For months, Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign labored listlessly under a cloud of doubt after revelations that she had a private e-mail server during her time as secretary of state. Then, Republicans, as they so often do, overreached on their Clinton attacks and handed the Democratic front-runner a message and momentum that she had struggled mightily to build on her own. First, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) went on Fox News and, floundering to prove his conservative bona fides to be speaker of the House, said this to Fox News host Sean Hannity: "Everybody thought that Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping." Then there was the hearing last week — more than two years in the making (Clinton last testified before Congress on Benghazi in January 2013) — that flopped mightily for Republicans. Eleven hours worth of questions left the GOP looking small and Clinton looking calm, cool and collected. Even Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, admitted in the hearing's wake, "I don't know that [Clinton] testified that much differently today than she has the previous time she testified." For longtime Clinton watchers — and I count myself in that category — the pattern was remarkably familiar. Republicans, handed a potent issue (and the controversy over Clinton's private e-mail server is one), try to knock the Clintons out and instead swing, miss and fall on their collective face. Think back to the late 1990s, when, after admitting to an extramarital affair with a White House intern, Bill Clinton found himself more popular than ever — particularly among Democrats — after congressional Republicans tried to impeach him despite the public's skepticism about whether such a punishment was warranted. Eerie similarities echo between that moment and this one for Republicans in Congress. Unquestionably, the revelation that Clinton exclusively used a private e-mail address and server while she was the nation's top diplomat had damaged her front-running campaign for the Democratic nomination. Her lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) had shrunk, and large majorities of the public said she was neither honest nor trustworthy. Most important for Clinton was that establishment Democrats began to openly fret that perhaps she simply wasn't up to the race and that someone else — such as Vice President Biden — needed to step into the breach. McCarthy's comments provided Clinton with overwhelming proof (at least to Democrats) that the Benghazi committee was effectively political theater designed to damage her chances of winning in 2016. The hearing itself allowed Clinton a platform that was perfectly suited to her strengths — preparation and a remarkable tirelessness — and on which she, unsurprisingly, shined. Clinton looked in control, poised and smart. The majority of her Republican interrogators looked outmatched. Democrats noticed. The hour after the end of the committee hearing — 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern time Thursday — was the most lucrative 60 minutes of fundraising in Clinton's campaign. And suddenly Clinton wasn't the boring candidate of the status quo anymore. She was the target of — wait for it — a vast right-wing conspiracy aimed at, yet again, playing politics in hopes of hurting her chances of being elected to office. The campaign is — and this is so obvious that it is probably not worth saying — far from over. The Iowa caucuses aren't for about 100 more days, and the general election is a year away. Lots can, and will, change. It is also obvious that the past two weeks have been the best two weeks of Clinton's campaign. She has gone from flagging front-runner to rejuvenated fighter — a much better look if you want to, you know, win. Not all of the Clinton renaissance can be credited to or blamed on Republicans. Her strong performance in the first Democratic presidential debate was all her doing, and Biden's decision not to run seems only tangentially tied to her strengthening of late. But the Clintons have always been at their best when under fire from the other side; Hillary Clinton, in particular, is a better counter-puncher than a first-strike player. For some reason, Republicans have never learned that lesson. Over the past month, they have pulled off a trick that Clinton never could seem to do herself: They have turned her into a sympathetic and more appealing figure for Democrats and lots of independents — whom she will need in a general election. If she wins the White House in November 2016, Clinton should send thank-you notes to McCarthy, Gowdy and the rest of the House Republicans. They may have saved her candidacy.


The United States strongly opposes the planned independence referendum by Iraqi Kurds and urges Iraqi Kurdish leaders to engage in negotiations with the Baghdad government instead, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday. In the most forceful U.S. statement so far opposing the referendum, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said: The United States strongly opposes the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government s referendum on independence, planned for September 25.


U.S. President Donald Trump will travel to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, the Philippines and Hawaii between Nov. 3-14, the White House said on Monday, amid rising tensions over North Korea s nuclear and missile programs. Trump will call on the international community to join together in maximizing pressure on North Korea, the White House said in a statement, and will meet family members of Japanese citizens who have been abducted by North Korea. During his visit, Trump will emphasize his commitment to U.S. alliances and partnerships, attend events at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He will also meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and Vietnam President Tran Dai Quang.


Switzerland s defense ministry has admitted sending staff to test reconnaissance drones in contested land held by Israel - an embarrassing blow for the neutral European country s status as an honest broker in the Middle East. Swiss officials visited an airfield in the Golan Heights region on three occasions in 2012, 2013 and 2015 to monitor tests of the Israeli-built Hermes 900 aircraft that they are buying for $265 million. The visits, which lasted several days, took place in an area which Switzerland does not recognize as being part of Israel, which took the land from Syria following a 1967 war. Following an internal review this year, the Swiss found the presence of their personnel at the airfield contradicted the Swiss position on the Middle East conflict, the ministry said. The visits took place without the knowledge of the Swiss foreign ministry. No further visits have taken place since the affair came to light, it said in a statement. This incident was a communication breakdown, it said. Those who were informed about the activities did not realize Swiss officials were not allowed to be there and those who knew about the restrictions were not informed about the planned activities. Future tests will now take place at an airfield within Israel, it added, with the drones due to enter service in 2020. Switzerland has frequently acted as a broker in the Middle East, most recently hosting peace talks about the Syrian civil war in Geneva and carrying out consular services for Iran and Saudi Arabia in their respective countries. This case damages the credibility of Switzerland with regards to all governments in the region which are in conflict with Israel, veteran diplomat Tim Guldimann, a lawmaker from the Social Democrat party, told the Tages-Anzeiger paper.


Facebook Faces High Profile Lawsuit Regarding Facial Recognition Technology 'DeepFace' Michael Krieger, Liberty Blitzkrieg  As the technology becomes increasingly ubiquitous and far more accurate, facial recognition and the lack of any laws or regulations around the practice is slowly starting to enter mainstream consciousness. It's a very important issue that isn't getting the attention it deserves.  For example, as I highlighted in the recent post, Half of American Adults Exist in a Government Accessible Facial Recognition Network :  Half of all American adults are already in some sort of facial recognition network accessible to law enforcement, according to a comprehensive new study.  Conducted over a year and relying in part on Freedom of Information and public record requests to 106 law enforcement agencies, the study , conducted by Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy and Technology, found American police use of facial recognition technology is a scattered, hodgepodge network of laws and regulations.  "Looking at the sum total of what we found, there have been no laws that comprehensively regulate face recognition technology, and there's really no case law either," Clare Garvie, an associate at the CPT, told Vocativ. "So we find ourselves having to rely on the agencies that are using that technology to rein it in. But what we found is that not every system — by a long shot — has a use policy."  With that in mind, Bloomberg published an interesting article yesterday covering a couple of lawsuits against Facebook and Google regarding their facial recognition practices.  Here's some of what we learned:  While millions of internet users embrace the tagging of family and friends in photos, others worried there's something devious afoot are trying block Facebook as well as Google from amassing such data.  As advances in facial recognition technology give companies the potential to profit from biometric data, privacy advocates see a pattern in how the world's largest social network and search engine have sold users' viewing histories for advertising. The companies insist that gathering data on what you look like isn't against the law, even without your permission.  If judges agree with Facebook and Google, they may be able to kill off lawsuits filed under a unique Illinois law that carries fines of $1,000 to $5,000 each time a person's image is used without permission — big enough for a liability headache if claims on behalf of millions of consumers proceed as class actions. A loss by the companies could lead to new restrictions on using biometrics in the U.S., similar to those in Europe and Canada.  Facebook declined to comment on its court fight. Google declined to comment on pending litigation.  Facebook encourages users to "tag" people in photographs they upload in their personal posts and the social network stores the collected information. The company uses a program it calls DeepFace to match other photos of a person. Alphabet Inc.'s cloud-based Google Photos service uses similar technology.  The billions of images Facebook is thought to be collecting could be even more valuable to identity thieves than the names, addresses, and credit card numbers now targeted by hackers, according to privacy advocates and legal experts.  And just how good is Facebook's technology? According to the company's research, DeepFace recognizes faces with an accuracy rate of 97.35 percent compared with 97.5 percent for humans — including mothers.  Rotenberg said the privacy concerns are twofold: Facebook might sell the information to retailers or be forced to turn it over to law enforcement — in both cases without users knowing it.  Now here's some history on Facebook and facial recognition. Facebook v. Privacy Law  December 2005 — Facebook introduces photo tagging  October 2008 — Illinois adopts Biometric Information Privacy Act  June 2012 — Facebook acquires Israeli facial recognition developer Face.com  September 2012 — Facebook ceases facial recognition in Europe  2015-2016 — Facebook, Google, Shutterfly and Snapchat sued under Illinois biometrics law. Shutterfly settles confidentially.  May 2016 — Illinois lawmaker proposes excluding photos from biometrics law, then shelves bill after privacy advocates complain  October 2016 — Facebook makes second attempt to get biometrics lawsuit thrown out  The Facebook case is In re Facebook Biometric Information Privacy Litigation, 15-cv-03747, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco). The Google cases are Rivera v. Google, 16-cv-02714, and Weiss v. Google, 16-cv-02870, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Chicago).  For prior articles on the topic, see:


President Donald Trump will play golf with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe next week, near his Club in Palm Beach, Florida. [Trump insists that Abe is his partner during the round. So as usual, the 45th president plans on winning. "We're going to have a round of golf, which is a great thing," Golf Digest reported. "That's the one thing about golf — you get to know somebody better on a golf course than you will over lunch. " Trump has a ways to go to catch up to Barack Obama, who played over 300 rounds during his presidency. Nevertheless, Trump claims to have won many club championships over the years before his decision to dive into the political arena. Historically, golf plays a significant role for many of the nation's presidents. Dwight Eisenhower played some 800 rounds as the 34th President of the United States. Woodrow Wilson reportedly played 1200 rounds when he was president from 1913 to 1921. The new will get a chance to air out a gift Abe presented to Trump after he won the election in November. Japan's chief executive bestowed a Honma Beres driver to the New York billionaire. The club retails for a whopping $3, 755. During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump indicated he would be looking for Abe and his country to help the United States in covering the cost of providing security and safety around the world. This idea disturbed many of Trump's critics, as they accused him of encouraging nuclear arms proliferation in the "Land of the Rising Sun. "


Scott Baio became a teen idol starring as Chachi Arcola on Happy Days from 1977-1984 and he worked pretty consistently until a few years ago, most recently as star and producer of See Dad Run on Nick at Nite. Baio spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about being a conservative in famously liberal Hollywood.Donald Trump has had some gaffes recently, like insulting the Khan family. Do you think they are actual gaffes or media hype?Well, let s put that up against someone who should be indicted, according to James Comey, the FBI director. It s amazing. I mean, I don t know where you stand politically you work for The Hollywood Reporter so I m sure you lean left. But it s incredible to me that she lied about people dying in Benghazi, and she is still lying about her emails, and Donald Trump says something about this couple and it s taken completely out of context. I was around for Romney and I thought that was bad, but this is insane. I don t know who the Clintons made a deal with, but the media is, so bad. How do you fight that? Hollywood Reporter On Monday, Scott Baio filed a police report claiming the wife of the Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer went nuts on him at a function with their elementary school kids physically attacking him over his support of Donald Trump.Law enforcement tells TMZ, Baio says he was at an event with his daughter Saturday in Thousand Oaks, CA, when Nancy Mack confronted him. Mack, who s married to drummer Chad Smith, is a vocal anti-Trump supporter who has called the Prez-elect racist began berating and cursing Baio, one of Trump s strongest celebrity supporters.We re told Baio told cops he asked her to quiet down because kids were present, but Mack was undeterred, asking him how he could support a man who said, Grab em by the pussy. Baio claims she repeatedly screamed, Grab em by the pussy. Baio asked Nancy to stop, but he claims she kept repeating the comment because she felt everyone needed to hear it, cause Trump used it. Baio told cops at that point Mack attacked him, grabbing him under his arms and then shaking and pushing him.


Live in New York long enough and you will lose somewhere you love. Good things die here. It's what keeps the place alive. But every now and then a big one goes, as it did on Friday morning, when the owner of the Carnegie Deli suddenly announced that the Manhattan sandwich place would be shutting down at the end of the year. The famous Jewish restaurant on Seventh Avenue and 55th Street, down the block from Carnegie Hall, has been putting out cardiologically perilous fare since 1937. When it closes its doors on Dec. 31, the city will lose not only an irreplaceably iconic pastrami sandwich, but also a small piece of itself. News of the restaurant's demise emerged at 7 a. m. on Friday when, at a meeting in the dining room, the owner, Marian Harper, told about 25 employees that she could no longer bear the stressful challenges of restaurant life. "The restaurant business is one of the hardest jobs in New York City," Ms. Harper later said in a formal statement issued by her publicist. "At this stage in my life, the early morning to late night days have taken a toll, along with my sleepless nights and grueling hours. " The shock waves quickly followed. Eater, the culinary website, reported on the closing with a mournful article with the headline: "Pastrami Bombshell. " Twitter was full of photographs of deli meat and melancholy posts: "How's a Jew like me supposed to suffer a heart attack at age 37 in this city anymore? !" And "It's pastrami on cry. " The restaurant had seen its share of turmoil in the last few years. In April 2015, it was closed for almost 10 months by Consolidated Edison, which was investigating its misappropriation of natural gas, an impropriety that the utility said had gone on for six years and resulted in a backdated bill of more than $40, 000. One year earlier, Ms. Harper and her husband of 22 years, Sandy Levine, went through a contentious divorce. According to her spokeswoman, Ms. Harper, 65, would not go quietly into retirement, but rather planned to devote herself — as awful as it sounds — to "licensing the iconic Carnegie Deli brand" by selling a line of wholesale products. Though the flagship restaurant would soon go the way of New York institutions such as Elaine's and CBGB, satellite Carnegies would remain in operation at Madison Square Garden, the Mirage Hotel Casino in Las Vegas and the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, Pa. the spokeswoman said. The somewhat catty truth about the Carnegie Deli is that it is one of those New York destinations that actual New Yorkers visit once or twice and then frequently decide they have had enough of. Its 64 seats are usually filled with tourists. This was proved true by a quick poll of the people standing in line outside the restaurant on Friday afternoon. When asked where they were from, they provided a long list of locations that were not New York: Arkansas, Louisiana, Arizona, San Francisco, Miami, Dallas, Switzerland. "We came up on a bus trip from Baltimore, and I read the place was shutting down on my iPhone," said Ruthann Smith, a retired high school teacher who was enjoying the pastrami with her husband, Dennis, a former financier. "We were trying to figure out where to go for lunch and I said, 'We better go to the Carnegie Deli while we still have a chance. '" With its linoleum floors and animal protein odors, the Carnegie Deli was never fine dining, but the seedy lighting and eclectic checkerboard of celebrity photos (from the quarterback Y. A. Tittle to the Fonz, Henry Winkler) gave the place a homey sort of charm. "I served Denzel Washington and James Brown and Bill Clinton," said Desmarine Redwood, who has worked there as a waitress for 26 years. "It gave me peace of mind. I loved working at this place. I'm going to miss it. " Once the deli closes, devotees of the sandwich will begin their hunt for other options — perhaps like the one at Katz's on the Lower East Side. That, at least, was a possibility for Otis Allen, a credit manager and one of the few New Yorkers having lunch at the Carnegie on Friday. "I'll miss the place — I've been coming here for years," Mr. Allen said. "I haven't figured out yet where my next place will be. "


Three of the women who have accused U.S. President Donald Trump of sexual misconduct called on Monday for a congressional probe of his behavior amid similar accusations against powerful men in Hollywood, the media and politics. Over the past two years, more than a dozen women have accused Trump of making unwanted sexual advances against them long before he entered politics. Trump has denied the accusations, and the White House has accused the women of lying. Among his accusers are a Miss Utah beauty pageant winner, a businesswoman, a reporter and a receptionist. The following are the three women who on Monday renewed their call for action: ** Jessica Leeds recounted in a video interview posted on The New York Times website in October 2016 that Trump grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt on a flight on which she was traveling to New York in or around 1980 when she was a 38-year-old businesswoman. ** Rachel Crooks, formerly a receptionist at a real estate firm in Trump Tower, told The New York Times in a report published in October 2016 that Trump "kissed me directly on the mouth" in 2005 at Trump Tower in Manhattan when she was 22. ** Samantha Holvey, the 2006 Miss North Carolina and a former contestant in the Miss USA pageant, told NBC's "Today" program on Monday that Trump walked into the pageant dressing room in 2006 while contestants were naked and in bathrobes. She told CNN in an October 2016 report that Trump personally inspected each woman prior to the contest, "eyeing us from head to toe like we were meat, we were sexual objects." Here are other women who have made accusations against Trump: ** Summer Zervos, a contestant on Trump's reality show "The Apprentice" in 2006, told an October 2016 news conference that Trump tried to get her to lie down on a bed with him when she met him in 2007 to discuss a possible job. Zervos said she complied with a request to sit next to Trump and, "He then grabbed my shoulder and began kissing me very aggressively and placed his hand on my breast." Trump has denied the allegation. Zervos sued Trump in January, contending that his denials of her accusations amounted to false and defamatory statements and that being "branded a liar" by Trump has harmed her and her business. ** In a video posted on The Washington Post website in October 2016, Kristin Anderson accused Trump of putting his hand up her skirt in a crowded New York nightclub in the early 1990s in an unwanted advance. "He did touched my vagina through my underwear, absolutely," Anderson said in the video interview. ** Lisa Boyne said in a short film titled "16 Women and Donald Trump" that she met Trump in the early 1990s at a dinner party he hosted in New York. Boyne said that Trump picked up her and another person in his limousine, and he made inappropriate remarks about famous actresses. "He asked us to rate them from 1 to 10," Boyne said. Boyne said that at the party, Trump "used his table as a 'casting couch,' instructing women who attended to model above the table. He then looked under the dresses of each women and made comments of what he saw." ** Jessica Drake, an adult film actress, told a news conference in Los Angeles in October 2016 that Trump pressured her to have sex with him 11 years ago when they met at a golf tournament. Trump's campaign said the accusations were false. ** Jill Harth, a former Trump beauty pageant business associate, filed a $125 million lawsuit in 1997 against Trump alleging that on Jan. 24, 1993, at Trump's Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, Trump "forcibly removed plaintiff to a bedroom, whereupon defendant subjected plaintiff to defendant's unwanted sexual advances." A Trump spokesperson was quoted by The New York Times in October 2016 as saying, "Mr. Trump denies each and every statement made by Ms. Harth." The lawsuit was dropped in May 1997. ** Cathy Heller said that in 1997 Trump tried to kiss her during a Mother's Day brunch at Mar-a-Lago. Heller, her husband, her three children and her in-laws attended the event. When she was introduced to Trump, "He took my hand, and grabbed me, and went for the lips," she told The Guardian newspaper in October 2016. She said she turned her head and Trump kissed her on the side of the mouth. ** Ninni Laaksonen, a former Miss Finland, accused Trump of groping her in 2006 when she was representing her country in the Miss Universe beauty contest. Laaksonen told the Ilta-Sanomat newspaper in October 2016 that he had grabbed her behind before she appeared on a television show in New York with other contestants. "He really grabbed my butt. I don't think anybody saw it but I flinched and thought: 'What is happening?'," she was quoted as saying in the newspaper. ** In October 2016 Mindy McGillivray told the Palm Beach Post that she was a 23-year-old photographer's assistant at a Jan. 24, 2003, event at Mar-a-Lago when Trump grabbed her buttocks. ** Natasha Stoynoff, a reporter, wrote a first-person account that described Trump kissing her without her consent in December 2005 at Mar-a-Lago while she was working on an article about him and his third wife, Melania, for People magazine. In the account published by People in October 2016, Stoynoff said "he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat." ** Temple Taggart, a former Miss Utah, said Trump twice kissed her on the lips while she was a contestant for the Miss USA pageant in 1997 when she was 21 years old. "What he did made me feel so uncomfortable that I ended up cutting my trip short, bought my own plane ticket, flew home and never spoke to him again," Taggart said at an October 2016 press conference with her attorney, Gloria Allred. ** At an October 2016 news conference, yoga instructor Karena Virginia said Trump approached her outside the U.S. Open tennis tournament in 1998 when she was 27 years old. She alleged that Trump commented on her legs and then touched her breast before she was able to get into a car and be driven away.


Hillary Clinton promised on Monday to bring the "full weight of the law" against people who kill police officers if she becomes the next U.S. president after two recent episodes of gunmen slaying police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge. Clinton, the presumptive Democratic candidate ahead of a Nov. 8 election, made the promise in a speech in Cincinnati at the annual convention of the civil rights group the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "Anyone who kills a police officer and anyone who helps must be held accountable," Clinton said. "As president, I will bring the full weight of the law to bear to make sure those who kill police officers are brought to justice." The penalties for killing a police officer are rightly more severe than those for killing a civilian because police are symbols of the rule of law, she said. Clinton's remarks come among heighten tensions between police forces and many black and Latino Americans, who have been rallying in protests across the country against a spate of police killings of black men, often unarmed, during encounters. A black former soldier killed five police officers during one such protest in Dallas, Texas, on July 7. On Sunday, another black former U.S. Marine sergeant killed three police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.


Two Republican senators proposed steps to slash the number of legal immigrants admitted into the United States by half on Tuesday, but the legislation, developed with the Trump administration, faces an uphill climb to get through Congress. Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue said their bill would cut the number of immigrants granted U.S. residency each year to 500,000 from 1 million, through measures including cutting far back on which relatives can be brought into the country and eliminating a diversity visa lottery. The legislation does not address visas specifically tied to employment, such as the H-1B visas for skilled workers used by many technology companies. Cotton and Perdue said they had consulted Republican President Donald Trump, who vowed to crack down on both illegal and legal immigration during his campaign for the White House. Cotton said he had spoken to Trump about the bill by telephone as recently as Tuesday morning. The measure faces stiff opposition in Congress. Although Trump's fellow Republicans control majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives, several back comprehensive immigration reform, not a tough crackdown. Republican Senator John McCain said he disagreed with the bill. A long-time advocate for immigration reform, McCain praised the contribution of immigrants to the United States. "We need more Sergey Brins and people like that who were born outside of this country and came here, received an education and made enormous progress for all mankind," McCain told reporters, referring to the Google co-founder, who came to the United States as a refugee from Russia. Any measure also would need Democratic support to advance in the Senate, and Democrats, who cite studies showing that immigrants boost the U.S. economy, are strongly opposed. Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen called it "wrong and senseless" to separate families and cut successful visa programs. Perdue and Cotton acknowledged the bill would not come up any time soon, saying they hoped for a Senate vote this year. Senator John Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said Congress first needed to address border security, but said the new measure "will be a helpful constructive proposal." The bill would admit only immediate family members of immigrants, eliminating preferences for adult siblings or adult children. Cotton said it would exclude parents unless they were sick and the family promised not to rely on public benefits. The proposal came amid a larger immigration fight over Trump's travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries and refugees. Cotton said his goal was to stop competition that lowers wages for workers without high school or college degrees. "Unless we reverse this trend, we are going to create a near-permanent underclass for whom the American dream is always just out of reach," he said. Asked if the White House would support the legislation and whether it was working with the senators, a spokesman said, "We are reviewing it." U.S. companies often argue in favor of immigration. More than 100 filed a legal brief opposing Trump's travel ban.


In a state plagued by a foster care crisis , it s hard to believe officials in the state of Oregon would target two loving parents because their IQ wasn t considered high enough to raise their children.In November of 2016, Oregon Live published an article based on a report by the was released by the Department of Human Services showing the state s ongoing failure to adopt solutions identified year after year in previous reviews:Oregon needs to fill a deep shortage of foster homes and programs equipped to care for children with significant trauma and other intensive needs, the report found echoing warnings documented as recently as 2011. As a result, the state might be certifying foster homes that fall below its standards.Moreover, Oregon must still work up a strategy for recruiting foster care providers, despite acknowledging in a 2007 federal review that it lacked a process to ensure the diligent recruitment of foster homes, despite significant shortages of all types. Desperation for placements appears to be increasing the risk of (the human services department) certifying foster homes where abuse is more likely occur, the report said.And inconsistencies in how child welfare workers screen reports of abuse, a problem identified by consultants as far back as 2002, remain today. Children in the foster care system, as well as people who have reported abuse, called the state s system for tracking and investigating abuse untrustworthy. Given the crisis the state of Oregon has been facing with their foster home program, one has to wonder why they would target two loving parents who are raising their children in a safe and caring environment? Should these children be allowed to stay in their home with their biological parents or does the state have the right to determine that the parents just aren t intelligent enough ?The Daily Mail An Oregon couple has been fighting a legal battle after they lost custody of their two kids because both were designated not intelligent enough to care for them in a safe and proper manner.Amy Fabbrini, 31, was reportedly unaware about her state of pregnancy when she grew far into her third trimester with her now eldest son, Christopher.Fabbrini did not receive formal examination or treatment within the ninth month term and went into advanced labor at the family s home, where she gave birth Sept. 9, 2013.Fabbrini s partner, Eric Ziegler, 38, was receiving financial aid through the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income program on the behalf of a mental disability he was diagnosed with.Earlier this year, Social Services acquired and fostered the pair s second newborn baby, Hunter, while he was in the hospital, following past allegations brought against them.A relative to the couple initially expressed concern in a complaint to authorities regarding the Christopher s well-being under the care of Fabbrini and Ziegler, according to the Oregonian.A child welfare report alleged Ziegler had been sleeping with the baby on the floor and almost rolled over on him. Fabbrini s father, Raymond, said he and his wife were acting as the primary caregivers at the time, because he believed his daughter did not possess the instincts to be a mother. After taking a required IQ test, Ziegler scored a meager 66 and Fabbrini a 72. The IQ of the average person ranges anywhere from 90-110.Ziegler s IQ score categorized him under the mild intellectual disability range, while Fabbrini extremely low to borderline range of intelligence, according to the report.Fabbrini had been working as a grocer to help provide for her family at the time. Ziegler was unemployed due to his health condition.Board member of Healthy Families of the High Desert and advocator for the couple, Sherrene Hagenbach, said the decision to place Christopher and Hunter up for adoption lacks substantial ground work and may be even more detrimental to the family as a whole. They are saying they are intellectually incapable without any guidelines to go by, Hagenbach said. They re saying that this foster care provider is better for the child because she can provide more financially, provide better education, things like that. If we re going to get on that train, Bill Gates should take my children. There s always somebody better than us, so it s a very dangerous position to be in. Domestic abuse and neglect were not factors in the custody case.Fabbrini s aunt, Lenora Turner, told the Oregonian she believed the decision was unfair in the grand scheme. I honestly don t understand why they can t have their children. I go to the grocery store and I see other people with their children and they re standing up in the grocery cart. I think, how come they get to keep their children? How do they decide whose child they re going to take and whose child can stay? Turner said.Fabbrini and Ziegler insisted that they have complied to all of the state s orders over the course of the past several years. We ve just done everything and more than what they ve asked us to, Fabbrini said. It doesn t seem like it s good enough for them They re saying, Who would parent Christopher better, the foster parents or the parents? is basically what they re going on. Ziegler added.So long as Oregon s parental rights law stays in effect, both children will remain under watch by foster care.The parents will continue to have visitation rights under the supervision of another.


As anyone who remotely follows the news knows, media whore Hillary has been dying for a reason to appear in photos unrelated to a story about her criminal activities. True to form, Hillary capitalizes on the birth of Chelsea s campaign baby by standing alone and waving to the crowd how very grandmotherly .You won t see the other set of grandparents in any pictures however, as the royal Clinton family has banned their son-in-laws family from appearing in any pictures with them Chelsea Clinton has emerged from hospital for the first time with her newborn son Aidan.The former First Daughter beamed at cameras on the steps of New York s Lenox Hill Hospital on Monday, flanked by her husband Marc Mezvinsky and parents Bill and Hillary Clinton.Despite the soaring temperatures, Hillary wore a button-down coat, while Chelsea opted for a floral mini-dress.Aidan, Chelsea s second child with husband Marc Mezvinsky, was born on Saturday in the $1,700-a-night maternity ward.- DMWho is Chelsea Clinton s father-in-law and why are he and his wife banned from appearing in pictures with Crooked Queen Hillary and her sexual predator husband? Edward Maurice Ed Mezvinsky, Chelsea Clinton s father-in-law and her daughter s grandfather, is a convicted Felon. The former Democrat Congressman from Iowa s 1st Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, served two terms, from 1973 to 1977.Ed Mezvinsky has known Hillary Clinton since the days when he served on the House Judiciary Committee that decided the fate of President Richard Nixon. This harsh critic of President Richard Nixon, had called Nixon a crook and a disgrace to politics and the nation , and called for Nixon s impeachment.But, did you ever wonder who that allusive Nigerian Prince is who might be sending you those emails looking for money? Look no farther than the Clinton Family Tree.Through a series of Nigerian email scams and Ponzi schemes, Ed Mezvinsky, Chelsea Clinton s father-in-law embezzled more than $10 million dollars. In 2001, Ed Mezvinsky was convicted of 31 (out of 69!) charges of fraud, and served five years in federal prison. His fraud charges included bank, mail, wire, as well as other offenses involving financing bogus oil development and other trade deals in Africa.But don t think Ed doesn t keep it in the family. In addition to his law clients and friends, he even bilked his own (now deceased) mother-in-law out of money. To date in 2015, the Fraudster still owes over $9.4 million in restitution to his victims.A lot of political pundits have made allusions to the fact that the Clintons and the Mezvinkys behaviors are so similar, that it is what bonded the two. Be that as it may, the Clintons go to great lengths to never, ever, be seen or photographed with any of Chelsea s in-laws. So afraid is the Clinton Dynasty of being tarnished by the Mezvinkys that neither Ed nor his second wife and Marc s mother, Marjorie Sue Margolies-Mezvinsky, were allowed in any of Chelsea s wedding pictures. Conservative America


Indonesian authorities have detained a fireworks factory owner and a manager on suspicion of negligence after explosions and fire ripped through a warehouse on the outskirts of Jakarta, killing 48 workers and injuring dozens, police said on Saturday. The blaze in the manufacturing hub of Tangerang was one of the worst industrial disasters to hit Southeast Asia s biggest economy, where safety standards are often weakly enforced. Police said the fire started when sparks from a welding operation lit a stack of raw materials used for making fireworks, causing at least two explosions that could be heard miles away. The men are suspected of negligence that led to deaths, said Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono. The owner of the PT Panca Buana Cahaya Sukses factory and an operations manager were detained while police looked for the welder. The owner was also suspected of employing underage workers, police said. Neither of the two detained was available for comment. Tangerang regent Ahmed Zaki said on Friday that the company, which had been operating for two months, had a permit for packaging but not producing fireworks. Preliminary investigations and witness accounts showed that more than 30 victims were found at the back of the factory, where they had run to try to escape while others had to break holes in the walls to get out. Police denied reports that the front gate and only exit of the factory was locked at the time of the fire. All bodies, many of them charred beyond recognition, had been taken away from the gutted factory, and family members were providing DNA samples to try to identify them. Dozens of workers have been admitted to hospital with burns of up to 80 percent of their bodies. Hospital officials said some remained in critical condition and expected the death toll to rise.


It s finally happened. The baby parts lie fabricated by two felons at the deceptively-named Center for Medical Progress has been mindlessly parroted throughout right-wing media that they are now claiming the women s health organization violates federal law by performing later-term abortions in order to sell baby parts. On Monday, O Reilly Factor, the discussion turned to Hillary Clinton s statement on abortion at the Fox News Town Hall. Asked whether she supports late-term abortions, Clinton said that it should be an option if the life and health of the mother is at risk. While this would seem sensible to even most adamantly anti-abortion individuals, Fox contributor Katie Pavlich naturally idiotsplained that Clinton is as evil as the most infected cyst on Satan s behind. She was asked specifically about late-term abortion and there was an incredible poll that came out in January showing 80 percent of Americans, including 80 percent of women, think late-term abortion should be banned, Pavlich said, ignoring that Clinton had explained that the exception only pertained to saving the mother s life.Juan Williams pointed out that Planned Parenthood is very popular in the United States, but Pavlich had a dirty little secret to drop for her incredibly stupid crowd:Does she have any evidence to back her claim? Of course not numerous investigations failed to prove that Planned Parenthood had sold a single baby part. The organization did accept reimbursement for expenses, but it is a crime to actually profit from fetal tissue sale. After the Right foamed at the mouth over the fake controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood, the organization stopped accepting reimbursement altogether to appease the Stupid Part of America.While it is obvious that the gerbils that operate Pavlich s brain are having difficulties overcoming such a baffling level of stupidity, you might be wondering: is this a work slowdown, or did they just say f*ck it and go on strike? Does Planned Parenthood even perform late-term abortions?They don t. During the baby parts witch hunt, Richards was clear that the organization does not perform late-term abortions. Politico reported at the time:When late-term abortions came up, Richards maintained that Planned Parenthood doesn t perform abortions past viability. But as the National Right to Life Committee points out, Planned Parenthood clinics advertise and perform abortions well into the second trimester, even up to 24 weeks, while research says about a quarter of infants born at 22 weeks survive.Richards professed to have never heard of a baby surviving an abortion, even though survivors have testified before Congress. She said a baby born alive after an attempted abortion should get medical care a significant concession given people on her side of the abortion debate, including Barack Obama in Illinois, have previously opposed legislation to protect born-alive infants.That s right. Thanks to the continuous strain and lackluster benefits involved with operating Pavlich s thinkie-thingie and after numerous on-the-job deaths, the little critters in her head are refusing to work. Rumor has it that they are demanding more break time, paid lunch, a raise, and better healthcare, and that Pavlich refuses the only explanation for the words that just came out of her mouth.Visibly perplexed that a human being can be this utterly ignorant, Williams shot back: This is exactly where I think Republicans go off the rails. The people who tried to argue that Planned Parenthood was selling baby parts, they got indicted. In Texas. In a red state. For violating people s rights and for making up stuff. Watch this monumental reminder that it s important to VOTE BLUE in November below:


'Hungover' now recognised as a school of philosophy 12-11-16  THE wisdom and insight that comes with a hangover is to be taught as part of philosophy courses.  'Hangoverism' will be approached as an over-arching discipline, taking in elements from existentialism's view that life is meaningless, all the way back to Socrates' allegory of not being able to face leaving a cave and going outside.  Philosophy professor Nikki Hollis said: "Many students will be able to relate to the teachings of Jeffrey Barnard and his theory that reality is just a construct that needs ignoring on a Saturday morning.  "Now leave me the fuck alone. I went mental on Chardonnay last night. My head feels like it's in a tumble dryer."  Meanwhile, academic journals have begun printing hangoverism essays, including The Morality of Bacon Sandwiches and Vomiting and Nothingness .  Share:


Tightrope Walk Over a Windy Canyon By Lee Adler. The Commerce Department reported today that sales of newly built homes posted a seasonally adjusted month to month increase of 3.1% to an annualized rate of 593,000. The department revised the August headline number down by 5.6% from 609,000 to 575,000. Without that revision the headline number this month would have been down by 2.7%. Surprise, surprise. Revise, revise.


Several hundred people, most of them expatriate Americans, held a protest on Friday in the Japanese capital, Tokyo, against U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, hours before his inauguration in Washington. Some people held up electric candles and others carried placards reading "Love Trumps Hate" and "Women's Rights Are Human Rights", as they marched along a downtown street. "Trump presidency gets my blood boiling ... Everything we value could be gone. It's time to speak your mind and concerns and to do our best to salvage the values we cherish in America," said Bill Scholer, an art teacher. "I grew up in the 1960s, and it feels like we are going backwards, and am very worried that we will lose all of the advances we have made over these years," said Holly Thompson, a writer. Women's rights activists plan protests in various Asian cities on Saturday. In the Philippines earlier on Friday, about 200 demonstrators from a Philippine nationalist group rallied for about an hour against Trump outside the U.S. embassy in Manila. Some held up signs demanding U.S. troops leave the Philippines while others set fire to a paper U.S. flag bearing a picture of Trump's face. Trump's presidency is being viewed with caution in some parts of Asia. He alarmed China by breaking with decades of precedent last month by taking a congratulatory telephone call from Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen. China regards Taiwan as a renegade province and objects to countries interacting with it as a violation of Beijing's "one-China" principle. Trump has even raised questions about the U.S. position on the principle. Trump has also criticized China's trade practices and threatened to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese imports. He has also said he would kill an ambitious Asia-Pacific trade pact, raising questions about the prospects for globalization and free trade.


. 22 Signs That You Are Embodying Your Higher Self The Higher Self is the blissful superconscious, higher mind part of ourselves that is the expression... Print Email http://humansarefree.com/2016/11/22-signs-that-you-are-embodying-your.html The Higher Self is the blissful superconscious, higher mind part of ourselves that is the expression of Divine Love, spiritual wisdom, and creative power. During spiritual awakening , our personal consciousness grows to become aware of the greater parts of ourselves. We may feel energies, intuition and even psychic knowledge. We raise our energy vibration and spiritually purify ourselves to embody more of our Higher Self – the eternal Soul aspect of our being. Full spiritual realization and enlightenment occurs when we attain the conscious experience of blissful union with the Source of Life and all of creation. Everything is One and we are home! 1. Higher Sensory Perception Your intuition is developing at a rapid rate. Other higher senses like clairvoyance and clairaudience can also be turned on. These higher senses allow you to access information and wisdom that otherwise would be unavailable through the use of your rational mind. Harmonious lucid dreaming and out of body experiences are also ways to access higher dimensional information. 2. Knowing Your Soul Purpose With your higher senses turned on, it has become crystal clear what your Soul's Purpose is. Not only you know what your mission here on earth is but you are fulfilling this mission by taking action and walking your path. Your are fulfilling your basic human needs of self-growth and contribution by being on the path of eternal self actualization and being at the service of others. 3. Meeting Your Soul Family Your frequency has attracted you to people with whom you resonate at a soul level. When you met these individuals you felt a strong and undeniable connection with them, like if you had met them before (from a past life). Even if they live on the other side of the world, the spiritual ties between you are so strong that years can go by and when you meet again is like no time has passed. 4. Meeting Your Twin Flame or Soul Mate You are in a relationship with a person that highlights and enhances your best qualities. As well, this person will mirror back to you everything you need to work on yourself. This relationship thrives on self-growth, contribution, higher giving love and fulfillment. A necessary step for the manifestation of this relationship is cutting cords of attachments and karmic ties with previous relationships. 5. Synchronicities and Accelerated Manifestations Your connection with the universe and life is evident. Your questions are answered through synchronicities and hidden messages are easily revealed to you by the power of your higher senses . You find messages and answers in books, nature and even random conversations. As well, you become aware of how strong and powerful your intent has become. Whatever you focus on manifests at a much faster than ever before. 6. Taking Responsibility For Your Happiness As you embody your Higher Self you realize how powerful you are and how you co-create reality through your thoughts and emotions . You take full responsibility for your own happiness and you stop blaming other people, the government or any other outside sources. Victimization is a thing of the past and you take full charge of your healing and evolutionary process. 7. Embracing All Emotions You have finally transcended the spiritual bypass that some emotions are 'bad' or 'negative'. Instead you embrace all e-motions and instead of repressing them you allow them to flow through you. You can use anger for passion or motivation. You can easily empathize with others while maintaining the integrity of your field. 8. Holographic Nature of Reality Like Rumi said 'You are not a drop of water in an ocean, you are the entire ocean in a drop of water.' The holographic nature of reality is encoded within you and you can sense the interconnectedness of everything. It is obvious to you that we live in a multidimensional matrix and that you have a multidimensional anatomy. You also feel very attracted to sacred geometry. 9. Alchemical and Healing Powers Whether it's hands on healing, soul retrieval or any other type of healing modality you have learned how to direct your intent and manipulate energy to remove energetic blockages. You can easily connect to your Higher Self and disengage discordant energies that hinder your spiritual evolution. Often you will assist others in their healing and ascension process with your siddhis. 10. Activating Your DNA DNA activation is the process of accreting more light into your morphogenetic field by activating the dormant strands of DNA that correspond to your Higher Self. You have at least a 12 strand DNA template that allows 12 dimensions of consciousness. DNA activation is the key to spiritual ascension and the embodiment of your Higher Self. It's quite common for a person who goes through DNA activation to progressively experience all the other signs mentioned in this page. 11. Unconditional Self-Love Your 4th strand of DNA corresponds to your heart chakra. One of the main benefits of DNA activation is being able to access and embody a state of unconditional self-love. No longer do you feel the need to extract love from other people, instead you see yourself as an infinite source of love. A sense of wholeness begins to unfold as you love ALL aspects of yourself, including your shadow self. 12. Integrating and Transcending Your Shadow Self Your shadow self is the part of you that is running in reverse. It is mainly made up of archetypes, personas and complexes. Some examples are the Professional Victim Persona, the Rescuer Archetype, the Sorcerer, The Tyrant and the Absolute Perfectionist. The shadow self is what causes self-sabotage and causes you to create chaos in your life. The shadow self is created by making decisions that are not aligned with your Higher Self and manifest as reverse codes in your DNA. 13. Frequency Resonance As you continue to raise your frequency you notice how some people begin to fall out of your holographic reality . You understand that your frequencies no longer match. The same can happen with your job or even your country of origin. In turn your higher frequency attracts you to a new grid of people, places, times, things and events that are in line with your Higher Self. 14. Honest Yes and Honest No You are not afraid of saying 'no' to other people when you inner guidance tells you not to do something or go somewhere. You are not afraid of other people's reactions and you are true to yourself. Every time you are congruent with what you want and what you don't want you feel more powerful. As well you embrace the art of an honest 'yes' when the universe delivers what you desire. You don't try to appear 'humble' or 'spiritual' by rejecting what you truly desire in your life. 15. Harmonious Family Relationships 'If you think you are enlightened, go spend a weekend with your family.' Ram Dass You have realized that enlightenment doesn't happen in a cave. You have cleared the cords of attachments and karmic ties with your family. Gone are the days where you kept experiencing the same old family drama. Your family members have shifted their approach to connect with you to higher ways and you accept/love them just how they are. 16. No Guilt, No Shame Shame and guilt are the two lowest frequency energetic blockages in humanity. In order to embody your Higher Self you have let go of the identification with shame and guilt. You have cleared the guilt and shame you inherited from your parents through the DNA and you have released the shame and guilt that has been implanted by society and religions. Instead you choose to embrace the states of joy and bliss. You have become immune to guilt manipulating strategies often used by victims. 17. Making Decision In Line With Your Higher Self Instead of making decisions based on fear, righteousness, competition or lack you are making decisions in line with your Higher Self and ultimately with Source-will. You are aware of Source's intentions: the Law of One, Unconditional Love, Cooperation, Evolution, Perpetual Motion, Cause and Effect, Non-Judgment and Free-will. Even though we all have free-will and can ultimately go against Source-will (you're unconditionally loved), you're aware that making such decisions will trigger the Law of Cause and Effect and create a karmic imprint to re-mind you must heal that karmic miasm at some point. 18. Inner and Outer Abundance Lack and limitation are a thing of the past. You have embodied a state of absolute inner abundance that is being reflected onto your holographic reality. You no longer seek to extract love, approval and appreciation from other people, you are the source. Happiness is within you. As well you have transcended the spiritual bypass that money is 'evil' and you know that money is just energy, made up of consciousness just like everything else. You enjoy financial abundance and use this abundance to create a more harmonious reality for yourself and others. 19. Mind Unplugged From the Matrix One sign that your mind has been unplugged from the matrix is that you can clearly see the hidden agenda of those who desire to control this planet. You no longer resonate with the news and their 'official story'. You inner truth detector can sense when someone is lying and you have become immune to the low frequency strategies and implants that constantly try to tell you 'you are not enough'. Mindless consumerism and the herd mentality seem absurd to you. 20. Bye-Bye Idolatry As you awaken to your co-creative powers and God-like nature, you no longer put other people on a pedestal. Your inner guru precedes any external guru and you see teachers as a reflection of your own unlimited potential. The forces of your worthiness and deservedness drive you to achieve whatever you set your mind upon. You have become the master of your own reality . 21. Overflowing with Gratitude Gratitude is your attitude. Gratitude is your prayer . The sense of lack has become foreign to you, instead you cannot stop counting your blessings. The feeling of gratitude multiplies whatever you have and brings you even more positive experiences. You are even grateful for the challenges and setbacks that are inevitable in life, you can't help to see them as opportunities for growth. And you probably have a gratitude journal. 22. Don't Take Yourself Too Seriously Life is meant to be fun, you know that. Being extremely rigid and disciplined suck the fun out of everything. Even though you are adamant when it comes to working on yourself and achieving self mastery, you always allow yourself to make mistakes. In fact making mistakes is part of the learning process. You have a great sense of humor and you don't take yourself too seriously. Your inner child is thriving and you often feel energized, inspired and overflowing with creativity. Gustavo Castaner is the founder of AscendedRelationships.com and In-Light-Ment.com . Gustavo specializes in helping people change their frequency so they can embody their Higher Self and manifest higher vibrational relationships. Dear Friends, HumansAreFree is and will always be free to access and use. If you appreciate my work, please help me continue.  Stay updated via Email Newsletter: Related


Seven U.S. senators urged Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday to press Bahrain's government to do more to promote political and social reform, adding to recent concern in Washington over that country's human rights record. The letter said the United States should be prepared to consider "tangible consequences," including reconsidering arms sales, if a recent crackdown on opposition continues. "Bahrain's failure to address the legitimate grievances of its citizens has strained the country's social fabric and invited outside actors to take advantage of the deteriorating situation," six Democratic lawmakers and one Republican said in a letter to Kerry, a former Democratic senator. "Indeed, we believe the government's harsh crackdown on the political opposition undermines the country's stability and plays into the hands of Iran," they wrote, calling themselves "deeply alarmed." State Department spokesman John Kirby said he was aware of reports about the letter, but had not seen it. Asked about whether U.S. arms provided to Bahrain could be used against the opposition, he said, "We always have concerns about the end use of items that are inside the foreign military sales program." Bahrain, which hosts the United States' Fifth Fleet and is seen by Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdoms as a strategic bulwark against Iranian influence, drew U.S. and United Nations criticism this month when it moved to strip a top Shi'ite cleric's citizenship and closed the main Shi'ite opposition group. A State Department report, first reported by Reuters, found Bahrain's national reconciliation efforts after it crushed street protests in 2011 have stalled, and said the Western ally in the Gulf has not implemented recommendations to protect freedom of expression. "We continue to urge the government of Bahrain to reverse their recent harmful actions," Kirby said a news briefing on Thursday. Earlier this week, the State Department said Bahrain's plan to try an activist for tweets condemning its prison system and involvement in the war in Yemen is worrisome to the United States. The letter was led by Democratic Senator Chris Murphy and also signed by Republican Marco Rubio and Democrats Patrick Leahy, Ron Wyden, Bob Casey, Chris Coons and Tim Kaine. It asked for more information on specific actions President Barack Obama's administration is taking to press Bahrain's leadership on the issue.


Hurricane Harvey s destruction in Texas may not have altered Florida s well-tested storm plans, but it appears to have infused residents with a new sense of urgency as they prepare for approaching Hurricane Irma. Officials said Harvey s devastating flooding, coupled with the sheer power of Irma, ranked as the strongest Atlantic storm on record, had sharpened the focus of Floridians who were somewhat indifferent about preparing for past hurricanes. A lot of times they end up having hurricane parties here instead of evacuating, Monroe County spokeswoman Cammy Clark said by phone. That s been the opposite this time around. Monroe County includes the Florida Keys, which ordered evacuations for all residents and tourists. Clark said she saw a steady stream of traffic leaving the travel destination as she drove to work early on Wednesday. The U.S. National Hurricane Center forecasts that Irma may strike southern Florida on Saturday, when it could still be a major hurricane. As it neared Puerto Rico on Wednesday with maximum sustained winds of 185 miles per hour (295 kph), Irma was a Category 5 storm, the highest level on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity. This storm is bigger, faster and stronger than Hurricane Andrew, Florida Governor Rick Scott told a news conference on Wednesday, referring to one of the costliest storms in U.S. history that struck southern Miami-Dade County 25 years ago. For south Florida, Hurricane Irma is a once-in-a-generation storm. It s the Big One for us, Ed Rappaport, acting director of the hurricane center, told WFOR-TV in Miami on Wednesday evening. Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez on Wednesday evening announced mandatory evacuations for most of the county s coastal cities beginning at 9 a.m. (1300 GMT) on Thursday. Miami-Dade has a population of 2.7 million. The evacuation orders affect more than 100,000 residents, the Miami Herald reported. Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine had already urged residents of that city on Tuesday to evacuate. We don t want any heroes, he said. We want people to bring themselves to a safer place than a barrier island. Officials across Florida said they saw signs of people taking Irma more seriously than past storms. Residents were stocking up on water and batteries and even complaining that county leaders were not being quick enough to announce evacuations, said Don Walker, spokesman for Brevard County Emergency Management. Houston officials were criticized for not ordering an evacuation ahead of the flooding that left hundreds of people in the country s fourth-largest city trapped in their homes. Everyone is really in tune with this storm system. My neighbors are talking about it, and we don t usually do that, Walker said. For years, many Florida residents, joined by an ever-growing number of newcomers, paid little heed to hurricane warnings as most opted to stay in their homes, county officials said. Not this time around. I ll tell you for the community, heck yeah, they re taking this more seriously, said Teri Barbera, spokeswoman for the Palm Beach County Sheriff s Office, noting that many stores were out of bottled water by Monday. They re not playing.


Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday the United States decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital had made Washington complicit in violence. His comments on the U.S. move have strained fragile relations between Turkey and Israel, which only restored ties last year following a six-year diplomatic rift. Erdogan, a frequent critic of Israel, has said the decision by U.S. President Donald Trump will spark violence in the region. The ones who made Jerusalem a dungeon for Muslims and members of other religions will never be able to clean the blood from their hands, Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara. With their decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital, the United States has become a partner in this bloodshed, he said, adding he did not consider Trump s decision binding. Trump s decision last week overturned longstanding U.S. policy on Jerusalem, a city holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians. The status of Jerusalem has been one of the biggest obstacles to a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians for generations. Over the weekend Erdogan referred to Israel as a terror state and an invader state , prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire back. I m not used to receiving lectures about morality from a leader who bombs Kurdish villages in his native Turkey, who jails journalists, helps Iran go around international sanctions and who helps terrorists, including in Gaza, kill innocent people, Netanyahu said at a news conference. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group has fought a decades-old insurgency with the Turkish state in which more than 40,000 people have been killed. The conflict flared up after the collapse of a ceasefire in 2015. Last year Israel and Turkey restored ties following a six-year rupture that occurred after Israeli marines stormed an aid ship in 2010 to enforce a naval blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, killing 10 Turkish activists on board. The normalization of ties between both countries has been driven in part by the prospect of lucrative Mediterranean gas deals as well as by mutual concerns about regional security.


The Disappearing Middle: Electorate Way Less Moderate Than Past Primaries One of the biggest stories of the election cycle is turnout (as we've reported a few times now): Republican turnout has spiked far beyond 2012 levels, and Democratic turnout has fallen off after the party's mammoth 2008. The tone and the turnout are vastly different between Republicans and Democrats this year, but oddly enough, both sides have something crucial in common: their voters are far less moderate than they were in their last primaries. Let's start with the Republican numbers. The below chart shows the ideological difference between the Republican electorate this year and in 2012. Each dot represents one state — so, for example, 33 percent of Vermont Republican primary voters in 2016 said they considered themselves moderate or liberal, compared to 53 percent in 2012. That puts Vermont at negative-20 for "somewhat conservative" — the most extreme result we found among the 15 GOP states for which there was sufficient exit-poll data. It's true exit polls can have a margin of error, but there's no mistaking a pattern here. In no state did the share of "moderate" and "liberal" GOP primary voters grow from 2012 to 2016. (The exit polls lumped moderate and liberal together in 2012, so they're not separated out here.) Altogether, an NPR analysis finds that the share of "somewhat conservative" voters on the GOP side climbed by nearly 10 percentage points in 2016 over 2012's primaries. (That is, among the states with exit polling data for both years). The share who were moderate or liberal, meanwhile, fell by around 9 percentage points, and the share who were "very conservative" held relatively steady. Something similar is at work on the Democratic side, as well: The share of moderate and conservative Democratic voters was down — sometimes dramatically so — in most states that have voted thus far. Meanwhile, the share of people who are somewhat or very liberal is way up. This year, around 60 percent of Democratic primary voters said they considered themselves "somewhat" or "very liberal," up from around 45 percent in 2008 (once again, among states with sufficient exit polling data for both years). So interestingly, though voters on both sides are less moderate than in the last contests, Democrats this year have more decidedly moved toward the "very liberal" end of the spectrum. Republican voters, meanwhile, are way more "somewhat conservative" than in 2012, but don't appear to be more "very conservative." One thing to keep in mind: Republican turnout across the board is higher this year. That means there are still a few more moderate and liberal Republican primary and caucus voters this cycle than there were in the 2012 primaries — it's just that the number of somewhat conservative Republicans shot up way more. Likewise, Democratic turnout is down almost entirely across the board. Interestingly, even with the sharp drop off in turnout, multiplying the exit poll data by the turnout numbers suggests that the raw number of "very liberal" Democratic voters is, in fact, up slightly from 2008. However, the number of moderate and conservative voters dropped off steeply. And even though the share of "somewhat liberal" voters is up, the raw number is also down. But anyway: all of this could mean that a bunch of moderate and conservative Democrats who voted in 2008 stayed home this year, while a lot of those somewhat and very liberal Democrats from 2008 came out again. Likewise, it could mean that the Republican wave of turnout is driven largely by a bunch of "somewhat conservative" voters who weren't there in 2012. And looking at the results so far, there are simple explanations to why this might be happening. The very-liberal Bernie Sanders is probably driving some of the turnout among very-liberal voters. It's likewise possible that the somewhat-conservative Trump is behind the bump in somewhat conservative voters in Republican primaries (while Ted Cruz does better among very conservative voters, and John Kasich gets more votes among moderates). But then, it might not just be candidate-driven: it's possible that lots of people have simply become more conservative or liberal than they were four or eight years ago. This is also to some degree plausible, as there is evidence that Americans are getting more polarized. In other words, there's a chicken-egg question here, with no clear answer — chances are, they're both right. To the degree that voters are more polarized, they're gravitating toward more extreme candidates. And Sanders and Trump also both happen to be very good at energizing people to turn out and vote for them.


In a thinly veiled reference to U.S. President Donald Trump, the top U.N. human rights official on Thursday condemned "populists" who spread "hatred through tweets". Britain criticised Trump on Wednesday after he retweeted anti-Islam videos originally posted by a leader of a far-right British fringe party who was convicted this month of abusing a Muslim woman. "There are the populists — political hooligans who through their incitement — which is the equivalent of hurling racist insults, throwing bottles onto the field, attacking the referee and, as we saw yesterday, spreading hatred through tweets — seek to scramble our order, our laws," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a speech in Geneva. A U.N. official, who declined to be identified, said that Zeid's remarks were "clearly a reference to Trump tweets but also others using social media in this way". (Refiles to add dropped full name of official)


Let's dispel once and for all with this fiction that Marco Rubio knows what he's doing. A week ago, the youthful senator from Florida was in great shape. His surprisingly strong finish in the Iowa caucuses left him with a clear chance to consolidate mainstream Republican support — and a path to the GOP presidential nomination. But in just a few minutes Saturday night, Rubio undid everything he had worked for during the past year — really, the past five years. His singularly disastrous debate performance, in which he repeated irrelevant, canned phrases, caused would-be supporters to flee for Ohio Gov. John Kasich and other more stable candidates. And Tuesday night, Rubio proved true the axiom popularized by Alan Simpson, the wisecracking former senator from Wyoming: "One day you're the toast of the town, the next you're toast." The culprit here, as in most things that have gone wrong this campaign season, is Donald Trump, who after his convincing win in New Hampshire is once again the front-runner for the nomination. Typically, Iowa and New Hampshire serve as proving grounds for the candidates. Voters there scrutinize the contenders, who rise and fall in the polls as various candidates gain and lose the status of front-runner. But Trump's celebrity short-circuited the process. With Trump dominating the coverage and the polls, Iowa and New Hampshire failed to fulfill their traditional vetting roles. Rubio was one who never got the scrutiny. And when he emerged, blinking, into the spotlight after Iowa, voters found an empty suit. Watching him campaign last week, I wrote: "Rubio's strong Iowa finish has brought new attention — and overcapacity crowds — in New Hampshire. But the would-be supporters are greeted by a robot." [What Marco Rubio would have said if he had won New Hampshire] This wasn't necessarily a surprise to those who watched Rubio closely (or even to those who recall his water-gulping response to the State of the Union three years ago). Buzzfeed's McKay Coppins, who wrote about Rubio in a 2015 book, observed that he had an "incurable anxiousness — and an occasional propensity to panic in moments of crisis, both real and imagined." He had seemed to be a good debater — but with 10 or more candidates crowding the stage in early debates, he didn't have to go far beyond canned lines. On Saturday, exposed to withering attacks from rival Chris Christie, a former prosecutor, Rubio suffered what was perhaps the most memorable lapse at the presidential level since Edmund Muskie appeared to weep in the New Hampshire snow in 1972. "Let's dispel once and for all with this fiction that Barack Obama doesn't know what he's doing," Rubio proclaimed early in the debate, as ungrammatical and off-point. "He knows exactly what he's doing." A moment later, Rubio said again: "But I would add this. Let's dispel with this fiction that Barack Obama doesn't know what he's doing. He knows exactly what he's doing." And again: "Here's the bottom line. This notion that Barack Obama doesn't know what he's doing is just not true. He knows exactly what he's doing." Even when called out by Christie for the mindless repetition, Rubio said again: "We are not facing a president that doesn't know what he's doing. He knows what he is doing. That's why he's done the things he's done." The reviews were savage, and then, on Monday night, RubioBot malfunctioned again. "Janette and I are raising our four children in the 21st century, and we know how hard it's become to instill our values in our kids instead of the values they try to ram down our throats," he told supporters, then added: "In the 21st century, it's becoming harder than ever to instill in your children the values they teach in our homes and in our church instead of the values that they try to ram down our throats." Exit polls left little doubt that Rubio's glitches ruined his prospects in New Hampshire. Two-thirds said the debates were important, and of the nearly half of GOP voters who made choices in the last few days, Kasich did far better than Rubio. This left Rubio, with 70 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday night, languishing at 10 percent of the vote. He trailed not only Trump (34 percent) but also Kasich (16 percent), Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush, who was once left for dead. "I'm disappointed with tonight," Rubio said Tuesday, acknowledging that "I did not do well on Saturday night." The results also left Republicans, once again, without a consensus alternative to Trump — and with dwindling hope of finding one. Had Rubio received scrutiny earlier, voters might have been able to find a candidate who didn't wilt in the spotlight. But Iowa and New Hampshire didn't serve their functions this time. Trump got in the way. Read more from Dana Milbank's archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.


Law enforcement in North Dakota is running out of money protecting the Dakota Access oil pipeline.  A legislative committee will be reviewing an emergency request to borrow more money from the Bank of North Dakota to cover the cost of law enforcement's involvement in the Dakota Access pipeline protests.  The department has used an increasing amount of money since the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, which was supposed to be saved for natural disasters, but is now used to protect the pipeline that is planned to go through 1851 treaty land.  To fight for companies behind the DAPL, officers from at least 6 states have been deployed. North Dakota is responsible for reimbursing out-of-state police agencies for costs that have to do with wages, overtime, officer benefits, meals while on duty, a per diem while off duty, lodging and mileage for the communities that sent vehicles.  Governor Jack Dalrymple will vote on Tuesday, November 8th on whether to borrow $4 million from the state-owned bank.  The panel has already borrowed and spent $6 million from the bank in September.  North Dakota officials have also requested federal officials to reimburse the state for the additional law enforcement costs.  All of this money going towards the police brings a lot into question. How much taxpayer money will be used to protect the investment of a company over investments on human health? How much money is given to law enforcement, military, and corporations in order to silence the people fighting for justice?


The country's murder rate jumped more last year than it had in nearly half a century, newly released federal crime data showed, although the number of homicides remained far below the levels of the 1980s and '90s. The data, part of an annual report released on Monday by the F. B. I. showed that the murder rate rose 10. 8 percent across the United States in 2015, part of a nearly 4 percent increase in violent crime. Fueling the surge in murders was street violence in a handful of major cities, notably Baltimore, Chicago, St. Louis, Washington, D. C. and Milwaukee, where most of the victims were young males. The F. B. I. reported that guns were used in nearly of the nation's 15, 696 murders during 2015. Police officials and criminologists say there is no single explanation for the increase nationally, but point to disputes that more often end in gun violence and turf battles over a growing, and highly profitable, heroin trade. "It's too early to call this an end to the crime drop, but we are facing a rise in murders that is quite substantial — the largest in about half a century," said Richard Rosenfeld, a criminology professor at the University of . Louis, and an authority on crime trends. "Alarm is not the appropriate response," he said, "but the priority should be in improving relations, particularly in disadvantaged communities. " The data was released on a day when a gunman in Houston wounded nine people before being fatally shot by the police, and in the midst of a heated presidential campaign in which the Republican candidate, Donald J. Trump, has made law and order a central tenet. Saying that "crime is out of control, and rapidly getting worse," Mr. Trump has pledged to make the country safe again. He suggested last week that policing, a tactic that has been ruled unconstitutional and subsequently discontinued in New York City, might be a model for other cities. The Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, has called for an overhaul of the justice system and a rebuilding of trust between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve. She has also called for stricter gun control. The murder rate last year was far below the levels of 30 to 40 years ago, when violent crime, fueled partly by gang violence during the crack cocaine epidemic, reached a peak. The overall 3. 9 percent increase in violent crime in 2015 was lower than levels from five and 10 years ago, the F. B. I. said. "It is important to remember that while crime did increase over all last year, 2015 still represented the year for violent crime in the past two decades," Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said Monday. The pace of murders in Baltimore, Milwaukee, St. Louis and Washington has since fallen in 2016, according to police data from those cities. (Homicides classified as murder or manslaughter are included in the F. B. I. data for murder.) Still, the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, said that President Obama, who has pushed for stricter gun control, "believes there's more that we can and should do. " "And there's no area where the president has been more outspoken than taking action on gun safety measures that would make it harder for criminals and others who shouldn't have them to buy a gun," Mr. Earnest said. James B. Comey, the F. B. I. director, has suggested that the increase in violence in some urban centers may be the result of police officers' being less aggressive in confronting potential crime as departments have been subjected to intense scrutiny over questionable shootings that have been captured on video and watched by millions on the internet. Mr. Comey's remarks have been disputed by police chiefs and criminologists, who say there is no reliable data that supports his premise. The F. B. I. report said that about 1. 2 million violent crimes occurred in 2015, up from 1. 15 million in 2014. In 1996, when cities experienced a wave of violent crime, there were about 1. 7 million violent crimes, according to the data. The number of murders in 2015 was about the same as the 15, 399 committed in 2009. Still, the 10. 8 percent increase in the murder rate in 2015 is the most since a rise of more than 11 percent from 1967 to 1968, Dr. Rosenfeld said. By contrast, property crimes fell 2. 6 percent in 2015, according to the F. B. I. data. Chicago, one of the cities responsible for a significant part of the nation's homicide increase, had 411 murders in 2014 and 478 in 2015, according to the F. B. I. data. As of late September, more than 500 people had been killed in Chicago so far this year, passing the city's total for all of 2015, and more than 3, 000 people have been shot. Officials in Chicago have struggled to explain the uptick in killings. The law enforcement authorities point to a rising number of increasingly splintered gangs on the city's South and West Sides, as well as an abundance of guns and what they view as weak penalties for gun violations. Community leaders identify more profound roots for the violence, including disinvestment in neighborhoods, poverty and unemployment. Last week, Chicago officials announced efforts to try to slow the violence, including the addition of nearly 1, 000 officers who are expected to join the Chicago Police Department, which is already the nation's municipal police force. Relations between the Chicago police and residents have grown especially tense since late 2015 when city officials made public a video showing a police officer shooting Laquan McDonald, an teenager, 16 times. The Department of Justice is investigating the Chicago police. Los Angeles had 282 murders in 2015, compared with 262 in 2014, while New York had 352 murders last year, and about 333 in 2014, the report said. Other cities that had large increases in murders in 2015 — including Baltimore, where they rose to 344 from 211 in 2014, and Milwaukee, where they increased to 145 from 90 — have seen murders drop this year. "There are four or five cities that are big enough to drive a significant portion of the increase," said Ronal Serpas, a former police chief in Nashville and New Orleans, who is now a criminal justice professor at Loyola University New Orleans. But homicides have increased during the first nine months of this year in several other cities, including Charlotte, N. C. where Keith Lamont Scott, a black man, was fatally shot by the police last week. Those numbers are expected to lead to an even higher increase in the murder rate for 2016, according to a report published this month by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law.


It looks like National Security Pick Monica Crowley isn t the only plagiarist on Team Trump, aside from Melania, that is. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson Trump s pick for HUD Secretary started off the confirmation hearing today with a bang, refusing to say that the president-elect and his family wouldn t profit from the agency he hopes to head. To top that off, part of Carson s prepared opening statement appears to contain word-for-word plagiarism, according to The Washington Post.However, the Senate Banking Committee did not hear the plagiarized sections because Carson used his typical off-the-cuff style during his testimony leaving behind his prepared remarks.Carson s prepared remarks were taken verbatim:The two paragraphs in question focused on the health problems caused by lead exposure in young children. According to the Post, they were taken verbatim from Where We Live Matters For Our Health, a 2008 report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.A Trump transition spokeswoman told The Washington Post that the plagiarized text was included accidentally, and that Carson never intended to read it at his hearing. We re not sure exactly what accidental plagiarism is.Prepared statements from nomination hearings are typically entered into the congressional record. It was a written statement for the record his oral testimony, as I am sure you ve heard, is extemporaneous and planned that way, the spokeswoman told the Post. The original written statement was sourced with hyperlinks and footnotes, but unfortunately that seems to have fallen off.According to the Post, however, there was no sourcing included in the copies of prepared text which was passed out to reporters at the hearing.In mid-November, Carson declined a Trump cabinet position, citing his lack of experience. Even though he lacks political experience, the sleepy-eyed doctor ran for the GOP nomination for the presidency. Carson now wants to lead a massive agency with 8,300 employees and a budget of about $48 billion. Carson said he s a good pick for the position because he grew up in inner-city Detroit with a single mother who had a third-grade education and worked several jobs to keep a roof over their heads and put food on the table.At the hearing, Sen. Elizabeth Warren asked Carson, Can you assure me that not a single taxpayer dollar you give out will financial benefit the president-elect or his family? Carson failed to assure Warren that the president-elect would not financially benefit from HUD and that s because Donald J. Trump is the swamp.Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images


On Saturday, Illinois newspaper, the Belleville News-Democrat. published the unhinged ravings of one of the perpetual haters of sanity regarding President Obama s yet-unfulfilled mass gun-grab. Sure, he s gone seven years without taking guns away from Americans even the Stupid Part of America but Steve Kassa Jr. of Edwardsville is certain that any day could be the day, and he wrote to share his mindbogglingly-stupid thoughts with everyone. Obama was up to his lying and deceiving propaganda again trying to drum up support like Hitler installing to take your guns away, Kassa writes. He s had his prostitute in the media, Katie Couric, doing gun propaganda all week on satellite. In fact, he says that the President even used the Sandy Hook conspiracy (that s right he thinks Sandy Hook was fake) to emphasize his point that it s probably not a good idea to allow unhinged people to buy and own guns without some form of safeguard in place. After this last big breaking of the law and getting in America s face with this transgender thing, if you can t see America where this guy is wanting you disarmed, you better watch some of the rise and fall of the third Reich on AHC or the American History Channel, he continues, segueing into the inevitable ill-informed Hitler comparison: These people have a very evil, demonic agenda and soon as they get the guns, if they can, you will see worse than what happened in Germany in World War II here in the United States. In reality, had Mr. Kassa opened a book at some point in his lifetime (not even a history book, just any book that mentions Hitler s rise to power), he would know that while Hitler seized guns from his enemies, he was actually quite in favor of an armed populace. Politifact notes that, like his party s modern-day American counterparts, Hitler was in favor of open carry, deregulation of firearm regulations, and allowing children to own guns:The Nazis adopted a new gun law in 1938. According to an analysis by Bernard Harcourt, a professor at Columbia University School of Law, it loosened gun ownership rules in several ways.It deregulated the buying and selling of rifles, shotguns and ammunition. It made handguns easier to own by allowing anyone with a hunting license to buy, sell or carry one at any time. (You didn t need to be hunting.) It also extended the permit period from one year to three and gave local officials more discretion in letting people under 18 get a gun.The regulations to implement this law, rather than the law itself, did impose new limits on one group: Jews.Then, things got crazy (yes, then). Kassa decided to bring Agenda 21 into the mix: The rich white elite Democrats wanted the American Indians ground, so the first thing they did was disarm them, the next thing they did was put them on a reservation (Agenda 21), and then they stole their ground. Go check out Agenda 21 for yourself. Agenda 21 is a fictional New World Order plot to depopulate the earth and control everything that is mindlessly parroted by people who have trouble figuring out how to operate a doorknob. In reality, Mother Jones notes that Agenda 21 isn t actually scary at all, despite the ominous-sounding name:While the name might sound a bit ominous, Agenda 21 is a voluntary action plan that offers suggestions for sustainable ways local, state and national governments can combat poverty and pollution and conserve natural resources in the 21st century. (That s where the 21 comes from. Get it?) 178 governments including the U.S. led by then-President George H.W. Bush voted to adopt the program which is, again, not legally binding in any way, at the 1992 U.N. Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. These people are very evil and you bet they want the guns so bad they can t stand it, as it s not for your safety, but for theirs, Kassa concludes. God bless America and unite as the one world order will have Obama coming after you. Be prepared, stick together.


Ray Dalio, founder of the world's largest hedge fund Bridgewater Associates LP, said he is increasingly concerned about the Trump administration's "populist" policies that could hurt the world economy. The detrimental effects of these policies could be more powerful than the beneficial effects of Trump's pro-business policies, Dalio and co-Chief Investment Officer Bob Prince said on Tuesday. "We are now in a period of time when how this balance tilts will be more important to the economy, markets, and our well-beings than normally dominant drivers such as central bank policies," Dalio and Prince said in a note. "While there is a lot of potential to improve fiscal policies and make beneficial structural reforms, there is also a significant risk that his populist policies could hurt the world economy (and worse)." In November, Dalio said Trump's policies would have a "broadly positive" effect on the U.S. economy and that bond prices likely made a "30-year top." Trump on Friday put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily barred travelers from Syria and six other Muslim-majority countries. Bridgewater oversees about $150 billion in client assets.


Thursday in an interview with POLITICO Playbook, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( ) signaled Mexico would not pay for the border wall as President Donald Trump has proposed. When asked, "Do you believe Mexico will pay for it," McConnell said, "Uh, no," ( Politico) Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN