Saturday, September 3, 2016
Donald Trump is the 'preferred candidate' of ISIS, experts warn
Donald Trump has said that "no one will be tougher" on terrorism than him, but new analysis from Foreign Affairs magazine shows that ISIS — the terror group Trump has pledged to eradicate — is actually hoping for the Republican nominee to win the US presidency.
Foreign Affairs analyzed ISIS' online channels and interviewed a dozen supporters and defectors to reach its conclusion. The magazine found that "jihadists are rooting for a Trump presidency because they believe that he will lead the United States on a path to self-destruction."
Malcolm Nance, a terrorism expert and veteran military intelligence officer, offered a similar assessment after a terrorism debate at the Comedy Cellar in New York City last month.
http://www.aol.com/article/news/2016/09/03/donald-trump-is-the-preferred-candidate-of-isis-experts-warn/21465004/
Foreign Affairs analyzed ISIS' online channels and interviewed a dozen supporters and defectors to reach its conclusion. The magazine found that "jihadists are rooting for a Trump presidency because they believe that he will lead the United States on a path to self-destruction."
Malcolm Nance, a terrorism expert and veteran military intelligence officer, offered a similar assessment after a terrorism debate at the Comedy Cellar in New York City last month.
http://www.aol.com/article/news/2016/09/03/donald-trump-is-the-preferred-candidate-of-isis-experts-warn/21465004/
Friday, September 2, 2016
Donald Trump Has Not Yet Paid Several Top Staffers
Those who have so far not been paid, the filings show, include recently departed campaign manager Paul Manafort, California state director Tim Clark, communications director Michael Caputo and a pair of senior aides who left the campaign in June to immediately go to work for a Trump Super PAC.
Moar here.
Michelle Bachmann: If Hillary Wins, This Will Be ‘The Last Election’
In an interview with The Christian Broadcasting Network, former Republican congressmanMichelle Bachmann warned that the consequences of electingHillary Clinton would be dire for both the country and the Republican Party.
“I don’t want to be melodramatic but I do want to be truthful. I believe without a shadow of a doubt this is the last election,” she said on The Brody File. “This is it. This is the last election.”
“It’s a math problem of demographics and a changing United States,” continued Bachmann. “If you look at the numbers of people who vote and who lives in the country and who Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton want to bring in to the country, this is the last election when we even have a chance to vote for somebody who will stand up for godly moral principles. This is it.”
“I don’t want to be melodramatic but I do want to be truthful. I believe without a shadow of a doubt this is the last election,” she said on The Brody File. “This is it. This is the last election.”
“It’s a math problem of demographics and a changing United States,” continued Bachmann. “If you look at the numbers of people who vote and who lives in the country and who Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton want to bring in to the country, this is the last election when we even have a chance to vote for somebody who will stand up for godly moral principles. This is it.”
Moar here.
Overreach? Clinton campaign says conservative group’s latest email release actually deals with a successful diplomatic mission
A new trove of Hillary Clinton-related emails was released Thursday by a conservative research organization, and the group said they revealed requests for State Department action from Clinton Foundation employees and a key donor in 2009, seeming to add fuel to the notion that the Clintons provided favors to friends and supporters.
"Bill Clinton/Doug Band Sought State Department Favors for Foundation Supporters," said a headline in Thursday's news release from Judicial Watch.
In fact, many of the emails touted by Judicial Watch concern a once-secret mission to North Korea by former president Bill Clinton that led to the release of two American journalists who had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for spying. The highlighted emails centered around a moment widely considered a Clinton success, providing the campaign an opening to chide a longtime antagonist whose ongoing litigation against the State Department has produced a series of embarrassing revelations.
"Judicial Watch is now attacking State Department officials and the 42nd President of the United States for rescuing two American journalists from North Korea," said campaign spokesman Josh Schwerin, calling the release "a new low even for this right-wing organization that has been going after the Clintons since the 1990s."
The featured item in Thursday’s Judicial Watch release includes a request from longtime Clinton aide Doug Band for coveted diplomatic passports, which provide easy transit for State Department and other top-level government employees. The request, which was never fulfilled, was part of planning a mission that is generally considered a triumph for American diplomacy and the post-White House career of Bill Clinton.
"Bill Clinton/Doug Band Sought State Department Favors for Foundation Supporters," said a headline in Thursday's news release from Judicial Watch.
In fact, many of the emails touted by Judicial Watch concern a once-secret mission to North Korea by former president Bill Clinton that led to the release of two American journalists who had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for spying. The highlighted emails centered around a moment widely considered a Clinton success, providing the campaign an opening to chide a longtime antagonist whose ongoing litigation against the State Department has produced a series of embarrassing revelations.
"Judicial Watch is now attacking State Department officials and the 42nd President of the United States for rescuing two American journalists from North Korea," said campaign spokesman Josh Schwerin, calling the release "a new low even for this right-wing organization that has been going after the Clintons since the 1990s."
The featured item in Thursday’s Judicial Watch release includes a request from longtime Clinton aide Doug Band for coveted diplomatic passports, which provide easy transit for State Department and other top-level government employees. The request, which was never fulfilled, was part of planning a mission that is generally considered a triumph for American diplomacy and the post-White House career of Bill Clinton.
Moar here.
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Reagan solicitor general: Donald Trump is a risk we can't take
Charles Fried is the former solicitor general of the United States for President Ronald Reagan. He is currently a professor at Harvard Law School. Here is a brief example of what he says regarding Trump...
(CNN) It was urgent that Hillary Clinton in her Reno speech indict Donald Trump for his regular, unremitting embrace of the slogans, causes and emblems of the far right (not conservative, please!) hate-mongering fringe of our public discourse.
This is not just an accidental association. It is his chosen signature. Remember, he was an enthusiastic birther and has gone on to embrace every sinister paranoid fantasy since.
Trump tells us that we need to rebuild our schools, roads, bridges, airports; so does Hillary Clinton. But he is going to cut everyone's taxes in order to pay for it. I believe her; I don't believe him because what he promises is simply unbelievable. And now he tells us Mexicans are great people; that maybe he won't deport all those people after all; that the insults he hurls about like confetti were not really meant to hurt anyone's feelings.
This is a man about whom the best you can say is that he doesn't believe anything he says. After that, it's downhill all the way. Hillary Clinton will give us a decent, competent, understandable government. That's plenty good enough for me, and considering the truly dreadful alternative, it's good enough for increasing numbers of my fellow Republicans.
More here.
Donald Trump is wrong that 'inner-city crime is reaching record levels'
Yet one more thing that Lyin' Donahld is fibbing about...
Aiming to blunt an overwhelming edge among African-American voters, Donald Trump has been decrying longstanding black support for Democratic politicians, who he blames for allowing economic inequality and crime to fester in African-American communities.
In an Aug. 29, 2016, tweet, Trump wrote, "Inner-city crime is reaching record levels. African-Americans will vote for Trump because they know I will stop the slaughter going on!"
Is Trump correct that "inner-city crime is reaching record levels"?
No, not even close.
More at Politifact.
Immigration Hypocrisy...
Republican nominee Donald Trump has placed immigration at the core of his presidential campaign. He has claimed that undocumented immigrants are "taking our jobs" and "taking our money," pledged to deport them en masse, and vowed to build a wall on the Mexican border. At one point he demanded a ban on Muslims entering the country. Speaking to supporters in Iowa on Saturday, Trump said he would crack down on visitors to the United States who overstay their visas and declared that when any American citizen "loses their job to an illegal immigrant, the rights of that American citizen have been violated." And he is scheduled to give a major address on immigration in Arizona on Wednesday night.
But the mogul's New York modeling agency, Trump Model Management, has profited from using foreign models who came to the United States on tourist visas that did not permit them to work here, according to three former Trump models, all noncitizens, who shared their stories with Mother Jones. Financialand immigration records included in a recent lawsuit filed by a fourth former Trump model show that she, too, worked for Trump's agency in the United States without a proper visa.
Foreigners who visit the United States as tourists are generally not permitted to engage in any sort of employment unless they obtain a special visa, a process that typically entails an employer applying for approval on behalf of a prospective employee. Employers risk fines and possible criminal charges for using undocumented labor.
Founded in 1999, Trump Model Management "has risen to the top of the fashion market," boasts the Trump Organization's website, and has a name "that symbolizes success." According to a financial disclosure filed by his campaign in May, Donald Trump earned nearly $2 million from the company, in which he holds an 85 percent stake. Meanwhile, some former Trump models say they barely made any money working for the agency because of the high fees for rent and other expenses that were charged by the company.
More here.
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Thursday, August 25, 2016
APOLOGIZE! OH, AND HEIL HITLER!
In a press release from his National Policy Institute, Spencer demands that Clinton “issue an apology to European-Americans everywhere” for supporting “an anti-White agenda.”
Spender also denies that Trump or his new campaign chairman, Steven Bannon, are tied to the alt-right, writing that while he has “has written favorably about both Trump and [Bannon’s news agency] Breitbart, he has consistently emphasized they are not exactly the Alt Right.”
Bannon, for his part, feels differently: He said as recently as July that Breitbart under his leadership was “the platform for the alt-right.”
Here.
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
As noted by Justin Rosario
Still on vacation but if I've got it correct, in the last couple of days:
1. Julian Assange has outed homosexuals and rape victims that live in a country where this could get them killed. His reasoning was "But Hillary is evil and you're only upset because she's the candidate."
2. Donald Trump canceled a bunch of events, raising questions about HIS health even as he and his lapdogs try to fabricate a story about Hillary's.
3. The Clinton Foundation is suddenly the source of all evil in the world despite over a decade's worth of sterling humanitarian work that has benefited hundreds of millions of people. The proof that it's evil? It as "Clinton" in the title and literally nothing else.
4. Yet ANOTHER white kid got away with raping women because the judge doesn't want to ruin his life or a silly little mistake. Now he can go to college and do it all over again!
5. The sex scandal at Fox News is getting worse.
6. The cops almost killed a ten year old black kid with short hair because they somehow mistook him for a 20 year old bank robber with dreadlocks. No one will be held responsible for this.
7. Trump is spending most of his campaign donations on himself and his businesses.
8. Hillary Clinton has made South Carolina into a competitive swing state.
9. The far left is still attacking her for daring not to be Jill Stein or something. It's not really clear what they're whining abut this week.
10. A 12 year old is running part of Trump's campaign in Colorado.
11. The 12 year old is still more mature and capable than Trump.
12 (EDIT) Oh yeah! Native Americans are in a Bundy-style standoff with the government but without the threat of violence. Curiously, this is not the largest story in the country. Almost like it only matters when angry white conservatives do it and fuck everyone else.
1. Julian Assange has outed homosexuals and rape victims that live in a country where this could get them killed. His reasoning was "But Hillary is evil and you're only upset because she's the candidate."
2. Donald Trump canceled a bunch of events, raising questions about HIS health even as he and his lapdogs try to fabricate a story about Hillary's.
3. The Clinton Foundation is suddenly the source of all evil in the world despite over a decade's worth of sterling humanitarian work that has benefited hundreds of millions of people. The proof that it's evil? It as "Clinton" in the title and literally nothing else.
4. Yet ANOTHER white kid got away with raping women because the judge doesn't want to ruin his life or a silly little mistake. Now he can go to college and do it all over again!
5. The sex scandal at Fox News is getting worse.
6. The cops almost killed a ten year old black kid with short hair because they somehow mistook him for a 20 year old bank robber with dreadlocks. No one will be held responsible for this.
7. Trump is spending most of his campaign donations on himself and his businesses.
8. Hillary Clinton has made South Carolina into a competitive swing state.
9. The far left is still attacking her for daring not to be Jill Stein or something. It's not really clear what they're whining abut this week.
10. A 12 year old is running part of Trump's campaign in Colorado.
11. The 12 year old is still more mature and capable than Trump.
12 (EDIT) Oh yeah! Native Americans are in a Bundy-style standoff with the government but without the threat of violence. Curiously, this is not the largest story in the country. Almost like it only matters when angry white conservatives do it and fuck everyone else.
His page is here.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
The FBI recently gave Republicans on a House committee classified documents from Hillary's testimony to the FBI. The FBI warned Congressional Republicans that the documents were to be kept in confidence.
Guess what... there have already been leaks to the public BY REPUBLICANS of the classified documents. That is against the law. Will there be hearings on these leaks by Republicans? Aww Hell To Teh Naww™! The very thing Republicans have been harping could have happened (but didn't) with Hillary's email server has happened in the Republican committee. Heads should roll, but of course they won't. Disgusting.
Guess what... there have already been leaks to the public BY REPUBLICANS of the classified documents. That is against the law. Will there be hearings on these leaks by Republicans? Aww Hell To Teh Naww™! The very thing Republicans have been harping could have happened (but didn't) with Hillary's email server has happened in the Republican committee. Heads should roll, but of course they won't. Disgusting.
Friday, August 19, 2016
Sunday, August 14, 2016
TRAITOR TRUMP Admits To Audience That He Lies To Them...
...but of course, he's just being "sarcastic". And DAMM THAT MEDIA for reporting this!
At the beginning of a rally in Fairfield, Connecticut, Trump brought cancer survivor Giacomo Brancato and his family on stage and they endorsed him. Congrats for beating cancer, but stupid is stupid, and Trump winning the election in November would be inflicting cancer upon the whole country.
While he was introducing Brancato, Trump called all the camera operators “horrible people” and the crowd viciously booed. After Brancato left the stage, the Republican nominee claimed that he is not running against Hillary Clinton, but “against the media,” which drew another loud chorus of boos and vitriol.
While talking about Hillary Clinton, the crowd chanted “Lock her up!”
Then Trump once again bragged about how he is going to build a massive wall along the US-Mexican border and then claimed that Mexico is “100 percent certain” to pay for it.
But there was one moment when Trump seemed to slip and actually told the truth for once during his campaign.
Just before he prompted the crowd with his call and response question of who is going to pay for the wall, Trump admitted that he has been lying to his supporters to their faces.
“I might lie to you like Hillary does all the time, but I’ll never lie to Giacomo,” Trump said.
And the audience either just doesn’t care that he is lying to them or they were to stupid to even notice.
At the beginning of a rally in Fairfield, Connecticut, Trump brought cancer survivor Giacomo Brancato and his family on stage and they endorsed him. Congrats for beating cancer, but stupid is stupid, and Trump winning the election in November would be inflicting cancer upon the whole country.
While he was introducing Brancato, Trump called all the camera operators “horrible people” and the crowd viciously booed. After Brancato left the stage, the Republican nominee claimed that he is not running against Hillary Clinton, but “against the media,” which drew another loud chorus of boos and vitriol.
While talking about Hillary Clinton, the crowd chanted “Lock her up!”
Then Trump once again bragged about how he is going to build a massive wall along the US-Mexican border and then claimed that Mexico is “100 percent certain” to pay for it.
But there was one moment when Trump seemed to slip and actually told the truth for once during his campaign.
Just before he prompted the crowd with his call and response question of who is going to pay for the wall, Trump admitted that he has been lying to his supporters to their faces.
“I might lie to you like Hillary does all the time, but I’ll never lie to Giacomo,” Trump said.
And the audience either just doesn’t care that he is lying to them or they were to stupid to even notice.
The story is here.
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Monday, August 8, 2016
Mike Pence Should Get Trump to Withdraw
For the past year, every effort by Republican leaders to topple Donald J. Trump has met with embarrassing failure. Yet, according to published reports, jittery insiders are considering still another way to detach the Trump brand from the party of Lincoln and to remove his name from the ballot by fiat. There is a better option, one that can avoid an ugly, and likely futile, confrontation and help both Mr. Trump and his party save face. All eyes must now turn to the unassuming governor of Indiana to do what must be done.
I say this not as a member of the so-called Never Trump faction of my party. Though Mr. Trump was not my first choice for the nomination, I found his attack on the established order appealing at times, even entertaining, and respected the wishes of the clear majority of Republican primary voters. Americans long have been entranced with the idea of the political outsider who puts self-interest aside to battle Washington’s wrongdoers and set things right. But in recent weeks — indeed, months — the pitfalls of political outsiderdom have become plain.
Seasoned politicians learn what fights to pick, what half-victories to savor, how to make coherent points, and how to grow their electoral base. By contrast Donald Trump, an accomplished businessman unaccustomed to answering to anyone, appears constitutionally incapable of letting any slight go unchallenged. He has proved unwilling or unable to discipline himself to a consistent message or to restrain his worst impulses. He lacks an ability to form, or more important expand, a general election coalition. Indeed, whenever his poll numbers climb, as they may very well again in this unpredictable election, he is oddly more determined to test their durability.
Even if he were to win the presidency — a job that requires negotiation, diplomacy, discipline, finesse and some semblance of intellectual curiosity — it is not clear Mr. Trump will be able to master or enjoy the position. His self-destructive behavior demonstrates that on some level he knows this.
More here.
50 GOP National Security Officials Denounce Trump in Letter: NYT
Donald Trump “would be the most reckless president in American history,” 50 senior Republican national security officials, many of whom worked in the George W. Bush administration, write in a letter, according to the New York Times.
Read it here.
Read it here.
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Friday, July 29, 2016
Release Them Tax Returns!
Anonymous sources insist that, while Trump has no financial interests in Vladimir Putin's Russia, Russia has financial ties to Trump and/or his business empire. In light of Russia's email hacking, which was done to cost Hillary votes and turn the election in favor of Putin's pal Trump, it is imperative that Trump release his tax returns. For years, American Presidential candidates have released their tax returns to show that they have no financial conflicts of interest. Trump refusal to do so leaves the strong possibility that he's got something naughty to hide.
Trump's Ghostwriter Speaks
Schwartz wasn’t having any of Cuomo’s both-siderism:
They think he is going to be, those who currently support him, their savior. There is no one, no one that Donald Trump cares about less than the people who are not making it in this world. Those people, those people don’t yet realize it, he considers to be losers. And the minute, because he has to be the winner, and others have to be the loser, the minute that that gets clear, the minute that he gets their votes is the last time he will pay attention to them.
Two Fox Anchors Admit Hillary Clinton Was Unfairly Attacked For Being Honest About Coal Miners
SHEPARD SMITH (HOST): I'm waiting for the politician who eventually, and it probably won't be now, but eventually finds it politically necessary to tell the truth, that globalism is not going away, and that economies are going to have to change fundamentally and there is no bringing back some things that are gone because of realities in the world. That no, you can't have it the way it was. It has to change now because the world has changed. That reality has not been spoken.
CHRIS WALLACE: Let's take an example of that. Because that's kind of what Hillary Clinton was saying when she got roasted for talking about coal miners.
SMITH: That's right
WALLACE: You're not going to get your jobs back, and the second --
SMITH: Because they're not.
WALLACE: -- and the second half of that, which is, so we've got to find you other jobs, didn't really get talked about. And that explains why it's so dangerous to play the truth card, and to just be honest and open.
Saturday, July 16, 2016
This Isn't Funny Anymore. American Democracy Is at Stake.
Anyone who supports Donald Trump is a traitor to the American idea.
CLEVELAND, OHIO—A while back, we here at the shebeen decided that Donald J. Trump's actwas no longer funny. That he no longer was a goofy guy with three wives and a ferret on his head, a freak candidate who devoured an incredible passel of unpopular lightweights on his way to a freak nomination. That he was more than just a vessel for the barely camouflaged rage and fear of an aging white American majority terrified of so many barbarians at so many gates. But not until Wednesday did we realize the true magnitude of the threat that this reckless clown poses to American democracy. Not until Wednesday did we hear clearly the echoes of shiny black boots on German cobblestones.
On Wednesday, in several venues, He, Trump accused "some people"—he never said who they were, nor will he, ever—of calling for a moment of silence for Micah Johnson, the mass murderer of police in Dallas, Texas. We have had some experience with this. Back when he was still considered something of a sideshow attraction, He, Trump said that he's "seen" Muslim-Americans in New Jersey celebrating as the World Trade Center towers burned on September 11, 2001. He never said who they were, nor will he, ever. But at least there was a level of detail to the lie. There is in fact a state called New Jersey. There are in fact Muslim-Americans living there. And the attacks of 9/11 did in fact happen.
On Wednesday, in several venues, He, Trump accused "some people"—he never said who they were, nor will he, ever—of calling for a moment of silence for Micah Johnson, the mass murderer of police in Dallas, Texas. We have had some experience with this. Back when he was still considered something of a sideshow attraction, He, Trump said that he's "seen" Muslim-Americans in New Jersey celebrating as the World Trade Center towers burned on September 11, 2001. He never said who they were, nor will he, ever. But at least there was a level of detail to the lie. There is in fact a state called New Jersey. There are in fact Muslim-Americans living there. And the attacks of 9/11 did in fact happen.
More here.
Thursday, July 14, 2016
And The Terrorism Continues
Trump says he would ask Congress to declare war on terrorism. Another sage tonight said, "The President won't admit we're in a war," even as the USA continues to kill massive numbers of terrorists on the battlefield of the "not war". Despite what this fella said on CNN, we've been fighting our Horrific War On Terror™ for 14 long years. Yet many terrorist attacks overseas and here in the USA, including, possibly tonight's attack in Nice, are being carried out by citizens of the attacked country.
How are we to carry out this war/not war to effectively stop terrorist attacks? The more we win on the battlefield, the angrier "homegrown" terrorists become. Political sages say we need to fight a more effective war. They say Muslim nations need to do more in this war. At the same time, they insult the religion of the very nations they want to do more in the war/not war. Other brilliant (in their own minds) strategerists say we need to turn the Middle East to glass or kill families of suspected terrorists, as if committing war crimes would stop terrorist attacks, rather than increasing them.
We're no closer to stopping terrorism tonight than we were in 2001. Judging from what so-called experts and politicians are yammering about, the future looks bleak.
How are we to carry out this war/not war to effectively stop terrorist attacks? The more we win on the battlefield, the angrier "homegrown" terrorists become. Political sages say we need to fight a more effective war. They say Muslim nations need to do more in this war. At the same time, they insult the religion of the very nations they want to do more in the war/not war. Other brilliant (in their own minds) strategerists say we need to turn the Middle East to glass or kill families of suspected terrorists, as if committing war crimes would stop terrorist attacks, rather than increasing them.
We're no closer to stopping terrorism tonight than we were in 2001. Judging from what so-called experts and politicians are yammering about, the future looks bleak.
Terrorist attack in Nice, France
Monday, July 4, 2016
Mormon Bundy Loyalist Against Land Gift To American Citizens
Their thinking is, screw the American people. If Our Betters™ can't exploit land for profit, nobody gets to use it.
Here.
All I got to say to Bundyites is.... GET OFF MY LAND!!!
Here.
All I got to say to Bundyites is.... GET OFF MY LAND!!!
Sunday, July 3, 2016
Monday, June 20, 2016
Lawsuit Won, Texas Moves to Cut Therapy Programs
One year after state lawmakers decided to slash $350 million in funding for pediatric therapy services provided to children with disabilities, Texas is finally poised to move forward with the planned cuts that were delayed for months after in-home therapy providers sued to stop them. They lost that court battle in April but have vowed to continue putting up a fight.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission intends to begin cutting payments to speech, physical and occupational therapy providers on July 15, targeting providers who see children covered by Medicaid, the federal-state insurer for the poor and disabled.
Children’s advocates and therapy providers are mounting an 11th-hour campaign, seeking once again to delay the cuts. They’ve called on state officials to hold a public hearing for families to air grievances and are asking lawmakers to intervene.
“This move to eke out budget savings on the backs of children with disabilities will undercut the Early Childhood Intervention services provided by community organizations,” wrote Peter Clark, spokesman for the advocacy group Texans Care for Children, in an email. “Not only will the cuts hurt kids, but they will create new costs, such as increased demand for special education services in our schools.”
Thursday, June 2, 2016
At Trump University, Students Recall Pressure to Give Positive Reviews
In the sprawling business empire of Donald J. Trump, the real estate classes that bore his name seem to occupy a tiny, insignificant corner. But the controversy and litigation nowenveloping them have taken on surprising potency in the Republican presidential campaign that he is dominating.
Now, as Mr. Trump tries to fend off claims of misleading and fraudulent practices from scores of former students, claims his opponents have brought up in debates and in ads, his biggest weapon is what appears to be the overwhelmingly positive reviews from past participants — a 98 percent level of satisfaction, in his telling. “Beautiful statements,” is how he describes the evaluations.
But hundreds of pages of legal documents, as well as interviews with former students and instructors, suggest the surveys themselves were a central component of a business model that, according to lawsuits and investigators, deceived consumers into handing over thousands of dollars with tantalizing promises of riches.
Now, as Mr. Trump tries to fend off claims of misleading and fraudulent practices from scores of former students, claims his opponents have brought up in debates and in ads, his biggest weapon is what appears to be the overwhelmingly positive reviews from past participants — a 98 percent level of satisfaction, in his telling. “Beautiful statements,” is how he describes the evaluations.
But hundreds of pages of legal documents, as well as interviews with former students and instructors, suggest the surveys themselves were a central component of a business model that, according to lawsuits and investigators, deceived consumers into handing over thousands of dollars with tantalizing promises of riches.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Bombing Hiroshima changed the world, but it didn't end WWII
President Obama's visit to Hiroshima on Friday has rekindled public debate about the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan — one largely suppressed since the Smithsonian canceled its Enola Gay exhibit in 1995. Obama, aware that his critics are ready to pounce if he casts the slightest doubt on the rectitude of President Harry S. Truman’s decision to use atomic bombs, has opted to remain silent on the issue. This is unfortunate. A national reckoning is overdue.
Most Americans have been taught that using atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 was justified because the bombings ended the war in the Pacific, thereby averting a costly U.S. invasion of Japan. This erroneous contention finds its way into high school history texts still today. More dangerously, it shapes the thinking of government officials and military planners working in a world that still contains more than 15,000 nuclear weapons.
Truman exulted in the obliteration of Hiroshima, calling it “the greatest thing in history.” America’s military leaders didn’t share his exuberance. Seven of America’s eight five-star officers in 1945 — Gens. Dwight Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur and Henry Arnold, and Adms. William Leahy, Chester Nimitz, Ernest King and William Halsey — later called the atomic bombings either militarily unnecessary, morally reprehensible, or both. Nor did the bombs succeed in their collateral purpose: cowing the Soviets.
Leahy, who was Truman’s personal chief of staff, wrote in his memoir that the “Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender…. The use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan.” MacArthur went further. He told former President Hoover that if the United States had assured the Japanese that they could keep the emperor they would have gladly surrendered in late May.
It was not the atomic evisceration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended the Pacific war. Instead, it was the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and other Japanese colonies that began at midnight on Aug. 8, 1945 — between the two bombings.
Most Americans have been taught that using atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 was justified because the bombings ended the war in the Pacific, thereby averting a costly U.S. invasion of Japan. This erroneous contention finds its way into high school history texts still today. More dangerously, it shapes the thinking of government officials and military planners working in a world that still contains more than 15,000 nuclear weapons.
Truman exulted in the obliteration of Hiroshima, calling it “the greatest thing in history.” America’s military leaders didn’t share his exuberance. Seven of America’s eight five-star officers in 1945 — Gens. Dwight Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur and Henry Arnold, and Adms. William Leahy, Chester Nimitz, Ernest King and William Halsey — later called the atomic bombings either militarily unnecessary, morally reprehensible, or both. Nor did the bombs succeed in their collateral purpose: cowing the Soviets.
Leahy, who was Truman’s personal chief of staff, wrote in his memoir that the “Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender…. The use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan.” MacArthur went further. He told former President Hoover that if the United States had assured the Japanese that they could keep the emperor they would have gladly surrendered in late May.
It was not the atomic evisceration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended the Pacific war. Instead, it was the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and other Japanese colonies that began at midnight on Aug. 8, 1945 — between the two bombings.
More: LA Times
Once Middle Class, Millions Are Joining the Ranks of 'Disposable' Americans
Income, savings and life expectancy are in decline for broad swathes of society.
Poor Americans are becoming increasingly disposable in our winner-take-all society, as often noted in the passionate writings of Henry Giroux. After 35 years of wealth redistribution to the super-rich, inequality has forced much of the middle class down to near-poverty levels, worsened by the fact that they are also blamed for their own misfortunes.
The evidence for this disposability keeps accumulating: income and wealth—and health—are all declining for middle-class America. Meanwhile, those at the top could not be less concerned. As wealth at the top grows, the super-rich feel they have little need for the rest of society.
Monday, May 30, 2016
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