Where are the agents to these actresses? I am not doubting what they are saying, but, this is very different than others that have been accused of these issues.
To begin, I would love Gloria Alred to lead charges against Donald Trump. There are underage girls involved with Trump.
Weinstein didn't use drugs. I guess the worst he used was alcohol, if that. The women knew enough to say, "Knock it off, Harvey." I am dismayed wonderful actresses, like Jennifer Lawrence, at all felt compromised. That is the issue, really. How is a new actress allowed to be in the presence alone with a man with a reputation?
It seems to me there is a bigger picture. Harvey Weinstein needs to proceed with his plans for counseling. Sex addicts have programs that can work. It really is a shame he has looked at these wonderful women as sex objects rather than sincerely talented women. He missed his whole life. That is sad.
I am appalled this was Hollywood. Where were the agents when these women committed to speaking with Weinstein? They should not have been left alone in his presence. This happened repeatedly and he had a reputation. Was this part of the deal to have the actress a part of the film? I mean that.
I find it very strange how Trump gets away with assaults on teenagers and yet Hollywood wants to dump their frustrations on Weinstein.
I think Harvey Weinstein has a lot of penance to do. He has a responsibility to those women. I think they have to demand some type of recompense as a settlement to their very bad experience with a man holding power over their career. I don't know what that will be. They have to decide.
I don't think mitigation will amount to anything. We have seen rape cases go before judges and the entire media goes berserk and the rape allegations are turned against the woman every time. The actions against Cosby were unsuccessful. The military is not happy with any assault issues being a problem. Harvey Weinstein has his problems, but, to what end will this become a real resolve? Do we keep trying to find the one wolf that will fall because of bad behavior? Well, he is out of the company. That is more than I thought would happen.
I think Weinstein needs to put together a real effort to legitimize the issues of women. He needs to develop a method by which all the women assaulted, be they of Cosby, Coby Bryant, the military or him; receive what they need in this lifetime.
This needs to be a pivotal moment. Weinstein is a wealthy man. He is involved with Hollywood and regardless of the outcome here, he will always be involved with Hollywood. He needs to do something. If the women he was involved with are having issues, such as PTSD, then put them on the screen as part of a fundraiser where they will influence the future of sexual assault. Gloria Alred should be the lawyer the organization will retain to carry this mission forward.
There needs to be a social awareness and LEGITIMACY that carries brevity. There were rape kits stored as if they were a bother to law enforcement. Excuse me, that is not a society willing to take Harvey Weinstein's sexual addiction seriously.
I think the gossip columns are useless when it comes to the esteem of a woman. There is an answer somewhere. A serious answer that will change the way Americans value women and understand them when they come forward to say they were sexually exploited at some level or another.
The image of women has come a long way. We are no longer Doris Day or Barbie or Cinderella. But, the real change comes when women are validated in their perception of sexual assault. Society falls short of it's value of women. There was incredible misogyny during the elections of 2016.
I don't know Harvey Weinstein, but, I have been listening to the goings on in the media and was disgusted. I knew nothing would come of it. And nothing will. We have a man in the White House that is guilty of sexual assault by self-admission and I am sure there are women that can testify to that. The USA isn't even close to taking sexual assault seriously. We complain that women are forced to the shadows and are afraid to come forward. That is right. When will that change, because, Weinstein's public prosecution won't do a darn thing except add more scandals to the gossip columns? I firmly believe that.
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Roger Goodell is wrong. Freedom of speech is on the line and he is a coward.
Maybe Goodell is a racist. Pence certainly seems to be. It might be time for a players' strike if Goodell can't back them in seeking prison reform and ending the lifelong issue of poverty and prison.
The USA is not supposed to be setting policy for the NFL. Goodell doesn't have a backbone. I think it is time for the NFL to find a suitable African American commissioner.
October 10, 2017
By Mark Maske
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (click here) said Tuesday that team owners will discuss a plan when they meet next week for dealing with the raging national controversy over players’ protests during the national anthem, adding that while the league respects the right of its players to express their opinions, it believes they should stand during the playing of the anthem.
While stopping short of saying the NFL would require its players to stand, Goodell strongly suggested in a letter to NFL teams that at next week’s meeting the league would propose to owners that players be required to do so, while also providing a platform to recognize their community activism....
Some of the owners may be a big issue. Something has to impress them to honor their players both on and off the field. I also think the players need legislators that are willing and ready to pass changes in the law to ensure deaths of innocent Americans stop. The players' activism needs to grow outside the NFL. It needs to carry clout that the NFL can feel to know it is real.
October 10, 2017
By Dave Zirin
Donald Trump’s efforts to distract from his flailing agenda (click here) by demonizing anti-racist NFL players is finally bearing some fruit. Last week there were reports leaking out from NFL players that the owners of their franchises were telling them that the protests against racism and police brutality being staged during the anthem had to end. They were dropping the hammer, even though NFL.
Commissioner Roger Goodell had promised that there would be no reprisals.
Then we had Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who gave over a million dollars to Donald Trump and has signed players guilty of violence against women, DWIs, and even attempted murder, say, “If there is anything that is disrespectful to the flag then we will not play. You understand? If we are disrespecting the flag then we won’t play. Period.” (Jerry Jones, based on his personal life, absence of military service, and patriotic bromides, is basically Donald Trump with a worse plastic surgeon.)...
No one is telling White Supremacists to stand down. The Charlottesville mayor told the White Supremacists to go home. He is alone. This was as recent as 2 days ago.
October 8, 2017
By Charlie May
Alt-right leader Richard Spencer (click here) and his gang of white nationalist neo-Nazis emerged in Charlottesville once again on Saturday night. The group wielded torches and chanted "you will not replace us" as they stood in front of the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which has been covered in black tarp.
In August, Spencer and white supremacists descended on Charlottesville and held a torch-lit march that poured into a massive rally organized by the alt-right the following day and resulted in the murder of peaceful activist, Heather Hayer....
The NFL is most visible right now, but, what is happening with other sports and their players. Where are retired NFL Superstars to stand up for the players today?
The issue is real. The movement needs to spread with spokesmen and women that continue the demand for of our social maladies. Poverty is a trap that breeds lives with dead ends into prison. The issues are huge and need to be addressed in a very real way.
Congress wants to talk tax reform, that is the least of the country's worries. There are lawyers that have represented Black families with members shot by police for no real reason. Unarmed Americans should not be shot by police. When Americans run from police it is more a reaction to the power of the police than real guilt. Police scare people, especially when the history is one like that of Ferguson, Missouri. When are the unarmed people going to be safe from death when chased by armed police officers? Never? Americans are going to die by armed officers when they never pose a real threat to anyone?
It isn't enough to point to a case here or there where families were paid for their losses; the deaths have to end. We are not Afghanistan.
This site lists all deaths by police. There are entries whereby police are shot by the person that now is dead.
Killed by police (click here)
2013 - 779
2014 - 1114
2015 - 1218
2016 - 1163
So far in 2017 - 1163
I am sure there will be more this year. These numbers are Americans gunned down by police. It does not account for deaths that occur in prisons. The problem is widespread and once they are dead, who is going to speak for them so their deaths prove to end a trend that should never exist.
When is the law enforcement profession going to address these deaths? They aren't supposed to happen. Got that? They aren't supposed to happen. Police gun down unarmed people. That is never supposed to happen. Police have guns to protect themselves from armed individuals, but, when are the deaths of innocent people and unarmed people going to stop?
The starkest reality to this issue is the death of Tamir Rice. Dear, God, what are they thinking? That child didn't have a chance and his parents never knew he would be in that level of danger. It all has to end and the NFL players are the people that carry the message. They have every reason to be proud of their pure desire to have this recognized and end it.
Goodell is wrong and needs to stand aside from becoming part of the problem. Silence won't solve anything.
The USA is not supposed to be setting policy for the NFL. Goodell doesn't have a backbone. I think it is time for the NFL to find a suitable African American commissioner.
October 10, 2017
By Mark Maske
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (click here) said Tuesday that team owners will discuss a plan when they meet next week for dealing with the raging national controversy over players’ protests during the national anthem, adding that while the league respects the right of its players to express their opinions, it believes they should stand during the playing of the anthem.
While stopping short of saying the NFL would require its players to stand, Goodell strongly suggested in a letter to NFL teams that at next week’s meeting the league would propose to owners that players be required to do so, while also providing a platform to recognize their community activism....
Some of the owners may be a big issue. Something has to impress them to honor their players both on and off the field. I also think the players need legislators that are willing and ready to pass changes in the law to ensure deaths of innocent Americans stop. The players' activism needs to grow outside the NFL. It needs to carry clout that the NFL can feel to know it is real.
October 10, 2017
By Dave Zirin
Donald Trump’s efforts to distract from his flailing agenda (click here) by demonizing anti-racist NFL players is finally bearing some fruit. Last week there were reports leaking out from NFL players that the owners of their franchises were telling them that the protests against racism and police brutality being staged during the anthem had to end. They were dropping the hammer, even though NFL.
Commissioner Roger Goodell had promised that there would be no reprisals.
Then we had Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who gave over a million dollars to Donald Trump and has signed players guilty of violence against women, DWIs, and even attempted murder, say, “If there is anything that is disrespectful to the flag then we will not play. You understand? If we are disrespecting the flag then we won’t play. Period.” (Jerry Jones, based on his personal life, absence of military service, and patriotic bromides, is basically Donald Trump with a worse plastic surgeon.)...
No one is telling White Supremacists to stand down. The Charlottesville mayor told the White Supremacists to go home. He is alone. This was as recent as 2 days ago.
October 8, 2017
By Charlie May
Alt-right leader Richard Spencer (click here) and his gang of white nationalist neo-Nazis emerged in Charlottesville once again on Saturday night. The group wielded torches and chanted "you will not replace us" as they stood in front of the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which has been covered in black tarp.
In August, Spencer and white supremacists descended on Charlottesville and held a torch-lit march that poured into a massive rally organized by the alt-right the following day and resulted in the murder of peaceful activist, Heather Hayer....
The NFL is most visible right now, but, what is happening with other sports and their players. Where are retired NFL Superstars to stand up for the players today?
The issue is real. The movement needs to spread with spokesmen and women that continue the demand for of our social maladies. Poverty is a trap that breeds lives with dead ends into prison. The issues are huge and need to be addressed in a very real way.
Congress wants to talk tax reform, that is the least of the country's worries. There are lawyers that have represented Black families with members shot by police for no real reason. Unarmed Americans should not be shot by police. When Americans run from police it is more a reaction to the power of the police than real guilt. Police scare people, especially when the history is one like that of Ferguson, Missouri. When are the unarmed people going to be safe from death when chased by armed police officers? Never? Americans are going to die by armed officers when they never pose a real threat to anyone?
It isn't enough to point to a case here or there where families were paid for their losses; the deaths have to end. We are not Afghanistan.
This site lists all deaths by police. There are entries whereby police are shot by the person that now is dead.
Killed by police (click here)
2013 - 779
2014 - 1114
2015 - 1218
2016 - 1163
So far in 2017 - 1163
I am sure there will be more this year. These numbers are Americans gunned down by police. It does not account for deaths that occur in prisons. The problem is widespread and once they are dead, who is going to speak for them so their deaths prove to end a trend that should never exist.
When is the law enforcement profession going to address these deaths? They aren't supposed to happen. Got that? They aren't supposed to happen. Police gun down unarmed people. That is never supposed to happen. Police have guns to protect themselves from armed individuals, but, when are the deaths of innocent people and unarmed people going to stop?
The starkest reality to this issue is the death of Tamir Rice. Dear, God, what are they thinking? That child didn't have a chance and his parents never knew he would be in that level of danger. It all has to end and the NFL players are the people that carry the message. They have every reason to be proud of their pure desire to have this recognized and end it.
Goodell is wrong and needs to stand aside from becoming part of the problem. Silence won't solve anything.
This is not good news for the Trump White House and a majority Republican Congress. Putin is winning the war.
October 9, 2017
By Juan Cole
The US and Turkey (click here) have ceased processing non-immigrant visas for one another’s citizens. That’s right. If you’re an American and were planning to visit Istanbul this fall, unpack your bags.
In a world of abnormal goings-on, this one is really weird.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has used the failed coup attempt of July 15, 2016, as a pretext for moving his country away from democracy and toward an illiberal authoritarianism. He has closed universities and newspapers, jailed journalists, dissidents and academics, and fired 150,000 people from government jobs. The Turkish government maintains that the coup was led by military officers from the Hizmet movement of Fethullah Gulen, a rightwing religious leader who fled Turkey in the late 1990s and lives in Pennsylvania. Only a fraction of those persons targeted, however, have been Gulencis (200,000 people did not act as coup plotters).
Members of the Turkish cabinet have openly charged Barack Obama with having been behind the coup, which is ridiculous. A billionaire crony of Erdogan attempted to buy influence with Trump by hiring the security firm of Michael Flynn, Trump’s first National Security Adviser. Flynn allegedly thought seriously about kidnapping the elderly Gulen and rendering him back to Turkey for trial. As it happened, Flynn was fired for not disclosing the extent of his foreign emoluments....
Effecting the sovereignty of any country to benefit a foreign power's hold and provide wealth at the same time is a double crime of treason and sedition.
Trump openly threatened NATO. It would seem Turkey took him seriously. He really believes himself an imperial president of the USA that can dissolve treaties and alliances without an action by Congress. When will the Congress act to remove Trump from his seat of power?
18 December 2013
Supporters regard the Hizmet movement (click here) inspired by US-based Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen as the benign, modern face of Islam, but critics question its motives.
The influence of the movement has been in the spotlight again in Mr Gulen's home country, where a feud between his followers and other members of the political class has been blown into the open by a series of arrests.
Ill-feeling is said to have grown since the Turkish government moved to close down a network of private schools run by Hizmet....
By Juan Cole
The US and Turkey (click here) have ceased processing non-immigrant visas for one another’s citizens. That’s right. If you’re an American and were planning to visit Istanbul this fall, unpack your bags.
In a world of abnormal goings-on, this one is really weird.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has used the failed coup attempt of July 15, 2016, as a pretext for moving his country away from democracy and toward an illiberal authoritarianism. He has closed universities and newspapers, jailed journalists, dissidents and academics, and fired 150,000 people from government jobs. The Turkish government maintains that the coup was led by military officers from the Hizmet movement of Fethullah Gulen, a rightwing religious leader who fled Turkey in the late 1990s and lives in Pennsylvania. Only a fraction of those persons targeted, however, have been Gulencis (200,000 people did not act as coup plotters).
Members of the Turkish cabinet have openly charged Barack Obama with having been behind the coup, which is ridiculous. A billionaire crony of Erdogan attempted to buy influence with Trump by hiring the security firm of Michael Flynn, Trump’s first National Security Adviser. Flynn allegedly thought seriously about kidnapping the elderly Gulen and rendering him back to Turkey for trial. As it happened, Flynn was fired for not disclosing the extent of his foreign emoluments....
Effecting the sovereignty of any country to benefit a foreign power's hold and provide wealth at the same time is a double crime of treason and sedition.
Trump openly threatened NATO. It would seem Turkey took him seriously. He really believes himself an imperial president of the USA that can dissolve treaties and alliances without an action by Congress. When will the Congress act to remove Trump from his seat of power?
18 December 2013
Supporters regard the Hizmet movement (click here) inspired by US-based Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen as the benign, modern face of Islam, but critics question its motives.
The influence of the movement has been in the spotlight again in Mr Gulen's home country, where a feud between his followers and other members of the political class has been blown into the open by a series of arrests.
Ill-feeling is said to have grown since the Turkish government moved to close down a network of private schools run by Hizmet....
Journalists are always caught between a rock and a hard place.
October 9, 2017
Caracas -- Three journalists (click here) – two of them foreigners – detained during a working visit to a prison were released on Sunday after a court hearing, Venezuela’s SNTP media workers union said.
Jesus Medina, Filippo Rossi and Roberto Di Matteo were released without charges, the SNTP said on Twitter.
Rossi is a Swiss citizen and Di Matteo is Italian.
The three men were arrested Saturday by agents of the prisons ministry at Tocoron penitentiary in the north-central state of Aragua, where they went to do a news story.
The SNTP said that while Medina, Di Matteo and Rossi were detained on charges of bringing audio-visual recording equipment into the prison without authorization, the journalists complied fully with regulations.
Tocoron is among the penitentiaries that have yet to implement a new set of guidelines that the prisons ministry says are aimed at “pacifying” Venezuela’s notoriously violent jails.
Media outlets have reported that inmates at Tocoron direct kidnappings, protection rings and black-market activities from behind bars.
In some countries journalists are considered to be spies, regardless, of their lack of a relationship with their home governments in a way that would bring secretive information considered to be intelligence.
The reason these misunderstandings occur is because the government involved doesn't understand the JOB journalists have or simply don't approve of it. The West has a unique paradigm with journalists that someone like Vladimir Putin finds pliable enough to use as a weapon. That is a problem the citizens of The West may find difficult to control. Freedom of speech isn't suppose to be used as a weapon, but, it is in the year 2017.
Journalists value freedom of speech and seek to bring information to their readers to improve their understanding of the truth. Propaganda is an enemy. Lies are not illegal. However, misdirecting information to create a danger to the sovereignty of a country is a crime.
To many, journalists are not friends, but, the profession never demands it should be. The profession of journalism only demands that it exist on it's own standards.
October 9, 2017
Ankara (Reuters) - Turkey will retry a lawmaker (click here) from the main opposition party after a court annulled his 25-year prison sentence but he will remain in custody, broadcaster NTV and opposition lawmakers said on Monday.
Enis Berberoglu became a symbol for more than 50,000 people detained in the wake of a failed coup in July 2016.
The chairman of his secular Republican People’s Party (CHP) started a 425 km (265 mile) protest march from the capital Ankara to Istanbul when he was convicted and sentenced in June for military espionage.
The court had said Berberoglu gave an opposition newspaper a video purporting to show Turkey’s intelligence agency trucking weapons into Syria....
How much bail is Iran asking for this time? I would think with nuclear sanctions lifted there would be no more need for the Iranian government to raise funds through false arrests.
October 9, 2017
By Saeed Kamali Dehghan
A British-Iranian woman (click here) serving a five-year jail term in Iran after being accused of trying to orchestrate a “soft overthrow” of the Islamic Republic is facing fresh charges that may lead to an additional 16 years in prison, her husband has said.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 38, a project manager at the Thomson Reuters Foundation, has been in jail for 18 months and was due to become eligible for early release next month, but the new trial means she will remain behind bars.
Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, said that at a court hearing on Sunday inside Tehran’s Evin prison, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was told her case had been reopened and she was facing charges including demonstrating outside the Iranian embassy in London, based on a photo found from accessing her private email account....
Iran should have more confidence in its people. Does the current government actually believe the Iranian people want to go back to the time of the Shah? I doubt they do. I think they may want more freedom of expression that would solve social ills, but, to move back to a dictatorship that starved its people is hardly the Iran most of it's citizens long for.
The Iranian government should seek to provide greater freedom of speech. Oddly, freedom of speech tends to act as a buffer to revolution. Interestingly, it can prevent revolution when the people are heard and the government understands the best way forward.
I think the Ayatollah opened a twitter account long before Trump became president. He should know talking with the people is a constructive method to solve problems in finding a way forward for them. I simply can't believe a British-Iranian woman has all this power to threaten the government of Iran. I think it is time Iran realize it's short fall of incite in regard to her.
Victims can enact revolution far easier than those heard in opposition to social and political standards. The Iranian government needs to reflect on Iran of the past opposed to the Iran it's citizens long for today.
Rossi is a Swiss citizen and Di Matteo is Italian.
The three men were arrested Saturday by agents of the prisons ministry at Tocoron penitentiary in the north-central state of Aragua, where they went to do a news story.
The SNTP said that while Medina, Di Matteo and Rossi were detained on charges of bringing audio-visual recording equipment into the prison without authorization, the journalists complied fully with regulations.
Tocoron is among the penitentiaries that have yet to implement a new set of guidelines that the prisons ministry says are aimed at “pacifying” Venezuela’s notoriously violent jails.
Media outlets have reported that inmates at Tocoron direct kidnappings, protection rings and black-market activities from behind bars.
In some countries journalists are considered to be spies, regardless, of their lack of a relationship with their home governments in a way that would bring secretive information considered to be intelligence.
The reason these misunderstandings occur is because the government involved doesn't understand the JOB journalists have or simply don't approve of it. The West has a unique paradigm with journalists that someone like Vladimir Putin finds pliable enough to use as a weapon. That is a problem the citizens of The West may find difficult to control. Freedom of speech isn't suppose to be used as a weapon, but, it is in the year 2017.
Journalists value freedom of speech and seek to bring information to their readers to improve their understanding of the truth. Propaganda is an enemy. Lies are not illegal. However, misdirecting information to create a danger to the sovereignty of a country is a crime.
To many, journalists are not friends, but, the profession never demands it should be. The profession of journalism only demands that it exist on it's own standards.
October 9, 2017
Ankara (Reuters) - Turkey will retry a lawmaker (click here) from the main opposition party after a court annulled his 25-year prison sentence but he will remain in custody, broadcaster NTV and opposition lawmakers said on Monday.
Enis Berberoglu became a symbol for more than 50,000 people detained in the wake of a failed coup in July 2016.
The chairman of his secular Republican People’s Party (CHP) started a 425 km (265 mile) protest march from the capital Ankara to Istanbul when he was convicted and sentenced in June for military espionage.
The court had said Berberoglu gave an opposition newspaper a video purporting to show Turkey’s intelligence agency trucking weapons into Syria....
How much bail is Iran asking for this time? I would think with nuclear sanctions lifted there would be no more need for the Iranian government to raise funds through false arrests.
By Saeed Kamali Dehghan
A British-Iranian woman (click here) serving a five-year jail term in Iran after being accused of trying to orchestrate a “soft overthrow” of the Islamic Republic is facing fresh charges that may lead to an additional 16 years in prison, her husband has said.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 38, a project manager at the Thomson Reuters Foundation, has been in jail for 18 months and was due to become eligible for early release next month, but the new trial means she will remain behind bars.
Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, said that at a court hearing on Sunday inside Tehran’s Evin prison, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was told her case had been reopened and she was facing charges including demonstrating outside the Iranian embassy in London, based on a photo found from accessing her private email account....
Iran should have more confidence in its people. Does the current government actually believe the Iranian people want to go back to the time of the Shah? I doubt they do. I think they may want more freedom of expression that would solve social ills, but, to move back to a dictatorship that starved its people is hardly the Iran most of it's citizens long for.
The Iranian government should seek to provide greater freedom of speech. Oddly, freedom of speech tends to act as a buffer to revolution. Interestingly, it can prevent revolution when the people are heard and the government understands the best way forward.
I think the Ayatollah opened a twitter account long before Trump became president. He should know talking with the people is a constructive method to solve problems in finding a way forward for them. I simply can't believe a British-Iranian woman has all this power to threaten the government of Iran. I think it is time Iran realize it's short fall of incite in regard to her.
Victims can enact revolution far easier than those heard in opposition to social and political standards. The Iranian government needs to reflect on Iran of the past opposed to the Iran it's citizens long for today.
And the winners are?
The winners of Belfast Zoo’s annual photographic competition have been revealed (click here)
The competition, which has been running for 34 years, offers budding and amateur photographers the chance to creatively photograph the animals and scenes of the zoo.
This year's competition received over 650 entries - more than any other year.
The winners were selected by a judging panel including two professional photographers.
Zoo manager and competition judge, Alyn Cairns, said: “Despite the fact that the competition has been running for more than 30 years, we are always stunned by the standard of the submissions, as well as the quality and skill demonstrated by entrants.
Picture Gallery (click here)
Picture Gallery (click here)
Sanctions are survivable, just not such a great economy.
When President Obama began the sanctions on Russia, the leadership pulled up it's welcome map and became an isolationist power. That trend started before the sanctions actually. But, Russia is an example of a major power that can survive sanctions.
Russia's nationalism has created a country, with local trading partners, that can produce goods in isolation of the rest of the world. The isolationism of Russia can possibly bring about a sustainable economy as the Russian Ruble has been falling against the USA dollar for the past ten years. (July 2008 value 0.04306 American dollar and October 2017 value 0.01718). If the Russian people trade internally it brings about a dual reality, no different than China's dual currency system. Such isolationism creates an economy, but, not a vibrant economy with growth to attract investment.
Can North Korea have a sustainable economy under sanctions? Sure. But, will it satisfy the people? If the North Korean people believe their suffering is to insure their survival against the "Great Satan" of the USA, they will appreciate the economy they have. The bombast of Trump fuels Un's economic strategy.
The picture below shows an Un that is a happy and jovial man. If he can throw a celebrity basketball game to the delight of the North Korean people; all the better. Un is feeling no pain these days, it is rolling his way and the USA has lost two warships to freighters over this mess.
October 10, 2017
By Karishma Vaswani
...Sanctions v Survival (click here)
Russia's nationalism has created a country, with local trading partners, that can produce goods in isolation of the rest of the world. The isolationism of Russia can possibly bring about a sustainable economy as the Russian Ruble has been falling against the USA dollar for the past ten years. (July 2008 value 0.04306 American dollar and October 2017 value 0.01718). If the Russian people trade internally it brings about a dual reality, no different than China's dual currency system. Such isolationism creates an economy, but, not a vibrant economy with growth to attract investment.
Can North Korea have a sustainable economy under sanctions? Sure. But, will it satisfy the people? If the North Korean people believe their suffering is to insure their survival against the "Great Satan" of the USA, they will appreciate the economy they have. The bombast of Trump fuels Un's economic strategy.
The picture below shows an Un that is a happy and jovial man. If he can throw a celebrity basketball game to the delight of the North Korean people; all the better. Un is feeling no pain these days, it is rolling his way and the USA has lost two warships to freighters over this mess.
By Karishma Vaswani
...Sanctions v Survival (click here)
In his speech, Kim Jong-un also said that North Korea's economy is doing well, despite the sanctions put in place by the West.
That may be wishful thinking, given the fact that the sanctions are being enforced relatively stringently.
And that's affecting the economy.
Although it's hard to get reliable figures on North Korea's economy, some data has shown that gasoline prices have been volatile, and the cost of basic goods have reportedly been rising. That will hurt North Korean households.
"North Korean households are richer than they were before," Byung-Yeon Kim, author of the book Unveiling the North Korean Economy tells me from Seoul.
"Their consumption level has increased since the 1990s. A reduction in consumption levels for both the elites and the households will make them unhappy - and that will create a divide between Kim Jong-un and his people. That's dangerous for his political security."
So when sanctions target foreign trade it does start to bite. And that goes goes back to the central question of Kim Jong-un's political survival....
Trump loves to mimic "W." Get ready for the next "Axis of Evil" speech. Un should be across the border when Trump visits and at least wave hello. Maybe they could engage in a shouting match.
October 10, 2017
Seoul (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump (click here) may travel to the heavily fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea when he visits South Korea next month, the South’s Yonhap news agency said on Tuesday, citing a defense source.
The White House sent an advance team of working-level officials in late September to check candidate sites for Trump’s “special activity” in South Korea, the source was quoted as saying.
Trump was expected to send a significant message to North Korea, either verbally or “kinetically”, during his first trip to the peninsula as U.S. commander-in-chief, the source said.
The truce village of Panmunjom and the observation post, both inside the DMZ, were among locations Trump was considering visiting, the source said.
Yonhap did not elaborate and the White House did not comment....
So when sanctions target foreign trade it does start to bite. And that goes goes back to the central question of Kim Jong-un's political survival....
Trump loves to mimic "W." Get ready for the next "Axis of Evil" speech. Un should be across the border when Trump visits and at least wave hello. Maybe they could engage in a shouting match.
October 10, 2017
Seoul (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump (click here) may travel to the heavily fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea when he visits South Korea next month, the South’s Yonhap news agency said on Tuesday, citing a defense source.
The White House sent an advance team of working-level officials in late September to check candidate sites for Trump’s “special activity” in South Korea, the source was quoted as saying.
Trump was expected to send a significant message to North Korea, either verbally or “kinetically”, during his first trip to the peninsula as U.S. commander-in-chief, the source said.
The truce village of Panmunjom and the observation post, both inside the DMZ, were among locations Trump was considering visiting, the source said.
Yonhap did not elaborate and the White House did not comment....
Talk about soft targets. I do not understand the deaths. Why so many?
By Ryan Lillis, Molly Sullivan and Ellen Garrison
Santa Rosa - Wildfires driven by powerful winds (click here) tore through Northern California’s famed wine country Monday, killing at least 10, leveling neighborhoods and forcing thousands of residents to grab what they could and flee from fast-moving walls of flames.
Two huge fires in Sonoma and Napa counties were part of a series of blazes that raged across the north state, from Yuba and Nevada counties in the east to Mendocino and Lake counties in the west. Cal Fire Chief Ken Pimlott said bone-dry conditions and high winds combined to whip sparks into firestorms.
“To be honest, pretty much anywhere in the state today (is threatened), and that’s not an exaggeration,” Pimlott said at a midday news conference....
This year is clear demonstration of the neglect of the American people. There have been catastrophic storms and now deadly wildfires. I think Californians are not used to the speed at which these fires started and moved. The ability to predict danger to Americans is becoming more and more diffuse.
These problems are brought on by planetary forces. The world cannot fight Earth. These forces are known to the world, but, this is the first time the USA is being plowed under by the ravages of nature.
There was the heat in France that killed over 10,000 French citizens, there were the fires in Russia that took the lives of 50,000 Russian citizens. That doesn't account for the losses due to typhoons in the Pacific. Even with all that reality in the face of the American people, no matter how much the conservation organizations tried, there was little to no reaction simply because it wasn't them.
October 9, 2017
KTVU staff - Fourteen fast-moving wildfires racing (click here) through Northern California Monday have destroyed at least 1,500 homes and commercial buildings, forced thousands to flee and killed at least 10 people with authorities now saying more fatalities are likely.
Sonoma County Sheriff's Department issued a news release at 4:38 p.m. confirming seven deaths. One person was killed in Mendocino County and a couple died in their home at the Silverado Resort in Napa.
A Cal Fire spokeswoman in the Sonoma-Lake-Napa unit said power is still out in the St. Helena and Calistoga areas and there is no cell phone service.
According to the couple's granddaughter Ruby Gibney, Charles, also known as Peach, and Sara Rippey were unable to escape from their home, located on Atlas Peak Road, and died in the blaze. Gibney tells KTVU Peach had just turned 100 and Sara was 99. The couple had recently celebrated 75 years of marriage....
October 3, 2017
U.S. Drought Monitor
Continental U.S.
This is the drought map and there is absolutely no indication such wildfires were expected to erupt in California.
To the left is the current map as of October 10, 2017 showing the fires in California. There is no correlation between drought and these fires. None. Fourteen fires occurred for a reason, if it is arson there needs to be stronger programs to end such a threat.A simple fire can become an inferno with high winds. That was the culprit in these fires that drove the danger to those caught in them. Some reports are saying ten dead, while another is expecting more. The winds. Californians are getting high sustainable winds that drive danger no different than the winds that lashed the Virgin Islands and other mainland areas. Perhaps California can try to stronger message about the winds and what can occur with such dynamics. The people are used to fires, they are not used to infernos driven by high wind.
Mr. and Mrs. Rippey were compliant in warnings regarding the fires, they were leaving to a safer place; it was the understanding of the speed the fires were traveling that trapped them. Mr. and Mrs. Rippey were vulnerable adults that need to be on the warning system map differently.
This isn't about IQ tests; it is about a moronic agenda!
Aligning with Russia, alienating allies, placing Japan and South Korea in the cross hairs, taking for granted Israel can actually defend itself should the USA fall under attack for any reason and placing American National Guard Troops back in harms way and repeating the idiot practices of "W" are all components of the most moronic agenda of any administration in the history of the USA. Those are my words, I am sure Secretary Tillerson has other words indeed.
October 10, 2017
By Philip Rucker
President Trump (click here) proposed an “IQ tests” face-off with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson after the nation's top diplomat reportedly called the president a “moron” and disparaged his grasp on foreign policy.
October 10, 2017
By Philip Rucker
President Trump (click here) proposed an “IQ tests” face-off with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson after the nation's top diplomat reportedly called the president a “moron” and disparaged his grasp on foreign policy.
In an interview with Forbes magazine published Tuesday, Trump fired a shot at Tillerson over the “moron” revelation, first reported by NBC News and confirmed by several other news organizations, including The Washington Post.
“I think it's fake news,” Trump said, “but if he did that, I guess we'll have to compare IQ tests. And I can tell you who is going to win.”
Trump's challenge is the latest evidence of what White House officials have described as a breach of trust between the president and the secretary of state....
During the elections of 2016, Vladimir Putin threw his support to Donald Trump in many ways other than ads on Facebook. Putin boldly STATED, "If Clinton is elected there will be nuclear war, but, not with Trump."
There isn't anything to say or understand beyond that. The Russian President much rather deal with a man afraid of him than with people that actually want to protect the national security of the USA.
During the time of "W," Russia's Putin and Medvedev made global trips to nearly every country on the planet. It was obvious they were preparing for a USA that was out of control and a threat to every human life on Earth. Well, the USA has achieved that status since global warming is ignored as God's will or some other silly nonsense. But, to war with the USA would require the entire cooperation of the global powers, including near shore powers of Latin America.
I actually believe the world is at the point of being able to cooperate with an agenda to disarm and cause submission of the USA. It is clearly demonstrated in the incredible power behind protecting sovereignty and defeating the charismatic movement that is Daesh.
With Trump as erratic in foreign policy as he is and completely disagreeable with most if not all his cabinet, there is no telling what is coming next. North Korea needs allies with Russia and China leading the list, but, to continually put the USA in a threatening posture, in my opinion, has caused freighter ships to come to the forefront as the force that can get the job done by sinking USA war ships.
This is not about IQ, it is about a man in the Oval Office that strokes his ego at the expense of everyone else, including world leaders. The Trump agenda is moronic, dangerous and set in stone only until the next Tweet.
Conway is scolding the country because of the truth telling and opinion makers that cast doubt and criticism of her boss. Well, honey, too bad.
October 10, 2017
By Aaron Blake
...But while the White House thinks Trump's counterpunching is only fair, (click here) this is not a two-way street. And yet again Monday, those close to Trump made the case that it is simply not okay to criticize the president in the manner he goes after others.
After Trump attacked Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) over some veiled criticisms last week, Corker tweeted Sunday that the White House was an “adult day-care center” and later suggested Trump's threats to foreign countries could lead to World War III. Appearing on “Fox and Friends” on Monday morning, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said that this was not okay.
Host Brian Kilmeade teed it up nicely, saying, “What a demeaning tweet at the president.”
“Well it is, and world leaders see that,” Conway responded. “We’ve all worked with Senator Corker over the years. We thank him for his service, but I find tweets like this to be incredibly irresponsible.”...
Donald Trump is paranoid. He trusts no one except his family and I am sure even his family walks a fine line to insure their good graces with the last will and testament. It is just that simple.
He is afraid of the loss of control and will put forward aggression against anyone. It is easy to be a counter-puncher. All that requires is criticism and an opposing opinion, RIGHT OR WRONG. Enough. Donald Trump needs to be President of the USA or get out! He needs to accept previous policy of the USA that reflects the best interest of the well being of the American people and not the greed merchants he considers his best friends. Except for the greed merchants, Donald Trump has no friends. His idea of friendship is to hold people hostage to power while they smile through the humiliation.
In chronically talking about Trump removes the attention of serious issues facing the country and it's outcomes. Trump is a distraction to allow exploitation of the USA.
During the elections of 2016, Vladimir Putin threw his support to Donald Trump in many ways other than ads on Facebook. Putin boldly STATED, "If Clinton is elected there will be nuclear war, but, not with Trump."
There isn't anything to say or understand beyond that. The Russian President much rather deal with a man afraid of him than with people that actually want to protect the national security of the USA.
During the time of "W," Russia's Putin and Medvedev made global trips to nearly every country on the planet. It was obvious they were preparing for a USA that was out of control and a threat to every human life on Earth. Well, the USA has achieved that status since global warming is ignored as God's will or some other silly nonsense. But, to war with the USA would require the entire cooperation of the global powers, including near shore powers of Latin America.
I actually believe the world is at the point of being able to cooperate with an agenda to disarm and cause submission of the USA. It is clearly demonstrated in the incredible power behind protecting sovereignty and defeating the charismatic movement that is Daesh.
With Trump as erratic in foreign policy as he is and completely disagreeable with most if not all his cabinet, there is no telling what is coming next. North Korea needs allies with Russia and China leading the list, but, to continually put the USA in a threatening posture, in my opinion, has caused freighter ships to come to the forefront as the force that can get the job done by sinking USA war ships.
This is not about IQ, it is about a man in the Oval Office that strokes his ego at the expense of everyone else, including world leaders. The Trump agenda is moronic, dangerous and set in stone only until the next Tweet.
Conway is scolding the country because of the truth telling and opinion makers that cast doubt and criticism of her boss. Well, honey, too bad.
October 10, 2017
By Aaron Blake
...But while the White House thinks Trump's counterpunching is only fair, (click here) this is not a two-way street. And yet again Monday, those close to Trump made the case that it is simply not okay to criticize the president in the manner he goes after others.
After Trump attacked Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) over some veiled criticisms last week, Corker tweeted Sunday that the White House was an “adult day-care center” and later suggested Trump's threats to foreign countries could lead to World War III. Appearing on “Fox and Friends” on Monday morning, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said that this was not okay.
Host Brian Kilmeade teed it up nicely, saying, “What a demeaning tweet at the president.”
“Well it is, and world leaders see that,” Conway responded. “We’ve all worked with Senator Corker over the years. We thank him for his service, but I find tweets like this to be incredibly irresponsible.”...
Donald Trump is paranoid. He trusts no one except his family and I am sure even his family walks a fine line to insure their good graces with the last will and testament. It is just that simple.
He is afraid of the loss of control and will put forward aggression against anyone. It is easy to be a counter-puncher. All that requires is criticism and an opposing opinion, RIGHT OR WRONG. Enough. Donald Trump needs to be President of the USA or get out! He needs to accept previous policy of the USA that reflects the best interest of the well being of the American people and not the greed merchants he considers his best friends. Except for the greed merchants, Donald Trump has no friends. His idea of friendship is to hold people hostage to power while they smile through the humiliation.
In chronically talking about Trump removes the attention of serious issues facing the country and it's outcomes. Trump is a distraction to allow exploitation of the USA.
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