Thursday, December 21, 2017

In the news, Thursday, December 7, 2017


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DEC 06      INDEX      DEC 08
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Information from some sites may not be reliable, or may not be vetted.
Some sources may require subscription.

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from American Thinker
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Utah 'Monument' Was a Reward to a Clinton Donor
The shrinking in size of two national monuments in Utah by President Trump through executive order was a long overdue rebuke to federal land grabs that have enabled federal control of vast swaths of American land, particularly in the West. As the New York Times noted in 2016: The United States government owns 47 percent of all land in the West. In some states, including Oregon, Utah and Nevada, the majority of land is owned by the federal government. Of course, it used to own nearly all of it…. East of the Mississippi… the federal government owns only 4 percent of land.


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from Asia Times Online

The New Great Game moves from Asia-Pacific to Indo-Pacific
Is the world's center of gravity shifting to the heart of the Indo-Pacific – a new pivot to Asia?
New Delhi would hardly lose if there were a conscious bet on building up on India-China cooperation under the BRICS framework. And that includes accepting that BRI investment is useful and even essential for India’s infrastructure development. The doors remain open. All eyes are on December 10-11, when India will host a trilateral Russia-India-China – all BRICS members – at the ministerial level.

So long, US; howdy, Russia
Cambodian PM Hun Sen has warmly welcomed Moscow's overtures as Western nations threaten sanctions on his anti-democratic crackdown. Much of the Western world lined up to admonish Cambodia’s Supreme Court’s ruling last month to dissolve the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), with the European Union and United States in the lead threatening punitive sanctions, including visa restrictions on complicit officials.

Crackdown on market chaos to expand, says CBRC official
Actions include a clampdown on activities such as illegal fund-raising and the regulation of transactions in financial markets. Wang Zhaoxing, deputy director of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), said the agency will continue to rectify current market chaos in a planned, step-by-step manner, including a crackdown on activities such as illegal fund-raising and the regulation of transactions in financial markets, Securities Daily reported.

Humiliation – the only path to peace for the Middle East
President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel will be as a stab in the heart to the Arab World. But anything else would be to succor Arab hopes that Israel might some day be defeated and eliminated.

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from Chronicle of Higher Education
News & Media Website

Facing My Own Extinction
I am a college English instructor. This is a bad time for my species — and a bad time for the study of English. In academe, we are witnessing an extinction of fields of study once thought essential. I teach at a private university that has just canceled majors in English, religious studies, philosophy, and music. The English major is becoming the useless gentleman, the Charles Smithson, of the modern university.

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from CNSNews.com (& MRC & NewsBusters)
RIGHT BIAS

MSNBC's Clemons Uses Hitler Quote to Smear Trump, Netanyahu
Appearing as a guest on Thursday's MSNBC Live with Stephanie Ruhle, The Atlantic editor-at-large and MSNBC contributor Steve Clemons actually made a veiled Adolf Hitler reference to attack Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as President Donald Trump over the U.S. relocating its embassy to Jerusalem. Reacting to predictions by Netanyahu that other countries will follow the U.S. lead and also recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Clemons repeatedly used the words "big lie." Those who are well-versed on Nazi Germany and its history of using propaganda will know that those words are the English translation of a direct quote from Hitler's Mein Kampf manifesto of Nazi ideology.

CNN: Really Good U.S. Skier Doesn’t Like Trump Either!
CNN very publically refused to attend the White House Christmas Party (which had to be relief to everybody tired of Jim Acosta’s whining – “The waiter intentionally didn’t offer me mini-quiches!”) So it’s not surprising the network loves talking to others who, when it comes to Donald Trump, will take their ball and go home.

Despite Trump's Objections, Pentagon to Accept Transgender Recruits in January
The Military Times is reporting that the Pentagon is preparing to comply with a federal court ruling saying the military must accept new transgender recruits by Jan. 1. The court ruling has been fought by President Trump, who has argued that transgender persons should not be allowed to serve at all. “January 1 means January 1,” Jennifer Levi, GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders Transgender Rights project director, told Military Times reporter Tara Copp. “That’s the date when the military can no longer deny transgender people from enlisting. The court’s earlier order was clear on that point. This latest ruling is an exclamation point, not that any was needed.”

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from Daily Press
Media/News Company in Newport News, Virginia

Hampton Roads in 1941: Ready for war
76 years after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, most Americans look back on the wrenching spectacle of burning and battered ships as a brutal surprise. But when the news came to Hampton Roads on the afternoon of Dec. 7, 1941, the shock was tempered by the realization that the war the region had been preparing for so long had finally happened. Beginning after the invasion of Poland in September 1939 — then accelerating rapidly after the fall of France in June 1940 — tens of thousands of sailors, soldiers, airmen and shipbuilders had streamed into Hampton Roads, driven by hundreds of millions of dollars in defense spending.

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from FEE (Foundation for Economic Education)
RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, HIGH, non-profit organization

Does Criticism of Democracy Play Into the Hands of Authoritarians?
The events of the last few years have focused new attention on widespread voter ignorance, partisan bias, unethical and misguided politicians, and other shortcomings of democracy. But some worry that airing the weaknesses of democracy provides ammunition for authoritarians, who can use such criticism to justify their own depredations. So should we stop? It may be we need to entrust fewer issues to the democratic process in the first place.

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from The Guardian (UK)
LEFT-CENTER BIAS, HIGH, daily newspaper

Charles II exhibition reveals how he tackled 'the king's evil'
The Restoration monarch is known for his love of pleasure, but less so for his record-breaking efforts to dispel scrofula.

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from The Heritage Foundation
RIGHT BIAS, MIXED, think tank in Washington, D.C

What Trump’s Decision on Jerusalem Means for Israel and the Middle East
President Donald Trump on Wednesday kept his campaign promise to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and ordered the State Department to make plans to eventually move the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv. The long-delayed, symbolic move addressed a historic injustice: Israel is the only country in the world not allowed to choose its own capital. There is a risk that the Jerusalem statement could enable troublemakers to mobilize anti-American demonstrations and possibly riots. Trump has acted to implement a policy long mandated by law and supported by a bipartisan majority in Congress.

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from HumanProgress.org
Education Website

Che Guevara Was a Racist, Homophobe and Mass Murderer
Today, 50 years after his death, many people still remember Ernesto “Che” Guevara as a warrior for social justice. For so many celebrities, politicians, and activists, Che Guevara is a kind of Good Samaritan who fought against oppression and tyranny. It is unfortunate, though, that these people ignore some of their idol’s defining character traits. Che Guevara was in fact an intolerant and despicable man.

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from Orthodox Christianity
Organization in Moscow, Russia

PRESIDENT PUTIN MEETS WITH HEADS OF VISITING ORTHODOX DELEGATIONS
President Vladimir Putin met with the heads of the many visiting Orthodox delegations from other Local Orthodox Churches in Moscow on Monday, reports RIA-Novosti. Among the topics the president touched upon was the continuing persecution of Christians worldwide, and the fight against terrorism in Syria. Included in the meeting were His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria Theodoros II, His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania, His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus, His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, His Beatitude Metropolitan Savva of Warsaw, His Beatitude Metropolitan Rastislav of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of All America and Canada, Metropolitan Theodore of Akhaltsikhe and Tao-Klarjeti of the Georgian Orthodox Church, and Metropolitan Gabriel of Lovech of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk of the Russian Church.

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from Ricochet
News & Media Website

In 2003 a genetics paper revealed that one in 200 men alive in that year was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan (1162-1227). Khan was the Mongol Emperor whose armies swept out of the north to conquer pretty much all of Asia. His successors took big chunks of Europe as well.

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from Spokane Journal of Business
Broadcasting & Media Production Company in Spokane, Washington

Joe Albi Stadium alternatives in works
The need for three new middle schools—one of which may be located near Joe Albi Stadium on Spokane’s North Side—has Spokane Public Schools giving thought to potentially working with city officials on the idea of building a stadium near downtown. Mark Anderson, the associate superintendent of support services for Spokane schools, says district officials and some members of the city’s planning department are scheduled to visit this week with the Spokane Public Facilities District about a possible joint effort to build a high school stadium near the north bank of the Spokane River, just north of the city’s core. He says the district doesn’t have a specific location at this time.

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from The Spokesman-Review
Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

The last Pearl Harbor survivor in Spokane honors the fallen
The Inland Northwest’s last known survivor of the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor was joined by admirers and supporters for Thursday’s ceremony to commemorate what President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared a day of infamy. Ray Garland, 95, a Marine veteran from Coeur d’Alene, helped Spokane Mayor David Condon place a wreath at a monument to the fallen at Pearl Harbor just outside Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.

Supreme Court rejects city’s tax exemptions for 2014 street tax
Several thousand of the poorest residents of the city of Spokane, including seniors, the disabled and veterans, will continue paying higher property taxes because of the way the city chose to increase those taxes in 2014, the Washington Supreme Court said. In a 7-2 decision, the court sided with Spokane County and the state Department of Revenue in their argument that the city doesn’t have the constitutional authority to exempt those property owners from the street levy measure. Only the Legislature can grant exemptions from property tax levies, the court majority said Thursday. “The city does not possess the power to grant tax exemptions.”

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from Tribal Tribune
Media/News Company in Nespelem, Washington

Colville descendent Paulette Jordan announces candidacy for Idaho governor
MOSCOW, Idaho –  On her 38th birthday this evening in what she dubbed as ‘the progressive headquarters’ that is Maialina’s Café here, Idaho state representative Paulette Jordan, Democrat, announced she will run for governor rather than attempt a third term in the state legislature. Jordan, a Coeur d’Alene Tribal member and descendant of the Colville Tribe, is currently the only tribal member serving as lawmaker in Idaho. If elected she would be both the first female governor of Idaho as well as the first native female governor in U.S. history, according to her campaign. “Service is an inherent value in my family, from my ancestors on down to my sons,” said Jordan, who later noted her ancestors Chief Moses and Chief Kamiakin have served as examples in her political career along with family members Emily Peone and Lucy Covington.

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from Washington Examiner

Byron York: Dossier author was in contact with Obama Justice Department
It's been 10 months since Washington learned that former British spy Christopher Steele, author of the so-called "Trump dossier," took the Hillary Clinton-funded opposition research document to the FBI, which considered sponsoring the anti-Trump work at the height of the 2016 presidential campaign. Now, congressional investigators have made what is perhaps an even more consequential discovery: Knowledge of the dossier project, during the campaign, extended into the highest levels of the Obama Justice Department. The Ohr revelation comes not long after word that top FBI agent Peter Strzok was removed from the Mueller investigation for anti-Trump text messages he exchanged with a top FBI lawyer who had also worked for the Mueller probe. Now, with news of Ohr's contacts with Steele and Simpson, Republicans on Capitol Hill — and perhaps some Democrats, too — will wonder just how far the Obama Justice Department officials went in the effort to stop Trump.

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