USA Today reports:  Aoun, 81, is an ally of Hezbollah, the Shiite militia and political party backed by Iran that has helped Syrian President Bashar Assad survive a five-year civil war on Lebanon's border.  The vote for Aoun, by 83 of parliament's 127 members, shows Iran-backed political factions shouldered past those aligned with Saudi Arabia, replacing Syria as Lebanon's chief foreign power broker.  Aoun's "victory now is a victory for Hezbollah and that alliance, and certainly a kind of black eye for Saudi Arabia," said Paul Salem, vice president for policy and research at the Middle East Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C.  Saad Hariri, a pro-Western and Saudi-oriented politician, formally endorsed Aoun last week after failing to garner enough support for the presidency. In return, Aoun is expected to appoint Hariri prime minister.  "It's a power-sharing system," Salem said. "In a way, the status quo will continue."  U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby congratulated Lebanon on the election results.  "This is a moment of opportunity, as Lebanon emerges from years of political impasse, to restore government functions and build a more stable and prosperous future for all Lebanese citizens," he said in a statement.  Asked later about Aoun's support from Hezbollah, which the State Department has designated a terrorist organization, Kirby said: "Let' see what decisions he makes, what kind of leadership he exudes as president."  The U.S. routinely assesses its foreign assistance programs "and we will do that with Lebanon going forward," Kirby said at a press briefing.  Aoun's election drew immediate praise from a top adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.  The adviser, Ali Akbar Velayati, described the choice as a victory for Iran and its allies in Lebanon, because the Lebanese president is "a very significant ring in the chain of the Islamic resistance," according to Iran's government-owned Tasnim News Agency.  Aoun, in his first speech after becoming president, pledged to fight corruption and protect Lebanon from the fires raging around it, referring to the Syrian civil war, according to the Associated Press. He also promised to liberate contested territory under "Israeli occupation," according to Hezbollah's Al Manar-TV, apparently referring to territory Israel considers part of the Golan Heights, which it conquered from Syria during the 1967 war. Saad Hariri and Michel Aoun  Lebanon has been without a head of state since May 2014, when then-president Michel Suleiman's six-year term expired. Since then, 45 sessions to elect a new leader have failed because of political infighting, the AP reported. Hezbollah leader Nasrallah and Michel Aoun


A racist Trump supporter who couldn t hack it as a police officer is calling for right-wing militia members, former police officers, and military veterans to grab their guns and come to Cleveland to shoot any black people they find protesting at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland next month. I am encouraging patriots and Trump supporters and those that support liberty and freedom to come lawfully armed with lethal and non-lethal weaponry, Jim Stachowiak declared in a video directed at lone wolf patriots. Stachowiak was booted out of the police force for misconduct after only three years on the job, yet he thinks he is capable of patrolling the outside of the GOP convention as a pretend law enforcement official.After slandering the Black Lives Matter movement by claiming that the group has issued death threats aimed at Donald Trump, Stachowiak called for armed volunteers to join him at the convention to intimidate and even kill black protesters They have threatened to cause riots in Cleveland and nationwide, he said. It is our sworn duty and obligation for all those like me and many of you who have taken the oath to defend this country against all enemies foreign and domestic. Then he repeated Donald Trump s suggestion that President Obama is a terrorist sympathizer and urged patriots to use their Second Amendment against Black Lives Matter members, whom he also referred to as domestic terrorists. We should answer the call with our Second Amendment. Yes, I m encouraging patriots to come prepared to defend this nation against a domestic terrorist organization supported by the terrorist in the White House, Obama Come prepared, because this may spark another revolution. It won t be decided if that spark turns into a bonfire by we who love liberty, for we will defend, not attack. We won t act, but we will react. Here s the video via YouTube.Stachowiak is nothing more than a right-wing terrorist trying to organize another Bundy-style standoff that he hopes will turn into some kind of bloody revolution. Gun nuts like him are the reason why we need serious gun restrictions in this country. If anybody shouldn t be allowed to have a gun it s this guy. He is literally calling for gun violence against back protesters who show up to the GOP convention. Hopefully, the FBI has seen this video and are planning to take Stachowiak into custody before we end up with another mass shooting.


posted by Eddie Michelle Obama has scrubbed all references to Hillary Clinton from both of her Twitter accounts as news breaks that Clinton is under two different FBI investigations involving four FBI offices. The @FLOTUS account has been wiped clean of all traces of Hillary, and @MichelleObama , a verified page with almost six million followers, has been scrubbed all the way back to 2013. Is Michelle performing a last minute tidy up, clearing out the clutter before the dumpster fire of the Democratic campaign finally burns out?  Bernie Sanders has also begun to change his tune. A Twitter post today sure didn't sound like it was referring to Hillary Clinton. Bernie was asked by a supporter about the write-in thing – and his response might surprise you. " If you want to write me in here [Vermont], I think it's fine." source:


Donald Trump s statements are frightening to those who see the danger of his rise and his antics are certainly theatrical. Maybe that s why he fits in perfectly in this amazing Game of Thrones mashup clip.Watch Video Here: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0tE6T-ecmg]His face, along with quotes from his speeches and interviews, is cut into a mashup of the HBO hit drama as the viewer gets a sense of both the hilarity as well as the absurdity that is Donald Trump. It seems that Trump fits in quite well in the Seven Kingdoms. Produced by Australian satirist Huw Parkinson, the video begins with Trump turning away Daenerys Targaryen from the city of Quarth.Trump later attacks Pope Francis for criticizing him and complimented himself, saying he was a nice guy. He also said that he s going to build a massive wall and negotiates with Littefinger.Although the video is entertaining, it also sends a strong message about both the absurdity and the danger that is Trump. If his current stances on everything from banning Muslims to attacking Mexican immigrants are backed up with actual power by winning the presidency, then he ll not only be a danger to those communities, but will bring to power all of the racists that have backed him thus far, making America quite a dangerous place.


Consultant tied to Trump super PAC promoted 'voter suppression' against black, female... Consultant tied to Trump super PAC promoted 'voter suppression' against black, female voters By 0 98  Donald Trump may call the 2016 election "rigged," but a consultant connected to the Great America PAC, a pro-Trump super PAC, told reporters that the group has a suppression campaign in the works, believing them to be representatives of a potential donor.  Political consultant Jesse Benton is once again in hot water. After journalists from The Telegraph introduced themselves to the former Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) aide as lawyers representing a potential Trump donor who was also a Chinese national, Benton proceeded to not only tell them how to donate to Trump's campaign despite it being against federal election law, but also discussed attempts to suppress votes in Cleveland, Ohio.  This isn't Benton's first time engaging in politically and legally questionable behavior. In May, he had to take a step back from his role at the Great America PAC after pleading guilty to buying an endorsement for presidential candidate Ron Paul in 2012, during his time as campaign manager. Benton was sentenced to two years of probation.  The undercover reporters first contacted the PAC's co-chairman, Eric Beach, who was filmed telling them that their Chinese client would be " remembered " if Trump becomes president, The Telegraph reported .  Beach proceeded to refer them over to Benton, claiming he was a consultant. When they met with Benton, he discussed the Trump campaign's plans in the swing state of Ohio. Referring to Hillary Clinton's support in Ohio, he said: " In Cleveland, if we can…turn her to regular turnout levels, she's gonna lose about 60,000 votes in that area – that's a dead heat. "  " So we have a voter suppression campaign quite frankly, targeting African-Americans, and sort of suburban moms, just bad stuff about Hillary, just trying to take their taste for her away, " he explained.  When it came to the issue of how the Trump campaign would be able to accept money from a Chinese national without arousing suspicion, Benton explained that he would channel the cash through a dark money tunnel.  Super PACs make use of non-profit organizations to collect money from donors because 501(c)4 nonprofit groups are allowed to donate funds to political campaigns without disclosing who their donors are. Benton said he could accept the offered $2 million contribution from the non-existent Chinese donor by having the money sent to his company, which would then pass it on to one or two more non-profits.  The Great America PAC has tried to distance itself from Benton. Dan Backer, a lawyer for Great America, told The New York Times that " I think it's pretty clear that someone who used to work for the organization decided to leverage that former relationship for his own purposes. "  Backer suggested that Benton had exaggerated his role in the PAC, telling The Telegraph that Benton was engaging in " puffery and self-promotion. "  Benton has denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the reporters were brought to him as a " business referral " from Beach and that the clip was actually a part of a " public affairs contract, " The Telegraph reported.  The Trump campaign claims to have severed ties with the PAC, releasing a statement saying it " publicly disavowed this group back in April. This is public via Federal Election Commission filings. "  However, it was just a month ago that Trump's son Eric and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani spoke at a Great America PAC fundraiser, Raw Story reported .  Via RT . This piece was reprinted by RINF Alternative News with permission or license.


BLOG Girl Put Aluminum Foil After Washing Her Hair and She Delighted The Best Hairdressers of The World posted by Eddie Most of the girls and women have a lot of problems with hair but with this simple trick you'll get a nice, beautiful and strong hair. Everything you need for this trick are these natural ingredients. Ingredients: 1 lemon, orange or grapefruit 1 banana 2l milk Preparation: You must first squeeze the lemon, orange or the grapefruit. Put a banana in a blender and mix with 2l of milk. Thereafter mix all these ingredients and apply to your hair, then cover with aluminum foil. This mixture should be left to act on the hair for half an hour and then wash your hair with shampoo. With this combination you will make your hair be shiny, healthy, beautiful and what is most important to be without dandruff. source:


a leading immigration activist — has a message for Hillary Clinton: it's great that she's devoting one of the first speeches of her campaign to immigration, but "that doesn't mean we're going to be starstruck." "We're going to look past that," Vargas, the director of DRM Action Coalition, said. "Because we learned from President Obama." Clinton appeared in Nevada on May 5 at a roundtable with unauthorized immigrants (as Adrian Carrasquillo reported for BuzzFeed). She called for Congress to create a "full and equal" path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants in the US. But she also said that if Congress didn't do that, she'd keep — and even expand — President Obama's executive actions to unilaterally let millions of unauthorized immigrants get protection from deportation and work permits. The appearance itself shows that the campaign is working hard to woo Vargas and immigrant-rights activists like him. Being catered to this early in a Democratic primary is a sign that the party understands not just the importance of the Latino vote, but also the power the immigrant-rights movement has to motivate this key group. There's a very good chance that Clinton's eventual opponent in the general election will oppose a path to citizenship. (Only two Republican presidential candidates have even said they want unauthorized immigrants to get legal status in the US.) But a path to citizenship isn't what advocates care about when it comes to Clinton. They see comprehensive immigration reform, with or without citizenship, as a pretty "easy" position for any Democratic politician to take in 2015. the partisan battle may be over what's in an immigration-reform law — but advocates are looking for clinton to support more executive actions Clinton has a good track record with Latino voters, with whose support she handily beat President Obama in the 2008 primary. But immigration activists believe they're far more powerful now than they were in 2008, and Hillary's record with them is another story. Even in 2014, her comments on the issue left advocates seriously concerned. She also must contend with how those activists view Obama's legacy on immigration reform. Obama took major executive actions in 2012 and again in 2014 to protect millions of unauthorized immigrants from deportation, but the immigrant-rights movement remembers those actions as something they had to fight tooth and nail for against an often recalcitrant administration. Some Latino voters — and advocates — are not over the sting of Obama's 2008 "promesa" to introduce an immigration reform bill in the first year of his presidency. He failed to deliver and, at the same time, ramped up deportations. Clinton's appeal to immigration advocates has to go beyond the safe politics of comprehensive immigration reform and take a few risks to ensure their support. Her first speech on the topic indicated that's exactly what she'll do. In advance of the May 5 speech, Clinton political director Amanda Renteria made calls to several advocates for input — including DRM Action Coalition. As Vargas paints it, the conversation showed exactly the attitude that advocates think they're up against. Renteria, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in California in 2014, "expressed frustration about why the Latino community were not turning out to vote." For Vargas and his colleagues, that's an easy question to answer. "The standard talking point that we have been hearing, 'We need to have comprehensive immigration reform' — those are more than decades-old talking points, and it's no longer motivating people. It's no longer inspiring people." In 2008, Frank Sharry, of the immigration reform group America's Voice, was "pleasantly surprised" to hear Clinton, Obama, and others go after each other during a primary debate "trying to outdo each other on comprehensive immigration reform." But the lesson advocates learned from 2008 is that a presidential candidate can't make a promise that only Congress can keep. As Clarissa Martinez of the National Council on La Raza points out, at this point "we've had a Republican president try, and not succeed. We've had a Democratic president try." And frankly, advocates just don't feel it should be a big deal for a Democratic candidate to support comprehensive immigration reform, since it's traditionally (and recently) been a bipartisan issue. Advocates may be skeptical that a reformer like Jeb Bush could make it out of the Republican primary without running to the right on immigration. But the possibility's still there. "It should be easy" to support comprehensive reform, says Martinez. To advocates, it might be a good idea for a candidate to endorse a bipartisan policy, or a policy that majorities of Americans support. But it's not a victory for advocates themselves. So now, candidates have to offer a plan B: what happens if Congress doesn't pass comprehensive immigration reform? The answer, of course, is executive action — like the ones President Obama took in 2012 and 2014, which would allow millions of unauthorized immigrant young adults and parents of US citizens and permanent residents to apply for protection from deportation and work permits. But is defending Obama's actions enough? They're certainly a point of difference between Democrats and Republicans — every Republican presidential candidate has made some sort of promise to reverse the executive actions, though immigration moderates like Marco Rubio (and possibly Jeb Bush) have left the door open to waiting until immigration reform has passed through Congress to "repeal and replace" the immigration programs. But advocates aren't looking for Clinton to distinguish herself from Republicans. Defending what Obama's already done is "the minimum she could say," says Sharry. They're looking for her to promise them more than they've already been promised. (It doesn't particularly matter to advocates that Obama's 2014 executive actions are currently on hold in federal court; everyone in the immigration advocacy world is confident that this is just a temporary setback, and the court battle will eventually go the administration's way.) "The reality is that these executive actions are going to be associated with President Obama," says Vargas. "What's her legacy?" Sharry puts it differently: in order to win advocates' respect, she has to show them she's willing to stick her neck out. Promising to expand executive action "would be, to me, a sign that she's really going to lean into the issue, open herself up to more criticism, anger from the Republican ranks, in order to show the immigrant community and its allies that she's really supportive this time around," he says. There's a policy basis to wanting executive action expanded. As pleased as advocates were with the 2014 executive actions, it's not like all their demands were met. For one thing, parents of deferred-action recipients, including many leading advocates (like Vargas's partner Erika Andiola), were left out. (In fact, that's exactly the group Clinton said she wanted to help next.) Furthermore, advocates are looking for an answer to what they see as the big unanswered question of the Obama administration: if some unauthorized immigrants are "high priorities" for deportation because they've committed crimes or have just come to the US, and other unauthorized immigrants are "low priorities" who should get deferred action and work permits, what about people who fall into neither category, or both? Clinton started to answer that question in her first speech, saying that immigrants with "deep ties and contributions to communities" should be allowed to stay. But that doesn't fully address the issue. It is, however, more details than even advocates were asking for. As Carrasquillo reported, DRM Action Coalition plans to release a memo this week "detailing what it wants from presidential candidates," but Vargas stresses that they're having an open conversation with campaigns. "It's more that there's a commitment that there's more to be done," he says, "than the specific." To put it another way: President Obama spent a lot of time protesting to immigration advocates that he'd done everything in his power to protect unauthorized immigrants, and advocates spent a lot of energy getting him to reconsider. The results were the 2012 and 2014 executive actions. Advocates are hoping to skip that step — by getting Clinton to start with the assumption that there is more she could do as president. Between today's speech about immigration and last week's speech about criminal justice, it sure looks like Clinton is using the beginning of her campaign to make it clear she knows this isn't the Democratic Party that nominated her husband in 1992. Clinton's never exactly been a champion of immigration reform. During the 2008 campaign, she famously flip-flopped on driver's licenses for unauthorized immigrants; as a senator, she was supportive of the 2007 push for comprehensive immigration reform, but, according to Sharry, her role was limited to proposing a few "safe" amendments. What really raised some red flags among advocates, though, were a pair of comments Clinton made in 2014 — when everyone assumed she was gearing up to run for president. First, she told an audience that she thought most of the children coming to the US from Central America should be sent back — a stance that was much harsher than the one the Obama administration ended up taking. Then in Iowa in September, when a member of Vargas's group asked her if she supported executive action for immigrants, she said the answer was to "elect more Democrats" — something that was insanely tone-deaf, given that President Obama had just delayed taking executive action until after the 2014 elections. That seemed like a return to the way the Democratic Party viewed immigration back in 2007 — the last time Hillary Clinton was running for office. There's long been a camp among Democrats that's seen the issue as a balancing act: they should be just supportive enough to win over Latino voters, but not too supportive or else they'll turn off white voters. Sharry of America's Voice describes this thus: "Sure, immigration's important — but not when it's inconvenient." Immigration advocates are convinced that Democrats have more to gain from full-throated support for protecting unauthorized immigrants than they have to lose. And after the 2012 presidential campaign, when President Obama defeated Mitt Romney largely on the strength of the Latino vote — and then the 2014 campaign, when Democrats lost Senate races in states like Colorado after Obama's delay on executive action — they feel they've made their case and deserve a seat at the big kids' table. The May 5 speech was an indication that Clinton (or at least her campaign) agrees. She called special attention to the thousands of recent immigrant families who've been put in immigration detention — a signal to activists that she understood the problems with taking a tough approach to child and family migrants. And she couldn't have been more explicit in supporting executive action to protect immigrants if there aren't enough Democrats in Congress to pass immigration reform. The speech does raise a totally different question — one that's only going to be answered with time: whether the Clinton campaign will treat immigration as a special interest issue or as a core part of her campaign platform. As Sharry puts it, "Does she talk about immigration only in front of Latino audiences, or does she make it part of her stump speech?" Part of this is about respect — a recognition that Latino voters have done a lot for Democrats in the past few cycles, and a signal that Democrats don't think that "speaking to a general audience" automatically means "white voters." But while advocates don't say this explicitly, it's also a way to prevent a repeat of President Obama in 2008 — who made it pretty easy to forget that he'd made a promise to introduce immigration reform. The more Clinton talks about the need to protect unauthorized immigrants — no matter whom she's speaking to — the more opportunities she's creating for the media and advocates to hold her accountable if she tried to ignore the issue in office.


South Korean President Moon Jae-in said he was willing to take steps to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula ahead of next year s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, including curtailing military exercises with the United States, NBC said on Tuesday. It is possible for South Korea and the U.S. to review the possibility of postponing the exercises. I ve made such a suggestion to the U.S., and the U.S. is currently reviewing it. However, all this depends on how North Korea behaves, Moon said in an interview with NBC News.


European lawmakers said on Thursday they were disappointed about Sri Lanka s slow roll-out of human rights reforms that the island nation had promised in exchange for trade concessions. The European Union reinstated concessions on a series of products in May - after Sri Lanka said it would ratify 27 international conventions on rights, labor conditions, the environment and governance. The island s key garments industry benefited the most from the duty reductions and other allowances offered by the EU s Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus scheme. But a European Parliament delegation said they had seen little progress more than five months after the agreement. There was no immediate comment from the government. It was noted that a number of important issues remain pending, in particular the revision of the Prevention of Terrorism Act on which the Prime Minister and other senior figures had given their personal assurances, the EU delegation said in a statement. The United Nations has said Sri Lanka s current terrorism legislation allows the torture of detainees. Sri Lanka originally lost the EU concession in 2010 after then-president Mahinda Rajapaksa rejected demands from the international community to address human rights abuses allegedly committed during a 2009 offensive to crush a Tamil insurgency. Rajapaksa was ousted in January last year, and the EU agreed to reinstate the concessions after a new administration, led by President Maithripala Sirisena, promised to make changes. The garments industry is Sri Lanka s second biggest hard currency earner after remittances. It boasts annual exports of around $5 billion and produces goods for Victoria s Secret, Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, Marks & Spencer and other well known brands.


This post was originally published on this site  The first Russian-Egyptian anti-terrorist exercise, dubbed Defenders of Friendship-2016 was held on October 15-26.  It took place in the desert, between the Egyptian cities of El-Alamein and Alexandria.  The Russian Airborne Troops arrived in the African continent for the first time.  Over 500 Russian and Egyptian paratroopers took part in the drills.  More than 15 helicopters and planes, 10 items of air-droppable military hardware were involved.  Russian and Egyptian servicemen practiced localization and elimination of militant groups in desert conditions.  Foreign representatives, including ambassadors and military attaches, were present in the capacity of observers.  Egyptian military are going to use the experience of the Russian Airborne Troops in the fight against international terrorism.  In 2015, Russia and Egypt held their first joint maritime exercises in the Mediterranean near Alexandria.  Next Russia-Egypt joint drill may be held in Russia next year. Related


French President Emmanuel Macron will go to the Athens hill considered the birthplace of democracy to urge fellow Europeans to tackle the democratic crisis he believes the continent faces, his aides said on Tuesday. Macron, who swept to power on a pro-EU platform last May, has made reforming the euro zone and EU institutions battered by a series of crises - from the economy, to immigration and Brexit - a priority of his mandate. It s a symbol of a new chapter (for Europe), a French presidency official said of the speech Macron plans to give on Thursday evening on the hill of Pnyx, where ancient Greeks gathered to host popular assemblies. We have gone through a financial crisis and a sort of confidence crisis, Greece knows that, it suffered from them. The president wants to show that Europe must be rebuilt democratically, the official said. Macron will promote his campaign proposal to launch democratic conventions - or public debates - in European countries to discuss the future of the EU. The president, whose popularity ratings have slumped at home following a series of unpopular measures including proposals to cut public spending and welfare benefits, also wants to make institutions governing Europe s single currency more democratic. He wants a euro zone finance minister to manage a common budget that would be accountable to a euro zone parliament, but that proposal has met with robust resistance abroad, notably in Berlin. During a two-day trip ending on Friday, Macron will be accompanied by around 40 French business leaders, including from blue-chip firms Total, L Oreal, Sanofi, Engie and Vinci. After a German-French consortium won a majority stake in Thessaloniki Port last June, France is keen to push its companies to invest in Greek infrastructure, energy and the agri-food business. French officials also want to avoid more strategic sectors of the Greek economy from falling into non-European hands after China s COSCO Shipping bought a 51 percent stake in Piraeus Port, Greece s biggest, for 280.5 million euros. It poses a sovereignty problem, it s kind of a European failure, the French official said. In June, Macron urged the European Commission to come up with a system for screening investments in strategic sectors from third countries, something some other western European nations have supported. But smaller eastern and southern European economies that have benefited from Chinese investments have rejected any steps against Beijing.


This is a Daily News Brief for all of the civil servants out there who are just "doing their job". I was (up until recently) one of those people. I learned first hand that no matter how good you are at your job, how much you save the taxpayer, and how many times you've saved your boss or the "higher ups" from getting in trouble, when you need them to stick their neck out for you, they just hang you out to dry. Huma Abedin is learning that firsthand now too… and Donna Brazile…The loyalty you feel in your heart to your country, or county is not reciprocated to you in your time of need. The Powers That Shouldn't Be don't give a rats patoot about you. I hope this Daily News Brief serves as a wake up call to all those who serve. Watch on YouTube  Sources:  Now Huma Is Just 'One of My Staffers' After Close Aide Gets Left Behind on Ohio Campaign Trip While Hillary Keeps up Her War on the FBI in Defiance of White House Backing for Comey  CNN Cuts Ties With Donna Brazile After Hacked Emails Show She Gave Clinton Campaign Debate Questions  The Globalization Of Media: A Failing Strike Force  Media Deception: You Are Not Getting the Truth Delivered by The Daily Sheeple  We encourage you to share and republish our reports, analyses, breaking news and videos ( Click for details ).  Contributed by The Daily Sheeple of www.TheDailySheeple.com .  This content may be freely reproduced in full or in part in digital form with full attribution to the author and a link to www.TheDailySheeple.com.


SYDNEY, Australia — A man who stabbed and critically wounded another man in a park in a Sydney suburb on Saturday was inspired by Islamic State extremists, the police here said on Sunday. Catherine Burn, a deputy police commissioner for the state of New South Wales, said at news conference that a Sydney man, whom police did not name, had been charged with committing an act of terrorism and attempted murder. He was expected to appear in court on Sunday morning. Ms. Burn said the man was known to the police for other unrelated crimes. "We will be alleging before court this was an act that was inspired by ISIS," she said. "It was a deliberate act yesterday. It resulted in a person receiving extremely serious injuries. " The unidentified victim was attacked while walking through a nature reserve in Minto, about 30 miles southwest of downtown Sydney. He was listed in serious condition at an area hospital. The police said that the two men did not know each other. "We know that this person has strong, extremist beliefs inspired by ISIS," Ms. Burn said at the news conference. "What made him act we don't know. " She said that counterterrorism police officers had searched the man's home and found material that linked him to the extremist group. On Thursday, the New South Wales police arrested another man, 18, in an unrelated incident at the Sydney Opera House. He was charged with threatening to destroy or damage property, after the police arrested him outside the music venue. Last week, Malcolm Turnbull, the prime minister, warned that the Islamic State had called for terror attacks at popular tourist sites in Australia, including the Opera House and at Bondi Beach.


Wow is right! Tomi Lahren gives the best ever response to Obama s pro-Muslim speech at a radical Mosque.


Former Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has been released after being abducted during a visit to the capital, Tripoli, and held for nine days by an armed group, a relative said on Wednesday. Zeidan was prime minister from 2012-2014, a period when Libya slid deeper into the political turmoil and armed conflict that has plagued the country since Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown six years ago. He has since been living in Germany with his family. It is not clear why Zeidan traveled to Libya or why he was abducted. He was being held by a group aligned with the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli, though he faced no judicial charges, a source said. The U.N.-backed government has not commented on the case. Tripoli is controlled by a number of the armed groups that have held power in the capital since 2011. Some have been given semi-official status by successive governments, but the groups remain unaccountable and involved in criminal activity. A lawyer for Zeidan, Moussa Al-Doghali, told France 24 Arabic TV channel that his client was released without explanation and that he did not know the circumstances of his arrest and detention. Zeidan was in good health and was staying in a Tripoli hotel following his release, Doghali said. In October 2013, Zeidan was briefly abducted from a Tripoli hotel room by an armed group allied to the parliament that sacked him just over a year later.


MILAN (AP) — An Italian court has convicted a man and his wife on charges of international terrorism in connection with an Islamic State plot to carry out attacks in Rome during the Holy Year in 2016. [advertisement


The political news cycle is fast, and keeping up can be overwhelming. Trying to find differing perspectives worth your time is even harder. That's why we have scoured the internet for political writing from the right and left that you might not have seen. We would love to hear your thoughts on this collection. Send your feedback to ourpicks@nytimes. com _____ • From National Review: "To smear Neil Gorsuch, the Left has created and attacked a straw man. " For originalists, there is a crucial distinction between "original intent" and "original meaning. " This is a distinction that the writer David French believes gets erased by those who oppose the legal doctrine. _____ • From The Weekly Standard: "It is easier to decide who we don't want here than who we do. " What should United States immigration policy look like after some of the more contentious debates have been settled? Irwin M. Stelzer proposes a solution. _____ • From The Federalist: "You thought Bane was a movie character turns out he's a political avatar. " Owen Strachan, a professor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, argues that at the root of the movement is a group of young men who feel left behind by society. Troubled by the rise of the movement, but also critical of the progressive culture that he argues has silenced these young men, his prescription calls for, among other things, a "savior" who will call this group to maturity and . _____ • From The American Conservative: "He apparently went to sleep shortly after Richard Nixon declared a 'war' on illegal drugs in 1971 and just recently awakened from his slumber. " Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently equated marijuana and heroin use, arguing that the former was only "slightly less awful" than the latter. Ted Galen Carpenter, a senior fellow for the libertarian policy research firm The Cato Institute, argues that Mr. Session's positions on marijuana make him the "Rip van Winkle" of drug policy. _____ • From Jacobin: "Originalist textualists are no less activist than their peers. They're just less open about it. " As Judge Neil M. Gorsuch's Senate confirmation hearings draw to a close, Matt McManus explains why progressives should be wary of judges who consider themselves to be originalists. _____ • From Democracy: "It's big, bold, and could fit on a bumper sticker. " Here's a policy plan we haven't heard from the Democrats: Guarantee every American willing and able to work a job. That's exactly what the writer Jeff Spross advocates in a piece that is part serious policy proposal, part theoretical mental exercise. _____ • From In These Times: "Heritage isn't an appendage of the Trump administration's radicalism. It's the heart of it. " Though President Trump is a Washington outsider, not all establishment groups viewed his victory in November as a defeat. In a cover story for the liberal magazine In These Times, Theo Anderson chronicles the history of the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation and connects its longstanding agenda to the current administration's proposed cuts to the federal budget. _____ • From New Republic: "In declaring the media the 'opposition party,' Bannon may have actually done it a great favor. " Leah Finnegan argues that the media should shed its "pompous air of " and reverence for objectivity in favor of a opposition to the Trump administration. _____ • From Lawfare: "Why are so many judges being so aggressive here?" What is behind the slew of judicial responses to Mr. Trump's executive orders on travel? Benjamin Wittes and Quinta Jurecic explore the possibility that the judiciary doesn't quite trust Mr. Trump's oath of office. _____ • From The Chronicle of Higher Education: "For at least two generations, it has been leftist professors who were supposedly addicted to tearing things down [. ..] But the habit now seems to be spreading. " Welcome to Claremont McKenna College, the academic home of the movement. _____ • From The Smart Set: "I have been reading about the damned Mondragon cooperatives since the 1980s. Enough with Mondragon!" Michael Lind has no patience for the "false utopias" of ideologues on either end of the political spectrum. Read his ringing endorsement for political pragmatism. _____


Russia may decide to designate any media as foreign agents if they are financed by a foreign state or citizen, or by a Russian organization that gets foreign financing, the Interfax news agency reported on Thursday. Interfax cited a draft regulation from the justice ministry. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law last month that allowed the authorities to designate foreign media outlets as foreign agents in response to what Moscow said was unacceptable U.S. pressure on Russian media. So far, it has been exclusively used to label media sponsored by the U.S. authorities as foreign agents, but the new regulation would appear to go further. Under the existing law media branded foreign agents must provide any news they provide to Russians as the work of foreign agents and disclose their funding sources.


Prime Minister Theresa May s most senior minister has denied an allegation that police found pornography on one of his computers in the Houses of Parliament in 2008 as the British government struggles to contain a scandal about sexual harassment. First Secretary of State Damian Green said the claims by a former senior police officer in a Sunday newspaper were completely untrue and political smears. This story is completely untrue and comes from a tainted and untrustworthy source, Green said in a statement on his Twitter page. The claims amount to little more than an unscrupulous character assassination, he said. The Sunday Times reported on its front page that former Metropolitan police assistant commissioner Bob Quick alleged the material was discovered by officers during an inquiry into government leaks in 2008. Quick, who was involved in the leak investigation, told the newspaper that officers had reported finding the extreme pornography on a parliamentary computer from Green s office. The claims against one of the prime minister s closest allies risks deepening a growing sexual harassment scandal that led Britain s defense minister Michael Fallon to resign last Wednesday. Fallon said his behavior has fallen short of the standards expected by the British military. May s minority government is already struggling with divisions over Britain s departure from the European Union. Britain s interior minister Amber Rudd said the issue would be investigated by the Cabinet Office on Monday and she denied the government was on the verge of collapse if Green resigned. Rudd said Britain needed to address allegations of sexual harassment in the corridors of power. It is something that will take place, in terms of clearing out Westminster of that sort of behavior, and Westminster, including the government, will be better off after it, she said. Green, 61, has also denied a previous allegation that he made an inappropriate sexual advance on a young woman. He said it was not true that he had touched the woman s knee and told her that his wife was very understanding during a meeting in a pub in which the pair discussed her career aspirations and gossiped about sexual affairs in parliament.


Hondurans voted on Sunday in a presidential election that many expect to result in a second term for the current U.S.-friendly leader, eight years after he supported a coup against a former president who also floated the idea of reelection. Based on recent polls, Juan Orlando Hernandez, of the center-right National Party, looks set to profit from a 2015 Supreme Court decision that overturned a constitutional ban on reelection. He is running against television host Salvador Nasralla, who helms a broad left-right coalition called the Opposition Alliance Against the Dictatorship. Below are the candidates main proposals: Juan Orlando Hernandez - A former head of Congress who studied at the State University of New York and Honduras military academy, Hernandez, 49, enjoys a good rapport with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and is seen as a reliable U.S. ally in Central America. - Hernandez has managed to lower the murder rate and raise growth while expanding his influence into the furthest reaches of the Honduran government. - Critics say Hernandez, who was born in a humble, rural family of 17 siblings, has stifled dissent and is seeking to consolidate power. U.S. government officials say they want him to revitalize stalled legislation to place a cap on presidential term limits and assuage fears he will not cede power. - With his slogan Change has begun and should continue, Hernandez says he will keep up his militarized fight against the gangs that have turned the Central American nation into one of the world s most violent. - Hernandez says his Honduras 20/20 plan will help lure investment in textiles, call centers and car manufacturing and lift growth. He wants to push ahead with special economic zones, a project that has so far yielded few concrete results. He says his policies will create 600,000 new jobs in the next four years. Salvador Nasralla - A colorful 64-year-old sports and talent TV show host descended from Lebanese immigrants, Nasralla promises to put an end to years of violence, poverty and graft. - Nasralla s Opposition Alliance Against the Dictatorship coalition includes the Liberty and Refoundation Party, or LIBRE. It is controlled by ousted former President Manuel Zelaya, who many believe is the true force behind the coalition. - A non-traditional political figure who has benefited from his entertainment background to build support among those disenchanted by business-as-usual Honduran politics, Nasralla trailed Hernandez by 15 points in a September poll, the last permitted before the election. - Nasralla says he will ask the United Nations to install an anti-graft body, similar to one operating in Guatemala, to probe and bring charges in corruption cases. He would maintain the Military Police created by Hernandez but wants to start a community police force to work in violent slums. He would also continue firing corrupt national police officers, while hiring up to 25,000 new officers. - Plans for the economy are vague, but the coalition has proposed lowering the sales tax and slashing a Hernandez-imposed corporate levy that has enraged the private sector. - The Alliance has proposed a referendum on how the current Constitution should be rewritten, either by Congress or by a new national assembly. It also wants a referendum on stripping the powers of the Supreme Court, which it accuses of being pliant to Hernandez.


Bernie Sanders emerged from Wisconsin with a solid victory Tuesday, prolonging his dogged but improbable bid to catch Hillary Clinton in the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination. The senator from Vermont was leading the party's front-runner in a state with a celebrated tradition of progressive activism — and a primary open to independent voters, a bedrock Sanders constituency. Now, despite Clinton's still-overwhelming lead in delegates, Sanders can claim the momentum of winning in six of the past seven states holding nominating contests across the country. The victory was certain to energize Sanders's supporters two weeks ahead of what will be a key showdown in delegate-rich New York, a state where Clinton hopes to put an end to Sanders's embarrassing winning streak and reclaim control of the race against the self-described democratic socialist. Sanders held a boisterous rally Tuesday night in Wyoming, the site of Democratic caucuses Saturday. Screams erupted and the crowd broke into chants of "Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!" in an auditorium at the University of Wyoming in Laramie when Sanders shared the news that the networks had called Wisconsin for him. "If we wake up the American people, and working people and middle-class people and senior citizens and young people begin to stand up and fight back and come out and vote in large numbers, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish," he said. Clinton had already turned her attention to New York before voting began in Wisconsin. She appeared Tuesday morning on ABC's "The View," held an event in Brooklyn focused on women's issues and attended an evening fundraiser in the Bronx where attendees were asked to raise $10,000 for her campaign. In a tweet after the polls closed, Clinton congratulated Sanders on his victory. "To all the voters and volunteers who poured your hearts into this campaign: Forward!" she wrote. While catching Clinton in the delegate count remains a long shot, Sanders has chipped away at her onetime lead of more than 300 pledged delegates, which was down to 263 before Tuesday's contest in Wisconsin, according to an Associated Press tally. Sanders invested significant time in Wisconsin, not leaving the Badger State in the final four days leading up to the primary and making an unadvertised campaign stop at a Milwaukee diner Tuesday morning. "If people come out to vote in large numbers, I think we're going to do very, very well," Sanders told reporters as he entered Blue's Egg with Barbara Lawton, a former Wisconsin lieutenant governor. Sanders aggressively sought to highlight his more insular views on trade — an issue that he's pressed in other Midwestern industrial states — as well as Clinton's ties to Wall Street. Wisconsin was viewed as difficult terrain for Clinton. In 2008, the state's Democratic electorate was 87 percent white — voters whom Sanders has consistently won in nominating contests this year. Its industrial landscape, large bloc of independent voters and substantial working class also were seen as fertile ground for Sanders's message of rethinking U.S. trade policy. In 2008, Clinton lost the state by 17 points — to then-Sen. Barack Obama. This time, she campaigned lightly here, focusing strategically on cities in congressional districts that played to her strengths, including Milwaukee, where she is popular with a large African American electorate. She highlighted that she, unlike Sanders, has been a Democrat her "whole adult life." She emphasized her commitment to supporting Democratic candidates at the state and local levels — a salient issue for a state party that has been waging fierce ideological battles against Gov. Scott Walker (R). "He's won some, I've won some. But I have 2 million more votes than he does," Clinton said on "The View" on Tuesday morning. Both candidates are now set for a showdown April 19 in New York, a state where Sanders grew up, where Clinton was elected twice to the U.S. Senate — and where 247 delegates will be at stake. Clinton plans to campaign aggressively there, in part to prevent an embarrassing upset in her adopted home state and in part to deliver a decisive victory that would further marginalize Sanders. The Brooklyn-born Sanders plans to make New York his home base over the coming two weeks as well. While he will make some campaign stops in other states with upcoming nominating contests, aides say he plans to return to New York City most nights, reflecting the hard-to-overstate consequences of the primary. His decision to campaign Tuesday in Wyoming was born of a desire to add to his momentum heading into New York by notching a win in the state's caucuses Saturday, though only 14 delegates are in play. At this time in 2008, Obama's pledged-delegate lead over Clinton fluctuated between 120 and 140 delegates — about half of the margin by which Clinton now leads Sanders. And that doesn't include superdelegates, the elected officials and other party leaders who are not bound by their state's results and who so far have broken heavily in Clinton's favor. Sanders aims to catch Clinton in pledged delegates — those won in primary elections — once California votes June 7. Doing so would require lopsided wins in most of the remaining contests, including some in states that have demographics similar to places where he has struggled. If Sanders catches Clinton — or gets close — both candidates would enter the party's convention in July without enough pledged delegates to claim the nomination. That would force the party's superdelegates — who are automatically made convention delegates — to choose the nominee, a scenario Sanders's campaign manager reiterated during an interview Tuesday on CNN. The Sanders campaign has started making the case to superdelegates that they should side with him because he is more electable than Clinton against Republican front-runner Donald Trump — a view the Clinton camp disputes. In a memo to supporters Monday, Clinton's campaign manager, Robby Mook, described the Sanders strategy as reliant on "overturning the will of the voters." The results in Wisconsin continued many of the trends seen in previous contests. Independents, who were allowed to participate in the Democratic primary, favored Sanders over Clinton by a 40-point margin, according to preliminary exit polls. And as in prior contests, voters rated Sanders as far more trustworthy than Clinton. Nine in 10 Democratic voters said Sanders was "honest and trustworthy," compared with to 6 in 10 who said the same of Clinton. Tuesday morning, as Sanders mingled with voters over breakfast at Blue's Egg in Milwaukee, Dale Dulberger, 66, of Wauwatosa, Wis., came to greet the senator after casting his vote for him. "I think he's really authentic," Dulberger, who teaches at a county technical college, said of Sanders. "I think people believe what he's saying. His proposals are idealistic, but that's what a president is supposed to do." Clinton, on the other hand, campaigned in New York City and did not mention Wisconsin's election at either appearance. In a preview of what is expected to be a rough-and-tumble New York primary, the New York Daily News debuted Wednesday's front-page story, which encapsulates the challenge that awaits Sanders in the Empire State. The paper lambasted the senator for his position opposing legal liability for gunmakers after the massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school in 2012. The headline: "Bernie's Sandy Hook shame."


It is no surprise that Democrats in the U.S. Congress will oppose Donald Trump but the most important resistance to fulfilling the president-elect's agenda is beginning to emerge from Republicans on Capitol Hill. A small number of influential Republicans in the Senate are threatening to block appointments to Trump's administration, derail his thaw with Russia and prevent the planned wall on the border with Mexico. The party held onto control of the Senate at the Nov. 8 election but by only a thin margin, putting powerful swing votes in just a few hands. That empowers Republican Senate mavericks such as Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas. Both were bitter rivals to Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary. Paul, a libertarian lone wolf, says he will block Senate confirmations if Trump nominates either former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani or former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton to be secretary of state. South Carolina's Lindsay Graham has started publicly outlining places he might be willing to oppose Trump. He is against the Mexican border wall and is delivering warnings against Trump's intention to revoke legal status for undocumented immigrants brought here as children - although that would not require congressional approval. Graham, a traditional Republican foreign policy hawk, strongly disagrees with Trump's attempt to improve ties with Russia. "I am going to be kind of a hard ass" on Russia, Graham told reporters recently. "We can't sit on the sidelines" and let cyber attacks blamed on Russia "go unanswered." The early stirrings of opposition from Senate Republicans are a sign that the New York businessman, who has never held public office, might run into harsh political realities soon after taking office on Jan. 20. Other Senators who might defy Trump are Arizona's John McCain and Jeff Flake, Nebraska's Ben Sasse, Florida's Marco Rubio, Maine's Susan Collins and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, said senior Senate aides and lawmakers. These lawmakers have ruffled feathers in the past and some have a good political reason not to fear Trump: Paul, McCain, Murkowski and Rubio do not have to run for reelection until 2022. Graham, Collins and Sasse will have to face the voters in 2020; Cruz and Flake have an earlier election, in 2018. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose job is to keep the Republicans in line, knows the challenges ahead. A senior Republican aide said McConnell is "loathe" to spend time trying to move bills that lack the needed Senate votes. McConnell is aware he will not have the support of some of his own lawmakers on bills that could pass the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, such as appropriating money to build the Mexican wall and further abortion restrictions, the aide said. But Trump has a history of taming what appear to be well-entrenched Republican opponents. He won the party nomination against all the odds and some of his staunchest opponents like Rubio and Cruz ended up endorsing him. And swing votes in the Senate cut two ways. The Democrats have their own potential renegades such as West Virginia's Joe Manchin, who has already declared his support for Trump's nomination of Republican Senator Jeff Sessions as attorney general. Such swings by Democrats toward Republicans may be likelier ahead of the 2018 elections, when Democrats must defend more vulnerable Senate seats than Republicans. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer must deal with this. Trump said over the weekend he and Schumer "always had a good relationship." Republicans are likely to control only 52 seats in the 100-seat Senate, meaning three defections within the party are enough to block cabinet appointments which only require 50 votes. Vice President-elect Mike Pence would break 50-50 ties. The task for McConnell gets more difficult when it comes to passing legislation, which requires 60 votes, known as cloture, to allow a bill to move forward. If Trump plans to sign a bill while in office, perhaps one that will change immigration law or restrict abortions, McConnell will have to keep all Republicans in line and win over an additional eight Democrats. Trump could deliver on campaign promises that do not require legislative approval like blocking the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal or ending the Iran nuclear pact. The repeal of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, enjoys robust Republican support and would be done through a legislative maneuver that does not require any Democratic support. Collins and Murkowski have a history of crossing the aisle to join Democrats and could shy from abortion restrictions. Cruz has never feared disrupting Senate business to prove a point or seek concessions in legislation. Sasse did not waver from his staunch criticism of Trump through the campaign. Flake has said he is "eating crow" after Trump's win, but he could defect on immigration and border security, issues he has previously joined with Democrats on. Paul was asked last week on MSNBC if he would put a hold on Giuliani or Bolton. In the Senate, a hold allows a single senator to delay a confirmation. He left open the possibility of such a move, saying, "I feel pretty strongly about it." He said: "We have a 52-48 majority, all it would take is two or three Republicans to say they can't go along with Giuliani and can't go along with Bolton."


German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday she was pleased that all Group of 20 members besides the United States had agreed in a communique that the Paris climate accord was irreversible. "I think it's very clear that we could not reach consensus, but the differences were not papered over, they were clearly stated," Merkel told reporters at the end of the two-day meeting. She said she did not share the view of British Prime Minister Theresa May who said on Friday that she thought Washington could decide to return to the climate agreement. Merkel sharply condemned what she described as the "unbridled brutality" exhibited by some protesters in the northern city of Hamburg after violent clashes injured hundreds of police officers.


Tune in to the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR) for another LIVE broadcast of The Boiler Room starting at 6 PM PST | 9 PM EST every Wednesday. Join us for uncensored, uninterruptible talk radio, custom-made for barfly philosophers, misguided moralists, masochists, street corner evangelists, media-maniacs, savants, political animals and otherwise lovable rascals.Join ACR hosts Hesher, & Spore along with Daniel Spaulding of Soul of the East, Andy Nowicki from Alt Right Blogspot, Jay Dyer of Jays Analysis & ACR/21Wire contributor Randy J. In this broadcast listeners will be hearing us go around the BOILER ROOM on a veritable feast of topics including commentary on the latest in the lame stream media reality TV show that is the US Presidential race, the mysterious death of Supreme Court Justice Scalia, an in depth discussion with Jay Dyer on the pitfalls of anarchy/libertarian ideologies, predictive programming aimed at children through Barbie cartoons, unfortunate experiences in air travel, a cautionary tale about manatees and a discourse between Randy J and Hesher on aftermath of the Oregon stand off. If you want to participate, bring something interesting to throw into the boiler Join us in the ALTERNATE CURRENT RADIO chat room.BOILER ROOM IS NOT A POLICTALLY CORRECT ZONE! LISTEN TO THE RECORDING IN THE PLAYER BELOW ENJOY!


Rapper Blac Youngsta went to an Atlanta bank to withdraw $200,000 of his own money, and upon leaving the building he was detained by police.Blac Youngsta s real name is Sam Benson and he claims that the police even pulled a gun on him.Yo Gotti's artist Blac Youngsta Speaks To News About Police Drawing Guns On Him For Withdrawing $200k From The Bank! pic.twitter.com/mZPOFvlJH1 saycheesetv.com (@SayCheese_TV) January 9, 2016Benson said he withdrew $200,000 in cash from his account. He said when he came out of the bank, a police officer pointed at him. They come bum rushing me at the car, put me on the ground, putting guns to my head, so I m like What I d do, Benson said. A lady was like I m not supposed to have $200,000 on me. I m like, I m a millionaire. How can I not have $200,000 on me? On his Facebook page, Benson posted a picture of himself in handcuffs on the ground surrounded by police officers with the caption LOOK AT HOW THEY TREAT A YOUNG RICH NIGGA. Benson also posted a video discussing the fact that the police thought he had too much money on him.https://www.facebook.com/BlacYoungsta/videos/vb.708100352651760/802664839861977/?type=2&theaterBenson said police told him that they thought he was someone who had previously written a bogus check, and apologized to him after taking $100,000 of his cash but eventually giving it back to him.The rapper said he had withdrawn the money because he planned to buy a car. Initially he planned to buy a Maybach but after the incident he was feeling fast and thinking about purchasing a Ferrari.Police told an Atlanta TV station that they responded to the bank at the request of the bank manager but Officers found that no crime had been committed. Imagine the anger at working at your skill to the point where you ve amassed such a large sum of money in the bank, go to withdraw your own money, and are style eyed with suspicion to the point that police are called and you are put down on the ground in cuffs.Something has to be changed.


The political world was obsessed last week with Jeb Bush's problems in saying whether he would or wouldn't have ordered the invasion of Iraq. But a more provocative statement about projection of American power actually came from a fellow presidential contender, Marco Rubio, in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations. "As president, I will use American power to oppose any violations of international waters, airspace, cyberspace or outer space," Sen. Rubio declared. "This includes the economic disruption caused when...


A fire in a textile factory in Bangladesh killed six workers on Wednesday before it was extinguished, police said, renewing fears about safety in the multi-billion dollar industry. Bangladesh s garment sector, the world s second biggest after China, drew worldwide scrutiny after more than 1,100 people were killed in the collapse of a factory complex in 2013 and 112 killed in a garment factory fire in 2012. Police said Wednesday s fire started on the ground floor of a four-storey building storing chemicals and dyes in Munshiganj, 20 km (12 miles) from Dhaka, the capital, and spread quickly. The mill was closed when the fire broke out but there were some workers in the factory and six bodies, including one woman worker, have been recovered, a police official, Alamgir Hossain, told Reuters by telephone. Firefighters had put out the blaze but it was not immediately clear if more workers had been trapped, he added. The roughly $28-billion garment industry employs 4 million people and generates about 80 percent of Bangladesh s export earnings.


ACLU Threatens War Against President Trump The ACLU has a message for Donald Trump. They are not impressed with many of Trump's campaign promises, and threaten the new president-elect with court if he tries to implement them.  The ACLU has a message for Donald Trump.  NEW YORK — In response to Donald Trump's election as president of the United States, Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union , had the following statement:  "For nearly 100 years, the American Civil Liberties Union has been the nation's premier defender of freedom and justice for all, no matter who is president. Our role is no different today.  "President-elect Trump, as you assume the nation's highest office, we urge you to reconsider and change course on certain campaign promises you have made. These include your plan to amass a deportation force to remove 11 million undocumented immigrants; ban the entry of Muslims into our country and aggressively surveil them; punish women for accessing abortion; reauthorize waterboarding and other forms of torture; and change our nation's libel laws and restrict freedom of expression.  "These proposals are not simply un-American and wrong-headed, they are unlawful and unconstitutional. They violate the First, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments. If you do not reverse course and instead endeavor to make these campaign promises a reality, you will have to contend with the full firepower of the ACLU at every step. Our staff of litigators and activists in every state, thousands of volunteers, and millions of card-carrying supporters are ready to fight against any encroachment on our cherished freedoms and rights.  "One thing is certain: we will be eternally vigilant every single day of your presidency and when you leave the Oval Office, we will do the same with your successor.


Nancy Pelosi may face a challenge to her 14-year-old role as the leading Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives now that Republicans have captured the White House and maintained their grip on Congress. Representative Tim Ryan, 43, of Ohio, is weighing a run against Pelosi, 76, who is the House minority leader and former speaker of the House, said Ryan's spokesman Michael Zetts. The party vote for minority leader is scheduled for Thursday. "He is concerned that if changes aren't made we will be in the political wilderness for many years to come," Zetts said. It was unclear how much support Ryan might have. He has been in the House since 2003. Voters who elected Republican Donald Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton on Nov. 8 also gave Democrats a few more seats in the 435-member U.S. House of Representatives and the 100-member Senate, but Republicans held on to their majorities in both. Democrats had expected to do much better; some had predicted double-digit wins in the House. Pelosi, of California, faced calls from Representative Seth Moulton and other Democrats, dismayed by the election results, to postpone the party's leadership election until later in November while a reassessment is made. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, may have given some ammunition to Pelosi's detractors on Monday when he said, "I kind of like Pelosi staying around. As long as she's there, I think we stay in the majority." The new Congress convenes on Jan. 3; Trump will succeed President Barack Obama, a Democrat, on Jan. 20. In the U.S. Senate, New York's Chuck Schumer is expected to replace the retiring fellow Democrat Harry Reid as minority leader. In the Republican party, no one is challenging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Republicans are expected on Tuesday to nominate Paul Ryan to remain House speaker. Ryan would face an election in January, when all members of the new House, both Democrats and Republicans, vote on a new speaker. Before Trump's win, some Republican conservatives angered by Ryan's tepid support for Trump were talking about trying to block his re-election. Those threats have subsided but not vanished. An aide to New York Republican Representative Chris Collins said, "Congressman Collins fully believes Speaker Ryan is a slam dunk to be re-elected as speaker, and looks forward to working with him in the next Congress." Collins was Trump's first supporter in the House. Some conservative Republicans still have doubts. "Presently Speaker Ryan does not have my vote, but I will listen to his message tomorrow," Representative Tom Massie of Kentucky said in a statement.


The International Olympic Committee has tried to discourage by the news media and others during the Rio Games — good luck with that — but this hasn't stopped the people of the internet from spotting a good meme when they see one. Behold, #PhelpsFace. Phelps, the most successful and possibly the most scrutinized Olympian in history, was caught making a grimly determined face that only the internet could love as he prepped Monday for his semifinal in the butterfly. What was Phelps thinking while wrapped in his gear? Perhaps he was trying to telegraph a message to his rivals: "Don't mess with my medal count, or I will destroy you. " Such a telepathic challenge might have been meant especially for Chad le Clos of South Africa, who was dancing and jiggling just a few feet away like one of those deflated noodle men often found dancing in front of used car dealerships. In an interview with NBC after his heat, Phelps claimed he had been thinking about "nothing" as le Clos wriggled and shadowboxed in front of him. But the two swimmers have an interesting history. At the 2012 Games in London, le Clos handed Phelps his first international defeat in a decade, in the butterfly. Le Clos later said that watching Phelps collect a record eight gold medals in Beijing in 2008 had been a major source of inspiration as he developed his own program. "He was the reason I swam the butterfly," le Clos told The New York Times recently. "It's not a joke. " Only hours old, images of Phelps's face seemed to have the potential to go down in the history of ridiculous sports memes. (Somewhere, Michael Jordan is sighing with relief.) Fans even imagined what Phelps was listening to on his headphones: Could it be Eminem, Papa Roach or Alanis Morissette? Though the Games are only a few days in, followers of the United States swim team have been spoiled by a group of athletes who seem at home expressing themselves for the cameras. First, there was the car pool karaoke episode. Then Lilly King directed a finger wag at one of her competitors, Yulia Efimova of Russia, who had failed a test for meldonium. King then made her most definitive statement in the pool, beating Efimova in the breaststroke and setting an Olympic record. For his part, Phelps told NBC that he had been "trying to not really even look at" le Clos's gyrating. "He does his thing, I do mine," Phelps said. The rivals were facing each other Tuesday in the finals of the butterfly. Expect material.


Home / #Solutions / Crisis of Conscience? Obama Frees Scores of Drug Offenders from Prison, Including 42 Lifers, Days Before Election Crisis of Conscience? Obama Frees Scores of Drug Offenders from Prison, Including 42 Lifers, Days Before Election Matt Agorist October 28, 2016 1 Comment  "Prison is for rapists, thieves, and murderers. If you lock someone up for smoking a plant that makes them happy, you're the fucking criminal." – Joe Rogan  Washington D.C. — The timeless words of Joe Rogan seem to be taking their toll on the consciences of American politicians. To kidnap and lock people in a cage for a personal choice and action that harms no one, is an evil act. Some politicians are figuring this out — or at least pandering to public demand. Either way, the result is the same.  Despite largely continuing the drug war and drastically increasing raids on medical marijuana facilities as compared to his predecessor, Barack Obama has somehow managed to dupe people into thinking he was pro legalized pot. And now, as his reign comes to an end, he seems to be reversing course.  Over the years, Obama has blown a lot of smoke (pun intended) when it came to his views on the war on drugs. He's played Mr. Nice Guy while his heavily militarized government task forces have laid waste to the rights and property of peaceful people trying to help their fellow man by growing medical marijuana.  Under Obama, police in America, through the federal 1033 program , have acquired MRAP's, grenade launchers, and even Apache attack choppers; most of which have been used enforcing immoral and unethical drug laws. However, no one, not even the almighty Barack Obama, can stop an idea whose time has come.  The people have spoken, and politicians who continue to call for the imprisonment of non-violent individuals for their personal choices are being exposed for the vile and obstinate tyrants they are.  Apparently this notion has made it to the ear of his majesty, Barack Obama. In a recent show of humanity, he's freed several dozen more non-violent drug offenders.  According to Reason Magazine , this latest batch of commutations raises Obama's total so far to 872, nearly all of them involving nonviolent drug offenders. That is more commutations than were issued by his 11 most recent predecessors combined. According to the White House , the 688 commutations since the beginning of 2016 are "the most ever done by a president in a single year"—not surprising, since Obama's commutations have been strikingly backloaded, with 79 percent coming during his last year in office and 98 percent in the second half of his second term. He shortened just one sentence during his first term.  As the chart shows below, either Obama's conscience is weighing on him or political pressure is is winning.  According to a report from Reason:  Obama clearly is trying hard to make up for lost time. In a speech on Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates said there will be "many more [commutations] to come." Wednesday White House Counsel Neil Eggleston said Obama is committed to "using his clemency authority through the remainder of his time in office." If he maintains this month's rate in November, December, and January, his total will be around 1,500. If he picks up the pace, he could still reach the "thousands" predicted in 2014.  Even 2,000 commutations would represent just 6.9 percent of the 29,000 or so petitions Obama has received , making him slightly more merciful than Richard Nixon by that measure. That nevertheless would represent a huge improvement from where Obama stood just six months ago.  Any time the state admits it was wrong, and innocent people are freed from their cages of oppression; it's a win for freedom. If one life is spared the horrid fate of being caged like an animal for possessing or ingesting a plant that grows from the ground, this is good news.  However, there are tens of thousands of non-violent drug offenders locked in steel cages across this country, many of them are in for possession alone. The slow and rusty cogs of the bureaucratic leviathan can't turn fast enough. For every non-violent drug offender the president frees, five more are thrown in. Why? Locking up drug users has proven to be quite the profitable venture.  It is much easier to walk out on the street corner and shakedown a teenager who may have an illegal plant in his pocket than it is to examine the evidence in a rape or murder case. The so-called "Private" Prisons know this and have subsequently found their niche in this immoral war on drugs.  The term Private Prison is a farce from the get-go.  A truly Private prison would not be solely funded by taxpayer dollars. These Private prisons are nothing more than a fascist mixture of state and corporate, completely dependent upon the extortion factor of the state, i.e., taxation, as a means of their corporate sustenance.  A truly Private prison would have a negative incentive to boost its population for the simple fact that it is particularly expensive to house inmates. On the contrary, these fascist, or more aptly, corporatist prisons contractually require occupancy rates of 95%-100%.  The requirement for a 95% occupancy rate creates a de facto demand for criminals. Think about that for a second; a need or demand for people to commit crimes is created by this corporatist arrangement. The implications associated with demanding people commit crimes are horrifying.  Creating a completely immoral demand for "criminals" leads to the situation in which we find ourselves today. People, who are otherwise entirely innocent, are labeled as criminals for their personal choices and thrown in cages. We are now witnessing a vicious cycle between law enforcement, who must create and arrest criminals, and the corporatist prison system that constantly demands more prisoners. The police and prison corporations know that without the war on drugs, this windfall of money, cars, and houses — ceases to exist.  If you want to know who profits from ruining lives and throwing marijuana users in cages, we need only look at who bribes (also known as lobbies) the politicians to keep the war on drugs alive.  Below is a list of the top five industries who need you locked in a cage for possessing a plant in order to ensure their job security. Police Unions: Coming in as the number one contributor to politicians for their votes to lock you in a cage for a plant are the police themselves. They risk taking massive pay cuts and losing all their expensive militarized toys without the war on drugs. Private Prison Corporations: No surprise here . The corporatist prison lobby is constantly pushing for stricter laws to keep their stream of tax dollars flowing. Alcohol and Beer Companies: These giant corporations hate competition, so why not pay millions to keep a cheaper and far safer alcohol alternative off the market? Pharmaceutical Corporations: The hypocrisy of marijuana remaining a Schedule 1 drug, "No Medical Use Whatsoever," seems criminal when considering that pharmaceutical companies reproduce a chemical version of THC and are able to market and sell it as such. Ever hear of Marinol? Big pharma simply uses the force of the state to legislate out their competition ; which happens to be nature. Prison Guard Unions: The prison guard union s are another group, so scared of losing their jobs, that they would rather see thousands of non-violent and morally innocent people thrown into cages, than look for another job.  What does it say about a society who's resolute in enacting violence against their fellow human so they can have a job to go to in the morning?  The person who wants to ingest a substance for medical or recreational reasons is not the criminal. However, the person that would kidnap, cage, or kill someone because they have a different lifestyle is a villain on many fronts. When does this vicious cycle end?  The good news is that the drug war's days are numbered, especially seeing that it's reached the White House, and they are taking action, even if it is symbolic. Evidence of this is everywhere. States are defying the federal government and refusing to lock people in cages for marijuana. Colorado and Washington served as a catalyst in a seemingly exponential awakening to the government's immoral war.  Following suit were Oregon, D.C., and Alaska. Medical marijuana initiatives are becoming a constant part of legislative debates nationwide. We've even seen bills that would not only completely legalize marijuana but deregulate it entirely, like corn.  As more and more states refuse to kidnap and cage marijuana users, the drug war will continue to implode. We must be resilient in this fight.  If doing drugs bothers you, don't do drugs. When you transition from holding an opinion — to using government violence to enforce your personal preference, you become the bad guy. Don't be the bad guy. Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Follow @MattAgorist on Twitter and now on Steemit Share geneww1938  The best way to stop illegal dealers and drug use is to stop trafficking by the criminal cartel behind our government. When was the last time we heard of a drug bust that disrupted street consumption ! The elitist's cartel derive billions from international trafficking to wit: Google "Bush, Clinton drugs Mena Airport AK". Social Trending


Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a ritual offering to the Yasukuni Shrine for war dead, seen in China and the two Koreas as a symbol of Japan s past militarism, to mark its annual autumn festival, the shrine said on Tuesday. Abe was expected to refrain from visiting the shrine during the festival, which will last until Friday, the Nikkei business daily and Kyodo news agency reported. He is scheduled to visit northern Japan, Akita prefecture and Yamagata prefecture, for an election campaign stump on Tuesday, Kyodo news said. His ruling coalition is on track for a big win in Sunday s general election - even though almost half the country s voters don t want him to keep his job, a media survey showed on Monday. Abe s snap election comes amid heightened global tension following North Korea s nuclear tests and missile launches, which prompted the U.N. Security Council to impose fresh sanctions. Health Minister Katsunobu Kato also sent an ritual offering to the shrine, a spokesperson for the shrine said. Past visits to Yasukuni by Japanese leaders have outraged Beijing and Seoul because it honors 14 Japanese leaders convicted by an Allied tribunal as war criminals, along with Japan s war dead. China s position on the shrine was clear, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters in Beijing. We urge the Japanese side to earnestly, squarely and deeply reflect on their history of aggression, appropriately handle the relevant issue and take actual steps to win the trust of their Asian neighbors and the international community, Lu said. Abe has only visited the shrine in person once, in December 2013, since becoming premier the previous year. Rather than attend in person, Abe sends a ritual offering on several occasions in an effort to improve ties with China and South Korea, which have been strained by territorial and other disputes. Japan, China and South Korea are trying to hold a summit meeting this year, the Nikkei business said.


Even though the media and the their allies in the Democrat Party are maniacly focused on doing whatever it takes to bring down the popular Alabama GOP Senate candidate, only one month before the election, Judge Roy Moore still has a sizable lead in the most recent polls.Accusations from four decades ago, by women that range from a woman who worked for Hillary and promotes Democrat candidate for Senate, Doug Ross on Facebook, to a woman who has a history of accusing several pastors of sexual misconduct are suddenly coming out of the woodwork.One of Moore s accusers, Leigh Corfman apparently has a history of claiming pastors made sexual advances on her.Purportedly Moore s main accuser Leigh Corfman has had three divorces, filed for bankruptcy three times, and has been charged with multiple misdemeanors.Posts on Moore's FB page indicate that Corfman, has claimed several pastors at various churches made sexual advances at her. James Hirsen (@thejimjams) November 10, 2017Another one of Moore s accusers Debbie Wesson Gibson wasn t clever enough to delete postings from her Facebook page that show she s a Hillary supporter, she hates President Trump and oh yeah, she asks her friends (more than once) to vote for Moore s Democrat opponent, Doug Ross.Today, leftist media whore, Gloria Allred marched another accuser, Beverly Young Nelson, out in front of the cameras with a four decades old story about how she was sexually assaulted by Roy Moore. This time, however, Roy Moore, and his wife Kayla are not just sitting back and watching his reputation be destroyed by the liberal machine. Watch, as Moore and his wife come out swinging, at the lies being told by the latest accuser. Roy Moore tells the crowd of his supporters and the media, I don t even know the woman. I don t even know where the restaurant was or is. :Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore and his wife, Kayla Moore, react to new sexual misconduct allegations brought against him by an Alabama woman, Beverly Young Nelson, who claims Moore assaulted her when she was 16 years old pic.twitter.com/FSJlntUant Breaking911 (@Breaking911) November 14, 2017Moore s wife Kayla, who is planning to sue the Washington Post, reminded her friends on Facebook that the media whore lawyer Gloria Allred tried the same stunt with Donald Trump only months before the election:Gloria Allred is currently under two separate bar investigations for alleged misconduct:Anti-Trump Celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred is under two bar investigations https://t.co/OzbyYWaHLD via @MailOnline Jim Hoft (@gatewaypundit) November 13, 2017Yesterday, this letter was published by dozens of pastors, who came to the defense of Judge Roy Moore:Pastor s LetterDear friends and fellow Alabamians, For decades, Roy Moore has been an immovable rock in the culture wars a bold defender of the little guy, a just judge to those who came before his court, a warrior for the unborn child, defender of the sanctity of marriage, and a champion for religious liberty. Judge Moore has stood in the gap for us, taken the brunt of the attack, and has done so with a rare, unconquerable resolve. As a consequence of his unwavering faith in God and his immovable convictions for Biblical principles, he was ousted as Chief Justice in 2003. As a result, he continued his life pursuit by starting the Foundation for Moral Law, which litigates religious liberty cases around our Nation. After being re-elected again to Chief Justice in 2012, by an overwhelming majority, he took another round of persecution for our faith as he stood up for the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman. You can know a man by his enemies, and he s made plenty from the radical organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center and the ACLU to the liberal media and a handful of establishment politicians from Washington. He has friends too, a lot of them. They live all across this great State, work hard all week, and fill our pews on Sunday. They know him as a father, a grandfather, a man who loves God s Word and knows much of it by heart, a man who cares for the people, a man who understands our Constitution in the tradition of our Founding Fathers, and a man who deeply loves America. It s no wonder the Washington establishment has declared all-out war on his campaign. We are ready to join the fight and send a bold message to Washington: dishonesty, fear of man, and immorality are an affront to our convictions and our Savior and we won t put up with it any longer. We urge you to join us at the polls to cast your vote for Roy Moore. In your service, Dr. Tom Ford, III, Pastor, Grace Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama Pastor Stan Cooke, Kimberly Church of God, Kimberly, Alabama Pastor Jonathan Rodgers, Dothan, Alabama Pastor Joseph Smith, Pine Air Baptist Church, Grand Bay Alabama Dr. David E. Gonnella, Pastor, Theodore, Alabama Pastor Mike Allison, Madison, Alabama Dr. Terry Batton, Christian Renewal and Development Ministries, Eufaula, Alabama Pastors Tim and Elizabeth Hanson, Smiths Station, Alabama Pastor Mark Liddle, Dominion Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama Pastor Steve Sanders, Victory Baptist Church, Millbrook, Alabama Dr. Richard Fox, retired Baptist pastor Dr. Randy Cooper, Pastor, Warrior, Alabama William Green, Minister, Fresh Anointing House of Worship, Montgomery, Alabama Maurice McCaney, Victory Christian Fellowship Church, Florence, Alabama Pastor Jamie Holcomb, Young s Chapel, Piedmont, Alabama Pastor Paul Elliott, Young s Chapel, Piedmont, Alabama Pastor Rodney Gilmore, Covenant Christian, Gadsden, Alabama Pastor Mark Gidley, Faith Worship Center, Gadsden, Alabama Pastor Bill Snow, Edgewood Church, Anniston, Alabama Pastor Michael Yates, Webster s Chapel, Gadsden, Alabama Pastor Mark Holden, Webster s Chapel, Gadsden, Alabama Pastor Joshua Copeland, Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church, Anniston, Alabama Pastor Bruce Jenkins, Young s Chapel, Piedmont, Alabama Pastor Keith Bond, Young s Chapel, Piedmont, Alabama Pastor Jim Lester, Fannin Road Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama Pastor Thad Endicott, Heritage Baptist Church, Opelika, Alabama Bishop Fred and Tijuanna Adetunji, Fresh Anointing House of Worship, Montgomery, Alabama Pastor David Floyd, Marvyn Parkway Baptist Church, Opelika, Alabama Pastor Bruce Word, Freedom Church, Gadsden, Alabama Pastor Paul Hubbard, Lakeview Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama Rev. Carl Head, Lakeview Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama Pastor Duwayne Bridges, Jr., Fairfax First Christian Church, Valley, Alabama Rev. Edwin Roberts, Adams Street Church of Christ, Enterprise, Alabama Pastor John McCrummen, Open Door Baptist Church, Enterprise, Alabama Rev. Mickey Counts, Open Door Baptist Church, Enterprise, Alabama Rev. Alex Pagen, Open Door Baptist Church, Enterprise, Alabama Pastor Glenn Brock, Eufaula, Alabama Rev. Tim Head, Montgomery, Alabama Pastor/Elder Ted Phillips, Christ Church, Odenville, Alabama Tim Yarbrough, Elder, Trinity Free Presbyterian, Trinity, Alabama Pastor Myron Mooney, Trinity Free Presbyterian, Trinity, Alabama Jerry Frank, Elder, Trinity Free Presbyterian, Trinity, Alabama Pastor Jim Nelson, Church of the Living God, Moulton, Alabama Pastor Earl Wise, Millbrook, Alabama Rick and Beverly Simpson, Summit Holiness Church, Alabama Pastor Lane Simmons and Margie Dale Simmons, First Assembly of God, Greenville Alabama Rev. Charles Morris, Pastor Grace Way Fellowship, Evergreen Alabama Dr. George Grant, Pastor, Parish Presbyterian Church Pastor David Whitney, Cornerstone Church Dr. Peter and Roseann Waldron, St. Francis Anglican Church Pastor Franklin and Mrs. Pamela Raddish, Capitol Hill Independent Baptist Ministries Dr. Michael Peroutka, Institute on the Constitution Reverend Bill Owens, Coalition of African American Pastors **Church names are listed for identification purposes onlyAfter the dust settles around what appears to be a coordinated assault by the left to destroy a man who they fear will take Jeff Sessions Senate seat in December, the voters in Alabama will have to decide who they believe.


Is Spirit Halloween really foolish enough to believe no one else will sell this costume? Thanks to conservative news sources posting about this story, it will likely be the hottest halloween costume this year. We sure hope bowing down to the PC Police is worth the huge revenue you re going lose you big dummies!Spirit Halloween has taken its Caitlyn Jenner costume off its website, after the Internet exploded in outrage.Right. Making fun of celebrities is just mean.Based on Jenner s Vanity Fair cover shot from earlier this year, the Call Me Caitlyn Halloween costume sold for $74.99 and included a wig, shorts, padded bustier, and a sash emblazoned with Call Me Caitlyn. The costume was labeled as unisex with a photo showing a big, hairy guy wearing it.Spirit Halloween hasn t publicly commented on why the costume disappeared, according to USA Today, which added it s still available at AnytimeCostumes.com and at WholesaleHalloweenCostumes.com, for only $49.95.Spirit s marketing director Lisa Barr earlier said the get-up was a celebration of Jenner.Of course it was. Which is why the guy modeling it looked like someone s sloppy Uncle Lenny. There s no tasteful way to celebrate Caitlyn Jenner or respect transgender people this way on the one night of the year when people use their most twisted imaginations to pretend to be villains and monsters, Vincent Villano, the spokesman for the National Center for Transgender Equality in Washington, told USA Today.Here s an easy homemade costume idea for anyone who doesn t want to spend the money for a manufactured Bruce Jenner costume:As one might imagine, GLAAD wasn t very pleased either. When transgender women step out into the world as their authentic selves, they aren t wearing a costume, said organization spokesman Nick Adams. Companies should think twice before seeking to profit from mocking trans women.


Ireland and Britain remained at odds on Monday on how to progress talks on the Irish border with a week to go before London could face failure in persuading European Union leaders to open trade talks at a December Brexit summit. The EU handed Prime Minister Theresa May a 10-day absolute deadline on Friday to improve her divorce terms and meet three key conditions, including on the border between EU-member Ireland and Britain s province of Northern Ireland. Before it can sign off on the first phase of talks, the Irish government wants Britain to spell out in writing how it intends to make good on its commitment that the 500-km (300-mile) border will remain as seamless post-Brexit as it is today. Dublin and EU officials say the best way to avoid a hard border is to keep regulations the same north and south and that this needs to be agreed in phase one, but a spokesman for May reiterated on Monday that a solution can only be concluded in the second phase of talks. We remain firmly committed to avoiding any physical infrastructure but the secretary of state (Brexit minister David Davis) was also clear that we will only be able to conclude them finally in the context of the future relationship, he told reporters. May s spokesman repeated that the whole of the United Kingdom will leave the EU s single market and customs union but Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said it seemed impossible to Dublin that some form of hard border could be avoided if there are diverging regulatory regimes north and south. It s simply not credible to say on the one hand that we are going to have a frictionless border and at the same time that all of Britain, including Northern Ireland, is going to leave the customs union, the single market without giving any reassurance on the avoidance of regulatory divergence, he told national broadcaster RTE. With the possibility of Ireland vetoing progress on the talks dominating some newspaper front pages in Britain, Coveney added that Dublin would not need to use its veto if it remained dissatisfied since it has the backing of all other EU states. We don t need to use a veto because we have complete solidarity on this issue. It is clear to us that if there is not progress on the Irish border, we will not be moving onto phase two in December and that was reinforced to me as late as last Friday by very senior EU leaders, he said.


U.N. special envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura will visit Moscow on Thursday for talks on the situation in Syria, RIA news agency quoted him as saying on Wednesday. De Mistura will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to discuss preparations for a new round of Geneva peace talks on Syria and a proposed congress on Syria in Russia s Black Sea resort of Sochi, RIA reported.


0 Our Landfill Economy: Want to make a quick profit along a tropical sea coast? Dig some big holes near the coast, dump in baby prawns, food and chemicals to suppress algae blooms and diseases and then harvest the prawns to ship to the insatiable markets of the developed world. by IWB · October 27, 2016  by Charles Hugh-Smith  This "maximizing growth and profits is the highest good" mode of production is insane.  Correspondent Bart D. (Australia) captured the entire global economy in three words: The Landfill Economy . Stuff is manufactured, energy is consumed shipping it somewhere, consumers buy it and shortly thereafter it ends up as garbage in the landfill.  This is of course the definition of "economic growth": waste, inefficiency, environmental destruction–none of these matter. Only two things matter: maximize "growth" by any means necessary, and maximize profits by any means necessary.  The Landfill Economy now encompasses the entire planet. The swirling gyre of plastic trash the size of Texas between Hawaii and California: it's just one modest example of the planetary trash dump that "growth" and profit generate as byproducts/blowback.  The planet's oceans are one giant trash dump. Everything from plastic water bottles to abandoned fishing nets to radiation to containers that fell off ships is floating around even the most distant corners of the seas. Seabirds nesting in remote islands die of starvation as their guts fill with plastic bits of "permanent growth."  Globalization has turned the planet's land masses and rivers into trash dumps. Want to make a quick profit along a tropical sea coast? Dig some big holes near the coast, dump in baby prawns, food and chemicals to suppress algae blooms and diseases and then harvest the prawns to ship to the insatiable markets of the developed world.  Once the prawn farms are poisoned wastelands, move on and despoil another coastline elsewhere.  Globalization has greased the slippery slope from factory to landfill by enabling the global distribution of defective parts. Whether they are pirated, designed to fail or just the result of slipshod quality control, the flood of defective parts guarantee that the entire assembly they are installed in–stoves, vacuum cleaners, transmissions, electronics, you name it–will soon fail and be shipped directly to the landfill, as repairing stuff is far costlier than buying a new replacement.  QE/ZIRP Is Crushing the Global Supply Chain, Product Quality and Profits (October 17, 2016)  The Keynesian Cargo Cults that rule global economics love The Landfill Economy because it means more "growth". Never mind the poisoned seas, rivers and land, or the immense waste of energy, commodities and labor that result from the global manufacture and distribution of shoddy products: if it adds to "growth," it's all good in the warped view of the Keynesian Cargo Cults.  We got your "growth" right here.  People are also tossed on the trash heap with careless abandon. The health of workers is a cost that reduces profits, so it's ignored unless it can be turned into a profit center via state funding for managing preventable diseases, i.e. sickcare.  A worker sickened by industrial waste or lifestyle illnesses who becomes a profit center is a wonderful source of "growth" and profits.  A worker who can't generate a corporation or state a profit is dumped on the trash heap as a matter of routine. A worker who can't generate somebody a profit or "growth" by taking on more debt to spend spend spend is worthless.  If a robot or software can do the same work, then it is self-destructive for an enterprise to pay a human worker: if profits fall, Wall Street will crucify the enterprise and competitors will eat it alive.  This "maximizing growth and profits is the highest good" mode of production is insane. It doesn't have to rule the world. As I outline in my book A Radically Beneficial World: Automation, Technology & Creating Jobs for All , other more efficient, sustainable and humane modes of production are within reach if we escape from the global grip of the destructive "growth by any means" cult.