845: Kaine & Unable

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 04:08

Two wildfires burning out of control Saturday in California have left cities like Los Angeles looking eerie and supernatural as plumes of gray colored smoke filled the sky after more than 20,000 acres of land has been destroyed.

The Los Angeles basin is usually known as a sun-filled area in the summer, but due to the fires, smoke and ash is covering much of the populated city.

Many people took to social media to share pictures of the weirdly colored sky, noting how the wildfires have affected the area as thousands of homes and a sanctuary for exotic animals are threatened by one blaze.

Authorities say more than 300 firefighters who are being hindered by scorching temperatures of up to 112 degrees are battling a blaze in mountains north of Los Angeles known as the Sand Fire.

The Soberanes Fire is another blaze that is growing out of control near Big Sur on California's scenic Central Coast.

The super windy conditions and low humidity are not helping it from slowing down, as of Saturday evening, more than 6,500 acres of land have been destroyed and it's only five per cent contained.

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Two wildfires burning out of control Saturday in California have left cities like Los Angeles looking eerie and supernatural as plumes of gray colored smoke filled the sky after more than 20,000 acres of land has been destroyed. Above Santa Monica Beach is pictured on Saturday

The Los Angeles basin is usually known as a sun-filled area in the summer, but due to the fires, smoke and ash is covering much of the populated city. Above the red, orange and gray colored sky is scene in Los Angeles, as the sun tries to peak through and shine

The South Coast Air Quality Management District warned that at times air would reach unhealthy levels. Above a cloud of smoke from the Sand Fire is scene above the Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday

LA County Deputy Fire Chief John Tripp said the LA fire chief was ready to join the incident command. Above a cloud of smoke from is scene above the LAX on Saturday

About 15 strike teams were put on alert in case flames made a push in that direction. Above smoke from the Sand Fire is seen from downtown Los Angeles on Saturday

Suburban Pasadena and Glendale closed their municipal pools because of smoke and falling ash. Above the Sand Fire cloud is scene above Los Angeles on Saturday as the sun is red

Neighborhoods within the city of Los Angeles lie along the so-called urban-wildland interface at the northeast edge of the valley. Above the gray colored smoke is scene hovering over Santa Monica

The fire was a threat to 1,000 homes by Saturday afternoon, and those communities were advised to pay attention to the news Tripp said. Above authorities coordinate in a parking lot as smoke is scene nearby

Smoke from the Sand Fire began looming over Los Angeles on Friday. Here it is viewed from Monterey Park

The South Coast Air Quality Management District warned that at times air would reach unhealthy levels. Suburban Pasadena and Glendale closed their municipal pools because of smoke and falling ash.

The fire erupted Friday afternoon in the Sand Canyon area of suburban Santa Clarita near State Route 14 as the region was gripped by high heat and very low humidity. Winds pushed it into the adjacent Angeles National Forest.

The fire was a threat to 1,000 homes by Saturday afternoon, and those communities were advised to pay attention to the news, Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief John Tripp said.

'But if we were to get very extreme fire behavior, we're up to 45,000 homes ... mainly down in the San Fernando Valley,' Tripp said.

Neighborhoods within the city of Los Angeles lie along the so-called urban-wildland interface at the northeast edge of the valley.

Tripp said the Los Angeles fire chief was ready to join the incident command, and 15 strike teams were put on alert in case flames made a push in that direction.

Authorities say more than 300 firefighters who are being hindered by scorching temperatures of up to 112 degrees are battling a blaze in mountains north of Los Angeles, and another near Big Sur on California's scenic Central Coast. Above flames are seen in the Sand Fire

The Sand Fire is only at 10 per cent containment, as windy conditions are not making it easy for firefighters to battle the blaze. Above flames are seen in the Sand Fire

A man evacuates a pony as flames close in his home at the Sand Fire on Saturday near Santa Clarita, California

Many residents flee as flames close in on their homes at the Sand Fire on Saturday afternoon. This blaze started on Friday and has scorched more than 20,000 acres of land

The blaze in northern Los Angeles County grew to more than 17 square miles, spreading smoke across the city and suburbs, reducing the sun to an orange disk at times. Containment is only at 10 per cent. Above flames lap a wall of a home in the Sand Fire

The fire (above) erupted Friday afternoon in the Sand Canyon area of suburban Santa Clarita near State Route 14 as the region was gripped by high heat and very low humidity. Winds pushed it into the adjacent Angeles National Forest

Authorities advised residents to keep their windows and doors closed, as wildfires increase the particulate matter in the air. Above Sand Fire flames are reflected in a backyard swimming pool on Saturday

Tripp said: 'But if we were to get very extreme fire behavior, we're up to 45,000 homes ... mainly down in the San Fernando Valley.' Above residents flee their homes as flames close in on Saturday

This map shows the location of the fire in California. It also point to the Wildlife Waystation where more than 400 animals were being evacuated

Authorities advised residents to keep their windows and doors closed, as wildfires increase the particulate matter in the air.

The increased concentration of those particles can irritate the eyes, nose and throat,

Residents also are being asked to keep their windows and doors closed or seek alternative shelter Jo Kay Ghosh, SCAQMD's health effects officer, told the Los Angeles Times.

People who suffer from asthma could also experience difficulty breathing and have an increased risk of attacks. In addition, lung functions could be affected by the poor air quality, as people's ability to take deep breaths could suffer.

'(If the air quality is) making you uncomfortable, do whatever you can do to remove yourself,' Ghosh told the newspaper.

'At the end of the day, people need to use their judgment. '... For people who are sensitive, I certainly would encourage them to be more careful.'

Hundreds of county and Angeles National Forest firefighters battled the blaze, aided by three dozen water-dropping helicopters and retardant-dropping airplanes.

Residents also are being asked to keep their windows and doors closed or seek alternative shelter Jo Kay Ghosh, SCAQMD's health effects officer said. Above the Sand Fire is seen in Santa Clarita on Saturday

Hundreds of county and Angeles National Forest firefighters battled the blaze, aided by three dozen water-dropping helicopters and retardant-dropping airplanes. Above A.J. Moberg, 15, waters down the roof of his family's house as the Sand fire approaches on Saturday

Forest Fire Chief Robert Garcia said early in the day smoke kept aircraft waiting for the air to clear. Above a resident flees in a motor home as a fire truck enters to battle the blaze closing in on the neighborhood near Santa Clarita

Inmate handcrew firefighters shield themselves from embers and heavy smoke as flames close in on houses at the Sand Fire on Saturday

About 400 animals were being evacuated from the Wildlife Waystation, a nonprofit sanctuary for rescued exotic creatures within the national forest. A Bengal tiger was sedated and trucked away. Above volunteers with the group watch the Sand Fire burn nearby

Metrolink train service in the area was halted Friday and on Saturday was subject to delay. Above flames blown by strong winds close in on homes on Saturday in Santa Clarita

Forest Fire Chief Robert Garcia said early in the day smoke kept aircraft waiting for the air to clear.

About 400 animals were being evacuated from the Wildlife Waystation, a nonprofit sanctuary for rescued exotic creatures within the national forest. A Bengal tiger was sedated and trucked away.

'We've got big cats, tigers, bears, we've got hyenas, we've got chimps,' executive director Susan Hartland told KABC-TV.

The sanctuary's Facebook page appealed for donations of flatbed and enclosed trucks as well as an air-conditioned warehouse to house the animals.

Over many years, the sanctuary has cared for thousands of animals ranging from lions and tigers to primates and exotic birds.

More than 220 horses, dozens of goats and other animals were taken from the fire area, animal control officials said.

About 300 miles up the coast (above), California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection firefighters battled a nearly 3-square-mile blaze in rugged mountains north of the majestic Big Sur region. The Soberanes Fire has destroyed more than 6,500 acres of land

The blaze 5 miles south of Garrapata State Park (above) posed a threat to about 1,000 homes and the community of Palo Colorado was ordered evacuated, Cal Fire said. A middle school in Carmel-by-the-Sea was readied as an evacuation center

Highway 1 and businesses in the Big Sur area, a major summer tourist destination, remained open on Saturday, despite the wildfire in the mountains (above) only being contained at five per cent

A large plume of smoke from the fast moving Sand Fire rises out of the hills of Santa Clarita County near Antelope Valley Freeway on Friday

A mushroom cloud of smoke was clearly visible from Highway 1 north of Los Angeles on Friday, as this fire is burning five miles south of Carmel, California

Metrolink train service in the area was halted Friday and on Saturday was subject to delays.

About 300 miles up the coast, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection firefighters battled a nearly 3-square-mile blaze in rugged mountains north of the majestic Big Sur region.

The blaze 5 miles south of Garrapata State Park posed a threat to about 1,000 homes and the community of Palo Colorado was ordered evacuated, Cal Fire said. A middle school in Carmel-by-the-Sea was readied as an evacuation center.

Jerri Masten-Hansen and her husband said she and her husband watched the fire creep in near the coast.

'We felt threatened this morning and decided we needed to go,' Masten-Hansen told KSBW-TV.

A fire crew approaches as a wildfire burns on Friday next to Highway 14 in Santa Clarita on Friday

Commuters drive near the northbound Highway 14 during the Sand Fire in Santa Clarita on Friday, so far over 11,000 square miles of hillside have burned

Her sister also left her home down the road. 'I grabbed all the pictures of the kids, and then I took the paintings of my parents that had been done by a local artist,' Ellen Masten said.

More than 300 firefighters were on the lines. Highway 1 and businesses in the Big Sur area, a major summer tourist destination, remained open.

Red flag warnings - which warn that conditions are ideal for 'fire combustion' and the 'rapid spread' of flames - stayed in place for most of the region, the LA Times reported.

The Sand Fire was 'significantly larger' on Saturday, according to Richard Lincon of the LA County Fire Department.

He said: 'It's already heating up here,' Lincon said earlier on Saturday. 'There's a great possibility that the fire will increase in size.

'Our safety, as well as everyone who lives in this area, is the utmost priority. We're trying to make sure that everyone is safe.'

In addition to firefighters on the ground, the fire is being battled by four water-dropping helicopters and two fixed-wing firefighting aircraft.

More than 300 firefighters trying to put out the blaze are being hindered by temperatures of up to 112 degrees and 40mph winds on Friday and Satruday

Red flag warnings - which warn that conditions are ideal for 'fire combustion' and the 'rapid spread' of flames - stayed in place for most of the region. Above the Sand Fire is pictured on Friday

A helicopter drops water on flames from the Sand Fire in Santa Clarita on Friday in the 100-degree plus heat

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Sat, 23 Jul 2016 08:51

Like a lot of Virginians, I've had to chuckle a bit at the way Virginia Senator Tim Kaine has been portrayed since rising to the top of Secretary Clinton's VP short list. Apparently, the gods of conventional wisdom have decided Kaine is a "boring," "safe," "centrist" pick whose "DINO" positions may make him anathema to the Sanders base. Oh really? Because I can assure you as a native Virginian, this caricature doesn't at all fit the man I've watched over nearly 20 years. In fact, the consistent knock on him in every election in Virginia has been that he was too liberal! This was such an issue that when Kaine was elected Lieutenant Governor under Mark Warner in 2001, Warner used their first joint press conference to distance himself from the controversial, left-leaning Kaine. So before you allow the national media topline and Kaine's status as a white Southern man to lull you into a quick judgment, here are a few things you should know about why this Bernie broad loves Tim Kaine.

Kaine is the son of a welder who graduated from a Jesuit high school, flew through University of Missouri and then landed at Harvard Law. While his classmates were hanging out in Cambridge fielding offers from big firms, Kaine took a year off to do mission work in Honduras where he worked with young boys growing up in brutal poverty. The year abroad left him fluent in Spanish and with a deep commitment to using his Harvard law degree for the public good. After law school he made good on his commitment to service and rather than cashing in on his degree, spent much of his legal career fighting against housing discrimination. Now you just tell me, does that sound like the bio of a chamber-backed, blue dog, corporate Dem?

Ahh but perhaps Kaine abandoned all his lofty principles in a quest for political power in a conservative Southern state! If that's your concern, perhaps you should just ask the NRA how they feel about Tim Kaine. Here's how his elections in Virginia typically go: the NRA gives him an F rating, fear mongers about how he's going to take everyone's guns, spends massively against him, and then Tim goes on to win anyway. Keep in mind, the NRA is literally headquartered in Virginia. If they are powerful anywhere they are powerful in the Old Dominion but that didn't stop Kaine from signing an executive order following the Virginia Tech massacre to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill. It also didn't stop him from pushing additional gun control measures as governor like eliminating the gun show loophole and it hasn't stopped him as Senator from continuing to lead the charge for sensible rules like increased background checks. As someone who ran for Congress, in Virginia, I can tell you that perhaps the definition of political courage for a Southern Dem is willingness to buck the gun lobby. Tim Kaine has been unflinching.

Maybe though, Kaine was able to be bold on guns because he was right of center on everything else. Yeah, not so much. In Virginia, Kaine raised taxes, spearheaded efforts for universal pre-K, made Virginia the first Southern state to ban smoking in public places, and consistently opposed the death penalty. Let me repeat that last one. Tim Kaine consistently opposed the death penalty in a state that trails only Texas in number of executions. As governor, he bucked the prevailing law and order winds and vetoed eight different bills that would have expanded capital punishment. The issue was front and center in his gubernatorial race but he stuck to the Catholic values that have guided his life and never backed down.

Speaking of Catholic values, shouldn't pro-choice progressives be terrified of Tim Kaine on the ticket? After all, he has said he is personally opposed to abortion. If you didn't look any further, then a pro-choice feminist like myself might have cause for concern. Continue digging just one inch deeper though and you'll find that Kaine has consistently supported Roe v Wade. In the Senate, he actually enjoys a 100 percent rating from Planned Parenthood. Based on Kaine's record, it seems he would be entirely comfortable backing Hillary Clinton's strongly pro-choice positions and in the unlikely event he would find himself President and making Supreme Court picks, there is every reason to expect Kaine would seek out Justices who would uphold Roe. He has been quite clear that while he may have his own personal objections to abortion, he has no interest in policing the lives of others. I, for what it's worth, have no interest in policing the thoughts of others. Kaine doesn't want to control my body and I don't want to control his mind, so we're all good there.

But, but, but Kaine is so boring! Surely he won't bring the energy the ticket needs to win, right? If you think so, here's something to consider: Tim Kaine has won every single election he's ever run in. He's won everything from Mayor of the majority African-American city of Richmond, to governor of a conservative Southern state. In fact, Kaine was a big part of turning Virginia into the state we see today which went twice for Obama and currently has a Democrat in every single statewide office. Bernie Sanders has himself said that we've got to do everything we can to defeat Donald Trump. Tim Kaine could be a real asset in that regard. Obviously, he's from an important swing state but the way Kaine won in Virginia is important too. He precisely targeted and outperformed in the kind of suburban and exurban counties where Republican leaning voters may be feeling the most uncomfortable with the charlatan who has won the Republican presidential nomination.

Look, anyone who has served as long and in as many ways as Tim Kaine is going to have taken positions you don't agree with. I'm not saying the guy is perfect. But having watched a long time and gotten to see the man up close, I can tell you he is courageous, principled, and value driven. I can also tell you that this progressive who begged HRC not to run and drove 12 hours to be able to vote for Bernie would be delighted to see him on the Dem ticket. He won over skeptical Virginians when it was supposedly impossible. I'd love to see what he can do to help Secretary Clinton win over America.

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 07:55

Posted July 23rd, 2016 @ 9:51am in #Trump#Clinton

Yesterday Hillary Clinton announced her VP running mate, Tim Kaine. Let me tell you how that decision looks from a persuasion standpoint. I'll ignore Kaine's education, experience, political preferences, and anything else that voters say they care about but don't. Today, let's just talk about how people will feel about it.

For context, consider Trump's VP running mate, Mike Pence. He's the perfect choice for Trump because of the contrast it creates. If you started with Trump and removed everything interesting about him, you'd have Pence. Visually, Pence is the washed-out, smaller, duller Trump. That's perfect contrast. When you see the two of them together, Pence looks like a black-and-white photograph compared to Trump's full color. In other words, Pence helps to make the top of the ticket look better, and that's exactly what you want.

But Clinton had the extra challenge of being a woman in a sexist country. If she picked another woman as her running mate, it would seem to the public as a gender-based hire and work against her. That would be a losing strategy.

If Clinton picked an alpha male running mate '' a Donald Trump type '' it would create an awkward contrast and do nothing to make her look stronger. So Clinton's best path was to select a beta male with solid credentials. Tim Kaine fits the bill. Considering her available options, she probably made the right choice.

I polled my Twitter followers to see if they thought Kaine registered to them as an alpha male, beta male, or other. Only 4% said he looked alpha. My poll is far from scientific, but subjectively speaking, I think they got it right. Check out his Google images page here and see if you agree. Remember, I'm only talking about your sexist first impression, not a deeper truth.

This is all deeply subjective, obviously, but that's the point. If the public sees Kaine as a beta male to Clinton's alpha female, that's their reality. And the Master Persuader filter says this perception will make a difference.

Clinton will probably win the vote of women. Her problem is men. If you ask a man why he doesn't like Hillary Clinton, he might say something about her policies and her history. But the persuasion filter says the real reason men don't like Clinton is that they can't stand listening to her. Her speaking style reminds men of every bad relationship they have ever had with a woman. We're all irrational sexists on some level, and Clinton sounds to many male ears like a disgruntled ex-wife, or perhaps your mom who had a really bad day. That's a problem if you need the male vote.

Now add Tim Kaine to the mix. In our irrational minds '' where we compare everything to our personal experience '' Kaine will play the part of the beta male husband whose wife can't stop complaining about her terrible co-worker, Donald Trump. No guy wants to hear eight years of that. They get enough of it at home.

My prediction is that Kaine will do nothing to improve Clinton's standing with women. But the Clinton-Kaine ticket is a persuasion disaster in terms of the male vote. Male egos are probably already at a historical low point. Kaine puts a face to that movie. Will men vote to watch Hillary Clinton make Tim Kaine her Whitehouseboy for eight years?

The persuasion filter says they won't. And after men vote against Clinton, they'll tell pollsters it had something to do with her policies and her history.

'--

If you think I wrote this post on a weekend, you might like my book because it has been translated into several languages.

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Thu, 21 Jul 2016 23:35

Pledge of Allegiance(Bellamy versions)(changes are bolded and underlined)1892 (first version) [1]"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."1892 to 1923"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."1923 to 1954 [1]"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."1954 (current version)4 U.S.C. §4 [2]"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is an expression of allegiance to the Flag of the United States and the republic of the United States of America, originally composed by Colonel George Balch in 1887,[3][4][5] later revised by Francis Bellamy in 1892 and formally adopted by Congress as the pledge in 1942.[6] The official name of The Pledge of Allegiance was adopted in 1945. The last change in language came on Flag Day 1954 when the words "under God" were added.[7]

Congressional sessions open with the recital of the Pledge, as do many government meetings at local levels, and meetings held by many private organizations. It is also commonly recited in school at the beginning of every school day, although the Supreme Court has ruled in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette that students cannot be compelled to recite the Pledge, nor can they be punished for not doing so. All states except four (Hawaii, Iowa, Vermont and Wyoming) give time for the pledge to be recited as part of the school day.[8] A number of states, including Ohio and Texas, have adopted state flag pledges of allegiance to be recited after this.[9]

The United States Flag Code states:

The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag: ''I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.'', should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not in uniform men should remove any non-religious headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute. Members of the Armed Forces not in uniform and veterans may render the military salute in the manner provided for persons in uniform.[2]

Balch and Bellamy pledgesEditThe Pledge of Allegiance, as it exists in its current form, was originally composed in August 1892 by Francis Bellamy (1855''1931), who was a Baptist minister, a Christian socialist,[10][11] and the cousin of socialist utopian novelist Edward Bellamy (1850''1898). However, there existed a previous version created by Colonel George Balch, a veteran of the Civil War who went on to become auditor of the New York Board of Education. Balch's pledge, which existed parallel to the Bellamy version until the 1923 National Flag Conference, read:

We give our heads and hearts to God and our country; one country, one language, one flag![3]

Balch was a proponent of teaching children, especially those of immigrants, loyalty to the United States, even going so far as to write a book on the subject and work with both the government and private organizations to distribute flags to every classroom and school.[3][12] Balch's pledge, which predates Bellamy's by 5 years, and was embraced by many schools, the Daughters of the American Revolution until the 1910s, and the Grand Army of the Republic until the 1923 National Flag Conference, is often overlooked when discussing the history of the Pledge.[13] Bellamy, however, did not approve of the pledge as Balch had written it, referring to the text as "too juvenile and lacking in dignity."[14] The Bellamy "Pledge of Allegiance" was first published in the September 8 issue of the popular children's magazine The Youth's Companion as part of the National Public-School Celebration of Columbus Day, a celebration of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. The event was conceived and promoted by James B. Upham, a marketer for the magazine, as a campaign to instill the idea of American nationalism in students and sell flags to public schools.[15] According to author Margarette S. Miller, this was in line with Upham's vision which he "would often say to his wife: 'Mary, if I can instill into the minds of our American youth a love for their country and the principles on which it was founded, and create in them an ambition to carry on with the ideals which the early founders wrote into The Constitution, I shall not have lived in vain.'"[16]

Bellamy's original Pledge read:

I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.[1][17]

The Pledge was supposed to be quick and to the point. Bellamy designed it to be recited in 15 seconds. As a socialist, he had initially also considered using the words equality and fraternity[15] but decided against it '' knowing that the state superintendents of education on his committee were against equality for women and African Americans.[18]

Francis Bellamy and Upham had lined up the National Education Association to support the Youth's Companion as a sponsor of the Columbus Day observance along with the use of the American flag. By June 29, 1892, Bellamy and Upham had arranged for Congress and President Benjamin Harrison to announce a proclamation making the public school flag ceremony the center of the Columbus Day celebrations (this was issued as Presidential Proclamation 335). Subsequently, the Pledge was first used in public schools on October 12, 1892, during Columbus Day observances organized to coincide with the opening of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.[19]

Bellamy's accountEditIn Francis Bellamy's recollection of the creation of the Pledge, he recalled "At the beginning of the nineties patriotism and national feeling was at a low ebb. The patriotic ardor of the Civil War was an old story ... The time was ripe for a reawakening of simple Americanism and the leaders in the new movement rightly felt that patriotic education should begin in the public schools."[14] James Upham "felt that a flag should be on every schoolhouse",[14] so the publication "fostered a plan of selling flags to schools through the children themselves at cost, which was so successful that 25,000 schools acquired flags in first year."[14]

As the World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was set to celebrate the 400th anniversary the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas, Upham sought to link the publication's drive to the event, "so that every school in the land ... would have a flag raising, under the most impressive conditions."[14] Bellamy was placed in charge of this operation and was soon lobbying "not only the superintendents of education in all the States, but also worked with governors, Congressmen, and even the President of the United States."[14] The publication's efforts paid off when Benjamin Harrison declared Wednesday October 12, 1892, to be Columbus Day for which The Youth's Companion made "an official program for universal use in all the schools."[14] Bellamy recalled that the event "had to be more than a list of exercises. The ritual must be prepared with simplicity and dignity."[14]

Edna Dean Proctor wrote an ode for the event and "There was also an oration suitable for declamation."[14] Bellamy held "Of course, the nub of the program was to be the raising of the flag, with a salute to the flag recited by the pupils in unison."[14] He found "There was not a satisfactory enough form for this salute. The Balch salute which ran 'I give my heart and my hand to my country, one country, one language, one flag.' seemed too juvenile and lacking in dignity."[14] After working on the idea with Upham, Bellamy concluded "It was my thought that a vow of loyalty or allegiance to the flag should be the dominant idea. I especially stressed the word 'allegiance.' ... Beginning with the new word allegiance, I first decided that 'pledge' was a better school word than 'vow' or 'swear'; and that the first person singular should be used, and that 'my' flag was preferable to 'the.'"[14] Bellamy considered the words "country, nation, or Republic", choosing the last as "it distinguished the form of government chosen by the founding fathers and established by the Revolution. The true reason for allegiance to the flag is the Republic for which it stands."[14] Bellamy then reflected on the sayings of Revolutionary and Civil War figures, and concluded "all that pictured struggle reduced itself to three words, one Nation indivisible."[14]

Bellamy considered the slogan of the French Revolution, Libert(C), (C)galit(C), fraternit(C) ("liberty, equality, fraternity"), but held that "fraternity was too remote of realization, and as equality was a dubious word."[14] Concluding "Liberty and justice were surely basic, were undebatable, and were all that any one Nation could handle. If they were exercised for all they involved the spirit of equality and fraternity."[14]

After being reviewed by Upham and other members of The Youth's Companion, the Pledge was approved and put in the official Columbus Day program. Bellamy noted that, "In later years the words 'to my flag' were changed to 'to the flag of the United States of America' because of the large number of foreign children in the schools."[14] Bellamy disliked the change, as "it did injure the rhythmic balance of the original composition."[14]

In 1906, The Daughters of the American Revolution's magazine, The American Monthly, listed the "formula of allegiance" as being the Balch Pledge of Allegiance, which reads:

I pledge allegiance to my flag, and the republic for which it stands. I pledge my head and my heart to God and my country. One country, one language and one flag.[13]

In subsequent publications of the Daughters of the American Revolution, such as in 1915's "Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Continental Congress of the Daughters of the American Revolution" and 1916's annual "National Report", the Balch Pledge, listed as official in 1906, is now categorized as "Old Pledge" with Bellamy's version under the heading "New Pledge".[20][21] However, the "Old Pledge" continued to be used by other organizations until the National Flag Conference established uniform flag procedures in 1923.

In 1923, the National Flag Conference called for the words "my Flag" to be changed to "the Flag of the United States", so that new immigrants would not confuse loyalties between their birth countries and the United States. The words "of America" were added a year later. The United States Congress officially recognized the Pledge for the first time, in the following form, on June 22, 1942:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Addition of "under God"EditLouis Albert Bowman, an attorney from Illinois, was the first to initiate the addition of "under God" to the pledge. The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution gave him an Award of Merit as the originator of this idea.[22][23] He spent his adult life in the Chicago area and was chaplain of the Illinois Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. At a meeting on February 12, 1948,[22] he led the society in swearing the pledge with the two words "under God" added. He stated that the words came from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Although not all manuscript versions of the Gettysburg Address contain the words "under God", all the reporters' transcripts of the speech as delivered do, as perhaps Lincoln may have deviated from his prepared text and inserted the phrase when he said "that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom". Bowman repeated his revised version of the Pledge at other meetings.[22]

In 1951, the Knights of Columbus, the world's largest Catholicfraternal service organization, also began including the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.[24] In New York City, on April 30, 1951, the board of directors of the Knights of Columbus adopted a resolution to amend the text of their Pledge of Allegiance at the opening of each of the meetings of the 800 Fourth Degree Assemblies of the Knights of Columbus by addition of the words "under God" after the words "one nation." Over the next two years, the idea spread throughout Knights of Columbus organizations nationwide. On August 21, 1952, the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus at its annual meeting adopted a resolution urging that the change be made universal, and copies of this resolution were sent to the President, the Vice President (as Presiding Officer of the Senate), and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The National Fraternal Congress meeting in Boston on September 24, 1952, adopted a similar resolution upon the recommendation of its president, Supreme Knight Luke E. Hart. Several State Fraternal Congresses acted likewise almost immediately thereafter. This campaign led to several official attempts to prompt Congress to adopt the Knights of Columbus policy for the entire nation. These attempts were eventually a success.[25]

In 1952, Holger Christian Langmack wrote a letter to President Truman suggesting the inclusion of "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Langmack was a Danish philosopher and educator who came to the United States in 1911. He was one of the originators of the National Prayer Breakfast and a religious leader in Washington, D.C. President Truman met with him along with several others to discuss the inclusion of "under God" just before "with liberty and justice."[citation needed]

At the suggestion of a correspondent, Representative Louis C. Rabaut (D-Mich.), of Michigan sponsored a resolution to add the words "under God" to the Pledge in 1953.[citation needed]

Prior to February 1954, no endeavor to get the pledge officially amended succeeded. The final successful push came from George MacPherson Docherty. Some American presidents honored Lincoln's birthday by attending services at the church Lincoln attended, New York Avenue Presbyterian Church by sitting in Lincoln's pew on the Sunday nearest February 12. On February 7, 1954, with President Eisenhower sitting in Lincoln's pew, the church's pastor, George MacPherson Docherty, delivered a sermon based on the Gettysburg Address entitled "A New Birth of Freedom." He argued that the nation's might lay not in arms but rather in its spirit and higher purpose. He noted that the Pledge's sentiments could be those of any nation: "There was something missing in the pledge, and that which was missing was the characteristic and definitive factor in the American way of life." He cited Lincoln's words "under God" as defining words that set the United States apart from other nations.[citation needed]

President Eisenhower had been baptized a Presbyterian very recently, just a year before. He responded enthusiastically to Docherty in a conversation following the service. Eisenhower acted on his suggestion the next day and on February 8, 1954, Rep. Charles Oakman (R-Mich.), introduced a bill to that effect. Congress passed the necessary legislation and Eisenhower signed the bill into law on Flag Day, June 14, 1954.[26] Eisenhower stated:

"From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural school house, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty.... In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America's heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's most powerful resource, in peace or in war."[27]

The phrase "under God" was incorporated into the Pledge of Allegiance on June 14, 1954, by a Joint Resolution of Congress amending § 4 of the Flag Code enacted in 1942.[26]

On October 6, 1954, the National Executive Committee of the American Legion adopted a resolution, first approved by the Illinois American Legion Convention in August 1954, which formally recognized the Knights of Columbus for having initiated and brought forward the amendment to the Pledge of Allegiance.[25]

Author Kevin Kruse asserts that the underlying movement behind inserting "under God" into the pledge was an effort by corporate America, despite being initiated by a private religious fraternity and references to God existing in previous versions of the pledge, to instill in the minds of the people that capitalism and free enterprise were heavenly blessed. Kruse acknowledges the insertion of the phrase was influenced by the push-back against atheistic communism during the Cold War, but argues the longer arc of history shows the conflation of Christianity and capitalism as a challenge to the New Deal played the larger role.[28]

Swearing of the Pledge is accompanied by a salute. An early version of the salute, adopted in 1887, known as the Balch Salute (which accompanied the Balch pledge), instructed students to stand with their right hand outstretched toward the flag, the fingers of which are then brought to the forehead, followed by being placed flat over the heart, and finally falling to the side.[3]

In 1892, Francis Bellamy created what was known as the Bellamy salute. It started with the hand outstretched toward the flag, palm down, and ended with the palm up. Because of the similarity between the Bellamy salute and the Nazi salute (which was adopted later), the United States Congress instituted the hand-over-the-heart gesture as the salute to be rendered by civilians during the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem in the United States, instead of the Bellamy salute. Removal of the Bellamy salute occurred on December 22, 1942, when Congress amended the Flag Code language first passed into law on June 22, 1942.[29] Attached to bills passed in Congress in 2008 and then in 2009 (Section 301(b)(1)of title 36, United States Code), language was included which authorized all active duty military personnel and all veterans in civilian clothes to render a proper hand salute during the raising and lowering of the flag, when the colors are presented, and during the National Anthem.[30]

In 1940, the Supreme Court, in Minersville School District v. Gobitis, ruled that students in public schools, including the respondents in that case, Jehovah's Witnesses who considered the flag salute to be idolatry, could be compelled to swear the Pledge. A rash of mob violence and intimidation against Jehovah's Witnesses followed the ruling.[citation needed] In 1943, in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, the Supreme Court reversed its decision. Justice Robert H. Jackson, writing for the 6 to 3 majority, went beyond ruling that public school students are not required to say the Pledge on narrow grounds, but asserted that such ideological dogma is antithetical to the principles of the country, concluding with:

"If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us."[31]

In a later case, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals held that students are also not required to stand for the Pledge.[32]

Requiring or promoting of the Pledge on the part of the government has drawn criticism and legal challenges on several grounds.[citation needed]

One objection[33] states that a democratic republic built on freedom of dissent should not require its citizens to pledge allegiance to it, and that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution protects one's right to refrain from speaking or standing (also a form of speech).[32] Another objection lies in the fact that the people who are most likely to recite the Pledge every day, small children in schools, cannot really give their consent or even completely understand the Pledge they are taking.[34]

Many objections have been raised since the addition of the phrase "under God" to the Pledge in 1954. Critics[35] contend that a government requiring or promoting this phrase violates protections against the establishment of religion guaranteed in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.[citation needed]

In 2004, linguist Geoffrey Nunberg criticized the addition of "under God" for a different reason. The original supporters of the addition thought that they were simply quoting Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. However, Nunberg said that to Lincoln and his contemporaries, "under God" meant "God willing" and they would have found its use in the Pledge of Allegiance ungrammatical.[36][37]

Legal challengesEditProminent legal challenges were brought in the 1930s and 1940s by the Jehovah's Witnesses, a group whose beliefs preclude swearing loyalty to any power other than God,[38] and who objected to policies in public schools requiring students to swear an oath to the flag. They objected on the grounds that their rights to freedom of religion as guaranteed by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment were being violated by such requirements. The first case was in 1935, when two children, Lillian and William Gobitis, ages ten and twelve, were expelled from the Minersville, Pennsylvania, public schools in 1935 for failing to salute the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance.[39][40]

In a 2002 case brought by atheist Michael Newdow, whose daughter was being taught the Pledge in school, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the phrase "under God" an unconstitutional endorsement of monotheism when the Pledge was promoted in public school. In 2004, the Supreme Court heard Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, an appeal of the ruling, and rejected Newdow's claim on the grounds that he was not the custodial parent, and therefore lacked standing, thus avoiding ruling on the merits of whether the phrase was constitutional in a school-sponsored recitation. On January 3, 2005, a new suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California on behalf of three unnamed families. On September 14, 2005, District Court Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled in their favor. Citing the precedent of the 2002 ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Karlton issued an Order stating that, upon proper motion, he would enjoin the school district defendants from continuing their practices of leading children in pledging allegiance to "one Nation under God".[41]

A bill, H.R. 2389, was introduced in Congress in 2005 which, if enacted into law, would have stripped the Supreme Court and most federal courts of the power to consider any legal challenges to government requiring or promoting of the Pledge of Allegiance. H.R. 2389 was passed by the House of Representatives in July 2006, but failed after the Senate did not take up the bill. This action is viewed in general as court stripping by Congress over the Judiciary. Even if a similar bill is enacted, its practical effect may not be clear: proponents of the bill have argued that it is a valid exercise of Congress's power to regulate the jurisdiction of the federal courts under Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution, but opponents question whether Congress has the authority to prevent the Supreme Court from hearing claims based on the Bill of Rights (since amendments postdate the original text of the Constitution and may thus implicitly limit the scope of Article III, Section 2). Judges and legal analysts have voiced concerns that Congress can strip or remove from the judicial branch the ability to determine if legislation is constitutional.[42]

Mark J. Pelavin, former Associate Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism,[43] objected to court stripping in regard to the Pledge of Allegiance:

"Today's House adoption of the so-called "Pledge Protection Act" is a shameful effort to strip our federal courts of their ability to uphold the rights of all Americans. By removing the jurisdiction of federal courts, including the Supreme Court, from cases involving the Pledge, this legislation sets a dangerous precedent: threatening religious liberty, compromising the vital system of checks and balances upon which our government was founded, and granting Congress the authority to strip the courts' jurisdiction on any issue it wishes. Today, the issue was the Pledge of Allegiance, but tomorrow it could be reproductive rights, civil rights, or any other fundamental concern."[44]

In 2006, in the Florida case Frazier v. Alexandre, a federal district court in Florida ruled that a 1942 state law requiring students to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.[45] As a result of that decision, a Florida school district was ordered to pay $32,500 to a student who chose not to say the pledge and was ridiculed and called "unpatriotic" by a teacher.[46]

In 2009, a Montgomery County, Maryland, teacher berated and had school police remove a 13-year-old girl who refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance in the classroom. The student's mother, assisted by the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, sought and received an apology from the teacher, as state law and the school's student handbook both prohibit students from being forced to recite the Pledge.[47]

On March 11, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance in the case of Newdow v. Rio Linda Union School District.[48][49] In a 2''1 decision, the appellate court ruled that the words were of a "ceremonial and patriotic nature" and did not constitute an establishment of religion.[48] Judge Stephen Reinhardt dissented, writing that "the state-directed, teacher-led daily recitation in public schools of the amended 'under God' version of the Pledge of Allegiance... violates the Establishment Clause of the Constitution."[50]

On November 12, 2010, in a unanimous decision,[51] the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston affirmed a ruling by a New Hampshire lower federal court which found that the pledge's reference to God does not violate non-pledging students' rights if student participation in the pledge is voluntary.[52] A United States Supreme Court appeal of this decision was denied on June 13, 2011.[53][54]

In September 2013, a case was brought before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, arguing that the pledge violates the Equal Rights Amendment of the Constitution of Massachusetts.[55] In May 2014, Massachusetts' highest court ruled that the pledge does not discriminate against atheists, saying that the words "under God" represent a patriotic, not a religious, exercise.[56]

In February 2015 New Jersey Superior Court Judge David F. Bauman dismissed a lawsuit, ruling that "...the Pledge of Allegiance does not violate the rights of those who don't believe in God and does not have to be removed from the patriotic message."[57] The case against the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District had been brought by a student of the district and the American Humanist Association that argued that the phrase ''under God'' in the pledge created a climate of discrimination because it promoted religion, making non-believers ''second-class citizens.'' In a twenty-one page decision, Bauman wrote, "Under (the association members') reasoning, the very constitution under which (the members) seek redress for perceived atheistic marginalization could itself be deem unconstitutional, an absurd proposition which (association members) do not and cannot advance here."[57] Bauman said the student could skip the pledge, but upheld a New Jersey law that says pupils must recite the pledge unless they have ''conscientious scruples'' that do not allow it.[58][59] He noted; ''As a matter of historical tradition, the words 'under God' can no more be expunged from the national consciousness than the words 'In God We Trust' from every coin in the land, than the words 'so help me God' from every presidential oath since 1789, or than the prayer that has opened every congressional session of legislative business since 1787.''

^ abc"The Pledge of Allegiance". Historic Documents. Independence Hall Association: ushistory.org. Retrieved 29 August 2012. ^ ab"Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 4, US Code". Retrieved 2016-01-24. ^ abcdTeachers Magazine for Primary Grades. Ives-Butler Company. 1911-01-01. ^Kirkpatrick, Melanie. "One Nation, Indivisible". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2015-11-01. ^"Captain and Brevet Lieutenant Colonel George T. Balch, Ordnance Corps Hall of Fame Inductee 2001, U.S. Army Ordnance Corps". www.goordnance.army.mil. Retrieved 2015-11-01. ^"Society & Community. Faith in America: The Lega Dilemma". NOW with Bill Moyers. PBS. June 29, 2002. ^"The Pledge of Allegiance and Our Flag of the United States". Their History and Meaning. Archived from the original on 2006-09-23. Retrieved 2014-01-08. ^Goss, Crystal (August 13, 2012). "Pledge of Allegiance in Schools: Not Required in These 4 States". ^"American & State Pledges". Speck's Web. November 16, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2014. ^Kubal, Timothy (October 2008). Cultural Movements and Collective Memory : Christopher Columbus and the Rewriting of the National Origin Myth. Basingstoke, Hampshire, GBR: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-61576-2. ^"Grand Lodge of BC and Yukon profile of Bellamy". Freemasonry.bcy.ca. Retrieved 2013-10-23. ^The Overland Monthly. Samuel Carson. 1891-01-01. ^ abDaughters of the American Revolution Magazine. National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. 1906-01-01. ^ abcdefghijklmnopqrFrances Bellamy. "A Brief Synopsis of the Story of the Origin of the Pledge taken from the Detailed Narrative by Frances Bellamy, Author of the Pledge". Congressional Record 91 Cong. Rec. (1945) House: 5510''5511. ^ abBellamy, Francis, "The Story of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag", University of Rochester Library Bulletin, Vol. VIII, Winter 1953.^Margarette S. Miller (1946). I Pledge Allegiance. Christopher Publishing House, Youth's companion. ^Francis Bellamy '' The word "to" was inserted between "...my Flag and" and "the Republic" in October 1892.^Dr. John W. Baer. "The Pledge of Allegiance A Short History". ^Miller, Margarette S. (1976). Twenty Three Words: A Biography of Francis Bellamy: Author of the Pledge of Allegiance. Portsmouth, Vir.: Printcraft Press. pp. 63-65 ISBN 0-686-15626-9^Congressional Serial Set. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1917-01-01. ^Proceedings of the ... Continental Congress of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The Congress. 1915-01-01. ^ abcBaer, John W. (2007). The Pledge of Allegiance: A Revised History and Analysis, 1892''2007. Annapolis, MD: Free State Press. ^Merriman, Scott A. (2007). Religion and the Law in America: An Encyclopedia of Personal Belief. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-863-7. p. 110.^"Knights of Columbus Fact Sheet"(PDF). Knights of Columbus. Retrieved 2011-06-16. ^ ab"How the words "UNDER GOD" came to be added to the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag"(PDF). Retrieved 2013-10-23. ^ abPub.L. 83-396, Chap. 297, 68 Stat. 249, H.J.Res. 243, enacted June 14, 1954.^"God In America: God in the White House". PBS. ^"How 'One Nation' Didn't Become 'Under God' Until The '50s Religious Revival". NPR. ^Leepson, Marc (2006). Flag: An American Biography. Macmillan. p. 171. ISBN 0-312-32309-3. ^http://www.military.com/benefits/resources/rules-for-rendering-hand-salute-of-u.s.-flag^West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624, 642 (U.S. Supreme Court 1943).^ abHolloman ex rel. Holloman v. Harland, 370 F.3d 1252 (11th Cir. 2004).^Lane v. Owens; 03-B-1544, United States District Court, District of Colorado^Olander, Herbert T. (December 1941). "Children's Knowledge of the Flag Salute". The Journal of Educational Research35 (4): 300''305. ^"Court upholds 'under God' in Pledge of Allegiance". Associated Press. 2010-03-11. Retrieved 2010-03-11. ^Geoffrey Nunberg (2004-06-20). "I Might Have Guessed Parson Weems Would Figure In There Somewhere". Language Log. Retrieved 2007-05-03. ^Geoffrey Nunberg (2004-06-20). ""(Next) Under God," Phrasal Idiom". Language Log. Retrieved 2007-05-03. ^Jehovah's Witnesses-Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, 1993, pp. 196-197^"Flag Salute Cases". The Free Dictionary. Retrieved 2014-02-03. ^Minersville School District v. Gobitis, 310 U.S. 586, 60 S. Ct. 1010, 84 L. Ed. 1375 (1940)^David Kravets (September 16, 2005), Federal judge rules Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional, archived from the original on 2006-01-11, retrieved 2008-03-31 ^"Retired Federal Judges Urge Congress Not to Pass "Court-Stripping" Measure that Would Deny Rights in". Brennancenter.org. 2005-12-08. Retrieved 2012-01-16. ^URJ Biographical Page for Mark Pelavin^"Court-stripping and Legislating Against the First Amendment (12 July 2006)". Jewsonfirst.org. Retrieved 2012-01-16. ^Frazier v. Alexandre, 434 F.Supp.2d 1350 (S.D. Fla. May 31, 2006).^"Frazier v. Alexandre, No. 05-81142 (S.D. Fla. May 31, 2006)". National School Boards Association. March 15, 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-03-15. ^Johnson, Jenna (February 24, 2010). "Pledge of Allegiance dispute results in Md. teacher having to apologize". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-02-25. ^ abChea, Terence (March 12, 2010). "Fed. appeals court upholds 'under God' in pledge". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2010-03-15. Retrieved 2010-03-12. ^Newdow vs. Rio Linda Union School District (9th Cir. March 12, 2010). Text^"Pledge of Allegiance's God reference now upheld by court". LA Times. March 12, 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-11. ^Freedom from Religion Foundation v. Hanover School District (1st Cir. Nov 12, 2010). Text^Lavoie, Denise (November 15, 2010). "Court OKs NH law allowing 'God' pledge in schools". Boston Globe (Boston, MA: Christopher M. Mayer). Retrieved 2010-11-16. The constitutionality of a New Hampshire law... ^Egelko, Bob (June 15, 2011). "High court spurns atheist's 'under God' challenge". San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, CA: Hearst Corporation). A Sacramento atheist's challenge to the addition of "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance... ^Supreme Court of the United States (June 13, 2011). "Freedom From Religion Foundation, Petitioner v. United States, et al.". Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved 2011-06-15. ^"'Under God' part of Pledge of Allegiance under review in Massachusetts". CNN.com. 2013-09-04. Retrieved 2013-10-23. ^"Massachusetts court rules 'under God' in pledge does not discriminate against atheists". The Washington Post. 2014-05-09. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2016-02-13. ^ ab"'Under God' is not discriminatory and will stay in pledge, judge says". NJ.com. Retrieved 12 June 2015. ^Salvador Rizzo. "Hearing 'Under God' in Pledge of Allegiance does not violate rights of atheist students, NJ judge rules". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved 29 February 2016. ^"Judge Refuses To Kick God Out Of Public Schools". Forbes. 7 February 2015. Retrieved 29 February 2016.

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 07:33

The days leading up to the Republican National Convention were filled with what seemed to be a gleeful anticipation of a violent clash of protesters, supporters and police from many of the larger media outlets. Now that the convention is winding down, and despite oppressive heat in the mid west there was a pronounced lack of physical conflict. And the calm came from and unexpected source.

You might already be familiar with the man '-- he's the one who's platform includes a promise ''that every American will get a pony. Other planks in the Vermin Supreme platform include mandatory tooth brushing for all (because of Americans' advanced state of 'moral and oral decay'); preparation for a zombie apocalypse; and, last but not least, full funding for time travel research'', so that he can go back in time and '' in his own words '' ''kill baby Hitler with my bare hands.'' This man is a walking, talking joke. He wears a boot on his head and a clown nose, yet he is still one of the most sane people in Cleveland for the RNC.

Recent incidents of mob violence in America, along with open carry legislation and highly publicized cases of police brutality lead many journalistic veterans, who have experienced people exercising their first amendment rights, to the conclusion that the Anti-Trump protests surrounding the Republican National Convention would turn ugly, fast. Those hoping for a bloodbath were left disappointed, but an interesting story unfolded instead.

'''... when it gets intense, people start to get scared. And when they get scared, people start to panic '... so by defusing the tension with humor '... it allows people to relax and refocus about what we're doing here on the streets.''

That was Vermin Supreme speaking with Robert Evans from Cracked about what he does at rallies like this. When thousands of people converge in the sweltering summer sun to talk about the future of our nation and the political forces that will shape that future, tensions are bound to be high and tempers will get frayed. But Vermin Supreme has a game plan for keeping confrontations between the police and protesters to a minimum.

His ''two-pronged approach'' is about ''avoiding crowd panic''. He states that ''fear is a very potent weapon used by the police against the protesters,'' and to combat that fear, Vermin reads from manuals issued by police forces and the FBI on the subject of crowd control. Simply ensuring that everyone knows what should be happening frequently helps to put people at ease. But when that isn't enough, Vermin Supreme's unique brand of absurdism does the trick.

When the Anti-Trump marchers were being corralled by twin walls of police officers on bicycles, Vermin darted to the front of the column of protesters with his bull horn in hand, ''Do it just like we did in rehearsal, OK people? Try not to bump into each other!'' He critiqued their pedaling skills when they would bump bicycles and attempted to egg on a friendly race between the two groups of officers.

''When the police start doing a move, [protesters] might overreact, and bad things can happen.''

But with arrest reports for this year's RNC at an all time low, it seems like somehow those bad things were avoided. Even when the universally-hated Westboro Baptist Church showed up, Vermin Supreme got between them and a group of anarchists to diffuse the situation. ''Drunkards and murderers and dope-heads and sodomites, those are my voters!'' he proclaimed after reading one of the church's signs. That got a laugh from both protesters and police in the crowd, and that's what Vermin Supreme sets out to do '-- unite people together who might not think they have anything in common.

''I remember one [protest] '... it was in New York, at one of the conventions, it was hot and sweaty and we were days into it '... and so I changed one of the chants to, 'Give the cops a raise!' because they were looking for a raise at the time '... and by getting the crowd on their side, it changed the whole thing '... they saw the protesters '... differently. And so sometimes it's just really about changing perceptions, and I use absurdity and humor to sort of do that.''

Crazy at it might seem, we need more people like Vermin Supreme to show up to peacful protests to keep them peaceful. This country needs less Alex Joneses and Shirley Phelps-Roperes spewing hate and dividing us, and more Vermin Supremes showing up just to help make people laugh.

WATCH: Vermin Supreme Takes on Westboro Baptist Church

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 14:10

CODEPINK is a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect our tax dollars into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs.

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Fri, 22 Jul 2016 21:19

Donald Trump addressed the GOP convention in Cleveland, Ohio, July 21. The Republican presidential candidate spoke for more than one hour, we broke it down to less than five minutes. (Deirdra O'Regan/The Washington Post)

DONALD J. TRUMP, until now a Republican problem, this week became a challenge the nation must confront and overcome. The real estate tycoon is uniquely unqualified to serve as president, in experience and temperament. He is mounting a campaign of snarl and sneer, not substance. To the extent he has views, they are wrong in their diagnosis of America's problems and dangerous in their proposed solutions. Mr. Trump's politics of denigration and division could strain the bonds that have held a diverse nation together. His contempt for constitutional norms might reveal the nation's two-century-old experiment in checks and balances to be more fragile than we knew.

Any one of these characteristics would be disqualifying; together, they make Mr. Trump a peril. We recognize that this is not the usual moment to make such a statement. In an ordinary election year, we would acknowledge the Republican nominee, move on to the Democratic convention and spend the following months, like other voters, evaluating the candidates' performance in debates, on the stump and in position papers. This year we will follow the campaign as always, offering honest views on all the candidates. But we cannot salute the Republican nominee or pretend that we might endorse him this fall. A Trump presidency would be dangerous for the nation and the world.

Why are we so sure? Start with experience. It has been 64 years since a major party nominated anyone for president who did not have electoral experience. That experiment turned out pretty well '-- but Mr. Trump, to put it mildly, is no Dwight David Eisenhower. Leading the Allied campaign to liberate Europe from the Nazis required strategic and political skills of the first order, and Eisenhower '-- though he liked to emphasize his common touch as he faced the intellectual Democrat Adlai Stevenson '-- was shrewd, diligent, humble and thoughtful.

[Read the transcript of Donald Trump's interview with The Washington Post editorial board]

Donald Trump painted a dark picture of America during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, but some of his doomsday stats are rather dubious. The Post's Fact Checker examined 25 of his key claims. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

In contrast, there is nothing on Mr. Trump's r(C)sum(C) to suggest he could function successfully in Washington. He was staked in the family business by a well-to-do father and has pursued a career marked by some real estate successes, some failures and repeated episodes of saving his own hide while harming people who trusted him. Given his continuing refusal to release his tax returns, breaking with a long bipartisan tradition, it is only reasonable to assume there are aspects of his record even more discreditable than what we know.

The lack of experience might be overcome if Mr. Trump saw it as a handicap worth overcoming. But he displays no curiosity, reads no books and appears to believe he needs no advice. In fact, what makes Mr. Trump so unusual is his combination of extreme neediness and unbridled arrogance. He is desperate for affirmation but contemptuous of other views. He also is contemptuous of fact. Throughout the campaign, he has unspooled one lie after another '-- that Muslims in New Jersey celebrated after 9/11, that his tax-cut plan would not worsen the deficit, that he opposed the Iraq War before it started '-- and when confronted with contrary evidence, he simply repeats the lie. It is impossible to know whether he convinces himself of his own untruths or knows that he is wrong and does not care. It is also difficult to know which trait would be more frightening in a commander in chief.

Given his ignorance, it is perhaps not surprising that Mr. Trump offers no coherence when it comes to policy. In years past, he supported immigration reform, gun control and legal abortion; as candidate, he became a hard-line opponent of all three. Even in the course of the campaign, he has flip-flopped on issues such as whether Muslims should be banned from entering the United States and whether women who have abortions should be punished . Worse than the flip-flops is the absence of any substance in his agenda. Existing trade deals are ''stupid,'' but Mr. Trump does not say how they could be improved. The Islamic State must be destroyed, but the candidate offers no strategy for doing so. Eleven million undocumented immigrants must be deported, but Mr. Trump does not tell us how he would accomplish this legally or practically.

What the candidate does offer is a series of prejudices and gut feelings, most of them erroneous. Allies are taking advantage of the United States. Immigrants are committing crimes and stealing jobs. Muslims hate America. In fact, Japan and South Korea are major contributors to an alliance that has preserved a peace of enormous benefit to Americans. Immigrants commit fewer crimes than native-born Americans and take jobs that no one else will. Muslims are the primary victims of Islamist terrorism, and Muslim Americans, including thousands who have served in the military, are as patriotic as anyone else.

[Fareed Zakaria: America would be Trump's banana republic]

The Trump litany of victimization has resonated with many Americans whose economic prospects have stagnated. They deserve a serious champion, and the challenges of inequality and slow wage growth deserve a serious response. But Mr. Trump has nothing positive to offer, only scapegoats and dark conspiracy theories. He launched his campaign by accusing Mexico of sending rapists across the border, and similar hatefulness has surfaced numerous times in the year since.

In a dangerous world, Mr. Trump speaks blithely of abandoning NATO, encouraging more nations to obtain nuclear weapons and cozying up to dictators who in fact wish the United States nothing but harm. For eight years, Republicans have criticized President Obama for ''apologizing'' for America and for weakening alliances. Now they put forward a candidate who mimics the vilest propaganda of authoritarian adversaries about how terrible the United States is and how unfit it is to lecture others. He has made clear that he would drop allies without a second thought. The consequences to global security could be disastrous.

Most alarming is Mr. Trump's contempt for the Constitution and the unwritten democratic norms upon which our system depends. He doesn't know what is in the nation's founding document. When asked by a member of Congress about Article I, which enumerates congressional powers, the candidate responded, ''I am going to abide by the Constitution whether it's number 1, number 2, number 12, number 9.'' The charter has seven articles.

Worse, he doesn't seem to care about its limitations on executive power. He has threatened that those who criticize him will suffer when he is president. He has vowed to torture suspected terrorists and bomb their innocent relatives, no matter the illegality of either act. He has vowed to constrict the independent press. He went after a judge whose rulings angered him, exacerbating his contempt for the independence of the judiciary by insisting that the judge should be disqualified because of his Mexican heritage. Mr. Trump has encouraged and celebrated violence at his rallies. The U.S. democratic system is strong and has proved resilient when it has been tested before. We have faith in it. But to elect Mr. Trump would be to knowingly subject it to threat.

Mr. Trump campaigns by insult and denigration, insinuation and wild accusation: Ted Cruz's father was involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; Hillary Clinton may be guilty of murder; Mr. Obama is a traitor who wants Muslims to attack. The Republican Party has moved the lunatic fringe onto center stage, with discourse that renders impossible the kind of substantive debate upon which any civil democracy depends.

Most responsible Republican leaders know all this to be true; that is why Mr. Trump had to rely so heavily on testimonials by relatives and employees during this week's Republican convention. With one exception (Bob Dole), the living Republican presidents and presidential nominees of the past three decades all stayed away. But most current officeholders, even those who declared Mr. Trump to be an unthinkable choice only months ago, have lost the courage to speak out.

The party's failure of judgment leaves the nation's future where it belongs, in the hands of voters. Many Americans do not like either candidate this year . We have criticized the presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, in the past and will do so again when warranted. But we do not believe that she (or the Libertarian and Green party candidates, for that matter) represents a threat to the Constitution. Mr. Trump is a unique and present danger.

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Fri, 22 Jul 2016 16:14

Final Draft Includes Support For Conversion Therapy, Attacks on MarriageChange the conversation, change the worldShare thisLed by some of the nation's most anti-gay politicians and even the head of an anti-gay hate group, Republicans late Tuesday voted on and passed the final draft of the GOP 2016 platform. The Log Cabin Republicans issued a fundraising email immediately, shocked, apparently, telling supporters, ''moments ago, the Republican Party passed the most anti-LGBT Platform in the Party's 162-year history.''

''Opposition to marriage equality, nonsense about bathrooms, an endorsement of the debunked psychological practice of ''pray the gay away'' '-- it's all in there,'' the email reads, as the Miami Herald's Steve Rothaus reports.

''This isn't my GOP, and I know it's not yours either,'' wrote Log Cabin President Gregory T. Angelo. ''Heck, it's not even Donald Trump's!,'' he claims, although that's debatable.

''When given a chance to follow the lead of our presumptive presidential nominee and reach out to the LGBT community in the wake of the awful terrorist massacre in Orlando on the gay nightclub Pulse, the Platform Committee said NO.''

As NCRM has been reporting all week, along with passing an amendment calling for an unconstitutional "religious freedom" bill, the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA) to become law, the GOP platform committee passed a plank that effectively says children raised in a "traditional" family are better off than children raised by same-sex parents or single parents.

Republicans voted for amendments that call for to the Bible being taught in schools and voted for transgender people to use the restroom of the gender they were assigned at birth. They also voted to keep a call for a ban on same-sex marriage in their 2016 national platform, voted to support anti-LGBT conversion therapy, and voted to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman, only.

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Fri, 22 Jul 2016 15:21

Danny Cords of Seattle was only 14 when his parents enrolled him in three years of gay conversion therapy, seeking to tame his homosexual urges with Bible verses, a pocket cross and a motto that reminded him that ''all things are possible through Christ.''

He also kept a rock in his shoe, stepping on it as he walked to school, with the pain aimed at removing any temptation to have sex with a man and ''not to think about gay things.''

''None of it worked, not even for a second. '... We all should be ashamed that it's legal,'' said Cords, who's now 29 and says he's happily married to a man.

None of it worked, not even for a second. '... We all should be ashamed that it's legal. Danny Cords, who underwent three years of gay conversion therapy.

While gay conversion therapy for minors has been banned in five states and in Washington, D.C., backing for the practice is alive and well, with gay-rights advocates accusing Republicans of endorsing the idea at their party's national convention in Cleveland.

On Monday, delegates voted to approve a platform that backs the right of parents to determine the proper medical treatment and therapy for their minor children. The platform makes no specific mention of gay conversion therapy, but critics say that passage is aimed at accepting the notion that one's sexual orientation can be changed.

Gregory Angelo, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, the nation's largest GOP organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender conservatives, said he was ''mad as hell'' over the platform, calling gay conversion therapy a debunked psychological practice to ''pray the gay away.''

5 The number of states that have banned gay conversion therapy: California, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont and New Jersey.

Of the five states that have banned gay conversion therapy, California went first, in 2012. Since then, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont have followed suit, along with New Jersey, where Republican Gov. Chris Christie backed the prohibition.

In Washington state, a bill to ban the practice, sponsored by Democratic State Sen. Marko Liias of Lynnwood, failed last year.

Supporters say that gay conversion therapy works.

''It is possible to minimize sexual response to others of the same sex and maximize sexual response to the opposite sex, and if that's what you want to do you should be absolutely free to do it,'' said Rich Wyler, founder and director of People Can Change, a Virginia-based organization that offers support to men who want to ''transition away from unwanted homosexuality.''

It is possible to minimize sexual response to others of the same sex and maximize sexual response to the opposite sex, and if that's what you want to do you should be absolutely free to do it. Rich Wyler, People Can Change

Wyler said it would be ''absurd and unconstitutional'' not to allow ''straight-affirming therapy,'' since there's no proof that it's harmful: ''I know from first-hand experience that I've benefited greatly from it and I know hundreds of men who would say likewise.''

Gay rights supporters note that one prominent Republican who appeared to back gay conversion therapy in 2000 was Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. That's based on a statement from his website, where Pence said that money for an HIV/AIDS program should also to go organizations that wanted to help people change their sexual behavior.

Pence's selection as Donald Trump's running mate, combined with what Angelo calls ''the most anti-LGBT platform'' in the 162-year history of the GOP Party, assures that gay rights will be an explosive issue in the 2016 election.

EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM

Pence angered gay rights groups last year when he signed a religious freedom bill that opponents said would allow businesses to discriminate against customers based on their sexual orientation. Pence later backtracked, when state lawmakers changed the law to say that no discrimination would be allowed.

And in April, a group of students at Indiana Wesleyan University protested the school's decision to invite Pence as the commencement speaker, with opponents citing his prior support for gay conversion therapy and overall opposition to gay rights.

''When I learned that Mike Pence was a top candidate for Trump's VP, I was awed by how low America could get,'' said Luke Garfield, an organizer of the Wesleyan protest who graduated and now works as a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa.

When I learned that Mike Pence was a top candidate for Trump's VP, I was awed by how low America could get. Luke Garfield, student protester

Looking for a bright side, Angelo said it would be better to have Pence hold the ''largely symbolic'' office of vice president: ''The sooner we can get Pence out of the governor's mansion, the less harm he can do the LGBT community.''

EDITORS: END OPTIONAL TRIM

On Capitol Hill, two Washington state Democrats, Rep. Suzan DelBene and Sen. Patty Murray, are pushing bills that would crack down on advertising for gay conversion therapy. They want to classify it as fraudulent under the Federal Trade Communication Act.

EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM

DelBene said that LGBT Americans ''don't need a cure '' they need equality.''

''Unfortunately, there are a lot of stories like Danny's,'' said DelBene, who has 81 cosponsors for her bill, called the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act. It has yet to receive a hearing in the GOP-controlled House.

Joseph Backholm, director of the Family Policy Institute of Washington state, said it would be a mistake for Congress to allow the federal government to ''jump inside of a counseling room.''

''It would be impossible for me to deny the reality that some people who used to be gay no longer are, and it is also impossible for me to deny the experience of people that I know who wanted to change but couldn't,'' he said.

The U.S. Supreme Court sought to end the debate over whether being gay is a choice when it legalized gay marriage last year. Writing the majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy said that homosexuality is both ''a normal expression of human sexuality and immutable,'' meaning it will never change.

The U.S. Supreme Court sought to end the debate over whether being gay is a choice when it legalized gay marriage last year. Writing the majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy said that homosexuality is both ''a normal expression of human sexuality and immutable,'' meaning it will never change.

EDITORS: END OPTIONAL TRIM

President Barack Obama called for an end to gay conversion therapy last year after Leelah Alcorn, a transgender 17-year-old from Ohio, killed herself by jumping in front of a tractor-trailer. She left a note saying that religious therapists tried to make her go back to being a boy.

Both the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association oppose conversion therapy, saying it's based on the idea that homosexuality is a disorder and can harm patients.

EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM

The GOP platform ignited an immediate firestorm among Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. On Twitter, she called it ''disgusting'' that Republicans want to overturn gay marriage and back gay conversion therapy.

EDITORS: END OPTIONAL TRIM

With Republicans seeking to avoid divisive social issues at their convention, Party Chairman Reince Priebus told the Associated Press that conversion therapy was ''not in the platform.''

Technically, he's correct: The plank says only that ''we support the right of parents to determine the proper medical treatment and therapy for their minor children.''

But Angelo isn't buying it.

''Look, I saw the plank as it was drafted '' you have some eyewitness testimony here,'' he said. ''I don't think it's an accident: The only movement we have had in this country over the last two to three years to ban any sort of therapy for minors is specifically and exclusively about conversion therapy.''

EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE

Meanwhile, Cords, who grew up in Renton, Washington, has forgiven his parents, saying they acted out of ignorance and fear by sending him to gay conversion therapy. He said ''it was really scary for them'' when he decided to come out of the closet at such a young age.

''Everyone makes mistakes,'' Cords said. ''I don't hold this against them.''

Cords said he tried hard to change in therapy but that he only learned that he was ''utterly repulsive to God'' and to other people.

''I wanted this to go away '' I prayed,'' he said. ''But overcoming it meant having successful intercourse with a woman. As crass as that sounds, there's no other way to spin it '' that's their goal, to get you married and have babies. . . . It tore my life apart.''

Cords said he ran away from home at age 17 and that his life turned around only after he tried to kill himself and then found support from other gay people.

He said it's good that Republicans have chosen to put a national spotlight on the issue, calling it the ''silver lining in a crap storm'' that could lead to more public debate.

''There's a blessing in that people are going to get educated now with what this is,'' Cords said. ''I hope they really tune in. . . . Why are we allowing this to happen?''

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Fri, 22 Jul 2016 15:26

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 14:08

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump takes the stage on the final evening of the Republican National Convention. Win McNamee/Getty Imageshide caption

toggle captionWin McNamee/Getty ImagesRepublican presidential candidate Donald Trump takes the stage on the final evening of the Republican National Convention.

Win McNamee/Getty ImagesDonald Trump accepted the Republican nomination for president Thursday night, delivering a speech that lays out America's struggles with crime, terrorism and immigration and how he plans to address them.

NPR's politics team has annotated Trump's speech below. Portions we commented on are highlighted, followed by analysis, context and fact check in italics.

Thank you, thank you. Thank you very much.

Friends, delegates and fellow Americans: I humbly and gratefully accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

USA, USA, USA, USA, USA.

Who would have believed that when we started this journey // because we are a team would have received almost 14 million votes the most in the history of the Republican party and that the Republican party would get 60 percent more votes than it received eight years ago. Who would have believed this. Who would have believed this.

The Democrats on the other hand received 20 percent fewer votes than they got four years ago. Not so good. Not so good.

Together, we will lead our party back to the White House, and we will lead our country back to safety, prosperity, and peace.

We will be a country of generosity and warmth.

But we will also be a country of law and order.

[Law and order has become a big theme for Trump in recent weeks, particularly since the killings of five police officers in Dallas. '-- Sarah McCammon]

Our Convention occurs at a moment of crisis for our nation. The attacks on our police, and the terrorism of our cities, threaten our very way of life. Any politician who does not grasp this danger is not fit to lead our country.

Americans watching this address tonight have seen the recent images of violence in our streets and the chaos in our communities. Many have witnessed this violence personally, some have even been its victims. I have a message for all of you: the crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon, and I mean very soon, come to an end.

Beginning on January 20th of 2017, safety will be restored.

[Policing, public safety and the vast majority of the criminal justice apparatus are controlled by state and local authorities, not the federal government. '-- Carrie Johnson]

The most basic duty of government is to defend the lives of its own citizens. Any government that fails to do so is a government unworthy to lead. It is finally time for a straightforward assessment of the state of our nation.

I will present the facts plainly and honestly.

We cannot afford to be so politically correct anymore.

So if you want to hear the corporate spin, the carefully-crafted lies, and the media myths the Democrats are holding their convention next week. Go there.

But here, at our convention, there will be no lies. We will honor the American people with the truth, and nothing else.

[Fact checkers might beg to differ. PolitiFact, for instance, has found a number offalse statementsuttered at this week's RNC. '-- Tamara Keith]

These are the facts: Decades of progress made in bringing down crime are now being reversed by this Administration's rollback of criminal enforcement. Homicides last year increased by 17 percent in America's fifty largest cities. That's the largest increase in 25 years.

[These data seem to come from a JanuaryWashington Post analysisthat found homicides were up by 17 percent in 2015 over 2014, and that it indeed was the largest increase since 1990. '-- Danielle Kurtzleben]

[However, violent crime is an intensely local phenomenon and murders were not up in all of those 50 cities. '-- Carrie Johnson]

[And there's a broader context for crime figures: While violent crime may be climbing this year, rates are far below theirpeak in the early 1990s. '-- Danielle Kurtzleben]

[Americansin recent years have saidthey believe crime is getting worse even though the overall trend is down. '-- Sarah McCammon]

In our nation's capital, killings have risen by 50 percent. They are up nearly 60% in nearby Baltimore.

[That same Post analysis found murders up by 54.3 percent in Washington, D.C., and 58.5 percent in Baltimore in 2015 over 2014. '-- Danielle Kurtzleben]

In the President's hometown of Chicago, more than 2,000 people have been the victims of shootings this year alone.

[Just three days ago, the Chicago Tribune reported that nearly 2,200 people have been shot in Chicago this year, with 329 of those people dead. The Tribune also reported that that's 100 more such deaths than at this point last year. '-- Danielle Kurtzleben]

And more than 4,000 have been killed in the Chicago area since he took office.

The number of police officers killed in the line of duty has risen by almost 50% compared to this point last year.

[The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund says as of July 21, 2016, total fatalities this year compared with the same time last year reflect an increase of five deaths, or 8 percent. Deaths related to firearms are up by 14 deaths, or 78 percent. '-- Carrie Johnson]

Nearly 180,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records, ordered deported from our country, are tonight roaming free to threaten peaceful citizens.

The number of new illegal immigrant families who have crossed the border so far this year already exceeds the entire total from 2015.

[The number of families apprehended this fiscal year along the Southwestern border thus far (that is, starting in October 2015) is around51,000, according to Border Patrol data. That is already over the nearly 40,000 apprehended during fiscal year 2015. Total apprehensions are also on pace to exceed their 2015 total, as well, according to these data. However, that wouldn't be a very high number in the context of recent years;total apprehensions at the border todayare far, far lower than they were in the early 2000s. '-- Danielle Kurtzleben]

They are being released by the tens of thousands into our communities with no regard for the impact on public safety or resources.

One such border-crosser was released and made his way to Nebraska. There, he ended the life of an innocent young girl named Sarah Root. She was 21 years-old, and was killed the day after graduating from college with a 4.0 Grade Point Average. Number one in her class. Her killer was then released a second time, and he is now a fugitive from the law. I've met Sarah's beautiful family. But to this Administration, their amazing daughter was just one more American life that wasn't worth protecting. No more.

One more child to sacrifice on the order and on the altar of open borders.

[America does not have "open borders." It has restrictions on immigration and Border Patrol agents who make hundreds of thousands of apprehensions a year. '-- Danielle Kurtzleben]

What about our economy? Again, I will tell you the plain facts that have been edited out of your nightly news and your morning newspaper: Nearly 4 in 10 African-American children are living in poverty, while 58% of African-American youth are now not employed.

[Thirty-six percent of African-Americans under 18 were below the poverty line as of 2014, according to theCensus Bureau. It's not entirely clear what Trump means by "not employed," which is not technically the same as "unemployed," which counts people who aren't working and are looking for work. However, the unemployment rate for black Americans ages 16 to 19 was38.1 percentas of June. '-- Danielle Kurtzleben]

2 million more Latinos are in poverty today than when President Obama took his oath of office less than eight years ago.

[That's roughly true, by the latest data available. Around 11 million Hispanic-Americanswere in povertyin 2008, compared with 13.1 million in 2014. The poverty rate makes more sense to compare, though '-- that has grown 0.4 points since 2008, but it has also declined lately, down by nearly 3 points since 2010. As for whether President Obama is responsible for this, we get to that below. '-- Danielle Kurtzleben]

Another 14 million people have left the workforce entirely.

[There's a lot going on in this statistic. So here goes: Trump may be talking about the number of adultsnotin the labor force '-- that is, neither working nor looking for work (so it includes retirees and students, for example). That figure has climbed by 14 million since January 2009 (importantly, this isn't people leaving the labor force; it's just people not in it, period). But while labor force participation is relatively low, the labor force hasstill been growing'-- Trump's 14 million figure might imply that it's not. And that low labor force participation isn't entirely about a tough economy '-- a lot of it is simple demographics. In 2014, theCongressional Budget Officefound that half of a recent 3-point drop in the rate had been due to baby boomers retiring. The other half was economic factors. '-- Danielle Kurtzleben]

Household incomes are down more than $4,000 since the year 2000. That's sixteen years ago.

[That's true, using median household income data, though he is not measuring from the start of the Obama administration as he is for the other stats here. If he measured from 2008, the drop was $1,656. Measuring from 2000 means measuring from the figure's near-peak.

[A broader point about all of these economic statistics: A lot of them have been true, but the question is whether Obama is to blame. Higher poverty, for example, doesn't appear to be Obama's doing, aswe wrotein a fact check last year. Moreover, many experts believe a president generally has onlyvery limited abilityto affect the economy. '-- Danielle Kurtzleben]

Our trade deficit has reached an all-time high think of this, think of this, our trade deficit is nearly $800 billion, think of that, 800 billion dollars, last year alone. We're going to fix that.

The budget is no better. President Obama has almost doubled our national debt to more than $19 trillion, and growing. And yet, what do we have to show for it? Our roads and bridges are falling apart, our airports are Third World condition, and forty-three million Americans are on food stamps.

Now let us consider the state of affairs abroad. Not only have our citizens endured domestic disaster, but they've lived through one international humiliation after another.One after another. We all remember the images of our sailors being forced to their knees by their Iranian captors at gunpoint. This was just prior to the signing of the Iran deal, which gave back to Iran $150 billion and gave us absolutely nothing '' it will go down in history as one of the worst deals ever negotiated.

[PolitiFacthas debunked this '-- that $150 billion is an estimate (and a high one) of the value of Iranian assets tied up by economic sanctions, according to the site. '-- Danielle Kurtzleben]

Another humiliation came when president Obama drew a red line in Syria '' and the whole world knew it meant absolutely nothing. In Libya, our consulate '' the symbol of American prestige around the globe '' was brought down in flames.

[The diplomatic outpost in Benghazi was not a consulate. Here's how former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell described it in aPolitico article:

["The State Department facility in Benghazi has been widely mischaracterized as a US consulate. In fact it was a Temporary Mission Facility (TMF), a presence that was not continuously staffed by senior personnel and that was never given formal diplomatic status by the Libyan government." '-- Tamara Keith]

America is far less safe '' and the world is far less stable '' than when Obama made the decision to put Hillary Clinton in charge of America's foreign policy.

[Editor's note: Crowd chants "Lock her up."]

Let's defeat her in November, okay?

I am certain that it was a decision that President Obama truly regrets.

[President Obama has enthusiastically endorsed Clinton, so it would seem unlikely that he regrets choosing her to be his secretary of state. '-- Tamara Keith]

Her bad instincts and her bad judgment '' something pointed out by Bernie Sanders '' are what caused so many of the disasters unfolding today. Let's review the record.

In 2009, pre-Hillary, ISIS was not even on the map. Libya was stable. Egypt was peaceful. Iraq was seeing and really a big big reduction in violence. Iran was being choked by sanctions. Syria was somewhat under control. After four years of Hillary Clinton, what do we have? ISIS has spread across the region, and the entire world. Libya is in ruins, and our Ambassador and his staff were left helpless to die at the hands of savage killers. Egypt was turned over to the radical Muslim brotherhood, forcing the military to retake control. Iraq is in chaos. Iran is on the path to nuclear weapons. Syria is engulfed in a civil war and a refugee crisis, now threatens the West. After fifteen years of wars in the Middle East, after trillions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost, the situation is worse than it has ever been before. This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction, terrorism, and weakness. But Hillary Clinton's legacy does not have to be America's legacy.

[Attacks on Hillary Clinton and the argument that she is part of the status quo that is making many Americans unhappy in their lives are a common theme at Trump rallies. '-- Sarah McCammon]

The problems we face now '' poverty and violence at home, war and destruction abroad '' will last only as long as we continue relying on the same politicians who created them in the first place.

A change in leadership is required to produce a change in outcomes.

[Many of these ideas are familiar: making better trade deals, fighting terrorism, putting "America first," and the notion that only a dramatic change in the leadership of the country will be able to solve national problems. '-- Sarah McCammon]

Tonight, I will share with you my plan for action for America. The most important difference between our plan and that of our opponents, is that our plan will put America First.

Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo. As long as we are led by politicians who will not put America First, then we can be assured that other nations will not treat America with respect. The respect that we deserve.

The American People will come first once again.

My plan will begin with safety at home '' which means safe neighborhoods, secure borders, and protection from terrorism. There can be no prosperity without law and order.

On the economy, I will outline reforms to add millions of new jobs and trillions in new wealth that can be used to rebuild America.

A number of these reforms that I will outline tonight will be opposed by some of our nation's most powerful special interests. That's because these interests have rigged our political and economic system for their exclusive benefit. Believe me. It's for their benefit.

Big business, elite media and major donors are lining up behind the campaign of my opponent because they know she will keep our rigged system in place.

They are throwing money at her because they have total control over everything single thing she does. She is their puppet, and they pull the strings.

That is why Hillary Clinton's message is that things will never change. Never ever.

[Clinton has reams of plans and proposals to change everything from the nation's immigration system and criminal justice policies to the way people pay for college. '-- Tamara Keith]

My message is that things have to change '' and they have to change right now.

Every day I wake up determined to deliver a better life for the people all across this nation that have been neglected, ignored, and abandoned. I have visited the laid-off factory workers, and the communities crushed by our horrible and unfair trade deals. These are the forgotten men and women of our country. And they are forgotten. But they're not going to be forgotten long.

These are people who work hard but no longer have a voice. I am your voice.

I have embraced crying mothers who have lost their children because our politicians put their personal agendas before the national good. I have no patience for injustice -

[Editor's note: Protester interrupts, crowd shouts "USA"]

How great are our police! And how great is Cleveland?

Thank you.

I have no patience for injustice. No tolerance for government incompetence of which there is so much, no sympathy for leaders who fail their citizens. When innocent people suffer, because our political system lacks the will, or the courage, or the basic decency to enforce our laws '' or still worse, has sold out to some corporate lobbyist for cash '' I am not able to look the other way. And I won't look the other way.

And when a Secretary of State illegally stores her emails on a private server, deletes 33,000 of them so the authorities can't see her crime, puts our country at risk, lies about it in every different form and faces no consequence '' I know that corruption has reached a level like never ever before in our country.

[There was no official determination that the private server was illegal, although the State Department inspector general found it was not approved and would not have been had Clinton asked. '-- Carrie Johnson]

When the FBI Director says that the Secretary of State was "extremely careless" and "negligent," in handling our classified secrets, I also know that these terms are minor compared to what she actually did.

[FBI Director James Comey had plenty of criticism for Clinton but said "no reasonable prosecutor" would charge Clinton with a crime for the emails. '-- Carrie Johnson]

They were just used to save her from facing justice for her terrible, terrible crimes.

In fact, her single greatest accomplishment may be committing such egregious crime and getting away with it '' especially when others who have done far less, have paid so dearly. When that same Secretary of State rakes in millions and millions of dollars trading access and favors to special interests and foreign powers I know the time for action has come.

I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people who cannot defend themselves.

Nobody knows the system better than me.

Which is why I alone can fix it.

I have seen firsthand how the system is rigged against our citizens, just like it was rigged against Bernie Sanders '' he never had a chance. Never had a chance. But his supporters will join our movement, because we will fix his biggest single issue: trade deals that strip our country of its jobs and strip us of our wealth as a country.

[Sanders had a lot of issues that he was deeply passionate about, including trade, but it wouldn't be at the top of his list. His campaign revolved most intensely around two things: income inequality and a broken campaign finance system. '-- Tamara Keith]

Millions of Democrats will join our movement, because we are going to fix the system so it works fairly and justly for all Americans.

[A recentPew pollfound that just 9 percent of Democratic and Democratic-leaning Sanders supporters said they planned to vote for Trump in the general election. "85% say they plan to vote for Clinton in the general election, compared with 9% who say they will vote for Trump and 6% who volunteer that they will vote for another candidate or don't know."

[Sanders got approximately 12 million popular votes. Back-of-the-envelope calculation, 9 percent of 12 million is a bit more than 1 million, not millions. And that poll was taken before Sanders endorsed Clinton. '-- Tamara Keith]

In this cause, I am proud to have at my side the next Vice President of the United States: Governor Mike Pence of Indiana. And a great guy.

We will bring the same economic success to America that Mike brought to Indiana. Which is amazing.

He's a man of character and accomplishment. He's the man for the job.

[Trump is saying that he and Pence will improve U.S. trade deals, but trade is just one of several areas on which they differ. Pence has been a strong proponent of free trade in the past, having approved of NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, as theNew York Timesreports. '-- Danielle Kurtzleben]

The first task for our new Administration will be to liberate our citizens from the crime and terrorism and lawlessness that threatens our community. America was shocked to its core when our police officers in Dallas were so brutally executed. Immediately after Dallas, we have seen continued threats and violence against our law enforcement officials. Law officers have been shot or killed in recent days in Georgia, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas, Michigan and Tennessee.

On Sunday, more police were gunned down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Three were killed, and three were very, very badly injured. An attack on law enforcement is an attack on all Americans.

I have a message to every last person threatening the peace on our streets and the safety of our police: when I take the oath of office next year, I will restore law and order to our country. Believe me. Believe me.

I will work with, and appoint, the best and brightest prosecutors and law enforcement officials to get the job properly done.

[The president does select U.S. attorneys, but those top federal prosecutors handle a small fraction of violent crime cases in the nation. Most murders, robberies and assaults are prosecuted by local authorities. '-- Carrie Johnson]

In this race for the White House, I am the Law And Order candidate.

The irresponsible rhetoric of our President, who has used the pulpit of the presidency to divide us by race and color, has made America a more dangerous environment that frankly that I have ever seen of anybody in this room has ever watched or seen.

[The Brennan Center for Justice says overall crime rates from 2014 to 2015 were "nearly identical." Violent crime rose by 3 percent over that period. '-- Carrie Johnson]

This Administration has failed America's inner cities. Remember, it has failed America's inner cities. It's failed them on education. It's failed them on jobs. It's failed them on crime. It's failed them in every way and at every single level. When I am President, I will work to ensure that all of our kids are treated equally, and protected equally.

Every action I take, I will ask myself: does this make better for young Americans in Baltimore, in Chicago, in Detroit, in Ferguson who have really, in every way folks, the same right to live out their dreams as any other child in America? Any other child.

To make life safe for all of our citizens, we must also address the growing threats from outside the country. We are going to defeat the barbarians of ISIS and we're going to defeat them fast.

Once again, France is the victim of brutal Islamic terrorism. Men, women and children viciously mowed down. Lives ruined. Families ripped apart. A nation in mourning. The damage and devastation that can be inflicted by Islamic radicals has been proven over and over '' at the World Trade Center, at an office party in San Bernardino, at the Boston Marathon, at a military recruiting center in Chattanooga, Tennessee. And many many other locations.

Only weeks ago, in Orlando, Florida, 49 wonderful Americans were savagely murdered by an Islamic terrorist. This time, the terrorist targeted LGBTQ community. No good, and we're going to stop it.

As your President, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology. Believe me.

[The party iswell to Trump's righton LGBT issues, as NPR's Brian Naylor has reported. The Log Cabin Republicans have called it the "most anti-LGBT platform" in GOP history, according to ABC News. '-- Danielle Kurtzleben]

And I have to say as a Republican it is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just said. Thank you.

To protect us from terrorism, we need to focus on three things. We must have the best, absolutely the best gathering of intelligence anywhere in the world. The best. We must abandon the failed policy of nation building and regime change that Hillary Clinton pushed in Iraq, in Libya, in Egypt and in Syria. Instead, we must work with all of our allies who share our goal of destroying ISIS and stamping out Islamic terrorism and doing it now, doing it quickly. We're going to win. We're going to win fast.

This includes working with our greatest ally in the region, the State of Israel.

Recently, I have said NATO is obsolete because it did not properly cover terror. And also that many of the member countries were not paying their fair share. As usual, the United States has been picking up the costs. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that NATO will be setting up a new program in order to combat terrorism. A true step in the right direction.

Lastly, and very importantly, we must immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place. We don't want them in our country.

My opponent has called for a radical 550% increase in Syrian, think of this. Think of this, this is not believable but this is what's happening. A 550 percent increase in Syrian refugees on top of existing massive refugee flows coming into our country already under the leadership of President Obama.

She proposes this despite the fact that there's no way to screen these refugees in order to find out who they are or where they come from.

[PolitiFactranked the claim about the lack of a vetting system false.

[However, PolitiFactdid findthat Trump's number is correct as to the increase in refugee admissions proposed by Clinton. Interestingly, about a month ago, Trump said it would be a 500 percent increase. PolitiFact noted that it actually worked out to 550 percent. Trump has adjusted to the higher and more accurate number.

[In 2015, the U.S. admitted (per the State Department) 1,682 Syrian refugees. That is well under President Obama's goal. It would be hard to argue that is "massive."'-- Tamara Keith]

I only want to admit individuals into our country who will support our values and love our people.

Anyone who endorses violence, hatred or oppression is not welcome in our country and never ever will be.

Decades of record immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment for our citizens, especially for African-American and Latino workers. We are going to have an immigration system that works, but one that works for the American people.

On Monday, we heard from three parents whose children were killed by illegal immigrants: Mary Ann Mendoza, Sabine Durden, and my friend Jamiel Shaw. They are just three brave representatives of many thousands who have suffered so greatly. Of all my travels in this country, nothing has affected me more, nothing even close I have to tell you, than the time I have spent with the mothers and fathers who have lost their children to violence spilling across our borders which we can solve. We have to solve it.

These families have no special interests to represent them. There are no demonstrators to protect them and certainly none to protest on their behalf. My opponent will never meet with them, or share in their pain. Believe me. Instead, my opponent wants Sanctuary Cities.

But where was the sanctuary for Kate Steinle?

Where was the Sanctuary for the children of Mary Ann, and Sabine and Jamiel? Where was sanctuary for all the other, it's so sad to even be talking about it, because we can solve this problem so quickly. Where was the sanctuary for all of the Americans who have been so brutally murdered, and who have suffered so horribly? These wounded American families have been alone. But they are not alone any longer.

Tonight, this candidate and the whole nation stand in their corner to support them, to send them our love, and to pledge in their honor that we will save countless more families from suffering and the same awful fate.We are going to build a great border wall to stop illegal immigration, to stop the gangs and the violence, and to stop the drugs from pouring into our communities.

I have been honored to receive the endorsement of America's Border Patrol Agents.

And will work directly with them to protect the integrity of our lawful, lawful, lawful immigration system. Lawful.

By ending catch-and-release on the border, we will end the cycle of human smuggling and violence. Illegal border crossings will go down. We will stop it, it won't be happening very much anymore. Believe me.

Peace will be restored. By enforcing the rules for millions who overstay their visas, our laws will finally receive the respect that they deserve.

Tonight, I want every American whose demands for immigration security have been denied '' and every politician who has denied them '' to listen very, very closely to the words I am about to say. On January 20th of 2017, the day I take the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced.

We are going to be considerate and compassionate to everyone. But my greatest compassion will be for our own struggling citizens.

USA. USA. USA.

[Editor's note: Trump chanted along with the crowd here.]

My plan is the exact opposite of the radical and dangerous immigration policy of Hillary Clinton. Americans want relief from uncontrolled immigration. Which is what we have now. Communities want relief. Yet Hillary Clinton is proposing mass amnesty, mass immigration, and mass lawlessness.

Her plan will overwhelm your schools and hospitals, further reduce your jobs and wages, and make it harder for recent immigrants to escape the tremendous cycle poverty that they're going through right now and make it almost impossible for them to join the middle class.

I have a different vision for our workers. It begins with a new, fair trade policy that protects our jobs and stands up to countries that cheat. Of which there are many.

It's been a signature message of my campaign from day one, and it will be a signature feature of my presidency from the moment I take the oath of office.

I have made billions of dollars in business making deals '' now I'm going to make our country rich again.

Using the greatest business people in the world, which our country has, I am going to turn our bad trade agreements into great trade agreements.

America has lost nearly-one third of its manufacturing jobs since 1997, following the enactment of disastrous trade deals supported by Bill and Hillary Clinton. Remember, it was Bill Clinton who signed NAFTA, one of the worst economic deals ever made by our country. Or frankly, any other country. Never ever again.

[Aswe havepointed outin twoearlier Trump speech annotations, and asNPR's Chris Arnoldreported this year, it appears that NAFTA didn't have a huge effect on jobs. As the Congressional Research Servicereported in 2015, the agreement neither lived up to proponents' promises nor caused the massive job losses that opponents claimed it would. Also, Bill Clinton was not solely responsible for NAFTA; it was negotiated under George H.W. Bush before it became law under Clinton. '-- Danielle Kurtzleben]

I am going to bring our jobs back to Ohio and Pennsylvania, and New York, and Michigan, and all of America '' and I am not going to let companies move to other countries, firing their employees along the way, without consequence. Not going to happen anymore.

My opponent, on the other hand, has supported virtually every trade agreement that has been destroying our middle class. She supported NAFTA, and she supported China's entrance into the World Trade Organization '' another one of her husband's colossal mistakes and disasters.

She supported the job-killing trade deal with South Korea. She supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Which will not only destroy our manufacturers, but will make America subject to the rulings of foreign governments. And it's not going to happen.

I pledge to never sign any trade agreement that hurts our workers or that diminishes our freedom or independence. We will never sign bad trade deals. America First again. America First.

Instead, I will make individual deals with individual countries. No longer will we enter into these massive transactions, with many countries, that are thousands of pages long '' and which no one from our country even reads or understands.

We are going to enforce all trade violations, against any country that cheats.

This includes stopping China's outrageous theft of intellectual property, along with their illegal product dumping, and their devastating currency manipulation. They are the greatest that ever came about. They are the greatest currency manipulators ever.

Our horrible trade agreements with China and many others will be totally renegotiated. That includes renegotiating NAFTA to get a much better deal for America '' and we'll walk away if we don't get that kind of a deal.

Our country is going to start building and making things again.

Next comes the reform of our tax laws, regulations and energy rules. While Hillary Clinton plans a massive, and I mean massive, tax increase, I have proposed the largest tax reduction of any candidate who has run for the president this year '' Democrat or Republican.

Middle-income Americans and businesses will experience profound relief, and taxes will be greatly simplified for everyone. I mean everyone.

America is one of the highest-taxed nations in the world.

Reducing taxes will cause new companies and new jobs to come roaring back into our country. Believe me, it'll happen and it'll happen fast.

Then we are going to deal with the issue of regulation, one of the greatest job-killers of them all. Excessive regulation is costing our country as much as $2 trillion a year, and we will end it very, very quickly.

[A few analyses have found that regulation costs around $2 trillion '-- one of the best-known, from theCompetitive Enterprise Institute, estimated it at around $1.9 trillion this year. But as theWashington Post's Fact Checkerhas pointed out, in the past this figure has been characterized as a "back of the envelope" count, and that moreover, it doesn't make sense to talk about costs without trying to count the benefits of regulation. '-- Danielle Kurtzleben]

We are going to lift the restrictions on the production of American energy.

This will produce more than $20 trillion in job-creating economic activity over the next four decades. My opponent, on the other hand, wants to put the great miners and the great steelworkers of our country out of work and out of business '' that will never happen with Donald J Trump as president. Our steelworkers and our miners are going back to work again.

With these new economic policies, trillions and trillions of dollars will start flowing into our country. This new wealth will improve the quality of life for all Americans '' We will build the roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, and the railways of tomorrow. This, in turn, will create millions of more jobs. We will rescue kids from failing schools by helping their parents send them to a safe school of their choice.

My opponent would rather protect bureaucrats than serve American children. And that's what she's doing. And that's what's she's done. We will repeal and replace disastrous Obamacare.

You will be able to choose your own doctor again.

And we will fix TSA at the airports! Which is a total disaster.

We're going to work with all of our students who are drowning in debt to take the pressure off these young people just starting out in their adult lives. Tremendous problem.

We will completely rebuild our depleted military, and the countries that we protect, at a massive cost to us, will be asked to pay their fair share.

We will take care of our great Veterans like they have never been taken care of before.

My just released 10 point plan has received tremendous veteran support. We will guarantee those who serve this country will be able to visit the doctor or hospital of their choice without waiting five days on a line and dying.

My opponent dismissed the VA scandal. One more sign of how out of touch she really is. We are going to ask every Department Head in government to provide a list of wasteful spending projects that we can eliminate in my first 100 days.

The politicians have talked about this for years, but I'm going to do it.

[Editor's note: Crowd chants "Yes You Will"]

We are going to appoint justices of the United States Supreme Court who will uphold our laws and our Constitution.

The replacement of our beloved Justice Scalia will be a person of similar views and principles and judicial philosophies. Very important. This will be one of the most important issues decided by this election. My opponent wants to essentially abolish the 2nd amendment.

I, on the other hand, received the early and strong endorsement of the National Rifle Association and will protect the right of all Americans to keep their families safe.

At this moment, I would like to thank the evangelical and religious community because I'll tell you what. Because the support they've given me, and I'm not sure I totally deserve it, has been so amazing. And has had such a big reason for me being here tonight. True. So true.

They have so much to contribute to our politics, yet our laws prevent you from speaking your minds from your own pulpits. An amendment, pushed by Lyndon Johnson, many years ago, threatens religious institutions with a loss of their tax-exempt status if they openly advocate their political views. Their voice has been taken away.

[Here's anIRS explanationof the rules on churches and taxes, saying that to be tax-exempt, a church may not "participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office." ThisLA Times piece from 2008is a breakdown of some of the arguments for and against the Johnson Amendment. '-- Danielle Kurtzleben]

I am going to work very hard to repeal that language and to protect free speech for all Americans.

We can accomplish these great things, and so much more '' all we need to do is start believing in ourselves and in our country again. Start believing. It is time to show the whole world that America Is Back '' bigger, and better and stronger than ever before.

In this journey, I'm so lucky to have at my side my wife Melania and my wonderful children, Don, Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany, and Barron: you will always be my greatest source of pride and joy. And by the way, Melania and Ivanka, did they do a job.

[There's also a bit more of the personal in this speech. Trump not only talks about his children, as he often does, but also his parents and siblings. This week we've seen an effort to humanize a man who is known for being bold and confrontational, and that continues here. '-- Sarah McCammon]

My Dad, Fred Trump, was the smartest and hardest working man I ever knew. I wonder sometimes what he'd say if he were here to see this, and to see me, tonight.

It's because of him that I learned, from my youngest age, to respect the dignity of work and the dignity of working people.

He was a guy most comfortable in the company of bricklayers, and carpenters, and electricians and I have a lot of that in me also. I love those people.

Then there's my mother, Mary. She was strong, but also warm and fair-minded. She was a truly great mother. She was also one of the most honest and charitable people I have ever known, and a great great judge of character. She could pick 'em out from anywhere.

To my sisters Mary Anne and Elizabeth, my brother Robert and my late brother Fred, I will always give you my love you are most special to me.

I have had a truly great life in business. But now, my sole and exclusive mission is to go to work for our country '' to go to work for you. It's time to deliver a victory for the American people. We don't win anymore, but we are going to start winning again.

But to do that, we must break free from the petty politics of the past. America is a nation of believers, dreamers, and strivers that is being led by a group of censors, critics, and cynics.

Remember: all of the people telling you you can't have the country you want, are the same people telling you that wouldn't stand, I mean they said Trump doesn't have a chance of being here tonight. Not a chance. The same people. Oh we love defeating those people. Don't we? Don't we? Love it. Love it. Love it.

No longer can we rely on those same people in the media media, and politics, who will say anything to keep a rigged system in place.

[Americans as a whole aren't fans of the news media, but Republicans dislike the media even more. According to a2015 Pew Research Center report, 17 percent of Republicans say the national news media "has a positive effect on the way things are going in the country," compared with 33 percent of Democrats. '-- Danielle Kurtzleben]

Instead, we must choose to Believe In America. History is watching us now. We don't have much time, but history is watching. It's waiting to see if we will rise to the occasion, and if we will show the whole world that America is still free and independent and strong.

I am asking for your support tonight so I can be your champion in the White House. And I will be your champion.

My opponent asks her supporters to recite a three-word loyalty pledge. It reads: "I'm With Her". I choose to recite a different pledge.

["I'm With Her" started out as a hashtag and sometimes supporters do chant it at events, but the Clinton campaign doesn't ask supporters to pledge loyalty by reciting it. The campaign's current slogan is "Stronger Together." '-- Tamara Keith]

My pledge reads: "I'M WITH YOU '' THE AMERICAN PEOPLE."

I am your voice. So to every parent who dreams for their child, and every child who dreams for their future, I say these words to you tonight: I am With You, and I will fight for you, and I will win for you.

To all Americans tonight, in all of our cities and in all of our towns, I make this promise: We Will Make America Strong Again. We Will Make America Proud Again. We Will Make America Safe Again. And We Will Make America Great Again.

God bless you, and goodnight. I love you.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 24 Jul 2016 04:42

Image copyrightThinkstockImage caption With so much digital content out there, how do we choose what to read or watch? You may think you choose to read one story over another, or to watch a particular video rather than all the others clamouring for your attention.

But in truth, you are probably manipulated into doing so by publishers using clever machine learning algorithms.

The online battle for eyeballs has gone hi-tech.

Every day the web carries about 500 million tweets, 300 hours of YouTube video uploads, and more than 80 million new Instagram photos. Just keeping up with our friends' Facebook and Twitter updates can seem like a full-time job.

So publishers desperately trying to get us to read and watch their stuff in the face of competition from viral videos and pictures of cats that look like Hitler are enlisting the help of data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI).

But do these technologies actually work?

A question of timingRecent start-up Echobox has developed a system it says takes the human guesswork out of the mix. By analysing large amounts of data, it learns how specific audiences respond to different articles at different times of the day.

It then selects the best stories to post and the best times to post them.

Image copyrightEchoboxImage caption Echobox founder Antoine Amann (left) and chief technology officer Marc Fletcher Echobox claims its system generates an average 71% gain in referral traffic from Facebook and a 142% increase from Twitter. The software is already being used by publishers such as Vogue, Le Figaro and Telegraph Media Group.

"Imagine a superhuman editor with an incredibly deep understanding of its audience, but 100 times faster," says Antoine Amann, Echobox founder and chief executive.

"The data we use is both historical and real-time. For instance, our system will have a strong understanding of what type of [publishing] times worked well in the past, whilst at the same time analysing what's currently trending on the web."

Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption The UK's Independent newspaper has now gone digital-only Anne Pican, digital publisher at French daily newspaper Le Figaro, one of the firm's clients, says they have already seen benefits.

"Social media optimisation has been a major headache," she says. "Not only is it extremely complex but it's a lot of guesswork and requires a more scientific approach.

"Since using Echobox we've seen a major upswing in our traffic and saved valuable time."

Blossoming Traditional newspapers facing dwindling print circulations are particularly keen to attract new digital audiences.

The New York Times (NYT), for example, has built Blossom, an intelligent "bot" constructed inside the messaging app Slack.

It uses machine learning to predict how blog posts and articles will perform on social media. It can also tell editors which ones to promote.

Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption The New York Times says its Blossom AI program increases online readership If a journalist sends Blossom a direct message, such as "Blossom Facebook?", the bot will respond with a list of links to stories it believes will do well on the social media platform at that time.

According to its developers, Blossom posts get about 380% more clicks than ones it doesn't recommend.

Which headline?What this type of historical and real-time analysis shows is that certain headlines, photos and topics attract more attention than others on different devices at different times of the day with different audiences.

Predicting this without the help of machine learning computers is very tricky.

Image copyrightHulton ArchiveImage caption In the pre-digital age, newspapers only had to compete with other newspapers Programs such as Chartbeat and Echobox also give publishers the ability to test different headlines and promotional tweets for the same story in real time.

And programs like SocialFlow - used by some sections of the BBC website - apply algorithms to try to anticipate when the social media audience will be most receptive to an update.

It can then automatically post the message at the "optimum" time, measure how many people look at the post, and crucially, how many bother to click through to the original article.

Marketing hype?But does using data analytics to learn about reader and viewer behaviour, then make publishing decisions based on that analysis, really count as AI?

The NYT is staying tight-lipped about the exact workings of the bot, citing intellectual property reasons, but Colin Russel, a senior data scientist at the newspaper and Blossom's main designer, says: "We do characterise it as AI.

"We're emulating what a team of editors would do if they had the time enough and a whiteboard big enough to observe and enumerate all the stories, all their history of posting, and all possible places they could be posted.

"It's definitely an artificial intelligence."

Image copyrightAOPImage caption Richard Reeves thinks AI tools could help online publishers Echobox also describes its service as "artificial intelligence meets online publishing".

But Tom Cheesewright, a futurist and head of consultancy firm Book of the Future, describes such tech as "more of a tool than an intelligence".

"I'd argue this is probably the very outer edges of what might be called AI. Here, a more prosaic term like machine learning or predictive analytics might be more appropriate."

Semantics aside, Richard Reeves, managing director at the Association of Online Publishers, believes this kind of tech could have a positive impact on the industry.

"Publishers are faced with the dual challenge of increased competition for user attention and a diminishing pool of resources.

Image copyrightThinkstockImage caption If you're suffering from digital content overload, you could always just read a book "This makes it essential for publishers not only to make the most of their archived content, but also to deliver targeted content that aligns with user needs.

"Thanks to recent developments in AI, publishers are starting to achieve this balance by using advanced new tools."

News for youIf you feel there's just too much content to choose from, you could let others do the choosing for you. For example, German publishing group Axel Springer and tech giant Samsung have joined forces to develop the Upday mobile news app.

New users specify what kind of topics they like, then a team of human editors, backed up by computer algorithms, curates content from 1,200 different sources, including Le Figaro, Der Spiegel and The Economist.

And Japanese tech firm SmartNews aggregates stories from 1,500 publications, highlighting those that are being most widely read and shared by others - crowdsourced news as it were.

One solution, of course, is simply to switch off all your gadgets and read a good book.

Follow Technology of Business editor @matthew_wall on Twitter

Click here for more Technology of Business features

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Archived Version

Sun, 24 Jul 2016 13:27

More than a dozen media organizations, including NBC, Fox, Turner Broadcasting, Reuters, and the conservative NewsMax '-- the very news media who cover Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign '-- are big donors to her Clinton Foundation that is accused of trading State Department favors to foreign governments in return for their lucrative ''donations.''

(See ''Hillary and Bill Clinton got millions in bribes from foreign 'entities' in exchange for State Dept favors'')

How is this not a conflict of interest?

Dylan Byers writes for Politico, May 15, 2015, that more than a dozen media organizations that have made charitable contributions to the non-profit tax-exempt Clinton Foundation in recent years, the foundation's records show.

The donations, which range from the low-thousands to the millions, provide a picture of the media industry's ties to the Clinton Foundation at a time when one of its most notable personalities, ABC's George Stephanopoulos, is under scrutiny for his previously undisclosed $75,000 contribution to the Foundation.

The following list, organized by the size of the ''contribution,'' includes news media organizations, companies, and individuals that have donated to the Clinton Foundation.

$1,000,000-$5,000,000Carlos Slim, Chairman & CEO of Telmex, largest New York Timesshareholder.James Murdoch (editor's note: Son of Rupert Murdoch), Chief Operating Officer of 21st CenturyFox, the holdings of which include the Fox Entertainment Group'--owners of the 20th Century Fox film studio and Fox television network.Newsmax Media, Florida-based conservative media network.Thomson Reuters, owner of the Reuters news service.$500,000-$1,000,000GoogleNews Corporation Foundation, philanthropic arm of former Fox News parent company.$250,000-$500,000Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, PublisherRichard Mellon Scaife, the supposedly conservative owner of Pittsburgh Tribune-Review$100,000-$250,000Abigail Disney, documentary filmmakerBloomberg PhilanthropiesHoward Stringer, former CBS, CBS News and Sony executiveIntermountain West Communications Company, local television affiliate owner (formerly Sunbelt Communications)$50,000-$100,000Bloomberg L.P.Discovery Communications Inc.George Stephanopoulos, ABC News chief anchor and chief political correspondentMort Zuckerman, owner of New York Daily News and U.S. News & World ReportTime Warner Inc., owner of CNN parent company Turner Broadcasting$25,000-$50,000AOLHBOHollywood Foreign Press Association, presenters of the Golden Globe AwardsViacom, a 2005 spinoff from CBS Corporation$10,000-$25,000Knight Foundation, non-profit foundation dedicated to supporting journalismPublic Radio InternationalTurner Broadcasting, parent company of CNNTwitter$5,000-$10,000Comcast, parent copmany of NBCUniversalNBC Universal, parent company of NBC News, MSNBC and CNBCPublic Broadcasting Service$1,000-$5,000Robert Allbritton, owner of POLITICO parent company Capitol News Group$250-$1,000AOL Huffington Post Media GroupHearst CorporationJudy Woodruff, PBS Newshour co-anchor and managing editorThe Washington Post Company'†‘Click image to enlarge'†‘

See also:

~‰owyn

Dr. Eowyn's post first appeared at Fellowship of the Minds.

Don't forget to follow the D.C. Clothesline on Facebook and Twitter. PLEASE help spread the word by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.Share this:

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Archived Version

Sun, 24 Jul 2016 07:22

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, was furious when she was criticized by MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski.

Wasserman Schultz called for Brzezinski to ''apologize'' and told her co-worker Chuck Todd ''this must stop.'' The DNC chair even complained to MSNBC's president.

In May, Brzezinski held a segment on the program ''Morning Joe'' in which she condemned Wasserman Schultz's ''unfair'' treatment of Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary.

''This has been very poorly handled from the start. It has been unfair, and they haven't taken him seriously, and it starts, quite frankly, with the person that we just heard speaking,'' Brzezinski said, referring to Wasserman Schultz.

''She should step down,'' Brzezinski added.

In a May 18 email, Kate Houghton, the director of the DNC chair's office, forwarded a report on Brzezinski's segment to Wasserman Schultz.

''This is the LAST straw,'' Wasserman Schultz replied, enraged. ''This is outrageous. She needs to apologize.''

Wasserman Schultz asked DNC Communications Director Luis Miranda to call Phil Griffin, the president of MSNBC.

Miranda responded noting that Wasserman Schultz ''already went to Chuck,'' a reference to MSNBC's Chuck Todd, moderator of ''Meet the Press.''

Wasserman Schultz sent another angry message to Todd titled, ''Chuck, this must stop.'' She included the link to the report on Brzezinski's segment and wrote, ''I would like to discuss this with you today.''

Todd replied noting he was available to speak with her. She thanked him and said Miranda would schedule a time to talk.

Wasserman Schultz was insistent: ''I think we need to speak to both of them,'' she wrote, referring to Chuck Todd and Phil Griffin, the MSNBC president.

She added, ''I've been talking to Phil about this since our breakfast.''

WikiLeaks released approximately 20,000 DNC emails on Friday. Another email shows that Wasserman Schultz called the attempt by the Sanders campaign to moderate the party's stance on Israel ''disturbing.''

The DNC chair has long been criticized for anti-Sanders bias. Wasserman Schultz served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, and is a longtime Clinton ally.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 24 Jul 2016 07:16

The notorious hacker collective WikiLeaks dumped a massive trove of e-mails from the Democratic National Committee onto the Web Friday just as Hillary Clinton was preparing to celebrate her presidential nomination at the Democratic convention next week.

In the thousands of internal e-mails, it was revealed that a Democratic Party official tried to use Bernie Sanders' supposed religious beliefs to derail his presidential campaign; one staffer pitched an idea for a phony sexist Trump ad and DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz tried to score a staggering seven tickets to the Broadway smash ''Hamilton.''

BURNING BERNIEThe suggestion of going after Sanders based on religion was included in one of 19,252 ­e-mails.

In one message dated May 5, 2016, with the subject line ''No s''t,'' the chief financial officer of the Democratic National Committee, Brad Marshall, plotted how to portray Sanders, who was raised Jewish in Brooklyn, as an atheist.

''It might [make] no difference, but for KY and WVA can we get someone to ask his belief,'' Marshall wrote, apparently referring to Sanders and upcoming Kentucky and West Virginia primaries.

''My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist.''

- DNC official Brad Marshall''Does he believe in a God. He had skated on saying he has a Jewish heritage,'' Marshall asked.

''I think I read he is an atheist.''

''This could make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and atheist.''

The chief executive officer at the DNC, Amy Dacey, responded with a single word: ''Amen.''

Marshall told The Intercept that he didn't recall the sleazy e-mail.

But then he claimed it wasn't an attempted hit job on Sanders.

''I can say it would not have been Sanders. It would probably be about a surrogate,'' Marshall told the Web site.

He did not explain why the DNC would try to slime a Sanders surrogate.

NB-SEETHINGThe DNC was supposed to be neutral in the primary between Clinton and the Vermont senator.

But the e-mails confirm the party establishment was in the tank for Clinton long before the primaries were decided.

And top DNC officials were not happy when they were called out for taking sides.

Wasserman Schultz sent an ­e-mail to NBC anchor Chuck Todd complaining about MSNBC's ''Morning Joe'' co-host Mika Brzezinski, who was calling for her to resign for taking sides in an intra-party battle.

The subject line read: ''Chuck, this must stop!''

In another e-mail, dated May 21, 2016, DNC press secretary Mark Paustenbach wrote to communications director Luis Miranda suggesting they plant a story that the Sanders campaign was in chaos.

''Specifically, [Wasserman Schultz] had to call Bernie directly in order to get the campaign to do things because they'd either ignored or forgotten something critical,'' Paustenbach wrote.

''It's not a DNC conspiracy, it's because they never had their act together,'' he wrote.

PLOT AGAINST TRUMPIn one oddball e-mail chain, a DNC deputy communications director plotted to create a fake Craigslist ad that portrayed Donald Trump as sex crazed.

Photo: InstagramChristina Freundlich '-- who took a smiling selfie at the scene of a tragic East Village gas explosion in March 2015 '-- pitched the idea for a fake employment ad for ''hot'' women who want to work for a Trump organization.

''Seeking staff members for multiple positions in a large, New York-based corporation known for its real estate investments, fake universities, steaks, and wine,'' the copy read.

The job title was listed as ''Honey Bunch (that's what the boss will call you)'' and the list of job requirements were as follows:

''No gaining weight on the job;'' ''Must be open to public humiliation;'' and ''A willingness to evaluate other women's hotness for the boss' satisfaction is a plus.''

The ad also noted that the boss may ''greet you with a kiss on the lips or grope you under the meeting table.''

Freundlich sent the fake ad up the flagpole and got an OK from Miranda that read: ''As long as all the offensive s''t is verbatim I'm fine with it.'' It's not clear if the ad ever ran.

AIN'T LIFE GRANDEIn an e-mail from Sept. 10, 2015, titled ''Performer for POTUS'' DNC finance director Zach Allen asks if pop star Ariana Grande can be vetted for a White House performance.

After she was probed, the answer came back, ''Nope, sorry,'' because she was once caught on video ''licking other peoples' donuts while saying she hates America.''

The e-mail said Grande's donutgate ''brought on two long YouTube apologies, but [the incident] won't lead to criminal charges.''

Ariana GrandePhoto: Getty ImagesON SECOND THOUGHTIn one e-mail chain from May 12, Democrats considered allowing the lawyer representing a pedophile to host a fund-raiser with President Obama '-- but ultimately decided against it.

Lawyer Roy Black, who has represented Bill Clinton pal Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted pedophile, raised red flags when he underwent a thorough investigation before being given the honor of hosting Obama.

But he didn't pass.

The White House's Bobby Schmuck made the final call: ''[N]o hosting, fine to attend.''

'HAM' IT UPWasserman Schultz asked DNC finance director Allen Zachary if he could snag seven tickets to ''Hamilton,'' the sold-out Broadway show, so she could celebrate a 50th birthday party with her college roommates.

''I've never seen an order of 7 fulfilled, I have seen as many as 4. Would you guys be willing to split up 4 and 3?'' he responded May 24.

She said she would.

But it's not clear from the exchange if Zachary came through.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 24 Jul 2016 14:16

WikiLeaks - Search the DNC email databaseThis key's fingerprint is A04C 5E09 ED02 B328 03EB 6116 93ED 732E 9231 8DBA

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From:MirandaL@dnc.org To:

HelmstetterT@dnc.org, RegionalPress@dnc.org Date: 2016-05-12 11:41 Subject: RE: Tv coverage of protest great

Yes, but going forward, when our allies screw up and don't deliver bodies in time, we either send all our interns out there or we stay away from it.. we don't want to own a bad picture: https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/730738717711867904 Following [https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/595261015731740673/uvXc_cII_bigger.jpg]Zeke MillerVerified account¾@ZekeJMiller 1h Three person protest outside the RNC. Sad! [https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CiQZmmEUgAAyeKl.jpg] · RETWEETS4 · LIKES8 · [Danny Freeman] [Brian Duncan] [David Marnell] [Ben Haygood] [Mark Leibovich] [laurenfritts] [Lionel Mandrake] [pff] [Political Rationale] -----Original Message-----From: Helmstetter, TJ Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2016 9:38 AM To: Regional Press Subject: Tv coverage of protest great Shockingly good coverage despite abysmal turnout. CNN and MSNBC using prominently. Fox News covering new developments in Benghazi.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 20:49

From:bobby_schmuck@who.eop.gov To: ReedA@dnc.org, SnowdenK@dnc.org, MARSHALL@dnc.org, ReynoldsL@dnc.org, DaceyA@dnc.org Date: 2016-05-12 19:53 Subject: RE: Host for POTUS in MiamiAgree - no hosting, fine to attend -----Original Message-----From: Alan Reed [mailto:ReedA@dnc.org] Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2016 12:00 PM To: Kevin Snowden ; Schmuck, Bobby E. EOP/WHO ; Brad Marshall ; Lindsey Reynolds ; Dacey, Amy Cc: Rivard, Chadwick ; Marquez, Karina ; Kaplan, Jordan ; Cox, Clayton Subject: RE: Host for POTUS in Miami I lean no to hosting but could be ok with attending. He was vetted and passed to host an event on Feb. but I think that was for the event that were cancelled. Coincidentally, it was the same day the article came out. Bobby, Brad? From: Kevin Snowden Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2016 11:50 AM To: Bobby_Schmuck@who.eop.gov; Alan Reed; Brad Marshall; Lindsey Reynolds; Dacey, Amy Cc: Rivard, Chadwick; Marquez, Karina; Kaplan, Jordan; Cox, Clayton Subject: FW: Host for POTUS in Miami Hello everyone, We were also asked to vet the following for POTUS hosting. The only issue is Roy Black. New issues have come up since his last vet in February 2016. Thanks, Kevin Roy Black- NEW 2016: Black defended Jeffrey Epstein, who was prosecuted this year for multiple charges of sexual abuse against at least 34 underage girls between 1999 and 2007. 2015: Represent Justin Bieber after his 2014 DUI charge; Wild reputation, has defended unsavory characters (Rush Limbaugh, Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis), parties with flagged celebrities, accused of ethical violations by former US Attorney; Represented Alex Rodriguez in 2013 steroid case; unable to locate why he was let go by A-Rod 832 S Greenway Drive Coral Gables, FL 33134 DOB: 2/1945 EMPLOYER/OCCUPATION: Self/Attorney NOTES: Co-hosted a February 2007 Obama fundraiser at his home with wife Lea Black. * See Below NGP VET HISTORY: * 2/12/2016; Passed 6OK; POTUS host * 5/14/2015; Passed 6OK; Revisiting for POTUS * 5/14/2015; Issue 6OK; ok per WH * 1/15/2014 - Issue 6OK; revisit for POTUS * 2/13/2012 - Issue 6OK; OK per VC for FL045, revisit for POTUS * 2/13/2012 - Issue 6OK; Bad News * 10/20/2008 - Pass 3OK CONTRIBUTIONS: Yes FREDERICA S. WILSON FOR CONGRESS 6/10/2011 $250 FRIENDS OF PATRICK MURPHY 3/31/2011 $2,500 KENDRICK MEEK FOR FLORIDA INC 10/6/2010 $1,000 KENDRICK MEEK FOR FLORIDA INC 3/17/2009 $2,300 JOE GARCIA FOR CONGRESS 9/29/2008 $1,000 JOHN MCCAIN 2008 INC. 8/12/2008 $1,000 UDALL FOR US ALL 4/1/2008 $500 TADDEO FOR CONGRESS 3/31/2008 $500 JOE GARCIA FOR CONGRESS 3/25/2008 $1,000 CONYERS FOR CONGRESS 11/29/2007 $450 BIDEN FOR PRESIDENT, INC. 9/17/2007 $500 JOHN EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT 6/22/2007 $500 LAUTENBERG FOR SENATE 5/2/2007 $250 OBAMA FOR AMERICA 4/25/2007 $2,300 RICHARDSON FOR PRESIDENT INC. 1/23/2007 $500 EVENTS: None LOBBYIST/DOJ FARA: None EARMARKS/TARP/ARRA: None LIENS: None JUDGMENTS: None BANKRUPTCIES: None CRIMINAL RECORDS: None LEXIS-NEXIS/INTERNET SEARCH: Yes NEW 2016: * Fred Grimm: Billionaire sex offender from Palm Beach enjoys a special kind of justice. Prosecutors meted out a special kind of justice for Jeffrey Epstein, larded with fawning obsequiousness, secret dealings and an astoundingly lenient sentence. After all, billionaires -- even billionaire sex abusers -- aren't like you and me. Investigators documented that at least 34 underage girls, some as young as 13, were repeatedly exploited by Epstein and his buddies for their carnal amusement at his Palm Beach mansion from 1999 to 2007. According to court documents, the girls were required to administer "topless or nude massage while Mr. Epstein masturbated himself." Occasionally, "the conduct escalated to full sexual intercourse." State and federal prosecutors happily reduced what amounted to hundreds of federal and state sex crimes to two state charges -- soliciting prostitution and procuring a person younger than 18 for prostitution. Meanwhile, the feds not only promised not to ring him up on federal charges, they granted immunity to his various co-conspirators. The federal prosecutors -- who seemed cowed by Epstein's high powered attorneys, including Roy Black, Kenneth Starr and Alan Dershowitz -- worked out the secret plea deal without bothering to inform victims that their abuser would be spared federal charges. The failure to notify the victims has been at the crux of a federal lawsuit filed in West Palm Beach against the U.S. attorney's office in 2008 by two of the young women, identified as Jane Doe No. 1 and Jane Doe No. 2. On Wednesday, their attorneys filed a 57-page motion demanding a summary judgment in their favor. Whether or not, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra grants the motion, the document (along with the scores of attachments containing nearly apologetic emails and letters from prosecutors to Epstein's legal team) sure as hell prove that billionaires are treated with special deference in the U.S. justice system. The correspondence shows prosecutors trying mightily to contrive a sweet plea deal that could be finalized before the victims or the media got wind of it. One exchange suggested that he plead guilty in Miami, "which would hopefully cut the press coverage significantly." No wonder. Epstein received a piddling 18-month sentence for a crime that got less exalted sex offenders in Florida 10 or 15 years hard time. His less-than-hard-time amounted to 13 months in the Palm Beach County stockade. Except he was allowed to spend 12 hours a day, six days a week at his nicely appointed office as part of a work-release program. He then served the balance of his sentence under house arrest -- quite an imposition for someone with a luxury mansion on the barrier island. Consider that this occurred at a time when low-rent sex offenders were forced to live like apocalyptic trolls beneath Miami's Julia Tuttle Causeway without water, toilets, electricity. Of course, super rich Epstein, 62, managed to avoid such indignities. Nowadays, the convict is occasionally featured in tabloid photos, snapped as he flits about New York in the company of young, beautiful women. Justice -- the special justice for billionaires -- has been served. [The Miami Herald Feb 12, 2016] 2015: * Justin Bieber Hires High-Powered Lawyer Roy Black in DUI Case: Justin Bieber is bringing in the big guns in a bid to beat his DUI charge. The singer, who was arrested in Miami early Thursday morning for DUI and drag-racing, has hired high-powered lawyer Roy Black to represent him. Black, who is married to Real Housewives of Miami star Lea Black, is a civil and criminal defense trail attorney best known for getting Kennedy family member William Kennedy Smith acquitted of charges of rape in 1991. He has also represented Kelsey Grammer, race car driver Helio Castroneves, Girls Gone Wild creator Joe Francis and conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh. The 19-year-old pop star, who is Canadian, is being charged with DUI, driving without a valid driver's license out of the state of Georgia and resisting arrest without violence. The police say Bieber admitted that he had consumed alcohol, had been smoking marijuana and had taken prescription medication. [People; Jan 23, 2015] * JEFFREY EPSTEIN ATTORNEY ROY BLACK DENIES ALLEGATIONS IN LETTER BY EX-U.S. ATTORNEY ALEXANDER ACOSTA Attorney Roy Black is disputing claims that he, and other attorneys representing Jeffrey Epstein, pried into federal prosecutors' personal lives in attempting to disqualify them from investigating the billionaire sex offender. Black also denies Epstein's attorneys "negotiated in bad faith," while attempting to reach an agreement with federal prosecutors. In a written response Tuesday to the Palm Beach Daily News, Black disputes claims made against Epstein's defense team by former U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta. Those and other allegations by Acosta were contained in a three-page letter printed Friday in the online publication The Daily Beast. Acosta was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida at the time Epstein was being investigated on federal charges related to multiple sex crimes with minor girls. Black, the Miami attorney who successfully defended William Kennedy Smith against rape charges, was part of Epstein's legal dream team. Epstein was never charged with a federal crime. He and his attorneys struck a deal with federal prosecutors, which was outlined in a non-prosecution agreement. According to the agreement, Epstein had to plead guilty to two state charges, register as a lifelong sex offender and serve 18 months in jail. If he successfully completed those terms and served one-year of probation, then Epstein would not be prosecuted on federal charges as they related to approximately 30 to 40 victims. In a written response to the Daily News, Black said, "We did present argument after argument why a proposed federal prosecution against Mr. Epstein was unsupported by the evidence. We detailed the so-called evidence during many meetings with prosecutors and agents. "We were quite candid in disclosing all the evidence we had gathered in our investigation and I believe we made a convincing case why charges were not appropriate. I still believe that today." According to Acosta, now dean of the Florida International University College of Law, federal prosecutors and agents met with Black in the summer of 2007. The prosecutors presented Epstein a choice: plead guilty to state felony charges resulting in two years imprisonment, registration as a sex offender and restitution for the victims or prepare for a federal felony trial. What followed, Acosta said, was that Epstein's defense team launched "a yearlong assault on the prosecution and the prosecutors. "I use the word assault intentionally, as the defense in this case was more aggressive than any which I, or the prosecutors in my office, had previously encountered," Acosta said in his letter. Among the "legal superstars" on Epstein's defense team: Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz, Kenneth Starr, Jay Lefkowitz and several others, including prosecutors who had formally worked in the U.S. Attorney's Office and in the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Justice Department. Acosta said that one member of the defense team warned him "the office's excess zeal in forcing a good man to serve time in jail might be the subject of a book if we continued to proceed with this matter." Black said he's never heard anyone mention writing a book about the Epstein case. "Mr. Acosta claims we negotiated in bad faith by appealing to the Department of Justice in Washington," Black said. "Any person under investigation by a United States attorney, meaning any of the 94 such offices in the country, has the right to seek review by the Department of Justice and it is so provided for in their manual. Thus I cannot imagine invoking this right could be construed as bad faith. "In our system of justice, people are given the right of appeal and there should be no implication of wrong doing by exercising it. "Finally Mr. Acosta mentions we looked for personal peccadilloes of prosecutors," Black said. "I am not sure what he refers to but this never happened. We did point out misconduct and over-reaching by certain people involved in the investigation. Not only is there nothing wrong with this but it is a necessary part of the process. There will always be people who abuse the great power of the government and we can not stand by silently when it occurs." The non-prosecution agreement was sealed in Epstein's state felony file until victims' attorneys successfully argued to make the document public in September 2009. [Palm Beach Daily News-March 30, 2011] * A-Rod escalates war with Yankees; team responds with a challenge: "Embattled Yankee Alex Rodriguez escalated his war with team higher-ups via comments from his new New York lawyer suggesting the team purposely mistreated him medically, and Yankees president Randy Levine responded Saturday afternoon with a strong challenge for Rodriguez. Levine offered to release all the team's medical records while simultaneously asking A-Rod to release his records of treatment with Anthony Galea, the disgraced sports doctor who treated Rodriguez and was convicted of smuggling HGH... Tacopina, showing no signs of shutting up, came out blasting after he was recently hired by Rodriguez as the latest in a long string of prominent Rodriguez legal people. Rodriguez and noted Miami defense lawyer Roy Black parted ways, but A-Rod is believed to retain sports attorney David Cornwell, plus labor law firm Cohen, Weiss and Simon, plus Jay Z's legal group at Reed Smith. Tacopina's comments came a day after 60 Minutes reported that members of the A-Rod camp leaked Biogenesis documents linking Ryan Braun and teammate Francisco Cervelli to Biogenesis, the now-defunct "wellness" clinic that provided PEDs to baseball players and is at the center of MLB's PED case..." (>http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-heyman/23196126/arod-escalates-war-with-yankees-team-responds-with-a-challengehttp://www.page2live.com/2010/03/01/lets-get-drunk-roy-black-polo-boss-john-goodmans-lawyer-hosts-yearly-shindig/

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 13:14

From:MirandaL@dnc.org To: SeniorStaff@dnc.org Date: 2016-05-05 13:39 Subject: Dangerous Donald Trump Narrative...For your framing purposes, here's our narrative guide for how to talk about Trump: Dangerous Donald Trump Lacks the Judgment or Temperament to be President Donald Trump's recklessness would hurt our economy, diminish our standing in the world, and make our communities less safe. Trump is dangerous, and he lacks the judgment or temperament to be president. His impending nomination is a reminder that for years the Republican Party has elevated extreme voices, using divisive campaigns that sought to exploit unfounded fears for political gain. And just like Republicans in Washington have done for years, Dangerous Donald is only looking out for himself. His plans would benefit those at the very top and would drag our country back to where we were when the last Republican president left office losing 800,000 jobs a month. The American people can't afford to let him bully his way into the Oval Office. Dangerous Donald Trump has already damaged America's relationships across the globe. His record of denigrating women has only gotten worse throughout this campaign, at the same time that his divisive rhetoric has made our communities less safe. And his business record is riddled with embarrassing failures that make it clear the American people can't afford to let him get anywhere near the White House. National Security: Even as a candidate, Dangerous Donald has damaged America's relationships across the globe. In the White House, he would undeniably make America less safe. * Donald Trump has no foreign policy experience and rather than seeking the advice of well-respected experts, Trump relies on his own misinformed ideas and in his own words, on his "good brain." * Trump has falsely claimed that he knows "more about ISIS than the generals" and recommended that the U.S. military commit international war crimes. * Trump's threat to pull back from our most important military alliances like NATO, pull aid from our allies like Israel, and his gushing praise for dictators would put our country on a dangerous path. * Trump has refused to rule out using nuclear weapons on European territory, and wants to allow countries that don't currently have nuclear weapons to get them, reversing long-held goals of international nuclear disarmament. Wrong on Women: Dangerous Donald has a decades-long record of denigrating women and promoting misogyny. His policies would make it harder for women to make their own choices when it comes to their healthcare or their career. * Trump once said you had to treat women "like s**t" and has spent decades doing so himself by calling women names - "fat pig," "slob," or "bimbo" - and saying a man needs a woman to support him at home rather than always be "griping and bitching." * Trump would take away a woman's right to make her own healthcare choices and has said women who had abortions should be punished - but not the doctors that performed them - and opposed exceptions for health of the mother because he thought women would use a cold as an excuse to have an abortion. * Trump thinks ensuring equal pay for women should just be left up to "the marketplace" and once suggested family leave policies should actually be scaled back and noted pregnancy was "an inconvenience for a business." Trump complained that when he employed mothers, they were not giving him "100 percent." Divisive and Dangerous: Dangerous Donald exploited racial anxieties and cultural fears in the pursuit of getting elected - to the point where his rallies have sparked violence against people of color, protestors, and the media. * Trump spouts hateful and dangerous lies about Muslims and called to surveil mosques, to ban Muslims from entering the country and to create a database of all Muslims in America - including U.S. citizens - and could not answer when pressed on how this would be any different from Nazi Germany. * Trump called Mexican immigrants "rapists" and criminals and said they brought disease into the country, said you needed to check if Native Americans were "real Indians," and claimed that a "well-educated black has a tremendous advantage" - but apparently not an advantage in finding housing in Trump properties, because in the 1970s, the Trump Organization was sued for discriminating against Blacks and Puerto Ricans. * Trump has been endorsed by former KKK leader David Duke, and his candidacy has been used as a recruiting tool for the white supremacist movement, which is no surprise since Trump refused to disavow David Duke and the KKK four times in one interview. * Trump has fostered violence against protestors at his rallies, suggesting that a Black Lives Matter protester maybe "should have been roughed up," promising to pay the legal fees if someone would "knock the hell" out of a protester and reminiscing about the old days when a protester would be "carried off on a stretcher." * Trump repeatedly threatened the First Amendment by calling to "open up" libel laws so he could sue reporters whenever they printed a story he did not like, made it a practice of banning media outlets he did not like from covering his rallies, and thought "closing" parts of the Internet was a rational strategy to combat ISIS. Bad at Business, Bad for the Economy: Though he plays the part of a wealthy and successful businessman, Dangerous Donald's real life record is riddled with embarrassing failures and cheap schemes designed to turn a quick buck at the expense of everyday Americans. * Despite his tough talk on trade deals and the loss of American jobs, Donald Trump manufactured his clothing line in countries he rails against, like China and Mexico. * Dangerous Donald owes everything to the tens of millions of dollars in loans and bailouts he received from his family. * Dangerous Donald's businesses have repeatedly gone bankrupt, leaving investors, contractors and small businesses holding the bag for his disastrous business decisions. * During one of his business bankruptcies, his personal finances were at the mercy of banks who put him on an "allowance" of $400,000 per month. * His Trump "University" fleeced thousands of Americans simply looking to get ahead. * Trump's unfounded predictions of recession under President Obama and warnings against investing in the stock market are reckless. * Economists have actually predicted Trump's policies could start an international trade war and even destabilize the global economy. * Trump's tax plan would overwhelmingly benefit the rich while costing the country $9.5 trillion to implement -- more than any other Republican plan proposed. It also violates his pledge not to increase the national debt. * Trump actually said at one of the Republican Party's debates that "wages are too high" and opposed raising the minimum wage * Trump wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would jeopardize health care for 20 million Americans who've been able to get coverage under Obamacare. Republicans couldn't unite against him and failed to stand up to him during their primary because they were playing to the same extreme base of their party. Democrats will be united and hold Donald Trump accountable every day until November 8th. [SigDems]Luis Miranda, Communications Director Democratic National Committee 202-863-8148 - MirandaL@dnc.org - @MiraLuisDC

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 04:29

From:RangappaA@dnc.org To: MirandaL@dnc.org, alvillarr@dnc.org, DavisM@dnc.org Date: 2016-05-05 13:45 Subject: FW: Dangerous Donald Trump Narrative...(you guys are probably already on this - so forgive me if I'm stating the obvious) Should this be pushed out to all the names in the surrogate database? Presume it's being pushed out to every state party's leadership and comms teams (to in turn send to their county parties, local activists, etc.)? Raul/Marilyn - does this make sense for your teams to push this out to everyone in the world as well? From: Miranda, Luis Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2016 11:39 AM To: Senior Staff Subject: Dangerous Donald Trump Narrative... For your framing purposes, here's our narrative guide for how to talk about Trump: Dangerous Donald Trump Lacks the Judgment or Temperament to be President Donald Trump's recklessness would hurt our economy, diminish our standing in the world, and make our communities less safe. Trump is dangerous, and he lacks the judgment or temperament to be president. His impending nomination is a reminder that for years the Republican Party has elevated extreme voices, using divisive campaigns that sought to exploit unfounded fears for political gain. And just like Republicans in Washington have done for years, Dangerous Donald is only looking out for himself. His plans would benefit those at the very top and would drag our country back to where we were when the last Republican president left office losing 800,000 jobs a month. The American people can't afford to let him bully his way into the Oval Office. Dangerous Donald Trump has already damaged America's relationships across the globe. His record of denigrating women has only gotten worse throughout this campaign, at the same time that his divisive rhetoric has made our communities less safe. And his business record is riddled with embarrassing failures that make it clear the American people can't afford to let him get anywhere near the White House. National Security: Even as a candidate, Dangerous Donald has damaged America's relationships across the globe. In the White House, he would undeniably make America less safe. * Donald Trump has no foreign policy experience and rather than seeking the advice of well-respected experts, Trump relies on his own misinformed ideas and in his own words, on his "good brain." * Trump has falsely claimed that he knows "more about ISIS than the generals" and recommended that the U.S. military commit international war crimes. * Trump's threat to pull back from our most important military alliances like NATO, pull aid from our allies like Israel, and his gushing praise for dictators would put our country on a dangerous path. * Trump has refused to rule out using nuclear weapons on European territory, and wants to allow countries that don't currently have nuclear weapons to get them, reversing long-held goals of international nuclear disarmament. Wrong on Women: Dangerous Donald has a decades-long record of denigrating women and promoting misogyny. His policies would make it harder for women to make their own choices when it comes to their healthcare or their career. * Trump once said you had to treat women "like s**t" and has spent decades doing so himself by calling women names - "fat pig," "slob," or "bimbo" - and saying a man needs a woman to support him at home rather than always be "griping and bitching." * Trump would take away a woman's right to make her own healthcare choices and has said women who had abortions should be punished - but not the doctors that performed them - and opposed exceptions for health of the mother because he thought women would use a cold as an excuse to have an abortion. * Trump thinks ensuring equal pay for women should just be left up to "the marketplace" and once suggested family leave policies should actually be scaled back and noted pregnancy was "an inconvenience for a business." Trump complained that when he employed mothers, they were not giving him "100 percent." Divisive and Dangerous: Dangerous Donald exploited racial anxieties and cultural fears in the pursuit of getting elected - to the point where his rallies have sparked violence against people of color, protestors, and the media. * Trump spouts hateful and dangerous lies about Muslims and called to surveil mosques, to ban Muslims from entering the country and to create a database of all Muslims in America - including U.S. citizens - and could not answer when pressed on how this would be any different from Nazi Germany. * Trump called Mexican immigrants "rapists" and criminals and said they brought disease into the country, said you needed to check if Native Americans were "real Indians," and claimed that a "well-educated black has a tremendous advantage" - but apparently not an advantage in finding housing in Trump properties, because in the 1970s, the Trump Organization was sued for discriminating against Blacks and Puerto Ricans. * Trump has been endorsed by former KKK leader David Duke, and his candidacy has been used as a recruiting tool for the white supremacist movement, which is no surprise since Trump refused to disavow David Duke and the KKK four times in one interview. * Trump has fostered violence against protestors at his rallies, suggesting that a Black Lives Matter protester maybe "should have been roughed up," promising to pay the legal fees if someone would "knock the hell" out of a protester and reminiscing about the old days when a protester would be "carried off on a stretcher." * Trump repeatedly threatened the First Amendment by calling to "open up" libel laws so he could sue reporters whenever they printed a story he did not like, made it a practice of banning media outlets he did not like from covering his rallies, and thought "closing" parts of the Internet was a rational strategy to combat ISIS. Bad at Business, Bad for the Economy: Though he plays the part of a wealthy and successful businessman, Dangerous Donald's real life record is riddled with embarrassing failures and cheap schemes designed to turn a quick buck at the expense of everyday Americans. * Despite his tough talk on trade deals and the loss of American jobs, Donald Trump manufactured his clothing line in countries he rails against, like China and Mexico. * Dangerous Donald owes everything to the tens of millions of dollars in loans and bailouts he received from his family. * Dangerous Donald's businesses have repeatedly gone bankrupt, leaving investors, contractors and small businesses holding the bag for his disastrous business decisions. * During one of his business bankruptcies, his personal finances were at the mercy of banks who put him on an "allowance" of $400,000 per month. * His Trump "University" fleeced thousands of Americans simply looking to get ahead. * Trump's unfounded predictions of recession under President Obama and warnings against investing in the stock market are reckless. * Economists have actually predicted Trump's policies could start an international trade war and even destabilize the global economy. * Trump's tax plan would overwhelmingly benefit the rich while costing the country $9.5 trillion to implement -- more than any other Republican plan proposed. It also violates his pledge not to increase the national debt. * Trump actually said at one of the Republican Party's debates that "wages are too high" and opposed raising the minimum wage * Trump wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would jeopardize health care for 20 million Americans who've been able to get coverage under Obamacare. Republicans couldn't unite against him and failed to stand up to him during their primary because they were playing to the same extreme base of their party. Democrats will be united and hold Donald Trump accountable every day until November 8th. [SigDems]Luis Miranda, Communications Director Democratic National Committee 202-863-8148 - MirandaL@dnc.org - @MiraLuisDC

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Sat, 23 Jul 2016 23:16

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS) '-- WikiLeaks released over 20,000 emails on Friday allegedly sent from the accounts of U.S. Democratic National Committee officials, including dozens of off the record media correspondence.

Dubbed the ''Hillary Leaks series'' by WikiLeaks, the leak is comprised of a searchable database of almost 20,000 emails with over 8,000 attachments and photos from the email accounts of top DNC employees.

Some of the most interesting emails to read are those exchanged by DNC staffers as they decide how to respond to media inquiries, and then their off-the-record and deep background responses to numerous national media outlets. The emails contained off the record correspondence with reporters at the Washington Post, Politico, and the Wall Street Journal, among others.

Many emails in the database were sent from the email accounts of DNC's Northern California finance director, Robert Erik Stowe, communications director Luis Miranda, national finance director Jordon Kaplan, finance chief of staff Scott Comer, finance director of data & strategic initiatives Daniel Parrish, finance director Allen Zachary and senior advisor Andrew Wright, among others.

The emails, according to WikiLeaks, covers the period from January 2015 through May 25, 2016.

Wikileaks said this is just part one of the Hillary Leaks series.

An internal email from DNC spokesman Eric Walker mocked a Buzzfeed news report analyzing the DNC and the Republican National Committee's potentially weak cybersecurity.

Another email shows DNC staffers' fake craigslist job posting made for women who wish to apply to jobs at one of Trump's organizations. The fake position, titled a Honey Bunny, requires the prospective applicant to, among other tasks, refrain from gaining weight, be open to public humiliation and be alright with groping or kissing by her boss.

A leaked email between NextGen Climate's vice president of development Jenna Narayanan and Stowe, notes what appears to be the Social Security number of NextGen Climate president and San Francisco resident Tom Steyer. Steyer, a billionaire and liberal climate change activist, founded the Super PAC '' Next Gen Climate Action Committee.

Another email between DNC national finance director Jordan Kaplan and DNC's Northern California finance director Erik Stowe has Kaplan coarsely describing a conference call with President Barack Obama on National Small Business Week as related to ''small business sh*t.''

Additionally, photos of President Barack Obama attending fundraising events earlier this year at private California residences were also in the leaked emails.

Wikileaks has not revealed the source of the leaked emails.

The leak comes just days before the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, which runs July 25-28.

On Friday night, hours after the leak surfaced, Hillary Clinton confirmed her running mate to be Virginia Senator Tim Kaine.

By Hannah Albarazi '' Follow her on Twitter: @hannahalbarazi.

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Sat, 23 Jul 2016 23:20

From:MirandaL@dnc.org To: FreundlichC@dnc.org, PaustenbachM@dnc.org Date: 2016-05-18 21:29 Subject: RE: need comms approval - craigslist job postAs long as all the offensive shit is verbatim I'm fine with it. [SigDems]Luis Miranda, Communications Director Democratic National Committee 202-863-8148 - MirandaL@dnc.org - @MiraLuisDC From: Freundlich, Christina Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2016 7:28 PM To: Paustenbach, Mark; Miranda, Luis Cc: Domino, Cate Subject: Re: need comms approval - craigslist job post Bumping this for comms approval please On Wed, May 18, 2016 at 7:09 AM -0700, "Freundlich, Christina" wrote: Mark and Luis - digital created a fake craigslist jobs post for women who want to apply to jobs one of Trump's organizations. This will be a microsite and we still need to send it to Perkins. Since we will be pitching this, need your approval please. Thanks --- Multiple Positions (NYC area) Seeking staff members for multiple positions in a large, New York-based corporation known for its real estate investments, fake universities, steaks, and wine. The boss has very strict standards for female employees, ranging from the women who take lunch orders (must be hot) to the women who oversee multi-million dollar construction projects (must maintain hotness demonstrated at time of hiring). Title: Honey Bunch (that's what the boss will call you) Job requirements: * No gaining weight on the job (we'll take some "before" pictures when you start to use later as evidence) * Must be open to public humiliation and open-press workouts if you do gain weight on the job * A willingness to evaluate other women's hotness for the boss' satisfaction is a plus * Should be proficient in lying about age if the boss thinks you're too old Working mothers not preferred (the boss finds pumping breast milk disgusting, and worries they're too focused on their children). About us: We're proud to maintain a "fun" and "friendly work environment, where the boss is always available to meet with his employees. Like it or not, he may greet you with a kiss on the lips or grope you under the meeting table. Interested applicants should send resume, cover letter, and headshot to jobs@trump.com

While working on a side project, I remembered that you can interpret the verb programming in multiple ways

-Media Term

-Action of putting instructions into something

TVs programming is solely meant to keep you watching advertising

This creates a cycle of being 'scared' into buying products you don't need

And can't afford

Debt

Frustration

Media does not allow people to actually have their voice heard

-ENTER SOCIAL MEDIA-

Arguing - Echo chambers

Now with the SOCIAL MEDIA opposition being removed

No one left to argue with

Then it will spill onto the streets.

Then many might only need to hear this:

-TRUMP-YOUR VOICE-

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 07:47

Home>>Foreign Policy>>Wikileaks Is About to Expose the Turkish Coup, but Someone Is Trying to Silence ThemJuly 19, 2016 | Carey Wedler(ANTIMEDIA) Wikileaks claimed Monday it was under attack after it announced it would release hundreds of thousands of documents related to Turkey and the failed military coup attempted Friday, CNETreported.

The organization, which has released information on everything from war crimes to Hillary Clinton's email scandal, announced Sunday it would be releasing 100,000 documents related to Turkey's ''political power structure,'' some of which detail the ''leadup'' to the coup.

Wikileaks anticipated the release would be censored in Turkey, cautioning in a three-part tweet posted Monday:

''Turks will likely be censored to prevent them reading our pending release of 100k+ docs on politics leading up to the coup. We ask that Turks are ready with censorship bypassing systems such as TorBrowser and uTorrent and that everyone else is ready to help them bypass censorship and push our links through the censorship to come.''

The Turkish government, headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has increasingly ramped up censorship efforts against journalists, lending credibility to Wikileaks suspicions their release may not fully reach Turkish citizens'--especially considering the latest leak concerns his ruling party, AKP.

As CNETnoted:

''Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were reportedly blocked in Turkey during the attempted coup Friday, but many residents appear to have gotten around the blocks, posting messages and videos, likely using VPNs or other anonymizing services.''

Throughout Monday, Wikileaks continued to promote the release.

They then tweeted that instead of 100,000 documents, they would actually be releasing far more. ''Our pending release of 100k docs on Turkish political power? Just kidding. The first batch is 300k emails, 500k docs,'' they announced.

But just hours later, they alerted followers their website was being attacked. ''Our infrastructure is under sustained attack,'' they tweeted, alongside the hashtag, #TurkeyPurge.

''We are unsure of the true origin of the attack. The timing suggests a Turkish state power faction or its allies. We will prevail & publish,'' Wikileaks tweeted shortly after.

An hour later, the organization remained resolute in its determination to publish the hundreds of thousands of documents. ''Coming Tuesday: The#ErdoganEmails: 300 thousand internal emails from Erdoğan's AKP '' through to July 7, 2016,'' they tweeted.

After tweeting further about the ongoing cyber attacks, Wikileaks eventually announced Tuesday they had released the first installment of emails, which can be viewed here. The emails are from the server of the AKP.

The failed military coup in Turkey over the weekend heightened tensions within the country, where President Erdoğan has grown increasingly autocratic. The Turkish government has also been implicated in the rise of ISIS and has been accused of allowing fighters to cross through their borders and providing them with medical assistance.

The coup, which continues to be mired in uncertainties, accusations, and conflicting reports, left Turkish citizens between a rock and a hard place'--a military coup or an increasingly oppressive democratically-elected leader who has now overseen 50,000 suspensions or detainments of government employees regarding the military's failed attempt to seize power.

It seems Wikileak's release of information on Turkish power structures could not come at a more vital time'--that is, so long as it reaches the Turkish people.

This article (Wikileaks Is About to Expose the Turkish Coup, but Someone Is Trying to Silence Them) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under aCreative Commonslicense with attribution to Carey WedlerandtheAntiMedia.org.Anti-Media Radioairs weeknights at 11 pm Eastern/8 pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, please email the error and name of the article atedits@theantimedia.org.

Author:Carey Wedler

Carey Wedler joined Anti-Media as an independent journalist in September of 2014. Her topics of interest include the police and warfare states, the Drug War, the relevance of history to current problems and solutions, and positive developments that drive humanity forward. She currently resides in Los Angeles, California, where she was born and raised.

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 14:15

Het is de tweede week van november en de sfeer onder de 160 medewerkers van de Delegatie van de Europese Unie in Ankara is gespannen. Een dag eerder is het jaarlijks voortgangsrapport van de Europese Commissie voor kandidaat-lidstaat Turkije gepubliceerd. Het oordeel is niet mals: in Turkije gaat het bergafwaarts met de mensenrechten, persvrijheid en onafhankelijke rechtspraak. Het land glijdt van Europa vandaan.

In de kantoortoren van de delegatie, met uitzicht over een druilerig Ankara, zuchten de EU-ambtenaren. Vanuit dit kantoor wordt Turkije geholpen bij het overnemen van Europese wet- en regelgeving. 'Natuurlijk wordt er ook wel vooruitgang geboekt,' zeggen de hooggeplaatste diplomaten, 'maar snel gaat het niet.'

Na tien jaar klaarstomen is EU-lidmaatschap nog niet heel dichtbij. Terwijl er jaarlijks toch gemiddeld 600 miljoen euro hulpgeld beschikbaar is om de Turkse wetten en regels in overeenstemming te brengen met de Europese eisen. Geld uit de EU-begroting dat ook tot het ontwikkelingsbudget van de EU wordt gerekend.

Dat ontwikkelingsbudget van de EU is groter dan vaak gedacht. Met een begroting van 14,9 miljard euro (2013) per jaar is de EU zelfs een van de belangrijkste donoren ter wereld. De EU profileert zich dan ook ook graag als een genereuze weldoener die haar geld uitgeeft aan die landen die de steun het hardste nodig hebben. Zo beloofde ze onlangs om de komende jaren 75 procent van haar ontwikkelingshulp aan de allerarmsten op aarde te geven.

Nu laten de cijfers een ander plaatje zien.

Niet een van de armste landen zoals Mali of Ha¯ti, maar Turkije is de grootste netto ontvanger van het Europese ontwikkelingsbudget. In 2013 ontving het land volgens de Organisatie voor Economische Samenwerking en Ontwikkeling (OESO), de instantie die bepaalt wat wel en niet als ontwikkelingshulp telt, 2,4 miljard euro ontwikkelingshulp van de EU-instituties.

Waar komt al dat geld terecht?In 2013 gaf de EU 23 procent van haar ontwikkelingshulp aan de allerarmste landen. 36 procent ging naar hoge-middeninkomenslanden. In totaal vloeit zodoende 17 procent van het Europese hulpbudget naar Turkije.

Het Turkse bruto binnenlands product per hoofd van de bevolking (10.970 dollar in 2013 volgens de Wereldbank) is namelijk 'laag genoeg' (beneden de 12.745) om bij de OESO voor ontwikkelingshulp in aanmerking te komen.

Dat terwijl Turkije zelf een donor van formaat is. Als gevolg van de vluchtelingenstroom uit buurland Syri, gaf Turkije in 2013 3,1 miljard euro ontwikkelingshulp uit.

Ook Nederland betaalt mee aan EU-hulp. In 2014 gaf Nederland 488 miljoen euro, oftewel, 11,3 procent van het totale ontwikkelingsbudget aan Brussel.

'Meer dan ooit hebben wij als Europa baat bij een stabiel Turkije'

Naast 505 miljoen euro toetredingssteun uit de EU-begroting kon Turkije ook rekenen op 1,9 miljard euro aan hulpleningen via de Europese Investeringsbank. Turkije krijgt zodoende de meeste giften van alle landen en de meeste hulpleningen.

Turkije is inmiddels de achttiende economie van de wereld. In november was het Turkije dat de G20 hostte en met de belangrijkste wereldleiders de toekomst van de wereldeconomie en veiligheid besprak. Een bijeenkomst waar onze premier niet eens voor was uitgenodigd.

Toch betalen Nederland, Belgi en alle andere EU-lidstaten mee aan hulpprojecten in Turkije. Geen directe armoedebestrijdingsprojecten maar projecten met een focus op EU-regels. Dat varieert van energieprojecten en strenge Europese transportregels tot meer ontwikkelingsgerichte mensenrechtenprojecten. Van de ruim vier miljard euro toetredingssteun die tussen 2014 en 2020 beschikbaar is voor Turkije, gaat het meeste geld naar het bevorderen van mensenrechten en goed bestuur.

'Meer dan ooit hebben wij als Europa baat bij een stabiel Turkije,' zegt het hoofd Politieke Zaken op de delegatie dat niet bij naam genoemd wil worden, 'dat laat de vluchtelingencrisis nu zo duidelijk zien.' Maar dat Europa Turkije nu nodig heeft, betekent volgens de diplomaten geenszins dat we minder kritisch moeten worden. 'We blijven dezelfde eisen stellen aan goed bestuur, mensenrechten en persvrijheid. Deze waarden zijn juist van belang voor stabiliteit in de regio.' Investeren in democratisering via het toetredingsfonds, is investeren in crisispreventie aan de grenzen, zo gaat de redenering.

Terwijl in Turkije kritische mediahuizen worden gesloten en journalisten onder druk gezet, zet Europa dus extra fondsen in op persvrijheid, mensen- en vrouwenrechten. Met het negatieve voortgangsrapport in het achterhoofd rijst de vraag, hoe werkt de EU eigenlijk met al dat geld aan de mensenrechtensituatie in Turkije?

Uit het fotoboek 'Kemal's Dream' (C) Ahmet Polat'Pff rechten, waar zijn we mee bezig!'Pamfletten aan de muur, asbakken op tafel en discussirende vrouwen. Bij de feministische organisatie KDV lijkt het of je een vervlogen tijdperk binnenstapt. De woorden patriarch en strijd vallen veelvuldig.

'Vrouwenemancipatie in Turkije is een strijd, vergis je niet,' benadrukt medewerker Pınar ‡etinkaya. 'Met [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan hebben wij een president die letterlijk zegt dat vrouwen en mannen niet gelijk zijn.'

Sinds de dodelijke bomaanslagen in oktober in Ankara is de sfeer binnen de mensenrechtenbeweging versomberd. ‡etinkaya: 'Soms kom ik hier op kantoor en denk ik: pff rechten, waar zijn we mee bezig, hoeveel zin heeft het eigenlijk allemaal?'

Maar veel tijd voor dergelijke bespiegelingen is er niet; er moet nog een subsidieaanvraag voor een EU-fonds de deur uit. 'Onze regering doet niet veel aan de positie van de vrouw, dus als we een project willen financieren, is de EU vaak de enige waar wij bij terechtkunnen.'

Niet alleen het agenderen van vrouwenrechten, ook het binnenslepen van fondsen blijkt dan een strijd op zich. Want wil je als organisatie kans maken op een bijdrage uit de Europese ontwikkelingspot, dan kun je niet om de Turkse overheid heen. Daar ligt namelijk de verantwoordelijkheid voor het gebruik van EU-fondsen. Het Turkse ministerie van Europese Zaken en de technische controlepartner CFCU beslissen mee over welke ngo's of ministeries fondsen krijgen en zien toe op de implementatie en verantwoording.

In praktijk betekent dat een voortdurende spanning tussen Europese idealen en de conservatievere realiteit van de regerende AK-partij. Op de EU-delegatie in Ankara kunnen ze nog zulke mooie mensenrechtendoelstellingen verzinnen, uiteindelijk zijn het de Turkse overheidsinstanties die de programma's moeten uitvoeren.

Europarlementarir voor de PvdA, Kati Piri, is Turkijerapporteur en de recente achteruitgang op mensenrechtengebied baart haar zorgen. 'Juist omdat de Turkse overheid alle projecten mede goed moet keuren,' zegt zij in een gesprek, 'moeten we ervoor waken dat het toetredingsfonds geen zakgeld voor de Turkse regering wordt.'

Uit het fotoboek 'Kemal's Dream' (C) Ahmet PolatWel doen, niet willenHet grootste en meteen ook gevoeligste vrouwenrechtenprogramma van de EU is 'Vrouwenhuizen in de Strijd tegen Huiselijk Geweld.' Dit project heeft een budget van tien miljoen euro, waarvan de EU ruim negen miljoen voor haar rekening neemt. Samen met het Turkse ministerie van Gezins- en Sociale Zaken wordt de toegang tot veilige plekken verbeterd voor vrouwen die te maken hebben met huiselijk geweld. Huiselijk geweld, eerwraak en gedwongen huwelijken zijn nog altijd een serieus probleem in Turkije. Toch blijkt het in Turkije erg moeilijk om betrokkenen te vinden die iets kwijt willen over de voortgang van dit intensieve traject.

Zo kan de Duitse organisatie, Gesellschaft f¼r Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), dat het programma onder haar hoede heeft, geen vragen beantwoorden. GIZ laat weten dat het thema te gevoelig ligt. Ook op het Turkse ministerie is er geen tijd voor vragen.

'Uiteindelijk geeft de Turkse overheid geen prioriteit aan vrouwenrechten'

Volgens de voormalig teamleider van het programma, Rachel Wareham, ligt in die gevoeligheid ook precies de uitdaging. 'Uiteindelijk geeft de Turkse overheid geen prioriteit aan vrouwenrechten,' schrijft Wareham. Zelfs als teamleider van zo'n omvangrijk traject lukte het haar niet om op het ministerie een afspraak te krijgen met het hoofd van de afdeling, laat staan met de minister. 'Ik hoop dat de overheid een sterker standpunt inneemt over vrouwenrechten, maar ik ben niet optimistisch. De dominante facties willen de vrouw in een traditionele rol, afhankelijk van de man.'

Een tweede vrouwenprogramma, in samenwerking met de gendarmerie, lijkt een stuk beter te verlopen. Met drie miljoen euro subsidie van de EU is ervoor gezorgd dat gendarmeriepersoneel effectiever op kan treden in geval van huiselijk geweld. Ook zijn er 45 procent meer vrouwen gerekruteerd. 'Bij dit project stond de overheidspartner, de gendarmerie, open voor input van de vrouwenorganisaties die al jaren met dit onderwerp bezig zijn. Daarom is het een succes geworden,' zegt de Turkse vrouwenrechten- en EU-subsidie-expert Rana Birden.

Uit het fotoboek 'Kemal's Dream' (C) Ahmet PolatHoe de overheid toch haar eigen koers kan varenOm ervoor te zorgen dat het maatschappelijk middenveld gehoord wordt, verplicht de EU de Turkse partner soms om een consultatieronde te organiseren. Maar daar schieten de activisten naar eigen zeggen niet veel mee op.

In interviews met allerlei soorten mensenrechtenorganisaties duikt namelijk steeds eenzelfde geheimzinnige term op: GONGO. 'Een GONGO [Government-operated Non-governmental organization, SH] is een organisatie die eigenlijk alleen maar wordt opgericht om het beleid van de regering te legitimeren,' legt ‡etinkaya van de stichting voor vrouwensolidariteit uit. 'Ze schieten hier de laatste jaren als paddenstoelen uit de grond.' Zo kan de overheid dus laten zien dat ze openstaat voor input en vervolgens haar eigen koers varen.

KADEM is volgens de gevestigde vrouwenorganisaties zo'n 'overheids-ngo,' die EU-subsidies ontvangt en vaak geconsulteerd wordt. De dochter van president Erdogan zit in het bestuur. En net als de president en zijn dochter spreekt KADEM liever niet over gendergelijkheid, maar over 'genderrechtvaardigheid.' Op een KADEM-congres zette president Erdogan zich woordelijk af tegen andere vrouwenorganisaties: 'Je kunt vrouwen en mannen niet in een gelijke positie plaatsen, hun natuur en constitutie zijn anders. Zo hebben vrouwen het moederschap ['...]. Sommige feministen zijn gewoon niet in staat om dat concept van moederschap te begrijpen.'

'Ja, wij hebben een conservatieve insteek. Wij willen rechtvaardigheid voor vrouwen en het gezin als uitgangspunt,' zegt KADEM-oprichtster Sezen –zg¼r. Dat de president er ook zo over denkt en graag op de bijeenkomsten verschijnt, betekent volgens haar niet dat ze worden bevoordeeld. 'Misschien bestaan we pas drie jaar, maar wij spreken voor heel veel Turkse vrouwen, dat is waarom we worden gehoord.'

Uit het fotoboek 'Kemal's Dream' (C) Ahmet Polat'Dit is helemaal geen ontwikkelingshulp'Bij het mensenrechtenpakket van een EU-lidmaatschap komen nog meer gevoelige thema's kijken. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan rechten voor minderheden en homorechten. Voor organisaties die zich met deze onderwerpen bezighouden, is er een speciale 'sluiproute'; die kunnen bij een van de twee subsidiepotjes terecht die de EU-delegatie in eigen beheer heeft. Zonder inmenging van Turkse instanties, want de kans dat daar een lgbt-club langskomt is nihil.

De EU zal het nooit zelf een sluiproute noemen, maar een extra subsidiemogelijkheid. Toch is het een beetje dubbel dat de EU een speciaal loket in het leven moet roepen voor organisaties die (volgens begunstigden hier) via de 'gewone route' geen ondersteuning van EU-fondsen kunnen krijgen.

'Weet je,' verzucht een mensrechtenactiviste die graag anoniem wil blijven, 'uiteindelijk zijn we hier gewoon niet helemaal vrij.' Als ze aan een verslag werkt van een EU-project, betrapt ze zichzelf op zelfcensuur. 'Ik ben altijd minder kritisch dan ik zou willen, dat zijn we allemaal. Je wilt toch je kansen op een volgende subsidieronde niet vergooien.'

Liever iets dan niets, zeggen de Turkse mensenrechtenstrijders. Zonder de directe fondsen voor ngo's uit Europa zouden sommige organisaties niet eens overleven. Om die reden nemen ze zelfs de gewraakte papiermolen die bij een EU-subsidie meekomt voor lief. De Brusselbureaucratie is hier berucht. Onder het toeziend oog van de Turkse CFCU, 'de strengste boekencontroleur van alle toetredingslanden,' wordt geen cent ongedocumenteerd uitgegeven. Sjoemelen met je budget kun je wel vergeten.

Soms is het bijna slapstick; zoals de foto van Pinar ‡etinkaya voor een rij multomappen, het papieren verantwoordingsequivalent van een subsidie van anderhalve ton. Tussenevaluaties, eindrapporten, deelnemerslijsten, KvK-uittreksels, Engelse vertalingen en vooral oneindig veel bonnetjes. Alle organisaties klagen dat het papierwerk energie wegzuigt van het 'echte' mensenrechtenwerk. Langzaam besluipt je hier het gevoel dat de hele mensenrechtenbeweging zo een beetje administratief wordt beziggehouden. Dat kan toch niet de bedoeling zijn van ontwikkelingsgeld?

'Maar wij zien het helemaal niet als ontwikkelingshulp,' zeggen de medewerkers van de Ankarase mensenrechtenorganisatie STGM nog maar eens. En daar zit wellicht direct de crux van dit verhaal: het grootste ontwikkelingsbudget van de EU wordt door niemand van de betrokkenen ook als hulp beschouwd. Voor de EU is het geld om EU-regeltjes mee in te voeren en politieke invloed op Ankara uit te oefenen. Voor de ngo's, waar het veldwerk plaatsvindt, zijn verheven doelstellingen als de toekomst van een EU-lidmaatschap of stabiliteit van Europese grenzen, ondergeschikt. Daar vindt de strijd op een ander niveau plaats. 'Terwijl alles om ons heen restrictiever wordt en onze bewegingsruimte wordt ingeperkt,' zegt STGM, 'zijn deze toetredingsfondsen een soort kier naar de buitenwereld.'

Zonder zou het maar donker worden.

Deze reportage kwam tot stand met de steun van het Fonds Pascal Decroos voor Bijzondere Journalistiek en is het eerste deel van een tweeluik dat ook inMO* Magazineverschijnt.

Kemal's DreamDe foto's bij dit verhaal zijn onderdeel van het fotoboek 'Kemal's Dream' van Ahmet Polat. Het toont zijn documentair project over jonge Turken in de snel veranderende Turkse maatschappij. Het onderzoek richt zich met name op de botsing tussen het traditionele en moderne Turkije en tussen religie en het opkomende secularisme. Bij veel jongeren zorgt dit voor een innerlijk conflict dat typerend is voor de gehele Turkse republiek.

Kijk hier voor meer werk van Ahmet Polat

Verder lezen over Turkije?De president van Turkije ziet politiek als een marathon (maar hoelang blijft hij rennen?)De Turkse politiek draait maar om (C)(C)n man: president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Hoe kan de man die Turkije met steeds hardere hand regeert nog steeds zo populair zijn?

Lees het profiel hier terug

Waarom Turkije banger is voor de Koerden dan voor Islamitische StaatTurkije zit tot zijn nek in de oorlog in Syri, zagen Huib de Zeeuw en ik tijdens onze reis langs de Turks-Syrische grens. En door de bomaanslag van Islamitische Staat in Turkije is de oorlog letterlijk de grens overgestoken. Toch beschouwt Turkije de Koerdische PKK als een nog grotere bedreiging.

Lees het verhaal hier terug

In Turkije zou dit niet uitgezonden wordenTerwijl de corruptie welig tiert en journalisten onder druk worden gezet, kan Recep Tayyip Erdogan rustig zijn bouwprojecten doordrukken. In deze documentaire aandacht voor de achterkant van zijn regime.

Kijk de film hier terug

Zo smokkel je een vluchteling Griekenland inElke dag komen meer dan zevenduizend vluchtelingen in Griekenland aan. Ik volgde hun smokkelroute vanuit het Turkse Izmir en zag: niet mensensmokkelaars, maar de Turkse maffia stuurt al die vluchtelingen in rubberen bootjes de zee op.

Lees hier de reportage van Fernande van Tets terug

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Fri, 22 Jul 2016 14:00

Turkey this week submitted the extradition request to Washington for the Pennsylvania-based Imam, Fethullah G¼len, suspected as the mastermind of the failed coup in the country.

Top U.S. officials responded to the Turkish government's extradition request, and said they would review the materials as soon as possible. The U.S. government, however, decided to ignore Turkey's concerns by inviting leading G¼lenists to a reception at the White House hosted by President Barack Obama on Thursday.

President of the Rumi Forum, Emre ‡elik and President of the Turkic American Alliance (TAA) attended the Eid Reception at the White House. The Rumi Forum's website says its honorary president is Fethullah G¼len. TAA is also known to be a G¼lenist business organization for Turkish-American entrepreneurs. A quick search on TAA's website brings up countless articles in support of G¼len and his ideas.

Thousands of Turks marched and chanted today for the extradition of Fethullah G¼len from the United States on Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge, where putschists killed at least two unarmed civilians and injured dozens. In return, Rumi Forum's ‡elik took selfies at the White House and smiled to cameras. "Special meetings in the Green Room #WhiteHouse" he tweeted.

This is not the first time that the White House showed its support for G¼len-run institutes in Washington.

President Obama sent a letter to G¼len-tied "International Festival of Language and Culture" (IFLC), held in Washington last April. Obama underlined the IFLC's efforts to unite young people from across the globe. The festival was co-hosted by the Rumi Forum and TAA.

Previously, The White House officials declined to comment on the letter.

Meanwhile the US Department of State offered assistance to Turkish authorities in the extradition process of Fethullah G¼len as well as forming a joint team to work through the process.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, State Department Spokesperson John Kirby said "We have offered, as the Justice Department has offered to assist Turkish authorities as they work through this extradition process. We've even offered to host a team, a Turkish team here or to send a team there, a joint team, to help them work through the process."

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Fri, 22 Jul 2016 16:18

Mustafa Akyol

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina '-- The bloody coup attempt in Turkey last week, which cost more than 200 lives, brought the world's attention to the group that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared responsible: the Islamic community led by Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since the late 1990s.

Mr. Gulen strongly denies the charges. Some in the West seem to think that this is yet another of the many bizarre conspiracy theories peddled by Mr. Erdogan. But this is not merely propaganda. There are good reasons to believe the accusation is correct.

The Gulen community is built around one man: Fethullah Gulen. His followers see him not merely as a learned cleric, as they publicly claim, but the ''awaited one,'' as I have been told in private. He is the Mahdi, the Islamic version of the Messiah, who will save the Muslim world, and ultimately the world itself. Many of his followers also believe that Mr. Gulen sees the Prophet Muhammad in his dreams and receives orders from him.

Besides Mr. Gulen's unquestionable authority, another key feature of the movement is its cultish hierarchy. The Gulen movement is structured like a pyramid: Top-level imams give orders to second-level imams, who give orders to third-level imams, and it goes on like that to the grass roots.

What does the group do? Its most visible activities include opening schools, running charities that provide social services to the poor and maintaining ''dialogue centers'' that preach love, tolerance and peace. There is nothing wrong with that, of course. I personally have spoken many times at Gulen institutions as a guest, and met modest, kind, lovable people.

But, as one disillusioned Gulenist told me last year, ''there is a darker side of the movement, and few of its members know it as it is.'' For decades, the movement has been infiltrating Turkey's state institutions, like the police, judiciary and military. Many believe that some Gulenists, taking orders from their imams, hide their identities and try to rise through these institutions in order to capture state power.

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When Mr. Erdogan and his Islamist Justice and Development Party, or A.K.P., came to power in 2002, they felt threatened by the hard-core secularists who have dominated Turkey's military since the days of Ataturk, the father of the Turkish republic. Mr. Erdogan viewed the Gulenist cadres in the state as an asset, and an alliance was born. The Erdogan government supported Gulenist police officers, prosecutors and judges as they went after secularists. Starting in 2007, hundreds of secularist officers and their civilian allies were jailed.

This witch hunt was driven by Mr. Erdogan's political agenda, but the Gulenists were even more aggressive than the A.K.P. More worrying: Some of the evidence turned out to be overblown. Two secular journalists and a police chief who exposed the fake evidence, and blamed the ''The Imam's Army,'' were soon themselves imprisoned on bogus charges.

''How can they justify using fake evidence to blame innocent people?'' I once asked my disillusioned Gulenist friend. ''Since their end goal is so great,'' he said, referring to the movement's global, apocalyptic ambition, ''they think all means are justified.''

It eventually became clear why the Gulenists had been so fervent in their persecution of the secularists: They wanted to replace them. Many of the officers who reportedly took part in last week's coup attempt had been promoted thanks to a major purge of the military in 2009 that supposedly saved Mr. Erdogan from a coup.

By 2012, the old secularist guard had been quelled and the Gulenists and the A.K.P. were left more or less alone to run Turkey. It took less than two years before the two Islamist groups developed distrust and, ultimately, enmity. This tension came to a head in December 2013, when Gulenist police officers and prosecutors arrested dozens of government officials in a corruption investigation, most likely in the hope of toppling Mr. Erdogan, who condemned the inquiry as a ''coup attempt.'' At the time, this sounded like a self-serving exaggeration.

But the bloody plot of July 15 is far more destructive than anything Turkey has seen in recent years. Notably, the plot came as Mr. Erdogan was supposed to be planning a major purge of suspected Gulenists from the military. The military's chief of staff, who opposed the coup, identified the rebellious officers as Gulenists. One plotter even reportedly confessed to acting under orders from the Gulen movement.

Given the Gulen community's hierarchical structure, all of this makes Mr. Gulen a prime suspect. Of course, the truth can come out only in a fair trial. Unfortunately, Turkey is not good at those '-- especially given Mr. Erdogan's control over the judiciary and the ferocious polarization in the country today. But the United States government can try to negotiate with its Turkish counterparts to extradite Mr. Gulen, as Turkey's government is now requesting, on the condition of a fair trial.

That would ensure justice, improve Turkish-American relations and help calm the dangerous zeal in Turkey. It may even be necessary to help many of the innocent people in the Gulen community to know what they are really involved in '-- and to begin new lives as free individuals.

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Source: Russia Beyond The Headlines

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 18:01

Reports that Russian intelligence warned the Turkish president about the military coup, allowing him to escape and retain power, appeared in various Russian media outlets in the evening of July 20. However, it is unclear to what extent the reports are true: Erdogan himself said that he learned about the coup from his brother-in-law.

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As the reports of Russia's involvement in the victory of Erdogan emerged, the Turkish president offered a different version. Photo: A supporter holds a flag depicting Turkish President during a pro-government demonstration in Ankara, July 20, 2016. Source: Reuters

Russian media have reported that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was warned by Russian intelligence services about the military coup against him that was thwarted in the early hours of July 16.

The Russian media outlets that have spread the version of Moscow's involvement in Erdogan's victory over the plotters cite the major Iranian news agency Fars, which, in turn, refers to reports by several Arab media outlets (in particular, the Sudanese newspapers Al Sudan Al Youm). The Arab media outlets cite anonymous Turkish diplomats as their source.

According to the version that appeared in the Iranian media, Russia's military intelligence based at Khmeymim airbase in Syria managed to intercept and decode sensitive Turkish military radio messages.

The conspirators planned to dispatch several helicopters to Erdogan's hotel in Marmaris to capture or kill the president. The Russian Defense Ministry allegedly transferred the information about their plans to the Turkish MIT intelligence agency, which allowed Erdogan to escape on time, and then take the initiative.

Erdogan's denialAlmost at the same time as the reports of Russia's involvement in the victory of Erdogan emerged, the Turkish president himself offered a different version in an interview with the Qatari TV channel Al Jazeera.

According to Erdogan, he was first told about the preparations for the coup by his brother-in-law. At first he did not believe this information, but decided to take action after a conversation with the head of the MIT. Together with his family, he left Marmaris on a helicopter and headed to Istanbul.

Earlier, the press service of the Turkish armed forces reported that the MIT intelligence agency did learn about the impending military coup in advance: at 16:00 on July 15 (about five hours ahead of the coup). The sources of the information have not been reported.

The Turkish authorities did not comment on the possibility of Russia's involvement in thwarting the coup. The spokesman for the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, said he had no information about Russian intelligence's involvement in warning Erdogan about the attempt.

Political gamesAccording to Turkologist Viktor Nadein-Rayevsky, a senior researcher of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations at the Russian Academy of Sciences, it is now impossible to find out whether Russia helped Erdogan.

"You understand, the intelligence will not say anything, and no one can confirm or deny the transfer of information," Nadein-Rayevsky told RBTH.

Regardless whether the rumors circulating in the media are true, according to Nadein-Rayevsky, their very appearance is an important signal about the improvement of Russia-Turkey bilateral relations.

"There is a political game going on, and it is possible that this report is also part of the game," he said. "The spread of these rumors is a good step to demonstrate improved relations, show that there is already serious cooperation."

According to Nadein-Rayevsky, Erdogan now needs to improve relations with Russia, and the Turkish president is doing his best to that end.

"Erdogan has already said that the activities of the two pilots who shot down a Russian aircraft [the Su-24 bomber over Syria on Nov. 24, 2015] is being investigated," he said. "This is a demonstrative step. Now Erdogan has found himself in isolation from the West and he needs to cooperate with Russia."

Read more: 3 things on the agenda for Putin and Erdogan when they finally meet>>>

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Fri, 22 Jul 2016 16:34

Image copyrightReutersImage caption The local and national authorities have been in dispute about the scale of the police presence The local authorities in Nice have refused a request by French anti-terror police to destroy CCTV images of last week's lorry attack.

The Paris prosecutor's office said the request had been made to avoid the "uncontrolled dissemination" of images.

But officials in Nice have responded by filing a legal document, arguing the footage could constitute evidence.

It is the latest evidence of a growing dispute between the local and national authorities in the wake of the attack.

More than 80 people died when a Tunisian man, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, ploughed a lorry into crowds out celebrating Bastille Day on 14 July.

The attack, which targeted crowds celebrating Bastille Day, has been claimed by so-called Islamic State (IS).

President Francois Hollande announced on Friday that France would send artillery to Iraq next month for the fight against IS.

France has been conducting air strikes against IS and providing military training but is not committing ground troops.

In the aftermath of the attack in Nice, disagreements have emerged over the scale of police and security force protection around the Promenade des Anglais at the time the attack took place.

"This is the first time we are asked to destroy evidence," French newspaper Le Figaro quoted a source as saying. "The CCTV department and the city of Nice could be prosecuted for this, and also the officers in charge do not have jurisdiction to engage in such operations [to delete material]."

Image copyrightAFPImage caption A ceremony was held to remember police commissioner Emmanuel Grout, one of the victims, on Friday The paper said police and prosecutors wanted footage of the attack destroyed to preserve the dignity of victims and so it could not be used by jihadists for propaganda purposes.

But the French government has faced growing criticism about the extent of security measures and some reports have suggested the CCTV footage may show where and how police were deployed.

On Thursday, a French newspaper backed claims by the deputy mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, that the government had lied about policing of the event.

Witnesses and a police source who has seen security camera footage told the Liberation newspaper that a single municipal police car was blocking the junction where the lorry entered the promenade.

Mr Estrosi had previously questioned the government's assertion that more heavily armed national police were on duty at the entry point.

Nice-Matin newspaper said lawyers acting for the city authorities had asked the local prosecutor's office to put the CCTV images under sequestration so they could not be destroyed.

On Thursday, five suspects appeared in court charged with terror offences in relation to the lorry attack.

The four men and one woman, aged between 22 and 40, are accused of helping driver Lahouaiej-Bouhlel prepare the attack.

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Fri, 22 Jul 2016 18:14

Location: Oakland, CA

939 posts, read 841,872 timesReputation: 722

Hello,In Sahih Muslim, which if I am not mistaken is one of the two most reliable hadith collections in Sunni Islam, it mentions that Muhammad said that people should only use their right hand when eating, because the Shaytan eats with his left hand. There are also mentions in the Abu Dawud hadith collection that Muhammad reserved his right hand for purification and his left hand for lowly things when using the bathroom.

What does this mean for left-handed Muslims? Do they have to clumsily eat, shake hands, and do wudu with their right hand and use their dominant hand to go to the bathroom? Or is there flexibility for left-handed Muslims?

Location: Marion, North Dakota

14,780 posts, read 8,329,412 timesReputation: 6541

Quote:

Hello,In Sahih Muslim, which if I am not mistaken is one of the two most reliable hadith collections in Sunni Islam, it mentions that Muhammad said that people should only use their right hand when eating, because the Shaytan eats with his left hand. There are also mentions in the Abu Dawud hadith collection that Muhammad reserved his right hand for purification and his left hand for lowly things when using the bathroom.

What does this mean for left-handed Muslims? Do they have to clumsily eat, shake hands, and do wudu with their right hand and use their dominant hand to go to the bathroom? Or is there flexibility for left-handed Muslims?

You have to understand that in Islam there is a sliding scale from required to forbidden.Fiqh is required it has to be done and is a sin to not do

Sunnah is preferred not a sin for failure to do but receive blessing for doing

Halal is simply everything pemitted

Makroof is that which is disliked. No sin to do, but receive blessings for not doing

Haram is forbidden, a sin if we do it

Eating with the right hand is Sunnah. It is doing as the early Muslims did. No sin for failure to do so, but rewards for doing to the best of our ability.

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64 posts, read 39,995 timesReputation: 23

Quote:

Hello,In Sahih Muslim, which if I am not mistaken is one of the two most reliable hadith collections in Sunni Islam, it mentions that Muhammad said that people should only use their right hand when eating, because the Shaytan eats with his left hand. There are also mentions in the Abu Dawud hadith collection that Muhammad reserved his right hand for purification and his left hand for lowly things when using the bathroom.

What does this mean for left-handed Muslims? Do they have to clumsily eat, shake hands, and do wudu with their right hand and use their dominant hand to go to the bathroom? Or is there flexibility for left-handed Muslims?

This is what happens if people try to add something in religion. Probably the prophet never said such a thing , or he said a similar thing to describe another thing but was misanderstood or changed in time. So your question is so sensible and we can make it more sensible, what about the people who doesnt have a right hand ? According to hadiths (tale, story, narration in Arabic) they will burn in hell or they will use the spoon with their right foot From Quran; 45:6 These are God's signs that We recite to you with truth (Quran) So, in which hadith, after God and His signs, do they acknowledge ?

By the way I'm a left handed muslim .

Location: Oakland, CA

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You have to understand that in Islam there is a sliding scale from required to forbidden.Makroof is that which is disliked. No sin to do, but receive blessings for not doing

Okay, I am used to Ashkenazi Orthodox Judaism where things that are "not recommended" are essentially socially forbidden and thus there is little practical difference between the two terms, even if the heavenly reward/punishment might differ. If you are known to do something that is seen as being unnecessarily lenient or not recommended, then people will often shun you or not want your kids hanging out with them. It is a very sad situation that probably results in people leaving Orthodox Judaism to become either Reform or Conservative (in the U.S.) or secular (in Israel).Would Muslims feel comfortable doing something makruf in public, or is it something that should be kept private? Like would you see an imam doing something makruf?

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I am left handed, My parents trained me to eat and drink with my right hand when I was a little kid, it's a matter of training one's self I guess. it is simple

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 13:08

De M¼nchen massacre Is een complete farce. Wanneer we de schutter van M¼nchen wat beter bekijken laat ons dit zien dat hij helemaal geen verwarde Duitser van Iraanse afkomst is zoals men ons wil doen geloven maar een islamitische Syrir met ernstige Erdogan sympathien.

Ali David Sonboly was geen Iraanse maar pro Turkse islamist uit Syri. Verder had hij een strafblad en werd hij door Interpol in de gaten gehouden.

Om te beginnen is er maar (C)(C)n manier om Sonboly te spellen in het Arabische (Ø"نبÙي), maar in het Engels kan het worden gespeld op meerdere manieren (zoals Sunbulli, Sonboly). Echter is de spelling in het Arabisch altijd hetzelfde : Ø"نبÙي

Behalve wanneer je het Arabisch kent kun je niet weten waar je naar moet zoeken. Het onderzoeken van de familienaam Sonboly en zelfs Sonboly middels Facebook toont ons dat de Turkse vlag (C)(C)n van de belangrijkste symbolen is voor hen.

Ok(C) wellicht geilde hij wel op de rode kleur en de wassende maan van de Turkse vlag, maar niet enkel hij was hier dol op, nee zijn complete familie en zijn familie is ook nog eens van Turkse afkomst en woont in Syri en Turkije. Deze zelfde Turkse vlag als ook de Syrische vlag is de trots van deze familie zoals gezien kan worden op Facebook .

Ja de liefde voor Turkije en dictator Erdogan is binnen deze familie ijzersterk en hij woonde in de Turkse buurt.

Waarom hem nu afschilderen als een Iraanse moslim iets wat hem een sjiitische moslim zou maken? Is het mogelijk dat Duitsland wil vermijden dat er nog meer rellen uitbreken wanneer de Duitsers er achter komen dat Turken of Syrische vluchtelingen die in grote aantallen het land overspoelen verantwoordelijk zijn voor de aanslag op de inwoners van M¼nchen?

Ali Sonboly zijn Facebookpagina met de Turkse vlag als achtergrond.(Update 23 juli 2015)

Dat hij pas twee jaar in Duitsland woont is onzin aangezien hij in 2011 reeds op school zat.

De familie is afkomstig uit Homs Syri en sommige zijn vanuit daar terecht gekomen in Jemen, Saoedi-Arabi, de Verenigde Staten en Canada. Een snelle blik op deze familie laat ons hun liefde voor Turkije zien (bewijs hier , hier deze ene woont in Chicago, sunni met een Hijab van Homs, Syri, zie ook hier en hier en hier en hier. Anti Assad en pro Turkije.

En de Arabische versie van Sonboly levert ons dezelfde resultaten. Ali Sanboly via Facebook in het Arabisch verbindt hem met wat Erdogan/terreur liefdevolle individuen.

Een familielid, Ziyad Sonboly wil als scherpschutter aan de gang en hij is duidelijk zichtbaar met een Syrische vlag.

Als Ali Sonboly daadwerkelijk van Iraanse afkomst was wat doet hij dan met de vlag van Turkije achter zich op zijn Facebook pagina en wat doet deze dan op de Facebook pagina's van zijn familieleden en zijn andere contacten?

Er is ook een foto van hem waarop hij is gearresteerd (maar we krijgen alleen de rug van deze grote man te zien) en wat weinigen weten is dat Sonboly werd gadegeslagen door Interpol. Zij tonen u zijn gezicht als dat van een kind terwijl hij een volwassen individu is volgens de foto's gemaakt door ooggetuige. Dus wat is er zo snel met zijn baby gezicht gebeurd? Zijn er geen andere foto's van deze man? Dit is gewoon een grote kerel.

Vind ik leuk:LikeLaden'...

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 13:01

A group of teenage friends was among those killed in Friday afternoon's shooting at a Munich shopping centre.

Friends posted tributes on the Facebook profiles of Sabina Sulaj, Can Leyla, Selcuk Kilic and Armela Segashi, all aged between 14 and 15.

German media said that Armela and Sabina, both of Kosovo-Albanian descent, were close childhood friends. Can, a boy of Turkish descent, was a friend of Sabina's; Selcuk and Can also knew each other well.

Armela's brother Arbnor Segashi asked Facebook friends at midnight to help him locate his little sister, saying she had been at the shopping centre and the family had not heard from her since news of the shooting broke.

But at 8am, Arbnor wrote on Facebook in both German and Albanian (the Segashis are of Kosovo-Albanian descent): ''Armela '-- our beloved daughter, sister, friend and first of all beloved human being today lost her life in the shooting in Munich. We love you, angel.''

One common friend of Sabina and Can wrote on Facebook in a series of public posts: ''Sabi, you were an angel, always you came to me when I felt bad, took me into your arms and made me laugh. I love you, rest in peace my darling'..."

''Rest in peace, Sabina and Armela,'' another friend wrote. ''You'll always be in our hearts.''

Zia Weise

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Sat, 23 Jul 2016 18:27

President Barack Obama holds a meeting on Afghanistan in the Situation Room of the White House. | White House

By Alexander Burns and Mike Allen

12/06/09 09:57 AM EST

A long reconstruction of President Barack Obama's Afghanistan ''surge'' deliberations, splashed on the front page of Friday's Los Angeles Times, featured the sort of journalistic candy that is the rarest treat on the White House beat: a behind-the-scenes anecdote (from the Situation Room, no less) '' with an actual quote from the president.

''To emphasize his desire to speed up the deployment, the president held up a printout copy of the bell curve [a graph projecting a troop buildup over time] and pointed to its apex, indicating the peak of the flow,'' the article says, then quotes ''one official'' as reporting that the president said: ''I want to move this to the left. '... We need more troops in sooner.''

Story Continued Below

The front page of Sunday's New York Times features a much longer reconstruction of Obama's Afghanistan deliberations, with the same Veterans Day scene and (nearly) the same quote: '''I want this pushed to the left,' he told advisers, pointing to the bell curve. In other words, the troops should be in sooner, then out sooner.''

The tidbit neatly serves both the press and the White House: The reporters appear to be getting a juicy scoop '' the sort of take-you-there detail that might turn up in a Bob Woodward book years after the fact. And the president's aides are dishing an irresistible illustration of a take-charge president's proactive approach to his decision to commit 30,000 more troops to a war that has begun to look like a quagmire.

This type of story '' known in the trade as a ''tick-tock,'' for its heavy reliance on chronology '' has become de rigueur for the big papers in the days after a major Washington event. Sunday's Washington Post also has an Afghanistan tick-tock that posted on the web Saturday afternoon, five minutes after The New York Times' opus. The L.A. editors rushed the piece into type after a sit-down White House briefing on Thursday, knowing that competitors were working on their own versions.

The White House gets a ''mission accomplished'' grade for all three stories, each of which amplifies the West Wing's desired storyline: A smart, probing president cuts through the fog of competing visions to come up with his own unique version of a surge '-- the in-and-out version that he announced at West Point on Tuesday night.

The implicit message of the material fed to the three papers: This was not just a Potemkin debate over a foregone conclusion. Unlike President George W. Bush, we took a long, hard look at the options and alternatives. And unlike the armchair warriors in the Bush administration, we didn't let ideology drive strategy. This president knows the cost of war, and wasn't taking the troop commitment lightly.

''Inside the Situation Room: How a War Plan Evolved'' is the dramatic, two-column headline of Sunday's New York Times, with the article spread over two ad-free pages inside.

The White House Press Office (sorry, no Deep Throat) coordinated a series of tick-tock briefings for individual reporters with top players late last week, explaining the similarity in themes and color among the pieces.

Obama aides pushed '-- ''shopped,'' as reporters cynically put it '-- to multiple reporters a description of a chastened president returning to his deliberations after a visit to Arlington National Cemetery. One reporter, who had resisted the description as too pat, was amused to find it as the lead of The New York Times account.

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Fri, 22 Jul 2016 13:19

vrijdag 22 juli 2016, 10:36 (C) HEMAEen actie van de HEMA rond de Gay Pride zorgt voor veel positieve reacties op sociale media. De winkelketen viert het homo-evenement met speciale t-shirts met hun iconen: de tompouce en de rookworst.

De t-shirts zijn verkrijgbaar in drie varianten: tompouce '¥ tompouce, rookworst '¥ rookworst en rookworst '¥ tompouce. Ze kosten 10 euro per stuk, de opbrengst gaat naar een goed doel.

Wat is de HEMA toch geweldig!! ''¤¸''¤¸ https://t.co/zPlcbYZ3XE

'-- Kim Nelissen (@KimTikt) July 22, 2016Worst&poes wat een inhaker #hema#pride2016 toppie dit pic.twitter.com/H0Sgham9At

'-- Gerda (@Gerda_Groenenda) July 22, 2016Goede Pride actie van HEMA https://t.co/sweURVHOzQ

'-- Simone Pouw (@SimonePouw) July 22, 2016De jaarlijkse Pride in Amsterdam geldt deze keer als als EuroPride, waarbij vanaf morgen grote groepen homo's vanuit heel Europa naar ons land komen. Het wordt daarom naar verwachting drukker dan ooit. Meer artikelen in Binnenland

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 03:08

Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who helped expose the extent of U.S. government surveillance, is among the most notorious and celebrated American fugitives. But from his self-imposed exile in Russia, he has also managed to establish himself as the most significant personal brand on privacy issues.

On Thursday, Snowden took the first step in using that brand to launch an actual product. During an MIT Media Lab presentation, Snowden and security researcher Andrew Huang unveiled plans for a phone case that could give activists and journalists a heads-up when their phone is secretly sending out signals that could enable them to be tracked by intelligence agencies.

[Microsoft just won a huge legal victory on email privacy]

"One good journalist in the right place at the right time can change history,'' Snowden said via live stream during the presentation. ''This makes them a target, and increasingly tools of their trade are being used against them.''

The device, which looks like a external battery case, has a tiny screen that would tell a user if the phone is still sending out GPS, cellular, WiFi or Bluetooth signals when the device has been turned off. Snowden had warned in a 2014 NBC interview that some malware could make an iPhone appear to be switched off even when it's still sending out signals.

While Snowden lay low for a while after being granted asylum in Russia in 2013, he's become much more visible in the years since: joining up with Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras '-- journalists who helped publicize his NSA revelations '-- at the Freedom of the Press Foundation; live-streaming into panel discussions around the world '-- sometimes with the help of a robotic proxy; launching a Twitter account that now has well over 2 million followers; and endorsing privacy-related cyber-services, such as SpiderOak's cloud storage option and the encrypted messaging app Signal.

[Snowden has been cleared to appear at a theater near you]

Snowden is also the subject of a biopic directed by Oliver Stone that was recently screened at Comic-Con and is expected to get a wide U.S. release in September '-- giving Snowden an aura of celebrity few privacy advocates have achieved.

His latest phone-case venture, which Snowden is working on as part of his role at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, is still in the design stage. Its very existence, however, suggests that Snowden is keen to use the brand he's been cultivating to push forward the international conversation about surveillance and privacy.

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Fri, 22 Jul 2016 13:49

Children in war-torn Syria have been pictured holding up photos of Pok(C)mon in a 'plea to the world to come to their rescue'.

The Revolutionary Forces of Syria Media Office shared photos of the children which have been widely circulated on social media.

One of the messages held up by a child, written in Arabic, says: ''I live in Kafr Nabl, the Aleppo countryside. Come catch me.''

Another says: ''I am a Pok(C)mon at Idlib in Syria, would you please come and save me?''

''I am in Kafrnabol in #Idlib countryside, come find me,'' says another.

Syrian graphic designer Saif Aldeen Tahhan has also used Pok(C)mon Go to highlight the devastation in the country.

He created images '-- each carrying a 'Syria Go' logo '-- to show the impact of the war on the Syrian people over the last five years.

''I created these images as a way to turn attention to the Syrian war, and to focus on Syrian suffering instead of Pok(C)mon, which people are crazy about,'' he explained.

He told Al Arabiya: ''The world has become obsessed with this video game, so I told myself why not use it as a medium to convey our suffering.

''Everyone is now searching for Pok(C)mon, however, Syrians are searching for the basic necessities of life. Honestly, I don't think the world feels for us.''

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Thu, 21 Jul 2016 22:43

Last month, law enforcement officers showed up at the lab of Anil Jain, a professor at Michigan State University. Jain wasn't in trouble; the officers wanted his help.

Jain is a computer science professor who works on biometric identifiers such as facial recognition programs, fingerprint scanners and tattoo matching; he wants to make them as difficult to hack as possible. But the police were interested in the opposite of this: they wanted his help to unlock a dead man's phone.

Jain and his PhD student Sunpreet Arora couldn't share details of the case with me, since it's an ongoing investigation, but the gist is this: a man was murdered, and the police think there might be clues to who murdered him stored in his phone. But they can't get access to the phone without his fingerprint or passcode. So instead of asking the company that made the phone to grant them access, they're going another route: having the Jain lab create a 3D printed replica of the victim's fingers. With them, they hope to unlock the phone.

Arora described how this works to me. The police already have a scan of the victim's fingerprints taken while he was alive (apparently he had been arrested previously). They gave those scans to the lab, and using them Arora has created 3D printed replicas of all ten digits.

''We don't know which finger the suspect used,'' he told me by phone. ''We think it's going to be the thumb or index finger'--that's what most people use'--but we have all ten.''

A 3D printed finger alone often can't unlock a phone these days. Most fingerprint readers used on phones are capacitive, which means they rely on the closing of tiny electrical circuits to work. The ridges of your fingers cause some of these circuits to come in contact with each other, generating an image of the fingerprint. Skin is conductive enough to close these circuits, but the normal 3D printing plastic isn't, so Arora coated the 3D printed fingers in a thin layer of metallic particles so that the fingerprint scanner can read them.

It's not a foolproof method yet. Arora is still refining the technology, and they haven't yet given the fingers back to the police to try and unlock the victim's phone. But Arora said that in a few weeks, once he's tested the fingers enough in the lab, he'll hand them over. Then the police will try to use 3D printed models of a dead man's fingers to unlock his phone.

The security and privacy of phones has been a heated topic in the news lately. You probably remember that Apple and the FBI went back and forth in court over gaining access to the iPhone of the deceased San Bernardino shooter; it was locked with a passcode. This case is a bit different because the cops don't need a phone company's help. And the fact that the owner of the phone is dead eliminates some of the legal issues that would usually arise, said Bryan Choi, a researcher who focuses on issues of security, law and technology.

''The Fifth Amendment protects against self-incrimination. Here, the fingerprints are of the deceased victim, not the murder suspect. Obviously, the victim is not at risk of incrimination,'' Choi said by email. And even if law enforcement found evidence of other crimes on the phone, the victim is dead, so it's not like they'd be bringing him to trial anyway.

Where it gets more murky, and more interesting, is thinking about whether this kind of technology can and should be used in other cases, involving living suspects. If this works, to get into someone's phone locked by a thumbprint, cops would just need the person's fingerprints'... and a court order: In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that police need to have a warrant to search the contents of a personal cell phone.

According to the courts, there is actually a distinction between a fingerprint password and a memorized one. ''Courts generally draw a line between the 'contents of the mind' (which is protected) and 'tangible' bodily evidence like blood, DNA, and fingerprints (which is not),'' Choi said.

So a password that you have memorized may be protected by the Fifth Amendment. Your fingerprints aren't. In 2014,a court in Virginia ruled that a suspect can be required to unlock their phone using their fingerprint. But the judge in that case said that asking the suspect to divulge his memorized password would be out of bounds.

Choi has argued that phones should be considered extensions of our minds and should be protected under the Fifth Amendment (protection against self-incrimination) and not just the Fourth Amendment (protection against illegal search and seizure). He argues that cell phones are unlike almost anything else we own.

''We offload so many of our personal thoughts, moments, tics, and habits to our cellphones,'' he said in his email. ''Having those contents aired in court feels like having your innermost thoughts extracted and spilled unwillingly in public.''

That point of view would require courts to recognize that we are all cyborgs, whose minds live in part on our phones.

Arora told me he wasn't sure how the police department found out about their work.''I think these guys also go online to figure out stuff about how to hack phones,'' he said, ''so we probably popped up.''

And Jain said he was happy to help when they got in touch: ''We do it for the fun.''

But if it works, it might be the first time that a dead person's 3D printed fingerprint has been used to unlock their own phone.

Update: We don't know what kind of phone this person had. But a few readers have pointed out that with many modern phones a passcode is required if you haven't used the fingerprint unlock in over 48 hours. So it's possible that police will unlock the phone and hit a passcode question.

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Source: Amateur/Ham Radio

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 17:56

Dear Friend:

Good news for Amateur radio operators who live in communities that basically ban any outside antennas. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has unanimously approved legislation I helped write that directs the Federal Communications Commission to extend the ''reasonable accommodation'' provision to Amateur Radio antennas to include all types of land-use regulation, including deed restrictions and restrictive covenants.

This provision is similar to what the FCC and courts have provided to those who want to receive direct broadcast services from satellite video providers. It's a balanced measure that won the backing of both the HAM radio community and those who represent planned communities where these restrictions have caused a problem.

As a licensed HAM myself, I know the important services operators provide to their communities and country, especially during times of emergency. As chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, I'll continue to work to work with the FCC to make sure HAMs get fair treatment and that our frequencies are not taken away from us.

73s,

Greg WaldenU.S. RepresentativeOregon's Second District

Please feel free to sign up for my E-Newsletter, like me on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter and Instagram if you have not already done so.

If you would like to contact me with a follow-up question or comment, you can do so by clicking here. Click here if you would like to Unsubscribe.

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 14:22

What follows includes photographic evidence, and background information, in support of this recent article:-

https://johnkimber.wordpress.com/2014/01/30/cia-agent-jackie-killed-jfk/Was Jackie Kennedy a CIA agent who assassinated her husband '' a crime ''hidden in plain sight''? Enhanced images of the JFK assassination arediscussed below, along with evidence that Jackie was working for the CIA.

I first heard that Jackie Kennedy may have fired the fatal shot at her husband, on Charles Giuliani's ''Truth Hertz'' show. Physicist Dr. Neville Jones Ph.D. is amajor proponent of Jackie being the killer.

The relevant Truth Hertz shows, and Dr. Neville Jones's work on President Kennedy's assassination, are available here:-

http://rapidshare.com/share/2E0A60F9F089503F095A72C86E175AE1 Giulianihttp://www.realityreviewed.com/JFK%20murder.htm Jones

Naturally, I revisited the Zapruder footage, which does seem compatible with the ''Jackie Shot JFK'' theory:-

I then decided to collect key images of the assassination, and apply standardized/unbiasedenhancements. The results appear below, what do they show?

Certainly, white gun smoke appears to rise and drift from Jackie's position, exactly when John received the fatal shot. Her arm also rises to an appropriate angle at this time (click on image toenlargeandplay):-

John's head and body initially move forward and to the right away from Jackie, and then ''back and to the left'' returning to Jackie under gravity.

Also, during the fatal frame (Z313), there is extra illumination inside the limousine. Thisis particularly clear on shiny foreheads, and was caused by the muzzle flash from Jackie's gun, I believe.

The massive visible head wound suggests an exiting bullet, as entry wounds are normally much smaller.

The smoke, the movements of John's head and body, and the apparent exit wound, are all compatible with a shot fired from Jackie's right arm/hand. Bullets do not produce smoke, only the guns that fire them.

Furthermore, if you focus on the grass above John's head, two bullets appear to exit his head in the following south side (Orville Nix) images, at an angle that only Jackie could achieve:-

The Maria Muchmore footage is similar to the Nix footage (left-click to play video):-

In the Zapruder images, Jackie's arm moves substantially between frames 315 and 316. This occurs in the above Nix images also. JFK's head is moving away from Jackie due to the first bullet (frame Z313), and her arm would have had to follow it quickly to deliver another shot.

A second lesser expulsion from John's head, does seem to occur in frame Z317(left-click to enlarge):-

Derringer twin barrel pistols fire two relatively slow bullets. They are small and easily concealed, simple/reliable, and can kill at close range. Twin barrels and two bullets meansa minimal chance of failure. Such a gun is perfect for an assassin who is near their target:-

http://deltacorporation.org/derringer.php

A compact light-weight revolver, such as the Colt Cobra used by Jack Ruby, would also have been suitable.

If ''six snipers'' had been firing live bullets at JFK they could have hit anyone, including the alleged assassination kingpin Lyndon Johnson, who was two cars behind.

JFK is first seen choking in frame 225 of the Zapruder film, allegedly due to being shot in the throat. However, many poisons can also cause breathing difficulties (click to enlarge):-

The suggested administration of a choking/disabling nerve agent to JFK, via a radio controlled device in his back-brace (third link in this article), seems rather high-techand unreliable. Also, why hide such an invisible event behind the road-sign, in the early Zapruder frames (footage above)?

Perhaps Texas Governor John Connally, who was sitting in front of JFK, simply sprayed President Kennedy in the face with a chemical. A small spray bottle can be largely hidden in a man's palm, and a fine transparent mist would also be hard to see.

The ''stray motorcycle policeman'' James Chaney on the left of the Altgens 6 photo (below, click to greatly enlarge), got even closer to the President, and JFK might have struggledif had been sprayed/harmed by someone inside the car.

The other motorcycle cops followed their highly unusual orders, which were to remain behind the presidential limousine. James Chaney therefore had guaranteed access to JFK. Did Chaney spray the President in the face, and then inspect his work in Altgens 6 above?

JFK's alleged neck (bullet) wound was obscured by a suspicious ''tracheotomy'', performed after death. It is doubtful that the president's head would have remained upright and moving, if he had been ''shot through the neck'', as alleged. No blood was visible at this stage either. In any case, a lookalike corpse was probably used at Parkland Hospital.

Before and/or after the subsequent fatal shot, Jackie may have hidden a gun under the roses that were between her and JFK (she was wearing gloves on a warm day):-

Earlier that day, John Connally was sitting next to Jackie '' a perfect opportunity for him to pass her a small Derringer type gun. Jackie seems to receive instructions from Connally, in the build up to the fatal shot (see Zapruder YouTube video above).

As for motive, strong evidence indicates that Jackie was a C.I.A. agent, who was introduced to JFK shortly after joining the Agency. Jackie and her mother were also long-standingfriends with Oswald's probable CIA handler, George de Mohrenschildt.

http://jackiekilledjfk.webs.com/wheresthemotive.htm point 6http://world.einnews.com/pr_news/56916221/ Jackie joins the CIAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_de_Mohrenschildt Ctrl f Jackiehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lmEp87bvOw CIA vs JFK (last 20m)

After fifty years of being told about a rear sniper by the mainstream media/OperationMockingbird, and front snipers by JFK assassination researchers trying to explain theautopsy wounds of a lookalike corpse, it can be hard to imagine a lone CIA assassin firingat point blank range.

However, Robert Kennedy was also assassinated by a lone CIA assassin who was veryclose to him, with at least one other shooter causing a distraction '' just like in Dealey Plaza.Close range assassinations are more reliable, and therefore more common, than thoseinvolving snipers.

In conclusion, we have a smoking gun, two bullets, strong evidence that Jackie was a CIA agent (like Oswald), plus the logic of a clean and virtually certain kill. Only ''Jackie Shot JFK'' fits all of thevisual and general evidence.

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 06:24

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 06:08

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 06:00

[See NewsBusters for more.] The three networks on Thursday night immediately derided Donald Trump's ''dark speech'' as one coming from a ''vengeful'' ''demagogue.'' On NBC, Tom Brokaw allowed that ''some'' will see Trump as on a ''white horse who will lead them to some kind of sanctuary and then pull the drawbridge up.'' But he sneered, ''Others looking in are going to see someone they will only think as a demagogue of some kind.'' Chuck Todd labeled, ''I thought it was an extraordinarily dark speech.'' Republican operative Nicolle Wallace lamented, ''We are now represented as a party by a man who believes in protectionism, isolationism and nativism.''

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 05:56

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

After her MSNBC colleagues determined that Donald Trump's convention speech Thursday night was a message derived from talk radio to ''white America'' that he would ''protect'' them, convention co-host Rachel Maddow stated just after the midnight Eastern mark that Trump serves as ''a gateway drug'' to transforming the GOP into one featuring people like David Duke (and by extension the KKK).

Thankfully, MSNBC political analyst and establishment Republican Steve Schmidt chose not to attack his own party but rally to their defense in firmly asserting that such a scenario won't happen and called on Trump to find the wherewithal to condemn that element of his supporters.

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 05:50

Thursday marked the final day of the Republican National Convention and Donald Trump himself was the grand finale. Trump's speech was well received by the crowd but CNN commentator Van Jones wasn't having any of it. ''I've never felt this way in my life,'' Jones stated, ''You're either inspired by this or you're terrified by it. I'm terrified by it.'' It was all a part of a rant he delivered on CNN' America's Choice 2016 programming.

Jones claimed he tried to listen to Trump with an open mind, ''I came here tonight with an open heart.'' ''I was prepared to hear him do something extraordinary,'' he continued. But only found a few bright spots in that evening's speeches, ''If you have a pulse, if you have a functioning brain stem, you should have been saluting Ivanka Trump.'' ''But what Donald Trump did tonight is a disgrace,'' he spat.

There was also a lot of resentment from Jones for Trump's messages to the Black and Hispanic communities:

I work in some of the toughest neighborhoods, in some of the toughest communities, in this country and I don't know what he's talking about when he describes the country he's talking about. And there was some schizophrenic psychopathic attempt to pull apart the Obama coalition, but from a political point of view, he even botched that.

Jones seemed to also try his hand at being prophet. He conjured images of the rise of authoritarian leaders throughout history and argued that is what he felt after Trump's speech. ''I have read in history being in moments where there's some big authoritarian movement of some leader that's rising up,'' he warned, ''And I felt that way tonight and it was terrifying to me.''

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 05:47

More in the cross-post on the MRC's NewsBusters blog.

Reacting to Donald Trump's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention Thursday night, on Friday morning, the hosts and correspondents of NBC's Today scolded the GOP nominee for his ''dark'' tone of ''doom and gloom.'' Opening the broadcast, co-host Matt Lauer proclaimed: ''Donald Trump closes out the Republican National Convention in a speech that was both fiery...and dark.''

Moments later, fellow co-host Savannah Guthrie chimed in: ''Depending on you ask, some saw a leader ready to put America back on track, others saw a lot of doom and gloom.'' Correspondent Peter Alexander followed: ''This wasn't exactly Ronald Reagan's 'shining city on the hill,' it wasn't George W. Bush's 'compassionate conservatism.' Instead, it was Donald Trump's order and the border.''

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[See NewsBusters for more.] After a week of trashing Republicans as racist and ''mutinous,'' a giddy Chris Matthews ended MSNBC's GOP convention on a high note, eagerly anticipating the way more ''fun'' Democratic convention next week. Late Thursday night, Matthews enthused, ''Philly's going to be fun. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. A lot more celebrities, a lot more Hollywood, a lot more bold print.'' Liberal panelist David Corn mocked, ''Maybe less anger.'' Fellow guest Dana Milbank assured there would be ''a lot less intrigue.'' The Philadelphia native Matthews announced, ''There will be no anger in Philly. It's the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection.''

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

In the midst of MSNBC's rolling coverage Friday afternoon of what appeared to be an act of terrorism in Germany, breaking news anchor Brian Williams and NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel used the occasion to lament the rise of ''a rightward tilt'' in Europe of ''intolerant'' ideologies and parties against Muslims and Middle Eastern refugees.

Engel was astutely noting the prevalence of European nationals who have gone and fought for ISIS before returning home before changing tune to rewind back to the ''growing anger'' and outpouring of grief for those killed in the Nice, France radical Islamic terror attack from exactly one week ago.

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[See NewsBusters for more.] MSNBC on Friday used the unfolding shooting spree in Munich to bash the Republican Party and connect the GOP convention to it. Regarding terror, Daily Beast editor Christopher Dickey talked to Brian Williams and lectured, ''What we're looking at now in Europe and, to some extent, at the Republican convention and in the discourse in the United States, is a lot of talk about war as if we're talking about a massive operation.'' Dickey insisted that the terror threat not be overstated: ''Yet we're often talking as if we're going to go to war with a billion Muslims. And I think we need to be very, very careful about that. You are very careful. NBC is very careful.''

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Sun, 24 Jul 2016 05:29

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

With still nothing definitively known about the identity of the Munich, Germany attacker or attackers early Friday night, MSNBC's MTP Daily ushered the Brexit vote for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union into the conversation as an example of anti-refugee sentiment that, in their speculations, was behind the mall shooting in Germany.

NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel had already touted the fears about the rise of right-leaning governments in Europe (as if left-wing governments aren't ever a concern) but he then invoked Brexit to the agreement of host Chuck Todd.

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One email appears to show DNC staffers asking how they can reference Sanders' faith to weaken him in the eyes of Southern voters. Another seems to depict an attorney advising the committee on how to defend Clinton against an accusation by the Sanders campaign of not living up to a joint fundraising agreement.

The revelation threatened to shatter the uneasy peace between the Clinton and Sanders camps and supporters days before the Democratic convention kicks off next week.

The leaks, from January 2015 to May 2016, feature Democratic staffers debating everything from how to deal with challenging media requests to coordinating the committee's message with other powerful interests in Washington.

The emails were leaked from the accounts of seven DNC officials, Wikileaks said. CNN has not independently established the emails' authenticity.

One email features DNC staffers appearing to ponder ways to undercut Sanders, an insurgent Democrat who had a bitter relationship with party leadership. Sanders supporters charged that the DNC was biased toward Clinton, and Sanders late in the primary endorsed DNC chair Debbie Wassserman Schultz's primary opponent in her Florida congressional race.

On May 5, a DNC employee asked colleagues to "get someone to ask his belief" in God and suggested that it could make a difference in Kentucky and West Virginia. Sanders' name is not mentioned in the note.

"This could make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist," DNC chief financial officer Brad Marshall wrote.

Neither the DNC nor Marshall responded to requests for comment.

But Republican nominee Donald Trump said the emails were proof of the Democrats' "rigged" system, resurfacing an attack he's leveled against the party before."Leaked e-mails of DNC show plans to destroy Bernie Sanders. Mock his heritage and much more. On-line from Wikileakes, really vicious. RIGGED," Trump tweeted Saturday morning.

In another email, an attorney appears to advise the DNC on how to respond to a dispute between the two campaigns over how much money Clinton's operation had raised for state parties. Sanders' campaign charged that Clinton's team was not handing over its fair share of its fundraising, which Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver said was "laundering" and "looting.""My suggestion is that the DNC put out a statement saying that the accusations the Sanders campaign are not true. The fact that CNN notes that you aren't getting between the two campaigns is the problem," Marc E. Elias wrote. "Here, Sanders is attacking the DNC and its current practice, its past practice with the POTUS and with Sec Kerry. Just as the RNC pushes back directly on Trump over 'rigged system,' the DNC should push back DIRECTLY at Sanders and say that what he is saying is false and harmful (to) the Democratic party."

Elias and the Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.

Another exchange involves a discussion on whether to move Maryland ophthalmologist Sreedhar Potarazu from sitting beside President Barack Obama at a DNC event after National Finance Director Jordan Kaplan said he gave less money than Philip Munger, another donor.

"It would be nice to take care of him from the DNC side," Kaplan wrote, referring to Munger.

Potarazu told CNN Saturday that he wants answers from top DNC officials on how they are responding to these revelations, which have surfaced days before the Democratic convention.

"I was obviously shocked to see my name in the middle of all of this because I'm just an innocent bystander," he said.

"I'm curious to see what's happening at the highest levels of the DNC right now," he added. "I don't know, but I'm sure it's a fire drill. The timing is not good."

Wasserman Shultz also called Weaver a "damn liar" in May after he criticized the Nevada Democratic Party following protests among Sanders supporters who said Clinton's backers had subverted party rules. They shouted down pro-Clinton speakers and sent threatening messages to state party Chairwoman Roberta Lange after posting her phone number and address on social media."The state party there has a lot of problems. They've run things very poorly. It has been done very undemocratically," Weaver said on CNN in May. "And there seems to be an unwillingness on the part of the Nevada Democratic Party to bring in all of the new people that Bernie Sanders has brought into the process."

The DNC chair responded in an email: "Damn liar. Particularly scummy that he barely acknowledges the violent and threatening behavior that occurred."

And in an email quoting Weaver as saying, "I think we should go to the convention," Wasserman Shultz wrote: "He is an ASS."

'It's gas meets flame'

The publication of the emails comes just a weekend before the start of the Democratic convention, where a major objective will be to unify the Democratic Party by winning over Sanders' voters.

Several Democratic sources told CNN that the leaked emails are a big source of contention and may incite tensions between the Clinton and Sanders camps heading into the Democratic convention's Rules Committee meeting this weekend. Representatives of the former primary rivals were expected to meet Friday night to discuss the issue.

"It could threaten their agreement," one Democrat said, referring to the deal reached between Clinton and Sanders about the convention, delegates and the DNC. The party had agreed to include more progressive principles in its official platform, and as part of the agreement, Sanders dropped his fight to contest Wasserman Schultz as the head of the DNC.

"It's gas meets flame," the Democrat said.

Michael Briggs, a Sanders spokesman, had no comment.

The issue surfaced on Saturday at Clinton's first campaign event with Tim Kaine as her running mate, when a protester was escorted out of Florida International University in Miami. The protester shouted "DNC leaks" soon after Clinton thanked Wasserman Schultz for her leadership at the DNC.

The DNC has previously had its files hacked by an individual named "Guccifer 2.0" that may have had ties to the Russians.

Hackers stole opposition research on Donald Trump from the DNC's servers in mid-June. Two separate Russian intelligence-linked cyberattack groups were both in the DNC's networks.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny, Chris Frates, Elizabeth Landers, Brianna Keilar, Dan Merica and Betsy Klein contributed to this report.

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Published July 21, 2016

By Katie Pavlich | Townhall.com

Cleveland, OH - It's the final day of the 2016 RNC convention and Ivanka Trump, daughter of GOP nominee Donald Trump, is getting ready to take the stage tonight and present her father to the nation in a way nobody else can.

During an interview with Fox News' Ainsley Earhart Thursday morning, Ivanka previewed her remarks and discussed her relationship with her father growing up and as a young executive in his company.

...

Ivanka also sat down for a lengthier interview with Sean Hannity last night.

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Fri, 22 Jul 2016 12:45

Jon Stewart addressed the nation Thursday night in one of his first political TV appearances since retiring from the ''Daily Show'' last year.

Joining his former colleague Stephen Colbert on CBS' ''Late Show,'' Stewart reacted to Donald Trump's speech at the Republican National Convention in a live segment that echoed his days behind the ''Daily Show'' desk.

He focused his attention to Fox News anchor Sean Hannity '-- who he dubbed ''Lumpy'' '-- for his hypocrisy in attacking President Obama for the same behavior and attributes that Trump now exhibits (''a thin-skinned narcissist with no government experience'').

''I'm sure it's easy for people without ethics or principles to embrace someone who embodies everything they said they hated about the previous president for the past eight years,'' said Stewart.

After he drops an expletive in describing Lumpy and his Fox News cohorts, Colbert pops up behind the desk to remind him they're live. ''I've never been on a show with stakes before,'' quips Stewart.

Stewart's message for the Trump supporters: ''This country isn't yours. You don't own it!'' he said. ''You don't own patriotism, you don't own Christianity. You sure as hell don't own respect for military, police and firefighters.''

And before Stewart can end with another expletive-filled attack on ''Lumpy'' and co., Colbert interrupts him again with his air horn.