1197: Fossil Fools

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Fri, 06 Dec 2019 05:18

Bill Nye the Science Guy is about to become the legal guy.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dalila Lyons granted Nye the ability to take The Walt Disney Company to court with limited claims. Nye is seeking $28 million in damages and accuses Disney of under-reporting or withholding his share of profits from his 1990s syndicated series, ''Bill Nye, the Science Guy.''

Disney had attempted to lower the case's standing to ''an accounting spectacle.'' Still, the judge put limits on the claims against Disney which did not sit well with Nye's lawyers.

''While we are disappointed with the Court's ruling yesterday and the flawed legal reasoning upon which it relied, we welcome the opportunity to litigate the remainder of our clients' case at trial and finally recover the damages Mr. Nye and his fellow producers are entitled to, including an award of punitive damages," Nye's lawyers from Hamrick & Evans said in a statement given to FOX Business, "More importantly, it is our hope that this case, which Disney has fought so hard to stall, will finally shine some light upon the improper accounting practices that Disney utilizes to unjustly deprive profit participants, like our clients, of their fair share of revenues from the programing that they work so hard to create.''

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According to the lawsuit, originally filed in 2017, Disney television subsidiary Buena Vista entered into an agreement with Bill Nye and other owners of ''Bill Nye the Science Guy'' in March of 1993 to sell his children's education series to local stations Terms of the deal called for the show's owners to collect half of the net profits derived from the sales and distribution of the show to local stations, with Nye entitled to 33 percent of that half, or 16.5 percent of the total net profit. ''Bill Nye the Science Guy'' was originally produced by Seattle public TV station KCTS for PBS stations.

Between 1993 and 1998, 100 episodes were produced.

In April of 2008, Buena Vista sent Nye a statement along with a payment of $585,123. However, three months later the company sent Nye another letter retracting the April statement due to an ''accounting error.'' Nye was also informed that he owed Buena Vista $496,111 and that he would not receive any further royalty payments until the money was remitted.

TickerSecurityLastChangeChange %DISWALT DISNEY COMPANY147.44-0.84-0.57%In the complaint, Nye says his attempts to negotiate with Buena Vista and Disney over the statements lasted four years before he was forced to hire ''a professional auditor to examine Buena Vista's records.'' Nye claims that Disney dodged the audit for several years before cooperating in May of 2016, but Disney did still not comply completely holding back several documents.

". . . it is our hope that this case, which Disney has fought so hard to stall, will finally shine some light upon the improper accounting practices that Disney utilizes to unjustly deprive profit participants, like our clients, of their fair share of revenues from the programing that they work so hard to create.''

- Statement from the law firm of Hamrick & Evans, LLP., which represents Bill Nye

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Despite this limited access, the auditor provided Nye with preliminary findings that identified underreported royalty payments owed to Nye in excess of $9 million. Eventually, he filed his lawsuit seeking not only his original profits owed but compensatory and punitive damages as well as attorney's fees.

WILL DISNEY+ BE A GAME CHANGER FOR THE COMPANY?

Ironically, while Nye was fighting for his original profits, Disney was selling a select 31 episodes of ''Bill Nye the Science Guy'' to Netflix. Even in that deal though, Disney downplayed the potential profits in a streaming sale and did not make all 100 episodes available to Netflix.

"It was a financial consideration,'' a Disney spokesperson told Indiewire. ''This sale isn't super lucrative, so it doesn't make sense to do all of them.''

According to the complaint, the Netflix sale was a ''further breach'' of Nye's agreement because Disney could pay Nye less for sales via "video device," which were then defined as audio/visual cassettes, video discs or any similar devices playing the program. Disney classified Netflix as a ''video device'' instead of a video service or channel, so the gross revenue was calculated at just 20 percent instead of 100 percent, which resulted in a payment to Nye about one-fifth of what he was owed, according to the lawsuit.

In 2017, Nye '' without Disney '' launched a series on Netflix called ''Bill Nye Saves the World." This series looked at science and its relationship with politics, pop culture, and society. After streaming 25 episodes over 13 months, Netflix opted not to renew the show in the spring of 2018.

Disney recently launched its own streaming service Diseny+ but currently, despite ownership of the "Science Guy" series. Disney is not offering the program on the service.

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Fri, 06 Dec 2019 06:52

Causey Farm in Ireland's County Meath, keeps some 300 cattle and 200 sheep on 300 hectares of land. With the help of some of his seven sisters, Matt Murtagh keeps the family farm alive. But it's not enough to make ends meet.

"This year has been very hard," Murtagh says, "I mean, the beef price is down hugely, and it's fallen on a very bad weather year the year before."

With Irish farming also under pressure to reduce carbon emissions, Matt is concerned:

"I think beef has become the whipping guy, and the government thinks 'Oh, if we get rid of the cows, everyone can keep driving around in their big cars'."

Climate Action PlanEarlier this year, the Irish government didn't decide 'to get rid of cows', but they did declare a climate and biodiversity emergency.

Ireland's Minister for Climate Action, Richard Bruton, has called climate change "the greatest challenge of our time" and the government has come up with a 150-page document on ways to reduce carbon emissions. Farmers were asked to switch fertilisers but weren't called upon to reduce herds.

Far from the muddy farmlands, Ciaran O'Carroll works in Dublin's business district. The marketing manager for Price Water House Coopers was once arrested whilst campaigning about climate change. He's now part of Ireland's Extinction Rebellion movement. And he's not impressed by Ireland's Climate Action Plan:

"The climate action plan really skirted some of the really big topics in Ireland," he says. "Cattle emissions, congestion on our roads...It took all the low hanging fruits, decided to try an act on that but left the big decisions for future leadership for future generations to bear the brunt of."

Island nationIn Ireland, a country obsessed with talking about the weather, emotions run high when it comes to the topic of climate change. On her weekly radio show on this Irish radio station Newstalk, callers call her a scaremonger, but environmental scientist Cara Augustenborg says the reality is, as an island nation, Ireland is at risk of flooding and sea levels will rise.

"Our erosion rates - particularly in coastlines like here in Bray - are quite astonishing. We have a dart line and a train line that runs along this coast, which will disappear as a result of climate change within the century, so we have a lot to worry about when it comes to climate change."

Shared responsibilityBut for many, especially in rural Ireland, a bigger worry is trying to change their habits overnight.

"There is a tsunami and an agenda being driven at the moment, in my opinion, an unfair agenda, for the simple reason that there are people in different parts of this country that are involved in agriculture, and involved in the peat industry, and there are people thinking Ireland will be the saviours of the whole world," says Michael Fitzmaurice, an Independent Teachta Dla, or member of parliament, for Roscommon-Galway.

Back in the countryside, people are concerned about the climate, but want the responsibility to save it to be shared among all sectors.

"We only have one planet," says farmer Matt Murtagh, "we have to get a little bit longer out of it."

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Fri, 06 Dec 2019 06:52

Parents from around the globe Thursday turned into protesters at the United Nations COP25 climate summit in Madrid, saying the world must defeat the threat of global warming to ''give our children the future that they deserve.''

''Our children are being handed a broken world on the verge of climate chaos and ecological breakdown,'' they said in an open declaration from 222 associations in 27 countries. ''As parents, seeing this is agonising.''

The plea comes the day before young climate strikers led by Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg plan to march through the Spanish capital under the Friday for Futures banner.

The student-led movement '-- sparked by Thunberg's solo protests last year in front of Sweden's parliament '-- saw millions pour into the streets worldwide ahead of a U.N. climate summit.

''Many of the delegates at COP25 are also parents and we appeal to these delegates in particular,'' the declaration said. ''Addressing the climate crisis is not the responsibility of our children ''- it's our job as adults and parents to act.''

Kurt ZindulkaOn Monday, as 40 heads of state took turns working similar themes, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen at one point held up a stuffed polar bear.

''All of you, just like me, are so-called decision-makers, and probably have children or grandchildren who you love,'' he said in a scolding tone.

''Think about those children when you take a decision on behalf of your country,'' he continued. ''Because our children will later think about us '-- about what we did, or what we did not do.''

Costa Rica's President Carlos Alvarado made it even more personal.

''I have a six year old kid,'' he said at a gathering of leaders. ''If we are not courageous enough to take action in these weeks, we will not only be failing me and my kid, we will be letting down humanity.''

Approximately 25,000 people have flown into the Spanish capital for the two-week conference. It is being covered by another 1500 journalists who have also jetted in, although the local response has been tepid, as Breitbart London reported.

AFP contributed to this report

Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: Follow @SunSimonKent or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 05:27

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 14:44

Power to the people might remain a political pipe dream, but changes taking place in the energy market across Australia are making suburban homeowners the unlikely disruptors in an Uber-style revolution that promises to change how we all live.

Despite a toxic political debate about energy that cost the last prime minister his job, thousands of households are showing Canberra the way forward as they group their individual solar systems together to form local networks that help to slash bills, stabilise the electricity grid and cut carbon emissions.

Alan Hedges, a retiree in South Australia, is part of one so-called ''virtual power plant'' (VPP), hailed this week by the energy commission as the way of the future.

With solar panels feeding a 10kWh storage battery at his house in Gilberton in Adelaide, Hedges is close to self-sufficient in power and has seen his bills fall to fraction of what he used to pay. The VPP means that electricity stored in his battery '' and from others on the network '' flows into the national grid at times of peak demand to balance the system and prevent outages.

So not only is he reaping the financial benefits, he is also doing his bit to stave off the mass blackouts that brought the state to a standstill in September 2016.

''I received my first bill the other day and it was $46.57 for 57 days, which works out at $1.68 per day,'' he said. That's 84% cheaper than his old bills of more than $1,000 a quarter.

''I thought 'wow', they must have made a mistake. But I've read it through and it's right. It's amazing.''

Hedges was helped by the South Australian government's home battery scheme, and received $6,000 off the cost of his Tesla battery '' about half the total cost.

But the revolution is going on elsewhere, Elon Musk or not.

Patricia Harris lives with her husband in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales. Their panels and battery system have enabled them to become one of 237 households who are part of a scheme run by Ausgrid and a Canberra software company called Reposit.

She welcomes the money they save '' ''we're miles ahead on the deal,'' she says '' but there is another motivation at a time when the world is threatened by a climate crisis.

''The system works and it works well. We are making a profit,'' she says. ''We'll get the money back for the battery and panels, but we just liked the idea of it. We thought 'we'll do our bit for the environment'.''

This empowerment lies at the heart of the matter, according to Rob Amphlett Lewis, chief customer officer at Ausgrid, which sees itself as facilitating sweeping changes that he likens to tech disruptors such as Uber and Airbnb.

''It's very much like Uber where the individual shares his car,'' he says. ''Here the individual shares his or her battery and they make money.

''When we have high demand we can call on all that power stored in people's batteries and ease constraints in the grid. The traditional way to fix this would be to build more infrastructure, but having batteries means we don't have to build that infrastructure.

''This really is the future and it's coming very quickly.''

Reposit has been creating such systems in Australia for six years. Its chief executive, Dean Spaccavento, says the company now has thousands of customers up and down Australia's east coast, from Queensland to Victoria. It adds one megawatt of capacity every month, which is the equivalent of 100 households with a 10kWh battery, and hopes to add 5,000 customers in the next 12 months.

The particularly smart part of the system '' and others like it '' enables the battery to think for itself so that it can be set to control household appliances according to when they are cheapest to use. This reduces demand at peak times and means there is more power from home batteries to be diverted into the grid.

Amphlett Lewis says: ''Home energy systems mean appliances such as aircon can be controlled to stay at a certain temperature. It means we consume less. If lots of people turn down their aircon slightly, it doesn't inconvenience anyone but it can make a big difference and facilitate the use of renewable energy.''

The scheme has been so successful that Ausgrid is planning a community battery scheme in Sydney and is looking for would-be participants to register. This would allow anyone with solar power to connect to the battery and deposit and withdraw electricity. ''It means less infrastructure so more savings,'' says Amphlett Lewis. ''It's a win, win, win for the community.''

And while it might not fix Australia's energy woes overnight, it appears to be an important step forward and one in which many people will be able to take part.

''There is no one silver bullet to fix the problems with the Australian electricity market. But these sort of ideas will deliver the future of energy. Customers are taking a big, big role and our role is to facilitate it.''

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 16:53

Hans Emiel Aloysius Bruyninckx (Dutch: [É...ɑns brÅ'ynɪŋks] ; born March 20, 1964) is a Belgian political scientist and international relations scholar specialized in international environmental governance and European environmental politics. He has headed the European Environment Agency since 2013. While in this position, he is on leave from his posts as Professor of International Relations and Global Environmental Governance, Institute for International and European Policy; and Director, Research Institute for Work and Society, both at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven).

Education [ edit ] Bruyninckx studied political science focused on international relations at Antwerp University and KU Leuven. He obtained an additional degree in development studies at the University of Louvain (UCLouvain) and, subsequently, earned his PhD degree in 1996 at Colorado State University on the topic of international environmental politics.[citation needed ]

Career [ edit ] Bruyninckx taught[when? ] at several other universities such as Colorado State University, Canisius College, and Wageningen University.[2][3][4][5]

Bruyninckx´ academic expertise lies in international environmental policy, studying the effects of globalization on the global governance of environmental issues and sustainable development. He studied global production and consumption systems, and environmental justice.[2] He has been teaching at the university on the topic of global environmental politics, and global environmental governance in relation to the European Union. As of 2010, besides his main appointments at the university, he has been a senior member of the interdisciplinary Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies,[6] promoter-coordinator of the Flemish Support Point on Transitions for Sustainable Development (TRADO),[7] and president of the Flemish umbrella environmental organisation Bond Beter Leefmilieu.[8]

In June 2013, Bruyninckx became Executive Director of the European Environment Agency , succeeding Jacqueline McGlade.[9][10]

After the EEA published a report in 2016 he was quoted saying "that there was now not a snowball's chance in hell of limiting global warming to 2C without the full involvement of the US."[11]

Key publications [ edit ] "The role of societal groups in bringing about a policy of sustainable development," Sustainable Development Towards a Sustainable Dialogue between Science and Policy. Brussels, 24''25 November 1999. Brussels: OSTC, 2000, pp. 160''171."Participatory input and questions of legitimacy: the role and function of advisory bodies in the construction and use of sustainability indicators," Environmental Indicators and Sustainable Development Trends. Annual Conference of European Environmental Advisory Councils (EEAC). Gent, Belgium, 15''18 November 2001. MiNa-Council, pp. 113''121"The implementation of the desert convention: case Ouahigouya, Burkina Faso," Global Environmental Politics 4 (3), 107-127, 2004."Sustainable development: the institutionalization of a contested policy concept." In: Betsill, M.; Hochstetler, K.; Stevis, D. (Eds.), Palgrave Advances in International Environmental Politics. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, pp. 265''298. ISBN 1403921075"China and global environmental governance". In: Lectures for the XXIst Century. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2008, pp. 165''185."Environmental evaluation practices and the issue of scale," New Directions for Evaluation (122), 31-39, 2009.With othersSpaargaren, G.; Mol, A.P.J.; and Bruyninckx, H. (2006). "Introduction: governing environmental flows in global modernity". In: Spaargaren, G.; Mol, A.P.J.; and Buttel, F.H. (Eds.), Governing Environmental Flows: Global Challenges to Social Theory. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 1''36. ISBN 978-0262195454Wouters, J.; Bruyninckx, H.; Keukeleire, S.; Corthout, T.; Basu, S.; and Schunz, S. (2010). "The European Union and multilateral governance - an interdisciplinary research project. Research notes (Part 3)," Journal of Contemporary European Research 6 (3), 412-418.Happaerts, S.; Brande, K. van den; and Bruyninckx, H. (2011). "Subnational governments in transnational networks for sustainable development," International Environmental Agreements 11 (4), 321-339.Wouters, J.; Bruyninckx, H.; Basu, S.; and Schunz S. (Eds.), The European Union and Multilateral Governance. Assessing EU Participation in United Nations Human Rights and Environmental Fora. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. ISBN 978-0230282315Bruyninckx, H., Happaerts, S., Brande, K. van den. (Eds.), Sustainable Development and Subnational Governments: Policy-making and Multi-level Interactions. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. ISBN 978-0230360525Bruyninckx, H., Qi, Y.; Nguyen, Q.T.; and Belis, D. (Eds.), The Governance of Climate Relations between Europe and Asia: Evidence from China and Vietnam as Key Emerging Economies. Cheltenham and Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2014. ISBN 978-1781955987See also [ edit ] Bond Beter Leefmilieu (Union for a Better Environment) (in Dutch) References [ edit ] ^ WorldCat. Accessed: December 26, 2012. ^ a b Hans Bruyninckx Archived 2013-01-15 at Archive.today (in Dutch) , HIVA-Onderzoeksinstituut voor Arbeid en Samenleving, Retrieved on 2012-12-25. ^ Professor Hans Bruyninckx nieuwe voorzitter milieukoepel Bond Beter Leefmilieu Vlaanderen (in Dutch) , Bond Beter Leefmilieu, Retrieved on 2010-08-27. ^ Hans Bruynincx, Political Science PhD (1996), selected as new European Environment Agency Executive Director, Colorado State University - Central, December 17, 2012, Retrieved on 2012-12-25. ^ About EEA - Executive Director, 1 June 2013, European Environment Agency, Retrieved on 2013-06-02. ^ Leuven Centre for Global Governance - Members Archived 2010-07-24 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved on 2012-12-25 ^ Hans Bruyninckx (in Dutch) , Retrieved on 2012-12-25. ^ Besluit Ontslag, benoeming en herbenoeming bestuurders, dd. 22/5/2012 Archived 2013-06-06 at the Wayback Machine (in Dutch) , Bond Beter Leefmilieu Vlaanderen, Retrieved on 2012-12-25. ^ Professor Hans Bruyninckx eerste Belg aan het hoofd van Europees Milieuagentschap (in Dutch) , KU Leuven nieuws, Retrieved on 2012-12-14. ^ Hans Bruyninckx selected as new EEA Executive Director to take office 1 June 2013, European Environment Agency, Retrieved on 2012-12-15. ^ Arthur Neslen Europe faces droughts, floods and storms as climate change accelerates The Guardian, 25 Jan 2017. External links [ edit ] European Environment Agency - Executive DirectorStaff member Institute for International and European PolicyBio - HIVA Ons Team (in Dutch) Lirias Publications

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 05:54

New Lisbon Airport (Portuguese: Novo Aeroporto de Lisboa, NAL) is the currently planned site for construction of a new Lisbon Airport. It was originally scheduled to replace or complement the current Portela Airport by the year 2017. Following a series of delays, in 2018 the government announced a revival of the project. The airport is anticipated to be complete by 2022.

History [ edit ] After years of debate and public consultation whether Rio Frio or Ota would be the place to build a new Lisbon airport, a new location was proposed in Alcochete and won as it was more accessible given the good infrastructure nearby, such as the Vasco da Gama Bridge. The location of Alcochete as the construction site of the future Lisbon Airport was confirmed by the Portuguese Government on 8 May 2008.[1] The estimated cost for the project is '‚¬3 billion (approximately US$4.5 billion). Construction started in late 2010 but, in May 2010, forced by the financial crisis, Prime Minister Jos(C) S"crates put the project on hold.[2]

The green field facility envisaged in the 2000s was to have four runways, and was expected to service over 50 million passengers annually.[3]

After the termination of the new airport project a plan was later put forward to keep the existing airport in service but also to convert an existing Naval Air Base in Montijo into a facility for low cost carriers. [4]

In November 2018, at an IATA congress in Madrid, Pedro Marques, Minister of Planning and Infrastructure, stated that Montijo airport would start operating by 2022.[5]In 31 October 2019, the IATA as declaring that operations begins in 2021 for Low Cost Airlines.

Airlines and Destinations [ edit ] From 2021 the Airlines to be launch flights is:

AirlinesDestinations Ryanair Alicante, Barcelona, Beauvais, Brest, Bremen, Brive, Bergamo, Berlin''Sch¶nefeld, Birmingham, Bologna, Bordeaux, Bristol, Brussels, Budapest, Cagliari, Chlons-Vatry, Charleroi, Carcassonne, Clermont-Ferrand, Cologne/Bonn, Dole, Dortmund, Dublin, Eindhoven, Faro, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Hamburg, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Krakow, Liverpool, London''Luton, London''Stansted, London''Southend, Lourdes/Tarbes, Luxembourg, Madrid, Malaga, Malta, Manchester, Marrakech, Marseille, Memmingen, Milan''Malpensa, Nuremberg, Ponta Delgada, Rome''Ciampino, Seville, Tenerife''South, Terceira, Toulouse, Tours, Treviso, Valencia, Weeze Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Gran Canaria, La Rochelle, Lille, Naples, Palma de Mallorca, Strasbourg, Warsaw''Modlin (to be begins in 2021)References [ edit ]

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 09:09

When the U.S. calculates its gross domestic product, it only includes things that are legal. But if the wares of drug dealers, pimps, bookies and other black-market denizens were included, the GDP would expand by more than 1%, according to one estimate.

It would also align our national accounts more closely with those of the European Union, whose members already incorporate some illegal activities in their tallies.

Countries all over the world measure the size and structure of their economies based on international standards published by the United Nations and known as the System of National Accounts, or SNA.

''It's the set of recommendations every country uses across the world,'' said James Tebrake, assistant director of the statistics department of the International Monetary Fund. ''The key thing is we all do it the same way so we can compare the U.S. economy to the Canadian economy to the European economy.''

GDP, one of several metrics in the SNA, measures the total value of the final goods and services produced within a country in a year. It's the main measure of economic output, and it typically includes things like clothing, food and housing.

But the SNA has long recommended including illegal activities as well because, it argues, omitting them distorts a nation's GDP, undermines its monetary policies and upsets the uniformity of the accounts.

''If France does not include illegal activities, and Germany does, the German economy will be bigger,'' Mr. Tebrake said.

In the past, countries resisted accounting for illegal goods and services because of the difficulty of assessing their value and because they assumed the activity might not be significant.

But Canada has found that accounting for illicit sales of cannabis alone would add around 0.4% to its GDP. The U.K. has estimated that prostitution and illegal drugs represent around 0.4% of its GDP. And in the U.S., Rachel Soloveichik, a research economist with the Bureau of Economic Analysis, has estimated that in 2017, illegal activities would have added more than 1% to the GDP. She presented her analysis last month at the IMF Statistical Forum.

The EU began accounting for illegal activities in its national accounts about five years ago.

''The standard is not really new,'' Mr. Tebrake said. ''What is new is that more and more countries have decided, yes, it's time to put it into our national accounts.''

The EU has focused on drugs and prostitution, but Dr. Soloveichik explored how four illegal activities'--drugs, prostitution, gambling and theft from businesses'--would affect the U.S. accounts.

To estimate the value of illicit activities, she used other data as proxies, including fraud and embezzlement arrests as a proxy for the number of people stealing cash and arrests of female prostitutes for the number of illegal prostitutes.

According to her estimates, illegal drugs would have added $111 billion to the U.S. GDP in 2017; illegal prostitution would have added $10 billion; illegal gambling would have added $4 billion; and theft from businesses would have added $109 billion.

As a percentage, the amount would represent a larger portion of the GDP than agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting. But including the value of illicit goods and services in the national accounts wouldn't necessarily change economists' view of the strength of the economy.

''If it grows at the same rate, it doesn't matter,'' Mr. Tebrake said. ''But if the illegal economy were growing at, say, 1% faster than everything else, that's a dynamic we might want to pick up.''

Such a shift might signal that government policies or regulations need to be adjusted.

In the U.S., Dr. Soloveichik found that real illegal output did grow faster than overall GDP during the 1970s and after 2008'--but she concluded the growth ameliorated the economic slowdowns that occurred in those periods.

Dr. Soloveichik worked on her analysis for two years but considers it a first cut, and for now, the U.S. isn't ready to include the illegal activities she documented in its national accounts.

''We have to explore if this is something we could possibly do going forward,'' a spokeswoman for the BEA said.

Until then, illegal sex, drugs, gambling and theft will remain off the books.

Write to Jo Craven McGinty at Jo.McGinty@wsj.com

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Source: The Last Refuge

Sat, 07 Dec 2019 13:58

''These are the best jobs numbers of our lives'''...The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has released the jobs number for November and the results are astoundingly excellent. November jobs gains 266,000; the year-over-year wage growth is 3.1% with non-supervisory wages growing double the rate of supervisory wages. The unemployment rate dropped slightly to 3.5 percent.

Additionally, September was revised up by 13,000 from +180,000 to +193,000, and the change for October was revised up by 28,000 from +128,000 to +156,000. With these revisions, employment gains in September and October combined were 41,000 more than previously reported. [Full BLS Report Here]

Also in November, 1.2 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force. This is a reduction of 432,000 from a year earlier. Those additional jobs are not counted in any labor report because those returning workers were previously not looking for employment; they came off the sidelines and entered the workforce. AMERICA IS WORKING AGAIN !

The pundits are shocked, s.h.o.c.k.e.d!

.

Breaking News

America Is Kicking Ass!

256,000 jobs created last monthWages +3.1% beating consensus Past Reports Revised higher +41,000#winning #winning#winning

'-- Charles V Payne (@cvpayne) December 6, 2019

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Source: The Last Refuge

Sat, 07 Dec 2019 13:51

Elections have consequences. On the same day the U.S. economy reports astoundingly successful jobs growth of 266,000 jobs and a drop in the unemployment rate to 3.5 percent; the Canadian state economic minister reports surprisingly terrible jobs losses of 72,200 jobs and a jump in unemployment from 5.5 to 5.9 percent.

The Canadian economy is roughly one-tenth the size of the U.S. So in equivalent terms the results from Canada reflect a comparative loss of 720,000 jobs on the same day the U.S. revises all figures upward to over 300,000 gains. A stunning economic contrast:

OTTAWA (Reuters) '' The Canadian job market lost a surprise 71,200 net positions in November while the unemployment rate rose to 5.9%, the highest in more than a year, data showed on Friday, as analysts said a repeat of the weak numbers could force the Bank of Canada to rethink its monetary policy.

Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a gain of 10,000 jobs and had predicted the unemployment rate would hold steady at 5.5%. ['...] November's numbers followed a weak report in October, when the labor market unexpectedly shed jobs despite a likely boost from hiring related to the federal election.

['...] Canada's goods-producing industries saw a decline of 26,600 net jobs, largely on manufacturing. The services sector lost 44,400 net jobs.

November's unemployment rate was the highest seen since the 6.0% reported in August 2018. 38,400 full-time jobs and 32,800 part-time jobs were lost in November. (read more)

It is worth remembering that Canada does not allow competition in their media sector. The Canadian government considers the news media a protected ''cultural industry''; and through a process of subsidizing broadcast all news media is essentially state run media.

Why is this important? Well, when the expressed priority of the government is controlling broadcast information if you are intellectually honest you should apply that same ideological outlook toward any information from the government in a general sense.

The Canadian election was held on October 21st, 2019. The central control government of Justin Trudeau would likely hold-back any negative economic information in an effort to support the ideology of the central government and maintain public opinion in advance of the voting. However, with the election over the economic books need to be reconciled.

I strongly suspect the Canadian November jobs report encompasses some of that state run reconciliation effort. Meaning the Canadian economy was in much worse shape in the months leading up to the election than state media were broadcasting. The reality is now catching up'....

Secondly, it was obvious in July of this year that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Justin Trudeau entered into an agreement of mutual benefit. Trudeau would hold back submission of the USMCA for parliamentary ratification, and left-wing political ideologues in the U.S. would help Trudeau win re-election.

At the time CTH forewarned of what this type of political arrangement really meant.

In essence Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was willing to compromise the health of his own economy for stunningly political reasons. There was a perfect storm of negative economic dynamics clearly visible on the horizon'.... but few were paying attention.

In combination with leftist economic policies on energy development that strangles economic growth through excessive regulation, the leftist government of Trudeau has dismantled the natural underpinnings of a market-based economy. The manufacturing base of Canada is compromised, perhaps to the point of no return.

For two decades liberal (left-wing) Canadian policy essentially transformed their economic model from manufacturing to ''assembly''. The goods-based production within the Canadian economy was structured to take advantage of the NAFTA loophole.

Goods production in Canada was reduced from full manufacturing to a process of assembling parts brought in from overseas and then selling them into the U.S. market. This process exploited the NAFTA loophole allowing foreign companies to ship parts to Canada and then assemble for transport into the U.S. without tariffs.

Over time the Canadian economy became more and more dependent on this system of brokering goods, while Canada simultaneously dismantled their heavy industry at the request of extreme environmentalists.

The Canadian assembly system for durable goods was always at risk of the NAFTA loophole being closed. When President Trump renegotiated the USMCA, primarily with Mexico, the loophole was closed. The USMCA rules on origination now require the parts to come from inside the North American manufacturing system.

Importing parts from Asia and simply assembling them in Canada is no longer permitted under the USMCA agreement. The majority of the parts -which require heavy industry to produce- must originate from North America. Canada has little capacity to take advantage of this economic opportunity because they dismantled their heavy industry.

As a consequence, if any multinational company wanting to invest in a manufacturing system, that avoids tariffs, to bring their end product to the massive U.S. market'... well, Canada is no longer a viable option for that investment.

The multinational banks and investment groups who fund corporate manufacturing investment; and who are now no longer willing to underwrite Asian investment due to the impact of Trump tariffs; are focusing on where that investment can support the economic activity.

As with this latest report, when we see: ''Canada's goods-producing industries saw a decline of 26,600 net jobs, largely on manufacturing'' leading the headline, this is a direct consequence of the economic dynamic identified above.

Elections have consequences; and those economic consequences are extraordinarily impactful in the era when U.S. President Trump is dismantling global supply chains; focusing on bringing high-wage manufacturing industry back to the U.S; and driving a process of profound consequence through economic nationalism.

''Economic Security is National Security'' ~ President Trump

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Fri, 06 Dec 2019 06:35

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Cory Booker will introduce a bill on Thursday prohibiting race-based hair discrimination

The Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act will target discrimination against natural or protective hairstyles frequently associated with a particular race, including specific hair textures and styles such as such as braids, twists or locs.

''Discrimination against black hair is discrimination against black people,'' the New Jersey Democrat said in a statement. ''Implicit and explicit biases against natural hair are deeply ingrained in workplace norms and society at large. This is a violation of our civil rights, and it happens every day for black people across the country.''

''No one should be harassed, punished, or fired for the beautiful hairstyles that are true to themselves and their cultural heritage,'' Booker added.

Rep. Cedric Richmond (D., La.) plans to introduce a similar bill in the House, joined by Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D., Mass.), Marcia Fudge (D., Ohio), and Barbara Lee (D., Calif.).

This year, California and New York passed legislation prohibiting race-based hair discrimination, and around a dozen other states are reportedly considering doing so.

The hair discrimination issue has made several headlines in recent months. Booker took a particular interest in the issue after a high school wrestler from New Jersey, Andrew Johnson, was forced last year to cut his dreadlocks to comply with hair length regulations or face forfeiting a wrestling match. The referee subsequently faced accusations of racism.

Another incident involving allegations of racism turned out to be false. A sixth-grade girl claimed three white boys at her school physically attacked her, called her ''ugly,'' and cut off some of her dreadlocks. Later, however, she admitted that she had lied and made up the story.

Booker is currently battling sagging poll numbers with only 2 percent support according to the Real Clear Politics average of national polls.

More from National Review2020 Democrats Slam DOJ Decision Not to Charge NYPD Officer in Eric Garner's DeathBooker Releases $3 Trillion Climate PlanBooker Promises to Choose a Woman as Running Mate

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 05:39

There are pros and cons to both DSLR and mirrorless cameras, but one advantage of mirrorless is making headlines after the Democratic debates this week. The completely silent shooting of the Sony a9 turned out to be a ''great advantage'' for one photographer.The Washington Post reports that at NBC's Democratic debate on Wednesday night, the pool of mainstream media outlet photographers requested permission to shoot the candidates from the side of the debate stage. But when the first group started shooting, the rapid-fire shutter noise of the DSLRs was picked up in the broadcast audio by an NBC producer.

Photographers were then immediately instructed to only shoot during moments of audience applause in order to mask the camera sounds.

But New York Times photographer Doug Mills wasn't among those who had brought along a Canon or Nikon DSLR, which are still the dominant tools of choice among photojournalists. Mills was shooting with the Sony a9 mirrorless camera, which can shoot at 20 frames per second completely silently thanks to its electronic shutter.

''When I got [to the stage in the second group], the woman who was from NBC said, 'Hey, you can't shoot,''' Mills tells the Post. ''I explained to her my camera was mirrorless and she was like, 'Why doesn't everybody have one of these?' So then I just kept shooting. I had a great advantage.''

Here's a video in which loud shutter sounds can be heard during Trump's meeting with Obama after the former was elected in 2016:

DSLR photographers can use sound blimps to muffle their shutter sounds, but it seems most photographers didn't bring one to the debates.

''Clackety camera mirrors commonly corrupt audio feeds, and incidents such as the one on Wednesday night should accelerate their extinction,'' the Post writes.

(via Washington Post via sonyalpharumors)

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 14:10

Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris of California suspended her presidential campaign on Tuesday. Why? Because, she said, she did not ''have the financial resources we need to continue. I'm not a billionaire. I can't fund my own campaign.''

Meanwhile, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who definitely is a billionaire, has spent at least $57 million of his own money since he jumped into the race on November 24. Harris, by contrast, raised $36 million as of her last campaign filing in October. Of that, she'd spent almost $26 million since she announced her campaign last January 21.

The divergence in the fates of the two candidates can be traced back to a Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of campaign finance law. But the case involved is not Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, from 2010. It's a far less famous one: Buckley v. Valeo, from 1976. The decision opened the door for billionaires '-- and, more generally, the ultra-rich '-- to spend as much as they want on their own political campaigns.

The divergence in the fates of Harris and Bloomberg can be traced back to a Supreme Court decision '-- not from Citizens United in 2010, but Buckley v. Valeo in 1976.

One of the main forces behind the case was a young Republican lawyer named John Bolton, later to become President Donald Trump's national security adviser for a time. In Bolton's memoir, he proudly states that ''Everyone knew the decision in Buckley v. Valeo could determine '... the future shape of American politics.'' Bolton was right '-- and his long-ago efforts continue to bear fruit today.

No LimitsWatergate was, among other things, a scandal about money in politics. President Richard Nixon's 1972 reelection campaign had accepted bribes, including $200,000 from the chairman of the board of McDonald's in return for permission from the federal government to raise the price of their Quarter Pounder cheeseburger. (You can read about this here; it's #21 in the bill of particulars supporting the articles of impeachment against Nixon.)

Soon after Nixon resigned in 1974, Congress responded with significant amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act. This included a new limit of $50,000 per calendar year on what presidential candidates could spend of their own money on their campaign. Adjusting for inflation, that's about $275,000 today.

Just two years later, however, the Supreme Court struck that limit down in the Buckley case. Those running for political office could now spend any amount of their own fortune they wanted. In fact, the court stated, it could be good for the wealthy to self-fund runs for office, because ''the use of personal funds reduces the candidate's dependence on outside contributions and thereby counteracts the coercive pressures and attendant risks of abuse.''

The result of the case is a presidential field where billionaires can hang on seemingly forever without batting an eye and other competitors must strain to keep up by raising funds the old fashioned way: through regular, limited donations and by getting billionaires to give to their dark-money groups.

Kamala Can't CompareKamala Harris is quite rich. Forbes estimates the net worth of her and her husband at $6 million, putting them in the top 2 percent of U.S. households. But in 2016, the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Trump raised $564 million and $333 million, respectively. As Harris said, she can't fund that by herself.

Bloomberg's $57 million in ad buys in the 11 days since he announced are already more than twice as much as all Harris's reported expenditures.

She also can't get it funded by one super-wealthy supporter. This isn't because she's unpopular among billionaires '-- just the opposite, in fact. Harris has received donations from 46 billionaires and their spouses, more than any other candidate. But while the Supreme Court struck down limits on how much any politician could spend of their own money, it simultaneously upheld limits on donations to candidates from others. The maximum anyone can give to a presidential campaign this cycle is $2,800 for the primaries, and $2,800 for the general election. Through these comparative drips and drabs, Harris raised her relatively paltry $36 million.

By contrast, Bloomberg has an estimated net worth of $54 billion '-- 9,000 times that of Harris. His $57 million in ad buys in the 11 days since he announced his candidacy are already more than twice as much as all Harris's reported expenditures.

Viewed another way, Bloomberg so far has spent about $5 million per day. CNBC estimates that Bloomberg may pour $500 million into his campaign by the February 3 Iowa caucuses (Bloomberg plans to skip Iowa as well as the New Hampshire primary). That would be almost 2,000 times more than he could have spent if the Buckley decision had upheld the annual $275,000 limit on a candidate's donations to his or her own campaign.

Billionaires EverywhereBloomberg isn't the first billionaire to fund his own presidential campaign; he's not even the only billionaire running in the Democratic primaries. As of October, former hedge fund manager Tom Steyer had given $48 million to Tom Steyer for President. His campaign shows no sign of slowing down, even as the most recent national poll showed him to be the choice of zero percent of voters.

Then there's obviously Trump, who did not totally self-fund his 2016 campaign. He provided $66 million, or one-fifth, of its total cash, but his campaign likely would never have gotten off the ground if he'd been forced to abide by the pre-Buckley laws.

Money isn't everything. It seems likely that the main result of Bloomberg's candidacy will be several fancy new beach homes for his consultants. Mitt Romney spent $45 million of his fortune on his 2008 presidential bid, but lost the Republican nomination to the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. (Romney subsequently spent just $52,000 of his own money in 2012 and did become the nominee.) Steve Forbes expended about $100 million on two humiliating races for president in 1996 and 2000. Even the most successful super-rich candidate before Trump, Ross Perot, came up short.

Nonetheless, there's no question that Harris would still be in the race if she were a billionaire and, conversely, that the political landscape would look far different if this aspect of the Buckley decision had gone the other way.

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 15:01

News Matthew Horwood / Getty Images Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during a visit to Swansea University on Nov. 15, 2019, in Swansea, Wales. (Matthew Horwood / Getty Images)

By Jack DavisPublished December 7, 2019 at 10:28amFormer Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emphatic declaration of her lack of interest in dating other women has cost her some points with the LGBT community.

The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee appeared Wednesday on Howard Stern's show.

Clinton was on the show to promote ''The Book of Gutsy Women,'' which she co-authored with her daughter, Chelsea.

As is par for the course with Stern, the talk turned to sex.

''Contrary to what you may hear, I actually like men,'' Clinton said after talking about a former boyfriend.

TRENDING: Schiff's Proof of 'Coordination' Has an Embarrassingly Obvious Flaw

That opened the door for Stern to take the conversation to a lower level.

''Raise your right hand. You've never had a lesbian affair?'' Stern asked.

''Never, never, never!'' Clinton said emphatically.

Do you think the LGBT outrage mob likes to get upset over things like this?94% (15 Votes)

6% (1 Votes)

''Never even been tempted, thank you very much,'' she added.

Robin Quivers, who rides shotgun on the show with Stern, noted that women who have ''strong relationships'' with other females often ''cause suspicion.''

''Everything we do can cause suspicion, apparently,'' Clinton said.

Trish Bendix, a reporter on LGBT issues, said she was ''disappointed'' by Clinton's comments.

''It's so frustrating when public figures like Hillary feel the need to dispel lesbian rumors in a way that equates lesbianism or queerness with salaciousness, and that's ultimately what I dislike about the way she phrased it,'' Bendix told NBC News.

RELATED: Hypocrisy: Hillary Was Sick Over Trump Military Pardons, but Not Sick Over Benghazi?

One word bothered her the most.

''Specifically the word 'tempted.' I think there's a way to refute untrue ideas about one's own identity without saying something damaging to others,'' she said.

Media Research Center writer Gabriel Hays chortled in an Op-Ed that Clinton is ''not woke enough.''

''Tsk tsk, Hillary. The former presidential candidate is taking heat for her response to old rumors about her being a lesbian,'' Hays wrote.

''Madame Clinton's firm denial that she has 'never' been tempted to dabble in homosexuality angered a member of the LGBTQ community for making the lifestyle out to be something 'salacious.'''

''Yep, Clinton's from that old school where the current LGBTQ apparatus would've been uninmaginable even for a radical lefty at the time. We would feel sorry for her, but then again, it's Hillary,'' Hays added.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

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Fri, 06 Dec 2019 06:36

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler has announced the date for the next impeachment hearing. The date is Monday, December 9th '' 2019 It appears from the announcement the HJC hearing will be set up to receive the impeachment recommendation(s) from Adam Schiff and the House Intelligence Committee:

(HJC) The Impeachment Inquiry into President Donald J. Trump: Presentations from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and House Judiciary Committee (link)

Monday December 9th, is also the same date that IG Horowitz is expected to release the results of the 21-month-long FISA investigation.

Two days later on Wednesday December 11th, Michael Horowitz will be testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee about his investigation'.... Therefore we can expect Nadler, Pelosi and Lawfare to schedule another House event for Wednesday Dec. 11th.

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 15:01

It has been over two months since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the impeachment inquiry of President Trump, and CNN has been running non-stop coverage of all the latest impeachment developments. In retrospect, that may not have been the best idea: with round the clock coverage, viewership of the rabidly partisan, far-left media outlet has actually tumbled to three-year lows, reported Nielsen Media Research.

Nielsen reported that CNN recorded its lowest prime time ratings in nearly three years during the week of November 25. Even more embarrassing for Jerry Zucker, Fox News recorded higher ratings than MSNBC and CNN combined.

Fox News recorded 2.2 million viewers in the primetime hours of 9-11 p.m. ET from Nov. 25 through Dec. 1; MSNBC saw around 1.3 million, while CNN averaged about 643,000 viewers over the same period. It was CNN's worst performance in nearly three years and the liberal network's worst turnout among the key demographic of adults age 25-54 in over five years.

Primetime Viewers

Fox News: 2.2 millionMSNBC: 1.3 millionCNN: 643,000Fox News has dominated the cable news arena for the 47th consecutive week, averaging a little over 1.3 million viewers.

Total Day Viewers

Fox News: 1.33 millionMSNBC: 781,000CNN: 539,000As CNN plumbed historic lows, its conservative foil continued to enjoy strong viewership, as episodes of ''Hannity,'' ''Tucker Carlson Tonight,'' ''The Ingraham Angle,'' ''The Story with Martha MacCallum'' and ''Special Report'' with Bret Baier accounted for 15 of the 30 most-watched telecasts across all of cable during the holiday weekend.

Is CNN's Trump derangement syndrome starting to bore most Americans, even liberals? Consider that the network's special town hall event with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the day she announced that articles of impeachment against President Trump were being drafted only averaged 1.6 million viewers and 410,000 in the demo on Thursday night, well behind both Fox News and MSNBC in both categories.

The American people, at least those who still watch cable TV, are increasingly ditching "objective", "imparial" mainstream media outlets and either tuning out or moving to conservative outlets, in a time when House Democrats have been focused on just one thing: not how to govern the nation, but merely focusing all their energy on impeaching the president. It appears, however, that the American people are tired of this farce and are desperate to move on. So far very few democrats have gotten the memo.

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 12:03

A former Hillary Clinton aide's organization has promoted Pamela Karlan -- the Stanford professor who referenced the president's son during an impeachment hearing this week -- as a possible Democratic choice for the Supreme Court nominee, raising more questions about Karlan's impartiality while testifying during the on-going impeachment inquiry.

Karlan is included in the list compiled by Demand Justice, a progressive group behind recent attack ads surrounding Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The group's leader, Brian Fallon, previously served as press secretary for former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and has called Trump's SCOTUS confirmations illegitimate.

Fallon's group has been pushing Democrats to release their list of nominees and demanded that the next SCOTUS picks include representatives of academia and other fields, rather than corporate law firms.

''It's no surprise that radical liberal Pamela Karlan is on the Demand Justice shortlist for the Supreme Court," Judicial Crisis Network Chief Counsel Carrie Severino said in a statement to Fox News.

PAMELA KARLAN SAYS SHE ONCE CROSSED THE STREET TO AVOID A TRUMP HOTEL IN DC

"Her particular brand of hateful, there-are-no-innocents political warfare defines the liberal elite today," she said. "Sadly, she is also representative of the alarming nominees the left would put forward if they had the chance. America, take note.''

Severino, who helped push Kavanaugh's confirmation, previously derided the list as a reflection of progressives' "radical policy agenda." "For every specific policy goal that the extreme left wants to implement, Demand Justice has provided a name '-- or two or three '-- of an ultra-liberal lawyer who has made that cause a focus of his or her activism," she wrote in October.

Released that month, the list offered a glimpse into who progressive activists favored for the next Democratic president's nomination.

Demand Justice did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment. In addition to teaching at Stanford, Karlan has an impressive background in the judicial system.

PAMELA KARLAN ISSUES APOLOGY FOR BARRON TRUMP REFERENCE DURING IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

She previously served in the Obama administration as the U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Voting Rights in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. Demand Justice's website lists her previous roles as clerking for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, as well as Judge Abraham Sofaer. She received her law degree from Yale.

Conservatives like Severino have long decried the allegedly secretive nature of Democrats' picks for the court. Earlier in the summer, the group Alliance for Justice pushed an initiative called "Building the Bench," aimed at identifying progressive candidates for the next president's nomination.

'THE VIEW' HOSTS CLASH OVER LAW PROFESSOR'S BARRON TRUMP JOKE DURING IMPEACHMENT HEARING: 'SO ILL-ADVISED'

It's unclear how long Karlan has been considered by progressive groups, but her recent comments are sure to cast a negative light on any future nomination.

Karlan received widespread condemnation from those at the White House, including first lady Melania Trump, who blasted Karlan for mentioning her son.

"The Constitution says there can be no titles of nobility, so while the president can name his son Barron, he can't make him a baron," Karlan said during Wednesday's hearing.

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Karlan eventually apologized but she appeared to harbor anti-Trump bias. Besides speaking as a witness for Democrats, Karlan also said she crossed a street in Washington, D.C. in order to avoid Trump's hotel.

''I came in from the airport yesterday and I got off the bus from Dulles down at L'Enfant Plaza and I walked up to the hotel and as I was walking past what used to be the old post office building and is now Trump hotel," Karlan told an audience in 2017. ''I had to cross the street, of course.''

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 14:47

News Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg poses for the official photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 30, 2018. (Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images)

By Jack DavisPublished December 7, 2019 at 11:47amSupreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has temporarily staved off the efforts of House Democrats to get their hands on President Donald Trump's financial records.

On Friday, Ginsburg issued a stay, meaning that Deutsche Bank AG and Capital One Financial Corp. do not have to comply just yet with an order from the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that said the banks must give House Democrats the records they have subpoenaed, according to the New York Post.

''It is the interest of two congressional committees, functioning under the authority of a resolution of the House of Representatives authorizing the subpoenas at issue, to obtain information on enforcement of anti-money-laundering/counter-financing of terrorism laws, terrorist financing, the movement of illicit funds through the global financial system including the real estate market, the scope of the Russian government's operations to influence the U.S. political process, and whether the Lead Plaintiff was vulnerable to foreign exploitation,'' the three-judge panel had written in ordering access be granted, according to The Hill.

Ginsburg, who in the past has made no secret of her disdain for Trump's policies, was involved in the case because she is the justice who is assigned to handle emergency appeals from cases in the Second Circuit, according to The New York Times.

Ginsburg's action is designed to give the full Supreme Court time to consider the arguments from Trump's lawyers that House Democrats should be denied access to the records they are seeking. It does not mean that Trump has won his battle to keep his financial records private.

TRENDING: Schiff's Proof of 'Coordination' Has an Embarrassingly Obvious Flaw

The lawsuit is between Trump and the banks, not Trump and Congress.

House Democrats want the records in hopes of finding connections between Trump and foreign governments or other material that can be used in the ongoing impeachment inquiry against Trump.

Trump's lawyers have said the court should shut down what amounts to a political fishing expedition, according to NBC News.

''The Committees' desire to use the President, his family, and his businesses as a case study is not a 'legitimate legislative purpose,''' Trump's lawyers argued in seeking Supreme Court intervention.

Should the president's private records be made public?0% (0 Votes)

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''It is an attempt to exercise executive power beyond Congress's legislative reach and to expose Applicants' private records 'for the sake of exposure,''' court papers said.

The issue is ''whether the President will be allowed to petition for review of an unprecedented demand for his personal papers, or whether he will be deprived of that opportunity because the Committees issued these subpoenas to third parties with no incentive to test their validity,'' Trump's attorneys wrote.

Trump also filed an appeal to block the House Oversight Committee from getting financial records from Mazars LLP, Trump's accounting firm.

The Supreme Court last month granted Trump a win in that case by putting enforcement of the House subpoena to Mazars on hold while Trump appeals lower court rulings saying the records have to be shared with the House, according to CNBC.

''This is a case of firsts,'' Trump's lawyers have said in court documents seeking to block access to the records, according to The New York Times.

RELATED: Trump Adds 266K Jobs as World Leaders Mock Him; Their Economies Take Sharp Dive

''It is the first time that Congress has subpoenaed personal records of a sitting president. It is the first time that Congress has issued a subpoena, under the guise of its legislative powers, to investigate the president for illegal conduct. And, it is the first time a court has upheld any congressional subpoena for any sitting president's records of any kind,'' a petition to the Supreme Court asking the justices to rule on the case said.

The petition filed by Trump's lawyers argued that if Trump loses this case, ''Congress can subpoena any private records it wishes from the president on the mere assertion that it is considering legislation that might require presidents to disclose that same information. Given the obvious temptation to investigate the personal affairs of political rivals, subpoenas concerning the private lives of presidents will become routine in times of divided government.''

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

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04 September 2019

On September 13-15, 2019 the Victor Pinchuk Foundation will hold six public lectures at the occasion of the 16th Yalta European Strategy (YES) Annual Meeting which will take place in Kyiv on September 12-14, 2019. Ukrainian students and opinion-makers are invited to participate in the lectures.

Public lecture ''Conversation with H.E. Mrs Kersti Kaljulaid, the President of the Republic of Estonia''.

Friday, September 13

13:30-14:30

Moderator '' Carl Bildt, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden (2006-2014), Prime Minister of Sweden (1991-1994), YES board member

Mystetskiy Arsenal (10-12 Lavrska Street, Kyiv)

Registration and media accreditation are mandatory.

Public lecture ''Western Decline, China's Rise and a New World Order'' by Fareed Zakaria, Host, Fareed Zakaria GPS, CNN.

Friday, September 13

17:00-18:00

Mystetskiy Arsenal (10-12 Lavrska Street, Kyiv)

Registration and media accreditation are mandatory.

Public lecture ''Port of Destiny: From the Impossible to the Possible'' by H.E. Juan Manuel Santos Calder"n, the President of Colombia (2010-2014; 2014-2018) & Laureate 2016 Nobel Peace Prize.

Saturday, September 14

12:00-13:00

Moderator '' Gillian Tett, U.S. Managing Editor of the Financial Times

Mystetskiy Arsenal (10-12 Lavrska Street, Kyiv)

Registration and media accreditation are mandatory.

Public lecture ''Is the world getting better or worse? A look at the numbers'' by Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University.

Saturday, September 14

14:30-15:30

Moderator '' Gillian Tett, U.S. Managing Editor of the Financial Times

Mystetskiy Arsenal (10-12 Lavrska Street, Kyiv)

Registration and media accreditation are mandatory.

Public lecture by Daron Acemoglu, Institute professor, MIT.

Saturday, September 14

17:00-18:00

Moderator - Tymofiy Mylovanov, Minister of economy of Ukraine

Mystetskiy Arsenal (10-12 Lavrska Street, Kyiv)

The lecture will be held in partnership with Kyiv School of Economics (KSE)

Registration and media accreditation are mandatory.

Public lecture by Yuval Harari, Professor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Sunday, September 15

16:45-18:20

PARKOVY Kyiv International Convention Center (Parkova road, 16a, Kyiv)

The lecture will be held in partnership with Ð'ІÐ' and publishing house Bookchef>>

Registration is mandatory.

As a part of its Public Lectures project launched in 2006, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation regularly invites leading thinkers, politicians and public figures to Ukraine to discuss challenges facing the world and Ukraine. By organizing opportunities for dialogue between world leaders and Ukrainian students, the Foundation has for a decade contributed to fostering a new generation of responsible leaders.

In previous years, lectures were given, among others, by Tony Blair, Prime Minister of Great Britain (1997-2007); David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (2010-2016); Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States; Niall Ferguson, historian, writer, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and at the Center for European Studies, Harvard; Joschka Fischer, Vice Chancellor of Germany (1998-2005); Thomas Friedman, The New York Times columnist and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner; Francis Fukuyama, Professor of International Political Economy at Johns Hopkins University; Newt Gingrich, the 50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives; Rudy Giuliani, the 107th Mayor of New York City; Dr. Michio Kaku, Henry Semat Professor of Physics; John Kerry, 68th United States Secretary of State; Shimon Peres, the 9th President of Israel; Colin Powell, the 65th US Secretary of State; Dr. Condoleezza Rice, the 66th United States Secretary of State (2005-2009); Timothy Snyder, the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University and a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna; Javier Solana, High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union (1999-2009) and Secretary General of NATO (1995-1999); Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (1998-2005); Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia and Wikimedia Foundation; James Wolfensohn, the 9th President of the World Bank Group; Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and others.

The Victor Pinchuk Foundation, an international, private and non-partisan philanthropic foundation based in Ukraine, was established in 2006 by businessman and philanthropist Victor Pinchuk. It empowers the young generation to change their country and the world. To this end it implements projects and builds partnerships in Ukraine and worldwide. Since 2006, the Foundation has invested over 125 million USD to transform Ukraine.

The Victor Pinchuk Foundation's projects include, among others: an all-Ukrainian network of neonatal center Cradles of Hope; the largest private scholarship program in Ukraine, Zavtra.UA; the WorldWideStudies scholarship programme for Ukrainian students studying abroad and the PinchukArtCentre, the most dynamic art centre in Ukraine and the region, which gives free-of-charge access to contemporary art to inspire new thinking. The Foundation supports the international network Yalta European Strategy (YES), a leading forum for discussing Ukraine's European future and global context.

The foundation supports a crowdfunding platform to foster giving in Ukrainian society, the Philanthropic Marketplace. The Foundation is a member of the European Foundation Centre and the Ukrainian Grantmakers Forum. It cooperates with the Atlantic Council, the Brookings Institution, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, the Clinton Global Initiative, Amicus Europae Foundation and other nongovernmental organizations.

Official website: pinchukfund.org

For media inquiries please contact the press-office of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation:

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: +380 44 494 11 48

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3nd Munich Ukrainian Lunch

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Ukrainian breakfast in Davos

14.07.2018

TV-report about 11th Forum of scholarship programs

14.07.2018

TV-report about 11th Forum of scholarship programs

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NewsRSSAll news The Victor Pinchuk Foundation has bought apartments for five Ukrainian political prisoners of the Kremlin21.11.2019

The Victor Pinchuk Foundation has bought apartments in Kyiv for five freed Ukrainian political prisoners of the Kremlin - Oleg Sentsov, Oleksandr Kolchenko, Volodymyr Balukh, Artur Panov and Oleksiy Syzonovych '' who returned to Ukraine in September 2019 as part of the 35-for-35 prisoner swap. Before their detention, they lived in occupied territories: Crimea and Luhansk Region.

The world's leading neonatologists have shared their experience with Ukrainian doctors at the 11th conference of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation's Cradles of Hope program06.11.2019

On 5-6 November 2019, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation's Cradles of Hope program held its 11th research-to-practice conference entitled ''Intensive care of newborns. Modern management of premature baby care'' in Kyiv. The event introduced Ukrainian neonatologists to new trends in intensive care for newborns, including preterm infants.

The Victor Pinchuk Foundation Announces the Start of the 14th Zavtra.UA Scholarship Programme Competition16.10.2019

On October 16, 2019, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation announced the start of the 14th annual open competition for its Zavtra.UA scholarship programme. This nationwide initiative in support of gifted youth contributes to the creation of a new generation of Ukrainian intellectual and business leaders to drive change.

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 07:12

Victor Pinchuk (Ukrainian: Ð'Ñ–ÐºÑ‚Ð¾Ñ Ð'иха́йÐ>>ович Пінч½Ðº , Viktor Mykhailovych Pinchuk; born 14 December 1960) is a Ukrainian businessman and oligarch. As of January 2016, Forbes ranked him as 1250th on the list of wealthiest people in the world, with a fortune of US$1.44 billion.[1]

Pinchuk is the founder of EastOne Group LLC, an international investing, project funding and financial advisory company based in London, and of Interpipe Group, one of Ukraine's leading pipe, wheel and steel producers. Pinchuk is the owner of four TV channels and a popular tabloid, Fakty i Kommentarii. He has been a member of the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, for two consecutive terms from 1998 to 2006. He is married to Olena Pinchuk, the daughter of former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma.[2]

Early life and career [ edit ] Pinchuk was born in 1960 in Kiev to Jewish parents[3][4][5] who moved to the industrial city of Dnipropetrovsk. He graduated from Dnipropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute with a doctorate in industrial engineering in 1987.[6] Three years later, he founded the Interpipe Company on the basis of his patented innovations, which were adopted by leading metallurgical factories in the USSR.

Interpipe is a major producer of seamless pipes and railway wheels. In 2004, Pinchuk and Rinat Akhmetov, two of Ukraine's richest men, acquired the Kryvorizhstal steel factory for about $800 million.[7] President Leonid Kuchma, who is Pinchuk's father-in-law, authorized the state asset sale, which competitors complained was far below market rate.[8] Later, the first Tymoshenko government reversed this sale, and held a nationally-televised repeat auction that netted $4.8 billion.[7] In 2006, Pinchuk founded an investment advisory company, EastOne.[9] Its portfolio includes industrial assets such as production of pipes and tubes, rail car wheels, specialty steels and alloys, machinery, as well as media.

Pinchuk was a member of the Ukrainian Parliament between 1998 and 2006 for Labour Ukraine.[10][11] He left politics after he came to the conclusion that Ukraine had reached a level of development when business and politics should be separated.

Pinchuk is a member of the Board of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, of the International Advisory Council of Brookings Institution and of the Corporate Advisory Board of the Global Business Coalition against HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. Pinchuk holds a share of VS Energy International Ukraine together with Mikhail Spektor and Igor Kolomoisky.[12]

In 2013, American steel makers filed a case with the United States Department of Commerce alleging that Interpipe Group was illegally dumping steel tubes into the American natural gas market.[8] In November 2013, Fitch Ratings downgraded Interpipe because of the dumping accusations and a missed $106 million debt payment.[8]

In 2015, Pinchuk brought a $2 billion civil action against fellow Ukrainian oligarchs Ihor Kolomoyskyi and Gennadiy Bogolyubov in the High Court of Justice in London over the 2004 purchase of a Ukrainian mining company. Allegations made include murder and bribery.[13][14] In January 2016, an undisclosed out of court settlement was reached just before the trial was due to start.[15]

Philanthropy [ edit ] Pinchuk has supported philanthropic projects in Ukraine. In 2006, he consolidated these activities under the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, which is now considered the largest private Ukrainian philanthropic foundation.[6] Its mission is to empower future generations to become the change makers of tomorrow; the foundation is active in the fields of health, education, culture, international affairs, human rights and local communities.[16][17]

The foundation's projects include the largest private scholarship program in Ukraine "Zavtra.UA", the scholarship program for Ukrainian students studying abroad "WorldWideStudies", and the annual "Ukrainian Lunch" and "Philanthropic Roundtable" on the occasion of the World Economic Forum in Davos.[18] The foundation supports and works with a variety of partners, including the network "Yalta European Strategy" created to promote Ukraine's European integration, the Clinton Global Initiative, the Kyiv School of Economics, Tony Blair Faith Foundation, the Brookings Institution, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the Israeli Presidential Conference "Facing Tomorrow", and the legal clinics/legal aid projects of the Renaissance Foundation.

Its projects include giving $150,000 to the Trump Foundation as speaking fee in 2015,[19][20][21] the creation of a network of modern neonatal centres throughout Ukraine ("Cradles of Hope"), cooperation programs with the Clinton Global Initiative,[2] the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the ANTIAIDS Foundation of his wife Olena Pinchuk, the creation of the Kyiv School of Economics, a cooperation with the Aspen Institute, the opening of the first large scale contemporary art centre in Ukraine PinchukArtCentre, the production and promotion of a film with Steven Spielberg on the Holocaust in Ukraine, and support of local Jewish communities.[6]

In June 2009, Pinchuk organized the Paul McCartney free concert on Independence Square in Kiev in front of 500,000 people. As an initiative of the Pinchuk Art Center,[22] in December 2009, Pinchuk announced a new $100,000 prize for artists under the age of 35. The Future Generation Art Prize is awarded every two years and is open to any young artist who applies online. Damien Hirst, Takashi Murakami, Andreas Gursky and Jeff Koons, artists whose work Pinchuk collects, serve as mentors to the finalists and the winner.[22]

In February 2013, Pinchuk committed to giving half or more of his fortune during his lifetime and beyond to philanthropic causes, joining the Giving Pledge, a philanthropic initiative founded in 2010 by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.

Pinchuk has donated from $10 to $25 million to the Clinton Foundation between 1994 and 2005.[23] In 2000, Pinchuk hired former Clinton pollster Douglas Schoen on a $40,000 per month retainer.[8] In 2004, Schoen introduced Pinchuk to Hillary Clinton.[8] Between September 2011 and November 2012, Sochen arranged nearly a dozen meetings between Pinchuk and senior State Department officials, including Melanne Verveer.[8] Emails released by Judicial Watch and obtained through FOIA requests showed that Pinchuk had been invited to dine at Hillary Clinton's home during her tenure at the State department, despite her spokesman's previous denial that they had met during that time.[24] In March 2017, former Trump aid Monica Crowley registered as a foreign agent for Pinchuk.[25]

In November 2014 in Kyiv, Pinchuk was presented with the 2014 Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Award for his work in fostering Ukrainian-Jewish relations.[26]

Yalta European Strategy [ edit ] In 2004, Pinchuk created Yalta European Strategy (YES) '' an international independent organization that is promoting Ukraine joining the European Union. Its annual summer meeting in Yalta is a Ukraine-EU forum for debate and policy recommendations development. Since the Crimean Crisis of 2014 these meetings have been taking place in Kiev. In September 2013, Pinchuk and Tony Blair introduced Hillary Clinton's keynote address to the conference at Livadia Palace, with Bill Clinton in attendance.[8][15] Stefan Fule, Paul Krugman, Alexei Kudrin, Shimon Peres, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Larry Summers and other political and business leaders have attended.[citation needed ] In September 2015, Pinchuk donated $150,000 to the Donald J. Trump Foundation in exchange for a 20-minute video appearance by Donald Trump shown at the conference that year in Kiev.[27] Michael Cohen solicited Douglas Schoen for the donation from Pinchuk, which was the largest outside donation the Trump Foundation received that year.[27][28]

In 2015, Pinchuk promoted closer ties between Ukraine and the EU.[29] He was an active participant in the World Economic Forum at Davos.[30]

Personal life [ edit ] Victor Pinchuk is married to Olena Kuchma Franchuk, the daughter of the second president of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma. Olena Pinchuk runs the ANTIAIDS Foundation, which focuses on prevention and retroviral distribution and AIDS care in Ukraine. She and Pinchuk are friends of singer Elton John and former US President Bill Clinton, whose 65th birthday party Pinchuk attended in Los Angeles.[2][11] Victor Pinchuk has three daughters and a son.

Pinchuk spent more than $6 million on his 50th birthday party in Courchevel, flying in Cirque du Soleil and chef Alain Ducasse.[31]

Rankings [ edit ] Forbes ranked him No. 1250 on the list of the wealthiest people in the world in 2016, with a fortune of US$1.44 billion.[1] Pinchuk was listed as one of the "2010 Time 100 '' The World's Most Influential People" in Time Magazine. He was ranked No. 38 on ArtReview magazine's 2013 Power 100 ranking of people in contemporary art.

See also [ edit ] Victor Pinchuk FoundationICTVInterpipePinchukArtCentreReferences [ edit ] ^ a b c "Forbes The World's Billionaires". ^ a b c Chozick, Amy; Eder, Steve (20 August 2016). "Foundation Ties Bedevil Hillary Clinton's Presidential Campaign". The New York Times . Retrieved 23 November 2016 . ^ Arielle Th(C)drel (27 October 2009). "Victor Pinchuk, oligarque philanthrope". Le Figaro (in French) . Retrieved 26 September 2014 . ^ Cnaan Liphshiz (6 February 2013). "Jews occupy top 3 places on Ukrainian list of philanthropists". JTA . Retrieved 14 October 2013 . ^ Bloom, Nate (21 May 2010). "Jewish Stars 5/21". Cleveland Jewish News. ^ a b c Danilova, Maria (13 December 2013). "In Ukraine, a Jewish Oligarch Is a Bridge to the West". Tablet Magazine . Retrieved 23 November 2016 . ^ a b Monopolies thrive as toothless state bows to moguls, Kyiv Post (18 March 2010) ^ a b c d e f g Chozick, Amy (13 February 2014). "Trade Dispute Centers on Ukrainian Executive With Ties to Clintons". The New York Times. p. A19 . Retrieved 11 April 2018 . ^ "EastOne Group Ltd: Company Profile". Bloomberg . Retrieved 24 November 2016 . ^ Ukraine Political Parties, GlobalSecurity.org ^ a b "Victor Pinchuk: Friend or foe of Ukraine?". Kyiv Post. 14 October 2016 . Retrieved 23 November 2016 . ^ "Ð'ихаиÐ>> ÐÐектоÑ: ÐдеÐ>>аем уÐÐ¾Ñ Ð½Ð° энеÑÐ"етику, Ð"остиничный бизнес и недвижимость, все остаÐ>>ьное '' ÐÑодадим". ^ David Barrett (4 December 2015). "Ukrainian oligarchs clash in court over $2bn business deal amid claims of murder and bribery". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 22 April 2016 . ^ Armitage, Jim (13 March 2015). "Oligarchs at war: Claims of murder among Ukrainian billionaires in High Court case". The Independent . Retrieved 30 September 2015 . ^ a b Owen Bowcott, Shaun Walker (22 January 2016). "Ukrainian oligarchs settle mine dispute worth billions out of court". The Guardian . Retrieved 25 November 2016 . ^ "Victor Pinchuk Foundation '' Activity". pinchukfund.org. ^ Chrystia Freeland, Supper with the FT: Victor Pinchuk,Financial Times, 11 December 2009 ^ "Victor Pinchuk Foundation '' Projects". pinchukfund.org. ^ Arnsdorf, Isaac; Vogel, Kenneth P. "Trump Foundation acknowledges violating 'self-dealing' ban". POLITICO. ^ "Trump Foundation Tax Returns: Ukrainian Oligarch Paid $150,000 To President-Elect's Charity As Speaking Fee In 2015". International Business Times. 23 November 2016. ^ Soldak, Katya. "Ukraine's Victor Pinchuk: The Oligarch In The Middle Of The Crisis". Forbes. ^ a b Carol Vogel, New Prize to Honor Artists Under 35, The New York Times (7 December 2009) ^ Chozick, Amy; Eder, Steven (21 August 2016). "Foundation Ties Bedevil Hillary Clinton's Presidential Campaign". The New York Times. p. A1 . Retrieved 11 April 2018 . ^ Westwood, Sarah. Emails show Clinton denied, then met with Ukrainian donor. 24 August 2016. http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/emails-show-clinton-denied-then-met-with-ukrainian-donor/article/2600040. Retrieved 18 June 2017 ^ Gramer, Robbie (14 March 2017). "One-Time Trump National Security Pick Registers As Foreign Agent for Ukrainian Oligarch". Foreign Policy . Retrieved 11 April 2018 . ^ "Ukrainian Jews seek to rehabilitate Holocaust era priest". The Jerusalem Post . Retrieved 23 November 2016 . ^ a b Schmidt, Michael S.; Haberman, Maggie (10 April 2018). "Mueller Investigating Ukrainian's $150,000 Payment for a Trump Appearance". The New York Times. p. A1 . Retrieved 11 April 2018 . ^ "YES-2015_MP3EN_20150911.20''46" (video). 11 September 2015 . Retrieved 9 April 2018 '' via YouTube. ^ Ross, Rory (18 April 2015). "Hillary Clinton's Big Benefactor Has Trade Links with Iran". Newsweek . Retrieved 23 November 2016 . The Clintons spoke at Pinchuk's Yalta European Strategy conference, which seeks integration between Ukraine and Europe. ^ Schoen, Douglas E. (16 October 2016). The End of Authority: How a Loss of Legitimacy and Broken Trust Are Endangering Our Future (First ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 100. ISBN 9781442220324 . Retrieved 25 November 2016 . ^ Henry Samuel (17 December 2010). "Ukrainian oligarch spending £4 million on birthday bash in Courchevel". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 26 September 2014 . External links [ edit ] 2010 Pinchuk's profile at ForbesVictor Pinchuk FoundationBiography of Victor PinchukPinchuk Art CentreYalta European Strategy

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Archived Version

Sun, 08 Dec 2019 09:04

Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page leaves following an interview with lawmakers behind closed doors on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, July 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

A fascinating article, written by Judicial Watch's Chris Farrell, a former counterintelligence case officer, recently appeared on the Gatestone Institute's website. Just when we thought we could recite every text message ever exchanged between Page and Strzok, along comes a new one. In December 2015, Page wrote to Strzok, ''You get all our oconus lures approved? ;).''

Because, believe it or not, the FBI is prohibited from such activities as investigating a major political party's candidate for the presidency, they needed to find an alternative. Farrell explains that their alternative was to ''manufacture a foreign counterintelligence (FCI) ''threat'' that could then be ''imported'' back into the United States.'' He writes:

Plausible deniability, the Holy Grail of covert activities, was in reach for the plotters if they could develop an FCI operation outside the continental United States (OCONUS) involving FBI confidential human sources (Halper, Mifsud, others?) that would act as ''lures'' (intelligence jargon associated with double agent operations) to ensnare Trump associates.

We have evidence of these machinations from December 2015 when FBI lawyer Lisa Page texts to her boyfriend, the now infamous FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok, ''You get all our oconus lures approved? ;).''

The coup plot failed, but the chief coup conspirators are free, crisscrossing the country on book tours and appearing as paid contributors to CNN and MSNBC.

There are several indications that Attorney General William Barr and U.S. Attorney John Durham may be zeroing in on the truth about the attempt by top Obama administration intelligence officials to crush the candidacy and then the presidency of Donald Trump. If Barr and Durham succeed in their mission, it will expose the ''single greatest threat to the Constitution since the nation's founding.''

We know that Durham has focused increasingly on the actions of London academic Stefan Halper, a longtime FBI informant who was paid close to $1 million by the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessments (ONA). It is believed that ONA official James Baker, who was Halper's ''handler,'' leaked the contents of General Michael Flynn's December 2016 phone call with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak to Washington Post writer David Ignatius. The two had, or perhaps still have, lunch together once a week. (This is not the same James Baker who served as the FBI's top lawyer in 2016.)

We know that Barr and Durham made two separate late summer trips to both Rome and London to meet with foreign intelligence officials. We also know that Durham is in possession of the cell phones used by Maltese academic Joseph Mifsud in 2016, when he was alleged to be pursuing a junior foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign, George Papadopoulos. Shortly after news of these trips was reported, the Durham inquiry into the origins of the Trump Russia probe transitioned into a criminal investigation.

Farrell points out that the intelligence agencies of the federal government are prohibited from targeting American organizations in the United States. Executive Order 12333, Section 2.9 states:

Undisclosed Participation in Organizations Within the United States. No one acting on behalf of agencies within the Intelligence Community may join or otherwise participate in any organization in the United States on behalf of any agency within the Intelligence Community without disclosing his intelligence affiliation to appropriate officials of the organization, except in accordance with procedures established by the head of the agency concerned and approved by the Attorney General. Such participation shall be authorized only if it is essential to achieving lawful purposes as determined by the agency head or designee. No such participation may be undertaken for the purpose of influencing the activity of the organization or its members except in cases where:(a) The participation is undertaken on behalf of the FBI in the course of a lawful investigation; or(b) The organization concerned is composed primarily of individuals who are not United States persons and is reasonably believed to be acting on behalf of a foreign power.

Farrell explains

The alternative to a purely domestic intelligence operation targeting a major political party's candidate for the presidency (and later, president) was to manufacture a foreign counterintelligence (FCI) ''threat'' that could then be ''imported'' back into the United States. Plausible deniability, the Holy Grail of covert activities, was in reach for the plotters if they could develop an FCI operation outside the continental United States (OCONUS) involving FBI confidential human sources (Halper, Mifsud, others?) that would act as ''lures'' (intelligence jargon associated with double agent operations) to ensnare Trump associates.

We have evidence of these machinations from December 2015 when FBI lawyer Lisa Page texts to her boyfriend, the now infamous FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok, ''You get all our oconus lures approved? ;).''

To inoculate themselves from further charges of misconduct and criminality, the FBI's mutually agreed upon lie is that their investigation of Trump/Russia began on July 31, 2016 with the improbable name ''Crossfire Hurricane.'' That coincides nicely with their manufactured FCI ''event,'' allowing the full-bore sabotage of all things and persons ''Trump.'' The coup plotters used a July 2016 event at the University of Cambridge as the opportunity for Carter Page to meet and develop a friendship with Stefan Halper. This is roughly the same time period that Australian diplomat Alexander Downer reported the supposedly drunken ramblings of George Papadopoulos concerning the Russians having Hillary's emails to the FBI. Papadopoulos had already serendipitously met the mysterious Joseph Mifsud in Rome during the second week of March 2016. Learning that Papadopoulos would be joining the Trump campaign, Mifsud let Papadopoulos know that he had many important connections with Russian government officials.

During Special Counsel Robert Mueller's July 24th testimony before Congress, which was an unmitigated disaster, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) questioned him extensively about this. Mueller repeatedly uttered, ''I can't get into it.''

Through his questions to Mueller in the five-minute clip above, Jordan lays out the case against the FBI. He points out that Mifsud lied to the FBI three times, yet he was not charged with a crime. In the meantime, he tells Mueller that his team charged Rick Gates, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos and even three-star general, Michael Flynn, with making false statements. Mueller simply answers, ''Can't get into it'' or ''It's outside of my purview.'' (Note: It was the day after Mueller's humiliating performance, July 25th, that President Trump's conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took place, providing the Democrats with the basis of their current hoax.)

Farrell concludes:

The coup plot failed, but the chief coup conspirators are free, crisscrossing the country on book tours and appearing as paid contributors to CNN and MSNBC. A bright note in the so far grim saga is that one of the collateral casualties has filed a civil lawsuit in the Eastern District of Virginia against Stefan Halper and MSNBC for defamation, conspiracy and tortious interference. It's the closest thing we've seen to justice to date. The complaint makes remarkable and insightful reading.

It is now time for Mr. Durham to ''get into it,'' in a manner Mr. Mueller was either unwilling or unable to do. Time is of the utmost importance. The American public needs to see action. Indictments and trials are the only antidote for the poison of treasonous sedition.

For many of us, the release of the House Intelligence Committee's impeachment inquiry report was the last straw. Republicans need to fight back. Based on early leaks from IG Michael Horowitz' forthcoming report, slanted as they may be, it appears it will not provide us with much new ammunition. There is a limit to how many more blows Team Trump can absorb. The Democrats never should have been allowed to get this far. Farrell is entirely correct that it's time for Americans to see some indictments and trials.

Mr. Durham, are you listening?

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Archived Version

Sat, 07 Dec 2019 09:36

Republican attorneys Joseph diGenova and Victoria Toensing have been fixtures on Fox News and Fox Business for years, serving as critical figures in the networks' pro-Trump conspiracy theories. But in recent weeks, the pair has quietly vanished from the right-wing networks.

They have appeared on the networks, individually or together, for a total of 66 interviews* this year, and the couple made more appearances in September than they had in any prior month of 2019 as they rallied to President Donald Trump's defense after news broke of a whistleblower complaint into his abuse of power in Ukraine. But neither has been interviewed on Fox News since diGenova's October 8 appearance on The Ingraham Angle, and they last appeared on Fox Business for a November 13 joint appearance on Lou Dobbs Tonight, according to a Media Matters review of transcripts and our internal guest database.

The couple's apparent sidelining has come just when one might expect Fox shows to be most interested in hearing from them: Their absence from Fox Business has overlapped with the impeachment inquiry's public hearings, and they have been off Fox News during both the public hearings and the release of witness depositions.

It's unclear exactly why diGenova and Toensing suddenly stopped going on Fox or when they might return. But the timing of their disappearance and the network's past practices suggests that they may have been quietly banned for an indeterminate period.

DiGenova's last Fox News interview came just the day before the arrests of Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, and amid the revelation that the Soviet-born con men had been working alongside diGenova, Toensing, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and conservative columnist John Solomon in a sprawling disinformation plot in Ukraine -- a massive ethical breach for the Fox regulars. And during his most recent Fox Business appearance, diGenova issued a widely criticized rant against progressive billionaire George Soros that was steeped in disgusting anti-Semitic tropes.

Fox has declined to comment on diGenova's screed, even as the Anti-Defamation League and Soros' Open Society Foundation called for the network to remove him from its airwaves.

Toensing has maintained an active Twitter presence since she has stopped appearing on Fox News and Fox Business, regularly lashing out at journalists and media outlets over their coverage of the Ukraine scandal. On November 14, she praised the far-right One America News Network for purportedly identifying the whistleblower, asking, ''Can the rest of MSM be as brave?'' (Such behavior is officially banned at Fox, though multiple network figures have breached that restriction.) On December 2, she attacked Fox host Steve Hilton over his criticism of her ''toxic'' crew's Ukraine plot.

Fox's lack of transparency and its total lack of firm standards often make it difficult to say for sure whether it has issued punishments. The network at times publicly disciplines low-ranking employees and guests, as it did in condemning and permanently banning Judicial Watch's Chris Farrell after he made vile anti-Semitic comments similar to diGenova's on Dobbs' program last year. But more prominent Fox personalities are issued stealth suspensions when their bigoted comments lead to public outrage -- when they are punished at all.

That's what happened to Fox host Jeanine Pirro, whose questioning of Rep. Ilhan Omar's (D-MN) patriotism on the grounds that Omar wears a hijab led to a firestorm in March. Pirro was off the air for the next two weeks. But while Fox had publicly criticized her comments, it never publicly acknowledged that she had been punished. That only became fully clear in September, when Pirro revealed the suspension in a hot mic incident.

But the Pirro incident offers a cautionary tale for Fox. Her disappearance triggered a furious backlash from Trump, who is her personal friend and watches her show religiously. After she was absent the Saturday night after her Omar comments, Trump lashed out on Twitter the next morning, urging the network to ''stop working soooo hard on being politically correct'' and ''fight hard for @JudgeJeanine.''

If Fox has taken action against diGenova or Toensing, its executives may very well be keeping it quiet to avoid facing that blowback again. In calling for diGenova to be permanently banned from Fox's airwaves, critics have pointed out that Fox condemned and banned Farrell for virtually identical comments. But Farrell was an occasional guest who could be easily replaced with his boss, Fox regular Tom Fitton, or a host of other conservatives. By contrast, diGenova and Toensing play a role at the network closer to that of Pirro -- and thus may have earned similar deference.

Since the early months of the Trump administration, the pair have been key figures in Sean Hannity's twisted alternative narrative about the Mueller probe. This year, diGenova became ''too critical to the pro-Trump conspiracy fairy tale that Fox News opinionators are now scrambling to keep intact,'' as The Washington Post's Erik Wemple put it in a piece questioning why diGenova had not received the Farrell treatment. Indeed, the Republican lawyers were deeply enmeshed in Giuliani's plot to use a shadow foreign policy effort in Ukraine to smear Joe Biden and undermine the intelligence community's findings that Russia interfered in our 2016 election, as the current impeachment inquiry has revealed. They made regular Fox appearances to discuss this twisted pro-Trump narrative without disclosing that they had helped to craft it -- or that they represented Solomon, who first published many of the key allegations.

Like Pirro, and unlike Farrell, the two also have direct ties to Trump himself, who apparently appreciates their Fox appearances. (Trump has tweeted quotes from diGenova's Fox commentary at least six times, most recently on October 3.) They were briefly announced during the Mueller probe as his personal lawyers before backing out due to conflicts of interest. But Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow explained at the time that ''those conflicts do not prevent them from assisting the president in other legal matters,'' perhaps foreshadowing their work with Giuliani. DiGenova has also claimed to have advised Trump on who to name as his attorney general.

That gives Fox reason to fear that any public criticism of the pair might cause trouble, either with the president or with network hosts who rely on their commentary like Dobbs or Hannity. Instead, they appear to have simply disappeared from the airwaves without mention.

*They have made 103 total combined appearances on the networks (37 joint interviews, 28 solo diGenova appearance, and one solo Toensing appearance).

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Archived Version

Sun, 08 Dec 2019 03:50

If Senator Lindsey Graham is correct '' tomorrow the DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz will release a much anticipated review, looking into how the FBI and DOJ used an application to the FISA court to investigate the Trump campaign. There are wide-ranging opinions about what exactly this report may, or may not, outline.

The IG review has been ongoing for 21 months. This report is anticipated to be a culmination of that investigative effort. The 'tick-tock club' of Sean Hannity, Sara Carter, John Solomon and various Fox pundits have promised the report will be the most devastating outline of gross FBI and DOJ misconduct in the history of IG review.

Additionally, a network of financially dependent social media voices, book writers, podcast pundits and Q-theorists collectively known as the 'trusty plan group', have predicted criminal indictments, wide-scale arrests and a shock to the DC system that will fracture the foundation of the administrative state and simultaneously drain the swamp.

Meanwhile the Lawfare group has been the most visible advocacy network for the current and former DOJ and FBI officials who participated in setting up and using the FISA surveillance system now under IG review. The Lawfare group has stated the IG report will exonerate all of their pre and post election activity; validate the justification for their predicate efforts; and leave the 'tick-tockers' and 'trusty planners' having to reconcile to their stunned audiences how they interpreted all the data so incredibly wrong.

A review of the last three IG reports which brush up against the same DOJ and FBI network: (1) IG review Clinton email/FBI conduct; (2) IG review of McCabe/media leaks; and (3) IG review of James Comey conduct; shows the IG report on FISA is likely to come down somewhere in the middle. ie. mistakes were made; poor judgements were evident; some unprofessional conduct was found; some lack of candor was identified; department policies were not followed; but no direct evidence of intentional wrongdoing was attributable to a coordinated political effort.

If prior IG reports are predictive we should see something akin to:

'...Everyone collectively just happened to make identical mistakes, at the same time, in the same direction, together with all the administrative staff within all intelligence organizations'... many of them were professionally trained lawyers'... but no-one did anything wrong on purpose'....Remember the modern mantra for DOJ definitions of legality are all about ''intent''.

Defining statutory violations by the intent of the violator is specifically attributable to how President Obama, AG Eric Holder and AG Loretta Lynch changed the entire enterprise of lawful application to make outcomes arbitrary, variable, changeable to the situation.

The IRS targeting wasn't unlawful because it wasn't intentional. The death of four Americans due to sketchy CIA and State Dept. operations in Benghazi was not unlawful because the risky situation wasn't created intentionally. Hillary Clinton's private email server with classified information wasn't ''intentional'', etcetera '' etcetera, the list is long.

The nice thing about switching to definitions of lawbreaking by ''intent'' is the ease in arbitrary application. Republican targets 'intended' to violate laws'... Democrat targets, well, not-so-much. Fluidity is a necessary oil amid a two-tiered administrative state.

If you elevate, I mean really elevate, and look at the bigger issue inside each of the examples there's a connective thread surrounding a purposeful shift in accountability for broken laws by focusing on ''criminal intent.''

''Intent'', not consequence, is now the larger shield being applied toward excusing the action of people within institutions of government and society. Consider:

Ah yes, Hillary Clinton was not guilty or accountable because FBI Director James Comey said they couldn't prove intent'..... But the statute doesn't require intent'... But the DOJ said ignore the statute, they require it'... and so it goes.

Also see recent years of recent Inspector General internal investigations culminating in the every familiar: ''declined to prosecute''; yup, they all surrounded intent. Apparently anyone who breaks the law (lies) while inside the DOJ or FBI didn't intend to'... While lawbreakers (fibbers) outside the FBI/DOJ offices are intentful sons-of-bitches.

The ''intent'' issue extends everywhere'....

Illegal alien entry, and accountability for fraud, all downplayed because there's no proof of intent. Walk down a pier in San Francisco and shoot a girl in the head'... your honor, my client didn't intend to do it. The focus on intent -a specific decision made within the administration of a modern justice system- has become a shield against consequence.

It was a ''mistake'''.... he/she/it made ''a poor decision'' etc. A pattern of obfuscation downplaying consequence and allowing those decision-makers charged with delivering accountability to withdraw or apply the rules of law based on their individual overlay of 'intent'.

That shift is factually visible everywhere now.

The prior IG report by Michael Horowitz, on FBI bias and investigative outcome, was fraught with the application of 'intent' inside the inspectors explanation of absent evidence toward bias.

Each of these examples does not seem to be arbitrary, but rather connected to a more consequential decision by those in power to water-down accountability and open the doors for further abuse.

If the official didn't 'intend' to do wrong, or more specifically if the people in position of delivering accountability for the wrong-doing cannot find specific intent, then the action is less-than regardless of outcome.

Consider what FBI officials were doing inside the FBI regarding media-leaks, then insert the James Wolfe example here & ask yourself how could they ever hold him accountable?

Pro Tip: They didn't.

Following along the ideological lines we can all see how a shift to 'intent' can become a very serious issue within a corrupt system.

Within that system, and against that purposeful filter and determination, plausible deniability becomes the construct for intentional criminal engagement.

The illegal alien voter didn't intend to violate the law'... therefore no law was violated. The Democrats who ballot-harvested illegal alien registration didn't intend to violate the voting integrity statute'... therefore no statute was violated. Everyone just, well, made a mistake.

Whoopsie daisy.

A corrupt official doesn't even need to put a finger on the scales of justice, once the scales are intentionally mis-calibrated like this.

If you wonder why there is such a surrounding sense of anxiety, poor conduct, lack of virtue and general unease within the recent landscape'.... I would deposit the likelihood that all of the unnerving instability around us is being caused by this shift away from consequence based entirely on 'intent'.

Brazen unlawfulness and abuses are now subject to arbitrary determinations of intent.

According to the current DOJ legal proceedings Michael Flynn intended to lie'... FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe didn't:

It's this weird mish-mosh world where changing your party registration before you defraud your investors rob the bank might just help you out if you get caught.

From all current indications FBI Director Christopher Wray is directing his organization to spend more time filling the cracks in the dam (bias training) -trying to hold back the tide of electoral anger- than they are doing actual FBI work. Which begs the question'....

'....did Bill Barr purchase scuba gear?

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Archived Version

Source: FCW: The business of federal technology

Fri, 06 Dec 2019 06:37

Data & Analytics

By Derek B. JohnsonDec 05, 2019Customs and Border Protection is backing away from a controversial proposed regulation that would have swept all travelers coming in and out of the United States -- including U.S. citizens -- into the agency's burgeoning biometric screening system.

In a statement, a CBP spokesperson said the agency initially considered including U.S. citizens in the program to streamline logistical and operational challenges associated with having separate processes for U.S. citizens and non-citizens. It reverted to allowing citizens to voluntarily participate "upon consultation with Congress and privacy experts."

"There are no current plans to require U.S. citizens to provide photographs upon entry and exit from the United States," the spokesperson said. "CBP intends to have the planned regulatory action regarding U.S. citizens removed from the unified agenda next time it is published."

The proposed rule drew outrage from privacy groups as well as members of Congress, who cast the move as a dramatic expansion of the use of facial recognition and biometric scanning programs at Department of Homeland Security and the federal government writ large. Law enforcement agencies like the FBI and DHS component agencies like the Transportation Security Administration have cited decades-old federal and state laws to justify their facial recognition programs -- statutes lawmakers say were never written with biometric scanning technologies in mind. The increasing use of such programs, particularly at DHS, has given rise to concerns that the government is rushing to implement these technologies without weighing the associated risks.

Less than a year ago, a database managed by CBP subcontractor Perceptics containing tens of thousands of photos of travelers and license plates at the U.S. border was hacked and leaked onto the internet, despite claims by the agency that the contractor did not store or retain such data. As recently as this past July, CBP official John Wagner told Congress that American citizens "clearly are not" part of the agency's biometric entry-exit program.

Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union, said even with the reversal, the government's push for facial recognition policies was "alarming."

"This proposal never should have been issued, and it is positive that the government is withdrawing it after growing opposition from the public and lawmakers," Stanley said in a statement. "But the fact remains that the agency attempted to renege on what was already an insufficient promise, and has not yet committed to ensuring that immigrants will not be forced to submit to this program."

Additionally, ACLU policy counsel Shaw Drake, a U.S. citizen, has claimed that while traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday break through the Paso del Norte port of entry in Texas, he attempted to opt out of the facial recognition program but that a CBP official did not acknowledge his request, continually responding by asking him to "look at the camera."

Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight for the Future, said the reversal was welcome but that Congress should still move to outlaw facial recognition programs at United States' points of entry.

"It's great to hear that the widespread opposition to the spread of this technology forced the U.S. government to shelve the proposal for now," Greer said. "But we'll need to remain vigilant. Congress should pass laws to ban the use of facial recognition for surveillance purposes. Without a ban, our basic human rights are at risk."

About the Author

Derek B. Johnson is a senior staff writer at FCW, covering governmentwide IT policy, cybersecurity and a range of other federal technology issues.

Prior to joining FCW, Johnson was a freelance technology journalist. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, GoodCall News, Foreign Policy Journal, Washington Technology, Elevation DC, Connection Newspapers and The Maryland Gazette.

Johnson has a Bachelor's degree in journalism from Hofstra University and a Master's degree in public policy from George Mason University. He can be contacted at djohnson@fcw.com, or follow him on Twitter @derekdoestech.

Click here for previous articles by Johnson.

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 01:49

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 01:55

Major networks in the U.S. and around the world are beginning to sunset their 2G and 3G networks in favor of 4G long-term evolution (LTE) technologies. The Retirement of 2G and 3G Networks Is Rapidly Approaching. Below is the schedule for the major US Carriers:

Verizon2G/3G Sunset Schedule:6/30/2018: Last day to add 2G-CDMA devices and 3G-EVDO devices on the Verizon Network

12/31/2019: Network sunset. No guarantee of 2G or 3G services beyond this date

Verizon Wireless Sunset Notification

AT&T 2G/3G/LTE Sunset Schedule:

12/31/2016: 2G network sunset

12/31/2018: Last day to add3G-HSPA+ devices to AT&T

12/31/2021: Network sunset. Noguarantee of service beyond this date

12/31/2027: AT&T has committed to make their LTE networkavailable until at least 2027 AT&T IoT Master Agreement: Refer to section 2.8.1

AT&T Network Document

Sprint 2G/3G Sunset Schedule:12/31/2021: 2G network sunset. No guarantee of service beyond this date

12/31/2022: 3G network sunset. No guarantee of service beyond this date

T-Mobile 2G/3G Sunset Schedule:12/31/2020: 2G network sunset. No guarantee of service beyond this date 3G network: No announcement of network sunset

Questions / More Information Contact USAT:

For consultation on your next M2M / IoT project contact a USAT Representative

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 02:18

MARIJE VLASKAMP

'Jij eindigt in stukjes in de kliko.' Dat soort dreigementen krijgt Asiye Abdulaheb. Deze Oeigoerse Nederlandse zat op een bom: Chinese staatsgeheimen over de beruchte gevangenkampen in Xinjiang. Dankzij haar werd het wereldnieuws, maar nu vrezen zij en haar ex-man represailles.

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Source: Sputnik International - Breaking News & Analysis - Radio, Photos, Videos, Infographics

Sat, 07 Dec 2019 15:03

Europe20:51 07.12.2019(updated 20:54 07.12.2019) Get short URL

The United States has been consistently trying to undermine the Nord Stream 2 project, threatening everyone involved with sanctions while promoting its own liquefied natural gas on the European market.

US sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany have reportedly been included in a must-pass defence bill, the media outlet Bloomberg reported, citing two sources familiar with the legislation.

According to Bloomberg, the sanctions, which will apply to companies involved in the construction of Russian energy company Gazprom PJSC's pipeline project, are modelled after a bill submitted earlier this year by Senators Ted Cruz and Jeanne Shaheen.

The sanctions will reportedly target the vessels and executives of the companies involved in laying the pipeline, which could lead to the blocking of their US-based property and visa denials. The future measures, which are attached to the National Defence Authorisation Act, or NDAA, are assigned to force a standstill in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a Senate Republican aide said, as quoted by Bloomberg.

The report comes after Texas Republican Ted Cruz stated earlier this week that the project was within 60 days of completion. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said last month that gas deliveries via the Nord Stream 2 may be started already by the year-end.

On 3 December, US Under Secretary of State David Hale stated that

Washington may resort to sanctions to stop Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline if its diplomatic campaign to persuade European leaders fails.

The pipeline is expected to bring an annual 55 billion cubic metres of Russian natural gas to Germany and Central Europe, bypassing the traditional route through Ukraine and Poland. Ukraine, which stands to lose billions of dollars in transit fees, has described the project as a threat to European energy security.

In May, US Senators Jim Inhofe and Jack Reed said in a joint press release that the US Senate Armed Services Committee had approved a national defence budget of about $750 billion for the fiscal year 2020, including $22.6 billion for national security programmes within the Department of Energy. In addition, the NDAA authorised $69 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations.

The lawmakers want to pass the NDAA before Congress is scheduled to leave for its holiday break on 20 December.

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 03:57

Putin and the 'Biden Memorial Pipeline' to China P 07.12.2019 U F. William Engdahl

In early 2014 Washington staged a blatant coup d'etat in Ukraine breaking the historic relationship with Russia and setting the stage for the subsequent NATO demonization of Russia. The one in charge for the Obama Administration of the Ukraine coup was then-Vice President Joe Biden. Today a bizarre Democrat impeachment attempt aimed at President Donald Trump has curiously enough put the spotlight on the dubious role that Joe Biden played in Ukraine affairs in 2014 and after. That Biden-steered coup had the unintended effect of causing a 180 degree geopolitical pivot of Moscow from West to East. The opening of a massive new gas pipeline now is only one of those unintended consequences.

On December 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin participated in the official opening of the Power of Siberia natural gas pipeline to Asia, servicing the growing China gas market. It met the planned deadline punctually, to the month. This marked the first Russian pipeline gas deliveries to China. In a videolink with China President Xi Jinping, Putin remarked, ''This step is bringing Russian-Chinese strategic cooperation in energy to a whole new level.'' Xi called it ''a milestone project for the bilateral energy cooperation.''

The opening, a huge engineering feat, completes a pipeline through Russia's Eastern Siberia north of Mongolia to the border with China, running more than 2,200 kilometers across Russia's east territories. It is the largest gas pipeline project in the world to date.

The pipeline is designed to deal with temperatures as low as 62 C minus, and withstand earthquakes along its route. It begins in the Chayanda gas field in Yakutia and completes the Russian section at Blagoveshchensk on the Russia''China border. There, via two underwater pipelines under the Amur River, it connects with a Chinese gas line going south to Shanghai, the 3,371-kilometer-long Heihe''Shanghai pipeline in China. The world's largest market demand increase for gas fuel in recent years has been China.

In May 2014, Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed a $400 billion 30-year agreement for gas to be supplied via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline. The Russian gas deliveries to China will be 38 billion cubic meters per year when it reaches peak in 2025. In 2018 China natural gas consumption was 280 bcm, so the Siberian contribution is significant. It will eventually supply some 10% of China's total gas needs for electricity and heating, to China's underdeveloped northeast regions and south as far as Shanghai. But the project is about much more than gas to China.

AMUR GPP

Completion of the major Power of Siberia pipeline to China involves more than a pipeline running through 2,200 kilometers of remote Russia. It is also being used as a catalyst to develop major industry in the economically underdeveloped Russian Far East as well, a priority of the Russian government in recent years.

A little discussed parallel development tied to the construction of the Power of Siberia pipeline is Gazprom's decision to build Russia's largest gas-processing chemical facility, the Amur Gas Processing Plant, or the Amur GPP. The Amur GPP is the largest construction project in Russia's Far East, a $14 billion complex near Svobodny on the Zeya River in Amur Oblast, some 170 kilometers from the gas pipeline's China connection point. The Amur GPP scale is enormous, the size of 1,100 football fields.

The complex will use a portion of the huge gas reserves of the Power of Siberia fields in East Siberia to produce a mix of petrochemicals that will include ethane, propane, butane, pentane-hexane fraction and 60 million cubic meters of helium annually. These are all industrial chemical components in strong demand. Most important is the large production of helium, a byproduct of natural gas used in space industry, metallurgy, medicine and other areas. Amur GPP will be the largest helium production plant in the world. Ethane, propane, butane, pentane-hexane will be used to produce polymers, plastics, lubricants and other things including motor fuel.

Regional Development

The Amur GPP project when complete in 2025 will be the largest gas processing plant complex in Russia and second largest in the world, bringing major new economic activity to the underdeveloped Far East region, a priority of the Russian government. In August 2017 Russian President Putin was present for the first pouring of the concrete foundation for the complex. In his remarks he noted that, ''In the past 50 years, our country has not seen anything similar. Neither the Soviet Union nor Russia have implemented projects of this scale. This plant's capacity will be 42 billion, which is a breakthrough not only for the industry but also in the overall development of the Russian Far East.''

Putin added, ''During peak periods, the construction will require several thousand people, or almost 25,000 workers, to be more precise. Once the plant is complete, it will employ 2,500 to 3,000 people, which will allow us not only to move forward in gas production but also to create conditions for building another giant plant in the country and one of the largest in the world.'' The production from the Amur plant complex will be marketed for export to the Asian market as well as expanding the gas supply network for Yakutia and the Amur Region where until now commercial gas is almost non-existent.

The strategic partner of Gazprom responsible for the processing equipment and other engineering technology is the German company, Linde, a world leader in such specialized technology.

The Amur GPP complex will bring a major boost to Svobodny which like many towns in the remote Far East has been losing population following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The construction phase as noted is employing some 25,000 engineers and construction workers, most drawn from the region, adding a major economic boost. In addition Gazprom is building 42 new apartment buildings and 36 townhouses for some 5,000 people in Svobodny who will be permanently employed at the facility. There will also be a new school and kindergarten with a swimming pool, clinic, sports and cultural institutions. As well, Gazprom is cooperating with Amur State University and the Far Eastern Federal University, with new courses to train future specialists in chemical technology. The municipal government is already benefiting from tax payments from the presence of the project.

Pivot east

Ironically, we can title this the 'Biden Memorial Pipeline.' Had the Obama Administration not launched their coup d'etat in 2013 at Maidan Square in Kiev, with the subsequent ouster of the elected president in February 2014 in favor of literal neo-nazi parties and corrupt oligarchs under a US puppet regime, the completion of the Power of Siberia pipeline to China would likely not exist today. Negotiations with Beijing for the pipeline had been dragging on for more than ten years when the Ukraine coup took place. After that coup a final agreement was secured by Moscow with Beijing in a matter of weeks as Putin engineered a geopolitical pivot to the East away from NATO.

Vice President Joe Biden was named by Obama to oversee the Ukraine coup and its aftermath, which apparently included some corrupt sweetheart deals for Hunter Biden and possibly Joe Biden with Ukraine gas company Burisma.

The coup, carried out by then CIA head John Brennan, using sniper mercenaries from neighboring Georgia, together with neocon US State Department official Victoria ''F**k the EU'' Nuland, was one of the more foolish geopolitical blunders of Washington in recent decades. The pro-NATO coup was initiated when Viktor Yanukovich's government had decided to accept generous Russian terms to join her Eurasian Economic Union rather than a vague promise of possible EU membership candidate status. Today Ukraine is treated with outcast status by the EU, and its economy is a shambles as a result of the break with Russia. In May, 2014, just weeks after the CIA toppled the duly elected government of Viktor Yanukovich in what Stratfor founder George Friedman called, '''...the most blatant coup in (US) history,'' Moscow signed the agreement with Beijing for the Gas Pipeline Deal of the Century, the Power of Siberia.

F. William Engdahl is strategic risk consultant and lecturer, he holds a degree in politics from Princeton University and is a best-selling author on oil and geopolitics, exclusively for the online magazine ''New Eastern Outlook.''

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 04:27

Zou Conchita Wurst de ondergang van Viktor Orbn betekenen? Beeld Javier Mu±ozHet tafereel werd niet met camera's vastgelegd, toch weet je ­precies hoe het is gegaan. De Orbns zaten die betreffende zaterdagavond in mei 2014 met glaasjes palinka voor de forse flatscreen in hun buitenhuis in het gat Felcsºt, dat de premier van Hongarije met Europees geld opnieuw per trein bereikbaar heeft gemaakt en waar hij een voetbalstadion heeft laten optrekken waar drie keer zoveel mensen in passen als er in de wijde omgeving wonen. Het liep al tegen middernacht toen alle deel­nemende landen hun punten hadden uitgedeeld en Conchita Wurst uit Oostenrijk, een uurtje rijden vanuit Felcsºt, in glitterjurk het podium betrad als winnaar dan wel winnares van het Eurovisiesongfestival.

Viktor Orbn riep spontaan iets als: 'Een vrouw met een baard, zijn ze nou helemaal gek geworden? Die homo's en travestieten nemen verdomme heel Europa over. Straks ­veranderen gezonde heteroseksuele Hongaarse mannen ook in vrouwen met baarden!'

Anik" Orbn-L(C)vai, al sinds 1986 gelukkig getrouwd met de 'thuis altijd zachtmoedige' politicus, zei iets als: 'We moeten onze mensen beschermen tegen vrouwen met baarden, Viktor, ook al zijn ze even verslaafd aan het Songfestival als hun premier en zijn vrouw.'

In 2020 vindt het Eurovisiesongfestival plaats in een klein land aan de Noordzee waar, elke Orbn-fan weet het, gays de dienst uitmaken '' een mooie aanleiding voor le viktateur iets te doen aan dalende populariteitscijfers met een aankondiging dat Hongarije niet naar Rotterdam komt. De rest van voormalig communistisch Europa geeft komend voorjaar wel gewoon acte de pr(C)sence in de poel des verderfs, ook al reageren de meeste inwoners net zo op vrouwen met baarden als de meeste Hongaren en, laten we eerlijk zijn, de meeste West-Europeanen.

Ach, het is alleen al typerend voor Viktor Orbn dat hij zoveel aandacht heeft voor zoiets als het Eurovisiesongfestival. 'Je moet de vijand kennen', verklaarde Frits Bolkestein zijn studies van het marxisme. Wie het Songfestival met dezelfde instelling bestudeert, bevestigt geruchten dat hij een oppervlakkig ­politicus is.

Vergelijk de Hongaarse staatsman eens met die ndere politicus die ­nationaal-conservatief verzet tegen de 'homoseksualisering' van Europa personificeert, Jaroslaw Kaczynski in Polen: die gunt zichzelf geen schuldige pleziertjes op tv, voor zover die al w(C)(C)t wat het Eurovisiesongfestival is, heeft het zeker nooit gezien.

De machtigste man van Polen is een soort politiek mysticus, die van Hongarije een opportunist van het niveau Wilders die per week bekijkt waarmee hij kan scoren. Geen representant van de EU zal het hardop zeggen, maar in tegenstelling tot Kaczynksi vrezen ze Orbn niet omdat hij plat, doorzichtig en voorspelbaar is, maar omdat er geen diepere lagen in hem schuilgaan.

Daarbij is zijn land een kleine EU-lidstaat: precies een eeuw geleden verknipten Britten en Fransen in Versailles een rijk tot rompstaatje. Die historisch slechte behandeling van Hongarije faciliteert nu rancunepolitiek. Orbn laat zich geen vluchtelingen, multiculti-toestanden en gayfestijnen opdringen.

Of de boycot van het Songfestival politiek even gunstig zal uitpakken als de hekken tegen Syrirs, valt te bezien. Hongaren zijn gewone Europeanen en vinden dat songfestival een gªnante decadente bedoening '' maar k­jken doen ze elk jaar en ze willen er hun land zien. Wie weet schrijven historici van de toekomst: de ondergang van Viktor Orbn begon met de zege van Conchita Wurst.

Meer Op het Tweede GezichtDe ndere Oost-Europese politicus die nationaal-conservatief verzet tegen West-Europese decadentie en perversie symboliseert, Jaroslaw Kaczynski in Polen, lag ook al op de sofa. Zijn laatste monsterzege deed in Brussel w(C)l alarmbellen afgaan: Polen is een grote en belangrijke lidstaat.

Op het Tweede Gezicht besteedde ook al aandacht aan prins Andrew, die volgens de Britse pers deze week stevig werd berispt voor zijn avonturen met minderjarige sekslavinnen door zijn vader, de 98-jarige prins Philip. In deze rubriek kreeg al een stevig standje van zijn 93-jarige moeder, Elizabeth II van het Verenigd Koninkrijk.

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 01:05

Men's boxer shorts are secured behind locked doors at this Chicago Walmart store. | YouTubeHow rampant is shoplifting in Chicago?

Pretty bad, according to a freshly-posted YouTube video.

''They gotta be really stealing up in Walmart now,'' says a woman as she records video in one of the chain's Chicago stores. ''They got the men's drawers locked up with a padlock.''

Indeed they do.

The woman's video shows an entire aisle of men's t-shirts and underwear secured behind locked display cases.

''Padlocks,'' the woman says. ''Just like the soap aisle.''

Retailers across Cook County have expressed frustration with policies instituted by first-term Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx. Since gaining office, Foxx has refused to pursue felony charges against shoplifters steal less than $1,000 in merchandise or who have a criminal record with fewer than ten felony convictions.

Shoplifting reports are up 20% in the city of Chicago since Foxx won her first term in office three years ago.

And retail theft mobs are a daily occurrence in the downtown retail corridors. Some of the theft rings are using children as young as 10-years-old to carry out raids on beleaguered retailers.

But Foxx insists that her policy is sound and necessary given her office's ''limited resources.''

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 01:22

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Mexico's brutal drug war claims tens of thousands of lives every year US President Donald Trump has delayed plans to legally designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist groups.

Mr Trump had vowed to label the gangs as terrorists after the killing last month of nine American citizens from a Mormon community in Mexico.

But he has put the plans on hold on the request of his Mexican counterpart, Andr(C)s Manuel L"pez Obrador.

"I celebrate that he has taken our opinion into account," the Mexican president said.

"We thank President Trump for respecting our decisions and for choosing to maintain a policy of good neighbourliness, a policy of cooperation with us," he added.

Mr Trump's original announcement came after three women and six children of dual US-Mexican nationality were killed in an ambush in a remote area of northern Mexico.

Following the attack the victims' community, the LeBarons, petitioned the White House to list the cartels as terror groups, saying: "They are terrorists and it's time to acknowledge it."

The move would have widened the scope for US legal and financial action against cartels but Mexico saw it as a violation of its sovereignty.

The US president has now put the plans on hold.

"All necessary work has been completed to declare Mexican Cartels terrorist organizations," Mr Trump wrote on Twitter. "Statutorily we are ready to do so."

But Mr Trump said his Mexican counterpart is "a man who I like and respect, and has worked so well with us," adding that he was temporarily holding off on the designation and stepping up "joint efforts to deal decisively with these vicious and ever-growing organizations!"

He did not comment on how long the delay would last.

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Media caption Three ways the US is influencing violence in MexicoMexico's brutal drug war claims tens of thousands of lives every year, as powerful trafficking groups battle for territory and influence.

In 2017 more than 30,000 people were killed in the country, with the murder rate having more than tripled since 2006.

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 01:23

FILE PHOTO: A sign of state-owned company Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) is seen at a gas station in Monterrey, Mexico June 17, 2019. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican state oil company Pemex said on Friday it has discovered a deposit in southeastern Mexico that could yield 500 million barrels of crude, calling it the largest such finding in more than 30 years.

Pemex said it first discovered the field in Tabasco state in May, before beginning studies to evaluate its viability. The site, called Quesqui, is a so-called 3P reserve, made up of deposits considered proven, probable and possible.

''With the analysis of information provided by this well and seismic data in the area, we can confirm today the existence of a giant deposit equivalent to 500 million barrels of crude oil in a 3P reserve,'' Pemex Chief Executive Octavio Romero Oropeza said in a statement.

He added that Pemex aimed to extract 69,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the site by next year, and reach 110,000 bdp by 2021.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has made it a top priority to revive Pemex, which has seen production steadily decline for more than a decade while its debt has grown dramatically.

Reporting by Diego Ore, Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Shri Navaratnam

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 04:02

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was nervous about his narrowing lead in opinion polls ahead of Thursday's election but pledged to deliver a ''transformative'' Brexit on Jan. 31 that would allow lower immigration.

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures during the launch of a general campaign poster at the Kent Showground in Detling, Kent, Britain, December 6, 2019. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/Pool

The Dec. 12 election will decide the fate of Brexit and the world's fifth largest economy with a stark choice between Johnson's pro-market Conservatives and the socialist-led opposition Labour Party.

''Brexit is the most radical and profound change to the management of this country,'' Johnson told Sky, adding that he would lead the United Kingdom out of the EU on Jan. 31 if he won a majority in the 650-seat parliament.

''Brexit is indispensable - you can't move forward without Brexit,'' said Johnson, the face of the 'out' campaign in the 2016 referendum who won the top job in July after Prime Minister Theresa May failed to deliver Brexit on time.

Voting begins at 0700 GMT on Thursday and polls close at 2200, when an exit poll will give the first indication of who has won. Johnson will likely need more than 320 seats to ensure he can stay prime minister and ratify the Brexit deal he struck in October.

Opinion polls, which largely failed to predict the 2016 referendum result or May's loss of her majority in the 2017 snap election, show Johnson leads Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, though the lead has narrowed in recent weeks.

Asked if he was nervous about narrowing polls, Johnson said: ''Of course, we are fighting for every vote. I think that this is a critical moment for this country.''

Four opinion polls published on Saturday put the lead of Johnson's Conservative Party over the Labour Party at between eight and 15 points.

No major poll shows Corbyn, a committed socialist who wants to bring swathes of the British economy into state ownership and raise taxes on the financiers of London, will win.

But Labour could still lead a minority government if it deprives Johnson of a majority as few other parties are willing to prop up a Johnson government. Labour proposes negotiating a new deal and then holding another EU referendum.

Johnson dodged a question on if he would resign if he failed to win a majority and dismissed questions suggesting that after nearly a decade of Conservative-led rule, he was offering little to voters beyond Brexit.

''Trust in politics has been undermined,'' he said. ''It's been undermined by people who for three and a half years... promised to deliver Brexit and then didn't.''

Echoing the Leave campaign pledges of the 2016 referendum, Johnson promised lower immigration with a points-based Australian-style system.

''Numbers will come down because we'll be able to control the system in that way,'' Johnson said, adding that his focus would be cutting down on unskilled migration, but that there would be scope for high skilled and other workers to come to Britain.

When asked by Sky what the naughtiest thing he was ready to admit to was, Johnson initially asked advisers for suggestions before saying:

''I think, I, you know, I may sometimes, when I was riding a bicycle every day, which I used to do, I may sometimes have not always have obeyed the law about cycling on the pavement.''

Reporting by William James; editing by Guy Faulconbridge

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 03:13

Tareq Haddad @ Tareq_Haddad

22h I plan on publishing these details in full shortly. However, after asking my editors for comment, as is journalistic practice, I received an email reminding me of confidentiality clauses in my contract. I.e. I was threatened with legal action

View conversation · Tareq Haddad @ Tareq_Haddad

22h I am seeking legal advice on how to proceed and whether I may be entitled to some type of whistleblower protection due to possibly fraudulent behaviour. At very least, I will publish the evidence I have without divulging the confidential information.

View conversation ·

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Thu, 05 Dec 2019 15:57

O n Election Day 2016, I sat in the passenger seat of Alex Jones's Dodge Hellcat as we swerved through traffic, making our way to a nearby polling place. As Jones punched the gas pedal to the floor, the smell of vodka, like paint thinner, wafted up from the white Dixie cup anchored in the console. My stomach churned as the phone I held streamed live video to Facebook: Jones rambling about voter fraud and rigged elections while I stared at the screen, holding the camera at an angle to hide his double chin. It rarely worked, but I didn't want to be blamed when he watched the video later.

Four years earlier, Jones '-- wanting to expand his website, Infowars, into a full-blown guerrilla news operation and hoping to scout new hires from his growing fan base '-- held an online contest. At 23, I was vulnerable, angry and searching for direction, so I decided to give it a shot. Out of what Infowars said were hundreds of submissions, my video '-- a half-witted, conspiratorial glance at the creation and function of the Federal Reserve '-- made it to the final round.

Unconvinced I could cut it as a reporter, Jones offered me a full-time position as a video editor. I quit film school and moved nearly a thousand miles to Austin, Tex., fully invested in propagating his worldview. By the time I found myself seated next to Jones speeding down the highway, I had seen enough of the inner workings of Infowars to know better.

Before we left the office, Jones instructed me to title the video ''Alex Jones Denied Right to Vote'' when uploading to YouTube. He knew before we left that they wouldn't let us walk into a polling location with our cameras rolling. I don't think Jones even intended to vote. Rather, he hoped to turn this into a spectacle, an insult to him personally, another opportunity to play the self-aggrandizing victim.

''Look at this great city shot,'' he said pointing out the window at Austin's skyline. As soon as I pulled the camera off him, he reached for the white Dixie cup. Is this really how I'm going to die? I thought to myself, imagining the scene: Jones veering too close to the guardrail, ranting about George Soros and Hillary Clinton. Sirens echoing in the distance, flashing lights reflecting off oil-soaked pavement as he grabs the camera and utters his final words, ''Hillary ... rigged ... the car.'' His listeners would have believed it. Years earlier, I would have believed it.

Fortunately, there were no sirens or flashing lights, and I was relieved when ''Vote Here'' signs began to appear. A line stretched out the door of the polling place, in a local strip mall, by the time we arrived. As I expected, Jones was told multiple times that he couldn't film at a polling place, and he decided to leave. Walking back to the car, still taking sips from his white cup, he began noticeably slurring his words. A friend of Jones's who tagged along '-- for ''security purposes'' '-- offered to give me a ride back to the office. Jones revved his engine, tires squealing as he sped out of the parking lot.

I began listening to Jones's radio show '-- the flagship program of what is now a conspiracist media empire with an audience that until recently surpassed a million people '-- in the last days of George W. Bush's presidency. The American public had been sold a war through outright fabrications; the economy was in free fall thanks to Wall Street greed and the failure of Washington regulators. Most of the mainstream media was caught flat-footed by these developments, but Jones seemed to have an explanation for everything. He railed against government corruption and secrecy, the militarization of police. He confronted those in power, traipsed through the California redwoods to expose the secretive all-male meeting of elites at Bohemian Grove and even appeared in two Richard Linklater films as himself, screaming into a megaphone.

But it wasn't the politics that initially drew me in. Jones had a way of imbuing the world with mystery, adding a layer of cinematic verisimilitude that caught my attention. Suddenly, I was no longer a bored kid attending an overpriced art school. I was Fox Mulder combing through the X-Files, Rod Serling opening a door to the Twilight Zone, even Rosemary Woodhouse convinced that the neighbors were members of a ritualistic cult. I believed that the world was strategically run by a shadowy, organized cabal, and that Jones was a hero for exposing it.

I had my limits. I can't say I ever believed his avowed theory that Sandy Hook was a staged event to push for gun control; to Jones, everything was a ''false flag.'' I didn't believe that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama smelled like sulfur because of their proximity to hell or that Planned Parenthood was run by ''Nazi baby killers.'' But it was easy to brush off these fever dreams as eccentricities and excesses '-- not the heart of the Alex Jones operation but mere diversions.

Once I started working there, however, it became obvious that one was impossible to separate one from the other. Soon after I was hired, Jones's Infowars-branded store '-- which sells emergency-survival foods, water filters, body armor and much more '-- introduced an iodine supplement, initially marketed as a ''shield'' against nuclear fallout. Still learning the ropes, I was tasked with creating video advertisements for the supplement, which he ran on his online TV show. One of these ads started with a shot of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as it exploded. I doubled the sound of the explosion, adding a glitch filter and sirens in the background for dramatic effect. Jones stood over my shoulder as I edited. ''This is great,'' he said. ''See if you can find flyover footage of Chernobyl as well.''

[Read more about Alex Jones's merchandise empire.]

Shortly after Jones began selling the supplements, someone posted a video on YouTube holding a Geiger counter displaying high radiation readings on a beach in Half Moon Bay, Calif. The video went viral, stoking fears that radiation from Fukushima was drifting across the Pacific Ocean. Jones saw an opportunity and sent me, along with a reporter, a writer and another cameraman, to California. We had multiple Geiger counters shipped overnight, unaware of how to read or work them, and drove up the West Coast, frequently stopping to check radiation levels. Other than a small spike in Half Moon Bay '-- which the California Department of Public Health said was from naturally occurring radioactive materials, not Fukushima '-- we found nothing.

Jones was furious. We started getting calls from the radio-show producers in the office, warning us to stop posting videos to YouTube stating we weren't finding elevated levels of radiation. We couldn't just stop, though; Jones demanded constant real-time content. On some of these calls, I could hear Jones screaming in the background. One of the producers told me they had never seen him so angry.

We scrambled to find something, anything we could report on. We tested freshly caught crab from a dock in Crescent City, Calif., and traveled to the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in Avila Beach, asking fishermen if we could test the small croakers they caught off a nearby pier. We even tried to locate a small nuclear-waste facility just so we could capture the Geiger counter displaying a high number. But we couldn't find what Jones wanted, and after two weeks of traveling from San Diego to Portland, we flew back to Texas as failures, bracing for Jones's rage. (Jones did not respond to detailed queries sent before publication by The Times Magazine.)

Over time, I came to learn that keeping Jones from getting angry was a big part of the job, though it was impossible to predict his outbursts. Stories abounded among my co-workers: The blinds stuck, so he ripped them off the wall. A water cooler had mold in it, so he grabbed a large knife, stabbed the plastic base wildly and smashed it on the ground. Headlines weren't strong enough; the news wasn't being covered the way he wanted; reporters didn't know how to dress properly. Once a co-worker stopped by the office with a pet fish he was taking home to his niece. It swam in circles in a small, transparent bag. When Jones saw the bag balanced upright on a desk in the conference room, he emptied it into a garbage can. On one occasion, he threatened to send out a memo banning laughter in the office. ''We're in a war,'' he said, and he wanted people to act accordingly.

I also saw Jones give an employee the Rolex off his own wrist, simply because he thought the employee was mad at him. ''Now, would a bad guy do that?'' Jones asked as he handed over the watch. Once, when I went to interview a frequent guest of Jones's, I was sent with a check to cover a potentially lifesaving cancer treatment. A few times I came close to quitting, and like clockwork, just before I pulled the plug, I received a bonus or significant raise. I hadn't discussed my discontent with Jones, but he seemed to sense it.

Jones often told his employees that working for him would leave a black mark on our records. To him, it was the price that must be paid for boldly confronting those in power '-- what he called the New World Order or, later, the deep state. Once my beliefs began to shift, I saw the virulent nature of his world, the emptiness and loathing in many of those impassioned claims. But I was certain that after four years working for Jones, I would never be able to get another job '-- banished into poverty as penance for my transgressions, and rightly so.

When Jones wanted to blow off steam, we would travel to a private ranch outside Austin to shoot guns. Among other firearms, we would bring the two Barrett .50-caliber rifles he kept stashed in the office. Because we never missed an opportunity to create more content, we also brought along cameras to turn whatever happened into a segment for his show.

I remember one trip in particular. It was the summer of 2014, and I rode to the ranch in the back of a co-worker's truck, surrounded by semiautomatic rifles, boxes of ammunition and Tannerite, an explosive rifle target. A few of us left early in the morning, arriving before Jones to film B-roll and load magazines; he had no patience for preparation. When he came hours later, after eating a few handfuls of jalape±o chips, he picked up an AR-15 and accidentally fired it in my direction.

The bullet hit the ground about 10 feet away from me. One employee, who was already uncomfortable around firearms, lost it, accusing Jones of being careless and flippant. This was one of the few times I saw someone call Jones out and the only time he didn't get angry in response. He claimed he had intentionally fired the gun as a joke '-- as if this were any better.

I stood by silently, considering what might have happened if the gun had been pointed a little to the right. After a while the upset employee let it go, and no one brought it up again. We cracked open a few more beers, filled an old television with Tannerite and blew it up.

One weekend, a few people from the office went hunting at a game reserve. On the following Monday, I was handed a hard drive full of video files and told to edit them for Jones to air on his show later in the week. ''There are clips in here that are pretty bad, things we don't want to get out, so let me take a look at this before we upload it,'' one of my managers said.

The first video I clicked on came from a cellphone. The camera pans across a blood-covered floor in what looked like a garage. Dead animals were scattered about: eyes lifeless, tongues hanging from their mouths, crimson streaks splashed on their fur.

In another video, a bison grazed quietly in the shade of a large tree; it reminded me of a tableau at the American Museum of Natural History. Then the camera panned over to Jones, maybe 20 yards away, holding what looked like a handgun. Jones began firing at the bison, tufts of hair flying with every hit. The animal remained standing as Jones shot round after round. Finally, the hunting guide yelled at Jones to stop and handed him a high-caliber rifle. Jones took a moment to make sure the cameras were still recording and fired a few more rounds as the animal finally collapsed.

[Watching Alex Jones answer questions under oath is an antidote to a ''post-truth'' age.]

I shared a large room with three other employees, and Jones often walked into our office after he wrapped for the day. His first question was always ''How was the show?'' If anyone said it was great '-- someone, if not everyone, always said it was great '-- his response was the same. ''Really?'' he would say, moving over to their side of the room. ''Did you really think it was great? What did you like about it?''

Working for Jones was a balancing act. You had to determine where he was emotionally and match his tone quickly. If he was angry, then you had better get angry. If he was joking around, then you could relax, sort of, always looking out of the corner of your eye for his mood to turn at any moment.

Late one night, after an extended live broadcast, Jones walked into my office shirtless. This was normal; he removed his shirt frequently around us. He pulled out a bottle of Grey Goose from a storage cabinet and filled his cup. He stumbled into his private restroom, changed into a clean black polo shirt and stepped back into our office. ''Hit me,'' he said to an employee in the room. When the employee refused, Jones got louder, his face redder. ''Hit me!'' He kept saying it, getting closer each time. Finally, knowing Jones would never relent, the employee gave him a weak tap on the shoulder.

''Oh, come on,'' he said, ''hit me harder!''

The employee punched him hard in the shoulder. Jones grunted on impact, seeming to enjoy the pain. Then, it was his turn. Smirking, he planted his feet, reared back and lunged his body weight forward as his fist connected with the man's arm. I could hear the dull thud of impact, then a wincing sigh. They traded a few more punches, each time seeming less playful. Jones became wild-eyed, spit flying from his clenched teeth as he exhaled. On his last hit, the sound was different. Wet. I thought I could hear the meat split open in the employee's arm. Jones roared as he punched a cabinet, denting the door in. A few weeks later, I heard that Jones had broken a video editor's ribs after playing the same game in a downtown bar.

Having aligned himself with Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential race, Jones might now be considered a version of a conservative, but his perspective is much more complicated than that. Infowars was like a lot of digital-media outlets, in that we reported on the things our top editor thought would go viral. But because our boss was Alex Jones, this was a peculiar process. Assignments were often handed down live on the air during his show. We were to have it playing throughout the office, always listening for directives. Ideas for stories mostly came from what other news outlets reported. Jones wanted us to ''hijack'' the mainstream media's coverage and use it to our advantage. If it fit into the Infowars narrative, it played.

When I wasn't at the office, I spent much of my time traveling for Jones. I inhaled the tear gas in Ferguson, Mo., during the Black Lives Matter protests, retching as I hid with protesters, corralled by cops in riot gear. I stood next to armed cowboys and ranch hands as they faced off against the Bureau of Land Management to retrieve Cliven Bundy's cattle in Nevada. I had dinner with the leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, at his home in Phoenix and spent a weekend at the compound of Jim Bakker, the televangelist who spent time in prison for fraud. Jones's instinctual desire to distance himself from the mainstream led us to unusual and sometimes dark places.

In December 2015, the day before Jones interviewed Donald Trump, still a candidate at the time, on his radio show, I made my way to upstate New York on assignment, along with a reporter and second cameraman. We were sent to visit Muslim-majority communities throughout the United States to investigate what Jones instructed us to call ''the American Caliphate.'' After the California Geiger-counter debacle, we had meetings with Jones before trips in order to ascertain exactly what he wanted. If we ''hit some home runs,'' he said, we would get significant bonuses.

We landed in Newark at 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 1, 2015. The first stop was Islamberg, a Muslim community three hours north of Manhattan. It was founded in the 1980s by mostly African-American followers of a Pakistani cleric named Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani, who encouraged devotees of his conservative brand of Sufi Islam to establish small settlements across the rural United States. Gilani was suspected of association with the organization Jamaat ul-Fuqra, which was briefly designated as a terrorist group by the State Department in the 1990s; Gilani has denied any connection to the group. His followers in Islamberg had no record of violence, and some of them had denounced the Islamic State in an interview with Reuters earlier that year, saying they didn't believe Islamic State members to be real Muslims. But unfounded rumors circulated around far-right corners of the internet that this community was a potential terrorist-training center. Jones, who thought the media consistently ingratiated themselves with Islamic extremists, believed them.

We pulled in, unannounced, to a dirt drive leading to the community, stopping at a flimsy cattle gate guarded by two men. The reporter, wearing a hidden camera, approached the entrance as we filmed the interaction from the vehicle. The men were calm and polite, if a little suspicious '-- reasonable given the circumstances. They denied our entry into Islamberg but took our number and told us we could return after they verified who we were.

It was only later, after listening to the audio from the reporter's hidden camera, that I heard what he told the two men guarding the gate. ''Basically, what we do is, we go around, and we do videos debunking claims of stuff,'' the reporter said. ''The word is, people say this is some kind of training camp, so we wanted to come in and get some footage and kind of put that whole rumor to rest.''

He gave them his real name '-- a name that, with a quick Google search, would lead back to Infowars, with its headlines like ''Inside Sources: Bin Laden's Corpse Has Been on Ice for Nearly a Decade,'' ''Special Report: Why Obama Brought Ebola to U.S. Exposed'' and ''VIDEO: 'Demon' Caught on Camera During Obama Visit?'' Those headlines could be described by many words, but none of them would be ''debunking.''

Because of the conspiracy theories about the place, Islamberg was a constant target of right-wing extremists. That April, a Tennessee man was arrested and later convicted of plotting to raise a militia to burn Islamberg's mosque to the ground. Only days before we arrived, the F.B.I. issued an alert to law enforcement to be on the lookout for a man named Jon Ritzheimer, the leader of an anti-Muslim movement in Arizona who posted a video threatening violence against Muslims less than two weeks earlier. In the video, he brandished a handgun, saying: ''I'm urging all Americans across the U.S. everywhere in public, start carrying a slung rifle with you, everywhere. Don't be a victim in your own country.''

So the phone call we received later that night from a law-enforcement agent shouldn't have come as a surprise. The officer who contacted us said he simply wanted to verify who we were after receiving a concerned call from someone in Islamberg. We told Jones about it, and he chose to believe the call was a veiled threat, an attempt to intimidate us into silence. To him, this verified that we were onto something. He even went so far as to include Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, in the purported conspiracy, claiming he wanted to abolish the Second Amendment '-- and that somehow intimidating us would achieve that.

Jones told us to file a story that accused the police of harassment, lending credence to the theory that this community contained dangerous, potential terrorists. I knew this wasn't the case according to the information we had. We all did. Days before, we spoke to the sheriff and the mayor of Deposit, N.Y., a nearby municipality. They both told us the people in Islamberg were kind, generous neighbors who welcomed the surrounding community into their homes, even celebrating holidays together.

The information did not meet our expectations, so we made it up, preying on the vulnerable and feeding the prejudices and fears of Jones's audience. We ignored certain facts, fabricated others and took situations out of context to fit our narrative, posting headlines like:

Drone Investigates Islamic Training Center

Shariah Law Zones Confirmed in America

Infowars Reporters Stalked by Terrorism Task Force

Report: Obama's Terror Cells in the U.S.

The Rumors Are True: Shariah Law Is Here!

Our next stop was Hamtramck, a Muslim-majority city embedded within Detroit that alarmists in neighboring communities called Shariahville. As we headed west, my phone vibrated, and a news alert appeared on the screen. There were reports that a mass shooting that week in San Bernardino, Calif., had been perpetrated by Islamic extremists, making it at the time the deadliest Islamic attack in the United States since Sept. 11.

I knew that when the details emerged, they would substantiate the lies we pushed to Jones's audience. It didn't matter if the attack took place on the other side of the country or if the people in Islamberg had no connection to the perpetrators in San Bernardino. Jones's listeners would draw imaginary lines between the two, and we were helping them do it.

I quit working for Jones on April 7, 2017. When offered another job, an introductory position with a 75 percent pay cut, I jumped at the opportunity. Instead of giving two weeks' notice, I left in three hours. Jones had gone home for the day, so I didn't speak with him in person. I said goodbye to co-workers and managers, handed over my company credit card and hoped that would be the end of it. Two nights later, I received a call from Jones: ''Let me tell you a little secret,'' he said in his gravelly voice. ''I don't like it anymore, either.''

''What do you mean?'' I asked.

''I don't want to do it anymore,'' he said, ''and I got all these people working for me, and you know, then I feel guilty. I don't want to do it. You think I want to keep doing this? I haven't wanted to do this for five years, man.'' I sensed that he was pandering, but I couldn't help thinking that for the first time since I started this job, Jones and I finally had something in common. Sure, there was a time when I shared his anger. In fact, I was still angry. But this is where we differed: I wasn't angry with others; I was angry with myself. And once I realized that, it was easier to walk away. When I left, I tried to put myself in his shoes, to figure out why he said and did the things he did. At times I saw a different side to Jones, one that was vulnerable, desiring validation and acceptance. Then he would say something so vile and callous it became impossible to look past it.

Even though I was no longer beholden to Jones for financial security, I couldn't be honest about how I felt. I was to blame for my actions, unequivocally, and yet I resented Jones for creating an environment of rage, fear and confusion that diminished discernment, increased self-doubt and left me feeling as if my brain had short-circuited. I wanted to say these things to Jones, but I didn't.

He offered to double my pay, suggested I work remotely and even proposed funding a feature-length film of my own. I said it wasn't about money and turned him down. To this day, I still don't know why he wanted to keep me around. He said it was because he cared about me, but if I had to guess, I would say his main concern was losing control.

The next morning, he called numerous times, and then again that evening. I let the calls go to voice mail.

There wasn't a single moment that persuaded me to leave, but there was a turning point: a moment that stuck with me long after it happened. I thought of it as I sat next to Jones speeding recklessly down the highway on Election Day, when I walked out of the office for the last time and when I decided to sit down and write this article.

It was early morning, and we were headed back to Austin after the trip that began in Islamberg. As we boarded our flight, I took my window seat close to the rear of the plane. An older woman wearing a hijab sat next to me. With her was a young girl, giddy with excitement, who bounced in the middle seat, holding a bag of pretzels. The woman leaned over and asked if I would let the girl sit by the window. ''This is her first time on a plane,'' she said. I agreed and moved my bag from under the seat.

I thought of the children who lived in Islamberg: how afraid their families must have felt when their communities were threatened and strangers appeared asking questions; how we chose to look past these people as individuals and impose on them more of the same unfair suspicions they already had to endure. And for what? Clickbait headlines, YouTube views?

As I sat on the aisle, the plane now lifting up into the pale blue sky, I glanced over at the little girl staring out the window in wonder, her face glowing from the light reflecting off the clouds. She was amazed, joyful, innocent, carefree and completely unaware of the world beneath her.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 08 Dec 2019 03:05

You want to know something interesting?

There are 276 Global Intelligence files that mention George Clooney by name. You know, George Clooney, the Hollywood actor.

There are 1,507 Sony emails and documents that mention George Clooney by name. But that's to be expected, right? I mean Sony at least pretends to be an entertainment company (spoiler, that's not what they are at all).

There are also 98 DNC emails that mention Clooney, and 26 Podesta emails, which is noteworthy and interesting as well. To say nothing of all the State Department emails revolving around the Oscar winner. But I'm most interested in the fact that there are 276 Global Intelligence files about the dude that starred in Ocean's 11. To me, that's more than curious '' it's a glitch in the Matrix. A little rip in the carefully stitched fabric of the illusion. A rip, which I'm about to tear into a gravity swallowing black hole.

What Are The Global Intelligence Files

The Global Intelligence Files, published by Wikileaks, is a trove of more than five million emails from the Texas-headquartered ''global intelligence'' company Stratfor.

These emails reveal the inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher (yes, it fronts as a thing that shouldn't even be a thing), but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal's Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defense Intelligence Agency. The emails show Stratfor's web of informers, pay-off structure, payment-laundering techniques and psychological methods.

Here's where you may be wondering what any of that could possibly have to do with starring in movies and TV shows, attending awards ceremonies, and jetting around with Cindy Crawford and Randy Gerber.

You may be wondering why an 'intelligence publisher,' working in service of the military industrial complex, US Government and Intelligence Agencies, is so interested in George Clooney. Why he's being clearly and visibly tracked by Stratfor. You may be starting to suspect that, just like establishment-puppet-State-Department-CIA-shill Ellen Degeneres, George Clooney is not what he appears to be. And you'd be right.

Warning: Only read on if you are prepared to let go of all your notions of what ''actors'' like George Clooney really are.

So, What Is George Clooney Anyway

You're told George Clooney is a Hollywood actor, activist and UN Ambassador, and all those things are true, in the same way that the FBI, Secret Service, and JFK were all in Dallas on November 22, 1963. These statements are true, but all of the important details are missing.

Georgie boy found his way into my crosshairs recently because of this:

When his less than flattering association with the bombshell Epstein scandal was exposed that's what tipped the scales for me in favor of doing a full deep dive expose on the two time Oscar winner.

You see, I could spend literally all my time, researching, piecing together, and detailing for you every single Hollywood celebrity's ties to the underbelly of a world you were never supposed to know existed.

''The world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.''

I'm confident, however, that I won't have to do that. That after a few of these '' like my recent Ellen expose '' you'll start to get the point, it's all an illusion. A grand illusion, crafted and held together by the George Clooney's of the world in order to serve a global economic elite world order whose objective is to suck the lifeblood out of humanity. Needless to say, we're tearing all that shit right the hell down.

So, as I was saying, spoiler alert, none of these false idols are remotely close to what you've been told they are. None. Of. Them. But, for the sake of time, I'll just focus on the ones doing stuff like getting blow jobs from international child sex traffickers in bathrooms at random events.

'Ghrislaine' '' in case you've been like off in Siberia or something the last three months '' is the alleged 'partner in crime' of the recently suicided international child sex trafficker to the stars, Jeffrey Epstein. And the above screenshot is from the sworn deposition of victim and star witness Virginia Giuffre (Roberts), unsealed last month.

Here you can download and read the deposition for yourself.

My question is this:

For the last year, I've been dropping some super subtle hints about how there's a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to George Clooney:

For example, how in August 2018, police shot and killed actress Vanessa Marquez, who very coincidentally had been vocally accusing George Clooney of overseeing an elaborate cover up of the culture of systemic sex abuse on the set of ER.

But I'm getting way ahead of myself here. Let's start at the beginning to see just who George Clooney really is.

Clooney was born on May 6, 1961, in Lexington Kentucky. His mother, Nina Bruce Warren, was a beauty queen and city council woman. His father, Nick Clooney, is a former Corporal in the U.S. Army, and later a journalist, anchorman, game show host, and television host, who in 2004 ran unsuccessfully for Congress.

Nick Clooney is a member of something called the 917 society. On the website of this 'political club' Nick Clooney is quoted as saying he always carries his own pocket Constitution, which was given to him by the controversial Senator Robert Byrd.

Senator Byrd, by his own admission, was a member of the KKK in the 1940s. Byrd, who was a friend and mentor to George Clooney's father was at the time of his death in 2010 the longest serving Senator. Barack Obama gave the eulogy at the funeral of this once literal klansman.

The Clooney family connections to Washington and politics at the highest level is nothing new. Fun fact, his maternal great-great-great-great-grandmother, Mary Ann Sparrow, was the half-sister of Nancy Lincoln, mother of, you guessed it, Abraham Lincoln.

Not only is Clooney related to Washington royalty, he's not the first person in his family to make it big in entertainment.

Cabaret singer and actress Rosemary Clooney was George Clooney's aunt, the sister of his father Nick Clooney. George's other aunt, Betty Clooney, was also a famous singer in the 1950's. And yet another famous singer, ''You Light Up My Life'' singer Debby Boone, is George's cousin. Recall that his father was a gameshow and TV host and it almost starts to seem as if being from certain families makes it a lot easier to break into Hollywood.

Clooney was raised a strict Roman Catholic and attended Catholic schools where he served as an altar boy from the time he was young. By middle school Clooney had developed Bell's Palsy, a type of facial paralysis. Bell's Palsy is rare in adolescents, as it's most commonly linked to sexually transmitted herpes and extreme stress. It's worth noting that Clooney's fellow United Nations and Council on Foreign Relations pal Angelia Jolie has also long struggled with Bell's Palsy. In Clooney's case, what with the rampant systemic child sex abuse we are learning has gone on for decades in the Catholic church and the connection between Hollywood, child sex abuse and Hollywood-linked military programs such as MK Ultra (recall Clooney's father's military ties), his having Bell's Palsy as a child is certainly an interesting side note.

There are red flags from the start when it comes to Clooney's acting career. His very first acting role came in 1978, on the television mini-series Centennial, based on a novel by one of the most well-documented C.I.A. linked novelists, James A. Michener.

The New York Times article, How the CIA Played Dirty Tricks With Culture, talks about Michener being on the CIA payroll. It's funny to me how Clooney, coming from a background such as his, would land his very first acting gig ever on a C.I.A. sponsored production.

For those who are new to my work, my journey of exposing all the dark truths about Hollywood started when I began to find out about Hollywood's link to our government and began lecturing about it, much to the dismay of my big Beverly Hills agents who'd have much rather I spend my time working the system I'd figured out existed. Like say, I don't know, George Clooney. Clearly Clooney and I are not made of the same stuff.

Next Clooney studied acting with leading Scientologist Milton Katselas at his Beverly Hills Playhouse for 5 years, from 1982-1987.

In the book co-authored by the now-deceased-under-extremely-mysterious-circumstances Andrew Breitbart, Hollywood, Interrupted: Insanity Chic in Babylon '-- The Case Against Celebrity, Milton Katselas is discussed at length. As well as Scientology in general and it's connection to Hollywood.

Here's the cliff's notes: Think of Scientology's presence in Hollywood as an intelligence dragnet to identify those who will trade compromising secrets for power and influence.

One of the very top lieutenants of that intelligence operation, for decades, was Milton Katselas.

July 15, 2007, New York Times, 'The Actualizer': ''Students have left Katselas's school, the Beverly Hills Playhouse, because of the pressure they felt to join the Church of Scientology'... they could not ignore how many of their classmates and teachers were Scientologists '... and the assorted weirdness.''

According to Breitbart's 2004 book Hollywood Interrupted, Scientology principles dominated at the playhouse, for example students who were sick had to report to one of the class's 'ethics officers' '' an idea borrowed from Scientology (and arguably, intelligence operations and Nazism).

According to one former student, ''The ethics officers stand around like monitors against the wall with notepads and take notes: who's late, who's talking, who's dating, who's chewing gum.''

Another former student talks about how Katselas, his students, and his Scientology-based philosophy consumed her life, realizing by the time she left that it was a 'cult atmosphere. It wasn't about acting as much as a way of life. You had to do precisely what they said or you wouldn't get ahead in your career. If you weren't a complete disciple of their philosophy you would fail.

It's worth noting that Katselas trained Rob Reiner, Gene Hackman, Jenna Elfman, Alec Baldwin, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tony Danza, Ted Danson, Tom Selleck, Jeffrey Tambor, among many others.

One can only assume that Clooney spent those 5 years at the Beverly Hills Playhouse proving he was willing to be the perfect puppet. After his time under Katselas, over the next decade, Clooney appeared on shows like The Facts of Life, Golden Girls and Roseanne.

Weird side note, Clooney took a picture of his man parts, and left it onset during his stint on Roseanne. Can't help wondering, what with the Scientology influence, if Clooney was already working to build up his portfolio of compromising information, leaving little bread crumbs around for the powers that be to discover.

But, early randomly placed dick pics aside, how does one go from a guest star on The Facts of Life to owning a $20-million-dollar Los Angeles estate, a $16-million-dollar Oxfordshite mansion, a $50-million-dollar Italian villa and a $50-million-dollar Cabo San Lucas mansion recently sold to a Mexican billionaire?

What's that transition really all about?

How much does it have to do with George's royal DC/Hollywood family lineage, Katselas big-brother-esque-Scientology-intel tutelage and, as I will show you, Clooney's own keen and calculated moves into the open arms of the deep state establishment? The answer is, everything.

Clooney's star number was called when he landed the role of Dr. Doug Ross on ER.

During this time Hollywood began the certification process, giving him 2 Emmy nominations and 3 Golden Globe nominations, but not awarding him anything yet.

It's worth looking at who Clooney was starring alongside, like Anthony Edwards, who's recently come out about the sex abuse he suffered as an underage boy by powerful men in Hollywood. Are you starting to wonder if these people are given the big opportunities and starring roles for a reason? Because they are brought up within this system? Because when they are intentionally elevated the resulting influence they gain will be controlled?

During this time, Clooney also began his film career.

His first real film role was in the Harvey Weinstein Quentin Tarantino team up From Dusk Till Dawn. So yes, from the very beginning Clooney has been surrounded by Hollywood folks who push deep state CIA agendas. That list has grown substantially over the years to include Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, among many others, who all bear the same deep state actor/activist/campaign contributor signature.

After One Fine Day, with fellow Katselas alum Michelle Pfeiffer, Clooney 'landed the role' (wink wink) in the Joel 'I've slept with 20,000 men' Schumacher film Batman and Robin.

Little known fact, Batman and Robin was a Pentagon production.

It's also worth noting Clooney's Batman director every-day-a-new-sex-partner-Joel-Schumacher went on to direct other films with the assistance of the DOD (A Time to Kill) and the CIA (Bad Company). Similarly, the first of Schumacher's Batman films stars Tommy Lee Jones is the cousin of Chase Brandon, the CIA's first formal entertainment liaison officer.

Cozy, isn't it?

And nothing like what you've been told.

The next year, Clooney played Captain Bosche in 'The Thin Red Line'' another Hollywood/government film.

Then came The Perfect Storm, which was, you guessed it, a joint government Hollywood production.

Wow, going all the back to Clooney's very first role in Centennial, all the way up until The Perfect Storm, you can see a very clear pattern emerging.

Clooney Auditions for the CIA

Next, Clooney began making moves to become a real player in this system, which he either understood from the beginning or was certainly starting to figure out.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, another Miramax movie, is an adaptation of the cult memoir of Chuck Barris, a game show host who was actually CIA.

Recall the fact that Clooney's dad Nick was a TV game show host, who got his start in the US army, went on to journalism and now works alongside Clooney meddling on the African continent (getting a little ahead of myself here but you get the point).

Much like the CIA sponsored overt propaganda piece The Recruit, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind shows The Farm (the CIA's semi-secret agent training facility) and just like in The Recruit, the protagonist is being inducted and initiated into that covert world.

Was this a subtle nod to the power structure Clooney was climbing? A gesture as if to say, I get it. I know how all this works. I'm one of you.

Then came Good Night and Good Luck. The story centers on journalist Edward R. Murrow's quest to bring down Joseph McCarthy. As most of you know, the CIA signature is white hot on this entire subject matter. This movie is the equivalent of porn to the establishment powers and serves to advance and re-affirm their agenda about this time in history, the players involved and the narrative they want the world to believe.

Good Night and Good Luck is a film born out of the creative relationship between George Clooney and Grant Heslov, a producer Clooney would go on to win an Oscar with for the CIA sponsored Argo just a few short years later. Curious that Clooney and Heslov chose to give a lot of public attention and approval to not just Murrow but CBS.

Many believe that in real life, Murrow wasn't exactly the heroic counter-establishment figure he is made out to be in the film.

It's also curious (but not) how positively CBS is portrayed, considering CBS's deep ties to the CIA. It's worth noting that almost everyone involved in Good Night and Good Luck had either already made a film with CIA assistance, or went on to do so.

This moment in Clooney's career signified an inflection point where, to the keen observer, he crossed a proverbial Rubicon and received his stamp of approval; George Clooney was a cultural influence weapon willing to be used.

Clooney & his buddy Matt Damon in ''Syriana''

It's all the more telling than when in 2006 Clooney next starred in Syriana. CIA veteran Robert Baer and his books on his time with the agency and covert operations were the basis for Syriana.

Baer's been quoted as saying, ''All these people that run studios '' they go to Washington, they hang around with senators, they hang around with CIA directors, and everybody's on board.''

Trisha Jenkins, noted expert on CIA Hollywood connection, said, ''There are some uglier portrayals, like in the movie ''Syriana,'' which features George Clooney as Bob Barnes, a CIA officer tasked with assassinating a Middle Eastern leader. Unless you read the fine credits at the end of a film, you'd have no idea you just watched a movie produced with CIA help.''

According to the New York Times, ''Syriana'' is one of the season's offerings that ''have overt social purposes and activist campaigns attached to their movies.''

Syriana earned Clooney his first Academy Award just ten short years, nearly to the day, after Harvey Weinstein gave him his first big break in film.

2006 was also the year Clooney and Barack Obama became powerfully allied Hollywood/Washington friends.

''If Senator Obama became presidential candidate Obama it would be the most electrifying thing to happen to the Democratic party since Kennedy,'' Clooney wrote to the Los Angeles Times in October 2006'--two years before the one-term senator ran for president.

Are you beginning to see how it all works?

Fairly simple, isn't it. Almost frustrating we haven't seen it sooner, but then again, we haven't been working with as much information as we now possess. The picture is becoming incredibly clear.

Clooney's Gushing Ode To the CIA/Deep State Machine; The Men Who Stare at Goats

The Men Who Stare at Goats was such a natural next, and frankly brilliant, move considering where Clooney was at this point. I want to be clear that CIA has not acknowledged, as of yet, they were involved with this film'.... buuuut:

The original documentary it's based on was made in conjunction with the CIA.This is the exact kind of movie the CIA would assist. The CIA technical consultants listed as having worked on the film, were employed by the Pentagon at the time they were working on the film, which means they would have had to have government approval to do so. The producers, Clooney among them, must have had Pentagon permission for this to occur. In other words, this was a CIA sponsored film.Parts of the movie were filmed at the New Mexico Military Institute, a government-funded military college. Like all Pentagon installation, you cannot film there without their permission. For this type of permission, you must submit your script to the Office of Film Liaisons, if approved the producers must enter into a production agreement whereby the government is given line by line control of not just the military scenes, but the whole of the script in its entirety. There is a military technical advice firm listed in the creditsThis military technical advice firm specializes in films with DOD/CIA involvement. Made by ''Overture Films,'' a production and distribution company who've since been shut down and turned into Relativity Media, a company that turns out DOD/CIA films like no other. The screenwriter is highly involved in the CIA Hollywood world. Loosely based on Jon Ronson's book of the same name, The Men Who Stare at Goats is about the esoteric and occult in relation to spy craft.

It tells the story of a journalist who is inducted into the world of psychic soldiers during the Iraq war.

The movie goes on to explain some of the history behind the First Earth Battalion, an experimental Pentagon unit, the film leaves out only by name MKULTRA and similar CIA projects and experiments with these very aims.

In the film, Kevin Spacey plays the CIA head of essentially the MK Ultra division, specializing in trafficking in secrets and so-called human potential, and is described as a failed fiction writer in a not so subtle nod to L. Ron Hubbard, the founded of Scientology.

It was shortly after this film, in 2010, that the now Oscar winner Clooney was invited to join the Council on Foreign Relations

The Council on Foreign Relations, for anyone who doesn't know, is an elite power structure, filled with unelected journalists and Hollywood and Silicon Valley shills who in lock step with the State Department make foreign policy decisions, completely outside the purview and checks and balances of the democratic process. I mentioned all these people are unelected, right? Just checking.

At the same time he was dipping his toes into the CFR cesspool, he also became involved with John Prendergast, noted Soros funded, deep state agent who fomented genocide in Rwanda.

It was at this point that Hollywood actor George Clooney became ''an expert'' on the subject of and deeply involved in the politics and wars on the African continent.

Next Came the Underage Sex Parties, Naturally

It was also in 2010 when George attended parties with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berusconi, described as elite orgies where male guests dressed as nuns and preformed stripteases, and where Berlusconi is accused of raping a minor. George was called as a witness in Silvio's Berlusconi's rape trial in Milan for paying an underage prostitute for sex.

Berlusconi is accused of paying cash and jewels to have underage girls, very likely trafficked for sex from all we're now learning from unsealed Epstein documents, at his so-called ''Bunga Bunga'' parties in 2010. Parties that newly minded CFR member Clooney also attended.

Hope for Haiti Now

The deeper you dig the more you understand that 2010 was Clooney's year zero. Remember when Clooney, alongside Mockingbird Anderson Vanderbilt Cooper, in the wake of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, organized a telethon called Hope for Haiti Now, raising over $60 million dollars that was funneled to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, the UN, OxFam and the Red Cross and not a dime reached Haiti? Cause the cabal remembers. This, my fair-hearted friends, is their love language; stealing from the poor and giving to the rich.

As you can see, the road to Oz does exist. It's not paved with yellow bricks, but skulls engraved with instructions like 'shill for the CIA,' 'attend elite child sex parties,' and 'use humanitarian disasters to enrich powerful political elites.'

George Clooney had become an agent of influence.

George Clooney, Agent of Influence

Being born into the right family and with his start at a Scientology intel nest, followed by his long list of CIA approved and sponsored projects culminating in his overture, ''The Men Who Stare at Goats,'' jaunts to elite orgies, and ''Haiti relief'' mass financial scam all in the bag, Clooney was actively and openly sucking up to the global institutions, other elite puppets and puppet masters running the world.

This is how it's all worked for a very long time.

It's obvious that by 2010, Clooney's self-initiation into the world of intelligence agencies and higher politics was complete.

Clooney and John Kerry

Clooney and John Bolton

If there's one thing that's most important to understand it's this:

Politics is downstream from culture.

In order to influence politics, people who know what they're doing start with culture. Influence on popular culture is what they want.

By influencing culture, you influence the world.

Those willing to facilitate this dynamic, like George-I'll-shill-for-you-Clooney, unbeknownst to an unsuspecting population, make films and geo-political moves in order to stand up and identify themselves as agents of influence.

By this moment in his career, Clooney was obviously very well aware of how this system works and was making a series of bold moves to elevate himself within this global power structure.

Darfur

Is it at all reasonable to believe that someone who has demonstrated an absolute willingness to covertly align interests with the CIA and elite power nexus that gave us MK ultra, Project Mockingbird, Nazism, and all our wars and genocides, suddenly became an actual activist and humanitarian?

No silly goose, a billion times, no.

The truth is that early CIA involvement in Darfur went largely unreported, and with George Clooney's entering the PR fray over the African continent, he was being given more responsibility. Could he shape geo-political narrative on this scale on behalf of the global power establishment? Maybe he could, especially with a little help from dear old dad.

George and father Nick Clooney, in Darfur

In exchange for using his cult of celebrity to control what people believe is happening there, George Clooney is in fact being paid by the world's top two war profiteers, Lockheed-Martin and Boeing, to oppose war profiteering by Africans disloyal to the global power establishment's agenda.

So, a UN Messenger of Peace secretly working on behalf of Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, CIA, and warmongering global elite. Nice. Just lovely.

These stunning facts and complete reversals are so emblematic of the false world we've been living in.

David Swanson of WorldBeyondWar.org says, ''It turns out Clooney opposes, not war profiteering in general, but war profiteering while African.''

Swanson goes on to explain how, ''Clooney's new organization, ''The Sentry,'' is part of The Enough Project, which is part of the Center for American Progress, which is a leading backer of ''humanitarian'' wars, and various other wars for that matter '-- and which is funded by the world's top war profiteer, Lockheed Martin, and by number-two Boeing, among other war profiteers.''

''According to Clooney's group the killing in the Congo happens ''despite years of international attention,'' not because of it. Clooney's organization also promotes this argument for more U.S. warmaking in the DRC from Kathryn Bigelow, best known for producing the CIA propaganda film Zero Dark Thirty.''

Add all this to the fact that, Swanson points out, ''Clooney's wife, incidentally, works for U.S.-friendly dictators and brutal killers in places like Bahrain and Libya,'' and well things all start to make a lot of sense.

Angela Merkel, George & Amal Clooney

Since becoming a bona fide deep state asset Clooney has been involved in Darfur through the NGO he founded with John Prendergast, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and Don Cheadle which was first called Not On Our Watch, but later changed its name to The Sentry.

Deep state puppet Don Cheadle's recent SNL appearance

Clooney's co-founder of the Sentry, John Prendergast, founder of the Soros-funded Enough Project and former Africa director for the National Security Council, find himself awkwardly in a debate with an informed person here.

I do recommend watching the full debate, it's highly entertaining watching Prendergast squirm and flail, but if you don't have time I've clipped the best parts for you in which you'll quickly understand what's really going on here.

Spoiler alert: Clooney and company are not the good guys. They are the warmongering military industrial complex, owned by the soulless elite cabal, all disguised as humanitarians by lovely sounding NGOs.

And like the good little cabal puppet Clooney has become, what's he doing now? Why he's founding NGO after NGO after NGO.

Most recently, he and John Prendergast founded the Satellite Sentinel Project, 'a satellite warning system' to 'detect mass atrocities' in South Sudan. Combine all this with his push for regime change and Clooney is now essentially operating as one with the CIA.

Clooney's shilling for the global elites began to pay off in dividends in 2013 when Argo, the CIA sponsored Ben Affleck movie he co-produced beat CIA sponsored Zero Dark Thirty for Best Picture. That was the year, in my humble opinion, the cabal peaked.

Clooney & The Global Intelligence Files

Let's end where we began, those 276 Stratfor emails mentioning Clooney, and wondering why an intelligence publisher working on behalf of the military industrial complex and the US government was keeping such close tabs on a Hollywood actor. Now we have a much better idea, don't we?

Startfor works on behalf of factions of the US Government as well as major military industrial complex companies, such at Boeing and Lockheed. There are 276 Stratfor files on George Clooney because Stratfor is, quite literally, tracking their asset for them.

Remember that Sudan satellite project of Clooney's? Yeah well, looks like the UN and Google are involved too.

There was a press report that ''Clooney was robbed in Sudan by child soldiers with assault rifles.'' This internal Stratfor email sharing the press report remarks ''I'm shocked!'' at the news. One has to wonder if this quip is sarcastic, as it almost appears, which isn't dicey or suspicious at all.

Here the State Department is discussing a meeting with Clooney and George Soros backed John Prendergast.

Another State Department email discussing yet another meeting with the Hollywood actor.

Add to all this the fact, which we just learned from the Grassley report, that all state department emails were being copied, in real time, to an email address of a Chinese corporation and things start to get really interesting.

Folks, I could go on and on, and suggest that you take a little time to go through some of the many Clooney emails on Wikileaks yourself. It's easy to see Clooney is a ruse without even mentioning tons of other red flags, like, for example Clooney's Sony/State Department stamp of approval, when (in the below email exchange) the Undersecretary of the State Department was talking with Sony CEO Michael Linton about how George Clooney is one Hollywood star that can be counted on to covertly push State Department agendas onto the American public'...

Or how his first wife Talia Balsam was born of Hollywood Van Patten royalty with both deep state and deep Scientology ties. Even if I don't get into all that, you can clearly see that George Clooney has made a career out of being willing to be handled.

In the old world, the one crumbling before their very eyes, the puppets reigned supreme. Now however, as the curtain is being pulled back, the world is seeing through these shills and stooges, how it's all worked, and the human atrocities, both physical and psychological, that have been created by being blinded by these 'celebrity agents of influence.' And we're tearing it all down, brick by brick, starting with shiny objects like Clooney.

To those here reading this, you're one of the millions of wide awake people on this planet actively annihilating the old-world-order, in real time, with nothing but our minds, and I applaud you! I encourage you to share this information with everyone you know. It's up to us to wake the others so we can finally have real stuff instead of all this fake junk.

I know there's a lot to digest here. I'll be making a podcast episode early this week to bring you through all this information, including my thoughts and everything I couldn't fit in the article. To get my podcast become a Patron.

I am 100% independent and reader funded, if you appreciate my work, research, the topics I cover and efforts to build a counter-Hollywood, and want to help me take on the current system with a vengeance, the very best way to do that is to become a Patron.

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In Love and Truth,

Tiffany

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 08 Dec 2019 03:05

Include external sources Associated Twitter accounts, Snowden + Hammond Documents, Cryptome Documents, ICWatch, This Day in WikiLeaks Blog and WikiLeaks Press, WL Central

Filter results by leak Global Intelligence Files276

German BND-NSA Inquiry Exhibits2

Global Intelligence Files

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News U won't find in the News Email-ID 531436 Date 2011-11-25 21:30:57 From genetic.crime.mapping1000@gmail.com To service@stratfor.com, leaanne@cattle.guelph.on.ca, csmith@kemptvillec.uoguelph.ca, ayu@uoguelph.ca, hrobey@cyanidedestruct.com, westendrec@guelph.ca, ...

Global Intelligence Files

Created 2011-11-25

Released 2013-02-13

George Cloony Robbed In Sudan ... http://www.hollyscoop.com/george-clooney/george-clooney-was-held-at-gunpoint_15396 ... people that don't know who George Clooney is. Turns out he ... who took aim at George and his entourage before ... imagine anyone would go after George. He's such a great guy ...

Global Intelligence Files

Created 2008-04-04

Released 2013-06-17

Global Intelligence Files

Created 2011-03-29

Released 2013-02-19

Global Intelligence Files

Created 2011-03-29

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Global Intelligence Files

Created 2011-03-29

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Global Intelligence Files

Created 2010-12-29

Released 2013-06-17

SUDAN - Clooney, Google, U.N. watch Sudan using satellites ... .com To os@stratfor.com Clooney, Google, U.N. watch Sudan using satellites ... organization co-founded by actor George Clooney are launching a project using satellites ... watching, the world is watching," Clooney said in a statement. The satellite ...

Global Intelligence Files

Created

Released 2012-10-19

Global Intelligence Files

Created 2008-01-19

Released 2013-06-16

Global Intelligence Files

Created 2008-04-21

Released 2013-03-11

Re: AP ... 4334 fax ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: George Friedman [mailto:friedman@ ... and the participants included George Clooney, Sen. Sam Brownback of ... was focused on Mr. Clooney, an Associated Press photographer ...

Global Intelligence Files

Created 2009-04-11

Released 2012-10-19

RE: AP ... 4334 fax ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: George Friedman [mailto:friedman@ ... and the participants included George Clooney, Sen. Sam Brownback of ... was focused on Mr. Clooney, an Associated Press photographer ...

Global Intelligence Files

Created 2009-04-11

Released 2012-10-19

SUDAN - UPDATE 2-South Sudan militia clashes kill at least 56-army ... backing militias, north denies * Clooney warns north-south peace process ... backed by Hollywood star George Clooney on Monday said it ... peace process at risk," said Clooney in a statement released by ... to renegade militia leader George Athor in the Fangak ...

Global Intelligence Files

Created

Released 2013-03-12

SUDAN - Thousands head south for Sudan vote ... Sudan for the referendum is George Clooney, the Holywood star. He ... all over the south," George Mater Benjamin, the commission ... Sudan for the referendum is George Clooney, the Holywood star. He ... all over the south," George Mater Benjamin, the commission ...

Global Intelligence Files

Created

Released 2013-03-11

Global Intelligence Files

Created 2011-11-16

Released 2013-11-15

Re: AP ... Darfur, and the participants included George Clooney, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas ... attention was focused on Mr. Clooney, an Associated Press photographer, Mannie ...

Global Intelligence Files

Created 2009-04-11

Released 2012-10-19

AP ... Darfur, and the participants included George Clooney, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas ... attention was focused on Mr. Clooney, an Associated Press photographer, Mannie ...

Global Intelligence Files

Created 2009-04-11

Released 2012-10-19

Global Intelligence Files

Created 2010-10-13

Released 2012-10-18

Global Intelligence Files

Created 2010-10-14

Released 2012-10-18

JOR/JORDAN/MIDDLE EAST ... NicolaiPetro, an adviser under George G.W. Bush on policy towards ... under presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush), especially byforcing ... Abeer Issa never miss a George Clooney movie in the theatre, ... , and his name is Clooney. When the American star ...

Global Intelligence Files

Created 2010-07-23

Released 2012-10-18

OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today - January 7, 2008 ... Stories of the Day * "George Clooney Boycott Threat to Oscars"--headline ... the primary season is George McGovern, onetime senator ... in August 1990, President George H.W. Bush gathered the ... and a mother named George. (Carol Muller helps compile ...

Global Intelligence Files

Created 2008-01-07

Released 2012-10-15

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 08 Dec 2019 01:28

Dylan Howard (born 19 January 1982)[1][2] is an Australian entertainment journalist who is the Vice President and Chief Content Officer at American Media. He oversees Us Weekly, OK!, Star, In Touch, Life & Style, Closer, The National Examiner, RadarOnline.com, and The National Enquirer and its U.K. edition, Globe.[3] He is a television producer and documentarian who has developed and created shows for Investigation Discovery,[4] TLC,[5] REELZ,[6] and other networks.

Howard was named the 2011 Entertainment Journalist of the Year at the National Entertainment Journalism Awards (NEJA). He is a five-time NEJA winner, 14-time finalist and has previously won L.A. Press Club awards for online news reporting'--Mel Gibson audio tapes'--and investigative journalism, for exposing a secret Hollywood poker ring involving A-List actors Tobey Maguire, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio. He has been nominated 11 times for various L.A. Press Club awards.

In February 2019, Jeff Bezos claimed that Howard, in his role as an editor at American Media, took part in an effort to blackmail him.[7] Howard was a party to a September 2018 non-prosecution agreement with Southern District of New York federal prosecutors.[8]

Early career Edit Howard grew up in Geelong, Victoria.[2] He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Deakin University in Australia.

In January 2009, he moved to United States after a stint as a television journalist. During that time, he worked for the Seven Network based in Melbourne, Australia.

Howard's 2007 report on the impending sacking of an Australian football coach was highly commended for a prestigious Quill Award - for excellence in Victorian journalism, in the Best TV News Report category.[citation needed ]

He also worked for Reuters Television in New York, The Geelong Advertiser and Southern Cross Television in Tasmania; the latter both Australian media outlets.

He began his career at The Geelong Advertiser, the six-day-a-week paper for the city of Geelong. He wrote an opinion page for the Saturday edition, Sport Section, titled "Howard's Way" until he moved to the United States.[9]

While at Southern Cross, he obtained interviews with former Governor Richard Butler and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and his partner Mary Donaldson.

Howard also has been published in the News of the World, Hello, Woman's Day, New Idea, Grazia, OK! Magazine, Men's Style, Alpha, Ralph Magazine, Loaded, M Magazine Dubai, In Touch, and The Sunday Mail's Celebs on Sunday.

Channel 7 Edit Howard joined Channel 7 in 2005 as a sports reporter. His primary reporting focus was AFL, but during the summer months he would present the sports report on the 6 o'clock Channel 7 Melbourne news. Howard didn't have his contract renewed by Channel 7 in January 2009.[10]

Controversy Edit Drugs in Sport Edit Michael Braun. Jason Akermanis wrote an article [11] for Melbourne's NewsCorp paper the Herald Sun, stating that he 'felt' that a player that was his direct opponent in a game earlier in one season seemed able to run faster and had better recovery against him in another game later in that season. The implication was that Akermanis felt that this player was using a form of performance-enhancing drugs. Jason didn't name the player in his article. Howard's role in this issue became evident just days after this article was published. Howard, who to date has yet to name his source,[12] revealed that the player who Jason was referring to was Michael Braun [13] a player for the West Coast Eagles. No other evidence has ever surfaced to support the claims made by Akermanis, who later apologised to Braun.Medical records. The medical records of players from an AFL club were claimed to have been found in the gutter outside a clinic by a woman. After allegedly attempting to return the documents to the clinic and finding that the gates were locked tried to ring all the media outlets in Melbourne to offer the documents, as a "public service".[14] Her asking price was A$3,000. Channel 7 decided to purchase the documents. At or around 4:15 Friday 24 August 2007, Channel 7 started promoting on-air that it had a "huge story" related to AFL and drugs and would reveal this in its nightly news at 6pm AEST. Howard then went to air and named the club that these two players played for. A court injunction was sought to suppress the name and club mentioned in the records and was granted by Justice Kim Hargrave of the Supreme Court of Victoria.[15] Later on 24 August, during half time on Channel 7's Friday Night Football, Howard participated in an on-air interview, conducted by Tim Watson where he claimed that after contacting the AFL, it had given Howard "approval" to go to air with the story. This interview went live, via Fox Sports to New South Wales and Queensland and on the CCTV at the Telstra Dome, but was not in the program that aired on the Seven Network during the delayed coverage into Victoria, South Australia or Western Australia after Howard admitted he inadvertently misspoke. Howard, on Tuesday 28 August 2007, went on 3AW during the Sport's Today program and explained to Caroline Wilson that his comments on Friday night had been misinterpreted and that he had "apologised to those who misunderstood that at the time".[16] The AFL CEO, Andrew Demetriou, then responded to Howard's interview on 3AW, saying that "It's mischievous, and we have asked him to apologise, given that it went to air in two states, and all Dylan Howard had to do was apologise. We will not be misrepresented to people about the AFL supporting a story that we've already said publicly we find obscene, abhorrent, the route of gutter journalism".Harvey Weinstein allegations Edit Howard received media attention for providing Harvey Weinstein with information about Rose McGowan, an actress who made a sexual harassment claim directed toward Weinstein. Howard provided this information to Weinstein at the time Weinstein was denying any harassment claims, and did so to maintain a strong working relationship with Weinstein due to "mutual business interests."[17] Howard stated that he pursued Weinstein's request "as a courtesy" but refused to publish any material about the subject,[18] resisting each of Weinstein's "repeated efforts" to have Howard publish favourable stories about him or unfavorable stories about his accusers.[19]

On March 7, 2018, Howard successfully sued Nine Network's 60 Minutes after they unlawfully trespassed on private property and attempted to question him about the Weinstein story in the lobby of his New York office.[19]

In 2017, the Associate Press reported on an inquiry conducted by American Media in 2012 about a sexual harassment allegation toward Howard, but concluded there was no serious wrongdoing.[20] American Media has supported Howard through the accusations, calling the accusations "baseless."[21]

Blackmail claims by Jeff Bezos Edit On February 7, 2019, Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com and owner of the Washington Post, accused Howard and others at AMI of attempting to blackmail him by threatening to release private photos of Mr Bezos. Bezos published an email sent by Howard to Bezos' attorney in which he described various lurid private photographs in AMI's possession. Bezos also disclosed Howard's email address. AMI attorney Jon Fine followed the email with demands that Bezos cease an ongoing investigation of AMI's previous release of Bezos' private text messages.[22][23]

Other Edit Howard has been involved in a number of controversial stories in his career at Channel 7: He was on assignment in Ireland when it emerged star footballer Brendan Fevola had been in a fight with that pub's bartender while he was a member of the All Australian team visiting Ireland for the International Rules Series[24] Seven News purchased the video tape from a pub in Galway, Ireland.

The New York Times reported on August 23, 2018 that Howard was cooperating with federal investigators examining hush payments made by Michael Cohen to two women on behalf of President Donald Trump.[25] Vanity Fair reported that Howard had received witness immunity in exchange for his testimony.[26] Ronan Farrow's claims in his book Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators that American Media, Inc. and the National Enquirer shredded sensitive Trump-related documents held in a top-secret safe on orders from then-Editor-in-Chief Howard the same day a reporter from the Wall Street Journal asked for a comment for a story about how AMI paid $150,000 to Karen McDougal to keep her story about having an affair with Trump quiet before the election.[27][28]

Entertainment Journalism Edit Howard left Reuters in May 2010 after being approached to head RadarOnline.com. During his tenure guiding RadarOnline.com, the celebrity news site attained a new level of visibility in the world's media, after Howard broke the Gibson scandal after covertly obtaining the expletive laden audiotapes.

In 2011, Howard was named Entertainment Journalist of the Year at the National Entertainment Journalism Awards, where the judges labeled him the "go-to guy for authoritative showbiz news and analysis on cable and over-the air television." In awarding him the top national honor, they also noted: "In the world of celebrity and entertainment news, even mainstream media couldn't ignore exclusive stories broken under Dylan Howard's tenure as senior executive editor of RadarOnline.com."

Howard also won Entertainment Journalism Story of the Year (2011) at the Los Angeles Press Club for 'Mel Gibson: Sex, Lies & Audiotapes' and a highly commended title for Best TV News Report in the 2007 Quill Awards, for excellent in Australian journalism.

In 2012, Howard joined BuzzMedia as editor in chief of Celebuzz.com. He returned as editor in chief of RadarOnline.com in April 2013. Thirteen months later, the site's parent company, American Media, Inc. named Howard editor in chief of the National Enquirer in addition to his role as editorial director of RadarOnline.com.

References Edit ^ Toobin, Jeffrey. "The National Enquirer's Fervor for Trump". New Yorker . Retrieved 14 December 2017 . ^ a b Horgan, Richard (18 July 2012). "SO WHAT DO YOU DO, DYLAN HOWARD, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF CELEBUZZ?". Mediabistro . Retrieved 18 October 2014 . ^ "A.M.I., Tabloid Giant and Trump Ally, Expands Its Reach" . Retrieved 5 September 2018 . ^ "Leading True Crime Network Investigation Discovery Explores the Controversial and Tragic Case 'Casey Anthony: An American Murder Mystery ' ". Discovery. 7 March 2017 . Retrieved 6 February 2018 . ^ "TLC and ID Partner to Present CHANDRA LEVY: AN AMERICAN MURDER MYSTERY, 9/4". Broadway World. 21 August 2017 . Retrieved 6 February 2018 . ^ Petersen, Anne Helen (30 April 2018). "The Company Behind "The National Enquirer" Just Bought "Us Weekly" '-- Here's Why That Matters". Buzzfeed . Retrieved 6 February 2018 . ^ https://medium.com/@jeffreypbezos/no-thank-you-mr-pecker-146e3922310f ^ Jim Rutenberg and Karen Weise (7 February 2019). "Jeff Bezos Accuses National Enquirer of 'Extortion and Blackmail ' ". NYTimes.com . Retrieved 8 February 2019 . CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link) ^ Pitstock, Kevin (2 October 2008). "Geelong Cup Festival Ambassador Named". Australian Racing Greyhound . Retrieved 6 February 2018 . ^ Channel 7 journalist Dylan Howard dumped over AFL scandal [Herald Sun] Published 28 November 2008 ^ Jason Akermanis story Cycling can teach AFL on drugs fight Herald Sun Published 1 August 2007 ^ ASADA: no leak with us Herald Sun Mark Stevens Published 8 August 2007 ^ BRAUN NOT DRUG TAINTED: FATHER Archived 14 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine FootyHeads article by Nino Bucci Published 7 August 2007 ^ Seven's ethics in the gutter By Patrick Smith Fox Sports Published 28 August 2007 ^ Court extends injunction on AFL details By Katie Bice and AAP NewsCorp Published 30 August 2007 ^ Howard's interview on 3AW's Sports Today program Archived 6 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine 3AW Broadcast 28 August 2007 ^ Twohey, Megan; Kantor, Jodi; Dominus, Susan; Rutenberg, Jim; Eder, Steve (5 December 2018). "Weinstein's Complicity Machine". The New York Times . Retrieved 1 February 2018 . ^ Farrow, Ronan (6 November 2017). "Harvey Weinstein's Army of Spies". The New Yorker . Retrieved 1 February 2018 . ^ a b Whitbourn, Michaela (13 March 2018). "Australian linked to Weinstein scandal sues Channel Nine". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 15 March 2018 . ^ Pearson, Jake; Horwitz, Jeff (6 December 2017). "AP Exclusive: Top gossip editor accused of sexual misconduct". The Associated Press . Retrieved 6 February 2018 . ^ Levine, Joe (6 December 2017). "National Enquirer Owner Stands by Top Editor Dylan Howard, Denies 'Baseless' Misconduct Accusations". The Wrao . Retrieved 15 March 2018 . ^ Rutenberg, Jim; Weise, Karen (7 February 2019). "Jeff Bezos Accuses National Enquirer of 'Extortion and Blackmail ' " '' via NYTimes.com. ^ Honig, Elie. "Ex-prosecutor: Could AMI's alleged actions on Bezos amount to extortion?". CNN. ^ Brendan Fevola home early Irish scrap next year's International Rules The Age Published 10 December 2006 ^ "David Pecker, American Media Chief, Is Said to Have Immunity in Trump Inquiry" . Retrieved 23 August 2018 . ^ Sherman, Gabriel. " " Holy shit, I thought Pecker would be the last one to turn": Trump's National Enquirer allies are the latest to defect". Vanity Fair . Retrieved 25 August 2018 . ^ Farrow, Ronan (2019). Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators. New York: Little, Brown and Company ISBN 9780316486637 ^ Daniel Lippman (14 October 2019). "Ronan Farrow: National Enquirer shredded secret Trump documents". politico.com . Retrieved 15 October 2019 .

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Fri, 06 Dec 2019 06:56

We first started noticing major 'odd' exports of gold from Turkey to Iran in May 2012. Turkey's trade balance fluctuated wildly as gold stocks flowed out of the country in bursts.

''Turkey's going to continue it,'' the Turkish economy minister said. ''If those casting aspersions on the gold trade are searching for immorality, they should take a look in the mirror.''

Then, in 2014, we discussed Turkey's "200 tons of secret gold" trade with Iran detailing how a complex network that spanned Turkey, China, Dubai and Iran was used to skirt US sanctions on energy exports from Iran.

The operation featured an Iranian-born businessman who liked fast horses, faster cars and the fastest planes. His unique skill: Getting gold into sanctions-encircled Iran.

Enough gold that for a time he became the government's key instrument in improving Turkey's irksome economic imbalance.

At the time, the plot revealed what one observer called, "one of the most complex illicit finance schemes [prosecutors] have seen."

In 2017, the man at the center of the scheme, Reza Zarrab, was arrested (and briefly disappeared) and was tied to Turkey's president.

''Zarrab is thought to have been close to the Erdogan family and, indeed, he was given Turkish citizenship, alongside Iranian. This is a real stress point."

Zarrab pleaded guilty in October 2017 and turned against Mehmet Hakan Atila - a director at Turkey's Halkbank - who was convicted on Jan. 3, 2018, and after serving a total 32 months behind bars was returned to Turkey and has since become the head of the Istanbul stock exchange.

And since then "one of the biggest money-laundering schemes ever" has disappeared from the headlines... until now.

Thanks to a massive leak of more than a million documents from a British offshore shell company provider, think Panama Papers 2.0, we now learn exactly how Iran's national oil company and its subsidiaries hopscotch the globe, with the help of intermediaries, in search of tax havens that help it try to wriggle free from the grip of crippling U.S.-led sanctions.

As McClatchy reports, the massive data set of communications, incorporation certificates and other documents was leaked to journalists, and after months of collaboration, news organizations across the globe are collectively publishing stories starting this week under the title #29Leaks.

Included in the voluminous Formations House documents is a register of shareholders in an offshore company called Naftiran Intertrade Company Ltd, or NICO. This list of shareholders was attached to an email from December 2014, declaring the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company as the overarching shareholder and having complete control over NICO.

Also attached was a register of NICO directors listing five Iranian nationals.

NICO, the gasoline import arm of the state oil company, came to renewed international attention in March 2016 after the arrest at Miami International Airport of Reza Zarrab.

He flew to Florida to visit Disney World and on that trip was charged with conspiring to evade U.S. sanctions through an elaborate gold-for-gas scheme between Turkey and Iran, and using global banks to process transactions on behalf of Iran.

Prosecutors contend that Zarrab and a co-defendant, Mehmet Hakan Atila, who was a director at Turkey's Halkbank, schemed to help Iran skirt U.S. sanctions by trading Turkish gold for oil and natural gas. Using companies across the globe, they facilitated $20 billion worth of transactions.

''High-ranking government officials in Iran and Turkey participated in and protected this scheme,'' the Justice Department in Oct. 15, 2019. statement announcing charges against Halkbank, which incriminated Zarrab.

''Some officials received bribes worth tens of millions of dollars paid from the proceeds of the scheme ... and to help shield the scheme from the scrutiny of U.S. regulators.''

Shortly after his arrest, Zarrab, who is married to a Turkish pop star and has citizenship in Iran as well as Turkey, implicated Turkish President Recep Erdogan as having approved the operation.

Zarrab was represented briefly by Rudolph Giuliani, who has since become President Trump's personal attorney. Zarrab was also a focus of Special Counsel Robert Mueller III's prosecution of Trump adviser Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn for lying under oath the FBI. Mueller looked at Flynn's lobbying for Turkey.

Additionally, the leaked documents tie the mid-October, six-count indictment against Halkbank for fraud, money laundering and sanctions-evasion was tied to NICO and the state oil company.

Prosecutors said that bank has been the ''sole repository of proceeds from the sale of Iranian oil'' to Turkey and also cited Zarrab transactions involving NICO.

The leaked new documents expose this chain of communications between a Dutch offshore services provider, Dennis Vermeulen of INCO Business Group, Formations House employees Oliver Hartmann (aka Syed Rizwan Ahmed) and Charlotte Pawar, and Farhad Dizadji, owner and senior partner of London-based accounting firm Roberts & Partners.

''Just like we've seen in the Halkbank scandal, entities are eager to exploit the secrecy afforded by anonymous shell companies to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran, undermining our national security,'' the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Oregon's Ron Wyden, said in a statement on the Formations House leak.

''Ending anonymous shell companies would make it easier for law enforcement to 'follow the money' when investigating complex financial crimes like sanctions evasion.''

By constantly switching domiciles, NICO may have sought to ease political pressures, according to a former senior official at the U.S. Treasury Department. The official previously worked on Iran sanctions and international money-laundering investigations and requested anonymity in order to discuss non-public matters.

So, in conclusion, we now have two facts confirmed - trust no one and nothing; and gold is money. Given the level of grift here, we wonder just how long before more incriminating evidence is leaked about how Democrats have benefited greatly from Ukraine deals.

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Source: TheStreet Search RSS Feed: Crude Oil Prices

Fri, 06 Dec 2019 06:36

Saudi Arabian Oil Company priced its long-anticipated IPO at 32 Saudi Rials ($8.53) a share Thursday, raising $25.6 billion dollars and topping the previous record IPO held by Alibaba (BABA) - Get Report .

Alibaba raised $25 billion in its 2014 IPO.

The pricing came in at the top of the anticipated range. However, the $1.7 trillion implied market valuation came up short of the $2 trillion sought by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

By contrast, Apple Inc. (AAPL) - Get Report , the largest U.S. company by valuation, currently carries a market cap of $1.2 trillion.

Saudi Aramco sold 3 billion shares in the offering. In addition the company granted underwriters options to purchase 450 million additional overallotment shares within 30 days of the start of trading.

The stock is expected to begin trading on Saudi Arabia's Tadawul stock exchange on Dec. 11, according to published reports.

Apple is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS member club.

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 15:00

Beginning to look coordinated and multiple people.

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) '-- The Saudi student who fatally shot three people at a U.S. naval base in Florida hosted a dinner party earlier in the week where he and three others watched videos of mass shootings, a U.S. official told The Associated Press on Saturday.

One of the three students who attended the dinner party videotaped outside the building while the shooting was taking place at Naval Air Station Pensacola on Friday, said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity after being briefed by federal authorities. Two other Saudi students watched from a car, the official said.

The official said 10 Saudi students were being held on the base Saturday while several others were unaccounted for.

U.S. officials had previously told the AP they were investigating possible links to terrorism.

Keep reading'...

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 01:15

Mohammed Saeed al-Shamrani was a Saudi aviator training at the U.S. naval station. He was reportedly able to purchase his weapon legally by acquiring a hunting license

The Saudi military student who killed three and injured 12 when he opened fire at Navy Station Pensacola on Friday used a loophole in the law to purchase the handgun he used in the attack.

Mohammed Saeed al-Shamrani, 21, bought the firearm legally from a store in Pensacola by providing the business owner with his hunting license, sources told NBC on Saturday.

Non-citizens are prevented from buying firearms, unless they are in possession of such a license.

The New York Times has reported the handgun as being a Glock 45 9-millimeter with an extended magazine.

al-Sharami is said to have had four to six other magazines in his possession at the time the shooting occurred.

It's unclear when al-Shamrani, 21, bought the handgun.

al-Shamrani was a second lieutenant attending the aviation school at Navy Station Pensacola. The Pentagon say his training with the US military began in August 2016, and was due to finish in August 2020.

A Saudi military student reportedly condemned the US as a 'nation of evil' before going on a rampage at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida on Friday, killing three people and wounding eight others

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has sought to distance itself Saturday from the shooting as it seeks to repair its image of being an exporter of Islamic extremism.

The Saudi military trainee reportedly condemned the US as a 'nation of evil' just hours from going on his rampage.

A Glock 45 9-millimeter handgun similar to the one al-Shamrani used in his attack on Friday

The shooting marks a setback in Saudi Arabia's efforts to shrug off its longstanding reputation for promoting religious extremism after the September 11, 2001 attacks in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis.

The hashtag 'Saudis stand with America' gained traction on social media after King Salman telephoned President Donald Trump to denounce the shooting as 'heinous' and pledge cooperation with American officials to investigate the incident.

The king added in the phone call on Friday that the shooter, who was gunned down by police, 'does not represent the Saudi people'.

The family of the shooter echoed the same sentiment, with pro-government Okaz newspaper quoted one of his uncles, Saad al-Shamrani, as saying that his actions do not reflect the 'humanity and loyalty of his family' to the kingdom's leadership.

al-Shamrani was a second lieutenant attending the aviation school at Navy Station Pensacola. The Pentagon say his training with the US military began in August 2016, and was due to finish in August 2020

Prince Khalid bin Salman, the king's younger son and the deputy defence minister, offered his 'sincerest condolences' to the families of the victims.

'Like many other Saudi military personnel, I was trained in a US military base, and we used that valuable training to fight side by side with our American allies against terrorism and other threats,' Prince Khalid said on Twitter.

'A large number of Saudi graduates of the Naval Air Station in Pensacola moved on to serve with their US counterparts in battlefronts around the world, helping to safeguard the regional and global security. (The) tragic event is strongly condemned by everyone in Saudi Arabia.'

On Friday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suggested Saudi Arabia should offer compensation to the victims.

'The government of Saudi Arabia needs to make things better for these victims, and I think they're going to owe a debt here given that this is one of their individuals,' DeSantis told US media.

On Friday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suggested Saudi Arabia should offer compensation to the victims.

Colorful tributes can already been seen around Pensacola following the shooting

Saudi citizens strongly rejected the view on social media, with one Twitter user saying: 'The government of Saudi Arabia is not responsible for every single individual with a Saudi passport.'

Relatives of the victims of the 2001 attacks are also suing Saudi Arabia for compensation even though the country has strongly denied complicity in the attacks.

Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has sought to project a moderate image of his austere kingdom, often associated in the West with jihadist ideology.

Prince Mohammed has promoted what observers call a de-emphasis on religion as he pursues a sweeping modernisation drive that has allowed mixed-gender music concerts and ended decades-long bans on cinemas and women drivers.

Saudi Arabia, which is home to Islam's holiest sites in Mecca and Medina and where the practice of other religions is banned, has hosted a flurry of representatives of various Christian traditions in recent months.

But the self-styled reformer has also faced global criticism for the kingdom's poor human rights record, including the jailing of multiple women activists, clerics and journalists.

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Fri, 06 Dec 2019 08:57

GQ, the monthly magazine formerly known as Gentleman's Quarterly and dedicated to fashion and living for the man of style, is now in the business of reinventing manhood. The magazine's latest is a special ''New Masculinity'' issue. Its purpose, according to editor-in-chief Will Welch, is to explore ''the ways that traditional notions of masculinity are being challenged, shifted, and overturned'' and to help ''rebuild masculinity on a foundation of traits and values like generosity, honesty, openness, and love.''

Some conservative reactions, such as a New York Times op-ed by Matt Labash, have been as predictable as the ''New Man'' sermonizing: Men are men, women are women, and all this talk of changing masculinity is nonsense, so let's hear it for the manly man. (John Wayne makes an appearance.) Labash is also put off by the fact that so many of the people talking about the ''New Masculinity'' in the special issue are women, since women have no business telling men how to be men.

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Fri, 06 Dec 2019 20:08

I ordered a turkey sandwich and asked for double meat. The guy behind me said, "You shouldn't eat meat." I turned and shrugged.

"Seriously," he said, his voice getting louder. "Meat is bad for you."

"Maybe so," I said. "But I like meat."

Evidently that was not the right response. "A friend turned me on to a vegan diet," he said. "Only fools eat meat. Meat is terrible for you. There's not a single reason to eat meat. The science is irrefutable." Then he paused and moved closer, narrowing his eyes to stare intently into mine.

"It's changed my life," he said.

"I'm not sure all meat is bad..." I said. "But that's really cool how being a vegan has worked out for you. How long have you been doing it?"

"This is my second day," he said.

Ah.

The Dunning-Kruger Effect

Our interaction is a perfect example of the Dunning-Kruger Effect, a type of cognitive bias described by social psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger in which people believe they're smarter and more skilled than they actually are. Combine a lack of self-awareness with low cognitive ability and boom: You overestimate your own intelligence and competence.

As Dunning, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan, says, "If you're incompetent, you can't know you're incompetent... the skills you need to produce the right answer are the very same skills you need to recognize the right answer."

As Bertrand Russell said, "One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision."

Or as my grandfather said, "The dumber you are, the more you think you know."

(On the flip side, people with high ability tend to underestimate how good they are. High-ability individuals tend to underrate their relative competence, and at the same time assume that tasks which are easy for them are just as easy for other people.)

But I shouldn't be too hard on the gentleman who had just adopted a vegan diet. I once spent twenty minutes trying to convince a motorcycle mechanic my bike handled poorly because of issues like spring rate and steering head angle and frame height... only to learn out I had unknowingly turned my rear shock's rebound damping to its lowest setting.

Wildly overestimating my knowledge made me a D-K.

We all know people who do the same. They take a position and then proclaim and bluster and pontificate while totally disregarding differing opinions or points of view. They know they're right -- and they want you to know they're right.

Their behavior isn't an indication of intelligence, though. It's the classic sign of a D-K.

Wisdom Is Never Found in Certainty

As Jeff Bezos says, "The smartest people are constantly revising their understanding, reconsidering a problem they thought they'd already solved. They're open to new points of view, new information, new ideas, contradictions, and challenges to their own way of thinking."

That's because wisdom isn't found in certainty. Wisdom is knowing that while you might know a lot... there's also a lot you don't know. Wisdom is trying to find out what is right rather than trying to be right. Wisdom is realizing when you're wrong, and backing down graciously.

Don't be afraid to be wrong. Don't be afraid to admit you don't have all the answers. Don't be afraid to say "I think" instead of "I know.

As Inc. colleague Jessica Stillman says, "Next time you're trying to determine if someone is actually super smart or simply bluffing, don't ask whether they're always right. Instead, ask when was the last time they changed their opinion. If they can't name lots of times they were wrong, they're probably not as smart as they want to appear."

Which means they're probably a D-K.

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The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 06:11

At least one LGBTQ advocate has expressed dismay over the fact that failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton denied rumors of ever having a lesbian affair.

Earlier this week, shock jock Howard Stern pushed more than a few of Hillary's buttons when he asked rather forthrightly on his radio show if the former first lady secretly swings for the other team.

''Well, contrary to what you might hear, I actually like men,'' Hillary told Stern.

''Raise your right hand,'' responded Stern. ''You've never had a lesbian affair.''

''Never, never, never!'' Clinton said as she began laughing. ''Never even been tempted. I dated a lot of different people, and I liked a lot of them. I was pretty popular. I was OK popular '... boys were not my problem.''

Speaking with NBC News, reporter Trish Bendix, a member of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and winner of the 2015 Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for excellence in LGBT media, said she did not appreciate how lesbianism came across as salacious. She took particular issue with Hillary's use of the word ''tempted.''

''It's so frustrating when public figures like Hillary feel the need to dispel lesbian rumors in a way that equates lesbianism or queerness with salaciousness, and that's ultimately what I dislike about the way she phrased it,'' Bendix said.

''I think there's a way to refute untrue ideas about one's own identity without saying something damaging to others,'' Bendix said.

As noted by Fox News, Gabriel Hays of Media Research Center mocked the idea of Hillary getting scolded for not being ''woke enough'' when talking about her sexuality.

''Tsk tsk, Hillary. The former presidential candidate is taking heat for her response to old rumors about her being a lesbian,'' Hays wrote. ''And while we're not bashing her for her sexuality, it's a hilarious predicament for the woman who fancies herself a de facto leader of the Left.''

Hillary Clinton's interview with Howard Stern has indeed sparked rumors over whether or not she plans to jump into the 2020 presidential race while the water is still warm and the supposedly top-tier candidates flounder. In fact, earlier this year, Howard Stern openly stated that Hillary made a mistake by not joining his show during the 2016 election, arguing it would have made her more relatable.

''I thought that if I did an interview with Hillary, '... she would reach a new audience,'' Stern told Stephen Colbert this past May.

Stern noted his potential listenership of 66 million people and how the election had hinged on less than 80,000 votes across Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin '-- states where his show is popular.

''What if Hillary had come on and, forget politics for a second, but what if we could have talked about her humanity, why she got into public service?'' Stern wondered aloud.

''Here is a woman who dedicated her whole life to public service,'' Stern continued. ''What was her life like as a little girl growing up? What was her romance with Bill Clinton? What was she thinking when she was secretary of state? What was she thinking when she was the first lady? Was she saying to herself, 'I wish I could be president,' or was she satisfied with that? There were a million questions I could have asked her that I think would have humanized her.''

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 17:04

Ze zijn jong, knap en rechts-radicaal en trekken ten strijde tegen het feminisme, dat het Westen zou bedreigen.

Hassan Bahara en Karolien Knols 7 december 2019 , 5:00Het vrouwelijke gezicht van radicaal rechts is knap, jong, blond en beschouwt het hedendaags feminisme als een groot gevaar voor de westerse beschaving. En hoe ongemakkelijk het ook is om meteen over het uiterlijk van vrouwen te beginnen, in dit geval is er geen ontkomen aan.

Zie bijvoorbeeld Eva Vlaardingerbroek, een rechtsfilosoof en Forum voor Democratie-medewerker in Brussel die vorige week zondag het vierde FvD-congres toesprak en vertelde dat 'de moderne feminist helemaal niets voelt voor Europa en de Europese waarden'. Een andere jonge, blonde Nederlandse vrouw in dit rijtje is Ava Brighton '' niet haar echte naam '' die vanuit Spanje veelbekeken YouTube-vlogs maakt over 'doorgeslagen feministen' die uit zijn op de vernietiging van de man.

Internationaal zijn er legio vergelijkbare voorbeelden. Er is de Canadese Lauren Southern die zwoele Instagramfoto's afwisselt met YouTube-vlogs waarin ze op straat de confrontatie zoekt met feministen. Er zijn de tweelingzusjes Brittany en Nicole Pettibone '' brunettes '' die op YouTube betogen dat echte vrouwelijkheid aan het wegkwijnen is omdat feministen vrouwen aanmoedigen om mannelijker te worden. Er is de ranke Russisch-Amerikaanse wit-nationalist Lana Lokteff die gelooft dat het feminisme niet stopt voordat de westerse beschaving ten val is gebracht. En dan is er nog de 19-jarige Naomi Seibt, een Duitse rijzende ster die deze week door De Telegraaf werd geportretteerd als de 'anti-Greta', oftewel de klimaatsceptische tegenhanger van Greta Thunberg. Ook Seibt moet weinig hebben van het feminisme en maakt onder de hashtag #FierceWithoutFeminism video's waarin ze het vrouwenquotum in het bedrijfsleven hekelt.

Het tot in de puntjes verzorgde voorkomen van veel van deze vrouwen is geen toeval. Zij beschouwen zichzelf als het volledige tegendeel van feministen. In het rechts-radicale milieu gelden die als lelijk, onvrouwelijk, zuur en proberen zij op hysterische wijze op gelijke voet met mannen te komen. Maar vrouwen en mannen zijn nu eenmaal anders, vinden deze rechts-radicale dames. Gedraag je daar dan ook naar.

'Hedendaagse feministen maken alle verschillen tussen mannen en vrouwen verdacht of ontkennen ze', betoogde Eva Vlaardingerbroek op het FvD-congres. 'Heren in de zaal, u weet het: als u vandaag de dag een deur open houdt voor een vrouw, dan bent u volgens hedendaagse feministen een seksist.' Even daarvoor had ze met afgrijzen gesproken over feministen die 'hun okselhaar laten groeien'.

Daarnaast dient het voorkomen van deze vrouwen nog een andere functie: het prikkelt mensen om mee te gaan in het idee dat feministen het witte, traditionele Westen volledig willen afbreken en daarna willen uitleveren aan hordes islamitische jongemannen.

Julia Ebner (28), een Oostenrijks-Engelse onderzoeker van radicaal rechts die verbonden is aan de Londense denktank ISD Global, beschouwt die zelfstilering als de eerste stap om zoveel mogelijk 'fanboys' en vrouwelijke bewonderaars aan zich te binden. 'Door zoveel aandacht te besteden aan hun uiterlijk presenteren ze zichzelf als aantrekkelijk voor mannen en voor vrouwen. Daardoor weten ze vaak binnen een paar weken een gigantische groep volgers op te bouwen op sociale media. Vervolgens spelen ze al dan niet expliciet in op de grote omvolkingstheorie die stelt dat de witte, westerse bevolking wordt vervangen door migranten. Schuldig daaraan zijn de feministen die ervoor zorgen dat witte vrouwen minder vrouwelijk worden en dus minder kinderen krijgen waardoor het geboortecijfer in Europa daalt.'

Breed scala

Volgens Ebner hebben deze rechts-radicale vrouwen een breed scala aan internetmilieus tot hun beschikking waaruit ze kunnen putten voor jonge, mannelijke aanhangers. Belangrijk is vooral de manosphere, een verzamelnaam voor sites, blogs en fora voor versiercoaches en men's rights activists (MRA). In dit domein leeft het idee dat de man juridisch, economisch en op de liefdesmarkt wordt gedwarsboomd door het feminisme.

Vrouwelijke aanhangers worden volgens Ebner bijvoorbeeld geworven op onlinefora waar vrouwen in een identiteits- of relatiecrisis bij elkaar komen om het hedendaags feminisme te hekelen als de oorzaak van hun eenzaamheid en/of liefdesperikelen. Ook Ebner zelf was bijna het jonge, mooie gezicht van radicaal rechts. In 2017 ging ze voor haar onderzoek undercover bij de Engelse tak van de Identitaire Beweging, een pan-Europese extreem-rechtse organisatie. Nog voordat ze er blijk van had gegeven dat ze de ideologie van de Identitaire Beweging onder de knie had, werd ze gevraagd om het uithangbord van de organisatie te worden.

'Ik wist er onderuit te komen door mij heel na¯ef voor te doen. Maar het liet wel zien dat ze jonge vrouwen graag een zichtbare plek geven. Op die manier hopen ze hun ideologie namelijk acceptabel te kunnen maken bij zoveel mogelijk mannen en vrouwen.'

Vlaardingerbroek werd tijdens het FvD-congres door partijleider Thierry Baudet aangekondigd als een 'nieuwe, verfrissende stem' in het debat. In haar speech stelde Vlaardingerbroek dat het feministen niets kan schelen dat Europese steden nauwelijks meer Europees zijn. 'De westerse man is de aartsvijand, maar de massa-immigratie van honderdduizenden alleenstaande mannen uit z(C)(C)r patriarchale samenlevingen, dat is blijkbaar geen enkel probleem. En dat terwijl in het multiculturele paradijs Zweden inmiddels eenderde van de jonge vrouwen te maken krijgt met seksueel geweld' '' een toename die volgens Zweedse onderzoekers niet direct te verklaren is door de komst van migranten.

Volgens Vlaardingerbroek is het hedendaags feminisme totaal in de ban geraakt van het 'cultuurmarxisme', een term die binnen rechts-radicale kringen wordt gebruikt om te benadrukken dat westerse waarden worden ondermijnd door linkse intellectuelen, feministen, homo's en etnische minderheden. 'Alleen is nu de traditionele klassenstrijd vervangen door de strijd van vrouwen en minderheden tegen een nieuwe onderdrukker, te weten: de blanke man.'

In een reactie aan de Volkskrant laat Vlaardingerbroek weten dat ze in haar speech vooral wilde wijzen op het 'paradoxale karakter' van het hedendaags feminisme. 'Enerzijds haat het feminisme niets zo erg als als 'het patriarchaat', anderzijds lijkt het geen problemen te hebben met de massa-immigratie van mannen uit z(C)(C)r patriarchale samenlevingen waar vrouwen als tweederangsburgers worden behandeld. Dat rijmt niet met elkaar, zou je denken.'

Ashley Mattheis, auteur van het promotieonderzoek Schieldmaiden of Whiteness (Schildmaagd van Witheid) waarin ze de rol van vrouwen in wit-nationalistische kringen onderzoekt, bestudeerde op verzoek van de Volkskrant de tekst van Vlaardingerbroek. Volgens Mattheis, verbonden aan de Universiteit van North Carolina, is het framen van feminisme als cultuurmarxisme een duidelijke hint naar de grote omvolkingstheorie. 'Beide theorien stellen dat de witte beschaving in verval is geraakt. In haar speech impliceert Vlaardingerbroek dat dit komt door feministen en bruine mensen die een gevaar vormen voor witte vrouwen en mannen. Want witte vrouwen worden seksueel ge¯ntimideerd door de vreemdelingen en witte mannen mogen geen echte mannen meer zijn van feministen.' Vlaardingerbroek, die afstand neemt van de term 'radicaal rechts', weerspreekt deze interpretatie van haar toespraak en beschouwt het als een 'lasterlijk frame': 'Ik heb het niet over huidskleur gehad, ik wilde een cultureel probleem aankaarten.'

Eva Vlaardingerbroek tijdens Partijdag Forum voor Democratie in Barneveld. Beeld Guus Dubbelman/ de Volkskrant Cruciaal

Desondanks noemt Mattheis de rol van vrouwen als Vlaardingerbroek cruciaal voor radicaal rechts. Ze leveren volgens haar een flinke bijdrage aan het demoniseren van minderheden en feministen. Toch blijft het een opmerkelijk gezicht, stelt Mattheis, om vrouwen vanaf een podium het antifeminisme te horen prediken tegenover een voornamelijk mannelijk publiek dat er gul om lacht en applaudisseert. Hoe verenigen ze die prominente rol met hun plek in een groep die de vrouw het liefst bedeesd heeft?

Voor Vlaardingerbroek is dit geen dilemma, zegt ze. 'Het feit dat ik kritiek heb op het doorgeslagen moderne feminisme, betekent niet dat ik vind dat vrouwen voor niets anders goed zijn dan kinderen baren en allemaal terug moeten naar de keuken. Anders zou ik niet op een podium voor drieduizend man gaan staan.' Tegelijkertijd, benadrukt ze, 'is er niets mis met het erkennen van de biologische verschillen tussen mannen en vrouwen en het feit dat deze verschillen verschillende levenskeuzes opleveren. Als een vrouw er op enig moment in haar leven voor kiest om het stichten van een gezin haar eerste prioriteit te maken, dan heb ik daar niets dan respect voor. Toch hoor ik vaak van vrouwen die dat doen, dat zij op die keuze raar worden aangekeken.'

Andere ambitieuze antifeministische vrouwen worstelen er wel mee. Rechts-radicale mannen zijn vaak vol bewondering voor de tradwife, een internetterm voor vrouwen die zich houden aan een traditionele rolverdeling en content zijn met het leven als huisvrouw, moeder en echtgenote. Lauren Southern, die nog single is, krijgt hierom nogal wat seksistische verwensingen naar haar hoofd geslingerd vanuit de radicaal rechtse scene. In de YouTube-video Why I'm Not Married uit 2017 vertelde ze dat ze om haar vrijgezelle en kinderloze bestaan geregeld uitgemaakt wordt voor een 'gedegenereerde' en een 'hypocriet'. Uiteraard zijn traditionele rolpatronen de beste optie, verdedigde Southern zichzelf, maar zolang zij nog niet de juiste partner is tegengekomen, beschouwt ze zichzelf als een uitzondering op de regel. '

De Nederlandse YouTube-vlogger Ava Brighton noemt 'vrouwenhaat' een 'lastig ding'. Zij ontwaart die haat vooral bij de internetgemeenschap van mannen die zich radicaal afgekeerd hebben van vrouwen, de zogenaamde MGTOW, kort voor Men Going Their Own Way. Die laten onder haar video's geregeld reacties achter waar de misogynie van afdruipt. 'Een kleine minderheid van de mannen die reageren wenst alle vrouwen dood. Mij noemen ze wel eens een kameleon. Daarmee bedoelen ze vrouwen die net doen alsof ze sympathiseren met de mannenzaak, maar zodra ze zich hebben binnengewerkt, dan alsnog een feministische agenda opleggen. Ik probeer me dat niet persoonlijk aan te trekken, want ik begrijp wel waar die gevoelens vandaan komen. Mannen hebben het tegenwoordig zwaar. Als ze een relatie aangaan dan lopen bijvoorbeeld ze het risico om gearresteerd te worden omdat de vrouw, zonder bewijs, aangifte van verkrachting doet.'

Geestelijk gestoord

Brighton, die niet met haar echte naam in de krant wil uit angst voor boze feministen, vlogt pas sinds kort op YouTube. Eind september plaatste ze haar eerste video waarin ze de vraag opwerpt of alle vrouwen 'geestelijk gestoord' zijn. Het antwoord: ja, de meeste jonge vrouwen die aangeraakt zijn door de laatste golf van het feminisme zijn geestelijk gestoord, want zij kunnen alleen nog maar schreeuwen en een gevoel van slachtofferschap uitventen.

De video werd meer dan 50 duizend keer bekeken. Haar bekendheid onder antifeministische mannen leidde al gauw tot een uitnodiging om te komen spreken op het Messages 4 Men-evenement in Londen. Daar stond ze als enige vrouw in een line-up met mannen die zichzelf 'vrijheid van meningsuiting-activist' noemen en vloggers die aanschurken tegen alt-right. Brightons verhaal over hoe de 'feministische lobby' de man rechtenloos probeert te maken, werd er warm onthaald.

Zeven jaar geleden emigreerde Brighton met haar partner naar Spanje. Doordat hij jarenlang in de clinch lag met zijn ex-vrouw, ging Brighton zich meer verdiepen in de juridische positie van mannen in echtscheidingskwesties. Op internet las ze dat mannen rechtenloos in de rechtbank zijn gemaakt door de manvijandige feministische lobby. Brighton besloot toen op YouTube het 'ware gezicht' van het feminisme te tonen.

Brighton: 'Het feminisme van vroeger snap ik wel. Toen moest nog echte gelijkheid voor vrouwen afgedwongen worden. Maar de huidige golf feministen strijdt alleen nog maar voor futiliteiten. Ze zijn tegen dingen als manspreading (mannen die ruimte innemen door de benen wijd te spreiden in het openbaar vervoer, red.) en mansplaining (mannen die neerbuigend uitleg geven aan vrouwen, red.). Het gaat ze alleen nog maar om het neerhalen van de man.'

Brighton zegt dat ze er voor waakt om in haar video's een expliciet politiek geluid te laten horen. Ze is zelf niet tegen migratie, benadrukt ze, maar toch kan ze meekomen in het idee dat 'feministen via massa-immigratie de blanke westerse man willen wegkrijgen'. Net als Vlaardingerbroek ziet ze Zweden als schrikbeeld. 'Daar bestaat de regering volledig uit feministen. Die laten heel duidelijk massa-immigratie toe omdat ze de blanke westerse man de mond willen snoeren. Je ziet het ook bij de women's marches in het Westen. Daar roepen ze leuzen zoals dat de westerse man dood moet en dat iedere migrant welkom is.'

Inmiddels is Brighton ervan overtuigd dat feministen het niet alleen op de witte westerse man hebben gemunt. Door haar vlogs krijgt ze mails van mannen uit alle hoeken van de wereld, van Isral tot India. En allemaal vertellen ze haar hetzelfde verhaal: de feministen hebben het ook op hen gemunt.

'Daarom maak ik mijn video's. Ik wil de wereld laten zien wat er gebeurt en wat de daadwerkelijke agenda van feministen is. Het is belangrijk dat juist ik, een vrouw, hierover spreek, want dan zal men het sneller aannemen.'

Verbetering: Ten onrechte was in een eerdere versie van dit artikel de opmerking weggevallen dat Ava Brighton zelf niet tegen migratie is.

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 03:40

Let them eat duct-taped bananas

- The US Federal Reserve, probably

On Friday, we reported on the latest bizarre milestone in the "art" world, when a banana duct-taped to a wall sold for $120,000 at that excess-liquidity conclave of ultra rich and other wannabe poseurs known Art Basel Miami Beach. Worse, a second banana duct-taped to a wall also sold for $120,000. Yet even worse than that, a third banana duct-taped to a wall is expected to sell for $150,000 and so on.

Then on Saturday, at around 1:45pm, the art world was shocked when a random man, allegedly a performance artist, ate said duct-taped banana that sold earlier this week for $120,000.

New York-based performance artist David Datuna ate the banana early on Saturday afternoon in front of a stunned convention full of "art" lovers most of whom had no idea whether they were witnessing even more "art", of just some clueless rando eating the world's most discussed "art" exhibit, the gallery told the Miami Herald.

This happened and here's the video: someone ripped the Maurizio Cattelan banana off the wall at @ArtBasel and ATE IT 🍌 pic.twitter.com/JOL41jLoeY

'-- JiaJia Fei è´¹å‰è (@VAJIAJIA) December 7, 2019Perrotin Gallery spokesman Lucien Terras told the Herald that Datuna did not "destroy" the artwork because "the banana is the idea", or as Magritte would say "Ceci n'est pas une banane."

The controversial piece, called "The Comedian," was created by Maurizio Cattelan, an Italian artist who had also entertained art lovers from around the globe in 2017 with his "America" 18-carat-gold toilet. The $6-million throne was stolen from England's Blenheim Palace over the summer according to CBS.

Emmanuel Perrotin, the gallery founder, told CBS News that Maurizio's work is not just about objects, but about how objects move through the world.

"Whether affixed to the wall of an art fair booth or displayed on the cover of the New York Post, his work forces us to question how value is placed on material goods," he said, although he could have also added "or eaten."

He added that "the spectacle is as much a part of the work as the banana."

Perrotin was about to head to the airport when he heard about the banana being eaten and rushed back, according to the Herald. An attendee tried to cheer him up by handing him a banana. A borrowed replacement banana was eventually re-adhered to the wall, because "art."

Whereas the "art" world was briefly outraged after the 120,000 rotting banana was calmly eaten, unaware that they themselves were the joke, normals argued this piece is a perfect representation of what the art world has become with its gaping wealth inequalities and where idiotic "art" such as a banana duct taped to a wall sells for $120,000. Others, however, chose not to go as deep and appreciate the simplicity of the art piece. Yet others blamed the Fed for flooding the world with so much money that a banana duct taped to a wall was actually bought by someone for $120,000.

The artist first came up with the idea a year ago. He "was thinking of a sculpture that was shaped like a banana," according to a press statement from Perrotin.

"Every time he traveled, he brought a banana with him and hung it in his hotel room to find inspiration. He made several models: first in resin, then in bronze and in painted bronze (before) finally coming back to the initial idea of a real banana."

The artist reported no clear instructions for buyers on whether the bananas start to decompose.

As for Datuna, who calmly ate the banana in front of a room full of shocked "art" fans before he was confronted by an art gallery worker, his parting words were "see you after jail, guys."

"Are you kidding me?""It's performance.""It's absolutely not performance."..."See you after jail, guys!" pic.twitter.com/BHsCtNLki2

'-- JiaJia Fei è´¹å‰è (@VAJIAJIA) December 7, 2019

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 04:05

President Donald Trump is a master troll.

If there's one thing he excels at, it's goading the media into giving him free air time or simply exposing them as complete fools. Now, his latest apparent power move has the establishment media losing their collective minds.

Trump's grievous offense? Having bigger salt and pepper shakers than everyone else.

As CBS White House correspondent Mark Knoller pointed out Thursday, the president's seasoning implements were noticeably larger than others at a meal in the White House.

DIdn't know that the President gets bigger salt-and-pepper shakers than anyone else at the table. pic.twitter.com/jJ0PhV9K4N

'-- Mark Knoller (@markknoller) December 5, 2019

TRENDING: Famous Faces Who Passed Away in November 2019

The establishment media quickly pounced on the disparity.

Business Insider jumped on the story in a piece of serious journalism that involved plenty of photos of various White House rooms, complete with salt and pepper shakers circled like aerial photos from a CIA analyst.

Voice of America White House bureau chief Steve Herman, who appears to have taken the photo that Knoller originally noticed, confirmed that Trump's shakers were indeed bigger.

Forget impeachment. The media is going to bust Shakergate wide open.

This pointed out by @markknoller so just checked the photos I took today during the Cabinet Room lunch meeting with UNSC ambassadors to verify: Salt and pepper shakers for @POTUS are indeed larger than those for his guests. pic.twitter.com/ChoW8nydjP

'-- Steve Herman (@W7VOA) December 5, 2019

Even Pete Souza, the chief official White House photographer for former President Barack Obama, weighed in on the matter.

''Confirming that the salt-and-pepper shakers were the same size during the Obama administration,'' Souza wrote in a post containing a photo from the Obama era.

Confirming that the salt-and-pepper shakers were the same size during the Obama administration @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/Bqa4RZBgBP pic.twitter.com/aBFBsUoLuu

'-- Pete Souza (@PeteSouza) December 6, 2019

RELATED: Trump Praises Salvation Army Following LGBT Backlash: 'An Inspiration to Us All'

The reasons for Trump's large shakers are anybody's guess.

Did Trump do this on purpose? 75% (6 Votes)

25% (2 Votes)

They could be bait for the media '-- an attempt to draw focus away from the impeachment circus and expose anti-Trump journalists as the clowns they actually are.

Of course, they could also be a simple set of salt and pepper shakers with no meaning at all behind them. Despite the collective efforts of the U.S. journalism community, this may be a mystery that remains unsolved.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 05:52

Students in an 11th-grade history class discuss the 1619 Project Oct. 24 at Manhattan's Facing History School. (Taylor Swaak)Updated, Nov. 6

J eremias Mata started his junior year thinking he'd already learned everything he needed to know about slavery.

''When I found out I was going to learn about slavery [this year], I was like, 'Urgh '... again?''' said Mata, 16, sitting in his 11th-grade history class at the Facing History School in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen. Over time, he'd connected slavery with hopelessness and a certain simplicity '-- that many black people had once been slaves, and that was that.

''But when we got into it'' this year, he continued, ''it was a lot of stuff that I didn't know about.''

Part of what's making this year's lessons novel for students like Mata is an addition to the school's history curriculum: The New York Times's 1619 Project '-- a compilation of essays and poetry, penned almost entirely by black authors, that re-examines slavery's legacy in the U.S. 400 years after the first enslaved people arrived here from West Africa.

The project, released in August, is helping schools nationwide reframe how slavery is taught in a way that captures its brutality, complexity and influence in shaping America, while also affirming the experience as integral to black Americans' identity and their contributions to the country. Already a supplemental resource this year in every Chicago public high school, the project isn't mandated material in the country's largest school district. Its launch this summer, however, coincides with a new city education department policy encouraging schools to adopt curriculum that's relevant to marginalized students' experiences.

For many communities, having what's known as culturally responsive education and implicit bias training is ''a matter of life and death,'' Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza, a vocal advocate for the policy, said at a panel discussion last month. New York City is a predominantly minority district '-- about 26 percent of students are black, 41 percent Hispanic, 16 percent Asian and 15 percent white '-- and many schools are deeply segregated.

''It's extremely important, especially with the student body that we teach here,'' said Eric Albino, a history teacher at the Facing History School, whose enrollment is roughly 25 percent black, 71 percent Hispanic or Latino and 2 percent white.

The decision to intermittently weave the 1619 Project into the class curriculum throughout this year was immediate, co-teachers Albino and Alexa Achille said '-- especially as it aligns with the school's existing mission to ''recenter'' history around ''people who are often forgotten.'' The district school, which opened in 2005, is one of the nonproft Facing History and Ourselves's 19 partner or lab schools in the tristate area.

It serves 359 students in grades 9 through 12, many of whom commute from Washington Heights, Harlem and the South Bronx. It's one of the city's more than 30 ''consortium'' schools, small schools that teach a few subjects deeply to students who demonstrate their learning through a portfolio of oral and written work. Students are exempt from all but the English Regents exam.

While race plays a critical role in teaching the 1619 curriculum '-- and other parts of history that are often glossed over '-- Albino stressed that its lessons are important to all students.

''The general scholarship of topics like this needs to be pushed,'' he said.

Mata and his peers spent class on a Thursday morning in late October digging into parts of the 1619 Project. One poem depicted the devastating emotional and physical toll that the transatlantic journey known as the Middle Passage inflicted on those bound for slavery in America. Others told the story of how enslaved people, including Native Americans, erected much of the country's early infrastructure, from railroads to churches, and how slave labor fed a surging cotton market that enabled America's rise as a global economic powerhouse.

''I kind of feel like it gives me a new sense of what it means to be gritty. To make it out of a bad situation,'' said Mata, whose family is from the Dominican Republic and Cuba.

A student raises her hand during a discussion of the 1619 Project in her 11th-grade history class. (Taylor Swaak)

Mata said he doesn't believe that his peers attending other district schools are getting the same exposure to these in-depth conversations about slavery as he is now. He thinks they should.

''It relates to a lot of stuff that happens now,'' said Mata, alluding to the prevailing racial inequities and tensions roiling the country. ''People of color are automatically one step behind other people. Because of slavery, that was a barrier that was put in front of them, and it took them a long time to break out of it. Even now.''

Cotton, slavery and the building of America

Albino and Achille saw an opportunity to surface the 1619 Project last month during a history unit exploring the roots of early America from the 1600s to the 1700s '-- a time frame that coincides with the start of American slavery.

Class that Thursday morning began with students comparing two poems by author Clint Smith: one on the Middle Passage, and a second describing the despair and hellish conditions inside the New Orleans Superdome, where thousands of residents were held for days without adequate water, working toilets or power as Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Louisiana city.

''I slide my ring finger from Senegal to South Carolina and feel the ocean separate a million families. The soft hum of history spins on its tilted axis. A cavalcade of ghost ships wash their hands of all they carried.''

''Before desperation descended under the rounded roof '... There were families inside though there were some who failed to call them families '... There were people inside though there were some who only saw a parade of disembodied shadows.''

''What are the similarities?'' asked Albino, who that day taught the class without his co-teacher, Achille.

Class participation, at first, was subdued. The 15 or so students were infants when the historic hurricane made landfall in 2005, and they didn't appear to have much context.

Albino expounded a bit more. He displayed an image of the city submerged underwater on the class prompter, noting, ''Everything you see on there is a roof.'' He explained how the government inadequately prepared for and responded to the hurricane '-- a decision that left many poor black people stranded to bear the brunt of the storm.

Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Sept. 11, 2005 (Getty Images)

He asked again: ''How does Hurricane Katrina and the way it played out in New Orleans reflect the legacy of slavery?''

Answers started trickling in. One student likened the packed Superdome with the confined space on slave ships. A few identified how both groups of people lost control. ''Originally with slavery '... all of a sudden they were taken abruptly to a whole new land,'' one of the students said. With Hurricane Katrina, ''These people were living their normal lives and then this hurricane came, basically forcing them to restart.''

''The hurricane is a metaphor [for] the white people, taking all of the black people from their homes and taking them away from [comfort],'' another surmised.

Albino piggybacked off of the last student's interpretation. ''It's kind of a reflection of the dehumanization that plays a role throughout American history,'' he said. ''These poems, I thought, really nailed down this connection.''

The class then split into groups to analyze four other short poems and essays, which underlined slavery's role in U.S. wealth and trade, the connection between police brutality and power dynamics and the roots of black mistrust in the medical system. Students were preparing to submit their first major assignment for the unit '-- an essay on how identity affected power in early America '-- and their teachers wanted them to cull compelling quotes from the 1619 materials about slavery's impact to add to their final products.

Justin Ventura, far left, discusses the 1619 readings with his classmates. (Taylor Swaak)

Discussion was particularly lively at one table around the essays ''Fabric of Modernity: How Southern Cotton Became the Cornerstone of a New Global Commodities Trade'' and ''Municipal Bonds: How Slavery Built Wall Street.''

''New Amsterdam's and New York's enslaved put in place much of the local infrastructure, including Broad Way and the Bowery roads,'' one student read from the latter essay about the creation of the two iconic city streets. Another lifted a quote on how the cotton trade initiated modern-day contracts: ''From the first decades of the 1800s '... the sheer size of the market and the escalating number of disputes between counterparties was such that courts and lawyers began to articulate and codify the common-law standards regarding contracts.''

These readings prompted 15-year-old Justin Ventura to make a self-proclaimed ''pretty controversial'' statement to his classmates.

''I don't feel like slavery was good, but it was kind of necessary for the world to become what it is,'' he said. ''Obviously we had to start somewhere, build from the ground up.''

Those at his table were in agreement. One female classmate, venturing away from the readings in front of them, added that slavery and the civil rights activism that ensued a century later to try to undo its harmful legacy ushered in equal rights laws, including in education.

Darielle Santana, 16, said he finds it all ''very interesting.''

''In my other schools, I would just learn that slaves came, they worked on the plantations, were mistreated and then were freed after the Civil War,'' Santana said after class. ''But now I actually learn '... how this history impacts us today.''

Like Mata, he wants his friends to learn too. ''They should know about 1619,'' he said.

Changing how history is taught districtwide

Teaching curriculum that focuses on the perspectives of often-overlooked groups is not mandated in New York City. But district policy does recommend the practice, and schools and educators can choose to bake it into their class lessons, as teachers Albino and Achille have done with the 1619 Project.

If teachers want ''to take the opportunity to provide more perspective on the subjects that they're talking about so students get a deeper understanding, they can use pieces of what we're doing if they have time to pause and reflect,'' Achille said.

The city education department has identified specific existing resources for educators ''that can be enriched by essays and poems from 1619,'' a spokeswoman wrote in an email Tuesday. New York Times reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones's lead 1619 essay, for example, can tie into eighth-grade-level Passport to Social Studies lessons on Brown v. Board of Education and the Little Rock Nine and a Hidden Voices Project profile on David Ruggles, an African-American abolitionist in New York City in the 1800s. The DOE will host professional development sessions that ''examine certain aspects of the 1619 Project'' this school year, she said. The district announced in a report last week that it invested $23 million in culturally responsive education and implicit bias training in 2018-19.

Facing History and Ourselves hasn't developed its own curriculum around the 1619 Project, though it pointed to its lesson on reparations that ties in those materials. Much of the nonprofit's work in the city involves its collaborations with the education department to provide history curricula such as Civics for All lessons to more than 700 schools, said Pam Haas, the organization's executive director for New York. The organization also conducts professional development trainings relating to bias, hatred and equity, she said.

Yet another avenue is the Pulitzer Center, a nonprofit journalism organization that offers a 1619-specific curriculum '-- and a space for teachers to share creative lesson plans '-- along with a free online version of the project. While the Facing History School teachers didn't explicitly follow the center's curriculum, it's an ''inspiration,'' Albino said.

Despite widespread interest in the project, this approach to teaching history hasn't been without criticism. Some worry that Chancellor Carranza's intense focus on race, class and equity is a distraction from the urgent need to teach basic math, reading and science. The 1619 Project specifically has also struck a nerve with more conservative critics, who don't consider slavery part of ''the essence of America'' and who believe that the U.S. definitively moved past this ''original sin'' after the Civil War and subsequent civil rights movement.

For educators who want to dive in, Facing History School's Assistant Principal Calee Prindle urged professional development training on how to broach difficult topics in the 1619 Project with their students. Facing History and Ourselves cited various webinars teachers could listen to, like this one on creating ''class contracts'' where students agree on expectations for how members of the class will treat one another during tense discussions.

''It could be really harmful if you just say, 'Go do this curriculum,' and teachers aren't trained to create positive relationships with students, to have brave spaces in classrooms,'' she said.

Teaching history with the 1619 Project is an ongoing process, Prindle added. She's eager to see what's next.

''I'm really excited to see '... how it will manifest itself, especially in the spring semester,'' she said. ''The journey has just begun, really.''

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Source: CoinDesk

Sat, 07 Dec 2019 14:06

Dec 6, 2019 at 11:15 UTC Updated Dec 6, 2019 at 11:20 UTC

Steven Mnuchin, secretary of the U.S. Treasury, has no issue with the launch of the Facebook-led Libra project '' as long as financial rules are followed.

''I'm fine if Facebook wants to create a digital currency, but they need to be fully compliant'' with financial secrecy and anti-money laundering rules, he said Thursday, according to a Bloomberg report. ''In no way can this be used for terrorist financing.''

Mnuchin was speaking in Washington, D.C. at a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee in response to a question from a lawmaker.

Since Libra was announced in June, much to the chagrin of the globe's regulators and central banks, Mnuchin indicated he's met with Facebook a dozen times to talk over regulatory concerns. That's slowed the pace of the payments project's move toward launch, he said.

Libra will be a stablecoin for payments through Facebook platforms and other wallets and products and is likely to be pegged to a basket of national currencies and government bonds.

At the hearing, Mnuchin also said the U.S. is unlikely to develop a digital currency in the near term, Bloomberg wrote.

''[Federal Reserve Chair Jerome] Powell and I have discussed this '' we both agree that in the near future, in the next five years, we see no need for the Fed to issue a digital currency,'' Mnuchin said.

The hearing saw questions over China's plans to launch a digital yuan in the near future. The European Central Bank also made comments recently that it might launch a digital currency if traditional payments methods are not improved for consumers.

Powell has previously indicated that the Fed is evaluating a digital dollar, but the benefits are not yet clear.

Disclaimer Read More The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. This article is intended as a news item to inform our readers of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of the cryptocurrency described above. The information contained herein is not intended to provide, and it does not provide, sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision, and you should not rely on this information for that purpose. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments.

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 01:06

THE world's first monkey-pig hybrids have been born, which could pave the way for human organs grown by animals.

A groundbreaking experiment produced creatures with hearts, livers, spleens, lungs and skin which contained pig and primate cells.

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World's first ever monkey-pig hybrids have been created by Chinese scientistsStem cells from macaque monkeys were grown in a lab and then injected into pig embryos five days after fertilisation.

Of more than 4,000 implanted in sows, ten piglets were born. But only two were chimeras and both died in a week.

However the Chinese scientists reckon that may be due to IVF procedure.

Beijing-based Tang Hai said: ''This is the first report of full-term pig-monkey chimeras.''

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The piglets, known as moinkeys, had organs with monkey cells in a very low ratio. A similar US experiment in 2017 used pig and human DNA.

Embryos were developed for only a month amid fears the brain may be partly human.

University of California stem cell biologist Paul Knoepfler said: ''Given the extremely low chimeric efficiency and the deaths of all the animals, I see this as fairly discouraging.''

Rocket Mice

GENETICALLY enhanced supermice have been launched into space.

The eight rodents, which are twice as muscly as normal, are part of a three-ton cargo heading for the International Space Station.

The load also includes a robot sensitive to emotions, a miniature brewery's malt house plus holiday goodies for the six station residents.

The Falcon rocket, Space X's 19th supply run for Nasa, blasted off late from Cape Canaveral, Florida, a day late because of winds.

Captive monkeys are trained to help harvest coconuts on Thai plantations GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun.co.uk

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 01:19

Enlarge / APIA, SAMOA - DECEMBER 5: Red flags are seen hanging outside of homes of Apia residents indicating they have not been vaccinated for measles on December 5, 2019 in Apia, Samoa.

Samoa's most prominent locally based anti-vaccine advocate will stay behind bars as officials go door to door vaccinating residents against a massive measles outbreak that has already killed 63'--nearly all of whom are children under 4 years old.

Officials arrested Edwin Tamasese Thursday, December 5, charging him with "

incitement against the Government vaccination order[s]," according to the Samoa Observer. He faces two years in jail.

The arrest came after he allegedly posted a message on social media about the current vaccination campaign that read, "I will be here to mop up your mess. Enjoy your killing spree."

Officials denied Tamasese bail. That means he will spend the remainder of the government's vaccination campaign in jail, awaiting the next available court date. Police said they had given him written warnings to cease his anti-vaccination rhetoric prior to the arrest. The attorney general's office cited the likelihood that he would reoffend as a reason to deny bail.

Toll of misinformationTamasese, a manager of a coconut farmers' collective in Samoa, is a vocal anti-vaccine advocate who has garnered an international following. Though he has no medical or scientific background, he questions the safety of life-saving vaccinations. He also claims to be a Samoan Taulasea [traditional healer] and falsely says he is able to cure measles with vitamins A and C. (There is no specific treatment for measles.)

A Taulasea who spoke with a New Zealand news outlet, however, noted that healers employ natural resources from the area to treat mainly tropical ailments. "With introduced diseases like measles, you must go to the hospital. We have no plants that can heal this,'' the healer said. ''Taulasea work hand in hand with Western medicines on diseases like this."

In interviews with media, Tamasese said he has treated up to 70 people and encouraged countless others to avoid immunizations and hospitals.

A government spokesperson told reporters Thursday that such advice is a ''major reason'' for the increasing number of deaths in the outbreak. ''A lot of people are keeping their [children] at home until there's nothing else [and they see going to the hospital] as a last resort," he said. ''Some arrive [at a hospital] and nothing can be done, so the law is cracking down."

In the latest update on the measles outbreak, Samoan officials report

4,357 cases and 63 deaths. Fifty-five of the deaths were in children aged 0 to 4. The government also reports that there are

20 critically ill children being treated for measles in intensive care units.

The outbreak ignited in October of this year, and the government declared a state of emergency in mid-November. The emergency proclamation extended the government's authority, making vaccinations compulsory and making it illegal to prevent or discourage anyone from receiving a vaccine.

The government has also closed schools and barred children from public gatherings to try to curb the spread of the deadly, highly contagious virus. On December 5 and 6, the Samoan government shut down entirely to aid public servants' efforts to immunize residents in a door-to-door vaccination campaign. Unvaccinated residents were told to mark their homes with red flags to help with the vaccination effort.

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 04:17

Humans have gone totally gaga over meal delivery services. Now, it's Fido's turn, as food for dogs is experiencing its own food delivery renaissance. But your furry friend isn't picky, so how do you choose which pet food delivery service should be bringing healthy meals straight to your door?

Read more: Gourmet dog treats we'd totally sneak a bite of | Your dogs can enjoy these summer barbecue treats with you

Finding the right meal delivery services for your dog or cat can be challenging, to say the least, as there are so many meal delivery options to choose from and so many opinions on the "best way" to optimize the nutrition, ingredients, and vitamins and minerals for both dogs and cats. Do you choose grain-free dog food, raw dog food, homemade dog food , or plain old dry dog food? If you're struggling to find pet food that fits your fur baby's needs (or if you're just sick of driving back and forth to the pet store every week), you might be interested in one of these options for pet food delivery services, which bring healthy, fresh food right to your door.

Spot and Tango: Fresh dog food delivery, small-batch and ready-to-serve NomNomNow: Fresh, preportioned meals for dogs and catsPet Plate: Ready-to-serve meals for dogsChewy: Autoshipping and unbeatable customer serviceFarmer's Dog: Human-grade food, tailored to your individual dogSmalls: Freshly cooked food for catsPetFlow: Autoshipping on your pet's favorite foodsOllie: Meal plans tailored to individual dogsBarkbox: Monthly themed collections of toys and treats for your dogSuper Chewer: Barkbox for dogs that are tough on toysBully Bundles: Monthly delivery of low-odor bully sticksPupJoy: Healthy treats and toys delivered each monthNote CNET may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.

Gary Gerard Otten/Spot and TangoFor pet parents that are all about farm-to-table food and the health and well-being of their dog, Spot and Tango might be a perfect pick pet food delivery service. The human-grade dog food is made from locally farmed fresh ingredients in New York, in small batches with no artificial additives, preservatives or fillers. The fresh dog food delivery recipes are formulated by veterinary nutritionists and come in preportioned packages (determined by your dog's age, weight and lifestyle) that are vacuum-sealed for freshness. The dog food arrives frozen and just needs to be defrosted before serving. You'll get 50% off your first order and have a two-week trial period to test it out. If you decide to cancel in that time period, you'll get your money back.

Frequency and pricing: Weekly delivery; $2 per meal and up, depending on your dog's age, weight and breed. You can snag 50% off your first box with promo code CNET50.

It's pretty universally accepted that fresh food is better for you than processed food and many pet owners believe the same holds true for pet food. If you prefer to feed your furry friends fresh-made meals, NomNomNow will be your saving grace, as they'll send you perfectly portioned, fresh pet food made from restaurant-quality ingredients and tailored to your pet's size, age and weight. They currently offer four recipes for dogs and two for cats, as well as supplements and treats.

Frequency and pricing: Weekly, biweekly or monthly deliveries; $96 to $328 per month for dogs, depending on dog size, and $245 to $256 per month for cats.

Balance is a key part of any diet -- including your dog's diet! That's why Pet Plate offers balanced dog food recipes with all the right nutrients for a good diet, designed by vets. They use USDA meat and fresh food to create precooked, preportioned meals for feeding your dog, so all pet parents have to do is open the container and plate it up for their dog. There are four different fresh recipes available -- chicken, beef, turkey and lamb -- and you can even heat the meals up in the microwave if your dog is super fussy.

Frequency and pricing: Weekly deliveries; $2.50 to $19 per day, depending on your dog's health, age, weight and breed.

Read more: The best meal kit delivery services of 2019 | How and why to make homemade dog food

Chewy is essentially the Amazon of pet products. This online retailer carries a huge variety of supplies for all types of animals, from cats and dogs to reptiles and horses, and when you opt into autoshipments of your go-to pet food, you'll save 5 to 10% on select brands. So no more worrying about running out of kibble -- or potty pads, or tick medicine, or whatever. Plus, Chewy is known for its top-notch customer service, which is available 24/7.

Frequency and pricing: Choose your own frequency; pricing depends on what products you order.

Dogs have unique nutritional needs -- you wouldn't feed a chihuahua the same amount of dog food as you would a Newfoundland. That's why Farmer's Dog creates a personalized profile and diet for your dog based on breed, age, activity level, ideal weight and sensitivities, and they make adjustments to your dog food plan as needed. Farmer's Dog uses human-grade ingredients (such as chia seeds and fish oil) to create easy, ready-to-serve meals -- all you have to do is open the package and let your pooch dig into the dog food.

Frequency and pricing: Choose your ideal frequency anywhere between every two and 12 weeks; $16 to $90 per week based on dog size.

Cats deserve fresh, quality food, too! If you're a proud feline owner, you might like Smalls, which is one of the few pet food delivery services catering solely to the kitties out there. This company uses fresh, high-quality ingredients that are lightly cooked to create all-natural, grain-free cat food. It even coaches you through transitioning your cat to its meals and offers a full refund if your cat sticks up its nose at it (as cats are apt to do).

Frequency and pricing: Choose your frequency anywhere between weekly and every six weeks; $2 to $3.50 per cat, per day.

Similar to Chewy, PetFlow is an online marketplace dedicated to all things pets. It caters to cat and dog pet parents, and you can choose to have products automatically shipped to you on a recurring schedule, ensuring you never run low on food, treats or other supplies. Get all your favorite brands of dry food, canned food and other pet products. Plus, for every order shipped, PetFlow donates a bowl of food to animal shelters, so it's a purchase you can feel good about.

Frequency and pricing: Choose your ideal frequency anywhere from every two to 16 weeks; price depends on the products you choose.

Ollie is another popular option for fresh dog meals that are catered to your dog's diet and individual needs. It'll provide you with a portion recommendation based on your pup's age, weight and so on, and you'll get deliveries of its four vet-formulated recipes made with fresh, human-grade meat, vegetables and supplements. Oh, and it offers healthy dog treats, too!

Frequency and pricing: Biweekly or monthly; $9 to $42 per week

BarkboxLike to treat your dog? This monthly themed collection of toys and treats is a fun surprise for both of you. In each box, you'll get two toys, two full-size bags of treats and a chew, all made in the US or Canada. None of the treats contain wheat, corn or soy, and if your dog has allergies, you can curate a box that's free of turkey, chicken and beef. Further customization is available if you chat with a customer service rep. If your dog is tough on toys, you might want to upgrade to the Super Chewer option below, but in either case, another fun bonus is that they'll send your buddy a birthday present -- because you truly cannot spoil your dog too much.

National Dog Day Deal: Get $5 off your first box with a multi-month subscription.

Frequency and pricing: Monthly delivery; $22 to $29 per month, depending on length of subscription.

BarkboxFor dogs that really go to town on bully sticks, bones and toys, the Super Chewer Barkbox is a great option to treat them to fun surprises each month. You get two super-durable toys designed by Bark to be tough and interesting for your dog (no fluffy stuffing to worry about), two long-lasting chews and two full-size bags of treats each month. As with the regular box, there's always a fun theme (like Knights of the Hound Table) and you can choose an allergy-friendly option if need be. With the Super Chewer subscription, if your dog does manage to destroy a toy, they'll send you a free replacement at no charge, no questions asked.

National Dog Day Deal: Get $5 off your first box with a multi-month subscription.

Frequency and pricing: Monthly delivery; $29 to $39 per month, depending on length of subscription.

Bully sticks are a favorite among many dog owners, as they keep pups busy for hours and are more easy to digest than rawhide. Bully Bundles will make sure you always have extra bully sticks on hand, as it sends you a monthly delivery of 100% beef sticks, and because its product is fresh and cooked for longer, the sticks don't smell as bad as other popular products. You can choose between 6- or 12-inch bully sticks, as well as how many you want each month -- anywhere from six to 60.

Frequency and pricing: Monthly; $13 to $100, depending on the size and quantity

Dogs are pretty much synonymous with joy, so it's only appropriate that this subscription box is called PupJoy. It'll send you monthly healthy treats, chews and toys for your furry friend and you can even customize your product selection if your dog has food sensitivities, is a "power chewer," or only wants toys.

Frequency and pricing: Monthly; $26 and up, depending on customization

This post was written by Camryn Rabideau for CNET's sister site Chowhound. It was originally published earlier this year and has been updated. The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 08:57

Tim Stone and his dog Findley in Dearborn, Michigan, U.S.

Photographer: Brittany Greeson/Bloomberg

Photographer: Brittany Greeson/Bloomberg

This year when Ford Motor Co. went outside the company for the first time in 70 years to hire a chief financial officer, he came with an impressive pedigree '' a resume that included top jobs at Amazon Inc. and Snap Inc. He also came with a pedigreed sidekick: a chief furry officer.

Wander past Tim Stone's glass-walled office on the 12th floor of Ford's world headquarters on any given day and lying at his feet is his lively, 7-year-old Australian shepherd, Finley, who has his own name badge and sly ''CFO'' title bestowed by his owner.

No, Ford hasn't gone to the dogs, but one has breached the executive suite.

''He's got a very clear job description, which is: Spirits high and stress low,'' Stone explained to a group of Bloomberg editors recently in New York. ''And he kills it every day!''

Finley is more than just a good boy. He is the C-suite mascot for a pilot program offered to 1,300 office employees at Ford allowing them to bring their dogs to work. It's part of a larger effort by Ford to attract hard-to-get tech talent to the Motor City. Other worker-friendly initiatives include a less hierarchical campus redesign and converting an abandoned train station in a rapidly gentrifying district of downtown Detroit into a modern office space.

Ford already has hired more than 3,000 workers with advanced computing skills, but it still needs hundreds more software engineers, data scientists, app developers, digital media specialists and more, Chief Talent Officer Julie Lodge-Jarrett wrote in a blog post Friday.

Placards for Tim Stone and his dog, Finley, hang outside Stone's office.

Seattle and Silicon Valley have long been veritable Fido fiefdoms, where tech giants and startups welcome workers' four-legged friends as a way to enhance work-life balance. Studies have shown that all-day access to man's best friend can reduce stress, improve productivity and possibly even curb employee turnover .

There's even a ranking of the most dog-friendly companies by a Seattle-based pet-service company, appropriately named Rover. The list is loaded with West Coast companies, while there are precious few Midwestern firms, and zero automakers.

Atop the list is Amazon, which has 7,000 registered dogs, giving it a human-to-hound ratio of 7-to-1. On its Seattle campus, the online retail giant offers doggy day care, grooming and canine lunch options at Just Food for Dogs and Puddles Barkery.

One of those Amazon-approved pooches used to be Finley. His leash-holder, Stone, 52, spent two decades at Amazon, rising to vice president of finance. When he started at Ford in April, he didn't think twice about bringing his furry friend to the conservative confines of Ford's headquarters building known for decades as the ''Glass House.''

''It's been a cultural change,'' Stone said. ''I was the first one to bring my dog in every day and when you start doing that, the tone from the top matters.''

A colleague pets Finley during a meeting with Tim Stone, right, on Dec. 5.

Part of Stone's mission at Ford is to challenge convention as the company works through a wrenching $11 billion restructuring and embraces electric and self-driving cars. And his canine deputy helps push people outside their comfort zone.

''It makes meeting dialogues different,'' Stone said. ''When you've got a dog in the room, it just makes it easier.''

Finley also is helping Stone make more friends at his new employer by breaking down barriers at the 116-year-old auto company known for its pinstriped pecking order.

''People know the dog far more than they know me,'' Stone joked. ''It makes the CFO more approachable. It's amazing how many people I run into and they're like, 'Oh, you have a great dog!'''

But Ford's pooch policy is still in the puppy phase. A spokesman emphasized that it remains just a test and dogs aren't allowed in common areas, like cafeterias and conference rooms. There is no doggy day care or bowls of treats doled out by receptionists, like at Amazon.

Still, Stone says Finley is teaching Ford a few new tricks.

''It totally changed the dynamic in so many ways,'' he said. ''It just relaxes everybody.''

Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal.

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 05:20

Dailymotion Duration: 04:29 18 hrs ago

Oceans are losing oxygen due to climate change, which will affect hundreds of millions of people, according to a new United Nations report.

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Sun, 08 Dec 2019 03:07

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 16:50

A new report published on Wednesday reveals how Europe is failing to meet its ambitious green targets, just a few days after MEPs declared a climate emergency.

The European Environment Agency's findings show that the EU could do better when it comes to curbing emissions.

"Many of the targets that we set for ourselves for 2020 will not be reached," said Hans Bruyninckx, the Executive Director of the agency.

At the current rate, greenhouse gas emissions will reach 4,000 megatons of CO2 equivalent by 2030.

With a bit of effort, the EU could reduce its emissions to almost 3,500 megatons by the same date and then achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, EEA found.

Transport in focusIf Europe wants to get serious about going green - there is one sector that can't be ignored - transport.

"The black spot remains essentially on the issue of greenhouse gases since today the transport sector has emissions that are 30% higher than those of 1990," said Fran§ois Dejean, a climate change expert at the European Environment Agency.

Over the last four years, greenhouse gas emissions from transport have started to rise again.

Yet the report also highlights progress made. The share of renewable energies has almost doubled since 2005.

"In 2017 renewable energy in growth final energy consumption were roughly 17.5% and according to the European Environment agency estimates they grew to 18% in 2018," said Mihai Tomescu, expert on Energy at the EEA

'New policies' neededThe agency stresses that solutions do exist. Technologies are available. But it also insists on the full implementation of EU policies and on the need for new financial means to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

"If we are serious about the von der Leyen agenda towards the Green Deal and the sustainable development goals we will also have to come with really new policies."

READ MORE: COP25: Are countries implementing their Paris agreement pledges?

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 16:48

Thousands of people have marched through Madrid to demand more action be taken against climate change.

It comes as the COP25 climate change conference continues in the Spanish capital on Friday.

Greta Thunberg also joined the protest as it got underway after she spoke on a panel earlier in the day.

The Swedish teenager said she felt the voices of climate activists were "getting bigger and bigger" and were being "heard more and more" but that it did not yet "translate into political action".

She added: "I sincerely hope that COP25 will lead to something concrete," before saying she believed climate and social justice should go hand in hand.

You can watch the protest again by clicking on the player above.

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 16:45

The clock is ticking down to Britain's general election. With just a week to go until the vote which will decide the fate of Brexit. The Conservatives lead the opposition Labour Party in opinion polls but they did in 2017 too, and failed to garner a majority.

One of the grand old parties of British politics, the Conservative Party has actually been deeply divided for years. And the primary reason for the internal split is Europe.

Many Conservatives, particularly in rural and less affluent areas, see the bloc as interfering in the British way of life, boosting immigration and imposing unwanted laws and regulations. So, for almost as long as the UK has been in the EU, the Conservative party has been contemplating its future within it.

A party of free enterprise, low taxes and wealth creation, they've presided over years of austerity and economic growth. But they've also faced accusations that they're selling off the UK's prize assets, such as the National Health Service while ignoring the working classes and pensioners

WATCH: Andrew Lebentz reports on the party that kicked off the whole Brexit debate:

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 15:51

Miramar, Florida '-- The overwhelming use of force is being questioned after a chase in Florida ended in a deadly shootout with police. It started when two men, who the FBI said were already wanted for two similar heists near Miami, robbed a jewelry store and hijacked a UPS van.

After a 23-mile chase, the officers opened fire when the gunmen shot at them, leaving drivers in rush-hour traffic panicked and scrambling.

The two men who police said robbed the jewelry store were killed. But so was 70-year-old Richard Cutshaw, who was waiting in his car at the intersection. The UPS driver who was taken hostage, Frank Ordonez , was also killed.

Ordonez was father of two daughters, ages 3 and 5. Now his stepfather is criticizing the officers' actions.

Frank Ordonez CBS Miami "They disregard the hostage, they disregard for the people around the scene. They went out there like the old West," said Joe Merino.

Miami-Dade's police director, Juan Perez, explained why officers had to move in on the suspects, saying the suspects weren't just fleeing, they were being violent and "confronting officers shooting at them."

But Manny Orosa, who was Miami-Dade's police chief from 2011 to 2015, questions the tactic given the number of civilians and the hostage.

"If you're shooting into a truck and you don't have a clear vision of who you're shooting at, you don't just shoot at the truck," Orosa said.

It's not clear yet who fired the shots that killed the UPS driver and the innocent bystander. A complete investigation could take months, even years. The Miami-Dade officers who opened fire have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard during these types of investigations.

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 15:04

Boris Johnson has clashed with political rival Jeremy Corbyn over Brexit, security and fake news in a leadership debate held six days before UK voters go to the polls.

It comes after a tense few weeks between the pair after Labour leader Corbyn twice revealed documents that he says provide proof the prime minister is misleading the public on his Brexit deal.

Johnson has denied these claims.

But what were the issues discussed in Friday night's debate?

BrexitJohnson, who has pledged to cut VAT on sanitary products, open free ports and control immigration in a post-Brexit UK, heavily criticised his opponent on Friday night for a "failure in leadership" for taking a neutral stance on the UK's withdrawal.

But Corbyn said such a stance was necessary to stop the country from "arguing with itself" and that he believed it was "a way of bringing people together".

He said his focus as prime minister would be placed on making sure manufacturing jobs would be kept in the UK, and that trade with the EU could continue.

The 'leaked' documentsTwice in a week Corbyn has held a press conference to hold up documents that he says prove the prime minister is misleading voters on Brexit '-- both of which became a hot topic in the debate.

The first conference, held last Thursday, saw the Labour leader present a 450-page document that he said served as evidence that the National Health Service (NHS) was "on the table" in trade talks with the US.

READ MORE:

Fact check: Is Britain's NHS up for sale?Labour claims NHS 'on the table' in Boris Johnson US trade talksJohnson again faced scrutiny on Friday evening for the document, but dismissed it as "pure Bermuda Triangle stuff," before adding: "I believe very passionately in the NHS."

"We believe in the NHS free at the point of use...under no circumstances will we sell it off to anyone.

"I've made it absolutely clear to everyone that will not happen," he said.

In the second press conference '-- held earlier on Friday '-- Corbyn this time waved a 15-page document from the Treasury that he said contained "cold, hard evidence" his opponent had lied about avoiding a border in the Irish Sea post-Brexit.

He said it specifically talked about customs checks being in place for trade between Northern Ireland and Britain.

Again, forced to answer to this in the debate, Johnson argued that Corbyn's words were not true.

Major-Blair interventionAlso on Friday, two of the UK's former prime ministers spoke at a rally in a bid to warn voters against backing Johnson and other parties supporting Brexit.

Former Conservative prime minister Sir John Major was seen to break party ranks as his speech was broadcast, in which he called Brexit "the worst foreign policy decision in my lifetime".

He then introduced his political rival, former Labour prime minister Tony Blair, to the stage, and noted that such an introduction was evidence of "strange alliances".

Issues surrounding Brexit and encouraging people to vote had brought the two former opponents together, he said, before adding: "absolutely at one".

READ MORE: UK's former Conservative PM breaks party ranks to urge voters to reject Brexit

In response to this assessment, Johnson said later in the evening he didn't believe Major was correct in his judgements.

He then made a stab at his former leader: "Unlike Mr Major, I lead a party that is totally united."

Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn lightly dismissed the lack of confidence from the political veterans, and said: "Tony Blair and John Major are welcome to make the comments they do."

SecurityThe topic of national security in the UK has shot up the agenda since last week's deadly terror attack on London Bridge.

It was revealed that the attacker, Usman Khan, was already a convicted terrorist at the time of the incident, and had been released early from prison as part of a policy brought in by a former Labour government.

When pressed on this during the debate, Corbyn said he found the incident "utterly appalling" and that he would call for a review on early releases as prime minister '-- and further focus on rehabilitation, too.

Johnson was opposed to this, and said he found it "extraordinary" a convicted terrorist should not serve a full sentence.

He went on to say a bill was "ready to go" in parliament, which would see the abolishment of automatic early release on prison terms.

READ MORE:

About 74 convicted terrorists released early from prison - Boris JohnsonSenior politicians clash on security after London Bridge stabbingLondon Bridge victims named by police as Cambridge University graduateFake newsToward the end of the night, one audience member pitched the question: "What punishment is appropriate for politicians who lie during election campaigns?"

Johnson, who answered first, appeared to joke: "They should be made to go on their knees through the chambers of the House of Commons scourging themselves with the offending documents..."

However, Corbyn said he believed an independent process should be in place to tackle it.

If politicians "don't deliver, then there's a democratic process to deal with that in the future," he said.

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 14:56

There are new developments in the investigation of the shooting that took place yesterday morning on the Pensacola Naval Base. Six Saudi nationals have been detained for questioning, and the shooter has been identified. The base is only partially open, even more than 24 hours after the shooting, given how large the crime scene and ensuing investigation necessarily must be.

According to The New York Times:

A United States military official identified the suspect, who was killed by a sheriff's deputy during the attack, as Second Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani. He was one of hundreds of military trainees at the base, which is considered the home of naval aviation.

Six other Saudi nationals were detained for questioning near the scene of the shooting, including three who were seen filming the entire incident, according to a person briefed on the initial stages of the investigation. A group that monitors online jihadist activity said that shortly before the shooting, a Twitter account with a name matching the gunman's posted a ''will'' calling the United States a ''nation of evil'' and criticizing its support for Israel.

On MSNBC, Alex Witt talked to reporter on the scene, Blayne Alexander, who filled her on on what she knows, and the questions they have for officials that are in the forefront of their minds.

ALEXANDER: [W]e've got a number of questions for officials, and perhaps top of them are going to be what else do we know about this shooter? Now, we know that sources have confirmed to us the name. Again, FBI officials are not officially releasing his name, but sources have told NBC his name and that he is '-- we do know that he is a Saudi national.

We also are going to ask about a bit of reporting from my colleague, Ken Dilanian. His sources are telling him that a number of, he says the shooter's Saudi classmates were led away by officials near the scene where that happened. So don't know the details of that, but certainly something we're going to be asking about as well. And another big question, Alex, that's top of mind is about the weapon itself.

'†' Story continues below '†'

One, how did he come in possession of that gun? We know that he did use a handgun in that attack.

But the other question, of course, is how did he get it onto base? Know weapons are not allowed, handguns are not allowed. So the big question is what types of security measures were in place and how was he able to get that handgun on to base.

And now, the is even more disturbing news from, Clint Watts, terrorism expert and analyst for MSNBC:

Scenario unfolding #Pensacola is terrible. Yeah, impeachment, I got it, but this should be top priority in America today, Saudi shooter hosted dinner party to watch mass shooting vids, another Saudi student filmed outside, Saudi students unaccounted for https://t.co/DeGGjbb5Ag

'-- Clint Watts (@selectedwisdom) December 7, 2019

should have cut off all aid & diplomacy after Kashoggi murder. Don't care how much $ Saudi spends, maybe U.S. taxpayers would be willing to supplement U.S. companies to divest from Saudi. U.S. doing it with farm subsidies now, why not defense subsidies & reinvest in USA pic.twitter.com/w36IRTZRcw

'-- Clint Watts (@selectedwisdom) December 7, 2019

Our questions are also, how strongly will Republicans, and Trump in particular, speak out against this gun violence, given the fact that it was perpetrated against their precious military members? Given that it was carried out by a Saudi national, and Trump is apparently fine with the Saudis killing American residents? And how seriously will he take these sentiments offered by Jared's BFF's daddy, the king of Saudi Arabia?

King Salman of Saudi Arabia just called to express his sincere condolences and give his sympathies to the families and friends of the warriors who were killed and wounded in the attack that took place in Pensacola, Florida....

'-- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2019

I extend my sincerest condolences to the families of victims of today's tragic shooting at the U.S. Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida. My thoughts are with our American friends at this difficult time.

'-- Khalid bin Salman خاÙد بن Ø"Ùمان (@kbsalsaud) December 6, 2019

I take that back. It's not really a question if we already know the answer.

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 14:03

CNN host Fareed Zakaria responded Sunday to a report from the New York Times that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was set to announce investigations into the 2016 election and the Bidens on his CNN show, prior to the Trump-Ukraine scandal and subsequent impeachment inquiry bursting into public view.

"Ever since Zelensky was elected president in April, my team and I have been interested in having him appear on the show. .... As we now know, for months the Trump White House had been mounting an intense campaign to force him to publicly announce ... investigations. He had tried to resist and put them off in various ways, but ultimately decided he would have to give in, according to the Times. His team apparently concluded that since he was planning an interview with me anyway, that would be the form in which he would make the announcement. Though neither he nor any member of his team ever gave us any inkling of that."'-- Fareed ZakariaContext: The Times reports that Zelensky had been prepared to announce the probes on Zakaria's show on Sept. 13, succumbing to a months-long pressure campaign led by Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani. When the Trump administration released nearly $400 million in military aid amid outcry from senators and the initiation of an investigation by House Democrats, Zelensky's office reportedly canceled the interview.

Why it matters: The question of whether the aid was used as leverage to pressure Zelensky into announcing the investigations is at the heart of the impeachment inquiry.

Top Ukraine diplomat Bill Taylor testified last week that Trump wanted Zelensky in a "public box," telling the House Intelligence Committee: "Trump through Ambassador Sondland was asking for Zelensky to very publicly commit to these investigations. It was not sufficient to do this in private, that this needed to be a very public statement."Taylor also testified that Zelensky and his aides believed it was a bad idea to interfere in U.S. elections, but that the Ukrainian president was still planning to go on CNN to announce the investigations Trump wanted.What to watch: Zakaria noted that he is still hoping to do an interview with Zelensky, whom he described as "smart, energetic and with a much sharper feel for politics" than one may have expected.

Go deeper: Sen. Chris Murphy says Ukraine won't admit pressure because of reliance on U.S.

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Source: Washington Free Beacon

Sat, 07 Dec 2019 13:53

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 05:45

Join Sam Harris'--neuroscientist, philosopher, and best-selling author'--as he explores some of the most important questions about the human mind, society, and current events.

View All In this episode of the Making Sense podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Roland Griffiths about the current state of research on psychedelics. They discuss the historical prohibition against their use; the clinical and scientific promise of psilocybin, mescaline, LSD, DMT, MDMA, and other compounds; the risks associated with these drugs; the role of ''set and '... Continued

SUBSCRIBE TO THE MAKING SENSE PODCAST The Making Sense podcast is ad-free and relies entirely on listener support. If you find it valuable, please consider subscribing through this website.

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Sat, 07 Dec 2019 05:32

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Fri, 06 Dec 2019 20:36

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Source: Washington Free Beacon

Fri, 06 Dec 2019 06:27

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Thu, 05 Dec 2019 16:50

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Thu, 05 Dec 2019 16:04

This morning in Iowa, former Vice President Joe Biden faced off with a voter who accused him of having ''sent'' his son, Hunter Biden, to Ukraine to ''sell access.'' Biden's response seemed to be to challenge the questioner to a push-up contest or an IQ test, as well as accuse the man of watching too much television and being ''sedentary.''

Stylistically, Biden reminds me here of John McCain, whom I always found incredibly annoying but was generally very popular and well-liked. And in part Biden seems to have been set off by the fact that this particular formulation of the charge against the Bidens is so wild it's not even what you'd see on Hannity.

But there's still the core of the matter '-- Biden doesn't quite know what to say about Hunter.

WATCH: A tense exchange with a voter at '...@JoeBiden'(C)'s event in New Hampton, IA this morning, where a voter started out by telling Biden he had two problems with him: he was too old, and his son's work in Ukraine pic.twitter.com/ok7m0ShFPd

'-- Molly Nagle (@MollyNagle3) December 5, 2019Now, what I would say about Hunter is that Burisma, the energy company that gave Hunter a seat on its board, did not get any favors from Biden or the Obama administration. It would have been better for Joe, better for Obama, and probably better for America had Hunter refused to trade on his father's name for personal gain '-- but Hunter is also an adult, and there's actually nothing Joe can do to prevent his son from doing that.

More broadly, it's pretty obvious that Hunter is an all-around mess. He got kicked out of the Navy Reserve for using cocaine, and divorce papers filed by his then-wife in 2017 alleged Hunter had a pattern of ''spending extravagantly on his own interests, including drugs, alcohol, prostitutes, strip clubs, and gifts for women with whom he has sexual relations.'' He later started dating his brother's widow, and seems to have fathered a child with another woman during this same period. Given the full picture of Hunter's conduct, it's pretty obvious he does lots of things his dad probably wishes he wouldn't, though on some level, that just shows you can't control your kids.

It's obviously asking a lot for a father to publicly denounce his son, especially given that his other son died recently and their mother had passed away when they were very young. It's an extremely sad family story that must hang like a cloud over Biden's successful career in politics.

Still, the fact of the matter is that Joe decided to return to public life and run for president. And the trumped-up claim that he did something inappropriate to benefit his son is at the center of the ongoing impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump. Biden needs to be able to talk about that without just getting huffy.

There's real tension between a father's desire to defend his son and a former vice president's need to defend the integrity of the policy process in the administration under which he once served. At the end of the day, no remotely sane person would suggest nominating Hunter Biden for anything '-- and Joe Biden needs to talk about his own conduct, rather than getting angry on his son's behalf.

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Thu, 05 Dec 2019 15:44

TJesus @ TJCarpenterShow

Dec 3 Well, that's true. Even if you didn't vote for him based on liking his racism, you at the very least voted for Trump whilst disregarding his racism, which is fairly extensively documented. His racism either was or wasn't a factor... but its existence is not up for debate.

View conversation ·

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Thu, 05 Dec 2019 15:31

Joe Biden doesn't know WHERE he is.Back in August, while in Keene, New Hampshire, Biden said, "I've been here a number of times...I love this place. Look, what's not to like about Vermont in terms of the beauty of it?''

pic.twitter.com/YZBP4ybQ3z

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Thu, 05 Dec 2019 15:25

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) erupted following the conclusion of her Thursday morning press conference, angrily coming back to the podium after a reporter asked if she ''hates'' President Trump.

Pelosi scrambled back to her podium after a reporter's question caught her attention as she exited her press conference, angrily defending herself and citing her Catholic faith.

''Do you hate the president, madam speaker?'' reporter James Rosen asked.

''I don't hate anybody,'' she said, wagging her finger and mentioning her Catholic faith. ''We don't hate anybody, not anybody in the world'':

Q: "Do you hate the president?"@SpeakerPelosi: "I don't hate anybody'...As a Catholic, I resent your using the word hate in a sentence that addresses me. I don't hate anyone'...So, don't mess with me when it comes to words like that."

Full video: https://t.co/l9peY9RTzl pic.twitter.com/zpqUaCcVrS

'-- CSPAN (@cspan) December 5, 2019

She berated Rosen for ''accusing'' her, which he denied doing.

''I did not accuse you. I asked a question. Rep. Collins yesterday suggested that the Democrats are doing this [pursuing impeachment] simply because they don't like the guy,'' he said, triggering Pelosi's denial. ''I think it's an important point.''

At that point, Pelosi proceeded to the podium and called the president a ''coward when it comes to helping our kids who are afraid of gun violence'' and asserting that he is in denial about the climate crisis.

''However, that's about the election,'' she said.

''This is about the Constitution of the United States and the facts that lead to the president's violation of his oath of office,'' she said.

''As a Catholic, I resent your using the word hate in a sentence that addresses me. I don't hate anyone. I was raised in a way that is a heart full of love and always pray for the president,'' she continued, claiming that she does so ''all the time.''

''So don't mess with me when it comes to words like that,'' she added.

Trump weighed in on Pelosi's dramatic moment, describing it as a ''nervous fit.''

''Nancy Pelosi just had a nervous fit. She hates that we will soon have 182 great new judges and sooo much more. Stock Market and employment records,'' Trump tweeted.

''She says she 'prays for the President.' I don't believe her, not even close,'' he added. ''Help the homeless in your district Nancy. USMCA?'':

Nancy Pelosi just had a nervous fit. She hates that we will soon have 182 great new judges and sooo much more. Stock Market and employment records. She says she ''prays for the President.'' I don't believe her, not even close. Help the homeless in your district Nancy. USMCA?

'-- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 5, 2019

The contentious moment followed Pelosi's morning impeachment announcement.

''If we allow a president to be above the law, we do so surely at the peril of our republic. In America, no one is above the law,'' the speaker stated.

''Today, I am asking our chairman to proceed with articles of impeachment,'' she announced:

BREAKING: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: "Today, I am asking our chairman to proceed with articles of impeachment." https://t.co/yMg0trFZ0O pic.twitter.com/038nBeYEdv

'-- ABC News (@ABC) December 5, 2019

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