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from Asia Times Online
State department official argues that it is in Australia's best interest to defend the US-led order in Asia.
All primary, middle and university materials will be republished to reflect a national revision of the War of Resistance – which now starts from 1931
Colombia spends four times more a year fighting drugs than it earns in coffee exports. Mexico's US$7.5 billion budget for fighting cartels means cuts in infrastructure, education, environment and health.
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from The Blaze (& Glenn Beck)
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]
Obama staffers can’t find work in Trump’s DC: ‘There are no jobs’
Following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory and Republicans’ major electoral gains in November, outgoing Obama employees and loyalists to failed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton have found their job prospects in the District foundering, according to Politico.
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from Bloomberg
U.S. Small-Business Optimism Index Surges by Most Since 1980
Optimism among America’s small businesses soared in December by the most since 1980 as expectations about the economy’s prospects improved dramatically in the aftermath of the presidential election. The National Federation of Independent Business’s index jumped 7.4 points last month to 105.8, the highest since the end of 2004, from 98.4.
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from CNSNews.com (& MRC & NewsBusters)
TV Sees 'Nepotism' in Trump Appointment, Ignored Issue in '93 Hillary WH Job
When President-elect Donald Trump announced that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, would be taking an advisory role in the White House, all three broadcast evening news shows raised concerns about “nepotism,” with each one specifically using that word. But, on January 25, 1993, when President Bill Clinton appointed his wife to lead a health care task force, the broadcast networks praised the decision, and not a single one even mentioned “nepotism.”
Ira Madison and the Gross Racial Hypocrisy of the Left
Ira Madison III, a culture writer for MTV, a network clearly renowned for its political discourse, went on a non-sensical tweet tirade over Sen. Jeff Sessions bringing his Asian granddaughter to his U.S. Attorney General confirmation hearing -- a very specific and illuminating tirade.
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from Conciliar Post
Gallons of e-ink have already been spilled over the 2016 presidential election outcome, and barrels more will undoubtedly be required by journalists and scholars in future decades. Until President-elect Donald Trump actually takes office, I have few concrete thoughts about the nation’s future trajectory. One element of the 2016 campaign, however, seems to have been underexplored in the flood of post-election hot takes: over the last ten years or so, some Americans have developed a curiously persistent tendency to speak of presidential candidates in terms once reserved for the divine.
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from EUobserver
Republika Srpska defies EU and US
Bosnian Serb separatists have taken a second step toward secession, with a military parade attended also by far-right MEPs.
Italy opens Libya embassy to stop migrants
Italy becomes first Western country to reopen an embassy in Libya's capital Tripoli, in a bid to crack down on migrant smuggling and departures.
The 89ers and the battle against populism
[Opinion] It falls to the Europeans who were born around 1989 and grew up in a peaceful Europe to build a fresh new vision for the EU that transcends the ideological, educational and national cleavages of the past.
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Republika Srpska defies EU and US
Bosnian Serb separatists have taken a second step toward secession, with a military parade attended also by far-right MEPs.
Italy opens Libya embassy to stop migrants
Italy becomes first Western country to reopen an embassy in Libya's capital Tripoli, in a bid to crack down on migrant smuggling and departures.
The 89ers and the battle against populism
[Opinion] It falls to the Europeans who were born around 1989 and grew up in a peaceful Europe to build a fresh new vision for the EU that transcends the ideological, educational and national cleavages of the past.
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from FEE (Foundation for Economic Education)
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]
The Human Costs of Arizona's Minimum Wage Hike
Epi-Hab is a 59 year old non-profit company that provides jobs for people with epilepsy and other conditions that make them unemployable for most businesses. Arizona recently voted to raise it's minimum wage to $10 an hour and it could force businesses like Epi-hab to confront the unthinkable: lay off people or shut down.
Obama Admin Hypocritically Attacks Hidden Fees
The Joint Economic Council has made a last effort to burnish the Obama administration’s “consumer protection” reputation with their criticism of hidden fees. But the same administration that purports to protect us from the harm of hidden fees dishonestly imposes far greater abuse on Americans through hidden taxes.
Malthus Predicted Penury on the Eve of Plenty
A mere 200 years ago, in 1820, the world population numbered only around 1.1 billion people. About 95 percent of that number lived in poverty, with 85 percent existing in “extreme poverty.” By 2015, the world population had increased to over 7 billion, but less than 10 percent lived in poverty. Joseph Schumpeter said that the actual pattern of birth rates with industrialization and urbanization accompanied by growth in food production suggested “a sort of Malthusianism in reverse.”
The Benefits Of Religion Are More Than Spiritual
Religion often gets a bad rap in the 24/7 news cycle. And some strands of religion have been associated with the populism sweeping the globe, including the evangelical surge that helped put Donald Trump in the White House. This might blind us to the fact that religion is a significant source of America’s economic and social strength. Religion annually contributes about $1.2 trillion dollars of socio-economic value to the United States economy,
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from The Gospel Coalition
Although they held a wide range of views about Jesus, salvation, and even the Bible’s divine origins, the founding generation looked to the Bible for insights into human nature, civic virtue, social order, political authority and other concepts essential to the establishment of a new political society. Many saw in Scripture political and legal models – such as republicanism, separation of powers, and due process of law – that they believed enjoyed divine favor and were worthy of emulation in their polities.
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from The Heritage Foundation
from Independent Journal Review
Iraq War Vet Shuts Down Meryl Streep with Before-and-After Tweet Showing How 'Courageous' She Is
What will be the fate of NAFTA?
As Donald Trump prepares to become U.S. president on Jan. 20, the future of NAFTA is in doubt. He has promised to either renegotiate or withdraw from the trade agreement. Despite the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, there are still many different existing North American integration mechanisms that remain in place. Over the last year, the globalists have quietly laid the foundation to ensure their continental agenda continues. They are positioning themselves so they can try to better influence the new Trump administration in advancing deeper economic, political and security integration in North America.
An Obamacare Repeal Could Affect Your Workday — and Your Retirement
As a potential repeal of the Affordable Care Act looms with no clear replacement, many experts are already painting a dire portrait of what that may mean for Americans: One million lost jobs, longer workdays, and delayed retirement.
Buzzfeed’s Trump report takes ‘fake news’ to a new level
There is literally no evidence on offer in these memos or from BuzzFeed that any single sentence in these documents is factual or true. What’s more, we know most major news organizations in America had seen them and despite their well-known institutional antipathy toward Trump, had chosen not to publish them or even make reference to them after efforts to substantiate their charges had failed.
Trump Received Unsubstantiated Report That Russia Had Damaging Information About Him
The chiefs of America’s intelligence agencies last week presented President Obama and President-elect Donald J. Trump with a summary of unsubstantiated reports that Russia had collected compromising and salacious personal information about Mr. Trump, two officials with knowledge of the briefing said. The summary is based on memos generated by political operatives seeking to derail Mr. Trump’s candidacy. Details of the reports began circulating in the fall and were widely known among journalists and politicians in Washington.
Tillerson Wins Praise
President-Elect Trump's Nominee For Secretary Of State Has Been Lauded By Experienced Foreign Policy Experts
Endorsements For Senator Jeff Sessions Flood In
While Democrats launch smears targeting Senator Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, the Senator racks up major endorsements.
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Trump Snubs Boris Johnson, Refuses New York City Meeting
Boris Johnson’s tour of New York and Washington did not include a scheduled appointment with US President-elect Donald Trump, much to the UK Foreign Affairs Secretary’s chagrin.
Obama Administration Wants to 'Complicate Ties With Russia Even More'
Ten days before the inauguration of new United States President Donald Trump, Washington extended sanctions against Russia. The US added five Russian individuals, including head of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, to its Specially Designated Nationals list for alleged violations of the Magnitsky Act.
US Intelligence Community Report on Russia is Not so Intelligent
We assess with high confidence that there is no confidence in the report.
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DONALD Trump has asked Britain to send Winston Churchill’s bust back to the White House so he can return it to the Oval Office, The Sun can reveal. The request was put to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson by the President Elect’s senior advisers during talks in New York three days ago. Last night, Downing Street confirmed that Theresa May has agreed to a loan of the famous sculpture again.
The return of Kodachrome?
There is no denying the impact Kodachrome had on the hobby, even though in later years Kodak was given a run for its money by Fuji. They took our Kodachrome away – but we could still get it back.
Jeff Sessions Rejects Charges He Holds Racist Views
Sen. Jeff Sessions, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for U.S. attorney general, forcefully rejected accusations that he has racist views, and departed from several of Mr. Trump’s campaign stances during a Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday that drew tough questioning from his Democratic colleagues.
Rex Tillerson’s Work Outside of Boardroom Offers Clues to State Style
Trump secretary of state pick’s nonbusiness experience show a methodical approach that won range of allies
Booker partnered with Sessions last year on civil rights
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., will testify against the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., based on what Booker perceives as Sessions' hostility toward civil rights, a rare break with the Senate tradition of deference toward fellow members. But less than a year ago, Booker was sharing "one of my life's greatest moments" with Sessions, speaking at a ceremony awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the "foot soldiers" who had participated in the 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. Booker coauthored the legislation granting the award with Sessions.
Hungary To Launch Crackdown On All George Soros-Funded Organizations
In a dramatic example of blowback against the establishment in the post-Trumpian world, Hungary announced it plans to crack down on non-governmental organizations linked to billionaire George Soros now that Donald Trump will occupy the White House, according to the deputy head of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party. The European Union member, and native country of Soros, will use "all the tools at its disposal" to “sweep out” NGOs funded by the Hungarian-born financier, which “serve global capitalists and back political correctness over national governments,” Szilard Nemeth, a vice president of the ruling Fidesz party, told reporters on Tuesday. No one answered the phone at the Open Society Institute in Budapest when Bloomberg News called outside business hours.
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Iraq War Vet Shuts Down Meryl Streep with Before-and-After Tweet Showing How 'Courageous' She Is
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from Intellihub
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]
Disinformation dossier is worst case of anti-Trump fake news yet
In what may be the biggest attack yet in the ongoing battle by the establishment to delegitimize Donald Trump, Buzzfeed, with help from CNN, has published a dossier containing explosive and completely unverified claims about the president-elect and his alleged ties to Russia.
As Donald Trump prepares to become U.S. president on Jan. 20, the future of NAFTA is in doubt. He has promised to either renegotiate or withdraw from the trade agreement. Despite the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, there are still many different existing North American integration mechanisms that remain in place. Over the last year, the globalists have quietly laid the foundation to ensure their continental agenda continues. They are positioning themselves so they can try to better influence the new Trump administration in advancing deeper economic, political and security integration in North America.
Wikileaks founder warns of possible mass destruction of key public records
Just days after offering a $20,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of an Obama Administration agent for deleting significant public records, the Wikileaks founder has warned that the Obama White House is doing just that. Assange continued, “Our philosophy is that such information is a part of history. It belongs, legally and philosophically, to the American people and more broadly, insofar as the United States interacts with the world, it belongs to the people of the world.”
As if the ongoing attacks against all things Trump weren’t bad enough, complete with hard left radicals planning a sort of soft coup and the Senate Minority Leader openly planning to use the CIA against the president-elect, we now have the establishments favorite newspaper printing op-eds in which they call for using the 25th Amendment to “remove” Trump from office.
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from The Living Church
SHOOTING THE MESSENGERS? ‘CONSERVATIVE’ THEOLOGY AND CHURCH GROWTH
Ideas have legs. Or, if you will, you reap what you sow. The truth of these sayings is nearly universally accepted; their wisdom is incontrovertible — unless you are reacting to a sociological study analyzing the cause of growth and decline in mainline congregations. After a five-year study of 22 congregations, and interviews with over 2,220 congregants and the clergy who serve them, David Haskell, Kevin Flatt, and Stephanie Burgoyne concluded that ideas have legs. More specifically, their study, “Theology Matters,” concluded that congregations that espouse “liberal” theology are declining and congregations that espouse “conservative” theology are growing.
ADVICE FOR THE WEARY PASTOR: SENECA AND THE STOICS
A commonplace among clergy is that seminary hardly prepares the pastor for all the difficulties and trials found in the crucible of parish life, but a good seminary education at least furnishes an ability to identify the hardships as they come. The emotional stress of trying to learn how to apply this good theory and turn it into good practice remains exhausting, however, and puts you on edge.
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Taxpayers Footing the Bill for the Inauguration Junkets
The inauguration events are nothing more than pro-government propaganda and fundraising. According to the Washington Post and FactCheck.org, this month's inauguration is likely to cost somewhere between $175 and $200 million. Some of that will be paid through privately-raised funds, but the final bill for taxpayers will end up being well in excess of $100 million.
SHOOTING THE MESSENGERS? ‘CONSERVATIVE’ THEOLOGY AND CHURCH GROWTH
Ideas have legs. Or, if you will, you reap what you sow. The truth of these sayings is nearly universally accepted; their wisdom is incontrovertible — unless you are reacting to a sociological study analyzing the cause of growth and decline in mainline congregations. After a five-year study of 22 congregations, and interviews with over 2,220 congregants and the clergy who serve them, David Haskell, Kevin Flatt, and Stephanie Burgoyne concluded that ideas have legs. More specifically, their study, “Theology Matters,” concluded that congregations that espouse “liberal” theology are declining and congregations that espouse “conservative” theology are growing.
ADVICE FOR THE WEARY PASTOR: SENECA AND THE STOICS
A commonplace among clergy is that seminary hardly prepares the pastor for all the difficulties and trials found in the crucible of parish life, but a good seminary education at least furnishes an ability to identify the hardships as they come. The emotional stress of trying to learn how to apply this good theory and turn it into good practice remains exhausting, however, and puts you on edge.
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from Mises Institute
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]The inauguration events are nothing more than pro-government propaganda and fundraising. According to the Washington Post and FactCheck.org, this month's inauguration is likely to cost somewhere between $175 and $200 million. Some of that will be paid through privately-raised funds, but the final bill for taxpayers will end up being well in excess of $100 million.
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from NBC News (& affiliates)
An Obamacare Repeal Could Affect Your Workday — and Your Retirement
As a potential repeal of the Affordable Care Act looms with no clear replacement, many experts are already painting a dire portrait of what that may mean for Americans: One million lost jobs, longer workdays, and delayed retirement.
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from New York Post
Buzzfeed’s Trump report takes ‘fake news’ to a new level
There is literally no evidence on offer in these memos or from BuzzFeed that any single sentence in these documents is factual or true. What’s more, we know most major news organizations in America had seen them and despite their well-known institutional antipathy toward Trump, had chosen not to publish them or even make reference to them after efforts to substantiate their charges had failed.
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from New York Times
Trump Received Unsubstantiated Report That Russia Had Damaging Information About Him
The chiefs of America’s intelligence agencies last week presented President Obama and President-elect Donald J. Trump with a summary of unsubstantiated reports that Russia had collected compromising and salacious personal information about Mr. Trump, two officials with knowledge of the briefing said. The summary is based on memos generated by political operatives seeking to derail Mr. Trump’s candidacy. Details of the reports began circulating in the fall and were widely known among journalists and politicians in Washington.
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from Republican National Committee (GOP)
Tillerson Wins Praise
President-Elect Trump's Nominee For Secretary Of State Has Been Lauded By Experienced Foreign Policy Experts
Endorsements For Senator Jeff Sessions Flood In
While Democrats launch smears targeting Senator Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, the Senator racks up major endorsements.
from The Spokesman-Review
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from Sputnik
(Russian government-supported propaganda channel)
Boris Johnson’s tour of New York and Washington did not include a scheduled appointment with US President-elect Donald Trump, much to the UK Foreign Affairs Secretary’s chagrin.
Obama Administration Wants to 'Complicate Ties With Russia Even More'
Ten days before the inauguration of new United States President Donald Trump, Washington extended sanctions against Russia. The US added five Russian individuals, including head of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, to its Specially Designated Nationals list for alleged violations of the Magnitsky Act.
US Intelligence Community Report on Russia is Not so Intelligent
We assess with high confidence that there is no confidence in the report.
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from The Sun (London, UK)
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from Trains Magazine
There is no denying the impact Kodachrome had on the hobby, even though in later years Kodak was given a run for its money by Fuji. They took our Kodachrome away – but we could still get it back.
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from The Wall Street Journal
Jeff Sessions Rejects Charges He Holds Racist Views
Sen. Jeff Sessions, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for U.S. attorney general, forcefully rejected accusations that he has racist views, and departed from several of Mr. Trump’s campaign stances during a Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday that drew tough questioning from his Democratic colleagues.
Rex Tillerson’s Work Outside of Boardroom Offers Clues to State Style
Trump secretary of state pick’s nonbusiness experience show a methodical approach that won range of allies
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from Washington Examiner
Booker partnered with Sessions last year on civil rights
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., will testify against the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., based on what Booker perceives as Sessions' hostility toward civil rights, a rare break with the Senate tradition of deference toward fellow members. But less than a year ago, Booker was sharing "one of my life's greatest moments" with Sessions, speaking at a ceremony awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the "foot soldiers" who had participated in the 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. Booker coauthored the legislation granting the award with Sessions.
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from Zero Hedge
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]
Hungary To Launch Crackdown On All George Soros-Funded Organizations
In a dramatic example of blowback against the establishment in the post-Trumpian world, Hungary announced it plans to crack down on non-governmental organizations linked to billionaire George Soros now that Donald Trump will occupy the White House, according to the deputy head of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party. The European Union member, and native country of Soros, will use "all the tools at its disposal" to “sweep out” NGOs funded by the Hungarian-born financier, which “serve global capitalists and back political correctness over national governments,” Szilard Nemeth, a vice president of the ruling Fidesz party, told reporters on Tuesday. No one answered the phone at the Open Society Institute in Budapest when Bloomberg News called outside business hours.
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