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itakecareofsickpeople · 3 years

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Why Do I Hate Ivermectin?

I was asked to do an article on ivermectin and I feel that it is important to understand the science behind ivermectin (and HCQ). I think if you know the science, you will be as skeptical as I am.

I was once being quizzed by an Attending Physician when I was a resident. I stuttered as I was answering and said, “I think…” He stopped me mid-sentence and said, “Son, you are a second year internal medicine resident, I don’t give a shit what you think. What do you know?”

You see, it really isn’t relevant to all of you what I think. You aren’t interested in my opinion. You are reading this post because you are interested in what I know. I don’t take anything at face value and I always read all of the studies that people are using as a reference to prove a point. The thing is, most “studies” aren’t worth the paper they are printed on and don’t actually “study” anything. Worst thing is, sometimes it’s a fake.

We all know about the faked anti-vaccine trial by Andrew Wakefield, the completely discredited, former doctor, who started the anti-vaccine movement by faking data on autism and vaccines. In case you didn’t, he faked the original anti-vaccine study and In 2010, the British General medical council found that Wakefield “had been dishonest in his research, had acted against his patients' best interests and mistreated developmentally delayed children.” That’s right anti-vaxxers. That’s your start, one giant lie.

I have read all of the studies that I will make reference to in this post and regrettably, every study I can find on ivermectin. As of now, I do not see any evidence that supports the use of ivermectin for Covid in humans outside of a clinical trial. Hey! That’s what the cdc says too….odd.

In general, American doctors are snobby. We want studies from Europe, Israel, Australia, Canada and the good ole USA. We don’t want studies from countries with dictatorships or totalitarian regimes. These countries have a long track record of producing fake studies and bad studies. Countries such as China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Brazil, Venezuela, etc. You know, the same governments that hack us and steel info from us, those ones. It is in their governments interest to make all of their people think they have a treatment for covid, otherwise there would be revolts. American doctors generally would never consider a study from Egypt as high quality, unless it was published in a very well respected journal. There just isn’t any quality control.

The science behind HCQ is basically the same, except with ivermectin, a large clinical trial showing it helped, was all fake. HCQ just didn’t work. Lots of us used HCQ at the beginning of covid until real studies were done showing it didn’t work and may actually worsen outcomes.

Remember, most drugs are safe in normal doses, but toxic in doses outside of the “therapeutic window” that is the dose that both will have the desired effect, but also is safe and well tolerated. Too little drug, it doesn’t work, too much drug, it causes toxicity.

First, It is very important to test all drugs that are easily available for activity in covid. This starts in a test tube. Ivermectin was approved in 1996 for the treatment of strongyloides and hookworms. In animal studies, it is lethal in overdose and causes toxicity at 10x the approved dose. It also was found to be a teratogen (birth defects) and is not approved for use in pregnant women. Otherwise, it is quite safe and effective in comparison to approved treatments of the time and was approved after being studied in about 1700 patients (half given ivermectin, half given old treatments). It is widely available and is pretty safe (Except in pregnancy).

Ivermectin was found to have in vitro (test tube) activity against the SARS COV2 virus. I know that sounds great, but remember what we said about the therapeutic window. It was shown, in the test tube, to inhibit activity of covid by 50% at a concentration of 2 μM (1,750 ng/mL), which is > 35× higher than the maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) of 0.05 µM (46.6 ng/mL) after oral administration of the approved dose (~ 200 μg/kg) and ivermectin showed little to no activity at 1 μM in vitro.

Wait, so that means you would need 35 times the approved dose to inhibit covid and ivermectin is toxic at 10x the dose. It also causes birth defects? Count me out.

As you might imagine, based on this knowledge it is very hard for me to believe that you can safely dosed ivermectin could have any benefit for covid. Now, on to the bad studies.

Remember what I said about studies from certain countries?

In November, an article from Egypt was published without review in an online site called Research Square. Never heard of it? Me either? It showed a 99% reduction in mortality. Holy crap, that’s amazing, right? Of course. Despite it having such a completely unrealistic outcome, many doctors picked this up and ran with it. In America, a group of doctors that named themselves the FLCCC, led by two guys named Paul Marik and Pierre Kory, latched on to this and started spouting its effects. I personally have a lot knowledge and not a lot of respect for Marik’s work predating covid. His FLCCC “treatment guidelines” have never been evidence based and in general he has never been able to publish studies that prove his claims.

So after this first study from Egypt comes out, a bunch of studies follow and are picked up by Marik’s group. They did a “review” of them and included the Egyptian study. Most of the studies aren’t even reviewed and are published online as “preprint.” They are from Egypt, India, Iraq, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Peru, Nigeria, Mexico, and Argentina. None of these places are exactly known for being in the 1st world and none of the other studies showed the massive effect as the Egyptian study.

Then, a medical student in the UK is assigned the Egyptian study for a report. He actually reads the study. It doesn’t make sense. He then requests more information from the authors and they sent him the “patient data.” It was clearly faked and he got some journalists involved. After they involved an expert on faked studies, the study was then taken down from Research Square over “ethical concerns.” Too bad Marik didn’t bother to do what the med student did.

Unfortunately, this has led to a massive amount of confusion. If you think that there is a treatment for covid, you might not take the vaccine. Even If it worked, we would be taking about a minimal effect. Heck, it could even be toxic if you give it to that many people. The other big problem is we have to do a bunch of American studies to see if it does work. Studies that could have been done with another treatment. What a waste of time and lives.

So why do I hate ivermectin? Well, I don’t. I hate the waste of time I have spent writing this article to discuss a drug that could only be effective for covid if you took enough to kill you. I hate the people that faked the study, they have cost lives. I don’t hate Marik, but I definitely think he is crazy and I’m not interested in what he thinks and that isn’t new. Unfortunately he has a big microphone and I just have this little one.

My biggest recommendation is ask your doctor if you should have the vaccine. If you trust YOUR doctor, listen to HIM or HER. Not some YAHOO online like ME. Remember, you trust your doctors to take care of your babies, born and unborn, cut you open, give us anesthesia and put cameras in all our holes. You trust them to help you make major medical decisions about your life. Keep doing that, they care about you. We care about you.

Please, don’t post any articles in support of ivermectin. I read them and found them lacking. Also, don’t post another doctors opinion of ivermectin. I don’t care what they think, just what they know.

PS: I am a Critical Care Pulmonologist, I take care of sick people. Hopefully that won’t be you.

Oh yeah. Feel free to share. I should really charge for these.

#itakecareofsickpeople #covidsucks #covid

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watchmanis216 · 5 years

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Holy War: ‘Combative Jihad and Radical Jihadists’! There is a difference between the two, do you know what it is? Do radical Islamic Jihadists have it right when they kill innocent people, rape, behead, burn alive, take hostages, and ignore what the Koran says of Combative Jihad? This story gives answers to what constitutes Koranic Combative Jihad. We use an Islamic source for this, and the answer lies in the end; ‘in the heart of men and women’ who want to kill for the sake of killing!

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Holy War: ‘Combative Jihad and Radical Jihadists’

ISIS ‘paid to attack Iran adds to War within Islam’ which is just one more enemy for ISIS. Daesh has set itself up as the one religious Caliphate against the entire world. As it is in reality, we see ‘*Al-Qaeda’s target is the so called ‘far enemy’; which is the West. Including Europe and North America [mainly America]; there is another enemy. I should say that Israel is an enemy to both groups here, both Sunni and Shia. But ISIS has an enemy closer than the West, this is called the ‘*near enemy’.

A related story to this one is found on our WIBR/WARN Site; ISIS ‘paid to attack Iran adds to War within Islam’

The target of ISIS’s so-called caliphate is “the near enemy” (e.g. Iraq, Syria, Jordan Lebanon, North Africa, Central Asia, Egypt and Israel). The millenarian ISIS, unlike Al-Qaeda, is living the apocalypse, observing 1,500 years of Islamic doctrines. Source *Europe.newsweek

However as America and Russia, among others buddy up to Iran; there are problems. While the Sunni and Shia battle one another, the religious truth here is that both groups eye a one world government ruled by an Islamic power. The difference is the one they believe who will take control. Today Iran is in Iraq and Libya to battle extremists, this includes ISIS. While Iran itself is extremist, it considers these others who with ISIS fight for control in the middle east. Saudi Arabia as well with its coalition battle in the middle east, Yemen, and Libya. Then the West, Europe, Russia, and others form the rest of the fighting sides in the middle east. Pretty much the whole world is caught up in this mess.

But if the Sunni Caliphate of ISIS manages to coerce or convince all Sunni nations to join them, then fixes an alliance with Shia Islam; the two forces together would be inconceivable to beat. The difference here for the Shia is they are looking for the Mahdi to rule and not looking to establish a Caliphate and run it according to Sunni Islam. Both sides hate Israel, both sides would initiate Sharia law. Both sides hate America and the west. The West is the number one target to take over either by force, by proxy, by sheer numbers of Islamic refugees who enter and settle down the west forming a ‘social jihad’ through citizenship.

This world war will not stop anytime soon. It is headed for an ultimate war and battle here. While the blood shed is in the volumes, neither

We have a President, the first of his kind, who while claiming to be Christian has deep Islamic roots. He has pushed for an Islamic agenda during his term and has been one of the first presidents to side with the Arabs against Israel. Here he is pictured in typical Islamic dress.

side wants to quit. There seems to be one more target, one more bomb to set off, and more people to kill. The recent horrific bombing in Baghdad, Iraq pushed the point that while the Iraqi army is pushing ISIS out of Mosul, Fallujah, and other areas; Iraq is not safe, even in their main city.

The death toll from a suicide bombing in a Baghdad shopping district rose above 175 on Monday, fueling calls for security forces to crack down on Islamic State sleeper cells blamed for one of the worst-ever single bombings in Iraq.

Moreover, The attack in Medina did not kill a huge number of people. The main thrust was to push the point that even the Islamic holy site of Medina was at risk. It was a wake-up call to all Islam.

At least four security officers were killed and five injured in a suicide bombing Monday outside an Islamic holy site in Medina, according to the Saudi Interior Ministry. The Monday evening attack took place just as thousands of worshippers were about to hold sunset prayers in the mosque where the Prophet Muhammad is buried in Medina.

Further, according to Islamic Supreme Council of America; yes the USA has this too! The concept of the term ‘**Jihād, which in Arabic would be al-ħarb al-muqaddasah’ does not mean ‘**holy war’. There is no term in ‘**entire Qur’ān’ that expresses this. The meaning according to the ISCA is ‘**combative Jihad’. Source **ISCA on concept of holy war.

This puts a ringer in the jihadist groups that continually say they are fighting Jihad. They may be fighting Jihad, but it is not a ‘holy war’ but simply ‘combative Jihad’, which in laymen’s terms pushes the point that this is plain ‘out and out War’, and no difference than Hitler’s war. But while you may not see this in the Koran, the teachings push the concept of four kinds of Jihad. These four kinds are interpreted differently, but the main concept of Jihad is ‘struggle in the way of Allah’. What we have seen is a war footing to push this Way of Allah upon the whole of the planet.

Here ISCA describes that there were two different kinds of Jihād: that of Makkah and that of Madīnah. The one in Makkah was primarily by education. In Madīnah Jihād was by two methods: 1) education and 2) fighting after the enemies attacked the Prophet within his own city-state. Additionally, the Muslims who had been expelled invoked the right to return to their homeland, and if opposed to use force.

Now while Islamic scholars and the various divisions of Islam debate what Jihad is; the fact remains all over the world we have Islamic fighters that believe with all their heart that “fighting jihad” is the right thing to do. ISIS pushes this to a horror perspective in beheadings, hangings, burning alive, cutting children in half, beheading little girls and boys, raping, and taking sexual hostages. There is no civility, no honor, nor any God that would allow such barbarity done to people and families.

The bottom line, however for the non-muslim world and the muslim world to understand that according to the Koran and to ISCA understanding of this is that there are Four Conditions for ‘combative Jihad’.

The Caliph following the position of the Koranic law is that only at such a time when it can be reasonably proven that:

• there are aggressive designs against Islam; and,

• there are concerted efforts to eject Muslims from their legally acquired property; and,

• that military campaigns are being launched to eradicate them.

At such a time the ruler can declare and execute the provisions of combative Jihād.

Today the world is embroiled in an Islamic war and it is not stopping anytime soon. The biggest migration of refugees on this planet has been ongoing. Europe is overflowing with displaced peoples. Other nations like America are bringing these people in as well. While there are Islamic scholars to decry suicide bombings and the kind of Jihad going on, the truth is; Jihad and Jihadists are filling the planet. The ISCA, which pushes the point that suicide bombings among other tools used by radical Jihadists are not Islamic.

One of Islam’s fundamental principles is the sanctity of life. Islam prohibits killing those who are not combatants, except those involved in a direct battle face-to-face between warriors. There is simply no room for maneuver in Islam to justify the killing of innocents, even as a form of mass retribution, which many radicals today use as justification for their large-scale attacks on civilians.

Can we really as Americans and as Christians trust anything an Islamic group says? While the whole world burns in Islamic extremism, who does the non muslim trust? —->ISCA claims to be a resource for both Muslim individuals and organizations in America to receive legal advice from scholars and religious institutions throughout the world on issues that arise as Islamic traditions come into contact with American culture<—

Now as I quote the Islamic Supreme council of America, the question we ask; “is this true?” In addition, “Can we trust any Islamic scholar to tell Americans the truth”? I have personally discussed issues with Sunni Muslims over these many years. Two in fact I had a good talk on Christianity and Islam. These occurred in Iowa and another one in Las Vegas as I was being driven to another city. I cannot guarantee anything with Islam, even Muslims cannot do this; agree among themselves. However it was ISCA who gave a warning to America on Islamic extremism and the result was other American Muslim groups denouncing this group. The Islamic Supreme Council of America represents ‘sufi’ islam and was started in California in 1991. It was Chairman Hisham Kabbani who attended a U.S. State Department Open Forum entitled “the Evolution of Extremism”. During his speech, Kabbani gave a description of Islamic Extremism in America. After he was finished his speech and his organization were lambasted and criticized by other Islamic groups in America for what he said. However, as a non-Muslim and a Christian; I see there is a threat to America over Islamic Extremism. If Shaykh Kabbani is correct, then at the time of his warning 80% of the 2,000 mosques in the US were being run by extremist ideologies. What is it like over 20 years later in America? I believe that there are many mosques in such this extremist mode, as I have heard these various groups speak out from time to time. Believe me these are waiting for an Islamic Christian war in America to begin. I also say, not all Muslims want this.

Shaykh Kabbani had charged that funds collected by Muslim groups for humanitarian aid were being used “to buy weapons to fight in the name of Islam”; that “extremism has been spread to 80 percent of the Muslims in the U.S.”; and that “there are more than 2,000 mosques in the U.S…and 80 percent of them are being run by extremist ideologies.”

Shaykh Kabbani also charged that “extremist ideology is getting into the universities through clubs being put around the universities.” He alleged that “Iran is hiring nuclear scientists” to miniaturize nuclear warheads. “If these small warheads reach the universities, you don’t know what these students will do,” Shaykh Kabbani said.

In this war on Terror, there are many terror’s to avoid. In this world of war, there are many uprooted from their homes as a result of war. In this end of days Prophecy which Christians forsee in Revelation; we see the time of the Beast which will rule the world, and have another Beast; the false prophet, who will push the mark of the beast. At this time the Beast will make war with the Saints. So as we move to the end of the end of days, as the Apostle Paul says in 2 Tim 3:1 “in the last days perilous times shall come!”

Jas 4:6-10 (6) But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. (7) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (8) Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. (9) Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. (10) Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

Holy War: ‘Combative Jihad and Radical Jihadists’

A Commentary in the Writers Pulse by Dana Glenn Smith “Life Expression in it’s simplest form is simply life in words” Dana Smith has written three books, and numerous E-books. He has written and published well over 10,000 articles in over 18 years on the WIBR/WARN sites.

Visit our website: www.danaglennsmith.com

———- Holy War: ‘Combative Jihad and Radical Jihadists’

Holy War: ‘Combative Jihad and Radical Jihadists’ Holy War: 'Combative Jihad and Radical Jihadists'! There is a difference between the two, do you know what it is?

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christianworldf · 5 years

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New Post has been published on Nehemiah Reset

New Post has been published on https://nehemiahreset.org/christian-worldview-issues/trump-lashes-out-again-at-minority-lawmakers-as-house-prepares-to-condemn-his-racist-tweets/

Trump lashes out again at minority lawmakers as House prepares to condemn his racist tweets

John Wagner

National reporter leading The Post’s breaking political news team

Mike DeBonis

Congressional reporter covering the House of Representatives

July 16 at 1:32 PM

As the House of Representatives prepared to vote on a resolution condemning President Trump’s racist tweets about four minority lawmakers, he lashed out at the freshman Democrats again Tuesday and questioned why Congress was not rebuking them instead.

In a string of tweets throughout the morning, Trump also insisted his tweets were not racist — “I don’t have a Racist bone in my body!” he wrote — and urged fellow Republicans not to fall into a “trap” by voting Tuesday night on the Democratic-backed resolution.

“The Democrat Congresswomen have been spewing some of the most vile, hateful, and disgusting things ever said by a politician in the House or Senate, & yet they get a pass and a big embrace from the Democrat Party,” Trump wrote on Twitter, listing several grievances about the lawmakers. “Why isn’t the House voting to rebuke the filthy and hate laced things they have said? Because they are the Radical Left, and the Democrats are afraid to take them on. Sad!”

His tweets marked the third day in a row of attacks on the lawmakers — a series that began Sunday with tweets in which the president said the four Democrats should “go back” to “the crime infested places from which they came.” Three of the lawmakers were born in the United States, and the fourth is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Somalia.

[Trump’s incendiary rhetoric is met with fading resistance from Republican and corporate leaders]

Trump has not spelled out what specific comments from the congresswomen that he finds objectionable, and the White House has declined to provide more details.

Speaking to reporters at the end of a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Tuesday afternoon, he held up some papers and claimed to have “a list of things here said by the congresswomen that is so bad, so horrible that I almost don’t want to read it.”

Asked where the four House Democratic congresswomen should go if they did leave the United States, Trump said “wherever they want, or they can stay.”

“But they should love our country. They shouldn’t hate our country,” he said.

Trump has been accused of racially inflammatory rhetoric both before and after assuming the presidency, including his questioning of former president Barack Obama’s birthplace, his assessment that there were “very fine people” on both sides of a deadly confrontation in Charlottesville and his musing that a federal judge could be biased against him given his Mexican heritage.

The resolution scheduled for a vote Tuesday night “strongly condemns President Donald Trump’s racist comments that have legitimized and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color.”

Analysis | The complete list of GOP lawmakers reacting to Trump’s “go back” tweet

With his tweets Tuesday, Trump made clear that he doesn’t want Republicans to support the resolution. Doing so, he said, would “show ‘weakness.’ ”

At a news conference, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he would vote against the resolution and encourage other Republicans to vote against it as well. McCarthy said he did not consider Trump’s tweets to be racist.

“I believe this is about ideology,” he said. “It’s about socialism versus freedom.”

Congressional Republicans were largely silent Sunday after the Trump’s initial tweets — with some fearful of chastising a president popular with the party’s base — although a handful began speaking out critically Monday.

Tuesday’s vote will be a rare occasion when members of a Republican caucus that is overwhelming white and male will be forced to go on the record regarding Trump’s controversial rhetoric. During Trump’s first two and a half years in office, many lawmakers in his party have gone to great lengths to avoid criticizing him.

Meanwhile, the rebuke of Trump presents an opportunity for the Democratic caucus to unite around a common aim at a time when there has been infighting between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the four liberal lawmakers informally known as “the Squad” on Capitol Hill.

“We’ve got to say something,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.). “I think we would be complicit as a Congress if we didn’t speak out on this. All of us, people of color in my generation, we’ve heard the ‘go back to Africa’ stuff since I was a little boy growing up down in Texas. So we have to say something.”

[Share your story: Tell The Post about a time someone made you feel like an outsider in the U.S.]

The four Democrats — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) — held a news conference Monday in which they described themselves as part of a nation of tolerance that offers opportunity to people like themselves. Pressley was born in Cincinnati, Tlaib was born in Detroit and Ocasio-Cortez was born in New York. Omar was born in Mogadishu, Somalia; her family fled the country amid civil war when she was a child, and she became a U.S. citizen as a teenager.

In a tweet Tuesday, Ocasio-Cortez, who represents a district that includes part of Queens, took issue with Trump’s contention that he is not a racist.

“You’re right, Mr. President — you don’t have a racist bone in your body,” she wrote. “You have a racist mind in your head, and a racist heart in your chest. That’s why you violate the rights of children and tell the Congresswoman who represents your home borough, to ‘go back to my country.’ ”

Several Democratic lawmakers said Tuesday that while they supported the resolution backed by House leaders, they were interested in a more forceful response — such as a censure resolution introduced by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and supported by the four liberal freshmen.

“I think there’s going to be a number of responses, and frankly I think what the president did was so egregious I think all of the responses are good,” said Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. “So we’ll see what happens.”

House Rule Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), a close Pelosi ally, said he was “not opposed” to censure but wanted to keep the focus of the day on the resolution so members can express their “deep reservations of concern on the House floor.”

“Look, this is an important vote we’re going to have today. This is the first time that I can recall that we’re actually … condemning the president for his words, which were racist, and it’s disgusting,” he said. “This is not normal. This is so divisive.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) told reporters that she found Trump’s rhetoric “vile and disgusting.”

“He is targeting four excellent members of Congress, but he is also targeting the Constitution and our founding values and many of us brown and black folks across the country and actually many other people who have immigrant histories and came to this country because of what it represents.”

During a closed-door meeting of Democrats, Pelosi said she is hopeful the resolution condemning Trump’s tweet will win some Republican support.

“If they can’t support condemning the words of the President, well that’s a message in and of itself,” Pelosi said, according to a Democratic official in the room, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss internal discussions.

The Democrat Congresswomen have been spewing some of the most vile, hateful, and disgusting things ever said by a politician in the House or Senate, & yet they get a free pass and a big embrace from the Democrat Party. Horrible anti-Israel, anti-USA, pro-terrorist & public…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 16, 2019

…..shouting of the F…word, among many other terrible things, and the petrified Dems run for the hills. Why isn’t the House voting to rebuke the filthy and hate laced things they have said? Because they are the Radical Left, and the Democrats are afraid to take them on. Sad!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 16, 2019

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway also took aim at the four lawmakers Tuesday, saying during an appearance on Fox News that they “have done squat in Congress other than pose on magazine covers and go on late-night comedy shows and cause trouble in their own caucus.”

Conway also asserted that the four congresswomen “represent a dark underbelly in this country of people who are not respecting our troops, are not giving them the resources and the respect that they deserve,” citing several times they did not vote to support Trump on military issues.

In his latest tweets, Trump accused the four lawmakers of being “Horrible anti-Israel, anti-USA, pro-terrorist” and took issue with the “public shouting of the F . . . word, among many other terrible things.”

All four lawmakers have called for Trump’s impeachment, and Tlaib has done so using profane language.

Trump frequently used profanity at his campaign rallies, including one in Portsmouth, N.H., in February 2016 when he said that companies that have relocated overseas for more favorable tax rates can “go f— themselves.”

Trump’s comments on Israel and terrorism appeared to target Omar and Tlaib.

Earlier this year, Omar apologized after she was widely accused of anti-Semitism for suggesting that supporters of Israel’s government have an “allegiance to a foreign country.” She also came under scrutiny for a speech in which, while defending Muslims who lost their civil liberties in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, she said that “some people did something,” referring to the hijackers.

Tlaib, the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, has advocated a “one-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Arguing that the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu effectively opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, she has supported the transformation of Israel into a single, jointly governed Arab-Jewish nation. The idea has little support among either Israelis or Palestinians.

Our Country is Free, Beautiful and Very Successful. If you hate our Country, or if you are not happy here, you can leave!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 16, 2019

Those Tweets were NOT Racist. I don’t have a Racist bone in my body! The so-called vote to be taken is a Democrat con game. Republicans should not show “weakness” and fall into their trap. This should be a vote on the filthy language, statements and lies told by the Democrat…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 16, 2019

…..Congresswomen, who I truly believe, based on their actions, hate our Country. Get a list of the HORRIBLE things they have said. Omar is polling at 8%, Cortez at 21%. Nancy Pelosi tried to push them away, but now they are forever wedded to the Democrat Party. See you in 2020!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 16, 2019

In a later tweet Tuesday morning, Trump wrote: “Our Country is Free, Beautiful and Very Successful. If you hate our Country, or if you are not happy here, you can leave!”

That echoed comments Trump made Monday at a White House event staged to promote American-made products. At the event, Trump alleged the four lawmakers “hate our country” and said they should leave if they are unhappy.

In other tweets Tuesday, Trump repeated his assertion that the four lawmakers “hate our Country.”

“Nancy Pelosi tried to push them away, but now they are forever wedded to the Democrat Party,” he added. “See you in 2020!”

Rachael Bade, Colby Itkowitz, Ashley Parker and Erica Werner contributed to this report.

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newsnigeria · 5 years

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Check out New Post published on Ọmọ Oòduà

New Post has been published on http://ooduarere.com/news-from-nigeria/world-news/assange-new-immoral-western/

Assange: A New Immoral Western Precedent

by Ghassan Kadi for Ooduarere Via Saker Blog

Every time I write about how low the West has stooped, even make predictions as to how much further it is prepared to slump, I find that my wildest imaginations are surpassed in no time at all.

The arrest of Julian Assange and the foray of charges he is suddenly facing is now reaching a point that should only be seen as a yet another precedent that the West will “use” in the near future to stoop even lower.

To make sense out of this, we have to rewind the clock to the time when the Allies won WWII.

The first immoral Western precedent was to try hard to present to the world that the defeat of Nazi Germany was ONLY due to Western efforts and sacrifices. The heavy cost that Russia/USSR has paid, up to 40 million dead, was overlooked in the news and trivialized even in history books. As a matter of fact, a recent commemorative American coin marking the fall of Hitler has totally ignored the USSR even though it was actually Russian troops that entered Berlin, defeated Hitler and forced him to “disappear”. https://sputniknews.com/world/201905231075258961-us-coin-world-war-two-anniversary/

But that was just the beginning. Back then, the West, and specifically America, had the global mastery of wealth and technology. Controlling the media was only a small part of the bigger story of success that no other part of the world could compete with; not in any manner, shape or form.

Soon after came the Communist witch-hunt. But the hunt was not restricted to Communism in other nations, but also any American with any social justice inclinations. The infamous period of McCarthyism haunted and hunted everyone, including movie stars like Charlie Chaplin. But it was the role of America outside its international borders that had its biggest toll. Any country that defied the USA formed a “security threat” and the foundation of an American anti-Communist military intervention.

The first target was Korea. A UNSC resolution was sought and granted to launch an international “police action” against Korea.

The second big target was Vietnam. The USA found a way to dodge the need for a UNSC resolution to pillage Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. It also dragged in its allies.

A few decades and many invasions later, in its ramping up of world opinion against Saddam prior to the 2003 invasion, GWB used the excuse of a “pre-emptive strike”. He fabricated the story about the WMD’s and the rest is history.

In every step of the way, as America sees that it is able to get away with a new lame excuse with total impunity, it uses less and less credible reasons and justifications the next time around. It is like a downward spiral, an anti-crescendo, in which each time a new precedent is created, the next act of audacity will require less justification.

But the precedent set in the case against Assange is a serious and dangerous new low. It is an act that defies one of the basic foundations of the so-called “free world”. It is a witch-hunt that is directed at free journalism, and unless such witch-hunts stop, the next victim could be anyone. It can be you.

Assange has many critics. Some argue that he is an Israeli asset and that this is why he never criticized Israel. Perhaps he is. The truth is that I don’t know and no one has provided damning enough evidence proving that he is. Instead of being a Mossad agent, perhaps he likes Israel. I don’t know either. Perhaps also he did not have consensual sex with the woman accusing him of rape. None of the above is excusable, but WikiLeaks has undoubtedly exposed a lot of dirt about America and specifically the Clintons; and this is good enough in this context.

If people are waiting for the perfect faultless person, a saint, before any truth can be told and any dirt can be exposed, well, they can wait. But remember, let he without a sin cast the first stone. We are all imperfect. We all have our own faults and idiosyncrasies, but this doesn’t stop those of us who care from trying to make the world a better place.

Why is it that some people single out Assange and expect him to embody and symbolize perfection in every way before they acknowledge the good things he has done?

This statement about Assange had to be mentioned as in a “pre-emptive” attempt to answer some possible comments.

Back to the main subject.

As America is losing its clout, technologically, militarily and financially, it is acting like a mad wounded beast that will not stop at anything in order to guarantee survival. In a previous article I wrote a bit over a year ago, I have expressed my views on how America sees the world and how far it is prepared to be pushed. https://thesaker.is/how-far-can-the-americans-be-pushed/

And in a previous and much older article written back in 2012, I reiterated that if push comes to shove, America can always count on its unrivaled nuclear power. http://intibahwakeup.blogspot.com/2013/09/how-far-will-desperate-radical-america.html . But a lot has changed since, and with Russia’s and China’s hypersonic defence and attack missiles (which America does not have), fortunately for the world America no longer holds that trump card anymore and is incapable of scoring a decisive victory by striking either nation first. As a matter of fact, President Putin made a clear reference to this issue in a recent speech https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-putin-usa-missiles-idUSKCN1Q918U

All that America has left is to resort to acts of piracy, oppression and suppression. I say piracy because the way America is dealing with the issue of Iran sanctions is tantamount to piracy. As far as I know, never before in history did a nation boycott another, and then used its clout to coerce other nations to do the same.

And recently, America has been accused by laying traps for Iranian scientists, granting them visit Visas, and then arresting them at arrival. https://sputniknews.com/us/201905241075282775-US-Laid-Traps-Iranian-Academics-Visas-Arresting/ .If this isn’t piracy, what is?

Had America imposed sanctions on Iran back when Iran was issuing “fatwas” against the likes of British author Salman Rushdi, one could see a possibility for some kind of justification that can be used. But the source of terror is from perverted Sunni-based fundamentalism. All the fundamentalist organizations are based on distorted forms of Islam; Wahhabi Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood which are the versions adopted, sponsored, lived, and exported by the Saudis, Qataris and Turkey’s Erdogan, all of whom are America’s friends and allies. And those organizations are once again of Sunni affiliation, and they hate Shiite Iran’s guts. How on earth could Iran be supporting them?

And above all, it was the USA that helped establish many of those organizations and their spread in the West in the first place. Even Mohamed Bin Salman himself acknowledged this in a recent interview. https://www.rt.com/news/422563-saudi-wahhabism-western-countries/ . And the woman who rose to fame by refusing her presidential election defeat is also famous for admitting that “we” (ie American administration) created Al-Qaeda.

youtube

It goes without saying that the American-Iranian standoff is about the protection of Israel, and it would do Americans a lot of good if they openly said that Iran did not breach the nuclear deal treaty, it is not responsible for the spread of terror, and we simply want to sanction it because of its anti-Israeli stand. Such truth, crude as it may be, may give America some credibility albeit in a farcical manner.

Why don’t Trump or Pompeo openly and honestly say “America First” means that “we have to put our hands on Venezuela’s oil?” Everyone knows this is what it is all about.

But what honest excuse can America give for persecuting Assange? It cannot say we are after his neck because he has exposed our dirt, so they conjure up a whole list of accusations, 17 charges to be exact; and the citation of this is not necessary.

No, I will not put Assange on par with Socrates, but how can humanity today accept that someone is being persecuted for exposing dirt? More than two thousand years after the execution of Socrates, humanity is still ashamed. What happened to the days of Bernstein and Woodward? Do people still remember them? Well, for those of short memory, those two then unknown junior journalists gave the suffix “gate” to political scandals when they initiated their own Watergate investigation, and which eventually led to the impeachment and resignation of the then President Richard Nixon. The two journos became heroes and won medals, but Assange ends up in jail. He is not a saint, but he is definitely not a criminal, at least not by the charges they have against him. If he is indeed guilty of rape, then let them provide the evidence and charge him if proven guilty. But his political charges don’t have a foot to stand on. And the Swedish Government cannot expect the world to believe that the whole hullabaloo is about a single incident of rape in a country with a surging rape rate. What makes the positon of the Swedish Government more blatantly hypocritical is the fact that courts in Nordic countries have a very lenient stance in punishing rapists. They seem to be more compassionate towards rapists than the actual rape victims; especially after the recent rape surge that is seemingly associated with migration. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/04/rape-and-sexual-violence-in-nordic-countries-consent-laws/. So once again, why single out Assange? What a shame.

And we cannot speak of Assange without at least mentioning Bradley/Chelsea Manning. Manning does not receive the same publicity that Assange does, but her predicament is not any less.

What is more foreboding than American actions are those of EU nations. Nations like France and Germany are meant to be smart. I will leave Britain out, because Britain has strong historic and cultural links with America. But how can Germany and France be so stupid in following America’s instructions and fake accusations of Russia to justify sanctions? How can they accept an American missile buildup in Western and Eastern Europe?

And Sweden, the nation that has always represented the fair and compassionate side of politics, how can it justify its witch-hunt against Assange? This is the capital of the Nobel Prize for God’s sake. This is the nation that allegedly promotes and fosters peace. And Norway, beautiful clean peaceful Norway, is allowing the US to base missile batteries on its soil poised at Russia. Why? Have they all gone mad?

America is taking the term “unprecedented” to an unprecedented new level, and every time it commits a new unprecedented audacious act, brace yourselves for more audacity.

So ever since sidelining the role of the USSR in defeating the Third Reich, America started by ignoring facts, and moved on to exaggerating foreign threats, to fabricating evidence, to piracy and suppressing free journalism; all the while, Western nations follow like brainless sheep. Perhaps the new precedent to watch out for will be after all honesty-based, saying it as it is…. “We want to invade your country because we want your resources.”

#WikiLeaks

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ocheme1 · 5 years

Quote

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Trump´s Tweets *🐦 “It’s the attack strategy of harass. This is not about the Attorney General, who is very sophisticated & knows it isn’t about him, it’s about trying to destroy President Trump through an assault on his AG for upholding the rule of law. He released a massive amount of......* *🐦 information! As long as President Trump is President, his opposition will use every tool, and misuse every tool available, to make his life miserable.” [TomFitton] [JudicialWatch] [ LouDobbs] Sadly, this proves I am doing a great job - Also, Best Economy and Employment Numbers EVER!* *🐦 The unexpectedly good first quarter 3.2% GDP was greatly helped by Tariffs from China. Some people just don’t get it!* *🐦 Bernie Sanders, “The Economy is doing well, and I’m sure I don’t have to give Trump any credit - I’m sure he’ll take all the credit that he wants.” Wrong Bernie, the Economy is doing GREAT, and would have CRASHED if my opponent (and yours), Crooked Hillary Clinton, had ever won!* Trump took a swipe at his own FBI director overnight as he echoed allegations that Christopher Wray is protecting members of the bureau who, in the words of one critic, worked to “overthrow” him. The president, sending a signal about his apparently dimming view toward the sitting bureau boss, tweeted comments recently made by the head of conservative watchdog Judicial Watch, Tom Fitton, on Fox Business Network’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight.” Fitton's comments, and Trump's promotion of them, were aimed in part at congressional Democrats who have been ramping up Trump administration probes in the wake of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report. This includes a new effort to hold Attorney General Bill Barr in contempt of Congress for not turning over an unredacted version of that report and underlying materials. _(from Fox News)_ (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); *🐦 I say openly to President Xi & all of my many friends in China that China will be hurt very badly if you don’t make a deal because companies will be forced to leave China for other countries. Too expensive to buy in China. You had a great deal, almost completed, & you backed out!* *🐦 Joe Biden let China get away with cheating when he was Vice President, and he continues to naively dismiss China today. China is stealing from American businesses, hurting our workers, and [realDonaldTrump] is right to fight back!* *🐦 There is no reason for the U.S. Consumer to pay the Tariffs, which take effect on China today. This has been proven recently when only 4 points were paid by the U.S., 21 points by China because China subsidizes product to such a large degree. Also, the Tariffs can be.....* *🐦 ...completely avoided if you buy from a non-Tariffed Country, or you buy the product inside the USA (the best idea). That’s Zero Tariffs. Many Tariffed companies will be leaving China for Vietnam and other such countries in Asia. That’s why China wants to make a deal so badly!...* *🐦 ..There will be nobody left in China to do business with. Very bad for China, very good for USA! But China has taken so advantage of the U.S. for so many years, that they are way ahead (Our Presidents did not do the job). Therefore, China should not retaliate-will only get worse!* Trump announced Monday that he'll meet face-to-face with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit late next month amid the latest escalation in trade tensions between the two countries. Trump predicted that his meeting with Xi will likely be "very fruitful" and said he believes China wants to reach a deal, even as he vented about China reneging earlier this month on key portions of the deal being negotiated between the two economic powers. Earlier Monday, China announced tariffs on $60 billion in US exports in retaliation for Trump's moves last week to hike existing tariffs imposed last year on Chinese goods -- and to start the process of adding duties to almost everything else China sends to the US. _(from CNN)_ (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); *🐦 Has anyone noticed that all the Boston [RedSox] have done is WIN since coming to the White House! Others also have done very well. The White House visit is becoming the opposite of being on the cover of Sports Illustrated! By the way, the Boston players were GREAT guys!* Trump tried to take credit on Monday for a sudden turnaround in the Boston Red Sox’ season. The Red Sox, who visited the White House last Thursday, swept all three of their home games over the weekend against the Seattle Mariners, scoring 34 runs across the three games. Boston has won eight of its last 10 games, a stretch that predates the team's reception with the president. _(from Politico)_ *🐦 Democrat Rep. Tlaib is being slammed for her horrible and highly insensitive statement on the Holocaust. She obviously has tremendous hatred of Israel and the Jewish people. Can you imagine what would happen if I ever said what she said, and says?* Last week, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., said in an interview that it gave her "a calming feeling" to think of her Palestinian ancestors giving up their lives and their land to create a safe haven for Jews fleeing the persecution of the Holocaust. She added that her ancestors had to give up their dignity at the same time, which is why she now supports a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On Monday, Tlaib accused Trump and GOP lawmakers of "spreading outright lies" about her. Given the deeply polarized atmosphere in Washington now, and Tlaib's outspoken criticism of Israel's current government policies, her statement immediately caused a furor. "GOP leadership, including President Trump, have twisted and misconstrued my words to spread falsehoods rooted in hate," Tlaib said. _(from NBC News)_ *🐦 Under my Administration, we are restoring [NASA] to greatness and we are going back to the Moon, then Mars. I am updating my budget to include an additional $1.6 billion so that we can return to Space in a BIG WAY!* The White House is requesting an additional $1.6 billion "down payment" for next year to help finance its ambitious new goal of returning American astronauts to the moon in 2024. But it declined to reveal where the money will come from. The _budget amendment,_sent to Capitol Hill Monday night, is in addition to the $21 billion already requested by NASA for the fiscal year that begins in October. _(from Politico)_ *🐦 We must protect our Great Lakes, keeping them clean and beautiful for future generations. That’s why I am fighting for $300 million in my updated budget for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.* Trump has announced that his updated budget proposal will include full funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The program has typically received $300 million per year, but the 2020 budget plan that Trump's administration released in March included only $30 million for the initiative. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative uses its funding remove toxic pollution, prevent algae blooms and species invasions, and restore wildlife habitat. _(from WDIO - ABC)_ *🐦 Today, I officially updated my budget to include $18 million for our GREAT [SpecialOlympics], whose athletes inspire us and make our Nation so PROUD!* (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Trump said Monday he had followed through on a decision from earlier this year to reverse course and support federal funding for the Special Olympics. The President's budget is generally taken as a statement of administration priorities and does not reflect actual government appropriations. The initial call for cuts to Special Olympics funding was likewise considered unlikely to be passed by Congress. _(from CNN)_ *🐦 Great to welcome Chairman Shin from Lotte Group to the WH. They just invested $3.1 BILLION into Louisiana-biggest investment in U.S. EVER from a South Korean company, & thousands more jobs for Americans. Great partners like ROK know the U.S. economy is running stronger than ever!* Lotte’s chemical manufacturing facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana, is expected to produce annually 1 million tons of ethylene, an ingredient used in the plastics industry. Construction and use of the plant, which was officially opened in a ceremony last week, is expected to result in the creation of 2,500 jobs in the state, according to Louisiana Economic Development. _(from Bloomberg)_ *🐦 Wishing former President Jimmy Carter a speedy recovery from his hip surgery earlier today. He was in such good spirits when we spoke last month - he will be fine!* Former President Jimmy Carter is recovering after falling and breaking his hip this morning, according to a statement from the Carter Center. The center said Carter, 94-year-old, was preparing to go turkey hunting when he fell in his home. _(from NPR)_

http://www.labpixels.xyz/2019/05/trumps-tweets_14.html

#SEO #Trump´s Tweets http://www.labpixels.xyz/2019/05/trumps-tweets_14.html

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dwestfieldblog · 5 years

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LIE BACK AND THINK OF...ENGLAND

Hello...Back once more from a jolly jaunt to the motherland, various weeks of mental and physical bad health interspersed with bursts of good humour and rabid hypo-mania. So nice to be trapped in my mind when alcohol free. So of course started smoking because I need some kind of pacifier. Back to Prague for blood tests again. Another temporary reprieve today, collapsing into coherence as all good systems should. Augmented chords are mysterious, the diminished are tension...unlike some sequences I could mention. Shame the owners of this site have used an algorithm to delete various pictures on my blog which involve nipples, regardless of whether they are actually from classical paintings. Art is being censored...Anyway...enjoying my middle aged adolescence, planning ahead for obsolescence...greetings to the readers from Canes Ventaci, why so Sirius? Smiling is healthy...

Who is the one who is living me now? Da Free John

Religious news/olds...The pope says the church must never again hush up any abuse from its priests (in 2019, that's about (count them) one thousand, nine hundred and something days since the Church was founded with the help of a corrupt Emperor Constantine. Seems like a long time for a Christian group to get to show actual kindness, openness and morality huh? )Well Spotlight fans, it's a start eh? Compassion for your enemies and redemption for all. Or not.

Only found out last month that the word Guru literally means heavy. As in serious. Hmm...or OM AH HUM if you prefer. Well Buddha looks quite hefty eh?

Asshat in Syria appears to have won and sees no shame in having started a war in which hundreds of thousands of his own people have been murdered and/or 'vanished', all for the sake of putting shopkeepers and students who protested for more freedom in their place. Chemical weapons, mass genocide and now a puppet state of Iran and Russia. Well, otherwise it would have been beholden to the USA and that is never a good thing either, ask Britain. Perhaps we can leave America after Europe and become the proud third world prison island to which we have been heading for the last few decades. Oh I am in a good mood this evening.

WOOL..a nice little village in England...received a letter from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) politely suggesting/demanding that they change their name, as the way in which wool is sheared from sheep is aggressive and cruel. Etc. As if being under attack from the Far Left and Right is not enough, the vegans and snowflakes are rising fast to destroy the last vestigial tails of sanity. 1984 meets the Matrix and Kafka and Huxley have a love/hate-child. For the record, I despise tally ho 'good sport' fox hunting as much as I do animal liberation maniacs. (Yes, I do like animals,...wolves, hawks, black panthers, butterflies, intelligent dogs and dolphins. And Krtek.) Wool will keep their name. So far. Amen. Oh Man...

Gender neutral EU parliament...most words with 'man' in them have all been replaced with less 'specific' terms. When I was a boy and I heard the term Mankind, I never thought of men, I thought of people all over the world. Shame so many adults cannot do this too...but wait, the EU...they have substituted mankind with Humanity. (Doesn't that have man in it too?) I would LOVE to be present at one of these meetings where such semantically diseased people meet to waste life with such pointless new guidelines and turn a psychic death ray on them.

At some point, one hopes that folk will swing back away from these extremes and find the middle path of balance. But I don't think it is likely. People will always have ideas because they have brains of varying types and according to nature or nurture and their egos, can make the most mind screwingly dumb thoughts into reality...but for this to happen in a widespread way, requires someone at the end of the process, who, when presented with such, has to approve of, validate, wave it on as a new legally accepted norm. These are some of the people with whom I would most like to have 'a word'. Know what I mean?

Meanwhile new buzz phrases abound...'I self identify as a'...fill in the blank. Choose your gender, you don't even have to have an operation or hormone replacement, just announce it to the universe and be free. However, an opinion is not a truth. (of course I include my own writings in this) If you KNOW you are in the wrong body, CHANGE your body. Hands up (in the air) all those who can remember a time when 'Gender fluid' just meant... fill in the blank again.

Reminds me that Israel is still trying to push the fallacy (into a new globally accepted law) that criticising its government or latest in a line of corrupt leaders equates with racist anti Semitism. It isn't. No more than saying something critical of Angela Merkel for her immigration policy would mean the speaker is a sexist/misogynist. Or a hater of Germans. Same way that mentioning a self identifying sportswoman with a penis who has not yet had the op or hormone therapy is still a man until they commit fully to the sex they feel and know they are and is perhaps not ok to compete with other women while testosterone is in their blood...is not 'transphobic', just stating the obvious. And...

Lesbians who refuse to sleep with a self identifying woman with a penis are also not transphobic, they are making a choice about who and what they will sleep with. If one is not turned on by another human being, then they are not turned on by them. Of course, this is just an opinion and therefore quite possibly not a truth. But it seems reasonable and inoffensive eh? Unless you are a radical transpansexual. In which case my truthful opinion is that all radicals are mentally unstable dangerous lunatics to be avoided. Or try beetroot and carrot juice to eliminate the free radicals....

(That all said, I recall reading some years ago that one of the ultimate forms of humanity/was to be both sexes as one. So who knows? Not me, I never lost control, ha ha. Face to face with the womb man who sold the world. Would bring a whole new meaning to 'go f yourself'. Hermaphrodites come together in the end, alpha/ omega...)

'Nine months to get out, he said, and the rest of our fool lives trying to get back in'.

Perhaps this could be wonderful, with all identities blending into one understanding of life on this planet, were it not for the surplus of those types who will use every opportunity to mislead and manipulate for profit and power. At a school in Brighton (of course) in England, plans have been approved to teach children that all genders can menstruate. Yes, really. Why should 'girls' have all the fun eh? This is where we seem to be heading at greater and greater speed. Absolute bollocks/ovaries being taught as factual lessons. (Hmmm...a brief look with a third eye at history and stories accepted as fact and it can be seen that this is not all that new.)

Putin's evil genius plan to continue being president after his term runs out (under current constitutional rules) is to absorb Belorusssia. Russia thus becoming a new federation which will need a new constitution and to hold an election which he will win. When that runs out, no doubt he will take over/invade/absorb Ukraine etc totally and go on until he is dead. Or everyone else is. Alpha males, huh?

Speaking of which...More hours of CNN and their seemingly accurate reportage of all the utter, dreadful bullcrap from the useful idiot (for Moscow) Trump. Gleefully dissecting every nonsense statement from the blonde succubus's poison mouth. January 23rd, America remains in shutdown as he plays chicken with his entire country. Who will blink first? Reptiles can go for a long time without this. 'Waves of inquiries' look set to begin against the madman. 'Impeach the mother......' indeed. But after such a concentrated amount of watching and reading the news and the colossal amount of negative light, ah do believe I have had enuff again.

'I am He that was and is and shall be'. Apparently, Beethoven had this written down by his own hand on his desk from Egyptian Book of the Dead. 'Serenity is a problem when you've been this close to Heaven.'

('....thus, while the tangible has advantages, it is the intangible that makes it useful' Tao te Ching. Perhaps I will (or should) leave more blanks in this. Does every void need to be filled? China is now on the dark side of the moon, that just asks for a song to be written. Feel safe? Huawei, ha ha ha to everyone who bought their stuff.)

The Czech Republic (while still Czechoslovakia) had a Velvet Revolution, Russia has Pussy Riot and Britain has...? The old cliché true for the greater part was that in the First World War, the common soldiery were 'lions led by donkeys'. These days the majority of the 'common' folk seem like donkeys being led by the greedy into a knackers yard to be slaughtered for meat and glue. Here comes Brexit on a wave of misplaced expectation of regaining control over our destiny. Seems unlikely when the group mind of my country has sunk so deep into entropy, but that is just an opinion. Arf. 'Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way'.Roger Waters.

The young are still in favour of Corbybn and his highly dubious vision, regardless of the radical Momentum behind him who are very likely being supported financially by the Kremlin. Goddess bless our proud snowflake youth! Not going to be many 'safe spaces' available kids if he wins...Socialism with an inhuman face. Students in the West have yet to learn how evil this stuff is. For decades they have demonstrated against fascists real and imaginary, Conservative Thatcher policy, Republican reactionary hogwash etc. Perhaps they need to experience at first hand just what their student brethren in the East did from the end of the second world war to 1989. And beyond. The far Left sucks as hard as the far Right. Not all revolutionaries are as cool as Che Guevara. Kids, study China, Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea and other Socialist paradises, (if only for one hot hour) their governments kill a considerable amount more of their own people than do the democratic Western governments. There is a reason for this. All governments seek to control the narrative of what is taught in schools but not all of them kill you for questioning the story.

Perhaps we deserve it, Britain has been coasting along, running on empty for a very long time now. The two faced 'civilised' Christian moral vacuum is being filled with many other equally unpleasant qualities. Optimism becomes a serious challenge when you are aware that some times various fires must run their course in order to burn out. Like Man. Just hope that the scorched earth policy of most of the global mode of thinking allows a spring to appear in the future. Or get the world leaders to an Alice in Wonderland party for mushroom tea. That might very well speed up the process of illumination before the Rubicon is crossed. Perhaps it has been.

'Intelligence is the capacity to receive, decode and transmit information efficiently.' So how well are we all doing as a race? Call Pleaides 666 023 093...

True communication only possible between equals....all on different circuits...

Meow she said. Woof, he replied.

Love from the dog star.

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newstfionline · 6 years

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Princely Visits

By Uri Avnery, Antiwar.com, June 30, 2018

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, second in line to the British throne, visited Israel this week.

He seems a likable person. He looked like a prince should look, did all the right things, said all the right things, and even ate a watermelon with our mayor on the sandy shore of Tel Aviv.

If the British had not left Palestine 70 years ago, William would now be my prince, too. I remember having a day off from school on his great-grandfather’s birthday.

The British had obtained the League of Nations “mandate” over Palestine by posing as the protectors of Zionism (with the famous “Balfour Declaration). But they did not like us very much. The picturesque Arabs, gracious hosts by nature, attracted them much more strongly.

My own relationship with the British crown has always been a bit complicated.

When I was 14 years old, the economic situation of my family compelled me to go to work. I found employment at a lawyer’s office. The boss had studied at Oxford, and all our business was conducted in English, a language I had to learn in a hurry, and that I have loved ever since. Some of our clients were members of the British administration.

A few months later, the British hanged a young Jew who had thrown a bomb at an Arab bus. I decided to fill his place and got in contact with the Irgun underground. I was instructed to present myself at a certain school building at a certain time.

When I approached the building, it seemed totally deserted, except for a young couple kissing in the doorway. I was shown my way in the dark and ushered into a room, where I was seated facing a dazzling light. I felt, rather than saw, people around me.

A voice from the darkness asked me several questions, and then it asked: “Do you hate the Arabs?”

“No’” I answered truthfully. Working in the courts I had met a number of Arab colleagues, and they seemed nice people.

For a moment, the people behind the projector were dumbfounded. Then a young woman’s voice asked: “Do you hate the British?”

Foolishly, I told the truth: “No! I rather like them.”

Behind the projector, there was a deep silence. Then the female voice asked: “If you don’t hate the British, why do you want to join the Irgun?”

“I want them to go back to Britain and leave us alone.” I answered.

Somehow, this answer seemed to satisfy them, and a few weeks later I was received into the organization.

Why did the British leave Palestine? There are several possible answers.

Former members of the Irgun and its smaller sister, the Freedom Fighters (known to the British as “the Stern Gang”) are convinced that it was their daring assassinations and bomb attacks that did the job, including their bombing of the King David hotel in Jerusalem, which served as a British HQ. Ninety-one persons of both sexes, British, Arabs and Jews, were killed there on July 22, 1946.

However, the official Zionist leadership believed that it was their clever application of political pressure that did the job.

I believe that it was the general change in the global situation. After WWII the British Empire was weak. It could not keep its hold on India, the jewel of the crown, and without India the Suez Canal became less significant. British Palestine was a fortress for the defense of the Canal, and lost its importance without it. With all the violence in the country, the British thought that it was just not worth the candle.

While the British prince was touring the country and uttering the fitting phrases about a “just peace”, another prince from overseas was doing the same. Jared Kushner, the Jewish son-in-law of President Trump, was also touring the country. He was accompanied by Jason Greenblatt, another Jewish emissary from Trump. This holy pair, who make no secret of their utter contempt for the Palestinians, is supposed to make peace.

How will they succeed where dozens of other initiatives have failed? Why should they have more chance than the dozens who preceded them?

Well, they have a Big Plan. A Plan so Big that cannot be refused. A Secret Plan.

Secret from whom? From the Palestinians, of course. Binyamin Netanyahu was a partner in shaping it. If not actually its author.

Years ago, we had a celebrated theater critic. Once, at the premiere of a new play, he got up after ten minutes and made for the exit.

“How can you write a review if you have not seen the whole play?” demanded an actor.

“I don’t have to eat the whole apple to know that it is rotten,” the critic answered.

The same is true of a Big Plan. The details that have already leaked quite suffice.

It is not a plan to be accepted by the two sides. It is a plan to be imposed on one side. The Palestinian side.

When the British left in 1948, there was already a UN plan in place.

Palestine was to be divided into a Jewish and a Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as a neutral unit, all these parts united in a kind of economic federation.

The Palestinians rejected the plan. They considered the whole country their homeland, and hoped to regain it with the help of the Arab armies.

The Jewish side accepted the plan without hesitation. Like everyone who was alive in the country at the time, I remember the wild jubilation in the streets. But David Ben-Gurion did not dream for a moment of remaining satisfied with it. He knew that a war would break out, and hoped that our side would enlarge its territory decisively. As indeed happened.

The day after the 1948 war ended, the Partition Plan was dead. A new reality had come into being. The war had partitioned Palestine into three units: Israel proper, the West Bank--which was now a part of the Kingdom of Jordan--and the Gaza Strip, which was governed by Egypt.

Today, several wars later (who is counting?), Israel dominates in different ways all of historical Palestine. And peace seems far, far away.

In theory, what are the alternatives?

Right after the 1948 war, in early 1949, a tiny group of young people in the country, including a Muslim Arab, a Druze Arab and myself (curiously enough, all three of us later became members of the Knesset) devised a plan for the solution: the so-called Two-State Solution. One country, two states--Israel and Palestine, Jerusalem as a joint capital, open borders between all parts, a joint economy.

We found no takers. Everybody was against it: the government of Israel, the Arab states, the USA, the Soviet Union (until 1969), Europe, the Muslim world.

That was 70 years ago. And see the miracle: today that is almost a world consensus. Everybody is for the “two-state solution”. Even Netanyahu sometimes pretends to be.

There is no third alternative. It’s either two-states or a colonial Jewish state in all the country.

Yared Kushner may well be a genius, just like his father-in-law. But even his brilliant Jewish brain will not find another solution. And all the power of the United States will not suffice to keep the Palestinian people down forever. The Big Plan is just another prescription for eternal war.

I wish that Europe, including the post-Brexit Britain, were willing and able to prevent this catastrophe. If I had met the prince on the sandy seashore, I would have told him just that.

Uri Avnery is a peace activist, journalist, writer, and former member of the Israeli Knesset.

#Israel #Prince William in Israel #Uri Avnery #Mideast peace plan

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oldguardaudio · 7 years

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Rush Limbaugh Explains that Jared Kushner Tells the Truth About Middle East Peace

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Aug 1, 2017

RUSH: I mentioned this leak. Of course, General Kelly, one of the things he’s supposed to do is be tightening these leaks down. He’s supposed to be ending these. This one is from the New York Post: “Latest White House Leak Proves No One Can Be Trusted — Even congressional interns can’t be trusted after [a congressional intern] leaked a recording of a speech by Jared Kushner in which he admitted ‘there may be no solution’ to the conflict in the Middle East.

“‘So, what do we offer that’s unique? I don’t know,’ President Trump’s son-in-law said in the speech on Monday, which was leaked despite a stern warning from an administration staffer not to spill the beans.” You know, it’s obvious — even despite the firings and despite this — there doesn’t seem to be any restraint on these leakers. People aren’t afraid of punishment. They’re not afraid of being called out. Many of them are probably not even afraid of being found out or discovered. They continue.

But this one… This one I find fascinating, ’cause this is exactly right: There isn’t a solution to this if they’re talking negotiation. This has been one of the biggest follies. This is why I could never live and work in Washington. I could never be of Washington. I could never be part of that process, because this has been one of the biggest jokes perpetrated on people my whole life. The whole idea of Middle East peace as a diplomatic solution? It’s impossible. There will never be one, and I’m glad Kushner said so. I’m glad he’s realized it.

Kushner is very young compared to all these other diplomats, and he’s way ahead of the game here. But look at what we’ve had to put up with. We’ve had Jimmy Carter and the Camp David accords, and we had Clinton bring in Arafat and all these players to the White House. We’ve had everything under the sun, and it’s one of these things that never ends no matter who the president is. No matter what party runs Washington — or runs Congress, I should better say — this is a thing that is just part of Washington that goes on and on and on to which there will never be a solution.

Yet it is something careers are made of. It is something that people have invested in for all kinds of reasons other than solution, and everybody plays along. The Drive-By Media duly reports every phase of the latest round of talks, ideas, negotiations on Middle East peace. What is Middle East peace? What is it, anyway? Is it still the Palestinians versus the Israelis and a Palestinian state? What is it anymore? If we achieved Middle East peace, what would be the result? What would happen? I don’t think anybody can even tell you anymore.

But the one thing I know: This is a conflict that goes back to the beginning of time. It is a biblical religious conflict that does not have a diplomatic solution. Not a single side in this dispute is ever going to surrender because somebody talks them into it. There’s never gonna be — and I have to think that all these people playing this game have to know this, which is why is it strikes me as a gigantic phony exercise. We’ve got whole think tanks that exist. We’ve got scholars and thinkers and think tanks. We’ve got experts on Middle East peace.

Whenever a mortar is launched in the Middle East, they’re brought out to television to analyze what it means and what’s going on. We don’t need any of that. We know that it’s a never-ending conflict. People that pay attention to it do. But there hasn’t been a conflict like this that has ever been solved with words, with the Red Cross, with environmental policy. It’s just never going to happen. The only way — and I’ve said this before; it’s nothing new. The only way this is ever gonna end… It’s like every other conflict ends.

It’s only gonna end when someone loses militarily and surrenders because of it. But nobody wants to start a war over this, not a permanent war. I mean, we’ve had Israel under attack. They’ve defended themselves, and they’ve been savaged and criticized for having the audacity to win each of these attacks that they’ve suffered. Israel continues to be portrayed as the problem in the area. And this is the whole thing that sustains all of this. But it’s never gonna end, and there are people that don’t want it to end. It’s like the racial strife in this country.

The people who ostensibly are there to solve the racial strife are the last people that want it the solved. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton would literally have nothing to do if it were ever solved, and so it won’t be. It’s too valuable an issue to exploit. It’s too valuable an issue that can be used to shake people down. It’s too valuable a political issue. So all of this conflict and all of this strife has become part of the system, and we are all victimized by phonies telling us they have the answer and the solution when that’s the last thing they’re interested in.

I think this also frustrates people, because it’s common sense that all of these things dividing the country are happening in perpetuity with no real desire to solve them. So people want to take matters into their own hands. So they keep electing candidates they think are gonna be different, take different approaches to things, and that’s one of the reasons that Trump was elected is because he had a different solution to every problem we’ve been talking about. The solution, actually, if that ever happened, would be genuinely beneficial to the American people.

Which is unique and is a standout from most other solutions that people have to put up with in terms of listening to the endless debate on — pick the issue — racial strife, labor versus management. Doesn’t matter what it is. Middle East peace? The strife has become too profitable. It’s become too valuable to a lot of people’s careers and so forth. So I’m just saying that it’s refreshing. I don’t care if it was a leak that made it happen. It’s refreshing to hear Jared Kushner say, “There may be no solution to the conflict in the Middle East.”

There isn’t! Not the way we’ve been going about it. Where’s the evidence that the way we’ve been going about it for the last 50 years has a solution? There isn’t any, not a shred. Because you’re never gonna convince one side to quit and give up. Can I give you the best evidence ever? Bill Clinton was so desperate to be seen as the president who brought peace to the Middle East, he offered Yasser Arafat everything Arafat was demanding and threw in some goodies. What did Arafat do? He canceled his trip. He didn’t want any part of it. Arafat didn’t want the solution.

He was given everything he had been demanding; he didn’t want it. He didn’t want the solution, didn’t want to end the strife. It’s never gonna happen. Kushner sees it. It’s a good thing. Well, then what is the solution? Maybe there isn’t one. Maybe certain things just are the way they are. Maybe there isn’t a solution. Maybe what “is” is just the way it is and you manage it. No, I would not say that about tax cuts or tax reform because there are genuine solutions there that have provable benefit-outcomes. But this, Middle East peace? I mean, it’s been going for thousands and thousands of years; everybody has been tackling it the identical way.

Nobody’s ever made any headway in it, not really. At some point you stop beating your head against the wall. Except they don’t. They continue to beat their heads against the wall and people profit from it and their careers advance on the basis of it. And we’re all misled that there is a solution out there. Kushner at least says that there isn’t.

Rush Limbaugh Explains that Jared Kushner Tells the Truth About Middle East Peace Rush Limbaugh Explains that Jared Kushner Tells the Truth About Middle East Peace Aug 1, 2017…

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studentofrhetoric-blog · 7 years

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Part 2, Friday, April 14th, 2017

International News:

--- "A United Nations expert said on Friday she hoped her visit to Cuba would open the door to a more intense dialogue on human rights and praised the country's social welfare system for reducing Cubans' vulnerability to human trafficking. Communist-run Cuba is generally suspect of inspections by international institutions, and this was the first visit by a U.N. human rights investigator in a decade. "I hope that this will be a stepping point for a more intense and fruitful dialogue with the whole human rights system," said Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, U.N. special rapporteur on trafficking in persons. Cuban dissidents, whom the government considers mercenaries funded by U.S. interests, said it was a positive sign that she had been invited, but only a first step. "It is notable they are not inviting special rapporteurs who look into torture, penitentiary systems, freedom of expression, the functioning of electoral systems, etc," said Elizardo Sanchez, leader of the Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation, which monitors arrests of opponents. Cuba's free healthcare, education and social security systems help reduce vulnerabilities that can lead to trafficking, Giammarinaro told a news conference."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-rights-idUSKBN17G1JK?il=0

--- "Pope Francis, presiding at a Good Friday service, asked God for forgiveness for scandals in the Catholic Church and for the "shame" of humanity becoming inured to daily scenes of bombed cities and drowning migrants. Francis presided at a traditional candlelight Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) service at Rome's Colosseum attended by some 20,000 people and protected by heavy security following recent attacks in European cities. Francis sat while a large wooden cross was carried in procession, stopping 14 times to mark events in the last hours of Jesus' life from being sentenced to death to his burial. Similar services, known as the Stations of the Cross, were taking place in cities around the world as Christians gathered to commemorate Jesus' death by crucifixion. At the end of the two-hour service, Francis read a prayer he wrote that was woven around the theme of shame and hope. In what appeared to be a reference to the Church's sexual abuse scandal, he spoke of "shame for all the times that we bishops, priests, brothers and nuns scandalized and wounded your body, the Church." The Catholic Church has been struggling for nearly two decades to put the scandal of sexual abuse of children by clergy behind it. Critics say more must be done to punish bishops who covered up abuse or were negligent in preventing it. Francis also spoke of the shame he said should be felt over "the daily spilling of the innocent blood of women, of children, of immigrants" and for the fate of those who are persecuted because of their race, social status or religious beliefs."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-religion-easter-pope-viacrucis-idUSKBN17G1KN?il=0

--- "A Palestinian man fatally stabbed a British student on Jerusalem's transit network on Friday, Israeli police said. Israel's ambassador to Britain, Mark Regev, named the victim as Hannah Bladon on his Twitter account, adding that she was "murdered in a senseless act of terror." The incident occurred in a train carriage on the light rail network near the walled Old City. TV footage showed blood on the floor of the carriage with police officers restraining a man and carrying him away. A paramedic for the Magen David Adom ambulance service said the woman had suffered multiple stab wounds and was pronounced dead in hospital. The British Foreign Office in London said in a statement: "We can confirm the tragic death of a British national in Jerusalem. We are providing support for her family at this difficult time and are in touch with the local authorities.""

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-violence-idUSKBN17G0XY?il=0

--- "Marine Le Pen has brought the National Front from fringe status into the political spotlight and made herself a real contender to be France's first woman president and its first far-right leader since World War Two. Since taking the helm in 2011, Le Pen has sought to rid the party of the anti-Semitic image it acquired under the nearly 40-year leadership of her father, ex-paratrooper Jean-Marie Le Pen. The twice-divorced mother of three has positioned the party instead as an anti-immigrant, Eurosceptic force offering protectionist policies to shelter French workers from globalization. Polls have consistently shown Le Pen as one of the favorites to get through the April 23 first round and contest the May 7 runoff. That would be a step further than her first attempt in 2012, when she failed to reach the second round, and equal the achievement of her father, who reached the second round in 2002, only to lose by a landslide to conservative Jacques Chirac. While polls suggest the younger Le Pen would also lose in the run-off, they point to a much closer fight this time."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-election-lepen-newsmaker-idUSKBN17G18J?il=0

--- "South Korea's military said it believed missiles displayed in a North Korean military parade on the anniversary of its state founder Kim Il Sung included new types of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). The North's leader, Kim Jong Un, attended the parade in the capital, Pyongyang, as a series of missiles, multiple launch rocket systems and rockets were on display, amid questions about U.S. plans for the country and concerns about a possible sixth nuclear test."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-icbm-idUSKBN17H034?il=0

--- "North Korea warned the United States on Saturday to end its "military hysteria" or face retaliation as a U.S. aircraft carrier group steamed towards the region and the reclusive state marked the "Day of the Sun", the 105th birth anniversary of its founding father...The North's warning came as leader Kim Jong Un, looking relaxed in a dark suit and laughing with aides, oversaw a military parade at Pyongyang's main Kim Il Sung square, named after his grandfather, on his birth anniversary. Goose-stepping soldiers and marching bands filled the square, next to the Taedonggang River that flows through Pyongyang, in the hazy spring sunshine, followed by tanks, multiple launch rocket systems and other weapons. Single-engine propeller-powered planes flew in a 105 formation overhead..."All the brigandish provocative moves of the U.S. in the political, economic and military fields pursuant to its hostile policy toward the DPRK will thoroughly be foiled through the toughest counteraction of the army and people of the DPRK," the KCNA state news agency said, citing a spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army...KCNA said the Trump administration's "serious military hysteria" had reached a "dangerous phase which can no longer be overlooked". The United States has warned that a policy of "strategic patience" with North Korea is over. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence travels to South Korea on Sunday on a long-planned 10-day trip to Asia. State TV showed North Korea's Pukkuksong submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) on parade with tanks and other heavy machinery in front of Kim Jong Un. It was the first time North Korea had shown the missiles, which have a range of over 1,000 km (600 miles), at a military parade. Displaying more than one of the missiles indicates North Korea is progressing with its plan to base a missile on a submarine, which are hard to detect, said Joshua Pollack, editor of the Washington-based Nonproliferation Review."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-anniversary-idUSKBN17G0WU?il=0

Domestic & International News:

--- "U.S. President Donald Trump's administration declined to name any major trading partner as a currency manipulator in a highly-anticipated report on Friday, confirming a decision to back away from a key Trump campaign promise to slap such a label on China. The semi-annual U.S. Treasury currency report did, however, keep China on a currency "monitoring list" despite a lower global current account surplus, citing China's unusually large, bilateral trade surplus with the United States. Five other trading partners who were on last October's monitoring list - Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany and Switzerland - also remain on the list, ensuring that the Treasury would apply extra scrutiny to their foreign exchange and economic policies. The Treasury report recognized what many analysts have said over the past year, namely that China has recently intervened in foreign exchange markets to prop up the value of its yuan currency, not push it lower to make Chinese exports cheaper. Foreign exchange experts told Reuters last week that a manipulator label was unlikely for Beijing."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-currency-idUSKBN17G1JD?il=0

--- "President Trump is abruptly reversing himself on key issues. And for all his usual bluster, he's startlingly candid about the reason: He's just now really learning about some of them. "After listening for 10 minutes, I realized it's not so easy," the president said after a discussion with Chinese President Xi Jinping that included his hopes that China's pressure could steer North Korea away from its nuclear efforts. "I felt pretty strongly that they had a tremendous power" over North Korea, he said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. "But it's not what you would think. That's just one of several recent comments offering insight into what looks like a moderate makeover for an immoderate president. As he approaches 100 days in office, Mr. Trump appears to be increasingly embracing what he describes as his "flexibility" – acknowledging he may not have thought deeply about some of the issues he shouted about throughout his political campaign. Over the past 48 hours, the outsider politician who pledged to upend Washington has:

Abandoned his vow to label China a currency manipulator.

Rethought his hands-off assessment of the Syrian conflict – and ordered a missile attack.

Turned his warm approach toward Vladimir Putin decidedly chilly and declared US-Russia relations "may be at an all-time low."

Decided NATO isn't actually obsolete, as he had claimed.

Realized the US Export-Import Bank is worth keeping around.

"Instinctively, you would say, 'Isn't that a ridiculous thing,' " he said of the bank he once panned as "featherbedding" and pledged to eliminate. He now says of the bank, which supports US exports, "Actually, it's a very good thing. And it actually makes money." Allies describe Trump as merely growing in the job, taking what he's learning and adapting. The White House, however, is struggling to explain some of the changes...Trump, who seemed to remain in campaign mode for months after the election, appears to be listening to different advisers now. His onetime campaign guru, Steve Bannon, has been somewhat marginalized while moderate voices grow louder. It may also be that Trump is merely looking for a way to improve his low approval rating, acknowledging his best tactic could be switching to a less dogmatic, more pragmatic approach."

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2017/0414/As-Trump-sharpens-focus-on-key-issues-surprising-reversals-on-core-campaign-rhetoric

Further information/commentary regarding Trump's change in policy positions: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2017/0414/Why-Trump-s-palace-intrigue-matters

--- "Hackers released documents and files on Friday that cybersecurity experts said indicated the U.S. National Security Agency had accessed the SWIFT interbank messaging system, allowing it to monitor money flows among some Middle Eastern and Latin American banks. The release included computer code that could be adapted by criminals to break into SWIFT servers and monitor messaging activity, said Shane Shook, a cyber security consultant who has helped banks investigate breaches of their SWIFT systems. The documents and files were released by a group calling themselves The Shadow Brokers. Some of the records bear NSA seals, but Reuters could not confirm their authenticity. The NSA could not immediately be reached for comment. Also published were many programs for attacking various versions of the Windows operating system, at least some of which still work, researchers said. In a statement to Reuters, Microsoft (MSFT.O), maker of Windows, said it had not been warned by any part of the U.S. government that such files existed or had been stolen. "Other than reporters, no individual or organization has contacted us in relation to the materials released by Shadow Brokers," the company said. The absence of warning is significant because the NSA knew for months about the Shadow Brokers breach, officials previously told Reuters. Under a White House process established by former President Barack Obama's staff, companies were usually warned about dangerous flaws.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-swift-idUSKBN17G1HC?il=0

--- "Britain’s spy agencies played a crucial role in alerting their counterparts in Washington to contacts between members of Donald Trump’s campaign team and Russian intelligence operatives, the Guardian has been told. GCHQ first became aware in late 2015 of suspicious “interactions” between figures connected to Trump and known or suspected Russian agents, a source close to UK intelligence said. This intelligence was passed to the US as part of a routine exchange of information, they added. Over the next six months, until summer 2016, a number of western agencies shared further information on contacts between Trump’s inner circle and Russians, sources said. The European countries that passed on electronic intelligence – known as sigint – included Germany, Estonia and Poland. Australia, a member of the “Five Eyes” spying alliance that also includes the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand, also relayed material, one source said. Another source suggested the Dutch and the French spy agency, the General Directorate for External Security or DGSE, were contributors. It is understood that GCHQ was at no point carrying out a targeted operation against Trump or his team or proactively seeking information. The alleged conversations were picked up by chance as part of routine surveillance of Russian intelligence assets. Over several months, different agencies targeting the same people began to see a pattern of connections that were flagged to intelligence officials in the US...The Guardian has been told the FBI and the CIA were slow to appreciate the extensive nature of contacts between Trump’s team and Moscow ahead of the US election. This was in part due to US law that prohibits US agencies from examining the private communications of American citizens without warrants. “They are trained not to do this,” the source stressed. “It looks like the [US] agencies were asleep,” the source added. “They [the European agencies] were saying: ‘There are contacts going on between people close to Mr Trump and people we believe are Russian intelligence agents. You should be wary of this.’ “The message was: ‘Watch out. There’s something not right here.’”"

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/apr/13/british-spies-first-to-spot-trump-team-links-russia?CMP=twt_gu

Domestic News:

--- "President Donald Trump nominated former Republican lawmaker Scott Garrett as president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States on Friday, completing an about-face over an institution he had denounced as "featherbedding" for big business. A White House statement also named Spencer Bachus, another Republican former congressman, to be a member of the board of directors of the bank. Both were named for four-year terms. Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday he would fill the two vacancies on the bank's five-member board that have prevented it from having a quorum and being able to act on loans over $10 million. His picks must gain approval from the Senate, which blocked nominees by former President Barack Obama. The Export-Import Bank, an independent government agency, provides loans to foreign entities that enable them to purchase American-made goods. For example, it has been used by foreign airlines to purchase planes from Boeing Co (BA.N) and farmers in developing nations to acquire equipment. The bank has become a popular target for conservatives, who worked in Congress to kill the institution, arguing that it perpetuates cronyism and does little to create American jobs."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-eximbank-idUSKBN17H003?il=0

--- "United Airlines said on Friday it is changing its policy on booking its own flight crews onto its planes after a man was dragged off an overbooked flight to make way for a United employee on Sunday, video of which went viral and made the airline the target of global criticism and ridicule. The airline, owned by United Continental Holdings Inc (UAL.N), said it would make sure crews traveling on their aircraft are booked into seats at least 60 minutes before departure. It said the new policy would ensure that a situation in which a passenger is forcibly removed from a plane does not occur again. United said the change is an initial step as it reviews policies in order to "deliver the best customer experience." The passenger ejected from the plane, David Dao, suffered a significant concussion, broken nose and lost two front teeth in the incident, and will need reconstructive surgery, according to his attorney, Thomas Demetrio, who has signaled that Dao will likely sue the airline. United's board said on Friday the company had to craft policies to win back customer trust and apologized to Dao and his family. It added that it stands behind Chief Executive Oscar Munoz, who has been under fire in the wake of the incident. Munoz has said he has no plans to resign. Even before this week, Munoz was under pressure from activist investors to improve the airline's performance, including its customer relations."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ual-crew-idUSKBN17H00M?il=0

--- "As knowledge moves from pages to pixels, many of America's public libraries have broadened their mission. Take, for example, the Boston Public Library, which occupies a full city block in the Back Bay neighborhood. Its imposing granite Johnson Building underwent a $78-million facelift last year, receiving larger windows, higher ceilings, and an LCD screen art installation behind its Information Desk...“We’re trying to really define what is meant by a library in 2017,” says Jessica Elias, one of the BPL’s curriculum development coordinators...Some libraries, like the BPL, enjoy large municipal budgets to support their operations. But in struggling urban neighborhoods and small rural towns, the costs of just keeping the lights on or fixing a leaky roof can shutter a library. The Trump administration's proposals to eliminate government funding for the IMLS, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts could force many of these institutions to make hard choices in coming years. To solve this problem, David Rothman is asking the super-rich to create a national endowment for libraries...However the federal budget process turns out, David Leonard, president of BPL, expects private funding to prove more necessary as library patrons seek ever-more expensive services. “As we see a shift towards people wanting to see libraries do more programming [and] more classes, we're going to need even more of those dollars available,” Mr. Leonard says of private philanthropy. “And the hope is that it will be in addition to – and not have to be a replacement for – city, state, or federal money.”...“It is very tempting, when one looks at the erosion of public support, [to] say, 'well, let's turn to the rich people, and they can solve things.' ” explains Professor Marker, who also founded Wise Philanthropy, a philanthropy advisory and education firm. “But in fact ... there is no ability of private support to take the place of public support.” Even an annual endowment payout of $1.1 billion would only mark a 9 percent increase over the $12 billion that US libraries took in as revenue in 2014. While that could offset some federal budget cuts, most experts say that support for libraries needs to be a robust combination of public, private, and government funds."

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/2017/0414/Why-libraries-could-soon-need-a-national-endowment

#international affairs #domestic affairs #source: reuters #source: the Christian science monitor #source: the guardian

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workreveal-blog · 7 years

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Internet warriors: Humans inside the dark world of online 'trolls'

New Post has been published on https://workreveal.biz/internet-warriors-humans-inside-the-dark-world-of-online-trolls/

Internet warriors: Humans inside the dark world of online 'trolls'

Norwegian filmmaker Kyrre Lien started gaining knowledge of on-line commenters on Christmas Day 2014. “I have become fascinated by how a lot of hate and lack of information human beings have been writing within the feedback segment of a news site,” he says, “so I started looking at people’s profiles, trying to work out which they have been. Many seemed pretty reasonable. That they had households and gave the look of social human beings, but the feedback they had been writing in a public space have been so extreme. There was a disconnect.” And so began Lien’s 3-year journey into the lives of humans the web’s most prolific online commenters, now the situation of a documentary, The Internet Warriors.

internet

Lien’s research took him the world over – from the fjords of Norway to the United States wasteland – assembly people of severe, “frequently illogical” beliefs: the racists, the homophobes, the slut- shamers. Lien to begin with researched two hundred ability topics. 1/2 said no while he approached them. It becomes then a manner of elimination: “To discover what their reasons had been, who they have been, and why they held the views they did. In a way,” he says, “I became an investigator.”

Of all the ‘haters’ he is observed online, one kind eluded him. “I contacted many, many misogynists, as I desired to try to understand,” Lien says, “however none might talk publicly, which itself is thrilling.”

What did Lien analyse via the making of the documentary? “That many, many people are lonely – they feel society has left them in the back of – and that a whole lot of the ones I met are former victims of bullying themselves,” says Lien, “but in the long run, I found out that people can trade, that we are works in motion. We can’t see near our eyes and faux that they don’t exist if we need to alternate the manner we debate and communicate on-line. It’s critical to pay attention to these voices now.”

To watch Kyrie Lien’s documentary The Net Warriors, visit theguardian.Com/Net-warriors

‘I’m in opposition to all immigration’: Robert Jackson, 50, steelworker, England

Robert Jackson spends hours every day commenting online. Lately, he wrote that Tony Blair has to be changed. “I stand by way of that,” he says. “I’d gladly put the rope around his neck. He’s a traitor to his humans.”

Jackson’s primary problem is immigration: he believes Britain will “fall apart” under a load of refugees. “I sincerely don’t care in which they’re from, or which war they’re fleeing.” What makes it worse, he says, and the cause he’s especially irritated on the government, is that it value him a lot to bring over his Thai spouse. “I had to pay lots to get my spouse right here from Thailand. Her visa best lasts for six months, after which she has to move lower back. And then we need to do the same thing all once more.”

‘I slut-shame celebrities’: Ashleigh Jones, 21, pupil, Wales

Ashleigh Jones would not describe herself as a troll. “A troll is a person who’s ruining the dialogue, and that’s no longer me.”

Jones’s commenting style is “sincere and brutal. I don’t sugarcoat something,” she says. She uses Twitter as a type of daily diary, an area wherein she will be able to explicit how she is feeling each day. “Like after I tweeted to Amy Schumer: ‘I might say Amy Schumer is a cunt however you have to be smart to be a cunt.’”

She is very used to receiving abuse in go back for her inflammatory comments. “but that doesn’t trouble me,” she says. “I have quite a few sex so that I will be that ugly.”

‘I agree with Israel was behind September 11’: Scott Munson, 49, activist, California

Scott Munson describes himself as “a fact teller”. He considers this to be his complete-time activity, particularly when it comes to sharing “information approximately 9/11 and gun manage”.

Munson says he is “satisfied that the USA authorities are attempting to manipulate us all”. It’s additionally clear to him that “Israel benefitted from September 11. We had more than three,000 Israelis now not displaying up for work after which Israelis were dancing after the assault – it’s obvious that it changed into a nation that won from that occasion.”

He is no stranger to abuse himself: “once I write online that Israel was at the back of 9-11, people call me horrific names, like stupid, dummy, moron and Neanderthal.” but he believes that’s because he’s telling human beings truths that are hard to pay attention. “That’s the technique – many are in denial, however then I help them see. It’s uncomfortable for them to find out that our government is killing its very own humans.”

humans connected to the internet

every day, Munson shares his “reality” along with his five,000 Facebook buddies and his different e-mail list of 23,000, people. “I’m also on LinkedIn,” he adds.

‘I want to be unfastened to hold a gun’: Nick Haynes, forty-two, truck motive force, Pennsylvania

while Nick Haynes become more youthful, he got into frequent “arguments” with the authorities. At sixteen he ran far from home and said he hadn’t regarded lower back because. He’s now lost touch with his circle of relatives altogether. “It’s been four or 5 years considering I last even talked to my father,” he says.

Today Haynes keeps along with his arguments, but this time it’s on social media. He says he tweets: “about fifty-seven times an afternoon.” He provides: “I debate due to the fact if I don’t say something, folks that are in opposition to the second Amendment and people who spread lies will win the arguments. If I don’t combat back while somebody claims something, then they’ll win whenever.”

He watched the USA election along with his three daughters and son. “I advised them what I agree with: that Clinton has raped this u. S .. I am hoping they arrest her.” Now Trump’s received, he says: “It’s the first time in view that 9/11 that I feel our us of a is again on target, again to which it belongs.” His children trust him.

‘I assume homosexuals will destroy Russia’: Alexandra Velichkevich, fifty-one, scholar, Russia

From her rental near St Petersburg, Velichkevich believes she is fighting for Russia. Her fear is that her you. S . Might be taken over by “Gay Europe”. Her seventy five-12 months-vintage mum debates online alongside her. “We’re apprehensive that our beloved Russia may be inspired by way of the homosexuals in Europe and us,” and ruin it with their “crap homosexual way of life”.

She wants to make it clear that she doesn’t see LGBT humans as her enemy, but that they’ve “a defect.” Moreover, she says: “They should stop showing off all the time. They’ve ruined that flag for me. I clearly preferred the rainbow before, but I don’t any extra.”

‘I need to deliver back colonialism’: Kjell Frode Tislevoll, forty-two, retail clerk, Norway

Kjell Frode Tislevoll used to spend hours debating online. “Like once I commented on a piece of writing: ‘What we want in Oslo is a sidewalk for people with darkish skin and a path for those with white skin. That way, we gained be attacked or mugged.” He got 20 likes. Eventually, he decided to apply a clear out on Facebook, so he’d now not see posts about immigration.

But matters are changing for Tislevoll. Last 12 months, a refugee reception centre become built in his home city, and he slowly discovered he turned into turning into “much less sceptical of immigrants”. It coincided with the appearance of a Muslim guy at paintings. “He’s Ok,” he says, “so my issues with immigration are going away. If I met my former self in a discussion board now, I’d probably get into an argument with him.”

Today marks 28 years considering that I submitted my original concept for the worldwide web.

web

I imagined the net as an open platform that would permit all and sundry, anywhere to share facts, get entry to opportunities, and collaborate throughout geographic and cultural obstacles. In many methods, the internet has lived as much as this imaginative and prescient, though it’s been an ordinary warfare to preserve it open. But during the last twelve months, I’ve come to be increasingly concerned about three new developments, which I consider we must tackle so as for the web to fulfil its authentic capability as a device that serves all of the humanity.

1) We’ve lost control of our non-public facts

The current enterprise version for plenty websites offers free content in trade for private events. Lots of us comply with this – albeit regularly by accepting long and perplexing terms and situations files – but we do no more extend thoughts a few statistics being gathered in alternate for free services. But, we’re missing a trick. As our data is then held in proprietary silos, out of sight to us, we lost out on the blessings we may want to understand if we had direct manipulated over this statistics and selected when and with whom to percentage it. What’s more, we regularly do not have any manner of feeding returned to companies what information we’d alternatively not proportion – specifically with 0.33 parties – the T&Cs are all or nothing.

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soulcrazy2017-blog · 7 years

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Second Brazilian blogger shot lifeless after criticising politicians

New Post has been published on https://soulcrazy.org/second-brazilian-blogger-shot-lifeless-after-criticising-politicians/

Second Brazilian blogger shot lifeless after criticising politicians

I pronounced closing week on a Brazilian politicians blogger, Ítalo Eduardo Barros, who had been shot useless on 13 November. Eight days later, some other of the united states of America’s blogger sites, Roberto Lano, become additionally shot useless. This record on his demise, and on the impunity allowed to killers of reporters in Brazil, comes from Anna Sophie Gross in Rio de Janeiro.

blogger

On Saturday (21 November), best blog Roberto Lano was killed with the aid of a bullet to the pinnacle within the town of Buriticupu, Maranhão. He was the sufferer of shots fired using a suspect on a motorcycle and died immediately. The killer remains unidentified.

Roberto was regarded for his involvement in political campaigns, and in his latest post, he criticized the mayor of Buriticupu.

His murder became disturbingly similar to the killing of Ítalo Eduardo Barros, who turned into additionally shot using men firing from a motorcycle, and also within the kingdom of Maranhão. In latest best blogs posts, each Lano and Barros had criticized the guidelines adopted with the aid of local current politicians. Each had written posts approximately the state’s former health secretary, Ricardo Murad, and its governor, Flávio Dino.

Barros, who turned into 29,create your own andpublished blog item in which he stated he had acquired murder threats in a Whatsapp group for journalists. He wrote: “I’ve already received threats from mayors, councilors, cronies, and security. I don’t pay interest. However, I continually document a report.”

Four days earlier than his demise, radio reporter Israel Gonçalves Silva changed into killed inside the Asian kingdom of Pernambuco. His television program treated corruption allegations in opposition tofemale politicians and police.

politicians

According to the National Association of Newspapers (ANJ), 23 reporters were killed in Brazil within the seven years due to the fact 2008. In the same length, 24 had been imprisoned, 33 were victims of assault and fifty-nine received threats. The ANJ has said that judicial censorship and different criminal measures severely restrict freedom of expression within u . S . A .. because 2008, as a minimum seventy-seven case of legal censorship were registered in Brazil.

Earlier this month, Brazil changed into indexed most of the 14 countries inside the global impunity index created using the Committee to Protect reporters (CPJ). It was the eleventh located country, having 11 unsolved instances of journalistic killings inside the years between September 2005 and August 2015.

In an assembly with CPJ delegates in 2014, Brazil’s president, Dilma Rousseff, promised to undertake a coverage of “0 impunity” and pledged to assist legislative projects in fighting crimes in opposition to freedom of expression.

Because then, there had been accusations, and coffee sentences, of alleged perpetrators. However, in the majority of instances, the folks who ordered such murders have averted prosecution.

The CPJ report said that “prosecuting people who order killings of journalists stays a vital mission to breaking Brazil’s cycle of violence, specifically while thinking of the truth that nearby government officials are the leading suspects in the majority of instances.”

In step with the modern-day record through the us-based Freedom House, Brazil’s press is handiest “in part loose.” The document states: “Brazil has a colorful democracy with robust constitutional ensures of freedom of expression. But, violence and impunity persist at the side of judicial censorship because the principal threats to those provide.”

At the equal time, tremendously focused media possession is arguably too, with masses of Brazil’s politicians being either directors or partners in roughly 300 media corporations, In keeping with an impartial media-monitoring institution, Donos da Mídia. Politicians don’t solution questions: that is goodbye installed, so without difficulty determined, so accepted, that the intricacies of Peter Bull’s research into the concern [pdf download] seem nearly decorative, like devising 35 typologies for the Pope’s Catholicism. And but the York College psychologist, who specialises in micro-analyses of interpersonal verbal exchange, has a sequence of insights, a few very broad, some very particular and regarding Theresa May, that have crystallised the manner, driven domestic its necessity, and elaborated its mechanisms so accurately as to have extra or much less destroyed my religion in public lifestyles.

First, Bull information why politicians prevent giving direct solutions to interviewers: “It’s mostly to do with face; fantastic face is concerned with ensuring they don’t look horrific, and evil face is ready retaining one’s freedom of action and not committing to whatever.” pleasant face is, of path, pretty ignoble, and politicians we perceive to have the ability to say what they genuinely sense, irrespective of the flak they get, are fashionable disproportionately to how sincere or proficient or powerful they demonstrably are.

Pinched face, However, is tons more of a conundrum. Wondering mainly approximately modern politics, there are very few obvious, sensible solutions May additionally could provide to anything, without inhibiting her room for maneuver inside the close to destiny, while near as day after today. This could provide an explanation for why, in one interview with Andrew Marr that Bull analyzed for The Conversation, she gave an immediate solution best 14% of the time. (Bull has found the average specific answer fee in British political lifestyles to be forty-six%. I used to be amazed to find it so excessive, but this is similar to 1991 examine that positioned it at 39%).“A non-respond May additionally includes several exceptional sorts of not replying,” says Bull. Can also’s signature evasion is to respond a particular question with a non-specific solution. So, for example, Marr asked her whether she could prevent the Second referendum in Scotland, and she replied: “I don’t think it’s a query of whether or not there will be a 2d referendum, it’s whether there should be a Second referendum.” Inside that jump from unique to non-specific, she rephrases the query, then solutions it as she posed it (“that’s a touch ploy that usa politicians leaders frequently use”).

She additionally expresses hope in preference to a plan. “She’s making political factors all of the time,” Bull notes. “Imparting coverage, justifying policy, giving reassurance. She regularly talks regarding aspirations. In PMQs on Wednesday, she turned into asked about the border in Eire. She stated: ‘Of path, we don’t need a return to a hard border among north and south.’ might every person need that?” that is where aspiration turns into indistinguishable from platitude; humans not often aspire to whatever to which everybody else could not aspire. Fifteen days earlier than the Olympics beginning ceremony, full brazilian before and after police have arrested ten alleged Islamic kingdom sympathizers who are suspected of making plans an act of terrorism during the video games. Two others are still at big.

The Brazilian justice minister, Alexandre Moraes, described the suspects – all of whom are Brazilian – as “without a doubt beginner and unprepared,” however, he stated they’d sworn allegiance to Islamic kingdom, celebrated the current assaults in Orlando and First-class, and some of them had attempted to shop for AK-47s.

Brazilian

He supplied few info of those involved however said they have been spread throughout ten states, had a pacesetter in Curitiba, and kept in contact via the WhatsApp and Telegram messaging offerings.

“Those worried participated in an internet group denominated ‘the defenders of Sharia’ and were planning to gather guns to commit crimes in Brazil and even distant places,” the minister advised an information conference.

Brazil’s intelligence employer ABIN is said to have worked with different opposite numbers to offer the data that led to the arrests, which have been performed by participants of the police and army generally in the southern states of São Paulo and Parana.

The suspects did not have bomb materials, nor did they pick out a target and a few directly mentioned taking on martial arts. However, one of them had reportedly been in contact with a website imparting secret weapons from Paraguay.

“He asked the acquisition of an AK-forty seven gun, to carry out an operation,” Moraes said. “There’s no information in the research that he managed to get this rifle, but the natural act of communication with a rationale to shop for a gun is a preparatory action that we had to fight.”

Government trust they had been making ready a shooting assault similar to the one in Orlando, Florida. The minister advised the arrests have been precautionary.

“Due to the proximity of the Olympics – when we will acquire many foreigners – Brazil from that point on would begin to become part of the goal of those people,” he said. The suspects may be held for 60 days.

The operation comes after reviews that the militant organization Ansar al-Khilafah Brazil, which helps the Islamic state, launched a Portuguese-language name for jihad or holy war on the Telegram social community.

The authorities said final week that the risk of terrorism had “reached a higher degree” following the killings in First-rate, France. In Rio de Janeiro, Authorities stated that they were planning extra security cordons, avenue checkpoints and frame searches at Olympic venues.

On the equal time, enormously concentrated media possession is controversial too, with hundreds of Brazil’s politicians being either directors or partners in kind of 300 media businesses, consistent with an impartial media-monitoring institution, Donos da Mídia. Following Thursday’s arrests, the interim president, Michel Temer, changed into due to keeping an emergency cupboard meeting.

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bigdatanewsmagazine · 7 years

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Interview with Eric Siegel: Popularizing Predictive Analytics with Song and Dance – The Predictive Analytics Times

By: Mélanie Roosen, L’ADN

Originally published in l’ADN (in French)

Hilarious consultant, former professor, and rapper in his off hours, Eric Siegel shows us that data can be fun, and used wisely, quite effective.

With your videos, you managed to provide a very accessible view of data. This is quite interesting, considering data is usually considered a “cold” topic, interesting experts exclusively. How did you turn the geek stereotype into something cool and pop? What is your ambition behind that approach?

When we made the predictive analytics rap music video (www.PredictThis.org), the parody practically wrote itself. After all, the USA’s Chief Data Scientist designated – in a famous article – his own profession “the sexiest job of the 21st century.” But aren’t firemen supposed to be the sexiest? That a geek is actually cool is nothing if not ironic.

I’ve always thought it was helpful and fun to explain a technical concept with a supposedly “cool” song. As a computer science professor at Columbia University around the year 2000, I sang educational songs to my students, such as a rock ballad about the angst of debugging your computer program.

[embedded content]

Can you tell us more about your book, Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie, or Die?

The book reveals how predictive analytics works, and how it affects everyone every day. Rather than a “how to” for hands-on techies, the book serves lay readers and experts alike by covering new case studies and the latest state-of-the-art techniques.

I’m a former academic so this conceptually complete introduction to the topic serves as a textbook at over 35 universities. But it does read like a textbook – it is more in the accessible, entertaining “pop science” mode – accessible and relevant to any reader. OTOH, the final 3 chapters cover advanced topics of interest even to the experienced experts.

Amongst the many correlations you talk about in your book, which one is your favorite? The funniest?

Well, I like to lead with the link between ice cream consumption and shark attacks. As one increases, so does the other. Is this because eating ice cream makes a person taste better to a shark? Probably not. The more widely accepted explanation is that it is seasonal: When the weather is hot, more people swim and also more people eat ice cream.

When you find a connection in the data, it is only a correlation – a link that indeed helps predict – but it does not necessarily tell you anything conclusive about causation. When you try to answer “why” and find the explanation, you are seeking a causal explanation, which cannot necessarily be concluded definitively from the analysis itself. As they often say, “correlation does not entail causation.”

Can you give us an example of a brand that has managed to use data to improve its business?

My book’s central table has 181 mini-case studies, so I’m not sure where to start. This includes examples from Airbnb, the BBC, Citibank, ConEd, Facebook, Ford, Google, the IRS, LinkedIn, Match.com, MTV, Netflix, PayPal, Pfizer, Spotify, Uber, UPS, and Wikipedia.

Retailers like Target and many major banks dramatically improve profit by more intelligently targeting their marketing with prediction.

And how about improving the well-being of its consumers?

Healthcare applications are growing rapidly – we’ve even launched an annual Predictive Analytics World event focused on this: the PAW Healthcare conference.

The applications include diagnosis, treatment optimization, hospital admission prediction, targeting compliance intervention (who’s not taking the meds they should be taking?), drug development, drug testing processes, and much more.

How can so-called traditional sectors, such as agriculture, use data efficiently?

Most major sectors are moving into predictive analytics, recognizing the value of optimizing mass-scale operations by way of predicting – for each individual – the likely outcome or behavior. Such predictions directly inform the decision or treatment taken with each individual person, corporate client, voter, automobile to be fixed, building to be inspected for fire risk, etc.

This is a big change to current processes. You can’t just crunch the numbers – you need to take the predictions output by the analytics and use them to drive better decisions. You have to act on them. This means a change to the current process.

Change always meets some resistance. But the value and tremendous results other organizations are achieving pushes this change forward. There is no stopping it.

To match these changes across sectors, we’ve been launching more and more industry-focused Predictive Analytics World events, including PAW Business, PAW Healthcare, PAW Workforce, PAW Manufacturing, PAW Government and PAW Financial Services.

In some sectors, such as health, insurance, or banking, the use of data can impact the relationship between the brand and the consumer. How should companies communicate about the topic?

The choice to not reveal your use of data – to hide what you’re doing – will backfire and only hurt trust. Transparency is critical.

But this must be done prudently. For example, when US retailer Target revealed they’re predicting who is pregnant in order to target marketing, they did it in a clumsy way that resulted in a PR snafu bar none. In my perception, they assumed the public would find it as purely positive as their internal audiences had. Read this article for more info.

In the end, consumers greatly benefit as well. Beyond improving a corporation’s efficiency and profit, the value of predictive analytics for consumers is unquestionable: less junk mail (and better for the environment), more relevant ads, better movie, music, and books recommendations, effective email spam filters (they depend on predictive models), better Google search results, more engaging Facebook feed ordering, more robust healthcare, and increased safety by more effectively targeting the inspection of buildings, manholes, etc.

What would be the greatest danger of data misuse?

How do we safely harness a predictive machine that can foresee job resignation, pregnancy, and crime?

I actually devoted an entire up-front chapter of my book – “Chapter 2: With Power Comes Responsibility: Hewlett-Packard, Target, the Cops, and the NSA Deduce Your Secrets” – to the issues in privacy and other civil liberties.

And how do we achieve value for law enforcement and national security without infringing on rights? See my op-ed in Newsweek on that.

Beyond all that, what if automated security screening discriminates by religion? This isn’t just a prejudicial mindset – it would be the systematic action of pre-judging based on a protected class.

This power/technology is like a knife: It can be used for good or for evil. It is valuable and powerful – that means it can be dangerous, but the idea of universally outlawing it is definitely not on the table.

Related info:

Eric Siegel’s book: Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie or Die (John Wiley & Sons, 2016)

Eric Siegel singing and dancing: Geek Professor Drops Rap Video, Tries to Dance

About Eric Siegel:

Eric Siegel, Ph.D., founder of the Predictive Analytics World conference series and executive editor of The Predictive Analytics Times, makes the how and why of predictive analytics understandable and captivating. In addition to being the author of Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie, or Die, Eric is a former Columbia University professor who used to sing to his students, and a renowned speaker, educator, and leader in the field. He has appeared on Al Jazeera America, Bloomberg TV and Radio, Business News Network (Canada), Fox News, Israel National Radio, NPR Marketplace, Radio National (Australia), and TheStreet. Eric and his book have been featured in Businessweek, CBS MoneyWatch, Contagious Magazine, The European Business Review, The Financial Times, Forbes, Forrester, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, The Huffington Post, The New York Review of Books, Newsweek, Quartz, Salon, Scientific American, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and WSJ MarketWatch. Follow him at @predictanalytic.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

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bigdatanewsmagazine · 7 years

Text

Interview with Eric Siegel: Popularizing Predictive Analytics with Song and Dance – The Predictive Analytics Times

By: Mélanie Roosen, L’ADN

Originally published in l’ADN (in French)

Hilarious consultant, former professor, and rapper in his off hours, Eric Siegel shows us that data can be fun, and used wisely, quite effective.

[embedded content]

Can you tell us more about your book, Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie, or Die?

Amongst the many correlations you talk about in your book, which one is your favorite? The funniest?

Can you give us an example of a brand that has managed to use data to improve its business?

Retailers like Target and many major banks dramatically improve profit by more intelligently targeting their marketing with prediction.

And how about improving the well-being of its consumers?

Healthcare applications are growing rapidly – we’ve even launched an annual Predictive Analytics World event focused on this: the PAW Healthcare conference.

How can so-called traditional sectors, such as agriculture, use data efficiently?

Change always meets some resistance. But the value and tremendous results other organizations are achieving pushes this change forward. There is no stopping it.

In some sectors, such as health, insurance, or banking, the use of data can impact the relationship between the brand and the consumer. How should companies communicate about the topic?

The choice to not reveal your use of data – to hide what you’re doing – will backfire and only hurt trust. Transparency is critical.

What would be the greatest danger of data misuse?

How do we safely harness a predictive machine that can foresee job resignation, pregnancy, and crime?

And how do we achieve value for law enforcement and national security without infringing on rights? See my op-ed in Newsweek on that.

Related info:

Eric Siegel’s book: Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie or Die (John Wiley & Sons, 2016)

Eric Siegel singing and dancing: Geek Professor Drops Rap Video, Tries to Dance

About Eric Siegel:

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

Originally posted on http://ift.tt/2iWXTOg

The post Interview with Eric Siegel: Popularizing Predictive Analytics with Song and Dance – The Predictive Analytics Times appeared first on Big Data News Magazine.

from Interview with Eric Siegel: Popularizing Predictive Analytics with Song and Dance – The Predictive Analytics Times

#Interview with Eric Siegel: Popularizing Predictive Analytics with Song and Dance – The Predictive A

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