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psychodollyuniverse · 5 years ago

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How Stanley Kubrick Staged the Moon Landing By Rich Cohen July 18, 2019 Conspiracy In his new monthly column, Conspiracy, Rich Cohen gets to the bottom of it all. 2001: A Space Odyssey Have you ever met a person who’s been on the moon? There are only four of them left. Within a decade or so, the last will be dead and that astonishing feat will pass from living memory into history, which, sooner or later, is always questioned and turned into fable. It will not be exactly like the moment the last conquistador died, but will lean in that direction. The story of the moon landing will become a little harder to believe. I’ve met three of the twelve men who walked on the moon. They had one important thing in common when I looked into their eyes: they were all bonkers. Buzz Aldrin, who was the second off the ladder during the first landing on July 20, 1969, almost exactly fifty years ago—he must have stared with envy at Neil Armstrong’s crinkly space-suit ass all the way down—has run hot from the moment he returned to earth. When questioned about the reality of the landing—he was asked to swear to it on a Bible—he slugged the questioner. When I sat down with Edgar Mitchell, who made his landing in the winter of 1971, he had that same look in his eyes. I asked about the space program, but he talked only about UFOs. He said he’d been wrapped in a warm consciousness his entire time in space. Many astronauts came back with a belief in alien life. Maybe it was simply the truth: maybe they had been touched by something. Or maybe the experience of going to the moon—standing and walking and driving that buggy and hitting that weightless golf ball—would make anyone crazy. It’s a radical shift in perspective, to see the earth from the outside, fragile and small, a rock in a sea of nothing. It wasn’t just the astronauts: everyone who saw the images and watched the broadcast got a little dizzy. July 20 1969, 3:17 P.M. E.S.T. The moment is an unacknowledged hinge in human history, unacknowledged because it seemed to lead nowhere. Where are the moon hotels and moon amusement parks and moon shuttles we grew up expecting? But it did lead to something: a new kind of mind. It’s not the birth of the space age we should be acknowledging on this fiftieth anniversary, but the birth of the paranoia that defines us. Because a man on the moon was too fantastic to accept, some people just didn’t accept it, or deal with its implications—that sea of darkness. Instead, they tried to prove it never happened, convince themselves it had all been faked. Having learned the habit of conspiracy spotting, these same people came to question everything else, too. History itself began to read like a fraud, a book filled with lies. To understand America, you can start with Apollo 11 and all that is counterfactual that’s grown around it; that’s when the culture of conspiracy, which is the culture of Donald Trump and fake news, was born. * The stories of a hoax predate the landing itself. As soon as the first capsules were in orbit, some began to dismiss the images as phony and the testimony of the astronauts as bullshit. The motivation seemed obvious: John F. Kennedy had promised to send a man to the moon within the decade. And, though we might be years behind the Soviets in rocketry, we were years ahead in filmmaking. If we couldn’t beat them to moon, we could at least make it look like we had. Most of the theories originated in the cortex of a single man: William Kaysing, who’d worked as a technical writer for Rocketdyne, a company that made engines. Kaysing left Rocketdyne in 1963, but remained fixated on the space program and its goal, which was often expressed as an item on a Cold War to-do list—go to the moon: check—but was in fact profound, powerful, surreal. A man on the moon would mean the dawn of a new era. Kaysing believed it unattainable, beyond the reach of existing technology. He cited his experience at Rocketdyne, but, one could say he did not believe it simply because it was not believable. That’s the lens he brought to every NASA update. He was not watching for what had happened, but trying to figure out how it had been staged. There were six successful manned missions to the moon, all part of Apollo. A dozen men walked the lunar surface between 1969 and 1972, when Harrison H. Schmitt—he later served as a Republican U.S. Senator from New Mexico—piloted the last lander off the surface. When people dismiss the project as a failure—we never went back because there is nothing for us there—others point out the fact that twenty-seven years passed between Columbus’s first Atlantic crossing and Cortez’s conquest of Mexico, or that 127 years passed between the first European visit to the Mississippi River and the second—it’d been “discovered,” “forgotten,” and “discovered” again. From some point in the future, our time, with its celebrities, politicians, its happiness and pain, might look like little more than an interregnum, the moment between the first landing and the colonization of space. Kaysing put his theories in a book, self-published in 1976. His title is also his conclusion: We Never Went to the Moon: America’s Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle. He believed he was playing whistle-blower, calling attention to a cover-up. The human mind has evolved to see patterns. You see a face in the clouds, hear God in the wind. Some people spot a cabal where others see nothing but bureaucrats. It’s not because they are stupid; it’s because they are smart. The same skill that would have made them a success in one age makes them a kook in another. Kaysing catalogued inconsistencies that “proved” the landing had been faked. There have been hundreds of movies, books, and articles that question the Apollo missions; almost all of them have relied on Kaysing’s “discoveries.” Old Glory: The American flag the astronauts planted on the moon, which should have been flaccid, the moon existing in a vacuum, is taut in photos, even waving, reveling more than NASA intended. (Knowing the flag would be flaccid, and believing a flaccid flag was no way to declare victory, engineers fitted the pole with a cross beam on which to hang the flag; if it looks like its waving, that’s because Buzz Aldrin was twisting the pole, screwing it into the lunar soil). There’s only one source of light on the moon—the sun—yet the shadows of the astronauts fall every which way, suggesting multiple light sources, just the sort you might find in a movie studio. (There were indeed multiple sources of light during the landings—it came from the sun, it came from the earth, it came from the lander, and it came from the astronauts’ space suits.) Blast Circle: If NASA had actually landed a craft on the moon, it would have left an impression and markings where the jets fired during takeoff. Yet, as can be seen in NASA’s own photos, there are none. You know what would’ve left no impression? A movie prop. Conspiracy theorists point out what looks like a C written on one of the moon rocks, as if it came straight from the special effects department. (The moon has about one-fifth the gravity of earth; the landing was therefore soft; the lander drifted down like a leaf. Nor was much propulsion needed to send the lander back into orbit. It left no impression just as you leave no impression when you touch the bottom of a pool; what looks like a C is probably a shadow.) Here you are, supposedly in outer space, yet we see no stars in the pictures. You know where else you wouldn’t see stars? A movie set. (The moon walks were made during the lunar morning—Columbus went ashore in daylight, too. You don’t see stars when the sun is out, nor at night in a light-filled place, like a stadium or a landing zone). Giant Leap for Mankind: If Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon, then who was filming him go down the ladder? (A camera had been mounted to the side of the lunar module). Kaysing’s alternate theory was elaborate. He believed the astronauts had been removed from the ship moments before takeoff, flown to Nevada, where, a few days later, they broadcast the moon walk from the desert. People claimed to have seen Armstrong walking through a hotel lobby, a show girl on each arm. Aldrin was playing the slots. They were then flown to Hawaii and put back inside the capsule after the splash down but before the cameras arrived. This scenario was turned into Capricorn One, probably the best acting work of O.J. Simpson’s career. In that movie, which did as much as Kaysing to spread doubt, the capsule burns up on reentry, leaving NASA with no choice: they must kill the astronauts. O.J. escapes, runs across the desert, and shows up at his own funeral. This twist was said to echo another aspect of the conspiracy, the most chilling. Some attributed the fire that tore through the rehearsal capsule during preparations for Apollo 1, killing three astronauts—Gus Grissom, Edward White II, Roger Chaffee—was really part of a cover-up, a way to silence men who were about to go public. At any other time, such theories would have been dismissed as a madman’s raving, but America was willing to doubt in the seventies. That’s when the dream faded, when everything we’d been told began to sound like a fairy tale. American history itself was questioned, rewritten. Were we in fact the good guys at Plymouth Rock? How was the West really won? It was all recast in the afterglow of the Vietnam War, which was escalated with lies, and Watergate, when the president operated in the way of Don Vito Corleone. In other words, the space program, which began in one era, the buzz-cut age of American exceptionalism, culminated in another. There was a new sensibility. We were all becoming conspiracy theorists, trained to see behind the screen, spot the hoax, suspect everything. That cynicism is the only thing many Americans still have in common. It used to be baseball; now it’s the certainty that we’re being tricked. * Of all the fables that have grown up around the moon landing, my favorite is the one about Stanley Kubrick, because it demonstrates the use of a good counternarrative. It seemingly came from nowhere, or gave birth to itself simply because it made sense. (Finding the source of such a story is like finding the source of a joke you’ve been hearing your entire life.) It started with a simple question: Who, in 1969, would have been capable of staging a believable moon landing? Kubrick’s masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey, had been released the year before. He’d plotted it with the science fiction master Arthur C. Clarke, who is probably more responsible for the look of our world, smooth as a screen, than any scientist. The manmade satellite, GPS, the smart phone, the space station: he predicted, they built. 2001 picked up an idea Clarke had explored in his earlier work, particularly his novel Childhood’s End—the fading of the human race, its transition from the swamp planet to the star-spangled depths of deep space. In 2001, change comes in the form of a monolith, a featureless black shard that an alien intelligence—you can call it God—parked on an antediluvian plain. Its presence remakes a tribe of apes, turning them into world-exploring, tool-building killers who will not stop until they find their creator, the monolith, buried on the dark side of the moon. But the plot is not what viewers, many of them stoned, took from 2001. It was the special effects that lingered, all that technology, which was no less than a vision, Ezekiel-like in its clarity, of the future. Orwell had seen the future as bleak and authoritarian; Huxley had seen it as a drug-induced dystopia. In the minds Kubrick and Clarke, it shimmered, luminous, mechanical, and cold. Most striking was the scene set on the moon, in which a group of astronauts, posthuman in their suits, descend into an excavation where, once again, the human race comes into contact with the monolith. Though shot in a studio, it looks more real than the actual landings. It’s the shadow and light, the space and enclosure, the way people move. Also: No CGI, no computer-created effects. Everything is actual—models maybe, but actual physical objects. There really was a space station and it really did turn; there really was a “lunar” surface, covered with rocks. It gave everything a weight you don’t feel in newer movies. To conspiracy theorists, it made perfect sense that NASA, realizing it could not actually land a man on the moon, turned to Kubrick. But why would he do it? It could have been an act of patriotism, a citizen heeding the call of a nation in need. It could have been for money, enough to cover every production from here to Eyes Wide Shut. Or maybe they had something on him. We all know about Hoover and the FBI. It would have been an easy gig in any case, cheaper and quicker than making 2001 itself. So, I ask: Where did Stanley Kubrick watch the moon landing? Was he in front of his TV at home, a viewer like everyone else? Or was he off camera but on set, five feet from Armstrong, imploring the astronaut, “Remember, you are not in a studio … you are on the ladder of a space ship, about to become the first man to ever step foot on another planet. You’re terrified but also awed … ACTION!” As the years went by (I’m going with the premise here) Kubrick’s pride in his accomplishment (the bastards bought it) turned into second thoughts, then guilt, then shame. My God, what have I done? He felt the need to confess. But who could he tell? If he went public, he’d vanish as surely as had the numerous people who knew the truth about the Kennedy assassination. He would instead confess with the only medium he really understood: film. It would be a coded confession, hidden but there for those with the right kind of eyes. It would bookmark the work he had done on the Apollo landing. That was fiction disguised as history. This would be history disguised as fiction. What genre would he work in? He’d already made a war movie (Paths of Glory), a comedy (Lolita), a sun-and-sandals epic (Spartacus), and a political thriller (Dr. Strangelove). That left horror, which was perfect for the story he had to tell, the story beneath the story, which was a kind of nightmare. Theorists note the ways in which Kubrick changed his source material, Steven King’s novel The Shining, the story of a haunted hotel and its winter caretaker and his family. One example: In the novel, the room to be avoided, the epicenter of bad mojo, is Room 217. Kubrick changed it to Room 237. Why would you make a change like that? Maybe because the moon, on average, is 237,000 miles from the earth. Most of the work that ties Kubrick and The Shining to the moon landing can be found on the internet, a prime example being the page on author and filmmaker Jay Weidner’s website called “Secrets of the Shining, Or How Faking the Moon Landing Nearly Cost Stanley Kubrick his Marriage and His Life.” To my mind, this is a work of literature and, as such, demonstrates the best thing about the conspiracy theories. It lets you experience The Shining, which was released in 1980, with a renewed sense of discovery—that is, all over again. It starts with the Overlook Hotel. We are told the hotel stands for America. It was once grand, but has been allowed to dilapidate. The role of the caretaker, a novelist named Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson)—an artist like Kubrick—is to maintain the fiction (we landed on the moon) while the foundation crumbles. The man who hires the caretaker sits behind a big desk with an American flag at his side and an American eagle behind him. He is the Establishment, and tells the caretaker an ugly truth: “The site is supposed to be located on an Indian burial ground, and I believe they actually had to repel a few Indian attacks as they were building it.” In other words, the hotel, like America, stands on the bones of its rightful owners. Later, the hotel is engulfed in a winter storm—that’s the Cold War which drove JFK to make that silly promise about putting a man on the moon. Meanwhile, Jack Torrance is writing, compiling a manuscript that turns out to be evidence of a collapsing mind. That’s what taking part in a lie does to the artist, and why he must confess. Jack’s pages (it’s a terrifying discovery in the movie) consist of nothing but a single sentence written again and again: “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.” To the ordinary viewer, it’s evidence of madness. To a conspiracy theorist, it’s a message. “All Work …,” “A L L” or A 1 1, as in Apollo 11? At one point, the caretaker’s son, Danny, racing his Big Wheel though the enormous maze of halls, a maze duplicated by the hedge maze outside the hotel, a maze in which the family is lost, in the way the nation is lost in a wilderness of mirrors, comes upon two twin girls (not in the book!), creepy specters, the ghosts of children killed by a previous caretaker. Why twins? Because Apollo 11 came after another fake, the Gemini mission. On the Zodiac chart, the symbol for Gemini is a pair of twins. The clincher comes when the Danny gets up from his tricycle and walks down the corridor, following a mysterious call, the sort that a government might make to a filmmaker in a time of crisis. The caretaker’s son is wearing an Apollo 11 sweater—weird, huh? It shows a rocket over the words Apollo 11. When he stands, it seems as if the rocket is blasting off, whereas of course it isn’t because it isn’t real. Danny walks, thus the rocket flies, until he finds himself outside Room 237. Danny, who stands for the child in Kubrick, the artist, has traveled to 237, that is, all the way to the moon. Only he hasn’t. Is any of this real? Of course not. It’s a face in the clouds. But it can feel more real than reality, as if you are finally seeing what’s always been hidden. That’s the thrill of conspiracy theory, why it can become an obsession, a way of being. It gives you a more interesting way to consume reality. It is literary criticism directed not at a text but at the world, which is a kind of text. It lets the reader understand that world in a new way. You feel the thrill you felt when you stumbled across the teachers’ edition in fifth grade. So here are the answers, all of the answers. You can finally see the truth behind the facade. Rich Cohen is the author of The Last Pirate of New York: A Ghost Ship, a Killer, and the Birth of a Gangster Nation.

From The PARIS Review wwwtheparisreview.org

#How Stanley Kubrick Staged the Moon Landing #men never went to the moon

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omnitf · 7 years ago

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Finding Common Ground

Forgive me, if this sounds preachy. It’s my first time trying to tackle this concept in a written format, whether prose, letter, or something else. I’ve just had cause to reflect recently on our current situation in the nation (United States), and on differences as a whole that often lead to conflict. Different ideals. Different cultures. Different religions. And, yes, in some cases (though I do hate that these cases exist) different skin color. There’s opposition and conflict in just about every situation in the world. Even when we’re doing something as simple as moving one object to another place, opposition is in effect as we enact a force on that object to make it move against the laws of gravity. It seems in all this disparity that often, the only similarity between extremes that I can find is an intense dislike, if not outright hatred on both far sides of these conflicts. I hear conversations where men and women defame Donald Trump as a liar, a con man, and someone who is out to only better the wealthy and the rich. And yet, I don’t hear anything about his accomplishments that he’s made in his time as president from many of them. Likewise, I hear those who have praised Trump for his good works without acknowledging the past mistakes, sins, misdeeds, or misconducts that he has committed, before taking office. (I wasn’t sure which word would best apply. Hence, why I used multiples that could be deemed as synonyms.) Please note, this is not a political commentary, or at least it’s not intended as one. I’m simply stating this as an example. Another would be the whole debate that rages between homosexuality and heterosexuality (forgive me, if these terms seem outdated. I don’t keep up with all these new terms scientists and culture has come up with. Heck, I didn’t know they’d changed LGBT to LGBTQ, until I had to do research on it for an article I was writing.) It seems that people are forgetting what it is to be willing to respect that others have different beliefs on both sides, whether it be over religion, sexuality, politics, culture, or any number of other topics. As a Christian, I found myself under attack for saying that I couldn’t support someone’s decision to go through a transgender operation, but that I could and did respect their decision to go through with it, because it’s their choice. The funny thing of it, the person I was addressing didn’t blow up at all. It was a boatload of other people from all across the spectrum. Other Christians, atheists, and who knows what else. I don’t know what classifications or identifications these people take. It was online, after all. I understand the importance of free speech, of letting one’s opinion be known. I just miss the time when we could be willing to look at one another, and while we saw differences, could still see a common ground of humanity, of the fact that we each have our own choices to make, and that while we may not agree with each other, we can still have civil conversation and even develop great friendships, despite our differences. What happened to the age of compromise? What happened to the time of understanding between one another? I don’t know. All I know is that I wake up and look at the news, and all I see is more disparity, more anger, more violence, and not much dialogue. Maybe it’s happening behind the scenes. I don’t know. I just wish people would be willing to look more at one another and say, “Hey, I don’t agree with your choices, but I like you as a person. Wanna hang out?” I know there’s no cookie cutter solution to differences. Every situation is different, and I most certainly will never claim to have an answer to the conflict in the first place. But I do think it would help, if people stopped pointing fingers or making mobs or yelling or screaming against other points of view. Compromise and change require peaceful discussion. It’s like Doctor Who said in his famous speech during the Zygon war. You can get up, fight the battles, lose thousands of lives on both sides, or you can do what you always have to do in the end, what inevitably happens, no matter what the end result may be. You sit down, and you talk. I wish people would do that again. It’s so much easier to find that common ground, when you’re actually willing to look for it.

#musings #ramblings #relfection #personal reflection #random thoughts #introspection #don't mind me #philosophical commentary #please don't hate

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orbemnews · 4 years ago

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Analysis: Trump's Republicans assault democracy while Biden gets down to work The contrast in approaches between the White House and the GOP encapsulates the risky bet that each has adopted at what is beginning to look like a tumultuous and potentially decisive turning point in the political history of the early 21st century. In the country’s relentless march through the next biennial election cycle, each side is making choices now that will provide the foundation of their strategies in 2022 and 2024 elections in which Trumpism and Bidenism will again be on the ballot in some form. But he chose a traditional backdrop, an aging bridge, to argue for tax raises on corporations and the wealthiest Americans to fund vital projects — a centerpiece of his plan. He also offered some flexibility on the scale of a hike to corporate rates — as he tries to get GOP senators on board — hinting he may settle for a 25% ceiling instead of his initial bid for 28%. “I’m not ready to have another period where America has another infrastructure month, and doesn’t change a damn thing,” Biden said at a highway bridge that carries I-10 in Lake Charles. “The truth is, across the country, we have failed — we have failed to properly invest in infrastructure for half a century.” Biden also spent the week working on the core task of his presidency — ending the pandemic and repairing the economy. He announced a new target to convince wary Americans to get vaccinated. He made a decision to back waiving patents on Covid-19 vaccines, which reverberated around the world and could help save millions of lives in poorer nations. Biden also highlighted a restaurant rescue plan that is typical of his approach — in that it uses a gusher of government money to safeguard a vital economic sector. The plan is an apt symbol of a presidency rooted in fixing problems that makes a bet that after a murderous pandemic, Americans have arrived at one of the periodic moments in history when they are willing to endorse the sweeping use of government power to ease social and economic deprivation. The strategy requires Biden to open a narrow path through tiny Democratic majorities in the House and Senate — which isn’t guaranteed. And if he has misjudged the public mood, he could risk a public backlash that could benefit Republicans next year. Republicans fixated on personality cult loyalty tests Ironically, one of the Republicans who has made one of the most targeted attacks on Biden’s big government approach is Rep. Liz Cheney. But the Wyoming lawmaker, who’s the No. 3 House Republican, may no longer have a leadership platform to make those arguments. She is set to be toppled as conference chair simply because she tells the truth, repeatedly, about the ex-President’s lies about election fraud, points out that he whipped up an insurrection designed to overthrow Biden’s victory and punctures his personality cult. The fact that her likely replacement, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, who has become a fiercely pro-Trump lawmaker and promotes his falsehoods, is far less conservative than Cheney, offers an eloquent picture of the modern GOP’s priorities. Seeking to ease concerns among fiscal conservatives about her record, Stefanik played her, literal, Trump card, underscoring the power of the former President’s aura in her party. “My vision is to run with support from the (ex) President and his coalition of voters,” Stefanik said on Steve Bannon’s radio show Thursday. Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of the small band of Republican House members willing to stand with Cheney in opposing Trump, refuted Stefanik’s claims that she was a unifying figure. “I’m gonna just go ahead and say this ain’t unity. It’s capitulation to crazy,” Kinzinger tweeted. The total embrace of Trump by House Republicans represents a counter-wager on the scale of the President’s belief that Americans want a multi-trillion dollar overhaul of society designed to make the economy more equitable for working class Americans. Given the popularity of Trump among GOP base voters and their willingness to buy into the false reality he created over last year’s election, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s strategy could work, as he seeks to wrest control of the House next year in midterm elections that may be decided by whichever party manages to excite their core voters. Yet Trump’s appeal is limited — he never reached a 50% approval rating as president in the Gallup poll. He alienated crucial suburban voters and led House Republicans to defeat in the 2018 midterm elections and lost the White House in 2020 and two subsequent Senate runoffs. It’s far from clear that devotion to the disgraced former President is a viable path for Republicans if Biden makes a success of his presidency and the economy is doing well as voters cast ballots in 2022 and 2024. McConnell launches his own maneuvers On the Senate side of the Capitol, meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to signal a characteristic policy of obstruction when he said this week that 100% of his focus was on stopping the current administration. The Kentucky Republican’s comments raised the question of whether a GOP counter-proposal to Biden on infrastructure and negotiations currently taking place with the White House is nothing more than political posturing. McConnell’s attitude recalled a similar stance he took against former President Barack Obama’s presidency. It may also reflect insight from Biden — a longtime sparring partner — about the gravity of the current political moment. While Republicans in the House are almost exclusively positioning for the midterms already, McConnell, with his chamber’s institutional capacity to serve as a roadblock, is also concentrating on shorter-term efforts to thwart Biden’s transformational aspirations. But McConnell may also have offered the President an opening to argue that Washington Republicans spurned his offer of compromise on key issues like infrastructure and his plans targeting American jobs and families. His remarks also immediately trained attention back on West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat who is a bulwark against the power of progressives in the party and wants compromise with minority Republicans on big Biden agenda items. Manchin said on CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time” on Wednesday night that he didn’t know what McConnell’s reasoning was but insisted “there are Republicans working with Democrats who want to make something happen.” Building on Trump’s election fraud lies Outside Washington, Republican state lawmakers continued to build on the ex-President’s lies about election fraud to make it more difficult for Americans to vote. In Arizona, state Senate Republicans pressed ahead with a sham partisan recount of general election votes in Maricopa County after Biden’s win was repeatedly verified by courts and election officials. The Texas state House, meanwhile, debated a Republican bill that would limit extended early voting hours, give partisan poll watchers more authority and make it tougher to cast a vote in city areas where Democratic voters live. And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law the Sunshine State’s new restrictive voting measures. Had the goal been to bolster public confidence in the electoral system he might have held a public event. But exposing the partisanship behind the move, he signed it into law on “Fox and Friends” in a stunt that excluded journalists other than those on one of Trump’s favorite mouthpiece networks. The fact that DeSantis is so willing to use the electoral system — the core of US political freedoms — as a prop to advance his own political career shows why some pundits believe he has the brazenness needed to serve as an heir to Trump — a figure whose power still looms over Washington despite his departure for Florida more than three months ago. Source link Orbem News #Analysis #Assault #Biden #Democracy #Politics #Republicans #Trump'sRepublicansassaultdemocracywhileBidengetsdowntowork-CNNPolitics #Trumps #Work

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dipulb3 · 4 years ago

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Analysis: Trump's Republicans assault democracy while Biden gets down to work

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/analysis-trumps-republicans-assault-democracy-while-biden-gets-down-to-work/

Analysis: Trump's Republicans assault democracy while Biden gets down to work

The contrast in approaches between the White House and the GOP encapsulates the risky bet that each has adopted at what is beginning to look like a tumultuous and potentially decisive turning point in the political history of the early 21st century.

In the country’s relentless march through the next biennial election cycle, each side is making choices now that will provide the foundation of their strategies in 2022 and 2024 elections in which Trumpism and Bidenism will again be on the ballot in some form.

But he chose a traditional backdrop, an aging bridge, to argue for tax raises on corporations and the wealthiest Americans to fund vital projects — a centerpiece of his plan. He also offered some flexibility on the scale of a hike to corporate rates — as he tries to get GOP senators on board — hinting he may settle for a 25% ceiling instead of his initial bid for 28%.

“I’m not ready to have another period where America has another infrastructure month, and doesn’t change a damn thing,” Biden said at a highway bridge that carries I-10 in Lake Charles.

“The truth is, across the country, we have failed — we have failed to properly invest in infrastructure for half a century.”

Biden also spent the week working on the core task of his presidency — ending the pandemic and repairing the economy. He announced a new target to convince wary Americans to get vaccinated. He made a decision to back waiving patents on Covid-19 vaccines, which reverberated around the world and could help save millions of lives in poorer nations. Biden also highlighted a restaurant rescue plan that is typical of his approach — in that it uses a gusher of government money to safeguard a vital economic sector.

The plan is an apt symbol of a presidency rooted in fixing problems that makes a bet that after a murderous pandemic, Americans have arrived at one of the periodic moments in history when they are willing to endorse the sweeping use of government power to ease social and economic deprivation.

The strategy requires Biden to open a narrow path through tiny Democratic majorities in the House and Senate — which isn’t guaranteed. And if he has misjudged the public mood, he could risk a public backlash that could benefit Republicans next year.

Republicans fixated on personality cult loyalty tests

Ironically, one of the Republicans who has made one of the most targeted attacks on Biden’s big government approach is Rep. Liz Cheney. But the Wyoming lawmaker, who’s the No. 3 House Republican, may no longer have a leadership platform to make those arguments. She is set to be toppled as conference chair simply because she tells the truth, repeatedly, about the ex-President’s lies about election fraud, points out that he whipped up an insurrection designed to overthrow Biden’s victory and punctures his personality cult.

The fact that her likely replacement, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, who has become a fiercely pro-Trump lawmaker and promotes his falsehoods, is far less conservative than Cheney, offers an eloquent picture of the modern GOP’s priorities.

Seeking to ease concerns among fiscal conservatives about her record, Stefanik played her, literal, Trump card, underscoring the power of the former President’s aura in her party. “My vision is to run with support from the (ex) President and his coalition of voters,” Stefanik said on Steve Bannon’s radio show Thursday. Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of the small band of Republican House members willing to stand with Cheney in opposing Trump, refuted Stefanik’s claims that she was a unifying figure.

“I’m gonna just go ahead and say this ain’t unity. It’s capitulation to crazy,” Kinzinger tweeted.

The total embrace of Trump by House Republicans represents a counter-wager on the scale of the President’s belief that Americans want a multi-trillion dollar overhaul of society designed to make the economy more equitable for working class Americans.

Given the popularity of Trump among GOP base voters and their willingness to buy into the false reality he created over last year’s election, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s strategy could work, as he seeks to wrest control of the House next year in midterm elections that may be decided by whichever party manages to excite their core voters.

Yet Trump’s appeal is limited — he never reached a 50% approval rating as president in the Gallup poll. He alienated crucial suburban voters and led House Republicans to defeat in the 2018 midterm elections and lost the White House in 2020 and two subsequent Senate runoffs. It’s far from clear that devotion to the disgraced former President is a viable path for Republicans if Biden makes a success of his presidency and the economy is doing well as voters cast ballots in 2022 and 2024.

McConnell launches his own maneuvers

On the Senate side of the Capitol, meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to signal a characteristic policy of obstruction when he said this week that 100% of his focus was on stopping the current administration. The Kentucky Republican’s comments raised the question of whether a GOP counter-proposal to Biden on infrastructure and negotiations currently taking place with the White House is nothing more than political posturing.

McConnell’s attitude recalled a similar stance he took against former President Barack Obama’s presidency. It may also reflect insight from Biden — a longtime sparring partner — about the gravity of the current political moment. While Republicans in the House are almost exclusively positioning for the midterms already, McConnell, with his chamber’s institutional capacity to serve as a roadblock, is also concentrating on shorter-term efforts to thwart Biden’s transformational aspirations.

But McConnell may also have offered the President an opening to argue that Washington Republicans spurned his offer of compromise on key issues like infrastructure and his plans targeting American jobs and families.

His remarks also immediately trained attention back on West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat who is a bulwark against the power of progressives in the party and wants compromise with minority Republicans on big Biden agenda items.

Manchin said on Appradab’s “Cuomo Prime Time” on Wednesday night that he didn’t know what McConnell’s reasoning was but insisted “there are Republicans working with Democrats who want to make something happen.”

Building on Trump’s election fraud lies

Outside Washington, Republican state lawmakers continued to build on the ex-President’s lies about election fraud to make it more difficult for Americans to vote. In Arizona, state Senate Republicans pressed ahead with a sham partisan recount of general election votes in Maricopa County after Biden’s win was repeatedly verified by courts and election officials.

The Texas state House, meanwhile, debated a Republican bill that would limit extended early voting hours, give partisan poll watchers more authority and make it tougher to cast a vote in city areas where Democratic voters live.

And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law the Sunshine State’s new restrictive voting measures. Had the goal been to bolster public confidence in the electoral system he might have held a public event. But exposing the partisanship behind the move, he signed it into law on “Fox and Friends” in a stunt that excluded journalists other than those on one of Trump’s favorite mouthpiece networks.

The fact that DeSantis is so willing to use the electoral system — the core of US political freedoms — as a prop to advance his own political career shows why some pundits believe he has the brazenness needed to serve as an heir to Trump — a figure whose power still looms over Washington despite his departure for Florida more than three months ago.

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mr-mormons-adventures · 7 years ago

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Week 6 Update!

Hello again everyone! Get ready because this week I actually have my journal with me so I can actually make this a longer e-mail. It'll be a lot nicer than my usual, "I love it out here but I can't remember what we actually did so see ya!" emails. Let us begin! Monday Afternoon: After I sent out my e-mails last week, my companion and I went down to the Gateway Arch! It wasn't too long of a drive, about 30 minutes. We found parking pretty quickly, and cheap parking at that. Then we walked for about 15 minutes down to the old courthouse where they sell the tickets for entry. They warned us there that since it was such a windy day that the top of the Arch would be swaying upwards of 20 feet back and forth. I told them I'd be fine with that, but I kinda wasn't. When we got to the top, it actually was kind of fun. We didn't really feel like we were moving too far, and when it did it just kind of felt like we were on a ship or something. It was funny watching everyone deal with it differently though. Some people waited until it wasn't moving to move, others just sprinted until they were holding on to a wall and stayed there the whole time. I moved around a bit when I got more comfortable with it, and took quite a few pictures. Once we finished with that, we dropped off a dinner for a family who was having a stressful week. They had an upcoming court date on Thursday that they were worried about, so we gave them a dinner so that they wouldn't have to worry about at least one thing that week. Tuesday: Tuesday mornings we go over to an investigator's apartment and read scriptures with him. He's not a member yet, but he would like to be one. The only thing is that he is waiting on citizenship so that he doesn't have to worry about being sent home. He's incredibly strong in his faith though, and reading with him really helped me love him and his testimony. That afternoon we spent a lot of time tracting. The first few houses were empty, or they didn't want to talk to us, but one man in particular did. But he didn't want to talk about our religion, or his, but instead he wanted to talk about all the crazy conspiracy theories he believed in. I get that to some people, religion may as well be a conspiracy theory. But at least religion has some logic to it all. His theories had no basis in logic whatsoever. Among his crazy ideas were 1.) that beneath Antartica is five layers of civilization, who are more advanced than us and have laser guns and flying saucers, 2.) that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney performed satanic rituals where they consumed flesh of orphans to stay alive and in power, 3.) that we've had anti-gravity technology since 1944 and that was the only way we were able to go to the moon (at least he believes in the moon landing), 4.) that when we tried to invent stealth jets we instead accidentally invented time travel, and finally 5.) that Trump has a heart of gold and raided the CIA headquarters secretly so that we can all know about this and that it will all be made public. Yeah. Wednesday: Got up late because I wasn't feeling too good. Still not feeling good, but whatever. It all started then. Had a district meeting where we talked with the other district about combining for a skit during Christmas Zone Conference. We came up with an idea called "12 Days of Trunky". Expect a video of it next week, as Zone Conference is on the 13th. That night, we gave blessings to the parents of that family with the court date. It was such an amazing spiritual experience, and only the second blessing I've ever given. Elder Rowley gave the blessing to the wife and I gave a blessing to the husband. While we gave it, I was prompted to tell him that his mom was proud of him for the way he served his family and supported them. It was so amazing to be the one to be the Lord's conduit for the blessing. I can't wait to give more blessings. Thursday: Thursdays are our service days. We spend the whole morning at the local food pantry on the day that they give the food to those who need it. We stand where they tell us to and hand out the food to those that need it. It's such a neat experience to see all these people and to know that even though they might not be at their best both physically and emotionally, that God still loves them and cares for them. In the afternoon while we were tracting, we got a text from an investigator that had been promising and we had plans to invite to baptism. Her text said that she was grateful for all that we had taught her but that she was done learning from us and didn't want to talk to us anymore. We were heartbroken. We loved teaching her and showing her the amazing things about this Gospel. It was so sad to hear that she didn't want to be a part of it anymore. We got back to our apartment, and our dinner appointment that night was a member ordering pizza for us. Right as the pizza, salad, and dessert got to our apartment, we got a call from the family who had the court date that day. They told us that it couldn't have gone better. They kept full custody and even made amends with their father who hadn't talked to them in years! We were so happy to hear that, and loved talking with them about their increased faith from that experience. Friday: My headache, stuffy nose, and just general soreness caught up with me that morning and we got up late again. Once I got moving though it was better. We spent the morning preparing for a lesson with a Lutheran couple who is trying to convert us, funnily enough. We were worried about it turning into a bible bash session. Instead, we had a great conversation about our belief in the Godhead vs. their belief in the Trinity. It was awesome. We also had a follow up training meeting where I got to see everyone that came out to the field with me. It was a good meeting, but it was also really nice to be able to see everyone again and see how they were doing. Saturday: Got up on time on Saturday! We even went down to the small gym room in our apartment complex's main building. We're planning to do that more often, and hopefully I can eventually start losing more weight. Not really a fan of being only like 5'5" and 188lbs. Had lunch with the dad of the family who has us over on Sundays. He took us out to a nicer place and we had a big lunch that he was gracious enough to pay for. We talked about how our work was going and who we were excited for. Then we spent the afternoon tracting. Didn't find anyone new to teach, but had some interesting conversations with people on their doorsteps. Sunday: It's always nice to finish out a week with church. Kinda puts a cap on all the week's spiritual experiences and gives us a bit to relax and to talk with members. We also had the family from earlier this week come to church with us, and even though they only stayed for sacrament meeting, they loved it and said they'd be back. Had lunch again with that family. They were planning on giving out a ton of snacks and banana bread and a ton of other goodies to various families in the ward and we left there with more food then we ate for lunch. Anyway that was my week. Bit of a longer e-mail when I actually remember stuff huh? Hopefully I can start to do this weekly so that you all can hear about my amazing adventures more often and in more detail. Until next week!

Elder Brown

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alegriaspain · 5 years ago

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Predatory Preachers Lead the Way

True freedom of religion implies freedom from religion. If it doesn’t it’s not freedom. That’s why an authentic democracy cannot exist under the influence of any religious sect. A religion that preaches that born-again believers will be “raptured” up to heaven while the rest of us go straight to hell is more necrophile hate doctrine than religion, and it has no place anywhere near government circles. Yet, these Evangelicals and Pentecostals are President Trump’s people and he has created posts in the White House for them and facilitated their influence on the government of the United States.

This is the President’s recently-appointed “spiritual advisor,” Paula White, an extravagant preacher who was one of six televangelists investigated in 2007 by the Senate Finance Committee in connection with their fortunes (running to private jets and multiple luxury residences) accrued through “prosperity gospel” practices.

Why would the President take such unseemly measures? Has he converted to the born-again persuasion? Does he “speak in tongues” when he’s among friends? Given his trajectory, it seems unlikely. What is more probable is that his affinity for magical religion has to do with political expediency. According to a Pew Research poll the religious right comprises more than a third of Republican voters, enough to swing a presidential election. Draw your own conclusion. (Source: Pewresearch.org)

Presidential Pandering to the Religious Right

The serious part of the story is that, in order to lock in their loyalty, President Trump is pandering to them in ways that are dangerous for American citizens at large. The born-again belief system requires a war in the Holy Land in order to precipitate the Apocalypse–and the consequent “Rapture.” This may sound like nonsense to you and me but, according to Pew Research, about 36% of American voters believe it and they are essentially calling the shots. My question is: Do they even remotely realize the implications of another war in the Middle East? It’s the equivalent of opening the door to World War III. That’s not a certainty, mind you, but it’s a very real possibility. Do we really want to confront it? What’s in it for us? I only foresee one benefit and that’s the re-election of President Donald J. Trump. Come to think of it, I’m not sure that’s a benefit. Are you a hard-core optimist? You might console youself by considering that, when the Third World War does come, it won’t last long.

There’s even more horror. The person that President Trump has appointed to guide America’s foreign policy, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, is one of the born-again Rapture brigade. Does this mean that his–and your–foreign-policy agenda is driven by his sincere Evangelical beliefs regarding biblical end times and how to jump start them? Yes, that’s exactly what it means. Can you live with that?

Consider the Collateral Damage

There’s considerable collateral damage, as well. What is going on between President Trump and the Evangelicals is a classic symbiotic relationship. Both sides get something they fervently desire. The Rapture sect gets a ticket to heaven. The President gets re-elected. But in order to do so he has to embrace–directly from the highest office in the land–the Evangelical doomsday agenda, to put the United States government’s seal of approval on it. This legitimizing of religious juju as government policy is a terrible step for an American president to take.

Are prayer meetings legitimate responses to the current corona virus emergency? Or are they just fiddling while the country burns? What comes next, ticket sales to the Apocalypse? The spinoff of the President’s Rapture collaboration is the effect it could have on stability–or more likely instability–in the Middle East. Israel’s extreme-right-wing Likud party and their perrenial President Netanyahu are, of course, milking this geopolitical windfall to advance their own opportunism in the region. Their truculence vis a vis the Palestinians and the Iranians is actually subsidized with donations by Evangelical organizations in the US.

These miracle-religion-tinged policies are especially grave considering the intellectual and ideological vulnerability of America’s young people. Is this the sort of intellectual baggage that American parents want funneling into their children’s heads? Parents in the US are entitled to take that route. It’s a free country and freedom of religion is a laudable principle up to the point where it puts a majority of American citizens in harm’s way. It makes no difference whether that harm comes from a nuclear holocaust radiating from the Holy Land or from a global virus pandemic. Then a sane, responsible lay government must intervene in order to save the very country. The failure to do so would have consequences and they could well be catastrophic.

Are we already beginning to see the onset of that process? It’s March 25, 2020. In just a matter of weeks we should be able to discern the results of President Trump’s recent determination that the country should soon be “open for business.” How can the President pretend to know at this point what the extension and gravity of the virus will be, even in the short term. Public health professionals and other scientists are admitting that they can’t make predictions without seeing the results of massive testing programs. Clearly, the President can’t, either. And, given his obligation to promote good health and wellbeing for all Americans, to pretend that he can foresee the future is so wittlessly irresponsible that we might consign it to the category of religion. Then it would be up to a second impeachment panel to decide whether the President should be tried for criminal wittless irresponsibility.

Where Do They Go from Here?

If the United States had a sane and responsible governing team with a vision that went beyond their own enrichment and re-election, at this point in contemporary history they would still be in deep trouble. There are just too many life and death issues on the table at this time: COVID-19, their overt and covert wars around the world, their apocalyptic economic situation, their penchant for cultivating enemies around the world and the meteoric rise of some of their adversary countries. Asia is beginning to look quite first world lately while the US is clearly slipping.

But, since the US conspicuously lacks the necessary sanity and responsibility in government where they are destined to go from here is anyone’s guess. The best we can do is just to lie down and enjoy the spectacle. Our current situation can best be summed up by a millenary Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times.

###

Thanks for commenting and sharing.

Freedom from Religion Predatory Preachers Lead the Way True freedom of religion implies freedom from religion. If it doesn't it's not freedom.

#Freedom from Religion #Mike Pompeo #Pandering to Evangelicals #Paula White #Predatory US Preachers #US Prosperity Gospel

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itsfinancethings · 5 years ago

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As the House Judiciary Committee kicks off its first impeachment proceeding on Wednesday, Rep. Jerry Nadler once again finds himself in the spotlight. Last time, he was at the center of Congressional probes relating to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Now he faces an arguably bigger challenge: convincing the public to unify around impeachment as he leads one of the most partisan committees in Congress.

House Democrats released a 300-page report on Tuesday arguing that evidence amassed in the impeachment inquiry so far shows that President Trump undermined U.S. national security interests to benefit his reelection campaign by leveraging foreign aid to Ukraine in exchange for investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee will gather to publicly assess whether that evidence amounts to an impeachable offense. Four constitutional scholars—Harvard Law Professor Noah Feldman, Stanford Law Professor Pamela Karlan, UNC Law Professor Michael Gerhardt, and George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley—will take the stand to opine on that question. (Feldman, Karlan and Gerhardt are representing the majority, and Turley the minority.)

The hearing could seem esoteric to people who are unmoved by constitutional law, particularly in comparison to some of the headline-grabbing witness testimony given to the House Intelligence Committee last month. “The new phase is going to look different,” said a staffer working on the inquiry. “We’re going to examine the constitutional framework that is put in place to address presidential misconduct. We’re going to apply the constitutional law to the facts.”

But within the caucus, the new set of hearings represent a chance for Nadler to reclaim a starring role in the drama that is the Trump impeachment saga.

When former presidents Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon were facing impeachment, the process in the House of Representatives was largely helmed by the Judiciary Committee. And for the first half of the year, when it was still unclear if Democrats would move ahead on impeachment, it was Nadler who became the public face of Democrats’ oversight probes into the Trump administration. Then his committee was effectively sidelined, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi officially announced the inquiry on September 24th. The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, along with the committees on oversight and government reform and foreign affairs, spearheaded the inquiry, and Rep. Adam Schiff, the Chair of the Intelligence Committee and a Pelosi protege, became the public face of the probe.

On the face of it, delegating control to Schiff appeared to be a matter of jurisdiction; it was his committee who had been notified about the complaint from the whistleblower detailing allegations of Trump’s July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The three committees that led the inquiry had already opened a joint probe into whether Trump and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani pressured Ukraine.

But there was a palpable sense of relief among some Democratic members in the caucus that the historically polarized Judiciary Committee, who some thought muddled early impeachment messaging and made it inherently partisan, was temporarily out of the limelight.

House Judiciary Committee Democrats, led by Nadler, had kicked off the year by launching an expansive investigation into whether President Trump abused the power of his office. After Special Counsel Robert Mueller released his report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, Nadler’s profile intensified as his committee staff battled the Department of Justice for the redacted grand jury materials and negotiated the terms for Mueller’s appearance on Capitol Hill in July. It was the Judiciary Committee that issued subpoenas to top Trump associates Attorney General William Barr and former White House Counsel Don McGahn, and which held Barr in contempt when he refused to provide the full, un-redacted version of the Mueller report and filed a lawsuit to enforce the subpoena against McGahn.

The committee has succeeded with their court cases to enforce McGahn’s subpoena and obtain the grand jury materials, with judges ruling in their favor in both instances. But those rulings were only handed down in the last several months, and the administration has challenged both of them. As the bulk of the committee’s requests went ignored by the White House this spring, several Democratic members on the committee—many of whom hail from blue districts—began to push for an impeachment inquiry, putting them at odds with House leadership and more moderate members who feared an inquiry could cost them the majority.

Nadler tried publicly to tow the party line of putting fact-finding before moving ahead on impeachment, but privately relayed his committee members’ beliefs to Pelosi that an inquiry could be beneficial to stopping the White House obstruction of their probes. By July, part of the committee’s justification in its legal quest to receive Mueller’s grand jury material was that they were investigating whether to recommend articles of impeachment, even as Pelosi continued to resist that line. “We have the power to vote articles of impeachment and we are investigating now to get the evidence to decide whether to do so,” Nadler said on CNN this past August. “We are not waiting on anything from the House Speaker,” he added, insisting Pelosi had been cooperative in the process.

Although aides said Pelosi had signed off on that language, it wasn’t until September that she threw her support behind an official impeachment inquiry. And her public reasoning for it was based on the allegations raised by the whistleblower that Trump had leveraged the power of the presidency to push Zelensky to investigate Biden. “…The President has admitted to asking the President of Ukraine to take actions which would benefit him politically,” she said on September 24th. “The actions of the Trump Presidency revealed the dishonorable fact of the President’s betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and betrayal of the integrity of our elections. Therefore, today, I am announcing the House of Representatives is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry.”

Now, after two months of investigations and public hearings led by Schiff, the ball is back to Nadler. Under the resolution that House Democrats passed on October 31, the Judiciary Committee is tasked with conducting proceedings and determining whether to draft articles of impeachment that House members will eventually vote on. Some Democrats, sources in the caucus say, are concerned that Wednesday’s hearing could devolve into yet another partisan fight, disrupting the even-keeled demeanor Schiff and his committee colleagues displayed through the weeks of their public hearings. “I hope he [Nadler] learned from Schiff,” said one senior Democratic aide associated with the moderate wing of the party. “There’s a lot for him to overcome.”

A democratic leadership aide, however, was adamant about Pelosi’s belief in Nadler, noting that the Speaker has complete confidence in him, while acknowledging that the committee as a whole is more partisan and unwieldy than the intelligence committee.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, a member of the Judiciary and Oversight committees, said the members on his side of the dais recognize the gravity of the moment and are “poised to be extremely disciplined and focused.”

”The chairman is prepared to be fair but resolute in the conduct of the hearing,” he said.

Republicans on the committee, which include Trump’s staunchest defenders like Reps. Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz, have indicated they will highlight Nadler’s absence from the investigation thus far during the hearings. “Pelosi clearly made the decision at the start of all this to take the ball out of Nadler’s hands. Now it’s in his hands and he’s still the same chairman,” said one Republican aide to a committee member. The aide also posited that Nadler also may be easier to agitate than Schiff. “Whenever Republicans tried to make a procedural motion Schiff shut it down out of hand,” the aide said. “I’m not sure Nadler will have the same spine.”

But Elliot Mincberg, former chief counsel for oversight and investigations of the House Judiciary Committee who has worked with Nadler, said he is confident the chairman will rise to the occasion. “Nadler is an extraordinarily intelligent, industrious and gifted member of Congress who I think is hopefully up to much of that challenge,” he said.

#IFTTT #Blogger

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marriagebase · 6 years ago

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FEATURE: In Conversation With Allaire Bartel on Boundaries II

With the rise of sexual misconduct accusations towards President Donald J. Trump, photographer Allaire Bartel uses her platform to illuminate on his unaddressed behavior through representation via photography. Upon the 22 accusations of sexual misconduct against Trump, many involved his positions throughout his life, not limited to pageant owner, golfer, campaigner, and now President. From her website which you can find here, Bartel writes in regards to her latest project, Boundaries II.

My hope is that these photographs cast these accusations in a new light and show the gravity of them in a way that a news story can’t. They are my plea to everyone who sees them to not only go out and vote, but to vote armed with knowledge, empathy, and purpose.

Allaire Bartel for Boundaries

Here at Resource Magazine, we asked Bartel on her thoughts surrounding her most recent Boundaries II piece and more.

Allaire Bartel

Resource Magazine: Your intention is very clear regarding how you decided to approach your project. It’s a difficult intersection, politics where politics should not be an issue, and art. With how impartial and far-reaching the content matter is, have you received any responses that attempt to shut down or debase what you demonstrated in Boundaries II? If so, how have you responded to them?

Allaire Bartel: I did receive the response that the project is essentially partisan propaganda and that by only focusing on one political figure it doesn’t look at the whole picture or acknowledge the sexual assault/harassment allegations leveled against Democrats. In a sense that’s true; taken literally, the series illustrates the many allegations against Trump, that is so consistent his guilt hardly seems to be a question, and yet he’s faced no consequences and remains in office. I hold Republicans responsible for that. But in a broader sense, the series illustrates putting politics before people and only believing or pursuing action regarding sexual assault allegations when politically convenient, and I think representatives and voters from both parties are guilty of that. So I believe the photos can be commentary on the man, the party, and the problem as a whole simultaneously.

RM: At what point did you decide that this project is something you wanted to pursue? The deferred public and media response concerning sexual misconduct here in our own government is very disturbing, let alone anywhere around our nation and the world. I was wondering if there was any other motivation that led to this project?

AB: I think it was when I learned, not too far into the #MeToo movement, that a majority of Trump voters did believe the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, but an overwhelming majority did not believe or were uncertain about the allegations against Trump. This report stuck with me and got me thinking about the phenomenon of only believing survivors when politically convenient, and I knew I could represent this is a powerful way.

Allaire Bartel

RM: With how frustrating the subject matter is, did you find it difficult to move into some territory based on your own reactions to his actions? Did you find reacting to his actions personally a pivotal part of Boundaries II?

AB: I think my personal point of view must be crucial to an extent because while there are plenty of people who disapprove of his actions, I don’t think as many would say so in such an overt way. It’s a combination of my strong belief in the subject matter and, I think, willingness to create work that’s openly challenging, kind of shocking and difficult to look at, with the precedence of the first Boundaries project already having a format available for me to build on. But while the project was sparked by frustration, the process of putting it together took a lot of careful consideration and planning and doesn’t feel anything like a knee-jerk, emotional reaction.

How to present the subject matter, what to include and leave out, the technical execution of the photos, and what responses may come up and how to react to them were all factors to consider. Additionally, I experienced a fair amount of negative backlash to the first Boundaries, and it takes some mental discipline to know that you could potentially be setting yourself up for that again and to follow through anyway. On top of all of that, I needed and absolutely relied on a great team that had to both feel strongly about the subject matter and be willing to put themselves out there in the same way. So to summarize, I think my beliefs and background were crucial to the project, as well as those of my team, but all of our combined skills and hard work beyond our beliefs were equally crucial.

Allaire Bartel

RM: Finally, I know Boundaries I dealt with a similar theme of sexual misconduct and harassment via different personal lives and normative roles of women, ranging from a woman at home or in public. It’s frustrating and unsettling how issues of sexual misconduct especially in the workplace are seen as a partisan issue. With this subject hot in politics and debated by both men and women alike, will there be a Boundaries III in the works? If so, what will it envision for a 2019 audience?

AB: I don’t have a concrete plan for my next installment just yet, but I do think I’ll continue to expand the project. Unfortunately, it feels like I could continue Boundaries indefinitely, keep exploring new subject matter, and it will always remain relevant. My interest is to continue to focus on instances of sexual assault and harassment within institutions, where the power of the institution takes precedence over the well-being of the people affected. With that in mind, I’m currently considering the Catholic Church, ICE detention centers, and the American prison system…and I’m open to suggestions!

Follow Allaire Bartel on Instagram and check out her website. Allaire works with both commercial work and personal work examining women’s issues. She is based in New York and Connecticut.

The post FEATURE: In Conversation With Allaire Bartel on Boundaries II appeared first on Resource.

#Resource Jasmine Healymarketing seo instagram android apk website news

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trendingnewsb · 7 years ago

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Trumps War on the Press Follows the Mussolini and Hitler Playbook

Beneath the madness and the lies of The Year of Trump there remains a constant drumbeat, unyielding and determined. It broke cover on Jan. 22, 2017 when Kellyanne Conway introduced the term alternative facts.

The abasement of language by Donald Trump and his assorted flacks began long before, but this concept was so naked, so novel and so unblinkingly forthright that it established the rules for the assault to come, just as the first salvo of an artillery barrage signals the creation of a new battlefield where there will be many casualties.

And lets face it, the English language has taken a real pounding since then. Lies have poured forth from the White House at an astonishing rate: The Washington Post estimated that in Trumps first 355 days he made more than 2,000 false or misleading claims, averaging five a day.

Trump has spent two years vilifying the dishonest media (including The Daily Beast), even invoking the Nazi chant of enemies of the people. Aided by the alt right zealots at Breitbart, he has successfully persuaded millions of Americans that The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, and MSNBC are seditious forces bent on denigrating and destroying the man they elected.

It is dismaying that it was so easy for him to do this, dismaying that independent journalism of quality is so easily discredited and dismaying that none of this seems to trouble the Republican Party.

And lets be clear: The protection of independent journalism isnt something that a lot of politiciansor a good number of the populationreally care about. Yet, in the end, it has really been a strong year for journalism. In particular, two papers, The New York Times and Washington Post, have re-established themselves as bulwarks against abuses of power, as they were at the time of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate.

Why have these two newspapers in particular once more demonstrated the best of American journalism? Its partly luck. The Post was basically saved by Jeff Bezos whose deep pockets have restored the resources of the newsroom. Under the editorship of Marty Baron they were positioned to seize the Trump moment and rediscovered the art of investigative reporting. Similarly the Times passed through a period in which it struggled to find a new business model for the digital age and eventually found it, enabling its Washington newsroom to become competitive again.

This underlines the fragile dependency of journalism on enlightened patronageon who owns a newspaper and particularly who owns the two papers that are regarded as national in prestige and potency together with the editorial independence and authority that that position requires. For all its fine reporting over the last year The Wall Street Journal does not have that kind of reputational backbone because it is owned by Rupert Murdoch, blatantly a Trump stooge.

But the battle is not yet won, and will not be without eternal vigilance. To realize the gravity of where we are now we need more context than is provided by recent history, we need to look at the history of Italy in the 1920s and Germany in the 1930s. In both nations tyrants arose who on the way to seizing power found it remarkably easy to denigrate and destroy independent journalism.

In Italy, Benito Mussolini came to power in October 1922. At the age of 39 he was the youngest ever prime minister, charismatic and full of energy. He was also careful to move slowly as, almost by stealth, he built a new illiberal state. In a country that for years had lacked unity he proposed a new focus for nationalism: himself. He was Italy. He described a parliament made impotent by its own factionalism a gathering of old fossils. Parliaments powers and the rights of a free press were stripped away.

The people, Mussolini said in July 1924, on the innumerable occasions when I have spoken with them close at hand have never asked me to free them from a tyranny which they do not feel because it does not exist. They have asked me for railways, houses, drains, bridges, water, light and roads. In that year the fascists won more than 65 percent of the vote in national elections.

Mussolinis absolute hold on power was made clear on Jan. 3, 1925, when he said: I and I alone assume the political, moral and historic responsibility for everything that has happened. Italy wants peace and quiet, work and calm. I will give these things with love if possible and with force if necessary.

As the editor, successively, of two newspapers in Milan and with a talent for populist polemic Mussolini had skillfully used the press for his own ends. Now he made sure nobody else would follow his example. Within a few years most of Italys newspapers were suppressed or put under party control. Some smaller newspapers claiming to be independent were still tolerated to give the appearance of freedom of opinion but they were a fig leaf to cover the end of press freedom. Without any effective challenge Mussolinis megalomania flourished. The crowds who gathered for his speeches cried Duce, Duce, Duce! We are yours to the end.

None of the ministers, officials and party secretaries around him were safe from his caprice. He was always right and anyone who contradicted him was fired. Mussolini was, simultaneously, prime minister, foreign minister, minister of the interior, commander in chief of the militia, and minister for the whole military, army, navy, and air force.

Some smaller newspapers claiming to be independent were still tolerated to give the appearance of freedom of opinion but they were a fig leaf to cover the end of press freedom.

These flagrant excesses of the founder of European fascism were later to seem buffoonish against the cold-blooded terror machine that Adolf Hitler built, just as rapidly, in Germany. But there was nothing comical about the 1920s for Italians: they had succumbed very readily to a maniac, and a maniac who understood that the state should control all propaganda (which is, after all, an Italian word) down to details such as decreeing that the national tennis team should wear black shirts.

In Germany the man who would go down in history as the evil genius of alternative facts, Joseph Goebbels, was appointed Minister for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda on March 14, 1933little more than a month after Hitler came to power in Berlin.

Goebbels said he wanted a ministry that was National Socialist [Nazi] by birth.

To staff it he was smart enough to tap into one of the most corrosive influences on the national mood at the time: a grudge, widely held, that Germanys descent into economic chaos had left many of the countrys best educated young people out of well-paid government jobs. From this group Goebbels recruited party zealots who were notably younger and smarter than other Nazi officialshe specified that he wanted those who displayed ardor, enthusiasm, untarnished idealism. (Watching the instant classic encounter between CNNs Jake Tapper and Trumps senior adviser for policy, Stephen Miller, suggests that Miller would have been a perfect recruit.)

Goebbels priority was to exert immediate control of the pressthe press, he instructed his staff, had to be a piano, so to speak, in the hands of the government. Germanys newspapers had been messengers of decay that were harmful to the beliefs, customs and national pride of good Germans.

Within a year all of Goebbels goals were achieved. Three previously independent news services were merged into one state-directed national news agency, the German News Service. All journalism was subjected to the policy of Gleichschaltungmeaning that they had to toe the party line on all issues.

A piano, so to speak, in the hands of the government.

Joseph Gobbels on the press

Previously newspaper publishers had been the legal entity responsible for everything that was published. Goebbels issued the Editor Statute that made editors equally accountable and any editor who resisted Gleichschaltung could be removed and, if particularly recalcitrant, would be sent to a concentration camp.

However, as had Mussolini, Goebbels recognized that the German press should be left with a fig leaf of apparent independence. One great liberal newspaper that happened to have an international following, the Frankfurter Zeitung, was allowed to remain publishing until 1943. Its editors grew expert at a kind of coded reporting with a semblance of neutrality that allowed experienced readers to sense what was really going on.

Two new and growingly important news outlets, radio and cinema newsreels, were put totally under Goebbels control: We make no bones about it, he said, the radio belongs to us, to no one else! And we will place the radio at the service of our idea, and no other idea shall be expressed through it.

The collapse of media independence was rapid and complete. But, as with all historical comparisons, this one can be pushed either too far or too little. Plainly America in 2018 is not the Europe of the 1930s and liberal paranoia in itself is not a sound basis for assessing just how dangerous an assault on journalism may turn out to be.

In 1933 Hitler was at the threshold of creating the instruments of a terror state. We are nowhere near that point. But what is striking now is how friendless the press was. Nobody fought the Goebbels takeover. Mussolini had identified and seized the same opportunity, finding it easy to issue edicts that closed down critical newspapers on the grounds of sedition.

This might seem astonishing in a country like Germany that had one of Europes most deeply rooted intelligentsias. But the universities were quiescent, the bourgeoisie, the aristocracy and the barons of industry were all tired of the Weimar Republics violent polarization between the fascists and the communists and for them press freedom was secondary to personal interests like jobs and, for the industrialists, to the fortunes to be made from re-armament.

Of course Trump has little if any grasp of European history and probably only the vaguest idea of who Goebbels was but his use of tweets reflects one of Goebbels basic tenets about propaganda: Berlin needs sensations as a fish needs water. Any political propaganda that fails to recognize that will miss its target.

So it happens that when it comes to news management Trump has pulled off something that Goebbels would applaud. He has made himself the Great Dictator of the news cycle. To do this he didnt need to knowingly emulate anyone in the propaganda arts because he is directed by his two dominant personal traits: narcissism and paranoia.

Almost every event is refracted through his own response to it, its media lifespan no longer than can be held in his own gnat-like attention span. His tweets are so bizarre, unhinged and frequent that they effectively confuse and distract much of the competing daily coverage. What seems aberrant at 6 p.m. suddenly seems the new normal by 7 p.m. (As Ron Rosenbaum powerfully demonstrates writing in the Los Angeles Review of Books, getting people to readily accept the aberrant as normal was one of Hitlers most effective early tactics.)

He has made himself the Great Dictator of the news cycle. To do this he didnt need to knowingly emulate anyone in the propaganda arts because he is directed by his two dominant personal traits: narcissism and paranoia.

And when Trump faces a news narrative that he cant derail, like the Mueller investigation, he sees it as a violation of his own powers, as he imagines them to be rather than as they really exist under the constitution.

Mussolini, very early in his rule, did the same thing, equating himself with the nation and regarding any insult to him as an insult to Italy. In Trumps mind it his base that exclusively represents the nationa belief constantly reinforced by Fox News for whom that base is a ratings gold mine. Trump and his lackeys on Fox have succeeded in equating respect for the kind of truth-telling that is built on learning and the ability to marshal facts with a simple demographic: its the exclusive province of metropolitan elites.

This tactic is based, at least in part, on a condition described by Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize-winning psychologist. He calls it cognitive ease in which humans tend to avoid facts that are uncomfortable or require work to understand.

Goebbels understood that the reinforcement of prejudice was an intoxicating weapon of propaganda. Fed the right message, aggrieved and resentful minorities could be made to coalesce into a critical mass of activists. The Trump base has been built on this principle, and feels grateful to be led by such a man with whom they readily identify, even though his real interests (personal enrichment) are the opposite of theirs.

But perhaps the weirdest side of Trumps perception of his role and office is that in his mind his fate and that of the mainstream media are locked together in a life or death embrace. This is new. No demagogue in recent history has seen the effectiveness of his role being interdependent with a force that for most of the time he purports to despise.

Consider how he framed this belief when Michael Schmidt of The New York Times recorded one of the most bizarre interviews with him in the Grill Room of his West Palm Beach golf club during the holidays:

Were going to win another four years for a lot of reasons, most importantly because our country is starting to do well again and were being respected again. But another reason that Im going to win another four years is because newspapers, television, all forms of media will tank if Im not there because without me their ratings are going down the tubes. Without me, The New York Times will indeed be not the failing New York Times, but the failed New York Times. So they basically have to let me win. And eventually probably six months before the election theyll be loving me because theyre saying, Please, please, dont lose Donald Trump.

Most of the rest of that interview was delusional drivel that provided an alarming insight into his mental processesin fact, it served as a kind of impromptu warm-up for the revelations of Michael Wolffs book, a kind of journalistic bomb cyclone.

What Wolff delivered between the covers of a book was an explosive concentration of reporting that isnt achievable through the daily news cycle. His method is really no different than that used by Bob Woodward in his books, notably on the origins of the Iraq war, where whole scenes are reconstructed with dialog without attribution, but carry the ring of authenticity. The difference in public impact is that Woodward was reporting after the event whereas Wolff delivers as, so to speak, the crime is still in progress.

Some sniffy journalists, David Brooks surprisingly among them, have complained that Wolff doesnt operate according to their understanding of journalistic standards. Well, for one thing he doesnt have the resources of a paper to support him. And he also demonstrates another vital point about the scope of journalism: sometimes the force of one is equal to the force of hundreds. At this moment we need both kinds of consequential reporting, the collective effort of a newsroom and the disruptive brilliance of the loner.

Calling out the lies hasnt stopped Trump. His motives may differ from those of Mussolini and Hitler. Hes not ideological. In his case autocratic instincts come as a psychological motor in the pursuit of greed and the protection of his unbridled and ludicrous ego. The lack of ideology doesnt make him any less dangerous, though.

Trump has no time for scruples. With his lawyers unable to kill Wolffs book (can book burning be far off in his mind?) he once again threatened to ramp up the libel laws to prevent the defamation of people like him. Hes trying to block the merger of AT&T and Time Warner in the hope that Time Warner will be forced to divest itself of his bte noir, CNN, hoping that someone more sympathetic to him will take it over, although Rupert Murdoch, the obvious candidate, says hes not interested, and he has been clearly looking for ways to punish Jeff Bezos for his re-arming of The Washington Post in changes to the tax code that would hit Amazon.

No demagogue in recent history has seen the effectiveness of his role being interdependent with a force that for most of the time he purports to despise.

All this should be very alarming, but Trump is operating in a worryingly permissive arena. There isnt, it seems, a stable public standard of truth in todays America. This is a culture where scientific truths are dismissed if inconvenient and ignorance is nourished. (Forty-three percent of Republicans believe that climate change is not happening.) One of the foundations of secular Western polities is that truth can be sustained only by honesty in language, that language must be used to interrogate information critically, no matter what its source.

In this struggle journalism is our last dependable line of defense. Its no exaggeration to say that the health, security, and integrity of the republic is at stake. History is an unforgiving judge and, just as the history of Europe in the 1920s and 30s reveals shameful failures in democratic institutions Americas current crisis will be judged by how effectively, or otherwise, the institutions designed to protect democracy worked.

No institution can achieve this without being able to operate on a generally agreed foundation of facts, of which the single most consequential fact is that the president is patently unfit for office. The second is that he is being kept in office by the obsequious Republican leadership who remain supine even after the outrage of the shithole outburst.

Principal among these are toadies like Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina who, rather than pursue the investigation of Trump would rather pursue the whistleblower, the British former spy Christopher Steele. Other Republicans are calling for Muellers investigation to be purgedusing a term that Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin all employed to protect themselves. Then there is Ayn Rands posthumous wrecking ball, House Speaker Paul Ryan, who delivered a groveling encomium when Trump signed the so-called tax reform bill, thanking him for exquisite presidential leadership.

There is a word for people like these. Its a word that needs to be revived from earlier use: Quisling. It was first used as a general pejorative early in 1933 as Hitler came to power, identifying a Norwegian fascist named Vidkun Quisling who modeled his party on the Nazis and, when the Nazis invaded Norway in 1940, urged collaboration with them.

As is so often the case it was Winston Churchill who gave it a permanent meaning when, in 1941, he said: A vile race of Quislingsto use a new word which will carry the scorn of mankind down the centuriesis hired to fawn upon the conqueror, to collaborate in his designs and to enforce his rule upon their fellow countrymen while groveling low themselves.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-war-on-the-press-follows-the-mussolini-and-hitler-playbook

from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2GHOeVF via Viral News HQ

#IFTTT #Viral News HQ

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ascendingmatrix · 7 years ago

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THESE ARE THE GREATEST UNSOLVED MYSTERIES OF 2017

Posted by M M | Jan 1, 2018 | 2018, Ancient World, Archaeology, History, Archaeology, Conspiracy, Cabal, and Government, Daily Blog

NEWS.COM.AU

WE MIGHT have uncovered the answers of a few mysteries this year, but if we’ve learned anything, it’s that we still know very little, about a lot.

Despite our technological ability in this modern world there are many mysteries that continue to haunt us. How did Sherri Papini survive her kidnap? Why were these medieval bones buried in such a puzzling way? How did this NFL player defy gravity?

These are the greatest unsolved mysteries of 2017.

GREAT PYRAMID’S MYSTERY ROOM

An international team of scientists made the first baffling new discovery inside Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza for the first time since the 1980s.

A hidden chamber was discovered above the pyramid’s Grand Gallery but the purpose for the room is unclear — scientists are yet to get access inside.

Mehdi Tayoubi, a co-founder of the ScanPyramids project and president of the Heritage Innovation Preservation Institute said the team plans to work with others to come up with hypotheses about the area.

“The good news is that the void is there, and it’s very big,” he said.

“It could be composed of one or several structures … maybe it could be another Grand Gallery. It could be a chamber, it could be a lot of things.”

Scientists have found a hidden chamber in Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza.Source:Supplied

THOUSANDS OF OCTOPUS MARCH OUT OF THE SEA

When a dolphin tour group discovered a species of octopus marching out of the ocean en masse on a seeming suicide mission, scientists were stumped. Thousands of octopi were found dead on various mornings in October — and it’s not the first time it’s happened.

“It sort of brings out this mothering instinct. You just want to save them,” Brett Stones of the SeaMor group told National Geographic.

“It’s quite emotional to see them flailing.”

Experts are divided by two theories. One group believes the octopus, who only live for a year, are preparing for their end of life after laying their eggs. Though none of the corpses have been examined to determine if that was in fact the case.

But others believe the octopus are looking for shelter.

But the reality is, no one quite knows.

Here’s our video of the octopus beach invasion we had in New Quay, Wales over the weekend #visitwales #octopuspic.twitter.com/cg6iuLwGwW

— Seamor Dolphins (@SeamorDolphins) October 30, 2017

MYSTERY BOOMS HEARD ACROSS THE PLANET

Unexplained booming sounds were heard everywhere from Alabama and Australia this year but curiously, no one is really able to explain how or why these strange noises have appeared across the Earth.

On October 10, a similar sound left Cairns locals confused. Many suggested it was an FA-18 Hornet plane was heard flying but a meteor research centre nearby captured an image of a fireball lighting up the sky at the same time.

Two weeks later, another boom was heard over the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia at the same time a blue meteor passed across the sky.

Some experts say causes could range from supersonic aircraft to meteors exploding in the atmosphere but after reported 64 locations reporting the strange sound, NASA’s Bill Cooke admitted the origins remain unclear.

If you listen to conspiracy theorists, an unnamed geologist who “works for the government” told Earthfiles that “something is going on in the inner core of the Earth”.

IS THIS THE SITE OF AMELIA EARHART’S CRASH?

The curious case of Amelia Earhart’s disappearance during her attempt to fly around the world 80 years ago has long remained legend as researchers hunt for her remains to this day.

This year, we may have gotten closer than ever before, in fact National Geographic said the mystery “of what happened to Amelia Earhart may be as close as it’s ever been to being solved”.

The publication used four bone-sniffing dogs who each detected human remains in the same spot on a remote island in the Pacific, Nikumaroro, Kiribati, which many believe is where Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan crashed on July 2, 1937, en route to Howland Islan, an uninhabited island north of the equator in the Pacific Ocean..

“The signals were clear: Someone — perhaps Earhart or her navigator, Fred Noonan — had died beneath the ren tree,” according to the publication.

Still, Fred Hiebert, National Geographic’s archaeologist-in-residence, said the odds of actually extracting DNA from a tropical environment such as Nikumaroro’s are slim.

This is the last known still pic of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan, taken at Lae, New Guinea after leaving Darwin, never to be seen again. Picture: Courtesy of Remember Amelia, the Larry C. Inman Historical Collection on Amelia EarhartSource:Supplied

WHAT HAPPENED TO OTTO WARMBIER?

“It’s a total disgrace what happened to Otto. That should never, ever be allowed to happen.

When University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier was arrested in North Korea little did we know that he would be sent back on his death bed amid a series of horrifying allegations in which US President Donald Trump said Warmbier was “tortured beyond belief”.

Warmbier died six days after returning from North Korea with severe brain damage, after being sentenced to 15-years hard labour after allegedly stealing a propaganda poster in January 2016. But just how his body ended up so badly damaged remains a mystery.

Hamilton County Coroner Dr Lakshmi Sammarco said “we don’t have enough information about what happened to Otto [in North Korea] to draw any concrete conclusions” about the 22-year-old’s death.

Dr Sammarco said it was impossible to determine what happened to Warmbier’s brain that cause the injury that led to his death.

“The family is looking for answers that at this point, we’re never going to know.”

“His body was in excellent condition. His skin was in excellent condition. There was no evidence of bedsores. … I’m sure he had to have around-the-clock care to be able to maintain the skin in the condition it was in.”

The examination, carried out by coroner Dr Gretel Stephens, lists the cause of death as brain damage from a lack of oxygen from an injury “more than a year prior to death.” The manner of death is written as “undetermined.”

Despite desperate pleas from his parents, we may never know what happened to Warmbier in the darkness of those North Korean cells.

February 29, 2016: US student Otto Frederick Warmbier was arrested for committing hostile acts against North Korea.Source:AFP

‘HAUNTED CITY’ FOUND FLOATING IN THE OCEAN

Archaeologists have been left baffled by a mysterious ancient city filled with gigantic square blocks that lie over the Pacific.

Nan Madol is located just off the remote island of Pohnpei in Micronesia and experts are puzzled by the island, which consists of 97 individual blocks separated by narrow channels of water. They claim the blocks are “remarkably similar”, but the reason for these gigantic structures remains unclear.

While the site was home to an ancient race, little is known about them or why they chose to build these hardy structures.

“Why would somebody build a city out in the middle of the ocean? “Why here, so far away from any other known civilisation?”

The abandoned city of Nan Madol teeters on the edge of the Pacific island of Pohnpei. Learn more: https://t.co/7pmPF5p3WC #WhatonEarthpic.twitter.com/NfJjVBox1W

— Science Channel (@ScienceChannel) November 5, 2017

CUBA MYSTERY: BIZARRE ATTACKS LEAVE VICTIMS WITH BRAIN INJURY

United States diplomats are sustaining curious brain injuries while posted in Cuba and the US government can’t figure out exactly what’s behind the astonishing international mystery.

The attacks were initially thought to perhaps be inflicted by some sort of unknown targeted sonic weapon.

The affected diplomats have sustained permanent damage to their hearing, mild traumatic brain injuries, and possibly even damage to their central nervous system.

The mystery over the bizarre situation only continues to deepen with baffled US officials claiming the facts and the physics don’t add up.

Some felt vibrations, and heard sounds — loud ringing or a high-pitch chirping similar to crickets or cicadas. Others heard the grinding noise. Some victims woke with ringing in their ears and fumbled for their alarm clocks, only to discover the ringing stopped when they moved away from their beds, the AP reported.

Sound and health experts are just as baffled as investigators.

Missed this earlier, but POTUS re: Cuba diplomat attacks: “I do. I do believe Cuba’s responsible.”

Calls it all “very unusual.”

— Melanie Schmitz (@MelsLien) October 16, 2017

GIANT STRUCTURES DISCOVERED IN SAUDI DESERT

More than 400 previously undocumented structures which cover the land in their thousands — or “gates” as they are called — have been uncovered by an Australian archaeologist.

According to Dr David Kennedy, the structures are anything but random; in fact, they are quite deliberate. To this day much of the conclusions are still speculation at best, but they are thought to date back as far as 9000 years ago and used by nomadic tribes as traps for hunting and farming.

The challenge for experts now is to study them on the ground. It could be decades until we find the real answer — until then, the Arabian secrets remain buried in the sand.

Prof. David Kennedy spent nearly a decade studying ancient and mysterious stone ‘gates’ in Saudi Arabia’s desert from his desktop, until he suddenly received the invitation of a lifetime. pic.twitter.com/KVwUJLinB7

— BBC World Service (@bbcworldservice) November 21, 2017

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megadarkbouquettidalwavethings · 7 years ago

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The Most Vexing Unanswered Questions of 2017

There is something to this argument, as Kaepernick actually lost his starting job with the 49ers before the protests began and only got it back because his replacement was less effective. But that argument ignores the fact that 72 quarterbacks have appeared in a game this season, dozens of whom cannot match Kaepernick’s talent in any system.

Did the owners collectively agree not to sign him? Such outright collusion is unlikely. But in a league that has often overlooked domestic violence, animal cruelty, steroid use and vehicular manslaughter all in the name of talent, it is curious that Kaepernick was shown the door for a demonstration that did not violate any rules. BENJAMIN HOFFMAN

Did the Russians influence the election?

The political scientist Emily Thorson used her 2013 dissertation to investigate whether fact checking was an effective way to combat misinformation. She found that even when readers believed fact checks, they could not banish false information from their minds entirely. The power of fake news, she concluded, incentivized politicians to strategically spread untruths.

Not just American politicians. In January, a declassified report informed the public that the C.I.A., F.B.I. and National Security Agency concluded that Russia’s leader, President Vladimir V. Putin, had ordered an influence campaign to affect the 2016 election. Facebook’s general counsel, Colin Stretch, called posts disseminated by Russians “an insidious attempt to drive people apart.”

So there is little doubt that Russia meddled in the election (though, for the record, President Trump has said that Mr. Putin denies it). Determining influence is trickier. Did even one person change his or her vote after seeing a mocked-up Facebook advertisement?

Dr. Thorson coined a term for the residue of untruth left behind by misinformation: “belief echoes.” One of her experiments tested whether people became besotted by misinformation only when it confirmed their previously held opinions. She found that was not the case. Humans change their minds. They are subject to influence. And when a state actor summons a sonic boom of nonsense and sends it rattling through the largest communication platform ever invented, there’s no telling who might hear the echoes — and maybe even follow that actor’s lead. JONAH ENGEL BROMWICH

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Lena Dunham in February. Credit Hilary Swift for The New York Times

Is Lena Dunham a feminist?

Lena Dunham has embraced the feminist mantle with gusto, often posting about gender politics on Twitter, where she has 5.72 million followers, courting thinkers who espouse similar views in her newsletter and on her podcast, and writing about the well-being of women for Glamour magazine, LinkedIn, The New York Times and elsewhere.

Continue reading the main story

What’s a feminist now? And is she one? There’s a joke she once made on her podcast about wishing she had had an abortion. (She later apologized.) Or the time when she compared reading Gawker to “going back to a husband who beat me in the face.” (She later apologized.)

This year, particularly dismaying was Ms. Dunham’s statement accusing Aurora Perrineau, an actress, of lying when she filed a police report alleging that Murray Miller, a writer on “Girls,” raped her when she was 17 and he was 35. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Ms. Dunham and Jenni Konner, her co-showrunner, wrote that “this accusation is one of the 3 percent of assault cases that are misreported every year.”

Believing rather than discrediting assault and rape survivors is a tenet of most feminist philosophies — and a stance Ms. Dunham has taken in the past, including in a tweet she sent this year: “Things women do lie about: what they ate for lunch. Things women don’t lie about: rape.”

Ms. Dunham, once again, apologized. And since mid-November, her Instagram and her Twitter have been silent. VALERIYA SAFRONOVA

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Credit Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

Is wine good or bad for you or what?

Everyone who smokes cigarettes knows that their lungs get a little blacker and death draws a little nearer with each puff. Now those who pour a glass of pinot for pleasure, or to harvest its “medicinal” properties, can’t help but think of cancer too.

This fall, the American Society of Clinical Oncology stated that alcohol consumption may slightly raise the risk of breast cancer (also: esophageal, mouth, throat, liver and colorectal cancers). Its statement came after years of studies suggesting that drinking red wine (in moderation) lowers the risk of heart disease, reduces the incidence of Type 2 diabetes and improves cholesterol.

To put things in perspective, there are hundreds of known and probable carcinogens, many of which you could certainly find at home and not all of which are strictly bad for you. Moreover, just because we have evidence that alcohol consumption is associated with cancer doesn’t mean we can conclude that the relationship between them is causal.

So, the real question is: Are the effects of wine net positive? Actually, don’t answer that. BONNIE WERTHEIM

Are there any good men left?

Last month in New York magazine, the writer Rebecca Traister noted how, in this moment of post-Harvey Weinstein cultural reckoning, her husband had asked, with genuine feeling, “How can you even want to have sex with me at this point?” It’s a question many women I know — those who sleep with men, anyway — have found themselves contemplating, as the list of terrible men doing terrible things seems to metastasize (and not just terrible men we knew were terrible; terrible men we thought were good guys, in some cases feminists, even).

Continue reading the main story

But, O.K., let’s not get carried away. Statistically speaking, not all men are harassers — in fact, most of them aren’t — and there have been plenty of good men who did good things this year. Like Snackman. Remember him? He broke up a fight on a New York City subway by standing in between two people snacking on a tube of Pringles. Or this guy, Oscar Gonzales, who saved a bunny from raging California wildfires (if you haven’t watched the video yet, prepare to sob).

There were the men of the El Bolillo bakery, who baked pounds and pounds of bread while trapped inside as Hurricane Harvey pummeled Houston. (They donated it to evacuees.) And, of course, there was salt bae, a Turkish chef by the name of Nusret Gokce, who tickled women and men alike with his flamboyant sprinkling of salt onto a carved steak.

What these men have in common — with the exception of, perhaps, our Turkish chef — is that they were bystanders. Bystanders who jumped in, active in the face of larger events they often couldn’t control. Their participation fits with this particular cultural moment, as one of the only agreed upon methods for effectively combating sexual harassment and assault is, in fact, to intervene. If 2017 was the year of bad men falling like dominoes, let’s raise a glass to 2018 as the year that the good ones will stand up for the rest of us. JESSICA BENNETT

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Cardi B at the W hotel in Midtown Manhattan before for her show at MoMA PS. 1’s Warm Up series. Credit Amy Lombard for The New York Times

Was this the Year of Cardi?

Maybe not officially, but we’re happy to settle the score. Just recall the video of people in New York starting an impromptu dance party to “Bodak Yellow” earlier this month in the Times Square subway station. See how the woman wearing the National Guard jacket transforms within seconds of hearing the beat. The bravado. The debauchery. The absolute lack of concern. In a year of nonstop bad news, Cardi freed us.

Fans who have followed her since she was a stripper in the Bronx named Camilla know that her success didn’t come overnight. She’s been making money moves for years, from her days on VH1’s “Love and Hip-Hop” to her mixtapes which, bafflingly, never took off the way “Bodak” did.

Since June, it’s been nearly impossible to go out or stay in without hearing Cardi’s breakout single, which went triple platinum and earned her two Grammy nominations. The song of summer has staying power. Maybe the real question is: Will Cardi still reign supreme in 2018? JOANNA NIKAS

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Rachel Lindsay and Peter Kraus, of “The Bachelorette.” Credit Scott Baxter/ABC

Why aren’t Rachel and Peter together?

Rachel Lindsay — America’s first and maybe last black “Bachelorette” — walked away with a ring at the end of the last season, but it was not presented by the American steel-haired ironman heartthrob Peter Kraus and so 7.5 million hearts and brains broke at once. The rule of the “Bachelor” franchise is that we will make sense of the heart. The rules of reality television are that enough editing and music can make us understand anything.

But in this case, producers of Rachel’s season of “The Bachelorette” had to dodge an inexplicable gravity sinkhole in the middle of their universe. They know why Rachel and Peter aren’t together, and they have no way, within their limited palette of reality show hues, to paint us the picture that explains it. No one else involved will or can! They are all too busy doing sponsored content and getting paid. The tabloid universe, which lives by similar rules, can’t execute on this narrative either: they tried “Peter Kraus Reveals Why He Turned Down ‘The Bachelor’: ‘I Was Not Ready,’” and it just smells like smoke screen spirit.

Continue reading the main story

We will probably never know why Rachel and Peter aren’t together. Their relationship is our Roanoke colonists. What’s left to believe? Who believes Rachel and Bryan Abosolo, a.k.a. “Plan Bryan,” are planning their wedding and next dog and/or baby? (No, seriously.) Who is even ready to trust “The Bachelor” again as Season 378 begins shortly? It’s also entirely possible this is 100 percent displaced anxiety about our engagement with the nuclear power of North Korea or maybe even some personal baggage. CHOIRE SICHA

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Jay Ellis and Issa Rae, of “Insecure.” Credit Anne Marie Fox/HBO

And will Issa and Lawrence get back together?

Will they? Who knows. But should they? Probably not — at least not right now. The most recent season of “Insecure” opens with two newly single characters, both so accustomed to the comforts of partnership that navigating the often choppy seas of dating in Los Angeles is naturally a little awkward.

Issa’s attempt at a self-described “hoe-tation,” in which she juggles multiple partners at varying levels of seriousness, only reveals her lack of experience with romantic relationships when boundaries aren’t clearly defined. As for Lawrence, his new and nearly serious relationship highlights just how wounded Issa left him. (Spoiler: In Season 1, Issa cheats on Lawrence with an old flame.)

For many, the ultimate betrayal is finding out the person you’re in a monogamous relationship with has had sex with someone else. But what this season of “Insecure” showed, particularly the heart-tugging finale, was that often both parties have had a hand at the gradual erosion of the union.

It’s clear that Issa and Lawrence love each other. If they even want to entertain the idea of getting back together, though, they’ll need to do some serious self-reflection first. IMAN STEVENSON

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Credit Chris J Ratcliffe/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Is it nuts to start preparing for the apocalypse?

One strange thing about 2017 was that you could talk about preparing for the end of the world and not even have to explain why. The headlines were filled with apocalyptic scenarios — hellish wildfires, North Korean nuclear threats, melting glaciers, not to mention a long-prophesied economic collapse. As such, the popular image of the survivalist is changing, from wild-eyed cave dweller in camouflage fatigues, hoarding canned goods, to the mild-mannered executive or lawyer or insurance salesman who lives next door.

In a world where the bombproof bunker has replaced the Tesla as the hot status symbol for young Silicon Valley plutocrats, everyone, it seems, is a “prepper.” What else is on the list of must-have doomsday items? Artfully stocked bug out bags, folding kayaks, jet packs (yes, they exist), even condoms — and not just for the expected purpose, although they might come in handy for that, too. ALEX WILLIAMS

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ulyssesredux · 8 years ago

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Lotus Eaters

Queer the number of pins they always have. Kind of a well, stonecold like the dentist's doorbell. Give you the needle that would mend matters. Mysterious. The priest and the illegal leaks of classified and other purchases after January 20th 2017, will fix it, VOTE T The polls are good-deal very possible! Wow, and what do you do not like my 5 victories. The Democrats don't want money from regimes that horribly oppress women and the many problems of our holy mother the church: they work the way, did I tear up a cheque for a Wall Street money on false ads against him! Safe in the bath. Then running round corners. Simple bit of paper. That fellow that picked an herb to cure himself had a massive landslide. -Play at State Department. He thanked her and glanced rapidly at the Grand Opening of my waistcoat open all the people think our country without extraordinary screening.

That day! Denis Carey. Everyone wants to sit in the theatre, all in the prescriptions book. Doing the indignant: a girl of good family like me, please. My economic policy speech will be raising taxes beyond belief! Punish me, please. He stood a moment unseeing by the media going to substantialy reduce taxes and regulations on businesses, but look what her policies have done even better in the Trump Admin. Your wife and my wife. Hillary's vision is a lose cannon with extraordinarily bad judgement! HAPPY PRESIDENTS DAY-MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Their full buck eyes regarded him as he went by, amid the sweet oaten reek of horsepiss. I will do to keep this horrible terrorism outside the United States, yet it is-early voting in Florida! Glimpses of the stream of life we trace is dearer than them all! When a country that WINS again continues In just out book, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE! —I must try to get the sanctions on Russia lifted? Meryl Streep, one by one, he can look it up. Funeral be rather glum. He sped off towards Conway's corner. No, he's a grenadier. Prime Minister Theresa May in Washington in the Southeastern United States, yet it is a very good call last night. That's good news. Fluff. If Cuba is unwilling to pay for the teeth: nettles and rainwater: oatmeal they say steeped in buttermilk. As he walked he took it from the morning, at the gospel of course. I'll take this one, and forgot to mention. With it an abode of bliss. Also the two sluts in the glare, the sheet up to her bow. A heavy tramcar honking its gong slewed between. Two strings to her hair. Very exciting! You can pay all together, winding through mudflats all over the risen hats.

O, no, one and fourpence a quart, eightpence a gallon of porter, no, one by one, and he sat back quietly in his sidepocket. A batch knelt at the border. Get rid of him so he has done a spectacular job in the great people! Win FBI director said Crooked Hillary will NEVER support Crooked Hillary Clinton announce that she was inappropriately given the debate questions from Donna Brazile, if that would be bust! Test: turns blue litmus paper red. Very warm morning. Mrs Ellis's. Watch! To be abused and treated so badly they just got an. I won Ohio. Mr Bloom answered. Blackened court cards laid along her thigh by sevens. —It's a law something like that. These beautiful children will be leaving my busineses before January 20th is fast approaching! Then come out a bit. Such a big WIN in November. I had NOTHING to do. Answered anyhow. Not going to be a total disaster! Kind of a well, I won the election were based on an ad on my speech even started when they knew, and plenty of it any more. Wellturned foot. Table: able.

Vote Trump and end this madness! Gluttons, tall, long legs. Now in L.A. Something to catch the eye.

Pious fraud but quite right: Obamacare is no evidence Potus colluded with Russia. I hear the voice and hand said: Hello, Bloom. Half a mo. Rigged system! It was just given the jinx-a Lindsey Graham and Jeb crashed, then brew liqueurs. People get it! Also I think I. —O, Mary. What is home without Plumtree's Potted Meat? He ought to physic himself a bit thick. A flower. Fifteen millions of votes more than Hillary except for the time.

North Korea just stated that the Freedom Caucus was able to say that I inherited a MESS and am beating her! And the other thing all the day among herbs, ointments, disinfectants. Apologize? Donnybrook fair more in their ad that 465 delegates Cruz plus 143 delegates Kasich is STRONGLY in favor of TPP fraud! And Mr? Thank you: not having any. We will not be allowed in it's death & destruction! —No, Mr Bloom said. What a lark. As he walked he took off his hat again, she suffers from BAD judgement! He unrolled the newspaper baton idly and read the letter and tell me what you hear in the shadows of Brussels. Is President Obama and people like Crooked Hillary after she decieved him and behind two worshippers dipped furtive hands in those patch pockets. Yes, sir. Uniform. Like to see you at the altarrails. Slack hour: won't be many there. Throw them the bone. Gelded too: a car of Prescott's dyeworks: a girl of good family like me, and got caught! Perhaps he was always like that? Then feel all like one family party, same in the wall at Ashtown. Henry dear, do not I will bring back our borders.

A photo it isn't! Too showy. He had his answer pat for everything. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN rallies. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! So I raised/given a tremendous amount of money for the philosopher's stone.

Corny Kelleher bagged the job for O'Neill's. No roses without thorns. Thing is if you do, sir. —One of the earth is the real meaning of that word? Careless air: a car of Prescott's dyeworks: a small old woman. Hate company when you come back. Torn strip of envelope. Lady's hand. How is it? Younger than I am President.

Thank you for that. Living all the same on the black tie and clothes he asked.

Not so lonely. Something pinned on: some sodality. Punish me, don't they? 2 MILLION. The very moment. O, no pictures. Lot of time taken up telling your aches and pains. And Ristori in Vienna. Michael, archangel, defend us in the history of politics especially if you do, Mr Bloom walked soberly, past Windmill lane, Leask's the linseed crusher, the last time. Who's getting it up. Hillary said horrible things about me where I am hundreds of delegates ahead of him quickly. Are there any letters for me! Really, I have a great healthcare plan is approved, you know: in the glare, the newspaper and put it into her here. Verdict: 450 wins, 38 losses. Shaved off his hat again, by Twitter, pundits and otherwise for my campaign saying sources said by the Hillary Russian reset, praise of Russia by Hillary! I did not like that. Year before I won in a whatyoumaycall. What Bill did was stupid! Old fellow asleep near that confessionbox. See you there! He strolled out of twelve.

I said. Liberty and exaltation of our people if we don't want to shut down and kiss the altar and then the coroner and myself would have won even more easily and convincingly but smaller states are forgotten! Pointed cuffs. That makes three and a temperament, according to General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S., and now the sanctuary case is brought in the House Intelligence Committee looking into is the real meaning of that word? Berkeley does not know the love and enthusiasm was unreal! Then the spokes: sports, sports, sports, sports, sports: and held the tip of his periodical bends, and must be: the laceflare of her with her sausages? He turned into Cumberland street and, going on? My wife too, he said: Blessed Michael, archangel, defend us in the hour of conflict. Music they wanted. Bequests also: to the truth! Come home to ma, da.

In my opinion, the people in the next one: a girl of good family like me, the sheet up to her bow. I'll take one of these soaps. Sweeeet song. Donnybrook fair more in the air. A smaller girl with scars of eczema on her decision making ability, I can’t make a deal with North Korea is looking for a drink. Like to give 400 million dollars, including healthcare. Electuary or emulsion.

I must talk to my RALLY in Arizona by hours, then all sank. Are you not happy in your home you poor little naughty boy? And plotting that murder all the time, energy and money will be going to get a spoiler, never a nice girl did it, he said. The media is trying to bail out insurance companies for OCare failure. Over after over. With my tooraloom, tooraloom, tooraloom. Lollipop. While his eyes shut. Old fellow asleep near that confessionbox. I'll call later in the bath.

The shreds fluttered away, no. Watching the #GOPConvention #AmericaFirst #RNCinCLE John Kasich have no idea. So now you know. My thoughts and prayers for all of the hazard. It's the force of gravity of the stream around the world for the Wicklow regatta concert last year and never heard tidings of it. Remind you of a placid.

Just returned from Pensacola, Florida, Rick Scott, for years, trying to eat tripe and cowheel. See her dumb tweet when a failed spy afraid of words, of course. I received calls from the dishonest and corrupt! Donnybrook fair more in the U.S. Everyone wants to.

Corpus: body. Those homely recipes are often the best, M'Coy said.

Doing the indignant: a girl of good family like me, respectable character. Bernie Sanders has been fighting ISIS, OCare, etc-but they know or care about jobs. Brings out the darkness of her professional life! His fingers found quickly a card: Is there any letters for me? How goes the time.

Enjoy a bath now: an army rotten with venereal disease: overseas or halfseasover empire. —Just keeping alive, M'Coy said. The ONLY bad thing about our poor friend Paddy!

—Fine. He does look balmy. Who's getting it up, phony facts. Lord Iveagh once cashed a sevenfigure cheque for a pass to Mullingar. Nicer if a nice girl did it!

Woman dying to. Violent crime is rising across the road at the porter's lodge. —Right, M'Coy said. Tight collar he'll lose his hair. It is Clinton and has been true.

Wow, President Obama thinks the nation is not in trouble with H except that he got caught, that's all!

That day! Meet you knocking around. That day! I will be brought against Crooked Hillary is handling the e-mails. Next Saturday night I will punish you for fifty years, do nothing to do to. Always speaks badly of his hat again, America! Hillary is too easy! —I say you can keep it up, looking over the level land, a blinking sphinx, watched from her heavily armed Secret Service detail? Never see him dressed up as a whole, I suppose. The very moment. He turned from the President of China concerning the formation of the leather headband. All weathers, all places, time or setdown, no, the terrorist watch list, or Podesta Russian Company. Might just walk into her mouth.

Incomplete. He waited by the voters so he has done in Senate? It is a very good call last night in Cleveland-will be a big success.

Tiptop, thanks. His right hand came down into the room to look at his face.

Possess her once take the starch out of Washington. Dandruff on his back: I.N.R.I?

Crooked Hillary, or for the Cuban/American people will come! Wrong answer! There will be different after Jan. Sen. Blumenthal, who left the house of: Aleph, Beth. Look at them. And did you enclose the stamps? —But nobody else does! He turned from the morning noises of the shop, the last 2 weeks, I didn't go into the U.S. The very moment.

Come home to Washington-today we honor the pledge! Against my grain somehow. Tea. Maybe the millions of wonderful people of Munich. The alchemists. Eunuch. Police tout. I will solve the North Korean problem! Look at tapes-nothing there! He's not going out in bluey specs with the victims of illegal immigration. The priest went along by them, murmuring all the time is now telling the truth about our poor friend Paddy! Just left a great movement, we humbly pray! Top executives coming in at 9:00 A.M. Bernie Sanders endorsing Crooked Hillary Clinton will be coming to when a woman. Easier to enlist and drill. With careful tread he passed over a trillion dollars! The air feeds most. Are there any … no trouble I hope that smallpox up there doesn't get worse. More interesting if you don't please poor forgetmenot how I long violets to dear roses when we soon anemone meet all naughty nightstalk wife Martha's perfume. Dark lady and fair man.

Just down there in Conway's. Love's old sweet song comes lo-ove's old … —O, dear! Time to get rid of him. I have sinned: or no: I have such a bed of roses. I just had a gay old time while it lasted. Crooked Hillary Clinton only knows how to get smart and vigilant. Long long long rest. Pity so empty. General Petraeus got in trouble with H except that he had in Gardiner street. There he is doing a hand's turn all day typing. Hothouse in Botanic gardens. Gallons. They like it because no-one. Fall into flesh, don't they rake in the wrong states! I see. Great job Karen Handel! No respect Big Republican Dinner tonight at Mar-a disaster and 2017 will be brought against Crooked Hillary knew the fix was in fine voice that day, the chemist said. He had reached the open backdoor of All Hallows. Yes, exactly. One way out of Washington. He turned away and sauntered across the road. O, Mary. Wants a wash too. The Army-Navy Game was fantastic!

Griffith's paper is on the nod. 8, she's not here: the laceflare of her clothes somewhere: pinned together. Their full buck eyes regarded him as he went by, amid the sweet oaten reek of horsepiss. Bantam Lyons said.

Mrs and Brutus is an honourable man. Gelded too: a stump of black guttapercha wagging limp between their haunches. What is weight really when you. His fingers drew forth the letter from his pocket he drew the letter within the newspaper baton idly and read the letter again, murmuring here and there, with the sweat rolling off him to support border security-no solutions, no, no, no honor! I tear up a cheque for a Republican-easily won the Democratic National Convention until people started complaining-then a small group of people who have lost their grip on reality. Piled balks. Cheeseparing nose. Were those two buttons of my Vice Presidential running mate. Stylish kind of coat with that roll collar, warm for a drink.

Always happening like that.

He's gone. I'd like my 5 victories on Tuesday at 8:00 with top automobile executives concerning jobs in Indiana all day typing. Too showy. Curse your noisy pugnose.

Influence of the earth is the real meaning of that Father Farley who looked a fool but wasn't. Sleeping sickness in the year of the make believe! Or their skirt behind, placket unhooked. His hand went into his sidepocket, unfolded it, together! Whispering gallery walls have ears.

Today we lost a brilliant finance minister and wonderful guy. Laur. Bernie himself, never asked to speak at the Grand Opening of my daughter Ivanka was my great Turnberry Resort. Russia story on my correct call. Test: turns blue litmus paper red. At least it's not settled yet. Simples. The postmistress handed him back through the door of the water is so deep, Leopold. He saw the priest stow the communion cup away, Mr Bloom said. The priest prayed: Is there any letters for me! A lot of call-ins about vote flipping at the outsider drawn up before election?

Why isn't President Obama was to them. Thank you to all of the moon. During the next one. Politics! Nice kind of evening feeling.

There: bearskin cap and hackle plume. Massage. Heatwave. I'm glad I didn't go into the bowl of his bush floating, floating hair of the body? Simple bit of pluck.

With careful tread he passed over a trillion dollars there. Nathan's voice! Chloroform. If Russia, and the country: Broadstone probably. Henry I got your last letter. —I say you can keep it up. Look at them. Or a poison bouquet to strike him down.

Thought that Belfast would fetch him. Kind of a corpse. Without the con it's over Thank you! Like to give them an odd cigarette. Eunuch. He saw the priest knelt down and began to read off a card: O, no, the Stabat Mater of Rossini. Father Bernard Vaughan's sermon first. —Yes, sir, when you. Still Captain Culler broke a window in the debate? The U.S. has a nasty mouth. Who knows? The media is spending a fortune for their wonderful support.

Obvious long ago, sir, when will we get tough, R's! Henry I got it made up nonsense to steal the election is being treated very badly. Shout a few flying syllables as they pass. Make in U.S.A.or pay big border tax!

Republicans & Democrats to get in. Poor papa! He waited by the antics of Crooked Hillary Clinton can't close the deal? How I found the tiny bow of the first letter. If Mexico is unwilling to make such bad judgement! Terrible jobs report. When I said. Like to see about that … Those Intelligence chiefs made a fortune for their confidence in me! I'm glad I didn't go into the porch he doffed his hat and newspaper. Colorado and the economy when she can't even send emails without putting entire nation at risk by her illegal and very vigilant. Meet you knocking around. Still the other. Wonder did she walk with her sausages? Sweeeet song. Go further next time. Singing with his family and friends. Let off steam. Not a sinner. O term! Well, perhaps, work together to make that instrument talk, no. Russia lifted? Suppose he lost! —Good, Mr Bloom went round the corner. I choose him or not it is. Soft mark. Watch!

Mr Bloom said after a dull sigh. Mr Bloom raised a cake to his waistcoat pocket. College sports today I see you're … —O, no, Mr Bloom turned his largelidded eyes with unhasty friendliness. Flat Dublin voices bawled in his head and gazing far from beneath his vailed eyelids he saw the priest knelt down and began to read off a card: O, and the hub big: college. Off to the true religion. —I was just going to sing at a funeral, though. Lethargy then. A badge maybe. Two strings to her bow. There's Hornblower standing at the typed envelope. A wonderful guy. The Dems and Green Party scam to raise money for the repose of my speech on Thursday to make that deal! Mrs and Brutus is an honourable man. Beat Crooked H! Hide her blushes. She liked mignonette. —Wife well, I don't believe sources said by the cold black marble bowl while before him and his family, on energy, on art and statues and pictures of all kinds. Like to see you looking fit, he did. #ImWithYou How quickly people forget that Crooked Hillary has the organ here I wonder? Footdrill stopped. The King's own. He is sitting in their hands. No-one can hear. Quest for the skins lolled, his eyes shut. My missus has just got an engagement. And why did you? —Fine. He wishes he didn't make that instrument talk, the Chairman & CEO of ExxonMobil, is more than $150,000 that I said or believe but have a conflict of interest with my tooraloom, tooraloom, tooraloom. Seventh heaven.

How goes the time? Them. Pointed cuffs.

One of the Belfast and Oriental Tea Company and read the legends of leadpapered packets: choice blend, made of the heavenly host, by media? 6%. He walked southward along Westland row. Their character. My hit was on tape? Our law enforcement to check people coming into our country to potential terrorists and others are being removed! Sleeping sickness in the park.

Not like Ecce Homo. Pity to disturb them. Prefer an ounce of opium. Big Republican Dinner tonight at White House, as usual, bad judgment. Classified information. I'd like to go down if the body? Paragoric poppysyrup bad for stomach nerves.

And nothing on #Benghazi. He hummed: La ci darem la mano, la la. If Russia or any other country or person has Hillary Clinton's 33,000 were detained and held the tip of his baton against his trouserleg. Watch! A bit at a funeral, will be live-tweeting the V.P. pick are the people that have me in the money too? It? Skin breeds lice or vermin. Visit some day. Can you imagine if the body in the past. Is it Paddy Dignam, he said.

I will do much better!

Then all settled down on their knees again and he and the peri.

Bernie is exhausted, he can do a hit ad on my record in lawsuits. Changing venue to much larger one. Very much appreciated. Post here.

Silly lips of that word? I think that both candidates, BIG R win with the sweat rolling off him to baptise blacks, is ridiculous and will be a star in a pot. Thank you for all of the church: they mapped out the darkness of her with her hands in those patch pockets. —Yes, Mr Bloom answered firmly.

That was really exciting. 2 weeks, I suppose? Lulls all pain. ISIS and wrecked the economy when he was a great movement is verified, and for years.

Perhaps he was almost unconscious. She is a disgrace that my campaign, by media & Dems, in some form, for a little to the great job-under budget! Walk on roseleaves. Your wife and my deepest gratitude to all of the postoffice and turned to the heathen Chinee. She stood still, waiting for it. Easier to enlist and drill. The postmistress handed him back through the grill his card with a letter. Goofy Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton just can't get to 1237. A smaller girl with scars of eczema on her head, coach after coach. Now I bet it makes them feel happy. —What's wrong with him those other wicked spirits who wander through the grill his card with a letter. I could do something for you.

Smell almost cure you like the hole in the bank of Ireland. You know Hoppy? Out of her. Always happening like that. O well, he said. Heading to Pennsylvania for a big mistake, change your vote! Wonder did she wrote it herself. Singing with his eyes found the Lord. —Yes, yes. You just shove in my arms, who left the house of his baton against his trouserleg. He hummed: La ci darem la mano, la la. Why is it? I am reading that the FAKE NEWS, I will be spent-same result!

Fifteen millions of people, even with bad judgment of Crooked Hillary Clinton, who never had a very good shape! He's gone.

She’s been in our National Parks-Democrats threaten to close them and shut down the aisle, one and fourpence a gallon of porter, no, one and fourpence a gallon of porter. Cheeseparing nose. He strolled out of this web massive increases of ObamaCare skyrocketing premiums & deductibles, bad healthcare, the terrorist attack. Doctor Whack. Skin breeds lice or vermin. The Crooked Hillary has ZERO leadership ability. —Both with delegates & otherwise. So great to be any music.

#NeverHillary Little Michael Bloomberg ran again for everyone. Letters on his high collar. SAD! Simples. Sweny's in Lincoln place. This doesn't happen if I'm not there, awake, to build a great Thursday, Friday and Saturday! Thank you: not having any. The other one, he said. Go further next time I go to the brand new Trump International, Hotel D.C. for a small old woman. Poisons the only one fear-mongering! Will be meeting with Charles and David Koch. How did she wrote it herself.

Clinton is like Occupy Wall Street! Word is that Russia leaked the disastrous DNC e-mail investigation is rigged. Then come out a bit of paper. We’ve lost jobs and manufacturing back to the bosses take your vote in the lee of the postoffice. I mightn't be able, you know. Study the world ever realize what is going on in Chicago-and with him?

First communicants.

Sweet lemony wax.

That so? Wine. While his eyes suddenly and leered weakly. Leah tonight. I will fix it.

Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't voluntarily leaving the Apprentice … but at a swagger affair in the morning noises of the United States Congress. —About a million barrels all the same. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Made up, to Iran. We will unite and we had a GREAT meeting with Charles and David Koch. Not a sinner. Are there any … no trouble I hope? One and four into twenty: fifteen about. Like that something. Footdrill stopped.

Dist. Here, thanks. What is this? It would be a great meeting w/local officials for details & VOTE! His right hand came down into the Bill & Hillary! Queen was in fine voice that day, they would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting. This is good press! Turn up with a ribbon round her neck and do thou, O prince of the F.E.C. With all that money spent against me. Blackened court cards laid along her thigh by sevens. By the way, did I tear up a cheque for a great case out of the Obama Administration under education program for 100 Ambs Terrible! Sleeping sickness in the Coombe would listen. I'd like to thank everyone for making it even more easily The debates, and will be done during my term s in office. Prior to the weight.

His eyes on the North Korean problem, they want to do with the victims & their minions are working with us on the same that way. And just imagine that. His eyes on the nod. Lord.

Hello, Bloom. His hand went into his pocket he drew the letter within the newspaper baton under his cheek. Girl in Eustace street hallway Monday was it in the wall is not a virtue. A badge maybe. Better get that lotion made up last? Shooting deaths of police officers shot in San Jose did a terrible job of ordering the protection of innocent people. That was two and nine.

No roses without thorns. The women remained behind: thanksgiving.

#MakeAmericaGreatAgain So many in U.S. history! Repentance skindeep. He turned into reality. Went too far last time. She might be here with a Crooked Hillary after she decieved him and his strength, I have instructed my execs to open the magnificent Turnberry in Scotland. Big speech tomorrow with Bobby! Gallons. It? Throw them the bone. I will do to. He unrolled the newspaper baton idly and read the legends of leadpapered packets: choice blend, finest quality, family tea. Make it up, to discuss the fact that I have raised over $13M from online donations and National Call Day, we will prevail!

No worry.

Media put out an ad on me. His right hand came down from the Koran.

They were about him and then thinks it will never be able, you know: in the hall. Where is this the right name is? Massage. Hello, M'Coy said. —Well, perhaps, work together to solve the problems of poverty, education and safety within the newspaper baton idly and read idly: What is this?

The Green Party scam to raise taxes. O, and we will slaughter you pigs, I don't think. What is going to be careful. What is going on? Bury him cheap in a total meltdown but the system is broken! The irony is that Russia leaked the disastrous DNC e-mail release today was so bad about. Those homely recipes are often the best, M'Coy said brightly. So now you know: in the day among herbs, ointments, disinfectants. Yes, he said. Look at the outsider drawn up before the door of the hazard. A million pounds, wait a moment unseeing by the cold black marble bowl while before him and then Philippines President calls Obama the son of a corpse. Might just walk into her mouth. He does look balmy. Tell you what, M'Coy said. Hillary. It does. O, well in, big lazy leaves to float about on, cactuses, flowery meads, snaky lianas they call them.

She is owned by Wall Street. Something like those mazzoth: it's that sort of bread: unleavened shewbread. What does she say? Yes, sir, the vibrato: fifty pounds a year they say steeped in buttermilk. —Fourpence, sir, the braided drums. He ought to have. Goofy Elizabeth Warren is weak on immigration.

Electuary or emulsion. Dems Fidel Castro is dead! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Waste of time taken up telling your aches and pains. Feels locked out of business either. Time to get in. A mason, yes. Wonder how they explain it to melt in their hands. Ted Cruz can't win Kentucky, she needs the rest to go! Might be happy all the same-Nice! —My missus has just got an.

We just picked up an additional 131 votes. Landing in Phoenix, Arizona on Wednesday in the year of the stream of life we trace is dearer than them all! She stood still, waiting, while the man, husband, brother, Malik, just announced that he got caught! Convert Dr William J. Walsh D.D. to the election. Ohio State University by a local reporter. He walked southward along Westland row. Incompetent Hillary, who I know. I go to my season 1. A yellow flower with flattened petals. Early voting today; election next Saturday. Now that African-American! Liberty and exaltation of our country After today, home of my way to the White House on Monday, poor fellow, it's not his fault. Chopsticks? Thank you, the gently champing teeth. Christ, but don't keep us all down in conflict all over the top secret report he Obama was tapping my phones during the Obama Administration under education program for 100 Ambs Terrible! —What's that? Please tell me what is going on: some sodality. While the postmistress searched a pigeonhole he gazed at the typed envelope. Just found out what an ineffective Senator, didn't honor the enduring fight for you. Crooked Hillary is getting out of the postoffice.

That'll be all right and their doss. Waterlilies. Raffle for large tender turkey. Violent crime is reaching record levels.

Great new Ohio poll out-hence, Lyin' Ted Cruz will never reform Wall Street. Our country has been formally PUT ON NOTICE for firing a ballistic missile.

Feel fresh then all sank. Amazing that Crooked Hillary Clinton wants to essentially abolish the 2nd Amendment rights in Chicago. Wine. Two of my way. I. Crooked Hillary said that our open border is the chant. Wellturned foot. That was really exciting. Monasteries and convents. No-one can hear.

The United Nations will make leaving financially difficult, but he choked like a wheel.

They don't seem to chew it: shew wine: only the other. Under their dropped lids his eyes found the Lord. On my way. Wellturned foot. Then feel all like one family party, same in the benches with crimson halters, waiting, while nothing is easy, if you don't.

Senator, didn't honor the enduring fight for justice, equality and opportunity. Mexico later! Something to catch the words I say NO WAY! Mortar and pestle. 100% wrong along with that roll collar, warm for a pass to Mullingar. He handed the card from his pocket and a penny. Watch! Be tough, smart & vigilant? Yes, he did. Now Tax Returns are brought up before election day.

Singing with his eyes found the tiny bow of the best, M'Coy. Leah tonight. Just there. Stay on message is the real meaning of that chap. O, surely he bagged it.

To look younger. Want to be a weak leader. Cold comfort. Two strings to her bow. Tremendous crowds expected! On International Women's Day, join me in Florida & I can’t make a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including the smaller ones, into play. How much are they? Every word is so dishonest. Te Virid. Win FBI director said Crooked Hillary Clinton should have been so many jobs. I only heard it.

These beautiful children will be AMERICA FIRST!

But, according to General Mattis, not doing a hand's turn all day typing. How I found the Lord. Save China's millions.

He will be campaigning in Connecticut, another state where jobs have been or the phlegm. Mozart's twelfth mass: Gloria in that picture somewhere?

Was probably treated badly by president-like everybody else!

Thank you Hawaii! I think it's a. Our law enforcement officers! He came nearer and heard a crunching of gilded oats, the coolwrappered soap in his bench. Better get that lotion made up last? Or sitting all day typing.

Tiptop, thanks. I hate to say that but simply showed him groveling when he said.

I tear up that envelope?

Under their dropped lids his eyes wandering over the multicoloured hoardings. Illegal immigration, take the oil, build the wall at Ashtown.

The honourable Mrs and Brutus is an honourable man. Now Tax Returns are brought up before the window of the shop, the Republican Party. Gallons. Sad to watch. Wisconsin, many great candidates today. Have you brought a bottle? Paradise and the hub big: college. Where is this? Too hot to quarrel.

They are in a minute. A great American prosperity. Thank you.

One and then the coroner and myself would have kept those jobs in the Middle-East have been much easier for me? Dishonest media is trying their absolute best to depict a star in a two on one. She was forced to go but I mightn't be able, you won’t answer the pay-for-play question. He saw the bright fawn skin shine in the benches with crimson halters, waiting for it.

It's the force of gravity of the world to see her again in that. Leopold.

Bernie S, she has in the hour of conflict. How do you do not I will be paying, in a landslide! Clever idea Saint Patrick the shamrock. I went to that old sacred music splendid. The Great State of Texas! M'Coy's talking head. With Hillary, who she always hated! Letters on his back: I.N.R.I? Tiptop, thanks. Hamilton, which devastated Ohio-a one-sided deal from the telepromter! Failed presidential candidate. Mrs Bandmann Palmer. Thank you for your wonderful comments on the sly. I wonder? They totally distort so many illegal leaks! Who knows? Such a great job-under budget! Possess her once take the starch out of their own minds as to one reason Crooked H? His fingers found quickly a card behind the headband and transferred it to melt in their hands. Warts, bunions and pimples to make a better future for our great VETERANS, and lost so much drawn to a report from the jaws of victory. Just C.P. M'Coy will do so, I am thinking of it any more. Influence of the Crooked Hillary would beat him, we will bring back our jobs back to our Irish capital. Penance. Shows how weak and ineffective Senator, goofy Elizabeth Warren, we’d have no border, we don't bail out their donors from insurance companies for OCare failure. —Yes, Mr Bloom said thoughtfully. Reaction. Valise tack again.

Skin breeds lice or vermin. I have interests in properties all over the multicoloured hoardings. One thing I like best about Rex Tillerson, the full, the baby and so seriously to try and deflect the horror and stupidity of the body? Lot of time taken up telling your aches and pains.

Big problems at airports were caused by me.

His eyes on the invincibles he used to call this judge shopping! Sweeeet song. Time enough. I could punish you for your wonderful letter! Rupert Murdoch is a witch-hunt against me. Getting up in a whatyoumaycall. Mrs and Brutus is an honest man. That day! Well, tolloll.

He rustled the pleated pages, jerking his chin on his shoulders. Why Ophelia committed suicide. Fleshpots of Egypt. Messenger boys stealing to put it into her here. She might be here with a veil and black bag. What? High school cracking his fingerjoints, teaching. Her hat sank at once. Too late box. Like to see you looking fit, he said. —Blessed Michael, archangel, defend us in the arms of kingdom come. Glimpses of the what? —Good, Mr Bloom put his face. The media refuses to talk of Kate Bateman in that. Cruz and 1 for 38 Kasich are mathematically dead and many other African Americans who know me but attacked last night. —I'll do that, thanks. Castoff soldier. By the way no harm.

Green Chartreuse.

The media and her opponents are strong. Doesn't give them any of it. Wonder did she wrote it herself. Had reached the open backdoor of All Hallows.

Melania.

The debates, and now must stop. The protesters in New Hampshire.

I hope? Bernie out of twelve. How do you call him Bantam Lyons muttered. —And he said. Well, glad to see you looking fit, he said. O, he did. Cat furry black ball. —I'll do that, Mr Bloom said.

I got your last mass? We will, perhaps it was hacked? SEE YOU IN COURT, THE HIGHEST LEVEL IN MORE THAN 15 YEARS! No roses without thorns. A photo it isn't. —Right, M'Coy said. Having a wet. Hopefully the violence & unrest in Charlotte will come way down. —Fourpence, sir, when will we meet? How do you do not deny my request before my speech on terror. O, Mary. O well, he said. Two of my waistcoat open all the people looking up: Quis est homo. Uniform. So why didn't she do them? We need serious leaders. And I schschschschschsch. Thank you, you will see you looking fit, he said. I am. Queer the whole atmosphere of the hazard. He crossed Townsend street, smiled. —Is there any … no trouble I hope? It will get built and help stop drugs, the newspaper baton idly and read idly: What is weight really when you.

Still the other brother lord Ardilaun has to get off. Hillary Clinton put out false reports that I had 16 opponents, she should drop out of porter. Today; election next Saturday. Careless stand of her. One of the devil may God restrain him, listlessly holding her battered caskhoop. Stepping into the porch he doffed his hat quietly inhaling his hairoil and sent his right hand once more more slowly went over his brow and hair.

Very warm morning. El, yes.

Palestrina for example too.

I do wish I could punish you for fifty years, high taxes, radical regulation, and outright lies, has me winning the second. Yes, sir, the coolwrappered soap in it at full, the braided drums. Hillary will never reform Wall Street endorsing Goldman Sachs.

He had reached the open backdoor of All Hallows. The women remained behind: thanksgiving. Wife well, I don't know Putin, have totally terminated the loan! Doran, he's a grenadier. Then I will tell you. He trod the worn steps, pushed the swingdoor and entered softly by the Democrats. Massive trade deficits and job losses. Look forward to catch the words. We should charge them SAME as they pass. Why has nobody asked Kaine about the massive drug problem there, will be meeting at 9:00 P.M.

He stood up and walked off.

Corpse. Proud: rich: silk stockings. Now Tax Returns are brought up before the victory speech and practices violence on innocent people with a cunnythumb. I just beat 16 people and am in Indiana on Sunday and Monday at four MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will be a smooth transition-NOT! What time? Mr Bloom said. The cold smell of sponges and loofahs. Do it in the debate questions-she went with Obama-and they knew it.

Valise tack again. Trams: a car of Prescott's dyeworks: a widow in her weeds. So many great Supreme Court pick on Friday at 11am in Manhattan with my tooraloom tooraloom tay. Depending on results, we will soon be speaking in great detail on numerous occasions. I would have to wear. He had his answer pat for everything. Melania. He could not have been with us on the well. No-one. The real story turns out that Obama had my wires tapped in Trump Tower concerning the formation of the best news? Them. I'd like to go to the side of M'Coy's talking head. Jammed by the fact that I will not stand for this by the very important tool in stopping drugs from pouring into our country coming to Bedminster today as I decide on Cabinet and many other things, we all did it. General Petraeus—and make everyone less safe. NO, they will do to you … If the election results were the strongest consecutive months for hiring since August and September 11th help. Or sitting all day typing. Hello, Bloom. Every word is so important.

Who was telling me? Amazing that Crooked Hillary Clinton announce that she will do but she has done little to the battlefield. He sped off towards the road. How long since your last letter to me would rather save face by fighting me than see the U.S.Supreme Court get proper appointments.

O, he said. Totally biased-hates Trump I hope the MOVEMENT fans will go to the Senate. If they don't name the sources don't exist.

Masses for the Republican Party that are vital to the side of M'Coy's talking head. Tremendous crowds and energy reforms will bring back our jobs. Hopefully the violence & unrest in Charlotte will come! Then the spokes: sports, sports, sports: and held the tip of his periodical bends, and with all that Congress has to change but it would have won all debates, and I will tell you all. She is a disaster America is proud to have. Dist.

The Rust Belt was created by politicians like the dentist's doorbell. Will go this AM. Also I think I.

Sees me looking. Actually, she has been one of these soaps have. Thank you. The world was gloomy before I won in a coordinated effort with the editors of Conde Nast & Steven Newhouse, a man who I will see real healthcare and premiums will start tumbling down.

Shows how weak and her government protection process. —Why? The media lies to make a statement, they have to make that instrument talk, talk and have a judge, which is working long hours and doing a hand's turn all day. Bury him cheap in a pot.

Terrible! They're not straight men of business operations. Lollipop. With my tooraloom, tooraloom. A list celebrities are all looking for a little to the U.S. Our leadership is weak on crime & violence. He moved to Mexico today, Bantam Lyons muttered. I'd like my last letter. Yes, he said.

Big crowds, but won't help with North Korea. Christ, but we are not happy in your navel. Very serious situation for USA This Russian connection non-representative delegates because they know that Crooked Hillary Clinton ever apologize for receiving the answers to the side of M'Coy's talking head. His fingers drew forth the letter in his bench. Totally untrue! Stepping into the bowl of his father and left 7 years ago, must start focusing on the ballot in various places in Florida. O, dear! —Is there any letters for me to win the Electoral College in that this is false. The fact is ObamaCare was a disaster on jobs and companies lost. Younger than I am sorry you did not bother even to cite a verse from the Republican Convention had blown up. I will clinch before Cleveland and get shut of him. Happy New Year to all family members and loved ones.

Will be there, with a letter.

Fingering still the letter in his head. He tore the flower gravely from its pinhold smelt its almost no smell and placed it in his bench. They never discuss the fact that I was born that was coming it a bit. Smell almost cure you like my 5 victories.

Redcoats.

Over after over. Airplane departed from Paris. Despite major outside money, FAKE media support and eleven Republican candidates, BIG R win with runoff in Georgia. Stepping into the bowl of his baton against his trouserleg. Bus crash in Tennessee so sad & irrelevant! Crooked Hillary Administration is not a change agent, just put out such false and pushed the swingdoor and entered softly by the badly defeated & demoralized Dems Fidel Castro is dead does not say anything wrong. Gradually changes your character.

After today, Bantam Lyons doubted an instant before it, Mr Bloom stood at the voting booths in Texas Blue Cross/Blue Shield through ObamaCare. —My wife too, he filled up.

Every word is so embarrassed by the very important decisions on the Presidency is a world that doesn’t exist. Give you the needle that would. —That will be done during my RALLIES, are protesting.

The F-35, I am spending a lot of wedding emails. Bad as a fireman or a bobby. Imagine trying to get rid of him quickly. Very little pick-up charges, pushed strongly by law to do well when Paul Ryan, always fighting the Republican Party what to do to. Goofy Elizabeth Warren lied when she says I want to stop the national security. —My missus has just attacked in Louvre Museum in Paris. For Growth tried to work the whole atmosphere of the Crooked Hillary Clinton is like Occupy Wall Street. Imagine trying to eat tripe and cowheel. It's the force of gravity of the Grosvenor. Wish I hadn't met that M'Coy fellow. The rules DID CHANGE in Colorado shortly after I entered the race!

Airplane departed from Paris. There he is doing poorly and like everywhere else in U.S. history?

Old fellow asleep near that confessionbox. People will be carried live at 12:00 with top automobile executives concerning jobs in the bath. No, Peter Claver S.J. and the massboy answered each other in Latin. Holohan. Their character. Betting. They can't play it here. He handed the card through the door of the stream around the world for the teeth: nettles and rainwater: oatmeal they say.

—Ascot.

Sleeping draughts. Torn strip of envelope. Poor papa!

Couldn't ask him at a swagger affair in the U.S., and around the limp father of thousands, a lazy pooling swirl of liquor bearing along wideleaved flowers of its 300 workers. Make it up. Clever of nature. How I found the Lord. Capped corners, rivetted edges, double action lever lock.

Off to the side of M'Coy's talking head.

Something like those mazzoth: it's that sort of bread: unleavened shewbread. Mobile, Alabama today at 3:00 A.M. today, Bantam Lyons doubted an instant, leering: then thrust the outspread sheets back on Mr Bloom's arms. Paradise and the worst in many years, our refuge and our strength … Mr Bloom said. Eyes front. #MakeAmericaGreatAgain #Trump2016 MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! While I believe I lost large numbers. Will be going to instruct my AG to get a bath round the corner and passed the frowning face of Bethel. Has her roses probably. Drugs age you after mental excitement.

Lovely shame. That day! Her temperament is bad! Who knows? They are in and top! Prefer an ounce of opium. Hokypoky penny a lump. Aq. He does look balmy. Let’s properly check goofy Elizabeth Warren, couldn’t care less about the things about me.

Now if they had made it round like a dog. He died on Monday at 11:00 P.M. Bed: ed. He crossed Townsend street, smiled.

Crimea during the so-called angry crowds in home districts of some Republicans are actually, in the process of fixing it. They're taught that. He walked southward along Westland row. We should charge them SAME as they pass.

Fluff. We will do but she has in the bath. She didn't know what I will punish you for the U.S. Love's old sweet song comes lo-ove's old … —O, dear! Sandy shrivelled smell he seems to have the time. How much BAD JUDGEMENT! Not up yet.

I'd go if I possibly could. Her friend covering the display of esprit de corps. Warts, bunions and pimples to make that instrument talk, talk-no action—and he sat back quietly in his absolute discretion. It would be beating Hillary by 20% We now have confirmation as to the true religion. A mason, yes.

It just never seems to have.

Lethargy then.

Paradise and the massboy answered each other than the Electoral College & lost! Meet you knocking around. The priest prayed: Blessed Michael, archangel, defend us in the Ulster Hall, Belfast, on the steel grip. He foresaw his pale body reclined in it! Details to follow. Crooked Hillary said that all is going on some paces, halted in the water, no. Many killed. My missus has just got an engagement. As a tribute to the LGBT community! Nice kind of coat with that! It has been treated terribly by the people of Massachusetts found out the whole show. What perfume does your? Horrific incident in her bedroom eating bread and. NO WAY! I would like to go to Charlotte on Saturday to grandstand.

—What's that?

Big dinner with Governors tonight at Mar-a great Memorial Day by thinking of.

Now could you make out a comparable F-35, I can get started early, Mexico will be remembered! In order to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Will be in charge of the many wonderful things that I wanted to be Native American heritage are on their knees again and he and the Clinton campaign and loving it! Gold cup.

Just there. And the skulls we were acracking when M'Carthy took the card from his pocket and folded it into the newspaper he carried. Having read it all he took out the darkness of her. The shreds fluttered away, Mr Bloom answered firmly. Sweeeet song. Stepping into the light. Mark Cuban of failed Benefactor fame wants to. Couldn't sink if you do, sir? Congratulations Stephen Miller-on behalf of little Marco Rubio.

Thank you to teachers across America! Will be in Maryland this afternoon. Always happening like that. Turn up with a parasol open. Castoff soldier. Another gone. Pious fraud but quite right: otherwise they'd have one old booser worse than another coming along, cadging for a hundred pounds in the morning noises of the postoffice and turned to the heathen Chinee.

Josssticks burning. The glasses would take their fancy, flashing. Part shares and part profits. They drove off towards Conway's corner. We will all come together as ONE country again united as Americans in common purpose and common dreams. Feel fresh then all sank. Torn strip of envelope. Squareheaded chaps those must be paid back by Mexico later! Fantastic crowds and energy reforms will bring back our borders will be lasting peace! He waited by the rere.

#Ulysses (novel)#James Joyce #1922 #automatically generated text #Patrick Mooney #Lotus Eaters #politics #American politics #presidential elections #21st century #Twitter #Donald Trump #2016 #2017

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theloudlibrary · 8 years ago

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Fake News and Library Reference Work

Reference work is not easy. Being able to refer patrons to information is an acquired skill that takes patience, practice, and care. As it states in the ALA's Code of Ethics, we are to "provide the highest level of service to all users," as well as "distinguish between our personal convictions and our professional duties and not allow our personal beliefs to interfere with the. . .provision of access." No matter what a patron desires, if the institution has the money and resources to furnish their request, the reference librarian is obliged to provide. In our current political and cultural climate, the task of the reference librarian has become even more markedly complex with the advent of fake news, the misappropriation of the term fake news by politicians, and the general popularity of 'doubling down' on known falsehoods.

Fake news has materialized in a time of ubiquitous social media use, something that allows people to share non-stop, even if the material shared is deliberately fake or false. Lauree Padgett writes that there is a consensus in this situation that "media literacy, and with it, critical thought," should be made "a cornerstone of education." What Padgett implies here is that fake news, the propagation of falsehoods in media, relies on a lack of critical awareness. How people assess what they consume (on Facebook, or Twitter) is at the center of the issue here. In terms of reference work, the reference librarian must assess what a person currently knows before finding what else they should know. The context, not only of the research, but of the patron's knowledge, remains central to the reference interview. As patrons may have an agenda, or may be informed by falsehoods, the reference interview becomes a very delicate task: one cannot immediately assume that a patron has a critical understanding of what fake news is, or that their knowledge is based on fake news.

In reality, it does fall to the reference librarian to seize these teachable moments. We are to provide the best possible service and allowing a patron to continue to possess knowledge based upon known, demonstrable falsehoods is not within the ethos of the reference interview. However delicate one must be, it is required that one point out the falseness of previously possessed information should the situation arise. So as reference librarians, as knowledge workers, we continue on and accept this complication. And yet, as if being conspired against, the seemingly clear term "fake news" became more of a monster.

As Callum Borchers writes in the Washington Post, "conservatives—led by President Trump—have hijacked the term and sought to redefine it as, basically, any reporting they do not like." In numerous instances, the President and others use the terms "fake news" to imply that coverage of them and their policies is biased or flawed or bad. Ignoring the glaring issue at hand, namely that social media allows for deliberate falsehoods to be shared widely and quickly, these politicians have complicated the meaning of the term and shifted that meaning in their favor. Now, patrons may have a understanding of the term fake news as falsehoods, as unfriendly coverage, or as some ambiguous middle ground. Aside from how reckless this is of the President and others to do (they set the example for kids, after all, and adults too), this leaves the reference librarians with the task of determining now only a patron's previous knowledge of certain subjects, but also how patrons define specific terms relating to the knowledge they already possess.

The layers of nuance here do nothing to enhance the reference interaction. It is clear from this that some of these politicians place no value on reference or knowledge workers and completely disregard them when using such reckless and impulsive language. If the key is to educate, as Padgett assumes, then Borcher's revelation that the meaning of the term is being intentionally made ambiguous by people in power means that teachers and librarians will be hesitant to approach the topic. It is complex, developing, there is a lot written about it and yet at the same time very little definitive information has been circulated about fake news. All that is really known is that 1) it exists and 2) the President (intentionally?) misuses the term. Reference librarians, then, are likely to be questioned, misinterpreted, or disregarded.

So how to deal with this onslaught? First, it is important to understand that sometimes facts do not change people's minds. Elizabeth Kolbert writes in the New Yorker about how difficult it is for humans to revise their previously created ideas: "Even after the evidence "for their beliefs has been totally refuted, people fail to make appropriate revisions in those beliefs," researchers noted." She is referencing Stanford studies where subjects were deliberately misled and nonetheless stuck to their false beliefs. Reference librarians and knowledge workers need to have a grasp of this. Certainly, it is a failing of human cognition to rely so blindly on previously established knowledge (it is also a blessing for us to be so trusting with ourselves, but that is a different issue). To that end, reference workers can be sure to encounter a wide range of feelings about knowledge and information. Some are more flexible, not all are so rigid in their thinking.

If we understand, however, that some people may be rigid in their thinking, that does allow us to change our countenance in order to best accommodate them. In such cases, it is very likely a good tactic to be as nice as possible. To avoid dismissing someone's knowledge immediately may very likely be key in remaining sympathetic to them. Along those lines, it does not fit into the ALA Code of Ethics to be combative. Instead, reference workers need to be understanding, not condescending, and accepting: if someone is looking for confirmation of their fake news, they will likely not be able to find it, but that does not make it acceptable to be mean to them about it: let them down gently.

There are also indignant patrons, those who themselves are combative or angry. When dealing with such a patron, it is important to remember that even though someone is looking (in very likely the right place, no less!) for information, it does not mean that they may interrupt the library usage of other patrons. It is important in these cases to remember that loud disruptive patrons do more than go after reference librarians. Further to that, angry, combative language affects other patrons. Libraries are open and inclusive institutions by their nature. Exclusion from a library is a serious matter, but reference librarians need to remember that their patrons can negatively affect those around them by being loud, rude, racist, or otherwise unkind.

Finally, if one does not experience a nightmare scenario like that described above, it is essential that one engage. Showing interest in these topics is not enough, as a mere passing idea of something does not communicate the gravity of what fake news does. One needs to demonstrate a willingness to engage in a topic on a level similar to that of patrons. That does not mean a fervor or zeal for the topic is necessary, but many topics are not passing by so simply. Rights, climate change, voting laws, these are some issues that will continue to shape, alter, and change the society around us and engaging patrons in a serious manner regarding these issues is key to communicating that these issues are not in a vacuum. Additionally, a distinct seriousness about these topics could afford one the opportunity to engage in a meaningful discourse regarding the subject.

Reference librarians are obligated by the ALA's Code of Ethics to provide the best service possible and that means candid work that possesses veracity. One cannot, under any circumstance, provide patrons with deliberately false information. Should that act place a reference librarian in opposition to those in power, for example the President? Short answer, no, but we live in a tumultuous world. Our profession cannot sit idly by as "fact" is disregarded. Now, more than ever, library science has risen to the forefront. Even though many in our profession may want to "stay out of it" or "let things be," we are (thankfully) obliged to work for the truth within out very ethics, a specific library ethos that has been developed and changed time and again over the last century. If we are to assume that libraries are vital to US American society (as we rightfully should), then we must defend these institutions from their antithesis: fake news. It is no problem to access information digitally or to share it (we librarians love that), but the willful and rapid spread of false fact, information, and narrative does more than a disservice to our institutions of knowledge, it makes the world a demonstrably worse place. This is not only for us as professionals or as tax-paying adults, but it shapes the world that our children live in. Fake news is an ambiguous term, but what is certain is that information (the abstract, conceptual thing that we know we know even when it is hard to tell that we know it) is being attacked from multiple sides and librarians have no choice but to work for the good of the people, even if someone as powerful as the President does not.

References

Code of Ethics of the American Library Association (2008). Web.

Borchers, C. (2017). 'Fake news' has now lost all meaning. The Washington Post.

Kolbert, E. (2017). Why facts don't change our minds. The New Yorker.

Padgett, L. (2017, Jan/Feb 2017). Filtering out fake news: It all starts with media literacy. Information Today, 34, 6. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxycu.wrlc.org/docview/1861789240?accountid=9940

#fake news #tumblarians #library #reference

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trendingnewsb · 7 years ago

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Trumps War on the Press Follows the Mussolini and Hitler Playbook

Some smaller newspapers claiming to be independent were still tolerated to give the appearance of freedom of opinion but they were a fig leaf to cover the end of press freedom.

Goebbels said he wanted a ministry that was National Socialist [Nazi] by birth.

A piano, so to speak, in the hands of the government.

Joseph Gobbels on the press

No demagogue in recent history has seen the effectiveness of his role being interdependent with a force that for most of the time he purports to despise.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-war-on-the-press-follows-the-mussolini-and-hitler-playbook

from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2GHOeVF via Viral News HQ

#IFTTT #Viral News HQ

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