child and they're sent back together. Where it gets more complicated is if a migrant claims asylum. The Trump administration wants to hold migrants pending adjudication of their cases; if they are released, there's a good chance they'll abscond. But even if the cases are handled quickly, i.e., in a couple of months, the government has to release the children sooner thanks to a 20-year-old consent decree and associated legal rulings. It's just one of the distortions that makes a rational policy at the border impossible. When unaccompanied children from Mexico cross the border, we can quickly return them home; an anti-trafficking law makes it nearly impossible to do that with unaccompanied children from Central America. Many migrants are fleeing gang violence, which shouldn't by itself entitle a migrant to get asylum here. Yet asylum officers almost always approve the first step in claiming asylum anyway. Finally, there's the practical constraint of very limited detention space ICE has only 3,000 family spaces. Trump is right to want to get a handle on the border. According to the Justice Department, over the last two and a half years, more than a quarter-million migrants who came as unaccompanied children or part of a family group have been released into the country. As long as migrants know they can get in, they will keep coming and bringing their children on a harrowing journey. Minors have become chits. Azcentral.com reports that it is "common to have parents entrust their children to a smuggler as a favor or for profit." But separating parents and children at the border is a significant downside of the Trump policy. Congress can help by fixing the consent decree that makes it impossible to detain kids, even if they are with their parents, and by spending more on detention space. There's no reason we can't handle these cases quickly and humanely, except for our insanely self-sabotaging immigration system.

Since migrant children cannot legally be held in federal criminal detention facilities, they must be separated from their parents while the adults are prosecuted. As a result, the rise in unlawful entry prosecutions has led to a related spike in the number of family separations at the border. For example, more than 650 migrant children were separated from their parents during a two-week period in May, immigration officials told Congress on May 23. The zero-tolerance policy has drawn blowback from Democrats and immigration activists, who used images of migrant children in detention centers to paint the Trump administration's approach as needless and cruel. The administration has pushed back, arguing that separating migrant families while adults are prosecuted for unlawful entry is a needed deterrent that will reverse the rising tide of illegal immigration, particularly by people traveling in family units. Under the new policy, migrant children separated from their parents are treated as if they had arrived on their own. That means they are referred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), the agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) charged with caring for unaccompanied alien minors. ORR then tries to locate to an adult sponsor in the U.S. if one is available, or, failing that, places the migrant child in a government-contracted shelter. By contrast, the Obama administration typically detained families together in administrative immigration detention facilities, often releasing them with a notice to appear in court because of limited bed space. That approach was widely criticized by immigration hawks, who said it created an incentive for further illegal immigration. It remains to be seen if the zero-tolerance policy will stanch the flow of illegal immigration by children and family units, which has grown steadily since falling to historic lows in the early months of Trump's presidency. What is clear is that the recent spike in family separations is largely the result of the Trump administration's own prosecution policy, not any specific piece of legislation. Laws on the books When Trump blamed family separation on "bad legislation" by Democrats, he might have been referring to the 2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). Passed by a bipartisan majority in Congress and signed into law by former President George W. Bush, TVPRA strengthened anti-human trafficking laws and established certain procedures for dealing with alien children in the U.S. The law requires immigration authorities to transfer unaccompanied minor children to HHS for care and processing, part of which entails guaranteeing to the "greatest extent practicable" pro bono legal counsel. The TVPRA also codified parts of a Supreme Court-ordered settlement from 1997 known as the Flores consent decree. Flores requires the government to release unaccompanied alien children from immigration detention within 72 hours to the "least restrictive" setting possible -- usually parents, relatives or ORR-licensed shelters. Subsequent federal court rulings have found the Flores settlement applies to all alien children -- those who arrived in the U.S. alone and those who were brought by adult relatives. The courts have also ruled that families cannot be detained in facilities that are not licensed child care centers for over 20 days. The Trump administration refers to TVPRA and Flores as "loopholes" that invite more illegal immigration and force authorities to practice catch-and-release enforcement. Sessions and DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen have called on Congress to change the policy to make it easier to deport Central American minors and keep families in immigration detention while they go through immigration court proceedings.

United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday after an international outcry over his immigrant family separation policy at the southern border. The event was reported as Trump ending family separations, but that is far from true. During his press statements, Trump confessed he "didn't like the sight or the feeling of families being separated," but insisted "we are keeping a very powerful border, and it continues to be zero tolerance... We have zero tolerance for people that enter our country illegally." Trump's solution is to imprison parents and children together. However, there is a legal problem with this. The 1997 consent decree, known as the Flores settlement, prohibits immigration authorities from keeping children in detention for over 20 days. Because of this settlement, former President Barack Obama had to order the release of children who had been detained for crossing the border illegally with their parents. To not separate the families, his administration released both children and parents trusting they would appear at the court hearing on their immigration cases. Trump's solution to the problem created by his "zero-tolerance policy," which orders the detention of everyone crossing the border illegally is creating a confrontation between the executive and judicial branch by directing the Justice Department to seek court approval to keep children detained for more than 20 days. Again, curtailing the consequences of a decision made by the executive falls on other branches of government. Now, federal Judge Dolly Gee, who oversees the Flores settlement has 20 days to reverse the ruling and allow immigration officers to detain children with their parents for as long as necessary. But detaining children indefinitely doesn't seem like a real solution. Kevin Appleby, a senior director at the Center for Migration Studies, said "it is outrageous that the president is pushing for the criminal detention of innocent children as a solution to his own evil act... The best solution would be releasing families to sponsors or placing them in community-based alternatives to detention programs, which are less expensive and much more humane." The Trump administration has dismissed this possibility claiming 80 percent of the people crossing the border illegally would stop appearing at their court hearings and remain in the country. Despite their claims, the Center for Immigration Studies has found that over the past 20 years 63 percent of immigrants did show up for their immigration hearings. If the Flores ruling is not reversed, immigration officers will have to separate the children from their families again. Furthermore, the president's order does nothing to secure reunification of the 2,300 children who have already been separated from their families. According to John Sandweg, former director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (commonly known as ICE ) some parents have already been deported while their children continue under U.S. custody.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that the Trump administration will prosecute any parents illegally bringing children over the border for "smuggling" and separate them from their kids. "If you are smuggling a child then we will prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you as required by law," Sessions said at a law enforcement conference in Arizona Monday. "If you don't like that, then don't smuggle children over our border." NBC News reports that the Trump administration says their goal is "100 percent prosecution of all who enter the U.S. Illegally." "If you cross this border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you. It's that simple," Sessions said. Via NBC News : Adults charged with illegal entry will be turned over to U.S. marshals and sent directly to federal court. Their children will be transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, which refers them to relatives in the U.S. or to shelters run by private organizations. The Department of Homeland Security says 700 children have been separated from their parents since the fiscal year began last October. A first conviction for illegal entry carries a maximum jail term of six months. "I want to be clear. DHS does not have a blanket policy on separating families as a deterrent," said Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan. "There is no new policy. This has always been the policy. But you will see more prosecutions because of the commitment to zero tolerance." Watch the video below:

Easier to deport the family unit at one time. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government said in a court filing on Friday that it has the right to detain children and parents caught crossing the U.S. border illegally for the duration of their immigration proceedings. A 1997 court settlement known as the Flores agreement has generally been interpreted to require the Department of Homeland Security to release illegal immigrant children from custody after 20 days. But Justice Department lawyers said in the filing in U.S. District Court in California on Friday that they now have no choice but to hold children for as long as it takes to resolve their immigration cases, because of a preliminary injunction issued on Tuesday in a separate immigration case. That case, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego, challenged the recent government policy of separating families in order to detain parents for as long as necessary under President Donald Trump's "zero-tolerance" policy. Since that policy was implemented in May, families have been routinely separated after apprehension. Some 2,000 separated children are currently under government care. An executive order issued by Trump this month reversed the policy, and the subsequent injunction in San Diego ordered the government to immediately stop separating parents and children and said families must be reunited in 30 days or less. To comply with the injunction, the government said Friday it "will not separate families but detain families together during the pendency of immigration proceedings." Cases can sometimes take months or years to resolve.

One of the rules of our politics is that it's permissible to accuse the Trump administration of anything, and the claim that it "lost" 1,475 migrant children fits the bill. It has lit up social media and made the debate over a new Trump policy of "zero tolerance" at the border even more hysterical than it would be otherwise. The 1,475 factoid makes it sound as though the Trump administration had these children in its custody and then one day couldn't find them. Instead, Health and Human Services had placed them, along with thousands of others who showed up at the border as unaccompanied children, with sponsors in the United States, usually parents or close relatives. HHS recently added 30-day follow-up phone calls to the longstanding program. At the end of last year, HHS called 7,635 sponsors and couldn't reach 1,475 of them. Since many of the sponsors are illegal immigrants themselves who don't want to be in contact with authorities, this isn't surprising, but it has been spun into a tale of shocking Trump administration callousness. The misleading story has been used as a hammer against Trump's border policy. Prior to 2011, almost all illegal aliens at the border were single adult males, overwhelmingly from Mexico. Now, 40 percent of illegal aliens at the border are families and children, and almost half from Central America. This presents challenges we haven't faced before, made all the worse by gaping loopholes in the law. The past policy was to allow adults traveling with children into the country. Hoping to stem the flow -- which briefly diminished after his election, before increasing again -- Trump now wants to prosecute all adults. This necessitates, at least briefly, the separation of adults and children. The U.S. Marshalls take custody of the adults, while the children are held by HHS. The prosecution of the adults for illegal entry usually happens quickly. Then, if the adult wants to return home, she or he is reunited with her or his child and sent back together. Where it gets more complicated is if a migrant claims asylum. The Trump administration wants to hold migrants pending adjudication of their cases; if they are released, there is a good chance they will abscond. But even if the cases are handled quickly -- i.e., in a couple of months -- the government has to release the children sooner thanks to a 20-year-old consent decree and associated legal rulings. It's just one of the distortions that makes a rational policy at the border impossible. When unaccompanied children from Mexico cross the border, we can quickly return them home; an anti-trafficking law makes it nearly impossible to do that with unaccompanied children from Central America. Many migrants are fleeing gang violence, which shouldn't by itself entitle a migrant to get asylum here. Yet, asylum officers almost always approve the first step in claiming asylum anyway. Finally, there's the practical constraint of very limited detention space -- Immigration and Customs Enforcement has only 3,000 family spaces. Trump is right to want to get a handle on the border. According to the Justice Department, over the past two and half years, more than a quarter million migrants who came here as unaccompanied children or part of a family group have been released into the country. As long as migrants know they can get in, they will keep coming -- and bringing their children on a harrowing journey. Minors have become chits. Azcentral.com reports that it is "common to have parents entrust their children to a smuggler as a favor or for profit." But separating parents and children at the border is a significant downside of the Trump policy. Congress can help by fixing the consent decree that makes it impossible to detain kids, even if they are with their parents, and by spending more on detention space. There's no reason we can't handle these cases quickly and humanely, except for our insanely self-sabotaging immigration system. Rich Lowry is editor of the National Review and author of the best-seller "Lincoln Unbound: How an Ambitious Young Railsplitter Saved the American Dream -- and How We Can Do It Again. He has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and a variety of other publications. Read more reports from Rich Lowry -- Click Here Now .

Everyone knows that Social Security and Medicare are underfunded. They can only provide the benefits they have promised by borrowing from future taxpayers who are obligated to pay for them. And these programs will never be fully funded because the obligations are growing faster than the public's ability to pay for them. The nation's economic growth cannot keep up with the politicians' promises. But what the public doesn't realize is that beneath the gigantic funding gaps in these federal programs there are several levels of promised benefits that are similarly underfunded. These include state pension liabilities, city and county pensions, teachers' pensions, and pensions of private corporations, including those supported by the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation--which itself is underfunded and has indicated it will likely have to go out of business in a few years. The PBGC has two kinds of programs: single-employer (light blue on graph) and multi-employer (dark blue). Both have lost billions of dollars, with the multi-employer programs being by far the biggest losers. A report by the PBGC projects it will run out of funds in 2022, which is close to the Congressional Budget Office projection of 2021. The CBO projects that almost $9 billion of additional funds would be needed to continue paying guarantees to multi-employer plans through 2024. A recent analysis by Wirepoints shows that between 2003 and 2016, accrued liabilities (what the states owe) grew more than 50% faster than assets in 28 states and more than twice as fast in 12 states. New Jersey grew 4.3 times faster than GDP, Illinois (3.32 times), Connecticut (3.18), New Hampshire (3.46) and Kentucky (3.08). The Wall Street Journal notes that the "solution" is always to raise taxes but "no tax hike is ever enough because benefits keep growing faster than revenues...The only salve to state pension woes, as the Wirepoints study notes, is to reign in current worker benefits." The PBGC supports 71 penniless union pension funds, but the payouts are often down to about one-third of what the worker is due. The average Local 707 retiree was getting $1,313 a month from the union pension fund, but the average monthly take home is now $570. Writing in the San Diego Union-Tribune , Dick Vorkmann says, "Almost every public pension plan is underfunded, some severely so. Illinois and Connecticut have only 35 percent of their liabilities covered by assets. San Diego County, at 77 percent funded, has an unfunded liability of $3.3 billion. San Diego City's unfunded liability is $2.1 billion....[Under the current system] taxpayers don't pay for the cost of the pension being earned by employees in that year, but rather just pay for the pension checks to the current retirees who worked many years ago. Then, years from now, taxpayers will pay for the pension costs of the public employees working today. This is what our Social Security and Medicare systems have become: unfunded pay as you go plans. And that is why there is concern that these systems will go broke in the not too distant future." Dallas has the fastest-growing economy of America's 13 largest cities. Last year, the Dallas Police and Fire Pension Fund paid out $283 million and the city put in just $115 million. The Manhattan Institute's Josh B. McGee reports that teachers' pension plans, which cover more people than all other state and local plans combined, have at least a $500 billion difference between promised benefits and money set aside to fund them. Standard & Poor's 500's biggest pension plans face a $382 billion funding gap. Of the 200 biggest defined-benefit plans in the S&P 500, based on assets, 186 aren't fully funded. They simply don't have enough money to fund current and future retirees. U.S. private pensions overall have only 82% of the funds necessary to meet their liabilities. That's a U.S. $3 trillion shortfall. Ania Zalewska, professor of finance, University of Bath, concludes : "The pension industry is already in a deep financial crisis and could well be the trigger for another global financial and economic meltdown. [Originally Published at American Liberty ]

Energy production accounts for close to 15% of the world's water usage, but that figure could rise. By 2035, water use for energy is projected to jump by 20%, the report says. Water demand, meanwhile, could increase by 55% by 2050. Much of this is due to growing populations and economies in China, India and the Middle East, says the report, which pulls together data from a range of studies. Some 90% of the global increase in demand for energy in the coming years will come from outside the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), club of rich countries, it notes. ...About 90% of power generation is water-intensive, says the report, which warns that less conventional oil and gas production, including via tar sands and fracking - along with biofuels - place particularly large demands on water resources. The report laments that the energy sector has "great political clout", whereas water, as an issue and an industry, often lacks influence; it calls for greater co-ordination between the two areas. "There will be no sustainable development without better access to water and energy for all," the director general of Unesco, Irina Bokova, said.

Xeni Jardin / 5:55 pm Wed, Aug 31, 2016 Donald Trump flew to Mexico just before a highly anticipated immigration speech in Arizona tonight, and met with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. After the meeting, Trump says the two men discussed a wall that the U.S. GOP presidential nominee has promised to build along the US/Mexico border. Trump says they did not discuss his often repeated demand that Mexico will pay for it. The Mexican president responded, and effectively said that Trump's version of events was not true. Read the rest

Speaking with Matt Barber on today's "Faith and Freedom" radio program, Liberty Counsel attorney Mat Staver argued that Houston Mayor Annise Parker should resign and "let somebody else do" the job if she cannot represent the "taxpayers and citizens" of her city. Staver's statement offers a stark contrast to his nationally known client Kim Davis as he defended her right to refuse carrying [...] Continue reading >> Though he won't take office until December 8, Kentucky Governor-Elect Matt Bevin is already making outlandish plans that may wreak havoc across his state. Bevin vowed to both eliminate county clerk names from marriage licenses (though that power legally rests with the state legislature) and to overturn the state's popular Kynect program (the state's health insurance exchange which has been hailed as national [...] Continue reading >>

The database of metadata that the N.S.A. has compiled from the phone records of American citizens, Ryan Lizza says, "is probably the most controversial program... October 31, 2013 (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices

It is nearly impossible to discuss the vast climate change denial echo chamber and not mention the Koch Brothers , Koch Industries , and what some have called the Koch Empire . Perhaps unsurpisingly then, the origins of the Heartland Institute - whose internal documents were recently leaked to DeSmogBlog - have a direct historical link to the rise of the Kochtopus's wide-reaching climate change denial machine. It all began in 1977 in Wichita, Kansas, with the creation of the Cato Institute . David Padden, Cato Institute, and the Rise of Heartland The Cato Institute was founded in 1977 and originally funded by Charles Koch, of Koch Industries fame and fortune. It is known today for its libertarian policy stances on issues like the War on Drugs , anti-interventionist foreign policy , and support for civil liberties , and perhaps most notoriously for its climate change denial and pro-polluter stance in energy policy debates. Cato's most infamous talking head today is Pat Michaels , who serves as its "Senior Fellow in Environmental Studies." One of the key original members of Cato's Board of Directors was David Padden , a Chicago, IL -based investment banker and then owner of Padden & Company , which now also has a spinoff called Padco Lease Corporation . Padden passed away in October 2011. In 1984, piggybacking off of his role at Cato, Padden founded the Heartland Institute, also serving on its original Board of Directors.

The inductees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year included Bon Jovi, The Cars, Dire Straits, The Moody Blues, and Nina Simone for the Performer Category, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the Award for Early Influence. The induction of Sister Rosetta Tharpe was one of the highlights for many who felt her electric sound, gospel music, and her completely original guitar playing has been much overlooked. Biographer Gayle Ward points out that this black woman, "influenced Elvis Presley, she influenced Johnny Cash, she influenced Little Richard. She influenced innumerable other people who we recognize as foundational figures in rock and roll." The induction and tribute to Tharpe was led by Alabama Shakes singer Brittany Howard who performed "That's All" with Roots' Questlove on drums and Paul Shaffer on piano and "Strange Things Happening Every Day." Prior to the performance, Howard had told Rolling Stone that inducting Tharpe is "a huge honor" and that she "[hopes] this spotlight helps people discover what so many of us already know. She is one of the greatest artists of all time." Delivering the induction speech for Nina Simone was Mary J. Blige, who gave a powerful speech about her love for Simone. Blige was in no rush to give Simone her overdue spot, saying, "Please bear with me, this is a very long speech, but I'm here for the queen tonight. I'm going to take my time." Simone had been eligible for induction since 1986, but only received her first nomination this year. Blige spoke about Simone's ability to make anything she sang her own, and the meaning being songs like "Mississippi Goddamn". Blige explains, "her first civil rights song in response to Medgar Evers' death in Mississippi and the four little black girls in the Alabama church bombing - gives us chills with its anointing and frustration and anger [at] the racism that was going on in the world." Nina was bold, strong, feisty and fearless, and so vulnerable and transparent all at the same time. Her voice was so distinctive and warm and powerful; I never heard anything like it. She knew who she was and she was confident in what she did and why she did it. But it was often the lack of confidence in herself that people could relate to. Nina sang for all her pain, her joy, her confusion, her happiness, her sickness, her fight. She fought through all the stereotypes. She fought for her identity. She fought for her life. Andrew Young, who was the mayor of Atlanta and the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and a congressman, said that, during his days as a civil rights organizer, Simone's music was the soundtrack of the movement. "Every home I went to had Nina Simone - I mean everyone," he said. "For all the people in the civil rights moment, it was an identity." Her songs about injustice, struggle, and black life resonate to this day. They're just as relevant to Ferguson or Baltimore or Mississippi as they were to the civil rights era. And, of course, hip-hop took notice, with artists such as Ms. Lauryn Hill, Kanye West, Common, Jay-Z and myself, amongst others, sampling her extensively, and she has influenced countless singers, including many of them that are here on this stage today. Blige's speech is definitely worth listening to in full, as she goes through the personal and political power of Simone's music. She was followed by a speech from Simone's brother Nyack Sam Waymon. The Roots and Andra Day performed a tribute with "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free" and "I Put A Spell on You." The incomparable Lauryn Hill performed of "Ne Me Quitte Pas," "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair" and "Feeling Good." The Hall of Fame website includes a playlist of the inductee's music which you can check out here and here . (via Rolling Stone , image: Screencap) Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site ! -- The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone , hate speech, and trolling.--

September 5, 2016 at 5:07pm The raw LA punk band sings unapologetic feminist songs. Read more >> September 2, 2016 at 9:24am Sweaty songs that make you feel good about your body. Read more >> She's a radical South Asian queer femme musician. Read more >> August 26, 2016 at 9:17am A mixtape of all queer and trans performers of color makin' DIY music. Read more >> August 25, 2016 at 9:35am While forming an all-sibling band would be a worst nightmare for many of us, the Closners swear that their tight-knit nature makes their music all the easier to perform. Read more >> August 24, 2016 at 9:43am If you've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of this generation's Tammy Wynette, you'll be pleased to know that the wait is finally over. Read more >> August 23, 2016 at 3:16pm The gender-fluid musician thinks deeply about feelings, feminism, and saxophone riffs. Read more >> August 19, 2016 at 9:30am A mixtape about taking flight, featuring Neko Case, Sia, Regina Spektor, and more. Read more >> She mixes jazz and soul for music that's the essence of chill. Read more >> August 16, 2016 at 2:46pm Courtney Bryan's activist orchestral songs respond to police brutality. Read more >>

Photo by William Clark. Thomasina Petrus uncannily captures the very sound of Billie Holiday (1915-1959), a singer who looms as one of the jazz world's most unique, in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill at the Jungle Theater. Playwright Lanie Robertson matches the words she has written for the text with several beloved Holiday tunes including God Bless the Child and the haunting Strange Fruit which reflects the lynching of blacks during the Jim Crow Era. Most of the dialogue is spoken by Holiday in the final year of her life on the Emerson stage setting in Philadelphia. At age 44 she reflects on painful events of her life, from incarceration to abuse. Accounts of racism permeate throughout. This psychic anguish is layered on with Holiday's own deterioration from chronic drug abuse. Petrus goes to an inner space of profound despair and mixes the darkness with biting sardonic humor. Robertson has conceived the legend on a downward spiral from start to finish. This demands that the role is played at a prolonged psychologically negative pitch. Facing such a challenge, the masterful Petrus beguiles in every moment. In the process the case is also made that drug abuse exacerbates the dilemma of those marginalized by society. Marion McClinton has directed Lady Day with a visceral feel for time, mood, and place. Joel Sass's set, like Holiday's memory of having played Carnegie Hall, is a vision of faded majesty. Michael Wangen's lighting enhances the ambience. The night I attended, Petrus was accompanied instrumentally by the talented trio of Ron Evaniuk, Thomas A. West and Dale Alexander. Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill Extended through July 1 Jungle Theater, 2951 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis 612-822-7063 www.jungletheater.com

No one chooses to be an addict, but addicts can choose to use, and in the case of legendary singer Scott Weiland , he chose to imbibe a cocktail of drugs and alcohol that led to his untimely death. At only 48-years young, Weiland -- formerly the frontman of the Stone Temple Pilots -- was found on his tour bus deceased, the apparent victim of cardiac arrest . The question in the ether since his death was, with his history of drug abuse, if substances contributed to his demise. The medical examiner for Weiland's body confirmed many suspicions that a deadly mix of drugs did, in fact, take the talented singer from this Earth. BREAKING: Medical examiner: Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland died due to toxic mix of drugs. -- The Associated Press (@AP) December 18, 2015 TMZ reports that it was a mixture of cocaine, ecstasy, and alcohol that led to his death. There were other drugs found on the tour bus, but they did not play a factor in the rock star's tragic fall. The examiner also found "significant" cases of heart disease and asthma. We'll update you as more information comes in. Now check out... Gain A Deeper Affection For Scott Weiland's Music With These Deep Cuts GETTY IMAGE The natural reaction to Scott Weiland's tragic passing on Thursday night is a desire to jam to some of your favorite Stone Temple Pilots songs as a form of catharsis. I did so myself last night. But while throwing on a classic like "Interstate Love Song" or "Plush" is certainly an appropriate response, let's not forget some of the lesser-known classics that Weiland gave us, both with STP and in his solo work (we'll get to Velvet Revolver later). These are some of the deep cuts that show just how consistent a songwriter Scott Weiland was.

Every year around this time, I read every music websites "Top 50 Albums of the Year" lists. It's sort of a ritual at this point. I do my best to keep up with albums from artists in all genres, but inevitably something will slip past me. It was a great year for music, and Run the Jewels ended on top most lists, but there was one that was constantly top ten--The War on Drugs' Lost in the Dream. I knew the band. I knew their sound. And I knew their former bandmate Kurt Vile's solo work, but The War on Drugs' tertiary album just avoided me somehow. But with so many top of the list recommendations, I decided to give it a listen. It deserves every accolade it receives. Lost in the Dream is soothing, and ethereal, and complex. You can be an active participant, deriving meaning from its lyrics, or just become swallowed in its sonic beauty. Songs like "Eyes to the Wind," "Burning," and the titled track, "Lost in the Dream," are simply put--classics. They are songs you will endlessly play and listen to again and again. But the whole album also feels like an experience itself, a journey of sorts, and it's a journey you'll want to take. [ Spotify ]

We know that nothing gets you through your workout like music--a good melody to distract from the pain, a steady rhythm to keep the pace or a jolt of extra emotion to get you closer to the finish line. And though your local gym might think that a mix of throbbing pop music works for everyone, we've compiled some of our favorite workout songs into 10 unique playlists ranging from classic rock to hip hop to, well, throbbing pop music. This bubblegum pop playlist features 10 songs fit for your aerobics workout. 1. Beyonce, "Get Me Bodied" As Ms. Knowles says, "A little sweat never hurt nobody." 2. The Summer Set, "Boomerang" As if the straight-ahead chorus-verse-chorus structure and boy band vocals weren't pop enough, this tune name drops Beyonce and Jay-Z as #goals. 3. Calvin Harris, "Sweet Nothing" With vocals from Florence Welch, dance-pop producer Calvin Harris hits the right tempo--but go for the Tiesto remix if you're feeling brave. 4. Amerie, "Gotta Work" "Sometimes you're gonna feel pain like this / Sometimes you're gonna work hard for it," Amerie sings, and it all makes sense. 5. Donna Summer, "She Works Hard For the Money" Sometimes cliches are cliches for a reason. 7. U2, "Elevation" It's hard to get bogged down with this tune in your ears. 8. Electric Six, "Dance Commander" When you're sweating through minute 44, there's no such thing as ironic distance. 9. The Ting Tings, "Shut Up And Let Me Go" You can sing the chorus directly to your aerobics instructor. 10. Rihanna, "Don't Stop the Music" At this point in your workout, you might want to stop the music (and the exercise), but Rihanna says don't.

PREGNANT women and children are being urged to get the flu jab as doctors brace for a severe flu season. There have been 7000 cases of flu across Australia this year, compared with 6000 at the same time last year, according to Dr Caroline Rogers from Warringah Medical & Dental Centre in Brookvale. The current vaccine includes four strains of the most prevalent flu viruses and the ideal time to get the jab is now, before the height of the season in August. Dr Rogers said most people knew the vaccine was worthwhile for the elderly, but she wanted to highlight its benefits for pregnant women and children, who could have it from six months. Victoria Shipp gets her flu vaccine at Warringah Medical & Dental Centre in Brookvale. Picture: Annika Enderborg. A lot of people say they have the flu when it's just a cold virus but if you do get it you'll be in bed for two weeks," she said. "For children it can be serious as they're more likely to go on to develop other illnesses including pneumonia or middle-ear infections." She said pregnant women had a decreased lung capacity so they were less likely to be able to cope with the flu and it was completely safe for their unborn babies. Dr Rogers said getting annual flu vaccination could prevent parents having to take time off work to look after sick kids, reduce the number of people seeking hospital treatment and help stop the spread of the virus. "My son is doing the HSC this year so I've given him the flu jab," she said. "It's a lifestyle choice. If you think you have a really busy year where you can't afford to have two weeks off then have the vaccine."

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Myth: Vaccines contain mercury--that's dangerous! iStock/svengine Fact : Some vaccines do use a preservative called thimerosal, which contains ethylmercury, but there's been no evidence showing it can cause harm in the low doses you'd find in an immunization. A bigger concern is methylmercury, the poisonous quicksilver that can damage the central nervous system, which is not found in vaccines. The body gets rid of ethylmercury way faster than methylmercury, making it less likely to do damage. Even so, ethylmercury was taken out of childhood vaccines in 2001 to ease any concerns.

The vaccines are most effective if administered before a woman becomes sexually active. The longer a woman has been sexually active and the more partners she has had, the more opportunities she has had to become infected with an HPV strain that overlaps with the vaccine. There is an effective way for women, vaccinated or not, to reduce their risk of cervical cancer: routine cervical cancer screening. Pap smears are recommended every three years for women between ages 21 and 65. Like other vaccines, it spurs the body's immune system to defend itself against a virus. The FDA and CDC say the HPV vaccines are safe and extremely effective: HPV rates in women ages 14 to 19 years fell 64 percent within six years of the vaccine's introduction in the United States in the mid-2000s and 34 percent in women ages 20 to 24. The CDC recommends that men up to age 21 have the vaccine to protect against genital warts, anal and throat cancers and other conditions, and that men who have sex with men who did not get vaccinated before they were 21 get the vaccination up to age 26.

(WASHINGTON EXAMINER) Today show co-host Matt Lauer Tuesday revealed the Left's secret over the measles vaccine controversy that many in the media are using to portray conservatives as backwards: Many liberals don't vaccinate either. In a story pitting Republicans like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Rand Paul against Hillary Rodham Clinton and even the New York Times, Lauer jumped in to note that the issue does not break down along political lines. He started with a punch at the New York Times.

Obama is worried about Zika, should we be too? This week, President Obama called for "urgent action" against Zika virus, which is now spreading in 21 countries in the Caribbean, North America and South America. Zika virus is transmitted via Aedes aegypti mosquitos, which live in warmer regions. It causes mild symptoms in only one in five people. However, infection during... (c) Canary Media Limited 2015-18. All rights reserved. Canary Media Ltd, PO Box 3301, Bristol, BS5 5GD. Registered in England. Company registration number 09788095. Please contact us .

Earlier this month the Associated Press reported that two more U.S. diplomats had been pulled out of Cuba on the suspicion that they were suffering from the same symptoms as 24 other diplomats who were injured last year. Today Politico reports the diagnosis has been confirmed : The diplomat was "medically-confirmed" to have experienced symptoms similar to other diplomats, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. Another diplomat working at the U.S. Embassy Havana was confirmed to have experienced similar health problems last week. "These are the first medically-confirmed cases in Havana since August 2017. Both cases result from a single occurrence in late May in a diplomatic residence in which both officers were present," Nauert said in the statement. So that makes 26 injured Americans in Cuba and another 10 who may have suffered similar injuries while in China. Many of the victims have described hearing a grating, high-pitched sound which seemed to be localized to a particular part of a room they were in. However, the AP reports confidence in that explanation is waning : The confirmed Cuba patients have been found to have a range of symptoms and diagnoses including mild traumatic brain injury, also known as concussions. Unexplained sounds and vibrations that accompanied the symptoms initially led investigators to suspect a sonic weapon, although an interim FBI report in January said no evidence had been uncovered that sound waves could have damaged the Americans' health, the AP reported. Back in April, Sen. Rubio said an FBI briefing he'd received convinced him that progress was being made in working out what happened. However, the following month 10 more cases which appear very similar cropped up in China . So is this a sonic attack at all or is something else happening? Back in March, a University of Michigan scientist named Kevin Fu argued that the audible sound experienced by the victims could have been the result of " intermodulation distortion " resulting from ultrasound eavesdropping devices interfering with each other. However, Fu's paper did not suggest how the ultrasound from listening devices could have resulted in mild brain injuries to those who heard the sounds. There may be someone at the CIA who knows what is really going on but so far the public record is pretty vague. It's not even 100% clear that this was intentional, though it certainly feels that way given that only U.S. and Candian diplomats have been injured so far. Here's a news report from last week after the 25th victim was medically confirmed:

BY: Jack Heretik Follow @JackHeretik October 3, 2017 10:43 am The Trump administration will tell Cuba on Tuesday to remove the majority of its diplomats from Washington, D.C. after the U.S. cut its own embassy staff in Havana last week, according to a new report. American officials told the Associated Press that the administration will request that Cuba withdraw 60 percent of its diplomats from the U.S. The move comes amid heightened tensions between both countries after at least 21 U.S. embassy personnel in Havana were sickened in mysterious sonic attacks. The AP reported Monday that U.S. intelligence agents working at the embassy under diplomatic cover were among the first and most severely affected victims of the attacks, which began shortly after President Donald Trump's election in November. The U.S. spies and diplomats suffered injuries, including brain trauma and hearing loss, from some kind of device. A U.S. investigation into the matter is still ongoing. Last week, the State Department removed most of its staff from the U.S. embassy in Havana, unable to guarantee residents' safety. This week's decision to cut Cuban diplomats in the U.S. is a direct response to that move, according to the AP. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson discussed the plan on Monday. Official confirmation of the decision is expected to come on Tuesday. The United States will only force the Cuban diplomats to leave if Cuba does not voluntarily comply with its request. The State Department warned Americans about traveling to Cuba after the sonic attacks became an issue. "Because our personnel's safety is at risk, and we are unable to identify the source of the attacks, we believe U.S. citizens may also be at risk and warn them not to travel to Cuba," the U.S. said in a travel warning. The latest move by the Trump administration is a blow to former President Barack Obama's legacy to improve relations between the U.S. and Cuba, two Cold War foes who did not have diplomatic relations until the Obama administration restored them. This entry was posted in National Security and tagged Cuba , State Department , Trump Administration . Bookmark the permalink .

An American diplomat working at the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou, China has been injured by a sonic attack similar if not identical to the ones that occurred in Cuba last year. From the Washington Post : A health alert sent Wednesday said a U.S. government employee assigned to the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou reported "subtle and vague, but abnormal, sensations of sound and pressure."... The employee was sent to the United States for evaluation and treatment. On May 18, the embassy learned that the diagnosis was mild traumatic brain injury. "The medical indications are very similar, and entirely consistent with, the medical indications that were taking place to Americans working in Cuba," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday during testimony in Congress. "The Chinese government has assured us they are also investigating and taking appropriate measures," said Lee, the embassy spokeswoman. The U.S. hasn't ordered all of its diplomats in China home, at least not yet, but it did hold town hall meetings Wednesday at all of the consulates in China to inform diplomats what was happening. So what is happening here? We still don't know enough to say. Last month, Sen. Marco Rubio told the Miami Herald that the FBI had made progress in ruling out some possible causes for the attacks in Cuba. However, there was no indication that they had this locked down a cause or knew who was behind the attacks. After the Cuban attacks, Cuba strenuously denied involvement and even invited the FBI to travel to Cuba to investigate, something they never offer to do. That led some to believe that a 3rd party was carrying out the attacks. My own opinion is that this development actually adds some credibility to the 3rd party theory. What are the odds that Cuba and China have each separately carried out the same attack on U.S. diplomats using the same unknown device? It seems more plausible that one 3rd party is behind both attacks. As for who is behind the attacks, there was speculation after the Cuban attacks that Russia might be involved. Would Russia do something like this? Yes, almost certainly if they thought they could get away with it. Remember, this is the same regime that attempted to murder a former spy on British soil using a Russian nerve agent just a couple months ago. And there are indications they may have murdered others on British soil before that.

BEIJING (Reuters) - An American citizen working at the U.S. consulate in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou has reported suffering from "abnormal" sounds and pressure leading to a mild brain injury, the U.S. embassy said on Wednesday. The embassy, which issued a health alert to Americans living in China, said it could not link the case to health issues suffered by U.S. government staff in Cuba dating back to late 2016. However, later on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told lawmakers that the "sonic attack" in China was "medically similar" to the incidents in Cuba. The unnamed American citizen assigned to the consulate in Guangzhou had reported a variety of "physical symptoms" dating from late 2017 to April this year, the U.S. embassy in Beijing said in an email. The worker was sent to the United States for further evaluation. "The clinical findings of this evaluation matched mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI)," the embassy said. The State Department was taking the incident very seriously and working to determine the cause and impact, the embassy said. Pompeo said that medical teams were heading to Guangzhou to investigate the incident. The State Department added the Chinese government told the embassy it is also investigating and taking appropriate measures. "We cannot at this time connect it with what happened in Havana, but we are investigating all possibilities," a U.S. embassy official told Reuters. China's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The U.S. government on Wednesday issued a health alert to Americans in China, warning them about the incident it described as "subtle and vague, but abnormal, sensations of sound and pressure". "While in China, if you experience any unusual acute auditory or sensory phenomena accompanied by unusual sounds or piercing noises, do not attempt to locate their source. Instead, move to a location where the sounds are not present," the emailed alert said. The U.S. government in October expelled 15 Cuban diplomats from the United States for what it said was Cuba's failure to protect staff at the U.S. embassy in Havana from mysterious health incidents at one point thought to possibly have been acoustic "attacks". Staff there reported symptoms including hearing loss, dizziness, fatigue and cognitive issues, though Cuban officials dismissed the idea of acoustic strikes as "science fiction" and accused Washington of slander. The cause of those incidents remains unresolved. The Canadian government in April said it would remove families of diplomats posted to Cuba after Canadian personnel there in 2017 also reported similar health symptoms. (Reporting by Michael Martina; Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton and Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Susan Thomas) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

Earlier this month the Associated Press reported that two more U.S. diplomats had been pulled out of Cuba on the suspicion that they were suffering from the same symptoms as 24 other diplomats who were injured last year. Today Politico reports the diagnosis has been confirmed : The diplomat was "medically-confirmed" to have experienced symptoms similar to other diplomats, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. Another diplomat working at the U.S. Embassy Havana was confirmed to have experienced similar health problems last week. "These are the first medically-confirmed cases in Havana since August 2017. Both cases result from a single occurrence in late May in a diplomatic residence in which both officers were present," Nauert said in the statement. So that makes 26 injured Americans in Cuba and another 10 who may have suffered similar injuries while in China. Many of the victims have described hearing a grating, high-pitched sound which seemed to be localized to a particular part of a room they were in. However, the AP reports confidence in that explanation is waning : The confirmed Cuba patients have been found to have a range of symptoms and diagnoses including mild traumatic brain injury, also known as concussions. Unexplained sounds and vibrations that accompanied the symptoms initially led investigators to suspect a sonic weapon, although an interim FBI report in January said no evidence had been uncovered that sound waves could have damaged the Americans' health, the AP reported. Back in April, Sen. Rubio said an FBI briefing he'd received convinced him that progress was being made in working out what happened. However, the following month 10 more cases which appear very similar cropped up in China . So is this a sonic attack at all or is something else happening? Back in March, a University of Michigan scientist named Kevin Fu argued that the audible sound experienced by the victims could have been the result of " intermodulation distortion " resulting from ultrasound eavesdropping devices interfering with each other. However, Fu's paper did not suggest how the ultrasound from listening devices could have resulted in mild brain injuries to those who heard the sounds. There may be someone at the CIA who knows what is really going on but so far the public record is pretty vague. It's not even 100% clear that this was intentional, though it certainly feels that way given that only U.S. and Candian diplomats have been injured so far. Here's a news report from last week after the 25th victim was medically confirmed:

This story just keeps getting worse and worse. On Sunday we learned that more than 10 U.S. diplomats and their family members were injured from sonic attacks at their diplomatic residences in Cuba--more than initially reported. Hearing loss, nausea and headaches were among the physical symptoms of the attack, which was a result of a "sophisticated sonic weapon" that was "outside the range of audible sound." But some of those diplomats have been diagnosed with even more serious health conditions than first reported. According to medical records reviewed by CBS News, some American and Canadian diplomats were diagnosed with "mild traumatic brain injury, and with likely damage to the central nervous system." The diplomats complained about symptoms ranging from hearing loss and nausea to headaches and balance disorders after the State Department said "incidents" began affecting them beginning in late 2016. A source familiar with these incidents says officials are investigating whether the diplomats were targets of a type of sonic attack directed at their homes, which were provided by the Cuban government. The source says reports of more attacks affecting U.S. embassy workers on the island continue. The doctor, one of several who reviewed their cases, included a warning in the medical records about the health risks of future exposures. The diplomats underwent comprehensive audiological evaluations and a battery of other tests. ( CBS News ) The State Department has called on Cuba to investigate the attacks. Jeff Crouere "We hold the Cuban authorities responsible for finding out who is carrying out these health attacks on not just our diplomats but, as you've seen now, there are other cases with other diplomats involved," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in August. A State Department spokesperson for Western Hemisphere Affairs told CBS News they are in "regular contact" with Cuban officials about the incidents. Cuba has denied any wrongdoing.

A recurring theme of this column has been Israeli propaganda. More specifically, I have looked at some of the ways in which Israeli government entities, and Israeli corporations like to over-value and exaggerate their impact on the world and their effectiveness against their enemies. In a way, one can understand why they do this. And there is nothing unique about it. All states and most combatants in wars engage in psychological operations against their enemies. During the US occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, it seemed that every time the US and its allies engaged in a bombing we'd hear about a "top leader" in al-Qaida or other armed groups being offed. This even reached the stage where some armed enemies of the US have been declared dead more than once - a phenomenon the excellent American journalist Jeremy Scahill has written about many times. Clearly propaganda and exageration was at work in some of these cases. Israeli psi-ops have taken some rather unique and disturbing forms, however. A book by a former Israeli military intelligence officer which came out last year revealed for the first time how Israel had deliberately fostered and encouraged an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory for its own nefarious ends. In an interview in the Israeli press to promote his book, Alpher gave away this particular scheme. Of some of the anti-democratic regimes in the region he was seeking to forge ties with, he stated the following: "we knew that the issue of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion plays a very important role for them. To a certain degree even, we played that card, so they'd think we have immense influence over the world , and could manipulate US policy in their favour in particular. The Moroccans, the Iranians, the Turks, Idi Amin - they were all sure that one word from us would change Washington's position towards them" (my emphasis). In other words, Israeli spies and diplomats (despite propaganda claims to be the protectors of the Jews of the world) actively encouraged the dissemination of a notorious anti-Semitic fake for their own cynical power-political reasons. To convince certain regimes it had powerful influence over the Americans, Israel actually encouraged belief in the anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that the Jews control the world (as is reflected in the "Protocols," a notorious Tsarist forgery). So Israel overstated its power in this way, so that potential allies would be impressed and want to join forces, increasing Israel's diplomatic standing in the world. The Zionist state apparently had no scruples about the obvious implication that such a cynical manipulation would have the effect of increasing the amount of anti-Semitic hatred in the world. Israel has a long history of exaggerating its power in the Arab world. When it works this strategy makes it seem to its enemies that it is unbeatable. One example from the Nakba (the 1947-48 Israeli ethnic cleansing of the majority of the Palestinian population from what would then become Israel) was the Deir Yassin massacre. As bad at that mass murder of Palestinian civilians by Zionist militias was, the Zionist movement actually encouraged exaggerated casualty figures to circulate, knowing the result would be for more Palestinians to flee: thus emptying the land of Arabs - as was exactly the point of this racist movement. A more recent potential example caught my eye this week - it is perhaps a kind of privatised psi-op. A report in the Israeli press claimed last month that an Israeli company was helping the FBI to unlock the iPhone of the San Bernardino shooters. The FBI had been demanding that Apple create a backdoor which could have been used on many other iPhones in order to help them get around the phone security of the killers. Apple went to to court to resist this demand. In the event, the FBI got into the phone without creating such an insidious counter measure. Critics had argued that the FBI could have found a way into the phones anyway if it had really wanted, without needing an Apple-created backdoor which could have potentially been used to defeat the encryption of perfectly innocent users. This was what happened in the event . But it seems to me likely that it was Cellebrite itself - the Israeli "digital forensics" company in question, which leaked the original report to Ynet . The article cited only "experts in the field familiar with the case". They would have done so as a way to make themselves look big, important, in demand, formidable and bankable. But another report this week , in The Washington Post , seemed to show this was not the case at all. The Post (which does indeed have good FBI sources - far too good, critics like myself would argue) said it was in fact a "grey hat" hacker, contracted by the FBI, which used a "zero day" exploit to get into the killers' phone - not the Israeli company. If this report is accurate, it seems Cellebrite was buffing its own interests and, again, exaggerating its capabilities for its own propaganda ends - something with a history in Israel. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Trump Moron Israel Featured image via YouTube During Donald Trump's visit to Israel, Trump managed to screw up a simple photo-op with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by insisting that he never "mentioned the word or name Israel" to the Russians during their oval office visit. On May 10, Trump landed in hot water with Israel and other foreign allies, when he leaked classified information to Russia's Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during their visit to the Oval Office. On Monday, during what was supposed to be a routine photo-op, Trump proceeded to dig the hole deeper right in front of Netanyahu. Unprompted, Trump told reporters: "I never mentioned the word or the name Israel. Never mentioned it during our conversation," Trump said to reporters before his private meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Source: ABC News Following Trump's leak, the administration tried to justify betraying the trust of international allies and putting national security at risk by saying Trump had every right to declassify information as he saw fit. However, ABC News reported that Trump's ill-considered disclosure jeopardized the exposure of an Israeli spy who was able to provide intel to the U.S. regarding an active terrorist plot by ISIS. During the photo-op, Trump continued to defend his mistake, while the Israeli prime minister stretched his fake smile probably wishing for the U.S. president just to shut the fuck up. "They're all saying I did," he said, "so you had another story wrong." For his part, Netanyahu told reporters that "The Intelligence cooperations is terrific" between his country and their U.S. allies. And, you just have to know that Netanyahu was boiling inside while Trump stood there and made a fool out of both of them. It was reported that U.S. intelligence officials warned Israel, just before Trump's inauguration, about sharing sensitive information with the new president. I bet now they wish they had listened. Trump Blunders Israel Meme

Pallywood is the industry of anti-Israel activists who spread fake images, stories and so on meant to portray Israelis in the worst possible light. Often the fakery is by western activists -- you don't have to be Palestinian to engage in Pallywood. In all the dozens of Pallywood instances we have documented, I... Pallywood is the industry of anti-Israel activists who spread fake images, stories and so on meant to portray Israelis in the worst possible light. Often the fakery is by western activists -- you don't have to be Palestinian to engage in Pallywood. The purpose of the fakery is to push false narratives... Last week on May 15th was Nakba Day , when Palestinians and their supporters mourn what they call the 'catastrophe' of the modern Jewish state's establishment, mark the displacement of some 750,000 Arabs in 1948, and call for the 'right' of return of the Palestinian refugees to their lost homes in... The weekly attempts to breach the Israeli border fence by thousands of Gazans is portrayed in the media as a peaceful civilian protest. But it has been anything but peaceful , as we have documented numerous times. Rather, these are military-style assaults using the cover of civilian protests. They are controlled by Hamas,... We have covered Pallywood dozens of times. Pallywood is the industry of anti-Israel activists who spread fake images, stories and so on meant to portray Israelis in the worst possible light. Often the fakery is by western activists -- you don't have to be Palestinian to engage in Pallywood. But much of... When you hear about the suffering of people in Gaza, always remember how Hamas, which controls Gaza, diverts cement, steel and other infrastructure supplies including electricity into building elaborate attack tunnels and developing military rocket capabilities. Add to Hamas other groups, such as Islamic Jihad, which are devoted to Israel's destruction and... The so-called Great March of Return held every Friday for the past four weeks at the Gaza-Israel border is falsely portrayed as a peaceful civilian protest by groups like Amnesty International. That false designation has led to claims that Israel is violating international law by using live fire against "protesters" who...

Israel's trade deficit reached 1.8 billion shekels ($467 million) in September, a new report revealed. The report issued by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics said trade has registered a decline of 33.4 per cent compared with the same period last year. The total value of Israel's imports in September amounted to $4.129 billion compared with exports amounting to $3.662 billion. According to the report, 46 per cent of the imports included raw materials for industry, 20 per cent was consumer goods, 12 per cent machinery and investment equipment and 22 per cent in rough diamonds and fuels. Some 85 per cent of Israeli exports included weapons, drugs, technology and manufacturing, 14 per cent polished diamonds and one per cent were in agricultural exports and fish. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Back in January, Israeli intelligence officials were warned by U.S. intelligence agencies they had evidence to suggest that Russia had "leverages of pressure" over President Trump. According to reports, a few select members of Mossad, Israel's foreign espionage agency, and other Israeli intelligence officials attended a meeting in Langley, Virginia, a short time before Trump's inauguration. While the meeting started out as ordinary until an American "spymaster" announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had leverage over Trump. The U.S. intelligence official told Israel to " be careful" once Trump became President. The official went on to assert that it was possible that classified intel shared with the White House and the National Security Council could be leaked to Russians, which presents a huge problem for national security. However, it was later reported that the information related to Israeli intelligence about a terror plot involving ISIS. The timing of the meeting is also suspicious, as the meeting took place the same week Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who was overseeing an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.During the meeting, Trump referred to Comey as a "nut job." The veteran law enforcement official then gave a two-hour blockbuster testimony before Congress in which he accused Trump of obstruction of justice for telling Comey to back-off his investigation into Michael Flynn. Comey, of course, refused and he was later fired by Trump. Trump was never formally charged with obstruction, however, according to Comey, he is as guilty as sin. Yet is Trump's word against Comey because the former FBI director did not have proof that Trump asked him to back off. But he wouldn't have any proof, would he? Do you think Russia has info on Trump that they could use to influence policy in America?

Posted by Miriam Elman # Sunday, September 10, 2017 at 6:30pm 9/10/2017 at 6:30pm Posted by Miriam Elman # Thursday, August 10, 2017 at 8:00pm 8/10/2017 at 8:00pm Posted by Miriam Elman # Sunday, July 9, 2017 at 9:00am 7/9/2017 at 9:00am There apparently is no depth to which so-called Jewish Voice for Peace will not go in its anti-Zionist activism. For those who are not familiar, JVP's name itself is highly misleading, as it is not Jewish and is not for peace. Rather, JVP provides a Jewish cover for the anti-Semites and Israel-bashers... Posted by Miriam Elman # Sunday, April 9, 2017 at 10:55am 4/9/2017 at 10:55am We have covered the case of Rasmea Odeh for the past two and one half years. Rasmea was convicted of the 1969 supermarket bombing in Jerusalem that killed Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner. The evidence against Rasmea was overwhelming, and has become even more so with recent video interviews with her co-conspirators who... "Jewish Voice for Peace" bills itself as a Jewish pro-peace organization. Rasmea Odeh, a military member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was convicted in 1970 in Israel for the 1969 bombing of the SuperSol supermarket that killed two Hebrew University students, Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner. Rasmea also was convicted of the attempted bombing of the British consulate. Rasmea... Posted by Miriam Elman # Sunday, January 1, 2017 at 6:00pm 1/1/2017 at 6:00pm Posted by Miriam Elman # Wednesday, October 5, 2016 at 7:00pm 10/5/2016 at 7:00pm Posted by Miriam Elman # Sunday, May 8, 2016 at 7:30pm 5/8/2016 at 7:30pm In the saturated market of U.S. anti-Israel activism, the political organization Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) plays a starring role. In many posts (see a partial list here ), we've highlighted how JVP provides the facade of American Jewish support for pro-BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) organizations arrayed against the Jewish state. By...

Famous Survivors of North Korean Concentration Camps to Headline Geneva Rights Summit Next Tuesday, Feb. 19 North Korean camp survivor Shin Dong-Hyuk, subject of the biography Escape from Camp 14 GENEVA, Feb. 11 - Intensifying appeals by UN officials, diplomats and rights campaigners for an international inquiry into North Korea's vast archipelago of political prison camps, to be debated soon by the UN Human Rights Council, will get a massive boost next week when two of the gulag's most famous survivors and witnesses will testify before a parallel Geneva summit of dissidents and democracy activists, organized by UN Watch and 20 other human rights groups. Shin Dong-Hyuk, the only known surviving escapee from a North Korean "total control zone" camp, will join author Kang Chol-Hwan, who survived 10 years in the notorious Yodok concentration camp, to headline the 5th annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, to be held next Tuesday, on February 19, 2013. UN Watch has brought numerous North Korean victims and activists to speak at the UN, and leads NGO campaigns to confront the murderous dictatorship within the world body's assemblies. (Left: UN Watch demonstration against North Korea, August 2011.) In January, UN rights chief Navi Pillay called for a "full-fledged international inquiry" of serious crimes committed by North Korea, "one of the worst human rights situations in the world." And last week, Marzuki Darusman, the 47-nation council's monitor on North Korean human rights violations, seconded the call, urging an investigation of Pyongyang's "grave, widespread and systematic violations of human rights." NGOs in the coalition organizing next week's Geneva summit are hoping that the testimonies of Shin and Kang-- to be delivered before hundreds of UN diplomats, activists and journalists--will add powerful momentum to the campaign, days before world leaders gather to open the UN session. "Shin Dong-hyuk isn't just somebody who was sent to a concentration camp," said Anderson Cooper, who recently interviewed the North Korean survivor on 60 Minutes. "This is somebody who was born into a concentration camp. And for the majority of his life up until he was probably 22 or 23, had no idea that there was another kind of way to exist." Shin told Cooper the stunning story of how he escaped from Camp 14, a brutal political prison in North Korea. At the Feb. 19th conference, Shin and Kang will tell of the forced labor, extreme hunger, violence and brutality they suffered, and of the numerous public executions they witnessed. Shin was made to watch his mother and brother executed. Having been born and raised within the camp's Orwellian moral universe, he was the one who had informed on their plan to escape. The North Korean survivors will be joining other famous activists at the Geneva Summit from China, Cuba, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, Sudan, and Syria, in a concerted effort to influence the human rights agenda. The widely acclaimed annual conference, a focal point for dissidents worldwide, is timed to take place in Geneva days before foreign ministers gather to open a month-long UN Human Rights Council session on Feb. 25, 2013. For activists and journalists, the global gathering provides a one-stop opportunity to hear from and meet frontline human rights advocates, many of whom have personally suffered imprisonment and torture. The speakers' compelling and vivid testimonies will seek to inform the UN delegates just prior to their debates on human rights situations around the world. Topic areas will include discrimination against women, jailing of journalists, prison camps, Internet freedom, religious intolerance, and the persecution of human rights defenders. For a full line-up of the parallel summit's speakers, click here Now in its fifth year, the Geneva Summit has won widespread coverage by major wire services and newspapers, as well as television and radio news outlets. Videos of past speaker testimonies are available at www.genevasummit.org. Admission to this year's February 19, 2013 summit is free to the public and media, but registration is mandatory. For accreditation, program and schedule information, visit www.genevasummit.org.

United Nations denounces Myanmar's military offensive as ethnic cleansing, but Myanmar insists its forces are fighting "terrorists." Some 515,000 Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine in six weeks since the end of August. ( Reuters ) The lack of humanitarian access granted by Myanmar's government to Rakhine state, where more than half a million Rohingya Muslims have fled violence, is "unacceptable," the UN said Friday. A small UN team visited the crisis-wracked region in majority-Buddhist Myanmar in recent days and described witnessing "unimaginable" suffering. Some 515,000 Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine in an unrelenting movement of people that began after Myanmar security forces responded to Rohingya militant attacks with a brutal crackdown. Rights groups say more than half of more than 400 Rohingya villages in the north of Rakhine state have been torched in a campaign by the security forces and Buddhist vigilantes to drive out Muslims. Mark Lowcock, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, reiterated an appeal for access to the population in northern Rakhine, saying the situation was "unacceptable." Buddhist-majority Myanmar has blocked most access to the area, although some agencies have offices open in towns there and the International Committee of the Red Cross is helping the Myanmar Red Cross to deliver aid. "This flow out of Myanmar has not stopped yet, it's into the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya (who are) still in Myanmar, we want to be ready in case there is a further exodus," Lowcock told a news briefing in Geneva. "Half a million people do not pick up sticks and flee their country on a whim." An estimated 2,000 Rohingya are arriving in Bangladesh every day, Joel Millman of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) told a separate briefing. More aid needed Cholera is a risk, amid fears of disease spreading in the rain-drenched camps where aid workers are trying to install sanitation systems, a spokesman for the World Health Organization said. About 900,000 doses of cholera vaccines are due to arrive this weekend and a vaccination campaign should start on Tuesday. UN-led aid bodies have appealed for $434 million over six months to help up to 1.2 million people - including 300,000 Rohingya already in Bangladesh before the latest crisis and 300,000 Bangladeshi villagers in so-called host communities. Source: TRTWorld and agencies

Akimbo_NOT: He seems to be hell bent on pissing people off. That's basically been his schtick for the past 20 years or so. I mean, I loved The Smiths in spite of (or perhaps because of) Morrissey's insufferabeness, but since then he's just morphed into full on "I will piss you off just because I have a platform and can" troll mode. Capitol Hill police arrested demonstrators Tuesday afternoon in the Dirksen Senate Office Building outside a key Budget Committee meeting where senators voted 12-11 to move the GOP tax-reform bill to the full Senate. So few demonstrating the worst tax bill in history. WTF? Where is everybody?

It was supported by the Northern Provincial Council, which suspended its sitting. In some towns Muslims joined Tamils in the strike. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fought for an independent Tamil homeland in the north and east of the island of Sri Lanka. The group was formed in response to discrimination against the Tamil people by the Sri Lankan government, after peaceful protests had been repeatedly met with violent repression. It waged an armed struggle for nearly three decades. The LTTE was militarily defeated in 2009, and no longer exists. Yet people are still being penalised for alleged links with the group. This is happening in Sri Lanka, in Australia, and in other countries. The Victoria Refugee Action Collective held a forum on March 20 called "Persecuted in Sri Lanka, detained in Australia: the plight of Tamil refugees". Former journalist Trevor Grant said the Australian public has been taught to be fearful of refugees. The language used to speak about them -- including terms such as "illegal" and "border protection" -- is designed to create fear. Grant, who is active in the Tamil Refugee Council, spoke of the use of torture and rape by Sri Lankan government forces against Tamils. Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon spoke in parliament on November 27 to mark the the Tamil day, "Maaveerar Naal", and detail the ongoing struggles of Tamil people to achieve justice and equality. It seems no one bothers about "them" in Sri Lanka. No lawyer or rights groups in the country dare to talk of "their" basic rights. Do they deserve to be abandoned or "disappeared"? Alleged former members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE -- popularly known as the Tamil Tigers), an armed group that fought for an independent state for the Tamil ethnic minority, have become indefinite "prisoners of war" ever since the LTTE was militarily defeated by the Sri Lankan state in May 2009.

July 23, 2014 5:00 am Among Democrats who hope Hillary Clinton doesn't run--and their number is larger than one might think--the complaints are familiar. Age and stamina are the obvious considerations. "Look at Obama's hair color, just like George Bush's," says a prominent Washington insider. "Somebody who's seventy shouldn't be president. And I think that's going to be an interesting issue against her, but who in the Democratic Party is going to have the guts to take on that machine?" A former Clinton campaign adviser is equally blunt. "This is gonna sound superficial"--which is an understatement--"but men do age better than women," he says. "At seventy she's not gonna be--it's not gonna be great."

The Republican establishment have made their feelings on accused child predator and Alabama senate candidate Roy Moore abundantly clear. Read More >>> IWI US offers 20% off all products (in stock only) on Cyber Monday 2017. Products include the Galil ACE Stabilizing Brace, TAVOR X95 SBR Aluminum flattop rail, t-shirts and much more. Read More >>> Along with extreme wind and dry conditions, this year's opening weekend was marked by many boating accidents and near misses, including two fatalities. Read More >>> Nothing is off limits to Mueller in the Russia collusion investigation, not even a pardoned turkey. Political Cartoon by A.F. Branco 2017. Read More >>> Ammoland Inc. Posted on November 22, 2017 by HCom Record Book and World Hunting Awards given during the annual Night of the Hunter Gala Celebration at the 2018 SCI Hunters' Convention. Read More >>> VT Patriot : Saul, I read your comment and was ready to applaud it until the last part. Those that are rioting... Graystone : Now If FLIR is interested in marketing - and good will - they should "donate" a unit to the ECPD. tomcat : @ Wild Bill this liberal POS xander13 fits the profile you described in one post you made on this... VT Patriot : Amen Mrs. Hodges. I believe we are all here to help you and your heroic son. Please keep us... JP : Dumber in the head than a hog is in the a$$... Just say'n.... JP ...

P resident Obama and the bipartisan Gang of Eight in Washington who want to create a "pathway to citizenship" for millions of illegal aliens have sent a message loud and clear to those who follow the rules: You're chumps! Have you patiently waited for months and years for the State Department and Department of Homeland Security to slog through your application? You're chumps! Have you paid thousands of dollars in travel, legal, and medical fees to abide by the thicket of entry, employment, health, and processing regulations? You're chumps! Have you studied for your naturalization test, taken the oath of allegiance to heart, embraced our time-tested principle of the rule of law, and demonstrated that you will be a financially independent, productive citizen? You're chumps! Unrepentant amnesty peddlers on both sides of the aisle admit their plan is all about votes and power. Arizona Republican senator John McCain continues his futile chase for the Hispanic bloc. Illinois Democratic representative Luis Gutierrez is openly salivating at the prospect of millions of new illegal aliens -- future Democratic-party dependents of the Nanny State -- who could be eligible for Obamacare and a plethora of other government benefits despite clear prohibitions against their participation. These cynical pols insist that the rest of law-abiding Americans and law-abiding permanent residents must support Washington's push to "do something" because "11 million people are living in the shadows." To which I say: So? There are 23 million Americans out of work. Why aren't they Washington's top priority anymore? Didn't both parties once pledge that j-o-b-s for unemployed and underemployed Americans was Job No. 1? Why is the very first major legislative push of 2013 another mass amnesty/voter drive/entitlement expansion? If Washington is really concerned about people "living in the shadows," how about prioritizing the jaw-dropping backlog of 500,000-plus fugitive-deportee cases? These are more than a half-million illegal aliens who have been apprehended, who had their day in immigration court, who have been ordered to leave the country, and who were then released and absconded into the ether. Poof! After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, pols pretended to get serious about fixing the broken deportation system and enacted absconder-apprehension initiatives to track down these national-security risks. But over the past dozen years, only 100,000 out of 600,000-plus fugitive illegal aliens targeted by the program have been found. Why isn't the search for and removal of these repeat offenders more important than giving "11 million people living in the shadows" a "pathway to citizenship"? Question: If border security and immigration enforcement are truly a priority to our elected officials, why must these two basic government responsibilities be tethered to benefits for line-jumping illegal aliens? See whether any politician can answer without sputtering about "11 million people living in the shadows" or invoking the over-worn race card. #page# (By the way, we all know that moldy "11 million" statistic can't be right. Open-borders groups have cited it for nearly 15 years as amnesty measure after amnesty measure attracted new generations of illegal aliens to the country.) You know who else deserves more attention and compassion than "11 million people living in the shadows"? The 4.6 million individuals around the world who legally applied for sponsored green cards and followed the established legal-immigration process. They've been shunted aside while the Obama administration ushers illegal-alien "DREAM"-waiver winners to the front of the line. As Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies points out: "It is clear that there is no way the roughly one million or more potential Dreamers can be accommodated by [the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service] without noticeably slowing down the processing of legal immigrants [emphasis added]. The agency already processes six million applications a year without the amnesty add-ons." #ad# There have been nearly a dozen major amnesty laws, affecting at least 5 million illegal aliens, passed since the Reagan 1986 amnesty. These beneficiaries and their families have crowded out legal immigrants and increased their application waiting times in untold ways. GOP representative Lamar Smith of Texas asked the Obama administration last summer to disclose data on how much the DREAM-waiver amnesty alone has affected adjudication/processing times for everyone else. The White House has failed to answer the question. Want a reality check? Not one of the past federal amnesties was associated with a decline in illegal immigration. Instead, the number of illegal aliens in the U.S. has tripled since 1986. The total effect of the amnesties was even larger because relatives later joined amnesty recipients, and this number was multiplied by an unknown number of children born to amnesty recipients who then acquired automatic U.S. citizenship. Hopelessly naive (or stubbornly self-deluded) freshman GOP senator Marco Rubio of Florida insists that any new recipients of the Gang of Eight's Grand Pander scheme will have to "go to the back of the line and wait behind everybody who applied before them, the right way." Rubio emphasizes to conservative talk-show hosts that there will be background checks and rigorous vetting. But as I've reported for the past two decades, the background-check process has been corrupted under both Democratic and Republican administrations. In the 1990s, the Clinton administration turned immigration policy into a massive Democratic voter-recruitment machine through the Citizenship USA program. Naturalization officers simply abandoned background checks wholesale. In 2003, an INS center in Laguna Niguel solved the massive backlog problem by putting tens of thousands of applications through a shredder. And in 2006, I exposed how some high-immigrant regions rewarded adjudication officers with bonuses for rubber-stamping as many applications as possible without regard to security. You want "comprehensive immigration reform"? Start with reliable adjudications, fully cleared backlogs, consistent interior enforcement, working background checks for the existing caseload, and efficient and effective deportation policies that punish law-breakers and do right by law-abiders. And please don't pretend that piling millions of new illegal aliens onto an already overwhelmed system is going to fix a darned thing. Chumps.

Candidates and pundits get most of the glory, Save Jerseyans. But it's the political operatives who do the heavy lifting. I'm not talking about high-powered consultants. I'm talking about the political science majors working 18 hour days for peanuts, enduring long periods of unemployment while campaign budgets are drafted and finance committees are formed, changing outfits in the back of 15-year old cars with no air conditioning, fighting with "volunteers" who really want free food and yard signs for minimial work, and subsisting almost entirely on cold pizza and the McDonald's value menu. And what do they get for their trouble? The promise of an office job (even more work for even less money) that may never materialize in addition to endless, depressing phone calls from their parents: "Why don't you go back to law school?" Here's to you, political gladiators. We love you on Valentine's Day:

There's a reason why watching Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale feels so eerily relevant. It's because we're currently living in a country in which what's depicted on that show or in that novel isn't too far off from what's actually happening in real life. Right now. I feel very lucky that I both grew up in a Blue State and moved to another Blue State in my adult life. Places where the laws around choice were and are (for the most part) clear. Not everyone is so lucky, and there are too many women dealing with state laws on their bodies that are straight out of dystopian fiction. Birthright: A War Story is a documentary by director and co-writer Civia Tamarkin and writer Luchina Fisher, and it attempts to illuminate the myriad ways in which it is often a crime to simply exist as female and pregnant. Check out the trailer below: Birthright: A War Story will be released by Abramorama in theaters starting July 14 in New York, followed by additional cities across the country including Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington D.C. and more to be announced. We'll be keeping tabs on this film, so stay tuned. (image: Abramorama) Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site ! -- The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone , hate speech, and trolling.--

The eyes of a nation are on the trial of the killer of Trayvon Martin, and in many ways, the whole world is watching. From the moment of Trayvon's death to the present day, George Zimmerman never exhibited anything close to genuine sorrow or regret over the murder. But he, and those around him have pumped out lie after lie to justify the killing of Trayvon Martin. The killing of Trayvon Martin and 2.4 million in prison make clear that there is a whole generation of Black and Latino youth who have been marked and treated as a "generation of suspects" to be murdered and jailed. This is not an issue for Black people alone but for all who care about justice; it is not a random tragedy. We say NO MORE!

Who exactly is in charge of American foreign policy? President Obama or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? Any middle-school aged student would easily be able to answer this, but the Republican Congress seems to think differently. I remember when cop cars were all big, white Chevy sedans. And police officers dressed in light blue uniforms. They wore innocent enough black, cabbie looking hats, and I was never afraid to approach them with a question, or a problem. And then I grew up. Now they drive midnight black, stealth vehicles, usually equipped with mean grill guards.

Tristan Miller and Dave Morice created a website that produces highly-authentic Shakespearean sonnets . The trick: rather than randomly-generated Markov gobbledygook that evokes the flavor while crudely hitting the meter, each generated sonnet reuses whole lines from the body of Shakespeare's poetic work. The results are more convincing, at the cost of more commonplace repetition. Writes Miller: "unlike some other poetry generators, this one ensures that the poems have the correct rhythm, rhyme scheme, and grammar. Dave first published the method for generating the poems back in 1991, but this is the first time it's been implemented on the Web." Read the rest

by Sasha / Earth First! Newswire Climate change is a war waged against the people of the Global South by industrial powers. A historical epoch is descending, and the islands of the Pacific are drowning. Waters will rise three feet over the next 90 years in Micronesia, a devastating potential for those 607 islands. The small island of Kiribati is already evacuating; the UK purchased a swath of land in Fiji as a climate refugee camp for the fleeing, but Fiji, itself, is looking into the eye of climate change enhanced storms and droughts. The pressure on Southeast Asian populations is also mounting. Among the strongest typhoons ever recorded, Typoon Haiyan left more than 6,000 dead in the Philippines alone. Aid plans are still the works, some eight months after the most deadly storm in that nation's history. Two years after the Tohoku earthquake triggered a tsunami that hit Fukushima Daiichi, a once-in-a-decade typhoon slammed into the country, killing 17 and causing more nuclear contamination. The condition of climate refugees is only going to put greater pressure on diplomatic relations in the region, as even the US Department of Defense has stated that its infrastructure is vulnerable to climate change in the region. Far from promoting a way to escape climate change, the North Atlantic aims to extract fossil fuels from the contested energy-rich waters of the South China Sea by whatever means available. As the US turns its "pivot to Asia," however, it is mirrored by Russia. Where the US uses the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to chip away at China's hegemony in the region, Russia works closely with China. The two countries recently signed a gas infrastructure deal that develops a historic partnership. Rosneft just deployed the world's largest offshore oil drilling platform off Sakhalin Island while mending ties to Japan after the Crimea polarizations, and China has pushed a second offshore oilrig into waters contested by Vietnam. A storm is brewing larger than a typhoon. Dollars and Gunboats Dozens of Vietnamese police vessels attempting to pursue the rigs have been rammed by Chinese ships. Vietnam has called on its allies in the Philippines for protection, and the US has reinforced its military partnership with the Philippines in response. Vietnam and the Philippines joined together for war games in the contested Spratly Islands, where China is building a controversial airstrip. In support of the Philippines and Vietnam, Japan altered its constitution to allow the ability to launch a military attack in defense of its allies. Amidst war games in Southeast Asia, Chinese fighters have been tailgating and buzzing Japanese reconnaissance planes. In early June, a Russian fighter jet intercepted a US recon plane over the Sea of Okhotsk, off Sakhalin Island. North Korea's recent launching of missiles has angered Japan, setting the region further on edge. Thailand's military junta plays the wildcard. The "Eastern Tigers" clique that seized power once again from the China-friendly Shinawatra regime has deep ties to US counterinsurgency, but also seems to play up to its role as the representative of ASEAN to China. Moody's "Inside Asia" report warns that Thailand is especially vulnerable to China's economic slowdown, gesturing towards the potential benefits of the US-driven Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). However, the TPP seems to be crumbling, as Vietnam, supported by Malaysia and several other countries, protests US protections over domestic catfish production. Japan has shown signs of ducking out of the TPP as well, bartering with Australia for closer bilateral ties instead of a larger area agreement. Not that China has had much luck on the other end. Taiwan's tremendous Sunflower Movement emerged last year as a direct result of China's attempts to pull the Kuomintang government of Thailand closer into its orbit through a bilateral trade pact. The resulting protests involved tens of thousands of people in the streets and the cancellation of the agreement. China's territorial claims over Taiwan include the Senako Islands, which Japan also claims, and China's Taiwan Affairs Office director, Zhang Zhijun visited last week in a historic show of polity. Although Zhang used the local dialect and came with offerings of peace, his presence was protested throughout the area. At one point, protesters splashed the dignitary with white paint, causing the cancellation of two events. Zhang being splattered with pant (Reuters) Axis of Discontent Beijing's desires in the South China Sea are dampened by internal strife. In particular, the pro-democracy movement of Hong Kong has shaken the country, bringing somewhere between 100,000 to 500,000 demonstrators into the streets on July 1 to call for regional autonomy. As one of the most essential strategic trading areas in the world, Hong Kong is virtually the face of China in the region. But it is not just China that is seeing mounting protests. There are also ongoing protests against militarization and bad governance in Japan and the Philippines. In the former country, 40,000 demonstrators gathered outside of the Prime Minister's house in late June after a man calmly set himself on fire in a busy rail station in Tokyo to protest against Japan's move to lift prohibitions against military engagement. Japan is at a turning point. At the same time, in the Phillipines, more than a thousand farmers stormed the Department of Agricultural Reform's offices, blockading themselves inside and demanding sensible policies. President Aquino has been called out for extensive corruption, and impeachment hearings may be incoming. Among other ills, the government of the Philippines has engaged in bombing and infantry campaigns against Indigenous peoples under the pretext of combatting the New Peoples Army. Danilo Reyes, head of the Asia Human Rights Commission's Philippines Desk, explains, "[T]he Philippines' security forces have succeeded in creating perceptions that [legitimate demands for land, food, and protection of rights] are 'security risks,' so they could justify killings, arrests, detention and disappearance of human rights and political activists." The diplomatic crisis of the Pacific indicates that the conditions of the Global Land Grab are solidifying into resource wars between hegemonic blocs of NATO and Russia-China. As the US financial doyens brace themselves for, gasp, reports of a "successful" market, and food prices continue their three-month decrease around the world, many territorial struggles are taking on a new character--from dispersed, corporate-driven land struggles to focused diplomatic disputes with clear nationalist character. This new Cold War was highlighted by South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwang-jin, who attached this hallmark statement to the gift of a warship sent to the Philippines: "South Korea's gesture is a small token compared with the great contribution of Filipino troops during the Korean War." At the same time, China continues to express consternation over Japan's militarization after Shinzo Abe's visit to the shrine of Japanese war criminals from WWII. The plethora of references to the Cold War, alluded to by all sides, reveals horrific possibilities of mounting stakes of extremism in the South China Sea. Japanese man commits self-emmolation to protest militarization Alexander Reid Ross is co-moderator of the Earth First! Newswire and editor of Grabbing Back: Essays Against the Global Land Grab (AK Press 2014). His work can also be found in Life During Wartime: Resistance Against Counterinsurgency (AK Press 2013).

I have already subscribed | Do not show this message again The Philippine National Police has asked for a US$18 million budget for anti-drug operations for 2018, amid concern about the scale of the bloodshed in President Rodrigo Duterte's signature campaign promise. Philippine lawmakers expressed their concern over the huge budget jump after a briefing from the Department of the Interior. "This is over 4,000 percent increase from only 20 million pesos this year," Congressperson Carlos Zarate told reporters. "How many more deaths are we expecting here?" How many more Kian delos Santoses will die?" Zarate was referring to the 17-year-old student who was killed this month by the drugs squad in what police said was self-defense during an attempt to arrest the teenager. More than 3,500 people have been killed since June 30, 2016, in anti-drug sting operations and police say some 2,100 homicides have occurred during that same time that were drug-related. Activists have accused the police of executing suspected drug dealers and users, but the authorities reject that and say those killed in operations had violently resisted arrest. Duterte also said his campaign is justified because drugs are destroying the Philippines and are a root cause of rampant crime. He has stressed that police should only kill suspects as a last resort when their lives were in danger. In total, the police were requesting a 20 billion pesos US$400 million increase in their 2018 budget. Senator Ralph Recto urged closer scrutiny of the proposed budget, which is set to be discussed at a plenary session next week. "Before such a campaign is reloaded with funds, questions as to how it will be implemented must first be asked," Recto said in a statement. "What is the increase for, what are the targets? That should be clarified," he said, adding the additional budget should go to the internal affairs division to discipline rogue police.

As thousands of people have already lost their homes and belongings to the natural disaster, more rains are expected over the next few days. Unrelenting rain across the Philippines has destroyed tens of thousands of homes, displacing residents and destroying businesses in the affected areas. Five people are known to have died, and thousands of others have been seen wading through water in the streets, carrying their belongings on their head as they seek emergency shelters. Read More While three slum residents of Manila were crushed to death by walls that collapsed due to the floods, one man drowned while crossing a river in the island of Panay. A fisherman also went missing at sea off the central island of Marinduque. Residents have been warned by authorities that these heavy seasonal rains may continue over the next few days. A series of images from the province of Rizal has shown young men struggling to keep their head above the muddy water as they swim through the streets. Others were seen removing mud brought by the monsoon rains from an evacuation center, and a few distressing pictures showed a man who was trapped under debris of a collapsed wall, being carried by rescuers on a stretcher. Some displaced residents are taking shelter at a covered basketball court, and authorities have advised them to stay there until the weather conditions improve. On Sunday a powerful tornado ripped through Manila, destroying houses, blowing off electric poles and uprooting trees. Around 20 houses in the area were left roofless as a result. The Manila city government has promised to help our affected residents as soon as possible. Read More A video posted to Facebook shows just how powerful the tornado was. Banner and thumbnail credit: Reuters, Erik De Castro

At around midnight yesterday, Philippines time, the sounds of gunfire and explosions erupted at the popular Resorts World Manila. There are conflicting reports as to whether the attack was either a robbery gone bad or a terror related incident. ISIS has claimed responsibility, despite police denying terrorist involvement due to evidence on the scene. Thirty-seven people died in the attack, mainly due to smoke inhalation as the lone gunman had set fires throughout the casino building. At least 70 other people were injured in the attack. This ongoing incident is part of a larger problem plaguing the Philippines in recent days. The city of Marawi is currently under siege by an estimated 500 ISIS linked militants, Marawi is on Mindanao island, in the south of the country, where a sizable Islamic population resides. The casualties at Marawi are in the hundreds, a plane accidentally bombed Filipino soldiers as they were attempting to halt the terrorists, eleven were killed and seven were injured. The militants attacking Marawi include local Filipinos, but at least eight foreign fighters have been identified, from nearby countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia and far away locations including Yemen and Chechnya. 3,000 Filipino soldiers, as well as support, are currently attempting to drive out the militants. While it is not yet certain if these two attacks are connected, it is a possibility. These situations highlight the instability in the Philippines, as President Duterte has declared martial law due to the Marawi incident. The siege, and possibly the incident at the resort, also highlight that ISIS attacks have no borders, and do not only target those in the West, they are truly engaged in a global war.

Beijing: China opened a 409-kilometre new expressway costing about $5.8 billion linking Tibet's provincial capital Lhasa with Nyingchi, which is close to Arunachal Pradesh border. The 409-km toll-free expressway has linked the two major cities which are also tourist attractions in Tibet, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The expressway cuts Lhasa-Nyingchi travel time from eight to five hours at a speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour. The construction cost 38 billion yuan (USD 5.8 billion), according to the local government. Most of the expressways in Tibet are also compatible for military equipment, providing advantage for the Chinese military to move its troops and weaponry faster. The massive infrastructure development in Tibet also prompted India to ramp up infrastructure on its side. Heavy trucks are temporarily banned from using the Lhasa-Nyingchi expressway, Xinhua reported. The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488 kilometre-long Line of Actual Control (LAC). While China claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet, India asserts that the dispute covers the Aksai Chin area, which was occupied by China during the 1962 war.

(NBC NEWS) -- The Pentagon is considering a plan that allows the U.S. military to conduct airstrikes on ISIS in the Philippines, two defense officials told NBC News. The authority to strike ISIS targets as part of collective self-defense could be granted as part of an official military operation that may be named as early as Tuesday, said the officials. The strikes would likely be conducted by armed drones. If approved, the U.S. military would be able to conduct strikes against ISIS targets in the Philippines that could be a threat to allies in the region, which would include the Philippine forces battling ISIS on the ground in the country's southern islands.

An anti-government protester wears a Ukrainian flag near Kiev's Independence Square. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic) This post originally ran on Juan Cole's Web page . The troubles that Ukraine is having (and that Russia and the former Yugoslavia also had) in its post-Soviet politics, with a struggle between authoritarianism and democracy and between a Moscow orientation versus a Brussels one, are very similar to the difficulties that have beset many countries of the Arab world in the past few years. It is striking to me that we typically don't speak of these difficulties as those of "Slavs" or of the "Slavic world." In English we now tend to speak of eastern Europe, using a geographical term. Russians, Ukrainians and Serbs, Bosnians and Croats, all speak "Slavic" languages and in past decades it was in fact not uncommon to speak of them as Slavs. (This is still done in the Russian press to some extent). Robert Vitalis at the University of Pennsylvania argues that racial categories were key, not incidental, to most political science analysis in the US in the first half of the twentieth century. But nowadays most journalism on eastern Europe is more sophisticated than that. This Euronews article analyzes Ukraine's divisions as generational and regional. Thus, youth under 30 overwhelmingly favor joining the European Union whereas their elders who can still remember the Soviet Union often still look toward Moscow. Those in the west of the country favor Europe, those in the east favor Russia. Some journalists take a third tack, looking at the economy. This IBT piece identifies key problems in the Ukrainian economy -- including low foreign direct investment rates, high unemployment, especially for college graduates, a bloated service sector, dependence on imported fuel, etc. (Since Ukraine gets its natural gas from Russia, that gives Putin leverage over Kyiv.) Another tendency in the Western press is to foreground religious identity and to imagine that people in the Middle East are acting out of "age-old hatreds." Whenever we historians have looked into supposed age-old hatreds, we have found that most often people have gotten along fine for decades. Economic struggles are more important than sectarian ones in Syria, but they overlap in ways that makes it easy to mistake religious markers of identity as the important ones when it is social class that is at issue. Imagining that Egypt's problems go back to its Mamluk sultans or to Islamic Caliphs is not very useful. Seeing the ways in which its problems are common to a post-Soviet world economy is much more salient. Ukraine's economy sounds to me a very great deal like Egypt's. Both have a socialist background, though Egypt's state probably only ever absorbed about half the economy, whereas in Ukraine the state was probably 95% in the Soviet period. Still, both of them have struggled toward a greater marketization of the economy, with all the inequities that process entails. Both have high unemployment, especially for college-educated youth. Both depend on foreign hydrocarbon states (Russia for Ukraine, Saudi Arabia and the UAE for Egypt), and those rentier patrons in both cases are pushing authoritarian policies because they are threatened by democracy and don't want it breaking out nearby lest it spread to them. One big difference is that the Ukraine is in demographic decline, with few young people coming up and a danger of rapid greying. Egypt since its revolution has gone back to very large birth rates . Western analyses of the Middle East often racializes the analysis (implicitly asking 'what is wrong with those Arabs?') But few would nowadays ask 'what is wrong with those Slavs?' Racializing is always essentialist and always wrong. While there are differences of culture and history among peoples that cause them to play different language games, these differences have nothing to do with biological traits or kinship. Good social analysis does look at generational differences, at geographical ones, at economic problems. These analytical tools are non-essentialist, since the considerations involved change over time and allow for people with a language in common still to differ from one another in other respects. This analysis avoids the fallacy of national character. I'm not arguing that it is necessary to stop speaking of Arabs or the Arab world. The latter has an institutional framework in the Arab League, which groups 21 mostly Arabic-speaking countries plus, for some strange reason, Somalia. But to generalize about "Arabs," as is still common in the Western press, is to racialize a linguistic category. Moroccans and Kuwaitis don't actually have much in common except their use of Arabic. Their spoken dialects are barely mutually comprehensible. Kuwait is a small highly urban and literate prosperous city-state of 3.2 million people (a little more populous than Lithuania). Morocco is a still largely rural society of 32 million with a still-high rate of illiteracy, a little less populous than Poland. Their social structures, economies and ecologies are completely different. They aren't the same "race." There anyway are no "races" in the Romantic 19th century sense of a relatively unmixed kinship group with a set of shared character traits and long residence on a particular territory. In fact, all human groups are very extensively intermixed with others, and groups have moved around a great deal. So comparing Egypt to the Ukraine may be more useful than comparing Egypt to Tunisia, and obviously the latter two haven't had similar political outcomes. Interestingly, both Ukrainian and Egyptian demonstrators speak of going to the public square, using the same word, "maidan." Why is Kyiv's square called a 'maidan'? Likely because the city was part of the realm of the Mongol Golden Horde, which under Uzbeg (Oz-Beg) in the 1300s adopted Islam, bringing some Arabic and Persian words in. The world is smaller than it seems. Related video:

Just a few days ago, the world wondered if Vladimir Putin had died or fallen in a secret coup. Today, at an outdoor concert to celebrate the first year since Russia annexed Crimea, the Russian President delivered a fiery speech. Photo: Mikhail Metzel / TASS / Vida Press "Exactly one year ago," Putin began, "the Russian people demonstrated surprising composure and surprising patriotism, helping the Crimeans return home." Putin told the crowd that other countries' efforts to interfere with Russian affairs are "futile," saying Russia will "overcome all the difficulties others are now trying to place on us from abroad," as well as the difficulties Russians create for themselves, he added with a smile. Putin also addressed Ukraine's struggles, saying "extreme nationalism is always harmful and dangerous," and implied that Ukrainian voters would hold the parliament and the Poroshenko Administration responsible the country's current mess. "I, for one, have always thought of Russians and Ukrainians as a single people," he added. Putin concluded his speech by thanking the crowd for its support, saying "Long live Russia!" Kontsert v chest' godovshchiny vossoedineniia Kryma s Rossiei

People were stunned to see a group of men with Nazi symbols tattooed on their bodies at Euro 2016 between Ukraine and Northern Ireland. The game went into a rain delay because of hail, and ESPN cameras panned across the stadium to show a group of men with swastika tattooed on their chests, as first noticed by USA Today . Some Ukrainian fans showing off their Swastika of Swastika tattoos in #NIRUKR Northern Ireland v Ukraine match. pic.twitter.com/nmANNgiyFg -- Dr. DNA (@DNA_D0C) June 16, 2016 Europe soccer (Credit: Screenshot/Streamable Video) It's unclear what the symbols mean for sure, but it's almost certainly not something good. This isn't the first time something suspect has happened at Euro 2016. Russian and English fans brawled in the streets after a game between the two teams. Follow David on Twitter and Facebook

- Advertisement - I've often written about the application of the modern physics principle that the arrow of time is irreversible to world affairs and politics in general. Today it is combined with copycat behaviors, thus becoming all the more important to understand. As Ukrainians pursue the historically-dictated split of their country, the West once again joining with Poland while the largely Russian-speaking East either becomes indepen-dent or joins again with Russia, using popular brute force not seen in Europe since the Second World War - or perhaps the Russian Revolution - European demonstrators fed up with Brussels and IMF imposed austerity are obviously thinking 'We can do that, too!'[tag] Double Entendre ( Image by Palinopsia_Films ) Permission Details DMCA Ever since the end of World War II, in which Communist and Socialist parties across Europe played a major role in resisting and undermining German occupation, trade unions have provided the left with a strong backbone, allowing workers to demand and obtain benefits American workers cannot even imagine. Their resilience continues to be seen every day on images of demonstrations across the European continent against levels of unemployment that hitherto had not existed in the welfare states. - Advertisement - European workers are also well aware of the role militarism plays in diminished social welfare, as EU countries have allowed themselves to be increasingly co-opted by Washington since 9/11. Although Vladimir Putin correctly noted the similarity between Kosovo's right to independence and that of Crimea, the crisis in Ukraine is different from the nineteen-nineties war in Serbia. Serbia lay in the heart of a Europe that was merely in the process of becoming united. Ukraine's only claim to belong to a united Europe lies in its long history of being part of Poland; but it has an even longer history of being part of Russia. As for today's Europeans, the fact that Ukraine looms as a putative relative inevitably dares them to show that they are just as capable of putting their bodies where their convictions are. So much for the copycat aspect of the situation. As for the irreversibility of the arrow of time, this refers to the fact that once a trend is set in motion, it continues until it reaches a bifurcation point, when it can 'dissipate' (in the language of physics) to something different. What direction bifurca-tions take is unpredictable, but is usually influenced by previous history. Translated, this means that as revolts gather steam, the likelihood of them being stopped through negotiation or compromise is slight because each side is propelled inexorably forward. Revolutions and wars are the most obvious examples of bifurcations. - Advertisement -

(By Juan Cole) The usual suspects have been slamming President Obama for an alleged lack of leadership. Trolls for the military-industrial complex like Charles Krauthammer, and megalomaniacs from tiny states like Sen. Lindsey Graham have constructed a narrative in which Obama willfully withdrew from Iraq, giving it away to Iran; has been insufficiently slavish in [...] (By Juan Cole) The Russian intervention in the Crimea is more direct and dramatic than the one in Syria, with actual troops deployed. But there are similarities. One of the little-noted rationales for Russian support for the Baath government in Damascus is that it is seen as more favorable, being secular and minority-dominated, toward Syria's [...] (Juan Cole) Tensions have continued to build in Ukraine's Crimea since I wrote about it a few days ago. On Saturday, The Russian parliament authorized President Valdimir Putin to send troops into Ukraine to defend Russian Interests. . A pro,-Russian premier has been installed in the Crimean autonomous region, who may call a referendum on [...] (Juan Cole) The Russian-speaking population of the Crimean Peninsula in the Ukraine is upset by the popular movement in the west of the country that has overthrown president Viktor Yanukovych and is said to be forming militias. On some government buildings, Ukrainian flags have been replaced by Russian ones. Sevastopol is an important Black Sea [...] (By Juan Cole) The dramatic overthrow of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on Saturday, as he fled the presidential palace and it was occupied by extreme nationalists, recalls events in the Middle East in 2011. The crisis in the Ukraine was provoked last fall when Yanukovych reconsidered earlier moves toward integration with Europe. He is from [...] The troubles that Ukraine is having (and that Russia and the former Yugoslavia also had) in its post-Soviet politics, with a struggle between authoritarianism and democracy and between a Moscow orientation versus a Brussels one, are very similar to the difficulties that have beset many countries of the Arab world in the past few years. [...] (By Juan Cole) The Associated Press article on the Ukrainian hijacker who tried to divert a plane to Sochi on Friday is interesting for the words it does not use. (I'm not picking on AP- all the other articles on this subject are like this one in this regard.) This Ukrainian man had political discontents [...] (By Juan Cole) Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in his new memoir is said to have slammed Vice President Joe Biden for having been consistently "wrong" on foreign policy matters over the past four decades. Gates's petty gossip about his former colleagues should put an end to the pusillanimous Democratic Party tradition of appointing [...]

Last May I was in Russia when fascists held a rally in my hometown of Charlottesville, not to be confused with their larger rally which followed in August. At the May rally, people shouted "Russia is our friend." I was on a Russian TV... Throughout the day before the summit in Helsinki, the lead story on the New York Times home page stayed the same: "Just by Meeting With Trump, Putin Comes Out Ahead." The Sunday headline was in harmony with the tone of U.S.... here have been two developments in the past month that illustrate clearly what is wrong with the White House's perception of America's place in the world. Going far beyond the oft-repeated nonsense that the United States is somehow the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's military campaign against the Islamic State group already has extended beyond the limits he first outlined. But military experts inside and outside the administration argue that an even greater expansion may be needed for the mission to succeed, including positioning U.S. ground troops with front-line Iraqi security forces. Doing that could put Obama close to violating his pledge to keep Americans out of combat. For Obama, re-engaging in combat in Iraq would mean going back on promises about the current mission and undercutting a pillar of his presidency -- ending long wars and avoid new ones. If commanders request ground troops and he turns them down, Obama could be accused of putting his legacy first. Obama has shown a willingness to expand the size and scope of the fight against the Islamic State extremist group. He first announced a limited airstrike campaign, but the U.S. now is pursuing targets across Iraq and is expected to push the attacks into Syria. About 1,600 U.S. troops have been sent to Iraq to train local security forces and protect U.S. personnel. Soon, the Pentagon will start training and equipping Syrian rebels to fight the militants. Obama has said that Iraqi security forces, the Kurdish peshmerga and the Syrian opposition fighters will wage ground battles with the Islamic State group. But some of Obama's current and former military advisers have said that unless American troops also participate, it will be difficult to defeat the militants. "They're not going to be able to be successful against ISIS strictly from the air, or strictly depending on the Iraqi forces or the peshmerga," said Robert Gates, Obama's former defense secretary, using one of the acronyms for the Islamic State group. "So there will be boots on the ground if there's to be any hope of success in the strategy." Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress he would recommend that step if Obama's initial strategy fails. Dempsey also said that about half the Iraqi army is incapable of partnering effectively with the U.S. to combat the Islamic State group, suggesting a high likelihood that more Americans would be needed on the ground. The president responded swiftly to Dempsey's comments by emphasizing his pledge to keep Americans out of combat missions. "The American forces that have been deployed to Iraq do not and will not have a combat mission," Obama told troops at U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida. "As your commander in chief, I will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground war in Iraq." But White House officials have left open the possibility that Obama could accept a recommendation to put ground troops in forward operating positions alongside Iraqi and peshmerga forces. While officials say those troops would not be sent with a specific combat mission, they would be armed, as are the 1,600 military personnel sent to Iraq this summer, and would have the authority to fight back if attacked. Richard Fontaine, president of the Center for New American Security, said that would leave Obama with "something of a rhetorical quandary." "From a realistic and even legal standpoint, what's going to be happening in Iraq is going to look a lot like combat," said Fontaine, a former State Department official who has advised Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on foreign policy. While Obama has broad public support for the airstrikes, it's unclear whether the public would approve of an expanded ground mission. A recent CNN/ORC poll found that while 76 percent of Americans back strikes in Iraq and 75 percent support them in Syria, just 38 percent favor sending U.S. ground troops to those countries. Should Obama have to take that step, the White House's goal would be to ensure that the ground forces were not solely American. Administration officials are pressing other countries, particularly Iraq and Syria's Arab neighbors, to commit ground troops to help bolster local security forces. Administration officials say they've received positive feedback from Arab nations, but there have yet to be any specific commitments about ground troops or other direct action. Obama will make further appeals when he arrives in New York Tuesday for meetings with foreign leaders at the annual U.N. General Assembly gathering. Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Just before leaving for his summer vacation on Martha's Vineyard on Saturday, President Obama delivered an update on the United States' new military operation in northern Iraq. Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn, Obama said that the air strikes, which began on Friday morning , have "successfully destroyed arms and equipment" belonging to ISIS militants. He also said he was "confident" that the effort will prevent ISIS from massacring members of the Yazidi religious minority, tens of thousands of whom are now stranded on a remote mountain after fleeing the Islamic extremists. Obama declined to say how long he thought the mission would take. "I don't think we are going to solve this problem in weeks. I think this is going to take some time," he said, adding that he was obligated to protect American interests and personnel in the country from the threat of ISIS . Meanwhile on Saturday, three American cargo planes successfully delivered more supplies to the Yazidis stuck on Sinjar Mountain. The New York Times reports that "the planes -- one C-17 and two C-130s -- dropped more than 28,000 meals ready to eat and more than 1,500 gallons of fresh drinking water, the Pentagon said. That brings the number of meals delivered to the refugees to 36,224 in the past two days." While U.S.'s old partner in Iraq the United Kingdom has decided against participating in this military campaign, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said that British humanitarian aid for the refugees would begin "imminently." During his press conference, Obama explained that the U.S. military is working on getting the refugees off the mountain. " The next step, which is going to be complicated logistically, is how can we give people safe passage," he said. He also said, " The most important time table that I'm focused on right now is the Iraqi government getting formed and finalized," presumably so that the U.S. can finally leave Iraq for good.

BY: Natalie Johnson Follow @nataliejohnsonn June 22, 2016 4:32 pm U.S. generals are preparing to request that President Obama deploy hundreds of additional troops to Iraq to advance the fight against ISIS. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that senior Pentagon officials must first approve the proposal before it can be submitted to the White House. Army Lt. Gen Sean MacFarland, commander of coalition forces in Iraq, is among senior military leaders, congressional officials, and generals frustrated by what they consider "arbitrary" caps on troop levels implemented by the White House. Military leaders heading operations against ISIS in Iraq have also criticized a process that discourages officials from requesting necessary troops and resources, Josh Rogin wrote in the Post report. The Obama administration deployed 217 additional troops to Iraq in April. MacFarland told reporters at the time that if the added personnel failed to accomplish the goal of retaking Mosul he would ask the White House for more. Jack Keane, a retired four-star general former vice chief of staff of the Army, told the Washington Post that generals need more "tactical air controllers and advisers embedded with units closer to the fight," but haven't yet requested hundreds more troops because of pressure from superiors. The U.S. currently has under 4,100 troops deployed in Iraq, according official numbers reported by the Military Times . Roughly 900 more U.S. soldiers in Iraq are not included in the official troop count because they are part of Special Operations forces or temporarily assigned. Obama has been reluctant to send additional troops to Iraq. He promised during his 2008 campaign that he would pull American troops out of the region and declared in 2011 that the Iraq war was over. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said that asking the administration for the needed resources has been "like pulling teeth." "[Obama] doesn't want his legacy to be that he went back into Iraq," Graham said. "The next president is going to have to finish the job and is going to have a mess on their hands." This entry was posted in National Security and tagged Army , Barack Obama , ISIS , Islamic State , Military , Obama Administration . Bookmark the permalink . Grow your email list exponentially Dramatically increase your conversion rates Engage more with your audience Boost your current and future profits

" It's not our job to choose Iraq's leaders," said President Obama in statement from the White House today, as whatever's left of the country's stability continues to crumble . With his frustration at Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki barely concealed, Obama added, "Above all, Iraqi leaders must rise above their differences and come together around a political plan for Iraq's future." The AP reports that the U.S. continues to weigh a call for Maliki to resign in an attempt to prevent an all-out civil war. Obama announced he would be sending "a small number of additional American military advisers, up to 300," but reiterated, "American combat troops are not going to be fighting in Iraq again." Air strikes, though, are not out of the question, and the U.S. "will be prepared to take targeted and precise military action if and when we determine that the situation on the ground requires it." "What is in the national security interests of the United States of America?" said Obama. "As Americans, that's what all of us should stay focused on."

U.S. military officials gave details on the U.S.' "relentless" campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in their latest statements. Outlines of the fight against the militants have become clearer with the responses of U.S. military leaders on possible threats of the group. American ground troops could be deployed against ISIS fighters in Iraq, according to General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff. He said on Tuesday he might recommend having U.S. troops do more, potentially accompanying Iraqis during complicated offensives when close combat advising is needed, such as a battle to retake the northern city of Mosul from ISIS fighters. Dempsey acknowledged, "U.S. President Barack Obama's stated policy is that we will not have the U.S. ground forces in direct combat. But he has told me as well to come back to him on a case-by-case basis." Chuck Hagel, the U.S. defense secretary said the Obama administration plans to launch air strikes against the militant's most significant military centers in Syria, targeting command and control, logistics capabilities and infrastructure. "If left unchecked, ISIL will directly threaten our homeland and our allies," Hagel told the panel. "This will not be an easy or a brief effort. It is complicated. We are at war with ISIL, as we are with al-Qaida. But destroying ISIL will require more than military efforts alone." Hagel and Dempsey testified Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Sen. James Inhofe cautioned that Obama's strategy might not go far enough, however. "It will take an army to beat an army. But instead the president presented a limited counterterrorism strategy that he compared to his approach in Yemen and Somalia," he said, adding: "The difference between al-Qaida in Yemen and Somalia and that of ISIS are enormous, and our strategy for each should reflect that reality. Taking this 'one size fits all' is destined for failure." As U.S. military leaders outlined their strategy on the battlefield, the National Security Agency responded to concerns on the group's cyber capabilities. "We need to assume that there will be a cyber-dimension increasingly in almost any scenario that we're dealing with," Admiral Mike Rogers said at a cyber-security conference in Washington. "Clearly, ISIS has been very aggressive in the use of media, in the use of technology, in the use of the Internet. It's something I'm watching," he said. The statements from different U.S. officials seem to contradict each other as Obama refuses to send troops to Iraq while Dempsey claims that the U.S. may need to do so. Also, Obama, who said the U.S. did not have any strategy against ISIS a few weeks ago, revealed a plan against the group, but some parts of the plan remain uncertain since it is not clear how the fight will be conducted. A U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition is to be established including not only European countries but also Arab countries, and the U.S. is expected to determine the duties of those countries. ISIS has posted beheading videos and its violent acts online, used social media, particularly Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, to recruit foreign Islamists to the fight. However, its technical capabilities, whether it can organize a cyber-attack against the U.S is less clear. Cyber security expert James Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said he did not think the Islamic State posed any immediate cyber threat to American interests. "They would need a connection to the Syrians, Iranians or the Russians, and that is unlikely to happen," Lewis said. U.S. fighter jets have been targeting the group's fighters in northern Iraq since Aug. 8, and in recent days, hit its fighters southwest of Baghdad for the first time in a significant expansion of the campaign. Obama has pledged to expand American efforts, and U.S. diplomats are rushing to put together an international coalition for a "relentless" campaign against ISIS.

American military officials have announced that President Obama's administration is preparing plans to reinforce the Iraqi security forces training operations, especially with Sunni tribe members. They also announced that the administration may send additional trainers to Iraq. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that Obama is looking into increasing the number of training sites to train Iraqi forces as well. He added that the options include providing new training sites, noting that they had made recommendations regarding potential reinforcements for the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces mission. According to the military leader, the army is currently answering Obama's questions regarding the results of this programme, including its impact on the resources of the US Department of Defence and on the forces participating in operations in other areas. On Monday, Obama said he was discussing with the Iraqi Prime Minister, on the side-lines of the G7 summit, the need to include the residents of the Sunni areas in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS). He also stipulated that political reforms be made in order for the US to support Baghdad with weapons and funds. Obama admitted that his country still does not have a complete strategy for training the Iraqi defence forces to regain the areas controlled by ISIS. He said the reason for this is that there are obligations that must be fulfilled by the Iraqis as well with regards to recruitment and training, "so all of the details are not yet worked out." Obama called for more trained, focused, fresh, and better equipped forces. Al-Abadi wants the same, so we are studying plans on how to do this. Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said that the original plan to fight ISIS included training 9,000 Iraqi Sunni soldiers, but the success of these forces has convinced the American side to increase the number of trained fighters. He noted that the American consultants trained over 8,000 Iraqi soldiers so far, in addition to 2,601 soldiers who are still in the process of being trained. Warren mentioned that the Pentagon wants to train Sunni Iraqi tribe members in Al-Anbar, following the model of the Sahawat established by the US forces in 2006 to fight Al-Qaeda. He also added that the efforts to train the Iraqi defence forces is suffering from a lack of volunteers, a matter being discussed with the Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider Al-Abadi. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

It cannot be denied: Obama is a leader who reveres Islam and is committed to defending it before the world - even when it potentially undermines national security and international order. I do not believe that President Obama is a Muslim, but I have no doubt that he reveres Islam and that he is an apologist for Islam. Is there really any question about it? I posted comments similar to this on social media December 5 in the aftermath of the San Bernardino massacre before reading that Sen. Ted Cruz had commented that, "We have a president right now, who at times operates as an apologist for radical Islamic terrorists." It was also before I read Donald Trump's comment that, "Our president doesn't want to use the term, 'Radical Islamic Terrorism.' There is something wrong with him that we don't know about." There are many who believe that Barack Hussein Obama is, in fact, a Muslim, but I seriously doubt it. A real Muslim would not worship in a church building for a period of years, neglecting Islamic prayer on a daily basis and abstaining from prayer on Fridays in a mosque, nor would a real Muslim publicly and consistently profess to be a Christian. That would be a denial of his faith. At the same time, it is abundantly clear that President Obama reveres the Islamic faith and often serves as an apologist for the religion of Muhammad. ( Editor's note: In photo above, President Obama is hosting an iftar dinner in the White House during Ramadan in August 2010. ) Speaking in harmony with the president back in February, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson explained that, "The thing I hear from leaders in the Muslim community in this country is ISIL is attempting to hijack my religion." Yes, "To refer to ISIL as occupying any part of the Islamic theology is playing on a battlefield that they would like us to be on. I think that to call them some form of Islam gives the group more dignity than it deserves frankly. It is a terrorist organization." This echoes statements made repeatedly by President Obama, the clear implication being: If it's violent it's not Islam, since Islam is a religion of peace, despite Islam's consistently violent 1,400 year history. But the president's defense of Islam goes beyond rejecting the idea that radical, violent, terroristic Islam can be Islamic. It is also the positive way he speaks of Islam that is striking. It was one thing for him to greet his listeners in Cairo in 2009 with the words, " assalaamu alaykum ." That could be written off as cultural sensitivity from a president who had been reared in an Islamic country (Indonesia) and went to an Islamic school. But his words went far beyond the standard Muslim greeting. He also stated his belief that America and Islam "are not exclusive" but rather "overlap, and share common principles - principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings." And when backing up one of his points, he noted that, "As the Holy Koran tells us, 'Be conscious of God and speak always the truth.'" The Holy Koran? Who speaks like this without reverence for the religion? Conversely, would a devout Muslim speak of the Holy Bible when Muslims believe that our Scriptures represent a corruption of the real Word of God as represented by the Koran? The president also spoke of "civilization's debt to Islam," noting that, "throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality." (Perhaps he means the kind of "religious tolerance and racial equality" we find today in countries like Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran - including the equality of women?) President Obama even alleged that "since our founding, American Muslims have enriched the United States," referencing President John Adams' statement with the signing of the Treaty of Tripoli in 1796 that, "The United States has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Muslims." Did he forget that ten years earlier, in 1786, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, then ambassadors for America, were in Tripoli to combat the murderous Muslim pirates whose actions were backed by some Tripoli leaders in the name of Islam? And was he unaware of the comments of John Quincy Adams, our sixth president, regarding Muhammad? Adams said that Muhammad "humbled [the Christian religion] to the dust by adapting all the rewards and sanctions of his religion to the gratification of the sexual passion. He poisoned the sources of human felicity at the fountain, by degrading the condition of the female sex, and the allowance of polygamy; and he declared undistinguishing and exterminating war, as a part of his religion, against all the rest of mankind. The essence of his doctrine was violence and lust - to exalt the brutal over the spiritual part of human nature.... Between these two religions, thus contrasted in their characters, a war of twelve hundred years has already raged." Perhaps our president has taken an airbrush to American-Islamic history and relationships? In his Cairo speech, he also spoke of Islam being "revealed," meaning, that he affirms that God did, in fact, give the Koran to Muhammad. And so, despite the nuances of his Cairo speech and his criticism of certain expressions of "some Muslims," he stood as not just a friend of Islam but also an apologist for Islam, one who spoke with undeniable reverence for the faith of his father and the faith in which he grew up as a boy. His statement, then, in 2012, that, "The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam," should not surprise us in the least, nor did his nuancing of that statement diminish its force in the least. In President Obama, we do not simply have a leader who speaks respectfully of the world's second largest religion, as President George W. Bush also did. We have a man who reveres Islam and is committed to defending it before the world, even when it potentially undermines national security and international order. Can this really be denied? Dr. Michael Brown, a Jewish believer in Jesus, is a biblical scholar, apologist, worldwide speaker, and activist. He is the host of the nationally syndicated, talk radio program "Line of Fire," and he serves as president of FIRE School of Ministry in Concord, NC, as well as adjunct professor at a number of seminaries. He is the author of 25 books, most recently "Can You Be Gay and Christian?" This column is printed with permission. Opinions expressed in 'Perspectives' columns published by OneNewsNow.com are the sole responsibility of the article's author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support the American Family News Network, OneNewsNow.com, our parent organization or its other affiliates.

"There is absolutely no contradiction between being a proud American and a proud Muslim," notes Farah A. Pandith (pictured), United States' Special Representative to Muslim Communities. "Our country was founded on the principle of freedom of expression. As an extension, freedom of religion has come to become one of the most treasured American values. "From the time of our founding fathers all the way to President Barack Obama, they have talked about Islam and Muslims with great respect. Islam is part of America and it has added to the rich history of our country. "President Obama has said very clearly that American-Muslims are a part of the fabric of America. He has talked about the fact that there is no 'us' and 'them'. There's only 'we'. So there's no contradiction." This excerpt is from an interview with Ms. Pandith in MuscatDaily.com . Read the rest of it here .

By Craig Andresen on November 26, 2013 at 4:58 am When you look at a number of Obama quotes, there are some things that should come as no surprise. "We will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over the centuries to shape the world -- including in my own country." "Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance." "These rituals remind us of the principles that we hold in common, and Islam's role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings." "I made clear that America is not - and never will be - at war with Islam." "Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism - it is an important part of promoting peace." Need I continue? Yes...I believe, to make the point crystal clear...I do. "That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn't. And I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear." "Throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality." "Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity and racial equality" Are you starting to get the picture? Maybe THESE quotes will help...

On Wednesday, President Obama visited the Islamic Society of Baltimore in Maryland. It was the first time in his presidency he visited a US mosque. The president delivered an impassioned speech urging Americans to exhibit tolerance toward Muslims at a time when Islamophobia has a very real impact in American communities. His visit to the mosque was long overdue, given Obama is in his final year in office, but it was also very timely for unfortunate reasons. The Obama speech was a v good & important (if belated) speech. It's just a shame we live in an era where he *had* to give it. #mosquevisit -- Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) February 3, 2016 "Here at this Mosque, twice last year, threats were made against your children.'- @POTUS at #MosqueVisit in #MD -- Senator Ben Cardin (@SenatorCardin) February 3, 2016 "Recently, we've heard inexcusable political rhetoric against Muslim Americans that has no place in our country." --@POTUS #MosqueVisit -- White House Live (@WHLive) February 3, 2016 Religious tolerance is one of the founding principles of the US, and it's important for our leaders to reiterate that, particularly when tolerance is threatened. "As Americans, we have to stay true to our core values, that includes freedom of religion--for all faiths." - @POTUS #MosqueVisit -- Elite Daily (@EliteDaily) February 3, 2016 Here are nine of the most powerful quotes from the president's speech, all of which remind us it's possible for people of multiple faiths and backgrounds to live together in peace. 1. President Obama acknowledged many Muslims don't feel safe right now and explained why that's not OK. Obama on Muslim Americans: "When any part of our family starts to feel 2nd class, or targeted, it tears at the very fabric of our nation." -- Harun Maruf (@HarunMaruf) February 3, 2016 2. Since the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, hate crimes against Muslims tripled , and the president urged Americans to take a stand against this. "We can't be bystanders to bigotry. Together, we have to show that America truly protects all faiths." - @POTUS #MosqueVisit -- Elite Daily (@EliteDaily) February 3, 2016 3. He reminded us all how important it is all faiths are respected. .@POTUS on first visit to mosque: "An attack on one faith is an attack on all our faiths" -- Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) February 3, 2016 4. The president highlighted the vital roles Muslim Americans play in our communities. "Muslim Americans enrich our lives--they're our neighbors--the teachers who inspire our children" --@POTUS #MosqueVisit https://t.co/D7LtPYgf7D -- The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 3, 2016 5. There are over 5,000 Muslim Americans in the US military, and President Obama made it clear he appreciates their service. "Muslim-Americans fight and bleed and die for our freedom; some rest in Arlington National Cemetery." - @POTUS #MosqueVisit -- Elite Daily (@EliteDaily) February 3, 2016 6. He explained why it's wrong to blame all of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims for terrorism. "They're not defending Islam or Muslims--the vast majority of the people they kill are innocent Muslim men, women & children"-@POTUS on #ISIL -- WH National Security (@NSC44) February 3, 2016 7. He offered an important quote from the Quran. "The Quran says 'whoever kills an innocent, it is as if he's killed all mankind.'" - @POTUS#MosqueVisit -- Elite Daily (@EliteDaily) February 3, 2016 8. He let young Muslims know they belong in this country just as much as anyone else. "You are not Muslim or American. You are Muslim AND American." --@POTUS to young Muslim Americans #MosqueVisit -- The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 3, 2016 9. And finally, the president aptly noted we're all on the same team. President Obama said our blended heritage is one of our greatest strengths: "We are one American family. We will rise and fall together." -- NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) February 3, 2016

WATCH: Vice President Pence Speaks At World Summit In Defense Of Persecuted Christians Vice President Mike Pence spoke this morning at a gathering of Christian leaders from the United States and various other countries. The first annual World Summit In Defense Of Persecuted Christians was hosted by evangelical leader Franklin Graham in Washington, D.C. Pence opened his speech with a message from President Donald Trump: "And I'm here on behalf of the President as a tangible sign of his commitment to defending Christians and, frankly, all who suffer for their beliefs across the wider world. I stand here today as a testament to President Trump's tangible commitment to reaffirm America's role as a beacon of hope and light and liberty to inspire the world. You are here from across this land and from distant others because America was and is and ever will be that shining city on a hill where men and women of faith throughout our history have been able to walk and openly worship their faith in God to the glory of God, and it will ever be true in these United States of America." You can watch the full speech below:

I do not believe that President Obama is a Muslim, but I have no doubt that he reveres Islam and that he is an apologist for Islam. Is there really any question about it? I posted comments similar to this on social media December 5 th in the aftermath of the San Bernardino massacre before reading that Sen. Ted Cruz had commented that, "We have a president right now, who at times operates as an apologist for radical Islamic terrorists." It was also before I read Donald Trump's comment that, "Our president doesn't want to use the term, 'Radical Islamic Terrorism.' There is something wrong with him that we don't know about." There are many who believe that Barack Hussein Obama is, in fact, a Muslim, but I seriously doubt it. A real Muslim would not worship in a church building for a period of years, neglecting Islamic prayer on a daily basis and abstaining from prayer on Fridays in a mosque, nor would a real Muslim publicly and consistently profess to be a Christian. That would be a denial of his faith. At the same time, it is abundantly clear that President Obama reveres the Islamic faith and often serves as an apologist for the religion of Muhammad. Speaking in harmony with the president back in February , DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson explained that, "The thing I hear from leaders in the Muslim community in this country is ISIL is attempting to hijack my religion." Yes, "To refer to ISIL as occupying any part of the Islamic theology is playing on a battlefield that they would like us to be on. I think that to call them some form of Islam gives the group more dignity than it deserves frankly. It is a terrorist organization." This echoes statements made repeatedly by President Obama, the clear implication being: If it's violent it's not Islam, since Islam is a religion of peace, despite Islam's consistently violent 1,400 year history. But the president's defense of Islam goes beyond rejecting the idea that radical, violent, terroristic Islam can be Islamic. It is also the positive way he speaks of Islam that is striking. It was one thing for him to greet his listeners in Cairo in 2009 with the words, "assalaamu alaykum." That could be written off as cultural sensitivity from a president who had been reared in an Islamic country (Indonesia) and went to an Islamic school. But his words went far beyond the standard Muslim greeting. He also stated his belief that America and Islam "are not exclusive" but rather "overlap, and share common principles - principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings." And when backing up one of his points, he noted that, "As the Holy Koran tells us, 'Be conscious of God and speak always the truth.'" The Holy Koran? Who speaks like this without reverence for the religion? Conversely, would a devout Muslim speak of the Holy Bible when Muslims believe that our Scriptures represent a corruption of the real Word of God as represented by the Koran? The president also spoke of "civilization's debt to Islam," noting that, "throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality." (Perhaps he means the kind of "religious tolerance and racial equality" we find today in countries like Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran - including the equality of women?) President Obama even alleged that "since our founding, American Muslims have enriched the United States," referencing President John Adams' statement with the signing of the Treaty of Tripoli in 1796 that, "The United States has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Muslims." Did he forget that 10 years earlier, in 1786, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, then ambassadors for America, were in Tripoli to combat the murderous Muslim pirates whose actions were backed by some Tripoli leaders in the name of Islam? And was he unaware of the comments of John Quincy Adams, our 6 th president, regarding Muhammad? Adams said that Muhammad "humbled [the Christian religion] to the dust by adapting all the rewards and sanctions of his religion to the gratification of the sexual passion. He poisoned the sources of human felicity at the fountain, by degrading the condition of the female sex, and the allowance of polygamy; and he declared undistinguishing and exterminating war, as a part of his religion, against all the rest of mankind. The essence of his doctrine was violence and lust - to exalt the brutal over the spiritual part of human nature.... Between these two religions, thus contrasted in their characters, a war of twelve hundred years has already raged." Cortney O'Brien Perhaps our president has taken an airbrush to American-Islamic history and relationships? In his Cairo speech, he also spoke of Islam being "revealed," meaning, that he affirms that God did, in fact, give the Koran to Muhammad. And so, despite the nuances of his Cairo speech and his criticism of certain expressions of "some Muslims," he stood as not just a friend of Islam but also an apologist for Islam, one who spoke with undeniable reverence for the faith of his father and the faith in which he grew up as a boy. His statement, then, in 2012, that, "The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam," should not surprise us in the least, nor did his nuancing of that statement diminish its force in the least. In President Obama, we do not simply have a leader who speaks respectfully of the world's second largest religion, as President George W. Bush also did. We have a man who reveres Islam and is committed to defending it before the world, even when it potentially undermines national security and international order. Can this really be denied?

Please sign this petition to help this vulnerable family who are facing an uncertain future. The Boshra family are a Coptic Christian family who have been denied the right to stay in Australia. They will be deported unless we all help and sign this petition. We appeal to your sense of mercy, the Hon Peter Dutton The Immigration Minister to have compassion on this family and allow them to stay in Australia, where they will find refuge and safety. Below is part of the article in the Australian Newspaper dated 18/05/2017 "Ashraf Boshre spent 48 years double-checking that the security doors of his home in Giza, Egypt, were firmly locked before going to sleep. A Coptic Christian, the 51-year-old brought his wife, Amany, and daughters Maria, 24, Mira, 19, and Monica, 13, to Australia in late 2013 on a visitors' visa, before applying for protection following decades of discrimination and abuse. "When I'm walking the street, going to church (here), no one is going to come attack you," said Mr Boshre, who now lives in Sydney's south. "No one is going to come attack your daughters because they're not wearing the head cover. It helps me, I feel happy." But within days, Mr Boshre, his family, his parents Ibrahim and Nora, and sisters will be asked to buy plane tickets and return to Giza. Days after bombs tore through two Coptic churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday, they were told their application for a permanent visa had been rejected. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the church attacks, which killed at least 47 worshippers. The double bombings came despite promises from the Egyptian government to protect its Christian minority, and as a new study in the US showed an accelerating departure of Christians from the Middle East. By 2025, Christians are expected to represent little more than 3 per cent of the Middle East's population, down from 4.2 per cent in 2010, according to Todd Johnson, the director of the Centre for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts. In 1910, the figure was 13.6 per cent. The accelerating decline stems mostly from emigration, Mr Johnson says, although higher Muslim birthrates also contribute. A former agricultural engineer, Mr Boshre believes he has integrated well into Australian life. He now works at Coles, while his wife works providing catering for Qantas. Daughter Maria studies engineering and Mira has been accepted into dentistry. The uncertainty about their future has hit their youngest, Monica, the hardest. She now suffers anxiety. "I am a third-class citizen in Egypt. The same with my kids, people look at them as an infidel," Mr Boshre said. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's SmartTraveller website warns Australians: "Reconsider your need to travel to Egypt due to the threat of terrorist attack and kidnapping. Small explosions occur on a frequent basis in Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt." Weeks before Christmas last year, a suicide bomber targeted a cathedral in Cairo, killing 25 people. The church is 15 minutes' drive from where Mr Boshre lived. "Here I find freedom, I find safety, equal opportunity, I feel safe for my girls. Nobody is going to kidnap them and force them to convert in the street," he said, adding, "or rape them". Thank you for taken the time to read and sign this petition

Coptic Christians in the south of Egypt renewed calls on local authorities for an end to discrimination, after a number of churches have been closed down in recent weeks. Two churches in two separate villages in the southern province of Minya have been shut down by the authorities, a statement by the Minya diocese said. It said worshippers were harassed at both churches and pelted with rocks at one of them. "We have kept quiet for two weeks after the closure of one of the churches, but due to our silence the situation has worsened ... it is as if prayer is a crime the Copts must be punished for," the statement, dated Saturday, read. A third church was closed following rumours of a pending attack, but the diocese said no attack had taken place since and the church remains closed. The Minya province governor's office, in a statement, said authorities had arrested 15 individuals who were responsible for one incident against worshippers and were tracking other perpetrators of violence. The statement also said that the churches were homes where prayers were held without a license. The Minya security directorate spokesman declined to comment. Coptic Christians, who make up 10 percent of Egypt's population of nearly 95 million, say they have been persecuted for years. Many feel the state does not take their plight seriously enough. Nonetheless, the Copts are vocal supporters of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has vowed to crush Islamist extremism and protect Christians. He declared a three-month state of emergency in the aftermath of two church bombings in April which has since been renewed. Though Daesh has long waged a low-level war against soldiers and police in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, it has stepped up its assault on Christian civilians in the mainland. In an attack claimed by the group in May, gunmen ambushed a group of Coptic Christians travelling to a monastery in Minya, killing 29 and wounding 24. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning what it described as "assault". Abdel-Salam al-Barghathi, a security official in Benghazi, said his forces stopped angry men from doing more damage to the church. He said they were angry about a protest in Cairo by Christians over the death of one of the detainees, whose family says he died of torture. But Mr al-Barghathi appeared to blame the Christian protesters for the violence. He said the detained Christian died of natural causes and confessed before his death.

Over the past month, Project Veritas concluded investigations aimed at showing the lies of the Obama Administration and many members of the House and the Senate who have stated that "our borders are secure." Our first investigation targeted the U.S.-Mexican... Read more - I have endured 1,210 days of unjust government surveillance and oppression, but today I am a free man. I have a new video for you, and I think you'll find that it picks up right where my persecution left off. I was placed on probation because the judge w... Read more -

(Associated Press) Hundreds of Muslim demonstrators attacked an unlicensed church south of Cairo wounding three people, an Egyptian Coptic Christian diocese said on Saturday, in the latest assault on members of the country's Christian minority. The incident took place after Friday prayers when dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the building and stormed it. The demonstrators chanted hostile slogans and called for the church's demolition, the diocese in Atfih said. The demonstrators destroyed the church's contents and assaulted Christians inside before security personnel arrived and dispersed them. The wounded were transferred to a nearby hospital, the diocese said after the attack, without elaborating.

Banning Muslims from entering our country, while giving priority to Christians, is inhumane, un-American, and unbiblical. The refugees are not causing problems, and are not the cause of violence. We need to be opening our doors to the innocent victims of senseless violence and murder. We need to be saving the children. Our country was founded on immigration and religious freedom. You are going against everything we stand for, while misrepresenting and hiding behind the Christian religion. We are a country of many people, and therefore, we do want the refugees here. We urge you to reverse this horrific executive order.

Bhubaneswar: The Opposition BJP and the Congress on Monday said the dalits, tribals, farmers and the poor in the state have suffered in the hands of the Naveen Patnaik government, an allegation that was denied by the ruling BJD. The leaders of both the opposition parties hurled a volley of questions and sought explanations over various administrative matters from the BJD, which is set to celebrate its 20th foundation day on Tuesday. File image of Odisha chief minister and BJD leader Naveen Patnaik. AFP "Although the state government formed a corpus fund for chit-fund victims, none of them has received any money. When will they get back their money?" BJP state unit general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan said at a press meet. Many ponzi scheme companies flourished under the patronage of the ruling party in the state, he alleged. Harichandan also sought to know the time frame by which the ruling party would dole out compensation to the family members of farmers, who have committed suicide due to crop loss and debt burden. He also asked for an explanation from the government for the delay in implementation of agriculture commission's recommendations and demanded action against leaders and officials responsible for distribution of fake seeds and pesticides among farmers. Stating that the health sector in the state was in a shambles, Harichandan said a large number of posts of doctors and other staff is lying vacant in government hospitals. Despite being endowed with vast coal reserves, many parts of Odisha are still languishing in darkness, the BJP leader said, adding that a whopping 36 lakh houses in the state are devoid of electricity supply due to inefficiency on the part of the Naveen Patnaik government. Slamming the BJD regime on similar lines, senior Congress leader and former Union minister Srikant Jena said unemployment has assumed alarming proportions in the state. The chief minister should tell people the number of jobs his government has created since the BJD came to power in 2000, Jena said. Claiming that over 40 lakh unemployed youths are on the verge of migrating to other states in search of jobs, Jena said the Odisha government has failed to ensure social and economic justice in the state. The Congress leader also held the BJD regime responsible for the plight of farmers, many of whom were forced to end their lives due to crop loss. The state government has failed to speed up industrialisation, he claimed adding due to its misrule the economy of the state was in doldrums. BJD spokesperson Prashant Nanda, however, refuted the charges levelled by the BJP and the Congress and said the opposition parties are wary of the rising popularity of the ruling party. The BJD, which is going to celebrate its 20th foundation day on Tuesday, is all set to storm into power for the 5th time in a row in 2019, he added.

May 8, 2018 12:22 pm Former Obama White House adviser David Axelrod said Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) can "go a bit too far" with personal dramatics in a new profile of the potential 2020 contender, saying his histrionics lead to him sacrificing his "authenticity." January 8, 2018 12:25 pm The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will not renew immigration protections for some 200,000 Salvadoran nationals in the United States, the administration announced Monday, bringing to an end more than 17 years of protected status.

BERLIN (AP) -- The German government says solid economic growth and low unemployment are expected to boost its tax take over the next few years. A twice-yearly assessment released by the finance ministry Wednesday forecast tax income of 772.1 billion euros ($917.7 billion) this year, 7.8 billion euros more than predicted in November. Over a five-year period, tax income is expected to be 63.3 billion euros higher. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said much of the extra income was already factored into the government's plans, but additional money will be used among other things for limited tax relief starting next year. The center-left Social Democrats wrested the finance ministry from Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives in coalition talks this year. However, Scholz appears set on maintaining predecessor Wolfgang Schaeuble's tight grip on the purse strings.

AGARTALA, August 21: More than 250 voters of 62 families from CPI-M, Congress and Trinamool have joined the saffron camp in Noagaon area of bordering sub-division Kamalpur. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former minister Ratan Chakraborty slammed the Left Front government alleging misrule, corruption, poor law and order situation, unemployment and increasing political violence across the state at the behest of CPI-M cadres. "In unrestrained rule CPI-M has guided the state to the verge of destruction. Even the CPI-M cadres and workers are also in deep of hopelessness about this government. Our struggle is not only for the change of power but also for the moral upliftment of the people," he stated.

Nearly 213 people have died in torrential rains in the western states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, according to AFP. Rescuers continue to look for survivors as they sift through villages devastated by the heavy downpour and flooding. "The death toll in Gujarat this monsoon has risen to 213," A.J Shah, director of relief operations with the Gujarat government, told AFP. Flash floods have wreaked havoc in the western regions of Rajasthan. "Rescue operations are being carried out," Hemant Gera, secretary of state Disaster Management and Relief department said, First Post reported. "Many villages in Jalore (western Rajasthan) are flooded, and some roads have been washed away. Relief work is underway," LN Soni, the Collector of Jalore told First Post. In many villages in the region, people had to be rescued from their rooftops by the Army, National Disaster Response Force, NDRF and State Disaster Response Force, SDRF, Soni said. Gujarat and Rajasthan are home to cotton and millet farms that have been severely impacted by the excessive downpour. Tens of thousands of farmers in the region fear that the crop might be damaged by the excessive moisture. "Cotton and millet harvests are expected to suffer in about three districts each in Gujarat and Rajasthan, but the biggest worry is that the extra moisture could lead to pest attacks in these areas," Devinder Sharma, an independent farm expert, told Al Jazeera. Ahmedabad, the commercial hub, and Gujarat's capital saw its airports partially flooded, forcing flights to be diverted. Over 150 factories were forced to shut down, A.R. Raval, a district administrator, told Al Jazeera. Raval added that over 50,000 people were struggling to drain water from their land and homes. According to the state-run India meteorological department, rains that began in June initiating the four-month monsoon season have been 4 percent higher than the average. The torrential downpour and severe flooding that has continued for over two weeks have also affected India's northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Manipur, claiming nearly 83 lives so far, Al Jazeera reported. The downpours also triggered landslides and displaced over 2 million people.

Guwahati : Five districts in Assam are reeling under the impact of the fresh fourth wave of floods following heavy rainfall from the past few days and nearly 66,000 people have been affected, an ASDMA report has said. File image of floods in Assam. Reuters According to the report of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), the affected districts are Goalpara, South Salmara, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur and Karbi Anglong where several villages have been inundated. It said 65,853 people have been affected in 72 villages under seven revenue circles of these five affected districts. Altogether, 15,039 people have taken shelter in 38 relief camps set up by the administration and 719.40 hectare of cropland has been affected by the current wave of floods. The last wave of the devastating floods had claimed 76 lives across the state, taking this years flood death toll to 160.

MY FRIENDS and I were out on the night of the Pulse nightclub massacre, celebrating the end of Boston Pride and losing ourselves on the dance floor, belting our hearts out to "Freedom" by George Michael. While we threw our arms around each other's shoulders, shirtless and drenched in sweat, I closed my eyes and reflected for a moment on how far we had come, and on all the trailblazers, from Stonewall to ACT UP to the marriage equality movement, who fought to get us here. I knew that we stood on the shoulders of giants, and it made me proud--proud to be gay and proud to have been apart of those struggles. Then I woke up the next morning and saw the news: almost 50 dead. I was stunned, horrified. The more I read, the more my heart sank. The more I watched mothers frantically looking for their children, the more I learned about the victims--their names, their stories, their faces--the more I broke down and cried. There's something deeply disturbing about the fact that mass shootings have become so commonplace in America that you slowly become numb to the carnage. But Orlando was different. In the streets of New York City to protest violence against LGBT people (Michael Fleshman) Not only was it the largest mass shooting in modern American history, but it happened in a place where gay and trans people go to celebrate and find refuge. The one place where queer people have been allowed to forget about society's bullshit--the stares, the insults, the rejection, the judgment--let down their hair down and just get away. Orlando showed us that in America, not even gay bars are safe. After witnessing the carnage in Orlando, LGBT people are scared--and rightfully so. Many want to know how to stop something like this from ever happening again. Unfortunately, the solutions being offered by politicians, both Democrat and Republican, will do little to keep us safe--and more to strengthen the surveillance state and empower the police. ON THE one hand, there are the Neanderthals in the Republican Party who've built their political careers peddling homophobia and bigotry, and can barely bring themselves to mention that gay and trans people were the victims of Orlando's attack. Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump wasted no time in exploiting the attack to spew racist lies about Muslims and whip up anti-immigrant bigotry. Thankfully, many in the LGBTQ community have refused to give into this racist scapegoating. At vigils in many cities across the country, people held signs declaring, "Islam is not the enemy" and "No to homophobia, No to Islamophobia." There's a sentiment among many queers and allies that the Republicans have no right exploiting this tragedy to further their own bigoted and racist agenda. That's an important and positive development. On the other hand are the Democrats who at least pay tribute to Orlando as an attack on the LGBT community, but offer no real solutions. Instead, after the shooting, Democrats like Hillary Clinton--and even Bernie Sanders--used their platforms to drum up support for "getting tough" on ISIS and making it harder for known terrorists and criminals to get guns. But the Orlando gunman Omar Mateen was born and raised not in the Middle East, but in the U.S. It wasn't ISIS that taught him how to use a gun, but his employer, G4S, one of the largest private security firms in the world. And although an investigation is still ongoing, evidence points to Mateen's infatuation with violence, power and control--evident in history of abuse toward others and typical characteristics in the profile of most mass shooters--playing much bigger factors than any religious belief. THE MAIN solutions being put forward by politicians and embraced by many people are tighter gun control laws and more policing. Many LGBT organizations called for stepped-up police presence at this year's Pride parades and celebrations. And last week Congressional Democrats, with broad support, staged a sit-in on the floor of the House demanding gun control legislation. But will more cops or tighter gun controls laws actually make LGBTQ people safe, or prevent shootings like this from happening again? The answer is no. Dig beneath the media hype surrounding last week's sit-in by Democrats in Congress, and it's clear that the legislation they were pushing would do little to keep LGBTQ people safe from violence, but more to increase racial profiling against poor Black and Brown communities and shred civil liberties for Arabs and Muslims already targeted by the state. And contrary to what we're told, there's little reason to believe that putting more cops on the street at Pride or in front of gay bars will do much to stop something like Orlando from happening again. The Boston Marathon is one of the most heavily policed events in the country, despite that in 2013 two brothers were able to blow up a homemade bomb that killed three and injured dozens more. Far from making LGBTQ people safer, police are one of the largest perpetrators of violence against the most marginalized sections of the LGBTQ community. The Black Lives Matter movement has exposed the depths of systemic racism in American policing and the ease and regularity at which police profile, harass, brutalize and even kill people of color and poor people. A disproportionately high number of people targeted by police and warehoused in America's jails and prisons are LGBTQ people of color. Homeless LGBTQ youth and sex workers, many of them trans women of color, have been aggressively targeted by the advent of "quality of life laws" in most major cities throughout the 1990s that criminalized panhandling, loitering and other petty infractions. But far from making communities safer, "broken-windows policing" has targeted the poorest and most vulnerable in society. Close to 20 percent of Black trans women have been incarcerated and more than 40 percent report being harassed and threatened by police. For LGBTQ people of color, homeless youth, the undocumented and poor queers, cops are a source of fear, not security. In San Francisco, a number of organizations and individuals--including some who were to be honorees--withdrew from last weekend's Pride because of the increased police presence. "The San Francisco police department has proven time and again--by racially profiling and murdering Black people, Black trans people--that they cannot keep us safe," said Black Lives Matter spokeswoman Shanelle Johnson. "We know that some people will feel safe at Pride, but we will not." WHAT THEN is the solution? How do we stop another Orlando? The first thing we should fight for is full federal equality, and it's a shame that mainstream LGBT organization are not using this moment to call for a renewed grassroots movement beyond voting in the fall elections. It's unbelievable that in 2016, at a time when gay marriage is now legal nationwide and an overwhelming majority of Americans support full equality, LGBT people can still be fired or denied employment or housing in a majority of states--including Florida. Omar Mateen's bigotry and internalized homophobia didn't come from nowhere--it was fueled by a society whose most powerful political institutions continue to legislate discrimination and second class citizenship. Where is the Democrats' sense of urgency to have a sit-in for an LGBT inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act? The Religious Right needs to be challenged and driven out of business. Right-wing organizations proposed over 200 pieces of anti-LGBT legislation this past year alone--most of them anti-transgender bathroom bills and phony Religious Freedom laws that are nothing but a disguise to promote homophobia and legislate discrimination. In the process they've spewed vile transphobic rhetoric and given confidence to bigots everywhere. Is it any surprise then that there's been an increase in anti-LGBT hate crimes and suicides? It's necessary to broaden how we conceive of violence against LGBTQ people. Forcing queer youth to live homeless on the streets is a form of violence. Police targeting Black and Brown LGBTQ people and poor queers for harassment, incarceration and even death is a form of violence. If we're serious about ending violence against queer and trans people, then we have to start by raising demands that will weaken the power of the state to violently intervene in queer people's live, like disarming the police and ending the criminalization of poverty. We need to demand that the government invest in building shelters and ending homelessness, ending poverty, creating safe schools and building a society that embraces people all across the sexual and gender spectrum. We also need to fight for a single-payer universal health care system, one that invests enormous resource into creating a fully funded and comprehensive mental health care system that can get to people before they break. Then there's fully funding public education--stopping the current regime of austerity and testing madness and ensuring that every school has adequate wraparound social services and meaningful curriculum focused on social and emotional development. Finally, we need to ask some hard questions about the DNA of a country founded on unimaginable levels of violence. From its founding genocide of Native Americans and enslavement of Africans to its economic reliance on backbreaking exploitation of immigrant workers to its countless wars, occupations and coups that have left millions dead and destroyed entire countries to the brutality of police and prisons against working-class and poor people--disproportionately Black and Brown--American capitalism has employed unspeakable violence to build and maintain itself. Eventually, in a society as alienating and cutthroat as this one, people turn on each other and that violence comes trickling down, and it's the most vulnerable who pay the price. These are the deep roots of American violence. To dig up those roots we need to fight for an entirely different system--one based on solidarity and cooperation, not war, bigotry and greed.

After just two years on the job, Lambda Legal CEO Rachel Tiven resigned on Aug. 3. The official... Read More Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion and resigned from... Read More LGBT candidates continue doing well across the country. Yesterday (Aug. 7) Sharice Davids won a... Read More The Rev. Neil Cazares-Thomas, senior pastor of Cathedral of Hope UCC, and Wayne Davis, president... Read More Not sure if this is a closeted gay thing? A thing straight men do? Or what? But here goes anyway.... Read More Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the creation of a "religious liberty task force" to stop... Read More A new study by the Williams Institute found that same-sex couples are more like to be raising... Read More What has always impressed me about Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson is her advocacy for science. As the... Read More For the first time in U.S. corporate history, a Fortune 500 company named an out lesbian as its... Read More Officials with the Greg Dollgener Memorial AIDS Fund and Team Metro announced earlier this week... Read More Two more transgender women of color have been murdered, one last month in Mississippi and one last... Read More The first study of Alzheimers in the LGB community was released last week at the 2018 Alzheimer's... Read More Yevin Rushing pleaded guilty today (Tuesday, July 24) to murder in the July 7, 2017 death of Lee... Read More The Coastal Bend Wellness Foundation plans to build an LGBT Community Center in Corpus Christi... Read More Officials with the Greg Dollgener Memorial AIDS Fund and Team Metro today announced that Ada Vox,... Read More We all know Pride in Texas is too big to be confined to one month. And so it continues in August... Read More Officials with the Dallas County District Attorney's office have confirmed to Dallas Voice... Read More Sasha Garden, a 27-year-old transgender woman, was found dead at 5 a.m. Thursday, July 19, near... Read More

The statistics on acceptance of LGBT people were generally staying the same or improving, until last year -- when, as GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis puts it, "the acceptance pendulum abruptly stopped and swung in the opposite direction." By Rachel | January 26, 2018 | 12 Comments At least one-third of the lesbian and bisexual female characters in major studio films last year appeared on-screen for under ten seconds, which is only one of many problems revealed by GLAAD's 2016 Studio Responsibility Index. By Riese | May 25, 2017 | 18 Comments "I truly believe in story, I think the stories we see and the ones we choose to engage with are one of life's most vital elements, it's right up there with food and shelter. This has always been true." By Riese | September 4, 2015 | 49 Comments Kristene has struggled to overcome the loss of her girlfriend, physical and mental health challenges, and financial barriers to receiving the care she needs. Today, her dream is to spread a message of hope to other trauma victims and the LGBT community. By Audrey | May 27, 2015 | 12 Comments Oh, is OINTB's second season premiering? Let's talk about that time when Autostraddle sent me and AS Fashion Editor Lizz to the GLAAD Media Awards in New York to do some red carpet interviews and we ended up cuddling with the cast of Orange is the New Black. By gabby | June 6, 2014 | 14 Comments In my mind, to fail at LGBT inclusion in fiction is to have a failure of imagination, a lazy lack of understanding concerning the world outside of one's self. To intentionally choose to tell a story about a real LGBT person and then exclude their queer identity is a failure on an entirely different level. By Laura Mandanas | January 13, 2014 | 36 Comments "Where We Are On TV" has some promising and not-so-promising numbers for queer women on the teevee, and also raises some questions about how we quantify "representation" in the first place for all groups. By Riese | October 24, 2013 | 23 Comments

Say what you will about Donald Trump (like we have about him not understanding due process or the 2nd amendment ), but for the LGBTQ community to blame him or his supporters for the Islamic terror attack in Orlando?! So of course, that's what the militant LGBTQ community is doing in New York City ... "[The attack stemmed from] a particular type of culture that is being brought up right now by, for example, the most prominent and visible, Donald Trump supporters," the man told TheBlaze. Except The shooter was a Democrat . Again, the shooter. Was. A. Democrat. He said the attack was also the result of the "absolute disgust and loathing for anything other than one's selfishness" and "easy access to guns." Many at the rally seemed to agree that access to firearms, followed by homophobia, was the leading reason behind the attack. And the source of that homophobia? I'll give you a hint ... "It's definitely a combination of a lack of gun control and just so much hate for the LGBT community. I would not blame Islam for this. Islam is a religion of peace, even though there is a lot of extremism, there have been no high examples so far in the United States of America that show straight-up LGBT hate, as far as Islam goes." Try to leave radical extremism out of the deadly shooting in Orlando. Just blame no gun control and straight-up hate of the LGBT community. Look, if you want to go the "I don't want to blame a whole group of people for the acts of a few" route, God bless. We may disagree in this particular instance, but I understand the sentiment. So long as you can substantiate it, we can have a discussion. I would just take you more seriously if you didn't then turn around and blame every other group except for the one that was actually responsible. #NotAllMuslims? Okay, I get it. #NotAllTrumpSupporters? Or... I guess we're running out of hashtag space. Here's Bob Ross painting a picture of Muhammad. Screw you. NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST? FIX THAT ! IT'S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH ITUNES HERE AND SOUNDCLOUD HERE .

"A phrase that often arises in this movement is "ni de aqui, ni de alla," (neither from here nor there), and it speaks to the ability we seek as queer immigrants to define home as we choose, whether in a geographic sense, within our communities, or a gendered sense, within our bodies." By Kemi | July 25, 2013 | 11 Comments "HB2 outlaws abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, shuts down all but five abortion clinics in the state and tightens guidelines when it comes to abortion drugs. It's a law that undoubtedly affects so many in the state: low-income, working class, people of color." By Yvonne | July 18, 2013 | 15 Comments The United States Supreme Court's decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act and to return the Prop 8 case to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals are already starting to ripple through other marriage-related cases, making them easier to win or even just easier to exist. By A.E. Osworth | July 9, 2013 | 12 Comments "The LGBT contingent of the protest was made up of multiple different organizations from across the city, but when the city's plans to destroy the gay mecca park were made public, they all rallied together. Now, they form a foundational part of the movement." By Vivian | July 1, 2013 | 11 Comments "The failure of a female prime minister is seen to reflect the failure of women in positions of power. Gillard had to be better than any politician before, and even when she was just as problematic, divisive and changeable as her opponents and Rudd, she was attacked more viciously than they ever were. " By jess | July 1, 2013 | 20 Comments

By Liz Tracy There are certain spots on the planet where homosexuals can feel at least moderately safe. For decades, South Florida has been one of them. But after the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, it seemed there was no place where the gay community could be itself in this gun-shaped state. The tragedy quickly became about a lot of things -- gun control, terrorism, immigration -- but most important, it was about fear. One Miami organization, Pridelines, offers the community a place to grieve and discuss one of the largest mass shootings in this nation. With the town-hall meeting We Stand With Orlando! , queer folk and allies can come together to talk productively and think about what's next. Because the shooting targeted a Latinx night at the club, Pridelines will have Central and South Florida chapters of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and Immigration Equality on hand to speak about Immigration Action Orlando, offering pro bono immigration advice to victims of the shooting. Everyone needs time to process the violence erupting all over the country, and We Stand With Orlando! offers a safe haven for that. The event runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Pridelines (6360 NE Fourth Ct., Miami). Admission is free. Contact trey@pridelines.org. Call 305-571-9601 or visit pridelines.org .

A proposition: Here are the only three ways to watch "Friends," the NBC sitcom about six white buddies living in Manhattan, which aired from 1994-2004 (streaming on Netflix in its 10-season-long entirety right now!) and none of them entail actually enjoying the show because that cannot be done. 1. "Friends" as a Gen-X shit-bag time capsule The worst tendencies of the carefree Clinton '90s ooze out of The Friends. Chandler (Matthew Perry), Joey (Matt LeBlanc), Monica (Courtney Cox), Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), Rachel ( Jennifer Aniston ), and Ross (David Schwimmer) are in-the-pocket representations of straight-down-the-line Gen-X shit-headedness: self-absorbed, politically moderate, open-minded in theory, and devoid of anything interesting to say about anything. Exactly what kind of people are The Friends? Other than hanging out in a coffee shop, they don't seem to be proto-hipsters, and they all have bougie, douchey jobs, and there's an episode where three of them go to see Hootie & The Blowfish, for fuck's sake. Even the show's nods to changing family dynamics, feminism, and homosexuality are--in addition to being undercut by casual misogyny, gay jokes, and misogynist-dystopia cold-nips shots (more on those later)--hindered by the show's tendency to make it so clear that it's totally cool with these cultural changes. If it was obviously totally fine with these changes, it wouldn't feel compelled to congratulate itself for "going there," as it were. It is the back-patting attitude that "Broad City," that daughters-of-"Seinfeld" masterpiece, consistently skewers with its intersectionality-obsessed "open-minded" characters, Abbie and Ilana. ("Sometimes, you're so anti-racist that you're actually really racist," Abbie tells Ilana at one point.) Contrast "Friends" with fellow must-see-TV-on-NBC shows of the same era, like "Seinfeld" or even the also-fairly-shitty-though-artfully-written "Frasier," both of which focus on fundamentally unlikable main characters, and the irony-free world of "Friends" is revealed to be a throwback. We're supposed to like and relate to these low-key hatemongers. Then again, Phoebe, a flighty folkie in the Lilith Fair mold, is portrayed as an airhead and an idiot, her space-cadet characterization as out of touch with its time as, say, "Dragnet" was when it dealt with hippies. Meanwhile, Rachel, the most sympathetic because she is also the most flawed, keeps the show interesting because her poor decisions accumulate and bounce off one another, and they end up painting a picture of a complicated young woman. Of course, she is also the object of the most lust on the show (proposed to by two of the three Friends) and the one most frequently clowned for being vapid (because she is interested in fashion), so fuck everything if your name ain't Chandler, Joey, or Ross as far as this show's concerned, which might as well put this show in the 1950s. Part of the problem with "Friends" is that it is a crowd-pleasing sitcom and the sitcom is a dark Sisyphean format. See, for a sitcom to work for years and years, like all serialization, it must give the illusion of progress while maintaining equilibrium. The characters cannot change because the comedy comes from the flaws of the characters, and so most sitcoms are about the character(s) failing to change for the better, even in the long run. The plots and jokes are driven by characters' lack of insight over an extended period of time. And "Friends" gets more compelling the less funny it is. As it slowly derails itself to focus on Ross and Rachel and the ultimate coupling of selfish douchenozzles, Chandler and Monica, the jokes get worse but the basic-ass melodrama has you hooked. The successful hustle of "Friends" is that it is either a comedy or a drama depending on the scene (often, jokes shift the show back into comedy and diffuse the intense drama when something is actually at stake), and so you can easily allow yourself to be intensely involved with its characters' problems even when the jokes suck, which is most of the time. "Friends" is easily one of the most soporific and unfunny sitcoms that lasted as long as it did--oh boy is this show rough, dear readers. Though there are occasionally funny bits ("pivot . . . pivot") and memorable one-liners ("We love Schhteve! Schhteve was schhexy"), the show casting Courtney Cox as a Jew named Monica Gellar is by far the show's longest-running gag; it just didn't know it. Fun game, though: Stare through one of these episodes and look into the eyes of these actors, save for LeBlanc, a dullard on screen and IRL, and appreciate their ability to commit to so many bad jokes and misdirected melodrama. I mean, Courtney Cox and David Schwimmer seem like reasonable people; Jennifer Aniston is, occasionally, a very good actor and totally makes the show and seems to generally "get it"; Lisa Kudrow has quietly remained an eccentric comedic force post-"Friends"; and, well, Matthew Perry's pill addictions throughout the years are evidence that he no doubt knows what it's like to stare into the void. What I am saying is these are not vapid actors, just smart ones running out the clock on unfunny, quirky garbage (236 episodes worth!) that paid them very, very well. 2. "Friends" as weedhead-appealing "What If . . . " science fiction Did you know that "Friends" never acknowledged that the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center happened? Sure, the first episode of season eight, which aired on Sept. 27, 2001, was dedicated to "the people of New York City," but the characters never endure that tragic day and it was never referenced in later episodes (though in "The One Where Chandler Takes a Bath," which aired on Jan. 17, 2002, Joey wears an FDNY shirt featuring the name of a fireman who lost his life that day).

For anyone like myself who had heard in advance that the season 5 premiere of Archer . Based on that montage and the general shift from a spy agency to former agents selling cocaine, it appears the fifth season of Archer will likely play out as more of a movie in 13 parts rather than loosely connected episodes of ISIS agents taking down a threat. There looks to be more ongoing subplots and a bigger story over the course of the season. If and when they do eventually return to being a spy agency, I don't see it happening until the end of the season. While "White Elephant" essentially stood as a set-up episode and might not be one worth re-watching countless times, Reed and his staff had to ensure, more than anything, that people would still be on board with the show after the big twist. In that sense, despite it not feeling like there was much of a sense of completion to a story, the episode succeeded in assuring fans things won't really change all that much, and the show is in the right hands. The characters are what make Archer so great anyway. It shouldn't (and rarely does) matter where they are or what they're doing--it's always enjoyable to watch. One of animated television's best shows is not only back, but also, somehow, it appears it's about to get a lot more over-the-top and insane than it's ever been. After last night's premiere, I'm sold. Carlo Sobral is a Winnipeg-based freelance writer and regular contributor to Paste.

Traditionally, Netflix hasn't been known for canceling its original shows, but it's turned over a vicious new leaf this month. Just a few days after Netflix announced it was not picking up The Get Down for a second season , the streaming service is now letting fans know its sprawling, sci-fi drama Sense8 is also getting the ax and will not be returning for a third season. The news is extra painful to fans who just finished watching the show's second season a couple weeks ago, which ends on a cliffhanger where the sensates finally appear to have an upper hand in their war against main antagonist Whispers. Though it only ran for 2 seasons, Sense8 became known as one of the most groundbreaking shows on air in terms of sexuality and race representation, telling the story of 8 diverse strangers from around the planet who can physically share their experiences with one another. Some of the stars of the show shared their grief over the cancellation news on social media. Brian Smith, who played the cop and de facto sensate leader, Will, wrote the show "was the greatest experience of [his] career, and [he's] going to miss it more than [he] can say" on his Instagram . And of course, fans of the show also took to social media to express their sadness and anger over the cancellation. Many fans also pointed out the ridiculous timing of the cancellation: the first day of LGBTQ+ Pride month. Considering how inclusive the show has been to LGBTQ+ representation, it felt like another dagger to the heart of many fans. But a Sense8 fan never gives up. A number of fans are also tweeting at Netflix to renege on the cancellation and allow the show to have a final season. Some are even tweeting at other networks to pick up the show.

Ah, Jane Austen . Outside of Shakespeare and Dickens, there may not be a pre-pulp era writer whose works have inspired more film (and television) adaptations. (And really, the newspaper serials of the Victorian era in which Dickens thrived were pretty proto-pulpy.) This is especially impressive when one considers how tightly focused in plot and genre--Austen-ian is practically a genre in itself--the books are. Of course, anything that influential is the stuff that fruitful Feeling Meme-ish-es are made of. You might not find all six of her books represented here, but it wasn't tough to find plenty of fan-made efforts derived from the movie versions. So, in honor of the soon-to-be-released Pride and Prejudice and Zombies --the most unusual iteration of Austen's work, yet--let's take a walk through Darcy-Emma-et-al Land. (And feel free to share any of your favorites in the comments below.)

by Alanna Bennett Jul 26th Artist Colleen Doran is now sharing some of the designs she did for the Wonder Woman: Odyssey storyline. Doran, who was asked by J. Michael Straczynski --who she worked with on Book of Lost Souls years ago-- to sketch some more fantasy-oriented versions of the character. She makes sure to note that these were more ruminations/concept sketches, and are unlikely to ever be used for anything. But they're pretty damn pretty, so let's look at them. Read More Meet Fionna and Cake, the new, female versions of Adventure Time leads Finn and Jake. The first official preview of their episode was shown at Comic-Con this weekend; they will be featured in the show's third season, in an episode to air September 5th. Madeleine Martin will voice Fionna the Human, Roz Ryan is Cake (short for Pancake) the Cat, Grey DeLisle is the Ice Queen, and Neil Freaking Patrick Harris is Prince Gumball. Gender swapped Adventure Time was created at least in the beginning by character designer for the show Natasha Allegri , and we look forward to watching such a loopy show with strong roots in subverting adventure tropes subvert its own setting the hardest. (via I Heart Chaos ) Read More

A giveaway to what's coming is found in the show's magical opening sequence (featuring an artistic blend of owls, gold leaves, and the image of actress Amybeth McNulty, who plays Anne) where a singer croons, "You are ahead by a century." A century is right. It's hard to imagine TV writers of past decades using lines like, "A skirt is not an invitation," or, "How can there be anything wrong with a life if it's spent with the person you love?" As one of the first shows to capitalize on our post-#MeToo world, this one seems not to know how to handle it. It fumbles with dialogue like an awkward teenager. The writing is bad (see above), the plotlines contrived. Writers might think they're bravely breaking barriers, but they're really just taking their values--the good and the bad--and cracking them over our heads like a school slate. Not every storyline is insidious. But nowhere does the show feel more forced than with the character of Cole (Cory Gruter-Andrew), a sensitive and artistic classmate who supplants Diana (Dalila Bela) in Anne's life--in essence, replacing her kindred spirit with a gay best friend. Cole attracts attention not only from the class bully, but from attendees at a "queer soiree" (the producers' term), who drape pearls around his neck. Even his male teacher in Avonlea, the one engaged to Prissy Andrews, has some sort of awakening during a moment of sexual tension with Cole. Eventually Cole is symbolized by a fox being hunted by the whole town, and moves in with Diana's Aunt Josephine (Deborah Grover)--hinted to be a lesbian last season, and now confirmed to be so. Redeeming plotlines: a sweet love story, and performances by Geraldine James and R.H. Thomson, who play Marilla and Matthew and shine as the strongest stars of the cast despite some seriously silly storylines of their own. We also get a semi-satisfying ending to the school bully situation. It's unclear but possible that Cole is basically written out of the show, since, by the end of Season 2, he lives in faraway Charlottetown. No doubt producers think Anne with an E champions the marginalized. But it won't stand the test of time--not simply because it politicizes Avonlea, but because it's poorly written. And Anne would never stand for that.

Democrats FINALLY get asked about their stance on abortion - and Sanders reveals he is 'very strongly pro-choice' while Clinton says: 'It's not much of a right if it is totally limited and constrained' Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton clarified their position on abortion at a Fox News town hall in Detroit, Michigan 'That is a decision to be made by the woman, her physician and her family,' Sanders added Clinton said: 'It's not much of a right if it is totally limited and constrained' They were asked about abortion for the first time in their campaigns See more of the latest news on the Democratic presidential primaries Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have revealed their stance on abortion after being asked about the issue for the first time at a presidential debate. Both Democratic candidates supported women's right to choose to abort during a Fox News town hall on Monday in Detroit, Michigan. Moderator Bret Baier asked them whether abortion should be illegal in certain cases. 'I'm very strongly pro-choice,' Sanders said according to the Huffington Post . 'That is a decision to be made by the woman, her physician and her family. Scroll down for video Bernie Sanders said he was 'very strongly pro-choice' when asked about his stance on abortion at a Fox News town hall in Michigan, Detroit (pictured). 'I happen to believe that it is wrong for the government to be telling a woman what to do with her own body,' he added The Vermont senator criticized Republicans, saying they oppose government regulation in economic matters but want to use it to control women's access to abortion. 'I happen to believe that it is wrong for the government to be telling a woman what to do with her own body,' he added. 'They want to tell every woman in America what she should do with her body.' Clinton expressed her support for Roe v. Wade, the 1973 US Supreme Court decision recognizing women's right to abortion. 'Women have this right to make this highly personal decision with their family in accordance with their faith, with their doctor,' Clinton said. 'It's not much of a right if it is totally limited and constrained.' She spoke against a congressional bill seeking to ban all abortions after 20 weeks and said she would favor exceptions for the life and health of the mother late in the pregnancy. Sanders later noted that Fox News was the first outlet to ask Democrats about abortion, tweeting: 'It took Fox News to ask the first question about abortion at a Democratic town hall or debate.' Hillary Clinton expressed her support for Roe v. Wade, the 1973 US Supreme Court decision recognizing women's right to abortion at the event in Michigan (pictured). She added: 'It's not much of a right if it is totally limited and constrained' Sanders noted afterwards on his Twitter account that it was the first time Democratic candidates were asked about abortion during a debate Share or comment on this article: Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders FINALLY get asked about abortion

Donald Trump confronted Hillary Clinton on late-term abortion with graphic imagery during Wednesday night's presidential debate, drawing a stark contrast on the issue between himself and his Democratic opponent. When confronted on her past opposition to late-term abortion by Fox News moderator Chris Wallace, Clinton clarified her position that the health of the mother must always be taken into account when trying to legislate abortion. Trump took a tougher stance. "In the ninth month, you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby," Trump said. "Now, you can say that that's OK. And Hillary can say that that's OK -- but it's not OK with me." "You can take the baby, rip the baby out of the womb in the 9th month, on the final day and that's not acceptable"- @realDonaldTrump #debate pic.twitter.com/EZgsH1qmrn -- Voice of America (@VOANews) October 20, 2016 Clinton pushed back, accusing Trump of using "scare rhetoric" that is "terribly unfortunate." Though she didn't answer in blunt terms like Trump, Clinton seemed to suggest she supports abortion at all stages of pregnancy. "You should meet with some of the women that I've met with," Clinton said. "This is one of the worst possible choices that any women and her family has to make. And I do not believe the government should be making it."

And let me start off by acknowledging what I think all of you already know. And that is the views that many here at Liberty University have and I, on a number of important issues, are very, very different. I believe in a woman's rights.... And the right of a woman to control her own body. I believe gay rights and gay marriage. Unlike Hillary who fought against lgbt rights until 2013: And supported a ban on late term abortions in the past: Q: Are there circumstances when the government should limit choice? LAZIO: I had a pro-choice record in the House, and I believe in a womans right to choose. I support a ban on partial-birth abortions. Senator Moynihan called it infanticide. Even former mayor Ed Koch agreed that this was too extreme a procedure. This is an area where I disagree with my opponent. My opponent opposes a ban on partial-birth abortions. CLINTON: My opponent is wrong. I have said many times that I can support a ban on late-term abortions, including partial-birth abortions , so long as the health and life of the mother is protected. Ive met women who faced this heart-wrenching decision toward the end of a pregnancy. Of course its a horrible procedure. No one would argue with that. But if your life is at stake, if your health is at stake, if the potential for having any more children is at stake, this must be a womans choice. Source: Senate debate in Manhattan , Oct 8, 2000 http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Hillary_Clinton_Abortion.htm And confirmed her willingness to compromise with the right wing recently: I am SHOCKED that you were unaware of this.

ABORTION is a highly controversial issue in America and one on which the two main parties rarely find common ground. While the Republicans, who have a large Christian voting base, strongly oppose abortion - the Democrats are in favour of a woman's right to choose. 1 Clinton and Trump have contrasting views on the issue of abortion It is no surprise then that Republican candidate Donald Trump has a 'pro-life' stance - however his views on the subject have even managed to cause controversy among conservative voters. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is firmly against the government interfering in what a woman does with her own body - but her views vary for many other liberal politicians. Let's take a look at what each candidate has to say on the issue. What are Donald Trump's views on abortion? In a 1999 interview, the New York billionaire, who has previously identified as a Democrat before entering politics, said he was "pro-choice in every respect." But since running as a Republican, Trump has changed his views saying he is strongly opposed to abortion. However some of his comments have led to accusations that he does not understand the issue. During an interview with MSNBC host Chris Matthews, Trump was asked if a woman should be punished for having an abortion if the practice was outlawed. Trump responded saying women should face "some form of punishment." This comment was slammed by mainstream conservative pro-life groups who claim they do not advocate punishing women but favour penalising doctors who carry out abortions. What are Hillary Clinton's views on abortion? The former First Lady is strongly in favour of a woman's right to choose. However, in the past Clinton has opposed late-pregnancy abortions and voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Act of 2003 while a Senator. And her views on the issue have not changed drastically since then. During a Democratic primary debate, Clinton's stance differed slightly from her opponent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders who declared he was "very strongly pro-choice." Clinton on the other hand said she was in favour of "late-pregnancy regulation that would have exceptions for the life and health of the mother." READ MORE:

Democrats FINALLY get asked about their stance on abortion - and Sanders reveals he is 'very strongly pro-choice' while Clinton says: 'It's not much of a right if it is totally limited and constrained' Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton clarified their position on abortion at a Fox News town hall in Detroit, Michigan 'That is a decision to be made by the woman, her physician and her family,' Sanders added Clinton said: 'It's not much of a right if it is totally limited and constrained' They were asked about abortion for the first time in their campaigns See more of the latest news on the Democratic presidential primaries Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have revealed their stance on abortion after being asked about the issue for the first time at a presidential debate. Both Democratic candidates supported women's right to choose to abort during a Fox News town hall on Monday in Detroit, Michigan. Moderator Bret Baier asked them whether abortion should be illegal in certain cases. 'I'm very strongly pro-choice,' Sanders said according to the Huffington Post . 'That is a decision to be made by the woman, her physician and her family. Scroll down for video Bernie Sanders said he was 'very strongly pro-choice' when asked about his stance on abortion at a Fox News town hall in Michigan, Detroit (pictured). 'I happen to believe that it is wrong for the government to be telling a woman what to do with her own body,' he added The Vermont senator criticized Republicans, saying they oppose government regulation in economic matters but want to use it to control women's access to abortion. 'I happen to believe that it is wrong for the government to be telling a woman what to do with her own body,' he added. 'They want to tell every woman in America what she should do with her body.' Clinton expressed her support for Roe v. Wade, the 1973 US Supreme Court decision recognizing women's right to abortion. 'Women have this right to make this highly personal decision with their family in accordance with their faith, with their doctor,' Clinton said. 'It's not much of a right if it is totally limited and constrained.' She spoke against a congressional bill seeking to ban all abortions after 20 weeks and said she would favor exceptions for the life and health of the mother late in the pregnancy. Sanders later noted that Fox News was the first outlet to ask Democrats about abortion, tweeting: 'It took Fox News to ask the first question about abortion at a Democratic town hall or debate.' Hillary Clinton expressed her support for Roe v. Wade, the 1973 US Supreme Court decision recognizing women's right to abortion at the event in Michigan (pictured). She added: 'It's not much of a right if it is totally limited and constrained' Sanders noted afterwards on his Twitter account that it was the first time Democratic candidates were asked about abortion during a debate Share or comment on this article: Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders FINALLY get asked about abortion

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders discussed abortion onstage when asked for the first time after seven Democratic debates and multiple town halls. The lack of discussion on abortion throughout the Democratic debate and town hall circuit has been criticized by some, including Planned Parenthood. Although the Democratic Party is generally supportive of abortion rights, which may have played part in why it was not previously discussed, many believe the topic should have been introduced -- particularly after recent controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood and the shooting in Colorado Springs at a Planned Parenthood clinic that left three dead. "Can you name a single circumstance at any point in a pregnancy in which you would be okay with abortion being illegal?" moderator Bret Baier asked both candidates during the Fox News town hall. "It's not a question of me being OK," Sanders said, thanking Baier for the question. "I know not everybody here will agree with me. I happen to believe that it is wrong for the government to be telling a woman what to do with her own body ... I understand there are honest people. I mean, I have a lot of friends, some supporters, some disagree. They hold a different point of view, and I respect that." Sanders then criticized the rhetoric of Republicans surrounding abortion, indirectly accusing them of hypocrisy. "I'll tell you something which I don't like in this debate," Sanders said. "There are a whole lot of people out there who tell me the government is terrible, government is awful, get government off our backs. My Republican friends want to cut Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare -- Medicaid, education. But somehow on this issue, they want to tell every woman in America what she should do with her body." Clinton received a similar question from Baier, asking if she believed a child should have any legal rights or protections before birth and if she thinks there should not be restrictions on abortions at any stage during pregnancy. "Well, again, let me put this in context, because it's an important question," Clinton said. "Right now the Supreme Court is considering a decision that would shut down a lot of the options for women in Texas, and there have been other legislatures that have taken similar steps to try to restrict a woman's right to obtain an abortion. Under Roe v. Wade, which is rooted in the Constitution, women have this right to make this highly personal decision with their family in accordance with their faith, with their doctor. It's not much of a right if it is totally limited and constrained. So I think we have to continue to stand up for a woman's right to make these decisions, and to defend Planned Parenthood, which does an enormous amount of good work across our country." Some were surprised the issue of abortion was brought up on Fox News Channel, which some consider to be conservative-leaning. "It took Fox News to ask the first question about abortion at a Democratic town hall or debate," Sanders said on Twitter. Copyright 2016 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent. This content is published through a licensing agreement with Acquire Media using its NewsEdge technology. VN:D [1.9.6_1107] Rating: 3.3/ 10 (6 votes cast) Fox News' Bret Baier Holds Town Hall for Clinton, Sanders , 3.3 out of 10 based on 6 ratings

[Featured image: USS Thresher (SSN-593) underway] 1778: The sloop-of-war USS Ranger sets sail from the port of Brest, France for action along the British and Irish coasts. Under command of her legendary captain John Paul Jones, the crew of Ranger raid ports and capture several prizes before returning to France. Capt. John Paul Jones, the "Father of the American Navy." Painting by George Bagby Matthews. 1865: A day after surrendering his Army of Northern Virginia, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee issues General Order No. 9 - his farewell address to his troops. Lee writes, "You will take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed, and I earnestly pray that a merciful God will extend to you his blessing and protection. With an unceasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your Country, and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous consideration for myself, I bid you an affectionate farewell." As the Civil War comes to a close, Lee discourages his fellow officers from starting a guerilla war and becomes a symbol for reconciliation between northern and southern states. Four years after the two generals meet at Appomattox Courthouse, President Grant invites Lee to visit him at the White House. Robert E. Lee on his horse Traveler in 1866 1941: When Germany invades Denmark, Greenland - a Danish colony - asks for U.S. military protection. Over the course of World War II, the United States will operate numerous weather, navigation, air fields, and ports on the island. 1963: The submarine USS Thresher (SSN-593) sinks while performing deep-diving tests in the northern Atlantic, taking 129 sailors and shipyard personnel with her. Thresher is the first nuclear sub lost at sea and the event marks the largest loss of life in submarine history. 1972: B-52 bombers attack North Vietnamese SAM-2 sites near Vinh, the first deep-strike bombing mission since 1967. 1994: Two U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons attack a Bosnian Serb command post after an attack on UN personnel. The strike is the first bombing operation in NATO history.

1776: Although the Continental Congress voted to establish "the thirteen united [ sic ] States of America" on July 2 and adopted Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence two days later, congressional delegates sign the Declaration on this date. The most famous inscription belongs to John Hancock, the president of Congress, who is said to have declared, "There, I guess King George will be able to read that without his spectacles," after adding his rather substantial signature. 1909: After a successful demonstration for the military by Orville Wright, the Army Signal Corps purchases a Wright Flyer for $30,000 (the equivalent of $800,000 today). The two-seat "Signal Corps Airplane No. 1" will train America's first military pilots at College Park, Md. and Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio over the next two years - crashing several times - before it's retirement. Today, the legendary aircraft hangs in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. 1934: Upon the death of German president Paul von Hindenberg, Chancellor Adolf Hitler begins his "thousand-year Reich," assuming full dictatorial powers as Reichsfuhrer. Also on this date, Hitler changes the military oath so that the Wehrmacht swears allegiance to him instead of Germany. 1944: Convoy HX 300, the largest convoy of World War II, safely crosses the Atlantic, bringing over 1 million tons of supplies to ports in the United Kingdom. 32 escort vessels protected the 155 cargo ships, and the formation spanned nine miles across and four miles long. Not a single ship was attacked by a German submarine. 1950: As the North Korean Army bears down on the American and UN forces occupying the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula, the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade lands at Pusan and mans the Pusan Perimeter's left flank. 1964: The destroyer USS Maddox (DD-731), supporting South Vietnamese covert operations against the North in the Gulf of Tonkin, is attacked by three North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. Within days, Congress would pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, paving the way for full-scale conflict in Vietnam. USS Maddox (DD-731) 1990: (feature image) At 2a.m., several divisions of the Iraqi military's elite Republican Guards cross into Kuwait, beginning a seven-month occupation of the neighboring state. The United States will lead a 35-nation coalition to liberate Kuwait in January.

[Featured image: USS Thresher (SSN-593) underway] 1778: The sloop-of-war USS Ranger sets sail from the port of Brest, France for action along the British and Irish coasts. Under command of her legendary captain John Paul Jones, the crew of Ranger raid ports and capture several prizes before returning to France. Capt. John Paul Jones, the "Father of the American Navy." Painting by George Bagby Matthews. 1865: A day after surrendering his Army of Northern Virginia, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee issues General Order No. 9 - his farewell address to his troops. Lee writes, "You will take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed, and I earnestly pray that a merciful God will extend to you his blessing and protection. With an unceasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your Country, and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous consideration for myself, I bid you an affectionate farewell." As the Civil War comes to a close, Lee discourages his fellow officers from starting a guerilla war and becomes a symbol for reconciliation between northern and southern states. Four years after the two generals meet at Appomattox Courthouse, President Grant invites Lee to visit him at the White House. Robert E. Lee on his horse Traveler in 1866 1941: When Germany invades Denmark, Greenland - a Danish colony - asks for U.S. military protection. Over the course of World War II, the United States will operate numerous weather, navigation, air fields, and ports on the island. 1963: The submarine USS Thresher (SSN-593) sinks while performing deep-diving tests in the northern Atlantic, taking 129 sailors and shipyard personnel with her. Thresher is the first nuclear sub lost at sea and the event marks the largest loss of life in submarine history. 1972: B-52 bombers attack North Vietnamese SAM-2 sites near Vinh, the first deep-strike bombing mission since 1967. 1994: Two U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons attack a Bosnian Serb command post after an attack on UN personnel. The strike is the first bombing operation in NATO history.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended chief of staff John Kelly at Tuesday's press briefing, a day after Kelly defended Confederate Gen. [...] Looks like someone is feeling the Mueller heat!! Sarah Huckabee Sanders accused Hillary Clinton's campaign of colluding with Russians during [...] During today's White House briefing, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was confronted by a reporter over the release of a [...] Sarah Huckabee Sanders gave a press briefing today, the first following Donald Trump's decision to rescind DACA, and she was [...]

1942: While Japanese reinforcements depart Truk to join the fighting on Guadalcanal, American P-40 "Lightnings" with the 49th Fighter Group shoot down 15 Japanese fighters and bombers attempting to target the air base in Darwin, Australia. 1944: When Gen. George S. Patton's Third Army reaches the Seine River, Adolf Hitler orders Gen. Hans Speidel to destroy all bridges in Paris - which Speidel ignores, as well as another order days later to target Paris with V-1 and V-2 flying bombs. Speidel's garrison will surrender in two days and the 28th Infantry Division will parade through the streets of Paris, ending four years of Nazi occupation. Gen. Hans Speidel (middle) 1950: Over 70,000 Army Reservists are ordered to report for duty during the Korean War. 1954: A Lockheed YC-130 prototype takes off for its first flight - a 61-minute trip from the Lockheed plant in Burbank, Calif., to Edwards Air Force Base. 63 years later, the amazingly versatile C-130 "Hercules" remains in production, providing transportation, air assault, special operations, gunship, search and rescue, aerial refueling, aerial firefighting, and numerous other capabilities to the United States Armed Forces and dozens of other nations. Lockheed Martin YC-130 1990: As American forces continue deployment to the Persian Gulf for Operation "Desert Shield", 46,000 Reservists are called up. 1996: (Featured Image) Osama bin Laden issues his first fatwa, declaring war on the United States for, among other reasons, maintaining a military presence in Saudi Arabia. The founder of the terrorist group al-Qaeda's message isn't taken seriously until bombs kill over 200 people at American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya two years later.

July 21, 2017 11:00 am For a film that deserves to be seen on the biggest screen and in the best format possible--IMAX, 70mm, some combination thereof--Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk is often at its best and most terrifying when we are trapped in close confines alongside the young men fleeing the Nazi onslaught: When we are below decks as a torpedo hits a destroyer filled with troops; when we are confronted with a shell-shocked soldier on a civilian ship who refuses to go below deck; when we are trapped inside a cockpit filling with water as the pilot struggles to open its jammed door.

Wednesday, February 20th, 2013 Chinese Environmental Official Offered Reward To Swim In Polluted Ruian River by Sara Gates / the Huffington Post Trash clogs up a polluted canal at the edge of Beijing on March 16, 2012. China said that two-thirds of its cities currently fail to meet new air-quality standards introduced this week that are based on the pollutants most harmful to health. (MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images) While China's air pollution has reached hazardous levels in some major cities, chemical pollutants in the air are hardly the only problem. Entrepreneur Jin Zengmin, from the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang, has posted photos on Chinese microblogging service Sina Weibo to illustrate how rivers and other bodies of water in the country are also at risk of pollution . One photo featured a trash-clogged river in the rural town of Ruian, Zhejiang. Along with this photo, Jin also posted a dare for the local environmental protection bureau chief to swim in the river and offered a 200,000-yuan reward (about $32,000). According to the South China Morning Post, bureau chief Bao Zhenming has refused to accept Jin's dare, explaining that his department is "not responsible" for the pollution . Bao did say, however, that he alerted the water conservancy bureau of the contamination shown in the pictures . Click over to the South China Morning Post to see photos of the polluted river . According to China News, Jin accused a local factory of dumping industrial waste into the river, but Bao said the blame lies with the region's overpopulation , the Shenzhen Daily reports. Jin is not the only Weibo user upset with China's water pollution. According to the Global Times, a state-run news agency, concerns over groundwater pollution in Chinese towns are growing among social media users, who have followed Jin's lead in accusing factories of dumping waste. However, the Times reports that government officials are constantly monitoring factories to ensure they are not "violating water discharge regulations." Authorities in Weifang, located in the central Shandong province, have gone so far as to offer a reward for tipsters who report factories in violation . As the Global Post notes, as many as 40 percent of China's rivers are seriously polluted , according to statistics obtained by Voice of America . And that estimate, from January 2012, may be a conservative one. According to Radio Free Asia, the latest water survey data suggests 90 percent of groundwater in China is polluted . Friday, December 11th, 2015

China on Wednesday again took a retaliatory stance after the U.S. trade representative imposed tariffs on another $16 billion worth of Chinese goods, beginning this month. The 25 percent U.S. tariffs go into effect on Aug. 23 and affect products such as steam turbines and iron girders, among other industrial products. Since the trade war with China began, the United States has directly sanctioned Chinese products worth $50 billion. The Chinese Commerce Ministry responded Wednesday by imposing its own 25 percent charge on U.S. goods valued at $16 billion. Earlier this month, the Chinese ministry threatened to retaliate against U.S. tariffs "to defend the nation's dignity" after the Trump administration asked the trade representative to consider tariffs on Chinese goods worth $200 billion. Read more from The Sift Share this article with friends.

August 21, 2015 5:40 pm China this week carried out another test of a new high-tech hypersonic glide vehicle, an ultra high-speed missile designed to deliver nuclear weapons and avoid defenses. August 20, 2015 7:19 pm North Korea has developed an elaborate underground missile complex at its Sohae missile and space launch facility near the northwestern border with China, according to U.S. officials. The underground complex includes both facilities for preparing missiles for launch and storage areas that are connected by rail lines, according to officials familiar with intelligence reports of the complex. August 20, 2015 5:00 am Hillary Clinton and two aides appear to have violated two national security laws by sending classified information on a private email server, according to a former Army counterintelligence agent and investigator for a public interest law group. August 18, 2015 5:00 am China conducted a flight test this month of its newest long-range missile that U.S. intelligence agencies say lofted two independently-targeted simulated nuclear warheads, according to defense officials. China's military launched live-fire naval warfare exercises in the disputed South China Sea on Tuesday, further raising tensions among states in the region.

A man exploded a small homemade bomb outside the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on Thursday, injuring only himself, authorities said. The Beijing Police Department identified the suspect only by his surname, Jiang, and said he was 26 years old and a native of Tongliao city in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia. He injured his hand with the explosive device, which was made from fireworks. There was no word on a motive, and the statement said the investigation was continuing. Read more from The Sift Share this article with friends.

China on Friday threatened to impose additional tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods, including coffee, honey, and some industrial chemicals in the ongoing trade dispute between the two nations. China's Ministry of Finance said the United States' recent proposal to impose additional 25 percent duties on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods would damage the global economy. The rift began when the Trump administration on July 6 imposed 25 percent duties on $34 billion of Chinese goods over the country's technology policies. China responded with charges on the same amount of U.S. goods. "China is forced to take countermeasures," the Foreign Ministry said in its statement. Read more from The Sift Share this article with friends.

Wed Feb 8, 2017, 09:17 AM Christian theme park in China sparks outrage Blueprint of Xingsha Ecological Park, with the Xingsha Church in the middle of the park.: So far the largest Christian theme park in Southern China.(Representational Photo) Updated: Feb 06, 2017 19:55 IST IANS Beijing Chinese netizens have expressed outrage over a large Christian theme park allegedly sponsored by the local Changsha government, in central Chinas Hunan province, claiming that the government should not encourage religious practices in a secular country that separates religion and politics. The park in Changsha Xingsha Ecological Park, which covers an area of 150,000 square metres, is the largest Christian theme park in central and south China, Global Times said citing a local TV station report. A Christian Church and Bible institute were built in the park, Chen Zhi, president of the Christian Council of Hunan Province, was quoted as saying by the TV station. The church will begin operations in June 2017, said the report. Dai Rihong, the representative of the ecological parks construction team, was quoted by Changsha Evening News as saying that the park was designed as a romantic wedding park for citizens to shoot wedding photos. http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/christian-theme-park-in-china-sparks-outrage/story-GoWT4aspjbGGyuD0aM7ANO.html

On Monday, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio battled Democratic opponent Patrick Murphy in a televised debate at the University of Central Florida and one particular Rubio attack on Murphy stood out above the rest. "Here are the facts, congressman," Rubio said before the tongue lashing of his opponent began. "You ran saying your experience working as a CPA would serve the country. You never had a license to work as a CPA in Florida," Rubio said. "So either you never worked as a CPA or you were working illegally as an unlicensed CPA." Advertisement - story continues below Rubio launched into other inconsistencies in Murphy's stated qualifications. "Number two, you never had a single contract to clean up the Gulf of Mexico. The company was only open for five months and it lost money from the beginning." "And number three, you didn't have a dual degree from the University of Miami because they don't give dual degrees at the University of Miami." Rubio concluded that there was only one reason Murphy would have embellished his own record. Advertisement - story continues below "Why does someone make things up about their record? Because they don't have a real one to talk about," Rubio said. Rubio's offense was also mixed with defense, which is what he invoked when he was asked about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Rubio called Trump a "horrifying choice" but said Democrat Hillary Clinton was even worse, accusing her of being "someone who repeatedly violated federal law" and "who has a 30-year record of scandal and outrage." Rubio added that "it's pretty clear Donald Trump is not my first choice or even my 10th choice to be the nominee of the Republican Party; 14 million voters in the Republican primaries chose differently," and said it would be his duty as a senator to stand up to either Trump or Clinton. Advertisement - story continues below Murphy tried to make the claim that Rubio, by supporting Trump, was anti-women, but the incumbent senator was having none if it. Rubio referenced an old photo of the 33-year-old Murphy that has been circulating on social media, which shows him with his arm around a woman, appearing to be grabbing her breast. "You're the one that posted a picture four years ago on Facebook of you groping a woman. That's inappropriate behavior," Rubio said. Murphy responded by trying to pivot back to Trump, but it wasn't until after the debate that an explanation for the photo was offered when campaign spokesperson Galia Slayen said in an email that the photo was of "a former girlfriend at dinner." Advertisement - story continues below Murphy tried to put Rubio on the defensive about whether or not he'd serve a full senate term if he won or try to run for president again in 2020, but Rubio was ready for that as well. "I'm going to serve six years in the Senate, God-willing, and I'm looking forward to it," he said. Facebook has greatly reduced the distribution of our stories in our readers' newsfeeds and is instead promoting mainstream media sources. When you share to your friends, however, you greatly help distribute our content. Please take a moment and consider sharing this article with your friends and family. Thank you.

During Moore's presentation at the church, a heckler interrupted him, yelling, "The entire time, all the girls are lying?" the man shouted. "Why would they lie?" Others in the audience came to Moore's defense, saying he doesn't look like a molester. Moore denies having a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old while he was 32. He also denies claims from other women who say Moore made inappropriate advances toward them while they were teenagers. What is the impact of the allegations? Trump also pointed out the allegations date back 40 years ago. However, Trump has also said he will not campaign with Moore . Trump's press secretary said his schedule will not allow it.

Getty Images Congressional Republicans were flummoxed Sunday by President Donald Trump's and his White House's continued assertions -- provided without evidence -- that President Barack Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower during the 2016 presidential campaign. A day after Trump made the charge, Hill Republicans were largely mute, and those who spoke out were perplexed at the source of Trump's information, which the White House has yet to disclose. Sen. Marco Rubio said Sunday he had seen "no evidence" to back up Trump's wiretap claims. Rubio is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Trump's ties to Russia and has received classified briefings on the issue. "I'd imagine the president and the White House in the days to come will outline further what was behind that accusation," the Florida Republican said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "The president put that out there, and now the White House will have to answer as to exactly what he was referring to." Rubio's comments came a day after Nebraska GOP Sen. Ben Sasse, a longtime Trump critic, said Trump owed it to the public to share more details about his allegation. Other Republican lawmakers who have clashed with Trump made similar demands for more information.

Donny Deutsch talks to Ari Melber about his conversation today with Michael Cohen. Deutsch reveals Michael Cohen used to believe he would never "turn" on Trump, but will ultimately do "what is best for him and his family". Deutsch also reveals that... The Beat With Ari Melber - 7:37 PM 6/20/2018 The Beat With Ari Melber - 7:36 PM 6/20/2018 According to ABC News, Cohen cited his ongoing legal troubles as a reason for his departure. However, in a resignation letter to RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel, Cohen also took a shot at Trump's family separation policy. Hardball with Chris Matthews - 7:19 PM 6/20/2018

Cara Mund Screenshot/Twitter Donald Trump loves pageants so much that he owned the Miss USA pageant for 20 years. But it seems like the contestants at Miss America don't love him. Cara Mund, Miss North Dakota and the contestant who won the Miss America title last night, criticized Trump for pulling out of the Paris Agreement on climate change. "There is evidence that climate change is existing," she said. "Whether you believe it or not, we need to be at that table." -- Cara Mund (@MissAmerica) September 11, 2017 Margana Wood from Texas called Trump out for not saying that the violence in Charlottesville was a "terrorist attack" early enough. "President Donald Trump should have made a statement earlier addressing the fact, and in making sure all Americans feel safe in this country and that is the number one issue right now," she said. . @MissAmericaTX is up next and she will be answering a question from @MrJessCagle . #MissAmerica pic.twitter.com/WbSBx3c5Ul -- Cara Mund (@MissAmerica) September 11, 2017

Trump was on with Fox and Friends this morning and told them that he is not flip flopping on illegal immigration. Rather, he says he's just looking for an answer or something: DONALD TRUMP: I'm not flip-flopping on immigration; We need very firm but fair policies https://t.co/WsxakhQulX -- FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) August 22, 2016 So what happened to his answer on illegal immigration from the primary? Remember, he said he would deport them all and let them come back the legal way. But now he's looking for a "fair, but firm answer?" Yes, Trump is absolutely flip-flopping. Otherwise he'd stick with this answer from the primary. Of course we knew this would happen, that he would never stick to his guns on his 'deport them all' position. Remember the secret NY Times interview ? Ted Cruz tried to tell everyone this is what Trump would do, but Trumpers just wouldn't listen. Now Ted Cruz looks like a political prophet as Trump flip flops like a fish on the shore. Comment Policy: Please read our new comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges. WARNING: Our comment section is being blocked by ad blockers. So if you can't see it, then please disable your ad blocker and it should appear.

Last week Obama announced an executive order that offers temporary legal status for over 4 million undocumented people living in the United States. This has been a long time coming, and though the order leaves out 6 million other undocumented people, it is a step in the right direction, and a pretty big deal. Yet Obama has remained completely silent on the massive protests taking place in Mexico, the country so often implicated when we speak of undocumented migration to the US. He has yet to acknowledge a movement to hold the Mexican government -- and by association the US government -- accountable for the murders and forced displacement of tens of thousands of people. On September 26, 43 students from a rural teaching college of Ayotzinapa were "forcibly disappeared" by local police in Iguala, Mexico. It's unclear who exactly ordered the attacks, but Iguala Mayor Jose Luis Abarca and his wife have been arrested in connection with the disappearance. Since the attacks, protests have taken place across the country, and solidarity actions have sprung up around the world, with women playing an important role in the movement and putting themselves as risk to speak out . Why might these protests be relevant to US policy? Because they are speaking out against violence that stems from the War on Drugs, violence which often targets women , indigenous, low-income and other marginalized communities. The tragedy in Ayotzinapa and events like it are why there are 11 million undocumented people living in the US today. Violence against women has increased significantly since the beginning of the War on Drugs. These women are protesting for their lives, with a sign that reads "No femicide, no violence, enough!" ( Image Credit ) Over at CIP Americas, Laura Carlsen makes a compelling argument that the War on Drugs is used as a tool to repress social unrest and keep power in the hands of the wealthy. In the US, that has meant the criminalization and mass incarceration of black and brown people, supporting a police force that kills with impunity and leading to an explosion of our prison population. Mexico does not have the infrastructure to incarcerate so many people and instead has created a militarized police state. If you read one article about Ayotzinapa, I suggest this be it. "The militarization of the country has brought the sad consequences that are now visible: over 100,000 dead, some 30,000 missing, human rights violations, an increase in gender-based crimes, forced displacement, abuse of migrants, corruption and collusion and deterioration of the rule of law. Because of the disastrous results of the drug war in Mexico, as a candidate [Mexican President] Pena Nieto disavowed the strategy. As president, Pena Nieto has done everything possible not to mention the violence and with the assistance of the media, has even sought to suppress the news of incidents of violence, change the discourse and hide the reality." Carlsen goes on to argue that the War on Drugs has lead to unprecedented US intervention in Mexico, so much that the Mexican state is committed to protecting US access to resources and labor through police force, all funded with $2 billion in equipment and services from the US. Considering the correlation between police presence and increases in violence , it's clear that the Mexican state has a vested interest in fueling conflict in areas where business interests are at stake. This is a strategy we see in other parts of Central America like Guatemala, where the government imposed a "state of prevention" on an indigenous community that has spent years protesting the construction of a cement factory in their city. The events in Ayotzinapa call attention to the fact that US foreign policy in Mexico kills. It displaces indigenous and rural communities. It increases femicides and violence against women. In the Mexican War on Drugs, "security forces" exist to protect the powerful, among them the United States of America. I want to hear Obama talk about that.

Last week Obama announced an executive order that offers temporary legal status for over 4 million undocumented people living in the United States. This has been a long time coming, and though the order leaves out 6 million other undocumented people, it is a step in the right direction, and a pretty big deal. Yet Obama has remained completely silent on the massive protests taking place in Mexico, the country so often implicated when we speak of undocumented migration to the US. He has yet to acknowledge a movement to hold the Mexican government -- and by association the US government -- accountable for the murders and forced displacement of tens of thousands of people. On September 26, 43 students from a rural teaching college of Ayotzinapa were "forcibly disappeared" by local police in Iguala, Mexico. It's unclear who exactly ordered the attacks, but Iguala Mayor Jose Luis Abarca and his wife have been arrested in connection with the disappearance. Since the attacks, protests have taken place across the country, and solidarity actions have sprung up around the world, with women playing an important role in the movement and putting themselves as risk to speak out . Why might these protests be relevant to US policy? Because they are speaking out against violence that stems from the War on Drugs, violence which often targets women , indigenous, low-income and other marginalized communities. The tragedy in Ayotzinapa and events like it are why there are 11 million undocumented people living in the US today. Violence against women has increased significantly since the beginning of the War on Drugs. These women are protesting for their lives, with a sign that reads "No femicide, no violence, enough!" ( Image Credit ) Over at CIP Americas, Laura Carlsen makes a compelling argument that the War on Drugs is used as a tool to repress social unrest and keep power in the hands of the wealthy. In the US, that has meant the criminalization and mass incarceration of black and brown people, supporting a police force that kills with impunity and leading to an explosion of our prison population. Mexico does not have the infrastructure to incarcerate so many people and instead has created a militarized police state. If you read one article about Ayotzinapa, I suggest this be it. "The militarization of the country has brought the sad consequences that are now visible: over 100,000 dead, some 30,000 missing, human rights violations, an increase in gender-based crimes, forced displacement, abuse of migrants, corruption and collusion and deterioration of the rule of law. Because of the disastrous results of the drug war in Mexico, as a candidate [Mexican President] Pena Nieto disavowed the strategy. As president, Pena Nieto has done everything possible not to mention the violence and with the assistance of the media, has even sought to suppress the news of incidents of violence, change the discourse and hide the reality." Carlsen goes on to argue that the War on Drugs has lead to unprecedented US intervention in Mexico, so much that the Mexican state is committed to protecting US access to resources and labor through police force, all funded with $2 billion in equipment and services from the US. Considering the correlation between police presence and increases in violence , it's clear that the Mexican state has a vested interest in fueling conflict in areas where business interests are at stake. This is a strategy we see in other parts of Central America like Guatemala, where the government imposed a "state of prevention" on an indigenous community that has spent years protesting the construction of a cement factory in their city. The events in Ayotzinapa call attention to the fact that US foreign policy in Mexico kills. It displaces indigenous and rural communities. It increases femicides and violence against women. In the Mexican War on Drugs, "security forces" exist to protect the powerful, among them the United States of America. I want to hear Obama talk about that.

One month ago, the award-winning journalist Javier Valdez was pulled from his car and killed in broad daylight near his office in Culiacan, in Sinaloa state in Mexico. Valdez is the sixth journalist to be assassinated in Mexico this year, and his killing has sparked outcry and sent new shockwaves of fear through the country's media. The journalists being targeted in Mexico have something in common: a commitment to documenting political corruption and state links to drug trafficking. Valdez's assassination follows a pattern of murder directed at silencing the messengers who are digging up truth and exposing the underbelly of the drug war. Valdez was the co-founder of Riodoce, the only independent paper still operating in Culiacan, which is the center of the Sinaloa Cartel and much of the drug war violence in the region. In February, Riodoce published an interview with an envoy from Damaso Lopez ("El Licenciado"), formerly the right-hand man of the notorious drug lord "El Chapo" Guzman. Lopez was apparently moving to take control of the Sinaloa cartel's territory in a fight with Guzman's sons before he was captured by authorities last month. Guzman's sons reportedly pressured Valdez to not publish the interview. Other journalists who were close to Valdez suspect involvement of Sinaloa and federal authorities in the killing. To date, there have been no arrests reported in the case. "We thought Javier was untouchable," said Marcela Turati, a prominent journalist who writes for the weekly magazine Proceso who was a close friend of Valdez. "He was one of the most internationally recognized journalist in the country. How do we protect ourselves if they are able to kill the most visible with impunity?" A week before Valdez's murder, the Committee to Protect Journalists published a report detailing prominent recent murders of journalists and failures in the prosecution of the crimes. The Mexican government's human rights commission reported in 2016 that 90 percent of crimes against journalists go unpunished -- 82 percent for killings and 100 percent for disappearances, where the bodies of journalists are never found. Of the 114 murders of journalists that the Mexican government has recorded since 2000, a federal special prosecutor's office for crimes against free speech has investigated 48 in the past seven years, resulting in only three sentences. The U.S. State Department's human rights report on Mexico last year noted that "journalists were sometimes subject to physical attacks, harassment, and intimidation due to their reporting. Perpetrators of violence against journalists continued to act with impunity with few reports of successful investigation, arrest, or prosecution of suspects." This same line has appeared in all of these reports in recent years. Nonetheless, in the face of blatant inaction by the Mexican government, U.S. assistance to Mexico's drug war has continued to flow, and to expand. Declassified State Department documents unearthed in recent years show that the United States has armed and funded Mexican military and police units despite being well aware of abuses and cover-ups. At the same time, the United States has supported projects supposedly aimed at strengthening the rule of law in Mexico, but none of it appears to be having the stated effect.

UNDER U.S. LAW, "PLAN MEXICO" IS ILLEGAL AND MUST BE ABOLISHED IMMEDIATELY - Under the Leahy Amendment, "No assistance should be furnished... to any unit of the security forces of a foreign country if the secretary of state has credible information that such unit has committed a gross violation of human rights" - STOP PLAN MERIDA/ MEXICO NOW! The Merida Initiative, also known as Plan Mexico, was defined by former President George W. Bush as a "new security cooperation initiative" between Mexico and the United States to combat drug trafficking and organized crime. While the stated goals of the Merida Initiative are to "produce a safer and more secure hemisphere and prevent the entry and spread of illicit drugs and transnational threats," the reality and repercussions of the initiative for the Mexican people are not as promising. As originally envisioned by former President Bush, the Merida Initiative/Plan Mexico would allocate $1.4 billion to Mexico over two to three years, a tenfold increase in U.S. military and police aid to Mexico over 2007 levels. Actually it has reached almost 3 billion dollars and president Obama has said he plans to continue the project "indefinitely." The Merida Initiative ignores two major root causes of drug trafficking: U.S. demand and poverty in Mexico. Widespread drug use in the U.S. makes drug trafficking highly lucrative for organized crime. In Mexico, where 50 million people live in poverty and minimum wage is approximately 5 dollars per day and many (perhaps most) people don't even make that, it is little wonder that organized crime and drug traffickers find easy prey amongst Mexico's poor. U.S.-designed trade policies, such as NAFTA, perpetuate poverty. Deeply impoverished and unemployed people in Mexico have only three options for survival: migration, tenuous and often dangerous work in the informal economy, and crime--which may include drug-running. As long as U.S. policies generate poverty and unemployment, our government will be working at odds with its own counter-narcotics initiatives Not one penny of Plan Mexico money is dedicated toward drug prevention or rehabilitation programs in the U.S., essential to efforts to reduce demand for drugs in the U.S. The Merida Initiative affects all Mexican people by threatening their human rights.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, a caravan of Central American mothers searching for their children who disappeared in Mexico while trying to migrate to the United States protested outside the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. Earlier this month, the United States withdrew from talks on a United Nations agreement promoting safe migration. This is Gloria Mariana, a Honduran mother whose son went missing in Mexico while trying to reach the United States. Gloria Mariana : "It's constant anguish. It's an eternal anguish, you could say. It's whenever you eat, whenever you sleep. Your mind is only thinking of them, on my missing son's birthday, every Mother's Day. For me, there is no Christmas. It is horrible, what you go through." Topics: Immigration

Fifty per cent of the undocumented living in the United States come from Mexico. The Mexican undocumented would not come or stay in the United States if they could make a decent living wage working safely at home with their families in Mexico. The current federal minimum wage in Mexico is about $5.00 per day (62.5 cents per hour), yet one billion dollars of trade is exchanged between the 1% of the United States and Mexico per day. The common citizens of both the United States and Mexico suffer while the 1% of both countries continue to profit. This inequality must stop in order for the 99% of both the United States and Mexico to prosper.

SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen's president dismissed his government on Tuesday, proposed a national unity administration and suggested reinstating fuel subsidies, government sources said, in moves to quell weeks of unrest by a rebel movement. But the Houthis, a Shi'ite Muslim group that had massed tens of thousands of supporters in the capital Sanaa with camps set up near the Interior Ministry, rejected the compromise proposals by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The impasse raises fears of worsening instability in Yemen, an impoverished Arabian Peninsula state bordering oil exporting power Saudi Arabia, and which is also struggling with a stubborn al Qaeda insurgency and southern secessionists. The Houthis, who are demanding that the government resign and subsidies be fully restored, have been fighting for years for more power for their Zaydi sect in north Yemen. Government sources told Reuters that Hadi had dismissed his government, suggested a national unity administration and planned to reduce petrol and diesel prices by 30 percent to offset unpopular cuts to fuel subsidies, which had drained Yemeni coffers but buoyed impoverished citizens. A government source said implementation of the initiative depended on the Houthis' acceptance. Mohammed Abdulsalam, a spokesman for Houthi leader Abdulmalek al-Houthi, said in a statement on his Facebook page: "We do not agree to it. Our position is still that we (stand) by the Yemeni people who have gone out in a blessed popular revolution to demand their legitimate and just rights." A member of the Houthis' political bureau, Abdel Malik al-Ijri, told Reuters: "What was demanded was a cancellation of the fuel price rise, and the lowering which was announced today represents nothing." With the Houthis' rejection, it is unclear what the government's next move will be. However, Hadi, in a speech before the meeting where the proposal was signed, suggested his patience was running out. "I affirm that I will deal decisively with all attempts to shake security and carry out division," he said in remarks on the state Saba news agency. Insecurity and political turmoil have mounted in Yemen since Arab spring protests ousted veteran autocrat Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011 and Hadi took his place in a complex deal mediated by the United Nations, Gulf neighbours and the United States. The United States and Saudi Arabia were alarmed by the rapid growth of al Qaeda in Yemen in the disorder created by the anti-Saleh uprising and are keen to avoid a spread into the majority Sunni Muslim state of sectarian bloodshed plaguing other regions of the Middle East. In a copy of Hadi's initiative seen by Reuters, the president plans a minimum wage rise and the allotment of ministerial posts to the Houthis and other constituencies while retaining the right to the weightiest portfolios of finance, foreign affairs, defence and the interior. (Reporting By Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Yara Bayoumy and Noah Browning; Editing by William Maclean/Mark Heinrich) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

The Yemeni national army's engineering team yesterday dismantled a network of Iranian-made naval mines in the Hajjah province of northwestern Yemen. Brigadier General Mohammed Salam Al-Asbahi said his forces were able to dismantle a network of naval mines planted by the militias on the coasts south of the city of Midi and near the island of Tawak in Hajjah province, Al-Arabiya news channel reported. Meanwhile, the Yemeni Popular Resistance Committees attacked militias in the province of Jouf, northeast of Yemen, adding that the legitimate forces launched an attack on their positions in the valleys of El-Werash and Al-Feid. The sources pointed out that violent confrontations erupted after the attack. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Yemen yesterday opened a number of new police departments in a province near its border with neighbouring Oman. The governor of Mahra yesterday visited the police forces and opened a number of departments including that of the Port Security Management, Security Facilities Management and Logistics Management. Mohammed Abdullah Keda reiterated the importance of keeping the province free from threats. Mahra has been largely untouched by the unrest in Yemen. However, there have been cases in the latter part of last year of weapons being smuggled from Oman to the Houthis via Mahra. Yemen has been locked in a bitter battle between Houthi fighters allied with forces loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh and government forces led by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, along with local tribes and resistance forces that are being backed by the Saudi-led coalition's airstrikes. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Oman will be hosting a new round of peace talks over the on-going three year Yemen civil war, Kuna news reported. Talks between the Houthi armed group and General People's Congress party (GPC) are planned to take place as soon as the new United Nations Peace Envoy to Yemen is recruited. No other parties to the conflict were named to be part of the coming peace talks in Oman. The role of the envoy is to "facilitate" negotiations between parties who would then decide if they can go ahead with peace talks, the former UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh said. Ould Cheikh is to step down this month. Ould Cheikh described the situation in Yemen as "tragic and disastrous", noting that nearly one million Yemenis are suffering from cholera. The UN has previous commended Oman for its role in helping find a solution to end the conflict. "Yes, we're open for negotiations with all parties to the conflict," Muhammad Al-Bukhaithi, deputy head of the department of external relations of Houthis and member of the group's political bureau, confirmed to MEMO . In an interview with MEMO last year in October, Al-Bukhaithi confirmed that Oman "can play a key role in stopping the war if they have the will to play a neutral and frank role with the Saudi regime". The Yemen civil war erupted in September 2014 when the Houthis overtook Sana'a, forcing internationally recognised President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi to relocate his government to the southern city of Aden. In March 2015, Hadi requested a Saudi-led coalition intervene militarily in order to halt Houthi advances. The fighting has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 Yemenis. This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know

Hoy la explosion de un coche bomba causo la muerte a por lo menos 50 miembros de una milicia progubernamental en Yemen. Un testigo dijo que el atacante condujo su vehiculo contra una multitud de nuevos reclutas en la ciudad portuaria de Aden. El autoproclamado Estado Islamico ( ISIS ) se ha atribuido la responsabilidad del atentado. Reciba las ultimas noticias en su correo electronico Democracy Now! es una organizacion sin animo de lucro 501(c)3 dedicada a la produccion de noticias. No aceptamos financiamiento publicitario, corporativo o gubernamental. Dependemos de las contribuciones de nuestros oyentes y televidentes para hacer nuestro trabajo. Por favor, haga su contribucion hoy. Donar

Ali Rasoulian, the Economic Deputy of Razavi Khorasan Provincial governor, told reporters on Monday "during the first nine months of this Iranian year (beginning on 21 March) $87.5 million worth of goods and non-oil products have been exported via the province border crossings." He added "this volume shows %7 increase in the volume of the export compared to the same period last year." Rasoulian pointed out that there are two border crossings of Dogharoon with Afghanistan and Bajgiran with Turkmenistan in the province. The province's deputy governor went on to add "most of the goods exported through Bajgiran included carpets, aluminum products, and goods and products exported via Dogharoon included fruits and vegetables, construction materials, food, containers, iron and chemicals."

"We disagree with the decision of the arbitration of Columbus Police Officer Zach Rosen. We believe the public safety director's decision for termination was the correct one." Arbitrator reinstates Columbus Police Officer Zach Rosen, who was fired after he was caught on video stomping on suspect https://t.co/ZZKj0BR1ZW pic.twitter.com/QyXAChUWT7 -- Columbus Dispatch (@DispatchAlerts) March 5, 2018 A police officer in Columbus, Ohio, who was fired for violently kicking a handcuffed black man in the head last year is set to be reinstated to force, following a police union arbitrator ruling. Officer Zach Rosen was filmed by a bystander in April 2017 where an officer was seen handcuffing Demarko Anderson, a black man. Later in the video, Rosen intervened and stomped on Anderson's head so hard that his head bounces on the sidewalk. After a long investigation of four months, Rosen was fired from his job and his own deputy chief stated his actions were "unreasonable" and made "no sense." However, the decision of Rosen's dismissal was overturned after arbitrator Mitchell B. Goldberg's ruling. "I find that the grievant's past good work record, and his performance at the highest rewarded level, combined with his intelligence level, is persuasive evidence that he has the ability to adjust his actions to conform with policies and directives in the future as they relate to his use of force in bringing dangerous suspects under control," said the ruling. On the other hand, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said he disagreed with the ruling. "We disagree with the decision of the arbitration of Columbus Police Officer Zach Rosen. We believe the public safety director's decision for termination was the correct one. However, we respect and will abide by the legally binding arbitrator's decision," he said . According to Columbus Assistant Safety Director Cathy Collins, Rosen must go through mandatory training before he goes back on the job. With the ruling of reinstatement, Rosen joins the club of at least 451 police officers who have been removed from their job but returned later. According to The Washington Post, most of these officers get away with such incidents and are not even removed from their positions while they continue on the payroll. It is alarming to learn that despite misconduct and in some incidents even taking lives of innocent people, these officers are allowed to return back to their jobs and walk away scot-free. Read More

Police have confirmed that the driver who is held in the death of Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson and Uber driver Jeffrey Monroe was an undocumented immigrant who used a fake name and has been deported twice in the past. Indiana State Police detectives have determined the driver was 37-year-old Manuel Orrego-Savala, a citizen of Guatemala. He gave police the alias Alex Cabrera Gonsales after the early Sunday crash that killed Jackson and Monroe. "Orrego-Savala is in the United States illegally and has previously been deported on two occasions, in 2007 and again in 2009," Sgt. John Perrine said in a statement. "State police investigators are working with U.S. Federal Immigration Officials and they have placed a hold on Orrego-Savala."

The term "wasteful spending" is a dog whistle Republicans use to demonize minorities and the poor. It's right up there with "cutting taxes," "tax reform," "freedom," and "choice." Whenever someone on... As another hallowed Memorial Day approached last week, I found myself once again surrounded by the jingoism and ostentatious pseudo-patriotism that too frequently turns our most sacrosanct national observances... A former Breitbart News writer behind a complaint to the Department of Justice implicated then-chairman Steve Bannon and Moustafa El-Gindy, an Egyptian businessman and the owner of Breitbart's Washington office that the site... Briarwood Presbyterian Church and Briarwood Christian School in Birmingham, Alabama has asked for its own police department. The bill was proposed for the 4,000-member church by attorney Eric...

"What sort of harmony are you sowing in the community?" Goudkamp asked. "You sow racist lies, and I want to see you removed from the shadow front bench." In these days of growing media concentration, Green Left Weekly is a proudly independent voice committed to human and civil rights, global peace and environmental sustainability, democracy and equality. By printing the news and ideas the mainstream media won't, Green Left Weekly exposes the lies and distortions of the power brokers and helps us to better understand the world around us.

Chilling surveillance video released Thursday of the deadly attack at a Florida high school shows the actions of a disgraced security resource officer who stayed outside as 17 people were slaughtered inside. The footage shows Scot Peterson taking up positions at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, at times running and talking on his radio. Peterson can be seen with an unidentified school worker walking toward a room at 2:22 p.m. -- less than a minute after the first shots were fired, allegedly by Nikolas Cruz, 19. Less than a minute later, three people -- Peterson and two others -- are seen on a golf cart driving through campus.

Print: Share: Alton Sterling was shot and killed after police officers responded to a disturbance call early Tuesday morning and Philando Castile was shot during a traffic stop, which has resulted in Black Lives Matter protests and the suspensions of the officers involved. A woman claiming to be Castile's girlfriend livestreamed the end of the traffic stop from the car on Facebook Live , while a local convenience store worker took a video from his cellphone during the fatal encounter between Sterling and two police officers. Spencer Irvine Spencer Irvine graduated from Brigham Young University in International Relations and currently works for AIM running operations and social media.

Vanessa Trump and two others were rushed to a New York City hospital Monday after she opened an envelope addressed to her husband that contained a white powder. The wife of Donald Trump Jr., President Donald Trump's eldest son, reportedly opened an envelope addressed to Trump Jr. that was sent to their apartment in Manhattan. She reportedly opened the letter just after 10 a.m. on Monday. The New York Police Department has indicated that the powder in the envelope was not hazardous, but officials still took serious steps prior to that to ensure everyone was safe. Vanessa and two other unidentified individuals subjected to the white powder were decontaminated at the scene and immediately taken to the hospital for further evaluation. Early reports from police and personnel on the scene indicated Vanessa was coughing and felt nauseous after being exposed to the white powder. "The substance was deemed to be non-hazardous and is being transported to a lab in New York City for further analysis," said NYPD spokesman J. Peter Donald. Trump Jr. tweeted late Monday that his family safe and unharmed after the "incredibly scary situation" that took place on Monday. Thankful that Vanessa & my children are safe and unharmed after the incredibly scary situation that occurred this morning. Truly disgusting that certain individuals choose to express their opposing views with such disturbing behavior. -- Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 12, 2018 As authorities work to identify the sick individual who would do this to a mother, Media Equalizer Co-Founder Melanie Morgan said she has feared something like this would happen since the day Trump took office. "Conservatives across America rejoiced when "disrupter" Donald Trump was elected. But joy was very much tempered with unease as the Deep State's plan to sabotage the President has slowly revealed itself," Morgan said. She added: "Now, we can't help but wonder if the daylight will bring a nightmare scenario in which some harm comes to the President or his family." Morgan said " Trump Derangement Syndrome is a real thing," and that everyone should be concerned that the intolerant left is willing to go to extreme lengths to harm the Trump family. It takes a disturbed person to do what they did to a mother of five children. More importantly, this is just one of many examples of what the Trump family is often subjected to from psychotic liberals who can't coexist with anyone who offers a different political viewpoint to theirs.

The Daily Banter Headline Grab. From AP : Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Wednesday denied a request to block part of the federal health care law that requires employee health-care plans to provide insurance coverage for the morning-after pill and similar emergency contraception pills. Hobby Lobby Stores and a sister company, Mardel Inc., sued the government, claiming the mandate violates the religious beliefs of its owners. In an opinion, Sotomayor said the stores fail to satisfy the demanding legal standard for blocking the requirement on an emergency basis. She said the companies may continue their challenge to the regulations in the lower courts.

John Fugelsang believes John Boehner suing President Obama to appease the Tea Party Most thinking people understand that Congress has no standing in suing the President when one cannot identify a harm done to someone. Attorney General Eric Holder said the following on ABC News on Sunday. "For whatever reason, [some] Republicans decided early on [...] John Fugelsang wants Democrats to project GOP 'Socialist' attack back at them John Fugelsang was on his political game on Friday's The Ed Show. It is almost like he had a couple of answers ready waiting for a question. If the issue of ensuring all Americans had access to healthcare was not so serious, it [...]

Amber Vinson is now Ebola-free according to her family nurse and in a statement sent out via Twitter from CBS News . Doctors are no longer able to detect Ebola in infected nurse Amber Vinson, her family says pic.twitter.com/bcJevRCQ6Y -- Alex Romano (@alexromano) October 22, 2014 The statement reads: " Amber's mother, Debra Berry, spoke to her just a few hours ago. Amber is steadily regaining her strength and her spirits are high. We are overjoyed to announce that, as of yesterday evening, officials at Emory University Hospital and the Centers for Disease Control are no longer able to detect [the Ebola virus] in her body. She has also been approved for transfer from isolation. Amber remains under treatment within Emory's Serious Communicable Diseases Unit. They go on to add that the family is happy about her recovery and look forward to welcoming her home. While the CDC not confirmed that Vinson is free of Ebola they did say that she had been moved out of isolation.

Obama is worried about Zika, should we be too? This week, President Obama called for "urgent action" against Zika virus, which is now spreading in 21 countries in the Caribbean, North America and South America. Zika virus is transmitted via Aedes aegypti mosquitos, which live in warmer regions. It causes mild symptoms in only one in five people. However, infection during... (c) Canary Media Limited 2015-18. All rights reserved. Canary Media Ltd, PO Box 3301, Bristol, BS5 5GD. Registered in England. Company registration number 09788095. Please contact us .

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Hypocrisy, thy name is.... German Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing an election challenge. In 2014 German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the world that German's borders were open and welcoming to Islamic refugees from the Middle East. Hundreds of thousands of Muslim males aged 18 to 34 took her up on her offer. Terrorism necessarily skyrocketed throughout Germany and Western Europe in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Today German Chancellor Angela Merkel is saying Germany's borders must be protected. ( Via Irish Times ) With a month to election day, German chancellor Angela Merkel has ramped up her refugee-critical rhetoric in a bid to pull back far-right voters, boost her Bavarian allies and win over a record number of undecideds. The chancellor used weekend interviews and rallies to stand by her 2015 decision that saw almost one million asylum seekers arrive in the country. She said she would decide the same way again, but insisted that events of 2015 "must not be repeated". Aware of huge public unease over the refugee crisis, and related terror attacks since, she signalled Germany would demand an extension of border checks on the border with Austria , a Schengen suspension requiring EU approval. Ahead of an Africa summit on Monday, with leaders of African nations as well as France, Italy and Spain, Dr Merkel said the border checks should "be kept in place until the security services tell us they are not necessary". She also took a tough line on reports that people granted asylum in Germany had returned to their homeland on holidays. "Having a holiday in a country were one is persecuted is not on," she said. "If this happens it can be reason to reconsider the asylum decision." She disputed claims that she had "opened" Germany's borders to refugees in the summer of 2015. When large numbers of asylum seekers walked from Hungary through Austria to Bavaria, she pointed out that "Germany's borders were open and we decided not to close them". ( read more ) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, aka. "Justin from Canada" is now deporting thousands of illegal aliens who responded to his earlier open border refugee welcome. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel is now stating German borders must be strengthened to stop the influx of her open border refugee welcome. Go figure.

Kushner said that the Middle East was a "truly fascinating region" because of "all the countries that they have there." April 4, 2017 (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices

On last night's show, I reported on a German schoolgirl who was bullied by Muslims for having blonde hair, no hijab, a German-Hebrew name, and being Christian. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel's open borders policy is responsible for her country's problem of masses of unassimilable Muslim migrants flooding the country. Parent's from across Germany have reported similar experiences, so this example is far from unusual. WATCH my video to see what advice the victim's coward principal had to make the bullying stop. Share This On Facebook Share This On Twitter Share This By Email Share This On LinkedIn

BERLIN (AP) -- Angela Merkel says Germany remains fully committed to the Paris climate accord, despite U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the agreement. Germany's long-time chancellor said Tuesday that the U.S. move was "very regrettable" at a time when the overwhelming majority of countries worldwide are trying to limit global warming. Merkel told a climate meeting with over 30 governments in Berlin that "climate change isn't a matter of faith ... it's a fact," citing new temperature records and the increase in extreme weather events around the world. She said efforts to curb global warming would help limit economic damage and boost innovation. Last year, at a global climate summit in Poland, Merkel urged delegates to hammer out a binding set of rules to govern the 2015 Paris agreement.

YOUTH unemployment has soared to a staggering record of almost SIX MILLION across the UK and Europe. Brutal figures yesterday showed the huge scale of the economic mess left by the credit crisis. Eurostat showed that unemployment across Europe hit an all-time high of 11.8 per cent in November. But youth unemployment leapt to 23.8 per cent or 5.8million. That's almost a QUARTER of kids across the Continent. In Greece, 57.6 per cent of under 25s are out of work, in Spain it's 56.5 per cent. This compares with 8.1 per cent in Germany and 20.2 per cent in the UK. On Monday, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso stunned analysts by declaring the Euro crisis was OVER. Jonathan Loynes, chief economist at CAPITAL ECONOMICS, said: "There's been a bit of a lull in the market crisis. "But these numbers show the economic crisis is as bad as it ever was. "And the trouble is that without growth, these countries cannot pay down their debts."

By Shalom Goldman | (Informed Comment) | - - This season, the best-selling book in the U.S. is Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu are mentioned frequently in Michael Wolff's account of the chaos and confusion in the Trump White House. Wolff points out that for [...] By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - In 1976,when Jimmy Carter was elected, a big majority (81%) of Americans identified as both white and Christian, with 4 in 10 of those being white Catholics. The country even had a majority (55%) of white Protestants! Carter, an Southern evangelical, benefited from the Christian vote [...] By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban not only continued to defend his anti-immigrant bigotry but went on to say that Islam has never been part of Europe. Mr. Orban not only is increasing the misery of largely Muslim refugees, but now he has erased 1300 years of [...]

Biased framing: Here's why 'religious freedom' automatically means 'anti-LGBT' to this newspaper particularly surprising when First Baptist Dallas senior pastor Robert Jeffress says something about ... came after senior pastor Robert Jeffress said this month that businesses pressuring lawmakers not to ... Robert Jeffress ... Dallas Morning News writer Robert Wilonksy is no fan of Robert Jeffress , senior pastor of First ... he declared that " Robert Jeffress belongs in Dallas' past, not our future": It's appalling but never ... Hey First Baptist Dallas: Your pastor's a real dolt, but your church isn't all that terrible, paper says Robert Jeffress ... maintain this small town even when the church itself is lost in the long shadow of its pastor, Robert ... Jeffress . He's known nationally not as the guy who talks lovingly about Christ but who talks ... The Dallas Morning News is no fan of Robert Jeffress , senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of ... at GetReligion when Dallas Morning News columnist Robert Wilonksy declared that " Robert Jeffress belongs ... Covering Robert Jeffress and Kim Jong Un: Some media shone, while others flailed Robert Jeffress ... Covering Robert Jeffress and Kim Jong Un: Some media shone, while others flailed ... It certainly made for a lot of waves on the internet: The Rev. Robert Jeffress of First Baptist ... , Pastor Robert Jeffress , a longtime evangelical backer of Donald Trump, just released a statement ... When political reporters discover religion News flash! Pastors preach different sermons on sex! close attention to the top few paragraphs on this one: The Rev. Robert Jeffress has changed the way ... -- claim about the ever-controversial Rev. Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church in Dallas. ... -- claim about the ever-controversial Rev. Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church in Dallas. Pay ... Looking back at US Jerusalem embassy and Gaza bloodshed: A story in which everyone plays everyone Robert Jeffress ... . Robert Jeffress and John C. Hagee at the embassy opening, the opprobrium directed at Israel by its global ... details of what happened -- the deaths of dozens of Palestinians, the presence of the Revs. Robert ... Jeffress and John C. Hagee at the embassy opening, the opprobrium directed at Israel by its global ...

Kremlin officials say there is an agreement for Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump to hold a summit in a third country. The announcement came Wednesday as U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton was in Moscow for talks with Putin and other senior Russian officials. Kremlin foreign policy... Read More News , World President Donald Trump , Russia , Vladimir Putin Leave a comment Chance of a Thunderstorm Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 89F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

Michelle Goldberg was formerly a senior contributing writer at The Nation . She is the author of three books: Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism , a finalist for the NYPL's Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism; The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World , which won the J. Anthony Lukas Work-In-Progress Award and the Ernesta Dinker Ballard Book Prize; and The Goddess Pose: The Audacious Life of Indra Devi, the Woman Who Helped Bring Yoga to the West . Her work has also appeared in The New Yorker , The New York Times , Newsweek , The Washington Post and many other publications.

Kathryn Moody : Investors, Are You Ready for the Next Global Crisis? Manuel Schiffres Mutual Fund Rankings, 2014 Meghan Streit : Pitching In When Caregivers Need Help Janet Bond Brill, Ph.D., R.D.N., F.A.N.D : How to prevent a second (and first) heart attack thru diet The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington : Caprese is a light, fresh salad; the perfect quick and easy accompaniment to any summer meal Mark Steyn : You Want Nazis? Jonathan Tobin : Care about the Jewish state's future? Obama, in interview, reveals even more reasons to worry Alan M. Dershowitz : Confirmed: Needless death and destruction in Gaza Katie Nielsen : As a mother, I'm all I need to be Cameron Huddleston : 18 Retailers That Offer Price Adjustments Nellie S. Huang : The Best Health Mutual Funds to Buy Now Brierly Wright, M.S., R.D. : Try these 'secret-weapon' foods to boost your changes of losing weight The Kosher Gourmet by Jessica Yadegaran : Take some relish in pickled goodies (5 recipes!) Kimberly Lankford : 50 Ways to Cut Your Health Care Costs James K. Glassman : Investors, Are You Ready for the Next Global Crisis? The Kosher Gourmet by Nick Malgieri : Chocolate molten delight with creme anglaise is a simple yet elegant make-ahead dessert

As the country struggles to understand why Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev did what they did--how they could have done it--we look back at the two... April 19, 2013 (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices (c) 2018 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). Your California Privacy Rights . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links on our site as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers. Ad Choices

$1 Trillion Deficits and the Crisis of the Entitlement State In case you have missed them since the early years of the Obama administration, the $1 trillion-a-year federal budget deficits are coming back, beginning with Uncle Sam's new fiscal year for 2019, which starts on October 1, 2018. T-Mobile's CEO John Legere and Sprint's Executive Chairman Marcelo Claure discussed at length their combined company's plans for 5G deployment if the government approves their merger. Californians new water-efficiency standards mean residents accustomed to showering and doing laundry on the same day may have to change their ways.

The burgeoning community of democracy-deniers, well-poisoners and pretentious posers have rallied under a new movement called the People's Vote in an effort to create wider and deeper social divisions. Using tactics pioneered by Goebbels, the... Geoff Dench, Belinda Brown's husband, died at the end of June after several years of courageously coping with progressive supranuclear palsy, a cruel and debilitating disease. He started out as a social anthropologist, going... Abortion campaigners have long exploited the public's horror of rape and sympathy for its victims to construct a 'virtuous' reason for terminating a pregnancy. But the anguish of Yazidi women who had babies after being... TCW co-editor KATHY GYNGELL writes: Geoff Dench, sociologist and author of Transforming Men and What Women Want as well as husband to academic and TCW writer Belinda Brown, died last month. In tribute to... In response to David Keighley: It's not press freedom at stake over Sir Cliff, it's the rights of an innocent man, SimonToo wrote: If this judgment were to set an undesirable precedent for press freedom,... in response to Alan Ashworth: Off the Beaten Tracks: Your Mother And I, by Loudon Wainwright III, Horsey_Mc_Horse wrote: Alan, how interesting to be reminded of songs that have content with so much meaning grounded... England football manager Gareth Southgate understood the importance of psychology in sport when he appointed Pippa Grange as the team psychologist. By all accounts she did an excellent job and the players seemed cool,... Journalists, lawyers and, of course, the BBC have mounted an all-out attack on Mr Justice Mann's ruling last Wednesday that the BBC and South Yorkshire police breached Sir Cliff Richard's privacy in the 2014... There's a famous seaside place called Blackpool That's noted for fresh air and fun. George Marriott Edgar, Albert and the Lion It's difficult to be neutral in the culture wars these days. Events last week in Blackpool... Threatening to make life 'uncomfortable' for one's opponents is standard practice in tyrannical regimes, in criminal gangs and amongst terrorists. It sustains dictatorships and one-party governments around the world as much as it buttresses...

VT Patriot : Saul, I read your comment and was ready to applaud it until the last part. Those that are rioting... Graystone : Now If FLIR is interested in marketing - and good will - they should "donate" a unit to the ECPD. tomcat : @ Wild Bill this liberal POS xander13 fits the profile you described in one post you made on this... VT Patriot : Amen Mrs. Hodges. I believe we are all here to help you and your heroic son. Please keep us... JP : Dumber in the head than a hog is in the a$$... Just say'n.... JP ...

fumanchu wanted man_1523653004500.jpg_39835118_ver1.0_640_360 If you haven't already, be sure to like our Filming Cops Page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter . Please visit our sister site Smokers ONLY Sign Up To Receive Your Free E-Book 'Advanced Strategies On Filming Police' Filming Cops was started in 2010 as a conglomerative blogging service documenting police abuse. The aim isn't to demonize the natural concept of security provision as such, but to highlight specific cases of State-monopolized police brutality that are otherwise ignored by traditional media outlets.

Wild Bill : @Tcat, He must have gotten the wrong idea and made himself fit the hard core unemployable profile. Now, his career... VT Patriot : Hah, you used the words 'thought, facts and truth' and 'left' in the same sentence. That is a mistake.... VT Patriot : Saul, I read your comment and was ready to applaud it until the last part. Those that are rioting... Graystone : Now If FLIR is interested in marketing - and good will - they should "donate" a unit to the ECPD. tomcat : @ Wild Bill this liberal POS xander13 fits the profile you described in one post you made on this...

Matthew Kimery mug_1529603569897.jpg_46228637_ver1.0_640_360 If you haven't already, be sure to like our Filming Cops Page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter . Please visit our sister site Smokers ONLY Sign Up To Receive Your Free E-Book 'Advanced Strategies On Filming Police' Filming Cops was started in 2010 as a conglomerative blogging service documenting police abuse. The aim isn't to demonize the natural concept of security provision as such, but to highlight specific cases of State-monopolized police brutality that are otherwise ignored by traditional media outlets.

Mugshot Template_1528752936850.jpg_45157585_ver1.0_640_360 If you haven't already, be sure to like our Filming Cops Page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter . Please visit our sister site Smokers ONLY Sign Up To Receive Your Free E-Book 'Advanced Strategies On Filming Police' Filming Cops was started in 2010 as a conglomerative blogging service documenting police abuse. The aim isn't to demonize the natural concept of security provision as such, but to highlight specific cases of State-monopolized police brutality that are otherwise ignored by traditional media outlets.

Excluded in life as in death, this is the reality of homelessness. Bekki Perriman documents it from the inside. I've used photography and storytelling to express what life was like on the streets. Each doorway is a place I used to sleep or sell the Big Issue and I wanted to tell the stories of those doorways, as a way of expressing the invisibility and horror of homelessness but also stories of friendship and what everyday street life is like. While the doorways are places I once slept and are the places where these things happened, they also act as a metaphor for the experience of homelessness, being on the outside and literally shut out. Above: I used to sleep here. It was sheltered and tucked away. I've noticed they have now put a massive flower pot in this space to keep the homeless out. Above: This is the doorway where Andy and I used to sleep. In this doorway we had water thrown on us by the street cleaners. We were spat on, urinated on and threatened so many times. In this doorway we also found friendship, shared a cup of tea and cuddled up together to keep warm. We laughed into the night. Above: In this doorway a man came and whispered in my ear that he 'wanted my money' and showed me a knife he had in his hand. I gave him the few pounds I had made selling the Big Issue absolutely terrified. Attacks like this are so common on the streets it didn't occur to me to tell the police. Above: I was sleeping rough in this doorway. An off-duty social worker came and approached me. She promised me she would come back the next day and help me to get some help. The next day I waited over 12 hours desperate for her to return as she had promised. But I never saw her again. Above: I sold a Big Issue here to Chris Evans. Above: Andy and I built ourselves a little cardboard house on these steps. It was a child-like house with a cut out window and flap open door. We sat inside our soggy house in the pouring rain. A man who walked past went across the road and bought us a pizza. I remember sitting inside our little cardboard house eating pizza as one of the happiest days on the streets. Above: In this doorway the police used to always move me on, but they never told me where I could go. Above: Andy was unconscious on the steps. I was shaking him but he was lifeless and blue. Crowds of people were coming out of the opera and I begged them to call an ambulance. A few people stopped and stared but then continued on their way. I still cannot comprehend how so many people could walk past a 17-year-old boy dying in a doorway. All photos are the copyright of Bekki Perriman . Bekki tells personal stories about life on the streets and living with mental distress. She brings attention to these issues in ways which are both political, but also show the human side of difficult experiences that challenge the viewer to think about previous conceptions and stereotypes. Find out more about the Doorways project . Read Transitional in Britain as part of our photo series on 'Home'. Help us keep this site free for all New Internationalist is a lifeline for activists, campaigners and readers who value independent journalism. Please support us with a small recurring donation so we can keep it free to read online. New Internationalist is a lifeline for activists, campaigners and readers who value independent journalism. Please support us with a small recurring donation so we can keep it free to read online.

The Lord of the Rings star is backing a campaign by Crisis, a charity which aims to end homelessness across the nation, and he is asking devotees to put their names to a petition aimed at the Government. McKellen has posted a link to the petition on his Twitter.com page and adds in a message, "Let's make homelessness #impossibletoignore (sic)." A statement posed alongside the petition reads, "Many people walk by when they see someone sleeping in a doorway. But it's not just on the streets that homeless people get ignored. In parliament, politicians of all shades could do more to tackle homelessness."

You have no items in your shopping cart. NI503 - Homelessness - June 2017 This issue is available to purchase as a paper edition here, or you can buy the digital edition as part of a digital subscription. The market is broken. The price of housing is through the roof. Social housing is neglected. In major cities around the globe ordinary people can no longer afford to buy or rent basic accommodation. Incomes stagnate while the gap between the 1 per cent and the rest of us widens. Housing insecurity and homelessness are the inevitable result. Families find refuge in temporary shelters or with relatives; young people couch surf; the addicted and the mentally disturbed drift to the street. Treating housing as a commodity rather than a human right leaves people homeless and hurting. This needs to change. This edition of New Internationalist looks at how to prevent homelessness and outlines the steps to a world where everyone is safely housed. Additional Information Code: NI503 Code NI503 ISBN No Supplier New Internationalist Product keys New Internationalist

Cardboard Stories That Will Make You Rethink The Way You Feel About Homeless People - #RethinkHomelessness Free sign up cp newsletter! By John Callahan , Jul 21, 2014 | 2:35 PM Photo: (YouTube Screenshot/Rethink Homelessness) Regardless of your skills, education or work experience, it is still possible for someone to become homeless. In order to show a different side of these homeless people, they were asked to write down a fact about themselves that no one walking by would ever know. They held these facts up so that people who passed by would see them. You won't believe what some of these people used to do for work or even how educated they are.

There are vulnerable people sleeping on the streets of Torbay, please join us in our appeal to Torbay's Mayor Gordon Oliver to facilitate the opening of empty buildings this Winter to shelter the homeless for fear that if we do not act quickly there will be death on our streets. Torbay has many volunteers helping day and night to provide help and support to Torbay's homeless and believe that anyone who is an elected official has the responsibility to promote caring for the homeless, it should be a priority. So far the Mayor's proposals have been to pass laws that will criminalise homelessness and issue PSPOs but we believe that this will not tackle the underlying issues. We are eager to work together alongside local authorities but we must not become apathetic to the person who is homeless by making them invisible. Homelessness can happen to anyone at any given time, it can come from a variety of situations, young people leaving home because of abuse/familial breakdown, being thrown out, relationships breaking down, bereavement, domestic violence, job loss, rent arrears or a lot of the time just because of bad landlords. We understand that homelessness is a complex issue but we would like to enable the Mayor and others to see that we need better ways of helping those in need, our first objective must be to find shelter for them fast as the winter months set in (forecast in 2 weeks -4 / -6 degrees) with a view to creating permanent accommodation where the truth about the daily struggles of the homeless can be tackled and where the right support can be built on. Homelessness is a violation of human dignity, we are asking that you will see the urgency to act immediately to remedy this shameful situation otherwise how many lives will be lost? Please give the homeless people their basic human needs - a roof over their heads!

In the past five years, the number of people sleeping rough has more than doubled - with a 30 per cent increase in the past year alone. Howard Sinclair, St Mungo's CEO, said: "It's impossible not to be shocked by what our report has revealed. Too many people are dying on our streets and too many are living with damaging long-term consequences of not having a roof. "Parliament also has a once in a generation opportunity to improve the current homelessness law. I urge MPs to turn up to support the Homelessness Reduction Bill on October 28 and help persuade the government to back the bill and fully fund the implementation of this new legislation. "Rough sleeping has doubled since 2010 and continues to rise. Unless further action is taken, more people will experience the dangers of rough sleeping without the support they desperately need." Mayor of Lewisham Sir Steve Bullock, London Councils' executive member for housing, said: "Councils across London have prevented or relieved nearly 30,000 cases of homelessness in the last financial year. "Whilst they will strive to continue to help as many people as possible, they cannot do this alone. If we are to tackle what is becoming a growing crisis in our city and across the country, Government must give local authorities the resource and tools to carry out their duties." A Department for Communities and Local Government spokesman said: "No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why we have launched a PS40million homelessness prevention programme, including PS10million grant funding for services to help those at imminent risk of sleeping rough. "We are sympathetic to the aims of the Homelessness Reduction Bill and we are currently considering its contents."

As many as 50 million Americans are about to flip the switch over to electric automobiles with their next purchase, according to the American Automobile Association. A recent survey conducted by the AAA found that popularity of electric cars is trending upwards. With infrastructure and availability all here, Alabama can lead the charge toward electric vehicles. In its survey, AAA asked Americans if they were considering electric vehicles for their next car purchase. The survey found that 20 percent of Americans say their next vehicle will be an electric car - up 5 percent from 2017. The Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition encourages Alabamians to make the move to an alternative fuel vehicle, such as an electric car. Electric vehicles offer nothing but benefits, from being more cost-efficient due to cheaper fuel to less expensive maintenance to being environmentally friendly. Alabama's relationship with Mercedes-Benz could be a factor in the state's future with electric vehicles, too. The automaker announced in January it would be rolling out an electric version of each of its vehicles by 2022. With Mercedes - and most other automakers - launching more electric options, there have never been more alternative fuel vehicle options than we have today. The Tuscaloosa County facility is the only Mercedes plant in the United States, and it will play a central role in the production of these electric vehicles. As these electric vehicles begin to be produced by the people of Alabama, the next logical step is for them to begin driving them as well. There has never been a better time to switch over to electric. It is a common misconception that it is a hassle to charge your electric car, whether that be at home or on the road. Charging at home can be done through a 120-amp power supply, which is the same three-prong outlet that powers your television. The Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition is determined to make driving an electric vehicle in Alabama comfortable by assisting in getting proper infrastructure in place. Alabama currently has 84 electric charging stations, and a total of 198 charging outlets scattered across the state in almost all major cities. More and more charging stations will continue to pop up across the state as more electric vehicles hit the streets. Current electric charging stations can be found at convenient locations in public, and some residential areas. The new Tesla charging stations in downtown Birmingham are just one prominent example. Several online sites, such as plugshare.com, provide charger locations. The Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition serves as the principal coordinating point for clean, alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicle activities in Alabama. The ACFC is part of the national network of nearly 100 Clean Cities coalitions that bring together stakeholders in the public and private sectors to deploy alternative and renewable fuels, idle-reduction measures, fuel economy improvements and emerging technologies. According to Alabama AAA PR and Marketing Director Clay Ingram, our state is warming up to electric vehicles as the technology and infrastructure begins to develop at a rapid pace. "We have come a long way in accepting this, in a short number of years," Ingram said. "We love our vehicles in Alabama, and I think there is a lot of room for (electric vehicles) as the technology continues to develop." With an average gas price of $2.91 - its highest cost since 2014. Gas prices are expected to increase over time without any anticipation of dropping. The average American spends $1,400 on gasoline a year, while average electric vehicle charging costs are $540 annually. Unlike gasoline cars, electric vehicles don't typically require oil changes, fuel filters, spark plug replacements or emission checks. In electric vehicles, even brake pad replacements are rare due to the fact regenerative braking returns energy to the battery. With all the aforementioned factors in mind, it is no surprise that the AAA estimated a below-average cost of ownership with electric vehicles. Electric cars also are the least expensive when it comes to yearly maintenance. Since the 1970s, lawmakers in the United States have been putting effort into facilitating the research and growth of electric cars. The urge to reduce carbon emissions has given electric car production a lift. Electric vehicles emit an average of 4,500 pounds of CO2, with gasoline cars emitting more than double that. This current shift to electric will not only have an environmental impact, but also an economic one. According the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the United States has made progress in importing less oil, but still imports nearly 20 percent of what is consumed. The increasing use of electricity as an alternative fuel will further push the United States toward economic independence from foreign countries. The benefits to driving an electric car are endless! To learn more about the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition and advice on purchasing an alternative fuel vehicle, please visit www.alabamacleanfuels.org. Mark Bentley is the executive director of the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition. U.S. Rep. Martha Roby is a Republican from Montgomery.

On August 1, 2013, Alabama moved from a discretionary concealed handgun permit rule to one where sheriffs had no discretion (copy of law is here ). The number of permits in these six counties have increased by only 4 percent, much less than the increase that we are seeing in most of the US. It seems to imply that Alabama sheriffs rarely exercised this discretion. These six counties account for 42.1 percent of the adult population in Alabama and have given out 192,380 permits. If the rest of the state gave out permits at the same rate, the total number of permits would be 459,980, up from 440,043 in 2013. This is clearly an underestimate since urban counties almost always have a lower permit rate than more rural areas and these six counties are the most urban parts of the state. These numbers for Alabama raises the total for just nine states currently to at least 5,644,153 ( Florida, Indiana, Michigan Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and now Alabama). An article at Alabama Today summarized the experience over the last year. Escambia County Sheriff Grover Smith, a former president of the Sheriffs' Association who served as its point man during the debate over the pistol permit law, said sheriffs exercised their discretion judiciously - such as when an applicant had demonstrated violent tendencies or mental instability. "There really never was an issue with denying pistol permits," he said. "Most sheriff's want you to be armed." . . . The new law that went into effect in 2013 made these changes : 1) Eliminate discretion in issuing permits. 2) Allowed permitted concealed handguns to be stored in people's cars at work. 3) Allowed guns to be transported in a vehicle without a permit being required. 4) Clarifies open carry provisions and makes it clear that doing so is not disorderly conduct, allows private property owners, including businesses, to prohibit open carry. 5) Expands Alabama Castle Doctrine to include the use of deadly force to defend themselves from harm when an intruder enters his or her business.

Why It's So Difficult to Get an Abortion in Alabama Despite the fact that abortion is a legal medical procedure in this country, access has been increasingly restricted across the country in recent years. Robin Marty ( a frequent Cosmopolitan.com contributor ) traveled to Alabama to report for Fusion on just how bad it's gotten in the state. "In the 80s and 90s there were over a dozen abortion clinics in the state of Alabama. Now there are only five," she writes. "Just two of these clinics [Huntsville and Tuscaloosa] can care for patients who have advanced beyond the first trimester and one clinic, in Mobile, offers abortions only up to 9 weeks gestation." Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Because of a mandatory 48-hour waiting period, women seeking abortions who do not live near one of the few clinics in the state must now either make two trips or stay overnight. In an interactive feature, Marty uses a hypothetical woman from Selma as an example and calculates what it would cost her to travel to each of the clinics. To make the 174-mile trip to Mobile, for instance, it would cost $147 for one trip and a hotel room or $54 for two trips. This, of course, is in addition to the cost of the procedure. Marty also spoke with both abortion supporters and opponents at the clinics and includes audio of them expressing their views. "Any time abortion happens, it hurts the community," Genevieve Aucoin, a pro-life activist in Tuscaloosa, says. "By doing all that we can to keep the clinic closed, we are protecting pre-born children from destruction and ensuring that women can get the health care they deserve from more reputable facilities that are not biased toward abortion." At the Huntsville clinic, Dr. Yaschica Robinson gives a very different perspective: "I was a teen mom myself," she says. "I continued the pregnancy, but for the next young woman who finds herself in my shoes, I want to make sure that she has the option to make that decision." Check out the full feature at Fusion.

By Guardians of Democracy Staff November 13, 2017 Brett Talley, President Trump's nominee to be a federal district judge in Alabama despite only practicing... By Guardians of Democracy Staff November 13, 2017 Fifty-three Alabama pastors have signed onto a letter urging Alabamians to vote for Republican Senate candidate... GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday called for embattled GOP Senate candidate Roy... Over 400 millionaires and billionaires sent a letter to Republicans in Congress asking them not to... By Guardians of Democracy Staff November 12, 2017 Five major companies have decided to distance themselves from Fox News host Sean Hannity by pulling... By Guardians of Democracy Staff November 12, 2017 Republican strategist Alex Castellanos on Sunday credited President Trump for the Democrats' sweeping wins on Tuesday,... By Guardians of Democracy Staff November 12, 2017 Nearly half of white Americans living in Southern states feel like "white people" are under attack,... By Guardians of Democracy Staff November 12, 2017 President Trump's Alabama state campaign co-chairman called the allegations that Alabama Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore... By Guardians of Democracy Staff November 12, 2017 Tens of thousands of nationalist demonstrators marched through Warsaw on Saturday to mark Poland's independence day,...

(ASSOCIATED PRESS) -- Alabama is updating its decade-old science standards to require that students understand evolution and learn about climate change, topics that can still be controversial in the Bible Belt state. Educators say the new rules -- part of a major change that includes more experimentation and hands-on instruction and less lecturing -- don't require that students believe in evolution or accept the idea that climate is changing globally. But public school students will be required for the first time to understand the theory of evolution. And teachers will be required to address climate change, which wasn't a focus the last time the state set science standards in 2005. The new standards take effect in 2016 after being unanimously approved by the Republican-controlled Alabama State Board of Education on Thursday.

Carmaker Mercedes-Benz announced Thursday that it will invest $1 billion to set up electric vehicle production at its Tuscaloosa, Alabama plant and to build a battery factory nearby, moves it said would create 600 new jobs. The luxury division of Germany's Daimler AG said it plans to manufacture electric SUVs under Mercedes' EQ sub-brand at the Alabama plant by the start of the next decade. Mercedes executive Markus Schaefer said in a statement that "with the addition of electric SUVs to our future fleet, we will provide discerning drivers with a new, high-quality automotive option." Daimler, based in Stuttgart, Germany, is among the global automakers investing in what they hope will be the automotive technology of the future, combining low-emissions electric propulsion with autonomous driving technology and new forms of getting around such as sharing cars ordered through a smartphone app. At the Mercedes-Benz U.S. International facility in Tuscaloosa, workers assemble the GLS, GLE and GLE Coupe SUVs for the global market as well as the C-Class sedan for North America. The company says it employs 3,700 people and supports another 7,000 jobs at the 1,000-acre (400 hectare) site. The first EQ production model, the EQC, is expected to go into production in Bremen, Germany in 2019. The Alabama battery plant will join facilities in Germany and China; construction is to begin next year on the 1 million square-foot (92,900 square-meter) facility, which is planned to start operating at the beginning of the next decade. Daimler also said it will build a new global logistics center and after-sales North American hub in Bibb County, Alabama, located about five miles (8 kilometers) from the Tuscaloosa plant.

Most Americans think refusing to stand for the national anthem is disrespectful to the country, the military and the American flag. But most also disapprove of President Donald Trump's calling for NFL players to be fired for refusing to stand. The NFL protests began last season with quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who knelt during the national anthem to bring more attention to the killings of black men by police officers. The protests spread this season, as the former San Francisco 49er was unable to sign on with another team, Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett said he was racially profiled by Las Vegas police and then Trump sounded off. According to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 52 percent of Americans disapprove of professional athletes who have protested by refusing to stand during the national anthem, compared to 31 percent who approve. At the same time, 55 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump's call for firing players who refuse to stand, while 31 percent approve. In the poll, African-Americans were far more likely to approve of the players' protests. "I don't see kneeling while the anthem is being played as being disrespectful," said Mary Taylor, 64, a retired law librarian from Olympia, Washington. "Somebody has to stand up. Right now, it's black football players." Taylor, who is white, said she supports police but understands why players are protesting. And her personal politics also factor in. "I'm for it because Donald Trump is against it," she said. The form of the protest seems to matter. According to the poll, Americans are more likely to approve than disapprove of players who, instead of kneeling, link arms in solidarity during the anthem, 45 percent to 29 percent. "People don't want to be confronted with their racism in any form. If they are confronted with it, they want it in the mildest form possible," said DeRay Mckesson, a Black Lives Matter activist who has protested police actions since the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. The NFL protests got more attention and morphed into a bigger debate about patriotism after Trump told a crowd at an Alabama rally last month: "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a b---- off the field right now! Out! He's fired. Fired!'" That prompted dozens of NFL players, and a few team owners, to join in protests. They knelt, raised fists or locked arms in solidarity during pre-game ceremonies when the anthem was played. Broken down by race, 55 percent of African-Americans approve of players refusing to stand for the anthem, and 19 percent disapprove, the poll found. Among whites, 62 percent disapprove and 25 percent approve. Seventy-nine percent of blacks disapprove of Trump's call for players to be fired, while just 8 percent approve. Among whites, 48 percent disapprove and 38 percent approve. Thomas Sleeper of Holden, Massachusetts, said he considers the protests to be freedom of expression protected by the First Amendment -- and pre-game protests are likely the best stage for them because "individually protesting is not going to get as much press." "They want people to know that the country isn't living up to its full standard," said Sleeper, 78, who is white. "This is a way to get noticed, and possibly get some action taken." Chandler, Arizona, business owner Larry Frank, 67, said the protests are inappropriate and disrespectful to military veterans. Trump's response, he said, was "dead-on." "We should keep politics out of our sports," said Frank, who served in the Air Force. "We pay them to come out and play games and entertain us. Using this medium is not the right way to do it. Do it off the field. Let's not interfere with the process of a good business and a fun sport." The poll shows that overall, about 6 in 10 Americans agree with the assessment that refusing to stand for the anthem is disrespectful to the military, and most also think it's disrespectful to the country's values and the American flag. About 6 in 10 blacks said they did not consider it disrespectful. Just 4 in 10 Americans overall, and about half of African-Americans, think refusing to stand for the flag can be an act of patriotism. Frank, an avid Arizona Cardinals fan who is white, said he plans to boycott watching football on Veterans' Day to show his disgust with the players' protest, part of a larger campaign being promoted on social media. Thomas Peoples of New Brunswick, New Jersey, said the protests are a personal decision for each player. He doesn't think their actions are meant to disrespect the country or the military. Still, he would not participate in such a protest. "It's not my approach to resolve a problem," said Peoples, 66, who is black. "I'm not a protester. But they're expressing their feelings about how some Americans are treated in this country." The AP-NORC poll of 1,150 adults was conducted Sept. 28-Oct. 2 using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. The poll includes a total of 337 black respondents, who were sampled at a higher rate than their proportion of the population for purposes of analysis. The margin of sampling error among blacks is plus or minus 5.7 percentage points. For results reported among all adults, responses among blacks are weighted to reflect their proportion among all U.S. adults.

John Calvin is the pen name of a sports executive who has been actively involved in professional sports for over 20 years. "You could agree there is more competition to get the number 1 pick in the draft than to win the World Series." -- Jerry Dipoto, General Manager of the Seattle Mariners That one quote illustrates the current crisis baseball finds itself in, where more teams are trying to lose, and lose rather badly, than trying [...] I've heard of gunboat diplomacy before, but I never thought I'd live to see the world putting its eggs in the basket of figure eight diplomacy. In Korea, we are witnessing a series of diplomatic maneuvers revolving around ice skating, the Winter Olympics, and a dance troupe. Talks have begun between the two Koreas about [...]

Papa John's founder John Schnatter resigned as the company's chairman Wednesday after admitting that he used the N-word while discussing NFL anthem protesters, CNBC reports. Schnatter acknowledged a Forbes report that he used the N-word during a call with a marketing agency and other company executives on Wednesday. "News reports attributing the use of inappropriate and hurtful language to me during a media training session regarding race are true," Schnatter said in a statement. "Regardless of the context, I apologize. Simply stated, racism has no place in our society." The remark came while Schnatter was trying to downplay comments he made last year about NFL protesters by saying that "Colonel Sanders called blacks n---s" and never faced backlash.

Thought this deserved a thread since its been at the top of the news here in the U.S. for about 2 months now. For sure the most that American sports and statements against racial inequality have been linked together since the 1960s or 1970s. It started on August 26th with Colin Kaepernick, back-up quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, sitting during the national anthem before a preseason game with the Green Bay Packers. After the game he told the media : "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder." A couple of days later he came to a press conference with a Malcolm X hat and a t-shirt with images of the time Fidel Castro and Malcolm X met. The next game, Kaepernick took a knee instead during the anthem, after talking to a NFL player who is a military veteran. A 49ers player joined him. A player on the opposing team, the Seattle Seahawks, sat for the anthem. Before the game, Kaepernick wore some socks during practice that got a lot of people's attention... Gonna update this post with more examples of these national anthem protests when I have time.. It's pretty hilarious watching people tie themselves into knots condemning Kaepernick whilst simultaneously praising Muhammad Ali (as if they wouldn't have been amongst those refusing to refer to him as anything but Cassius Clay had they been alive at the time.) I think it's really telling that one can predict with a high level of accuracy whether or not a person will support or condemn this form of protest simply by knowing the race of the respondent. Which obviously is not to say, 'all white people . . .' but it really does show how wide the divide is in the parallel universe in which average white americans live. You can see the same conversation taking place in coverage of the various urban protests following a police-commited murder. 'I know people are hurting but this violence,' etc. It's very disturbing when folks are 'shaken to the core' by a few broken windows, but not by the rampant extra-judicial killings by the State's security apparatus. The next week : Three players, 49ers team-mate Eric Reid, Denver Bronco Brandon Marshall and Seattle Seahawk Jeremy Lane, have joined Kaeperkick in refusing to stand for the anthem, along with women's soccer player Megan Rapinoe. AFAIK Rapinoe has continued Interesting article about police brutality. Football players for Michigan and Michigan State along with a group of students at North Carolina raised their fists during the national anthem Saturday. Three Michigan State players - Delton Williams, Kenney Lyke and Gabe Sherrod - held their right fists in the air while standing on the sideline Before North Carolina hosted Pittsburgh, students wearing black shirts remained seated with fists raised. Some 60 to 70 black and white students participated. Seahawks Corner Back Jeremy Lane took a knee during the anthem at a preseason game in solidarity with Kaepernick, The Seahawks have started doing a linked-arms 'unity protest' that I am not too sure about but got a pretty vitriolic denunciation here .

Friday night, CNN contributors Symone Sanders and Ben Ferguson went at it over the NFL protests, in a debate that grew heated. Appearing on Out Front with Jim Sciutto filling in for regular host Erin Burnett , the two argued about the findings of a new CNN poll . By a 49-43 margin, respondents said players are doing the wrong thing by kneeling during the National Anthem. But 60 percent said that Trump was wrong for criticizing the protestors. "When you see the majority of Americans saying it's wrong to protest during the National Anthem, that's where they're backing the president," Ferguson said. "When they made it personal, it seems there's more divide there." Sanders interjected. "When he attacked players of color," she said. "That's what happened." Ferguson took umbrage with the insertion of race in a discussion about the NFL protests against racial oppression. "This is not about race as much you want it to be," Ferguson said. Sanders completely disagreed. "[ Colin ] Kaepernick took a knee for injustice, for racism, for police brutality, and white supremacy." Ferguson believes the protests are now about Trump. "The majority of these players were protesting Donald Trump," Ferguson said. "So, again, to say that all of them are unified on Black Lives Matter or police brutality, the majority of these players did not stay in the locker room a year ago when that was the actual issue that Colin Kaepernick brought up." Sanders closed out the discussion with a shot at Trump, which dually served as a clap back at Ferguson. "He said that the NFL owners need to get their players in line. If that's not a dog whistle, I don't know what is." Watch above, via CNN. [ featured image via screengrab ] Follow Joe DePaolo (@ joe_depaolo ) on Twitter

It appears football fans are throwing a flag at the NFL and its bow to political correctness. Sunday night's game between division rivals Dallas and Philadelphia was swamped in the ratings by game five of the 2016 World Series. Monday Night Football "took a ratings tumble," too, down 18 percent from a Colts-Panthers game a year ago, a CBS News affiliated reported . "Where's football?" asks Dan Gainor with the Media Research Center . He says he's not surprised that a Yahoo Sports survey revealed 29 percent of NFL fans turned the channel due to 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and his protest of the National Anthem. But it's worse than just him, says Gainor. "I think (NFL) football has lost its way," says Gainor, "and it's less about football and more about its place in the world." Dallas Cowboys honor police officers slain by sniper during Black Lives Matter protest. NFL fans, watching from the recliner, are likely aware the league refused to allow Dallas players to honor slain police officers with a helmet decal while Kaepernick wore cops-as-pigs socks to practice and went unpunished. Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III turned his Jesus t-shirt inside out at a 2014 post-game media appearance to abide by NFL logo rules , but the Black Panthers enjoyed some marketing potential thanks to Kaepernick's clothing choice Then there was the "shooting a bow and arrow" call against Redskins defensive end Josh Norman. While the NFL is bowing to a PC culture, says Gainor, it also appears to curtail anything entertaining. "It's like they've tried to take the fun out of football," he says. Copyright OneNewsNow.com . Reprinted with permission. VN:D [1.9.6_1107]

'Aladdin' Live-Action Release Date, Plot News: Jasmine Has a New Friend in Dalia Free sign up cp newsletter! By Rachel Cruz , Christian Post Contributor | Nov 10, 2017 6:46 AM Disney's "Aladdin" live-action is making some changes to Jasmine (Naomi Scott). The lead female character is getting a new best friend in Dalia. Facebook/Disney Aladdin Jasmine in the "Aladdin" animation only had a furry friend in Rajah and she will have a human female friend in the live-action version. She will serve as her handmaiden in the upcoming movie. It's a part that's not in the 1992 Disney animation, the live-action's original source. Nasim Pedrad will play Dalia but her casting fueled speculations Jasmine's furry friend, Rajah, from the cartoons won't be in the live-action. Sources, however, confirmed that Rajah will still be part of the new "Aladdin." The loyal pet, who disapproves of Aladdin (Mena Massoud), will perhaps make her appearance as a CGI. Adding Dalia in the live-action will update Jasmine's characterization though. "I never realized it, but in the animation, Jasmine is really the only female character, isn't that crazy," Scott said . "The Dalia character is so important to this movie because she's the only other female character." Meanwhile, Scott also revealed that director Guy Ritchie and the rest of the people behind the scenes won't be boxing Jasmine's characterization as someone who needs a husband as shown in the animation. The actress did not specifically detail what other aspects of Jasmine will change in the live-action but she will be a multi-dimensional presence. Disney did the same thing when the studio released the live-action "Beauty and the Beast" that starred Emma Watson. The film made her character more empowered as an inventor and teacher, aside from being an avid book reader. Meanwhile, Scott's casting became the subject of controversy when Disney first announced the stars. Fans of the fairy tale opposed the actress because Jasmine is supposed to be an Arab woman. Scott is English-Indian. Scott, however, assured disappointed fans that "Aladdin" will make sure to get things right. "Aladdin" will be in theaters in May 2019. The movie also stars Will Smith as the beloved Genie and Marwan Kenzari as Jafar, the villain. Billy Magnussen will play another new character, Prince Anders.

In The Tank (ep152) - AFEC 2018, and Universal Health Care Debate! Podcast Donny Kendal, with the help of Director of Communications Jim Lakely and State Government Relations Manager Charlie Katebi, presents episode #152 of the In The Tank Podcast. Fulfilling the Promise of American Energy Dominance at AFEC (Guest: Joe Balash) Podcast Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Land and Minerals Management Joe Balash gave a passionate and hopeful speech at AFEC 2018 on the strategy the Department is using to establish American energy dominance across the world. Heartland Institute co-founder Joe Bast discusses The Heartland Institute's history, it's accomplishments and what it hopes to achieve under new leadership.

On this episode, Andrew Walker interviews Heritage Foundation Scholar Ryan T. Anderson on his new book, When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment. Twitter: @RyanTAnd Ryan's Facebook Page Books by Ryan T. Anderson: What is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense Truth... Continue... In the aftermath of Billy Graham's death, much attention has turned to Graham's relationship with U.S. presidents during his lifetime. Having some degree of religious influence with every president since Truman, Graham's passing presents an opportunity to reflect, however briefly,... Continue... Sign Up For The Weekly

Young Muslims in Egypt use YouTube and satire to change perceptions about culture, religion 11:39 AM 10/17/2011 CAIRO -- Bearded and feeling misunderstood, Mohamed Tolba made a movie to tell the world he is not a terrorist. "Where's My Ear?" is a satire on the colliding passions and deep suspicions between liberals and ultraconservative Muslims like him, known as Salafis, who have become a pronounced political voice in the new Egypt. The short film has gotten more than 80,000 hits on YouTube and has made Tolba a celebrity and a curiosity among the Quran set.

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The criticism in this case is using a tool of oppression (the face-covering niqab , or burka) as a vehicle for empowerment. Others disagree with this assessment entirely, and see only positive things in this children's cartoon. via CBS News (CBS News) The outfit of the world's newest superhero is sparking reaction around the globe. Pakistani television's "Burka Avenger" is a teacher who fights crime, slaying extremists with books. Her enemies are Taliban-like characters who try to prevent Paksitani girls from getting an education. In each episode the black burka-clad heroine fights against a new evil - from child labor to discrimination and sectarian violence. The Urdu-language program was created by one of Pakistan's biggest pop stars, Aaron Haroon Rashid, known as Haroon. He came up with the premise for the show three years ago, about the same time that Malala Yousafzai, a young Pakistani student, began speaking out against the Taliban's attempts to shut down schools. Now 16-years-old, Malala narrowly survived a Taliban attempt to assassinate her in October, 2012. Much like Malala, Haroon's feisty "Burka Avenger" has a simple message: education trumps violence. ... Human rights activist Marvi Sirmed told Brennan she feels the cartoon wrongly glamorizes the burka, which she calls "a tool of oppression." "[It is] a symbol of submission of women. It cannot be used as a tool of empowerment," Sirmed told Brennan. But Haroon rejects that argument, and says critics like Sirmed are missing the point. "Superheroes hide their identity," he said, "In this case, she's a schoolteacher. She goes about her everyday life as a normal person. She doesn't wear a headscarf, she certainly doesn't wear the burka. But she only wears the burka to fight the bad guys, to hide her identity like a super hero would." Trailer, in english.

Have you heard the good word? Sweet Jesus ice cream shops face boycott, as Christians call its branding 'hate speech' Sweet Jesus ice cream shops face boycott, as Christians call its branding 'hate speech' Toronto-based ice cream chain Sweet Jesus is facing calls for a boycott from Christians who say the name is blasphemous... www.cbc.ca "The chain, founded in 2015 by Andrew Richmond and Amin Todai, has 20 locations, mainly clustered in the Greater Toronto Area, and is known for its decadent frozen desserts. It has recently expanded into the U.S. and plans more locations south of the border, which has raised the ire of Christians." Is Sweet Jesus taking the lord's name in vain? They're not saying fuck Jesus. They're not saying stupid god damn Jesus. They're saying Sweet Jesus. Like, in a good way. Ice cream is sweet on the tongue. It's a dance of creamy goodness slowly sliding down your throat. Milky and smooth. Ohhh why's that making me horny? The first time I had Sweet Jesus in my mouth, I thought, "Ohhh Sweet Jesus that was delicious! May I have more of your sweet goodness?" Now, how is that blasphemy? How is that taking the lord's name in vain? This isn't about vanity, it's about a creamy dessert, filling your soul with the sweet Jesus deliciousness of a soft-serve ice cream delight. I think the Jesus is the New Testament would have approved. One taste of that ice cream and he'd be like, "Hmmm ohhh my sweet Jesus and father in heaven! That's good shit man!" Just look at that Sweet Jesusness! But we don't see Buddhists organizing protests in the streets and signing online petitions when the likeness of the Buddha appears on ice tea. No one gets fussed about the Buddha. The Buddha be like, "Take a deep breath. Slowly inhale and fully expand your stomach like a big Buddha belly. And... slowly exhale and feel the stress leaving your body." Then, after a relaxing yoga class, Buddha be like, "Want some frozen yogurt? I know this chill spot called, BuddhaBerry ." "Frozen yogurt!" You exclaim in distaste. "Buddha I totally namaste day you. I respect you might not drink the milk of a cow, but in North America we LOVE us some ice cream. I know this dope joint called Sweet Jesus. Wanna check it?" I bet Jesus and the Buddha are looking through the multi-dimensional plane laughing at this whole bruh-ha-ha. "Silly people," says Jesus to the Buddha. "They have misinterpreted my teachings. Too bad they didn't study your life and words. Then they'd see just how much I learned from your teachings during my lost years." Did you know? Long Before Tech Support Was Out-sourced to India, Christianity's Founder May Have Gone There First So you want to spread the gospel? Want to spread the "good news" of Sweet Jesus? Brain washing goes much better with sprinkles and chocolate pieces! Hmmmm yummy!

What's the course going to include? We'll be reflecting on the nature and content of hip hop as a religious experience. As well as religious expression. We'll discuss the history of rap music and find the different parallels and correlations between religion and hip hop. People will be surprised at how many instances there are. Just the Five-Percent Nations presence in hip hop alone during the late '80s and early '90s -- we could teach for days just on that. And other different things -- we have Jewish rappers now. What do you want people to understand? People assumed initially that only people who grew up in the hood could understand hip-hop, but we're speaking to real situations and true experiences that people from all walks of life can learn from. Full Interview: NPR Bun B will be teaching the course at Rice University in the Spring of 2011. His latest album, "Trill OG," is on sale now.

All together now: Can you make me One with Everything? Chesterfield: When my kids were in preschool, they were friends with a kid whose first name was Buddha. I actually met a living Buddha once - she was a teenage girl in China who got fed up of that life and quit Buddhism. (I have no idea how authentic this claim was, I just know that this is how she was being raised until she got out and moved to our city). samthepea 2016-04-14 11:22:28 UTC #65 Buddhists aren't necessarily nonviolent. Several sects are rather notably violent. Ito Ittosai was a Japanese Zen Buddhist, and his name mostly means "the guy who will kill you instantly without even thinking about it". The country's Rohingya minority is one of the most persecuted groups in the world

As the Western world becomes more secular, religious knowledge is on the decline. At Intellectual Takeout, however, we feel that educated people should possess some basic knowledge of each of the world's religions--even if they aren't practicing members of any particular faith. To get an idea of how up-to-speed you are on the topic of religion, we invite you to answer 10 questions that we put together in the quiz below. Let us know how you do! Get thought-provoking content delivered to your inbox every day! Subscribe to IT's newsletter.

This is the first in a series of posts presenting segments of ACLJ Films' latest project, "Let My People Go," which highlights the plight of persecuted Christians across the globe and what the ACLJ is doing to fight the global genocide against the Christian Church. Americans may face religious discrimination from time to time, but we don't face religious persecution like other Christians around the world. Religious persecution is when your life is at risk and your family is endangered simply because of what you believe and how you live your faith. Religious persecution around the world is a matter of life and death for many Christians. "Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him... Let my people go, so that they may worship me." - Exodus 9:1 The scarier thing than the rise of religious persecution is the extreme and radical nature of this persecution - beheadings, crucifixions, mass executions, sex trafficking, and more. What is the root of this rising persecution? The rise of radical Islamic jihad. ISIS, Boko Haram, and other Islamic militant groups targeting Christians and other religious minorities is not just persecution, but genocide and religious cleansing. In a dangerous world where there's growing chaos and conflict, there is still hope. We take a look at what can be done. And we shine a spotlight on the defenders of the faith - the men and women who are putting their own lives at risk to stand-up for the persecuted Church.

petzl 2016-04-14 08:39:10 UTC #61 All together now: Can you make me One with Everything? Chesterfield: When my kids were in preschool, they were friends with a kid whose first name was Buddha. I actually met a living Buddha once - she was a teenage girl in China who got fed up of that life and quit Buddhism. (I have no idea how authentic this claim was, I just know that this is how she was being raised until she got out and moved to our city). samthepea 2016-04-14 11:22:28 UTC #65 Buddhists aren't necessarily nonviolent. Several sects are rather notably violent. Ito Ittosai was a Japanese Zen Buddhist, and his name mostly means "the guy who will kill you instantly without even thinking about it". The country's Rohingya minority is one of the most persecuted groups in the world

PET rabbit owners are being warned to vaccinate against Viral haemorrhagic disease (RHDV), which can kill bunnies suddenly without warning. The warning comes as a rare, life-threatening disease forces Sydney animal shelters -- including Blacktown Animal Holding Facility -- to close its doors to felines. "Summer is the season for (pet) viruses," Australian Vet Association president Dr Robert Johnson said. The owners of pet rabbits are being urged to vaccinate against Viral haemorrhagic disease. Picture: Ian Svegovic "If you own a rabbit you have to be aware of a new strain of RHDV (RHDV1 K5) which is due to be released on March 1 (to control the wild rabbit population)," Dr Johnson, from South Penrith Veterinary Clinic, said. As part of this rollout, RHDV1 K5 will be used to either inject live rabbits, or be prepared as carrot or oat bait and fed to live rabbits, in almost 700 sites across the country where wild rabbits naturally feed. This is the first time in 20 years a new rabbit biocontrol agent is being released into Australia, but RHDV1 K5 is not a new virus; it is a strain of the existing calicivirus. "This virus can be spread by insects, so it's really important that Bunny is adequately vaccinated," Dr Johnson said with reference to people with indoor rabbits who may think the rollout doesn't affect them. Australian Vet Association president, Dr Robert Johnson pictured at his vet clinic. Picture: Justin Sanson Spread can also occur from contaminated objects such as food, clothing, cages, equipment, insects (especially flies), birds and rodents, according to the RSPCA website. "We're going on holidays soon and they're going to go stay with a family member, that's why we got our rabbits vaccinated now," said Julie, a bunny owner from Penrith who got all her pets vaccinated against the virus last week. Benji, Sandy and Tilly are miniature lop rabbits, all aged under eight months. "They're Charlie's pets," Julie said of her seven-year-old son, who "loves cuddling them". "He always wants to bring them inside and brings them on the bed," she laughed. From March 1, RHDV1 K5 will be used to either inject live rabbits, or be prepared as carrot or oat bait and fed to live rabbits, in almost 700 sites across Australia where wild rabbits naturally feed. Dr Johnson said cat owners should also get their pets vaccinated against Feline panleukopenia virus, "a pretty nasty virus" commonly referred to as feline enteritis. "There have been outbreaks in Melbourne and Mildura, but now we've got one in Sydney," he said. The Blacktown Animal Holding Facility, which takes in animals from eight councils including Blacktown, has been closed to cats for at least six weeks due to an outbreak. Blacktown Mayor Stephen Bali said the disease had not been seen in Sydney for more than 40 years and many people had therefore stopped vaccinating their cats against it. "As a result, it is now attacking a largely unprotected cat population," Cr Bali said. Charlie, 7, with his pet rabbit Benji. Picture: Ian Svegovic Dr Johnson said the virus, which can suddenly kill felines or make them anaemic, has emerged in unvaccinated and incompletely vaccinated cats. "Kittens should be vaccinated from 6-8 weeks and then every four weeks until they're 16 weeks of age, and then once a year after that," he advised. "If mum gets infected and doesn't die from it, those kittens can then be born with neurological problems which can manifest as having a bit of a tremor when they go to eat something ... or sometimes they can fall over more easily. "Those kittens are affected for life." The Hawkesbury Companion Animal Shelter, which homes cats and dogs found in Penrith and Hawkesbury Councils, has not been affected. "Please do not bring cats to our animal holding facility until we are sure the (Feline panleukopenia virus) epidemic has passed," said Blacktown Mayor Stephen Bali, pictured with former Blacktown councillor Russ Dickens at the Blacktown Animal Holding Facility. Picture: Peter Kelly Hawkesbury Council's director of city planning Matthew Owens said the shelter only accepts cats from certain areas, and those that do are vaccinated and worm treated. "The vaccines which cats are receiving are of the highest quality and will cover them for Feline enteritis," Mr Owens told the Mt Druitt Standard . "Cats are also weighed three times a week and have a health check once a week to monitor their health. "Cats that are showing signs of a loss of body condition are put into an air-conditioned isolation unit for observation." Mr Owens said it is important for pet owners to keep their pets' vaccinations and worm treatments up to date, "otherwise it may compromise their pets' immunity". Viral haemorrhagic disease: # Signs include fever, restlessness, lethargy and poor appetite, with bleeding from the nose and/or blood on the floor where rabbits are housed # But often infected rabbits will show no signs and die suddenly. There is no remedy although affected rabbits can be given supportive treatment # RHDV damages internal organs and may cause bleeding # It can be spread from infected rabbits in droppings, urine, secretions from the eyes and nose, and at mating # The virus can survive in the environment for 3 1/2 months over hotter periods, and up to 7 1/2 months in moderate temperatures AU QLD: Snake Consumes Rabbit in Grisly Timelapse Footage February 05 1:04 A snake-lover recorded the sight of his pet reptile eating lunch in timelapse footage that showed the gradual disappearance of a rabbit on Sunday, February 5. The snake, named Sprinkles, devours rodents regularly as part of a healthy diet. Credit: Scott Kickham via Storyful February 6th 2017 2 years ago /display/newscorpaustralia.com/Web/NewsNetwork/Network News/National/ AU QLD: Snake Consumes Rabbit in Grisly Timelapse Footage February 05

The vaccine targets proteins inside the flu virus that are common across all strains, instead of those that sit on the virus's external coat, which are liable to mutate, the Guardian said. It is the first vaccine of its type to be tested on people infected with flu. The research was led by Dr Sarah Gilbert of Oxford's Jenner Institute. Adrian Hill, the institute's director, told the Guardian: "The problem with flu is that you've got lots of different strains and they keep changing. Occasionally one comes out of wildfowl or pigs and we're not immune to it. We need new vaccines and we can't make them fast enough." Dr Gilbert added: "If we were using the same vaccine year in, year out, it would be more like vaccinating against other diseases like tetanus. It would become a routine vaccination that would be manufactured and used all the time at a steady level. We wouldn't have these sudden demands or shortages - all that would stop." During the trial Dr Gilbert vaccinated 11 healthy volunteers and then infected them, along with 11 non-vaccinated volunteers. She monitored the volunteers' symptoms twice a day, including runny noses, coughs and sore throats, and weighed tissues to calculate how much mucus they produced. The vaccine boosts the number of the body's T-cells, which are important to the body's immune response, identifying and destroying cells infected by a virus. The results, though only from a very small sample, showed the vaccine worked as planned with the vaccinated volunteers less likely to get flu and also showing a boost in T-cells. The results have been sent to a scientific journal, with the next step a field trial to compare several thousand people.

Experts have found the ZMapp drug had a 100 per cent success rate in treating monkeys who caught the virus which has swept through West Africa. Even when animals were experiencing severe symptoms after being infected for five days the experimental treatment cured them of Ebola. The ZMapp drug has also been given to two US doctors who caught the disease while working in Liberia and they subsequently recovered. It is not known if the drug was behind the improvement, or if they got lucky. Some 45 per cent of those infected by Ebola have survived without treatment. The study was led by Dr Gary Kobinger who said: "ZMapp exceeds the efficacy of any other therapeutics described so far, and results warrant further development of this cocktail for clinical use. "We hope that initial safety testing in humans will be undertaken soon, preferably within the next few months, to enable the compassionate use of ZMapp as soon as possible." The study into ZMapp by Mr Kobinger and his team has been published in a special report on the Nature journal's website. Some 18 monkeys infected with Ebola who were treated with ZMapp made a complete recovery while three untreated others fell seriously ill and died. The drug uses three laboratory-made antibodies designed to neutralise the virus and the study gives hard evidence it works and can be effective. The development comes after the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned the Ebola outbreak in West Africa could kill more than 20,000 people. Latest figures show 1,552 deaths from the 3,069 cases reported so far. It kills by overwhelming the immune system and sending the body into shock as blood pressure drops to dangerous levels. Currently there are is no approved vaccine or post-exposure treatment.

No animals will be allowed to be transferred from the zoo until the end of the year to prevent the spread of TB. (kali9) Thanks, in all likelihood, to a tuberculosis-infected badger, a zoo in England has had to put 60 mammal species on birth control via injections, implants, tablets and IUDs, the BBC is reporting. And, yes, that includes lions and tigers, according to The Times . The large cats must be knocked out with a dart gun before receiving their contraception injection. According to The Telegraph , 11 antelopes at Paignton Zoo had to be killed last summer after one was found to be infected with TB. The disease is believed to have originated with a badger. Government rules say no animals can be transferred from the zoo until the end of the year to prevent the spread of TB. That's left the zoo concerned about overcrowding. As part of its breeding program, Paignton usually sends animals to hundreds of zoos around the world. Now if it doesn't stop its mammals from breeding, it could run out of space. "We must prevent overcrowding, but we must still be in a position to take part in breeding programs when the restrictions are lifted," says Ghislaine Sayers, the zoo's head vet. "So we need temporary solutions." There are risks involved with giving animals contraception: It can wear off too quickly and allow them to become pregnant; it can cause young animals to become sterile; and it can cause male animals to lose muscle. "And animals are individuals, so -- like humans -- some contraceptives suit some better than others," Sayers says. The zoo is consulting with experts around Europe and will test its animals for TB again in six months. It also plans on improving fencing to keep badgers out.

But UK zoo experts have pointed out that EEHV hits the animals both in the wild and in confinement, while the causes are unknown. Keepers at Chester Zoo, which prides itself on its Asian Elephant Conservation Programme, are said to be devastated by the latest deaths. The death of Hari Hi Way, a bull Asian elephant, came just six weeks after that of female Bala Hi Way. The zoo was still mourning the deaths of two-year-olds Raman and Jamilah and three-year-old Nayan Hi Way. Chris Draper, of the Born Free Foundation, said: "This virus that kills elephants is predominant in the captive herd. It has a long history of causing mortality. If you keep breeding elephants, you run a high risk of them dying between the ages of two and five. "It is a moot point whether the virus is found in the wild. But even if that's the case, it seems to have a far greater impact in captivity." A Chester Zoo spokesman said: "The exact cause of Hari's death will be determined by a post-mortem examination. However, as with Bala, we can confirm he tested positive for EEHV, a fast-moving virus which affects both wild and captive elephants between the ages of two and five.

However, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson told farmers at the National Farmers' Union conference in Birmingham that he was committed to making sure the pilots went ahead. He said tackling bovine TB had cost the taxpayer PS500 million in the past 10 years, and costs could reach PS1 billion over the next decade if the disease was left unchecked. He said that research in the UK had shown that culling badgers, which can transmit TB to cattle, could reduce the levels of the disease in herds, and that Britain had to learn from experience elsewhere that the tuberculosis could not effectively be curbed without tackling the problem in wildlife. The RSPCA's Chief Executive, Gavin Grant has argued evidence showed that the mass killing of badgers has "little or no impact" on the transmission of the disease. He condemned the proposed cull stating: "We should be about cure not kill, and at the moment it's all about kill not cure." He added that the "disasterous policy" could even exacerbate the issue if the cull caused infected badgers to scatter out of the areas they are in, spreading the disease further. Dr May agreed, saying: "A vaccination which will help from day one can not be compared with a brutal method which could make things worse - it's a no-brainer." The move was welcomed by National Farmers' Union president Peter Kendall who said it would have been easy for the Environment Secretary to let TB slip down the list of priorities after last year's delay. He backed Mr Paterson for working to ensure that the pilots were up and running this summer and that there would be a full roll-out of the cull next year. He said the move mattered because of the damage TB did to the country's food production base, and described the 35,000 cattle which had to be slaughtered because of the disease in 2012 as a "scandalous waste".

By Jonathan Stempel and Doina Chiacu NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice said on Wednesday a judge's order directing the Trump administration to rapidly reunify migrant children separated from their parents on the U.S.-Mexico border just showed the need for quick action by Congress on illegal immigration. In an injunction issued late on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego blocked the administration from separating families at the border, and ordered that those who were separated be reunited within 30 days. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on whether the administration would appeal. But he said the decision "makes it even more imperative that Congress finally act to give federal law enforcement the ability to simultaneously enforce the law and keep families together." Amid uproar at home and abroad over the separation of more than 2,300 children from their parents, which resulted from his administration's policy of "zero tolerance" toward illegal immigration, President Donald Trump has sought to throw the ball in the court of the Republican-controlled Congress. The separations occurred after the administration began seeking to prosecute all adults crossing the border without authorization, including those traveling with children, from early May. Although Trump issued an executive order on June 20 to end the family separations, the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the San Diego case, said it contained "loopholes" and did little to fix the problem. Some 2,000 children remain separated. Sabraw's preliminary injunction also requires the government to reunite children under the age of five with their parents within 14 days, and to let children talk by phone with their parents within 10 days. The separations sparked widespread condemnation in the United States, including from within Trump's own Republican Party, and abroad. Sabraw, an appointee of former Republican President George W. Bush, sharply rebuked the administration. "The unfortunate reality is that under the present system migrant children are not accounted for with the same efficiency and accuracy as property," he wrote. "The facts set forth before the court portray reactive governance responses to address a chaotic circumstance of the government's own making," he added. The White House had no immediate comment. 'COMPLETE VICTORY' In opposing a preliminary injunction, the government had argued that Trump's executive order "largely" addressed the concerns of the ACLU. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told a Senate hearing earlier on Tuesday that most separated children could not be reunited until the Republican-led Congress passed necessary legislation. Sabraw, whose injunction contained exceptions for when parents were deemed unfit or a danger to their children, said the government rather than families had the "affirmative duty" to pursue reunifications. He also chastised the government for being unable to keep track of, communicate with, and locate immigrant children. The ACLU hailed Sabraw's decision as a "complete victory." "This victory will be bring relief to all the parents and children who thought they may never see each other again," ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt said in an email. LEGISLATIVE SOLUTION After issuing his order last week, Trump called on Congress to pass legislation addressing immigration issues. But disagreements between Republican moderates and conservatives have impeded a speedy legislative fix. The House, which failed last week to pass an immigration bill favored by conservative Republicans, planned to vote on Wednesday on a broad immigration bill that would bar the separation of children from their parents at the Mexican border. Trump said on Twitter that House Republicans should pass that bill, even though he said Democrats would stop it from passing in the Senate, where Republicans have a slimmer majority. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Tuesday he would not rule out a possible vote on a narrower bill addressing only the detention of immigrant families, if the broader bill did not pass. Echoing the president's frequently strong words on illegal immigration, the Justice Department spokesman said on Wednesday that unless Congress acted, "lawlessness at the border will continue, which will only lead to predictable results -- more heroin and fentanyl pushed by Mexican cartels plaguing our communities, a surge in MS-13 gang members, and an increase in the number of human trafficking prosecutions." The ACLU had sued on behalf of a mother and her then 6-year-old daughter, who were separated for four months after entering the country to seek asylum and flee religious persecution in Democratic Republic of Congo. The case is Ms. L et al v U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, No. 18-00428. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel and Alison Frankel in New York; Yasmeen Abutaleb and Doina Chiacu in Washington, D.C.; Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles and Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Frances Kerry) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

Republicans are scrambling for a legislative fix to the Trump administration's policy of separating immigrant families at the border. Current law prevents immigration officials from detaining children with their parents. Previous administrations got around that by releasing parents and children caught trying to enter the country illegally. But when Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a new "zero tolerance" policy toward immigrants, under which all cases would be referred for prosecution, he warned the government would begin detaining parents and placing their children in separate facilities. "Congress alone can fix it," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen insisted during a Monday briefing at the White House. The growing outcry against the new approach has galvanized lawmakers to find a solution. "I don't think the answer to family separation is to not enforce the law. I think the answer to family separation is: Don't separate families while you're enforcing the law," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters. "It's all within our power, and people have to overcome their desire to preserve an issue to campaign on." President Donald Trump will meet with Republicans on Capitol Hill late Tuesday to discuss two bills proposed in the House that would implement broader immigration policy fixes. But neither appears to have enough support to pass. If disagreement among conservative and moderate factions of the party stalls those proposals, lawmakers could take action on just the family detention policy issue. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who leads the conservative Freedom Caucus, has proposed a "backup proposal" in the House, and several senators, including Republican Ted Cruz of Texas, are backing similar measures in the upper chamber. Read more from The Sift Share this article with friends.

Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives are considering separate legislation to address family separations at the U.S. southern border, the latest sign that a comprehensive, compromise immigration bill won't pass anytime soon. The vote, which was initially slated for Thursday, is set to take place Tuesday evening. House Freedom Caucus leader Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., on Monday told Fox News the House would likely reject the bill even as lawmakers continued negotiations over the phone. Disagreement remains over whether to allow the so-called "Dreamers," who were brought to the United States illegally as children, to bring their parents to the United States. Meadows said the bill would likely fail, and he expected Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., to present a "follow-up piece of legislation within days." He noted that Rodgers "has some real thoughtful insight in terms of how to keep those families together," something "that a lot of us want to do." President Donald Trump also expressed his disapproval of the compromise bill and called the legal response dysfunctional. "People must simply be stopped at the Border and told they cannot come into the U.S. illegally," Trump tweeted , adding , "If this is done, illegal immigration will be stopped in its tracks--and at very little, by comparison, cost." Read more from The Sift Share this article with friends.

(Reuters) - The U.S. government was barred temporarily on Monday from quickly deporting immigrant parents reunited with their children while a federal court considers the impact on childrens' rights to seek asylum. The government is working to meet a court order to reunite by July 26 around 2,500 immigrant children who were separated by U.S. immigration officials from their parents at the U.S.-Mexican border. The American Civil Liberties Union, a rights group that brought the case that led to the reunification order, said in court papers on Monday that immigrant parents should be given a week after being reunited to decide if they want to be deported alone or as a family. "A one-week stay is a reasonable and appropriate remedy to ensure that the unimaginable trauma these families have suffered does not turn even worse because parents made an uninformed decision about the fate of their child," the ACLU wrote in a filing with a San Diego federal court. At a hearing on Monday, Judge Dana Sabraw of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego said he would issue a stay on deporting reunified parents until the government could respond to the ACLU request. Sabraw gave the government a week to respond and will consider the ACLU request on July 24. The ACLU has used the case to challenge a policy of President Donald Trump's administration of separating families as part of a broader crackdown on illegal immigration. The president ordered the practice stopped on June 20 after widespread public outcry. Sabraw ordered on June 26 that children should be returned to their parents within specified deadlines, and has been overseeing the process. In its filing, the ACLU said parents must determine if their child should remain in the United States to pursue their own asylum claim, but that decision requires time to discuss with a lawyer or advocate for the child. The rights group said it was acting on "persistent and increasing rumors" of rapid deportations, which it said the U.S. government has not denied. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Many of the immigrants separated from their children were seeking asylum after fleeing violence and crime in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Children were sent to multiple care facilities across the country, and their parents were incarcerated in immigration detention centers or federal prisons - in keeping with the government's "zero tolerance" policy under which all adults crossing the border illegally would face prosecution. (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware and Daniel Trotta in New York; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien, Noeleen Walder and Frances Kerry) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

Easier to deport the family unit at one time. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government said in a court filing on Friday that it has the right to detain children and parents caught crossing the U.S. border illegally for the duration of their immigration proceedings. A 1997 court settlement known as the Flores agreement has generally been interpreted to require the Department of Homeland Security to release illegal immigrant children from custody after 20 days. But Justice Department lawyers said in the filing in U.S. District Court in California on Friday that they now have no choice but to hold children for as long as it takes to resolve their immigration cases, because of a preliminary injunction issued on Tuesday in a separate immigration case. That case, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego, challenged the recent government policy of separating families in order to detain parents for as long as necessary under President Donald Trump's "zero-tolerance" policy. Since that policy was implemented in May, families have been routinely separated after apprehension. Some 2,000 separated children are currently under government care. An executive order issued by Trump this month reversed the policy, and the subsequent injunction in San Diego ordered the government to immediately stop separating parents and children and said families must be reunited in 30 days or less. To comply with the injunction, the government said Friday it "will not separate families but detain families together during the pendency of immigration proceedings." Cases can sometimes take months or years to resolve.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled U.S. Congress, riddled by factional infighting, looks unlikely to act decisively this week on the immigration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, providing few answers on what comes next for separated parents and children. President Donald Trump's abrupt order last week to end his policy of breaking up families at the border failed to explain how his aggressive policies on illegal immigration could be adjusted to keep families intact, house them and assess their legal status. The Republican president backtracked amid mounting global outrage, including over images of children in cages. He at first urged Congress to act quickly and follow up his order with immigration legislation, then said lawmakers should give up on it. Despite Trump's mixed messages, the House of Representatives was on track to vote on Wednesday on a broad-based immigration bill that would bar the separation of migrant children from their parents. The measure was widely expected to fail. "We address this in the bill we're bringing to the floor Wednesday. We've made it extremely clear we want to keep families together and we want to secure the border and enforce our laws," House Speaker Paul Ryan said at a news conference. He said he would not rule out the possibility of bringing a vote on a narrower bill addressing only the detention of immigrant families, if the broader bill did not pass. Ryan described the broader bill as one that sought to mend the "broken immigration system" by resolving the issue of young adults who were brought to the United States illegally as children; focusing on a merit-based immigration system; and securing U.S. borders and the rule of law. Several House conservatives left a closed-door meeting of Republicans early on Tuesday expressing discontent with the broad bill that Ryan wants to debate on Wednesday. Without their support, the measure likely would be rejected by the House. Republican Representative Scott DesJarlais, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus faction, said he would not vote for the broad bill. A separate conservative-backed immigration bill failed to pass the House last week. The family separations began because of the administration's two-month-old policy of seeking to prosecute all adults who cross the border illegally, including those traveling with children. Although the administration has said this "zero tolerance" policy remains in place, officials said on Monday that parents who cross illegally with their children will not face prosecution, for the time being, because the government is running short of space to house them. Before Trump issued his order, more than 2,300 children were separated from their parents. The government has yet to reunite about 2,000 children with their parents. The order also did not say how the government will house families kept together while parents are prosecuted. (Reporting by Richard Cohen; Additional reporting by Amanda Becker and Susan Cornwell; Writing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Eric Walsh; Editing by Frances Kerry) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

Trump Says He's Looking 'Very Strongly' At Possible Welfare Reform 2:06 PM 10/16/2017 Amber Randall | Civil Rights Reporter President Donald Trump announced his intent to look into possible welfare reform to reporters Monday because some people are taking advantage of the system and others aren't getting what they need, he said. Trump, addressing reporters, said he would be looking into the issue "very strongly" to see what can be done about the welfare system, Politico reported. "One thing we're going to be looking at very strongly is welfare reform. That's becoming a very, very big subject," the president said at the Cabinet meeting. "And people are taking advantage of the system, and then other people aren't receiving what they really need to live, and we think it's very unfair to them." Trump added that his administration had received numerous recommendations on the subject and would be announcing his plan on the welfare reform shortly. "It's gonna be a very big topic under this administration. And it's started already, and we have a lot of recommendations that we're going to be making, and you'll be hearing about them very shortly," Trump added. Trump released his 2018 budget in March and welfare reform was a major part of it. The budget suggested reforming programs like the Children's Health Insurance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, better known as food stamps. "This budget strives to replace dependency with the dignity of work through welfare reform efforts," the budget summary said. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org .

After 9 years of being a pioneer and leader in alternative news aggregation, RedFlagNews.com closed its doors on December 31, 2017. With more than 10M readers who visited both our app and website, we had built a community of trust and loyalty in online news media; something rare to find in 2018; nevertheless, it was clearly not enough to sustain the onslaught of suppression by Google and Facebook after the 2016 election. To our amazing community, thank you for your generous support and daily visits over the years. It was a good run with you by our side. Thousands have asked us where we will be getting our daily fix. As you continue your journey of seeking both balance and truth in your news diet, we strongly recommend the following two independent and trusted news aggregation websites. In the end, independent thinking is a battle that we cannot afford to lose.

Donald Trump has won the key state of Ohio, keeping his presidential ambitions very much alive. No Republican has ever won a presidential election without first winning Ohio. When CNN projected a Trump victory in Ohio Tuesday evening, the Republican was leading Hillary Clinton by nearly 500,000 votes with 78 percent of the votes tallied. Trump also led Clinton 167 to 109 in the electoral vote count as of 10:30 p.m. EST. You can follow CNN's live election results here . The Republican nominee performed much better than any of the polls predicted and early results carved out several paths to victory. Three states in particular could potentially put Trump in the White House .

"We are going to have tremendous border security that will include the wall. A lot of people do not know that we have already started the wall. We have $1.6 billion and we have started large portions of the wall," Trump said on Tuesday as broadcast by the Fox News. On Sunday, Trump threatened to "shut down" the federal government if Democrats in Congress refuse to support his administration's demands on border security and the wall on the border with Mexico, Sputnik reported. The US leader urged to "get rid of lottery" and switch to a "system of immigration based on merit." The issue of irregular migration has long been a stumbling block in Mexico's relations with the United States, with Trump having repeatedly pledged to build a wall on the southern border in order to stop illegal migration, as well as human and narcotics trafficking. Building the wall was one of Trump's key pre-election promises.

Washington: Immigration is the focus of President Donald Trump's meeting with some Republican senators as he pushes his overhaul plan. File image of US president Donald Trump. AP Trump wants to shift from a family-based immigration system to one based on merit, as part of any deal to extend legal status for young immigrants who were brought to the US illegally as children. Trump ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme last year. He set a March deadline for Congress to act. A White House spokesman, Hogan Gidley, says an updated approach to immigration should "serve the needs of American workers, families and taxpayers." The senators expected at Thursday's meeting are John Cornyn of Texas, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, James Lankford of Oklahoma and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

Donny Deutsch talks to Ari Melber about his conversation today with Michael Cohen. Deutsch reveals Michael Cohen used to believe he would never "turn" on Trump, but will ultimately do "what is best for him and his family". Deutsch also reveals that... The Beat With Ari Melber - 7:37 PM 6/20/2018 The Beat With Ari Melber - 7:36 PM 6/20/2018 According to ABC News, Cohen cited his ongoing legal troubles as a reason for his departure. However, in a resignation letter to RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel, Cohen also took a shot at Trump's family separation policy. Hardball with Chris Matthews - 7:19 PM 6/20/2018

Israeli Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot has said that the border with south Lebanon "has been quieter in the past 11 years than it ever was before," noting there have been no explosions, alarms or infiltrations, the Anadolu Agency reported yesterday. Israel carried out a major offensive on South Lebanon in 2006 and Hezbollah fought against it, losing more than 1,400 fighters. The Israeli offensive caused much destruction to the infrastructure of the country and killed thousands of civilians. "It was a very hard hit to the organisation's infrastructure as the war ended with the Israeli forces seven to 14 kilometres inside Lebanon," Eizenkot said. He continued: "Eleven years later, Hezbollah has rearmed and is more able to fight, despite the complexities of doing so." However, he insisted that the Israeli army "is a strong, powerful army, and it has a definite advantage over its enemies." With regards Hezbollah, Eizenkot said: "One-third of the organisation's fighters are currently in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, most of them in Syria. They have lost 1,700 of their men in the past three years, and they have nearly 7,000 wounded. They are in serious trouble, an organisation trying to learn how to do battle in regimental formation." The Israeli top military official continued: "In addition to their various budgetary problems and morale problems, we also have to understand that the organisation lost two of its commanders over the last seven or eight years." "One of these was Imad Mughniyah, who was killed in Damascus. The other is a captain who was killed by his subordinates last year as far as we know, and as I said, we have very good intelligence." He added: "Hezbollah is dealing with an incredibly complicated situation. They are fighting in Syria, but we are not letting them deceive us. We prefer to place our northern border and Hezbollah at the top of our priority list. We have defensive plans, offensive plans and a high level of preparedness to fight." This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For permissions beyond the scope of this license, please contact us . Spotted an error on this page? Let us know