West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant and Robert Bauer and
Benjamin Ginsberg, co-chairs of the Presidential Commission on Election
Administration, discuss preparations for Election Day.
Click here for video.
Source: C-SPAN
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Hillary Clinton Campaigns in Tampa, Florida (Full Video)
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks to supporters at a
campaign rally in Tampa, Florida. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) and chef
Jose Andres make introductory remarks.
Click here for video.
Source: C-SPAN
Donald Trump Proposes 'New Deal' For Urban America (Full Video)
Speaking in Charlotte, North Carolina, Republican presidential nominee
Donald Trump makes a pitch to African-American and Hispanic voters
living in inner cities, saying he will create a “New Deal” of economic
investment and revival for urban America.
Click here for video.
Source: C-SPAN
Mentoring: Saving At-Risk Youth
By Mr. Lynn Johnson
This article was originally published on April 14, 2016.
Today’s youth are the hope of a new generation, but what
happens if at an early age they fall victim to a culture and/or
lifestyle that leaves them at-risk of failure. Whether rich or poor, our
society is plagued with traps that are disguised as treasures that
include racial discrimination, prescription drug abuse and pornography
in television and main stream media.
These traps have devastating effects on children, particularly when
they do not have the guidance to know the difference between a trap and
a treasure. Many urban youth are witnessing and living through
something called the “normality of poverty,” in which case everyday life
involves crime, violence, gangs or a prison institution mentality. This
is the society that youth today see every day. It is a reality and a
sad fact that we must accept as part of our daily lives.
What can we do to lessen the effects that society’s traps have on
our youth? Saving at-risk youth by mentoring may just be the answer. It
may not eradicate the problem at once, but mentoring can make a huge
difference in the life of a child. It is a way to reintroduce a positive
activity by a responsible adult outside the regular home environment.
Children who are mentored while growing up are unlikely to succumb to
using illegal drugs, to start depending on alcohol, and unlikely to miss
out school. If we incorporate mentoring at home, school and church, it
can help significantly in decreasing the cause and effect of poor
academic performance, which leads to increased high school drop-out
rates.
At-risk children badly need the guidance and friendship that youth
mentors give. A child will definitely yearn for adult support when faced
with parent’s divorce, family heartbreaks, and financial troubles.
These children need mentoring with their family problems, school work,
peer pressure or just someone who would listen and give an unwavering
support.
Click here for the full article.
Source: LinkedIn
Trailblazers in Black History: Don Chaney
Donald Ray Chaney is an American former professional basketball player and coach, most notable for his long stints as a player on the Boston Celtics. He was the first African-American NBA Coach of the Year.
Chaney played basketball in college for the University of Houston, where he was a teammate of future Basketball Hall-of-Famer Elvin Hayes. Chaney played all 40 minutes of the famed "Game of the Century" at the Astrodome. That year Chaney became the first-round pick (12th overall) of the Boston Celtics in the 1968 NBA draft; he was also drafted by the Houston Mavericks of the American Basketball Association.
Additional information is available here.
Source: Wikipedia
New Human Chain Disrupts Dakota Access Pipeline
A new protest camp and human barrier threaten to escalate tensions in North Dakota. Sara Berlinger of KFYR reports.
Election Day Safety Fears See Schools Cancel Classes or Move Polling Places
Many of the schools across America that house polling booths will
not be open on Election Day for the first time after parents raised
fears over violence.
Public schools, with their ample parking,
handicapped-accessible spaces, and capacity to hold large crowds, have
always made for popular polling places.
And while numerous states or cities have always
closed schools on Election Day in past years, the particularly
contentious nature of this presidential campaign has brought up more
concerns than usual.
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
Trump Ally Roger Stone Scrambling to Create Election Day Operation
Controversial Donald Trump ally Roger Stone has vowed to check the
validity of the presidential election results by setting up what he
describes as his own exit-polling operation outside of select precincts
around the country on Election Day. Stone calls it "a monumental
undertaking" and one that he claims could either validate or call into
question the outcome on November 8.
Stone is attempting to recruit at least 3,000
volunteers to fan out to "several thousand" hand-picked voting precincts
around the country that he and his team have determined to have the
highest risk of faulty results. But Stone is far from that goal with
just 12 days until the election, having recruited 1,200 people.
Click here for the full article.
Health Secretary Burwell: Obamacare Premiums Will Increase, But So Will Subsidies
The top U.S. health official spoke out in defense of Obamacare on
Wednesday, saying the looming increase in premium costs are a result of
insurers initially under-pricing, and not a sign of a broken healthcare
system.
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia
Burwell defended the Affordable Care Act (ACA), popularly known as
Obamacare, during a conversation with Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. at Georgetown University.
The Fight Against AIDS Stigma Is Far from Over, Activists Say
Peter Staley was at the top of his game when
AIDS took off in New York City in the 1980s. He was a Wall Street bond
trader and didn't think the rumor about a disease affecting gay men was
anything he needed to worry about.
He certainly never could have predicted that it would consume his life.
"I was a closeted gay man," Staley, 55, told NBC
News. "I was completely disconnected from the established but mostly
closeted gay community that existed in New York that was doing the early
struggling against this new epidemic."
Now the HIV pandemic is more than 30 years old, and a new study out this week
has put what one expert calls the final nail in the coffin of the idea
that a single flight attendant carried HIV across the U.S. Instead, the
study shows the virus probably arrived in New York City from the
Caribbean around 1970, spreading to San Francisco in 1976 and then to
the world.
"It's shocking how this man's name has been sullied and destroyed by
this incorrect history. He was not 'Patient Zero' and this study
confirms it through genetic analysis," said Staley, who is currently
teaching political activism at the Institute of Politics at Harvard's
John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Click here for the full article.
Noose, Anti-Semitic Graffiti Found in Fort Greene Park
A noose and anti-Semitic graffiti were found in Brooklyn's Fort Greene Park earlier this week, authorities said.
The
Parks Department confirmed it "immediately" removed the hateful items
after they were discovered on the Myrtle Avenue side of the park Monday.
The noose was hanging from a tree; the graffiti was on a nearby tree
stump.
Click here for summary.
Source: NBC 4 New York (via The Empire Report)
Running While Female: More Than Half of Young Women Joggers Get Harassed, Study Shows
No wonder so many women are running scared — or outraged.
More than half of female joggers over 30 have been harassed, often sexually, according to a Runner’s World report shared exclusively with the Daily News.
The survey comes on the heels of the high-profile murders of three female joggers last summer: Queens resident Karina Vetrano, 30, near Howard Beach; Google employee Vanessa Marcotte, 27, in Princeton, Mass.; and Alexandra (Ally) Brueger, 31, shot in the back in Rose Township, Mich.
The violence has brought the vulnerability of women runners into the
spotlight. But beyond anecdotes shared among joggers, there were few
hard statistics until now to show just how many women are harassed while
running.
Click here for the full article.
Source: The New York Daily News (via The Empire Report)
2nd Inmate Dies in Less Than A Month At Same Upstate NY Jail, 3rd in 2 Years
By
An inmate has died at the same Upstate New York jail where another inmate died less than 30 days ago.
Officials have not released the identity or details about the Broome
County Jail inmate, who died on Saturday, Oct. 22. The Broome County
District Attorney's office told WICZ-TV that it believes the Sheriff's Office has conducted an investigation.
The DA's office will not review the matter to see if further investigation is required.
The death comes less than a month after Broome County Jail inmate Kevin A. Carroll died in custody after being taken to a hospital.
Carroll's death was not reported for two weeks until a reporter raised questions about it, the Press & Sun Bulletin reported.
Click here for the full article.
Source: NewYorkUpstate.com (via The Empire Report)
Farmworker Lawsuit Over Unionizing Could Reshape NY Agriculture
The battle lines are drawn over a lawsuit that could reshape
agriculture in New York state. Civil rights advocates are suing to give
farm workers the right to form unions and bargain collectively. The
state’s largest farm lobby has signed on in opposition, after Gov.
Andrew Cuomo would not. The case centers on an incident at a dairy farm
in Lewis County.
New York’s constitution guarantees almost every worker the right to organize, but a state law excludes agricultural workers.
"They
are the one group who is not able to seek relief in the event that
their right to organize is violated," says Erin Beth Harrist, lead
counsel with the New York Civil Liberties Union.
The NYCLU is suing to change the law on behalf of two upstate advocacy groups, the Workers' Center of Central New York and the Worker Justice Center of New York, and
the state’s estimated 60,000 farmworkers. Harrist said the exclusion is
unconstitutional and based on outdated policy from the Jim Crow era of
the 1930s.
Click here for the full article and/or audio report.
Source: WRVO Public Media (via The Empire Report)
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Donald Trump Outlines His 'New Deal For Black America'
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Donald Trump on Wednesday laid out his "new deal
for Black America" to a predominantly white crowd, narrating a bleak and
unrealistic picture of black communites and casting himself as the man
to fix it.
Trump laid out three foundational principles
that would guide his deal with African-American voters: safe
communities, great education and higher paying jobs. In order to
accomplish these goals, Trump promised more police on the streets,
proposed designating "blighted communities" with "disaster designation"
in order to spur their rebuilding and swore to stop illegal immigration.
The speech, billed as remarks on urban renewal
and inner cities, spoke to the black experience writ large in this
country as one where black Americans lack job opportunities and safe
communities. As Trump does during most of his appeals to the community,
the GOP nominee described inner cities as places where "you walk to the
store to buy a loaf of bread, maybe with your child, and you get shot,
your child gets shot."
He did not address gun control, nor his commitment to the Second
Amendment. And Trump did not mention the ongoing tension between the
black community and law enforcement, even after a long pattern of
shooting deaths of African-American men and women by police have rocked
these communities.
Click here for the full article.
Conservatives Lay The Groundwork For Blocking All of Hillary Clinton’s Nominees
By Cristian Farias
Maybe Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
had the right idea after all. Maybe Republicans are willing to trigger a
constitutional crisis over the Supreme Court.
Some conservatives certainly seem to be warming up to McCain’s controversial suggestion last week that Senate Republicans should dig in their heels and block any and all Supreme Court nominees put forth by a future President Hillary Clinton.
Who needs a fully functioning Supreme Court after all?
“As a matter of constitutional law, the Senate is fully within its powers to let the Supreme Court die out, literally,” wrote the Cato Institute’s Ilya Shapiro in a column Wednesday on The Federalist.
Shapiro is well-versed in constitutional issues, and his argument has a legal, if contorted, basis. Nothing in the Constitution explicitly stands in the way of senators who would be willing to destroy the nation’s highest court ― if not an entire branch of the federal government ― to stop Clinton from selecting judges who share her views.
Click here for the full article.
Source: The Huffington Post
Some conservatives certainly seem to be warming up to McCain’s controversial suggestion last week that Senate Republicans should dig in their heels and block any and all Supreme Court nominees put forth by a future President Hillary Clinton.
Who needs a fully functioning Supreme Court after all?
“As a matter of constitutional law, the Senate is fully within its powers to let the Supreme Court die out, literally,” wrote the Cato Institute’s Ilya Shapiro in a column Wednesday on The Federalist.
Shapiro is well-versed in constitutional issues, and his argument has a legal, if contorted, basis. Nothing in the Constitution explicitly stands in the way of senators who would be willing to destroy the nation’s highest court ― if not an entire branch of the federal government ― to stop Clinton from selecting judges who share her views.
Click here for the full article.
Source: The Huffington Post
Veep Talk: President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine
On October 25, Vice
President Biden spoke to President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine to
discuss next steps in the implementation of the Minsk agreements
following the October 19 Normandy
Group meetings in Berlin. The leaders emphasized the importance of
de-escalation and the need to continue disengaging forces along the line
of contact in the Donbas. The leaders underscored that international
sanctions on Russia must remain in place until
Minsk is fully implemented. The leaders also discussed a range of
economic and bilateral issues and agreed on the importance of continuing
to implement
the reform agenda.
Source: The White House, Office of the Vice President
Sanders Hosts Meeting on Flooding, Coastal Storm Protection; Will Form Task Force
Daniel T. Falt, Project Manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York
District explains the tentatively selected plan to one of the attendees
at the meeting.
State Senator James Sanders Jr. (D-Rochdale Village, Far Rockaway) hosted a community meeting on Tuesday
evening at Macedonia Baptist Church in Arverne where representatives
from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and NYS Department of
Environmental Conservation (DEC) presented the latest version of plans
to address flooding and provide coastal storm protection for the
Rockaway Peninsula, Broad Channel, the East Rockaway Inlet to Rockaway
Inlet, and the Jamaica Bay Reformulation Study.
“Continuous flooding during high tide and disastrous weather have been plaguing the Rockaway community for years,” Senator Sanders said. “As someone who represents most of the Rockaways and as a life-long resident here, it is important for me to ensure that everyone who will be affected by this critically important plan, has his or her voice heard, and that the final version of the proposal is something that will best protect vulnerable areas from future storms.”
Dozens of residents attended the meeting, asked many questions and provided feedback on the Army Corps’ proposal. This is significant for two reasons. First, the public comment period is open and has been extended from November 2, 2016 through November 17, 2016, so there is still time for residents’ concerns to be taken into consideration before the plan is finalized. Second, Senator Sanders is seeking to put together a task force to monitor this plan as it moves forward, and this was an opportunity to bring community leaders together who might sit on the task force along with representatives from the Army Corps and DEC.
The Army Corps plan, is expected to be finalized in June 2017 with construction targeted to begin in 2019. It consists of four major components: addressing the shorefront, creating a storm surge barrier, implementing residual risk features and integrating additional elements tying into higher ground, according to Stephen Couch, Chief of the Hurricane Sandy Planning Branch of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The shorefront component will consist of building a composite sea wall structure along the Atlantic Ocean shoreline, which will generally extend from Beach 9th Street to Beach 149th Street and will include beach nourishment and the construction of 12 new additional groins. There will be a second phase that will extend from Beach 149th Street through the Seagate community and tie into a series of structural elements including levies, beach nourishment and a concrete floodwall, Couch said.
The plan also provides for a storm surge barrier east of the Gill Hodges Bridge which will include seven 100-foot vertical lift gates to allow for tidal exchange and two 200-foot wide sector gates to provide for the navigation of boats through the area. While the larger, more time consuming structures are being built, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will implement residual risk features to address flooding more quickly. These would include low berms, bulkheads, revetment, road raising, and eye walls (driving piling that would act as a flood barrier), according to Couch.
“Continuous flooding during high tide and disastrous weather have been plaguing the Rockaway community for years,” Senator Sanders said. “As someone who represents most of the Rockaways and as a life-long resident here, it is important for me to ensure that everyone who will be affected by this critically important plan, has his or her voice heard, and that the final version of the proposal is something that will best protect vulnerable areas from future storms.”
Dozens of residents attended the meeting, asked many questions and provided feedback on the Army Corps’ proposal. This is significant for two reasons. First, the public comment period is open and has been extended from November 2, 2016 through November 17, 2016, so there is still time for residents’ concerns to be taken into consideration before the plan is finalized. Second, Senator Sanders is seeking to put together a task force to monitor this plan as it moves forward, and this was an opportunity to bring community leaders together who might sit on the task force along with representatives from the Army Corps and DEC.
The Army Corps plan, is expected to be finalized in June 2017 with construction targeted to begin in 2019. It consists of four major components: addressing the shorefront, creating a storm surge barrier, implementing residual risk features and integrating additional elements tying into higher ground, according to Stephen Couch, Chief of the Hurricane Sandy Planning Branch of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The shorefront component will consist of building a composite sea wall structure along the Atlantic Ocean shoreline, which will generally extend from Beach 9th Street to Beach 149th Street and will include beach nourishment and the construction of 12 new additional groins. There will be a second phase that will extend from Beach 149th Street through the Seagate community and tie into a series of structural elements including levies, beach nourishment and a concrete floodwall, Couch said.
The plan also provides for a storm surge barrier east of the Gill Hodges Bridge which will include seven 100-foot vertical lift gates to allow for tidal exchange and two 200-foot wide sector gates to provide for the navigation of boats through the area. While the larger, more time consuming structures are being built, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will implement residual risk features to address flooding more quickly. These would include low berms, bulkheads, revetment, road raising, and eye walls (driving piling that would act as a flood barrier), according to Couch.
The entire presentation by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can be accessed online by going to this link: http://www.nan.usace.army.mil/
Among the issues raised by residents at the meeting was how the plan, once implemented, would affect flood insurance rates.
At this point, Couch said, the Corps has not determined with FEMA, what the impact would be, however they have started examining that issue as part of this current study. The answer, would depend on the outcome of an accreditation process, which essentially relies on whether the Corps can provide a guarantee that if a 100-year storm event impacts the area that the design would not be compromised as a result. This may be complicated by the fact that FEMA is updating its flood hazard maps. Couch added that since the cost of the Corps’ project would be close to $4 billion he understands that there is an expectation that it would lower insurance premiums, and he said they would have a definitive answer by the time the study is completed.
Others expressed concerns that the area east of Beach 9th Street is not included in the tentatively selected plan. Couch said the Corps noticed that concern late in the process, but that it is being taken into consideration, and they are examining other areas to the east that could be potential cut off points for the project instead.
Dr. Ed Williams, CEO of Ready Rockaway, asked what is being done immediately in terms of flood mitigation while residents are waiting for the Corps’ construction to begin. Couch stated New York City has a plan to raise and strengthen vulnerable shorelines. Its goal is to guard against sea level rise, and not for the purpose of storm surge protection, according to the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC).
Selma Erey, the secretary of the Rockaway Bay Coastal Association, asked how low lying areas in historic Arverne, specifically Beach 76th Street to Beach 35th Street from the A-Train station to Jamaica Bay, which were devastated by Sandy would benefit from the proposal. She also stated that the area’s infrastructure and storm sewer system needs to be updated in order to handle flooding.
“Right now we are flooded regularly, and we are flooded in ways that are totally not livable,” Erey said. “They are certainly not hygienic and our children should not be exposed to these conditions.”
Couch said that residual risk features are a priority. Also, he said moving forward, as with any project that addresses coastal flooding, the Corps will evaluate whether proper drainage elements are in place. He added that specific design work will be discussed later in the process.
Those who would like to submit public comments on the plan can email them to Robert Smith at Robert.J.Smith@usace.army.mil or Daniel Falt at Daniel.T.Falt@usace.army.mil Comments can also be sent via postal mail to the address below:
Mr. Robert J. Smith, Project Biologist
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District
Attn: CENAN-PL-E, Rm 2143
26 Federal Plaza
New York, NY 10278
At this point, Couch said, the Corps has not determined with FEMA, what the impact would be, however they have started examining that issue as part of this current study. The answer, would depend on the outcome of an accreditation process, which essentially relies on whether the Corps can provide a guarantee that if a 100-year storm event impacts the area that the design would not be compromised as a result. This may be complicated by the fact that FEMA is updating its flood hazard maps. Couch added that since the cost of the Corps’ project would be close to $4 billion he understands that there is an expectation that it would lower insurance premiums, and he said they would have a definitive answer by the time the study is completed.
Others expressed concerns that the area east of Beach 9th Street is not included in the tentatively selected plan. Couch said the Corps noticed that concern late in the process, but that it is being taken into consideration, and they are examining other areas to the east that could be potential cut off points for the project instead.
Dr. Ed Williams, CEO of Ready Rockaway, asked what is being done immediately in terms of flood mitigation while residents are waiting for the Corps’ construction to begin. Couch stated New York City has a plan to raise and strengthen vulnerable shorelines. Its goal is to guard against sea level rise, and not for the purpose of storm surge protection, according to the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC).
Selma Erey, the secretary of the Rockaway Bay Coastal Association, asked how low lying areas in historic Arverne, specifically Beach 76th Street to Beach 35th Street from the A-Train station to Jamaica Bay, which were devastated by Sandy would benefit from the proposal. She also stated that the area’s infrastructure and storm sewer system needs to be updated in order to handle flooding.
“Right now we are flooded regularly, and we are flooded in ways that are totally not livable,” Erey said. “They are certainly not hygienic and our children should not be exposed to these conditions.”
Couch said that residual risk features are a priority. Also, he said moving forward, as with any project that addresses coastal flooding, the Corps will evaluate whether proper drainage elements are in place. He added that specific design work will be discussed later in the process.
Those who would like to submit public comments on the plan can email them to Robert Smith at Robert.J.Smith@usace.army.mil or Daniel Falt at Daniel.T.Falt@usace.army.mil Comments can also be sent via postal mail to the address below:
Mr. Robert J. Smith, Project Biologist
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District
Attn: CENAN-PL-E, Rm 2143
26 Federal Plaza
New York, NY 10278
Source: The Office of State Senator James Sanders, Jr.
First-Of-Its-Kind Report on Gun Trafficking into New York State
On Tuesday,
October 25th, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced a
first-of-its-kind comprehensive analysis on gun trafficking into New York
State. The new report, “Target on Trafficking:
Analysis of New York Crime Guns,” examines the purchase history of nearly
53,000 “crime guns” recovered by New York law enforcement between 2010 and
2015. A crime gun is any gun connected to a crime that is recovered by law
enforcement.
Attorney General
Schneiderman also released an interactive data tool that allows New Yorkers to
explore the impact of gun trafficking on their communities. Click here to view.
Source: The Office of NYS Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman
White House Briefing
Spokesman Josh Earnest briefs reporters and responds to their questions
on a variety of topics, including the status of repayment of enlistment
bonuses and double-digit increases in health care premiums in 2017.
Click here for video.
Source: C-SPAN
Attorney General Lynch on Race and Campus-Community Policing
Attorney General Loretta Lynch delivers remarks at the 2016 National
Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week Conference in
Arlington, Virginia, on ways to bridge the gap between HBCU students and
law enforcement.
Click here for video.
Source: C-SPAN
Mitt Romney on Litigation and the Economy
2012 Republican presidential nominee and former Governor Mitt Romney
(R-MA) delivered keynote remarks at a summit hosted by the U.S. Chamber
Institute for Legal Reform. He talked about about the economy and his
ideas to make the U.S, more attractive to businesses. Governor Romney’s
speech was preceded by remarks from Chamber of Commerce President Tom
Donohue.
Click here for video.
Source: C-SPAN
The 'I Am Woman' Series: Erin Brockovich
It’s been 12 years since Julia Roberts starred in the
Oscar-winning tour de force “Erin Brockovich”. The film turned an
unknown legal researcher into a 20th century icon by showcasing how her
dogged persistence was the impelling force behind the largest medical
settlement lawsuit in history. Since then, Erin hasn’t been resting on
her laurels… she continues to fight hard and win big!
Additional information is available here.
Source: http://www.brockovich.com/
Trailblazers in Black History: Richard Roundtree, 'Shaft'
Richard Roundtree is an American actor. He has been called "the
first black action hero" for his portrayal of private detective John
Shaft in the 1971 film Shaft, and its sequels, Shaft's Big Score and Shaft in Africa (1973), along with a cameo appearance as the character in the 2000 film Shaft, which starred Samuel L. Jackson as the nephew of the original John Shaft. For his performance in Shaft, Roundtree was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor.
Additional information is available here.
Source: Wikipedia
Dr. Shimon Samuels: 'UNESCO Bears Responsibility For The Consequences'
The following news report was submitted today by the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC).
“UNESCO bears responsibility for the consequences,” said SWC International Relations
Director Dr. Shimon Samuels following today’s vote by UNESCO's World
Heritage Committee. This follows last week's vote by UNESCO's erasing
the Jewish identity of the Western Wall and Temple Mount.
Dr. Samuels, pictured reporting from UNESCO Headquarters after today's vote, summarized:
The potential danger of Article 18 of
the [UNESCO World Heritage Committee] Resolution in calling the Western
Wall “part of Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif" could provoke further
violence against Jews in Israel and Christians throughout the
Middle-East
Mosques, media and schools throughout
the region can now claim that non-Muslims at the Wall are trespassing
on Al Aqsa.
He congratulated Tanzania for
cracking the Palestinian conception of “consensus” - as meaning
unanimity - by demanding a secret ballot
Shimon Samuels with Israeli Ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama-HaCohen who was recalled back to Israel following today's vote.
Additionally, Dr. Samuels reported that one diplomat confided that the Palestinians had refused inclusion of “The Temple Mount” in parenthesis after “Al Aqsa Al Haram Al Sharif,” in exchange for the agreement granted by Israel to accept “Al Quds” in parenthesis after “Jerusalem” - the Palestinians refused, as recognition of any Jewish antecedents in Jerusalem, they believe, would legitimize Israel’s existence.
Samuels also lobbied several Ambassadors, including the Turkish – who had worked on the resolution in July at the World Heritage Commission in Istanbul – where the text was frozen due to the failed coup d’État.
Another [Ambassador] protested privately, "While cultural heritage was being destroyed in Syria, Iraq and Libya, the Palestinians abused the World Heritage Committee's time and patience ... ."
DoD Sec. Ash Carter Orders Pentagon to Stop Reclaiming Reenlistment Bonuses
Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered the Pentagon on Wednesday to
stop clawing-back the bonuses that thousands of soldiers got for
reenlisting to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"There is no more important responsibility for
the Department of Defense than keeping faith with our people," Carter
said in a statement. "Today, in keeping with that obligation, I am
ordering a series of steps to ensure fair treatment for thousands of
California National Guard soldiers who may have received incentive
bonuses and tuition assistance improperly as a result of errors and in
some cases criminal behavior by members of the California National
Guard."
White House spokesman Josh Earnest told
reporters on Wednesday that the message to struggling soldiers is
President Obama "has their back."
"The President makes the fair treatment of our
service members a top priority," Earnest said. "When a promise is made
to our men and women in uniform, we should keep. That's certainly the
view of the President."
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
Hillary Clinton's Victory Prize: Congressional Investigations
If Donald Trump leaves the Republican Party divided after the
election, a Hillary Clinton victory could bring the party back together,
as the party prepares a flood of potential congressional investigations
against Clinton, who is poised to be the first woman president.
The daily drip of hacked emails from Wikileaks,
the exposure of Clinton's email server and pay-for-play allegations
about the Clinton Foundation may not cost her a victory in the current
contest, which has largely become a referendum on Trump's fitness for
office. But the allegations won't magically disappear after Nov. 8
either, and Republicans are determined to cut short any potential
honeymoon period.
In the last few weeks alone, dozens of House Republicans have demanded that a special prosecutor investigate the Clinton Foundation for possible conflicts of interest. Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz has called for a "serious criminal investigation"
into a Democratic operative featured in a sting video by conservative
activist James O'Keefe. And Speaker Paul Ryan has promised "aggressive
oversight work in the House" of an alleged "quid pro quo" deal between
the FBI and the State Department over reclassifying an email on
Clinton's private server.
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
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