November 14, 2017


News and Views


WATCH THIS VIDEO. THE MAN REALLY DOES NEED TO GO.

http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/11/15/roy-moore-reputation-local-mall-watch-list-employee-intv-tuchman-ac.cnn
Alabama women respond to Moore allegations
Women of Gadsden, Alabama, the hometown of Roy Moore, say the sexual abuse allegations against the Alabama Republican Senate candidate are nothing new. CNN's Kyung Lah reports.



SANDERS STORIES FOR THE DAY

"I THINK RANDY BRYCE HAS AN AGENDA THAT IS GOING TO MAKE SENSE TO WORKING FAMILIES. WE NEED RANDY IN CONGRESS." BRYCE DESCRIBES HIMSELF AS AN IRONWORKER AND HAS WORKED ON BRIDGES, SO HE’S AN OUTDOOR KIND OF GUY. THAT APPEALS TO ME. OUR DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL CANDIDATES SOMETIMES TEND TO BE TOO “SLICK” FOR MY TASTES, WHEN IN THE PAST THEY WERE PRO-UNION. THAT IS A BETTER BASE FOR WHAT I BELIEVE IN. WATCH THE VIDEO BETWEEN SANDERS AND BRYCE. BEST OF ALL, HE’S RUNNING AGAINST PAUL RYAN. HE’S ONE OF THE SLICK ONES. HE SOUNDS GOOD, BUT HE IS NOT ON THE SIDE OF THE WORKING CLASS OR POOR. WE NEED FEWER LIKE HIM AND MORE LIKE BRYCE.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2017/11/13/bernie-sanders-endorses-randy-bryce-congressional-bid-against-paul-ryan/859747001/
Bernie Sanders endorses Randy Bryce in congressional bid against Paul Ryan
Bill Glauber, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Published 2:33 p.m. CT Nov. 13, 2017 | Updated 2:33 p.m. CT Nov. 13, 2017

636441915103839479-MJS-CONG-CONG22-BRYCE-62064434.JPG
(Photo: Bill Glauber / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Video with Bryce and Sanders

Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont endorsed Democrat Randy Bryce, who is seeking to challenge Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan next year.

The announcement came in a video released by the Bryce campaign Monday. The video features a conversation between Bryce, an ironworker from Caledonia, and Sanders, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.

"We've got to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid from people like Paul Ryan," Sanders said in a statement. "I think Randy Bryce has an agenda that is going to make sense to working families. We need Randy in Congress."

In the August 2018 Democratic primary, Bryce faces Cathy Myers, a Janesville School Board member.



http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/13/opinions/oligarchy-paradise-papers-bernie-sanders-opinion/index.html
Bernie Sanders: We must end global oligarchy
By Bernie Sanders
Updated 7:56 AM ET, Mon November 13, 2017

Story highlights
Bernie Sanders: The global oligarchy is growing while millions live in dire poverty
To curb this inequality, we need a fair, transparent taxation system, Sanders writes

Video – CNN debate night – the GOP tax plan; Source: CNN; Sanders: 80% of proposal's tax breaks go to 1% 02:14

Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont and a former presidential candidate, is serving his second term in the US Senate. The views expressed in this commentary are his own.

(CNN)One of the major, untold stories of our time is the rapid movement toward global oligarchy, in which just a handful of billionaires now own and control a significant part of the world economy.

US Sen. Bernie Sanders

Here in the United States, the top one-tenth of 1% owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90%. Incredibly, according to a recent report from the Institute for Policy Studies, three of the richest people in America -- Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett -- now own more wealth than bottom 160 million people in our country.

But this is clearly not just an American issue. It is a global issue. While millions of people throughout the world live in dire poverty, without clean drinking water, adequate health care, decent housing, or education for their kids, the six wealthiest people in the world as ranked by Forbes Magazine own more wealth, according to Oxfam, than the bottom half of the world's population, 3.6 billion people.

Community gardening and healthy living in Jacksonville
See how community gardens are empowering Jacksonville residents to make healthy choices.

This massive level of wealth and income inequality, and the political power associated with that wealth, is an issue that cannot continue be ignored. We must fight back.
Thanks to the so-called Paradise Papers, a trove of millions of documents analyzed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and its collaborating news outlets, we now have a better understanding of how the largest corporations and wealthiest people in the world avoid paying their taxes and hide ownership of assets. Needless to say, these billionaires are all strong supporters of our military, our veterans, our infrastructure, our schools and other government services. They would just prefer that you pay for those activities, not them.

According to the ICIJ's investigative reporting, the Americans listed as having offshore accounts in the Paradise Papers, (which have not been independently reviewed by CNN), are a who's who of billionaires, some of whom are the very same officials who have led the effort to promote the Republican tax plan, which would provide even more tax-avoiding opportunities to the very rich.

The ominous absurdity of Trump's tax cuts

Even before these revelations, we knew that tax dodging by the wealthy and large corporations, not just in the US but globally, was taking place on a massive scale. In 2012, the Tax Justice Network, a British advocacy group, estimated that at least $21 trillion was stashed in offshore tax havens around the world. In other words, while governments enact austerity budgets, which lower the standard of living of working people, the super-rich avoid their taxes.

According to Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman, individuals in the US are avoiding $36 billion through offshore tax schemes and US corporations are avoiding more than $130 billion through these schemes. The situation has become so absurd that one five-story office building in the Caymans is now the "home" of nearly 20,000 corporations -- and that is just one of many tax havens operating across the globe.

The essence of oligarchy is that the billionaire class is never satisfied with what they have. They want more, more and more -- no matter what impact their efforts have on working people, the elderly, children, the sick and the poor. Greed is their religion. While the oligarchs are avoiding their taxes, Trump and his Republican colleagues, ostensibly in order to save federal dollars, have been trying to throw tens of millions of Americans off of their health insurance, and make massive cuts in education, nutrition assistance and affordable housing.

As a candidate for president, Trump promised that he would stand up for the working class of this country. Needless to say, that was a lie. Almost half of the benefits in the Trump/Republican tax plan would go to the top 1%, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. Additionally, they want to lower the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%, even though in 2012 one out of every five large, profitable corporations in the US paid no federal income taxes at all and between 2008 and 2015, 18 corporations had a tax rate lower than 0%.

Republicans also want to make it easier for companies to shelter their profits overseas and pay zero taxes. The "territorial tax system" they are proposing, which means companies would be taxed only on income earned within our country's borders, would exempt the offshore profits of American corporations from US taxes and allow for a one-time 12% tax on their offshore cash profits when brought back into the United States.

Meanwhile, while the wealthy and large corporations are receiving huge tax breaks, nearly half of middle-class families would actually see their taxes go up by the end of the decade by eliminating deductions for medical expenses, student loan interest rates, state and local income and sales taxes, and the cost of health insurance for the self-employed.

The Paradise Papers make it clearer than ever that we need, in the United States and throughout the world, a tax system which is fair, progressive and transparent.

Now is the time, in the United States and internationally, for people to come together to take on the greed of the oligarchs. We can and must create a global economy that works for all, not just a handful of billionaires.



THE BUNDYS ARE IN THE NEWS AGAIN. THEIR TRIAL IS COMING UP. THERE ARE NUMEROUS “MILITIA” GROUPS AROUND THE COUNTRY WHO ARE STOCKPILING WEAPONS, BUT THIS GROUP ARE PROBABLY THE MOST ACTIVELY THREATENING AND DEEPLY LAWLESS. THEIR TURN OF MIND IS MUCH LIKE THAT OF THE “SOVEREIGN CITIZENS.” ESSENTIALLY, THEY ARE ANARCHISTS.

THE BUNDY FAMILY IN 2014 AND AGAIN IN 2016 CONFRONTED THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WITH GUNS, AND THEY AREN’T THE ONLY ONES IN THE LAST 15 OR SO YEARS. PREVENTING THE OWNERSHIP OF HEAVY DUTY FIREPOWER THAT IS USEFUL ONLY FOR KILLING PEOPLE, SHOULD BE CONSIDERED BASIC TO OUR NATIONAL SECURITY. SEE THESE ARTICLES FOR THE WHOLE STORY:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundy_standoff – READ ESPECIALLY ABOUT BUNDY’S “MINDSET.” FROM ONE VIEW HE IS ENGAGING IN “CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE”, AND FROM ANOTHER HE AND HIS FAMILY ARE JUST A MODERN DAY TYPE OF OUTLAW LIKE THE HOLE IN THE WALL GANG. HE’S MORE OR LESS A “SOVEREIGN CITIZEN” IN HIS ANTI-GOVERNMENT PHILOSOPHY. HE AND THOSE LIKE HIM ARE VERY DANGEROUS PEOPLE. THEY AREN’T “GOOD GUYS.”

SEE THE TWO ARTICLES BELOW: “ ... A GROUP OF LAWMAKERS IN IDAHO, WHERE AT LEAST FIVE DEFENDANTS LIVED BEFORE BEING ARRESTED, ARE ASKING U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL JEFF SESSIONS TO RELEASE THE FOUR IDAHO DEFENDANTS WHO REMAIN IN CUSTODY.” THIS SITUATION, IF SESSIONS DOES INTERVENE ON THERE BEHALF, WILL SHOW WHAT IS PROBABLY HIS TRUEST SELF. MAYBE I’M WRONG ABOUT SESSIONS, BUT I JUST DON’T TRUST HIM AT ALL.

NOTE: BLM DOESN’T MEAN BLACK LIVES MATTER, BUT BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/bundy-blm/judge-sets-october-trial-for-rancher-cliven-bundy-others/
Judge sets October trial for rancher Cliven Bundy, others
By David Ferrara Las Vegas Review-Journal
August 31, 2017 - 12:41 pm

Updated August 31, 2017 - 7:24 pm

A federal judge on Thursday set an October trial date for seven Bunkerville standoff defendants, including rancher Cliven Bundy.

Meanwhile, a group of lawmakers in Idaho, where at least five defendants lived before being arrested, are asking U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to release the four Idaho defendants who remain in custody.

An Aug. 29 letter authored by Idaho Rep. Dorothy Moon, a Republican, and signed by 38 other state legislators references recent acquittals in the case. A copy of the letter, addressed to Sessions, was sent to President Donald Trump.

“Further exploitation of these citizens would be an affront to justice and notice to the public of prosecutorial harassment,” the letter states.

Steven Stewart of Idaho and Ricky Lovelien of Montana were found not guilty in August during a retrial in which Scott Drexler and Eric Parker, both Idaho residents, were acquitted of a majority of charges they faced.

Federal prosecutors have repeatedly said they intend to take Drexler and Parker to trial a third time on allegations of assault and threats against Bureau of Land Management agents. The Oct. 10 trial is expected to last about two months.

“This prosecution sends a chilling message to the public who are concerned about federal overreach in their daily lives that is inharmonious to well-established constitutional guarantees,” Moon wrote in her letter.

In July, Sessions made a brief reference to the second Bunkerville standoff trial while it was underway. He offered praise to the lead prosecutor, Nevada Acting U.S. Attorney Steven Myhre, but declined to take a side in the case.

Bundy supporters have previously indicated that they see a potential ally in the Trump administration.

Moon, who has visited the defendants at a detention center in Pahrump and viewed court proceedings, represents a swath of central Idaho that covers an area where Drexler and Ammon Bundy live.

Despite U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro setting the trial date, Moon remains optimistic about a response from Sessions.

“A lot can happen between now and then,” she said in a telephone interview Thursday. “There might be a perfect storm of letter writing, petitioning and social media support. I still hope they dismiss the charges before October, and I hope there’s pressure put on them from D.C. to do so.”

Prosecutors have alleged that Cliven Bundy, a Gold Butte rancher, conspired to thwart the federal government’s roundup of roughly 1,000 cows from public land near Bunkerville in April 2014.

Others scheduled for the October trial are Ryan Bundy, Ammon Bundy, militia founder Ryan Payne and Pete Santilli, who has argued that he was a journalist covering the confrontation between the Bundy family and law enforcement.

It will be the third trial in the case.

While jurors from the first trial could not decide on charges against four men, the panel returned convictions against two standoff participants: Arizona resident Gregory Burleson and Idaho resident Todd Engel. Burleson received a 68-year prison term, and Engel is awaiting sentencing.

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.

Web Bundy Letter 0829 by Las Vegas Review-Journal on Scribd



https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/bundy-blm/judge-releases-bunkerville-ranchers-son-ryan-bundy-to-halfway-house/
By David Ferrara Las Vegas Review-Journal
November 13, 2017 - 5:12 pm

Updated November 13, 2017 - 5:25 pm
One of Cliven Bundy’s sons was ordered released from a federal detention center on Monday, a day before opening statements were to begin in the trial of four men accused as leaders in the Bunkerville standoff.
U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro agreed to release Ryan Bundy, who has been acting as his own attorney while behind bars for nearly two years, to a federal halfway house.
Navarro rejected a request for release from Ammon Bundy, another of the Gold Butte rancher’s sons who is on trial.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Schiess told the judge that Ammon Bundy has been found guilty of 11 major violations while in custody between March and September.
His attorney, Dan Hill, argued that the violations included possession of evidence in his own case and covering up his face with a T-shirt to block light inside a jail cell.
Last week, the judge denied release for Cliven Bundy and fellow defendant Ryan Payne.
Another of the defendants still awaiting trial, Micah McGuire, is expected to enter a plea Tuesday morning, though details were not available Monday. Opening statements in the trial are scheduled to start after McGuire’s hearing.
Each of the men face the potential of decades behind bars if convicted of conspiracy and other charges related to the 2014 armed standoff.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.



I SEEM TO REMEMBER THAT THIS GROUP – THE MILLENNIALS -- ARE SANDERS’ LARGEST GROUP OF SUPPORTERS. IF THEY ARE LARGE ENOUGH, MAYBE HE HAS A BETTER CHANCE THAN MORE CONSERVATIVE PEOPLE TEND TO BELIEVE. MAIN HUSTLE AND SIDE HUSTLE, AND YOUR EXPERIENCE BUCKET. THEY SOUND A LOT LIKE MY GENERATION. I DO HOPE THAT THEIR COMBINED HUSTLES WILL PAY FOR A PLEASING IF MODEST LIFE AND AT LEAST SOME SECURITY. YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU’LL BE CONFRONTED BY A NEW LITTLE FACE IN THE FAMILY. SETTING THAT ASIDE, HOWEVER, I AM GLAD THAT I DID A FEW PLEASANT AND FULFILLING THINGS WHILE I WAS STILL YOUNG ENOUGH.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/millennials-finances-student-debt-side-hustles/
CBS NEWS November 14, 2017, 2:07 PM
From student debt to side hustles, millennials talk finances

"CBS This Morning" is partnering with digital media company Refinery 29 for a new series about millennials called My Generation.

Millennials -- the generation born between the early 1980s and mid-90s -- outnumber the Baby Boomers and Generation X. They are an increasingly influential force in American society and are making their mark on a rapidly changing economy.

We spoke with a number of millennials about the financial issues that impact them most.

ctm-1114-millennials-lina-abascal.jpg
Lina Abascal

"It kind of annoys me when people say millennials are lazy because I'm a millennial and I'm obviously not lazy," Abascal said. "I care about making money. I am pretty shameless about it."

Abascal said she bought her first house recently. "Every job I've had, every dollar I've spent, I think in some way has related to this. So I'm super happy. But It was hard," she said.

ctm-1114-millennials-julian-turley.jpg
Julian Turley

"I think that we live in a generation in which we're always going to have side hustles," Turley said. "A side hustle is having another source of income to be able to sustain the lifestyle that you want to live. You would use your main hustle in order to finance your side hustle, so your side hustle can become your main hustle."

ctm-1114-millennials-meaghan-oriordan.jpg
Meaghan O'Riordan

"Aside from the credit card debt, my husband and I also have significant amount in student loan debt," O'Riordan said. "There's a lot that you could do with $2,000 every month of the year if it wasn't being spent on debt."

"We are all trying to find a balance between spending responsibly on necessities and things that we need and spending on things that enrich our lives and make us happier," O'Riordan added.

ctm-clean-8am-cr470c-20171114-frame-23140.jpg
Ellis Van Gilder

"Saw friends and family coming out of college with some pretty significant student loans and thought to myself, 'Gosh, that's something that I don't necessarily want to get involved in,'" Van Gilder said. He said he did two years of college after asking himself what he wants to do with his life and whether he needs a degree to do that.

"The answer was no," Van Gilder said.

He also said millennials spend a lot of money on experiences. "My parents I think laugh at when they see and hear what we're doing. But I just chalk it up to my experience bucket is being filled," Van Gilder said.

Watch the video above to see what CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger and Refinery29 work and money director Lindsey Stanberry had to say about the finances of millennials.

See what younger and older millennials had to say about stereotypes of their generation.
© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



THIS NEW GROUP OF SCUMBAGS IS HAVING FUN ON THE NET AT EVERYBODY ELSE’S EXPENSE. I DO HATE PURELY MALICIOUS PEOPLE AND GROUPS. IN ADDITION TO THAT, THERE IS A TRUE NATIONAL DEFENSE THREAT HERE.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nsa-breach-shadow-brokers-michael-morell/
CBS NEWS November 13, 2017, 1:39 PM
NSA breach: Possible leaker reportedly could still be at work

A reported breach at the National Security Agency has been described as "catastrophic" and even worse than Edward Snowden's massive data leak. The New York Times reports a group called the Shadow Brokers* has been releasing information on NSA cyberweapons since August 2016.

It's now being used against the United States.

The Times reports the government does not know if the secrets were leaked or hacked or whether the possible leaker is still at work.

"We don't know what else the leakers may have, and most important... we don't know how this information got out of the National Security Agency. And that's 15 months after the first leak occurred," CBS News senior national security contributor Michael Morell said Monday on "CBS This Morning." "That's what's most scary to me because that says we don't know the totality of this, and more important, we don't know if they're stealing information as we sit here right now."

Morell, a former deputy and acting director of the CIA, agreed that this could be worse than the Snowden leak "because [Snowden] leaked descriptions of these tools. These are the actual tools themselves." Morell said the tools are used "to collect intelligence on our adversaries to protect the country."

"We've now made that much more difficult to collect that intelligence that's so important," Morell said.

While Morell said some are pointing fingers at Russia, he's not so sure.

"If Russia had access to NSA in terms of cyber, internet access, or in terms of an insider, why would they go public and give that up? I tend to think this is either a disgruntled insider or an outside group," Morell said.

Watch the video above to see why Morell thinks President Trump is "gullible to being manipulated" by Russian President Vladimir Putin and why the U.S. is "the big loser" after Mr. Trump withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


SHADOW BROKERS*

TAKE A LOOK AT THIS WEBSITE:
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/topic/the-shadow-brokers


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shadow_Brokers
The Shadow Brokers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Shadow Brokers (TSB) is a hacker group who first appeared in the summer of 2016.[1][2] They published several leaks containing hacking tools from the National Security Agency (NSA), including several zero-day exploits.[1] Specifically, these exploits and vulnerabilities[3][4] targeted enterprise firewalls, antivirus software, and Microsoft products.[5] The Shadow Brokers originally attributed the leaks to the Equation Group threat actor, who have been tied to the NSA's Tailored Access Operations unit.[6][7][8][9]

Name[edit]
Several news sources noted that the group's name was likely in reference to a character from the Mass Effect video game series.[10][11] Matt Suiche quoted the following description of that character: "The Shadow Broker is an individual at the head of an expansive organization which trades in information, always selling to the highest bidder. The Shadow Broker appears to be highly competent at its trade: all secrets that are bought and sold never allow one customer of the Broker to gain a significant advantage, forcing the customers to continue trading information to avoid becoming disadvantaged, allowing the Broker to remain in business."[12]
. . . .



EMAIL -- Subject: RUSSIA'S 9/11 MEMORIAL

Below is informtion [sic] on a 9/11 memorial I'll bet you didn't know existed. I didn't. There was next to ZERO media coverage of this? In fact the monument was a gift – an expression of grief – from the people of Russia to the U.S. and officially named 'To the struggle against world terrorism'. Vladimir Putin was there when construction began and Bill Clinton attended the dedication ceremony in 2006. Since then, it has been almost forgotten. Its designer, Zurab Tsereteli, – one of Russia's leading sculptors – went to Ground Zero after the attack. He was told boats and ferries had shuttled survivors across from there to New Jersey, where many of the victims had lived.

About 50 million people visit New York every year and more than eight million live there but few seems to have heard of 'The Teardrop'. It is odd because it is a 100 ft tall, 175-ton memorial to those who died on the city's blackest day. I learning of its existence by chance. I tried to discover more from locals at Ground Zero, where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre stood until September 11, 2001, and was met with blank expressions.

The one person who did know was an official guide, but he said “'I bet 99 per cent of New Yorkers haven't a clue where it is.”

My search began at the World Trade Centre station, where a train took us to Exchange Place in New Jersey. From then on, instructions were vague – I had to catch a light-railway tram for eight stops along the Jersey shoreline to 34th Street in Bayonne and ask around.

Eventually someone walked by and kindly offered to call a local taxi firm on his mobile. He'd never heard of The Teardrop, but luckily the taxi driver had. He drove me two miles across a wasteland which was once an army base until we came to an isolated quay. And there, high on a mound, stood the monument – a massive bronze-clad block with a great gash down the middle into which is suspended a 40ft, four-ton shiny nickel teardrop.

"Few ever comes here," said the taxi driver. Indeed, I was the only visitor.

In the far distance were the skyscrapers of Manhattan. Around the base of The Teardrop were the names of all those who died on 9/11 – including 26 Russians.



https://www.snopes.com/rumors/tributes/teardrop.asp
Fw: RUSSIA'S 9/11 MEMORIAL
NOTE: SEE WEBSITE FOR PHOTOGRAPHS.

9/11 Tear Drop Memorial

Photographs show a New Jersey monument to the victims of 9/11 that was donated by Russia.

62K -- There may be issues with the images in this article. We're sorry for the inconvenience.

CLAIM -- Photographs show a New Jersey monument to the victims of 9/11 that was donated by Russia.

RATING -- TRUE

ORIGIN --

The monument displayed in emailed photographs, officially entitled “To the Struggle Against World Terrorism” (but also known as “The Memorial at Harbor View Park” or the “Tear Drop Memorial”), was dedicated at the northeast corner of Bayonne Peninsula in New Jersey on 11 September 2006, the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States:

I had never heard of this before receiving it. Why didn’t the press report it?

This is the “TEAR DROP” made and installed by the Russians to honor those who died in 9 11 and a statement against terrorism. It is very impressive. The tear drop is lined up with the Statue of Liberty.

Gift from the people of Russia…….”Monument to the struggle against world terrorism, artist Zurab Tesereteii”

….it is an impressive memorial and statement against terrorism.

The walkway is made of stones.

Names of the persons killed on 9 11 are inscribed on the base like the Vietnam Memorial wall. It was a cold and windy day but well worth the drive to see. It is down in the shipping yards across from “The Lady”.

The monument was the work of Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli, whose inspiration was described thusly in a brochure about the monument:

“To the Struggle Against World Terrorism” was conceived as the events of 9/11 unfolded and Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli walked the streets of Moscow. Struck by the outpouring of grief he observed, a memorial with an image of a tear formed in his mind. Shortly after the attacks, Tsereteli visited ground zero and looked to New Jersey’s waterfront for an appropriate site for a monument honoring victims of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks.

Bayonne was a fitting location; the city was an arrival point for many New York City evacuees on 9/11, a staging area for rescuers, and offered a direct view of the Statue of Liberty and the former World Trade Center towers.

A gift from Tsereteli and the Russian people, the memorial is made of steel sheathed in bronze. Standing 100 feet high, its center contains a jagged tear. In it hangs a 40-foot stainless steel teardrop, representing sadness and grief over the loss of life, but also hope for a future free from terror. Etched in granite on an 11-sided base are the names of the nearly 3,000 killed in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings and terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Photographs of the monument’s construction (as well as the finished version of the memorial) can be viewed at the 911 Monument web site. A portfolio of Tsereteli’s other works around the world is also available on The New Yorker‘s web site.

Got a tip or a rumor? Contact us here.


FROM THE MOUTH OF DONALD TRUMP: “WIKILEAKS. I LOVE WIKILEAKS!” HIS ARROGANCE KNOWS NO BOUNDS.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-jr-wikileaks-corresponded-during-after-2016-campaign/
CBS NEWS November 13, 2017, 7:13 PM
Donald Trump Jr. corresponded with WikiLeaks during and after 2016 campaign

Donald Trump Jr. occasionally direct-messaged on Twitter with WikiLeaks, beginning in Sept. 2016 and continuing through the presidential election and beyond, CBS News has confirmed. The communications largely consisted of WikiLeaks offering information and advice to Trump Jr., and asking for things ranging from Donald Trump's tax returns to a recommendation for an ambassadorship for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

The messages, which were first reported by The Atlantic, began in Sept. 2016 with WikiLeaks messaging Trump Jr. on Twitter to apprise him of an anti-Trump site called putintrump.org that was about to launch. According to The Atlantic, Trump Jr. thanked WikiLeaks and said he would ask around about it.

CBS News has also confirmed that the messages have been turned over to congressional investigators as part of their investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Most of the messages, The Atlantic reported, were initiated by WikiLeaks, and were mostly, but not always, ignored by Trump Jr.

Monday evening Trump Jr.'s lawyer, Alan S. Futerfas, issued a statement in light of the report.

"Over the last several months, we have worked cooperatively with each of the committees and have voluntarily turned over thousands of documents in response to their requests. Putting aside the question as to why or by whom such documents, provided to Congress under promises of confidentiality, have been selectively leaked, we can say with confidence that we have no concerns about these documents and any questions raised about them have been easily answered in the appropriate forum."

WikiLeaks at one point asked for Donald Trump's tax returns prior to the election, one message obtained by The Atlantic shows.

"Hey Don. We have an unusual idea," WikiLeaks wrote on Oct. 21, 2016. "Leak us one or more of your father's tax returns." The organization argued that The New York Times had already published "a fragment" of Mr. Trump's returns, and "the rest could come out any time" through an equally "biased" source. WikiLeaks was also pressing for the returns because "if we publish them it will dramatically improve the perception of our impartiality." And if the group could be seen as impartial, it reasoned, "the vast amount of stuff that we are publishing on Clinton will have much higher impact, because it won't be perceived as coming from a 'pro-Trump' 'pro-Russia' source," the message said, according to The Atlantic.

The Atlantic also reported that WikiLeaks also -- through its messaging with Trump Jr. -- advised the campaign to protest the outcome of the election as rigged. After the election, WikiLeaks tried messaging Trump Jr. directly again.

"Hi Don. Hope you're doing well!" WikiLeaks wrote on December 16 to Trump Jr., according to The Atlantic. "In relation to Mr. Assange: Obama/Clinton placed pressure on Sweden, UK and Australia (his home country) to illicitly go after Mr. Assange. It would be real easy and helpful for your dad to suggest that Australia appoint Assange ambassador to [Washington,] DC."

On occasion, Trump Jr. responded. In Oct. 2016, WikiLeaks wrote to Trump Jr. to ask "if you guys could comment on/push this story," and attached a remark from Hillary Clinton saying she wanted to "just drone" Assange.

"Already did that earlier today," Trump Jr. responded later that day. "It's amazing what she can get away with."

WikiLeaks also offered advice to Mr. Trump through his son. "Strongly suggest your dad tweets this link if he mentions us," WikiLeaks wrote, directing Trump Jr. to a link what would point Trump supporters toward stolen documents. "There's many great stories the press are missing and we're sure some of your follows [sic] will find it," WikiLeaks continued, according to The Atlantic. "Btw we just released Podesta Emails Part 4."

Trump Jr. may not have responded to that message. But just 15 minutes after it was sent, as The Wall Street Journal's Byron Tau pointed out, Mr. Trump himself tweeted, "Very little pick-up by the dishonest media of incredible information provided by WikiLeaks. So dishonest! Rigged system!"


The Atlantic says Trump Jr. stopped responding to WikiLeaks' direct messages in mid-October, and WikiLeaks afterward began to make more dramatic requests, in addition to the one for the tax returns, including the following.

Trump Jr. responded to the reports on Twitter, and posted 10 images of what he says are the entire conversation with the WikiLeaks account. "Here is the entire chain of messages with @wikileaks (with my whopping 3 responses) which one of the congressional committees has chosen to selectively leak," he posted in one tweet.

View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter
Donald Trump Jr. ✔@DonaldJTrumpJr
Here is the entire chain of messages with @wikileaks (with my whopping 3 responses) which one of the congressional committees has chosen to selectively leak. How ironic! 1/3
7:17 PM - Nov 13, 2017
7,412 7,412 Replies 8,457 8,457 Retweets 15,274 15,274 likes
Twitter Ads info and privacy

In the screenshots, Trump Jr. only responds to messages about an anti-Trump PAC, "Off the record but I don't know who that is. Thanks." In another message, he asks what the day's leaks were about. "What's behind this Wednesday leak I keep hearing about."

View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter
Donald Trump Jr. ✔@DonaldJTrumpJr
2/3
7:18 PM - Nov 13, 2017
556 556 Replies 2,180 2,180 Retweets 3,855 3,855 likes
Twitter Ads info and privacy

If Mr. Trump were to lose, WikiLeads said on Nov. 9, 2016, "we think it is much more interesting if he DOES NOT conceed [sic] and spends time CHALLENGING the media and other types of rigging that occurred—as he has implied that he might do."

View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter
Donald Trump Jr. ✔@DonaldJTrumpJr
3/3
7:18 PM - Nov 13, 2017
1,585 1,585 Replies 2,297 2,297 Retweets 4,368 4,368 likes
Twitter Ads info and privacy

Another suggestion was to ask Mr. Trump to suggest Assange should be made Australian ambassador to the U.S. As WikiLeaks put it, according to The Atlantic, the president-elect might say, "'That's a real smart tough guy and the most famous australian [sic] you have!' or something similar," WikiLeaks wrote. "They won't do it but it will send the right signals to Australia, UK + Sweden to start following the law and stop bending it to ingratiate themselves with the Clintons."

And then in July, according to The Atlantic, there was another mail -- just after The New York Times reported on Trump Jr.'s meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. WikiLeaks attempted to convince Trump Jr. to turn his emails with publicist Rob Goldstone about the meeting over to WikiLeaks. Instead, Trump Jr. tweeted them himself.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ISSUE, NOT JUST BECAUSE THE COST IS MORE REASONABLE, BUT BECAUSE OF THE PROXIMITY TO WHERE THE PEOPLE LIVE. I WENT TO ONE FOR ABOUT TWO YEARS BEFORE I WAS OLD ENOUGH FOR MEDICARE. PERSONAL HEALTHCARE WAS TOO EXPENSIVE FOR ME. MEDICARE MADE A GREAT CHANGE FOR THE BETTER IN MY LIFE. PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES AND TELL THEM TO RENEW THIS BILL. I JUST PUT IT ON MY CALENDAR FOR TOMORROW!

https://berniesanders.com/must-fund-community-health-centers-now/
We must fund community health centers now
NOVEMBER 9, 2017
Twitter Facebook Email Link
BY SEN. BERNIE SANDERS — 11/07/17 02:15 PM EST

THIS PIECE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN THE HILL

Under the radar of most Americans and the mainstream media is a looming crisis that could strip health care from millions of people and result in the loss of tens of thousands of good paying jobs. With the funding deadline for community health centers having lapsed over a month ago, Congress must act right now or 70 percent of funding will be cut, and the doors of 2,800 health centers will close.

Community health centers are an integral part of our nation’s health care system. They provide affordable, high-quality primary care to over 27 million people – including dental and counseling services and access to low-cost prescription drugs. For 13 million people living in rural communities, they are often the only health care provider for many miles. For those living in underserved urban areas, they offer much-needed care on a sliding-fee scale.

Community health centers also help to relieve the burden of our nation’s overly wasteful health care system by generating more than $49 billion in savings each year. Compared to other providers, they save on average $2,371 per Medicaid patient and up to $1,210 per Medicare patient. Instead of ending up in expensive emergency room care, or in the hospital, patients get the high-quality primary care they need, when they need it.

Historically, the community health center program has enjoyed widespread bipartisan support, and that support continues. Today, along with almost all Democrats, there are a number of Republicans who fully understand how important these centers are to the well-being of their states and want to see the program refunded.

The bipartisan Senate bill* that was introduced by Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) reauthorizes the community health center program for five years and includes modest funding increases. The Senate proposal will help ensure that the 27 million people currently served by community health centers will not lose access to affordable, quality health care. The bill also expands and improves the National Health Service Corps–the program that provides debt forgiveness for young doctors, nurses, dentists and mental health providers preparing to work in our country’s most underserved areas. Without debt forgiveness, it is very difficult to attract new doctors to serve in these communities as this incredibly important work is typically underpaid. This bill will be supported by virtually every member of the Democratic caucus and already has nine Republican co-sponsors.

If we continue to delay funding for community health centers, the consequences could be dire. Millions of low-income and working people will no longer be able to access the health care, dental care, mental health counseling and low-cost prescription drugs they desperately need. Pregnant women will not be able to get the prenatal care they require in order to have healthy babies. Chronically ill seniors won’t have access to the prescription drugs they have used for years. And the astonishingly high number of people being treated for opioid and heroin addiction may not get the second chance they deserve.

Congress must act immediately in a bipartisan fashion to fully fund community health centers, and the workforce programs that provide them with the well-trained staffing they need. The time for delay is over. The time to act is now.


BIPARTISAN SENATE HEALTH CARE BILL

https://www.stabenow.senate.gov/news/stabenow-blunt-introduce-bill-to-reauthorize-critical-funding-for-community-health-centers
Stabenow, Blunt Introduce Bill to Reauthorize Critical Funding for Community Health Centers
Friday, September 29, 2017

U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) and Roy Blunt (Mo.) yesterday introduced the Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence (CHIME) Act, which would reauthorize the Community Health Center Fund (CHCF) and the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) for five years. In addition, the bipartisan bill provides four percent increases for the CHCF and NHSC every year beginning in FY2019.

“Michigan families rely on the health care they receive at over 260 community health center sites in our state, including low-cost dental coverage, mental health care, vision services, and more,” said Stabenow. “Critical funding for these community health centers expires this weekend. I want to thank Senator Roy Blunt for leading this bipartisan effort with me and urge Congress to act on this important extension.”

Community health centers are a critical component of the nation’s primary care network, serving approximately 26 million patients at over 10,000 sites throughout the United States. Community health centers operate in both rural and urban areas, in every state in the nation. Last year, health centers were the medical home for one in twelve Americans, one in ten children, one in six Americans living in rural areas, and more than 330,000 of our nation’s veterans.

“More than half a million Missourians, 27 percent of whom are uninsured, rely on community health centers to provide critical, affordable health care services,” said Blunt. “The care provided at these facilities doesn’t just save lives, it saves money by cutting down on the unnecessary use of emergency rooms and hospitalizations. This bill will ensure that community health centers remain open, and extend funding for the National Health Service Corps, which brings medical, dental, and behavioral health professionals to underserved areas. I’m encouraged by the strong, bipartisan support for this bill, and I’ll continue working to ensure community health centers have the resources they need.”

Without extension of the CHCF, community health centers will lose seventy percent of their funding. This will result in an estimated 2,800 site closures, the loss of 50,000 jobs, and result in 9 million Americans losing their access to care.

Earlier this month, Stabenow and Blunt led a bipartisan group of senators in calling for immediate action to extend critical funding for community health centers before funding runs out at the end of this week.

The CHIME Act is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Ben Cardin (Md.), Tom Carper (Del.), Susan Collins (Maine), Cory Gardner (Colo.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), and Roger Wicker (Miss.).



“FIRST, IT IS ABSURD THAT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY NOW GIVES OVER 700 SUPERDELEGATES—ALMOST ONE-THIRD THE NUMBER A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE NEEDS TO WIN THE NOMINATION—THE POWER TO CONTROL THE NOMINATING PROCESS AND IGNORE THE WILL OF VOTERS.” WHEN I SAW IN DETAIL WHAT WAS HAPPENING AT THE 2016 CONVENTION, I WAS HORRIFIED – SICKENED. IT WAS A TERRIBLY “UNDEMOCRATIC” PROCESS, WHICH THE REPUBLICANS LOVE TO SAY ABOUT US; USING IT AS THEIR RATIONALE FOR CALLING US “THE DEMOCRAT PARTY.” IF SOME REPUBLICANS DIDN’T ACT SO TOTALLY OBNOXIOUS, I WOULDN’T COME CLOSE TO HATING THEM, AS I ADMIT I DO NOW. THIS KIND OF THING REALLY MAKES IT HARD TO MEET IN THE MIDDLE ON ALMOST ANYTHING. WE DEMS HAVE TO GET MORE AND MORE CONVERTS, GATHER TOGETHER AND “GIRD OUR LOINS” FOR BATTLE – I’M NOT JUST TRYING TO TALK DIRTY HERE. THAT’S STRAIGHT OUT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT OF THE BIBLE.

https://berniesanders.com/news/
How to Fix the Democratic Party
NOVEMBER 13TH, 2017

IT’S TIME WE COME TOGETHER TO ENACT REAL REFORM—ONLY THEN CAN WE DEFEAT DONALD TRUMP AND RETAKE THE COUNTRY.
BY BERNIE SANDERS – NOVEMBER 10TH, 2017
THIS PIECE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN POLITICO

Donald Trump’s presidency represents an unprecedented crisis for our country. His campaign, and now his White House, seek to divide us using racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia and xenophobia. His economic agenda is the agenda of the billionaire class. He wants more tax breaks for the rich, while cutting education, nutrition, affordable housing and other programs desperately needed by working families. And his refusal to acknowledge the great danger of climate change is a threat to the entire planet.

There is nothing, nothing more important than defeating Donald Trump and his extreme right-wing agenda. But this will not happen without an effective opposition party.

Victories in Virginia, New Jersey, Washington, Maine and other states around the country on Tuesday are an important first step in pushing back against Trump’s radical agenda. It was especially gratifying to see thousands of working people and young people jump into the political process, volunteering, knocking on doors and winning elections to state legislatures, city councils and school boards. But the longer-term trend for the Democratic Party is worrisome.

Since 2009, it has lost more than 1,000 seats in state legislatures across the country. Republicans now control the White House and 34 (soon to be 33) out of 50 governorships, as well as the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

In 26 states, Republicans control the governor’s mansion along with the entirety of the state legislature. This is not just in so-called deep red states. It is true in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Florida and New Hampshire, all of which will be critical to defeating Trump in 2020, and in drawing congressional districts following that year’s Census.

What is especially absurd about this situation is that the American people strongly oppose almost all elements of the Trump-Republican agenda. Fewer than one-third of Americans support the Trump and Republican tax cuts for the wealthy, and just 12 percent supported their plan to throw tens of millions of people off of their health care. The majority of Americans understand that climate change is real.

Donna Brazile’s recent book makes it abundantly clear how important it is to bring fundamental reforms to the Democratic Party. The party cannot remain an institution largely dominated by the wealthy and inside-the-Beltway consultants. It must open its doors and welcome into its ranks millions of working people and young people who desperately want to be involved in determining the future of our nation.

Last year, Secretary Hillary Clinton and I agreed upon the need for a Unity Reform Commission to move the party in a new and more democratic direction. In a few weeks, this group will have its final meeting in Washington, D.C., and will decide if we are going to move forward in an inclusive way or continue with the current failed approach.

This is not some abstract, insular* debate. The future of Democratic Party institutions has everything to do with whether or not Democrats have the grass-roots energy to effectively take on Trump, the Republican Party and their reactionary agenda—or whether we remain in the minority.

What are some of the reforms that are desperately needed?

First, it is absurd that the Democratic Party now gives over 700 superdelegates—almost one-third the number a presidential candidate needs to win the nomination—the power to control the nominating process and ignore the will of voters.

Second, in contrast to Republicans, Democrats believe in making voting easier, not harder. We believe in universal and same-day voter registration and ending antiquated, arbitrary and discriminatory voter registration laws. These same principles must apply to our primaries. Our job must be to reach out to independents and to young people and bring them into the Democratic Party process. Independent voters are critical to general election victories. Locking them out of primaries is a pathway to failure.

In that regard, it is absurd that New Yorkers must change their party registration six months before the Democratic primary in order to participate. Other states have similar, if not as onerous provisions.

Third, in states that use caucuses, we must make it easier for working people and students to participate. While there is much to be said for bringing people together, face to face to discuss why they support the candidate of their choice, not everybody is able to participate because of work, child care or other obligations. A process must be developed that gives everyone the right to cast a vote even if they are not physically able to attend a caucus.

Finally, if we are to succeed, we must fully appreciate Brazile’s revelations and understand the need for far more transparency in the financial and policy workings of the Democratic Party. Hundreds of millions of dollars flow in and out of the Democratic National Committee with little to no accountability. That simply is not acceptable.

At a time when we have a Republican president and Republican Party whose leadership and agenda are strongly opposed by the American people, now is the time for real change. It is critical that we come together and reform the Democratic Party. When we do that, we will win local, state and national elections and transform our country.

THIS PIECE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN POLITICO
We must fund community health centers now


INSULAR*

in·su·lar
ˈins(y)ələr

adjective
1.
ignorant of or uninterested in cultures, ideas, or peoples outside one's own experience.
"a stubbornly insular farming people"
synonyms: narrow-minded, small-minded, inward-looking, parochial, provincial, small-town, shortsighted, hidebound, blinkered; More

2.
relating to or from an island.
"the movement of goods of insular origin"

HTTPS://WWW.GOOGLE.COM/SEARCH?Q=INSULAR&RLZ=1C1CHBF_ENUS725US725&OQ=INSULAR&AQS=CHROME..69I57J0L5.3609J0J8&SOURCEID=CHROME&IE=UTF-8



SHOULD WE ALWAYS ENCOURAGE GREGARIOUS BEHAVIOR OVER INDIVIDUAL ACTION? BEING VERY “POPULAR” ALMOST ALWAYS HAS A DARK SIDE. PEOPLE DON’T DEVELOP THEIR OWN INNER BEING AS FULLY, AND THEY TEND TO FOLLOW “THE CROWD” IN WAS THAT ARE DEFINITELY NOT “WISE.” IT’S WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO TO GET THERE THAT’S THE PROBLEM. IF YOU STAND UP FOR SOMETHING THAT IS FINER AND BETTER, YOU ARE A TRAITOR, OR SIMPLY “WEIRD.” MY SOLUTION IS TO PICK MY GROUP CAREFULLY, AND KEEP IT SMALL.

LIKE ALL THINGS, IT’S DEPENDENT ON THE SITUATION, BUT WHEN FRATERNITIES ARE GIVEN ALMOST COMPLETE FREEDOM FROM RESTRAINT AS THEY TEND TO BE, THE AMOUNT OF HARM THEY CAN DO IS SURPRISING. I ALSO THINK THAT BY THE TIME A KID IS 18 YEARS OLD HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO THINK THE SITUATION THROUGH AND BE WILLING TO DO THE RIGHT THING. FRATERNITIES SHOULDN’T FIND THEMSELVES IN THIS SITUATION TIME AFTER TIME. THEY’RE DOING SOMETHING WRONG! THIS IS THE THIRD CASE IN THE LAST FEW YEARS. ONE WAS THE RAPE OF A YOUNG INEBRIATED WOMAN NEAR THE FRAT HOUSE.

PERSONALLY, I WOULD ALLOW NO FRATERNITIES OR SORORITIES AND ENCOURAGE COMMUNITY SERVICE AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES INSTEAD. EVEN BETTER, SOME ADULT SUPERVISION ON THE SITE SHOULD HELP. WHEN I WAS IN A COLLEGE DORM, THERE WAS A “HOUSE MOTHER.” THE PROBLEM WITH AN 18 OR 19-YEAR-OLD IS THAT THEIR BODY IS READY FOR ALMOST ANYTHING (SUCH AS BECOMING “WITH CHILD”) BUT THEIR MIND VERY LIKELY ISN’T, UNLESS THEY WERE REARED BY WISE PARENTS.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tim-piazza-death-investigation-beta-theta-pi-latest/
By JUSTIN CARISSIMO CBS NEWS November 13, 2017, 12:53 PM
Tim Piazza death investigation: Prosecutor announces new charges

The district attorney's office in Centre County, Pennsylvania, has announced new charges in the death of Tim Piazza. Authorities based the new charges on the Beta Theta Pi basement surveillance footage deleted by a fraternity member following the 19-year-old's death.

Piazza was at the Penn State University fraternity for a pledge event in February 2016 where he died after several falls down the stairs. Prosecutors argue Piazza was forced to drink massive amounts of alcohol.

D.A. Stacy Parks Miller said fraternity brothers gave Piazza 18 drinks in under one hour and 22 minutes. Piazza never obtained any of the drinks himself, Miller said. "Brothers were coming up to him and giving him those drinks," she added. "That's the evidence that the commonwealth now has."

After investigators determined the security footage was manually deleted, they then sent the tapes to the FBI, whose agents recovered the video, authorities said in a statement.

Twelve new fraternity members now face charges in the investigation. Of the 17 fraternity members charged, five now face manslaughter charges. Other charges include assault, reckless endangerment, giving alcohol to minors, hazing and tampering with evidence.

Surveillance video played in court reportedly shows Piazza repeatedly falling, passing out and tumbling head-first down a flight of stairs, and no one called 911 for hours.

In June, Piazza family attorney Tom Kline told CBS News the family hasn't decided whether they'll be in the courtroom when the surveillance videos are played.

"The videotape is horrible, and it is gruesome," Kline said. "No parent wants to see what is apparently on this videotape."


© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


ELECTRIC CARS WOULD REDUCE THE CO2 AND OTHER POLLUTANTS TREMENDOUSLY, ACCORDING TO A NEWS VIDEO I SAW A FEW YEARS AGO. CARS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MUCH OF THE PROBLEM. WE NEED TO LOOK AT THE SOURCES OF THE GAS IN EVERY CASE, TO SEE IF WE CAN REDUCE THEM. THE CHINESE, THIS ARTICLE SAYS, ARE DOING A GREAT DEAL OF WORK ON BATTERIES AND WIND TURBINES. [SEE: HTTP://WIND.JMU.EDU/COMMUNITYENGAGEMENT/MILLVSTURBINE.HTML]

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-41894354
Science & Environment
Trump emissions threat to US car industry
By Roger Harrabin
BBC environment analyst
9 November 2017

Photograph -- The US car industry will be wrecked if President Trump relaxes emissions standards, California's governor says.

Jerry Brown said China would dominate car manufacture because it was heavily promoting the electric vehicles that would dominate the future.

He said huge investment was needed on electric vehicles, along with federal rules to encourage their purchase.

He said President Trump and US car-makers were "half asleep" and hadn't understood the scale of the challenge.

He told BBC Radio 4's Costing the Earth: "There will be a serious threat to the US auto industry.

"The Chinese have taken over the world in wind turbine production, and photovoltaic.

"They're going to take over the American car industry - and the people in Detroit are half asleep. They have to wake up - and I'm hoping they will.

"China's investing billions in battery technology and electric cars - and introducing a regulatory regime that will produce for their market a percentage of electric cars that to my knowledge no American executive can even imagine."
Jerry BrownImage copyrightREUTERS

Image caption
Jerry Brown says the US has a "very tall mountain to climb"

Mr Brown said he believed the electric car had a good prospect of being "very competitive" with petrol and diesel cars within five years.

California has special powers as a state to set its own car standards but Mr Brown believes federal action is essential to create a big enough market.

"Boy, it's a very tall mountain we have to climb. To make it work needs a federal tax and regulatory regime.

"But that we don't have and won't have until Mr Trump returns to his hotel business."

Mr Brown is leading a group of 15 states refusing to follow Mr Trump's attempt to lower CO2 standards for vehicles and electricity.

"We can pursue an intelligent, forceful climate agenda without jeopardising jobs and damaging our economy - which is the message of Trump," he said.

"We're in a contest of ideas, actions and policies. The outcome of this contest will determine what the world's going to look like in the next 10-20 years.

"We have to rise to the occasion."

'A rare sight'

California's critics say the state has talked a good game on clean vehicles but on its sprawling highways, electric cars are still a rare sight.

The governor admitted its electric vehicle programme is "nowhere near what it needs to be".
He wants 1.5m electric vehicles from what he said was 300-400,000 today - a task he described as a "very steep hill".

Mr Brown visited China a few months ago and promised co-operation over clean vehicles.

He said it was ironic that US car-makers previously driven to the verge of bankruptcy by fuel-efficient imported vehicles were once again campaigning against higher efficiency standards.

"We are looking for ways to up the ante against automobile companies who want to do less rather than more," he said.

"Maybe our biggest ally is the People's Republic of China, which is going to demand a zero vehicles initiative that would align very closely with California.

'With US car makers we are looking at the inertia of a complacent culture than enjoys the present and is unaware of the danger in the future."

"The global alliance on climate is growing stronger. We are carving our own path forward.

"Trump won't be a permanent phenomenon. We are holding the torch pending this sorry interim of environmental ignorance."

The Trump administration declined to be interviewed on Mr Brown's comments.

His supporters would point out that he is simply following through policies promised before the election to lower pollution standards, safeguard coal and withdraw from international agreements.

In the absence of a major political figure from the administration, Mr Brown will be the senior US politician at the UN climate talks in Bonn, where delegates are drawing up a rule book for implementing the Paris climate accord.

The US delegation is led by career diplomats who have accepted the seriousness of the climate threat.

But President Trump has infuriated other delegates by taking a delegation from Peabody Coal to trumpet the virtues of clean coal in tackling climate change.

You can hear more about America's green resistance on the podcast for BBC Radio 4 Costing the Earth.

Follow Roger on Twitter.



THIS IS GOOD INFORMATION, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HOW THAT INTERACTS WITH THINGS LIKE ABUSE. HOW DOES BEING ABUSED CAUSE INFLAMMATION IN THE BLOOD? OR IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE DEPRESSED WITHOUT THIS SITUATION AT ALL? THERE MAY BE MORE THAN ONE CAUSE FOR DEPRESSION. AS FOR EXACTLY WHAT THE BLOOD BRAIN BARRIER IS, SEE THE ARTICLE BELOW. IT IS A PHYSICAL THING WITHIN THE BLOOD VESSELS OF THE BRAIN. READ A LITTLE ABOUT IT AND LOOK AT THE DIAGRAM.

BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER -- HTTPS://WWW.RESEARCHGATE.NET/FIGURE/259386351_FIG1_SCHEMATIC-DIAGRAM-OF-THE-STRUCTURE-OF-THE-BLOOD-BRAIN-BARRIER-BBB-THE-BBB-IS-CREATED.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2153139-how-social-stress-makes-your-brain-vulnerable-to-depression/?cmpid=ILC|NSNS|2017_webpush&utm_medium=ILC&utm_source=NSNS&utm_campaign=webpush-social-stress
DAILY NEWS 13 November 2017
How social stress makes your brain vulnerable to depression
By Andy Coghlan

Photograph -- Changes in your brain can be brought on by stressful situations
Gordon Spooner/Plainpicture

Social stress can trigger changes in the brain that open the door to depression. Experiments in human brains and mice suggest that experiences such as bullying make the blood-brain barrier leaky, letting inflammation into the brain and altering mood.

Anything that threatens your sense of worth is a type of social stress – be it bullying, body-image issues, social anxiety or extreme shyness. To see how such stresses might affect mood, Scott Russo of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, and his team exposed 24 small, subordinate mice to larger, dominant mice for 10 minutes every day, for 10 days. Ten of the mice coped well with this, but 14 became socially withdrawn and more timid.

Comparing blood, DNA and tissue samples from the stressed small mice, nine control mice and mice that were more relaxed in the presence of big bruisers suggests that there are three stages in the process of social stress leading to an altered mood. First, the stress kicks off inflammation in the bloodstream. This then weakens the blood-brain barrier, which normally protects the brain, making it leaky and more likely to let substances through into the brain.

This enables large molecules like inflammatory substance interleukin-6 and aggressive white blood cells called monocytes to pass into the brain. Here they seem to disrupt signalling in the nucleus accumbens, a part of the brain that helps evaluate threats and rewards.

Change of mood

This is the first study to link social stress to blood-brain barrier dysfunction and depression-related behaviour, says Russo.

In stressed mice, up to 30 per cent of vessels lining the blood-brain barrier showed signs of breaches in the nucleus accumbens. This seems to be caused by changes in gene activity – in stressed mice, genes in this brain area produced 40 per cent less of a protein called claudin-5, which usually secures the integrity of the blood-brain barrier.

When the team examined post-mortem human brain tissue from 39 people who’d had depression, and 24 people who hadn’t, they found that levels of claudin-5 in the nucleus accumbens of many of the people who had had depression were around 50 per cent lower.

“The study cements the central role of inflammation in the genesis of mood disorders,” says Michael Berk of the University of Melbourne in Australia. “It also explains a critical element of the puzzle –the mechanisms whereby stress can influence the brain via inflammation.”

Russo says the study suggests new avenues for treating depression. One option would be to use an antibody called sirukumab to remove interleukin-6 from the blood, so that it can’t reach the brain. Previous work by Russo’s team has found that people with depression can have as much as 100 times more interleukin-6 in their blood than people who aren’t depressed.

Sirukumab is already being tested in people with depression, but other strategies may work too. One could be to shore-up the blood-brain barrier, making it less likely to let inflammatory molecules through, or reducing the level of monocytes in the blood. If approaches like this could work, they may help protect people in difficult circumstances – such as a hostile work environment or a stressful family situation – from developing depression.

Journal reference: Nature Neuroscience, DOI: 10.1038/s41593-017-0010-3

Read more: Having an overactive immune system may prime you for depression



PERHAPS AUSTRALIA WOULD BE A GOOD PLACE TO LIVE IF OUR SYSTEM HERE CRASHES AND BURNS.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/australians-vote-in-favor-of-legalizing-same-sex-marriage/
CBS/AP November 14, 2017, 6:28 PM
Australians vote in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage

Photograph -- People in the crowd celebrate as the result is announced during the Official Melbourne Postal Survey Result Announcement at the State Library of Victoria on Nov. 15, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. GETTY

Australians voted in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage, BBC News reports.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the vote showed that 61.6 percent of 79.5 percent of eligible voters were in favor of allowing same-sex couples to marry. About 12.7 million people took part, BBC News reports.

The conservative government had promised to allow the Parliament to consider a bill to create marriage equality in Australia in its final two-week session that is due to end on Dec. 7.

While gay marriage could be a reality in Australia by Christmas, some government lawmakers have vowed to vote down gay marriage regardless of the survey's outcome.

Opponents have also questions [sic] the legitimacy of any same-sex marriage law since several lawmakers could potentially be disqualified from Parliament due to a constitutional ban on dual citizens standing for election.

australia same-sex marriage
Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten is embraced by members of the crowd as they celebrate on Nov. 15, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. GETTY

Ireland is the only other country in the world to put the divisive issue to a popular vote.

In Ireland, 61 percent of registered voters turned out for a referendum in 2015 and 62 percent of those voted to change the constitution to allow marriage equality.

In Australia, almost 80 percent of more than 16 million registered voters posted in ballots, despite gay marriage opponents describing it as a boutique issue that did not interest most of the public.

Gay rights advocates had opposed the non-binding 100 million Australian dollar ($76 million) survey as an unnecessary obstacle to achieving equality.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee last week criticized Australia for putting gays and lesbians "through an unnecessary and divisive public opinion poll." The committee called on Australia to legislate for marriage equality regardless of the survey's outcome.

In 2015, then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott, a same-sex marriage opponent, committed his conservative government to holding a compulsory nationwide vote to decide whether the unions should be legal.

He was replaced weeks later by current Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who supports marriage equality and opposed the public vote but eventually agreed to it in a deal with party powerbrokers.

The Senate refused to fund a compulsory vote, however, so the government opted for a voluntary postal ballot. Critics said it was unlikely to accurately reflect public opinion.

Abbott was head-butted by a gay rights advocate during the campaign in September. Kevin Rudd, a center-left Labor Party prime minister whom Abbott defeated in elections in 2013, blamed the postal ballot for an assault on his godson Sean Foster, 19, as he campaigned for marriage equality.

Australian lawmakers are already moving to wind back anti-discrimination laws to reduce barriers for people who would boycott gay weddings.

Debate is intensifying on whether Australians who would refuse to provide gay weddings with a celebrant, venue, flowers or a cake should have added protection against anti-discrimination laws.

Several government lawmakers on Monday released a draft gay marriage bill that critics argue would diminish current protections for gays against discrimination on the grounds of sexuality.

Turnbull on Tuesday ruled out downgrading anti-discrimination laws.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



NOW FOR SOME FUN. NEVER SAY APES AREN’T INTELLIGENT, AND CURIOUS! ALSO, THIS ONE IS USING HIS HANDS FOR A KIND OF "SIGN LANGUAGE," WITH NO TRAINING.

http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/gorilla-louisville-zoo-man-swipe-photos/story?id=51138973
Gorilla at Louisville Zoo wants man to swipe right on his photos
By ELIZA MURPHY Nov 14, 2017, 12:27 PM ET

Zoo gorilla is a sucker for cellphones

This gorilla is ready to hit the dating scene.

A cute moment was caught on camera at the Louisville Zoo as Jelani the Western lowland gorilla appears to ask a man to swipe right as he scrolls through pictures on his cell phone.

“I thought it was awesome!” Sierra Anderson, who took the video, wrote to ABC News on Twitter of the animal’s impressive gesture. “Gorillas are very intelligent animals and it reminded me how they are a lot like humans. Very weird but awesome! I took the video and posted it just for fun and after ten minutes it had two favorites and the next morning it was viral!”

Good Morning America ✔@GMA
SWIPE RIGHT! Cute moment at the @LouisvilleZoo as a gorilla appears to ask a man to swipe as he scrolls through pictures on his cellphone. http://abcn.ws/2z0uWdN
10:30 PM - Nov 13, 2017
25 25 Replies 274 274 Retweets 811 811 likes
Twitter Ads info and privacy

Kyle Shepherd, the zoo’s media relations manager, told ABC News Jelani especially enjoys looking at photos and videos of other gorillas, “but he’ll look at anything.”

“He’ll either do his hand in that motion or he’ll tap the glass when he’s ready for you to move on,” she said.

Shepherd said the 20-year-old gorilla “has been doing this for a while” and the zoo “enjoys his celeb status” every time he goes viral.

DO WATCH VIDEO: A cute moment at the Louisville Zoo as one of its gorillas seems to gesture for a man to swipe through photos on his phone. Twitter / @Sierra_2015

She said Jelani first began watching videos while he was injured at another zoo and they had to pull him out of the exhibit.

“They’d watch videos with him while they were caring for him around the clock,” said Shepherd. “We believe that’s when it began.”